USA > West Virginia > Preston County > A History of Preston County, West Virginia, V.1 > Part 32
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Henry, Christian and John Bischoff came from Hagerstown to Aurora as early, perhaps, as 1788, although by one statement Henry and Christian did not arrive until 1801. The surname is now generally pronounced as though written Bishop. Christian settled on the west slope of the great knob between Carmel and Amboy. His six daugh- ters, the only adult children, were born chiefly between 1803 and 1810. It is the tradition that they were no mean substitutes for boys as workers on the farm. Henry, a blacksmith, located across the road on the James Forman place. John is said to have moved to the Elliott Ridge, east of Albright, as early as 1789. The numerous connection in the male line at the present day appears to be wholly the posterity of John. It has become scattered over Portland and Pleasant, although John, Jr., operated a mill at Amboy from 1857 to 1869. John, oldest son of the latter, was colonel of the 173d regiment of militia during the Civil War.
Adam Bishop came from Moorefield to Kingwood in 1843. He was a saddler by trade, but almost at once became landlord of the Union Hotel. His son Adam H., an attorney and Confederate soldier, was killed in the siege of Vicksburg. Charles M. and C. McCurdy remained in Preston, the former as a merchant of Kingwood and Rowlesburg, acquiring a large fortune.
George Blamble and his son John Casper, came in 1838 from Ger- many to the Colcamp place, a little south of Eglon.
Jonathan Blaney, who married into the McMillen family, appears to have come from Monongalia about 1818. He settled four miles north of Mascntown, where his grandson Isaac J., now lives. Samuel, a distant relative, settled at Kingwood in recent years.
John, son of Christian Boger, a German immigrant, was born at Pine Hill, Pennsylvania. About 1808 he came with his family to the
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A. K. Frazee place, between Brandonville and Hazelton. He there built a brick house which has since been torn down. He was a justice of the peace and also a minister of the German Baptist Church, preach- ing both in German and English. Though a hardworking man he was a lifelong reader. During the last eight or nine years of his life he gave himself almost wholly to the study of the prophetical books of the Bible. The walls of at least one room in his house were covered with his calculations concerning those prophecies which relate to the millennium. The result appeared in "The Coming of Jesus Christ," written "with a trembling hand in my seventy-third year." This booklet, written in German, was published by Jonathan Rau of Somerset, Pa., and came out in 1846. It contained 24 pages, four by six inches in size, and was probably the first printed volume emanating from Preston. Through emigration and a shortage in male posterity, the family name has disappeared from this county.
William Bohon came about 1830 to the Robert Davis place in Reno above the Northwestern bridge.
John W. Boliner, a Confederate soldier, married a Grim and settled between Newburg and Marquess. John W. Bollinger of Beech Run Hill is a relative.
Stephen Bolyard came from Pennsylvania about 1799, and lived first on the Ford place at the mouth of Wolf Creek. A few years later he located on the top of Laurel Hill, south of the turnpike line and near the "Drover's Rest." His first wife, the mother of his children, accompanied him to Wolf Creek. The pioneer was about five feet six inches tall, of very broad frame, and of swarthy complexion. Of his sons who remained in Preston, John lived on the Isiaah Bolyard place, Henry on the turnpike, three miles east of Fellowsville, Nicholas at James K. Bolyard's and Stephen, called "Indian Steve," because of his dark complexion, close to the Israel church. To these brothers were born thirty sons and twelve daughters who grew to maturity, and all but one of the former were married. Until of late years the con- nection has been little inclined to emigrate from the county, and in con- sequence the frequency of the Bolyard name in the east of Reno has long been a byword. It occurs also in Lyon, Union, Kingwood, and Valley. In 1900, there were 123 landowners of this name, 98 being in Reno.
Samuel, ancestor of the Bonnifields of Tucker, was born where the city of Washington now stands. Samuel Bonafield, a descendant, came here in 1837, marrying and settling near the Tunnelton campground.
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His grandson, Arnold J., became a very successful merchant. In other enterprices, especially the Bank of Tunnelton, he was actively interested.
The Booghers came after the arrival of the iron horse, and theirs may be called a "railroad name," since it is identified with the Balti- more and Ohio route.
John N. and Garrett Borgman were brothers and came with their families in 1842 as members of the Catholic colony.
Jacob Born and his wife came from Germany. After shoveling earth in the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, the former purchased in 1867 the farm on the Morgantown pike now owned by his son, William L., familiarly known as "Doc."
