USA > West Virginia > Braxton County > History of Braxton County and central West Virginia > Part 44
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He had three sisters. Nancy married John S. Camden, and was the moth- er of Johnson N. Camden, the famous financier and statesman; Polly married Thomas Bland of Lewis county; and Matilda married Weeden Huffman.
Colonel Newlon died at his home in Sutton, October 17, 1883. He had been a prominent man in the official transactions of the county for a great many years. His passing away marked the close of a long and useful life, and left a memory that will long linger and abide with those who knew him.
WM. PITT NEWLON.
Dr. Wm. Pitt Newlon, son of Colonel Wm. Newlon and Eliza Pool Cam-
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den, was born in Sutton, March 7, 1848, where he grew to manhood. He at- tended the best local schools of the day. As a boy, he was kind and considerate, and early became a general favorite with those of his acquaintance.
At the beginning of the Civil war, his father removed to his farm on O'Briens fork, where Wm. P. put in four or five years of toil on the farm which developed him physically, and prepared him so well to bear the great strain of labor and exposure to which his lfe work called him. As a boy on the farm, he did not neglect his studies, and very early showed a desire for his chosen profession. After the close of the Civil war, Dr. Newlon attended the best select schools of the county and prepared himself to enter the college of Louisville, Kentucky, where he graduated in 1871. As a physician, he became noted. His praetiee was not confined to Braxton and adjoining counties, but he was called to treat patients as far away as Parkersburg, Washington and other cities. He was physician to the Baltimore & Ohio, Coal & Coke and the Holly River railroads, was twice offered a position in the West Virginia Hos- pital at Weston as Assistant Physician.
Dr. Newlon in his long practice never refused to ride day or night over high mountains, through hail and storm, aeross swollen streams and rugged by-paths to relieve the suffering. Such was the nobility of his generous char- acter that he never refused a man because he was poor and unable to pay.
He compounded a medicine called Cohosh, and other remedies that have found special favor, all of which are said to be valuable remedies.
Dr. Newlon married Melissa Green, September 21, 1881. Their children were Mary Link who married Reginald Benner, Eliza Pool who married H. Roy Waugh, and one son Wm. P. who died young.
Dr. Newlon was a literary man, and wrote some rare and beautiful poems, selections from which are hereby given :
MY BOYHOOD'S HOME.
I saw it in my dreams last night, My early boyhood's home- The vine-clad hills and meadows bright, Where as a child I roamed.
We were all here -- not one away- The hearth-stones cheery place --- I heard again the mirthful sound Come from each smiling face.
We were there-not one away- No troubled look-no sad refrain-
Just as they were in childhood's day- And I-I was a child again.
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My dream is past-we're not all here --- On yonder's hill beyond the vale I frequent view through eurtained tear A marble shaft- that tells the tale.
IN MEMORIUM.
Could tears have kept thee, thou wouldst ne'er have gone, Or could they call thee back, thou wouldst be here.
For since the moment death did mark thee for his own,
Tears have burned my cheeks and left their traees there.
Yes, I have wept, and still do weep for thee- Not that I'd have thee baek,-but pent up grief
Is doubly hard to bear; and struggling to be free, The heart through tears doth find relief.
Perehanee, the sorrow that is mine, will soon be o'er- For time will assuage grief-and it may be
Time will give me fresh eause to mourn And I will grieve again, as I do now, for thee.
But from my memory time cannot efface,
Nor mar the last sad look of thy sweet face.
ADAM O'BRIEN.
Adam O'Brien came from Harrison county to the Elk river and settled on the bottom where Sutton now stands. Prior to this time he had eamped on one of the tributaries of Salt Lick ereek now known as O'Briens fork. O'Brien had made some sign, it is said, by which he could find his way from the settle- ment on the West Fork to his ehosen hunting ground, and it was by this means that the Indians trailed him; but he was not at his eamp, and they found their way to the Carpenter settlement on the Holly and Elk rivers. This was in the spring of 1792, and as the first survey was made in what is now Braxton in 1784 it must have been some time between that date and 1790 that the Car- penters and O'Brions eame to the county.
