USA > West Virginia > Preston County > A History of Preston County, West Virginia, V. 2 > Part 2
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road and became one of its chief promoters, is due the thanks of a grateful public for the success of that undertaking as much as to any other one man connected with it.
Colonel Guseman's early life was a busy one. In the mills, on the farm and about the store, incessant activities were kept up and a sturdy growth of character was evolved, honesty and industry being the proud attainments of the Guseman family. In 1849, Mr. Guseman went to Monongalia county to take charge of his grandfather's property, and in 1873 he became the owner of the mills at Dellslow. For fifty-five years he has followed surveying, having done much work of that kind in Preston, Monongalia, Taylor, Randolph and Barbour counties. He seems to be a natural born surveyor, with an eye for original land- marks and a knowledge of variations not often equaled by men of that profession.
Colonel Guseman was married February 28, 1850, to Elanorah Drabelle of Monongalia county. She was born March 5, 1837, and by ber he had three daughters, all living, and married as follows: Josephine, wife of William A. Wolfe of Cuzzart; Jennie, wife of Elijah Livengood of Morgan's Glade; and Frances E., wife of E. M. Watson, near Reeds- ville. Mrs. Guseman, the Colonel's first wife, died March 12, 1857; then he married Caroline Malinda Snyder, daughter of John E. Snyder. The fiftieth anniversary of the marriage of this notable couple was fittingly observed on Tuesday, March 12, 1907, at their home near Reedsville. It was a pleasant and interesting occasion, with the presence of many people, and many gifts were made to them. Among those present were eight children, twenty-two grandchildren (there were thirty-four in all), and two great-grandchildren, out of four in all. Thirteen children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Guseman, of whom nine are living, six boys and two girls, all married. There are four dead-Jacob, Ozola, May and James. Of those living, Samuel R. Guseman of Bretz is the oldest; Christine, wife of A. F. McMillen of Masontown, comes next; then William A., of Reedsville ; Ella, wife of Elmer A. Ashburn, near Reedsville; Robert, of Williamstown, Mo .; Amos, of Reedsville; Mrs. Ida Smith of Reeds- ville, Pryor, of North Dakota, and Stanley, of Reedsville.
Colonel Guseman is an active Democrat and has been the nominee of his party for the State Senate, House of Delegates, County Surveyor, member of County Court, and, in fact, almost every office in the county, time and again, and always ran ahead of his ticket. He has always been known for his work as a surveyor, and has done more of it than
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any man in the county. His title of Colonel comes from his service in the militia before the War of the Rebellion. He was commissioned a lieutenant when but eighteen years of age by Governor Wise. He has been known as a Mason since 1851. His charming helpmate is a gracious woman of gentle ways, and with her wise counsels in house- hold affairs has done much for her husband, her family, and for those about her. Both Mr. and Mrs. Guseman are crowned with silver hair, but are still lovers at seventy-five and eighty-four. A reunion of the family occurred on Thanksgiving Day, 1910. Out of twelve children living, eleven of the children, five boys and six girls, visited the old homestead during the time of their father's sickness.
Jacob J. Guseman of Morgantown, born August 8, 1835, married, Lavina Conner October 23, 1856. She died July 6, 1873. Their children were John W., died August 10, 1903; Cyrus L .; Clara Phelicia, wife of Ezra A. Feather, died March 27, 1896; Theodore J., who married Catherine Feather; Mary Florence, wife of Willey M. Forman, died May 2, 1907; James A., who married Marcella McVicker.
The present wife of Mr. Guseman, Eliza M. Arnold, was born March 19, 1840. They were married June 4, 1874.
Mr. J. J. Guseman was Sergeant of Company E. 6th W. Va., Vol. Cavalry, 1861-1865. In Libby prison ninety-six days; Supervisor of Roads seven years; Overseer of the Poor five years; President Board of Education three years and Mayor of Kingwood 1898-99, 1901.
HENRY AMOS HARTLEY.
The Hartleys are of Quaker origin. They came from the Mother Country, England, to America probably about 1682 or 1683. They are English on the father's side and Welsh-Irish on the mother's. Prior to 1702, Anthony, James, Edward and Henry Hartley, probably brothers, came to this country. Edward and Henry, known to be brothers, settled in Solebury township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Edward had a deed of land consisting of 300 acres made to him, May 28, 1702, and on which he lived until he died in 1745. The land was located near the line of Buckingham township, and less than a mile from Buckingham Meeting House, where the Friends of both townships worshiped until 1810, when a meeting house was erected.
