USA > West Virginia > Preston County > A History of Preston County, West Virginia, V.1 > Part 35
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Of his two sons, John brothers, John and Thomas, went south. lived on the west side of Laurel Hill, near the George H. Bolyard place. Salathiel lived near Rowlesburg and James J. on the homestead. As given to us, the dates relating to James and his immediate family appear unsatisfactory. Miss Lowther, in her history of Ritchie county, claims that the Goffs are of German origin, though resident a while in England.
John Goodwin came from Delaware about 1785, and settled near Rockville, on the John Goodwin place, a Bowman family coming with him. A part of the connection call their name Gooding.
Robert and Abraham Gordon were natives of Pennsylvania, but came to Valley from Ohio with their families. They settled near the Gordon schoolhouse, the former in 1854, the latter in 1860. The family of Abraham now live near Terra Alta.
David Graham arrived in America from Ireland about 1750. His wife, who came with him, was Margaret Patterson. They lived a while on the Juniata River and then moved beyond the Alleghanies. On the frontier they lived in peril of the Indians, a family of neighbors being massacred by the savages and the reports of firearms plainly heard. This may have occurred in the angle between the Monongahela and the Cheat, since the Grahams were there prior to 1779. The sons of the couple were John, Robert, Joseph, William, and David, no
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names of daughters being preserved. William spent his latter years on Patterson's Creek, in Hampshire. His hearing was impaired in the battle of the Brandywine. David, Jr., who seems to have been the youngest son, saw the flayed bodies of the two Indians killed by David Morgan in a hand to hand fight. His wife when only a girl helped to dress the heads of those of the Rev. John Corbley's family - who were scalped but not killed. According to tradition they were married at Harmony Grove, though it would look more probable that they began housekeeping while the groom's home was at a gunpowder mill near Ice's Ferry. Be this as it may, he settled on the J. T. Graham place in Pleasant. He was a weaver and also a teacher, and at the new home he continued to make powder. Of his sons, Stirling and David re- mained in Pleasant. Samuel settled near Masontown in 1833, and John S. located at Rowlesburg. The offspring of Samuel have shown a preference for industrial and professional pursuits. Sanford is a banker, Grant a druggist, and James A. a physician.
The Greaser family settled west of Kingwood as a part of the German Catholic immigration.
William Greathouse came to Pleasant about 1800, and settled near the John G. Harned place. His sons, John, William, and Leonard moved to the north of Valley. Christopher remained in Pleasant, and Jacob lived on the Three Fork near Gladesville.
The Greens are of peculiar interest because of the tragic breaking up of their home by the Indians. In 1783 John Green patented 400 acres on the stream which took his name, but which was first called Buffalo Run. His cabin stood on what was afterwards the Samuel R. Trowbridge farm. It was near the top of the bluff on the right bank of the run. The Indian surprise is elsewhere mentioned. The family of Green, so far as known, included three partially grown daughters and an infant child. The latter was murdered. Sarah, the youngest of the girls, married Joseph Friend. Another girl mar- ried a trader to the Indians named Sauerhaver. She did not return to Preston to live. Elizabeth, the third daughter, had married a trader named King, but as he did not wish to leave the natives he sold his helpmate to Andrew Johnson, who is hereinafter mentioned. The widow of Green married a Moore and had by him two daughters, Hannah and Cissia. The former married a Ruble, and the latter mar- ried Jonathan Trowbridge. There was also a son, Edmisson, else- where mentioned. After the death of Moore, the widow married a
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Spurgeon and had a daughter named Lydia, who married a Ruble and lived in Monongalia, as did also Hannah. Mrs. Spurgeon was buried by her three husbands. She was one of the Methodist class that worshiped in the old church between her home and Kingwood,
Nimrod Gregg lived within the Maryland line near Hutton's. He reared Thomas, who settled on Three Fork about 1835. Elihu, who burned the Preston courthouse in 1869, was related to Thomas. No desecendants are living in the county.
John Gribble came from Loudoun in 1803. He lived on the Lock- hart Bircher farm near Pisgah. His sons William and Archibald re- mained in the same locality.
David Grim came from Maryland, probably a little earlier than 1800, and lived on the I. B. Field place near Herring. The name at length passed out of the county, but Paul returned about 1857, settling near the Israel church in Reno.
William Grimes came from Frederick county to Lyon in 1849, and was accompanied by all his children save Andrew J., Sarah, and Clarissa.
