USA > West Virginia > Randolph County > A history of Randolph County, West Virginia, from its earliest exploration and settlement to the present time > Part 31
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James D. Wilson, son of Edwin D. and Martha (Weese) Wilson, was born in 1844, and died in 1895. In 1866 he mar- ried Delia, daughter of Absalom and Emily (Hart) Crawford. Unto this union was born Lottie Lee, who died in 1912, and Jessie May, who married Homer Houston and after his death Lee J. Sandridge, a prominent business man of Barbour Coun- ty. James D. Wilson was a member of a distinguished family. being the grandson of William B. Wilson, who was the son of the first Benjamin Wilson. Living in the formative period of Western Virginia, no other family, perhaps, has left, in so
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marked degree, the impress of their lives and influence upon the region now embraced in the state of West Virginia. Dur- ing the active period of his life no other individual in Randolph wielded a greater influence than James D. Wilson. With more than ordinary ability and with a peculiar fitness for clerical
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MR. J. D. WILSON.
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work, Mr. Wilson for eighteen years discharged the duties of county clerk with entire satisfaction to his constituents. In the true sense of the word, he was not a politician as he was open and fearless, following his convictions and opposing or espousing a cause in utter disregard of the consequences to himself. The county has not produced a more unique or noted personage.
Colonel Ben. Wilson, who for many years represented the Clarksburg District in Congress was a son of Josiah Wil- son and a grandson of the first Benjamin Wilson.
William Woodrow, an ancestor of the Woodrow family, a member of which was the mother of President Wilson, in an early day entered land on Wilson Creek, this county, but it is not known whether he ever resided on his possessions.
William H. Wilson, son of John Q. and Harriet (Wood) Wilson, was born in 1840; married Rachael, daughter of Abram and Catherine (McNeal) Crouch. Mr. Wilson was jus- tice of the peace, deputy sheriff and clerk of the Circuit Court in 1884-96.
THE WOOLWINE FAMILY.
The Woolwine Family. This family is of German an- cestry and the name was originally spelled Eolvine. Orlando Woolwine was born about 1805. He lived in Valley Bend District. He had two sisters, Peggy, who married Isom Chan- nell, and Elizabeth, who married William Pritt. Orlando Woolwine married Sallie Clark. Children were Judson E., William, Columbia, Lucinda and Edmonia.
William Woolwine died in a Federal prison during the Civil War. Edmonia Woolwine married Laban, son of Wil- liam Dolebear Currence. Lucinda married Carper Ward, Ed- monia married Holman Pritt.
Judson B. Woolwine married Amanda Smith. Children, Herman, Maynard, Stanley, Stella.
Louis Woolwine was born in 1848. He married Colum- bia, daughter of John B. and Mary Reger White. Children, Lee, Nora, Icy. Tucker, Dorpha, John, Howard, Burr, Guy, Kent and Merlie. He owns the land on which was situated the Round Barn, a land mark of ante-bellum days.
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Orlando Woolwine was a member of the Board of Su- pervisors of Randolph County in 1867.
THE WARTHEN . FAMILY.
The Warthen Family. Raphael Warthen was among the first settlers of Randolph. His home was on the banks of Kings Run near the Staunton and Parkersburg pike, in Bever- ly District. He died in 1798, leaving a widow and two chil- dren. Elizabeth and Chlotilda. Chlotilda was born in 1798. The widow with her children moved to Kentucky in 1800. Chlotilda married a Montgomery, a member of a Maryland family. One son of this union, Hon. Zacharia Montgomery, moved to California in 1849. He became a prominent citizen of his adopted state, and gained distinction as a writer on po- litical and other subjects and was assistant attorney general under Cleveland's first administration. A grandson of Chlo- tilda Warthen Montgomery is the Right Reverend George Montgomery, a Catholic Bishop of Southern California.
Prof. John J. Montgomery, son of Hon. Zacharia Mont- gomery, gained world wide fame as a pioneer in the field of ae- rial flight. Prof. Montgomery was recognized by aviationists of every nation as one of the greatest inventors of heavier than air flying machines. He was in fact the father of the flying machine, but the Wright brothers following in his foot- steps and infringing on his patents received popular credit that belongs to Prof. Montgomery. He met his death in an effort to solve the problem of gliding without the use of power, after the manner of the eagle and other soaring birds.
