USA > West Virginia > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of West Virginia. Including reference articles on the industrial resources of the state, etc., etc. > Part 34
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" The main events which culminated in the establishment of the State of West Virginia are arranged in the order in which they transpired, together with such extraneous facts as it is thought proper to give, that the reader may arrive at an intelligent conclusion on the whole subject. . .. It was written at the close of the great struggle, out of which sprang a vigorous young State, within whose borders the author was born. If it is tinged with the white heat of the conflict, the afterglow may not be un- worthy. The duties of the hour were dis- charged; the then future has now become his- tory. Morgantown, May, 1891."
Returning to the public official life of Mr. Hagans, we find him Mayor of Morgantown, in 1866-67-69. In 1868 he was a Grant and Colfax Presidential Elector for the Second District. The Constitutional Convention of 1872 was composed of many of the foremost men in the State, the older men and the eminent lawyers being conspicuous. It framed the present con-
stitution of West Virginia. Mr. Hagans was chosen to represent his section in that conven- tion and was one of the youngest members. Charles J. Faulkner, ex-Minister to France, was temporary President, and Samuel Price, ex- Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, permanent President. In 1873, after the expiration of his term as Reporter of the Court of Appeals, he was elected to the Forty-third Congress, where he did good work for the State, and was a member of the Committee on the District of Columbia- a place of unusual compliment. In 1879 and again in 1887 Mr. Hagans was elected to the House of Delegates of West Virginia, and was a member of the Committee on Judiciary, Edu- cation and Railroads. He is admitted to have been " considered one of the ablest and most conspicuous members of both bodies" of the Legislature. In 1880 he was a delegate to the National Republican Convention held at Chi- cago, and was a most ardent, untiring, and per- sistent adherent of the Hon. James G. Blaine for the nomination, and only yielded his prefer- ence for his friend when the voice of the con- vention so decisively pronounced in favor of the lamented Garfield, whose election he advo- cated with all the activity and energy of his nature. In 1888 Mr. Hagans received a call that took him out of the element of active poli- tics and placed him among the judiciary of the State. He was elected Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit, composed of the counties of Monongalia, Marion, and Harrison, for the term of eight years. His early training in court routine as Reporter, together with his varied experience at the bar and in the State and National Legislatures, gave him that solid infor- mation and versatile adaptability so indispens- able in one called upon to adjudicate the trials and contentions to be found always on the docket of a circuit court of high jurisdiction. Judge Hagans has made and is still making an excellent record on the bench, and while
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equipped intellectually to an unusual degree, he has also the physical stamina and undeviat- ing good health so requisite in a judge on cir- cuit, so that neither the mental drudgery nor the physical strain has had any unfavorable effect. Besides, Judge Hagans knows how to relax, and when at home among his fellow-citi- zens at Morgantown, is one of the most sociable and companionable of men, leaving aside for the time being the preoccupation of mind and the judicial dignity that become too much a second nature with some judges, wearing out their nerves and taxing their physical powers unduly. Few men of his years who have done the same amount of mental work look so well, or give better prospects for even a more suc- cessful future than Judge Hagans. With all his solid attainments he preserves a natural modesty that makes him quite indifferent to the jealousies and anxieties of average human na- ture; in a word, he is much of a philosopher; hence always kindly disposed, considerate of others, and blessed with good sense. The fol- lowing general estimate of his active traits is taken from the Baptist Record, published in Charleston, W. Va., and which contained in its issue of April 10, 1872, this characterization of Mr. Hagans as one of the members of the Con- stitutional Convention :
" While he is uncompromising in his views and tenacious of his opinions, and will maintain them with all the vigor of a cultivated and well- thinking mind, he recognizes a proper and just respect for the views and opinions of others. He is deferential in discussion to those who are his seniors, respectful always to those who differ from him, and kind and courteous to all. His social qualities are of rare order. With a generous and impulsive nature, it is your com- fort and not his convenience that is to be con- sulted. He possesses to a rare extent the faculty of impersonating characters and telling anecdotes, which, with his ready flashes of wit and humor, renders him as a conversationalist almost unapproachable. As a debater he has but few superiors in the convention, and very few, if any, in the State. He is a forcible as well as an eloquent speaker. He is never at a loss for words to express his ideas; they always seem to be ready and waiting for his use, which gives him that ready and eloquent diction that but very few of our public men possess. His style is generally calm, and never boisterous; he is content upon all occasions to address him- self to the judgment, and not the prejudices, of his hearers."
