USA > West Virginia > Ritchie County > History of Ritchie County, with biographical sketches of its pioneers and their ancestors, and with interesting reminiscences of revolutionary and Indian times > Part 1
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PHOTOGRAPH BY W. S. SHERWOOD THE AUTHOR'S PICTURE
HISTORY
OF
RITCHIE COUNTY
WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ITS PIONEERS AND THEIR ANCESTORS, AND WITH INTERESTING REMINISCENCES OF REVOLUTIONARY AND INDIAN TIMES
By
MINNIE KENDALL LOWTHER
WITH PORTRAITS AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS
WHEELING NEWS LITHO. CO., WHEELING, W. VA.
RY
530916
- J.S.
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COPYRIGHT, 1911 BY MINNIE KENDALL LOWTHER
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mme of our childhood ! how affection rlings And hovers 'round thee with her seraph
Dearer thy hills, though rhan in autumn brown, Than fairest summits which the criars crown ! Sweeter the fragrance of thy summer breeze Than all Arabia breathes along the seas ! The stranger's gale wafts home the exile's sinh, For the heart's temple is its ount blue sky.
-Oliver Wendell Holmes.
APR 2 1 1911
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Dedicated to the Memory uf
The Pioneers of Ritchie County
PREFACE
The idea of writing a history of Ritchie county had its origin in a suggestion made by Lewis Harvey Adams while editor of the "Ritchie Standard," about the year 1904 when he requested us to write some historical articles (of towns and other points of interest in the county) for his paper. We had long been an invalid (from an injury to the spine sustained by a fall from a horse) and was at that time local correspond- ent for his paper. However, we agreed to comply with this request in case that the desired data could be obtained, and shortly after set about the task, and when once at work, we became so much interested, that the research resulted in a brief history of the county which ran as a serial in the "Ritchie Standard" from June 7, 1906, to January 3, 1907; and by the time this serial was at an end, quite a number of the readers of the paper were requesting its issue in "book form." But being conscious of its many inaccuracies and imperfections we resolved to set out anew, and to make a more complete and authentic history before submitting it to the public in book form. So the whole ground has been gone over again, and much new territory has been explored. Letters of inquiry with out-lines of suggestive questions have been sent to every known pioneer family ; the telephones and the newspapers have been pressed into service, and various other devices have been resorted to in the gathering and the verifying of this data ; and we now submit to the people of this county as authentic, and as complete a history as can be hoped for at this late day when the lips of so many of the makers of this history are now sealed in death. And while we realize that many imperfections are still in evidence in this work, we trust that the reader will not lose sight of the disadvantages that have confronted us, and the fact that we are a novice in the "book business"-this being our first venture.
The original idea was to go back with these sketches to the time the ancestors of the pioneers of the county crossed
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PREFACE
the water and down to their sons and daughters: and it will be observed that this is still the general plan of the book. though circumstances have demanded not a few departures from this plan. But in each and every instance we have used such material as has been available. Some of the older fami- lies are written up for several generations in order to bring them down to the memory of the present people. Some have had well-preserved records and other data to draw upon, while others whose ancestry may have been just as interesting, had 1:one. Others again manifested no interest. hence the absence of some who should have been included.
Quite a number of complete family genealogies have been furnished us, but owing to the size of this volume, and the arduous task involved, it has been necessary to leave the younger generations and their achievements principally to the future historian, or to the individual family record-maker.
The prime object of this volume has been to embalm the memory of the pioneers of this county, and to show briedy the growth and progress that one hundred ten years have wrought in this little corner of our great Commonwealth. Some have felt that because their ancestors did not figure in public affairs that their brief history was hardly worthy of a place : but would it not be well for us to remember in this connection that all of the heroes are not found in the front of the battle or in exalted positions : but that some of the noblest of earth have been content to live and die in the humbler walks of life-"unheralded and unsung." And, truly, such examples should be an inspiration for us to "do with our might what our hands find to do," though it may be a very lowly task: for-
"It may not be on the mountain's height, Or over the stormy sea ; It may not be at the battle's front My Lord may have need of me."
We gratefully acknowledge the valuable assistance that has been rendered us by the many in the accomplishment of this arduous task: for had this assistance been withheld this
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PREFACE
little volume could never have been given to the public. Our investigations have been persistent and thorough, and if some cherished tradition is found to be set aside, please bear in mind that this has been done only upon good authority. Many conflicting statements have confronted us, but we have made our decisions always in favor of the most authentic informa- tion, although some disputed points are still left in doubt.
