USA > West Virginia > Braxton County > History of Braxton County and central West Virginia > Part 35
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Aunt Hannah Aldridge, as she was familiarly called, was a very pious old lady and passionately fond of her children. She was the wife of Richard Al- dridge who was killed on Wolf creek near their home by the Federal troops in the Civil war. They were honest people, but very poor as many of our people were. On one occasion, Aunt Hannah started to Sutton, carrrying a half-bushel of corn to the mill to have it ground. Their provisions had run very low, and this was the only means she had to replenish her supplies, and on the way she saw a very large fat opossum near the road which she proceeded to kill. As the fur was good, she skinned the animal and took the hide with her to the store, trading it for coffee. She had hung the carcass on a bush until her return which she hastened to make after her corn was ground and the trading done. She always referred to her children as "My dear children" or "my dear blessed children," and when Aunt Hannah returned, her family gathered around her and she said, "My dear blessed children, your mother has brought you meat, meal and coffee." She lived to be quite old, her family grew to be men and women, and later the family moved West, settling in the state of Kansas.
At the close of the Civil war, Squire Frank Stewart was the first man in the country to receive the appointment of Notary. This was something new to the citizens, and they inquired of the Squire what the duties of the office con- sisted of, and he told them that it was a kind of judicial office, that in all diffi- cult questions coming before the Court, he was associated with the Judge. His neighbors thought that the Civil war had developed great possibilities for the man who was lucky enough to be a Notary Public.
Squire Stewart was naturally intelligent and congenial, but we never heard of it being necessary for the Court to call on the Notary for assistance.
When Grover Cleveland was first elected President, the matter was in doubt for some time. First the word would come that Blaine was elected, then the report would change and the Democrats would have a season of rejoicing. Later, the matter would be in doubt again.
One day a delegation of the Carr boys came to Sutton, determined to know the truth, and they called on Mrs. Catherine Berry, a Republican and a lady of sterling character and intelligence. They inquired of her what the latest news was and she said, "Gentlemen, I am sorry to tell you, but the election has been settled, and Cleveland is elected, New York going fourteen hundred Demo- cratic." This was a chill and they all looked sad and dejected, but made no reply. Finally one of the Carr boys, a big, overgrown lad of sixteen or seven- teen years, raised his head and said, "Pop, that damned registration law done that."
About the year 1900, Wm. Riffle who lived on a small stream emptying into the Little Kanawha, a few miles above Burnsville, discovered what he supposed to be a medical spring, possessing great curative properties. The curious soon
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began to floek to the spring, especially on the Sabbath day, the fame of the mineral spring spreading far and wide, and quite a number of patients eame to try its virtues, many declaring that they had been greatly benefitted. Nat- urally, Mr. Riffle had unbounded faith in the water. It happened that one of his neighbors beeame ill and died, and had not tried the healing qualities of the mineral spring. After the man's death, some of the neighbors were speak- ing to Mr. Riffle of his good qualities, lamenting his death, when he said, "Yes, he was a very good man and we deeply regret his loss, but then, he knew that the water was here."
One of the amusing ineidents of the Civil war oeeurred on the ridge be- tween the farm of James W. Morrison and Carpenter's fork. Early in the war, a squad of Dutch eavalry was seouting in that vieinity, and eame aeross Thomas Saulsburg who, they thought, was an enemy, and they were talking and gestieulating in a threatening manner. Saulsbury began to think that his time had eome, and while they were deciding his fate, N. B. Squires, a Union man whom the soldiers seemed to know, came along and told them that Sauls- bury was a peaceful citizen, so they released him and rode away. Squires said that Saulsbury who was a very large man was standing with his baek against a white oak tree by the roadside, and as he heard the sound of horses' feet and the elinking of the bayonets dying away in the distance, his limbs seemed to give way, and he sank down by the roots of the tree and said, "Squires, it is a d- ticklish thing to tinker with this government." Tom Saulsbury was a very sensible man, and told many quaint and humorous stories, and one only had to know him to enjoy his wit and humor.
When oil was discovered at Burning Spring and the Rathbone family sud- denly became rieh, Judge Camden, Johnson N. Camden and others were congrat- ulating the elder Mr. Rathbone who was then on his deathbed, on the great good fortune. He says, "Gentlemen, it comes a little too late for me, but it is a Godsend for the boys."
