USA > West Virginia > Genealogical and personal history of the upper Monongahela valley, West Virginia, Volume II > Part 6
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FM Meredith
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blacksmith and wagon-maker of Winfield district, Marion county. 10. Francis M., of whom later.
(III) William (2), son of William (1) and Hannah (Powell) Meredith, was born November 17, 1824, near Smithtown, Monongalia county, West Virginia. His education was received in the old type subscription schools. After leaving the dingy school room he learned the wagon-maker's trade and followed it for a number of years, first at Senecaville, Guernsey county, Ohio, and later in Palatine and Fairmont, West Virginia. He was engaged in several other enterprises. From 1866 to 1887 he was extensively engaged in the manufacture of lumber in Harrison and Ritchie counties. He also built and contracted in addi- tion to conducting farming operations. Politically he was a Republican, and served as a justice of the peace from 1878 to 1882 in Wirt county, West Virginia. In the Virginia state militia he was commissioned a lieutenant by Governor Pierpont. Early in life he joined the Methodist Episcopal church, being a class leader and steward several years. He married, April 13, 1845, Harriet, daughter of William H. Wilson, a farmer of Marion county; her father was a soldier in the war of 1812. Children : 1. Amanda Jane, deceased; was the wife of Leroy Hender- son. 2. Sarah H., wife of Thomas Carter. 3. Clinton B., a Method- ist minister. 4. Emma, wife of T. J. Coffman. 5. Winfield Scott, of whom further. 6. Mary Olive, wife of Francis M. Davis. 7. Ameri- cus Wirt. 8. Thomas G., a minister of the Methodist church. 9. Mel- vin Clayton. 10. Waitman T., who became a carpenter and lumberman. (III) Francis M., son of William (I) and Hannah (Powell) Meredith, was born on the old Meredith homestead, March 11, 1842. His educational advantages were but meager, and the greater part of his mental training came from self-study and general reading. In 1864, through inheritance and purchase, he became owner of his father's farm, which contained over two hundred acres of well-improved land. Up to 1893 he made a specialty of stock raising and dealing; later he directed his attention to dairying. From 1870 to 1882 he was engaged in lumbering on the Monongahela river, transporting lumber from this county to the Pittsburgh market. He organized and was president of the Marion County Creamery Company of Fairmont. He followed, in an extensive manner, stock shipping to Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. In his various enterprises and lines of work he proved himself
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highly successful and readily accumulated property, more than is the lot of the ordinary man. Politically he was a Democrat; served as a mem- ber of the county board of Marion county from January, 1881, to January 1, 1889. He was one of the members of the first board pro- vided for by the new state constitution which stipulated that one mem- ber should be elected each two years. It was determined by lot who should hold the long term of six years to begin with and he was the successful man. In church relations he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church; he is a member of Marion Lodge, No. 9, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Fairmont.
He married, March 26, 1863, Louisa, born in Monongalia county, Virginia, February 5, 1847, daughter of Morgan and - - (Steel) Clelland. Children : 1. Mary, born June 6, 1864, died September 27, 1900. 2. Charles C., born December 13, 1866; a graduate of the Allegheny Medical College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 3. Harry Brady, born October 23, 1869; married Myrtle Hill, and they have six sons : Hugh, Archie, Russell, Harper, Marion, John. 4. Desire, born April 7, 1872 ; married Bruce Hill, whose three children are : Hershal, Grace, Louisa. 5. Ellen, born February 8, 1879; married Andrew Benny, and their children are: Berbeck, Madline, Catherine, Edward, Irene. 6. Ruby, born October 12, 1881; married Howard Jones. 7. Maude, died in infancy.
(IV) Hon. Winfield Scott Meredith, son of William (2) and Har- riet (Wilson) Meredith, was born in Marion county, West Virginia (then Virginia ), August 13, 1855. He received a liberal education in the Salem Academy, Harrison county, West Virginia, and at the Fairmont Normal School, from which he graduated with the class of 1879. Later he took a post-graduate course in his alma mater, under the instruction of Dr. J. G. Blair. Before he graduated he had taught one year in the Normal and one year as principal of the public schools of Cherry Camp, Harrison county. Upon the death of Dr. Blair, in 1879, he was select- ed by the board to take care of those classes until they were graduated. Subsequently he was principal three years at Palatine, now a ward of Fairmont, and served two years as principal of the graded school at Mannington. Among his pupils are now the leading citizens of Marion county. But with all the flattering success as an instructor, he had an ambition to study law, in which he prepared himself during the last few
W. S. meredith
.,
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years he taught, and hence we find that he registered as a law student in the office of Judge James Morrow Jr., a prominent attorney of Fair- mont, and after a thorough course was successful in his examination and admitted to the bar in 1881, and a year later began the legal prac- tice. In 1888 he was admitted to practice in the supreme court of the state.
