USA > West Virginia > Genealogical and personal history of the upper Monongahela valley, West Virginia, Volume II > Part 35
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(IV) Howard Benjamin Franklin, son of John Burnside and Mary (Adams) Post, was born June 23, 1874, near Jarvisville, West Virginia, on the old Post homestead still belonging to the family. He attend- ed school until eighteen years of age and then went to the academy at
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Buckhannon for three years. He then taught the "Post School" at Sycamore, Harrison county, for two years. In 1896 he went to Clarks- burg where he took a position as manager of the grocery department of the big Lounds store. After two years in that position, he opened a general store at West Milford, Harrison county, with his father-in- law, John W. Gaston, and remained there three years; then sold out and traveled one year for the Armstrong, Crislip, Day Company, wholesale grocers. Resigning, he went back with the Lounds Com- pany again as their manager in the grocery department; also having charge of hardware and queensware goods in the department house; and was there seven years. In May, 1909, having resigned from the Lounds Company, he established himself in the real estate business. He also does insurance work, and his offices are at 307-308 Goff Build- ing. In 1912 Mr. Post, with his brother, M. R. Post, and Lee Stout, organized the Post-Stout Land Company, and purchased the old Craw- ford homestead, consisting of one hundred and three acres, adjoining the town of North View, a suburb of Clarksburg. This property they have laid out in town lots, reserving a portion for factory sites. They also donated a large strip of this land along the West Fork of the Monongahela river to the board of trade, for free factory sites. This beautiful suburb is called Arlington, adjoining the city on the north, and promises to become one of the attractive suburbs of the city. The Baltimore & Ohio railroad borders the property over one mile. Polit- ically Mr. Post is a Republican. He is a member of the Odd Fellows, and belongs to the First Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1896, he married, near West Milford, West Virginia, Mary E. Gaston, born October 20, 1875, in Harrison county, a daughter of John W. and Maria (Burnside) Gaston, both natives of Harrison county. Mr. Gaston died March 29, 1910, aged seventy-two years. Mrs. Gaston is living at West Milford, aged seventy-two years. Mr. Gaston was a farmer and from an old and prominent family. Chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Post are: Harold, born May 9, 1897; Lena Virginia, May 25, 1898; Rachel Adelia, March 26, 1902 ; George Ed- ward, July 5, 1906. All are at home and three are attending the public schools of Clarksburg.
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Of German origin, this Coffman family have been COFFMAN residents of America since the Colonial days, just prior to the Revolutionary war. The line to James Miller Coffman, of Clarksburg, West Virginia, runs as follows: Abra- ham, the German emigrant-David, born in Pennsylvania, about 1789 -Samuel, born 1823-and James Miller Coffman, born 1858.
(I) Abraham Coffman, emigrated from Germany when a young man, before the war for independence in this country, and located in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. There he married and had children, including a son David.
(II) David, son of Abraham Coffman, was born in Pennsylvania, died at the age of eighty-two years, in 1871. He became a well-to-do farmer. He married and had children among whom was a son Samuel.
(III) Samuel, son of David Coffman, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, July 10, 1823, and is still residing in the county in which he was born, leading a retired life. He has been by occupation a farm- er, and hired a substitute during the civil war. Politically he votes the Republican ticket. In his church faith he is of the Cumberland Presby- terian denomination. He married (first) Margaret Core, a native of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, who died when her son James M. was but an infant. John Core, the father of Mrs. Margaret (Core) Coff- man, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania ; was a farmer and died in his native county, aged seventy-five years, about 1867; he had a large family. Mr. Coffman married (second) Hannah Ace, who is still living. By the first marriage, Mr. Coffman had four children, all now living : Mary, wife of William Milyard; Loretta, wife of Wal- ter Rowan; James Miller; and Elizabeth, single. By the second mar- riage, there were seven children : George, deceased; David, of Dawson, Pennsylvania; Isaac, deceased; Gibson, deceased; Rebecca, wife of Isaac Balsinger; Frank, living with his father; William, deceased.
(IV) James Miller, son of Samuel and Margaret (Core) Coff- man, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, August 13, 1858, on his father's farm. He received a common school education. He assist- ed on his father's farm until he reached his majority, when he was em- ployed in the Ludington Brick Works, at Uniontown, Pennsylvania, for three years. In 1880, he went to Clarksburg, West Virginia, where he worked as a journeyman brick-maker for a number of years. In
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1888, he commenced as a contractor in brick work, in building struc- tures, such as the courthouse in Spence and Roane, as well as several of the asylums in Roane county; also the well-known armory building at Morgantown. The Baptist church, the Louchery building, the Homer building, and many other structures of an imposing and massive char- acter, are all his handiwork as a mason and contractor. He established his present extensive brick plant at Clarksburg, on West Pike street, in 1910, and now employs eighteen men in the production of a superior quality of building brick. He is a stockholder in the Union National Bank of his home city; president of the Broad Oak Development Com- pany and in many other avenues of industry is materially interested. He votes the Republican ticket. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias fraternity and is in church faith a Methodist Episcopalian.
