History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 129

Author: Laidley, William Sydney, 1839-1917. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co
Number of Pages: 1066

USA > West Virginia > Kanawha County > Charleston > History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens > Part 129

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The late William B. Gatewood was a life- long resident of Cabin Creek District. He was a farmer all his life, inheriting land from his father and also from an aunt, but dis- posed of both properties. Mr. Gatewood was a musician and was so expert a performer on the violin that he was welcome in every musical

gathering and won prizes at Charleston for being the best violinist in Kanawha County. His death occurred August 2, 1908.

Mr. Gatewood married Miss Amelia Slack, who was born on her present farm, January 30, 1847, and is a daughter of Joseph and Julia (Huddleston) Slack. They came from Bedford County, Va., to Cabin Creek Dis- trict when all this section was covered with woods, and here Joseph Slack became a large landowner, his two daughters, Martha A. and Amelia being his heiresses. The former is de- ceased. She was the wife of Alexander Gra- dey, also deceased, and two children survived --- Thomas and Judith. The younger daughter, Amelia F. Slack, was married February 28, 1868, to William B. Gatewood. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gatewood: Cora, who resides with her mother; and Harry, who married Minnie Johnston, and has two chil- dren, William S. and Alice Amelia. Mrs. Gatewood resides on the farm but retains only a small part of it, enjoying the new residence and the fine orchard, but rents out the larger part of the land. The C. & O. Railroad crosses the farm.

THE LAIDLEY FAMILY .- The earliest Laidlaw known is the Laidlaw who joined Sir William Douglass's expedition in 1360 to con- vey the heart of King Robert the Bruce to the Holy Land. This Laidlaw was knighted for bravery and was granted a crest and armorial bearings, with the motto "Fides Probata Cor- onat." The family of Laidley, or Laidlaw. has been settled in the south of Scotland for many generations; in fact they are said to have originated in Roxburgh and to this day they are very numerous there, though found in many other places. Their name was va- riously spelled "Laidlay." "Laidley," "Lead- ley." but generally "Taidlaw." They were a border clan under the Douglasses, who were the Guardians of the Marshes between Scot- land and England and Lords of Little Dale. In very early days a Laidlaw was Chancellor of Scotland and in the time of John Knox, 1505. the Laidlaws are mentioned. Lockhart. in his Life of Sir Walter Scott. has much to say of "this remarkable family." He tells of one

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rich old Laidlaw owning much land on the Peale, who was very peculiar, so styled "Laird Nippy of the Peale," he was a relative of Will- iam Laidlaw, the intimate friend of Sir Wal- ter Scott. William not only assisted Scott but was himself a good writer in both prose and poetry. After Scott's death, he completed the unfinished Waverly novels and one cannot discern any difference in style. Washington Irving says, "My pleasant rambles about Ab- botsford were in company of Scott and William Laidlaw, a cultivated and interesting gentle- man of varied information, the friend and companion of Scott." He lived "among the Braes of Yarrow" on his father's estate and was always accustomed to books, as his father had a fine collection which not only he enjoyed but all scholars in the vicinity-James Hogg for instance, the Ettrick Shepherd poet, Fer- guson, another poet, and Mungo Park, the African explorer.

The emigrant was Thomas Laidlaw of Ayr- shire, Scotland, who arrived in New York in September, 1774. He was a son of James Laidlaw (a minister of the Church of Eng- land) and Jane Stewart of the House of Stewart. They were married in 1746; James was born in 1720, Jane in 1726. They had ten children, Thomas, the fourth child, was born January 1, 1756, and was the only one known to have come to America, though he had a brother who went to the West Indies, and an- other to Africa, with Mungo Park, as factor of the Company.

Thomas came to the Colonies just in time to take part in the Revolution. He was very loyal to the Colonial cause, even changing his name from Laidlaw to Laidley that he might not be taken for a subject of George III.

