USA > West Virginia > Genealogical and personal history of the upper Monongahela valley, West Virginia, Volume II > Part 39
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(III) Earl William, youngest child of Edgar S. and Melinda (Mearns) Davis, was born at Lost Creek, Harrison county, West Vir- ginia, September 27, 1876. His parents removed to Salem when he was six years of age and there he was educated, first in the high schools and then at Salem College which he attended three years. He became a clerk in his brother Ernest's store when quite young, and remained there three years. In 1902 the present firm, the West Virginia Cloth- ing and Furnishing Company, was formed with E. O. Davis and Charles A. F. Randolph, proprietors, and Okey W. Davis and Earl W. Davis as managers. Politically Mr. Davis is a Democrat. He is a member of the order of Maccabees, and in church faith is of the Sev- enth Day Baptist denomination.
He was married, May 15, 1903, at Salem, to Candace Queen Low- ther, born December 3, 1877, at New Milton, Doddridge county, West Virginia. She is the daughter of Johnson Lowther, still living at New Milton, a farmer, whose wife's death occurred about 1901. Children : Miriam L., born March 15, 1905; Eleanor Willametti, born October II, 1908.
PERINE Four generations, at least, of this family have resided in
Harrison county, in what is now West Virginia. The ancestors (paternal) of these generations have all been well known and industrious citizens.
(I) Richard Perine, the first of the line of whom we have definite information, was a native of Harrison county, and died at West Mil- ford, aged eighty-one years. By occupation he was a tanner. He mar- ried Annie Tingler, and had children including a son Isaac.
(II) Isaac, son of Richard Perine, was born in Harrison county, Virginia, July 26, 1817, died at the age of eighty-nine years, of cancer. In his early years he followed farming, but later was a tanner at West Milford. He was a Democrat, and in his religious faith a member of the Methodist Protestant church. He married Nancy Lewis, of the well-known Lewis family of this county, who is now living at Clarks- burg, at the extreme old age of eighty-eight years. Children: Sarah, now Mrs. Hon. Lloyd Washburn, of Good Hope; Doctor Lewis, of whom further; William L., living at Janelew, a farmer; Richard Irvin, of Buckhannon, an undertaker; Emma L., now Mrs. James Johnson, of Clarksburg. Jonathan Lewis, father of Mrs. Perine, was born on Newton Creek, Harrison county, now West Virginia; practiced medi- cine at a time when no diploma was required; he also farmed.
(III) Doctor Lewis Perine, son of Isaac and Nancy (Lewis) Perine, was born at West Milford, July 26, 1849. He received his education at the local private schools. Later he taught school in his home county for four years, commencing his work at teaching when nineteen years of age. His next engagement was that of trading in live stock, which he followed four years, after which he commenced mer- chandising, at the town of Good Hope, where he was a leading mer- chant for twenty-eight years, going to Salem, where he now resides, in 1905 as a partner with F. D. Bassett, which connection continued for one year, when he and his son became partners under the present firm name of D. L. Perine & Son, and they are engaged in the gent's furnish- ing business. He has been president of the Merchants' Association in Salem ever since it was formed in 1906. He is interested in the oil and gas industries of Harrison county. He is also a director in the board of trade; was secretary of the board of education in Union district,
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Harrison county, for eight years; was member of the council at Salem from 1908 to 1910. Politically he is a Democrat. In 1880 Mr. Perine was a candidate on the Greenback ticket for the legislature. He has ever sought to build up the interests of his county and state, both polit- ically and commercially. In his church relations he is of the Meth- odist Protestant faith.
He married, at Good Hope, West Virginia, October 2, 1882, Louisa J. Davis, born at Johnstown, Harrison county, West Virginia, May, 1863, daughter of William H. Davis, now living in Calhoun county, West Virginia, at the age of seventy-two years. He was a soldier in the confederate army, and saw service during the entire civil war period; was a prisoner at Camp Chase, Ohio, where he was near the point of death. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Perine : Icie, born 1883, now Mrs. H. N. Burnside, living at Good Hope; Claudius Weaver, born June 6, 1884, a partner with his father; Vida Emma, born Sep- tember 24, 1887, now Mrs. L. C. Washburn; Harley D., born Febru- ary 23, 1893, at home.