TYOPK
TADY 1
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PETER M. HARTLEY
MRS. PETER M. HARTLEY
THE I_ PUBLIC LISLARY
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Edward Hartley made his will June 13, 1744, devising his estate to his daughter Jenet Hughes, his son Thomas Hartley, his son Roger's seven children, Thomas and John Hartley.
Thomas Hartley, son of Edward, born about 1700, died in 1787, made application for membership in Buckingham Meeting of the Society of Friends, October I, 1724, and was admitted a couple of months later. In February, 1725, or 1726, he declared his intention of marrying, before this meeting, Elizabeth Paxson, daughter of John Paxson of Sole- bury, and on March I, 1725, or 1726, they were granted permission according to the good order maintained among Friends. On June 19, 1725, his father conveyed to him 100 acres of land, a part of the old homestead, and to this he had at his death added about 500 acres more of land. His will, dated January 27, 1787, devised to his sons, Anthony, Benjamin and William, and daughter Letitia Rice and to son Joseph, one hundred pounds.
The children of Thomas and Elizabeth (Paxson) Hartley, married March 1, 1725 or 1726, were: (1) Sarah, born 1725; Mary, 1727, died 1746; Thomas, Jr., 1729, died 1746; Anthony, born 1730, twice married ; William, 1732, married Katherine Fisher in 1757, died without issue in 1805. Elizabeth, born in 1753, married in 1774, to John Fell; Martha, born 1735, married Luke William; Anne, 1758, married James Hill; Rachael, 1740, married Ephraim Smith; Joseph, October 18, 1742, mar- ried May 27, 1765, (1) Sarah Richards, (2) November 8, 1767, Elizabeth Wasson; Benjamin, born 1745, married in 1760 (?) to Elizabeth Sin- cook; Mahlon, born in 1749, married 1773, Hannah Moon.
Joseph Hartley's second wife, Elizabeth, married November 8, 1767, daughter of John and Ann Wasson, was born October 12, 1747, and died December 6, 1834. Their children were: (a) Benjamin, born June 8, 1766; (b) Camelia, born August 28, 1768, died June 2, 1838; (c) Ulysses, born October 21, 1770, died August 5, 1793; (d) Joseph, born February 10, 1773, died June 28, 1868; (e) Polly, born September 21, 1775; (f) Horatio Gates, born December 6, 1777, died February 1, 1851 ; (g) Elisha, born July 28, 1781, died February 12, 1785; (h) Edward, born October 19, 1783, died February 27, 1863; (i) Elijah, born August 19, 1785, died December 24, 1864; (j) Elizabeth, born July 7, 1789, died August 25, 1793; (k) Amos Garrett, born March 20, 1792, died August 28, 1837. The house of John Hartley, now standing on Pricket, Marion county, West Virginia, was built about 1760 or 1770.
Edward Hartley, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch above mentioned, married Margaret Miller, December 20, 1808, and moved to
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West Virginia, settling near Fairmont, this state. She was born October 3, 1788, and died May 5, 1843. From a record left by Edward Hartley himself we copy the following: "Peter M. Hartley (his oldest son) was born January 9, 1810; Elizabeth, January 27, 1812; Charlotte, May 13, 1813; Mary, March 22, 1815; Calder, November 6, 1817; Joseph, December 5, 1819; Emily, February 21, 1823; Henry, May 29, 1825; Nancy, January 23, 1826 (1827?) ; Amos, May 20, 1829; Margaret, June 29, 1832."
The grandfather, Edward Hartley, was called into the War of 1812, but hired a substitute, and soon afterwards moved with his family to Masontown, locating first in a little log house below where the bank now stands. This land was deeded by Samuel Hanway to Joseph Hartley, father of Edward, in 1805, deed acknowledged May 16th of that year. The farm, consisting of 640 acres, preempted by John Pier- pont and Samuel Hanway in 1788. Peter Hartley inherited part of this land, erected his house on the lot now occupied by the residence of Amos Hartley, which the latter built in 1880.
He was an extensive farmer, a large stock raiser, a justice of the peace for twenty years, county supervisor, and a member of the county board also for a long time. He was chairman of the County Conven- tion which declared, "We are for the Union Unquestionably."
