USA > West Virginia > Genealogical and personal history of the upper Monongahela valley, West Virginia, Volume II > Part 3
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(V) Oliver Jackson, son of Franklin J. and Loretta (Jackson) Fleming, was born near Morgantown, September 5, 1848. He was educated at the subscription schools taught by Mrs. Corina Shaw, Mary Jane Steel and Professor William R. White. Later he had the advan- tage of a course at the State Normal at Fairmont. After leaving school he worked in a sawmill for a time, then learned the trade of a millwright with his father, and followed that work a number of years, assisting in the building of about ten mills in Marion county, West Vir-
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ginia. He then engaged in the lumber trade at Fairmont, establish- ing a planing mill, which he operated a number of years. In 1890 he established his present business on Jefferson street, where he handles all kinds of lumber, he being the oldest and most extensive dealer in the county. He has various other interests in connection with this. He is a member of the Odd Fellows' Order, and also of the Knights of Pythias. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a steward. Politically Mr. Fleming is an avowed Prohibitionist. He married, in 1877, Alice Ingman, of Fairmont, daughter of William H. and Leticia (Gallaghue) Ingman. One child, Ethel, wife of Levi B. Harr, and they have one child, Harry Ingman Harr, born July 29, 1907.
(V) Thomas Walter, son of Allison and Martha (Louchery) Fleming, was born in Fairmont, now West Virginia, December 16, 1846. He was reared at Fairmont where he received a good educa- tion in select and private schools. Leaving the schoolroom he made a choice of business pursuits for life. He commenced as a clerk in a store, and after ten years' experience at handling goods for others, he became a partner in February, 1871, in the mercantile firm of Ridgley & Fleming, which continued until 1876, when Mr. Ridgley retired, and the firm was changed to T. W. Fleming & Brothers, which was conducted until August, 1890. Mr. Fleming then sold out and retired from the business. But this was not to retire him from business circles, for he at once engaged in the real estate business, dealing in coal and oil lands on the large scale in Marion and adjoining counties in West Virginia. Opening up the Fairview oil fields placed him in the front rank of business men in his state. His long business training behind the counter had peculiarly fitted him for the successful transaction of large business propositions. He was the original organizer and se- cured the franchise for the first street car line in Fairmont, now the Fairmont & Clarksburg line of electric road, and was president of the same. He organized and constructed the Fairmont & Mannington Street Railway Company; has been connected with several banks; was one of the promoters of the People's Bank at Fairmont; was presi- dent of the Farmers' Bank and a director in the People's Bank. He was one of the organizers of the Fairmont Ice Company, of which he
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is the vice-president; also vice-president of the West Chester Realty Company. In 1891 he assisted in organizing the Fairmont Develop- ment Company, of which he is a director. He was made a Mason in 1884, belongs to Lodge No. 9, at Fairmont, and is its past master; also belongs to the Chapter and Commandery; is past eminent com- mander. He was made an Odd Fellow in 1870 and is past grand mas- ter of the State of West Virginia, and also past grand representative of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has many times represented his fraternities in the state grand lodges of both orders. Politically Mr. Fleming is a Republican, and has been chairman of the Republican committee for eighteen years. He was offered his choice of three ministerships abroad, in- cluding that of Venice, but on account of personal business interests declined. In 1891 he was elected mayor of Fairmont on the progres- sive independent ticket, and during his administration constructed roads, improved parks, built a $20,000 fresh water cistern; second year in office constructed the massive viaduct between wards three and four in the city and improved the streets and sidewalks, etc. He was influential in the slack-water navigation schemes on foot at that time. He served one term in the legislature (1904-5), serving on the rail- way committee, and by joint resolution of the two houses of the leg- islative body was appointed as inspector to examine the several state institutions.
He married, February 1, 1877, Annie E. Sweeney, of Wheeling. Children : Allison Sweeney, born January 28, 1878, unmarried; Jean Farran, born October 26, 1881, married, March 3, 1910, George M. Wilshire, one son, Thomas Fleming Wilshire, born October 3, 1911; Thomas W., who died aged ten months. The following relates to Mrs. Fleming: Her maternal grandfather, Lieutenant John McFar- ran, whose sword she treasures as a relic of great value, was one of the heroic defenders of Baltimore when that city was attacked by the Brit- ish at Fort McHenry in 1814. Mrs. Fleming is the daughter of Colonel Thomas Sweeney, a prominent man in West Virginia ; he was born at Armagh, Ireland, March 6, 1806, died March 9, 1890. He was the second lieutenant of the Pittsburg Blues that received General Lafayette in 1824, when he visited that city. He brought the first
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colony of glass blowers that ever came into West Virginia. He oper- ated large iron works and had as many as one thousand men in his employ. He was mayor of Wheeling, served in the state senate and was widely known. He had to do in the senate with granting fran- chises for the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. He married (first), Ro- sanna Matthews, who died in 1844; (second), Jane McFarran; (third), Annie E. How, of St. George's, Delaware.
