USA > West Virginia > Genealogical and personal history of the upper Monongahela valley, West Virginia, Volume II > Part 41
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(IV) James Buckhannon, son of William and Ann (Gary) Supler, was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, August 20, 1857. He ob- tained his education at the public schools, assisting his father on his farm the earlier years of his life. In 1881 he engaged in the hotel busi- ness at Bridgeport, Harrison county, West Virginia, and continued in
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this for five years. He then engaged in the hardware business, having a store at both Bridgeport and Clarksburg. These he conducted two years, and then built the Glen Elk Hotel. After conducting this hotel three years he engaged in the natural gas business, and now controls over seventy thousand dollars interest in that industry in Harrison county. In 1907 he purchased a farm of three hundred and sixty-five acres four miles east of Clarksburg upon which he erected a twelve thousand dollar residence in 1911-12, which is modern in all particu- lars, as much so as any city house. He is interested in the Osborn Shoe Company, in real estate, is a stockholder in the Union National Bank and the Clarksburg Ice Company. Mr. Supler votes the Democratic ticket and is a member of the Elks order, the Knights of Pythias and the Christian or Disciples church at Clarksburg.
He married, in Greene county, Pennsylvania, in 1881, Annie Mc- Afee, born in Greene county in 1861, daughter of Joseph McAfee, born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, died early in life; he was by trade a harnessmaker; he married Annie McClellen, of Greene county; she is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Supler are the parents of three children: One is deceased; William, born 1882; John E., born 1884; both are engaged on the farm with their father.
LYON At least four generations of this Lyon family have resided in Harrison county, Virginia, now West Virginia, since the early settlement of the country. During the latter part of the eighteenth century the Virginia ancestor located in Harrison county, married and among other children had a son named William Ellis.
(II) William Ellis Lyon, a native of Harrison county, in what is now West Virginia, became a prosperous farmer and held the of- fices of magistrate and deputy sheriff. He is spoken of as being a very capable and public-spirited man. He married Sallie Denham and reared a family, among whom was James Madison Lyon.
(III) James Madison, son of William Ellis and Sallie (Denham) Lyon, was born in 1830 and died in June, 1905, at the home of his son, Ellis Lyon, in Clarksburg, Harrison county, Virginia. He was a deputy marshal during the civil war, and was deputy sheriff at one time and a member of the Harrison county court. He was president of
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the West Virginia Bank of Clarksburg for many years. In church affairs he was very active, the church of his choice being the Baptist. He was well known throughout his section of Virginia. He mar- ried Nancy Thompson, a native of Harrison county, still residing at Clarksburg, aged seventy-five years. There were eight children, of whom three of each sex still survive and all reside in Harrison county, among them, Ellis Lyon, mentioned below.
(IV) Ellis Lyon, son of James Madison and Nancy (Thompson) Lyon, was born on his father's farm in the Eagle district, Harrison county, West Virginia (then Virginia), May 13, 1861. He received a good public school education and attended the Morgantown Acad- emy. He worked in conjunction with his father on the farm uptil 1885, when he moved with his wife to a farm of his own. In 1908 he en- gaged in the real estate business, the firm being Ellis Lyon & Son. In 1910 he purchased the Batten Roofing & Supply Company's property, on Second street, between Main and Pike streets, in the city of Clarks- burg. He also conducts a large brick plant, known as the Monticello Brick Company, situated a mile below Clarksburg, on the river. He there employs from fifteen to twenty men constantly, and his bricks are of a superior quality and find ready sale. Politically Mr. Lyon is a Democrat and very active in his party. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias order, and is a Baptist in church connection. Mr. Lyon is extensively interested in both oil and gas production in the Clarks- burg field. Besides his other financial interests he is a stockholder and director in the Farmers' Bank at Clarksburg.
He married, November 8, 1885, Emma Alice Allen, born at the old homestead, her father being Stephen Allen, a farmer and a promi- nent man possessed of much wealth, at one time owning many slaves; he died in 1876; married Nancy (Mayes) Allen. Mr. and Mrs. Lyon have one child; Carl Allen Lyon, born May 5, 1887, now a member of the firm with his father. His education was mostly obtained at the ·Clarksburg public schools.
The family now under consideration is of old Virginia
THORN ancestry, four generations of which are here especially mentioned. Many years they have resided near and in Clarksburg, Harrison county.
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(I) John Thorn, grandfather of Arthur Kenley Thorn, of Clarks- burg, West Virginia, was a Virginia farmer, born about the days of the revolutionary war, and lived under both colonial and Democratic forms of government. Among his children was a son John Urban, of whom further.