He started out in young manhood as an ardent, active Republican, and in 1882, soon after he was admitted to the Marion county bar, he was elected prosecuting attorney to fill the unexpired term of L. B. Haymond. At the end of that time he was reelected for the full term of four years. He has been tendered the nomination, if he "would but say the word," as a candidate for congressman and also for intermediate judge of the courts, but in each instance refused, preferring to attend strictly to his law practice. Having a clear and distinctly legal mind, he has frequently been called upon to preside over the circuit court during the absence of the judge. In this role his judgment and dignity have always been remarkable. Besides being a thoroughly read lawyer, he is gifted with fluent speech and is pleasing in his address and general manner. Politically he is a Republican, standing firm by his party in all that its fair and honorable policies stand for in state and national administrations. In the autumn of 1908 he was elected to a seat in the state senate, taking his seat January 1, 1909, for the term of four years. This was during the memorable "dead-lock" year, when there were fifteen Republican senators and fifteen Democrats who failed to agree on the admission of some of the Republican members. In the Republican caucus over the affair, Mr. Meredith championed the side of his party members as chairman of the caucus, which body was in session fifteen days, the members finally being threatened with arrest for not appearing in their seats and trying to organize for business. The issue was largely over the election of president of the senate, both parties claiming the right to such office. Only by making their way out of the state over into Cincinnati, Ohio, did they escape being arrested. The contest was a very spirited, bitter one, but after remaining away more than a week a compromise was effected by which the Republicans succeeded in securing the president of the senate and one of the mem- bers over which the contest was held. In this prolonged fight Mr. Mere- dith displayed much sagacity and political generalship. He was made
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chairman of the most important committee in the senate, that of the judiciary. At the special session of the legislature, held in May, 1911, he again was conspicuous in several particulars, not already named.
Mr Meredith married (first), in 1883, Dora, daughter of B. F. Swisher, of Fairmont. She died in 1886. He married (second) Lola B., daughter of S. W. Hall, of Fairmont. She died January 31, 1910, without issue (see Hall IV). By his first marriage the children were: I. Dana S., born in 1884, died at Lake Placid, New York, March 17, 1910, unmarried. 2. Aubrey W., born November 5, 1885 ; married, in March, 1910, Stella Stevens, of Fairmont; child, Winfield Scott 2d, born September 2, 1911, died January 1, 1912. Aubrey W. Meredith, the father, graduated from the high schools of Fairmont, the State Normal School of the same city, graduated from the law department of the University of West Virginia, 1910, and is now practicing law with his father.
CONLEY Among the representatives of the legal profession in Fairmont who have attained prominence at the bar as the result of a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the law in all its branches, may be mentioned Rollo J. Conley, a native of Fulton, Illinois, whose birth occurred March 27, 1874, a son of Joseph X. and Marietta (Gay) Conley, a grandson of Joseph and Mary (McRoberts) Conley, and a great-grandson of Hugh Conley.
(II) Joseph, grandfather of Rollo J. Conley, was a resident of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he engaged successfully in the drug business, and where his death occurred in 1854. His wife, Mary (Mc- Roberts) Conley, bore him one child, Joseph X. (of whom further).
