USA > West Virginia > Preston County > A History of Preston County, West Virginia, V. 2 > Part 26
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The mother of these children was called from life October 12, 1894. The father was a thoroughly trained business man. He was engaged in the lumber business in Philadelphia until 1863, when he came to Terra Alta and did a large business here as a merchant from 1870 to 1880, when he retired. He was a man who was held in high esteem politically as well as otherwise and held numerous offices. He repre- sented Preston county in the State Legislature in 1870, and again in 1872, and in 1876 he was elected to the State Senate and served in that body with distinction four years. In 1887 he was again elected to the Lower House of the State Legislature. Besides this he was honored by his party as a delegate to the most important State Convention and was four years member of the County Board of Commissioners. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and virtually founded the first one himself in Terra Alta, and shortly afterwards opened what was practically the first Sunday school ever held in the town, and the rule of his life was to attend all services regularly. For many years
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Mr. Jones was agent here for the American Bible Society, giving his time and oftentimes his means to place Bibles in every home. In the death of Mr. Jones, Terra Alta lost a great friend.
William T. White and his sons, as merchants in the hardware line and managers of the city post office, have maintained the high standard of business life and social standing of both the paternal and maternal sides of their ancestors. They are pains-taking, careful, honest and accommodating. The children of Mr. and Mrs. W. T. White are as follows: John Hugh White, born at Terra Alta, June 9, 1886; Herbert Harold White, born December 15, 1888. He married Leola Warner. One daughter, Eloise, was born to them, March, 1909. Mollie Eugenia and Margaret Lovetta, born September 9, 1891. Margaret Lovetta died August 28, 1892. Scott Lewis White, born July 31, 1893.
Mr. William T. White is a Past Master and a 3211d degree Mason. He is a Past Supreme Representative of the Knights of Pythias, and treasurer of the Home Board. In matters financial, besides his large interest in the business world, he is a director of the First National Bank of Terra Alta and was one of its charter members. He has been a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church and one of its elders for many years. He is a staunch Republican, a man of high ideals in life, and a well and favorably known citizen of Preston county.
WILLIAM M. BISHOP.
Adam Bishop came from Moorefield to Kingwood in 1843. He was owner and proprietor of the Union Hotel. William M. Bishop, vice- president of the Terra Alta National Bank, and one of the substantial citizens of Preston county, was born in Fellowsville, January 1I, 1870. He was the son of Mack B. and Rachel Bishop, of that place.
When eighteen years of age, Mr. Bishop learned the telegraph busi- ness and operated on the B. & O. line for eleven years. On April I, 1894, he was married to Ida E. Albright, daughter of Edmund and Nancy Jane Albright, of Garrett county, Md. By this marriage three children were born : Tay, Marvin and Willie.
Soon after his marriage Mr. Bishop began the mercantile business, and has continued in that line of trade to the present time and is now one of the most successful and best known merchants in Preston county. First he was with E. B. Hauger a year and a half, then with DeBerry
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and Bishop five years, and one year in Rowlesburg by himself, after which he and D. W. Frazee established the "Terra Alta Bargain House." That partnership was continued until June 19, 1911, since which time Mr. Bishop, having bought out all interests, has been conducting the store himself but doing business under the old name.
Mr. Bishop is also the owner of several farms and deals somewhat extensively in blooded stock, his preference, for a dairy he owns, being in favor of the Holstein cattle. He is also interested in the Shetland pony and keeps a number of them, finding the business interesting as well as profitable. The first silo in this part of the county was built by Mr. Bishop.
In 1908 Mr. Bishop began the lime business. He purchased a large quarry near the town and opened it up under the name of the "Terra Alta Lime Company." He sold a one-half interest in the stock, since which time he has not been able to supply one-half of the demand, owing to the good quality of the product produced, notwithstanding from fifteen to twenty men are employed and the lime shipped whole- sale throughout West Virginia and the neighboring states as fast as cars can be furnished for its transportation.
Mr. Bishop was also one of the original founders of the First Na- tional Bank of Terra Alta and is now vice-president and one of its directors. His success in life has been due to his close attention to business, the rule being with him not to undertake more than he can well attend to.
Mr. Bishop and his family are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He belongs also to the Masonic fraternity and is a member of the Knights of Pythias.
THOMAS M. BOONE.
The Boones were French Huguenots. When driven out of France some went to Scotland, some to England and some to Ireland. Daniel Boone, the great pioneer, came of English stock. The great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch went to Scotland. His name was James. His son, George, came to Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and lo- cated there early in the eighteenth century. Descendants of the Irish branch settled in Pittsburgh. They retained the old orthography, spell- ing the name DeBoens.
