USA > West Virginia > Monongalia County > History of Monongalia County, West Virginia, from its first settlements to the present time; with numerous biographical and family sketches > Part 25
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Fing aby Coo E Perme !' York
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College (now Washington and Jefferson), where he pursued his studies in that old and well-established institution until he had about completed its full course of instruction. While at college he made a reputation as an essay writer, and on two occasions represented the Literary Society of which he was a member in public performances. Impaired health, owing in part to a not very strong constitution and in part to confinement at school, compelled him to leave college just before graduating, and repair to his home, and there, amid the activities of a country life, to regain vigor and strength. By the advice of his friends, who were still solicitous in regard to his health, he was prevailed upon to remove to Preston County, Va. (now West Va.,) with the hope that the purer air of the mountains would so improve and restore his health, as to enable him to enter upon the profession he had chosen before entering college. Follow- ing this advice, in the spring of 1843, he removed to Kingwood, the county-seat of Preston; and in that and the following year studied law under the direction and instruc- tion of his esteemed friend, the Hon. William G. Brown; and also taught a select school in the higher academic studies, which soon thereafter developed into what was after- wards known as "Preston Academy."
In March, 1844, Mr. Dille was examined by Judges Fry, Douglass and Smith, and licensed to practice law in the courts of Virginia, and opened an office in Kingwood. His diligence, energy, and fidelity to the interests of his clients soon won deserved success and remunerative pecuniary rewards. Sometimes antagonized by and sometimes asso- ciated as co-counsel with Brown, Wilson and Allen, wlio had long been engaged in the profession and were ranked among the best lawyers in the State, he had to study
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diligently and continuously to sustain himself and to win reputation and laurels against such veterans in the pro- fession. In the spring of 1845, the law partnership of "Brown & Dille" was formed, the senior partner of the firm was his distinguished preceptor and friend, the Hon. William G. Brown. This partnership continued until April, 1849. Mr. Brown was a member of the House of Represent- atives of the United States Congress during the whole time of the partnership, and consequently the entire business of the firm was managed by its junior member.
In the spring of 1849, Mr. Dille was married to the eldest daughter of the late Elisha M. Hagans, Esq., of Kingwood, whose acquaintance he had formed while a student at college, she having been at that time a pupil at Washington Female Seminary, where she graduated in the fall of 1845. In less than three years after her marriage Mrs. Dille died, leaving one son-Oliver H. Dille-who, a few years ago, bought and now resides on the "Evans Homestead," near Morgantown, in Monongalia County.
After the dissolution of the partnership of "Brown & Dille," in 1849, the partnership in the practice of law of " Dille & Hagans" was formed, the Hon. M. B. Hagans, now of Cincinnati, being the junior member. Mr. Hagans is a brother of Mr. Dille's first wife, and read law in his office. This partnership was dissolved in the spring of 1850, when its junior member removed to Cincinnati, where he has since distinguished himself both at the bar and on the bench as a successful lawyer and able judge.
With most men in the legal profession, success at the bar is generally made a stepping stone to political honors and preferments, but the subject of this sketch pursued the even tenor of his way, winning reputation and remuneration
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from the diligent practice of the law, until the beginning of the late sectional strife; before which time he was a Dem- ocrat, and in the presidential campaign of 1860-in which he took a very active part-was a Douglass Democrat ; and when the conflict came on, was very decided in his convic- tions and expressed opinions in favor of the preservation of the Union. During the war he never wavered in his attachment to the Government, nor doubted the result of the conflict ; and necessarily acted with his fellow citizens, who-after the secession of Virginia-restored her govern- ment, and advocated the formation of a new State out of her territory. Mr. Dille was elected a member of the Con- stitutional Convention which met in Wheeling on the 26th of November, 1861, and, with John J. Brown, Esq., repre- sented the County of Preston therein ; was a member of the Committee on County Organization, advocated the election by the people of three commissioners-a system of county government somewhat similar to the provisions of our present Constitution-and was opposed to the plan adopted by the convention. He was also a member of the Commit- tee on the Judiciary Department, and took an active interest in so framing the Constitution that the judiciary of the new State would be not only cheap but efficient. The work of the convention having been submitted to the people for ratification or rejection, Mr. Dille addressed the people in various parts of the State in favor of its ratification, and afterwards accompanied many distinguished citizens from all sections of the State to Washington, for the purpose of securing the passage of a law by Congress for the admission of West Virginia into the Union; was elected without opposition, Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit, composed of the counties of Monongalia, Taylor, Tucker
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and Preston, and re-elected at the close of his first term, and continued on the bench until the 1st of January, 1873, a period of ten years.
