USA > West Virginia > Genealogical and personal history of the upper Monongahela valley, West Virginia, Volume II > Part 9
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(II) Samuel, son of Hugh Evans, born at Evansville, Virginia, 1807, died at Evansville, 1889. He followed the occupation of farm- ing and stock dealing. He married Sarah Carroll. Children : Eliza- beth, married William Keener; Hugh, born 1823, died 1892, married (first) - Shroyer, (second) Jane Jones, child by first wife, John S., by second wife, Mollie; Isaac, of whom further; John; William; James; Samuel; Nancy.
(III) Isaac, son of Samuel Evans, was born in Evansville, Pres- ton county, Virginia, February 9, 1833, being one of eight children. He spent his early days on his father's farm, and later was employed by the contractors in the construction of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad across the mountains east of Grafton, and after the completion of the road to Wheeling was made a conductor, which position he held for a number of years. The life of a railroader did not appeal to him and he retired to Fetterman, West Virginia, where he turned his attention to butchering and tanning, and also carried on farming operations in the immediate vicinity of this town. Politically he was a Democrat, and was always active in the political affairs of his county, and though often
Chasu Livane
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urged to accept office himself he always declined. He was a trustee in what is now called the West Main Street Methodist Episcopal Church from its organization prior to the war.
April 12, 1860, he married Sarah, daughter of Samuel Jones, of Knottsville. Children: Nathan, Fannie, Martha J., Charles W., of whom further; George W., Elizabeth A., Joseph Lee, Sallie, Hugh, Clark.
(IV) Charles W., second son and fourth child of Isaac Evans, was born at the old town of Fetterman, Taylor county, West Virginia, December 18, 1867. He attended the public schools of this place where he received his first preparation as a teacher. He taught his first school, known as the Poe School, in Fetterman district in 1885-86. He later attended the Fairmont State Normal School, from which he graduated in 1887, and finished his education in the West Virginia University at Morgantown. He taught school for thirteen years, three years as principal of the Fetterman graded school, seven years as teacher of mathematics in the Fairmont State Normal School, and in the summer of 1897 was elected city superintendent of schools at Fair- mont, West Virginia, which position he held for three years. During this period of school work, he was prominent in the educational affairs of West Virginia, and assisted in conducting Teachers' Institutes in several counties of the state. In the year 1900 he entered the field of fire and casualty insurance, in which business he continues at the present time. At the general election of 1910, ten years after retiring from teaching, he was nominated and elected to the position of county super- intendent of public schools of Marion county, but owing to his large business interests he resigned this position, believing that it was a posi- tion which required the undivided attention of the man who attempted to fill it. In June, 1911, after a reorganization of the Fairmont Board of Trade under the name of Fairmont Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Evans was elected its secretary, which position he still holds. Mr. Evans has always been a public-spirited citizen. In addition to his being secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, he was one of the first directors of the Fairmont Business Men's Association, and a director in the Fairmont Young Men's Christian Association. Mr. Evans is a charter member of Mountain City Lodge, No. 48, Knights of Pythias; belongs to Fairmont Lodge, No. 9, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons,
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and is one of the officials of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Fairmont. He has always been identified with church and religious movements, and while yet in his teens was superintendent of his home Sunday school in the town of Fetterman for several years, and is now serving his eighteenth year as superintendent of the First Methodist Episcopal Sunday school in Fairmont. In the year 1908 he had the honor of being elected to represent the lay electoral conference of West Virginia as delegate to the general conference of the Methodist Epis- copal church which convened in Baltimore, Maryland.
He married, August 15, 1894, Lillie, daughter of Isaac Newton and Sarah (Pritchard) Lough. Children : A son, born March 9, 1907, died in infancy, and Sarah Elizabeth, October 3, 1909. Lillie (Lough) Evans is of revolutionary ancestry being a lineal descendant of William Pritchard who served in that war, enlisting as private in 1776, for three years, in Captain Alexander Lawson Smith's company, General Daniel Morgan's regiment. The line of descent is as follows: William Pritch- ard married Amelia Knotts; their son, William Pritchard, married Hannah Meredith; their son, Davis Pritchard, married Millie Dawson; their daughter, Sallie E. Pritchard, born July 20, 1848, married Isaac Newton Lough, born July 7, 1849; their daughter, Lillie, married Charles W. Evans.