Henry Grimes came from Fairfax county to Carmel about 1820, bringing a stock of merchandise in his saddle pockets. His brother William and his sisters Margaret and Elizabeth also came. John, another brother, went to Taylor. William H. was a son of Philip, a brother who did not come. Another member of the connection was Philip, who at length passed on to Marshall county and married there.
John Gross settled about 1825 on the Mud Pike three miles east , of Brandonville. His three sons remaining in the county settled around Mount Phoebe, Nicholas operating for some years a grist mill one mile east of Reedsville.
John Groves was probably a son of the Nicholas Grove, or Groves, who in 1798 purchased land adjoining Absalom Sovereign. About 1820, John was settled on the Eben Liston farm near Valley Point. He married the widow of Frederick Elsey. There are many descendants of his seven sons in Pleasant, Portland, Valley, and Kingwood.
Andrew Gull, a nephew of John Wagner, came early in the 40's from Monongalia, and settled on Bird's Creek at the Hiram G. Burke place. Though a cripple, he was a good sportsman.
Abraham Guseman, a German immigrant and gun and silver smith, arrived in Baltimore in 1776. He at length came to Monongalia and built a mill at Dellslow. Jacob, one of his fifteen children, ran off to sea, but in 1811 found his way to Preston, locating the next year
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where the village of Guseman has grown up, and becoming a merchant .. He was the oldest citizen of the county at the time of his death. Of his sons, Isaac lived near Zar, while John W. and Joseph settled near Reedsville. The second is a surveyor. Jacob J. lived a long while at Terra Alta.
Edward Gutkey and family came to Newburg about 1870. His grandson, Edward C., is a merchant of Independence.
James Guthrie came from Ireland in his youth. He was accom- panied by two brothers, John and Jacob. The former lived single and the other died in early manhood. James settled in 1796 on the Jeremiah Guthrie place east of Brandonville. He was naturalized in 1786. His father-in-law was killed by Indians in Kentucky in 1806. The Guthries have not dispersed widely, and the progeny of five married sons are chiefly in the east of Grant and Pleasant and the north of Portland. Edgar, a grandson, moved to the vicinity of Fellowsville ยท about 1860. Jeremiah, another grandson, is a very well known citizen, and has been county commissioner. Joseph, of the next generation, is a German Baptist preacher.
The Rev. George E. Hagans was a native of Connecticut. He moved to Vermont and thence to Indiana, but on account of ill health was advised to seek a less malarial country. This consideration led him about 1815 to Beech Run Hill, where he lived until 1818, when he removed to Brandonville. His wife was a native of Massachusetts. They had twelve children, seven of whom accompanied them to Preston. Three of the latter carried on a large mercantile business, Harrison at Brandonville, Elisha M. at Kingwood, and Zer at Peters- burg, Pa. They were virtually partners, their stores being conducted on a cooperative basis. For their day the brothers were men of con- siderable wealth. The connection has displayed great business ability and civic power, and its disappearance from its original seat in the north of the county is a direct result of the industrial setback which followed the decay of the National Road. Harrison took an active part in enterprises looking to the development and general well-being of his adopted county and his name is deeply written in its annals. He was an able mathematician and inventor and was liberal to the interests of religion and education. He was a member of the Wheeling Conven- tion of 1861 and of the State Legislature of 1866. Of Elisha M. it has been said that a more able, upright, and public-spirited citizen did not live at the county seat. Lucian A., son of Harrison, was Secretary of
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State for West Virginia. He became a partial owner of the Wheeling Intelligencer, and then a member of the firm of Rand, McNally & Company of Chicago. J. Marshall, another son, was a member of the Forty-third Congress and the Reporter of the State Court of Appeals. He was the compiler of "Hagan's Reports." Marcellus B., son of Elisha M., was Judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati.
John Haines came from the Shenandoah Valley and settled near Hazel Run in Grant.
Lewis W. and Frederick M. Halbritter, brothers, came with their parents from New York to Fellowsville in 1850.
Jesse Hall settled on Sand Ridge in Lyon at the William Jennings place. He was a justice, a Methodist class leader, and a model in morality and sobriety. Ashford, a son, was a Methodist minister and preached for several churches in this county.
James and John J. Hamilton, brothers, came from Pennsylvania to Evansville about 1835, and afterward to the west of Lyon.
Matthew Haney came from Pennsylvania about 1844 as superin- tendent of the Greenville furnace. He was afterward at the Josephine furnace until that went down in 1859. Finally he removed to Irondale. His son William W. is a locomotive engineer.
Hiram B. Hanshaw came to Kingwood a little earlier, perhaps, than 1830. He moved to Evansville, where he kept a hotel, and finally settled at Independence.
