History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 37

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 37

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David Shirkey was also in the Sissonville vicinity, one of the leading farmers of the county, a good reliable man, industrious, hon- orable, having a large family of respected people.

Charles Brown Family .- Charles Brown was born in Amherst county, Va., in the year 1770. He was the owner of land in Kanawha as early as 1804, and we also know that he married a daughter of Reuben Slaughter of Kanawha in 1808, and that he lived in Ka- nawha until his death in 1849. Col. Andrew Donnally's eldest daughter Mary, was the wife of Reuben Slaughter, and his daughter, Elizabeth Slaughter, was the wife of Charles Brown, and Charles Brown's children were: Tallyrand P., Christopher, William Pitt and Charles Porus. Charles Brown purchased land in Teay's valley, on Kanawha, on Third, on Guyandotte, Morris Spring branch, lots in Charleston, Peters Creek, Davis Creek and Elks Run. He patented land in 1818 on Ka- nawha, Hurricane, Elk, Big Sandy, Coal and Rocky fork, near 2,000 acres, besides pur- chasing much more. It is said that he was eccentric, that in after life he kept the ferry at the mouth of Elk across both Elk and Ka- nawha; and he was so well known that most of his friends called him "Charley." He had been in business with Mr. Whitteker and this is supposed to have been while he was en- gaged in making salt just below the mouth of Lewis creek. He lived in the vicinity of Malden; on which side of the river we have not learned, but we know he owned land on Rush creek and made a lease for 99 years, which expired but a few years ago. Late in his life he lived in Charleston at the mouth of Elk. He evidently was a man of means

and much real estate. His family connections were of the best.

Tallyrand P. Brown was associated with Capt. James Payne in the boat business on the Kanawha. He was the founder of Win- field, in Putnam county, and afterwards moved to the West. He died in 1881 at sev- enty-two years of age. His wife was Sophia Forqueran and he had several children, one of whom was Anna Maria, who married Isaac Fulton of Massachusetts, who had a daughter Edith, and she married Harold Phelps, who died in 1901, whose widow lives in New York. Mrs. Phelps was in Charleston in 1910 looking up the graves of her ancestors in Kanawha. She says one of Mr. Brown's eccentricities was that he always voted just on the opposite side from that on which George Goshorn voted; which would indicate that he was a Whig for the Goshorns were all born Democrats. Christopher died in Mis- souri without children.

William Pitt Brown died at the age of nineteen and was buried with his father. Charles Porus Brown was a physician. He married Amanda Roberts who was the sister of the wife of Napoleon Boyer, who recently died in Florida. Susan Brown, a daughter of Tallyrand, married Benjamin Harriman, a son of John, who was a son of Shadrack Har- riman. John Harriman married Nancy Morris.

Col. Henry Fitzhugh .- Henry Fitzhugh, the youngest son of Henry and Henrietta S. Fitzhugh, was born at Bunker Hill, a country seat of the family near Warrentown, Va., January 10, 1830. His parents were descended from a long line of distinguished English an- cestors and he inherited from them many noble traits of character and graces of man- ner that adorned his life. He removed with his father's family in 1834 to Charleston, W. Va. In the fall of 1840 he entered Mer- cer Academy, then under the charge of Rev. Stuart Robinson, an accomplished scholar and successful educator. Under his tuition Henry was prepared in 1844 to enter the sophomore class of Marietta College. His record there, both as a student and as a young man of gentle, refined and polished manners, was

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most praiseworthy; he was a great favorite with his classmates and much admired in the charming society of that delightful old town. Immediately after graduating in 1847, he com- menced the study of law and received his li- cense to practice his profession early in the year 1850, at Ravenswood, Jackson county, Va. (now W. Va.)

After his father's death in 1855, he removed to Charleston and formed a partnership with his brother Nicholas Fitzhugh. In 1857 he was employed by the stockholders of the bank in Malden, which had become involved in dif- ficulties, to search out the matter and place it on a sound financial basis. So successful was he that he won the admiration and con- fidence of the stockholders to the extent that they placed the entire management of the bank in his hands. It was then called the Bank of Charleston; he was made president and A. Spencer Nye was cashier. The institution be- came prosperous and so continued until the Civil War, when by the arbitrary rule of Gen- eral Wise, the funds of all the banks of Charleston were removed to Richmond and ap- propriated to public use.