MORELAND Among the sturdy Scotch families who settled in parts of Pennsylvania, prior to and immediately after the revolutionary war, were the Morelands, one branch of whom traces as follows: Alexander-William-John- Joseph of the present day generations. As civilians and military char- acters many of the Morelands have been well and favorably mentioned in the history of this country.
(I) Alexander Moreland, with his family, emigrated about 1770 from Hamilton Bann township, York county, Pennsylvania, to the vicin- ity of Connellsville, then in Bedford county, in the province of Penn- sylvania, now within Fayette county. After this they acquired several hundred acres of valuable land on the left bank of the Youghiogheny river, three miles from the present site of Connellsville, where they permanently located. The name of Alexander Moreland appears in the published list of Scotch-Irish who settled in York county and Adams county in 1767-68. It also appears in a list of the earliest settlers in Fayette county and contiguous parts of Greene, Westmoreland and Washington counties, given in Judge Veeche's book entitled "The Mo- nongahela of Old," which with another publication shows the names of
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only sixty individuals. The names "Alex. Morelin," "David Morelin" and "William Morelin," no doubt the same as Moreland, are found in the history of Fayette county, Pennsylvania. In the "Chronicles of Border Warfare," by Withers, the following passage is given : "About this time (early in the eighteenth century), a pedlar traveling from Williamsburg to Winchester, resolved, in conjunction with John Sall- ing, a weaver, also from Williamsburg, to prosecute an examination of the country beyond the limits which had hitherto bounded the explor- atory excursions of other adventurers. With this view they travelled up the valley Shenandoah and crossing James river and some of its branches, proceeded up as far as Roanoke, when Salling was taken captive by a party of Cherokee Indians. Morlin was fortunate enough to elude their pursuit and make a safe retreat to Winchester." This Thomas Moreland was not an ancestor of the line under consideration in this genealogy, but is supposed to be a relative of Alexander More- land. The first person of the name is said to have come over from Great Britain to the American colonies at Jamestown, Virginia, about 1620. The name appears both in England and Ireland, but the More- lands are supposed to be of original English descent.
(II) William, son of Alexander Moreland, above named, was born 1740, and was about thirty years of age when he came to Fayette county. He acquired by patent about three hundred acres on the bank of the Youghiogheny, where he made his home until his death in 1830. He married, January 17, 1777, Agnes, daughter of Captain Joseph Huston, a soldier of the revolution, who resided in the vicinity. Their married life extended over a period of fifty-one years, half of a century, fraught with important events in the history of this country, when won- der ful changes were going on. He served in the struggle for national independence, his name appearing in the "List of Non-Commissioned officers and soldiers of the Virginia Line, on Continental Establish- ments, whose name appears on the Army Register, and who have not received Bounty Lands." It also appears in the "List of Soldiers of the Virginia Line on Continental Establishment who have received Cer- tificates for the balance of their full pay agreeable to an Act of Assem- bly passed November Session 1781." It appears in the Auditor's offi- cial record at Richmond, as certified by W. G. Stanard of that office, corroborating the traditions of the family that he was a member of one
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of the regiments raised and commanded by Col. William Crawford, who at the time resided but a short distance from the lands whereon the Morelands were domiciled.
