USA > West Virginia > Preston County > A History of Preston County, West Virginia, V.1 > Part 39
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396
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Wyatt Spindler came to Grant from Somerset in 1847. He settled two miles west of Clifton Mills on the Andrew Spindler farm. Jona- than, another son, settled at Brandonville. Charles, the present sheriff, is a son of Andrew.
It is related that James Spurgeon came from Cumberland in 1784, and settled a mile south of Glade Farms. Yet in that very year Wash- ington found him located on the site of Bruceton and managing a ferry. The wives of himself and his brother, John, were Brownings, and were aunts to Meshach Browning, the celebrated hunter. John, who had no family, is described by his nephew as lazy and good natured. Other Spurgeons of this period were Jesse, Nathaniel, and William. The latter patented some land on the Little Sandy. One of these seems to have been the Spurgeon who married the widow of John Green. The connection now in Preston is derived from Jesse and Jonathan, sons of James. The former lived at Glade Farms. Jonathan crossed the Cheat and settled on Bull Run, but removed with four of his children to Gilmer county about 1840.
Nehemiah Squires came from Loudoun about 1790, and located on the Claude K. Keefover farm on upper Three Fork. He was drowned in Decker's Creek while returning from Morgantown. His wife lived to be 90 years old. Thomas, a son, was a blacksmith of Kingwood.
Three brothers named Stafford, came from Staffordshire, England, just prior to the Revolution, and served in that war. John settled in Hampshire county, Jesse in Ohio, and James in Monongalia. The John who once lived on the J. T. Gribble farm near Pisgah was probably a son of James. He left no family but gave his name to a stream of that locality. He is remembered as a jealous watcher of his apple trees. Nehemiah, a son of James, came to the west of Reno rather earlier than 1850. James N., a son of his brother Seth, came in 1854 to the Alexander D. Squires farm in Valley.
The Startzmans arrived in America in 1773. Daniel, their first rep- sentative in Preston, came from near Hagerstown in 1817, and in 1820 purchased the T. M. Startzman farm near Carmel. He was by trade a tanner, and his was the first marriage license to be issued from this county after its organization. Jacob, a brother, arrived at Carmel in 1822, his father coming with him. Of his own sons, David and John became business men of Baltimore. Henry S. settled at Kingwood in 1845 and was county clerk. Thomas M., who lived on the homestead, was a man of very retentive and accurate memory and without an equal in his knowledge of the local history of Union.
397
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Gottfried Stemple came from Wittenberg, Germany, in 1773. The following year he settled near Hagerstown, where a daughter was cap- tured by Indians and held by them about ten years. When restored to her parents she had acquired such a love for the forest that it was difficult for them to keep her home. Another child was killed by the savages, and a third was scalped but recovered from the injury. In 1788 the parent bought of Leonard Deakins 1000 acres a mile west of Aurora. He died shortly afterward, being then a widower. The tract was divided among his three sons, David, Martin, and John. Jacob, son of David, was a soldier in 1812. David Jr., his youngest brother, was a major of militia, and during the palmy days of the Northwestern Pike he kept the Rising Sun Tavern, a little west of Aurora. Stonewall Jackson was one of his many guests. After the decline of the pike he retired to a farm of 500 acres near Carmel. He outlived all his brothers and sisters by 27 years and was never ill. His numerous family were well educated, two sons, Howard P., and Wade H., being graduates of Roanoke College and professors in Pennsylvania.
Jeremiah Sterling settled about 1798 on the P. B. Michael farm near Sugar Valley. His executors were Isaac Barb and William Sigler. Robert Godwin was his stepson. The name of his daughter Drusilla, appears in the Methodist class-book of Harmony Grove in 1830. The connection drifted largely to the west side of the county.
Stevenson is a tolerably early name in the vicinity of Fellowsville.
John Stewart came from Monongalia in 1872 and settled south of Kingwood. He is a grandson of William, who came to the parent county in 1770, and gave his name to Stewartstown.