Daniel Bower, whose first wife was a sister to David and Daniel Albright, came from York county Pennsylvania, in the fall of 182'I, and settled the next spring in Morgan's Glade on the Joseph N. Miller farm. He died while in the act of mounting a horse. Of his sons, George lived near Guseman, while Jacob and Barnabas settled a little north of Kingwood, in which locality now dwell such of the male con- nection as have not gone West. Jacob, son of the pioneer, began teaching at the age of eighteen, and taught ten terms. In 1845 he became a preacher of the Evangelical Association, and in 1873 was ordained deacon. He was very instrumental in the building of seven church edifices, and as local preacher served fifteen appointments on both sides of the Cheat.
Simon E. Bowermaster came from Somerset county to Grant about 1826. His son John P., was a well-known miller of that district, while Evan J. and William J., sons of the latter, are merchants.
Jacob Bowman came from Pennsylvania in 1865, and lived near Hopewell in Grant. He was frozen to death while crossing Chestnut Hill.
Solomon Bowman came with his wife from Somerset in 1861, and lived near Colebank on the Andrew Bowman place.
Adam H. Bowman also came from Pennsylvania. He married and settled at Rowlesburg. His nephew, Adam D., came to the same town from Pittsburgh in 1873, and has since been one of its prominent busi- ness men. William B., son of the latter, is an attorney.
William Bowmar came with his wife and five children from England in 1850, and to the vicinity of Marquess in 1861.
George Boyce lived on the site of Albright. He was perhaps a son of Daniel, who in 1798 purchased land in Grant near the mouth of Laurel Run.
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About 1810 James Boylan came from New York to the Clinton Feather farm in the Craborchard.
Michael Bradshaw appears to have come to Valley about 1850.
Thomas Braham was a native of England, and is said to have left the "tight little island," because of his share in a poaching exploit. He found refuge and a wife in Baltimore, and settled in 1812 on the Nicholas Braham place, three miles north of Rowlesburg. The Bra- hams of this county are the posterity of his son Thomas, and are found within a short radius from the original settlement.
James Brann was a young Englishman who came to America shortly before his arrival in Preston. Through a mispronunciation his sur- name at length assumed the form Brain. He settled on Three Fork in 1774, but in consequence of an Indian alarm he took refuge, four years later, in the Ashby settlement on Snowy Creek. While at work on a barn he was there murdered by Indians in April. The widow seems to have retired for a while into Maryland, but eleven years later was again living on Three Fork. James, Jr., was also living there at the same time, but seems subsequently to have left Preston. Benjamin, the other son, after his release from Indian captivity, settled on the Micajah Smith farm. The family name has always been slimly rep- resented here, and is now borne only by the immediate household of John G., of Newburg, great-grandson of the pioneer.
William Brand came from Monongalia to the Henry Martin place near Brown's Mill, his arrival being somewhat earlier than 1860.
Alexander Brandon, a native of York county Pennsylvania, appears to hve come to the Little Sandy of Grant in 1777. He lived on the John Matlick farm. His hewed-log house, 26 by 30 feet in size, possessed what was then the rarity of a shingled roof. His wife seems to have been a sister to the Robinetts, James, Joseph, and Samuel, who left Preston at a very early day. Richard Brandon, a brother, lived on the D. S. Forquer place, but went to Ohio about 1808, as did probably Joseph, who seems to have been a third brother. The only other brother to remain was Jonathan, who in 1799 purchased the land on which stands the village that was named for him. The Brandons were much respected and were influential. For their day they were men of more than ordinary education. Alexander was for many years com- missioner of the revenue. He was the first colonel of the 104th regi- ment of state militia, and held that position till 1812, the year prior to his death. Eight of his children went to Darke county, Ohio, where
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their descendants have become numerous. William, the only son to remain, lived on the Furman place near Pisgah. Absalom G., his oldest son, is often mentioned by the men and women who went to school to him. He was a fine singer and the owner of many books. Like his father before him, he was a lifelong Presbyterian. Eugenus T., the next son, kept store and tavern in Kingwood, but removed to Barbour, caus- ing the surname to become extinct in Preston. His son, Charles W., is circuit clerk of Barbour. Colonel Jonathan Brandon had no children of his own, but reared several. He was a tailor by trade, and so far as there is any record, was the first justice for the north end of the county.