He married in Clarksburg, December 23, 1881, Emma M. Tate, a native of Clarksburg, West Virginia, who died February 22, 1909, aged forty-nine years. Her father was O. H. Tate, a well-known blacksmith, who died in 1901. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Coffman : Elsie D., born in 1882, wife of Dr. Halterman, of Clarksburg, whose sketch follows; Oscar S., died in infancy; William Ray, born 1891, assists his father and attends school at Swarthmore Preparatory; Jessie Lottie, died aged eleven years; Margaret Louise, born in 1896, attend- ing the Bristol School, at Washington, D. C.
HALTERMAN This family originally lived in Old Virginia, but this branch of it is now represented at Clarks- burg by Dr. Charles W. Halterman.
(I) William Halterman was born at Monterey, Highland county, Virginia, about 1830, and died 1890. By occupation he was a farmer and by profession a school teacher. In his religious faith, he was of the United Brethren church, while politically he voted the Whig and Republican tickets. He married, in Freemansburg, Lewis county, West Virginia, Nellie Simmons, daughter of David and Sarah Simmons, born in Highland county, Virginia, in 1839, died in 1889. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. William Halterman were: Andrew Columbus, deceased; James B., of Freemansburg; Sarah E., single; Thomas J .; Martha, deceased; Peter Grant, of Freemansburg; Dr. Charles W., of 24-M
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whom later; William G., of Wolf's Summit, West Virginia; W. Scott, of Harrisburg, Ohio; Benjamin Franklin, Freemansburg; Joseph Clark, New York City; one died in infancy.
(II) Charles Warner Halterman, M. D., the seventh child and fifth son of William and Nellie (Simmons) Halterman, was born April 30, 1868, at Freemansburg, Lewis county, West Virginia, and remain- ed at home on the farm until seventeen years of age. He obtained his education at the public schools, the Normal School and Classic Acad- emy, Buckhannon, West Virginia, and he graduated in 1889 from the Electic Medical College, Cincinnati, Ohio. He then attended the New York Post-Graduate Medical School; and took at the Harvard Medical School, Boston, the post-graduate course in neurology. These various institutions of higher and professional learning have peculiarly fitted the doctor for the manifold duties of a successful physician and sur- geon. He began the practice of medicine when twenty-one years of age, at Jarvisville, Harrison county, West Virginia, remaining there in practice twelve years. In January, 1901, he went to Clarksburg where he has been practicing ever since with well-equipped offices, in the Knights of Pythias building, on South Third street. He was the health officer for Harrison county, from 1903 to 1909; served as a member of the city council of Clarksburg; has been a member of the state board of health since 1909, his term ending in 1913; member of the board of education, Clarksburg Independent district, 1910-11; medical inspector, schools of Clarksburg, 1911-12. Among profes- sional societies he has been an ex-president of the Harrison County Medical Society; vice-president West Virginia Society of Social Hy- giene. He is connected with the following civic orders : Jackson Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Adoniram Royal Arch Chapter, No. II; Clarksburg Commandery, No. 13, Knights Templar; Osiris Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine, of Wheeling; Clarksburg Lodge, No. 482, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He and the family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Clarksburg.
He married, July 17, 1902, at Clarksburg, Elsie Dinsmore Coff- man, born at Clarksburg, April 16, 1882. She is the daughter of James M. and Emma Coffman. Mr. Coffman is a manufacturer of brick and engaged in real estate business. (See Coffman IV). Mr. and Mrs. Halterman have no children.
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This is the family to which Dr. Frederick M. Boso, of BOSO Weston, Lewis county belongs. His parents, Monroe A. and Mary C. (Flinn) Boso, were both natives of West Virginia. Monroe A. Boso was the son of John A. and Serena (Smith) Boseau (as they spelled the name). Monroe A. was reared in his native state and is an extensive oil operator (independent) residing at Parkersburg. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Monroe A. Boso were: Frederick M., of whom further; Lowell; Delma. Politically Mr. Boso is a Democrat, and in church choice he favors the Methodist Episcopal.
