History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 36

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 36

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).

What there is to regretted is that the life of the early physicians has not been recorded but left to tradition, and we know that tradi- tion fades out and leaves no coloring. There was a Doctor Caruthers in Kanawha at some time, but of him we find no record; his asso- ciates have, as he has done, gone with no rec- ord left.

It has been said that Dr. John Eoff was the first resident physician of Charleston and that he came in 1810. He was born in Shepherds- town, attended medical school in Philadelphia, went to Wheeling and then to Charleston and began to practice medicine. In 1812 he mar- ried Helen Quarrier and in 1816 returned to Wheeling, where he remained the rest of his life and became eminently successful.

The next mentioned physician was Dr. N. W. Thompson, who, it is said, was here in 1814, and this seems to be all there is to tell of him. Whether he belonged to the Coalsmouth family or came before them, or what he did or tried to do, we know not. One thing we are satis- fied, about, he neglected to make a record, hence we can tell you no more. There was also a Dr. William Cobbs settled up Elk, about the mouth of Big Sandy, who practiced medicine for a long time and was said to be "lucky," if not learned. He had a large territory to serve and he killed himself riding about visit- ing the sick,-and last of all the Doctor died also.

As to the date of the coming of Dr. Spicer Patrick, there has arisen a question whether it was in 1816, or later. Here is a case where there should have been no question, where rec- ords should have been abundant; and we find the record to be 1816. Elsewhere we have given a sketch of this physician, and he is said to have been one of the best the country afforded. He aimed to discover the cause of the trouble-to make a correct diagnosis of the case, and to be as sure thereof as was possible, then to proceed with his remedy.

Then there was Dr. Richard E. Putney who came from Buckingham county, Virginia, in 1815 or thereabouts. He was born in 1793, began to practice on his arrival and continued until his death in 1862. His wife was Ann E. Ruffner, and they settled in the vicinity of the salt works. He was a highly educated man and an excellent physician. For nearly fifty years he went in and out before his people, helping them to get back to health and strength.

Dr. James E. Putney, son of the old Dr. Richard, lived and practiced in Malden for forty years. He was born in 1816, attended school in Athens, Ohio, and at Lexington, Va ..

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where he graduated in 1837. He afterwards attended lectures in Cincinnati and at Louis- ville, Ky., where he was graduated in 1846. He returned to Malden and practiced through- out the Valley. He was quite popular and never failed to attend to those who called for his help. The latter part of his life he suffered with ataxia, the result of exposure and hard- ship in the army from 1861 to 1865. He died at home in Malden in 1876.

Dr. T. O. Watkins came in 1836. He lost his life in 1840. He practiced medicine as long as he lived and his office was in "Virgin Row." His son, Joseph F. Watkins, was a physician also and they were both devoted to their patients' welfare. They were graduates of medical schools and noted for their success.

Henry Rogers, M. D., died in 1837.

Dr. Daniel Smith was a physician practicing at the upper end of the county and was faith- ful to the patient when it was dangerous to attend, as was the case when the cholera was prevalent.

There was also Dr. A. E. Summers, Dr. A. S. Patrick, Dr. John P. Hale, Dr. James Don- nally; Dr. J. Turner of Coalsmouth ; Dr. John Parks of Malden; Dr. William Mairs of Sis- sonville; and Dr. C. I. Lewis of Kanawha Falls.

Charles Irwin Lewis, M. D. was born at Cedar Grove, Kanawha County, Virginia, in 1836. His father was Thomas A. Lewis, son of Dr. Charles Lewis, son of William Lewis, of the Augusta County family of Lewises. His mother was Mary, a daughter of Aaron Stock- ton. He graduated at the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia in 1858 and began the practice in the fall of the same year at Cannel- ton in Kanawha, where they were manufac- turing oil from Cannel coal and working over 200 men, and he remained therc until 1861 when he enlisted in the service of the Con- federate States and was commissioned Captain of Troop I of the 8th Virginia Reg. Cavalry. His company was enlisted in Fayette and Ka- nawha counties. He continued in this service until 1864 when he was captured at Shepherds- town on the Potomac, and remained in prison with the "Immortal Six Hundred" until the end came, when he returned to Cannelton and

took up his practice anew. He was never mar- ried and has become almost too old to go far, and his eyesight is not so good.