Henry Fitzhugh joined the Confederate army in 1861 as lieutenant colonel under Gen- eral A. G. Jenkins. In 1862 he entered the Kanawha valley with Adjutant General Lor- ing. Sent to Europe by the Confederate states government in 1864, to negotiate funds and to establish a series of blockade runners, he was captured on his outward bound pas- sage and made a prisoner in New York city, but through the influence of friends and a little gold he was released and was soon in London. He became acquainted with Lord Palmerston, Thomas Carlyle and others, who were exceedingly kind to him. He was em- ployed after the war was over to investigate for commercial purposes the mines of New Mexico and Central America, but these coun- tries were so unsettled that no legitimate busi- ness could be done. Going to New York where he had been a prisoner three years be- fore, he happened to meet Mr. Suiter of Fredericksburg, with whom he had become acquainted in the South during the war, and they went into the banking business under the

firm name of Suiter & Co., and became quite successful. Subsequently Col. Fitzhugh went to Chicago and took a cold, which brought on pneumonia and caused his death. He died in New York April 10, 1890. The company and men with whom he did business spoke of him in the highest terms of respect and said that his name was a synonym of all that was good and beneficent.

Maj. James Bream and Col. Joseph Lovell. -To these men also are the people much in- debted for the development of the country discovered and settled by the pioneers.

Major James Bream was a London mer- chant who came to Virginia and settled in Richmond in 1798. His family consisted of his wife, who had been Mrs. Lovell, and the following named children: Leonora Caroline Lovell, who became the wife of Dr. Henry Rogers; Cassandra Lovell, who was after- ward Mrs. Lafong; Alfred Lovell, who died young; Joseph Lovell, subject of this sketch; Alethea Bream, who became Mrs. Brigham; and Lavinia Bream, who was the wife of Dr. Spicer Patrick. For years after Major Bream and family had settled in Richmond and he had established himself in business and was prospering, and his children being educated, things went on in a well ordered, quiet way. He was making money, teaching the children and living happily.

By the time Joseph Lovell became twenty- one years old, in 1814, he had progressed in his studies, had read law and had obtained his license to practice in the courts of Vir- ginia. He then thought it best to make a trip westward to determine the best location for him in which to settle and go to work. It was in Malden that we first hear of him. He had passed through the best part of the agri- cultural domain of the valley, where farms were being opened up, houses being improved and erected, fences and barns constructed, or- chards, fields, meadows all aglow, and he had reached the bustling locality of the salt makers. Here he let it be known that he was ready to do business as a lawyer and here we find him employed to settle a question of the right of title to a piece of land. This compelled him to visit the courthouse to examine the

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records, and he then became interested in the "town at the mouth of Elk," and in the lands surrounding the same. Mr. Lovell was pleased with the outlook, with the valley, the river with the prospective manufacture of salt, and its adequate facilities for transportation and connection with the outer world. He saw with prophetic eye the growth that was bound to come -- factories, farms, fortune and fame. Not only did he settle at once, but he insisted on his step-father coming also, that there was not only room for the employment of his own energies, but all the opportunities for business and the accumulation of wealth that Major Bream could wish. He began to invest in real estate and salt property, while Major Bream began to dispose of his property and collect his assets preparatory to joining Mr. Lovell in Kanawha.

It was in 1816 that Major Bream visited Mr. Lovell and it was not long after that he and his family were located here also. Mr. Joseph Lovell had business to attend to, he had money to loan and to invest, and he was engaged in salt making. He was a splendid talker and he knew what to say to please the people, and it was not long before he was one of the most popular of men. In February, 1818, he met Miss Bettie Washington Lewis, a daughter of Mr. Howell Lewis of Mason county (son of Col. Fielding Lewis, whose wife was Bettie Washington, the sister of the General). Dr. Henry Ruffner officiated and they were married, and resided about half way between Malden and Charleston. In 1819 he was elected to the House of Delegates and went to Richmond to the legislature. We . said that Mr. Lovell was popular with the people. He was given by the county court every office that he desired: he was made an officer of the militia, and promoted in rapid succession until he was made a colonel of the Eighth regiment of the Thirteenth brigade of the First division of Virginia militia. He was sent to the Legislature until he declined to further attend; so that he had all the civil and military honors that he could wish. He now turned his attention to the care of his wife and family. His children were: Alfred, born December, 1818, who died in 1842: Richard

