USA > Ohio > History of the Upper Ohio Valley, with family history and biographical sketches, a statement of its resources, industrial growth and commercial advantages, Vol. I > Part 89
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Elisha Lindsey, deceased, born at Elizabethtown, Penn., October 30, 1803, died October 20, 1879, was a well-known and influential citizen of the county of Marshall. He was the son of Elisha Lindsey, a na- tive of New Jersey, who was married there to Nancy Cravat, and then removed with his family later to Wheeling, where he died. Ten children were born in this family, of whom but one survives. Elisha Lindsey engaged in business as a brick-layer when of age, and subse- quently manufactured brick, supplying the brick for tunnels on the Baltimore & Ohio road. During the winter seasons he also went south with fruit, and made twenty-one trips of this kind, the last being in 1870. He also, at one time, ran wood-boats at the time the steamers used wood for fuel. He did an extensive business flat-boating and trading, was enterprising and skillful in executing his plans, and in
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his relations to the community was liberal and just. He was patri- otic towards his country and gave to the army three sons, Robert F., Huston W. and Johnston, all of Company I, Sixth West Virginia cav- alry, who served in the aggregate more than eleven years. January I, 1840, Mr. Lindsey was married to Catharine, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Fitzgerald) Graham, who came to this country from Ire- land in 1812, and by this union there were born eight children: Rob- ert F., of Atchison, Kas., Huston W., of Marshall county; Cornelia, deceased; Johnston K., who has been mentioned as a brave sol- dier of the Union. He was captured at New Creek, but by swimming the river, escaped; Laura V., deceased; Cornelia, wife of William F., Lindsey; John K., who married Miss Blassie Martin, and has two chil- dren, Ella B. and Blair, and George who lives in Colorado. Mr. Lind- sey's death was caused by an accident, the particulars of which are unknown. He was found, having been driven to Belmont, with his buggy torn to pieces, his horse hurt and himself fatally injured, October 1, 1879, and his death followed in the same month. Mrs. Lindsey is still living, highly esteemed by all.
John Love, a prominent farmer of Marshall county, was born in Harrison county, Ohio, September 16, 1834, the son of George and Jane (McCrackên) Love, natives of that county. The father, who was one of Harrison county's most extensive and successful farmers, died about 1879, his wife having preceded him two years. Six chil- dren were born to these parents: Robert; Mary, wife of David Lyle; John, George, Martha; Margaret, wife of Robert Henderson, and James, the latter of whom lost his life in the Union service. John Love, the subject of this mention, has devoted his life to agriculture, and is an enterprising and popular citizen. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and in politics is a democrat. Mr. Love was first married to Eliza Taylor, by whom he had four children: Clara, who died of consumption aged twenty years; Jennie A., died Novem- ber 9, 1883, of consumption, aged twenty-one; Taylor, who died in Kansas, April 15, 1887, aged twenty-three, and Halla, wife of William Bonar, died May 9, 1886, aged nineteen. On March 12,, 1869, Mr. Love was married to Mrs. Mary J. Mundell, daughter of Owen J. and Mary (Creighton) Aston, the former a native of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and the latter of West Liberty, W. Va. By her marriage to James Mundell, who died September 17, 1866, Mrs. Love had two children who are both deceased. Mr. Love and wife have one child, George W., a successful and popular teacher. He was married July 4, 1889, to Dessie R. Hukill, of Brooke county.
E. H. McClean, a farmer and stock-dealer who resides upon a valuable farm three miles from Moundsville, in the region known as Round Bottom, was born in Marshall county, April 15, 1847. His grandfather, Col. Archibald McClean purchased the land just men- tioned from Gen. Washington, a letter from whom to the colonel is now in the possession of E. H. McClean. This ancestor was a prom- inent man, and published a newspaper at Elizabethtown, now Mounds- ville, called the Beacon. His son, Joseph, who assisted in editing the
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Beacon, was a farmer by occupation, and surveyor, serving as county surveyor many years and establishing the line between Ohio and Marshall county. He was also deputy for Judge J. H. Dickey in the same office. He died in 1863, aged sixty-three years, and his wife, Maria Humphrey, died in 1880, aged seventy-seven years. But one child was born to these parents, the subject of this mention. E. H. received his education at Strickersville, Penn., at Moundsville, and at Gambier, Ohio. At the age of twenty-one years he embarked in the raising and dealing in stock, and in this he is quite successful, having a fine stock farm, upon which are found thoroughbred and trotting horses, descendants of Lexington, Holstein-Friesian cattle, Chester-white hogs, and on Mr. McClean's domain scientific and practical agriculture is not neglected. His home is in one of the most beautiful locations of the neighborhood. In 1870 Mr. McClean was married to A. R., daughter of L. T. Gray, by whom he had one child, a daughter. Parents and daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. McClean has been a trustee since the build- ing of McClean chapel in 1887. This was built on the farm, and named in honor of his father and grandfather McClean.