He joined the Army and served under Wash- ington at Trenton, Brandywine, and other places, and commanded a boat on the Dela- ware. When the British occupied Philadel- phia. the Colonial troops fell back to Lancas- ter, Thomas with them, and while there he married Sarah Osborn, a daughter of Charles and Sarah Osborn, a very talented and cul- tivated woman, born Oct. 12, 1760 in Phil- adelphia. Thomas returned to Philadelphia where he remained until 1785. In 1783 he

went with Albert Gallitan to Virginia, and pur- chased lands in Monongalia County, a few years after he removed there, making Morgan- town his home, until the last years of his life when he and his wife went to Cabell County to live with their son, John Osborn Laidley at "Lamartine." Here they died and were buried in the family graveyard on the farm.

Thomas died March 17, 1838, Sara March 24, 1844. He was a man of wealth and in- fluence. For a time he was engaged in mer- chandise and all the furs and skins he took in enchange for goods he invested in patents for lands until he accumulated over 25,000 acres, which lands have now become the best coal property in the northern part of the state. Mr. Laidley was one of the delegates to the House from Monogalia County in 1788, he was a Federalist and voted with the minority on the famous Jefferson Resolution of 1796.

The children of Thomas and Sara Laidley were :

James Grant, 1781-1821.

Sarah F. B., 1787-1848.

Eliza Stewart, 1789, married Boaz Fleming of Fairmont; died 1828.

John Osborn, 1791, of Cabell County, died 1863.

Thomas H., 1793, physician in Green County, Pa .; died 1881.

Jane B., 1796, died in Fairmont, in 1879.

Leander S., 1798, resided in Marion County ; died 1868.

Edmond, 1800; died in 1815.

Corrine, 1803 ; died 1805.

Only two of these are ancestors of the Ka- nawha Laidleys-James Grant and John Os- born.

JAMES GRANT LAIDLEY, Attorney, was born in Philadelphia in 1781, read law in Peters- burg ; married in Richmond in 1806, Miss Har- riet B. Quarrier ; died in Parkersburg, 1821. He interested himself in Blennerhasset in 1803, and secured for him his naturalization papers, and introduced "the Irish Barrister" to the Courts. Laidley was summoned as a juror in the Aaron Burr trial, but was not ac- cepted on account of some remark made, that indicated he had made up his mind. He was the treasurer of Wood County, Virginia, in

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1803 and the escheator of lands in 1804; pros- ecuting attorney in 1805. He was a delegate to Legislature in 1810, 1807, 1806. He was commissioned captain in 1809 of a volunteer rifle company, served in the War of 1812 and was breveted Major. After the war he re- sumed his practice of the law and was the friend and associate of Philip Doddridge and Lewis Cass. He died in 1821 and was buried in the Cook Cemetery in Parkersburg.

He left a widow and two sons, Alexander T. Laidley, and James Madison Laidley. She came to Charleston, and there resided until 1875 when she died, aged 88 years.

ALEXANDER T. LAIDLEY, born in 1807, was taken by his uncle John Osborn Laidley, of Cabell County, and given a place in the clerk's office with John Samuels. He came to Kana- wha in 1824 and was placed in the clerk's of- fice there by his uncle, Alex. W. Quarrier. He was afterwards deputy clerk in Ohio County, and later clerk of said county. He was com- missioner of chancery in Kanawha, and had the reputation of being the best clerk in Vir- ginia. He married Miss Blaine in 1835, a cousin of Hon. J. G. Blaine. They had one child, Richard Quarrier Laidley. He was mar- ried the second time, to Dulce R. McFarland in 1846. Major Alexander was noted for his devotion to the Episcopal Church and to the Masonic Order. He died in 1895, aged 87, at Charleston.

