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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02263 5889
Gc 975.4 En1 1195083
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ENCYCLOPÆDIA
OF
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF
WEST VIRGINIA.
INCLUDING
REFERENCE ARTICLES ON THE INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE, ETC., ETC.
ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS.
NEW YORK: ATLANTIC PUBLISHING & ENGRAVING COMPANY. 1894.
1195083
PREFACE.
IT has been the fixed intention of the editors and publishers to treat every subject in this volume with absolute thoroughness, and it is believed that such will be conceded by all who are interested and will give the work candid inspection.
Due acknowledgment is made, with appreciative estimate of the value of "Prominent Men of West Virginia " (by Hon. George W. Atkinson, LL.D., and Alvaro F. Gibbens, A.M.) as a source of reference and aid in the preparation of many of these biographical sketches. It is fully realized that a second volume will be required for other biographies of West Virginia's citizens, who, like those appearing in these pages, are justly entitled to rep- resentation in a standard work of the State. Therefore, following such patronage as may reasonably be expected for this volume, another and concluding one will in due time be published. In that book, as already suggested, those subjects, living or dead, who are not recorded herein, will receive careful and commensurate attention.
NEW YORK, 1893.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PAGE
ATKINSON, GEORGE W.,
234
FAULKNER, E. BOYD, . 208
AUSTIN, SAMUEL H., .
169
FLEMING, A. B., . 47
FRISSELL, JOHN, .
64
BARBEE, ANDREW R., . 105
BERKSHIRE, RALPH L.,
215
BIER, PHILIP G., .
179
BRANNON, HENRY,
204
BROCKUNIER, CHARLES W.,
178
HAGANS, J. M., . 185
BROWN, JAMES A.,
143
HALE, JOHN P., . 108
BROWN, JAMES F.,
241
HARLOW, BENJAMIN F., 149 HARRIS, JOHN W., I68
BROWN, THOMAS,
142
HARRISON, HARRY H.,
188
BUTTRICK, EDWIN L.,
103
BYRNE, BENJAMIN W.,
II6
CALDWELL, ALFRED, 1 39
CALDWELL, ALFRED, JR.,
14I
CALDWELL, GEORGE B.,
140
CALWELL, JAMES,
172
HUPP, JOHN C., .
212
CALWELL, WILLIAM B.,
174
CAMDEN, JOHNSON N.,
40
JACOB, JOHN J., .
50
JOHNSON, OKEY, .
. 169
CAMPBELL, ARCHIBALD W.,
222
KAIN, JOHN J., . .
246
COTTON, JOHN T.,
75
KESTER, MARCELLUS J.,
148
CREIGH, THOMAS,
190 .
KNIGHT, EDWARD B., .
212
DAVIS, HENRY G.,
235
LAMB, DANIEL, 35
DENNIS, THOMAS H., .
195
DENT, MARMADUKE, .
I26
LUCAS, DANIEL B.,
91
MCCLURE, JAMES T., . 253
McPHERSON, JOEL, 166
MCWHORTER, JOSEPH M., 144
MARTIN, BENJAMIN F.,
95
MATHEWS, HENRY MASON, 155
MATHEWS, MASON, 151
FAULKNER, CHARLES J.,
.
254
MELVIN, THAYER, 70
FAULKNER, CHARLES J., JR.,
209
MILLER, SAMUEL A.,.
III
FRY, JOSEPH L., .
120
GALLAHER, JOSEPH W., 189
GOFF, NATHAN, . 244
BROCKUNIER, SAMUEL R., .
176
HARRISON, WILLIAM A., HAYMOND, ALPHEUS F., HAZEN, STOWELL S., . HEREFORD, FRANK,
59
HOGEMAN, WILLIAM H., 99
HOLT, HOMER A.,
52
CAMDEN, T. B., .
II2
CARR, ROBERT S.,
135
LONG, O. S.,
114
DENT, MARMADUKE H., 156
DENT, WILLIAM M.,
127
DUFFY, PATRICK F.,
137
ELKINS, STEPHEN B., .
251
ENGLISH, JOHN W.,
204
206
53
196
BROWN, JAMES H.,
225
vi
CONTENTS.
PAGE
MORELAND, JOSEPH, .
118
MORGAN, BENJAMIN S.,
I33
OHLEY, WILLIAM A., .
132
OXLEY, BENJAMIN H.,
197
PAULL, ALFRED, . 125
PAULL, ARCHIBALD W., 124
PAULL, JAMES, 122
PAULL, JOSEPH F., 125
PETERKIN, GEORGE W.,
49
PIERPONT, FRANCIS H.,
216
PRICE, GEORGE E.,
198
PRICE, SAMUEL, .