Andrew C., John R., and Claiborne W. Stone were brothers and came as married men from Hanover county. Andrew C., a soldier of 1812, came soon after that war to the vicinity of Reedsville. The other brothers settled soon afterward on Green's Run.
James Strahin, who lived on the William DeBerry farm in Valley, went at length to Ritchie. He was probably a son of William, an early resident east of Cheat.
George Strawser, son of a German immigrant, came from Pennsyl- vania somewhat earlier than 1810, and settled on the D. S. Forquer place near Brandonville. The connection is found now chiefly in Pleas- ant, Portland and Union.
The pioneer Street came about 1815 from Flintstone below Cum-
398
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
berland. He settled near Hazelton, but his grandson William J., lives at Rowlesburg.
Nathan Stuck came from Somerset about 1804 and built the Luraw mill on Little Sandy near Bruceton. In the 50's the property com- manded an offer of $5,000. The wife is remembered by a grandson as a fine cook. ' Of his sons, Samuel settled on the river-hill east of Her- ring about 1845 and Mathias F. moved to Terra Alta.
Jacob Stump came from Ohio in 1842, settling on Beech Run Hill at the Harvey Liston place, but later removing to the Jacob Stump place near Rodamer. His oldest daughter did not accompany him to Preston.
Peter Summers, a German immigrant, settled about 1800 on the Freeman Kelley place a mile north of Dority.
Joseph Summers, a native of Monongalia, removed in 1842 to the Summers farm on the Barbour line near Marquess.
Dr. S. K. Sutton settled at Gladesville, where for several years he also conducted a newspaper.
Drake Swindler came from Loudoun about 1825, locating on the James Kirk farm, where the town of Bretz has since grown up.
George Sypolt was the son of a soldier of the Revolution. He came about 1790 and settled on the Rolla Martin farm on Beech Run Hill. While helping, about 1800, to raise a barn on the Crane place, he was killed by a falling log. The descendants of his sons George, Christo- pher, and Nathan are numerous and are rather widely distributed. It would seem, however, as though some of the Sypolts of whom we have been told were the progeny of Christopher, living here in 1798, and probably a brother to George.
James Talbott, a wagoner, came from Tucker to Evansville about 1841. His brother John settled about the same time on Scotch Hill.
James Tanner came from Greene county, Pennsylvania, and lived in Long Hollow. His son Nathan moved to the Salt Lick.
In 1778 a young man named Wildey Taylor was a close neighbor, or perhaps employee, of the Morgans. Ten years later he patented land on the west bank of Cheat. He seems to have died a little earlier than 1805, while still a youngish man. It was probably a daughter who married Samuel Taylor. Wildey, Jr., is mentioned in 1809 Another son may have been the William Taylor who lived on Beech Run Hill at an early day, suddenly disappearing under cir- cumstances that pointed very strongly to murder.
399
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
William Taylor, related in a sense to Wildey, lived about the Whetsell Settlement.
Samuel Taylor, a native of England, married a Taylor. He arrived about 1800, and settled two miles east of Kingwood. He was in the war of 1812. The connection is now in Lyon and Union.
Another Samuel Taylor came from the east of Virginia about 1810. He at length went on to Ohio with three sons and probably some daughters. James, a fourth son, froze to death on his way to enlist for the war of 1812. From William, the only son to remain, and who settled in the north of Valley ,has sprung a numerous progeny, branches of which are found in Kingwood and Union. Milton H., so well known in agricultural. circles throughout West Virginia, is a grandson of William. The pioneer was probably a grandson of the Samuel who was a very early settler in Hampshire county.
Alexander Taylor lived south of Tunnelton near Number 4 School- house.
John Taylor came from Wales about 1854 and settled on the state line east of Hazelton.
Michael Teets settled at Glade Farms about 1788. There are many descendants of his sons Michael, George, Abraham, Adam, and John. The first named drowned in the Cheat about 1850 and was buried on an island at the mouth of Muddy. The connection is widely diffused over Grant, Pleasant, Portland, and Kingwood.