Dr. Frederick M. Boso was born February 18, 1882, at Parkers- burg, West Virginia. He was educated at Parkersburg, attended the high school of that city, and later entered the University of St. Louis from which he graduated in 1902 with the degree of A. B. While in college he was active in his student activities, being captain of the sopho- more football team and later a member of the Varsity team. After he graduated he matriculated in the medical department of the same insti- tution, graduating as a doctor of medicine in 1906. He then spent one year as the clinic's assistant-Professor Goldstein-in ear, nose and throat diseases. He still continues his studies in this line, making this branch a specialty. Upon leaving St. Louis he was appointed relief physician for the Coal and Coke Railroad Company of West Virginia, which position he accepted and filled until he resigned to locate in the general practice of medicine at Weston, in 1910. He belongs to the Uni- versity of St. Louis Medical Alumni Association, the American, West Virginia, Lewis-Upshur counties medical associations and societies. He is now president of the board of health, and surgeon of the West Virginia National Guard. He is a member of Bennett Lodge, No. 46, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Bigelow Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons; the Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America, Mod- ern Woodmen of the World, and the Eagles, he being the examining physician of all these fraternities. He manifests a true and loyal public spirit in all local affairs, both city and county.
He was married in 1905 to Leola Law, of Lewis county, daughter of A. D. Law and wife. One daughter by this marriage: Lucile, born February 23, 1908.
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Dr. Melville Logan Casselberry, a successful
CASSELBERRY and esteemed member of the medical fraternity of Morgantown, who is well known for ability, skill and success, was born at Evansburg, Montgomery county, Penn- sylvania, November 29, 1830.
(I) William Casselberry, the first of the line here under consid- eration, resided in the vicinity of Norristown, Pennsylvania, where he was engaged in the tilling of the soil, from which he derived a remuner- ative living. After a life of activity and usefulness, he passed away in the year 1850, in his eighty-fifth year. He married Catherine and among their children was John, see forward.
(II) John, son of William Casselberry, was born on his father's farm in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, in 1802, died there Sep- tember 7, 1834. He was reared upon the farm, attended the common schools of the neighborhood, and in early life served an apprenticeship at the trade of tanner, which line of work he followed throughout the active years of his life, owning and operating quite an extensive plant for that day. He married Rebecca, daughter of Daniel Morgan, a farmer of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania; she died October 15, 1893. Children : Daniel M., born 1825; David, 1827; Melville Logan, see forward; Catherine Jane, 1833, married Harry Bonsall.
(III) Dr. Melville Logan, son of John Casselberry, attended a school in Germantown conducted by Professor William Collum, and after completing his studies there entered the Collegeville College of Pennsylvania, from which institution in 1850 he went to the Homœo- pathic College of Pennsylvania, graduating with degree of M. D. in 1853, having previously read medicine in the office of Dr. William A. Gardner, of Philadelphia. He began the active practice of his pro- fession at Millville, New Jersey, where he remained for a short period of time, and then attended a course of lectures at the Pennsylvania Homeopathic Medical College, thus supplementing the knowledge gained in his alma mater. In March, 1855, he located in Morgan- town, West Virginia, and after a residence of one year there, during which he practiced his profession, removed to Moline, Illinois, where he remained for two months, and then took up his residence in Norris- town, Pennsylvania, where he practiced for two and a half years, and in November, 1859, returned to Morgantown, where he has since built
M. M. Casselberry, M. D.
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up an extensive practice, which increased steadily year by year, and his kind and sympathetic nature, coupled with his accurate knowledge of disease and its cure, has won for him the esteem of his patients, espe- cially is this true in the treatment of children's diseases. He is a mem- ber of the Homeopathic Medical Society of West Virginia and Ohio and of the American Institute of Homeopathy. Since 1855 he has been affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, being a member of Morgantown Lodge, No. 4, of which he has been treasurer for the past forty-three years, and was one of the organizers and charter mem- bers of Morgan Lodge, No. 1762, Knights of Honor. Mr. Cassel- berry is a Presbyterian, as is also Mrs. Casselberry.
Dr. Casselberry married (first), May 10, 1859, Mary Ellen, daughter of Senator Waitman T. Willey. She died without issue, in August, 1862. He married (second), October 4, 1866, Margaret, daughter of John Protzman, of Morgantown, West Virginia. Chil- dren : 1. Mary, married Louis Lindemuth; one child, Marian B. 2. Byron W., married Frances Ethel Lucas; four children: Frances E., Byron W. Jr., Melville Logan, Ellen Brown. 3. John L., married Cora May Templeton, of Waterville, New York; children : Margaret Amelia and Janet.