WIEDEBUSCH Among the artisans connected with the plumb- ing trade in Fairmont is William A. Wiede- busch, who is a thorough master of his trade. He is the son of A. L. Wiedebusch, a farmer by occupation, a civil war soldier who distinguished himself on many a hard-fought battlefield, though he was a native of Germany. He came from Germany when but three years old. He died June 8, 1910. His father was Henry, as was his grandfather on the paternal side. Both were well-to-do, thrifty farmers. The great-grandfather, Henry Wiedebusch Sr., was also a shoemaker; he died at the age of eighty-four years, and while in his eighties would frequently walk from Powhattan, Ohio, his home, to Wheeling and return, a distance of fifty miles, in one day. He was a man of wonderful vital powers. A. L. Wiedebusch enlisted in the Twenty-fifth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, being a member of Company A. He was in many severe and lesser engagements. After
M. A. Wiedersch
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the war ended he engaged at stone-cutting, and assisted in cutting the stone for the West Virginia penitentiary at Moundville. Later he fol- lowed the stone contracting business, but having received a severe wound at the battle of Gettysburg he was partly disabled from doing hard work; consequently he took up the work of making cigars, having a store and shop of his own. Subsequently he sold out his business and was made superintendent of the great cigar works of August Pollock, using convict labor at the penitentiary. His health failed and he re- moved to Colorado, where he mined gold, and after nearly two years regained his health, enough at least to return home and engage in the butchering business. He next joined the large number of traveling salesmen then on the road for the McCormick Reaper and Mower Works, of Chicago, which position he filled a number of years, then retired to a small farm in this county. Politically he was a Democrat, and in church connection was an Episcopalian. He married Mary Bryan, who now resides at Moundville, West Virginia ; she was a native of Port Stanley, province of Ontario, Canada. 'Their children were: William A., of whom further; Edward C. W., residing in Morgan- town, West Virginia; Ella M., residing at Moundville; Clara A., mar- ried Dr. Hoy McCusky, and lives in Oklahoma, in the village of Muskogee.
William A. Wiedebusch was born in Moundville, West Virginia, September 16, 1870, son of A. L. and Mary (Bryan) Wiedebusch. He obtained a fair common school education at his native village and at Linsly Institute, Wheeling. He then learned the plumbing trade at Bellaire, Ohio, commencing business for himself at Piedmont, West Virginia, in 1893, remained there two years, and located at Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he remained five years, then removed to Fairmont, West Virginia, in August, 1899. He established the firm of the Fair- mont Plumbing Company, of which he is now the chief owner. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, votes an independent political ticket, and is a member of the Episcopal church.
. He married, January 25, 1899, Birdie E. Tonry, of Western Port, Maryland, born May 4, 1876, daughter of Charles Tonry, general manager for the Fredlock Manufacturing Company. They have no children.
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This sketch considers the De Bolt family of which DE BOLT George W. De Bolt, of Fairmont, is a member. The father was John Hamilton De Bolt, born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, in 1830. He was a farmer, and was killed in the civil war while acting as a messenger in West Virginia, 1861. Politically he was a Republican, and in church faith of the Presbyterian denomina- tion. He married, in 1855, Abigail Howard, born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1837. Children: Emma, born 1856; George W., 1858; Sarah, 1861, died 1902. Mrs. De Bolt was the daughter of Denune Howard, who married Sarah Haught; the grandfather was Absalom Howard, born in Pennsylvania, married Mary Smith, and his parents, Absalom and Sarah (Denune) Howard were born in Eng- land, from whence they came to America, settling at Baltimore, Mary- land.
(II) George Washington, son of John Hamilton and Abigail (Howard) De Bolt, was born October 30, 1858, at Masontown, Fay- ette county, Pennsylvania. He received his education at the public schools of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and at the Southwestern State Normal, of California, Pennsylvania. He has been engaged as fol- lows: An accountant for the Dunbar Furnace Company, at Dunbar, Pennsylvania, for four years; accountant for the Montana Coal and Coke Company, Fairmont, West Virginia, 1887 to 1901; secretary and treasurer of Fairmont Coal Company, 1901-05 ; secretary and treasurer for the Red Rock Fuel Company, Fairmont, 1906-10; president of Red Rock Fuel Company, Fairmont, 1910, and still serving. Politically Mr. De Bolt is a Republican; has been councilman in the city of Fair- mont for two terms; belongs to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Chapter, Consistory, Shriners ; and Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He has been grand commander in the Knights Templar degree of Masonry, for West Virginia. He is a member of the Fairmont Country Club, a new organization. In church relations he is a member of the Episcopal church.