Levi Teets, son of Jacob and grandson of a German immigrant, was born in the valley of Virginia and came to the vicinity of Aurora some time after his marriage:
Benjamin Thomas came from Culpeper about 1800 and settled on the Dunkard Bottom. His children passed out of the county, but in 1839 William returned from Monongalia and settled on the Isaac W. Criss farm near Fellowsville. Elisha, the sheriff, was his son.
William, Alexander, and Lewis Thomas were brothers who came from Wales in colonial days. General George H., the "Rock of Chicka- mauga," was a descendant of Lewis. Michael, a descendant of Alex- ander, had ten sons, all having Michael for a middle name. Two of these Jacob M., and Abraham M., came to the north of Grant about 1820. but the latter finally went West, a part of his family remaining near Florence. The Rev. Jeremiah, preacher and teacher, is a grandson of Jacob M.
Stephen Titchnell came from New Jersey in 1797 and lived at the A. C. Titchnell place on Beech Run Hill. He had a gristmill on Muddy
400
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Creek. Though he had also a still, his boys were not drunkards, and though he would not go to church, two of them, Moses and Daniel, were Methodist preachers. Moses, a circuit preacher, went at length to Illinois. Daniel was a local preacher 50 years. The descendants of James, Stephen, and Daniel are many in the northern half of the county.
The grandfather of Benjamin Trembly was a Huguenot refugee; who escaped to Scotland and married there. Afterward he settled near Elizabeth, New Jersey, at a place ever since known as Trembly Point. The stone house he put up is still standing. Benjamin came to the vicinity of Brandonville about 1800, and probably with the Darbys. In 1803 he purchased the Joseph H. Trembly farm. He perished in the Cheat at Ice's Ferry while on his way home from a fair at Morgantown. His grandson Samuel, lived in the Whetsell Settlement. Charles E., the cashier, is his nephew.
Joseph Trickett came from Monongalia in 1826. He settled on the Trickett farm northwest of Gladesville.
George and another Joseph Trickett were brothers. Their parents were English-born. George settled on York Run in 1832.
James Trotter came from Marietta, Ohio, about 1887, and lived at Aurora. He is the father of Frank B., one of the faculty of the State University, and of J. Russell, the State Superintendent.
Thomas Trowbridge, a cloth manufacturer and of a good English family. came to America in 1637 and settled at New Haven, Conn., in 1639. John T., the popular story writer for young people, is a descend- ant. One of the connection migrated to the Shenandoah Valley, appar- ently soon after the Revolution. We have no certain knowledge that he himself came to Pendleton, though he probably did. At all events, nearly or quite all his children were here about 1804. Of the sons, Jonathan and Joseph went to Missouri about 1820. David, Samuel R., and Jesse, who died during the Civil War, were prominent citizens. Jesse lived on the east bank of Cheat, where prior to the building of the Morgantown and Kingwood Railroad a ferry was maintained. The other brothers lived on Green's Run. David, a miller, was a man of great force of character. He was sheriff in 1828, a local preacher of the Methodist church for 60 years, and so uncompromising was his opposition to slavery that he was one of the corporal's guard of Pres- tonians who voted for Lincoln in 1860. The brothers were not much alike in personal appearance. A roving, venturesome spirit seems a trait of the connection.
401
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Lewis Turner, a soldier of the war of 1812, came from Culpeper to the Zephaniah Turner place about 1827.
Alexander Turner came from Virginia about 1790 and lived on the D. L. Keefover place, south of Reedsville.
Another Turner, whose given name is lost, lived at the eastern base of Mount Phoebe. He had a son Zephaniah.
Henry Turney came from Pennsylvania in 1831, locating .on the Ezra Turney place in the east of Pleasant.
James M. Turnley of Spottsylvania came to near Newburg in 1863. He was a railroad man 17 years.
