USA > West Virginia > Preston County > A History of Preston County, West Virginia, V. 2 > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30
Honesty, simplicity and Christian piety are characteristic traits of the Guthrie family. Theeir avocation is farming, and in that they are all successful. Jeremiah Guthrie has raised 60 bushels of oats on an acre of his land, 32 bushels of wheat, and 100 bushels of corn. This was on the old home place. He is well liked as a county commissioner.
II. FOSTER HARTMAN.
FORLIG LIDA
ASTOR. LENO: TILDEN FOUND. I. N3
673
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
THE HARTMAN FAMILY.
Michael Hartman came from Shenandoah county about 1805, and settled on the Isaiah W. Hartman place near Lenox. John, one son, built a saw mill on Lick Run. Michael wagoned on the National Road, a number of years and was once absent a year with a large load of merchandise, which he took to Tennessee before he returned.
He married Margaret Miller. Henry, their eldest son, died about 1875, about seventy-five years of age. He wagoned also. Henry's first wife was Lovila Sypolt. She was the daughter of George Sypolt, who lived on Beech Run.
Their children were Sarah Jane, now Mrs. Elijah Messenger of Terra Alta; Mrs. Henry Beatty, of the Whetsell neighborhood; George Washington, born at Crab Orchard, September 1, 1842, a veteran of the late war, serving in Company F, of the Sixth Virginia Infantry, from August, 1861, to the 12th of June, 1865. In 1867, he married Miss Susan Harriet Bonafield, daughter of Thornton and Sarah Bonafield, a farmer near Tunnelton, and moved there on the old Bonafield homestead, which Mr. Hartman bought in 1869. In 1905, they moved to Terra Alta. Their children are Edward Thornton, who married Nira Watson of Kingwood. They live in Boston. (2) Arnold Wesley, who married Ida Hanaway, and lives on the home farm. (3) Mabel, who married Bert Gibson a lumberman of Mason- town. (4) Lee Burt, a merchant of Tunnelton; (5) Alice Virginia, who married Bruce Falkenstein ; (6) Henry Foster, candidate for sheriff ; (7) and Lessie, the youngest child, now at home.
Henry Foster Hartman, Sheriff of Preston County, was born December 25, 1880. His life until eighteen years of age was spent on a farm in the Kingwood District, and his education obtained in the Bonafield school near Tunnelton. In 1898, he became a member of the mercantile firm of George Hartman & Son, of Lenox, but two years afterwards he went to Terra Alta, where he owned and oper- ated a store. In 1905, he closed out and established the Terra Alta Candy Company and did a profitable wholesale and retail trade in the ice cream and candy business for four years. It was his honesty and agreeable manners in his relationship to the people of Preston County that has made a possibility of him for the office of Sheriff.
April 23, 1902, Mr. Hartman was married to Miss Belle Kelly. She is the daughter of W. S. and Sarah (Feathers) Kelly of Lenox,
674
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
and was born December 19, 1882. She is a descendant of John Kelly of Revolutionary fame.
Three children were born of this marriage. Ruby Beatrice, born November 25, 1903; Donald, the second child, and then Harold Spencer.
Mr. and Mrs. Hartman are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are well and favorably known in Terra Alta, and through- out Preston County.
FOREST WILLIAM WHITE.
Groceries and drygoods stores, hotels and livery stables are among the indispensables of every place where trading is carried on. King- wood is well supplied with these establishments, its livery stable being one of the best in Preston County, and its owner a man well adapted to its particular needs.
Forest W. White, proprietor of the Kingwood stable, is a son of John S. White, at one time an owner of this stand. The father was a brother of George Washington White, of Pleasantdale (see sketch) and it was on that old homestead farm he was born January 2, 1859. He married Miss Jennie B. White, a native of Oakland, Mary- land. Their children were Elmer E., now owner and proprietor of a large hotel at Logan, Logan County, West Virginia. His wife was Miss Lummie Graham; Forest W .; Ada B., born April 26, 1886; Mc- Kinley, born June 27, 1900.
Forest W. White was born March 28, 1884. His parents were in poor circumstances, and shifted about as renters from place to place. The birth of Forest was on the farm now owned by Benoni Jordan near Kingwood. They lived four years in Barbour County at one time.