David McConaughey, deceased, came from Ireland to America in 1832, and located in Ohio county, W. Va. For several years he was engaged in the mercantile business, subsequently connecting himself with the Exchange bank, of Wheeling. In the course of time Mr. McConaughey returned to the mercantile business at Haneytown. While there he bought a large tract of land on Grave creek, seven- teen miles east of Moundsville, in Marshall county. The prosperous town of Cameron is now situated on a portion of this land. He built on this the large frame house now occupied by his widow and youngest children, it being the first house erected on Grave creek, with the exception of a few log huts east of Moundsville. In 1846 he married Anna, the oldest daughter of Samuel and Mary Davidson, the latter came from Ireland in 1838, and located in Ohio. Immediately after their marriage they came to their, then new, home on Grave creek, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Death claimed this most highly esteemed man in the seventy-sixth year of his age. He had united with the Presbyterian church while living in his native country, and his wife, believing in the same religious tenets, they raised their family of eight children in that faith. The children are named as follows: Martha L., married E. P. Richardson, of the firm of Richardson & Spragg, hardware merchants of Cameron; Sam- uel D., married Lizzie D., daughter of Robert Hicks. She soon after died, and in a few years he married the second time, Orilla Heskett, of Belmont county, becoming his wife. He is engaged in speculating and farming, his property adjoining the old homestead; Robert A., married Anna Renner, of Springfield, Ohio. He is engaged in the dry goods business in Cameron; Sallie A., married Lindly Hoge, of Belmont county, Ohio. Six years after her marriage she died, leav- ing one child, Anna Pearl, who has since made her home with her maternal grandmother; James B., married Virginia Floyd, of Marion
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county, where he is now engaged in the general mercantile business; Mary U. died in her early womanhood; David W., the youngest son and his father's namesake, inherits the old homestead where he is now living with his mother, his youngest sister, Isabella F., and his niece, Anna Pearl Hoge. David W. is still a young man, but he has obtained a reputation for business ability and probity which many an older man might well envy. When the B. & O. railroad was com- pleted the town of Cameron sprang into existence, the naming of the new town was left entirely with the elder David McConaughey, who christened it Cameron, in honor of his friend Samuel Cameron, who was a prominent official of the railroad. This family has been prom- inently identified with the settlement of this community and is held in very high favor in this section of the state.
James McCuskey, one of the leading business men of Cameron district, is an extensive dealer at Cameron in hardware, builder's sup- plies, farming implements, etc. He was born in Ohio county, W. Va., November 18, 1833, the son of Silas and Mary (Huey) McCuskey, both natives of Virginia. His father was a farmer well-known among the settlers of. Ohio and Marshall counties, and served as justice of the peace for many years. He died May 18, 1879, at the age of sixty- nine years, from injuries caused by the falling of a tree. His widow survives at the age of eighty-one years. She has been a member of the Presbyterian church since girlhood, to which denomination her husband also adhered. Eight children were born to them: James, the subject of this sketch; Minerva, wife of John Davis; John; George, who died March 23, 1868, at the age of about twenty-three years, being then an elder in the Presbyterian church; William, a minister of the Presbyterian church, who has labored in Dakota and Iowa more than twenty years; Virgil, Milton and Nancy J. At six- teen years of age James McCuskey began work as a farm laborer, then clerked four years, and after that served the Baltimore & Ohio railroad company sixteen years, as brakeman, fireman and engineer. Meanwhile he engaged in the hardware business as a partner of his brother-in-law, John Loper, and on the death of the latter, he gave ·his whole attention to the business, with the result that he is now one of the most successful business men of the region, and esteemed as an honest and upright man. He is a member of the Methodist church, of the Masonic order and of the I. O. O. F. He was married May 25, 1856, to Virginia P., daughter of Alfred and Matilda (Buck) Harris, natives of Virginia. The father died in April, 1889, aged ninety-six years, and the mother in August, 1877, aged seventy-nine years. They had nine children: Ann, wife of J. A. H. Walter; Eliz- abeth, wife of Huston Beabout; Sarah M., wife of Marion Reynolds; Virginia P .; Florence, wife of James Gillispie, deceased; Lavinia, wife of John Loper; Susan, deceased; Theodore, deceased, and Wal- ter. Mr. McCuskey and wife have had six children: Bruce E., who married Abbie Davis, and has one child, Hoy; Bertha L., deceased; Florence V., deceased; Theodore M., who died at the age of fourteen years; Gertrude E., wife of Eugene Nowell, and May.