The Uppole connection has been identified for some years with Grant and Kingwood.
Hiram Vankirk, related to the Carrolls, had a farm near Kingwood and kept tavern in the town.
Vansickle is a pioneer name of Garrett, although in 1798, Lewis was living on the West Virginia side. David came across the border in 1835. and settled on the Charles T. Vansickle place, southeast of Glade Farms. Charles T., a son, taught 17 years. A relative and neighbor was Zachariah, five of whose children died of fever in twelve days. The Rev. George W. is his son.
John Vanwerth came with the Nordecks and to the same locality. Jonas Wable of Pennsylvania came to the Whetsell Settlement, but was not accompanied by the children of his first marriage.
Richard B. Waddell, of English parentage, came to Brandonville in his boyhood, and became a merchant. He was a prominent citizen of Grant. His daughter Lynne teaches in the State Normal schools and his son Charles W., is a physician.
Another Waddell connection occurs near Newburg.
George Wagner walked to Preston from the seacoast when only II years old, arriving in 1802. Jacob, his father, was already here. They lived on the D. H. Wagner place near Amboy.
John Wagner, who had represented Monongalia in the Legislature, settled in 1838 on the L. J. Conley farm north of Newburg.
Robert B. Wakefield, a mechanic, came in 1853.
James Walls came from Delaware about 1790 and settled on the Daniel Ryan place near Pisgah. The homestead included the site of the village. The connection are quite wholly of his son Charles. Distant branches are those of Solomon of Pisgah and James of Beech Run Hill.
William Walls came in 1832 from Virginia to Laurel Point in
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402
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Monongalia. William, Jr., settled about 1831 on the S. G. Walls place southeast from Gladesville.
Henry Walter settled a little west of Evansville about 1817. His wife was born in Pendleton county. His father Simon, who could speak no English, spent his last years with him.
In 1857 Joseph Wamsley came from Randolph with his family, and settled on the Bartlett place in the north of Lyon.
James Watkins came from Monongalia in 1838 locating on the James H. Watkins place southeast of Tunnelton.
Another Watkins family, of Welsh birth, was living in 1896, at the Halfway House in Valley.
William Watson came from the east of Virginia in 1776, and patented 300 acres at Masontown. Tradition states that his cabin stood on the "Hartley Green," the name by which the village site was known prior to 1856. There is a considerable connection from his sons, David and William. William A., U. Grant, and David E., mer- chants of Fellowsville, Masontown, and Tunnelton, respectively, are grandsons of David. John W., the circuit clerk, is a grandson of William. James, said to be a son of the pioneer, and perhaps identical with John or Jacob by virtue of a middle name, settled on the Youghiogheny in Pennsylvania just beyond the Maryland line and therefore but a few miles from the corner of Preston. Milford, a grand- son, settled at Terra Alta.
A family of the Watsons of Monongalia are related by marriage to the Baker, Reed, Field, and Fortney families. Joseph of this con- nection settled in Lyon.
Archibald Watts came from Romney about 1811, and settled on the Caleb Summers place near Marquess. He and his wife were of Scotch parentage.
Jacob Weaver came from Monongalia a little after 1800, and settled on the Weaver place southeast of Gladesville.
In 1856 George Weaver settled on the George Brown place on Scotch Hill.
William Weaver came from Monongalia to Valley in 1864 and lived on the Swindler farm, now Bretz.
James Webster, a soldier of 1812, was living at Sugar Valley in 1792 When his wife died he gave his daughter, Elizabeth, to a Connor to be reared. John and William were probably brothers. John's house was a depository for the muskets of the local militia. There may, how- ever have been a senior James.
403
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
John F. Welch came from Garrett somewhat earlier than 1830, and settled on Muddy Creek between Lenox and Centenary Church. His brother Samuel came also, but moved on to Iowa. Another brother was Jacob. The connection is now mainly in Portland.
Joseph Weltner came from Pennsylvania to Brandonville. .