(II) John Urban, son of John Thorn, was born at Granville, Mo- nongalia county, West Virginia, March 8, 1819, and died May 10, 1907. He was a farmer and merchant of Clarksburg and Granville. He was independent in his politics and in church faith a Methodist Episcopalian. He married Elizabeth Menefee, born September 29, 1820, in Culpeper county, Virginia, died October 29, 1886. Her uncle obtained an original land grant from King George, of England, and another uncle was a member of the house of Burgesses. There were six children of John U. and Elizabeth (Menefee) Thorn, four sons and two daughters, of whom Arthur K., mentioned below, is the only survivor.
(III) Arthur Kenley Thorn, only living child of John U. and Elizabeth (Menefee) Thorn, was born December 16, 1864, at Mor- gantown, West Virginia, his birth occurring a year and a half after the organization of the state. When four years of age he accompanied the family to Clarksburg. There he attended the Northwestern Acad- emy, and graduated from the Iron City Business College in 1883. This schooling especially fitted him for the work he has since been en- gaged in. In 1883 he engaged in the manufacture of steel at Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, with Park Brothers & Company, with whom he remained five years, after which he returned to Clarksburg. In 1888 he commenced an engagement with the Ruhl-Koblegard Grocery Com- pany, at Clarksburg, and remained with this firm of wholesale grocers for eleven years, when he commenced dealing in bonds which is his present business. He aided in the organization of the People's Bank and Trust Company, later known as the Union National Bank; was identified in building the Independent Telephone line, and organizing the West Fork Oil and Natural Gas Company. He also helped install the Electric Light plant, and assisted in securing numerous factories for Clarksburg. Financially he has succeeded well, for he is now a stockholder in the Empire National Bank, the Union National Bank and Home Bank for Savings, all at Clarksburg. Politically Mr. Thorn
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is a Republican; has been member of the city council two years, 1903- 04; served in the state senate of West Virginia in 1905-06-07-08; is president of the board of education, and has served since July 1, 1909. He is interested in Masonry, is a member of Hinman Lodge, No. 6; Adoniram Chapter, No. 11, Royal Arch Masons, of the latter was secretary for five years; also belongs to the Elks fraternity. He is at present (1912), and has been for the last two years, chairman of the County Republican Committee. In church faith he is of the Methodist Episcopal. He married at Newburg, West Virginia, November 2, 1898, Carrie Parrill, a native of Newburg, born April 23, 1874, daugh- ter of John Parrill, who died in 1896. He was a Union soldier, born in West Virginia, and married Sarah Titzmiller, now residing at Clarks- burg. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Thorn is John Paul, born 1899. Mrs. Thorn is secretary of the Daniel Davisson Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, acquiring her membership through Cap- tain Martin Bowman, who served in the Continental army.
BLAND The Bland family settled in Lewis county at a very early day. Thomas Bland, the earliest member of the family of whom we have information, was rich in lands, and lived to a good old age, respected by all who knew of his excellent traits of character. He had a large family, two of the sons becoming phy- sicians. He died about 1861. He married a Miss Newlon, who died about 1879.
(II) Edward Sloan, son of Thomas Bland, was born in Lewis county, Virginia (now West Virginia), in 1836, died in 1901. He was a lawyer, practicing at Sutton for a quarter of a century. He was a Democrat in politics, while in his church faith he was an Episcopalian. He married Levena Evans, a native of Morgantown, West Virginia, born in 1838, died in 1907, daughter of George D. Evans, born in Morgantown, West Virginia, and who became very wealthy in Morgan- town property. He died about 1889, aged eighty years. It is said that at one time he owned the better part of the land on which the pres- ent thriving city of Morgantown stands. He also had a large family, all reared in Morgantown. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Bland: George T., Mary Newlon, resides at Sutton, unmarried; Edward Lee, of Sut- ton; Harry E., of Sutton; Frank Greenwood, of whom further; Charles
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H., of Sutton ; Julia, married S. W. Moon, of Jefferson, Ohio; Thomas E., deceased; Earl D.