(V) Arch, son of Harrison and Rehuma (Criss) Fleming, was born June 19, 1875, on the home farm. He was educated in the nearby country schools also the State Normal and high schools. When eight- een years of age he engaged in the profession of a telegraph operator for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, serving there four years, then for three years conducted a hotel at Fairmont. Following this for three years he farmed, but on June 1, 1909, he purchased an im- plement house, which he now conducts in connection with flour and feed with a large assortment of seeds. His place of business is the largest of its kind in Marion county. Mr. Fleming is a Democrat and a member of the Presbyterian church. He married, October 19, 1898, M. A., daughter of Joseph M. Fleming. One son by this marriage, Joseph Arch, born February 4, 1900.
(V) John W., son of Joseph Minor and Pleasant (Eakin) Fleming, was born in Flemingsburg, now known as Johnstown, a suburb of Fairmont, September 8, 1873. He was reared on a farm, educated in the schools of Fairmont, and at an early age began to earn his own livelihood, developing traits which go to the making of fine manhood. His first employment was in his father's sawmill, where he learned thoroughly the details of that occupation. He then turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, and in connection with this followed road surveying in Marion county, from both of which he derived a lucrative living. In 1903 he was elected to fill the office of road surveyor of Marion county, a position for which he was well qualified and the duties of which he performed in a thorough and sys- tematic manner, and he continued as such for a period of four years. At the expiration of this time, in 1907, he purchased the Fairmont Feed Mills, and since then has conducted an extensive trade in feed and flour, wholesale, which furnishes employment to a number of peo-
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ple. In connection with this he is actively engaged in the real estate business, his transactions being on an extensive scale, they being the means of materially increasing the population of that section of the county. He casts his vote for the candidates of the Republican party, the principles of which he believes to be for the best form of govern- ment. Mr. Fleming is a member of Eureka Lodge, No. 15, Knights of Pythias, of Watson; Marion Lodge, No. 11, Mountain City Encamp- ment and the Daughters of Rebeckah, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in both of which orders he has passed through all the chairs, also the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Fleming married, March 24, 1904, Emma McIntire, born October 27, 1875, daughter of Joseph H. and Mary Bennett (Wal- lace) McIntire, of Harrison. They were the parents of one child, who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Fleming are members of the Methodist church.
(V) William Moore, son of Benjamin Alvin and Mary Frances (Christie) Fleming, was born in Fairmont, Marion county, West Vir- ginia, March 30, 1865. He attended the public school adjacent to his home, and later completed his studies at the State Normal School at Fairmont. While a student, during his leisure time, he served as clerk in his father's store, thus becoming familiar with every detail of the work, and continued with his father after his education was com- pleted, remaining with him until his death, a period of thirty-one years. He then engaged in the real estate business, being the owner of considerable valuable property, and this has proved both a pleasant and highly remunerative occupation. He is a Presbyterian in religion, a Republican in politics and holds membership in the Modern Wood- men of America. Mr. Fleming married, October 30, 1890, Julia Moore, born in Delaware county, Indiana, March 31, 1869, daughter of Jesse and Mary (Cochran) Moore. Children : Mary Christie, born July 30, 1891 ; Ruth Elizabeth, February 9, 1900; Martha Moore, February 18, 1902.
(VI) Dr. Donald H. Fleming, son of William Henry and Mary Columbia (Morris) Fleming, was born in Shinnston, Harrison county, West Virginia, December 22, 1881. He was educated at the public schools and at the University of West Virginia, after which courses he
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entered the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, graduating from that institution with the class of 1908, since which time he has followed his profession, first at Morgantown in 1908, and opened his present office at Shinnston in June, 1909. He has succeeded remarkably well in his dental practice and has already a large number of regular patrons on his list. He is skillful and painstaking, hence makes friends over a large section of country. He is a Republican, and takes an interest in the upbuilding of his town and county, doing his full share so far as his time will permit in aiding any worthy enterprise. He makes his home with his parents, who a few years since moved to Shinnston from the nearby farm where Dr. Fleming was reared.