Timothy, son of Adamı O'Brien, killed a steer, it is said, that was supposed to have strayed from some herd on the South Branch of the Potomae and gone wild. From this oeeurrenee Steer ereek is said to have taken its name. O'Brien's fork of Steer ereek, as well as several other streams in eentral West Virginia, was named for the O'Brien family. Just below the mouth of O'Brien's fork there stands a knob known as Timothy Knob. This is pointed
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out by traditional history as the place where Timothy killed the steer. Henee, the names Steer creek, O'Brien's fork of Steer ereek and Timothy Knob. But Colonel Dewels gives credit to James W. Arnold for killing the steer on a branch now called Steer run of Steer creck.
It is said that in the very early settlement of the country a buffalo was killed on Grass Lick of Steer creek by Timothy O'Brien. We are inclined to the belief that Colonel Dewels was correct in his statement as to the killing of the wild steer by Arnold and not by Timothy O'Brien.
Captain G. F. Taylor, in a letter to a loeal paper, says tradition informs us that Adam O'Brien was born in Bath county, Virginia, in 1742; that at the age of twenty-five years he was disappoined in a love affair with Miss Isabel Burgoyne, only daughter of General Burgoyne, who figured in the early history of the American revolution. Whatever of truth may be connected with this story of Captain Taylor's, if what Baxter says in his notes of Braxton county with reference to O'Brien's plurality of wives, they would amply make up for the loss of Miss Isabel. We read further from Captain Taylor's letter that on Skyles creek, a tributary of the Big Birch river, there is a large eamp, or over- hanging cliff, twenty by thirty feet in width and about eight feet high, and on the north side of the room, about five feet from the floor, are the initials and dates "A. O. B., April, 1792." This being the spring of the year of the Car- penter massacre, Adam O'Brien must have been at or near this camp at that time, which doubtless saved him from sharing the fate of the Carpenters.
In his notes of Braxton county, F. J. Baxter refers to the faet that Adam O'Brien assisted in making the first survey in this county in 1784, and as far as was known was the only member of the surveying party that returned to the county to reside. He lived in the bottom where Sutton now stands as early as 1795. He came from Harrison county, bringing with him his family exeept his wife, who he had abandoned for another woman. He subsequently moved to the waters of the West Fork of the Little Kanawha, taking with him his numerous family some of whom were then married. many of whose deseendants may now be found in that country. "Adam O'Brien was a rather remarkable man," says Mr. Baxter. "He was bold, adventurous, cunning and hardy. Though he traveled over the tributaries of the Elk, from the Holly to the mouth of the Big Sandy, and the Little Kanawha river, the Indians, though quite numerous at the time, were unable to intereept him. On one of these oc- casions it is said that he was hotly pursued by the exasperated red men down the river to a little shoal about a half mile below Clay Courthouse, where he crossed the river to the south side and eluded his pursuers in the dense forest of Pisgah mountain. This shoal still bears the name of O'Briens ford, and many other streams, mountains, gaps and other places of note by their names still attest the early presence of this adventurous man. His mantel seemed to fall on his son John, who, though not quite equal to his father in all respeets, had the same adventurous spirit, was equally aetive and hardy, and had an equal fondness for a plurality of wives."
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THOMAS PERKINS.
Thomas Perkins eame from Greenbrier eounty to the Elk river, and set- tled near where the Morrison ehureh now stands, in the year 1812. His chil- dren were David, Elijah, John, Wm., Elias, Marshall, Charles and Mary A. Thomas Perkins' wife was Polly Williams.
LEWIS PERKINS.
Lewis Perkins, son of Elias Perkins, married Susan H., daughter of Noah Rodgers. Their children were John R., L. V., Annette, Willis T., and Mathew. A latter wife was Diana, daughter of John I .. Carpenter. Mr. Perkins is now living at an advanced age and two or more of his descendants of the 5th gen- eration are living.