RICHARD Q. LAIDLEY born 1836, first pre- pared himself for the bar, and afterwards for a physician. He married in 1862 his cousin Lydia A. Whittiker, just before the Kanawha riflemen went to Dixie on retreat. He was a lieutenant in the Kanawha Riflemen and at the death of Capt. Patton, was made captain. After the war he opened a fine drug store in Charleston. He died in 1873 leaving a widow and two children: Dorcas, who married Joel Ruffner, and Percy, who married Miss Mary Winkler.

JAMES MADISON LAIDLEY, son of James Grant Laidley, was born 1809, in Parkersburg. After his father's death he made his home with his uncle, John Osborn Laidley, of Cabell County, until he was admitted to the bar to

practice. In 1840 he married Annie Maria Beuhring, oldest daughter of F. G. L. Beuh- ring of "Maple Grove," Cabell County, he then came to Charleston to practice law and re- mained there the rest of his life. He was ever a busy man; a statesman, an attorney a salt maker, a banker and a writer. He was in the legislature in 1848-9, a Whig candidate for Congress in 1858, but it was in a Democratic district and consequently his opponent, A. G. Jenkins, was elected. He was a good lawyer, a fluent talker and a good writer and advocated the greenback money theory. He was social and liberal, affable and polished in manner. Once when going down the Ohio River, the boat had to lay some time while taking on freight, there was a crowd of men on the bank waiting, he being a candidate concluded it was a good time to make a speech. They all lis- tened and laughed, admitting he was on the right side of the question but the wrong side of the river. His children were :

Capt. Frederick A. Laidley, a salt-maker and steamboat man, residing in Covington, Ky .; Frances Amelia; Harriet Corrine, now Mrs. J. D. Baines; Emma Louisa, now Mrs. Henry Whittaker; Mary Rowena; J. J. Laidley; George S. Laidley; Annie, who was Mrs. James Johnson (now deceased) of Cabell County; Juliet Shrewsbury (Mrs. John Es- kew) ; and Madison M. Laidley, a resident of Madison, Indiana. Most of these reside in Charleston.

George Summers Laidley, widely known as "Professor George" needs no introduction to Charlestonians; his influence as an educator and his success in the public schools of this city is recognized throughout the state and ever beyond her borders, is he known.

JOHN OSBORN LAIDLEY, the fourth child of Thomas Laidley and Sarah Osborn was born at Morgantown in 1791. He read law with his oldest brother, James Grant Laidley, in Parkersburg, Wood County; was licensed in 18II and was admitted to the bar in 1813. He went to Cabell Court House to practice, but the War of 1812 had commenced and he and his friend, John Samuels left for the East, to join the army. Striking the headwaters of the James River they got a boat and went down

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to Norfolk, where they volunteered in Capt. Kennedy's company of the Virginia Artillery and remained at or near Norfolk until the end of the war. In December, 1814, they returned to the home of their adoption, Cabell County Court House, called Barboursville.

John Osborn Laidley was appointed prose- cuting attorney of the County, and continued in office all his life, although after the Consti- tutional Convention of 1832, it was an elec- tive one.

As a prosecuting attorney, such men as Judge Summers and Col. Smith said "he was the best Prosecuting Attorney in the State of Virginia and no guilty man ever escaped." He was a Jeffersonian Democrat, and a member of the Virginia Convention in 1829 and '30, when the questions of Suffrage and Taxation became so warm that the foundation for a division of the State was then laid. This convention is said "to have embraced more distinguished men than any other held in the United States." He was in several sessions of the legislature and afterwards was always a warm Demo- crat but not a Secessionist. He lived in Bar- boursville until 1829, when he moved to the Ohio River having purchased a tract of land, extending from the river to the hills, a short distance below the Guyandotte River. This was part of the "Savage Grant," now included in the bounds of the City of Huntington, and here he built the first brick residence in that part of the county, facing the river, along which the turnpike ran. He called his home "Lamartine" and it is still in the possession of the family. In 1843 Bishop Meade visited Kanawha Valley and "Still House" Mission, (above "Walnut Grove") near Stalen's Run, and here he confirmed a class, of which Mr. Laidley was a member. He rode all the way from Cabell Court House for this service and rite. Mr. Laidley may justly be styled the founder of "Marshall College" or "Academy," as it was first called-being one of the fore- most in getting appropriations, and contribut- ing his time, energy and money for the good of the institution, that his children and his neighbors' might have educational advantages.