(VI) Joseph Perry Fleming, whose line of descent from the early founders of the family was as follows: Francis Marion (V), William B. (IV), Alexander (III), Matthew (II), John (I), who came with his brother William (I) to this state at an early day. He was born in Fairmont, West Virginia, died in the city of his birth, November 18, 1911. The father, Francis Marion, was born in Fairmont, 1821; he learned the shoemaker's trade with his father, and after he attain- ed manhood he engaged in the retail shoe business and continued in it through his life. He married, in Cumberland, Maryland, Sarah A., daughter of Henry and Mary Pugh. Children: 1. Isabell, wife of E. M. Anderson; she died May 20, 1908; two children died in in- fancy, William and Emma. 2. Joseph P. 3. Margaret, wife of James G. Baker, who died June, 1908. 4. Nettie, wife of David Ridgley. 5. Lucy. 6. Mary. 7. Bessie, died April 23, 1905. Francis M. Fleming was a member of the Methodist Protestant church; voted the Republican ticket, and during the civil war enlisted as a member of the Sixth West Virginia Regiment of Volunteers as a mu- sician. He died October 28, 1892, and his wife passed away in the month of July, 1900.
Joseph Perry Fleming was educated in the public schools of Fair- mont. He went into his father's store for a time, after which he en- gaged in the same business for himself, continuing ten years. In 1898 he was elected city clerk of Fairmont and served his two year term acceptably and well. He then became associated with Charles E. Reed as state agent for J. M. Guffey, which he followed for nine
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years, and in 1910 became secretary for the Monongahela Industrial Company, which position he held at the time of his death. Politically he was a Republican, and in church connection was of the Methodist Protestant denomination. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias and Ancient Order of United Workmen. He married, October 23, 1889, Cora D. Fisher, a native of Fairmont, West Virginia, daughter of Captain John Fisher. One child, Carter S., born April 1, 1891.
Colonel Rufus Edward Fleming was born August 14, 1840, on a farm near Fairmont, Virginia. At the breaking out of the civil war he was in Indiana, where he had gone to engage in business, but the news of the firing upon Ft. Sumter brought him back to Virginia, where he enlisted May 1, 1861, in Company G, Third Regiment Infantry Volunteers, United States service. He passed through the various promotions to the position of colonel in his regiment. He participated in many hard-fought battles and was twice wounded at the engagement at Bull Run, August 29, 1862. In May, 1865, he was sent to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, with his regiment and had command of that post until ordered to the western plains to assist in subduing the sav- age Indian tribes. Several severe battles with the redskins were then added to his war record. Detachments of his regiment went to Col- orado and Wyoming, and on May 26, 1866, it returned to Ft. Leaven- worth, where it was mustered out of service. Colonel Fleming was finally discharged at Wheeling, West Virginia, having been actively engaged in warfare for five years and a month. After the close of the war he resided on the old Fleming homestead, near Fairmont, Marion county, where he followed the peaceful calling of a farmer. Colonel Fleming was always a Republican, having cast his first vote for Abra- ham Lincoln in 1864. He married, February 28, 1883, Margaret L. Dickey, daughter of ex-Congressman Jesse C. Dickey, of Chester, Pennsylvania. One child, Katherine.
WHITE Stephen White, immigrant ancestor of this family, came to Maryland in 1659. Under date of December 23, 1663, James Southeard demands land for the transpor- tation of Ralph Castle in the year 1657, James Phillips in the year 1654, Stephen White and Robert Saunders in the year 1659, Thomas
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Mallard in the year 1660, and a number of other persons, his claim amounting to seven hundred acres, for which he duly received a war- rant (Land Office, lib. 5, fol. 488). On January 16, 1666-67, a war- rant was granted to one John Dixon upon six rights assigned to him from Richard Leake, among them being Robert Saunders and Stephen White (Land Office, lib. 10, fol. 599). How Stephen White became possessed of this second right is not stated. He lived on the south side of Patapsco river, near the line between Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties, and is sometimes designated as of the former, some- times of the latter county. In October, 1674, a patent issued to Stephen White, of Anne Arundel county, of a tract called White's Addition, in Anne Arundel county, on the south side of Patapsco river, adjoining the tract Radnage, formerly laid out for George Yates, and containing one hundred and eighty acres, due the said Stephen White by assign- ment from Robert Wilson of part of a warrant for two thousand acres formerly granted to said Robert Wilson (Land Office, lib. 18, fol. 225). In the same year Stephen White is designated as of Baltimore county.