THE PIERSON FAMILY.
John and Jonathan Pierson migrated from England to Philadelphia, Pa., some time previous to the great plague in that eity in the 17th eentury. Some of their relatives had formerly come over with the William Penn eolony, and settled there. John died, leaving two sons who moved to New York. From there, they went to Maryland, staying some time, but finally separated, John saying he would spell his name "Pearson," so that if he saw the name "Pear- son." he would understand that it was of the same family of Piersons.
Joseph was a school teacher and settled in Virginia. John went farther south. Joseph married Charlotte McKce of Monroe county, Va., and had three sons and eleven daughters. The sons were Jonathan, David and Joseph. He moved to Whitewater in Nicholas county in 1802, from Monroe.
Jonathan Pierson, the oldest son, settled at Twistville ncar Braxton coun- ty, about the year 1826, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. He reared five sons and five daughters. The sons were W. G., Henry, G. W., Albert and B. C. The daughters were Virginia Duffield, Polly Keener, Charlotte Frame, Eliza- beth Hamrie and Evaline James.
Henry Pierson, second son of Jonathan Pierson, was born July 5, 1824, and died at the age of seventy-one years. He married Sarah Jane Rose, daugh- ter of Captain Wm. Rose, in 1842. Their children were Wm. Rose, Jasper, Jonathan, Morgan, Joseph A., Henry M. and J. Arthur, Martha (deceased), Sarah Jane Dean and E. A. Shaver.
JONATHAN PIERSON.
Jonathan Pierson, son of Henry and Sallie Rose Pierson, was born Jan. 27, 1848. He was married to Phebe A. Tinney, and their children are H. B., Freneh, Ida, Natta and Bessie. He is a farmer and stoekman, and owns four hundred and forty-seven acres of good farm land. In polities, he is a Demo- erat, is upright and a popular eitizen.
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WILLIAM PIERSON.
William Pierson, son of Henry and Sarah J. Pierson, was born Dec. 2, 1843. He married Barbara Diekey on Feb. 5, 1861, and their children were Sarah J., R. H., M. A., L. E., D. A., W. L., S .T., G. C., and Bessie. Mr. Pier- son has been a prominent man in Braxton, and has served the people faithfully as a publie servant for a number of years He was appointed Postmaster at Twistville, this state, Dec. 2, 1872, which was his twenty-ninth birthday, and served continuously forty years and six months. He was a member of the Braxton County Court nine years, eight years of which it had jurisdiction at law and chaneery, was four years president of said court, and was a member when the present courthouse was built. He was admitted to the bar in 1877. He held the office of member of the Board of Education, Surveyor of Roads and Notary Public. Squire Pierson is now engaged in farming and humbering. He was a soldier in the Confederate army.
NATHAN PRINCE.
Nathan Prince eame from London county, Va., about 1820, and settled at Flatwoods where he purchased about two hundred acres of land, embracing the farm of the late Dr. John L. Rhea, and also the land on which the town of Flatwoods is situated. Mr. Prince was the son of Captain Prince of the Revolutionary army. He had two sons, Levi and Simon, and one daughter who married George High of Charleston. One or two children died in' in- faney. Mr. Prince was said to be a very devoted Christian. His habit was to fast one day in each week. Whether his father, Captain Prince, came to this country or not, we are not informed. Captain Prince was a Jew, and the old Jewish Bible owned by the family was destroyed by fire in Webster county where it had fallen in the hands of some distant member of the family who had no conception of its value. Captain Prinee was in the artillery arm of the serviee, and beeame deaf by the coneussion of the guns in battle.
LEVI PRINCE.