(III) John, son of William and Agnes (Huston) Moreland, was born, reared and spent practically all of his life on the lands patented to his father, a considerable parcel of which passed to him by inherit- ance. He died in 1866. These lands were all underlaid by the cele- brated Pittsburgh coal, to-day valued at from three to five thousand dollars per acre. Here as early as the year 1840 he was engaged in the business of manufacturing coke and shipping it, by way of flatboats on the Youghiogheny river, to Cincinnati and Louisville. He thus became the pioneer in the coking business in this section. He was called Cap- tain Moreland, not by virtue of any military service, but by reason of his being in command of men employed and boats laden with coke and conducted by him over the only thoroughfare then in existence for ship- ping coke from that region. Politically he was a Democrat; and in his religious faith was a Presbyterian. He married Priscilla, who died in 1875, daughter of William Rodgers, and the granddaughter of Thomas Rodgers. The Rodgers family for several generations has lived in and near Connellsville, Pennsylvania, and is one of the earliest, largest, and best known in that community. Ellis' "History of Fayette County" says: "Thomas Rodgers and his five brothers are said to have come from Maryland to Mount Braddock, accompanied by their widowed mother. They took up lands under what was commonly styled 'tom-a-hawk' claim, but becoming dissatisfied soon disposed of their interests to Samuel Work. The Rodgers family moved to Wash- ington county, Pennsylvania, and in the Indian aggression that befell that region three of the brothers lost their lives. The others then re- moved to the mouth of Beaver, but shortly returned to Dunbar town- ship and located in what is known as the Cross-Keys District. One of the brothers opened a blacksmith shop on the Uniontown road, and soon built a tavern near by. It is related that he set a pair of cross-keys over his shop as a token that he was a lock-smith, and when he opened his tavern, he conceived the notion of calling it the 'Cross-Keys Tav- ern,' by which it was long known." The same county Historical work says: "The Act erecting the county declared 'that it shall be lawful to and for Edward Cook, Robert Adams, Theopholus Phillipps, James
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Daughtery and Thomas Rodgers, all of the aforesaid county, or any three of them, to purchase and take assurance to them and their heirs of a piece of land situate in Uniontown, in trust, and for the use of the inhabitants of said county and thereon to erect and build a courthouse and prison sufficient to accommodate the public service of said county.' In pursuance of this Act they purchased the ground whereon the court- house of Fayette county is now located, in the city of Uniontown." John, a son of Thomas Rodgers, came to and located at Morgantown at an early date and purchased from Michael Kern the land known as the Kern Survey, on which stood the old "Kern Fort." The survey extended from the Monongahela river, up along Decker's Creek, to the "Harner Bottoms," embracing all the first and second wards and most of the fifth ward of the city of Morgantown. He built a paper mill at the peninsula, five stories in height, of fine masonry, where he manu- factured paper for many years, his plant being of such proportions as to compare favorably with the large plants of the present day. He also built a flouring mill on the site where now stands the power plant of the U. U. Company and extensive saw and wooden works down on the creek. He was trustee of the Morgantown Female Seminary, and of the old Academy, a noted school for young men, which institutions were merged later into the State University. He was a director in the old Merchants and Mechanics Bank, and at various times elected to petty offices. He built and resided in the house where Hon. John A. Dille died. He died about 1864, leaving no children, and a considerable portion of his large estate went to the children of his brother, William Rodgers.
John and Priscilla (Rodgers) Moreland were the parents of chil- dren as follows: William R .; Anna Maria, married Alix Armor; Mary Agnes, married Dr. Henry B. Lazier; Joseph, of whom further; Daniel R .; Rebecca, married George M. Murphey; Sarah H., married Rev. Dr. S. A. Hunter; Elizabeth R., unmarried. Sarah H., Elizabeth and Joseph are the only ones living.
(IV) Judge Joseph Moreland, son of John and Priscilla ( Rod- gers) Moreland, was born near Connellsville, Pennsylvania, May 26, 1842. His earliest recollections are associated with the labor and pleas- ures found in farm life, at times given a change by such diversions as pumping boats and loading them with the product of probably a half
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dozen coke ovens, called a magnificent plant in those days. He was at Morgantown as a student in 1860. He remained at the Monongahela Academy until the breaking out of the civil war in 1861, when he re- turned to his home in Pennsylvania. He then entered Dunlap's Creek Academy and later Washington and Jefferson College, from which he graduated in 1866. The following year he settled in Morgantown with his mother, three years after the death of John Rodgers. He then pursued the study of law in the offices of Brown & Hagans, and was admitted to the bar in 1869. Since that time he has practiced his pro- fession in Monongalia and adjoining counties, and in the supreme court of West Virginia. He has served Morgantown about a half dozen terms as its mayor, besides having been a member of the city council. In 1887 he was appointed, by the judge of the second judicial district, as prosecuting attorney to serve an unexpired term. In 1888 he was sent as a delegate to the National Democratic Convention at St. Louis, when Cleveland and Sherman were nominated. In 1882, he was ap- pointed by Governor Jacob B. Jackson, as a member of the board of regents of the West Virginia University. He held this position many years, until he resigned upon being made auditor of accounts for the institution. On several occasions he has been appointed special judge to hold terms of court to try certain cases in Monongalia and adjoining counties. Recently, during the illness of Dean Hogg of the University, he was employed temporarily to lecture to the Dean's class in common law pleading. A local newspaper says: "Judge Joseph Moreland closed a period of five or six weeks as an instructor in the University College of Law yesterday. During the illness of Dean Hogg, Judge Moreland instructed the young men in common law pleading, one of the most interesting and difficult subjects in the school. During his brief period of work, he won the respect and esteem of the young men who are preparing themselves for the practice of the legal profession."