THE WESTFALL FAMILY.
The Westfall Family. George, Jacob, Job. William, James and Cornelius Westfall settled in the Valley as early as 1772. They were, perhaps, brothers and came to Randolph from Pendleton. Withers says that one of the Westfalls found and buried the remains of the Files family who were murder- ed by the Indians nearly twenty years previous. This is im- probable from the fact that the Westfalls settled near the mouth of Mill Creek and William Currence first owned and occupied the land where Beverly now stands and which had
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been abandoned by the Files family. Some years later Wil- liam Currence and the Westfalls exchanged lands. Jacob Westfall was a justice of the peace and a member of the court appointed by the Governor in the organization of the county. In the same year he was elected sheriff by his asso- ciate justices of the peace, and thus became the first sheriff of Randolph. The residence of James Westfall in Beverly was designated as the court house of Randolph County, May 29, 1787, the first session having been held the day previous at the residence of Benjamin Wilson. Cornelius Westfall was the second sheriff of Randolph in 1789. George and James Westfall were captains of the militia in 1787. Jacob West- fall was one of the trustees of the town of Beverly in 1790. James Westfall was major of the militia in 1794. The West- falls were of German origin and the name was spelled West- phal in the mother tongue. The Westfalls settled in Pendle- ton in 1752. Cornelius Westfall moved to Hamilton County, Ohio.
THE WHITMAN FAMILY.
The Whitman Family. The Whitman family was among the first settlers of Randolph. Mathew Whitman was the first deputy sheriff of Randolph. He was captain of the militia in 1800 and was elected sheriff by the court the same year. He assisted in the organization of the first Presby- terian church in Randolph in 1820. He was commissioner of revenue in 1831. The Whitman family was of English de- scent and came from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, stopping temporarily in Hampshire County. Mathew Whitman was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and received a pension.
THE WARWICK FAMILY.
The Warwick Family. The Warwick family came to Randolph in the first years of its settlement. Jacob Warwick came from England to Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1740-50. He was employed by the Crown to survey land grants in Po- cahontas County. It is to be presumed that he was the father of Jacob Warwick, who settled in Randolph. The Warwicks became connected by marriage with the Sees, the Marshalls, the Crouches and other prominent families of Randolph. A
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descendant of this family of Warwicks became a prominent politician of the Buckeye State and had the distinction of de- feating Wm. Mckinley for Congress some years before he was elected to the Presidency.
THE WILMOTH FAMILY.
The Wilmoth Family. The Wilmoth settlement was among the first permanent colonies in Randolph. The date is fixed by the records of Monongalia County, which show that the Wilmoths obtained certificates for land on Cheat River on which they settled in 1776. These certificates were given by the commissioners of unpatented lands in 1781. They were of English descent and consisted of four brothers and two sisters. Their names were Nicholas, Thomas, James and John, and the sisters, Deborah and Susan. They immigrated from England to Virginia and thence to Randolph, sojourning, per- haps, in Pendleton. Thomas Wilmoth received a patent for 71 acres of land in Pendleton on Hedricks Run in 1771. The Wilmoths probably lived in Pendleton from 1771 to 1776. For many years subsequent to their settlement on the river, the stream was called Wilmoths river.
Nicholas, the eldest of the Wilmoth brothers, married Sydney, daughter of William Currence, the pioneer. The chil- dren of Nicholas and Sydney (Currence) Wilmoth were, John W., Sarah, Thomas, William, Eli, Samuel, James and Cur- rence.
Thomas, brother of the first Nicholas, married in 1798 Amy, daughter of Benjamin Schoonover. He owned the land where the stone house now stands. The stone house was built by Levi, son of Thomas. The children of Thomas and Amy (Schoonover) Wilmoth were, Absalom, John, Edmund, Levi, and three daughters whose names are not remembered.
John Wilmoth, one of the pioneer brothers, married in 1799 Mary Cunningham, daughter of James Cunningham. The names of their children were Elias, Peggy, James, Prudence, Wilson, Solomon, John Adam, Mary Ann and Dewy. James married Nancy Smith.