He married (first), in 1883, at Masontown, Pennsylvania, Lida Miller, born at Masontown, Pennsylvania, 1859, daughter of David and Elizabeth Miller; (second), in Chicago, Illinois, Mary Watson Moderwell, born 1867, at Geneseo, Illinois, daughter of Erastus and Frances (Watson) Moderwell. The father was a lawyer; member of
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the state legislature; captain and major in the Twelfth Ohio Volunteer service in the civil war. Their children were: Mary Watson, Mattie Elizabeth, Louisa Frances and John Otis Moderwell. Mr. De Bolt's children are: 1. Gladys, born in 1884, educated at the public schools, Fairmont Normal School, Girl's Latin School at Baltimore, Maryland, Dwight School, Englewood, New Jersey; married Henry Shaw Lively, and they have one child, Mildred De Bolt Lively. 2. George Wash- ington Jr., born 1891, graduate of the Fairmont, West Virginia, high school, now in Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
YEAGER The Yeager family now to be considered is the one made quite famous through its connection with steam- boating through this section of the country.
(I) George Yeager, who was many years connected with the manu- facture of hats for men and boys, at Greensboro, Pennsylvania, was a native of Reading, Pennsylvania, died at Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He married a Miss Fennimore. Children : Alfred, John B., George, Louisa, James, Rebecca, Polly, James, Samuel S.
(II) Captain Samuel S. Yeager, youngest son of George Yeager, was born in Greensboro, Pennsylvania, July 25, 1819. He obtained an ordinary education, and engaged in the hat-making business with his father. While yet in his twenties he engaged in the steamboating business, he being a pioneer in such mode of transportation, along the Monongahela river from Pittsburgh down. In 1847 he ran a steam- boat, the "John B. Gordon," to Fairmont, with seventy tons of freight. The second steamer to land at Fairmont was always recorded as being this boat. Samuel Ellis sailed from England, out of the city of Lon- don, landed at New Orleans and from there took a boat up the Missis- sippi river to Pittsburgh, and from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, took passage on the "John B. Gordon," with her captain, Samuel S. Yeager, and safely landed in Fairmont. This was in 1847, and at that date he was the only passenger coming from England to Fairmont by water. Mr. Ellis made his home in Fairmont, where he died and was buried in the city cemetery. Near Fairmont Captain Yeager established a mercantile business in 1856, and in 1880 established a general store in Fairmont, in which he carried on an extensive trade until his death, February 11, 1893. He was a prominent business factor of the city
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in which he died. After his death his son, George G. Yeager, carried forward the well-established trade until March 1, 1906, when he dis- posed of the business. Politically Mr. Yeager was a Democrat, and in church faith a Presbyterian.
He married, January 25, 1857, Margaret E. Dent, born near Morgantown, West Virginia, January 19, 1840. One child, George G., born near Morgantown, November 15, 1858. Mrs. Yeager is the daughter of Rolley Evans Dent, born near Morgantown, on the old Captain John Dent farm. Captain John Dent was the grandfather of Mrs. Yeager. Captain Dent received his title by service and commis- sion in the war of 1812. He was of English ancestry. Mrs. Yeager's grandmother, Mrs. Barker, came from England when only six years of age and when a young lady wedded Captain Barker. Mrs. Yeager's parents had seven children, including the two brothers now living, and a half-sister of Mrs. Yeager, a Mrs. Christy, now of Mannington, West Virginia, the others being deceased. The Dent family of which Mrs. Yeager is a descendant is the same as the one from which the wife of the lamented U. S. Grant, Julia (Dent) Grant, came. Through the whole line of ancestry Mrs. Yeager is closely allied with the best fam- ilies of the Old Dominion State. Her grandmothers, on more than one occasion, had to flee to the forts and blockhouses during the Indian warfare, while at other times were compelled to leave on account of savage animals.
DURRETT The family now under consideration has for one of its members Dr. James J. Durrett, of Fairmont, West Virginia, and there is much of historic interest connected with various members in the family, which stood high in Vir- ginia and other states many years ago, while the younger generations are filling the important positions in several legitimate callings.