Peter Hartley married Susan Swindler, January 8, 1835. She died in 1872. He died September 22, 1882. Her father and a little girl erected a grist mill on Bull Run and operated it about twenty-five years.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Hartley were as follows : (1) Edgar M., born February 28, 1836, died November 10, 1912. He was a merchant in Masontown for about thirty years and left consider- able property. He was also a stock raiser and farmer. (2) Henry Amos, born December 3, 1837. (3) Katie, born April 24, 1840, married Sanford Watson. (4) Joseph M., president of the First National Bank fifteen years, now president of the Brownsville Woolen Mills, was born October 20, 1842. He is a merchant in Fairmont. (5) Samuel W., born June 5, 1845, now a resident of Morgantown. He is a retired farmer and interested in street railways. (6) S. Calvin Hartley was born April 17, 1848, married Mary Elizabeth Smoot, June 6, 1878. They had four children : Charles H., Pearl S., Earl S., and J. Ray. He lo- cated in Meyersdale, Pennsylvania, in 1873, and embarked in the mercan- tile business ; was a member of the town council ; a member of the school board twelve years; superintendent of the M. E. Sunday school for
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(1) HOMER P.
(2) LUTHER E.
(3) CALVIN L.
(4) SAMI'EL W.
(5) JOSEPH
(6) MRS. KATE WATSON
(7) II. AMOS
(8) EDGAR M.
The above picture, seven boys and one girl, children of Peter M. and Susan Hartley, was taken September 3. 1909, at a family reunion at the homee of S. C. Hartley, Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. Their positions are according to age, from the oldest to the youngest. September 5, 1911, the reunion was held at the home of H. A. Hartley. on the old home farm near Masontown, West Virginia. The average age at this time was over 68 years. Two months after this, the splendid family record was broken by the death of the oldest brother, E. M. Hartley. They have all been successful in business, interested in farming, stock raising, merchandising, banking and real estate. They were born Methodists and Republicans and adhered to both.
THE NEWYORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
AS .O.P. L . TILDEN FOUND TIONS
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twenty years ; director of the Citizens' National Bank; director of Pitts- burgh & Connellsville Railroad, Union Cemetery, and Cooperative Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He was prominent in his church, town and community. (7) Luther E. Hartley, born November 29, 1850. He was educated at the West Virginia University, spent several years in the retail drygoods business in partnership with his brothers, and finally drifted to New York where he engaged in manufacturing. He is at present secretary of the Chemical Refining Company of New York, but spends much of his time at Wildwood, his country place in western Massachusetts. In 1900, he married Elizabeth Pierce Towns, daughter of the late Ora Pierce, first cousin to President Franklin Pierce.
Homer P. Hartley was born November 3, 1853. He attended school at the West Virginia University and Mount Union College. On Sep- tember 5, 1882, he was married to Lulu Collins, daughter of Johnson Collins. Two children were born to them: Frank C., born December 2, 1891, died June 20, 1892; Nelly Katherine, born June II, 1897. He resides at Beaver, Pennsylvania, and is in the shoe business at Beaver and Rochester. He is vice-president of the First National Bank of Rochester and president and treasurer of the Rochester Realty Company.
With the exception of his three years of military service in the Civil War, Henry Amos Hartley has spent his whole life on the farm where he was born and now lives. He received a common school education, is a man of business, an agriculturist and raiser of fine stock. He is known as a successful farmer and has been a member of the State Board of Agriculture since the year 1904. During the war he was commissary sergeant of the 14th W. Va. Inf., and served in the 8th Corps. His regiment took part in the Shenandoah campaign. He served two terms in the legislature. He was elected delegate in 1890 and again in 1892.
On November 16, 1865, Mr. Hartley was married to Martha Vander- vort, daughter of William and Margaret (Jenkins) Vandervort of Monongalia county. She died March 11, 1910. No issue.
JOHN E. HARTLEY.
John E. Hartley, a cousin of these brothers, is a son of Henry Hartley, above mentioned, who died February 6, 1898. His death took
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place very suddenly while at church. He was a farmer and a fine stock raiser, and a resident of the old Edward Hartley homestead. The house now occupied by the widow was built in 1874. Mr. Henry Hartley was a large, fine-looking gentleman in appearance, much like his brother, Peter M. Hartley, whose engraving stands at the head of this chapter. His wife was Miss Ann Bayles of Monongalia county. She was a daughter of John and Ora Bayles-he being of Welsh descent and having lived nearly a hundred years before he died. Agnes Bayles was born April 5, 1837, and was married to Henry Hartley, March 30, 1862. Two children were born of this union: (1) Alice Bell, born February 6, 1863, died August 30, 1887. She had one child, Miss Myrtle Lemon, by her busband Benjamin E. Lemon, born August 31, 1889. John Edward Hartley, the second child, was born March 1, 1866. He owns the original Hartley homestead and operates it as a stock farm. On April 2, 1890, he married Elvira Robey, daughter of Albert and Louisa (Cornwell) Robey, for history of which see pages 106, 479. Three children were born to this union, namely : Florence, born June 22, 1894; Laura, born August 5, 1896, and May, born September 18, 1901.