Jesse Hanway was an early pioneer of Reno. He came from Monongalia and settled above Fellowsville. Major Samuel, his brother, was a surveyor and wealthy citizen of the parent county. In 1796 he had a mill on Decker's Creek near Morgantown. He left the most of his property to his nephew John, but gave land and legacy of money to each of the four nieces.
John Harader came from Germany about 1786, and in 1798 pur- chased the Martin Judy farm on the east side of Big Sandy.
Elijah Hardesty, a soldier of 1812, was here in 1798, coming from Greene. He settled on Snowy Creek and the mill he built near the present railway track has disappeared. The posterity of his three sons are mainly in Portland and Union.
Jonathan Harned, of Pennsylvanian birth or parentage, was a half- brother to John Forquer. He settled on Bach Run Hill at the John G. G. Harned place, apparently about 1830. Edward, a younger half- brother, settled after marriage on the Collier farm near Clifton Mills.
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William Harrington came from Monongalia and settled in 1845 on the border of Independence, around which locality the connection remain.
Frederick Harsh came from Germany, and in 1788 settled on the east portion of the site of Aurora. Only his son Frederick, a justice, seems to have remained.
David K. and Abner G. Harshbarger, brothers, came from Augusta county about 1854 to follow the flour milling business. The former settled near Brandonville, the latter near Anderson. Isaac M., another brother, came later but removed to Doddridge. The sons and daughters of David K. and Abner E. have inclined much to educational work. William A. holds a chair in Washburn College, Kans. Felicia I. and Jennie A. each have a record of at least twenty years' service in the public schools.
William Hart, a native of England, came to America in 1852, mar- ried at Frostburg, Md., in 1855, and settled in Tunnelton, where he died in 1910 at the age of 79.
Edward Hartley came from Fairmont in 1813, and purchased 640 acres at Masontown. His house stood a little to the rear of the present bank building. Peter M. was a justice. His sons have generally given themselves to business careers, Joseph M. being the head of a large mercantile house at Fairmont. Edgar M. and H. Amos are very sub- stantial citizens of Masontown. The former, a retired merchant, has repeatedly served on the county court. The latter, well known in agricultural circles, has been in the State Legislature and has held other positions of honor and trust.
John Hartman came from Shenandoah county about 1805 and settled on the Isaiah W. Hartman place near Lenox. Michael, the only son to stay in Preston, built a mill on Lick Run. He wagoned on the National Road and was once absent a year with a large load of merchan- dise which he took to Kentucky. The descendants of his four sons are rather widely scattered about the county, except in the extreme north and south. They are characteristically of spare frame and dark com- plexion.
William Hartmeyer and wife, natives of Prussia, came to Hazel Run, in Grant, about 1859. Their son Christian, an attorney and gradu- ate of the State University, served in the war with Spain and in the State Legislature.
Jacob Hartsell came from Somerset to Lenox in 1828. He was a
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justice. His connection are now in Valley, Kingwood, and the south half of the county generally.
George W. Hartsell came from Alleghany county, Pa., to the vicinity of Brown's mill about 1860.
Alexander and James Harvey were residents of Grant, the former living at Bruceton and the latter on the Goup farm. They moved away prior to 1865.
William Harvey came from Garrett in 1852 and located on the Solomon Shaw place in Reno. Of their nine children, Jonathan was the only one to stay.
William Hauger, a native of Somerset, came a little subsequent to 1832 and settled on the James Kelly farm a little north of Lenox. The connection are mainly in Portland. Ezra B. is postmaster at Terra Alta.
Henry Y. Hauser came from Garrett about 1817 and settled on the Beachy farm at Aurora. The connection are now in the south-center of Union.
Amos Hawley came with a family in 1790. He accompanied Colonel John Fairfax, and was for a while his overseer. He then settled on the "old Turner place" at the east foot of Mount Phoebe. Barton R., a son of the second marriage, was the only son to remain.
Andrew H. Hawley, who married Delilah Bucklew and lived near the Whetsell settlement, was a kinsman to Amos.
Harry M. Hayden, a civil war veteran, came from Fayette, living first in the Craborchard and later at Kingwood.
Kidwell and James Hays came from Hardy in 1845 to the forks of the Kingwood road, a mile west of Terra Alta. William, a nephew, married a daughter of James. He had two brothers, Jesse and Jacob E.
Another James Hays settled at Kingwood in a much more recent time.
Samuel Hazlett was the son of an Irish immigrant who served in the Continental army. He came to Hazelton in 1797 and built a mill there, but returned to Maryland in 1825. It is said of Mrs. Hazlett that she could shoulder a two-bushel sack of grain, and that on one occasion she held a deer by its head in the mill race until the animal was drowned.