HIGGINBOTHAM A family of English descent, as far as we know the first of the family arrived in this country in 1634. He was thirty-four years old and came out in the "Bonaventure." We next hear of a John Higginbotham with his wife and servants living in the town of St. Michaels, Barbadoes Isle. As there is a lapse of time between their emigration and Charles II., we conclude that they went back and came out again. These are probably the two previous generations to the John Higginbotham, of Charles the Second's time.
(I) John Higginbotham, probably the third in line from the original English emigrant, and the direct ancestor of those now living in the two Virginias at this time, was sent out by Charles II. to prospect for government lands. He came to America in the winter, and con- tracting a severe cold while land prospecting, he died the following spring. He brought with him from England his wife and five children.
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His wife was Frances Riley (or Raleigh). His children were : Moses, Aaron, John, of whom further; James, and Anne.
(II) John (2), son of John (1) and Frances (Riley) Higgin- botham, married Rachel Banks, whose mother was a Staunton. They had twelve children : 1. Thomas, born June 10, 1769; died unmarried. 2. James, born September 22, 1770. 3. John, of whom further. 4. Anne Staunton, born December 20, 1773; died unmarried. 5. David, born October 17, 1775 ; married Mary E. LaGariques. 6. Mary, born November 1, 1777; died unmarried. 7. Jesse, born December 23, 1778; died single. 8. Daniel, born March 27, 1781 ; died single. 9. Tersa, born February 17, 1782; married John London. 10. Frances Riley, born May 10, 1785; married Major Reuben Coleman. II. Eugene, born March 10, 1787; died single. 12. Reuben, born August 2, 1789; married Miss Vaughn, of Kentucky.
(III) John (3), son of John (2) and Rachel (Banks) Higgin- botham, was born April 12, 1772, in Amherst county, Virginia. He became a noted Virginia merchant and he, with his brother, was of the "Seven prince merchants" of Virginia in their day. He was born too late for service in the war for independence, and probably saw no mili- tary service. On December 7, 1815, at "Soldier's Joy," Nelson county, Virginia, he married Margaret Washington Cabell, daughter of Colo- nel Samuel Jordan Cabell, of revolutionary fame, and his wife Sarah (Syme) Cabell, a half sister of Patrick Henry. The children of John and Margaret W. (Cabell) Higginbotham were: William Thomas, see below, and Laura.
(IV) William Thomas, son of John (3) and Margaret W. (Cabell) Higginbotham, was born at "Soldier's Joy," Nelson county, Virginia, in 1819; died November 25, 1892. He became a prosperous farmer and also followed surveying. Politically he was a Democrat, and in church faith an Episcopalian. In 1848 he immigrated to Lewis county, in what is now known as West Virginia, locating six miles west of Buckhannon. He married, August 22, 1839, at "Soldier's Joy," Nelson county, Virginia, Mary Frances Coleman, born in East Vir- ginia, died July 31, 1871. She was a daughter of Reuben Coleman, a Virginian, of English and Scotch descent, who during the war of 1812 held the rank of major. Children born to William T. and and Mary Frances (Coleman) Higginbotham : John Carleton, of whom further;
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Hon. Coleman Cabell, of whom further; Frances, deceased; Margaret Emeline, deceased; Ella, deceased; Lucy C., living at "Glen Esk," Upshur county, Virginia ; Rosalie Anne, deceased.
(V) John Carleton Higginbotham, son of William T. and Mary Frances (Coleman) Higginbotham, was born in November, 1842. When the Civil war broke out he was eighteen years of age. He raised a company known as the "Upshur County Grays," of which he was immediately elected captain. They were located at Philippi, West Vir- ginia, at the time of Porterfield's retreat, and his was the only com- pany that carried off its baggage. He was under fire at the skirmish at Middle Fork Bridge, and was later in the battle of Rich Mountain and Allegheny Mountain. In the spring of 1862 he was promoted to major of the Twenty-fifth Virginia Infantry and was at the battle of McDowell and Cedar Creek. At the battle of Manassas he was wounded three times. For gallantry on the field, he was promoted to Colonel, being at that time but twenty years of age. At the battle of Gettysburg he was commanding his regiment and there wounded. In the spring campaign of 1864, his regiment fired the first guns in the battle of the Wilderness. He was in that series of fierce battles until May 10, 1864, when the brave Confederate officer having been pro- moted to brigadier general, was killed at the age of twenty-one years, at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House.