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George Boone, son of James, died in Holmes county, Ohio, in 1858, about 84 years of age. During the last ten years of his life he was totally blind. He married Elizabeth Hutchinson, whose mother was a Marshall, a cousin to Daniel Boone's wife, who was a Marshall also. Elizabeth died in 1836 or 1837. Her parents were old Scotch Cove- nanters, the same as the Boones and the Hutchinsons.
Children of George and Elizabeth Boone were: (1) Margaret, who married Mr. Pepard and moved to Loraine county, Ohio. (2) James, the father of Thomas M. (3 and 4) Eliza and George, who were twins. Eliza married a Mr. Ross and took up a residence in Millersburg, Ohio. George married Sarah Hailey. She lived and died in Holmes county, Ohio. (5) William was active in the Underground Railway for run- away slaves. He lived in Loraine county, Ohio. Slaves making their escape on that line from Marietta to Canada would be brought by his brother, James, in Holmes county, to his house, and from there he would take them to safe quarters on the lake, to be deported by another party to Canada. (6) Samuel and (7) Thomas moved to Washington county, Iowa. (8) Maria, married Hugh Truesdale, a brother to Tamar Trues- dale, the wife of James and mother of Thomas M. The Truesdales were Scotch Covenanters. (9) Hutchinson is living near Vincennes, Indiana. (10) Isabel, married Captain Hughes, who commanded a company in an Iowa Regiment during the Civil War. (II) John Irwin was a physician. He went to California in 1849 and practiced his profession there.
The Boone and Truesdale families were very patriotic. There were sixty of these two families in the Civil War of 1861-65.
James Boone was born in Beavers county, Pennsylvania, in 1802. In 1810 he moved to Holmes county, Ohio, where he lived until 1865, when he moved to Johnston county, in Missouri, and in 1875 he moved to Chaffee county, Colorado, where he died in 1880. He was married to Tamar Truesdale, of Butler county, Pennsylvania, in 1825. Her people moved to Ohio in 1811 and lived north of Fredericksburg, in Wayne county. James and Tamer lived in Holmes county on a farm adjoining the Vallandingham farm, where the noted C. L. was born and raised. The county was full of sympathizers for the South, and many an inter- esting story could be told of runaway slaves finding refuge in the attic story of James Boone's house, where they were kept in hiding during the day and then taken from there by night to his brother William's house in Loraine county, and from there by night again they were taken to some port on the lake between Toledo and Cleveland, where another
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friend of the distressed would put them on some boat for the opposite shore. The children of James and Tamar (Truesdale) Boone were: (1) James, who was in the late war and died in Leavenworth, Kansas. He and his brother, George H., belonged to the Ist Colorado and par- ticipated in those engagements which drove Price out of Missouri. (2) Elizabeth married Thomas Cameron, of Holmes county, Ohio. (3) William Ross was a member of the same regiment Mckinley belonged to, from Ohio. He died of typhoid fever in 1862. (4) Hugh Clarke was a member of the 16th Ohio. He had both arms shattered by a shell at Pittsburg Landing. (5) David C. and (6) Samuel belonged to the 102nd Ohio. Samuel C. was a prisoner in Andersonville, Libbey, and at Cahaba, Alabama. He was killed January 22, 1875, in Colorado. (7) Nancy M., married Mayol, a Frenchman. He died, then she married Samuel Hartsell. She died April 26, 1911. (8) John S., (9) George H., and (10) Hugh C., are living in Colorado. (II) Maria, died in Colo- rado. She married Moreland Gibson, and in 1871 moved to Missouri. In 1876 they moved to Colorado. He died September 1, 1876. She then married Jess Davis, and died at Grand Junction in 1886. (12) Sarah married Alexander Hogue, who died September 25, 1906. They lived in Colorado. (13) John Seymour was in the Spanish War. He was under General Chaffee and saw service also in Pekin, China. He is now in the Soldiers' Home at Monte Christo.
Thomas M. Boone was born in Holmes county, Ohio, went to Mis- souri with his parents in 1865, and from there to Colorado. He was a cowboy and herded cattle in Texas and Montana. On the 15th of October, 1890, he married Elizabeth C. Hartsell. She was a daughter of George W. Hartsell, of this county, West Virginia. After living three years in Colorado he went to Seattle, Washington, and lived there from 1884 to 1889, and then he moved to Virginia. In 1891 he moved to Kingwood, where he has been ever since. In the West he was a practical miner and an assayist of some recognized ability. He has been a stonemason since coming to this state. On January 7, 1892, he became a member of the Methodist Church on probation, and in July was taken into full membership, shortly after which he was made a member of the Church Board, which position he has held ever since.