Mr. Laidley practiced in Logan County, and assisted with its organization in 1824, also in

Wayne, which was organized in 1842, Mr. Laidley being appointed commonwealth attor- ney.

He was taken sick in April, 1863, from ex- posure while returning from Court, and died of pneumonia. He was tall and straight with a stern dignified manner, had a keen dark eye and a dark complexion and was often called "Black Hawk." He was the soul of honor and integrity and always commanded the con- fidence of everyone, his word was never ques- tioned on any subject. He was simple in man- ner, of studious habits, exemplary character, honored in the entire community. The records of the state preserve his memory and point with pride to so eminent a citizen.

In 1816 John Osborn Laidley was married to Mary Scales Hite a daughter of Jacob Hite and Sarah Scales and a granddaughter of Maj. Nathaniel Scales of North Carolina, who came to Cabell in 1802: the Scales are English. Jacob Hite was a great grandson of Jost Hite, the first settler of the Valley of Virginia. Baron Jost Heydt or Hite of Strausburg, Germany, and his wife Annia Maria DuBois of Holland, arrived in New York in 1710, they lived in Kingston, New York, and at dif- ferent places in Pennsylvania : in 1831 Jost Hite bought of the Van Meters their grant of 40,000 acres in the Valley of Va. and also ob- tained an order of the Council for 100,000 acres more, all on condition that 100 families should be settled on said land, "West of the Mountains." In 1832 he took up the march through the Wilderness with his family and "settled the land," the cavalcade arrived safely, crossing the Potomac and going up the Valley to the Opequon, where he located, building homes, shops. mills, servants' quarters, etc. Some of these stone buildings are standing to- day. The Hite family is a prominent one all through the Virginias and at one time they were large land owners in the Valley of Va. but are now scattered. The long litigation be- tween Hite and Lord Fairfax resulted in a decree for Hite, though it was not entirely settled until after Hite's death

Children of John Osborn Laidley and Mary Scales Hite were born as follows :

Amacetta, March 1818: Louise Mary, April

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1820; Theodore T. S., April 1822; Albert, June 1824; Thomas Mortimer, April 1826; Alexander Ulysses, May 1828; Sarah Ellen, April 1830; John Hite, Aug. 1832; Eliza Ma- tilda, Oct. 1834; James Henry, Jan. 1837; William Sydney, June 1839, George Summers, July 1841; Helen Medora, Oct. 1843; Lean- der, Aug. 1846.

AMACETTA LAIDLEY was born at Cabell Court House and was educated in Pittsburg. When very young she was married to Judge George W. Summers of Kanawha. She came immediately to Charleston and there spent the rest of her life. No Kanawhaian was more honored and beloved. She was a woman of rare qualities, combining great strength of character, with gentleness and sweetness. Her charming personality won all hearts, whether at home, or in society, at the Springs, or the National Capital. She died Oct. 1867, one year before the Judge's death, and was buried at "Walnut Grove," Kanawha Co., in the family graveyard of the Summers'. All their children died in infancy, except Lewis and George. Lewis went to Lexington, Va., to school, and to Marietta College where he grad- uated in 1866. He married Lucy A. Wood- bridge in 1867, they reside at "Glenwood" the homestead. Their children are: George W. Summers, a journalist; Elizabeth W., wife of Russell G. Quarrier; Amacetta Laidley, de- ceased; and Lewis, who lives at "Walnut Grove" the home of his Summers ancestors.

GEORGE W. SUMMERS, JR. enlisted in the Con- federate Army when about 16 years old. After a year's service, he died from exposure in camp. His body was brought home, "through the lines" and buried at "Walnut Grove."

