History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 55

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 55

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).

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Bank, of which he is now a director, having continued with this institution since 1896, first as assistant cashier and later as cashier.

On February 24, 1904, Mr. Carnes was married at Wilson, N. C., to Miss Elizabeth Crowell, who was born and reared in that place and who is a daughter of Jonas Williams and Virginia (Vick) Crowell, and a descendant of Oliver Cromwell. In 1674 John and Edward Cromwell, two brothers of the House of Crom- well, sold their estates in England and emi- grated to America to escape the persecutions visited on the family under the Stuart dynasty after the Restoration. While on board ship they decided to change their name, and this was done with solemn ceremony by writing the name in full, and then cutting out the "m" and throwing it into the sea, thus making the name "Crowell." They first settled in Woodbridge, N. J. Afterwards John Crowell went south and settled in Halifax county, N. C., at a place now known as Crowells, and which is the orig- inal home of the North Carolina Crowells. The family became planters and large slave holders, several of them were active in the Revolutionary war, and in general they have been closely identified with the growth and de- velopment of North Carolina.

Col. James B. Crowell, the great grandfath- er of Mrs. Carnes, was born and reared there; also Col. John Crowell, who in early life re- sided in Georgia and was for many years a congressman from that state. Col. James B. Crowell was a large slave holder. He married Miss Tabitha Williarns, by whom he had two sons-the late Jonas Crowell, who went to Ala- bama and became a wealthy manufacturer of that state, and William Crowell, the grand- father of Mrs. Carnes, who remained in east- ern North Carolina and married Miss Mary Ellen Hamilton, whose family was a branch of the noted English family of that name. He had one son, Jonas Williams Crowell, the father of Mrs. Carnes.

Jonas Williams Crowell was born in Nash county, N. C., and was attending school at the Southern University, at Greensboro, Ala., at the outbreak of the Civil War. He thereupon enlisted in the Fifth Alabama regiment. After

two years with that regiment he secured a transfer to the Thirtieth North Carolina regi- ment, which was composed of so many of his old friends, and with this regiment he remain- ed until the surrender at Appomattox. He then returned to eastern North Carolina, and engaged in the dry goods business. He married , Miss Virginia Vick. After following mercan- tile business for several years, he became a prominent politician and for many years was known and loved throughout eastern North Carolina. He was a Knights Templar Mason. He died in Wilson, N. C., January 23, 1904, universally beloved and esteemed.

On the maternal side Mrs. Carnes is de- scended from the Von Veekes of Holland and the Bailies and Whiteheads of Scotland, who settled in eastern North Carolina about two hundred years ago, and became large planters and slave holders. Members of these families have married and intermarried with some of the most prominent and representative people of North Carolina. Col. Asel Vick, of Nash county, N. C., the grandfather of Mrs. Carnes, was one of the most prominent men in his sec- tion of the state and one of the largest slave holders. Mrs. Jonas W. Crowell still survives and resides with her daughter, Mrs. Carnes.

Mrs. Carnes was carefully educated; she was instructed by private tutors and for sev- eral years was tutored by an ex-member of the faculty of Yale-who in consequence of failing health was sojourning in the South.

Later she attended school at the Convent of Mt .- de-Sales near Baltimore, Md., from which institution she was graduated.

From childhood Mrs. Carnes has been a great reader and an enthusiastic lover of good books. She is an active member of the oldest and most exclusive literary club in the city.

She and her husband are moving spirits in much of the pleasant social life of Charleston. They have no children. In his political senti- ments Mr. Carnes is a Republican, but is not actively interested in politics. He has long been identified with the Masonic Order, and is serving as treasurer of Kanawha Lodge No. 20, A. F. & A. M., Tyrian Royal Arch Chap- ter, No. 13, Kanawha Commandery No. 4, and

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Beni-Kedem Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is Past High Priest of Tyrian Royal Arch Chapter No. 13 and Past Eminent Commander of Kanawha Commandery No. 4. He is a man of business ability and one who takes a practical interest in whatever is calcu- lated to promote the moral and material wel- fare of the community in which he resides, while ample means enable him to enjoy life by the gratification of refined tastes.

MAJOR WILLIAM A. BRADFORD, de- ceased, for many years after the close of his honorable service as a soldier in the Confed- erate Army, was a foremost business man of Charleston and led in many of the enterprises which contributed to the advancement of this city. He bore an ancestral name that was dis- tinguished even in colonial days but needed no luster from by-gone forefathers to establish his place in the world. Major Bradford was born May 13, 1830, at Earlysville, Albemarle coun- ty, Va. His father was William Ashton Brad- ford (2) and his mother was Eliza Mildred Lewis (Clarkson) Bradford.