In time of the Civil war, two brothers of a prominent family lived neigh- bors; one was a Confederate, and the other a Union man. The Southern broth- er had two half grown boys, who on the oceasion of which we speak, were at their Unele's. On looking down the road, they saw a large number of Con- federate soldiers dashing toward the house, and it proved to be the command of Col. Witeher; and as they had started out to recruit their army with men and horses, and also to procure beef cattle for the Southern army, they were not slow in appropriating anything needful for themselves. So after they had gone through the house, and carried off sueh artieles as they desired, and had started away, the Union brother went out in a rage, and told the boys that the first Union soldiers that eame in, he would have them rob their father of every- thing he had, for the Rebel thieves had taken all he had. Just then one of the Company that had straggled behind and had been eontending with the women
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of the house for some cream, came round the corner and said, "Mr. can't you make these women let me have some eream?" and he turned to his wife and said, in the most plaintiff tones, "Mother, can't you let the gentleman have a little eream ?"
Andrew Sterrett, who lived on Elk, near Sutton, followed lumbering. One very high rise in the river, he sent his brother, Jackson Sterrett, down to watch the river. Unele Jaek was not long from the old country, and proceeded to gauge the river by stieking his knife blade in the gunwall of a flat boat, and after some time watching, he went up to the house and reported to his brother that the river was at a stand, neither rising nor falling.
A few years ago the doctors and newspapers began to talk about disease germs. An old lady in Sutton said that she was so glad that she had gotten her family raised before germs came in fashion.
In time of the Civil war some of the Braxton boys commanded by Major Withers went on a seout to Webster county and eamped one night at old Mr. MeCourts just below Addison. He was extremely poor, and the old man with that shrewdness common to the natives seemed very kind, and said: "Now gentlemen you are welcome to anything I have, but for God's sake don't bother my onions." Exeept for a nice bed of onions the old man had nothing that any mortal. would want. His manner and shrewdness so amused the soldiers that the onions were left undisturbed, and during the period of the war, when the boys were weary and foot sore some one would say, "take anything I have, wut for God's sake spare my onions;" then for awhile they would forget their hardships and toil.
Before the Civil war, B. F. Fisher was building a cabin house for a tenant, and stone being searee on his farm, he was using a good deal of mortar in the chimney. About the time he had finished the chimney, Charles S. Evans came along, and in surveying the work, he told Fisher that he had plowed more rocky ground than that chimney. "Yes," said Fisher, "but it wasn't any steeper.
Mr. G. B. Browning, while taking the eensus several years ago, was inter- viewing a Mrs. Knight as to the ages of her children. She said she was unable to give their ages, but if he could sce Mary Morton, she could tell him, as one of her children was born the same time. Another ehild was born the same time that Jesse Skidmore's wife had a child, and if she just knew what year John Frank Beamer had wheat in the hill field, she could give him the age of the other one exactly.
A man commonly ealled Ett Rhea joined the M. P. Conference on proba- tion as William Eldridge LeGrand Rhea. He was subsequently dropped and later entered the Conference as Schuyler Graves Rhea. His full name would have been William Eldridge LeGrand Schuler Graves Rhea.
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CHAPTER XII.
Personal Writings; Pisgah Mountain, by Dr. A. B. Riker; Henry G. Davis at Mount Bayard; Lists of Old Persons; Fifth Generations, and Large Fami- lies; Biographical Sketches and Family History; The Nation's Fifth For- eign War, with Lists of Volunteers and Drafted Men from this County.
FENCE RAIL PERIOD IN WEST VIRGINIA.
A boundless and luxuriant forest had scarcely been touched. Nature stood thus robed, buoyant and sublime. A little clearing and farm house here and one there, clustered in neighborhoods, and an occasional church and schoolhouse supplied the frugal demands of the people. To stand on some eminence look- ing out through an unbroken horizon until mountain range and valley faded away, and peak after peak, with all of their grandeur and magnificence was lost in the distance, and then to behold with admiration and delight a deep, silent and unbroken forest on whose topmost branches in springtime could be seen the variegated bloom of the poplar and lin, nature's once limitless flower garden, when the dewdrops and the carly sunlight unfolded their petals, was a sight as enchantingly grand, even as sublime, as would be the falling of the stars. No artist could paint it; no pen could describe it. Its enchantment will fade as the mists disappear, or as those who saw it shall see it no more.
