USA > West Virginia > Preston County > A History of Preston County, West Virginia, V. 2 > Part 20
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PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
and in June, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, 3rd Virginia Infantry. The regiment first went to Wheeling, then to Clarksburg, and from that point scattered along the B. & O. Railroad to guard bridges for three or four months. In 1863, when Jones made his raid through the state, the regiment was changed to the 6th Cavalry. In the fight at Rocky Gap, in Greenbrier county, an engagement that lasted a day and a night, Mr. Sheets was hit in the leg, just above the knee joint, by a ball from the enemy, which he carried sixteen years and two months before amputation of the limb was made. The same ball tore off the arm of his comrade standing by his side.
His first discharge from the army was in 1863, and he enlisted again. This time, contrary to the oath of service, his regiment was held long after the war had closed. In opposition to the wishes of the soldiers, they were taken West for service on the plains; but when at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the men demanded their pay, and a release from the army, it was granted.
Upon returning home, Mr. Sheets came to Independence, where he followed mining and other pursuits, and where he still resides. His leg troubled him greatly, a running sore causing it to grow worse and worse until relief came from amputation. In the meantime, however, he worked steadily from the time he left the army until the loss of the limb necessitated retirement from all manual labor.
On March 1, 1863, Mr. Sheets was married to Harriet Kelly, daughter of John Kelly, of Monongalia county. She died in 1898. From this union were born : Willie, a miner, and now the father of several children. He had the misfortune to break his leg while pursuing his avocation in the mines. The other children were: Marshall, Thomas, also mine workers; Ira, who was killed in a railroad accident; Albert and Charlie, who died in infancy; Ida, who married William Shaefer; Ethie, who married John Twiple, and lives in Fairmont; Alice, who married Harry Philip, and moved to Indiana.
On October 29, 1898, Mr. Sheets was married to Laura, daughter of George and Drucilla (Boyd) Trowbridge. Her father was a farmer on Cheat River, but died twenty-three years ago. Children of this second marriage are: Hazel, born February 25, 1900; Guffie, April 9, 1902; Clyde, June 28, 1904; Hugh, June 16, 1912.
The family worships in the Methodist Church.
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PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
CARLUS EUGENE WILKINSON, M.D.
Among physicians of Preston county who have a large clientele and a general country practice is Dr. Wilkinson, of Brandonville. Dr. Wilkinson is a son of William and Elizabeth Wilkinson of Wayne, and county of Wayne, West Virginia, where he was born July 1, 1877.
After a successful literary course had been taken in the Fairview Academy of his native town, the young man turned his attention towards the study of medicine, for which he had a natural inclination. In the meantime, however, he clerked in a store for several years, and here, probably, is where he became possessed with that faculty of making himself so agreeable and popular with the people.
His degree of M.D. was taken from the University at Louisville, Kentucky, the honor being conferred by the medical department of that institution in the spring of 1904. In the fall of that same year he came to Brandonville, but subsequently took a review course at the Medical College of Chicago. And being thus equipped, he again commenced the practice of his chosen profession, which has been growing until the present time. The territory covered has become very large, extending over this part of Preston county generally.
Dr. Wilkinson also owns and operates a valuable farm. This year the corn and smaller grains yielded large returns for him, showing that scientific farming always produces the best results.
February 5, 1905, Dr. Wilkinson was married to Miss Lulu McGinnis, of Columbus, Ohio. From this marriage came the birth of one son, Renick Eugene, born May 12, 1907.
In 1909, Dr. Wilkinson bought the residence where he now lives, of T. S. Cunningham. There he has a fine office and one of the best apothecaries to be found in the state. Every medicine known to the pharmaceutist needed for an extensive practice can be found on his shelves, and, if not there, "The Want List" book he keeps will soon call for it.
Dr. Wilkinson, ever on the alert for new remedies in the practice of his profession, became a member of several societies. He is a member of the American Medical Association, of the State Medical Association, and of the County Medical Society. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, also of the American Woodmen. He and his family worship with the Methodists of Brandonville.
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PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
FRANK WARREN GANDY.
Samuel Gandy came from New Jersey to Preston county about the year 1790, and settled about one-half mile west of Gladesville. A hotel was run by this pioneer during the War of 1812. His son Levi was a local preacher, and also farmed extensively. His brother, Amos Gandy, the grandfather of Captain Cornelius Gandy, settled on a farm about one mile west from Independence. The homestead is known as the Gandy farm. It was the home of Amos Gandy, Jr., who was the father of Cornelius Gandy, the father of Frank W. Gandy, the subject of this sketch. Captain Cornelius Gandy was a farmer and carpenter, and a soldier in the Civil War. He is now living a retired life at Terra Alta.