31
RUCKER, WILLIAM P., 159
SNYDER, ADAM C., 55
SPILMAN, BALDWIN D., 207
SPOTTS, MARK L.,
193
STURGISS, GEORGE C.,
I57
SWANN, THOMAS B.,
IOI
TANEY, JOHN B.,
247
THOMPSON, GEORGE W.,
128
PAGE
THOMPSON, GEORGE W., JR., 130
THOMPSON, WILLIAM T., 135
WALKER, HENRY S., 71
WARTH, JOHN A.,
108
WATTS, C. C.,
96
WHELAN, RICHARD VINCENT,
68
WHITE, I. C.,
242
WHITE, ROBERT, .
89
WILLEY, WAITMAN T., 9
WILSON, E. W.,
78
WILSON, HENRY S., · 175
WILSON, WILLIAM L.,
. 57
WOODS, ARCHIBALD,
82
WOODS, JOSEPH J.,
· 87
APPENDIX.
BURNING SPRINGS OIL FIELD, ·
265
OIL PRODUCTION OF THE STATE, . 268
COAL, IRON AND TIMBER, .
· 269 PIONEER HISTORY OF CHARLESTON, . 276
282
THE CAPITAL CITY OF WEST VIRGINIA, . IMPROVEMENT OF THE GREAT KANAWHA RIVER .
· 286
W. J. Willey-
ENCYCLOPÆDIA
OF
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY
OF
WEST VIRGINIA.
WAITMAN T. WILLEY.
HON. WAITMAN THOMAS WILLEY, of Morgantown and Monongalia County, an emi- nent public man and representative citizen of West Virginia, who became prominently identi- fied with the formation of the new State; was United States Senator from Virginia under the restored and reorganized government, and was chosen to the same office from West Vir- ginia for the first two terms, beginning August I, 1863, and ending March 3, 1871, was born October 18, 1811. The copious sketch of Sena- tor Willey, following herein, is from the pen of Hon. John Marshall Hagans, Judge of the Sec- ond Judicial Circuit, and is reprinted from the " History of Monongalia County." Several of the speeches selected by the author have been omitted, largely for want of space, but Judge Hagans has so fully elucidated the Senatorial career of his subject that the absence of these abstracts in no wise lessens the real value of the biography, which includes a concise and graphic narrative of some of the most important events in State and National history. Special atten- tion is called to this sketch of Senator Willey as embodying the most interesting and significant facts relating to the formation of the new State, of its organization of government, and of its constitutional provisions; comprising, in all, an authenticated chapter of events the accuracy and fairness of which will hardly be disputed by any one. Now, in his eighty-third year, Senator Willey enjoys the blessings of sound health and unimpaired faculties in the midst of
life-long scenes and associations ; and it is hoped that the honor and distinction sought to be con- ferred upon him, in opening this volume with his name and features on its initial pages, may be acceptable to all of whatever political creed in West Virginia - north, south, east, and west. In his introduction to the biography, Judge Hagans says: The settlers who founded the communities embraced in that portion of West Virginia which earlier in the century was designated as Northwestern Virginia, were for the most part a hardy race of pioneers who were chiefly engaged, in the localities from which they came, in agricultural pursuits. The fer- tility of the soil, the boundless realms of wooded waste which only awaited the coming of the advancing tide of honest toil to develop fair fields and lovely landscapes, were attractive to the eye of the adventurous sovereigns whose limbs had but just donned the mantle of free- dom in the struggle with the mother country. The emigration came from New Jersey in col- onies and families. A few New England people in search of a softer climate found their way to its hospitable borders. The eastern Pennsyl- vanian in search of thrift looked with admira- tion on future comforts. Many also came from Maryland and contributed their share to the labor of founding in toil the abodes of peace and happiness. From the eastern portion of Virginia there came a large number who brought their slaves, and settled in the valleys where contentment and ease promised to spring from the efforts of labor. Others came from the shores of the gallant little colony which had borne
IO
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
on her bosom so much of the struggle in the Revolutionary conflict, and where the Brandy- wine had been reddened with the blood of rela- tives and neighbors. Among the latter was the father of the subject of this sketch, William Willey, who was born in Sussex County, Del., in 1767. Although a mere child during the greater part of the war of the colonies, he re- tained a vivid recollection of many of the in- cidents connected therewith in his own locality, and loved to recount them in after years to the willing ears of the rising generation. He heard at a short distance away the guns at the disas- trous battle of Brandywine and witnessed some of the demoralization following that untoward event. He was the son of William Willey, whose ancestry came from Great Britain. In the year 1782 or 1783, the grandfather removed to Monon- galia County, Va., locating near Collins' Ferry, then called Martin's Ferry, on what has since been known as the Burris farm, now owned by D. I. B. Anderson, Esq. A few years there- after he purchased and removed to the farm near Cassville now owned and occupied by John T. Fleming, Esq., where he died a few years later. In 1802, William Willey, the younger, purchased and settled on a tract of land adjoin- ing the present site of Farmington, in the now county of Marion, on Buffalo Creek. Here the Hon. Waitman T. Willey was born on the 18th day of October, 1811, in a log cabin not twenty feet square. His mother was the second wife of his father, and her maiden name was Sarah Barnes, daughter of Thomas Barnes, who had removed from Frederick County, Md., in 1779 or 1780, where his daughter was born. The
ancestry of Thomas Barnes were from Eng- land, while his wife was of Irish descent. He settled at the mouth of Buffalo Creek, then in Monongalia, now in Marion County. The scenes which surrounded the childhood of Mr. Willey were far different from those which greet the eyes of the youth in the same locality at the present day. Then it was an exceptionally iso- lated community. The few scattered settlers along the stream from thence to its head were thirty miles or more from the county-seat.