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Galbraith S. McFadden, a substantial citizen of Moundsville, who after an adventurous life, is spending his declining years in comforta- ble retirement, was born in Washington county, Penn., August 25. 1825. He is the son of James, and the grandson of Thomas McFadden James was born in county Armagh, Ireland, came to this country at the age of fourteen and settled in Washington county. He was a merchant for over fifty years, the latter part of the time at Buena Vista, Allegheny county, Penn., where he was a postmaster in Lin- coln's administration, and was holding that office when he died in 1870, at the age of seventy-nine years. His wife, Margaret Stewart, died about 1884, aged eighty-eight years. Her mother, Betsey Stewart, nee Scott, who was the wife of Galbraith Stewart, a Scotchman, was a full cousin to Sir Walter Scott. Of the twelve children of James and Margaret McFadden, seven are living, two sons and five daughters. The sixth born, the subject of this mention, at the age of eighteen went to Pittsburgh to become an architect and carpenter, and after nearly two years' experience with two firms there, the first of which abused him and the last failed in business, he engaged with Henry Shearer at Washington, Penn., at $30 per year until he was past ma- jority. Soon afterward he went south, working one summer at Louis- ville on the way. At Pilcher's Point, La., he built a fine house for Shapleigh Owens, which was burned down in revenge by a slave who had been abused, and Mr. McFadden lost his tools and clothes, and was left with only $2.45, and nearly 2,000 miles from home. He walked ten miles to Lake Providence, La., and built there a house for A. B. Caldwell, now a lawyer of Wheeling, and then went into the Arkan- sas valley, and remained there nearly three years. Proceeding to Ar- kansas Post, he worked there, but was driven out on account of a let- ter he lost which he had received from his father expressing indigna- tion at the cruel treatment of the blacks. He hid in a drift pile in the Arkansas river over night, and was fed by the negroes until he could get a steamer and come north, leaving his clothes, tools and horse, which he never went after. After he had been in Pennsylvania a year, in March, 1852, he and Henry Shearer, his old employer, Alfred Mc- Gowan, Solomon Altar and Thomas Morrow, all of Washington, Penn., started on an overland trip to California, which took them 100 days from Parkville, Mo., to Sacramento. He worked at his trade and engaged in saw-milling, and then came home in the winter of 1853-4. Shortly afterward he made another trip with a party and a train of provision wagons, which goods they traded for cattle at Salt Lake City, and leaving there with 312 head, got to California with 105. He went into the El Dorado country and engaged in logging two years, and did some mining. At Placerville he built a quartz-mill, with a wheel sixty feet in diameter, for the first and best revolving pestle mill in the state. In the winter of 1856-7 he returned home by the isth- mus, and in the following May was married to Permelia Morton, of Moundsville. He was there engaged in farming for eleven years, also in stock-raising, introducing the first fine wool sheep into the county. In August, 1866, he was called on to prepare the plans of the West Vir-
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ginia penitentiary, and to take charge of the institution, of which he was superintendent four years and eight months, during which time a rigid investigation showed he was faithful to his trust, and disbursed $260,000 without the loss of a nickel to the state. Soon after resign- ing his position at the penitentiary he sold his farm and invested the proceeds of $18,367.67 in a rolling mill, in a coal bank and in the West Virginia Agricultural works. He lost the entire amount realized from the sale of the farm. The hotel of which he is the present pro- prietor he built in 1877. In 1874 he became the owner of the famous " Crave Creek" mound. The following children have been born to Mr. McFadden and wife: Richard, Thomas, Ella, Willie H., of Pitts- burgh, and Lizzie. The subject of this sketch served as delegate in the legislature from Marshall county in the session of 1877, and was one of sixteen republican members in a body of sixty-five delegates. W. M. McGinty is an