The following are the names of his children. Those by his first wife, Mary Jane McGee, are Lawrence S. Gandy, born August 6, 1867, and Frank W., born July 8, 1872. The second marriage of Cornelius Gandy was to Louisa Evans. Their children are Mary A., born December 29, 1875, and Ivy V., born June 16, 1882.
Frank W. Gandy is one of the leading educators in the state of West Virginia. He was reared on a farm near Independence, and after leav- ing the common schools was further prepared for his life's work in higher institutions of learning. First came his graduation from the Fairmont State Normal School in 1894, and later he was a student at the West Virginia University. In 1892 he began teaching school, and followed the profession of a pedagogue seven years. In 1899, his ability as a teacher having become established, he was elected county superin- tendent of schools, and successfully filled that position for four years. For eight years, beginning in 1902, he was principal of the Terra Alta schools, and in 1910 he was appointed superintendent of the Portland district schools, the superintendency of which he still holds. As an educator, Mr. Gandy has earned an enviable reputation both as a teacher and principal, and as superintendent of schools in Preston county.
July 8, 1896, Mr. Gandy was married at Masontown to Elizabeth Catherine Cobun. She was the daughter of Isaac Boyd Cobun and Isa- bella H. Flaherty, who died in 1894. Mr. Cobun died in 1901. He was a soldier and a minister. He is a descendant of James Cobun, a son of Jonathan, who settled in 1790 near Dorsey's Knob, a little south of Morgantown.
The children of Isaac Boyd and Isabella H. Flaherty Cobun are : Wilbur F., Bertie M., George M., Lincoln J., Leonidas W., Adah P.,
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PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Elizabeth C., and Miles B. Helen Cobun Gandy, born October 19, 1898, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Gandy, is now in school.
Mr. Gandy is a member of the Terra Alta Lodge No. 106, A. F. & A. M .; Scott Chapter 33, R. A. M .; Alpine Lodge No. 5, K. of P., Terra Alta; Fairplay Lodge No. 126, I. O. O. F., Independence. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Terra Alta.
JOSEPH J. BRAILER.
The subject of this sketch was born in Keyser, Garrett county, Mary- land, on May 6, 1874. His early life was spent with his parents, work- ing on the farm, and at the weaver's trade, assisting his father. His opportunities for gaining an education were limited to three terms of school. In 1891 his parents moved to Howesville, W. Va., where the father continued his trade as a weaver and also carried on farming. Joseph assisted also in that work as well as in the shop. After his boy- hood days were thuis spent, Mr. Bailer started out in life working for himself. He was first engaged on sawmills, then on railroads, and from thence to coal mines, then back to the farm driving teams, and so forth, and till the year 1901, when having secured means of his own, he bought the farm on which he now resides, it being at that time a piece of wood- land. Since then the land has been mostly cleared and the buildings now standing there erected, consisting of a dwellinghouse, a store, a stable, and other out-dwellings. The store was built in 1908, and on August Ist of that year Mr. Brailer began his career as a merchant. In October, 1909, the store was rented and the personal property sold, and Mr. Brailer then began work for the B. & O. Railroad in the boiler shop in Cumberland, Md. He started at the carpenter trade. He returned the same year to Howesville, W. Va., and began merchandising again at the old stand, his sister, Mrs. Cecilia Clarke, a widow. returning with him, and both are still living together.
Mr. Brailer opened up his store on November I, IQII, and in August, 1912, built an addition, increasing it to twice its size, since which time he has prospered as a merchant. He is still single. He was born and reared a Catholic, and is a member of the K. of C. order and belongs to the Grafton Council, No. 713. Politically, like his father before him, he is a Democrat, but has never sought an office.