In May, 1860, while a young lawyer scarcely yet in practice under his own shingle, Mr. Ha- gans married Miss Sarah B. Willey, daughter of his preceptor and life-long friend, Hon. Wait- man T. Willey, justly considered the political patriarch of West Virginia, and to whose noble example and kindly advice Judge Hagans no doubt ascribes much of the success in life which he has attained. Mr. and Mrs. Hagans are the parents of three affectionate and accomplished daughters, who gladden their comfortable home, where family friends and relatives are often assembled in social conclave and fraternal friendship.
HARRY H. HARRISON.
MAJOR HARRY HETH HARRISON, a highly esteemed resident of Lewisburg, was born at Carysbrooke, Fluvanna County, Va., on the 15th day of February, 1820, and died on Au- gust 11, 1893, in his seventy-fifth year. He was the son of Archibald Morgan Harrison and Kit- tie Heth, his wife. His was one of the old and distinguished families of the State. . He became a naval cadet at Annapolis, where he graduated and then served in the United States Navy four or five years as a midshipman in the days of sailing ships exclusively. During the Civil War Major Harrison was Inspector-General on the staff of General Harry Heth, his cousin, in the Confederate Army, and at the momentous bat- tle of Gettysburg he had two horses killed un- der him and his hat riddled with bullets. By his request this hat was placed under his head in the casket and buried with him, as a trophy he loved even in death and showing his military spirit and chivalrous nature. Major Harrison had resided in Lewisburg since 1857, and became greatly attached to the people of Greenbrier County, and they thought much of him and his family. He was a civil engineer of superior ability, and during his life had been engaged on many important surveys, his last considerable public work being a map of Greenbrier County, published in 1887. Major Harrison was a prom- inent Mason, and Greenbrier Lodge No. 45, A. F. and A. Masons, at a meeting held on the 12th day of August, 1893, passed a series of highly honoring resolutions to his memory as "a man
--
Verytruly Jus Fr. Saccaher
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of high culture and social attainments, and by his agreeable manners, ease, and instructive con- versation, endearing him to those with whom he was thrown. He was initiated Past and made Master Mason, as his eminent virtues entitled him, and when in the lodge, as on the raging billows or in the storm of battle, his conviction of right, courage to maintain the right, and love for our tenets made him revered by the craft." Major Harrison made many friends by his kindly manners and useful life among his neighbors, always encouraging every good work, and was progressive and enlightened on all subjects of public importance. The funeral was largely at- tended, and after services in the Episcopal Church by Rev. George W. Easter, the Masonic Society gave the last rites of burial at the grave in the Lewisburg Cemetery. In speaking of his death the Greenbrier Independent said: " Pure in life and character, gentle and amiable in disposition, frank and truthful in his inter- course with all, he was a typical old Virginia gentleman, not many of whom, alas! remain. Peace to his ashes." Major Harrison became united in wedlock in the year 1857 to Miss Sarah Thomas Frazer, daughter of James Frazer, Esq. Two daughters, Kittie Heth and Margaret Cen- ter, survive and are among Lewisburg's most popular and respected citizens.
JOSEPH W. GALLAHER.