(III) Frank Greenwood, son of Edward Sloan and Levena (Evans) Bland, was born in Gilmore county, West Virginia, near Glenville, July 4, 1869. He attended the local schools and later en- tered the Chicago College of Pharmacy. He first worked in a drug store at Sutton for Dr. W. P. Newlon for one year and for Dillon & McCauley, of Sutton, for a year and a half. In 1891 he went to Clarks- burg and for eight years clerked for Cunningham Brothers, and then opened a store on Main street, which he conducted for about two and one-half years, when he sold out and at once opened his present store at No. 217 West Pike street, Clarksburg. Here he carries a complete, up-to-date line of goods in every respect, equal to the best in the city in which he is located. Mr. Bland is a Democrat; he has been a mem- ber of the city council, having served in 1908-09. He belongs to the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders, and has been a member of the State Pharmaceutical Association. He married, at Sutton, in 1892, Mary E. Berry, a native of that place, daughter of Thornton J. Berry. Mr. Berry died aged sixty-three years; he was a merchant. He served in the Confederate army in civil war days, taking part in many of the impor- tant battles, including Bull Run, Gettysburg, etc., and was badly in- jured many times. He married Katherine Miller, a native of Pennsyl- vania; she died in January, 1910, aged eighty-one years. Mr. and Mrs. Bland are the parents of Bertha Berry Bland, born June 7, 1893, graduate from the Clarksburg high schools, and now ( 191I) attending Goucher College for Girls at Baltimore, Maryland.
STROSNIDER There seems no possible identification of this family beyond Jackson Strosnider, of Greene county, Pennsylvania. The name has no doubt passed through a change of spelling which completely hides the emi- grant. Jackson Strosnider was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, where he lived and died. He was a farmer all his active life. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a Republican. He married Elizabeth -. Children : Rezin, Shriver, Armour, John, Jordan, Elijah, Asbury and Ellen.
(II) Rezin, son of Jackson Strosnider, was born in Greene county,
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Pennsylvania, October, 1824, died in Doddridge county, West Vir- ginia, February 13, 1901. He was a farmer of Greene county until 1880, when he moved to West Virginia, living in Doddridge county until his death. He followed agriculture all his active life. He was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married Sarah Lemley, born in Greene county, 1832, who sur- vives him, a resident of Clarksburg. Children: Thomas L., deceased; Elijah, deceased; Spencer, deceased; John, deceased; Alexander, living in Clarksburg, West Virginia; William T., living at Pennsboro, West Virginia; Homer, of whom further; Margaret, married Hugh Stock- dale, she is deceased; Catherine, married Henry H. Greene; Elizabeth, a widow; John Beck, deceased; Hattie B., deceased.
(III) Homer, son of Rezin Strosnider, was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, on the paternal farm, January 28, 1875. He was edu- cated in public schools and Fairmont Normal School, entering later the classic and legal department of the University of West Virginia, Morgantown, West Virginia, whence he was graduated LL. B., class of 1907. He at once established in the practice of his profession at Clarks- burg, West Virginia, where he is now located in successful business. He is a Democrat and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married, September 9, 1900, at Center Point, Doddridge county, West Virginia, Della, born there February 4, 1884, daughter of Luther E. Kile, killed by a train at Salem on his fifty-third birthday, February 14, 1909. At the time of his death he was ex-clerk of Doddridge county. His wife, Mary S. (Davis) Kile, died in 1892. Children of Homer Strosnider : Mabel, born December 20, 1904; Luther Kile, October 26, 1909.
SIVEY Dr. Milton Albertus Sivey, son of William Sivey, when a young man was determined to secure an education and fol- low one of the learned professions. There being few op- portunities for furthering his ambition at home, he bravely started out and left his boyhood home to seek his fortune. He went south and prior to the civil war entered a medical college at Augusta, Georgia, where he was graduated with degree of M. D. in 1858. Before get- ting fairly established in practice the war broke out. He enlisted in the Confederate army and served throughout the entire war. The
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South being then prostrate he came north to Elizabeth, Wirt county, West Virginia, and began the practice of his profession. He there met and married, in 1866, Margaret Jane, eldest daughter of Benjamin Mount, of Newark, Wirt county, West Virginia. Shortly after this he moved to Hazleton, Indiana, where he practiced his profession until his death in October, 1868. He left only child, William Mount Sivey.