After a common school education was obtained, young Mr. White began life for himself. He teamed seven or eight years, and in that line of work first got his start. In 1906 he bought out all interests in the Livery Stable, with lots covering nine tenths of an acre in all. In 1911, he built his commodious residence, two story and a basement, and will in the near future erect another residence on the lot adjoining. He owns a round dozen of teams, and twenty-five good rigs to meet the demands of his traveling patrons whose number has increased very largely quite lately.
.
FORREST W. WHITE
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOPP. LENOX ILDEN JE AD TIONS
675
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Mr. White was married August 13, 1911, to Miss Addie B. Stone, daughter of Charley Stone, whose sketch also appears in this work. One child, Eugene Francis, born February 25, 1912, is the fruit of this union. He died March 23, 1912,
Mr. White is a member of the I. O. O. F., but aside from this order he belongs to no other fraternity.
DAVID JOSEPH GIBSON.
David Joseph Gibson, son of Joseph H. and Jane E. Gibson, was born in Cumberland, Maryland, October 21, 1846. When a year old his father removed to the Willett farm one mile east of Brandonville, Preston County, Virginia now West Virginia, where he entered into the mercantile business.
He received his education in the best select schools that period afforded. One of his early recollections of school life was when he attended a select school taught by Harriet E. Gans in the Quaker Meeting House, which was located east of Brandonville about one and a half miles.
In the interim his father removed to Brandonville, where they in 1865 entered into the mercantile business in the Ridenour Hotel property in which they continued until the year 1870, when he and his father removed to what is now known as St. Joe, one half mile above Albright, Preston County, where they entered into co-partner- ship with Jos. B. Cressler in the manufacture of lumber.
On the 28th day of October, 1869, he was married to Clara C. Cressler of Shippensburg, Pa., to which union two children were born, both of which died in infancy. In the year 1873 he was appointed Deputy Sheriff by Elisha Thomas, then Sheriff for the east side, which office he filled for four years. At the expiration of his term of office (1877), he removed to Newburg, Preston County, where he entered into the mercantile business with his brother-in-law, L. M. Albright in which town he resided for 27 years. During this period he filled the office of Deputy Sheriff for Lyon District under Elisha Thomas' second term as Sheriff, with various city and district offices. In the year 1905, he removed to Kingwood, West Virginia, erecting a dwelling on Beverly Hill, where he now resides.
Politically, his antecedents were Republican, but for the past 25
676
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
years he has affiliated with the Prohibition party, believing that the greatest question before the American people is the abolition of the legalized saloon. Was twice nominated as a candidate for Con- gress for the Second Congressional District on the Prohibition ticket and once an elector at large.
Religiously, he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, filling various offices therein. For twenty years in succession he filled the office of Sunday School Superintendent in Newburg. In the year 1905 he was one of the promoters in the organization of the First National Bank of Newburg at the organization of which he was elected a director and its Vice-President, which position he still occupies.
He was made a Mason in Preston Lodge No. 14, in the year 1868. Is also a member of Copestone Chapter Royal Arch Masons of Grafton, West Virginia; DeMolay Commandery N. 12 Knights Templar of Grafton, West Virginia, and Damon Lodge No. 5. Knights of Pythias,' Newburg, West Virginia.
BERT THOMAS GIBSON.
The Gibson Brothers, well known lumbermen of Preston County, are of Scotch-Irish descent.
Their great-great-grandfather, Thomas Gibson, was one of the first settlers of the northern part of Preston county, and there opened up a large farm. James Gibson, their grandfather, grew up in the county and was here united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Cramer, a native of Maryland and daughter of Peter Cramer, who moved to this section from near Frederick, Maryland. After his marriage, Mr. Gibson settled near Tunnelton on a woodland farm whereon he built a substantial log house, which was about 1840. His wife died in 1890. He lived to be quite old. There were eight children born to this union, M. C. Gibson, being the fourth child. He was raised on a farm, and in July, 1863, enlisted in Company "B" Fourth West Virginia Cavalry and took part in a few minor engagements. In March, 1864, he was honorably discharged, after which he attended school in Millsbury Nor- mal College. Then he taught school one year. From 1867 to 1868 he lived in Henry county, Iowa. After his return to the State, he engaged in the lumber business somewhat extensively. He was with C. A. Craig of Irona, for twenty years. In 1875 he opened up a large store
1
DAVID J. GIBSON.
PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR. LTD. TILDEN : UND
677
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
in Tunnelton, doing a merchandising business there until his death, November 22, 1912.