James Wilmoth, the pioneer, was murdered by the In- dians. The date of the tragedy is uncertain, but it was prob-
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ably at the time of the Leading Creek massacre. The Wil- moth settlement was apprehensive of a raid by the Indians and had sought safety at Friends and Wilson's Fort. How- ever, James Wilmoth ventured to make a visit to the settle- ment, when his whereabouts was betrayed to the savages lurking in the community by the barking of a dog with him. The Indians killed him from ambush near where the stone house now stands. Susan Wilmoth married David Schoon- over.
Eli, son of Nicholas and Sydney (Currence) Wilmoth, married Rebecca, daughter of Aaron Vanscoy. Their children were Archibald, Emily, Currence, James, Arnold, Louisa, Is- bern, Oliver and Elizabeth.
Nicholas Wilmoth, born in 1824, son of William and Mary (Taylor) Wilmoth ; married in 1853 to Eliza, daughter of Noah McLean. Children, Simpson, Haymond. Theodore, Virginia, Emiline, Minerva, Lou A. and Julia.
Benjamin F. Wilmoth, son of Wm. and Mary (Taylor ) Wilmoth, was born in 1829. He was a member of the Board of Supervisors during the Civil War.
Oliver Wilmoth, son of Eli and Rebecca (Vanscoy) Wil- moth and grandson of Nicholas and Sydney (Currence) Wil- moth, was born in 1835. He was a member of the Board of Supervisors in 1861-8 and was town sergeant, chief of police and city treasurer of the city of Elkins, holding one of these positions almost continuously during the first two decades of the city's growth.
Archibald Wilmoth was born in 1824 and was the son of Eli and Rebecca (Vanscoy) Wilmoth. He died in 19 ..... He married Caroline, daughter of Isaac Taylor, in 1847. Chil- dren, Luceba, Alonzo, F. Ella and Rebecca.
Luceba E. Wilmoth married Major J. F. Harding: Ella May Wilmoth married Floyd J. Triplett : Rebecca C. Wilmoth married Ziba Weese.
Alonzo F. Wilmoth, son of Archibald and Caroline (Tay- lor) \'ilmoth, was born in 1854: married Nancy, daughter of Thomas G. and Emily L. Black. Children, Emily, Josephine, Russell Woods, Edith Loraine. Mr. Wilmoth graduated from Fairmont Normal school in 1881. He was principal of the New
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Martinsville public schools in 1882; from 1884-8 he was sec- retary to State Superintendent of Public Schools, B. L. Butch- er. For years Mr. Wilmoth was a representative of the pub- lishing house of Ginn & Co. He was elected county superin- tendent of schools in 1878 and served two terms.
THE WARD FAMILY.
The Ward Family. Sylvester was the ancestor of the Ward family in Randolph. He came to Randolph from Pen- dleton in 1788 and married Mary Cunningham of that county. He was one of the trustees of the town of Beverly in 1790. The children of Sylvester Ward were Jacob, Jemima, Phoeba, Levi and Adonijah. Adonijah, Levi and two sisters, Phoeba and Jemima, moved to Ohio at an early date. They launched a boat on the Monongalia and floated down that stream and Ohio was their destination. The boat was constructed with sides too thick to be penetrated by the bullets of enemies. Tradition says that the Wards had more than one encounter with the Indians on their journey and that friends and com- panions of the trip, who were not so well prepared to repel attacks, perished on the way.
Mary, daughter of Sylvester Ward, married William Cur- rence. Unto this union were born John J., who married Ann Conrad and moved to Braxton ; William, who married Eliza- beth Conrad ; Virginia, who married Benjamin Scott ; Jemima, who married Adam Carper: Elizabeth, who married Gabriel Chenoweth.
Jacob Ward, son of Sylvester, married first, Elizabeth Scott of the South Branch. Children, Scott, killed by falling on pitchfork; Adonijah, who married Miss Hull: Jacob, who married Miss Dyer ; Levi, who married Miss Stalnaker ; Katie, who married William Parsons; Mary, who married Solomon Parsons, and Jemima, who married Job Parsons. The chil- dren of Jacob and Elizabeth Whitman Ward were, Whitman, William L., Washington G., Jesse and Phoeba.