While it is impossible to mention all who have contributed to this work, the following named persons are among those who have been especially helpful.outside of their own family data :
Israel Davidson, the late Joel Westfall, the late General Harris, the late Mrs. Salina Woods, the late Mrs. Agnes Layfield, the late Mrs. Elizabeth McGregor, Mrs. Sarah Osbourn, George B. Douglass, Van Martin, Van A. Zevelcy, Martin Smith, the Rev. James T. Sinnett, Harry Dawson, B. M. Cowell, Mrs. Lina Haymond Lantz, John B. Lemon, E. R. Tibbs, Creed Wilson, Hu Maxwell (the historian), Mrs. Eveline Evans, Mrs. Belinda Hill, Mr. and Mrs. B. H. Wilson, George B. Johnson, Christopher Douglass, the late William Douglass, L. V. Mc Whorter (the. historian of North Yakima, Washington), Miss Fannie McKinney (Williamstown). Mrs. Iva Lowther Peters (New York), Miss Julia Maxwell (West Milford), Granville Lowther ( Braxton county), Josiah Hughes (Roane county), Forrest Goff (Glenville), A. H. Hall, C. L. Zinn, Mrs. Lullu Hallam Parker (Kansas city, Missouri), Miss Genevieve Collins, Newton Brake (Buckhannon), and perhaps others.
We are also indebted to Withers "Chronicles of Border- warfare," the "History of Ohio," and the "Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia of the Virginias" for interesting helps : and to many courtesies from the telephone operators along the different lines, and for special favors from the Pritchard Telephone Company, the local newspaper editors and the kind publishers. Last but far greater than all has been the help of the great Author of all good.
MINNIE KENDALL LOWTHER.
Fonzo, West Va., January 24, 1911.
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CONTENTS
Chapter
II .- First Settlers in Ritchie County
IV .- Thomas and Phebe Cunningham
V .- The Westfalls and Whites
VI .- South Fork Settlers-Continued
VIII .- North Fork Settled VII .- South Fork Settlers-Continued
IX .- North Fork Settlers-Continued
XI .- Scotch Settlers
XIII .- Husher's Run
XIV .- Goose Creek Settled
XV .- Middle Fork Settled
XVI .- Bone Creek Settled
XVII .- Otterslide Settled
XVIII .- Spruce Creek Settled
XIX .- Grass Run Settled. XX .- Leatherbarke Settled
XXI .- Indian Creek Settled
XXII .- Chevauxdefrise Settled
XXIII .- Slab Creek Settled
XXIV .- White Oak Settled
XXV .- Beeson Settled XXVI .- Macfarlan and Dutchman
XXVII .- Devil IIole Creek Settled
XXVIII .- Ritchie Mines
XXIX .- Pioneer Life and Character
XXX .- Schools and Teachers
XXXI .- Churches
XXXII .- Mills
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I .- Discovery of Ritchie County
III .- South Fork Settled
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X. - First Settlers in the Cairo Vicinity
XII .- Bond's Creek Settled
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CONTENTS
Chapter
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XXXVI .-- Physicians
XXXVII .- Newspapers
XXXVIII .- Harrisville
XL .-- Cairo
XLI .- Pennsboro
XLII .- Ellenboro
XLIII .- Smithville
XLV .- Auburn
XLVI .- Berea
XLVIII :- Petroleum (Highland, Cornwallis, Glendale, XLVII .- Pullman ( Oxford, Holbrook)
Mole Hill, Rusk)
XLIX .- Tollgate
L .- Other Prominent Families
LII .- The Poet's Corner LI .- The Younger Men's Calendar
LIII .- The Blue and the Gray
LIV .- Some Additional Ancestries
LV .- Natural Resources
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XXXIII .- Postoffices
XXXT .-- Developments
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XXXIV .- Ritchie County Formed
XXXIX .-- Prominent Harrisville Families
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XLIV .- Burnt House ( Goff's, Fonsoville)