It is well established in the Bradford family William Ashton Bradford (3) was educated that the immigrant settler, John Bradford, who, in private schools and by tutors. In 1861, when reached the shores of America as early as 1600, , the Civil War became a fact, he was much in- coming from Scotland, was the uncle of William Bradford, who, twenty years later became gov- ernor of the Pilgrim colony in Massachusetts. John Bradford left descendants in Albemarle county, Va. One son, Alexander Bradford, was born there July 22, 1729. He married Jemima, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Jones, and they passed their lives in Virginia, his death being recorded in 1828 and hers in 1802. Fourteen children were born to them, seven sons and seven daughters.

William Ashton Bradford was the sixth son and the thirteenth child of Alexander and Je- mima Bradford. He was born in Albemarle county, March 13, 1774. He served with the rank of Major in the War of 1812 and dis- tinguished himself as a soldier. Like other members of his family he lived in lavish style, maintained great plantations and owned hun- dreds of slaves and he was also influential in public affairs in Albemarle county. His death took place in 1859. He married Mrs. Ann

Coleman (Slaughter) Fry, a sister of Rev. Philip Slaughter, who was rector of St. Mark's Parish, Richmond, Va., and a niece of Capt. Philip Slaughter, of Revolutionary War fame. She was the widow of Capt. Reuben Fry. who was captain of a company in the Revolutionary War, a man of such military ability and so highly considered by the army, that at one time it seemed possible that he would be selected as commander-in-chief in place of George Wash- ington. To Major William Ashton Bradford and wife four children were born.

William Ashton Bradford (2), son of Ma- jor William Ashton Bradford and father of the late Major William Ashton Bradford, the third inheritor of the name, was the only son of his parents and was born in Albemarle county, Va., and died there June 25, 1830, when only twen- ty-two years of age. He was a man of culture and education and had made something of a name for himself in letters although his life was so early ended. He married Miss Eliza Mildred Clarkson, who was born in Marlbor- ough county, Va., in 1811, and died in 1842. They had but one child, William Ashton (3).

terested and not only raised but also equipped a company made up of elderly men for tempo- rary service and after it was disbanded rejoined a regiment of cavalry that was raised at Rich- mond. Shortly afterward he was assigned to the staff of Gen. Humphrey Marshall, with the rank of major, and when General Marshall was sent to Congress, he transferred to Gen. Preston's staff, and when the latter was sent on an important mission to Spain, Major Brad- ford, who it might appear, carried good luck with him, was placed on the staff of General Breckenridge and remained until the latter was appointed secretary of war. Major Bradford participated in the battles of Wyandot, Jones- ville, Chickamauga, Cold Harbor, Lynchburg, Fredericksburg and Winchester. Subsequently he was taken ill with fever and was sent to a hospital at Wythesville, Va., and was still con- fined there when Generals Lee, Kirby Smith and Johnson surrendered. After sufficiently re-

MAJOR WILLIAM A. BRADFORD

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covering he secured his parole and then returned to Charleston.

Major Bradford's subsequent life was, as be- fore indicated, one of usefulness and activity. He was interested in many lines and for years was one of the city's leading bankers. He was also the patentee of a valuable steam gauge.

Major Bradford was married to Miss Eliz- abeth Johnston McChesney, who was born in Bath county, Va., and accompanied her parents to Charleston in 1871, where she was reared and liberally educated and fitted for the social cir- cles in which she has always been a figure. Her parents were Dr. Alexander Gallatin McChes- ney and Sallie Gatewood (Moffett) McChes- ney, the former of whom died in 1877 while on a visit to his daughter in Virginia and was buried in Virginia ; the mother died in 1881. Dr. McChesney was a graduate of Jefferson Med- ical College, Philadelphia and became a prom- inent physician. His father was James Mc- Chesney and his grandfather was Robert Mc- Chesney, who was born in Scotland. James McChesney married Frances McNutt, a sister of Governor McNutt, of Mississippi, a niece of General McNutt of Nova Scotia. She was a woman of noted beauty and of great force of character. After her husband had been killed by a maniac, she reared the children and pro- vided them with collegiate advantages and also managed a large plantation with its many slaves.