The children of Jacob and Elizabeth (Dyer) Ward were Levi D., Catherine, Mary, Jemima, Louisa D., Morgan Blaine and William Thomas.
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Levi, son of the first Jacob Ward, married Katie Whit- man. Children, Adonijah, George and Whitman.
The children of Adonijah and Hannah (Hull) Ward were Hull, Levi and Scott Ward.
Whitman Ward, born April 9, 1803, married Mary Weese, daughter of John Weese. Children, Washington G., born Oc- tober 28, 1831 : Squire Bosworth, born October 10, 1833; John W., born February 28, 1836: Mary E., born August 7, 1838; Phoeba C., born July 8, 1840: Job, born January 28, 1843; Mathew W., born December 28, 1850: William K., born No- vember 13, 1853.
Whitman Ward was killed at Kerens, June 14, 1862, while attending a muster. He was shot from ambush by Confed- erate scouts, who mistook him for a Union sympathizer, who had been active in reporting Confederate partisans.
Squire B. Ward, born in 1833, married in 1856 Mary Jane, daughter of Daniel and Catherine Dinkle. They had one child, Iddo. Mr. Ward married after the death of his first wife Ida Huffman.
John Baylis Ward, an attorney of Beverly, was born in 1852. He is the son of George W. and Maria (Earle) Ward. In 1882 he married Angelia, daughter of Andrew and Susan (Foggy) Scott. Children. George A., William M., Wilson P., John Baylis, Edgar Foggy and Mary Genevieve.
James A., son of Levi D. Ward and Rebecca (Wamsley) Ward, was born in 1860. Mr. Ward lives in Idaho.
Elihu B. Ward, born in 1838, son of Jesse C. and Eliza- beth Ward, married first, Eliza A. Crouch and after her death Eugenia Crouch. Children, Mittie L., Kent C., Jubal E., Mary, Emma Nora, Lenna, Bessie, Randall and Bruce. Mr. Ward served through the Civil War as a Confederate soldier.
Lee M. Ward, born in 1846, son of W'm. L. and Eliza (Myers) Ward. In 1867 he married Virginia, daughter of Moses and Mary (Haigler) Hutton. He served in the Con- federate army from 1862 to the close of the war. To Mr. and Mrs. Ward have been born Tucker H., Russie L. and Lucy. Tucker Ward is a graduate of the law department of the State University. He married Aneath, daughter of Edwin
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Butcher of Parkersburg, West Virginia. Children, Wm. L. and Brownie B.
Levi Scott Ward, son of Adonijah and Hannah (Hull) Ward, was born in 1819. In 1841 he married Martha, daugh- ter of John and Mary (Hornbeck) Wood. Children, Hannah, John, Luther, Asa, Paul and Sabina. Mr. Ward was the great grandson of Sylvester Ward. For many years he resided near the head of Files Creek in Valley Bend District.
Ilull Adam Ward was born in 1825. He was the son of Adonijah and Hannah (Hull) Ward. He married Melvina W'eese.
Sterling Price Ward, son of George and Margaret E. (Wamsley) Ward, was born May 12, 1867; married May Martha, daughter of Charles and Virginia (Wilmoth) Crouch. Children, Maggie, who married John Petit. Mr. Ward was ed- ucated in the public schools and at Bingham Military Acad- emy, North Carolina. Mr. Ward is a prominent farmer of Huttonsville District, residing near Mill Creek.
Ray Ward, son of Job and Catherine (Chenoweth) Ward, was born in 1873; married Hattie, daughter of Randolph and Sarah (Kittle) Triplett. Children, Lanier Ferrel, Freda Hel- en, Austin Job, Ada C., Dorotha May and Waldo Triplett. Mr. Ward is a farmer and lives near Elkins.
THE YOKUM FAMILY.
The Yokum Family. This family is of German descent and was among the first settlers of the Valley. The name as it appeared in the early records was spelled Yoakum. The first ancestor of this family of which we have any record was Phillip Panl Yokum, who lived on the South Branch of the Potomac in what is now Hardy County, and married a Miss Harness.