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PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Mr. Brailer is a self-made man. He earned what he has by hard labor, and his holdings now consist of other lots and property besides where he lives, one house, a comfortable two-story dwelling, being in Cumberland, Maryland. His success in life can be largely attributed to habits of honesty, hard labor and sobriety. He is a son of Ambrose and Elizabeth (Knecht) Brailer. His father was born in Germany, December 1, 1825, and was the youngest son of Henry and Margaret (Rosencrantz) Brailer. Ambrose came to America when sixteen years old in company with his brother August and two sisters, Caroline and Margaret. He was a weaver by trade, and for several years operated the woolen factory at Mineral Springs, Maryland. He was married to Elizabeth M. Knecht at Frostburg, Maryland, April 24, 1868, and to this union were born the following children : (1) Catherine, who married Michael Hartman. They live at Whitsette, Pennsylvania, and have three daughters, Mary, Bridget and Annie; Mr. Hartman is foreman of the Pittsburgh Coal Company. (2) Mary, who died when twenty years old. (3) Alcinda, who died in infancy. (4) Joseph J. (5) Annie. (6) Anselma, who married H. S. Calvert. He is a farmer, living near Hopewell. Their children are Mary Agnes, Harry Joseph, Clarence Edward and Helen Cecilia. (7) Helen Cecilia, married Edward Francis Clark and lived in Cumberland, Maryland. He was a fireman on train No. 55, on Third Division of the B. & O. Railroad, and was fatally in- jured while on duty, Sunday, May 14, 1911. He died May 16th, and was buried in the Catholic Cemetery at Howesville.
Ambrose Brailer died at the age of 85 years and 43 days. Elizabeth, his wife, died August 14, 1903. She was born April 8, 1844. Both parents were buried in Howesville.
Ambrose Brailer's brother, August, married Cecelia Logston, an1 was also a farmer and weaver by trade. They lived near Mt. Savage, Maryland, and they also raised a large family.
Elizabeth, wife of Ambrose Brailer, was a daughter of Lawrence and Elizabeth (Drese) Knecht, who came from Germany, and were married at Annapolis, Md. He lived to be 59 years old, and she 78. They are both buried at Frostburg, Maryland. Their children were: (1) Michael, of West Salisbury, Pennsylvania; (2) Adam, who is a brother of the Redemptorist Order at the Sacred Heart Church, Balti- more, Maryland; (3) Catherine, Elizabeth, and Matilda, who married George Meyer and lived near Pittsburgh.
The Rosencrantz and Brailer and Knecht families came from Ger-
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PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
many. Their descendants are now many and well scattered throughout the states of this country. The Brailers and Rosencrantzs were first cousins. There are many Knechts living at Baltimore, Maryland., dis- tant relatives of the Brailer family and of the late Lawrence Knecht.
EDWARD S. BROWN.
The sawmills of Edward S. Brown, two extensive plans for manu- facturing lumber, are on an extensive tract of woodland, about seventeen hundred acres in all, situated between Gladesville and Reedsville. About forty men are given employment at these two mills, and about 2,000,000 feet of lumber are produced annually.
Mr. Brown is a son of Buckner and Jane Freeburn Brown and was born July 16, 1869. His father was a justice of the peace for many years and a soldier in the Civil War. He was raised a farmer. The homestead was the old Fairfax place, where the subject of this sketch spent the first twenty years of his life. In the spring of 1898 he bought the Zinn property, where he lives now, a farm consisting of some two hundred acres.
Mr. Brown was married November 13, 1895, to Miss Nannie Welton, the daughter of Isaac Welton, and bought his residence property two years afterward of George C. Sturgiss. In 1905 he first began operating the store which is still run in connection with this lumber business.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Brown are as follows: (1) Argyle, born August 26, 1896; (2) Hoy, June 12, 1898; (3) Opal, April 24, 1900; (4) Van, March 5, 1902; (5) Lillian, October 16, 1904; (6) Rex, No- vember 18, 1906; (7) Alma, May 30, 1908; (8) Max, July 8, 1910.
Mr. Brown has been a very successful business man from the start He began business for himself without a dollar when twenty years of age, and besides his timber land he owns some 500 acres of cleared land besides.
GEORGE WASHINGTON WHITE.
Preston county is noted for its good schools. We have spoken several times of the teachers in this part of the state, and we want here to notice the schoolroom work by George W. White, who has taught. longer in this county than any other teacher coming under our observa- tion. He was educated in the free schools, and in six terms of summer
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school, at Kingwood, taught by leading educators of the state. Follow- ing this preparation for his chosen profession, he became an educator himself, confining his attention to Preston county, solely, and is now teaching his twenty-fifth term, all on No. One certificates but the first, which was a third grade. His father was a teacher in the county, and, like the son, possessed ability as an instructor and disciplinarian.
Mr. White is a grandson of Robert White, whose father was born in Scotland. His grandmother was Eliza Pew Freeman, born May 23, 1791, and married October 21, 1809, to Robert White. Their son, Francis Willis White, was born March 10, 1819. He died December 28, 1891. He married Sarah Feather, daughter of Adam Feather. She was born August 21, 1825, and died April 7, 1894. She was raised on the farm where Rev. Joseph Feather now lives in the Crab Orchard. F. W. White was raised on a farm near Kingwood. His children were: Mary Eliza, Sabra Jane, Adam David, Susan Catherine, James Clark, Jacob Francis, Margaret Ellen, John Solomon, Julia Anna Belle, George Washington, Emma Alice and Joseph Feather White.