On August 3, 1674, Stephen White and Anne, his wife, of "Balti- more county," convey to Joseph Symons, of the same county, planter, one hundred acres, part of tract Radnage, on the south side of the Pa- tapsco, "opposite the rocks" (Balto. Co., lib. T. R., No. R. A., fol. 224). How Stephen White acquired Radnage does not appear. The deed was probably recorded in Anne Arundel county and was de- stroyed when the Annapolis court house was burned in 1707. In the rent-roll for 1707, by a change in the county line, both tracts are found in Baltimore county, and are thus described :
Radnage, 160 acres-Surveyed 3 October, 1667, for Geo. Yates on ye S. side Potapsco opposite to ye Rocks at a sound locust by ye river side. Pos- sessors :- 60 a. Wm. Hawkins, 50 a. Xtopher Cox, 50 a. Thos. Knighthead. White's Addition, 180 acres, surveyed 3 Nov. 1678 (sic'.) for Stephen White on ye S. side Potapsco at a bound poplar by a pocoson. Possessor sd. White's orphan. (Balto. Co. Rent Roll, p. 150).
The date given for the survey of White's Addition is manifestly erroneous, as the patent was issued in 1674. "The Rocks" opposite Radnage must, of course, have been the well-known "White Rocks"
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at the mouth of Rock Creek. The will of Thomas Jones, of Baltimore county, dated 18 August, and proved 13 November, 1675, leaves int. al. to testator's friend Sarah Gray, "one cow and calve at Stephen White's" (Testam. Proceedings, lib. 7, fol. 152).
Stephen White died late in 1676 or early in 1677, more probably the latter, and the following is an abstract of his will: Stephen White, of Anne Arundel county, will dated I Sept., 1676, proved 19 March, 1676-7 (Annapolis lib. 5, fol. 208). To my son Stephen White, one feather bed with its appurtenances, and my two guns, being a fowling piece and a musket. All the rest of my real and temporal (sic) estate to my loving wife Anne, "only my land and cattle to be sold to pay my debts"; my said wife sole executrix. Witnesses : Matthias Steven- son, Joshua Meorrikin. 24 April, 1677, Anne White, "widow and executrix of Stephen White, late of Anne Arundel county, deceased," re- turned an inventory of his estate (Test. Proc. lib. 9, fol. 95). It is recorded in Inventories and Accounts, lib. 4, fol. 13, as an "Inventory of the estate of Stephen White deceased" appraised by Ralph Haw- kins and Ralph Duncalfe, 7 April, 1677, "as it was brought to our sight knowledge & View by Anne White, wife of the deceased & execu- trix of the aforementioned Stephen White". Before 1679 the widow married William Hawkins, of Anne Arundel county, as we find from the following: 13 August, 1679; Account of William Hawkins and Anne his wife, of Anne Arundel county, administratrix (sic'.) of Ste- phen White, late of same county, deceased (Inventories & Accounts, lib. 6, fol. 441).
Anne White, wife of Stephen White, was evidently a sister of John Rockhold, of Anne Arundel county, who in his will, dated 17 February, 1698, mentions "my two cousins (i. e., nephews) Stephen White and William Hawkins Jr. (Annapolis, lib. 6, fol. 202), these being Anne's sons by her two marriages. Her second husband, Wil- liam Hawkins, then designated as of "Baltimore county," left a nun- cupative will dated 25 June, 1711, wherein he left bequests of person- alty to "my three grandsons John, Stephen, and William White", and to "my sons-in-law Edward Smith and Charles Baker". To his son William he leaves rights for one hundred and fifty acres at Magothy River (Annapolis, lib. 13, fol. 215). The "grandsons" were, of course,
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the sons of Stephen White, the testator's stepson. Stephen and Anne (Rockhold) White had issue : Stephen, of further mention.
(II) Stephen (2) White, son of Stephen ( 1) and Anne ( Rock- hold) White, is mentioned in the will of his father, and in that of his uncle, John Rockhold, both cited above. He appears in a list of tax- ables for 1692 as living in South side of the Patapsco Hundred (Balto. Co., lib. F., No. I, fol. 225), and also in similar lists for the years 1699-1706 (Ms. at Maryland Hist. Soc.). He inherited the tract, White's Addition, and reacquired Radnage. On June 8, 1710, Chris- topher Cox, of Baltimore county, innkeeper, and Mary his wife, convey to Stephen White, of the same county, planter, "all their right, title and interest of a tract of land" called Radnage, in Baltimore county, on the south side of Patapsco river, "opposite to the Rocks," containing one hundred and sixty acres as per certificate of survey dated January 10, 1667 (Balto. Co., lib. T. R., No. A, fol. 76). Stephen White died about 1717, as witness the following: 17 February, 1717-18, adminis- tration bond of the estate of Stephen White, late of Baltimore county, in the sum of £150, the administrators being John Cornelius and Sarah his wife, with William Jones and Richard Hampton, their sureties, all of Anne Arundel county (Baltimore Co., Admin. Bonds, lib. 4, fol. 51). The administrators were the widow of the deceased and her second husband.