The Weltons were among the very earliest settlers on the South Branch of the Potomac. Isaac J. came from Mineral county to near Reedsville in 1870, and married a daughter of David C. Miles.
John C. Werner was born in Darmstadt, Germany. In March, 1851, he and his young family settled on the Switzer farm of 400 acres, north of Eglon. One son, Andrew, remained to keep a hostelry in the village. His own son, William L., is a physician.
John Wheeler, a son of English parents, came from Hagerstown in 1804, and settled near Eglon on a farm of 325 acres. John J., the one son to remain, lived on the Lawton farm between Amboy and Rowles- burg. William, a magistrate, lived on the home farm but at length went to Indiana. Two sons of John remained, David locating at Reeds- ville and Henry H., settling at Rowlesburg in 1851, where he was a magistrate 37 years.
About 1800 Benjamin Wheeler owned 1,000 acres near St. Peters in Grant.
John Whetsell with wife and eight or nine children arrived from Hagerstown in 1806 and purchased of the Butlers 216 acres in what has long been known as the Whetsell Settlement. His house stood near the barn of Felix A. Jeffers. The last years of the parents were spent with their son Conrad in Maryland. The Preston connection is derived from their sons, Peter and Michael. Long before the Revolu- tion two Wetzels arrived at Philadelphia. One of these settled in Frederick county, Md., while the other passed on to what is now Rock- ingham county, Va. The famous Lewis Wetzel was a grandson. The name still exists in Rockingham and Pendleton.
Thomas White came with a brother from Scotland some years be- fore the Revolution, and settled at Sheperdstown. He had three sons and four daughters, all of whom grew to maturity, except one of the latter. Robert, one of the former, migrated about 1802 to the Little Crossings on the Youghiogheny River, below the Maryland line. He taught in Fayette county and in Grant District, and in 1818 settled one mile east of Kingwood. He is remembered as a very competent teacher and exceptionally good penman. His wife was from near Trenton, N. J. His sons Thomas R., and David O., passed the age of 90 years.
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PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
The latter, a cabinet maker, lived at Albright and afterward in Long Hollow. A younger brother settled north of Kingwood. A branch of the connection is now in Portland. George W., son of David O., is a Methodist preacher. James W., a grandson, was for some years editor of the Preston County Journal. James C., son of Francis W., has been several times on the county court. Several of the connection, as George W., of F. W., and Joseph F., are teachers of long service.
Thornton White of Loudoun parentage came from Garrett to Glades- ville about 1847, where he was farmer and merchant. In 1860 he re- moved to Newburg, and in 1864 to Terra Alta, where his sons, Lewis P., and William T., became business men, the former, a cashier, moving to the State of Washington.
Garrett T. White, a cousin to Thornton, also settled in Portland.
A White-whose given name is not remembered-came from Pennsylvania about 1850 and lived on Gum Camp Run near Herring.
William White settled south of Newburg about 1859. He visited the gold fields of the west. He and his wife were of Scottish birth.
John White, a son of Adam, settled in Tucker, but lived a while in Union, where his sons, George W., and Solomon, remained. Adam was one of nine brothers reared in Chester county, Pa., who settled mostly in Monongalia and other counties of West Virginia.
Hugh Watson White came from Fayette to the vicinity of Clifton Mills in recent years.
August Christian Whitehair came to Union in 1788, settling on the Jacob Elsey place. He taught at Carmel in 1790. He was the first teacher in Union and possibly the first in the whole county. The con- nection, now well represented in Portland as well as Union, is derived mainly from his son George, who lived on the C. T. O'Brien place, mid- way between Terra Alta and Aurora. Edmund, a grandson, has served some time on the Portland Board of Education. Spencer K., brother to the latter, is a veteran teacher.
Albert P. Wilbern came with his family from Garrett and settled near Terra Alta.
Henry Wile settled near Eglon. The connection is now chiefly in the west of Union and in Reno.