In 1869, Mr. Gibson was married to Mary Anna Jackson, a native of Ohio, but reared and educated in Indiana. She was a daughter of Alexander Jackson, who settled in Henry county, Iowa, during the war. Four children were born of this union: Bert T. Gibson, now a pros- perous farmer near Masontown; James C. Gibson of Masontown also, and one of the most successful woodsman and practical lumberman in West Virginia; Mrs. Bessie R. Hardesty, wife of Robt. R. Hardesty, cashier of The American Bank of Waynesburg, Pa., and Joseph V. Gibson, a rising young lawyer of Kingwood.
Bert T. Gibson was born February 5 1871. He was educated in the country schools and in the University of Morgantown, completing in part the full course in that institution. Before and after his attend- ance at that university, he taught school, since that time has been iden- tified as an official in educational work, principally in the schools of Masontown where his interests are centered at the present time. After leaving college, he formed a partnership with John Garner in the lumber business at Irona, but two years afterwards they were burned out. In 1900, he went to Tunnelton and for five years was with his father in the merchandising business. He then came to Reedsville and entered into a partnership with his brother, James C., who had started the big lumber plant at Kanes Creek, and had already supplied the M. & K. Railroad Company with a large quantity of their building material for the construction of their road. Since that time, more than twenty-five large woodland tracts have been cleared off by the Gibson Brothers for the manufacture of lumber, they having done a large business in other states as well as in West Virginia in the shipping line. In 1912, Mr. Gibson withdrew his active connection with the company as a manufacturer of lumber, bought a valuable farm near Masontown and now resides on that, his intention being to follow agricultural pursuits along scientific lines in the future. He also has other valuable timber holdings.
On September 6, 1893, Mr. Gibson was married to Miss Mabel Hartman, daughter of George W. Hartman, now of Terra Alta. To this union was born five children, as follows: Mabel, April 17, 1895; Ruth, March 13, 1897; Ernest, November 16, 1902; Howard, June 6, 1904; Susan, June 18, 1909.
The family are Methodists. The Gibson brothers have been large contributors to the building of the place of worship, and very liberal
678
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
in their contributions to the' cause the church represents. Both families are active workers in the church. Mr. Bert T. Gibson has been superin- tendent of the Sabbath school during the past ten years or more. This is his favorite department in Christian work, and his devotion to the cause has made the Masontown Sabbath school one of the leading Sabbath schools in the country districts of the State. His tastes are domestic and along religious lines, simplicity of manners and plain- ness of life being characteristics of the Gibson families from the pioneer of the line down. A call to public duty has always been made to persons not caring for the honors and emoluments of office, and Bert T. Gibson, on principle, has responded like other public spirited men of his class. He was elected County Commissioner of Preston county and made President of the County Court, and now holds that position. He is administrator also of his father's estate.
JAMES C. GIBSON.
One of the economic provisions of the ages, was the creation of various forces for the preservation of unity in nature. As different parts of the human body have their special functions to perform in the preser- vation of human life, so has every department of business activity by individuals brought into an existence for that special purpose. For that reason, the scientist should be no more honored by his position than the mechanic, whose lot sometimes may be cast in lowly places- but in another case-when the top is reached both can share the plaudits of men alike, because of the success made in their respective callings. Occasionally, one man among a thousand is gifted beyond the ordinary, and the world immediately takes notice, and the subject of this sketch furnishes an example. Gifts and callings, however, have amounted to nothing in many cases, simply because opportunities in life have not been taken, when intended, and consequently lost. The life work of our subject, is worthy of note in that particular; note the facts :
James C. Gibson was born near Tunnelton, April 17, 1879. (See sketch of M. C. Gibson and the Gibson family.) His early life was spent obtaining a common school education, and working on the farm. His habits were studious, and his strenuous efforts to obtain an educa- tion ruinous to his eyesight. While in his early teens, his eye-sight
MILFORD C. GIBSON.
PUBLIC LIBRARY
A TOP. LET.
NS
1ILDEN.
679
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
became so impaired from close study that he was compelled to desist from any further attempt, although it was his heart's desire to go through college and pursue some professional course in life. As it was, he had to content himself simply with a commercial course, which he obtained at Parkersburg, West Virginia, during the years of 1902 and 1903.