Atkinson and Gibbons' "Prominent Men of West Virginia" says : "The two peoples along either side of the border line of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, are of the same characteristics, and may be spoken of as one people. The same persevering energy in business, integrity of character, patriotism and courage, mark each, and in daily habits and social manners the same. One from the Pennsylvania side has been a resident of West Virginia since 1867, a lawyer in our courts, and an effi-
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cient officer in our civil service-Joseph Moreland, a native of Connells- ville, Pennsylvania."
Mr. Moreland is the author of a pamphlet entitled "Jokes and Thrice-Told Tales." It was contributed at the centennial anniversary, when citizens were invited to furnish all they could relating to the his- tory of Morgantown. It has much of real history, including the tragic side of life there; also jokes and stories galore, all valuable to preserve for future generations. He frequently refers to the years from 1873 to 1884, during which period he was a law partner of Hon. Waitman T. Willey, as being among the pleasant days in the summertime of his life. Few men are more congenial, and at the same time more discreet in their dealings with others. Joseph Moreland is a member of Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Honor, Sons of Revo- lution and State Bar Association.
Judge Moreland was happily married, October 26, 1875, to Mary E., daughter of Thomas Brown, Esq., of Kingwood, West Virginia. Children: 1. Eleanor Brown, born 1877. 2. James Rodgers, born 1879; graduating from the University of West Virginia and the Uni- versity Law School; admitted to the bar in 1902; now in the law busi- ness with his father; married Ethel Finnicum, of Hopedale, Ohio; has two children : Joseph A. and James R.
ALLEN The Allen family of Preston county, West Virginia, are of Scotch descent. Joseph Allen, of colonial days, accom- panied his widowed mother from Scotland. They land- ed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when Joseph was probably about eight years of age, and later lived in Delaware. The mother remarried and took the name of Frum, and the family removed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and later purchased lands near Morgantown. There young Joseph reached man's estate, and married. In his family were two sons: Joseph, of whom further; and John, who was a bachelor, died in Morgantown, and is buried with his mother in the family plot. (II) Joseph (2), son of Joseph (1) Allen, the boy emigrant from Scotland, died in 1848, and lies buried in Taylor county, West Virginia, in the old family graveyard two miles west of Morgantown. He served in the war of 1812 and was an adjutant of his regiment. He married
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Elizabeth Dorsey, and they reared 'a family of five sons and three daughters, who also had large families of their own, some of the mem- bers of which were eminent in their day and generation, and all highly respectable. Many of their descendants still live in the Monongahela Valley. Children : 1. John J., of whom further. 2. William, married Barbara Clay, and removed to Illinois. 3. Joshua, moved to Iowa. 4. George, moved to Ohio. 5. Eaton, settled in Taylor county, West Virginia. 6. Nancy, married William Bailey, both now deceased. 7. Isabel, married Samuel B. Wells, and they reside on the Ohio river. 8. Maria, married John Newland, and they are deceased.
(III) John J., son of Joseph (2) Allen, born in 1802, located in Taylor county, West Virginia, where he died March 2, 1884. He was a farmer, owning his own property at one time. He was also a brick- moulder, and was a prominent man in his day. He married, in 1830, Nancy Powell, who died in July, 1849. Children: Maria E., born April 14, 1831 ; Martha Ann, born May 29, 1833; William Marcell, born January 13, 1834; Joseph Milton, of whom further; Waldo Por- ter, born July 17, 1839; Sarah Jane, born September 23, 1844; Thomas Alvan, born November 27, 1847. All are dead except Joseph and Thomas.
(IV) Joseph Milton, son of John J. and Nancy (Powell) Allen, was born August 12, 1837. He may justly be termed a self-made man, as he left home after his mother's death, when but twelve years old, and has seen many a struggle while climbing to prosperity and a com- fortable position in life. When he was fourteen years of age he began an apprenticeship at the carpenter's business, which trade he carried on until recently. In the meantime, he built houses and superintended other large structures, all the way from Cumberland, West Virginia, to the Ohio river. He also operated a planing mill at Elkins for eight years; but in 1870 went to Preston county and there purchased property in Kingwood and erected the house in which he now resides. About 1892 he became afflicted with asthma, since which time he has gradually quit work at his trade. As a loyal, true citizen of his commonwealth, he has ever wielded an influence, both in church and state affairs. His interest in the civil war struggle was shown by his enlistment, May 4, 1861, in Company B, Second West Virginia Infantry, his period of military
M. St. Davis.
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service extending over three years. He belongs to the Presbyterian church, and politically is a staunch Democrat.