In the fall of 1864, Judge Dille removed from Kingwood to Morgantown, where he still resides. This change of res- idence was made with a view to the education of his children in the schools of that town, then as now, justly celebrated as among the very best institutions of learning in the country. Judge Dille has always taken a deep interest in education ; advocated the incorporation into the Constitution of the State the system of Free Schools, and the liberal advanced system of higher education provided for in the West Virginia University and Normal Schools, which, in a score of years, have become the pride and glory of her people.
How faithfully and ably he discharged the responsible duties of his judicial office, and his appreciation by the members of the bar who practiced in his court, will appear by the following resolutions, adopted by the bars of Monon- galia, Preston and Taylor counties :
"At a meeting of members of the Bar of Monongalia County, W. Va., held at the Court-house, on Saturday, December 7, 1872, on motion, the Hon. W. T. Willey was called to the chair, and L. S. Hough, Esq., appointed secretary. J. M. Hagans, Esq., moved that the chair appoint a committe to draft resolutions expressive of our regard for the Hon. John A. Dille, about to retire from the bench ; whereupon John J. Brown, George C. Sturgiss and L. S. Hough, Esqs., were appointed, who submitted the following resolu- tions, which were unanimously adopted, and the chairman was requested to present them to his Honor, and ask that they be recorded among the proceedings of the court, viz .:
" Resolved, That the members of the fraternity practicing at the bar of this court, desiring to give expression to our appreciation of the services of the Hon. J. A. Dille, who since the formation of the
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State of West Virginia has, with so much honor to himself and usefulness to the public, held the office of Judge of this Judicial Circuit, do tender to him our thanks for his uniform kindness, and regret that these pleasant relations, so long existing between us, are to be terminated by this term of the court.
" Resolved, That in our intercourse with each other, we will endeavor to profit as well by his example of fraternal kindness and courtesy, as by the light shed upon our pathway by his profound learning, enlightened opinions and impartial decisions ; and express the hope that the future of his life may be fraught with the like success and happiness which have attended the past, and with the consciousness of duty well done.
"Resolved, That the secretary of this meeting furnish a copy of these resolutions to the clerk of this court, with the request that he · enter them upon its records and have them published in the county papers.
W. T. WILLEY, Chm'n.
"L. S. HOUGH, Sec'y."
"At a Circuit Court held in and for the County of Preston, on the 23rd day of November, 1872 : On motion of Col. Asbury C. Baker, the Court permits the following to be entered of record, as per writing here filed in these words :
"'At a meeting of the members of the bar of the County of Preston, at the Court-house in Kingwood, on Friday evening, November 22, 1872, Gustavus Cresap, Esq., was called to the chair, and A. C. Baker, Esq., appointed secretary. It having been ex- plained by the chairman that the official term of the Hon. John A. Dille, Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit will shortly expire, and that the last regular term of his Honor's Court for this county is now in session, and will be adjourned on to-morrow ; whereupon, the following resolutions were introduced and unanimously adopted :
""'Resolved, That we sincerely regret that the relations of court and bar, which for a number of years have existed between the Hon. . John A. Dille and ourselves are about to be severed ; also,
"'Resolved, That, as a slight testimonial of our regard for his Honor's many noble qualities of mind and of heart, we tender him our sincerest thanks for the uniform courtesy, judicial wisdom and unwavering integrity constantly manifested by him while presid- ing over the multifarious business of our courts ; on motion,
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HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
"'Resolved, That the secretary of this meeting be directed to present a copy of the foregoing resolutions to his Honor, in court, together with the request that they be entered of record. On motion adjourned. GUSTAVUS CRESAP, Chm'n.
"'A. C. BAKER, Sec'y.'"