Leonard Heath came from Virginia to Fellowsville in the turn- pike days.
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William Hebb was a British soldier who joined the American army and fought in it at Yorktown. In 1802 he settled on the west bank of Cheat two miles above the mouth of Wolf Creek. His wife was the daughter of a slaveholder, and when she joined the Methodist church, she had come to such a disapproval of slavery that it was no longer pleasant to remain among her kindred. Hence their migration here.
George Peter Heckert, a millwright, settled near Eglon about 1790. All his sons went West except Peter.
In 1848 Sylvanus Heermans came from Luzerne county, Pa., to Fellowsville. He there started several enterprises, among them a foundry and a grist mill. Some years afteward he and his six children left the county, but Louis F., one of the latter, finally returned and lived at Kingwood. John, a younger brother to Sylvanus, came to Grant in 1849, and to Fellowsville the next year. In 1861 he returned to Steuben county, N. Y. He was trustee of the Fellows estate, an active temperance leader, and a forcible writer. He was the author of "Nuggets of Gold : or the Laws of Success in Life." His children by a second marriage did not settle here.
Harrison T. B. Heiskell came from Marion in 1860 to near the Weaver place in Lyon. His parents were from New Orleans.
George Helms and his wife were of English birth. They came from Kentucky about 1830 to the Helms place near Howesville. George was a saddler, but the later connection have been attracted to railroad service in an unusual degree. Several of the men are or have been railroaders, and several of their sisters have married railroad men.
Jeremiah Hempstead was an early settler on Laurel Run near Pisgah.
The Hendrickson family settled in the south of Union on Horse- shoe Run.
Samuel Henline of Berkeley county came about 1817 to the Chisholm farm in the east of Union. He may have been a descendant of Johannes Henlein, who came from Germany in 1749.
Lawrence Henry, of Scottish birth, was superintendent of the mine on Scotch Hill.
A Herndon, whose given name is not known, came from Virginia about 1796. He settled near Colonel Fairfax and was probably from the same region. After a few years he went on to Kentucky, but his son Solomon P. remained, and worked a while for Samuel Gandy. On his return from the war of 1812 he purchased the tavern in Kingwood
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built by Colonel Price. This hostelry he conducted for the remainder of his long life. He died in 1867 at the age of 80. His father was English-born and the five brothers of the latter are said to have been lost at sea. His mother, Mary Ellis, was a native of Wales. Solomon Paul Herndon, a large, strongly built man, was a noted personage of Kingwood during its first half century and over. He accumulated what was then a large property. John, his son, lived on the Anthony Cozad place south of Kingwood.
Dr. William E. Herndon lived at Kingwood some time. He left for Ritchie in 1849.
George Herring came from Bedford county, Pa., in 1840, and lived on the Fairview farm just south of Hazelton. George, Jr., the only son to stay in Preston, removed to Long Hollow in Valley in 1856. A part of the connection remain near the original seat.
Abraham Hershman came from Hampshire county in Revolutionary times, and took a tomahawk right on the Middle Sandy of Reno. His cabin and tan vat were near the James K. Bolyard house. On the death of Abraham, Jr., in 1820, the homestead was sold to John Bolyard, and the sons, George, Christopher, and Marshall went to Upshur and Hampshire. James and Jacob and the family of Abraham, Jr., remained in Reno.
Jacob Hibbs came from Monongalia in 1832 to the David C. Hibbs place in Lyon.
About 1830 George Hileman settled on the John G. Cale farm in Pleasant. His numerous family drifted out with the exception of two sons and a daughter. Wesley L., of Grant, springs from another line of Hilemans.
James, a son of Robert and Clare Hill, was brought from Ireland in 1810 when only a year old. The father had been inveigled into the British army. His escape from a military prison and his flight to America comprise a thrilling adventure. In 1843 James settled near St. Peter's church in Grant. His son, John W., is a justice of Terra Alta.
George B. Hill, a veteran teacher, settled on Laurel Run, in Grant, in 1878.
Thomas Hilleary came from Virginia during the civil war and settled near Cranesville.
Hinebaugh is an old name in the north of Garrett with a little representation here.
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Conrad Hoffman came from Germany to America in 1837 and soon afterward to Preston. He lived in Long Hollow and at Whetsell's.
Three daughters of a Revolutionary soldier named Holbert mar- ried into the Carrico and Beavers families. Whether the sire ever lived in Preston is not known to us.