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J. E. MURDOCH.
Brevet Captain James Eyster Murdock was born in Kingwood, W. Va., January 1, 1842.
The father of the subject of this sketch, John Smart Murdock, was born in Monongalia county Va. (now West Virginia), January 14, 1809, of Scotch-Irish descent. He learned the blacksmith trade at Morgan- town, W. Va., under Shepard Dawson. He came to Kingwood, W. Va., in 1827, working at his trade for a number of years. He married Rebecca Minor, who was born in Preston county, W. Va., and whose parents were German. To this union there were born eight boys and three girls: Thomas I., William B., Israel B., Marcellus H., Godfrey G., James E., Elisha H., Charles E., Susan F., Mary A., and Jane E. When the Civil War broke out and a call for troops was made, James E. enlisted as a private, July 4, 1861, from Kingwood, Va. (now W. Va.). in Company A, 7th Regiment Va. Volunteer Infantry (now W. Va.). He was promoted to brevet captain and rendered important service dur- ing that trying time. He was wounded four times: at Antietam, Fred- ericksburg., Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor. For the wound received at Fredericksburg he was treated in Mount Pleasant Hospital, Washing- ton, D. C., two months. His battle list includes numerous hard-fought fields : Romney, Bloomery, Front Royal, Port Republic, Malvern Hill, Harrison's Landing, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chan- cellorsville, Gettysburg, Williamsport, Robinson's River, Auburn, Bristoe Station, Bull Run, Mine Run, Morton's Ford, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Petersburg, North Anna River, Totopotoing, Deep Bot- tom, Hatcher's Run, Ream's Station, Bardstown, and Cold Harbor. He was honorably discharged November 24, 1864, at Petersburg, Va. He has held the office of adjutant, Kelly Post No. III, G. A. R., for a num- ber of years ; was elected township treasurer ; was appointed postmaster under the first administration of President Cleveland; clerk of the Board of Education of Kingwood, fifteen years. He joined the M. E. Church at Kingwood, W. Va., February 1, 1868, under the pastorate of Coleman Wilson. He was secretary of the Sunday school for twenty- five years, only missing two Sundays in that time. He was married by Rev. Moore McNeal, of the M. E. Church, to Martha Ann Basnett, November 1, 1870, who was born at Cassville, Monongalia county, W. Va., January 14, 1845, and whose parents were of German descent. To this union there were born two boys and two girls: William Henry
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Murdock, born August 2, 1871; Julia Caywood Murdock, born October 2, 1875; Minnie Basnett Murdock, born December 5, 1878; James Eyster Murdock, Jr., born October 17, 1874.
'He was a charter member Brown Lodge No. 32, K. of P .; was mustered into the Independent Order of Red Men and the Order of U. A. Mechanics. He was in the mercantile business and for a number of years a clerk in a drygoods store, drug store, and hardware store.
THE BROWNING FAMILY.
Meshach Browning was one of the pioneer hunters in Preston county. In 1859, the year of his death also, he published an "Auto- biography," setting forth thrilling accounts of his life as a hunter. The reliability of Mr. Browning's work is vouched for by such authorities as Judge Thomas Perry of the Fourth Judicial District of Pennsylvania and others who knew the correctness of many things that appear strange, almost miraculous. His work is entitled, "Forty-Four Years in the Life of a Hunter." During that time Mr. Browning killed nearly 2,000 deer, 500 bears, about 50 panthers, more than 1,000 rattlesnakes, and scores of wolves and other beasts. Many of them were in Preston county. He was not a very large man, but a powerful man physically and an athlete of great note. On two occasions he entered the bears' cave and fought with the bruins in their den.