" At a Circuit Court held for the County of Taylor, at the Court- house thereof, on Thursday, the 19th, day of December, 1872 :
"WHEREAS, The present term of court will terminate the oficial labors of the Hon. John `A. Dille, Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit ; therefore,
" Resolved, That the members of the legal profession practicing at the bar of this court desiring to give expression to our appre- ciation of his services as Judge of this Circuit, do most cordially tender to him our thanks for his uniform kindness, patience and courtesy in the discharge of his official duties.
" Resolved, That in the future, as in the past, we will endeavor to cultivate friendly relations among ourselves, assured that the patience, kindness and courtesy exhibited by his Honor will shed brightness in our pathway in life and make us wiser and better mnen ; that, following his high example, we will aim to be just and impartial and to do right; trusting that he and we may have a labor and life record which when presented in Heaven's Chancery will be found to be pure and right.
" Resolved, That when Judge Dille shall leave us that he shall carry with him assurances of our esteem and our best wishes for his success and happiness in life.
"Resolved, That the Clerk of this Court be requested to enter these proceedings in the order-book upon the common law side of this Court.
" Resolved, That the secretary of this meeting furnish a copy of these proceedings to the Grafton Sentinel for publication.
L. S. JOHNSON, Chm'n. "J. V. MARTIN, Sec'y."
Since he left the bench, Judge Dille has devoted himself largely to grazing and agriculture. In superintending his farms-one in Preston County, known as the Beatty farm, near Kingwood, and the other in Monongalia, known as the
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Coombs farm, near Stewarttown-he takes great delight, and calculates, with his economical habits and attention to business, with the small accumulations of a lifetime, he may be able to spend his declining years in quiet and enjoy- ment. Judge Dille, at the close of his judicial term, opened a law office in Chancery Row in Morgantown, where now, associated with his youngest son, he is still engaged in tlie practice of his profession.
In 1853, Judge Dille was married to his second wife, the eldest daughter of the late Thomas Brown, Esq., of King- wood, who still lives, and by whom he has two children, Clarence B., who is engaged in the practice of law with his father, and a daughter-Mary-about sixteen years of age.
Judge Dille's strong convictions in favor of temperance, religion and progress have given him a large influence with his friends and neighbors. He has been for many years a member of the Presbyterian Church, and a Ruling Elder of that church in Morgantown. The writer of this sketch would not conclude what he has to say about his friend, without adding that the most strongly developed element in Judge Dille's character, is a prudent conservatism, which enables him to avoid extremes on all questions, and which gives influence and weight to his judgment and opinions, and secures the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens.
CHARLES S. LEWIS, the successor of Judge Dille, died in Clarksburg, Harrison County, January 22, 1878, of con- sumption, aged fifty-six years. He was a member of Con- gress in 1854; afterwards was a member of the Legislature of West Virginia; was elected State Superintendent of Schools; in 1872, lie was a candidate for the judgeship of the circuit against Judge Thomas W. Harrison, and in the contest was awarded the election over his opponent.
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HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
ARETAS BROOKS FLEMING, the present Judge of the Cir- cuit, was born, October 15, 1839, in what is now Marion County. His father, Benjamin F. Fleming, married a daughter of the Rev. Asa Brooks. Judge Fleming studied law at the University of Virginia, and with Judge E. B. Hall, and was admitted to the bar in 1861. He was a member of the Legislature of West Virginia from Marion for two terms. He was appointed judge of the Second Judicial Circuit January 30, 1878, by Gov. Mathews, to fill the vacancy made by the death of Judge Charles S. Lewis, and served from that time till the following general election in October, 1878, when he was elected to serve the rest of Judge Lewis's term. In October, 1880, he was elected for a new and full term of eight years. Judge Fleming is a resi- dent of Fairmont.
Among those who were born in Monongalia, and else- where were elected to the bench, we have account of the following :
JAMES EVANS, son of Col. John Evans, read law and was admitted to the bar of Monongalia, July 11, 1803. He removed to Cape Guerdeau, Missouri, in 1807, and, after practicing law some time, was elected Judge of a circuit court, and served for many years, resigning upon the death of his wife, who was a sister of United States Senator Buck- ner. He resided awhile on a farm at Louisville, Kentucky, and came back to Monongalia in 1863 or 64, where he died, March 9, 1870.
XENOPHON J. PINDALL, born in what is now Grant District, it is said, after removing to, and practicing law in, Arkansas, was elected and served as Judge of a judicial district.