George Washington White was born on the farm where he now lives, September 22, 1864. He was raised a farmer, and teaching has been his chosen profession. In political life he has been known as a staunch Republican, but he never held any office. In church he has been active as a worker, and an efficient class-leader and a Sabbath school superintendent for several years. He and his family worship with the Methodist and the United Brethren churches. His wife was Florence May Fortney, whom he married March 31, 1895, at her father, Francis Asbury Fortney's house on the farm where she was born near Howes- ville. (See sketch of Judge Fortney for full history of the family.)
Children born to Mr. and Mrs. George F. White are as follows: (I) Otis Oglevie, born August 1, 1896, now holding an elementary diploma given him in March, 1912. (2) Edison Earl, born February 12, 1898. (3) Martha Iola, born August 14, 1900. (4) infant, born and died De- cember 8, 1902. (5) Gertrude Lenore, born November 6, 1904. (6) Olivia Juanita, born September 16, 1906. (7) Cary Virginia, born April 23, 1908. (8) - -, born April 19, 1910. (9) Doris Norma, born February 26, 1912. This constitutes one of the happiest homes in Preston county, on the M. & K. Railroad at Pleasantdale.
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PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
JAMES WILLIAM BROWN.
The Browns were early settlers in Preston county.
James Brown and his wife, Rachel Brown, grandparents of James William Brown, were of Scotch-Irish descent, and came to this country soon after the close of the Revolutionary War. They were sympathizers with the American cause in the Revolution, and having failed to composs the freedom of their native Ireland, sailed for Philadelphia in 1789, and the next year settled on a tract of land a mile northeast of Kingwood. Their first house was the cabin of the Green family, which had been broken up only two years before by murder and captivity.
The five sons of James Brown were men of force and character. Joseph, the third son, born August 8, 1796, was Sheriff of Preston county one term. January 22, 1829, he was married to Miss Mary M. Stone, of Richmond, Virginia, and to this union four children were born, as follows : Mrs. Anna M. Elliott, widow of the late Captain William Elliott, of Terra Alta; Mrs. Juliet R. Smith, widow of James P. Smith, of John- son City, Tennessee; Elisha M. H. Brown, who died in August, 1889, and James William Brown.
March 30, 1854, James William Brown was married to Miss Martha R. Brown, of Cincinnati, Ohio. She was born in Cincinnati, August 24, 1834, but married in Kingwood, to which place her father, John Cannon Brown, formerly a merchant of Cincinnati, had moved about 1850, and where he died in April, 1852. His wife's maiden name was Miss Martha Batchelder, of Cincinnati, where she died in the seventy-fourth year of her age, July 20, 1848.
Four children were born to John Cannon and Martha Brown, as follows: Martha R., wife of James William Brown; Lieut. James W., who died in July, 1864, in defense of his country; Juliet A., widow of the late Dr. W. H. Ravenscroft, of Oakland, Maryland, and Sarah A., widow of Benjamin Forman, deceased, formerly of Terra Alta.
James William Brown was born in Kingwood, West Virginia, July 24, 1830. During the earlier part of his life he attended the Kingwood public schools, and later Washington College, Pennsylvania. In 1853 he was engaged in the mercantile business at Cranberry Summit, now Terra Alta, and was also agent for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at that place.
In politics Mr. Brown was a Democrat. He was deputy sheriff before and during the first two years of the Rebellion, and Colonel of the State
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PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Militia during the same time. In 1863 he moved to DesMoines, Iowa, where he again engaged in the mercantile business under the firm name of LeBosquet, Brown & Rude. In 1868 he returned to the state and county of his birth, and in 1869 purchased the farm on which his aged widow lives and where he lived until his death, May 18, 1902, aged 72 years.
Colonel Brown was one of the leading men of Preston county and of the state of West Virginia. He was a Mason, an Odd Fellow, and held many positions of trust.