To Major and Mrs. Bradford five children were born: Elizabeth Ashton, Mildred Lewis, Mary Walker, Sallie Moffett, and Robert War- wick. Elizabeth Ashton was graduated with honors from the National Park Seminary at Forest Park, Md., and afterward became the wife of J. Edmund Price, a well known attor- ney of Charleston. Mildred Lewis, who is a graduate of Hollins Institute, Va., is the wife of Daniel Kingston Flynn, a well known lum- berman of Charleston. Mary Walker is a stu- dent of Sweetbrier College, Va. Sallie Mof- fett died at the age of six years. Robert War- wick, the youngest of the family, is making excellent progress in the Charleston schools. Mrs. Bradford takes a great deal of interest in the society of the Daughters of the Confed-

eracy and holds an official position in this or- ganization.

Major Bradford passed away at his home in Charleston, on February 13, 1907. He had been reared in the Episcopal church. To its various objects of benevolent care he was con- tinuously generous, while his broad mind and kind heart responded to calls for charity when- ever made. His ancestry, rearing, surround- ings and convictions made him a Democrat but the mere holding of office offered little attrac- tion to a man of his habit of thought and busy mode of life. For many years he had been identified with the Masonic fraternity. His personal character was without reproach and his memory is held in reverent regard.

REV. FR. LEWIS, O. M. Cap., pastor of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church at Charleston, W. Va., was born at Pittsburg, Pa., June 30, 1876, and is one of the five sur- vivors of a family of six children born to his parents, who were Joseph P. and Mary (Snyder) Centner.

Father Lewis attended the parochial schools of Pittsburg and then entered St. Fidelis College, at Herman, Butler County, Pa., where he made his classical course as preparation for the priesthood and was graduated in 1895. After a year's novitiate at Herman he continued his stulies, enter- ing St. Peter & Paul's Monastery, at Cum- berland, Md., where he remained until 1901, in December of which year he was ordained by Cardinal Gibbons. His first work was educational in character, as he became pro- fessor of Latin, mathematics and the natural sciences, at his alma mater. In July, 1910, he was called to Charleston, W. Va., to take charge of the parish of the Sacred Heart, and here he has continued, accomplishing much both in the way of advancing the ma- terial as well as the spiritual interests of his people.

Father Lewis has a fine parochial school in operation, under the charge of seven Sis- ters of the Order of St. Francis. The school proper is free, but a boarding department is conducted in connection with it in order to accommodate pupils from a distance. The

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building was erected by the late Rev. Joseph E. Stenger. At present a high standard is maintained, both in regard to moral and in- tellectual training. The church has its own burial ground named Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

JAMES A. WINES, merchant and farmer and well known resident of Poca District, Kanawha County, W. Va., where he owns eighty-two acres of excellent land, situated on the main Poca River, twenty-three miles north of Charleston, was born February 14, 1868, in Poca District, and is a son of Will- iam and Mary Ann (Dolton) Wines.

William Wines was reared in Roane County, now West Virginia, and was brought to Poca District by his parents in his youth. They owned 190 acres that lay along Leatherwood Creek, and he became a farmer and lumberman. After his marriage he settled on the home farm, one-half of which was his portion, which he improved and devoted to general farming and stock and cattle raising. During the Civil War he served in Co. F,-W. Va. Inf., and escaped all injury while in the service. He now resides one- quarter mile south of the old farm, where he owns II0 acres. He is a Republican in poli- tics. William Wines married Mary Ann Dol- ton, who was born in Carroll County, now Virginia, a daughter of Robert and Rachiel (Reynolds) Dolton, who had four children, the two survivors being: Mary Ann, Mrs. Wines; and Vina, the wife of a brother of William Wines. Robert Dolton was born in Carroll County, ninety-three years ago and now resides in Poca District, Kanawha County. During the Civil War he was a soldier in Co. A, 7th W. Va. Cav., but was neither captured nor wounded during his period of service. To William Wines and his wife the following children were born: Frank, James A., John, Edgar, Albert, Pleas M., Victoria and Eleanor. The parents of the above family are members of the Ad- vent church.

James A. Wines obtained his schooling in Poca District and afterward engaged in farming and lumbering. After marriage he settled at the head of Camp Creek, where

he followed farming for two years and then moved to Leatherwood Creek and for two years there combined farming with lumber- ing, afterward coming to his present farm, which is a part of the old John Haynes farm. Here he carries on general farming and since 1905 has also kept a stock of general merchandise and is doing a satisfactory business.

Mr. Wines married Miss Lethia Haynes, who was born in Poca District and is a daughter of A. H. Haynes, and they have twelve children, namely: Lewis, Fred, Minnie, Dexter, Lena, Delbert, Bev, Emma, Bessie, Blvia, Lucy and Goldie. The eldest son married Sadie Shaffer, a daughter of Edward Shaffer. Mr. Wines has been a Re- publican since he cast his first vote. He has served as trustee of his district and has al- ways concerned himself with the best inter- ests of his section.