(I) B. B. Durrett, grandfather of James J. Durrett, was by occu- pation a farmer, and a man of considerable importance; he was a jus- tice of the peace for many years, when that office was of more legal consequence than at present, was also president of the county court, and an early pioneer of Barbour county. Assisted by a large number of negroes, he cleared up a large farm. About 1840 he went on horse- back to Albermarle county, Virginia, a distance of between three and
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four hundred miles, for apple scions, which he brought home with him and there did his own grafting. Some of the varieties were Albermarle pippins, Rhode Island greenings, Northern spys, Baldwins, Russets, Seek-no-furthers, etc. His orchard comprised about three hundred acres, the finest, best kept and among the largest in the state. Some of these trees are still bearing fruit. He also had many fine varieties of plums and ox-heart cherries. He married Ann Williams, born in Char- lottesville, Virginia, and is now eighty-four years of age, and able to ride horseback easily. This worthy old couple were well educated and stood high in their community for the many excellent traits of character they possessed. He died in 1900. He was in sympathy with the south in the time of the civil war, hence his property was confiscated for the union cause, and he was taken prisoner and confined at Wheeling, from which place he escaped and swam the river in the darkness of the night, making good his escape and was never recaptured.
(II) John H., son of B. B. Durrett, resides in West Virginia. He married Hettie Groves.
(III) Dr. James J. Durrett, son of John H. Durrett, was born in Barbour county, West Virginia, November 22, 1872. He was edu- cated primarily at the country school, known as Watercamp school house. Later he attended school at the Fairmont Normal School, be- ginning his medical career at the University of Maryland, in 1894, graduating in 1897. Since then he has attended lectures at various col- leges of medicine, including McGuire College of Richmond, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, etc. He commenced his practice in Fair- mont in 1897, with Dr. Cook, with whom he was associated about ten years, since which time he has been alone in his practice. He makes surgery his specialty. He is the physician and surgeon for the follow- ing corporations : The Consolidated Coal Company of West Virginia, also the Fairmont & Clarksburg Traction Company, the Fairmont Machinery Company, the Virginia & Pittsburgh Coal & Coke Com- pany, and is a member of the surgical staff of the Cook Hospital, be- sides delivering lectures before the nurses of this hospital at Fairmont. He is a member of the Marion County Medical Society and the Amer- ican Medical Association. Politically he is a Democrat, and in his church affiliations is a Baptist. He holds membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
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He married (first), February 22, 1899, Lady M. Johnson, and four children were born to them: Edith Margery, March 10, 1902; Ethel C. and Eleanor Jeane (twins), March 13, 1903; James Jr., October 13, 1908. He married (second), November 26, 1910, Eliza- beth Cardwell, a native of West Virginia, daughter of John C. Card- well.
McDANIEL Mr. McDaniel holds the important position of as- sessor of Marion county, and has assessed the county several times, giving the best of satisfaction among the critical taxpayers.
The grandfather of Mr. McDaniel, on the paternal side, was Aaron McDaniel, whose son, Presley McDaniel, was born near Shinnston, West Virginia. He was reared on a farm and followed farm life throughout his days. During the civil war he served as a major in the state militia, and was a justice of the peace. He was an active member in the Methodist Episcopal church, and politically an ardent Repub- lican. He married Malissa, daughter of Andrew Moore and wife, who were early emigrants from Pennsylvania. Presley McDaniel and wife had eight children : Mary M., married Charles T. Martin; Charles A .; Elmer E .; Anna, wife of Carson Martin, of Seattle, Washington; W. A., of Kentucky, manager of the Consolidated Steel and Coal Com- pany; Henry C., of Barnestown; A. J., of whom further. Presley Mc- Daniel died in 1879, and his wife died in 1885.
A. J., son of Presley McDaniel, was born in Harrison county, West Virginia, October 8, 1869. He spent his youth on his father's farm. He obtained a fair education at the common schools, after which he engaged in mercantile pursuits with his brother, Elmer E. McDaniel, at Enterprise, commencing in 1893 and continuing two years, when he sold to his brother, W. A. McDaniel, and removed to Worthington, where he purchased a general store which he operated until 1897, when he sold out his business. He was postmaster for a number of years, receiv- ing his appointment under President William McKinley. In 1904 he was elected assessor for the Western district of Marion county, and was reelected for 1908 for the work of assessing the entire county, under the new provision of the law. He is still holding such position. In his political choice he is a Republican. He has held numerous local
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offices at Worthington, and all have been filled with credit to himself and to the liking of his fellowcitizens. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen fraternities, and is a devoted mem- ber in the Christian church.