THEODORE T. S. LAIDLEY, late Senior Col- onel of the Ordnance Department U. S. Army, was a native of W. Va., and born April 14, 1822. At barely sixteen years of age, on July I, 1838, he entered the Military Academy, and graduated July I, 1842, number six of a class of fifty-six, embracing many distinguished names.

A career so long, and distinguished as that of Col. Laidley, must be brief to come within

the limits assigned to this notice. When he graduated he was commissioned Second Lieu- tenant of the Ordnance Department and served at Arsenals. During the Mexican War, he was three times breveted, for gallant and meritorious conduct-at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo and Pueblo.

Gen. Grant's carrying a mountain howitzer up into the belfry of a church at San Cosme, has become famous historically, yet Laidley performed a similar and much more difficult feat at Cerro Gordo.

"Col. Laidley occupied almost every im- portant position in the Ordnance Department, commanding its most important arsenals and the National Armory. He was assigned va- rious and important posts for which his qual- ifications preeminently fitted him. He in- vented many valuable appliances that are used in the War Department to-day. After more than forty years of active service he was re- tired at his own request. As a writer he wielded a trenchant pen; his style was clear, concise and logical. His books and official re- ports are models.

He was a soldier, every inch of him, reso- lute, ready, unflinching. His devotion to his church is well known to all who knew him. He was more like General ("Chinese") Gordon than any other American officer ; the same self- negation, the same love of man; the inflexible standing for God, when other men were set- ting up their idols; the same readiness to be spent and to look beyond for a tired man's re- ward. Col. Laidley died in the modesty of his singularly great but retiring nature, at Palatka, Florida, April 4, 1886, aged 64."-(Extracts from the Journal of The Association of the Graduates of the U. S. Military Academy, written by Captain John G. Butler.)

Col. Laidley was buried at West Point Mil- itary cemetery. He was married to Jane Webb Averill of N. Y. 1848, who lives at Elizabeth, New Jersey, with their daughter Mrs. H. H. Oberly.

ALBERT LAIDLEY born at Barboursville was a lawyer, a merchant and a farmer, received his education at Athens, Ohio. He was cul- tured and travelled. Was elected to the legis-

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lature in 1861 and went to the Session at Richmond. The location of Huntington was greatly due to his activity and influence, he purchased for the "Central Land" company all the land where Huntington now is from the property holders. He married Vesta Brown in October, 1845. She belonged to one of the oldest families in Cabell, being the daughter of Dr. Benj. Brown and Matilda Scales. Al- bert L. died October, 1876, at Huntington and was buried there, the place of his nativity. His widow spent the last years of her life in Charleston.

WILLIAM SYDNEY LAIDLEY, born at "Lamar- tine," the Laidley homestead in Cabell County, married Virginia Brown, September, 1869 at Elm Grove, Charleston. She was a daughter of Judge James H. Brown and Louisa Mayer Beuhring, second daughter of F. G. L. Beuh- ring of Cabell County, Virginia ; graduated at Dr. Charles C. Beatty's School, "Female Sem- inary" of Steubenville, Ohio, as did her mother years before. Their children are: Mary Louise Laidley, who married H. B. Clarkson ; Amacetta Virginia, who married H. W. Good- win; Theodora Beuhring, who died in 1900; Lucy Brown, who married Jo Lane Stern ; Madelon Dannenburg, Dorothy Osborn, Will- iam Sydney, Jr., Janet Scales, and Douglas Scales who died in 1890.

Mr. Laidley came to Charleston in 1863 and has been a practising attorney at the Kanawha Bar ever since.

WILLIAM JONES, who is district agent for the Fidelity and Casualty Insurance Com- pany of New York, resident agent at Charles- ton, W. Va., for the Ocean, Accident and Guarantee Corporation, Ltd., and vice-presi- dent and secretary of the Provident Life and Casualty Company, is one of the best known casualty insurance men in this section. He was born in Jefferson County, Ala., in 1863, and is a son of Thomas and Lucy ( Williams) Jones.