Whatever might have been the success of Mr. Gibson in a profes- sional line of work can only be surmised. Circumstances, however, drove him into another channel, and it is now known what his capacity is as a business man. In this particular, his whole career has been unique and decidedly out of the ordinary. When two years old, his grandfather gave him one ewe sheep, and strange to say the first steps of his successful business life were taken at this time. Those sheep were kept by that youngster, until he had a flock of his own, despite parental influences brought against him to dispose of his possessions. It was here, James was found to have a will based on judgments of his own, and which thereafter resulted in bringing him into a commanding position as a factor in home economy, and which has made him one of the successful men of Preston county.
When fourteen years old, he was running the farm, his father being engaged during those years in the lumber business. When eighteen years old, he engaged in the lumber business with father and brother. From April 15, 1901, until the first of January, 1904, he became interested in the mercantile business with B. T. Gibson, under the name of Gibson Brothers at Tunnelton. He then sold and bought a small tract of woodland-went to Masontown and manufactured lumber for nearly two years on Bull Run. In 1905, he organized the Gibson Lumber Company, and supplied the M. & K. Railroad Company with lumber for the construction of their railroad from Reedsville to Rowlesburg. In 1906, he purchased the interests of A. K. and L. M. Jenkins, J. V. Gibson and L. W. Cobun, and for six years, thereafter, he and his brother Bert T. Gibson ran the business. In July, 1912, H. T. Lincoln purchased Bert T. Gibson's interest in the business, since whiich time these two men, probably as well fitted for their respective departments in the work as can be found in the county, are in sole possession of the property. With an up-to-date equipment, and a large acreage to draw from, Gibson Lumber Company giving employment to from fifty to seventy-five men and outputting several million feet annually promises to be a considerable factor in the
680
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
manufacture of Preston county's justly celebrated hardwoods for sev- eral years to come.
In 1910, Mr. James C. Gibson organized the Preston County Lumber Company on a capital basis of $100,000, which is one of the im- portant lumber projects in the State. The officers and members of this company are as follows: James C. Gibson, president; Julius K. Monroe, vice-president ; E. M. Lantz, secretary and treasurer ; W. H. Post, San- ford Watson, J. R. McMillen, Bert T. Gibson, W. T. Downs, C. A. Craig, R. W. Caddel and F. E. Parrack. The company owns about 4000 acres of most excellent timber lands on Sandy Creek and Cheat River, which will give large assets to the company in the lumber market for years to come.
On September 14, 1904, Mr. Gibson was married to Miss Lula Watson, and to this union were born Mary Catherine, October 17, 1906; Cramer, December 29, 1908; Virginia Bess, June 14, 1911, and James Clifford, April 3, 1913. The residence property was built at Masontown in 1906.
Mr. Gibson is a member and an official of the Methodist Church at Masontown; is an active church worker, and supports that religious organization handsomely.
THOMAS WATSON FAMILY.
In 1790, William Watson came from Eastern Virginia and settled near what is now known as Masontown, Preston county, having patented 300 acres of land. His wife was Elizabeth Patton. His children were: John, David, Jacob, Nancy, Mary, Jane, and William. William was a soldier in the War of 1812.
Thomas Watson, a son of William, was born May 7, 1815, and lived all his life on a portion of the 300 acres patented by his grandfather William.
On Wednesday, November 12, 1844, Thomas Watson and Sabina Anne Cobun were married by the Rev. I. Davis.
Sabina Anne Cobun was a daughter of Cobun and Anna Young, who was a daughter of Isaac and Charity Young, and was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, June 22, 1791. She died at the home of Thomas and Sabina Anne Watson, near Masontown, October 13, 1875, at the age of 84 years.
681
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Thomas Watson was justice of the peace in what is now Valley district for several years. He and his wife were Presbyterians and were among the original organizers of the Presbyterian Church in that section. Ministers came from Morgantown, Fairmont and Western Pennsylvania about once a month to preach. The venerable Doctor Fairchild, author of some religious works, often visited them when he came there to preach.