Dr. John T. Cotton was born in 1819, and was the son of Dr. Cotton of Boston and an eminent physician. He graduated at Marietta College, studied with his father, attended med- ical school in Cincinnati, began practice in Ravenswood, Va .; and just after his marriage to Sarah Fitzhugh in 1845, settled in Charles- ton. He devoted his life to his profession and his practice was a varied one. At one time the cholera visited the Valley and the Doctor had a bad case in Charleston. The patient thought he had to die and the Doctor was of somewhat the same opinion as medicine seemed to have no effect. While alone at his home with his wife, who was preparing a meal and was cook- ing a pot of cabbage, the sick man concluded he would have one more square meal. While his wife was out he helped himself freely, and when the Doctor came he was told what had been done. The sick man was wonderfully improved,-it cured him. Dr. Cotton's daugh- ters were Mrs. Governor Wilson, Mrs. Frank Woodman and Mrs. W. B. Donnally. He had two boys, John and Harry, both deceased. The Doctor took no special interest in politics, but was interested in the church and was a lifelong member of St. John's Episcopal Church. He was always. a generous, kind- hearted, intelligent gentleman, and ranked with the best physicians of the State. He died in 1906.

Dr. J. Parker was from New York and practiced surgery and was considered eminent in his profession, but he remained but a few years before the war.

Dr. J. M. Stanton died in 1904. Dr. \Vil- liam P. Hogue, Dr. William Dunbar, Dr. Daniel Mayer, Dr. E. W. Clarke, Dr. George P. Thompson, and Dr. F. H. Thomas were all practicing but a few years ago.

Dr. T. L. Barber came to Kanawha and be- gan to practice, and seemed to be on the go all the time. He knew everybody and went about night and day. He erected the Barber Sanatorium and Hospital and took a great in- terest in electric therapeutics. He married the daughter of Judge J. H. Brown. He had

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not completed his hospital before he, himself, was taken down. He made a trip to England to consult a physician, and he had consulted eminent ones in Cincinnati, but the disease progressed and we had to give him up. He was buried in 1910. He was a very active, ener- getic man, and devoted to his work.

The members of the medical profession in Kanawha county are an able body of men- in general earnest students and fully up-to- date, both as physicians and surgeons, and re- flecting in full measure the intelligence of the community of which they form an important part. They are members-all or most of them -of the Kanawha County Medical Society, which meets twice a month in the Hotel Ka- nawha Assembly Room, and no small number belong also to the state and national associa- tions of their profession. They have never been found wanting in an emergency and are among our best citizens. We append a list of those now practicing in Charleston and the en- virons and the reader may find more detailed mention of many-both of the city and out- lying districts-in the biographical part of this volume. .

PHYSICIANS, 19II

Albert L. Amick, Laomi L. Aultz, Otis L. Aultz, Geo. S. Bacus, Summers F. Beck- with, M. Henry Brooks, Dorse W. Brown, Irene B. Bullard, John E. Cannady, Gus- tave B. Capito, Lawrence Carr, Ira P. Champe, Vincent T. Churchman, Charles E. Copeland, Edwin A. Davis, Eugene Davis, Richard T. Davis, Ellis E. Edgell, Henry F. Gamble, Martin V. Godbey, Patrick L. Gor- don, Job L. Gregory, Peter A. Haley, Geo. M. Hamilton, W. R. Hughey, Robert L. Jones, Alex. Littlepage, Geo. Lounsbery, J. M. Mc- Conikay, Frank L. McGee, W. A. McMillan, Geo. A. McQueen, Adam T. Mairs, W. F. May, Joseph Mayer, John Milbee, John W. Moore, John S. Morris, Hugh G. Nicholson, Charles O'Grady, Benjamin S. Preston, James Putney, Chas. A. Ray, Henry L. Robertson, W. S. Robertson, Chas. W. Root, G. Clarence Schoolfield, John T. Sharp, Arthur A. Shaw- key, Earl J. Stahl, E. D. Stump, John L. Stump, Fred H. Thaxton, W. J. Thomas, W W. Tompkins, Harry H. Young.

CHAPTER XVII

SOME OLD TIME CITIZENS

Brief Sketches of Geo. Goshorn, I. B. & F. Noyes, Edmund Saunders, Ezra Walker, James Truslow, Rev. John Snyder, John Slack, Greenbury Slack, John and Levi Welch, James Nevins, Col. James Atkinson, John McConihay, Adam Aultz, Joseph Bibby, Mathews Family, Blackwell Chilton, Geo. Fisher, David Shirkey, Charles Brown Family, Col. Henry Fitzhugh, Maj. James Bream, Col Joseph Lovell, Bream Memorial Church-Whit- taker Family-The Van Bibbers-Andrew Donnally Jr .- Mathew P. Wyatt-Aaron Stockton-William W. Henning-Fry Family-Capt. S. C. Farley-Miller Family of Gau- ley Bridge-James Carlon's Memory-Col. Benj. H. Smith-Harrison B. Smith-Gen. Daniel Smith-Luke Wilcox-Dr. Spicer Patrick-Shrewsbury Family. Capt. Sam Christy-and Mr. Truslow.