Thomas Jones and wife were born and mar- ried in Wales and came to America prior to the Civil War, locating in Alabama. From Jefferson County he enlisted in the Confed- erate Army, for service in the Civil War. At

the battle of Chickamauga he was so seriously wounded that he never really recovered and this injury was eventually the cause of his death, which occurred in 1872. His widow survived him but one year. Two children, William and Jennie, were thus made orphans. The latter became the wife of Charles All- good and died in California at the age of twenty-four years.

William Jones obtained his schooling in his native state and at the age of twenty-two years, equipped with the profession of coal mining engineer, went to Kentucky and was in the coal mining business there. He then became in- terested in casualty insurance and in 1905 came to Charleston from Kentucky, giving up his profession of mining engineer in order to devote all his time to insurance. He has built up a large business and was one of the or- ganizers of the Provident Life & Casualty Company, which does more business in the line of policies carried than any other insurance company in West Virginia. Mr. Jones is vice president and secretary of this company.

Mr. Jones was married to Miss Gertrude Meyers, who was born and reared at Meyers- dale, Pa., a place settled by her grandfather, Peter Meyers. Her parents were Dr. W. H. and Maggie (Large) Meyers, the father being a prominent physician in Somerset County, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are members of the Episcopal church. He is identified with the Elks and the J. O. American Mechanics. In politics he is a Democrat.

JOSEPH E. CHILTON,* a member of the well known law firm of Chilton, MacCorkle & Chilton, of Charleston, W. Va., was born in Kanawha County, W. Va., December 6, 1855, and is a worthy representative of one of the distinguished families of this section.

Joseph E. Chilton was mainly educated at Charleston after the close of the Civil War, and then became a student in the law office of Hon. John E. Kenna. now deceased, and was admitted to the bar in 1878. He engaged in the practice of his profession in Lincoln County, W. Va., until 1888, from 1880 serving in the office of prosecuting attorney for Lincoln and Roane Counties. From 1888 until 1897 he

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was engaged as one of the attorneys for the C. and O. Railroad Company. In the latter year the present firm was organized and he be- came the junior member and in connection with it and as an individual practitioner has proved his professional ability in many important cases.

Mr. Chilton is a Democrat in politics and takes a very active interest in public affairs. He has been a delegate to numerous state con- ventions and was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention that nominated Hon. W. J. Bryan for the Presidency, at Kansas City, Mo. For some years he served as chair- man of the Kanawha County Democratic Com- mittee. Mr. Chilton is identified with Masonic bodies. He is unmarried.

HON. WILLIAM EDWIN CHILTON, United States Senator from West Virginia, and a member of the well known law firm of Chilton, MacCorkle, & Chilton, of Charles- ton, for many years has been prominent as a lawyer and politician in Kanawha County, \V. Va. He was born on the home farm near St. Albans in this county, March 17, 1858, and is a son of William E. and Mary E. (Wilson) Chilton. His father died in 1883 but his mother is living and resides at No. 1108 Virginia Street, Charleston. One son, Samuel B. Chilton, a brother of Senator Chilton, died at St. Albans in 1893.

William E. Chilton was reared on the farm in Big Sandy District until he was ten years old and attended the free schools and later Shelton College, at St. Albans. Afterward he taught school for several years in Lincoln and Kanawha Counties and while so engaged began the study of law, making remarkable headway without assistance, and being admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-one years. He became a law partner of the late Senator John E. Kenna and when the latter died he formed a partnership with former Governor W. A. MacCorkle, with whom he has remained associated ever since.

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History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 129

Author: Laidley, William Sydney, 1839-1917. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co Number of Pages: 1066

Author: Laidley, William Sydney, 1839-1917. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co
Number of Pages: 1066