HON. JOSEPH WESLEY GALLAHER, one among the truly representative and most pub- lic-spirited men of Moundsville, W. Va., was born in Ohio County, on the 23d of August, 1826, and died at Hot Springs, Ark., after a protracted illness of Bright's disease, on May 31, 1892. The exact place of his birth was at Roney's Point, then and still, a very inconsiderable vil- lage. His parents removed to West Alexandria, Pa., thence to Wheeling, Va., and thence to Moundsville or what was then Grave Creek, Va. Here he was sent to attend the ordinary schools, but finally completed his education at the High School, under the superintendence of Rev. Nicholas Murray, of Moundsville. In the opening of the year 1848, he entered into mer- cantile life, and continued to prosperously pursue business up to the time of his death. Mr. Gal-
laher was the son of John and Rachel (Hurst) Gallaher. His father was a native of Ireland and his mother came of an old Maryland family. At an early age the young man displayed such notable force of character, accompanied with unswerving integrity, that few who came to know him failed to discover a man destined to influence his time and fellows. Prosperous in business for more than forty-two years, the qual- ities of untiring energy and punctual attendance to details ultimately placed him in the field of politics, where wider scope developed talents hitherto unrecognized by his friends. In his general dealings with men, he at all times evinced unfailing tact, and as a public speaker his fluency attracted not a few to the cause of Democracy in West Virginia. One of the earli- est public offices held by Hon. Joseph Wesley Gallaher was in the old County Court of Vir- ginia, where he was member for six years. Sub- sequently he was elected Mayor of Moundsville, and for several years served with distinction. In the year 1856, he was candidate for Presiden- tial Elector upon the Fillmore ticket in the Fif- teenth District. Immediately after the war, he was found among the first who considered reor- ganization a necessity in his party, so that very soon Democracy, in West Virginia, became with a bound the controlling influence through- out the State. Mr. Gallaher became a member of the State Executive Committee, and subse- quently was appointed Secretary and Treas- urer, an office which he held for twelve years, increasing the potency of his party, and winning thereby the indorsement of the most thoughtful Democrats associated with his policy. As a delegate to the Democratic National Conven- tion, which assembled on Independence Day in New York City, in 1868, he proved beyond doubt an able adherent of Horatio Seymour, and was by that body elected Vice-President from his State. With a view to revise the State consti- tution in 1872, he, in company with Judge A. F. Haymond, was called upon in the convention to represent the Second Senatorial District, which included Wetzel, Marion, and Marshall Counties. In this convention he served upon the Commit- tees of Education and Schedule, Corporations, Taxation and Finance. During 1875-76, he was selected by Gov. John J. Jacob as one among the Commissioners appointed to equalize the
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assessments on State lands. This befitted, in an especial manner, his wide business experience and aptitude for measuring values. About this time the West Virginia Penitentiary stood in need of a directing head. He was appointed President of its Board of Directors, and during his ten years of service was the instigator of many desirable improvements. His tact as a ready speaker was not infrequently put to ex- cellent use, when those of his co-workers needed an especial spokesman, so that on a presentation being made to Judge Allen G. Thurman in 1869, he was chosen Chairman of the Committee to visit Columbus, Ohio. For years, Mr. Gallaher was an attendant and Vestryman of the Episco- pal church, of which his widow is still a member. In 1866, he married Miss Emily J., the daughter of Col. John Thompson, of Belmont County, Ohio. Two sons were the result of the mar- riage, John T., who is a graduate of Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, and Joseph W., associ- ated in business with his father. In this con- nection it may be noted that the business of Hon. J. W. Gallaher's sons has increased to goodly and profitable proportions. Originally the site of the firm commanded a picturesque view of the Ohio River, and incidents connected with the spot are dwelt upon by Charles Dickens in his " American Notes." Prior to Mr. Galla- her's death, and throughout a life made up of genuine goodness and integrity, he had won the regard and still retains the loving memory of a large circle of friends. His disposition was al- ways frank, and his patriotism unalterable, and his steadiness of aim in redressing human wrongs only deserves that respect and remem- brance so amply accorded by those who loved him best, because they knew him well. Hon. John J. Davis, of Clarksburg, W. Va., ex-mem- ber of Congress from the First Congressional District of West Virginia, an old and beloved friend of Mr. Gallaher, thus writes of him :
"CLARKSBURG, W. Va., September 1, 1892.