example of what patience and energy will do for him who practices them. Born in Jackson county, W. Va., Janu- ary 1, 1850, he lived with his parents, John and Mary Jane (Bryson) McGinty, until the death of the mother in 1857, at which time he went to live with his grandfather, John A. McGinty, and later with his maternal grandfather, John Bryson, until the death of the grand- mother; the child was then taken by his aunt, Nancy Ferguson, who lived near Wheeling. Here he stayed for two years, after which he cut loose from her and all other kindred at the age of eleven years. He has since fought his own way through the world. Deprived of educational advantages in early life, he was over twenty-one years old before he obtained even a common school training. Three years were spent in the common school, at the expiration of which time the young man, eager for knowledge, entered the state normal school at West Liberty. His moral courage and perseverance have accomp- lished thus much; he spent some years in teaching, and his labors were attended with flattering success. Mr. McGinty has been vari- ously employed, and has acquired a practical knowledge of several trades and branches of business, such as farming, gardening, flori- culture, painting and merchandising. But preferring the activity of ·a traveler's life, he is now employed as a solicitor of biographical notes for the publishers of this volume. His sisters, Margaret and Agnes L., who were entirely separated from him by the death of their mother, have since married; the former is the wife of R. B. Graham, of Ripley, W. Va., the latter is Mrs. N. I. Sturdevant, of Russell, Kan. The grandfather, John A. McGinty, graduated from the Queen's col- lege in Ireland; was one of the corps of engineers who made the first survey of the state of Ohio, and was the best scholar in his section of the state. He, with most of his family, and the grandmother Bryson, are buried in Jackson county, W. Va. John Bryson went back to Ireland, where he died in 1864. These grandparents were all, except John Bryson, worthy members of the Presbyterian church. John McGinty, the father of our subject, is supposed to have been drowned in the Ohio river, about the year 1857. Mary Jane, the mother, was a woman of great personal beauty, and is remembered,
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by those who knew her, as one whose life was actuated in everything she did by a noble purpose and purity of motive. W. M. McGinty was joined in marriage in February, 1878, to Miss E. V. Ransom, a child of Hiram and Mary (Snow) Ransom, who were old and highly respected inhabitants of the county. Ellen, Agnes L., Lilly, John and Carl have come to bless Mr. and Mrs. McGinty's happy home. Mr. McGinty is a Methodist in good standing, and much beloved by all who know him best.
William F. Magers, a well-known farmer of Wayman Ridge, near Moundsville, was born July 22, 1844, the son of John and Nancy J. (Leach) Magers, whose eight children were, Mary A., died in 1879; William F .; John P .; Ambrose; George E .; Joshua M., died in 1881, and Eliza J., and Lizzie, died in 1887. John was a son of Joseph Magers, who had by his first wife twenty children, and by his second wife one child. William F. Magers was called upon, at the age of thirteen, by the death of his father, to help provide for the family. Five years later he enlisted as private in Company A, Twelfth regi- ment West Virginia, and was chosen corporal. He served three years, until June, 1865, and took part in the battles of Winchester, New Market, Piedmont, Lynchburg, Snicker's Ferry, Kernstown, Opequan, Fisher's Hill, Berryville, Cedar Creek, Hatcher's Run, Fort Gregg and Appomattox, everywhere doing his duty as a faith- ful and fearless soldier. He also participated in Hunter's raid, and was present at Piedmont when his regiment captured the entire Forty-second Virginia regiment. Returning home he engaged in farming, a pursuit in which he has been quite successful. In 1867 he was married to Mary A., daughter of William and Sarah (Zink) Dunlap, and they have seven children, Ida B., deceased; John W .; Miles B., deceased; Effie May; Sarah J .; Texanna, and William L. R. Mr. Magers and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has served as trustee, steward and leader. He is also a member of the I. O. O. F., the G. A. R., and in politics he is a republican.