They were situated on no great thoroughfare which marked the tide of emigration to the great West. A few log cabins with the curling blue smoke, in the midst of a small “ deaden-
ing," were all that denoted that the restless spirit of the Anglo-American courage had at- tacked the vast primeval solitudes of the upper waters tributary to the Monongahela. The tastes and habits of the population were simple, their dress plain, and their manners unaffected. The chief characteristic that distinguished them in their primitive, rustic life was a cheery hos- pitality that was unbounded in its welcome. This feature was exhibited in their genial inter- course with each other, and manifested itself by frequent assemblages at their respective homes, where feats of generous rivalry in physical prowess were enlivened and interspersed with simple abundance and good cheer. The educa- tional facilities of such a stage in the progress of a people, at that day, were not great. In this section the grand truth that the stability of the Republic depended on the intelligence of the suffragans had not been popularly brought for- ward. Nor had it been necessary. The men who had wrested the principle of Republican gov- ernment from the domination of the old-world methods of ruling were still on the stage, and jealously guarded in infancy what their valor had won. It is not until the memories of the participants in a struggle for human liberty fade
from men's minds, or its echoes have died away or been lost in the surging ocean of human pride, ambition, or revenge, that it becomes necessary to hedge it about with all the barriers that knowledge can oppose to ignorance allied to malevolence. The few log school-houses which stood as lone sentinels of knowledge in the midst of such rugged frontier patriotism were sufficient to supply all the needs of men engaged in a hand-to-hand contest with the forces of nature. It is not surprising, therefore, that young Willey received but about nine months' schooling before he attained the age of twelve years; snatched, as it were, from the in- tervals of hard labor to which all were devoted as soon as they were physically competent. In the year 1823, his father removed to a farm purchased by him on the Monongahela River, at the mouth of Pawpaw Creek, and across the creek from the site of the present village of Rivesville. This was quite a change for him. He soon felt the impulse of achievement, which seems to pervade the minds and hearts of all dwellers by the side of deep flowing streams.