(V) Hon. Coleman Cabell Higginbotham, second son of William Thomas and Mary Frances (Coleman) Higginbotham, was born in 1850, at "Glen Esk," Upshur county, West Virginia. He attended the public schools and also had the advantage of the best private instructors. He then read law and went to Bowling Green, Missouri, where he continued his legal studies, and was admitted to the Missouri bar when only nineteen years of age. This was in 1869, and the following year he returned to Buckhannon, West Virginia, where he has ever since con- ducted a large law practice. Politically, Mr. Higginbotham is a Dem- ocrat, and is a communicant of the Episcopal church. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery. He is one of the directors of the Peoples Bank of West Virginia, at Buckhannon.
He married Mary Ida Day, born in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a descendant of Hon. Samuel Mathews, captain-general and governor of
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Virginia from 1624 to 1660, when he died; also a descendant of Jacob Warwick and Richard Bennett of colonial fame. Mrs. Higginbotham's father was Richard Henry Blount Day, physician and surgeon, and her mother was Martha Jane Woods, daughter of Captain George Woods, of Albemarle county, Virginia, and his wife, Jane (Mathews) Woods. Children of Mrs. Higginbotham's parents: Mary Ida, Fannie Lee, Edward Leslie and Millie. Mr. and Mrs. Higginbotham's children are: Mary Frances, Jessie Woods, Lula Coleman, Lotta Lee, Virginia Day, all at home.
FERRY This family came from Pennsylvania, and is not numer- ously represented in West Virginia. The proprietor of the Ferry Printery and the Fairyland Theatre, of Weston, Lewis county, West Virginia, is James W. Ferry, a native of Punx- sutawney, Pennsylvania, born August 30, 1872. He is the son of Andrew Jackson and Mary Caroline ( Rishell) Ferry. The father was a sturdy Pennsylvania farmer and conducted a temperance hotel at Punxsutawney for many years.
James W. Ferry was educated at the public schools, and served as a soldier in the late Spanish-American war, from Ohio. He came to Weston, January 6, 1892, and engaged in the restaurant business which line he followed three years, then sold out and opened a bowling alley, which he soon brought to paying condition, and sold to engage in the wholesale manufacture of ice cream. After building up a good busi- ness in this line he sold at a profit and engaged next in the job printing business, also conducting the Fairyland Theatre, of which he is the owner. Fraternally he is a member of Lodge No. 322, of the Junior Order of United Mechanics, and Cameron Lodge, No. 17, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He with his family attends the Methodist Episcopal church. In political matters, he is a Republican, and is active in party work, having been sent as a delegate to various conventions. Since coming to Weston this energetic young business man has accumu- lated considerable property and now has a good home and an interest- ing family about him.
Mr. Ferry was united in marriage to Flora Andrews, in Clarks- burg, and they are the parents of James Frederick Ferry, born August 14, 1902, and Thomas Andrews Ferry, born November 10, 1910.
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The family of which Dr. George Snyder, of Weston,
SNYDER West Virginia, is a worthy member, came from Harri- sonburg, Virginia, at an early date and the members were generally farmers. George Snyder was the pioneer of the family in these parts.
(I) George Snyder, of Harrisonburg, Virginia, married Elizabeth Dean. Children: Robert S., of whom further; Thomas M., Aljourn, Luverna, Simon, George L. In politics the father, George Snyder, was a Democrat and in his church faith adhered to the creed of the Southern Methodists.
(II) Robert S., eldest child of George and Elizabeth (Dean) Snyder, was a native of West Virginia, and followed farming for a livelihood. Politically he was a Democrat, and in religion was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married Lucinda Fisher, daughter of David and Lydia (Springston) Fisher, of Weston, West Virginia. Their children were: David, born January 5, 1858; Mary E., born February 14, 1860; George, mentioned below.
(III) Dr. George Snyder, youngest child of Robert S. and Lu- cinda (Fisher) Snyder, was born in Weston, West Virginia, October 24, 1863. Owing to the death of his parents when he was a child about two and one-half years of age, he went to live with his Grandmother Fisher, who was a widow, and grew up on her farm, two and one-half miles out of Weston. He worked on this farm and attended the public schools of his native place until he was about twenty years of age, when he commenced teaching school and preparing to enter the medical profession. He attended the Glenville State Normal School and enter- ed the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating in 1889, since which time he has been a successful physician at Weston. He was appointed first assistant in the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane, and served two years, 1897-99. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge; the Woodmen of America; the Lewis County Med- ical Society; the West Virginia Medical Society, and has been a mem- ber of the West Virginia board of pension examiners since 1889. He has been and is now on the surgical staff of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- road Company; examining physician for several leading insurance com- panies, and the Weston Knights of Pythias lodge. He is a stockholder in the Citizens' Bank at Weston, also a stockholder and director in the
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