James Britton came a little before 1807. The mother of his son, James, died while the latter was an infant, and the child was reared by its grandfather, Daniel Fortney, Sr. The elder Britton married in Ohio, and reared sixteen more children. The younger James lived on the upper Three Fork, but never owned realty. The present connection is found in the vicinity of Tunnelton.
The Bromhalls settled near Howesville.
John Brosius, a stern pedagogue of the olden time, married and lived in the Craborchard.
James Brown, one of the Ulster-Scotch, was an earnest sympathizer with the American cause in the Revolution, and was one of those who sought to compass the the freedom of his native Ireland. Success in the latter effort seeming very problematical, he sailed with his wife for Philadelphia in 1789, and the next year he purchased lands a mile northeast of Kingwood. His first home was the cabin of the Green family, which had been broken up only two years earlier by murder and captivity. In this locality he lived almost a half century. The five sons were men of force and character. As a business man, John C. was venturesome and energetic. After the close of the war of 1812 he went West, and was a contractor in the building of the state capitol of Indiana. Later on, he engaged in business in Cincinnati. A visita- tion of cholera induced his return to the family homestead about two years before his death. His only son ws a lieutenant in the Federal army and died at 21 of wounds received at Chancellorsville. Robert, the second brother, lived on the Dolliver farm near the parental homestead. John J., his only son, was an able lawyer, who in 1864 removed from Kingwood to Morgantown, and there practiced his profession till shortly before his death at the age of 81. Robert was the father-in-law of the Rev. John W. Reger, a native of Upsher, who became a business
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man of Kingwood. He was also maternal grandfather to the late Jonathan P. Dolliver, senator from Iowa. Joseph, the third brother, lived at Kingwood and served a term as sheriff. His two sons went to Iowa, but James W. returned, was station agent at Terra Alta, and at length retired to his farm near the mouth of Green's Run. William G., the fourth brother, who built himself so largely into the history of Preston, is elsewhere mentioned. Thomas, the youngest brother, was a lawyer of Kingwood and succeeded to the ownership of the parental homestead. Three of his sons were also lawyers : James A., at Kingwood, Thomas P. R., at Beverly, and Charles E., at Cincinnati, where he was postmaster in 1902-6. John H. became a merchant of Kingwood, while Robert M. G. graduated fourth in a class of 54 from the United States Naval Academy. He attained the rank of commander, distinguish- ing himself in our trouble with Corea and in the disastrous hurricane at Samoa, where the saving of his vessel was due to his self-possession and his effective measures.
The forebears of Thomas Brown had long been resident east of the Blue Ridge. Among them were men of wealth and local prominence. Thomas, of Fauquier county, was a friend to Colonel John Fairfax, who induced him to become his leighbor by securing for Brown 600 acres of choice glade land two miles south of Reedsville. He arrived about 1802 As in the case of the other Brown, Thomas enjoyed his new home many years. He was a man of means and social prestige. Like his sons after him, he was a great hunter, and the abundance of game in the new country had much to do with bringing him here. All his sons, save one, remained in the state George, the oldest, settled on Scotch Hill. The valuable seam of Pittsburgh coal under his land enabled him to sell out for $11,000. He then removed to Flemington in Taylor county. Thomas B., his oldest son, was the first Federal soldier to lose his life in West Virginia. John, the only other adult son, was need- lessly killed by Federal soldiers in Calhoun county. Samuel B., the second son of the pioneer, lived near Gladesville. He was a soldier in the was of 1812, a large landholder, and an enthusiastic hunter. His son, Ashford, was a physician. William B., another son, lived to old age at Brown's Mill. William, third son of Thomas, built in 1837 a stone house near the site of the large log dwelling which had been the first home of the pioneer. He was the senior member of the county court just prior to the new Constitution of 1850. He sympathized with the Confederate cause, and was so pronounced in his adhesion to the Democratic party, that he expressed the hope he might live until another
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Democratic president was inaugurated. His wish was realized. But while giving a dinner in honor of the first accesson of Grover Cleveland, he suddenly expired, being then 89 years of age. The youngest son of the pioneer was Thomas B., whose own son, Charles M., was an attorney and the father of J. Slidell, the well known Preston journalist. This connection of Browns is quite numerous, particularly in Valley and Lyon. There are many others in the adjacent side of Monongalia. One of the latter is Samuel B., a professor in the State University. The first general reunion of the descendants of Thomas Brown was held at Brown's mill, October 5, 1895. Annual gatherings have taken place regularly ever since, and are largely attended.