(III) Dr. William Mount Sivey, only son of Dr. Milton Albertus and Margaret Jane (Mount) Sivey, was born in Hazleton, Indiana, June 7, 1868. After his father's death his mother returned to Wirt county, West Virginia, where William M. received his early educa- tion. He prepared for college in the public schools near Parkersburg, West Virginia, his mother having, in 1879, married (second) Thomas Rector, who resided near that city. In 1886, he entered the West Vir- ginia University, continuing there three years, when he was obliged to give up his college course temporarily through lack of funds. He then taught school for two years. Having decided upon the medical pro- fession, he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Balti- more, Maryland, where he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1894. He at once established his practice, locating at Tunnelton, Preston county, West Virginia, where he continued to practice success- fully for seven and one-half years. In April, 1902, he located in Mor- gantown, West Virginia, having in the previous year closed out his practice at Tunnelton and taken a post-graduate course in special sub- jects at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, Mary- land. In September, 1902, he again entered the West Virginia Uni- versity, and the following June, 1903, received his degree of B. S. He has established a successful practice in Morgantown, where he ranks exceedingly high, both professionally and socially. He was one of the organizers of the Monongalia County Medical Society, and was elected its first secretary. He is active in the Masonic order, belonging to the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery. He is a past master, past high priest and past eminent commander of these bodies, and is now serving as secretary of each of them. He is also deputy grand lecturer of the Grand Lodge Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the state of West Virginia. He is a Democrat in politics and a member of the Baptist church, and for the past three years has served as church clerk. June 30, 1897, he married Lettie Agnes Watkins, daughter of
Im M. Sivy
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William H. H. and Almedia (Grimes) Watkins. (See Watkins for- ward).
(The Mount Line).
The first authentic record of this family in America is found in New Jersey, where George Mount was one of the original purchasers of Middletown, Monmouth county, from the Indians in 1665. He bought land jointly with Benjamin Borden, who came from Rhode Island, so it is quite probable that George Mount came from the same locality. He was one of the founders of the First Baptist Church of Middle- town, in 1667, although later his descendants became Presbyterians. He was deputy to the First General Assembly held at Portland Point, in 1668. He died in 1705. By his wife Katherine he had at least three children : Matthias, Richard and Katherine.
(II) Matthias, eldest son of George Mount, died in Middletown, New Jersey, 1695. By his wife Mary, he had two children : Matthias (2) and Thomas.
(III) Matthias (2), son of Matthias (1) Mount, is mentioned in the will of his grandfather, George Mount. He married and had sons : Matthias (3), Humphrey and Nesbit.
(IV) Matthias (3), son of Matthias (2) Mount, was born 1706, died 1791. He was ruling elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury, New Jersey, for fifty years. His wife, Ann, was born 1719, died 1792. Both are buried in the old Cranbury cemetery of the First Church. Children: Rachel, baptized in the old Tennant Church; John Humphrey, of further mention; Thomas; Ann; and probably Joseph.
(V) John Humphrey, son of Matthias (3) Mount, was baptized in the First Church of Cranbury, New Jersey, July 13, 1746, died Sep- tember 27, 1801. He served in the revolutionary war, was at the siege of Yorktown, and witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis. He married, at Trenton, New Jersey, Abigail Bayles. He had six children in New Jersey : Humphrey (2), Daniel, Samuel, John Bayles, Mary and Anna. He later removed to the Virginia frontier near Clarksburg where his son Ezekiel was born July 28, 1785, also Nicholas and William. He later returned to New Jersey where he died.
(VI) Ezekiel, son of John Humphrey Mount, tradition says served in the war of 1812, also the French and Indian war. After returning
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home from these wars he married Catherine Marpole, of Harrison county, Virginia, and settled on Natty creek, Harrison county, where several of his fifteen children were born. He later moved to Gillespie's Run and subsequently to Tice's Run on Hughes river. In 1835, he entered and took patent to the farm on which he was buried, known as the Old Mount Farm at Eaton's Tunnel, Wood county. Children : Prudence, Barbara, Humphrey, Sally, Brittan, Cassandra, Polly, Ben- jamin, Anna, John, Ezekiel, Amanda, Catherine, Hannah and Dexter.
(VII) Benjamin, son of Ezekiel Mount, born 1820, died 1880, married Delilah (Walker) Pribble, widow, who bore him six children : Granville, Margaret Jane, Annie Elizabeth, Mary Virginia, Winfield Scott and Wiley Walker.
(VIII) Margaret Jane, daughter of Benjamin Mount, married Dr. Milton Albertus Sivey, in 1866, and bore him one son, William Mount Sivey. About eleven years after the death of her first husband she married Thomas Rector, but they had no children. She died in 1889, at the age of forty-four years.
(IX) Dr. William Mount Sivey, son of Dr. Milton Albertus and Margaret Jane (Mount) Sivey, now resides in Morgantown, West Virginia.
(The Watkins Line).
Ancient arms of Watkins in England, "Azure, a fesse between three leopards' heads, passant de-lis or." Crest, "A griffin's head, gules."