The register of St. Anne's Parish, Annapolis, records the marriage, February 6, 1718, of John Cornelius and Sarah White, of Westminster Parish, and the same Sarah, with her second husband, John Cornelius, resigns, July 31, 1731, her dower rights in White's Addition by deed recorded in Anne Arundel county. The "Account of John Cornelius and Sarah his wife, administrators of Stephen White, late of Baltimore county, deceased," dated July 13, 1719, shows an inventory of £73 9S. and accounts for £32 4s. 5d. thereof. At the end it has the following: "John White & Hannah, Stephen, Anne, Sarah, Joshua White, or- phans," i. e., of the deceased (Balto. Co., Accounts, lib. 5, fol. 360).
Stephen (2) White and Sarah his wife had issue: John, Hannah, Stephen, William (mentioned in William Hawkins' will, 1711, died in 1719), Anne, Sarah, Joshua (married, July 8, 1740, Mary Ashley, children : Nilkiah, born December 7, 1742; Samuel, born December 4,
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1744; Thomas, born September 8, 1751) (Westminster Parish Rec- ords).
(III) John White, son of Stephen (2) and Sarah White, is named (1711) in the will of William Hawkins, and ( 1719) in the account of his father's estate, both cited above. He seems to have been twice mar- ried. The register of St. Paul's Parish, Baltimore county, records the marriage in 1722 (day and month not given) of John White and Mary Rencher (i. e. probably Renshaw), and the birth, March 23, 1722-23, of their daughter Anne, and there are no further entries. The adjoin- ing parish of Westminster in Anne Arundel county records the births of the following children of John and Mary White, viz. : Stephen, born January 26, 1723-24; Mary, born January 16, 1726-27; John, born December 25, 1727; Comfort, born March 31, 1729; Sarah, born March 31, 1731. It also records that "John White and Mary Wood were married in January, A. D. 1726." There is no evidence that any other John White was living in the parish, so that it would seem that the first wife died, perhaps at the birth of her son Stephen, and that John White married his second wife, Mary Wood, in January, 1726, i. e. doubtless in 1725-26.
In 1731 John White sold the land he had inherited from his father. On April 6, 1731, John White, of Anne Arundel county, planter (with consent of Mary his wife), conveys to Thomas Cockey, of said county, two tracts, viz .: (1) Radnage, one hundred and sixty acres, on the south side Patapsco river, opposite the Rocks, and (2) White's Addi- tion, one hundred and eighty acres, on the south side Patapsco adjoin- ing Radnage. The said John White warrants against all persons claiming by, from or under Stephen White, late father of said John, the grantor (Anne Arundel Co., lib. J. H. and T. I., No. I, fol. 252). After disposing of his property John White seems to have removed with his family to St. John's parish, Baltimore county, which lay along the Gunpowder river and centered at Joppa, then the county town.
The register of St. John's records the birth of Joshua White, son of John and Mary White, born November 4, 1735, and the death of John White, November 14, 1737. It also records the marriage (given be- low) of Stephen, Comfort, and Sarah White, who are clearly the chil- dren of this John White, their births being recorded in the register of
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Westminster parish. The connection with the Baker family affords further evidence of this John White's identity. Children of John and Mary (Rencher or Renshaw) White, his first wife: Anne, born March 23, 1722-23 (St. Paul's Parish Register ) ; Stephen, born January 26, 1723-24 (Westminster Parish Register). Children of Mary Wood, his second wife: Mary, born January 16, 1726-27; John, born December 25, 1727; Comfort, born March 31, 1729, married, February 21, 1747, John Brown (St. John's Parish) ; Sarah, born March 31, 1731, mar- ried, January 8, 1756, Francis Ingram (St. John's Parish) ; Joshua, born November 4, 1735 (St. John's Parish). The dates of birth of the children of second wife, with the exception of Joshua, were from Westminster Parish Register.
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