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Page Frontispiece
1. Author's Picture
2. Old Rock at the Mouth of Indian run 3
3. Lowther Coat-of-arms 5
4. Col. William Lowther's Cabin
5. Cemetery where Col. Lowther Sleeps I
6. The Old Stone House at Pennsboro .
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2. James Hardman and Hardman Chapel 51 1
is. George W. Hardman 53
9. The Old Malone Homestead ( Wyldewood Cottage where the History of Ritchie County was written) 56
10. Archibald Wilson 106
11. John Collins 122
12. Daniel Haymond 12.4 1
13. Marsh Cabin 135 1 1 I 1
I 1 14. Emmanuel Dotson 113 1 1 1 1 1 I
15 The Old Marshall Home 167 1
16. Richard and Eleanor Rutherford 121 1 1 1 1
1 17. The Old Rutherford Home 174
18 Andrew and Catharine Hall Douglass 128 1 1
19 William and Elizabeth Hall McGregor 106 I
20. Robert Sommerville 239 1 1
21. Mrs. Jennie Kendall Lowther 315
22. Harman and Frances Moats Sinnett 316 1
23. Scene of the First Tragedy in Ritchie County 368
24. Ruins of the Ritchie Mines and Frederick Lemon, the discoverer 383
25 H. S. Wilson 388 1
1 26. James Woods 393 1 1
27. Harrisville School Building 1 I 1 1
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28. A Modern School Building 1 1
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1 1 29. Harrisville M. E. Church 409 1 1 1 I
1 1 1 1 30. Harrisville Baptist Church 119 1 1 1 1 I
1 1 1 31. Isaiah and Jane Taylor Wells 417 1 1 1 1 1 1
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
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32. The Isaiah Wells Mill and Homestead 119
33. The Old North Fork Bridge 137
:4. Gen. Thomas Maley Harris 441 1
35. The late Residence of Gen. T. M. Harris I
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36. Dr. and Mrs. M. S. Hall 446
37. Enoch G. Day 151 1 1 1 1
38. E. S. Zeveley 451
39. White Hall Hotel 165 1
40. The Court House with the Annex 468
41. The Jail 469
42. Harrisville looking from the Cemetery south of town 170
13. P. & H. Train on Trestle
44. Panorama of Pennsboro 518
45. J. P. Strickler. 535 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 46. Mrs. J. P. Strickler 536 1 1 1 1 1 I
47. L. V. McWhorter (Old Wolfe) 569
48. Portraits Younger Men's Calendar-Between 620-621
49. John S. Hall. 636
50. Herbert P. McGinnis 640
51. Soldiers' Group-Between pages 643-644
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Oil Derrick
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CHAPTER I
The Discovery of Ritchie County
S we look with so much pleasure and admir- A ation upon the smiling valleys and sunny hill-tops that surround our rural homes, it sounds like a fairy-tale to be told that a little more than a century and a quarter ago, thiis beautiful landscape was one vast unbroken wilderness-the lair of wild beasts, and the home of the savage Red man. But-
"The Red man is no more, The pale-faced stranger stands alone, Upon the river's shore."
Tradition, as well as history, tells us that the first "pale- faced strangers" that ever trod the "Little Kanawha" and Hughes river valleys and stood1 within the present bounds of Ritchie county, were Colonel William Lowther and Jesse and Elias Hughes.
It was in the year 1772, when the glorious touch of autumn was on every bush and tree, that this brave trio set out on their long and perilous expedition which was destined to result in the discovery of what is now the prosperous little County of Ritchie.
Leaving the place where Clarksburg now stands, they steered their course up the West Fork of the Monongahela river to its head waters, and, crossing over the dividing ridge near the present site of Weston, pursued their journey down Sand creek to its confluence with the Little Kanawha. Here they found a beautiful mountain river upon which the eye of civilized man had, perhaps, never before rested, and being filled with delight at this discovery, and lured on by their
1The incident which gave rise to the names of Macfarlan and Dutch- man is found to antedate this. But it has never before been a matter of history. See later chapter.
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
desire to explore, to penetrate this dense wilderness, and to find the destination of this river, they followed its tortuous course, its meanderings like a "silver thread"-naming the tributaries as they passed along.
The general course of the first one that appeared sug- gested a more direct route from the point near Weston to the river they were exploring, than the one down Sand creek, and they named it "Leading creek." Cedars adorned the banks of the next stream and they called it "Cedar creek." Then one came out from beneath stately pines, and "Pine creek" was the name given to it. High banks of yellow clay marked the mouth of another. giving rise to the name of "Yellow creek" -. which is to-day so far-famed for its richness in oil. After this came a tributary "stretching far away among the hills" -- a long line of its course being visible, and the name "Straiglit creek" was bestowed upon it. From toward the evening sun flowed another, which suggested the name of "West Fork." And from the cool, limpid waters of another, they quenched their thirst and it has ever since borne the name of "Spring creek."