Channing Moore, born in 1822, who married Mary Patrick; Howell Lewis, born in 1824, who married Miss Beuhring of Cabell county ; Joseph, Jr., born in 1827, who married Miss Nye of Marietta; and Fayette A., born in 1830, who married Miss Shrewsbury of Mal- den. Colonel Lovell removed into Charleston, built his residence on Virginia street and his office adjoining, and his business house lot is now covered with the thirteen-story building of Alderson and Stephenson, at the corner of Kanawha and Capitol streets. He organized the first trust in Kanawha. and had all the salt factories under the control of one head, which directed all matters of the shipment and sale of salt, and he transformed the county from a Jeffersonian to a Whig county, and Henry Clay was the salt-maker's idol. Col. Joseph Lovell died in 1835.

Major James Bream lived a part of the time in the vicinity of his furnace, but re- moved to Charleston to spend the remainder of his days. He was a genial, good-natured old gentleman, and took a great interest in his family. and the Lovell children were the same to "him as his own. It is told of him that he had a habit sometimes when excited of using rather strong language. but never failed, if he used a profane word to ask pardon for the same. This family, being English, were naturally Episcopalians, but there was no Episcopal church in Charleston for some time, and the Major said to his wife that they should be connected with one of the churches here and proposed that they should unite with Dr. Henry Ruffner's church. She did not ex- actly like the idea ; in fact, one of her descend- ants said, she was so much opposed to the proposition that she manifested her opposi- tion by giving the footstool she was using such a kick that it flew across the room, but she afterwards complied with the Major's sugges- tion. Even after their own church was or- ganized here, they made no change, although Mrs. Lovell was one of the prime movers in having the Episcopal church built here and was one of its supporters. There is a street in Charleston called Lovell street after the Colonel, and all of West Charleston belonged to Major Bream, in fact all the land from Elk

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river down to Two Mile creek and then some, besides some salt furnaces and other real es- tate. In fact he was quite a wealthy man in his day and time. He died in 1842, leaving his estate to his wife by his will.

Bream Memorial Church .- It is said that Mrs. Mary Bream, who died in 1845, also made her will by which she disposed of the Bream estate among her children, treating the Lovell children the same as the Bream chil- dren. Also by her will she gave the sum of $500 "to the Bishop of the Presbyterian church of Charleston," upon certain terms and conditions, and it has been stated that there has not yet been found a Presbyterian minister here that for $500 was willing to sign a receipt as a bishop, agreeing to said conditions. The pictures of Mr. and Mrs. Bream are in the possession of Mr. Andrew S. Alexander, and they should be copied and enlarged and placed in the Session room of the Bream Memorial church on the west side of Elk, where a handsome stone church has been erected to their memory; and the Episco- pal church should have a window; if not to Mr. and Mrs. Bream, then to the memory of Mrs. Lovell and her family.

All of these families are buried in the Spring Hill cemetery of Charleston. Major Bream's life was more retired, reserved and exclusive than that of Col. Lovell's, who was a more public man in his affairs. The Major enjoyed the quiet private life of an English- man, while the Colonel loved to meet the people and enjoyed their manifestations of ap- plause, which they were always ready to give. Both of these men did much to build up the town and the county ; they brought money and energy and made business, and should ever be remembered as helpers of the town. The Memorial church was a very proper mark of respect to their memory. They were good people who aided the church and helped the cause, to which all their descendants are de- voted.

Whittaker Family .- There were four brothers who came to Kanawha from Massa- chusetts-William, Aaron, Thomas and Levi Whittaker. The children of William were: Norris S .. Alfred, Henry, William and Phil-

ena. The children of Aaron were: Charles, Elizabeth, William, Minnie, Keith, and Lydia. The children of Thomas were : Frank, William, John, Helen and Thomas. The children of Levi were: Maria, Salina and Wallace. William came to Kanawha in 1804 and Aaron came in 1810. All were engaged early in making salt and all were active busy people. All of them lived in Kanawha and most of the time in Charleston.