Thomas Watson died April 7, 1887, and his wife died August, 1900. The children born to them were: Sylvanus, born December 4, 1845, died June 24, 1846. John William, born February 28, 1848. Granvil, born April 27, 1849. Almira Ann, born October 15, 1851. Charity Elizabeth, born July 20, 1853. John W. married Nancy Virginia Stuck, a daughter of Mathias F. and Nancy Hays Stuck, at Terra Alta, May 6, 1872, by Rev. D. W. Rogers. Mrs. John W. Watson died March 27, 1911. The children born to them were: Nyra Estella, born July 18, 1873. Clyde Emil, born November 16, 1879. Cecil Lenore, born December 20, 1889. Nyra E. was married to Edward Thornton Hartman, August, 1898, in Kingwood, and resides in Boston, Massachusetts. They have one son, Dallas Watson, born February 7, 1901. Mrs. Hartman graduated at the New England Conservatory of Music in the class of 1906. Clyde Emil married Elizabeth Wisner, a daughter of the late J. Nelson Wisner of Martinsburg, West Virginia. One son, John William, born to them. Clyde E. graduated from the West Virginia University and also came from Johns Hopkins Medical College, and after his graduation accepted a chair in the Medical Department of the West Virginia University. Subsequently he resigned and is now in the practice of his profession in Council, Idaho. Cecile Lenore was married to John Clyde Lewis, September 19, 1907. Two children were born to them: Jean Watson Lewis, born June 24, 1909; Thomas Watson, born September 2, 1912. Granvil Watson married Julia Ann Field, March 9, 1874. To them one daughter was born, Julia Anna, February 22, 1875. His wife died Feb- ruary 27, 1875, and he died March 20, 1877. The daughter married and lives in Pittsburgh, Pa. Almira A. Watson was married to Claude C. Wheeler, May 13, 1874, by the Rev. Dr. Flanagan. They reside in Fairmont, West Virginia. Two children born to this unian: Cora M., born May 19, 1875, and Harry, born December 29, 1879. Charity Eliza- beth was married to Homer C. Posten. To this union two children were born : Effie M., born September 20, 1881, and Lela Ruth, born May 11, 1894. Effie M. was married to Ulysses W. Arnett, January 5, 1913. They all reside in Fairmont, West Virginia.
682
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
The children of Thomas and Sabina Watson received the principal part of their education in the subscription schools, in the log school houses, and the books used were the United States Spelling Book, com- monly known as "The Blue Back Speller," the English Reader, Pike's Arithmetic and the Western Calculator. After the free school system was inaugurated better books came into use. John W. attended school one term in Kingwood, in the Old Brick Academy, and one term in Newburg. He was a student in the first Normal School in Fairmont, West Virginia, held in the basement of the Methodist Protestant Church. He taught four terms thereafter. In October, 1870, he en- gaged with Jones & Glover in what is now known as Terra Alta, as clerk and bookkeeper. He held the office of secretary and president of the Board of Education for Portland district. Was appointed post- master in said town under Hon. David M. Key, Postmaster General, and was reappointed under Hon. Frank Hatton. He resigned as post- master in 1884 and accepted the position of manager of seven counties in Virginia for the Singer Manufacturing Company, with headquarters at Charlottesville. Resigned as manager in 1886, and engaged with Baer Sons Grocery Company of Wheeling, West Virginia, and built up a trade in his territory from $20,000.00 to $90,000.00 per year. While en- gaged in that capacity he was elected clerk of the Circuit Court for Preston county and took charge of the office November 23, 1888, and has held same continuously to the present time. He is a candidate for re-election, and if nominated and elected, and lives through the term, will have held the office for over thirty-two years. When a boy, he, with his brother, engaged to "grub" the white thorn sprouts from a large field for "Uncle" Samuel Graham during the long days between corn planting and harvest. The eight-hour system was not then "pat- ented" and farm hands were expected to work all day; the work con- tinued for six days, and the pay was twelve and one-half cents per day- seventy-five cents for the week, and board. He was paid off in what was then known as "Levys." The wearing apparel was principally made at home from the raw material and woven into "Jeans" or "Linsey," and the flax made into linens. The spinning of these products was done on what was known as the "Big" wheel and the "Little" wheel Later a machine was brought into the neighborhood called "The Spinning Ginny." The "flyers" were mounted on a little four-wheeled carriage running on a track which would run back and forth at the will of the spinner and would stretch out the "rolls" and twist it into yarn. All
683
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
these old things have passed away (with perhaps the exception of still having to "grub" the white thorn sprouts) and we are living in a new day; nearly everything is done by machinery, and we are moving in a more rapid way. Put us back to the old way of doing things, and me- thinks you would not hear any complaints of the "High cost of living."
RAWLEY WATSON.
The Watson family is an old one. Those of Preston county are descendants of William Watson, who came from eastern Virginia in 1790, and patented 300 acres at Masontown. Tradition states that the cabin stood on the "Hartley Green," the name by which the village site was known prior to 1856.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.