George Goshorn was the ancestor of the Goshorns of Kanawha ; he was born in 1789, in Pennsylvania, and died in Charleston in 1845. He came to Charleston in 1822, and by energy and integrity he and his sons accumulated a fortune and maintained their character as the most reliable merchants. His sons were John H., William F., Jacob, George Alvan and David A. They were Democrats and Presby- terians, and of course were faithful and con- scientious citizens.

Noyes, Isaac, Bradford, and Franklin .- They came from Columbia County, New York, in 1785; Isaac came in 1804 and Bradford in 1809. Isaac married Cynthia Morris in 1807. They engaged in salt making, selling goods and buying furs, and conducted a general mercan- tile business. Isaac retired with a handsome property in 1848. He was devoted to the Presbyterian church and as all the family of his name were good musicians, they always had a good choir and he was an elder in said church. He introduced the organ in the church services about 1830, which of course made some of the members groan, but it was continued and they used it and also had a base viol, but with a good man with good music, and a good

preacher, what did the opposition amount to?

Bradford Noyes was diligent in business and served the Lord, and was blessed with success. His family were Mary, Annie, James Bradford, and Emma. Mary, the wife of John C. Ruby, died in 1867. Mr. Bradford Noyes was born in 1788 and died in 1850.

Franklin Noyes was born in 1793, came to Kanawha in 1826, was a merchant and salt maker. He died in 1856: his wife was Nancy Venable and her children were Bradford, Catherine, Isaac, Philip H., Franklin, William A., Charles, James B. and Benjamin. Who was it that ever missed these boys playing on all sorts of musical instruments, or the laugh of Jim B .?

Edmund Saunders came from Ireland in 1845. where he was born in 1774, came 10 Charleston in 1863; he lived to be over one hundred years old.

Ezra Walker was born in Vermont in 1802; he was graduated in the Ohio University at Athens, began to practice law, after having taught school in the Kanawha Salines, in 1832. He became superintendent of the James Run and Kanawha Company, which included the turnpike and river from Covington, Va., to the

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Ohio River. His first wife was Miss Mary Smith of Staunton, Va., who he married in 1832; afterward in 1849 he married Julia Shepherd. He died in 1853, leaving his wife and two children, Ezra and Kate. He was a finished scholar, an elder of the Presbyterian church, and a close friend of Dr. J. M. Brown, pastor of said church in Charleston, and of Rev. Dr. McElhenny of Lewisburg, and of Judge Lewis and George W. Summers of Kanawha. He was known as a Christian gen- tleman.

James Truslow was born in Fredericksburg, Va., in 1778. He married Agnes Mosby Finch in Fluvana in 1807, came to Kanawha in 181 I, and died in 1830. He was noted for his strict integrity and sincere piety and his good works in aid of religion. His children were: Mary, the wife of Geo. H. Patrick; Elizabeth, the wife of Rev. C. R. Baldwin; America, John, James, William and Charles Truslow.

Rev. John Snyder was among the first set- tlers of Kanawha and lived at Queen Shoals on Elk, and died at the residence of his son, Daniel B. Snyder.

John Slack came to Kanawha from Green- brier county at an early day. He had two sons, John and Greenbury. John was born in 1810 and spent near all his life in Charleston; he had been a salt maker, farmer, constable, deputy sheriff, sheriff, merchant, clerk of the county court, and others too numerous to men- tion, and was given anything he desired. He was upright, efficient, kind hearted, and never offensive. His wife was Sarah Porter; their children were Fannie, who was the wife of John S. Cole, who were the parents of John Slack Cole; Edward B., on his farm on Elk; George Porter Slack, and Miss Tidee who married a minister.

Greenbury Slack was born in 1807 in Ka- nawha, and was a man of great positiveness of character. He was a justice, a farmer and merchant, and always when not otherwise en- gaged was studying his books and getting in- formation from papers. He was well in- formed in history, mathematics and poetry, reading such authors as Milton, Young, Pol- iock, Shakespeare. In 1861 he took a very decided stand for the union of the states in 17

opposition to secession. He was sent to the convention at Wheeling and aided in the re- organization of the state of Virginia in the Union, notwithstanding the action of the con- vention at Richmond. He was also in the convention of 1863 which organized the State of West Virginia; he was in the senate of the new state. Prior to the war he was a Whig, subsequent thereto a Republican, and more of a writer than a speaker. He died in 1873 in his sixty-fifth year. His children were Major Hedgeman, Capt. John Slack, Jr., and Mary, wife of John W. Wingfield.