William H. Brown was reared by George Brown of Harrison county, and in 1844 settled on Laurel Hill on the line of the Northwestern Pike. On the Christmas of 1849, he opened the "Drover's Rest," where he sometimes entertained in a single day 20 drovers, 40 teams, and 100 cattle. It was he who named Reno District. His grandson, Hamilton J., lives on the homestead.
John W. Brown, a man of English birth, came to Tunnelton in the early 50's, and built a foundry. His son, George J., a prominent busi- ness man of that place, built an opera house.
Wendell Brown, of German origin, once lived near Bruceton.
The Brownings of Garrett county are in close contact with Preston history. Meshach, who lived on the Sang Run, was reared by his uncle, James Spurgeon. He was a great woodsman, and acquired fame through his autobiography, "Forty-four Years in the Life of a Hunter." His son, James, lived at Bruceton and Terra Alta. Notley B., son of the latter, lately removed to Garrett, but his own son, Daniel B., is a merchant of Cranesville.
Our knowledge of the Brytes is scanty, and the name has all but disappeared from Preston soil. John was living a century ago Qu the Joseph Graham farm, two miles northwest of Valley Point. Samuel, his brother, was a stonemason and lived near Brandonville. David, of the same vicinity, was a nephew. Milton S. was a lieutenant in the Federal army. He then taught school, secured a medical educa- tion, and practiced his profession at Bruceton. He was a prominent, educated, and highly respected citizen, and served in the lower house of the state legislature.
William Bucklew was a native of New Jersey and his kindred in- clude some prominent personalities. He came about 1800 and lived ad while near Bruceton. Here, or at Selbysport, Md., he married into the
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Michael family. In 1812 he purchased of the Butlers the Nathan A. Wilson place in the Whetsell settlement. In person he was short, heavy, strong, and active. Tradition remembers him as an industrious man and good citizen. The homestead passed from his family and his sons lived mainly on the east of Briery Mountain, excepting James, who about 1829 settled on Three Fork. The Bucklew connection has become very numerous, particularly in Portland. Sixteen were soldiers in the Federal army. George, a grandson of the pioneer, was a preacher of the German Baptist church. Emmett R. and Walter, great-grandsons of James, are physicians.
The Burchinal family settled near Afton, but we have no particulars as to the earlier members.
Joshua H. Burgoyne was born at Waterford in Loudoun. He moved to Palatine in 1836, and to Evansville about 1850. His son, William H., is a prominent and progressive farmer of Sand Ridge, and has served on the county court.
Cornelius Burke came at an early day from Ireland to Monongalia. A son and four daughters came to Preston, Hiram G., the son, arriving in 1850 and settling on Bird's Creek, in which vicinity his own sons remain.
John C. Burke came to Grant about 1820, and spent the latter part of his life at Brandonville. His sons were teamsters, and nearly all left the county. George settled a mile west of Terra Alta on the Kingwood road. His son, Kenneth E., is a veteran teacher.
A third Burke connection appeared after the coming of the first railroad and lived on Salt Lick.
The Bush family is a rather recent arrival near Eglon.
The Butler brothers came from Massachusetts, and were here as "ground floor" settlers, patenting large and choice selections on the middle course of the Cheat. Previous to the war of 1812, the Butlers constituted a numerous and important family connection. There seem to have been at least two brothers, Thomas and Joseph, each coming with a family. So far as we have accurate knowledge, Thomas was the first permanent settler on Preston soil, his arrival in the Whetsell neighborhood dating from 1766. He and his sons owned a tract of 760 acres, which included the best lands of that pleasant locality. The sites of their homes are known to the older citizens. By 1808, these families had removed to Shreve, in Ohio, a district settled largely by Prestonians. They took all their movable property, and on the east bank of the Ohio, one or more pigs that did not seem to approve of the
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migration faced about and returned to the Whetsell Settlement. The holdings of Joseph were on Roaring Creek and below, and he appears to have been the one who built a fort at the mouth of that stream. Elijah was a surveyor. John and Benjamin were soldiers in the war of 1812. Martin married Mary Benson. The wife of Peter Casey was a Butler, and like himself the pioneers evidently reached Preston by way of the South Branch of the Potomac. Mary, a daughter of Thomas, was born 1773. She married Thomas B. Lewis, and in 1906 William Price, and is said to have had eight children by each.