The Hollis family came to Rowlesburg after the arrival of the railroad.
George B. Holmes was born on the ocean while his parents were coming from England to Baltimore. He arrived in Preston in 1840, working as a stone mason on railroad construction. In 1852 he settled at Newburg, afterward moving to the Field farm near Gladesville.
Thomas, James, and Samuel Holt came from Pennsylvania about 1825. They married and lived at Masontown. Alfred F., a son of James, was the father of Judge John H. Holt of Grafton and of James W. Holt of the Grafton Sentinel.
George W. Holyfield settled near Sinclair about 1845.
Benjamin Hooton was of Highland Scotch ancestry. In 1817 he moved from Fredericksburg, Va., to Philadelphia, and died there the same year. His sons John and Charles came to Preston a little prior to 1825. They first lived at Kingwood, but removed at length to Rowlesburg. The wife of Charles was of a Quaker family and lived to be 97. Her people were eminent in manufacturing. James E., their son, is an attorney of Moundsville. Albert L., an elder brother, was educated at West Point, securing entrance through Governor Johnston and John M. Mason, friends of his father. He was killed while hunt- ing by the accidental discharge of his gun.
Frederick A. Horchler came to Newburg in 1857 and lived on Scotch Hill. He was preceded by his brother William.
Samuel S. Hose came from Maryland about 1841, and at length purchased a farm near Hiorra.
James W., son of John P. and Margaret (Campbell) Hotsinpiller, settled in the south of Lyon during the 50's. . He came from the lower Shenandoah or South Branch, where the name occurs before the Revolution.
John Howard, a native of Delaware, settled about 1835 on the Augustine Wolfe place near Independence. John, Jr., of Independence, was tavern-keeper, constable, magistrate, deputy sheriff, and member of the Wheeling Convention of 1861. The wife of his brother Thomas D. was related to Justice Brewer.
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Richard Howard lived two miles northwest from Fellowsville.
John G. Howell came from Berryville, Clarke county, in 1859, and next year settled on the Clinton L. U. Howell place near Independence.
John C. Howell lived some time on the Mathias Forman farm in Pleasant. He seems to have been a son of John, who was here in 1798.
Jonathan Huddleson came from Fairfax county in 1847, and lived southwest from Reedsville. He was a member of the State Senate in 1855-9, and because of his avowal of secession was imprisoned two years during the civil war. After the war he lived eight years in the Shenandoah Valley. His son Henry W. removed to Virginia a few years ago.
Philip Huffman came from Monongalia about 1843, settling on the Elijah S. Huffman farm near Marquess. The late Francis M. was a prominent citizen of that locality.
John Huggins settled on the John Titchnell farm at Herring about 1835.
William M. Huggins, who married a Michael, moved from Marion county to Scotland county, Mo. His farm, nearly paid for when the civil war broke out, he lost in consequence of that event, and in the war itself he lost his life. The widow returned to Preston with her family. Benjamin F., their son, is a business man of Terra Alta. His brother, John W., was a Methodist preacher.
James Hunt came with his parents from England, and before 1850 settled at the Moore place on Sand Ridge ..
James S. Hunt, a merchant of Tunnelton, came in 1850 with his parents.
Captain Jacob S. Hyde lived in Cranesville. He died on his return from a Confederate prison. His son Henry C. edited the West Virginia Argus several years and then gave his time to the practice of law, in which he was a diligent student. He planned and nearly completed "Hyde's Digest of the West Virginia Reports." After his death the work was finished by T. M. Parks of Fairmont.
In 1808, Samuel Jackson joined Enoch Calvert in buying land of the Butlers. His home was the Felton place in the Whetsell settle- ment. He came from Fayette. Of his sons, Samuel lived a while in Kingwood, George settling at Rowlesburg. Wesley and Mary E., children of the former by his first wife, were reared by William G. Brown. In the second family was the very unusual circumstance of two adult sons of the same name. Andrew and Thomas B., their brothers, are residents of Portland.
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James Jackson came from England about 1832, and in 1848 arrived in Preston. Between these dates he followed his trade of finisher in woolen mills. The first mill in Connellsivlle was built by him. At length he retired to a farm in Portland below Albright. A son by his first marriage and the oldest son by his second did not come to America. Two other children were born in England. James once walked from Philadelphia to Connellsville, arriving three days in advance of some men who set out at the same time but in too strenuous a pace. John, a bachelor brother, came with him and made a purchase on Lick Run. Joseph, son of James, was a merchant of Kingwood and much respected as a citizen. He was a successful angler, but met his death by drown- ing in the Cheat.
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