Meshach Browning was born in Frederick county, Maryland, in 1871. He was the son of Joshua and Nancy, whose four children were : Dorcas, Joshua, Jeremiah, and Meshach. In 1792 the family moved into Monongalia county. When he was two weeks old, Meshach's mother became a widow and the boy was raised by an uncle, James Spurgeon. In time he married Mary McMullen and settled in Sang Run, Garrett county, Maryland. She was an excellent woman, and died in 1839. James Browning, a son of Meshach and Mary, was born June 21, 1814, on Sang Run. He was reared in Garrett county, Mary- land, on a farm, and attended a subscription school. In May, 1836, he was married to Ismena Barnard, and to them were born ten children : Franklin, deceased : Notley B., of Terra Alta; Mary, now widow of Smith Kelly ; Rebecca, widow of J. H. Feather ; Maria Susan, deceased ; Meshach, of Blaine, W. Va .; Susan, the second, wife of A. H. Parsons, of Terra Alta ; Minnie C., wife of Dr. M. L. Fitchner, of Terra
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Alta, W. Va .; Isaac, of Preston; Ferdinand, of Thomas, W. Va .; Louisa, wife of Charles Jackson, of Los Angeles, Cal. Mr. Adam H. Parsons was one of the oldest and best known citizens of Preston county. He was born in Tucker county in 1840. His second marriage gave birth to four sons : Orra, Claude, Ernest and Harry, now all well . to-do young men.
In 1865 Mr. James Brown came from Cranesville to Terra Alta where he conducted a railroad boarding house for some six years, then removed back to Cranesville. He died January 30, 1900.
JOHN A FEATHER.
The family of the Feathers have become very numerous and con- siderably diffused. They are of German descent, from James Feather, who come to America as a redemptioner about 1775. He served seven years in the Continental army. In 1790 he came to Preston county and settled on the Martin farm, north of Guseman, but afterwards moved to the Jacob B. Feather place, near Lenox. His wife survived him until 1860. Their seven sons lived in the same neighborhood. Joseph B., Charles E. and Dana S. are Methodist preachers. Joseph, son of Jacob, father of John H. Feather, the well-known county super- intendent of schools, was born September 14, 1816. He lived at Crab Orchard, then at Valley Point, and finally at Bruceton Mills, where he died in 1894. . He married Lydia Hartman. She was born May 20, 1819. Their children were: Mary Jane, Sarah, John H., Margaret, Wesley and Michael, all of whom were reared at Crab Orchard.
John H. Feather, one of the most prominent men in the county, was born April 15, 1842. He was raised on the farm and received his primary education in the district schools. He was a great student and a self-made man. He was an agriculturist, in an educated sense of that term, as well as a practical farmer. At eighteen years of age he began teaching school, and continued to teach for eighteen years. His last school was in Bruceton. In the meantime he was a soldier in the War of the Rebellion and was adjutant of David Gibson Post. He was then elected county superintendent of schools and filled that office success- fully for six years. He was many times a member and secretary of the Board of Education. He was also a deputy sheriff one term. He was justice of the peace of Grant district for a time and held other positions of honor and trust in the county until his death, September 10, 1894.
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August 25, 1867, John H. Feather was married to Rebecca Brown- ing, daughter of James. She was born December 21, 1843. Their children were: (1) Venitia Blanche, born August 25, 1869, married to Rev. W. H. Berry, September 20, 1893, at Bruceton Mills. (2) Isminnie Idesie, born June 19, 1876. She married Walton Davis, a postal clerk on the B. & O. Railroad, July 29, 1903.
John H. Feather was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church thirty-five years. Rev. Mr. Berry was educated at Roanoke College and took his theological course in the seminary at Gettysburg. He has had charge of the Lutheran Church at Aurora for nine years.
HUBERT PENTONY.
The Pentony family are of Irish descent. Hubert Pentony, mer- chant, of Tunnelton, son of Thomas and Matilda J. (Snyder) Pentony, was born in Preston county, on a farm near Reedsville, March 28, 1875. His maternal grandparents, John and Susan Snyder, lived on a farm near Reedsville also. His father, Thomas, came to America from Ire- land in 1855. He was twelve years old at that time, and seven weeks on board a sailing ship while coming over. The ship wharfed in New York, but the lad located first in Pennsylvania, then moved to Iowa, but subsequently same to West Virginia. He ran a farm near Reeds- ville, but was a successful miner and left his family a competency when he died in 1896.
The children born to this union were three daughters and one son, of whom two are now living and two are dead. The mother is also living.
Hubert Pentony stayed on the farm until sixteen years of age, and then he too went to work in the mines. In 1902 he engaged in the livery business, but a year or so afterwards he sold off his horses and went back to mining. In 1909 he formed a partnership with Mr. A. H. Hal- britter, under the firm name of Halbritter & Pentony, for the purpose of conducting a trade in the line of general merchandising in Tunnel- ton. The firm erected their business block in 1912. Their storerooms are filled with a large stock of goods and their trade is one of the largest of the kind in Preston county.