John Slack, Jr., is now the oldest survivor of the name. He has been sheriff or deputy sheriff near all his life, a careful, thoughtful man of affairs and a good judge of humanity.

Welch, John and Levi .- They came from Pennsylvania. Levi Welch was a merchant of Charleston, a man of sound business sense. He was educated, of great moral worth, and enjoyed the respect of all with whom he had any dealings. A resident of the Salines, he was also a salt-maker, and was engaged as manager of the shipment and sale of salt. He died of cholera in 1849. He married in 1821, a daughter of Goodrich Slaughter, one of the early settlers, and was connected with other prominent families. John was, like his brother Levi, a good clerk, bookkeeper and accountant, was deputy sheriff and merchant, and was strictly honest and careful. His wife was a sister of James C. McFarland, the president of the Bank of Virginia. He died in 1856, aged sixty-seven. His widow re- sided on Summers street. His son, James, lost his life in the Civil War at the battle of Scary on the 17th of July, 1861. And there was George, his sister Miss Cornelia, and Levi.

James Nevins, born in 1806, in Rockbridge, Va., was a blacksmith, who obtained a knowl- edge of the ordinary branches of an English education. He went to Greenbrier in 1840, and having been a mechanic all his life was a master of his trade. He married in Green- brier, Miss Jane McClelland, a woman of great worth and character. In 1843, he came to Kanawha and his shop was on Front street near the lower ferry. Then he went to Gos- horn street. He was of great physical strength

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and endurance and was an upright, reliable man and an excellent mechanic. He was a man of very positive convictions, did his own thinking, and acted on his own judgment. He was a consistent member of the Presbyterian church and always in his seat when the church was open each Sunday. His daughter was the wife of Mr. Edward Irwin, for years a member of the council of the city and one of the best hearted men that ever lived. Once a poor, hard-looking man applied to a good man on the street for some money to get his breakfast and the good man declined for fear he would spend it for drink. He then applied to Mr. Irwin and he gave it to him for fear, he said, that the poor fellow was hungry.

Col. James Atkinson was born in Kanawha in 1811 and died in 1866. He was the son of George and Sarah Atkinson, and his par- ents were not wealthy, but they raised their family on a farm and of course there were no free schools; nor were there many of any other kind without being attended with con- siderable expense. James, like all other boys that wanted to learn, managed to secure a fair English education, which qualified him for the ordinary branches of business. After remain- ing at home on the farm until he was twenty- one years old, he was a hale and hearty, stout young man, with plenty of good sense and also what was another qualification, he was of good address, reasonable, fair and upright, and attentive to business. He was made a constable and was kept busy. He then learned the trade of a carpenter and was much more than a common one, for he was an architect and could handle large contracts. For several years he gave this business his exclusive at- tention. In 1840 he engaged in a little specu- lation and he with one or two others loaded a barge with poplar lumber and started for New Orleans. They took their own time and built houses, furnishing the material, and it was two years before he reached home again. He then married Miss Miriam Rader, daugh- ter of George Rader of Nicholas county. He then engaged in boat building, and then pur- chased a farm on Elk Run and went thereon in 1845. He was elected a justice of the peace and continued to be re-elected, for he

held the confidence and respect of the people. He was a deputy sheriff under R. H. Early, under John Slack, Sr., and under John Slack, Jr., and was sheriff himself in 1861-62. He gave satisfaction in all relations of life. Dur- ing the war he and Greenbury Slack did a mercantile business and it was a success, and he continued thereat until the fall of 1865. He was a quiet, generous, free-hearted man, and his home was always open to entertain ministers, and he was a liberal supporter of his own church, the Methodist church. He was well known throughout the entire county and was well received wherever he went.

In the summer of 1864 he was riding down Elk run, going to Charleston, and he stopped at Mr. Duling's house and took dinner. Mrs. Duling, who was his daughter, prepared a good dinner for him, and he enjoyed a hearty meal. Before leaving, however, knowing that they had made some cider and had set it away in jugs in the cellar, he went down to get a glass of it, and near the cider there had been set a glass of caustic soda, or lye, and he helped himself to a glass and by mistake took a swal- low of this deadly soda, and the wonder was that it did not kill him at once. He was taken home and he lived, confined to his bed, for a long while, but never regained his health, although he was able to walk around. He was a fine, large, hale and hearty man of over two hundred and twenty pounds, he after- wards became but a living skeleton. After two years, in September, 1866, he finally had to yield and gave up the struggle, and the en- tire country mourned his sad loss. Mrs. At- kinson, his wife, was the most liberal, gen- erous, good-natured person that ever lived anywhere. If she had a fault, it was her over- generosity and kindness of heart.