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Levi Prinee, son of Nathan Prince, and grandson of Captain Prince of the Revolutionary army, was born in London county, Va., and removed with his father's family to Braxton eounty early in the eighteenth century where he grew to manhood on his father's farm in Flatwoods. Early in life, he married Sallie, daughter of Andrew and Margaret (Hoskins) Skidmore. Their children were Susan C., Jane, Mary, Nathan H., James, George, one or two ehil- dren dying in infaney. Mr. Prinee was a land owner and farmer. He owned the land where the towns of Flatwoods is located. He was a man of industrious frugal habits, and was noted for his piety and leadership in the church. He was mainly instrumental in building the Prinee ehapel at Flatwoods. At the breaking out of the Civil war, he removed with his family to the state of Ohio
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where, in 187 .... , he died by typhoid fever. He was loved and honored by all who knew him. His remains are resting in Ohio near where he lived and died, while those of his saintly wife were laid to rest at the Squires cemetery on Salt Lick.
SIMON PRINCE.
Simon Prinee, son of Nathan and grandson of Captain Prince, came from Loudon county, Va., with his father's family when a small boy, and spent most of the years of his long life in Braxton county. He married Margaret Sisk, in 1836, and to this union were born Rachel, Nathan, Barbara, Sarah Ann and Mandy. Unele Simon, as he was familiarly known, was a devoted Christian and a member of the M. E. church for a great many years. He died at the ad- vaneed age of ninety-eight years, and was buried at the Morrison church.
SAMUEL HAMILTON RIDER.
Samuel Hamilton Rider, son of John W. Rider, was born in December, 1822, in Bath county, Va., and moved to Harrison county in 1828. He married Rachel E. High of Harrison county in 1841, and eame to Braxton county in 1859, settling on Steer ereek. Their children were William W., Benjamin E., Martha J., Mary E., Warah S., and Melvil B.
Samuel Rider died in 1898 at his old home, Mrs. Rider having departed this life in 1892. Mr. Rider was a farmer and a stockman. He had for many years been a zealous and valued member of the M. E. chureh. Two of his sons were Federal soldiers, Wm. W. and Benjamin. The latter is still living.
J. C. REMAGE.
J. C. Remage, a native of Harrison eounty, West Virginia, grew up to manhood in that county, where he attended the public schools, and qualified himself for teaching, but soon quit teaching and entered the lumber business. He came to Braxton county in 1890, and married daughter of Isracl J. Friend. To them were born three children, Russell, Lanty and Eva. Mr. Remage's home is in Gassaway, W. Va.
THE ROSE FAMILY.
Isaac Rose, father of Captain Wm. Rose, was born near Chambersburg, Pa., in the 17th century, and reared to manhood at same place. Later he moved to Botetourt county, Va., and still later to Nieholas eounty, this state. He had four sons, William, James, Ezekiel and Charles, and one daughter, Milly.
Captain William Rose married Martha Persinger in Bottetourt eounty, Va., about and moved to Long Glade in Webster county about 1818, and owned the Dr. Kessler farm at that point. From there, they moved to the Bireh river, two miles from Twistville where they lived to a ripe
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old age. They raised the following daughters: Mrs. Granville Given, mother of W. H. Given, Julia Keener, mother of Mrs. E. D. Duffield, Sarah Jane, mother of Wm. R. Pierson, Sr. Captain Rose served in the war of 1812, and aeted as constable for many years after Braxton county was organized.
Ezekiel Rose, brother of William, was noted for his integrity. He mar- ried a Miss Harman, and reared the following sons: Alexander, Isaac, George, Marion, Robert, Marshall who became a Baptist minister, James who was a Federal soldier, Mortimore was a Federal soldier and Fielding was a minister. of the gospel and an ex-confederate soldier. In the same family were the fol- lowing daughters: Amanda, wife of Milton Frame (deceased), Betsy, wife of Armstrong Cutlip, Liza, wife of Perry Boggs (deceased), and Linda, wife of Joseph Harrison.
REV. HARVY O. ROSS.