The above picture, seven boys and one girl, children of Peter M. and Susan Hartley, was taken September 3, 1909, at a family reunion at the home of S. C. Hartley, Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. Their positions are according to age, from the oldest to the youngest. September 5, 1911, a reunion was held at the home of H. A. Hartley, on the old home farm, near Masontown, West Virginia. The average age at this time was over 68 years. Two months after this the family record was broken by the death of the oldest brother, E. M. Hartley. They have all been successful in business, interested in farming, stock raising, mer- chandising, banking and real estate .. They were born Methodists and Republicans and adhered to both.
HON. NEIL J. FORTNEY.
The subject of our sketch, Hon. Neil J. Fortney, was born near In- dependence, Preston county, November 22, 1849. He was the youngest son of the family of ten children of David H. and Angelina S. Fortney.
Mr. Fortney, who ranks among the leading lawyers of our state, is of French descent on the paternal side, and German on the
JUDGE NEIL J. FORTNEY.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
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maternal side. His grandfather, Daniel Fortney, a native of France, came to this country about the year 1780, and settled in Frederick county, Maryland, and from there removed to Preston county about the year 1796.
Mr. Fortney's early education was received at Independence, Preston county, and he removed with his parents to Indianola, Iowa, in 1865, at which place he attended the public schools for two years. He then took a three-year course at Simpson Centenary College of that place.
Leaving Iowa in 1872, he spent some time in traveling over Western and Northwestern states and territories, engaged in school teaching and other employments, and among them, in order to develop a rugged and necessary stock of muscle, spent some time on the "river craft" of the Missouri River.
It is plain to see that Mr. Fortney is thoroughly familiar with life in practically all its various conditions.
Finally his native state and county appealed to him, so in 1873 he returned to Independence, near where he was born and had spent his early youth, decided upon entering the practice of law, and during his studies taught school and also clerked in stores. In 1877 he was appointed deputy clerk of the county court of Preston, which place he filled for two years; then in 1897, having passed examination before the Supreme Court of Appeals of the state, he was admitted to the bar.
One year later he was elected prosecuting attorney of Preston county, in which position he served well nigh continuously for twenty years. By display of great ability and the exercise of the most careful attention to the needs of the people of his county, coupled with absolute fairness in the discharge of his duties, he became and continued to be very popular as an officer, but voluntarily declined to offer himself for re-election, and since then has devoted all his ability and energy exclusively to the practice of his profession.
Combining the alert and constructive quality of mind, peculiarly belonging to the French, with the certain and compact reasoning of the German, endows him with ready ability in digesting matters of law and fact, and true discernment of equity. His possession of these qualities, together with his untarnished record for honesty and fairness in his long practice as an attorney was so well known among the repre- sentative citizens of the Judicial Circuit now composed of Preston and Taylor counties, that it resulted in securing him a most flattering
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plurality for nomination for the office of Judge of the circuit at the Republican primary election which was held in the two counties on June 4, 1912, over two other very popular competitors, one of them being a resident of his own (Preston) county, and was elected by a handsome majority, and at the regular election in the following November was elected Judge by the next largest majority obtained by any of the Judges of the state.
Mr. Fortney took up his residence in Kingwood in 1874, and on June 3, 1879, was married to Alice Edna Godwin, daughter of Captain Joseph M. Godwin of Kingwood, and they have one son, L. Vernon, living.
THOMAS FORTNEY.
John Fortney was born in 1789. He was the son of Daniel, the original pioneer of that family so well and favorably known in Preston county. (See sketch of Judge Fortney.) His wife, Keziah Fortney, was born in 1792. Their children were: Elisha, born in 1813; Nancy, born in 1815; Emily, born in 1817; Buckner, born in 1823; Charlotte, born in 1830; Thomas, born in 1835.
The subject of this sketch was reared on the farm and has been a successful agriculturist all his life. He received a high school educa- tion under Martin R. O'Gorman, a college graduate educated for the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church, and under that careful train- ing Mr. Fortney became both a successful teacher and superintendent of schools himself. He taught school twelve years, and in 1875 was elected county superintendent of schools. Subsequently he became president of the Board of Education, and his work as an educator survives.
Mr. Fortney also filled other important offices in Preston county. In 1877, he was elected assessor of the West Side,, and re-elected for the next term. He was sent to the State Legislature subsequently, being elected a delegate in 1885.
Mr. Fortney's record as a county and state official is a very credit- able one, but he finds life on the farm more congenial to him. He is a great reader, a close student, and naturally retired in his habits.