(III) Joseph X., father of Rollo J. Conley, was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, April 21, 1851. After completing his education, he de- voted his attention to the drug business, mastering the details thereof, and in young manhood he migrated west and there followed the same line of business. Later he returned to his native city and there establish- ed a drug store which he still conducts in a highly successful manner, ranking among the foremost men of the community in which he resides. He is a member of the Masonic Order, and of the Royal Arcanum. While residing in the west, he married Marietta, born in Connecticut, daughter of the Rev. William Gay, who was a minister in the Presbyter-
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ian denomination for fifty-nine years. Children : Rollo J. (of whom further) ; Frank, engaged in the real estate business in Pittsburg; Bessie, principal of the Shorthand School in the East End, Pittsburg. (IV) Rollo J. Conley attended the public schools of Pittsburg, and the Slippery Rock State Normal School in Butler county, Pennsylvania, where he completed his literary education. He then entered the rail- way mail service, continuing in the same for fourteen years. During the last years of his service under the government, he took up the study of law in the office of Senator W. S. Meredith, after which he attended the Law School of the University of West Virginia. He was admitted to the bar of West Virginia in 1909, and at once began the active practice of his profession in Fairmont, where he has since built up an extensive and lucrative clientage. During the Spanish-American war he enlisted in Company D, Tenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served in the Philippines for fifteen months, having a leave of absence from the railway mail service. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and a Republican in politics, but has never held or sought public office, pre- ferring to devote his time to his professional work. He is a member of Fairmont Lodge, No. 9, Free and Accepted Masons; of the Mountain City Lodge, Knights of Pythias; and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Conley married, November 21, 1899, Georgia E. Hall, born in Fairmont, West Virginia, August 28, 1875, daughter of Sylvanus W. Hall. Children : Virginia, born April 23, 1901, died July 12, 1901 ; Joseph, born August 28, 1902 ; Frank, born January 11, 1907.
HALL The remotest ancestor of this family, of whom anything definite is known, is Thomas Hall, who was descended from Scotch-Irich ancestors. There is a tradition in the family that this branch was started from a marriage between a Hall and a Spencer, one of whom was Scotch, the other Irish. Thomas Hall was born September 24, 1724, and he had two brothers, Moses, whose son Jesse was a soldier in the revolution, and David, an old sea captain. Early representatives of the Hall family settled at Snow Hill, Mary- land, and in Delaware. Thomas Hall died at or near Duck Creek Cross Roads, Delaware, May 29, 1772. He married Rebecca Story, a
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woman of English birth, who long survived her honored husband, her death having occurred December 15, 1812.
After the death of Thomas Hall, in 1772, his widow remained with her children in Delaware until the close of the revolutionary war. In 178 I Isaac Mason, who had married the eldest child, and Jordan Hall, the third child, emigrated westward, and in the following year, 1782, the family followed to the forks of Cheat river, a few miles below Morgantown, West Virginia. Those who left Delaware were Re- becca Hall, Asa Hall, with his wife and the latter's mother, Mrs. Margaret White, Nathan, Jordan, Rynear, Allen and Rebecca. Chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hall: Parthena; Asa, mentioned below ; Jordan, Rynear, Nathan, Allen, Rebecca.
(II) Asa, second child and eldest son of Thomas and Rebecca (Story ) Hall, was born in Delaware, January 20, 1758, died suddenly, June 9, 1815. As noted above he accompanied the family to West Virginia. Shortly after arriving at Cheat river he purchased a tract of land containing five hundred acres at the mouth of Buffalo creek. For this land he paid at the rate of twenty-five cents an acre, the payment consisting of a horse, a gun, a pair of leggings and a pair of saddle bags. Asa Hall and several neighbors met and studied the Bible, in addition to which they taught each other to read and write. They met in an old house, known as the Beall schoolhouse, on Sundays. He married, March 26, 1778, Sophia, daughter of James and Margaret White. She died August 25, 1818. Children : Thomas, born January II, 1779; Reuben, September 18, 1780, died April 19, 1791; Elisha, September 29, 1782; Nathan, July 25, 1784; Elizabeth, September I, 1786; John, mentioned below; Silas, December 14, 1790, died May 5, 1807; Allen, June 3, 1793; Phebe, September 28, 1798.
(III) John, son of Asa and Sophia (White) Hall, was born in Monongalia county, Virginia, April 22, 1788. He owned a large farm on Buffalo creek, which is now owned by his grandchildren. He was a man of industry and thrift and through his own efforts became the owner of extensive lands, which he cleared and cultivated. He was retired and reserved in disposition, yet was possessed of a warm heart and a generous nature, always helping those less fortunately situated in life than himself. He was originally a Whig in politics and later trans- ferred his allegiance to the Republican party. His religious faith was
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in harmony with the teachings of the Presbyterian church, in which he was reared. In the winter of 1841 he was stricken with palsy, from which he never fully recovered. He died October 12, 1863, at the age of seventy-five years. For twenty years he suffered ill health and during all that period was unable to mingle in the outdoor world. He retained a cheerful disposition to the last, in spite of his sickness, and brightened the household with his kind counsel and gentle words.