Van Bibbers .- This family came from Hol- land. Jacobs Van Bibber came in 1684 and Isaac Jacobs, the father came in 1687, as also did Mathias. The colony was headed by Pas- torius, a very learned German and they were. situated at or near Germantown, Pa., and in 1691 a charter was obtained for their town, and Jacobs Isaac was one of the committee men with power to hold court, impose fines, hold a market, etc. They manufactured fine linen; printing was also done and the Bible was printed in German thirty-nine years be- fore it was in English. There were among them Mullenburg, Pennypacker, Rittenhousen, Wister, Cassell, Deidenstricker, Levering, Keppell and others. Mathias Van Bibber lo- cated 6,168 acres on the Skipeck and the lo- cality was known as Van Bibbers Township. Then he went to work to colonize his land and began 100 acres for a church which was built in 1725. The Van Bibbers were men of standing, ability, enterprise and means. The father went to Philadelphia as a merchant and did business on High Street and there died in 17II. Mathias and others moved to Mary- land and the family has been distinguished both in War and in Court.

At the falls of the Kanawha, Van Bibbers Rock, has been known and keeps in mind the daring Indian fighters of the early days. There was Capt. John Van Bibber, who came to Kanawha in 1781 and he died in 1821. Those that came were Isaac. Peter, John and Brigetta. Peter came to Greenbrier County and settled there. John was a surveyor and his wife was Chloe Standiford and she was fair to look upon. John became a trader and took a boat and went as far south as Natchez. He, with some others, undertook to return across the country and was caught by the In-

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dians and after being robbed of all he had, was turned loose in the woods and left to wander promiscuously. After a long solitary wandering, he one day came across a cabin, which proved to be the home of Daniel Boone on the Holsetein, where he found help and pro- tection.

John and Peter and a Mr. Alderson came down the Kanawha Valley and they were said to have discovered the Burning Spring. They were at the Battle of Point Pleasant and John was made a captain at said battle. The Van Bibbers remained on the Border.

Brigetta married Isaac Robinson and had her home on Crooked Creek in Mason County. Rhoda was a beautiful daughter and there was a son. Rhoda was killed and the boy was made a prisoner. Brigetta's husband was killed and she and her little boy were made captives. After several years she was pur- chased by a Frenchman and set at liberty and made her way back to Botetourt.

After peace was made, and after she re- gained her health and strength, she went back to where the Indians were to secure her boy, arriving at a time when the small-pox had broken out among them. She took the disease and was laid up for some time, and when she found her boy, he was so well satisfied with his life of freedom that he refused to come away with her. After a long time she finally persuaded him to return with her to Point Pleasant. The boy did not long survive, but Brigetta lived to be ninety-five years old.

Andrew Donnally, Jr., son of Col. Andrew Donnally, was born in Fort Donnally, and the wife of young Donnally was Majorie Van Bibber, daughter of Capt. John Van Bibber. They were married in 1802 and continued to live at the homestead of Col. Donnally, about five miles above the mouth of Elk, for nearly a half century. Andrew, Jr., had six sons and several daughters. One of the latter mar- ried James Henry Fry and another married Col. John Lewis. Daniel Boone was a near neighbor of Col. Donnally and Jesse Boone was a brother-in-law of Andrew Donnally. Jr., both of whom married Misses Van Bibber. //

Mathew P. Wyatt .- He was born at the mouth of Blue Stone river in 1799 and his

parents were Edward and Rachel (Burnside) Wyatt. He was one of a family of ten chil- dren and he came to Kanawha when he was eighteen years old. When he became twenty- two he was married to Caroline Lewis Tully, a daughter of James and Elizabeth ( Starke) Tully. She was the first cousin of John L. Cole, the surveyor, lawyer, poet and humorist of the county. The children of Mathew P. Wyatt were Julia Ann, James Blackburn, Mark, Clark, Benjamin F., Amanda Jane, Lucy Joan, Dick Johnson and Leathia Maris, the latter being Mrs. Jack Bowles. Mathew P. lived just below the mouth of Cabin Creek. now known as Chelyan, but later he removed about four miles up Cabin Creek in the year 1846. He was a farmer, engaged in the lum- ber and timber business. He was elected a constable and afterwards was elected a jus- tice of the peace, and continued to hold court for the people, and in fair weather he held his court in his front yard under a locust tree. He always desired to adjust and compromise rather than litigate. He was a Democrat be- fore and after the war and was opposed to secession all the time, but insisted in maintain- ing the union of the states.