Little did these pioneers of civilization dream that before a century had passed away, this region was destined to give birth to what is to-day one of the richest resources of our Commonwealth. Scarcely less credible is the romancer's story of the powerful magic wand of "Aladin's Lamp" than the one that the historian has woven about "Burning Springs."1
In August. 1860, when the news went out from this place that the greatest petroleum-producing field then known to the world had here been discovered, the population of this entire vicinity was less than a score. and six months later, on that memorable April morn when the whole country was startled by the firing on Fort Sumpter, it numbered not fewer than six thousand persons. Capitalists and adventurers from every quarter of the globe flocked to this "Eldorado," and immense fortunes came and went in a single day. This was the begin- ning of the oil industry in our state. And though the popula- tion of this region once numbered eighteen thousand, it has now almost returned to "its primitive wilderness."
1Burning Springs was discovered later by Ulwrick Hostetter
and others. (See Hostetters in South Fork settlers. )
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THE DISCOVERY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
After "Spring creek" came another tributary to which the name "Reedy" was applied. And at some distance below upon the bank of a small stream, a huge stone was found standing erect, and "Standing Stone creek" has ever since been familiar to the inhabitants of the Little Kanawha valley.
Farther down a beautiful river united its "gently mur- muring tide" with the Kanawha, and Jesse Hughes claimed the privilege of conferring his own name upon it. His com- panions made no protest and the name of "Hughes river" las ever since occupied a place on the maps of the "Little Mount- ain State." In 1789, an effort was made to have the name changed to that of "Junius," but the aged citizens still mind- fil of the debt of gratitude that was due the brave discoverers, refused to listen to such a change.
Up this river, whose name is so familiar to us all, and upon whose beloved banks so many of our childish feet have loitered, "looking for the spring flowers wild," these weary travelers continued their explorations, and soon a stream of some magnitude came to view in which flocks of wild geese were bathing, and the name "Goose creek" at once suggested itself. Farther up, the river divided into two branches, and these were designated as the North and the South forks of Hughes river : and as they proceeded up the South fork, they discovered a small stream overhung by walnut trees, and it was called "Walnut creek" until 1784, when Col. Lowther, with a company of men, surprised the Indians on this creek, and a battle ensued in which five red men and a white boy
The old rock at the mouth of Indian run as it looks today.
HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
were killed, and ever since that time it has been known as "Indian creek."' The only stream mentioned that does not retain its original name.
After the discovery of Indian creek, these explorers re- traced their footsteps to the Kanawha river and continued its descent, and 'ere long the mouth of a stream filled with slate rose before their vision, and the name "Slate creek" was ap- propriated to it. And shortly after this, the goal for which they had covered so many weary miles was in sight; the mouth of the river had been reached, and this little band stood upon the bank of the bold Ohio, perhaps, among the first Englishmen that ever set foot upon the site that is now marked by the interesting city of Parkersburg : and from here the homeward march began, and in due time they reached the point from which they had started, having made the way pos- sible for the "settlements of the now beautiful and populous valleys of these two rivers."
This little historical drama would hardly be complete without a word in regard to the identity of the heroic actors who were instrumental in bringing it about. and of them we shall now speak :
1The scene of this conflict was near the present site of the Indian run school-house, on land now owned by Dr. C. W. Rexroad. Here, near the mouth of this little stream, stand the several cliffs of rocks which shel- tered the Indians on that memorable night, and from which they fled in dismay on the following morning, "at the dawn's early light," leaving their dead, their prisoners, and their guns. And though these old rocks serve as a most fitting memorial to one of the first tragedies ever enacted on Ritchie county soil, so mute, and so silent do they stand that very few who gaze upon them would ever suspect their interesting, tragical history.
An incident of this battle which we glean from "Border Warfare" will doubtless add interest here:
"As soon as the firing was opened upon the Indians, Mrs. Alex Roncy, one of the prisoners, ran toward the Whites, rejoicing at the prospect of deliverance, and exclaiming, "I am Ellick Roney's wife of the Valley, I am Ellick Roney's wife of the Valley, and a pretty little woman, too, if I am well-dressed!" The poor woman, ignorant of the fact that her son was weltering in his own gore, and, forgetting for an instant, that her husband had been so recently killed, seemed intent only on her own de- liverance from the savage captors.