II
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
He never wearied of sitting on the banks of the river and listening to the monotone of its stead- ily moving currents. Still hard toil as a farm boy was his duty, and, as in every relation of life in subsequent years, he discharged it to the full measure. Until he attained the age of sev- enteen years, he labored assiduously on the farm, developing a magnificent physique, capa- ble of immense endurance, and which was the foundation on which he builded largely in fu- ture years; his stature then being six feet and two inches, and his weight two hundred pounds. The only interruption that occurred during these five years to his daily toil was his attend- ance for two months on what was then called a grammar-school, taught by a strolling teacher from Philadelphia. In this school he caught a glimpse of the temple of knowledge, and re- solved to enter its portals. Among the house- hold treasures that found a place in the boyhood home of Mr. Willey, and which were yellow with age, were a time-worn copy each of the "Iliad" (Pope's translation) and the "Essay on Man." These, with an oft-perused volume of " Pilgrim's Progress," "Pike's Arithmetic," and the Bible, comprised the whole of the library to which he had access until he left home to enter upon his collegiate course. The former of these works he was most diligent in reading and re-reading, although he early formed the habit of reading the Bible, and has constantly practised it all his life, until long passages were at his command from memory alone. The more he read the more his wonder grew, and the sublime conceptions of the father of epic story, all of which he regarded as a verity, filled his imagination with a glowing fervor of mental exaltation. New thoughts rose to stir within him new desires. He longed to join in the scenes of the great world around him, and for himself to observe in the surging multitude which he knew lay beyond the horizon of his rural life, the actions of men, and to participate in the grand conflict where each for himself hews out the pathway to honor. These feelings oppressed him until he besought his father for the means of obtaining an education, and was at length gratified by his reluctant consent. Madison College, subsequently merged in Allegheny College, located at Uniontown, Pa., being the nearest to his home, was selected as the place
where he should essay the arduous tasks of the student. On Christmas day, 1827, at seventeen years of age, he left his father's house for col- lege. His appearance at that time was charac- teristic of his times and surroundings. He wore the native homespun jeans of the butternut hue; his entire earthly effects were carefully wrapped up in a bandanna handkerchief which he carried in his hand, as, with a light heart and an unconquerable courage, he walked the whole of the distance, forty miles, in one day-a feat he performed at each vacation during his college course. His advent into the ranks of the stu- dents was signalized by general diversion at his uncouth appearance and manners. He cared little, however, for all this; his was a deep pur- pose. Silently he kept in his unobtrusive way, feeling conscious that his was at last to be the hour of triumph. It was soon apparent to those to whom he recited, that here was a gem in the rough, and his rapid advance enforced the re- spect of his early detractors. Under the date of December 22, 1829, but two short years after he entered upon the course, Professor Fielding of the Faculty wrote to his father: "Your son Waitman has now been under our care about two years. . . . It affords me similar pleasure to be able to give a good character of Waitman. His natural capacity and talent are of a high order; his love of learning is intense, and of course his habits of study have been assiduous. His gentlemanly deportment and his amiable disposition have secured him the esteem and affection of all who know him. He understands English well; he writes in his native tongue with purity. and especial elegance. He has laid a good foundation in mathematical science, and has already read, and carefully read, a larger portion of Latin and Greek than is usually read in this country. From his capacity and dili- gence he may be expected to graduate much sooner than the prescribed period." By dint of great exertions he outstripped all his competi- tors, though much below them at the outset, and finished the course six months before the allotted time, or the rest of his class. The last year he taught the junior class the course of Latin and Greek. Among the latter was Wil- liam Hunter, who subsequently became the profound Hebrew scholar and professor, and between whom there always existed the warm-
.
I2
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
est ties of friendship. In June, 1831, he gradu- ated, bearing away every honor of his class. It was indeed a triumph. On his nineteenth birth- day he began keeping a journal. His first entry is brief but striking: "Oct. 18, 1830 .- Nineteen years old this day. Tempus fugit." After he had passed his examination prior to graduation, he writes: "The fiery ordeal is past. The ex- amination is over and mine are the first honors."
The trustees declared that "Waitman T. Wil-
ley ... is well entitled to that honor." A month later the pride of victory had subsided from the purple flush of early dawn into the beam of constant and generous benignity, when he writes under date of July 30, 1831 : "The old college looks desolate. . .. I love these old walls. . .. I could almost shed tears on de- parting from these old bricks. If the boys were here now, I could love them all." How conso- nant with the views and actions of a long and varied life! Madison College having consoli- dated with Allegheny College, the degree of A.M. was conferred by the latter in due course. Some years later, the honorary degree of M.A.
was conferred by Augusta College.