Joseph M. Allen married Luvila, daughter of Elijah and Mary Schaeffer, belonging to one of the oldest and most universally respected families of Preston county. Elijah Schaeffer was born April 2, 1803, and died June 30, 1883. His wife Mary was born June 11, 1805, and died in September, 1856. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Allen: Edward, born May 29, 1872, still living; Addie B., born June 13, 1875, died December 16, 1884, of diphtheria; Marie, her twin, born June 13, 1875, died December 13, 1884, also of diphtheria; Harry E., born May 2, 1878, died April 20, 1879.
This is an old Doddridge county, West Virginia, family,
DAVIS among whose descendants are found numerous soldiers and lawyers, as well as later day true captains of industry, all going to show that "blood will tell," and that strict, intelligent training in the home circle will usually bring good fruit to the third and fourth generations. In this connection but three generations of the Davis family will be considered, and only the direct lines of descent in these three generations whose numerous scions go toward making up the large, flourishing family tree.
(I) Captain William B. Davis was a native of Doddridge county, Virginia (now West Virginia), born in 1807. He was a farmer, of industrious, frugal and temperate habits, died in Salem at the home of his son, Marion H. Davis, in June, 1895. He married Martha Hughes, born in Doddridge county, died at the same place her husband did. She was born in 1809 and passed away in 1883. Children : Five sons and five daughters, three of whom are still living: Marion H., of whom further; Jonathan H., of Knoxville, Tennessee, superintendent of a large marble quarry, where he has been engaged for a quarter of a century; Minerva L., temporarily residing at Salem with her brother, Marion H.
(II) Marion Hela, son of Captain William B. and Martha (Hughes) Davis, was born in Doddridge county, West Virginia, as now known, September 18, 1840, on his father's farm. He attended the local schools of his native neighborhood, and assisted his father in his farm work until nineteen years of age, when he engaged in farm-
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ing on his own account on Long Run, Doddridge county. At the age of twenty years he was married and he remained on his farm ten years, when he left it on account of ill health and removed to Salem, April 14, 1870, and engaged in mercantile pursuits, in which he con- tinued for three years, when he sold out and purchased a store at West Union, Doddridge county, in which he handled general merchandise which, with a store at Bristol, he continued to operate. He finally sold out again and commenced the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1885, in Harrison county. The certificate of authority to practice was signed by the following circuit judges: A. B. Fleming (afterward governor of West Virginia), Thomas J. Stealy and Wil- liam T. Ice. He began the practice of law at Salem and has been con- stantly at the same ever since. Mr. Davis is also engaged in the fire in- surance business, representing some of the best companies. He is a member of the Harrison county bar. Politically Mr. Davis is a Dem- ocrat, and he has held numerous public positions, including that of mayor of Salem three terms, when he first began the practice of law there. He was also town recorder for six terms. As early as 1866 he was elected treasurer of Grant township, Doddridge county, and was re-elected to that office three terms in succession, and resigned April 1, 1870, when he removed to Salem. He received a commission as notary public, signed by John J. Jacob, governor of West Virginia, September, 1874, an office he has retained ever since. He was a civil engineer and practiced surveying for a time. On the day he was eighteen years of age he was commissioned a first lieutenant, the paper being signed by Henry A. Wise, then governor of Virginia, and was again re-elected to this office in 1864, receiving his commission from Arthur I. Boreman, then governor of West Virginia. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, and belongs to the Seventh Day Baptist church.
He married, January 10, 1861, at Clarksburg, Emily J., daughter of Adam C. Rider, a Methodist minister of Quiet Dell, Harrison county, where she was born. Her father died in 1884, but the mother still survives at the age of seventy years. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Davis are : Wellington O., of Salem, employed by the South Penn Oil Company; Alden R., engaged in the street car business at Parkers- burg; Edgar G., a painter, lives at Detroit, Michigan; Maude H., now
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