William Wiles located a mile south of Eglon. John W., the push- ing real estate dealer of Morgantown is a grandson. Abraham, an elder half-brother, lives near Gregg's Knob. Samuel, a son of Wil- liam, settled in Grant.
About 1790 Peter Wilhelm located on the Wilbert Lenhart farm
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405
PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
in the Craborchard. He was accompanied by a brother, who has no male posterity here. The connection is considerably diffused through the eastern side of the county.
Jacob Wilhelm was reared in the family of Peter Wilhelm and assumed his surname, though he was not a Wilhelm by descent. He lived on Pine Swamp Knob.
John Wilkins was the son of a German immigrant, who settled in Monongalia about 1793. John came to the vicinity of Independence about 1830.
John Willett, a Quaker, came in 1786 from Bucks county, Pa., and settled on the Mud Pike, one and a half miles east of Brandonville. On their way here the family were attacked by smallpox. In 1810-12 they built a stone house of good size, a gable of which is yet standing. There were other Willetts who came with John.
William Williams settled near Tunnelton before the Civil War.
John Williams was an early settler on Scotch Hill.
Another John Williams was of English birth and came in 1847. He lived in Kingwood and Valley.
Abraham Wilson came to the Dunkard Bottom early in the last cen- tury and there wedded a daughter of Jacob Mouser. He removed to Taylor county. Jacob, a son, located on Flagg Run about 1849. He married a daughter of Jacob Means, whose place he lived on. He left there ten years later, and the only one of his children to stay in Preston is Nathan A., of the Whetsell Settlement.
Isaac Wilson came from Greene county, Pa., and lived near Albright. Though he died in Pennsylvania in 1861, and his son John E., went to Minnesota in 1879, the family of the latter remained, living near Irona. William, a nephew to Isaac, settled on Cupp Run in Portland in 1844. Isaac Loman Wilson, a veteran teacher of Pleasant, is a cousin to William.
Edward Wilson was a native of Stafford county and settled at Denver, near Tunnelton, in 1836. His father, James, helped to build a fort at Morgantown. Of two sons, Eugenus G. lived in Reno and William C. finally settled near Gordon.
The widow of Johnson Wilson of Barbour, who was killed in the Civil War, returned with her children to her father's people in Grant.
Michael Wilt came from Pennsylvania about 1835 and settled on the Jacob Wotring farm, a mile west of Aurora. His widow married John H. Wotring. Oscar, a cashier, is a great-grandson.
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PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
At an earlier day there were other Wilts in Union, but they did not permanently remain.
Jacob Windle came from Somerset in 1849, locating at Sugar Valley and later in Terra Alta.
Elijah Winters, a blacksmith, came from Alleghany county, Md., about 1835, and located a mile east of Horseshoe Run postoffice. There is a considerable connection derived from his seventeen children.
The Wolfe connection is unique in its far-reaching relationships. Not only is this kinship very numerous, but it is more widely diffused over the county than any other. The families into which it has married are almost legion. A venturesome spirit is characteristic of the Wolfes, and notwithstanding the many who are within Preston, they have con- tributed liberally to the westward advance of the American people. At the time of the French and Indian war there were two brothers by the name of Wolfe at the Stony Creek settlement in Shenandoah county. It was affirmed to the writer that the elder brother never came to Preston himself. Yet he appears to have been the senior Jacob who was living here in 1782. It is probable that he died before the end of the century. The widow died about 1824 at the house of her son, Augustine, having attained an extreme age. The sons who permanently located in Preston were Jacob, Jr., George, and Augustine. John, a fourth son, was a temporary settler, and lived here in 1798. There is also mention of a daughter. The brothers were men of powerful physique. The name of the younger of the senior Wolfes we do not know. He seems to have come with his nephew Jacob. There is a tradition that he was a companion of the Wetzels, and that he lost his life on the bank of the Ohio while trying to escape from a band of Indians. His only son, so far as we know, was Samuel.
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