JOSEPH D. TINGLE was born in Morgantown, October a
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30, 1807. He was the son of George R. Tingle, who came from Martinsburg to Monongalia, and on September 6, 1775, married Sarah McFarland. They removed to Ohio, and their son Joseph D. Tingle became a lawyer in Guernsey County, and was appointed by Governor Thomas Corwin to a judgeship in the common pleas court.
ALPHEUS E. WILSON, son of the Hon. A. P. Wilson, was born at Rock Forge (in what is now Morgan District), Octo- ber 24, 1828. He married Miss Dawson, of Brownsville, Penn., in September, 1856. He read law with Judge Nathaniel Wilson, of Uniontown, and was admitted to the bar at Uniontown in June, 1850. He was elected in October, 1873, President Judge of the 14th District, com- posed of the counties of Fayette and Greene. Judge Wilson's term is now drawing to a close, and he declines to be a candidate for re-election. He is highly spoken of for the able, just and efficient discharge of his duties upon the bench.
FRANCIS TALIAFERRO BROOKE, the first attorney on the roll, was born near Fredericksburg, Virginia. At the age of sixteen he was a lieutenant of artillery in the Revolu- tionary War. After the war he read law, and, in 1788, settled at Morgantown, and was appointed prosecuting attorney in 1789. About 1790, he returned to Fredericks- burg; was appointed a circuit judge, and, in 1815, was appointed one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Vir- ginia, and held that position until his death, about 1851. ,
WILLIAM MCCLEERY was born in Tyrone County, Ireland, about the year 1741, and, about the close of the Revolu- tionary War, migrated to and settled in the territory now
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embraced in Washington County, Penn., supposed then to be, and claimed by Virginia to be, within her charter. After the extension of Masons and Dixon's line from the western terminus of the Maryland line to the western limits of the Pennsylvania charter, and the formation of Washington County in the latter State, Col. McCleery held the office of Prothonotary of the County of Washington ; soon after he removed to Morgantown which, in 1783, was made the county-seat of Monongalia County, and received from the Governor of Virginia a Colonel's commission, and under the orders of Col. John Evans, commandant of the county, was distinguished for vigilance and activity in repelling the incursions of the Indians on the Virginia frontier. During the administration of General Washington he held the office of Collector of United States direct taxes, and con- tinued in that service during the Whiskey Insurrection in western Pennsylvania, and until the repeal of the United States direct tax laws. Col. McCleery received the appoint- ment, in May, 1790, of Deputy Attorney General by the District Court, of the district composed, at that time, of the counties of Monongalia, Harrison, Ohio and Randolph, to which afterwards the counties of Wood and Brooke were added; and performed with ability and fidelity the respon- sible duties of that office until September, 1797. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church in Morgantown and a. Ruling Elder therein, from 1804 until his death. In 1806, the church minutes record, that he and three women con- stituted all the members of that church residing in Morgan- town. The earliest records of the church are lost, but in those which exist, it is recorded of Col. McCleery, "that he was an extraordinary man, being well read in theology and quite active in sustaining the means of grace." The
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judicial and police records of Monongalia County having been destroyed by fire in February, 1796, the trustworthy history of the stirring and eventful period prior thereto comes down to us alone through the untrustworthy medium of tradition.
Col. McCleery was twice married. His first wife was Isabella Stockton, a young lady of Berkeley County, Va., whose early life-in captivity by the Indians ; education in a Catholic convent in Canada ; separation from her friends in Berkeley County until she had grown to womanhood; her return afterwards to her home and friends in Virginia; her stay with them until her Canadian lover (a handsome young Frenchman) came to see her, and got the consent of her parents to marry her; the return journey through the wil- derness of the youthful lovers to Canada to be married amid the scenes of their early courtship, where first
" Love his golden shafts employed, Lighted his constant lamp, Reigned and reveled,"
and his assassination on the way near the Susquehanna River by a Virginia rival, who had stealthily followed them -furnish truthful material for the pen of the writer of ro- mance. In the latter part of Col. McCleery's life (many years after the death of his first wife) he married a widow lady by the name of Prentis, the mother of the late Jonathan Prentis, of Morgantown, and the grandmother of General Prentis, of Missouri. In his declining years Col. McCleery wrote to his nephew, Mathew Gay, a son of his sister Margaret and wife of John Gay, of Tyrone County, Ireland, to come to Morgantown and live with him. His nephew came about the year 1800, studied law in his office, and upon the retire- ment of his uncle in 1807 from his professional life, suc-
336 HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
ceeded him therein. Col. McCleery died on the 9th of April, 1821, aged eighty years.