"Another of the captives, Daniel Dougherty, being tied down and un- able to move, was discovered by the Whites as they rushed toward the camp; but fearing that he might be one of the enemy, and that he might do them some injury if they advanced, ore of the men stopped and de- manded to know who he was. But being benumbed with the cold and so disconcerted by the sudden firing of the Whites, he could not render his Irish dialect intelligible to them: and the white man raised his gun and pointed it toward him, and in loud, emphatic tones told him that if he did not make it known who he was that he'd blow a ball through hin, be he White man or Indian. Fear supplying him with new vigor, Dougherty exclaimed, 'Loord Jasus, and am I to be killed by the White people at last?' Col. Lowther heard him and his life was saved."
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THE DISCOVERY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
The Lowthers .- "Lowther"' is a very old name in the land beyond the deep. It is supposed to be of Norman or French origin, and its primitive spelling was "Loutre," or "Louthre"-meaning otter or na- 110 tive ; and in the ancient chronicles / of the family (in the "Old World") it is said to be frequent- iy met with in this form to-day. But, however this may have been, they came over to England with William the Conqueror, from VIRUM INi Normandy in France, during the The right Hon (de autumn of 1066, and have ever Henry Lowther Viscount Lonsdale. since laid claim to British soil, though (from here) they have scattered to Ireland and to vari- ous other climes. They are distinctively connected with the North of England, where they own large possessions to-day.
Sir William Lowther was the prime minister of William the III, about the year 1695, and was subsequently created first Viscount of Lonsdale; and Sir James Lowther, a very well- known member of the family, who married the daughter of Lord Bute (the first prime minister of George the III), was made the first Earl of Lonsdale, near 1760, and the present Earl (of Lonsdale) is his direct descendant.
Another head of the family, William, Earl of Lonsdale, was Postmaster-General and President of the Council in the second Beaconsfield's first government in 1866 ; and the Hon- orable William Lowther, who still survives at the age of eighty-eight years, occupied a seat in the House of Commons, from Westmoreland county, for a quarter of a century, and his son, the Right Honorable James William Lowther (to
1An old tradition concerning the origin of the name "Lowther" in the "Old World," which has been handed down for generations in the family, is: "That Henry Low, whose ancestral line came from Ireland. had three sons, Henry, George and William, who were English miners and for some superior skill and valor 't-h-e-r' was added to their name by royal decree, and William was said to be the grandfather of Col. William Lowther. But, however cherished this old story may be, its authenticity is now scattered to the winds before historical facts which are indisputable; as the history of the family is to be found in 'Dod's Parliamentarian Companion,' 'Who's Who,' and various other English books of reference."
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
whom we are indebted for this information), has been in Par- liament for twenty-seven years, and is now the speaker of the House of Commons.
All down the centuries the name has been associated with the public affairs of Great Britain, and John Langton Sanford and Meredith Townsend in their "Great Governing Families of England," say :
"The history of the Lowthers is that of immense and almost unbroken civil success. Though they date from the earliest feudal period and possess to this time a power more nearly feudal than that of any other family in England, ex- cept the Perceys and the Wynnes, they would be defined on the continent as belonging rather to the peerage of 'the robe' than the nobility of the sword. A race of proud, sensitive, and singularly efficient men, they have filled high offices as lawyers, battled bravely as politicians, and performed, once or twice, good service as ministers of the State. From 1300, for five hundred years, there never sat a parliament which was not attended by a Lowther or a Lowther's direct nominee."
The first record that we have of the family in the Western world is in the Pennsylvania colony, on October 22 and 23. 1681, when William Penn granted five thousand acres of land to William Lowther and his sister, Margaret, near "Simpson Tract." They were the son and the daughter of Armstrong Lowther, of York county, England, and their mother was a sister of William Penn. William married Kathrine Preston, and had a son, Thomas Lowther. Margaret became Mrs. Benjamin Poole, and their daughter was Mrs. Richard Nichol- Son.1 1
But Col. William Lowther was not a lineal descendant of this Pennsylvania family, as some mistakenly think. His parents, Robert and Aquilla Reese Lowther, crossed to America (from Ireland) near the year 1738, and settled in Albermarle county, Virginia. They later removed to the. South Branch of the Potomac river, in what is now the East- ern Panhandle of this State, and finally to Hacker's creek, where their lives came to a close. ( ?)
1To Hon. Hu Maxwell we are indebted for this bit of information. which is taken from the "Crown Inn" (which stood near Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania), written by W. C. Reichel.
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THE DISCOVERY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
They had quite a family of children, but only part of their names are at our command ; viz., Thomas, Henry, Jona- than, Joel and William.
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