One of the prominent citizens of Benwood is Joseph Mahood, who first saw the light January 29, 1852, at a place then known as Flane Four. His parents were James and Ellen (Battey) Mahood, who came to Benwood from the county Cavan, Ireland, in 1852. The father was drowned while discharging his duties as an employee of the B. & O. Railroad company, on their transfer-boat at this place. Mr. and Mrs. Mahood were members of the Episcopalian church, and were respected by all with whom they came in contact. Joseph Ma- hood's grandfather, Joseph Mahood, was one of the better class of farmers in Ireland, and a member of the Episcopalian church. John Battey, his maternal grandfather, was also a native of Ireland, and was a refined and useful man, having been commissioner of schools of county Cavan, and was for many years a very prominent Mason. He was charitable and upright, always using his influence for the good of those about him. Joseph Mahood, our subject, at the age of fourteen began as a packer in the nail-mills of this city, and in 1868,
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learned nail-cutting, at which he worked until 1881, when he mastered the nailer's trade and has since followed this as his occupation. In 1887 he was honored by an election to the city council, which office he filled for four months, at which time he was elected by council to fill the unexpired term of Square McJilton, as mayor of the city, and was subsequently chosen by the people to continue in this office, having served with dignity and efficiency. Mr. Mahood has lately been re- elected mayor for two years. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the National Union. He was married, April 9, 1876, to Miss Sarah J., daughter of Benjamin and Martha (Arlington) Bell. They are industrious and respected people. The father was for sev- eral years in the employ of the B. & O. railroad, as a foreman. Mr. and Mrs. Mahood are the parents of eight children, they are: James, Alverda, Sarah, Joseph, Frank, Ellen, George and Elizabeth Ann. All of them live at home and they form a most interesting family. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and en- joy the confidence and esteem of the community at large. Mr. Mahood's popularity as mayor of the city, speaks much for his ability and probity.
One of the conspicuous early residents of Marshall county was Squire Dillie Martin, a native of Virginia, born in 1804. He was a son of John B. and Millicent J. Martin, early settlers in- Marshall county. Squire Martin was one of the leading farmers of his day, and was also engaged in driving the stage from Wheeling to New Martinsville, about the year 1830-31. He died in 1868, but his wife survives at the age of seventy-seven years. They had fifteen chil- dren: Loxley G., Ellen C., Mary B., Lemuel S., Samuel M., John B., Presley A., Millicent J., Virginia A., Margaret A., Columbia U., Al- bert E., Missouri I., Florence A and Winona M.
L. G. Martin, the eldest son of the above, was born in Marshall county, October 13, 1833. After he became of age he enlisted in mer- cantile pursuits, at Rosby's Rock and was the first agent appointed by the B. & O. railroad company at this station. He was engaged in business until twenty years after, when he engaged in various occu- . pations until 1878, after which he farmed until 1883. Then going to Winfield, Kas., with his family, he remained a year, and has since then been engaged in various enterprises at Moundsville. About 1850, he was taken with disease, which necessitated the amputation of a limb in 1886. Mr. Martin was married in April, 1860, to Mary L., daughter Jesse and Lucinda Neff, former residents of Belmont county, Ohio, and residents of Marshall county, W. Va., since 1847. Six children have been born to this union: Estella I., a teacher of twelve years' experience, and a musician of skill, now in the Benwood high school, and organist of the Methodist Episcopal church; C. Bell, Jessie L., M. Blanche, Archie T. and Lillie. Parents and children are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is a member of the Masonic order and in politics, a prohibitionist.
John B. Martin, a prominent farmer near Rosby's Rock, Marshall county, was born August 5, 1842, a son of the above named Squire D.
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Martin. The latter died when John B. was twenty-five years of age, and he then took charge of affairs upon the farm. At the age of twenty-eight, December 15, 1870, he was married to Amanda J. Ter- rill, daughter of Sherman and Amanda (Potter) Terrill, the former of whom died by accidenal injury, in 1858, at the age of forty-nine years. Mrs. Martin's parents had eight children: Elizabeth, Will- iam, Mary A., John A., Rachel J., Sarah M., Amanda J., and An- drew S. The mother is living in Hancock county, Ill. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have two children, Cora V. and Charles T. Mr. Martin has been very industrious and successful in the management of his farm, and is classed among the substantial citizens of the region. He gives to politics but little attention but supports the democratic party. His wife and children are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Presley A. Martin, of Meade district, Marshall county, is another son of the above named Squire Martin, born August 17, 1844. He was married in 1869, to Elizabeth Reynolds, daughter of Dr. Jesse and Maria (Biddle) Reynolds, of Marshall county, and by this mar- riage he has had three children: Mary L., died April 29, 1887, aged fifteen years; William S. and Jesse A. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics he is an ardent dem- ocrat. The sons of Squire D. Martin are prominent farmers of the county, inheriting from that worthy ancestor those traits which ena- bled him to begin in Marshall county with a horse and $50, and leave to his heirs more than 1, 100 acres of choice land.
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