ROBERT G. LINN, one of the leading attorneys of Kanawha county, W. Va., re- siding in Charleston, was born at Glenville, Va., (now W. Va.), April 6, 1849, son of Robert and Sophronia (Newcomb) Linn. The following facts in regard to the genea- logy of the Linn family have been ascer- tained and may prove of interest to mem- bers of the family.

The Linns are of Scotch-Irish origin. Joseph Linn was born in 1725 and died April 8, 1800. He married Martha Kirkpa- trick, who was born at Belfast, Ireland, in 1728, and died March 7, 1791. She was the daughter of Andrew Kirkpatrick. Joseph was adjutant in the 2d regiment of Sussex militia during the Revolutionary war, Aaron Hankison being colonel. Joseph and Mary Linn had four sons and four daughters, namely : Alexander (born Dec. 6, 1753), David, Andrew, Margaret, Mary, Ann, Martha and John. David, Margaret and Andrew are buried at the Yellow Frame.

(1). Andrew married Hannah, daughter of Nathan and Uphamy (Wright) Arm- strong.

(2). David married Sarah, daughter of Brig. Gen. Aaron Hankison, and they had

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eight children : Alexander married and went to Ohio. Mattie married Jacob Shep- hard. Polly never married. Margaret mar- ried a Mr. Shephard. The Shepards settled in Ohio. Aaron married Eliza Hankison, and settled in Finleyville, Pa.

(3). Andrew was born in 1759, and died April 9, 1799. He studied medicine under Dr. Samuel Kennedy at Log Goal. He mar- ried Ann Carnes of Blandensburg, Md., and had five children, namely: Robert married Elizabeth Ryerson, and settled at Hamburg, N. J. Margaret became the wife or Major William T. Anderson of Newton. Mary married David Ryerson. Martha married, first, Hugh Taylor, and second, Richard R. Morris, of New York. Alexander settled at Easton, Pa.

(4). Margaret married Hon. Joseph Gaston, who was paymaster of Sussex mili- tia during the Revolutionary war.

(5). Mary.

(6). Ann married Jacob Hull.

(7). Martha married, first, Isaac Schaef- fer; second, Joseph Desmond. Martha died in 1830 and was buried at Sandusky, Ohio. The Rev. Isaac Desmond was her son.

(8). John married, May 19, 1791, Martha Hunt, a daughter of Lieut. Richard Hunt. They had a large family of children, namely : Elizabeth married Rev. Edward Allen. Sarah married Nathan Armstrong Shafer. Andrew married Isabella Beardslee. Mary Ann married Rev. Benj. I. Lowe. Caroline married Dr. Roderick Byington. Alexan- der was a physician at Deckertown; he mar- ried Julia Vibbert. William H. was also a physician.

John Linn was appointed to the Court of Common Pleas of Sussex in 1805, and served until his death in 1823. He was twice elected to Congress, and died of typhoid fever at Washington, D. C., during his sec- ond term. He was an elder in the Presby- terian church of Hardyston.

The following facts have also been gath- ered in regard to other branches of the family.

Joseph came into the Hardwick Patent from Lamington, Somerset county, N. J.

In the churchyard at Lamington there is a tombstone with this inscription: "Alexan- der Linn Esq., who departed this life in the 64th year of his age, A. D. 1776." This Alexander, it is said, was for many years in the commission of the peace; he was an elder in the church, and for some time be- fore his death, one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas. Another head- stone marks the grave of Sarah Linn, daughter of Alexander and Sarah Linn, who departed this life Sept. 12, 1755, aged two years, three months and 15 days. A third stone is in memory of Sarah Linn, daughter of James Linn, who departed this life Oct., 1773, one year and six months of age. Mr. Mellick, in his "Story of an Old Farm," says that Judge James Linn was one of Somerset's aristocrats, and a citizen highly esteemed throughout the country ; that he lived on a well improved plantation of 600 acres, which he had inherited from his father ; that he kept a retinue of servants and 20 slaves, and that he was elected in May, 1776, a deputy from Somerset to the Provincial Congress of New Jersey.

From another source it is learned that James Linn was a nephew of Joseph Linn and that James was a representative in Con- gress, 1799-1801, from New Jersey. When the Jefferson-Burr contest for President "was thrown into the House and the ballot- ing had been so prolonged without result, James Linn broke the deadlock in the New Jersey delegation, thereby throwing the vote of the delegation for Jefferson and electing him President.