In 1887, Mr. Fortney was married to Christianna, daughter of
SUMMERS McCRUM
THE NEXT MONK PUBLIC LIBRARY
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William J. and Christianna Guseman Kelly, near Gladesville. (See sketch of the Kelley and Guseman families.) Her father was a farmer, and his children were Jerome, 'Albert, Jacob, John, Katherine, Christianna, Abraham, Elizabeth and Sarah. The children by this mar- riage are Carrie Welton, born in 1887. She married Orvill Rechtine and moved to Kentucky. R. Brook, born in 1893, has remained at home on the farm.
THE MCCRUM FAMILY. LINEAGE OF THE MCCRUMS OF PRESTON COUNTY.
The grandfather of Summers McCrum, Sr., came to Mifflintown, Pa., from Ireland (Belfast) some time previous to the marriage of his son Robert (father to Summers, Sr.) to Anna Dailey, daughter of Jesse Dailey, born December 7, 1760, and his wife, Mary Turner, born April 2, 1775, said Jesse Dailey being a son of Hugh, born 1711, and Eleanor O'Brien Dailey, born 1724. They left Belfast also, probably in the year 1760, though we have no means of knowing how long they re- mained at the Isle of Wight, where Hugh Dailey died. Eleanor Dailey came to Fairfax county, Va., where her youngest son, Jesse, must have been born shortly after her arrival. She had at least one other child, John. They left Ireland on account of either political or religious troubles, probably the latter, the family being Protestant. Jesse Dailey, father of Anna Dailey McCrum, was a Revolutionary soldier. The mother of Robert and grandmother of Summers McCrum, Sr., was a Miss Campbell of Scotland, a descendant of the clan of that name. There were three other sons besides Robert: William, who settled near Lexington, Va., John, and Michael. One perhaps settled in Ohio, the other in Pennsylvania. Robert lived and died at Beverly, Va., now West Virginia. He was born August 8, 1791, his wife, Anna, November 3, 1794. He married Anna Dailey at Leesburg, Va., March 14 or 15, 1816, and died at Beverly, Va., December 24, 1835. His wife married a second time a Mr. Taggart, and died at Centreville, Tyler county, W. Va., January 6, 1877, at the age of eighty-three. They had seven children, as follows: (1) Cornelia Ann, born January 6, 1817, married Adam Trainor, removed to Louisiana, Missouri, and died there leaving a family. (2) Mary Louisa, born January 25, 1819, married William
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PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Jenks, removed to Savannah, Ill., and died leaving one child, Alonzo Jenks. (3) Caroline Matilda Thayer, born January 25, 1821, and died in infancy. (4) Robert James William, born March 21, 1823, married Miss Lydia Wagner of West Union (now Aurora, W. Va.), removed to Louisiana, Missouri, and died leaving a large family. (5)
Serena Hanks, born March 1, 1825, married James Taggart,
who died in Tyler county, W. Va., 1862, leaving her with several children. She died February 28, 1909; was married
to Mr. Taggart in 1844. (6) Summers West McCrum, the youngest son of Robert and Anna McCrum, a sketch of whose life has already been given, as has also before been stated, was born Jan- uary 19, 1827, was married three times, and died February 10, 1905, at Aurora. (7) Adaline Ellen, last child of Robert and Anna McCrum, was born July 3, 1829, and died in infancy, at Beverly. The first wife of Summers McCrum, Sr., was Eliza Nicklin, daughter of Dr. Samuel Nicklin and Martha Thomas, and granddaughter of Dr. John Nicklin and Elizabeth Hough, the latter being a lineal descendant of John Clows, Richard Hough, Philip Taylor, Thomas Janney and Valentine Hollingsworth, Quakers of Penn's Colony. William Biles, another Quaker in some way connected with the family, though I do not think in the direct line of ancestry, was prominent in the colony as officer and preacher among the first settlers, as he appears to have taken up lands under Governor Andreas prior to Penn's grant. Valen- tine Hollingsworth was born about 1630 in Cheshire, England, and married Catherine Cornish, daughter of Henry Cornish, high sheriff of London. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and with his family came over with William Penn in 1682, and settled in New Castle county, now Delaware, and filled many prominent positions. He was member of the Assembly in 1683, 1687, 1688, 1695 and 1700; also judge of the different courts, superintendent of the Newark monthly meetings from 1686 to 1710, and they were generally held at his house. He was buried near his residence, on the east side of the Brandywine, in the Friends' burying ground, which he donated. The coat of arms of the family are on the old hall and church of the ancient home of the family in England.
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