This family is supposed to be of Welsh origin. The name appears as early as 1608, when James Watkins, one of the emigrants of the "Phoenix" is mentioned as accompanying Captain John Smith in his voyage of discovery in Virginia. The general belief is that this James is the ancestor of Thomas Watkins, of Powhatan county, Virginia, the immediate progenitor of Stephen Watkins, the revolutionary soldier. Dr. Foote, in his sketches of Virginia, refers to presentment made in 1745 by the grand jury of the General Court of Virginia against "Thomas Watkins, son of Edward Watkins, of the parish and county of Henrico, for reflecting on the established religion." The presumption is strong that the Thomas mentioned was the father of Thomas, of
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Powhatan. If this can be established the line is then (I) Edward, (II) Thomas, (III) Thomas (2).
(III) Thomas (2) Watkins resided on Swift Creek, Powhatan county, Virginia, then Cumberland county. His will, dated March, 1760, was probated at the June term of the county court of Cumberland county, the same year. His wife's name is not mentioned, she, no doubt, being then deceased. The children named in his will are: Susannah Woodson, Mary, wife of John Woodson; Thomas, named as the eldest son ; Elizabeth, Daniel, Stephen, of further mention; Jean, is mentioned as a daughter, also, her sons Joseph and Thomas are referred to; John and Benjamin.
(IV) Stephen, son of Thomas (2) Watkins, born 1720, died 1755. He died before his father. His children, Stephen and Eliza- beth, are mentioned in their grandfather's will as residing at Amelia, Virginia.
(V) Stephen (3) Watkins, son of Stephen (2) Watkins, born about 1750, was a soldier of the revolution. He enlisted from Anne Arundel county, Maryland, May, 1776, and was engaged in the bat- tles of Long Island, White Plains and Monmouth. He was granted a revolutionary pension June 22, 1818. After the close of the revolu- tionary war he came to the western frontier and located on Booth's Creek, in Monongalia county, Virginia, where, on June 26, 1804, he married Sarah Miller. Their children in 1820 were: James, sixteen years old; Frances, fifteen years old; Arthur, thirteen years old; Thomas, ten years old; Stephen, eight years old; Gassaway, six years old, and Hannah, three years old. He died on Booth's Creek, Monon- galia county, Virginia, February 12, 1839.
(VI) James, son of Stephen (3) Watkins, when a young man married Sarah Ambrose, and settled in Preston county, Virginia, about twelve miles south of Kingwood, where he brought up a large family of children. There were four boys and eight girls. The boys were : John, William H. H., James H. and Stephen.
(VII) William H. H., son of James Watkins, married Almedia Grimes and their children were: Hiram, John, Inez Margaret, Lettie Agnes and Ethel. Hiram and Ethel died in infancy, and John died when about eighteen years old. Inez M. married Willis S. Taylor, and to them were born two sons : Donald Clay and Gordon Kenneth.
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(VIII) Lettie Agnes, daughter of William H. H. Watkins, was born July 16, 1876, at Tunnelton, Preston county, West Virginia. She married Dr. William Mount Sivey, June 30, 1897.
PECK Among the leading physicians of Clarksburg, West Vir- ginia, is Dr. Chesley R. Peck, who during the compara- tively few years of his residence here has become thoroughly identified not only with its professional but also with its social life. On his father's side Dr. Peck comes of English lineage, while through his mother he is a descendant of German ancestors.
(I) Josiah Peck, the first of the line here under consideration, was born January 31, 1778, in England. After coming to the United States he followed the calling of a farmer. His political affiliations were with the Democratic party, and he was a member of the Baptist church. He married Sarah Smith, born August 9, 1791, and they became the parents of two sons: Nelson, born in 1816; Josiah, men- tioned below. Mr. Peck attained to the unusual age of ninety-four years, and his wife was remarkable for longevity in an almost equal degree, surviving to the completion of her eighty-eighth year.
(II) Josiah (2), son of Josiah (1) and Sarah (Smith) Peck, was born March 2, 1819, in Barbour county, Virginia, now West Virginia. He combined the occupations of a farmer and mechanic. Like his father he was a Democrat in politics. His religious belief was that of the Methodist Protestant church. He married, in 1847, Laura Ann Matheny, born January 24, 1829, in Barbour county, of German stock, her mother speaking both the English and German languages with equal facility. To Mr. and Mrs. Peck were born eight sons and one daughter : Nelson; Henderson; George W., died in 1911, in his six- tieth year; Melville; Marcellus; Columbus, died in infancy; Chesley R., mentioned below; Ira, died in infancy; and Estella, who became the wife of S. A. Moore and has two daughters, Mildred and Laura Wyona. The father of this family died in 1879, leaving an honorable record both as a man and a citizen, and his widow passed away in No- vember, 1907, in the seventy-ninth year of her age.
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