John Linn of Knowlton township, War- ren county, N. J., came from Virginia, fought in the Sussex militia during the Revolution, and was an elder in the Pres- byterian church, and died at the age of 102 years. His will is recorded in the Sussex office, and is dated June 2, 1817. It names as his children, James, John, Elizabeth, Jean, David, Joseph, Robert, Margaret and Cathering. Among other property the will disposes of land in Greene county, Ky. The birth dates of the three earliest Linns herein named are as follows: Alexander Linn of

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Lamington, 1712; John Linn of Knowlton, 1715; Joseph Linn of Hardwick, 1725.

Tradition says that the Linns of New Jersey and the Linns of Missouri were re- lated, and that their common home was in Virginia and West Virginia.

To return to our subject's direct line,- Robert Linn (grandfather of Robert G. Linn), born April 20, 1781, came to Virginia probably from Pennsylvania about 100 years ago, settling at Linn's Mills, in what is now Marion county, W. Va., where he died Sept. 9, 1834. He was a farmer and miller. He married Catherine Lyon, who was born in Pennsylvania Oct. 18, 1788.

Robert Linn, Jr., son of the afore-men- tioned, was born in Marion county (now in W. Va., but then in Harrison county, Va.), Dec. 27, 1813, and died Dec. 7, 1860. He studied law in the office of Hon. Edgar C. Wilson, of Morgantown, and was later ad- mitted to the bar at Pruntytown, Taylor county, W. Va., in 1846. He subsequently practiced his profession in Gilmer county, W. Va. He was elected for four successive terms to the office of prosecuting attorney, by the Whig party, and was serving as such at the time of his death. At different times he held other responsible offices, in which he served with marked capacity, and was one of the best known and most popular citizens in Gilmer county. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church. He was mar- ried in Fairmont, W. Va, to Miss Sophronia S. Newcomb, who was born at Greenfield. Mass., in 1816, a daughter of Ebenezer, Jr., and Sophronia (Smith) Newcomb. She came of the old New England family of that name, a brief sketch of which will be found subjoined to the present article. She was a lady of refinement and culture, and was all her life a strong working member of the Presbyterian church. Almost her entire life was spent in West Virginia, her parents settling in Fairmont when she was but two years old. She died August 31, 1890.

The children of Robert Linn, Jr., and his wife Sophronia, were as follows: Mary S., born Sept. 21, 1841, married Newton B. Bland, who died in March, 1896. She died

January 28, 1910, leaving a son, Robert Linn Bland, now a lawyer at Weston, W. Va., who is married and has three children. Nancy Catherine Lyon, born May 3, 1849, married Marion T. Brannon, of Glenville, W. Va., and has three children, namely : Hon. Linn Brannon, ex-judge of the Circuit court of Gilmer, Calhoun, Jackson, Lewis and Clay counties; Alice, who is married and lives at Fairmont, W. Va. ; and Howard R. Brannon, who is cashier of a bank at Glenville. Robert G., whose nativity has been already given, is the direct subject of this sketch. Sarah L., born July 26, 1853, is unmarried, and resides at Glenville.

Robert G. Linn, in October, 1866, while in his eighteenth year, became assistant clerk in the circuit clerk's office at Clarksburg, where he remained three years. In 1869 he entered the Cincinnati (O.) Law School, from which he was graduated in the Class of 1870, with the degree of B.L. While in college he had for instructors Ex-Governor Hoadley and Bellamy Storer. After his graduation he practiced his profession in Glenville, W. Va., where he became prose- cuting attorney, later holding that office for three successive terms-four years in Gil- mer county and eight years in Calhoun county, W. Va. Returned to Glenville, Gil- mer county, in March, 1884, he remained there until 1890, being associated with Hon. John S. Withers, and in 1900 he came to Charleston, having been associated in part- nership here with George Byrne. now of the Baltimore "Sun," and with William E. R. Byrne, with whom he is still thus connected, as also is his son, Robert Linn. He has also a law office at Sutton, Braxton county, W. Va., with Cary C. Hines and W. F. Morri- son, Jr., as partners; another at Weston, Lewis county, the firm name being Linn, Brannan & Lively; and a third, or rather fourth, at Glenville, the firm being Linn, Brannon & Hamilton. From 1873 until 1907, also he had as partner, Hon. John M. Hamilton, present Congressman from the Fourth district, with their office at Grants- ville, Calhoun county. Mr. Linn stands high in his profession and much of the important

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litigation in the county passes through his hands and those of his partners. He is a Democrat in politics, and is fraternally con- nected with the Odd Fellows' lodge at Glen- ville. In religion he is a Presbyterian.

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History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 55

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