By his wife, Martha R., James William Brown became the father of nine children, five girls and four boys, as follows: Mrs. C. M. Fleek, of Janesville, Wisconsin ; Mrs. John W. McDonald, of Tampico, Mexico; Mrs. C. F. Copeman, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania; Mrs. B. L. Brown and Miss Emma V. Brown, of Kingwood; Albert A. Brown, and the late John C. Brown, of Rowlesburg, and J. G. Brown and E. S. Brown, who reside with their aged mother on the home place. They are suc- cessful agriculturists and men of force and character. Joseph G. Brown has been a journalist of large experience and is a brilliant writer, as well as a successful farmer. John Cannon Brown, the third son, born Feb- ruary 6, 1869, was the trusted employee of the Mason Hardware Com- pany, Mannington, West Virginia, for many years. In 1909 he took charge of the Commercial Hotel at Rowlesburg, and by his genial dis- position and generous hospitality built up a nice business and made many friends who were deeply grieved to learn of his death, February 18, 1912. April 24, 1900, he was married to Miss May Spahr, of King- wood, who survives him.
KARL WARD FEATHER.
The Feather family has been a very prominent one in the Crab Orchard from the first settlement of the county. John Feather, great- grandfather to Karl, married Mary Ervin, and lived on the farm now owned and occupied by Clinton D. Feather, and died there March 25, 1870. The house now standing there was built by him over eighty years ago. The farm is midway between Albright and Lenox, anconsists of 285 acres of the best farming land in this part of the state and has been in the family from the time of its exemption. John Feather was
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Justice of the Peace in those earlier years of that first settlement, and from reports must have been a man of some business and political capacity. His children were: Abraham, Isaac, Levi, Jacob, James C., David O., Joseph, Marcellus, Harrison, John Quincy, Samuel, Equacious, and others not named. His daughters were Lydia N., Catherine, Rebecca, Rachael Virginia, and Louisa Jane. David O., born August 9, 1841, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was one time can- didate for the sherifalty of the county. He married Amanda J. Albright, January 15, 1869, and died March 16, 1906, aged 65 years. Their only child was Clinton D., born April 8, 1870, and on March 13, 1892, married Annie D. Murray Hayden, daughter of H. M. and Flora B. Hayden.
Two children : Karl Ward, born Marsh 18, 1893, and Helen Mable Feather, born April 4, 1896, were tlie fruits of this union.
Karl W. Feather was born and reared on the homestead, and edu- cated in the common schools of the county, graduating in 1910. He is at present in the automobile business at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, employed by the Standard Automobile Company. He was a very suc- cessful teacher in Preston county four terms, before going out of the state.
JESSE D. HEATH.
Richard Heath, of Washington, D. C., then of Illinois, was the an- cestral head of the Heath family of Preston county. His son, Duke Heath, who died about twenty-five years ago, was the first to live in Preston county. He came to the state of West Virginia from Illinois, and ran a farm near Rowlesburg, and lived there until his death. His wife was Mary Ford, daughter of William Ford, of Petersburg, Vir- ginia. They belonged to the aristocracy of the South, but were Union patriots, and their son-in-law was a veteran of that civil strife.
Duke Heath died about 1890, aged 63 years. His wife died in 1901. Their children were: (1) William, who married and moved to Illinois, and died there in 1908; (2) John, who ran a hotel in Grafton, and died there in 1908; (3) Edward, the lumberman, now with Mr. Hayes of Rowlesburg; (4) Alice, also of Grafton; (5) Minnie, who has been dead many years; (6) Lulu, who succeeded her mother as proprietress of a hotel in Rowlesburg; (7) Jesse D., who is proprietor of a livery stable in Rowlesburg. He was born December 11, 1856, and spent his early
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PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
life on a farm. When fourteen years old he came with his mother, then a widow, to Rowlesburg, and here he attended the public schools and assisted in hotel work. He always had a fondness for horses and was a skillful hand in handling them. About ten years ago he built his livery stable-barn, and since that time he has done a good business in catering to the traveling public, having a well-equipped stable for that purpose. His wife was Louise Hardesty. Their children are: (1) Walter, who married Martha Serena Seville, and is the father of one child; (2) Charles; (3) Hazel; (4) Harry; (5) Mabel; (6) Carl; (7) Mearl.
Mr. Heath is a member of the M. E. Church and is also a Woodman.
THE JENKINS FAMILY.
Soon after the War of the Revolution, five brothers of the Jenkins family arrived in New York on board ship, having been sold for their passage across the sea-not an uncommon thing in their day to enable the poor to reach the land of freedom and liberty on this side of the water. Of those brothers, three of them were never heard from after their separation in New York. Thomas, the progenitor of the Preston county family, settled at Harmony Grove Settlement, and was there at the time of the War of 1812. He had a brother, John, but farther than that nothing is known of him.
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