April 27, 1902, Mr. Pentony married Irma Maude Ashby, daughter of Frank F. and Elizabeth (May) Ashby, of Tunnelton. Her father
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was a veteran soldier of the Civil War, having been a member of the 6th West Virginia Cavalry.
Children born to Mr. and Mrs. Pentony are: Hilda Vivian, October 20, 1902; Justice Millard, October 18, 1904; Thelma Catherine, May 26, 1908, and Thomas Dale, January 5, 1911.
Mr. Pentony has but little inclination for outside pleasures and pursuits, nevertheless he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic fraternities.
GEORGE W. ASHBURN.
The Ashburn family, of Preston county, is of Scotch-Irish descent. William, the grandfather, went from Greene county, Pennsylvania, to Cook county, Illinois, when a little boy. His parents settled on the Wabash Railroad, about twelve miles from Chicago, which place and settlement became known as Ashburn. His children were Jessie, Wil- liam, Joseph and Aaron, and all became educated people. William was a teacher twenty-one years in Doddridge county, West Virginia. He was also a member of the State Legislature at one time.
Aaron came to West Virginia in 1830 and settled on the Jacob Moody farm, near Reedsville. This tract of land was taken up by Wil- liam Menear from a patent in 1783, when John Page was governor. It was a large tract, originally covering 2,000 acres. Menear sold his portion to Moody for a cow and an old flintlock musket. This was the Ashburn homestead, which for beauty of situation, fertility of soil and picturesque beauty is hardly equaled in Preston county. Aaron Ash- burn was a man of considerable force and character. He was born January 1, 1807, and died November 24, 1861. It fell to his lot, as a frontiersman, to blaze the pioneer way through Preston county in several particulars. He was a carpenter, as well as a farmer, and put up the first frame house in the county. This was his own dwelling- house, erected in 1841. The next year he built his frame barn.
In those days, when deer and other game were plenty, skill in marks- manship was one of the considered excellencies of pioneer life, and it is said of Aaron Ashburn that his rifle was the most unerring of any that could be found in West Virginia. It was not difficult for him to hit the center of the mark one hundred yards distant. Some of his exploits in the chase equalled those of Meshach Browning, an account
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of which may be found in another part of this work. Mr. Ashburn was also a very successful crier at public sales. His services as an auctioneer were in great demand. It was on a return trip from an auction sale that he was killed by being thrown from his horse. The horse was a vicious animal, and after throwing his iider bit off his hand, and in this condition he was found, having bled to death.
Mr. Aaron Ashburn married Hannah Coleman. She was the daugh- ter of Elijah Coleman, who lived on Carter's Run, near Winchester, Virginia, and was born on Lincoln's birthday. Her marriage to Mr. Ashburn took place before 1830. To them were born four boys and three girls, namely: (1) William, born in 1830, died in Parkersburg, West Virginia, having been burned to death in a big mill. (2) Ephraim distinguished himself as a veteran soldier in the late Civil War. After- wards he became one of General Custer's staff officers on the Western plains. His death took place at Fort Casper, December 6, 1866. While in the South he was captured and sent to Andersonville prison, but in the exchange of officers was released. He was orderly sergeant of his company. (3) Enos, whose recent death, April 14, 1902, in Reedsville, is well remembered. He married Phoebe Parks and lived on the old Ashburn homestead, where he raised three children. His wife died in 1903. He was a very successful farmer and a philanthropist. The lot on which the present school building now stands was given by Enos Ashburn to the village. (4) James, the next son, was also a soldier in the late war with the South. He enlisted in the 14th West Virginia Infantry in 1862; was wounded at the battle of Cedar Creek, in that renowned raid of Sheridan, and died March 2, 1866. July 4, 1865, he married Elizabeth Dill. He died after an amputation of his leg. (5) Louisiana, the oldest daughter of Aaron Ashburn, married George Spurgeon, and lives in Dallas, Texas. (6) Elizabeth married Miles H. Orr, and lives at Masontown. (7) Amanda married Simon Snyder. They had three boys and five girls. She is dead. He lives in Morgan- town. (8) Catherine married Daniel Orr, and they have four children. They live at Independence. (9) George Washington Ashburn, the subject of this sketch, was born August 28, 1851. His education was obtained in the district school. He is a great reader, is a careful observer, and is well informed and an intelligent citizen of the great commonwealth. As an agriculturist, his attentions have been confined to farming, which he has conducted on a scientific basis. As a breeder of fine stock, the record made is an enviable one. Of cattle, the Angus
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