" My first acquaintance with Joseph W. Galla- her began in the year 1860, and I was somewhat intimately acquainted with him for nearly thirty years. When I first met him he was a compar- atively young man, full of life and energy, of fine presence and manners, and extremely affa- ble and courteous. He at once impressed me with his suavity and fine social qualities. He was enthusiastic and positive, determined and
aggressive, but withal kindly in his disposition, and fair and considerate to those who differed with him. There was no neutrality in his com- position, and when he had taken his stand for his friends, and for the right as he understood it, he was resolute and brave in maintaining his position. To his friends he was true as steel, and as kind as he was true. He was unselfish in his friendships, and often incurred the displeasure of others in defence of friends, whose cause, when once espoused by him, he never deserted. He was a man of more than ordinary ability, and had he chosen to engage in professional pursuits, or sought to become conspicuous in public affairs, would have at- tained to no mean distinction as a public man. Frank and outspoken, he 'wore his opinions upon his sleeve,' disdaining concealment in or- der to curry favor with the multitude. His aims were lofty, his virtues positive, and while not free from the foibles common to humanity, the elements which command the admiration of all true men were 'so mixed up in him' as to hide his faults. JNO. J. DAVIS."
THOMAS CREIGH.
DR. THOMAS CREIGH, an accomplished and highly respected physician of Greenbrier County, was born in Lewisburg, Va. (now West Virginia), on the 28th day of July, 1812, and was sixty-five years and eighteen days old at the time of his death, which occurred at Hinton, Summers County, W. Va., on the 15th day of August, 1877. He was the third son of Thomas Creigh, Sr., who was born near Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland, in 1760; came to this country in 1783 or 1784, first settled at Carlisle, Pa., where an older brother, John Creigh, had lived for some years, and came to Lewisburg about 1790. He was a successful merchant of that place, and his honored memory is still kindly cherished by the older citizens of the community where he lived so long, and among whom he spent his last days. He married Miss Margaret Williams, daughter of Capt. Samuel Williams, of Greenbrier, and niece of the late Col. John Stuart, who bore a conspicuous part in the bat- tle of Point Pleasant in 1774. This marriage was crowned with a number of children, of which the subject of this sketch was the fifth. Dr. Creigh's early academic training was in Lewis- burg under the tuition mainly of that fine clas- sical scholar Mr. Francis Dutton, and from this
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school he repaired in 1829 to the University of Ohio at Athens, where he completed his literary course. After due deliberation, he made choice of the profession of medicine, and commenced a preparatory course of reading in the office of the late Dr. John Simpkins, of Lewisburg, Va., and thereafter he attended three courses of med- ical lectures in the Pennsylvania University, at Philadelphia, and in that school graduated at the close of the session of 1836. In the spring of that year he returned to his native place dur- ing the prevalence of a very malignant winter fever, and at once entered upon what afterward proved to be a most extensive and successful practice. Dr. Creigh, when in the prime of manhood, was about six feet high, straight and erect in his carriage, with fresh and ruddy com- plexion, black hair and eyes, and weighing about one hundred and sixty pounds. Possessing a fine natural constitution, good mind, and rare ad- vantages for that day, with untiring energy and a great love for the profession of his choice, it is not strange that his labors through a period of upward of forty years were crowned with wonderful success. His manner was ever soft and gentle in the sick-room and his love and sympathy knew no bounds. His practice em- braced the large county of Greenbrier and was often extended into the adjoining counties of Monroe, Pocahontas, Nicholas, and Fayette. He was no ordinary man. Blessed with a retentive memory, with fine taste for the pure and beau- tiful, he was devoted to belles-lettres and could wield a graceful pen when he chose. In poli- tics, he was a pure patriot, and in the good old times of the Ancient Dominion belonged to the great Whig party. He was twice elected to the Legislature, and in 1852 to the Senate of Virginia, which positions he filled with honor. J. Bell Bigger, Clerk of the House of Dele- gates of Virginia, gives desired information as to Dr. Creigh's service in the upper and lower houses of our old ante-bellum Legislature, as follows :
" He served this District as State Senator, Ses- sions 1852 and 1853, 1853 and 1854, 1854 and 1855, and 1855 and 1856, and as such served on the following committees: Ist, Committee to ex- amine Lunatic Asylums; 2d, Account of Execu- tive Expenditures; 3d, to examine Register's Office; 4th, on the Committee of Finance and Claims. He also represented Greenbrier County
as her Delegate in the House of Delegates of the session of 1857 and 1858."