PHILIP DODDRIDGE, the celebrated lawyer and statesman, practiced at the bar of Monongalia after ceasing to be Prosecuting Attorney. His home was at Wellsburg, Brooke County. He died at Washington City in November, 1832, and his memory has been well preserved in ex-Senator W. T. Willey's sketch of his life.
NOAH LINDSEY* was said to have been the founder of Linsly Institute at Wheeling. If the Noah Lindsey who was Prosecuting Attorney in 1804, is identical with the Noah Lindsey who founded that school, then he came to Morgantown in 1797-98; was a tutor in Yale; studied law at Litchfield under Tapping Reeves; and after living at Morgantown a "couple of years," removed to Wheeling, where he died in 1814. Miss J. B. Wilson contributes an interesting sketch of Mr. Lindsey to the History of the Pan-Handle.
MATHEW GAY .- Usefulness is the largest factor in a. suc- cessful life. The individual, measured by the highest standard, in so far as he lacks this essential element, is com- paratively a failure. A large majority of men who in many respects are distinguished and canonized as great, are dis- tinctively so only in a limited and qualified sense; and the rightful measure of distinction to which they are entitled- whether national or local-is as justly their own, and should be as generously awarded to them by the historian, as it is to those by whom a larger field of action is occupied, and with whose illustrious deeds and useful lives mankind have been more strongly and deeply impressed. What a man
*As to the spellings of this name, see History of Pan-Handle (Wheeling, 1879), p. 222.
Eng ªty Geo E Perine N. York
Mathene Gay 4
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makes of himself, and not what he is made by the aid and influence of friends and family, is the most potent and prominent thought that arrests the attention and deepens the conviction of his fellow men, and influences them- whether favorably or otherwise-in a just and impartial opinion. A calm and unbiased judgment of the life is more, likely to be rendered when its labors are ended, and its ambitions and rivalries can no longer affect the award. There is a large class of useful men in every country who hold communities together, who are-to use the Yankee phrase,-" solid men," and who, designated by the more generally popular and expressive, if not the more elegant term, are the backbone of society. These men, with pro- nounced individuality, patriotism, integrity, and usefulness, give tone to society, stability to its morals, ease and dignity to its manners, and progress and probity to its business affairs.
Of this class of men was the late Mathew Gay, of Mor- gantown, Virginia, who was the eldest son of John and Margaret Gay, of Tyrone County, Ireland, where he was born about the year 1780. His mother's maiden name was McCleery, a sister of Colonel William McCleery. About the year 1799, Col. McCleery, who had resided in Morgan- town for many years before, and had some years before lost his wife, and had no children nor relatives living in the United States, wrote to his nephew, Mathew Gay, to come to this country and make his home with him. Mr. Gay, then about nineteen years of age, sailed from Londonderry, and, after a long and stormy voyage, landed at Philadelphia and came to Morgantown.
In the meantime, Col. McCleery had fallen a victim to the charms of a young widow, who, before his nephew
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reached Morgantown, became his second wife. The nephew earnestly set about the work of learning the manners and business habits of the people of his new home, and, having determined to cast in his lot with them, commenced the study of the law in his uncle's office ; and, after a sufficiently lengthy residence in the country, on the 12th of June, 1805, renounced his allegiance to King George III., and became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1807, having obtained the legal certificate of residence and good charac- ter, Mr. Gay set out on his journey on horseback to Rich- mond, the Capital of the State, to be examined by three of the judges of the General Court of Virginia. On this journey he tarried over night at the house of Alexander Smith, on the north branch of the Potomac River, and saw, for the first time, the little blue-eyed girl, who, just fifteen years afterwards, became his wife. Having procured the signatures of Judges Archibald Stewart, Henry Hohms, and William Fleming, Mr. Gay returned to Morgantown and entered upon the successful practice of his profession, which he prosecuted until a few years before his death-a period of nearly half a century.
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