John and Michael Yokum settled in what is now Bar- bour County at a very early date. They were brothers, per- haps. The commissioners appointed to adjust land titles, certified that John Yokum was entitled to 400 acres on Bar- ker's Creek to include his settlement made in 1773, and that Michael Yokum was entitled to 400 acres to include his set- tlement made in 1772 on Sugar Creek. Their names appear
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in the early records of the county and it is to be presumed that they moved to the Valley shortly after their settlement in what is now Barbour.
William Yokum, grandson of Phillip Yokum, married Sally, daughter of Solomon Ryan, who lived near the Beverly bridge on the west side.
John Yokum, grandson of the first John, married a Miss Kuykendall. George W. Yokum, for many years a prominent physician of Beverly, was a son of this union.
Bruce, son of Dr. G. W. and Mary C. (Ward) Yokum, was born in 1860: married in 1893 Mary Ervin, daughter of Morgan and Sallie (Long) Kittle. Mr. Yokum was educated at Washington and Jefferson College. He lives in the ances. tral home in Beverly and is extensively engaged in farming and stockraising, owning some of the best agricultural and grazing lands in the county.
Palmer R., son of Elam and Martha (Stalnaker) Yokum, was born November 15, 1888: married Nellie, daughter of Lafayette and Lucy (Clem) Daniels. Mr. Yokum is proprie- tor of the railroad restaurant and hotel at Mill Creek. He is of German descent and a descendant of the pioneer family of Yokums.
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PERSONAL SKETCHES
ALEXANDER ADDISON.
Alexander Addison was the second Prosecuting Attorney of Randolph. He succeeded William McCleary and held that office from 1787 to 1790. At the August term of the court, 1787, he was licensed for one year to practice law. At that time the recommendation of some court was necessary to obtain a license. Mr. Addison was given one year to meet this requirement. Nothing is now known of his previous or subsequent history.
MAXWELL ARMSTRONG.
Maxwell Armstrong was Prosecuting Attorney of Ran- dolph from 1795 to 1798. He was practicing at the Randolph County bar as late as 1795, when he was engaged by the Coun- ty Court to bring suit against Edward Hart for failure to com- plete the court house in the time specified in the contract Another family of the same name settled in Randolph about this time. They were from Prince William County, Virginia Whether relatives of Maxwell Armstrong is not known.
JOHN M. BALL.
John Marshall Ball, son of George W. and Malinda (Par- sons) Ball was born in 1836, married (1860) Christina, daugh- ter of Adonijah and Patsy (Carper) Ward. Children, Hattie and Maggie, both deceased.
Mr. Ball has traveled extensively in the West and lived for several years in Kansas in the pioneer days of the Sun- flower State, when the homesteader came in conflict with hot winds, cyclones, grasshoppers and Indians. He is the only living representative of a pioneer family in Randolph.
ANDREW D. BARLOW.
Andrew D., son of Alexander Barlow, was born in Poca- hontas County in 1847, married (1874) Jennie Bell, daughter of C. W. and Mary (Collett) Russell. Children, Hattie, who married Chas. Baker : Willis D., Agnes, Mattie, Russell. Ralph
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and Dr. C. A. Barlow who is superintendent of the Spencer In- sane Asylum. Mattie is a graduate of Emerson College of Oratory, Boston, and for a number of years has been a teacher in a college in Oklahoma.
HARRY N. BARNARD.
Harry N. Barnard, son of Nathaniel and Nancy E. (Speers) Barnard, born in Rockwood, Pa., 1872, married Stel- la, daughter of D. P. and Caroline (Chenoweth) Harper. Chil- dren, Paul H., Chas. E., Harry N., Jr.
Mr. Barnard came to Randolph in 1889 and is a dealer in hardware and plumbers' supplies. He is an active member of the Presbyterian church and is president of the Randolph Sun- day school Association.
REV. FREDERICK H. BARRON.
Rev. Frederick H. Barron, A.M., D.D., son of J. L. and Agnes (Jackson) Barron, was born in St. Marys, Province of Ontario, Canada, January, 1870. Rev. Barron took the degree of bachelor of arts from the University of Toronto, in 1897. In 1900 he graduated from Knox Theological Seminary. From 1900 to 1902 he was pastor of Reid Memorial Church, Balti- more. Since 1902 he has been pastor of the Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church. Rev. Barron was president of Davis and Elkins College, 1905-6, and has been professor of Biblical Literature in that institution since 1904.