He married (first), April 14, 1814, Dorcas Snider, who died June 19, 1815. He married (second), February 1, 1821, Maria C. Hare, born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, July 26, 1794, died at the home of her son, S. W. Hall, February 17, 1881, in her eighty-seventh year. Mrs. Maria C. Hall united with the Presbyterian church in September, 1820, and lived such an exemplary Christian life that her influence for good was felt long after she had passed to the spirit world. Child by first wife: Aseneth, married Scott Hess; is now deceased. Children by second marriage : James Alvah, born December 21, 1822; Silas War- wick, November 16, 1824; Martha Eleanor, September 26, 1826; Ash- bel Green Fairchild, November 15, 1829; Ozias Wilber, October 25, 1831, died September 14, 1868; Ellery Robinson, February 27, 1834; Festus Brooks, May 6, 1836; Sylvanus Wilson, mentioned below ; John Lowry Smith, May 2, 1842.
(IV) Sylvanus Wilson, son of John and Maria C. (Hare) Hall, was born in Monongalia county, Virginia (now Marion county, West Virginia), June 21, 1838, died at Fairmont, March 12, 1908. He was reared to adult age on his father's farm on Buffalo creek, near Barnesville, and his educational training consisted of such advantages as were offered in the subscription schools of the time and locality. He later supplemented his early education with extensive reading, self study and critical observation. Leaving school he entered the office of the clerk of the circuit court at Fairmont, May 1, 1860, and there was actively engaged in clerical work for one year, at the expiration of which all public as well as private business was in a manner suspended on account of the civil war agitation. For the ensuing two years he was variously engaged, and on December 1, 1862, under the restored government of Virginia, he received the appointment of clerk of the district court of appeals, which held its session in Fairmont. When the
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state of West Virginia was formed the district court, under the restored government, passed out of existence. Mr. Hall was assistant clerk of the convention that formed the first constitution of the new state and also served as assistant clerk one session each in the house of delegates and the state senate. When the supreme court of appeals of West Virginia was organized, July 9, 1863, Mr. Hall was appointed clerk of that important tribunal, and he continued the efficient incumbent of that office until August 18, 1874, when he resigned. At the time of Mr. Hall's resignation the judges caused to be entered on record a statement of their confidence in the ability and promptness with which he had conducted the business of the office of clerk of that court.
For a number of years Mr. Hall was engaged in the drug business at Fairmont, but for ten years preceding his demise he did not engage in active business but devoted his time to looking after his real estate holdings. In 1895 he built the Hall Block, at the corner of Adams and Monroe streets; this was one of the first large business office buildings erected in Fairmont. In politics Mr. Hall was a Republican, and he was alternate to the National Republican Convention in Chicago in 1880 that nominated James A. Garfield. In religious belief he was a Presbyterian. He was a thorough business man, active, prompt and reliable, and all his dealings were characterized by fair and honorable methods. Bound up in the interest and welfare of his municipality, he ever sought for the advancement of her material and educational inter- ests. As business man and as public official he was accorded the un- alloyed confidence and esteem of all with whom he came in contact.
He married, April 14, 1862, Mary Isabella, daughter of Daniel Gantz. She died October 28, 1878, at the comparatively early age of thirty-eight years. Children: 1. Lola Bird, born February 9, 1863; married, November 5, 1894, W. S. Meredith, a prominent lawyer of Fairmont; she died January 31, 1910. 2. Willey Harrison, born Janu- ary 31, 1864; was graduated in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1885, and is now (1912) engaged in the drug business at Fairmont. 3. Mary Isabella, born February 14, 1868. 4. Charles Wilson, born July 9, 1870, died December 7, 1875. 5. Georgia Ella, born August 28, 1875 ; married, November 21, 1899, Rollo J. Conley.
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James A. Meredith, a descendant of a sturdy and
MEREDITH thrifty ancestry, and a highly reputable citizen, an attorney-at-law by profession, residing in Fairmont, was born at Centreville, now Alma, Tyler county, West Virginia, Janu- ary 27, 1875.