Surely nature has painted a fancy sketch in the mountain gorges of the Elk that can but awaken in one's mind an admiration for the hand that directed their formation and existance. We can never forget the majestic scenery as we stood on a pinnacle on an autumn evening. We looked out over a glorious sunset with all its sublimity, and saw the mountains in the distance rolling away and disappearing in the mist, and as the sun was sinking in the west, and casting his golden rays upon the mountain tops, we could see the clouds be- neath us, and the mist rolling up from the foaming waters of the river far down its channel.
The dizzy heights, the deep chasms, the clouds beneath our feet, the gor- geous sunset, made the scene one of enraptured delight. If we can in the even- ing of life stand upon an eminence that rises above the breakers whose founda- tion is laid in wisdom and truth, though the shadows may lengthen as they will, the step may falter and the eye grow dim, yet the flowers of the autumn will be bright and the evening sunset be calm and joyous.
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The sun was casting its golden rays Far upon the crest of the hill, While the waters were washing the sands on the beach And turning the wheels of the mill.
The autumn winds were ehilly As they shrieked to the mountains a sob,
And they kissed the flowers a winter's good-night As they passed o'er Jonathan's Knob.
And as the shadows lengthened And the rays began to fall, The darkness of the twilight In silence veiled them all.
At the beginning of hostilities, several companies of soldiers and militia, under command of Clinebel, came out as far as Flatwoods to meet the enemy. We remember it was suggested to one of the captains who in company with several other officers and soldiers, was taking supper at our home, that as they were in the immediate presence of the enemy it would be a precautionary measure to put a few of the men on watch during the night. The captain said that all military bodies had an officer called a "cor- po-ri-al" whose business it was to command a guard while the main body of the army slept. This was, to me, a new phase of military parlance and tacties. Subsequently, we learned more about that class of heroic mortals, and yet we never rose to the rank and dignity of a "Cor-po-ri-al" during the entire unpleasantness. A corporal meant two stripes on each sleeve, and they numbered from one to eight in a company. The eighth corporal was subordinate to the seventh, and the lawful and legitimate terminal of all military authority. An order emanating from the commander-in-chief goes down the gradation of rank and expends its fury at his feet. The grace and dignity of a corporal lends enchantment to the mili- tary spirit of the age, and gives inspiration to the vanity of the American youth.
At the beginning of the Civil war, quite a few of the citizens of the interior of the state had never seen a colored person, a gum shoe or had ever heard the click of a telegraph instrument. The first Federal soldiers that came in cap- tured Zack Howell of Webster county. Zaek's keen native instinct and curiosi- ty soon observed that the gum eoat, the "coon" and the telegraph were part of the army's outfit, and his environments while in captivity aroused his poeti- cal powers and he wrote a poem, one verse of which was:
A gum elastic overcoat And Yankeedoodle shoes, A nigger on the telegraph Was trying to read the news.
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It should be regretted that more of this untutored woodman's talent was not preserved as a portion and infinitesimal past and atom of the history of the great struggle. In looking back over five decades, and more since we be- gan to remember events which were transpiring, we find the landmarks of that youthful period are being rapidly swept away. Sod and flowers are growing over the dust of noble ones. Hearthstones that were once moistened with tears of joy, and sometimes of grief, are crumbling with the decimation of time. Yet there is not a day nor an hour of that period that we would not live over again. While all was ont sunlight, btu toil and sorrow, we would go through the shadows to again enjoy the radiant sunlight of youth.
PERSONAL WRITINGS.
Strolling from our Hotel aeross the wire suspension bridge, one bright Sabbath morning, and reflecting on the memories which the saered day brings to the mind, we heard the church bells calling the children to Sabbath School. As we lingered on the shores of this beautiful river, watching the waters pass, the church bells again rang calling the people to the morning services, but children were seen everywhere -- some crossing the bridge, others in different directions going toward their homes, and some of them loitering on the way. We thought there could be no morning services in the town. Going up Main street, and meeting a group of young men, we ventured to inquire whether there would be preaching, and no one seemed to know; but going on, we saw a child and a lame man enter a ehureh, and we ventured in to find a sparsely assembled congregation of middle aged people. We supposed that by agree- ment, the people divided the services, the children going to one and the parents and adults to the other.