Some time
after his election to the United States Senate, the authorities of Allegheny College voted him the degree of LL.D., but, with characteristic modesty, not deeming himself entitled to so distinguished an honor, he let the matter fail of consummation sub silentio. From his graduation
until May, 1832, Mr. Willey remained at home,
engaged in labor on the farm and reading at
every leisure hour. At the latter period he en- tered the law office of the Hon. Philip Dod- dridge, at Wellsburg, Brooke County. Under his direction he read law until November of that year, when his preceptor died at Washington. Mr. Willey always retained for the talents of Mr. Doddridge the most profound admiration, and it was a matter of pleasure for him to pre- pare, and deliver before the Historical Society of West Virginia, at its annual meeting in 1875, an address which comprises a sketch of his life. He completed his law studies in the office of Dr. John C. Campbell, of Wellsburg. On the 24th of June, 1833, he located in Morgantown, and was admitted to the bar in September of that year, forming a partnership with the Hon. E. C. Wilson, which lasted two years, when he opened an office of his own. That he meant to
-
be serious in the business of life is apparent from an entry to be found in his journal of the above date, of his location in Morgantown, say- ing, "where I now live (M.) and where I expect to die." The following year, on the 9th of October, he married Elizabeth E. Ray, daughter of Patrick Ray, the father also of Thomas P. Ray. From that time until the year 1841, Mr. Willey was deeply immersed in the practice of his profession, and he rapidly built up a mod- erately lucrative business. He soon became distinguished as an advocate of very superior abilities. He ingratiated himself into the soci- ety of the place by his genial manners, his versatile powers, and his very accommodating disposition. He established a reputation for sobriety of habits and uprightness of character, that laid the basis for the respect and esteem subsequently manifested on all occasions when he was before the people for their suffrages. His powers as an orator became a matter of State repute, and in 1840 the Whig Convention held at Richmond, Va., placed him on the Har- rison and Tyler electoral ticket. Into that ex- citing canvass he entered with all the enthu- siasm of the impassioned orator impelled by profound convictions of duty. He made over forty speeches in northwestern Virginia and western Pennsylvania. His peculiar oratory made him a favorite with the masses. He not only pleased them with the smoothness of his speech and convinced them with the soundness of his logic, but he swayed them with the in-
definable subtility and the nameless spirit of eloquence. Out of that campaign he came with a most definitely established reputation as an orator; it was reserved for other times and is- sues to demonstrate his ability as a statesman. In the spring of 1840, he was a candidate for member of the House of Delegates for the coun- ty, but was defeated owing to a popular preju- dice against his profession. At the election of
General Harrison for the Presidency, he was greatly gratified, and at his untimely death he was as a patriot deeply affected. His journal bears this entry: "Inscrutable Providence! I
loved him-his country loved him." By general request he delivered an address on the life and character of President Harrison in the Presby- terian church. For some years prior to this time his health was not good. The excessive
13
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
application to his studies at college and subse- quently had brought about the usual results in hepatic affection. In November, 1841, Mr. Willey was elected Clerk of the County Court of Monongalia County, succeeding to the place made vacant by the death of his brother-in-law, Thomas P. Ray, and in the same month was, by Judge Fry, appointed Clerk of the Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery, both of which offices he held until the amended Consti- tution of 1851 went into effect, in 1852. He was a candidate for the clerkship of the county court under that Constitution, but was defeated by a small vote. During the years he held these important positions his life was a very labori- ous one, but amid it all he performed much lit-
erary work and kept up his habits of study. He began the collection of a library which devel- oped into a large and well-chosen stock of the highest order of standard works. At the begin- ning of this period of his life he united with the church of his choice, although his journal con-
tains many evidences of his having before been deeply moved by spiritual influences, and fully recognizing by private devotions his duties to his Maker. Of this open acknowledgment of his faith his journal records : " But more impor- tant than any or all acts of my life, I recognize my union with the Methodist Episcopal Church,
in the month of November last. . . . May I be a faithful servant." In the year 1843, he deliv- ered before the literary society of his alma mater an address that indicated the line of his thought and studies, and his habitual tendency to incul- cate the moral virtues. It bore the title of " The Influence of Virtue upon the Character, and its Effects upon the Higher Attributes of the Mind." His field of operations was not alone the higher
intellectual sphere. Wherever good was to be accomplished he was ever an active worker. The Sunday-school was a favorite arena for the
exercise of his genial talents and sympathetic
heart; and when the great temperance reform under the auspices of the order of the Sons of Temperance began to move among the people, it found in him a most willing and efficient
coadjutor. He became early one of its chief
officers in the western part of the State. He
travelled extensively in the year 1849 through-
out his own section of the State, lecturing and establishing divisions of the order. He also
visited the eastern part of the State, and was well received, producing a most favorable im- pression of his powers as an orator and charac- ter as a man. At this time he was compli- mented by a newspaper of Fairmount in the following flattering terms: "In view of his talents, his numerous services to our people, and the sacrifices he has made for the good of others, he should be regarded as the pride of western Virginia." Mr. Willey's ability as a temperance orator at this period was of no meagre character. He was deeply in love with his theme. · To him it was as broad as human- ity and as vital as eternity. His pictures of the desolation and ruin wrought by intemperance were as sombre as the grave and the magnetismn of his glowing fervor pierced the shield of the stoutest opposer. Some of the greatest triumphs of his life were made during this eventful tem- perance campaign. The central pivot upon which turn all revolutions in the forms of govern- ments in the world, whether violent or peaceful, has been the question of supremacy in the few or the many. The people of Virginia were no exception to this rule. Ever since the adoption of the original constitution, after her allegiance as a colony had been severed, there had been two questions which agitated her people. The convention which assembled in her capital in
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