Rev. Harvy O. Ross, son of James A. and Mary S. Hicks, was born May 17, 1860. At an early period of his life, he was converted and joined the U. B. church, and commenced teaching and preaching. He was at one time prin- cipal of the Sutton High School. He subsequently moved west where he served important charges. He married and reared a family, and at a time perhaps least expected, this good and well beloved minister was run over by a railroad. train and killed. He had many friends in Braxton county, and in fact wher- ever he was known.
DR. JOHN L. RHEA.
Dr. John L. Rhea was a native of Maryland. He was born in Westminster county, Oct. 11, 1816. He was married Dee. 3, 1840, to Mrs. E. M. Dowell, maiden name, Elizabeth M. Huekstep, of Green county, Va. Mrs. Rhea was born Jan. 22, 1814, in Orange county, Va., and died at their home in Braxton county, April 26, 1863, and on the 20th of April, 1865, he married for his see- ond wife, Elizabeth C. Shaver, daughter of Jessie and Matilda Squires Shaver. Mrs. Rhea departed this life Aug. 30, 1873. She was born in Braxton county, Va., May 9, 1842. By these marriages, he had no ehildren.
On Jan. 8, 1874, he was married to Miss Sallie B. MeLaughlin, daughter of Col. Addison Mclaughlin. Sallie B. Mclaughlin was born in Lewis eounty, Va., May 9, 1846. To this union were born John L., Stephen A., Howard R., Daniel J. and Clark Dyer.
Dr. Rhea was a travelling minister in the M. E. Church and belonged to the Baltimore Conference, and afterward studied medicine. He moved to Braxton county from Virginia early in the fifties, bought land in Flatwoods where he established his home and remained there until his death. He built up a good practice, and was considered one of the best informed physicians in the county.
Dr. Rhea brought several slaves to this county when he eame, and the most
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of his colored people remained with him for several years after their freedom, and they all have a desire to be buried in the eemetrey by the side of their old mistress on the old home place.
JOHN L. RHEA, JR.
John L. Rhea, Jr., was born Jan, 7, 1875. He was married July 2, 1902, to Rebecca Floyd, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. D. Floyd, and she was born in Doddridge county, Dec. 21, 1880. To this union were born three children, Salla A., Clare E. and Howard W.
John . L. Rhea grew up on his father's farm, and soon after his marriage commenced merchandising at Flatwoods Junetion where he now conduets a large country stock of goods. In 1914, he was elected to the State Legislature, where he served with eredit and faithfully represented the interests of his con- stituents.
JACOB RIFFLE.
Jacob Riffle, son of John N. and Elizabeth (Corrick) Riffle, was born Sept. 9, 1837, in Braxton county. He entered the Federal army in 1862, and re- ceived an honorable discharge Oct. 24, 1864. He was married Oet. 24, 1868, to Lueretia, daughter of Jacob and Eliza (Lloyd) Shaver, and their children were: Willie E., Dora E., Luvenia L. and Eliza E. He with his brother Wil- liam served in Company F, 10th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, and at the battle of Droop Mountain. Jacob lost an arm. He and his brother William are both dead.
JACOB RIFFLE.
Jacob Riffle, one of the early settlers of the county, was a son of Frank and Eve (Mace) Riffle of Randolph county, Virginia. He first eame to the Little Kanawha river, and settled not far from Bulltown. He then moved to O'Brien's fork of Salt Liek, and settled in a hunter's eabin, presumably the cabin once occupied by Adam O'Brien which stood near where the railroad erosses the road leading to Cedar creek and Salt Lick.
Mr. Riffle married for his former wife Elizabeth Williams, daughter of John and Mary (Byrne) Williams of Randolph county, and his latter wife's name was Margaret Bailey. Names of daughters by the former wife were: Phebe, Mary, Jennie and Mandie. There was also a latter family of children whose names we do not have.
ENOCH ROBERTS.