Doctor Barron married Mary C., daughter of Capt. O. N. and Mrs. Mary S. Butler. Children, Mary Spence, Frederick Minto and William Wallace.
AMOS J. BENNETT.
Amos J. Bennett, son of Aaron and Elizabeth (Bennett) Bennett, was born in Pendleton County in 1849; married Eliz- abeth, daughter of Reuben and Margaret (McLaughlin) Teter. Children, Harrison, Gordon, Lottie, Annie Izerna, Macie, Odie. Mamie. Mary died at the age of 29: Strigh died in the 13th year of his age: Mamie and Lester A. died in infancy.
Mr. Bennett came to Randolph in 1870 .. He served several terms as president of the Board of Education of Dry Fork
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District ; was constable eigh years and was the nominee of the Republican party for deputy sheriff in 1908. He is at present engaged in farming and stockraising.
JAMES APPLETON BENT.
James Appleton Bent, son of George B. and Elizabeth Bent, was born July 15, 1853, Roane County, West Virginia, married Maggie C. Butcher, daughter of C. W. and Manda Butcher, November 27, 1888, Beverly, W. Va. Children, Myr- tle M. Bent, Laura Gertrude Bent and Edgar M. Bent. Mr. Bent became a resident of Randolph County September, 1883.
Mr. Bent has attained a place of prominence at the Ran- dolph county bar. He has been honored by his fellow prac- titioners by being chosen as special judge in important cases. He is also a law writer of note, being the author of Bent's Digest.
JEFFERSON SLIDELL BROWN.
Jefferson Slidell Brown. The subject of this sketch was born at the old "Fairfax Manor" house near Kingwood, West Virginia, during the throes of the Civil War. His father, Charles Mercer Brown, a lawyer, who died at the age of 32 years, leaving a widow and two sons, the other, Ben L. Brown, now postmaster at Kingwood. The mother of the subject of this sketch was Virginia Caroline Fairfax, a granddaughter of Col. John Fairfax of Virginia, who was superintendent for seven years for Gen. Geo. Washington at his plantation at Mount Vernon, Virginia, and Lawrence Washington, a half brother of General Washington, married a sister of Col. Fair- fax. The latter was a son of William Fairfax, a cousin to Lord Tom Fairfax of Greenaway Court, near Winchester, Virginia. The great grandfather of the subject of this sketch was Capt. Thomas Brown of Prince William County, Virgin- ia, who served in the Revolutionary War and was wounded at the battle of the Cowpens in South Carolina while fighting under General Morgan. He came to Preston County, this state, in 1805, and took up a large tract of land adjoining his friend and neighbor in Old Virginia, Col. John Fairfax, who moved to Preston County in 1790. J. Slidell Brown, purchased
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the West Virginia Argus at Kingwood in 1889 and edited it for almost a quarter of a century, when the late Congressman W. G. Brown purchased the paper, and Slidell Brown came to Elkins in May, 1914, and took charge of the Randolph En- terprise, as editor and manager. Mr. Brown served as post- master of Kingwood for over four years, having been ap- pointed by President Grover Cleveland. He was the Dem- ocratic nominee for State Senator twice, once in the old Pres- ton-Taylor-Monongalia District and once in the Fourteenth District composed of Preston, Tucker, Grant, Mineral and Hardy. He served as chairman of the Democratic committee of Preston County for sixteen years and served on all the va- rious committees, congressional, senatorial, judicial and was an alternate-at-large from West Virginia to the National Democratic Convention at Chicago that nominated Bryan the first time. Mr. Brown served five terms as president of the West Virginia Editorial Association and is a prominent mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias, Masons, Odd Fellows, Red Men, Maccabees, Junior Order, Daughters of Rebekah, Pythian Sisters, etc. In 1902 he was married to Stella Maud Parsons, daughter of Capt. J. W. Parsons, formerly of Rich Mountain, Randolph County, and now residing at Kingwood. Five children, four boys and a girl, are the fruits of this union.
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