When the Wheeling government was or- ganized he continued as such. There was an election of some kind to be held and he was called on to act in some capacity as an officer in connection with said election. He knew that it was a dangerous piece of work and he thought it best to let it go by until more quiet times. The officials, however, were unwilling to consent to this, and he had to show his loyalty by doing the work; otherwise he would have been regarded as disloyal to the state, and so, to get along without trouble, he did as he was desired. A short while afterwards. he was arrested for taking part in the Wheel- ing government and made a political prisoner. He was carried over to Richmond in October, 1862 and held there in durance vile till June, 1863. He said that part of the time he had a pretty tough time of it, that much of the time he was sick and did not have many delica- cies to eat, but that they treated him as well as they were able. His predicament was one in which he had not much choice. He had to

RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM E. MOHLER, ST. ALBANS

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act, or show favor with the Confederates, which he had no disposition to do, as giving aid and comfort to the party which he op- posed and he had to make his selection of prisons, and with the hope of avoiding both, he acted as he did, and in fact, he had little or no choice. It was pretty hard on the old J. P.

He was a great friend of Judge Brown's. They had much business together in litigating land titles and ejectment suits, and he had a great admiration for the judge's skill in man- aging such cases. The judge was a Democrat before the war, as was also the squire, and they were much together and the judge was glad to find him so loyal and safely Union in his sentiments, and he stated after it was all over that the judge was one of the best of men and he was disposed to go with him in almost everything except one, and in that he could not go-that was, that the Judge had gone into the Republican party and he just could not go that far, even to be in good com- pany.

Squire Wyatt survived his wife a number of years, he dying in 1874. His son, Ben- jamin F. Wyatt, was for many years a deputy sheriff of Kanawha County and he was elected to the legislature of West Virginia in 1874. /

Aaron Stockton was born in Princeton, N. J., in 1776 and was a cousin of Commodore Stockton. Aaron went first to Kentucky and afterwards came to Kanawha and married Elizabeth, a sister of William Tompkins, whose wife was Rachel Grant, and Mr. Tompkins was one of the leading saltmakers. Mr. Stockton at one time owned the "Burning Spring"-Cedar Grove, . at the mouth of Kelly's Creek and the Kanawha Falls, where he lived when the war came on and into the rebellion he went and remained until it was over.//He had two sons and four daughters: William was drowned in the New River; John died many years afterwards; Eliza mar- ried James Veasey, father Oscar; Jane mar- ried Mr. Shaw, then Mr. Hale and then Mr. Hawkins; Rebecca married James Trimble ; Mary married Thomas A. Lewis and they were the parents of Dr. C. I. Lewis.

William Waller Henning went from Spott-

sylvania to Albemarle and settled in Charlottes- ville in 1793. He dealt in real estate and owned a distillery and it is said that he was not very successful. In 1805 he went to Richmond to engage in the collection and pub- lication of all the laws of Virginia, and he was aided and encouraged in the enterprise by Thomas Jefferson and by Mr. William Mun- ford in the publication of the Henning and Munford Reports of the decisions of the Courts. The Henning Statistics at Large, have become very valuable, both as History and Law, and all the lawyers and historians want them in their libraries. The wife of William Waller Henning was Agatha, the daughter of Henry Banks. He died in 1828.

FRY FAMILY

Joshua Fry was born in England, was edu- cated at Oxford, and came to Virginia. He was professor of Mathematics in "William and Mary," was present at the organization of Al- bemarle county and he was one of the magis- trates. He was the county lieutenant and was the surveyor of the county, and was possessed of several tracts of land. He was made the Colonel of the Virginia Regiment of which George Washington was Lieut .- Col. in 1754- in the French and Indian War. Col. Fry died and was buried at Fort Wills, now Cumber- land, Md., and Washington took command. His home in Albemarle was called "View- Mont" and his widow lived there until her death in 1773. She was Mrs. Mary Micon Hill when she married Col. Fry. His children were John Henry, Martha, the wife of John Nicholas, William, and Margaret the wife of John Scott. John married Sarah Adams. Henry married Susan, daughter of Dr. Thomas Walker, and they had nine children. Reuben Fry was the father of Joseph L. Fry, of Wheeling and the Kanawha Frys are de- scendants of this branch. J. H. Fry was born in December 1798, came to Kanawha in 1818, read law in office of his brother, Joseph L. Fry, was a salt maker, was deputy sheriff and sheriff for four terms, was in the House of Delegates two terms and four times in the senate. He died June 26, 1863. He left Philip H. Fry, Jas. H. Fry, Joseph L. Fry,

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History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 37

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