(I) The first of the line here under consideration was Davis Mere- dith, a Welshman, who came to this country and located in what is now Marion, formerly Monongalia county, about 1796, building his home just above Hoodsville on Little Paw Paw creek. He was a prominent factor in the upbuilding and improvement of the section wherein he resided. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. He died in 1825. He married (first) , and his children were: I. Thomas, married Millie, daughter of Richard and Susanna (Stull) Morris; they settled in Marietta, Ohio, where many descendants reside. 2. Job, removed to Ritchie county, West Virginia. 3. Davis, see forward. 4. William, settled in Ritchie county, West Virginia. Davis Meredith married (second) Nancy - -, and their children were: 5. Millie, married James Arnett. 6. Nellie, married William Arnett.
(II) Davis (2), son of Davis (1) Meredith, was born on the old home farm near Hoodsville, now Marion county, West Virginia. He was reared on a farm, and in early manhood settled at Hoodsville, where he cleared and improved a farm adjoining the old Morris farm. Subsequently he became a minister of the old Methodist Episcopal church. He removed to Noble county, Ohio, and about 1857 to Tyler county, now West Virginia, where he spent the last years of his life. His career was an active and useful one, and he strove most earnestly to fulfill every duty and responsibility. He was formerly an old line Whig in politics, joining the Republican party upon its organization. He married, near Rivesville, Marion county, West Virginia, Naomi Snodgrass. Children: William N .; John W .; Absalom P., see for- ward; James Alva; Thomas P .; Alexander; Nancy, married Beatty; Luverna, married Thomas Nenton Watkins; Jennie, married Thomas Ripley; Emily, married William Gleen; Martha. The father of these children died in 1895, surviving his wife several years, her death occurring in 1885.
(III) Absalom P., son of Davis (2) Meredith, was born in Noble county, Ohio, in 1843. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, educated
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in the common schools, and at the age of fourteen years accompanied his parents to Tyler county, now West Virginia. Upon attaining young manhood he settled on a farm in his native county, which he cultivated and improved, and this occupation claimed his attention throughout his active career. At the breaking out of the civil war he enlisted in Company C, Seventh West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, with which he saw considerable severe service; he served for three years, at the expira- tion of which time he was honorably discharged. After his marriage he removed to the state of Illinois, where he remained one year, and then returned to West Virginia, settling on a farm in Tyler county, from which he derived a lucrative livelihood. His church membership was with the Methodist Episcopal denomination, and his political allegiance was given to the Republican party. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married, in 1864, Catherine Riley, of Sistersville, West Virginia, born in Tyler county, Virginia, 1837, daughter of Turner Riley, a pioneer settler of that region. She was a school teacher prior to her marriage. Children: 1. Charles S., born in 1869; a merchant of Spencer, West Virginia. 2. Laura, twin of Charles S .; married John Kelley, of Ritchie county, West Virginia. 3. Gilbert B., born in 1873; foreman for Hope Natural Gas Company, at Smithfield, West Virginia. 4. Jennie A., married John W. Hornor, of Ritchie county, West Vir- ginia. 5. Rufus, twin of James A., connected with the oil business in Oklahoma. 6. James A., see forward. 7. William H., engaged in real estate business at Middlebourne, West Virginia. 8. Emma, mar- ried Campbell Martin, of Ritchie county, West Virginia. 9. Emery D., connected with the South Penn Oil Company, at Lynch, Harrison county, West Virginia. Absalom Meredith died in 1904, survived by his wife, who is living at the present time ( 1911).
(IV) James A., son of Absalom P. and Catherine ( Riley) Mere- dith, was educated in the common schools of Tyler county, taught school at sixteen, graduated from the Normal and Classical Academy of Buck- hannon in 1895, and from the West Virginia University in 1900, re- ceiving his B. A. and LL. B. degrees at the same time. He was immedi- ately admitted to the bar at Middlebourne, West Virginia, and entered active practice of the law. In January, 1903, he located in Fairmont, where he acted as cashier of Fairmont Trust Company for about a year,
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resigning to resume the practice of his profession, and has built up a successful and lucrative practice. He is in every way thoroughly equipped for his work, and his reputation is fully established in the community in which he resides. He holds membership in the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and is an active member of the Republican party. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He married, September 17, 1902, Gillian, born May 25, 1877, daughter of James M. and Elizabeth (Boyers) Jamison, who resided in Morgantown, West Virginia, both of whom are now deceased. They are the parents of one child, Jamison, born August 5, 1903.
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