Enoch Roberts was born near the mouth of the Potomae about the year 1750 or 1755. His father who was an Englishman, was a sailor on a vessel that ran from Baltimore to Liverpool. Enoeh eame to Virginia and settled in
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Richie county, and later moved to Braxton and settled on Scott's mountain where he died early in the 50's at the advanced age of ninety-nine years. His children were John, Enoch, Benjamin who was a captain in the Federal army, Jeremiah, Perry G., and one daughter who married a man named Berne in Richie county, this state.
PATRICK REED.
Patrick Reed of Clay county came from Scotland in 1730 and settled in Maine. The family came to Virginia after the close of the Revolutionary war, and in 1843 George Reed came to Kanawha county and settled on the West Fork. The first year, George Arbogast and G. W. Reed were summoned to work a road on the Beech fork of the West fork, and one night the Cotterels and the McCunes murdered Nickols, the Road Overseer. Arbogast and Reed moved out and then settled on the Elk at the mouth of Big Otter. G. W. Reed was captured by southern soldiers, and died in Andersonville. He was in Cap- tain Ramsey's company of Nicholas.
SOLOMON REED.
Solomon Reed, son of above sketch, was born in Pendleton county, Va., and moved with his father to what is now Clay county where he grew to man- hood and married a Miss Sarah Neel. He was a prominent man in the county, and was twice Sheriff of the county about the 70's. His family consisted of Jeremiah, Wm. James, Hansford, Margaret and Emma.
JAMES REED.
James Reed, son of Solomon Reed, married Carrie, daughter of E. B. Wheeler. Their children are E. R., Bera G., and one child that died in infancy. Mr. Recd has been a very successful business man, and has been clerk of the County Court for fourteen years. He is now serving his third term.
AUNT NAOMI RODGERS.
Aunt Naomi Rodgers, daughter of Andrew and Margaret Skidmore, was born November 29, 1815. She married Elija Rodgers in 1833.
Soon after their marriage, they moved to Three Forks of Sandy, now Roane county, West Virginia, where she lived in one house for sixty years. After the death of her husband, she lived with her son, Jackson Rodgers, where she died at the age of nincty-six years. She lived for many years a close neigh- bor to the celebrated Adam O'Brien, and vividly remembers that noted Indian fighter and adventurer. She describes him as a man of powerful physique, a kecn piercing eye, always dressed in the full garb of a hunter in buckskin, decorated with hunter's tomahawk and rifle. She often listened to the primi- tive John O'Brien, son of Adam, whom she described as a man with a wonderful
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voice. He was a minister of the Baptist faith. It was said that he could be heard from mountain top to mountain top when properly warmed up in his discourse.
The country in which she lived, she described as a wilderness in 1833. There were only three or four families living between her girlhood home and her later home on Sandy. Perhaps the seventy-eight years that she lived on Sandy marked a period and locality that came nearer being in its primitive and origi- nal state than any other section of country in central West Virginia. This sim- ple life was to Aunt Naomi's liking. She was a plain unassuming woman, a devout Christian and for many years a member of the Baptist church. She is resting beside her husband and many relatives and friends in the Greenhill cemetery near her old home.
PHILIP RODGERS.
Phillip Rodgers, one of the early settlers of Braxton county, came from Rockingham county, Va. He settled in the upper Flatwoods, and was a farmer and blacksmith. One of his daughters, Julia Ann, became the wife of John G. Morrison. She died at the birth of her first child. Margaret, a second daugh- ter, never married. Phillip, John and William were his sons. John is the only member of the family living, he being in his eighty-fifth year.
BALLARD S. ROGERS.
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Ballard S. Rogers, son of John and Melinda (Wilson) Rogers, was born March 20, 1831, in Braxton county. He married Louisa McElwain, in this coun- ty, Oct. 10, 1854, and their children were: Sarah Virginia, Thomas W., Je- rusha Susan (died young), Florence Lec, Ida Iowa and Elijah David who died while an infant. Ballard S. Rogers enlisted Nov. 10, 1862, in Company I, 17th Virginia Cavalry, and served until May, 1865. After the war, he was engaged in farming for many years.
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