An aged man was in the pulpit, and he was introduced by the pastor as the Rev. D. H. Davis, a native of Braxton county, but one who had for many years been preaching the Gospel in other fields. It seemed that nativity and age, if nothing more, should have called the people together in greater num- bers, but when this aged minister stood erect in the pulpit, we discovered that we were in the presence of no ordinary personage. After his introductory re- marks which were touching and eloquent. he showed that he was master of the English language. His face was that of a Roman nobleman, and as he warmed to his subject with extended hands and flashing eyes that seemed to penetrate the very souls of men, we realized that he was a man of surpassing eloquenee, a reasoner and a student. When he spoke of the mountains, the flowing rivers and the shifting sands as being nothing in comparison and duration to the message that he brought, cold and indifferent must have been the heart that was untouched. Wonderful in knowledge and greatness are some of the ehar- acters that the mountains of West Virginia have brought forth.
Additional mention of Rev. D. H. Davis is made. . See Family History.
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THE FELIX SUTTON CEMETERY
A TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE AND VIRTUE OF HIS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW.
BY JOHN D. SUTTON.
In the death of Mrs. Bessie Sutton, wife of F. O. Sutton, a line by a mem- ber of the family might be excused. For eight years she had been a member of the family. Her sweet, pure character had endeared her to the home. In the heart of each member, her virtues had been enshrined as well, we believe, as in the affections of all who knew her. During this brief union with the family she had fully shared every blessing, every aspiration, as well as every sorrow and bereavement. When the deepest sadness came to our home, Bessie's heart was touched and her sympathy helped to bear that great load. For the few brief years of her married life and motherhood she exemplified everything that
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that implies. The first lesson she taught her children was to repeat the Lord's Prayer before they retired, and her custom was to take them to the Sabbath school and in every way to influence their minds that were so young and im- pressionable with the lessons of truth. But after a brief pilgrimage of thirty- two years, or less than half the time allotted to man, and after eight years of wedded life, the star, that had shone with such brilliancy, that had illumined a home with such joy, that sanctified motherhood and virtue, sat in the full tide of life. She had often shed the tear that flowed by her friends around her bier-the tear that Rev. Warman so forcibly and eloquently described in the great prayer that he made, the tear that is the universal language of the human family, a language that every creature understands. We had often thought that in our declining years Bessie's love would be a comfort and joy, but how forcibly we now realize that we have lost a friend, and that the home from which she has been taken has lost a sweet companion and affectionate mother. As we laid her to rest beneath a bank of beautiful flowers contributed by lov- ing friends, the day seemed to be wrapped in gloom; the sun was hidden behind the clouds, and we thought that nature was displeased that death by sin had entered into the world. But at the evening sunset we visited the grave, the elouds had dispersed in the west, the sun was just going down, and as we looked towards the south and east, we beheld a clear, limitless, blue sky in the back- ground, and on it the reflection of the sun was painting the most magnifieent picture we had ever beheld. In that picture there were mountains and valleys; and the mountains were terraced and painted only as God can fashion the paint with the richest, golden tints. Such a magnificent scene the hand of man would be powerless to imitate and the pen would be unable to describe. And when the early morning came, we went again to the newly made grave, and as the sun had made its reflection again on the little dew drops that had come down during the night to keep fragrant the beautiful flowers-nature's dew drops, nature's tears, were falling where human tears had fallen but yesterday to melt down the little clods on the tomb. Nature seemed to be dispelling gloom and rejoicing that Bessie had gone home.
RULES OF ETIQUETTE.
One of the rules that Washington laid down was that against eating on the streets. It is not unusual at this day to see persons walking the streets eating something from their hands, and since ice cream has been put up in small cones, and other viands in convenient form, this habit among young people has become very common. To what extent Washington's advice corrected the habit of impoliteness that must have prevailed at his time we can not say, but the habit has broken out to a considerable extent in recent years, and to see young ladies walking the streets licking a cone of cream greatly exposes the tongue to view and renders them less affable and polite, while she is not at all times in position to greet friends with a handshake. Moreover, cream being absorbent
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is subject to the foul odors of the streets and can be enjoyed very much greater in a clean cream parlor or at home .- THE AUTHOR.
CIVILITY.