Samuel Byrne, whose daughter Mary was the wife of Colonel John Fairfax, made arrangements to join his son-in-law in Preston, but died before the time set for the journey. His widow, Clarissa, with her children, Samuel, Peyton, Sarah, and Elizabeth, came to the glades of Valley. Charles, another son rather than a grandson, was the immediate progenitor of the Byrnes of this county. He was a sheriff of Monon- galia, and after the formation of the new county, was clerk of both courts until his death in 1843. He was succeeded by his son, John P. Samuel, another son, kept a store in Kingwood, but moved about 1832 to Evansville and finally to Missouri. After coming to the Glades, the widow of the first Samuel married David Scott, a sheriff of Monon- galia.
Christopher Cale was from the banks of the Rhine and came of a family in good circumstances. Some years after his arrival in America, he settled with his first wife in 1794 on the river-hill farm in Pleasant, now owned by John M. Galloway. He was a famous reaper. John, one of his sons, was a man of great physical strength. It is alleged that he cut and ranked nine cords of wood in a single day. The progeny of the pioneer are especially numerous on both sides of the Cheat canyon in Pleasant, Valley, and Grant.
- Robert and David Calhoun came in 1812 from Harrison county to near the Braham homestead in Portland. Our information as to their posterity is quite deficient.
Enoch Calvert came from Winchester, settling in 1808 on the Buckner P. Whetsell farm south of Caddell. There is a grandson in Valley and the family of another in the Whetsell Settlement.
Peter, Francis, and Catherine Carrico arrived in 1786 on the Pulliam farm at the mouth of Wolf Creek. It is not known that their parents came with them. Of four other brothers, one settled in Culpeper, one in Charles county, Maryland, and one in Kentucky. The sons of Francis went West. Peter had but one son, Joseph, whose six sons lived mainly
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in Reno and Lyon. The Rev. William D., a superannuated minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, settled at Newburg. Joseph B., has been many years a justice at Rowlesburg. Kelly is a railway mail clerk, while Arthur W., a veteran teacher, is the only Prestonian to serve two terms as county superintendent.
Anthony Carroll was a sailor in the British navy. To his descend- ants he is not known as an actual resident of Preston, although we find that in 1787 he patented near the Dunkard Bottom, land that was set- tled upon in 1774. In 1800, his only son, James, purchased of him the farm near Kingwood which is still in the family. James M., oldest grandson of James, was a resident of both Kingwood and Valley. He was exceptionally familiar with the west side of the county. His son, Herndon D., is a veteran teacher and an agricultural graduate of the State University. James H., cousin to James M., was an attorney of Kingwood. Bruce F., and Frank M., are business men of the same town.
Nicholas Casey settled on the Dunkard Bottom in 1802. He was undoubtedly a son of Peter, a very early pioneer of Hampshire. His own son, Peter, kept tavern at the Fairfax ford, now Caddell.
John Cassidy settled in 1795 on the Joseph Guseman farm in Lyon. By 1806 he was distilling peach brandy. Isaac, a grandson, lives not far away. Nathan, a son, had a gristmill on Flagg Run.
Shadrach Casteel came from Bedford county, Pennsylvania, to Gar- rett county, and in 1819 located on the south side of Muddy Creek at the Metheny Mill. All his children except Nathaniel went West.
In 1851 James Castle came from Maryland to Lick Run in Kingwood District.
The Caton connection are near Clifton Mills and the Pennsylvania line
John W. and James Chambers arrived in 1856, the former settling on the east bank of Cheat at the Tucker line, the latter between Terra Alta and Aurora.
Eliphalet Chidester was the son of a German emigrant who was fifteen weeks in crossing the Atlantic and had nine sons in the Revolu- tion in the Continental service. The pioneer settled in 1814 on the Mosteller place, a mile west of Bruceton. The numerous connection are considerably dispersed about the county. The grandsons Henry and William, lived in Pleasant, Ashbel S., son of the former being merchant at Cuzzart. Their brother Alpheus had a gristmill on Green's Run Their cousin George W. settled at Newburg.
About 1798 James Chiles came from Snow Hill, Maryland, to the
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Parsons place near Lake Terra Alta. The connection has been identi- fiel mainly with Portland.
Thomas Chipps settled in the Craborchard in 1770, but seems to have relocated on the Monongalia side before 1800. He was a justice and leading citizen, yet his son John, of Roaring Creek, was of bad reputation. It is alleged that he was a horse-thief and the slayer of a negro. Henry, a son of Frank, of Monongalia, re-introduced the family name in Preston.
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