John McConihay was an early settler of the Kanawha valley, and his home was at the mouth of Field's creek, about fifteen miles from Charleston, on the south side of the run. He owned a large body of land, valuable for its coal as also for its timber and for farming purposes. He was an active, energetic busi- ness man and he became the owner of a large estate, and he was the head of a large and re- spectable family.

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Adam Aultz was an early settler of this county and settled on the Pocatalico run in the northwestern part of the county. He had a good farm on which he resided, a good citizen and an honest one, and a representative man of his part of the county, and he lived to be quite an old man, with a large and worthy family of well-to-do people.

Joseph Bibby was born in England in 1805, and he became a miller by trade, and at twenty- six years of age, shortly after his marriage, he emigrated to the United States, reaching Norfolk in 1832. Afterward he made his way westward and located in Kanawha in No- vember, 1832. The Ruffners had built a large planing-mill on Elk river, in Charleston. Mr. Bibby succeeded in getting work immediately and after about five years he purchased the ' mill and owned it ever afterwards. It has been called Bibby's mill, and by most people it is supposed that he erected it himself. He also spent a few years in making salt, but mill- ing was his work for a lifetime. He also in- vested in real estate in Charleston, which proved a good investment. He and his wife made a trip to England in 1860 and spent six months among his old associates at the home of his youth. There were no better people than the Bibbys, and their English customs and accent always made them interesting asso- ciates.

Mathews Family .- In 1808 this family came from Buckingham county, Va., to Ka- nawha and settled near the mouth of Davis creek. Before they arrived in Virginia they had lived in Wales. Thomas had two broth- ers, and he came in his own ship with all his possessions and a large number of men with him to the Chesapeake bay. It seems that these brothers did not like the English and had incurred the enmity of some British officers, and hence they departed for the colonies with all they had. Thomas Mathews located in Buckingham and he had a son, Thomas, Sr., who came to Kanawha as aforesaid, and it was Thomas, Sr., who remarked that before the lawyers, doctors and preachers reached the Kanawha valley, there was as peaceful, healthy and good moral vicinity as could be found, but -! Thomas Sedden Aximanda

Mathews and Guy P. Mathews were the two sons, and Lucy the daughter, and she was Mrs. Swindler. Both sons were surveyors, and Thomas S. A. Mathews (called Sutton for Sedden), was one of the commissioners of for- feited and delinquent land, with James M. Laidley the other commissioner; this was about 1840.

Guy P. Mathews was a surveyor also; his wife was Jane Wilson (a sister of Alex. Wil- son). He has two sons : Thomas J. Mathews, a surveyor, and jolin, the steamboat captain. Thomas C. married Miss Wygall of Diblin, Va. Captain John married Miss Walker of Brownstown. Mary C., the oldest child of Guy P., married B. F. Porter, and her son was Guy A. Porter. Elizabeth married Mr. Burks of Cabell county. Lucy married George Morrison, whose son was Hale Morrison. Sarah and Mattie never married. Sutton was born in 1800 and died in 1850. Guy P. lived on his farm and died thereon. It was the father, Thomas, who made the eight day clocks which were six or eight feet tall, show- ing the hours, days, weeks and the quarter of the moon, and various other inventions which showed him to be a most skillful mechanic. Sutton discovered cannel coal and also that oil could be made from this coal, which led to the coal operations at several places in the county. It was the father that at an early day got up the great race between the steam- boat, Daniel Webster (Captain Coleman), and a canoe manned by six men, to run from Mal- den down to Charleston, and everybody took sides and made bets, the people being about equally divided. Mr. Mathews was one of the principal men, and he bet on the canoe and lost $500. They prepared the canoe and had six good men, and at the start the canoe kept ahead for awhile, but the steamer finally passed it and won the race. Dr. Hale said that almost every man and woman had a bet and the banks were lined with spectators, and the whole community interested.

Blackwell Chilton came from Fauquier, Va., where he was born in 1783, landing in Kana- wha in 1827, and was a farmer. He died in Charleston in 1872, in his ninetieth year. He was an industrious, honest, enterprising man

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of more than ordinary ability and enjoyed the respect of his fellowmen.

George Fisher lived on his farm near Sis- sonville on the Poca river, and was about ninety years of age when he passed away. He was upright and industrious, took care of his property, a good farmer and accumulated a good estate. He was noted for letting alone other people's affairs. He left a large family, even to great grandchildren.

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History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 36

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