Parents and teachers should teach children this rule, and older persons should know that one person approaching another should always speak first. A person standing on the street or in the doorway or by the roadside should expect to be spoken to by those moving by. A person approaching your home, the salutation should be mutual as well as by parties meeting or by mutual friends. Younger persons should not wait to be addressed by those much older than themselves. This rule is prompted by the difference in age, and for the further reason that the younger should recognize older persons much more readily than the older ones recognize the young. The young will gain the affec- tion of the aged by referring to them as "Uncle" or "Aunt," or by addressing them by their proper name. Some may ask why the one should address the other first. The one approaching can judge more accurately at what distance the salutation should be given or at what speed he will approach or pass by ; the one is active, the other is passive and should be first addressed .- THE AU- THOR.
At the entrance to the cemetery on the Sutton farm at MeNutt siding stands a beautiful arch, erected in memory of Felix and Susan Sutton by their children and grandchildren dated 1911. It is of native stone, and the design is beautiful. The work was done by Messrs. C. C. Stoyle and J. R. McClain of Clarksburg who put in several weeks on the job. The corner stone was laid March 2nd, 1911, and the ladies of the Woman's Home Mission Society of the Sutton M. E. church, South, placed in the cavity many documents of historic and family interest contributed by the Sutton family, also coins, engraved copper plates, etc., contributed by friends of the family. One of the plates officials. It is a worthy monument to the memory of two of the county's most worthy pioneer citizens by his descendants .- ( Braxton Democrat.)
June 16th, 1912, about one thousand persons attended the unveiling of the statue of Miss Jessie L. Sutton at the Sutton cemetery and the union Sun- day school picnic at the Sutton Grove. The erowd gathered at the grove, where an address of welcome was made by Attorney F. O. Sutton of Clarksburg, and then marched to the cemetery. The statue which is the work of a noted Italian sculptor, was unveiled by Misses Mabel Stump, Mabel Great- house and Gertrude Loyd; Revs. A. Mick of Sutton and Dr. John S. Stump of Parkersburg, officiating at this service. Afterwards, Dr. Stump and Miss Roena E. Shaner, the latter a W. C. T. U. national lecturer, delivered addresses in the grove. Ten Sunday schools participated in the pienie which was the largest and most enjoyable picnic of the kind ever held in Braxton. One who
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was present says it was the best looking, most intellectual and most orderly crowd of people he had ever seen in this part of the state .- (Braxton Dmo- crat.)
"MAJESTIC CHILD OF NATURE, I CHRISTEN THEE, MOUNT BAYARD."
(BY HENRY G. DAVIS.)
At the time this was written, the marvelous development of West Virginia's natural resources and the consequent expansion of the railway system is at- tracting the attention of the entire world, with the result that capital is flowing into the state by the millions. It is difficult for our older residents to realize the wonderful changes that are taking place, or to comprehend how it has been brought about. Each day brings new wonders.
For a century the tide swept past us to the far West, where great com- monwealths sprang into existance and mighty industrial achievements were performed. Yet, all these years the wealth of our mountains lay dormant and hidden from view. But at last the awakening has come. The magic hand of enterprise has touched our hills and valleys, and today there is greater activity here in West Virginia, with a greater prospect of development than in any other part of the western hemisphere. And, best of all, this new era of indus- trial development has come to stay.
Colonel George H. Moffett, who for a number of years was connected with the Ohio River railroad, and retains his position as associate counsel under the B. & O. management, was a member of the constitutional convention of 1872, which framed the present constitution of the State. In that body, he was a member of the committee on corporations and took an active part in the effort to incorporate liberal provisions relating to corporations into organic law. Dur- ing the legislature of 1879, he was speaker of the House and a member of the same body in the memorable session of 1881-1882, when the first railway legis- lation was enacted. 'He led the fight against the Wilson railroad bill which was most drastie in its nature, and while the bill was not defeated, yet it was so amended and pinned down as to eliminate the most objectionable features. Hc based his opposition to the Wilson bill upon the ground that the state should stand ready to extend an open hand and pledged to a liberal policy towards all enterprises looking to its development. The debate on the Wilson bill was the most notable forensic display in our legislative history. Besides Colonel Moffett, the active participants in the discussion were Governor Wilson, the father of the bill, Judge James H. Ferguson, Hon. W. P. Hubbard, Hon. D. H. Lconard, Hon. W. A. Quarrier, Judge James Morrow, Hon. John W. Grantham, Judge Beckwith and others of equal celebrity. Colonel Moffett once made a speech of ten hours' length which was printed in all the daily papers of the state, and its concluding sentences read as if he had been touched by the spirit of prophecy. They read as follows :
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