He married, April 29, 1896, Blanche M., daughter of Benjamin Robey. Children: George M., James Bruce, Garnett, the eldest died at the age of two years.
REED This Reed family includes numerous excellent business men and at least one civil war soldier who made a record for himself in that hard-fought conflict. They were early settlers in Ohio and had to do with the development of that common- wealth.
(II) Benjamin F. Reed, son of Robert Reed, was born in the city of Steubenville, Ohio, May 17, 1842. He has been an extensive buyer and shipper of horses nearly all of his active years, and one time had large stables in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has resided in Fair- mont, West Virginia, forty-five years. Politically he is a Republican, and in church relations is of the Presbyterian denomination. He en- listed as a member of Company A, Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry, in the Union cause, at the time of the civil war. His first captain was he who later was Colonel Cromwell; his next captain was John T. Bowen. The date of his enlistment was August 17, 1862, and he was mustered out of service in 1864. During his two years army life he was con- stantly on the move and participated in many engagements, including the siege of Vicksburg, and was all through the Yazoo Pass campaign. He married, in May, 1864, Mary Virginia Moore, born in Fairfax, Virginia, 1843. Children: 1. John R., resides in Wheeling, West Virginia, where he is interested in the Wheeling Evening News. 2. Charles E., of whom later. 3. Thomas Frank, now chief of the Fair- mont fire department. 4. William T., resides in Lewis county, West Virginia, employed by the South Penn Oil Company. 5. Lillian M., wife of Morris Miller, resides at Fairmont, West Virginia.
(III) Charles E., son of Benjamin F. and Mary Virginia (Moore) Reed, was born at Fairmont, West Virginia, November 26, 1866. He was educated at Fairmont high school, and at the age of eighteen years commenced life's work on his own account, in the engineering depart-
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ment of the Monongahela River railroad (now a division of the Balti- more & Ohio). He was later inspector of the masonry of this company, from Clarksburg to Fairmont, also a member of the engineering work and inspector of masonry on the Piedmont & Cumberland railroad. Under the administration of President Benjamin Harrison he was ap- pointed as assistant to the chief clerk in the United States census bureau, continuing in that capacity six years, then returned to Fairmont. Four years later he became secretary and treasurer as well as general manager of the Electric Light Company at Fairmont. Two years later he re- signed and took the position of agent for the J. M. Guffy Coal Land and Investment Company, in which capacity he is serving at the present time; he assisted in the purchase of two hundred thousand acres of coal land in West Virginia. He is a member and director on the advisory board of the Fairmont Trust Company. He is a Republican in politics. In 1910, while away from his home, a few days before an election for the office of mayor, his name, unknown to him, was placed on the ticket by the citizens of Fairmont. Municipal matters were in a badly mixed condition there at that date, with factions in both parties, yet with a Democratic majority of between three and four hundred. With all of this to contend with, Mr. Reed made the race for mayor and was only defeated by thirty-four votes. At the general election he was the Republican candidate for the legislature, but was defeated, owing to the Democratic landslide and split in his own party. He is a member of the Episcopal church at Fairmont, and is a Mason advanced to the commandery, being a member of Fairmont Lodge, No. 9.
He married, in Washington, D. C., June 20, 1897, Jennie Lindsay Hawkins, born in Wilmington, Delaware, November 13, 1876, daugh- ter of Colonel James L. Hawkins, of Wilmington, Delaware. He was colonel of the First Delaware Battery Volunteers and saw much severe fighting in the civil war. His duties were mostly south through the Peninsula district. He married Mary Flowers in Washington, D. C., and immediately entered the army, being absent from his wife two years. After the war he was sergeant-at-arms in the senate, and was mayor of Wilmington, Delaware, and served one term as state detective for Delaware. He had been United States marshall for a time, but resigning that to become state detective. He was influential in finding the body of the Marvin boy in the swamps of central Delaware, about
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which there was so much excitement a few years since. The Flowers were wealthy landowners in and near the city of Washington, D. C. Mr. and Mrs. Reed have no children.
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