It took parts of two years to make a session. In those times the Legislature met the first Monday in December, and continued on until some time in March of the next year. Always conservative, he nevertheless delayed not, when the late Civil War came on, to offer his services to the Confederacy, and served as surgeon throughout the war. No family in all the South poured out a greater libation of blood on the altar of their country than did his, the graves of his near relatives being found from the Rio Grande to Appomattox. In religion Dr. Creigh was an earnest Presbyterian. Early in life he sought connection with that branch of the Chris- tian church in which his parents worshipped un- der the pastorate of Dr. McElhenney. He held his connection with that church until the close of life, and was ever its liberal supporter. He was twice married, first to Miss Mary Jane, third daughter of the late James Withrow, Sr., of Lewisburg. This marriage was blessed with one child, Mr. Fred. Creigh, who is living in the far West. His second wife was Miss Sarah Frances Lewis, of Point Pleasant, who only sur- vived her husband a few years. In 1876, he and his wife, who was a grand-daughter of Col. Charles Lewis (who fell at the battle of Point Pleasant), and Col. John Stuart, went to Point Pleasant to attend the Centennial celebration of the battle at that place, and the doctor, being called upon unexpectedly, delivered an im- promptu address that was highly complimented by the public press. The late Dr. Moorman, resident physician at Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, for nearly fifty years, and for a long period on intimate terms with Dr. Creigh, in a letter written to the author of these notes im- mediately after the death of his friend, says:
" Your letter of yesterday revived and intensi- fied many recollections of our departed friend, Dr. Creigh. I feel that I have been highly fa- vored in knowing his genuine worth and enjoying his ininterrupted friendship. Few men, I think, (I have never known any) that primarily pos- sessed in their inner nature so much of the gen- uine milk of kindness unmixed with guile and constantly flowing for the well-being and hap- piness of his species as Dr. Creigh. Nothing will give me more pleasure than to cast a peb- ble upon the mound that should be raised to per-
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petuate the virtues and excellences of our dear departed friend.'
From the obituary notice written by the same, appears the following :
"Few if any of the many good and worthy men who have lived and died in this community have better deserved the affection of their con- temporaries while living, or more saddened the public heart when they died, than Dr. Thomas Creigh. To the writer who had enjoyed his intimate friendship for nearly forty years, it is a pleasant duty to reflect upon his kind and blameless life, and upon the many moral and social excellences, that adorned it. In all this long and intimate acquaintance we never knew the subject of this notice to do an unkind act, or to indulge in uncharitable prejudice against any one. That which passes for the milk of hu- man kindness in the species generally was in him the cream of exalted virtues. Generosity, forbearance, kindness, charity were distinguish- ing features of his moral and social nature. As a physician Dr. Creigh was a sound, sensible, and safe practitioner; always conscientious, candid and cautious; with accurate aptness at diagnosing disease and of excellent judgment in administering for its relief, his success in the practice of his profession was eminent, and many are the families in the broad circle of his labors that will mourn his loss with deep and lasting sorrow. In the different public stations Dr. Creigh occupied he invariably acquitted himself with fidelity and ability. Thus well fulfilling in his life the various duties of citizen, physician, legislator; he has left for the consolation of his family a name and a character of which they may well be proud."
The Rev. George W. Kelly, of Haverhill, Mass., but a native of Greenbrier, in an open letter to the Editor of the Greenbrier Independent immediately after the Doctor's death, says :
" The announcement of Dr. Creigh's death carried me back in memory to the time long ago, when we were schoolmates at the Lewisburg Academy, and then in college at Athens, Ohio. Many years have elapsed since I met this valued friend. Now, I shall see his face no more and I am deeply grieved at the thought. What has been said in your paper of Dr. Creigh's kind benevolent disposition will receive commenda- tion from many hearts. His associates in youth were impressed with his obliging manners and he was a favorite with all. In deeds of kindness to others is found man's true greatness.
"'Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust. '"
General Beckley, a graduate of West Point, in a letter to the Greenbrier Independent, says ;
" I have felt very sad ever since it pleased Di- vine Providence to remove, so suddenly, my venerable friend, Dr. Creigh. Whether we re- gard his medical skill and experience, or his value, nay his inestimable worth as a citizen; a man of the most exuberant benevolence of heart, overflowing with the 'milk of human kind- ness,' the large circle of his relatives and friends have cause to regret his departure. A void has been made in your society that can be supplied only in a generation."
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