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 27
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AUGUSTUS HAYMOND .- Major William Haymond,* grand- father of Augustus Haymond, was of English extraction, and came to Monongalia in 1773. His near relatives, Ed- ward and Calder, came about the same time. Major Hay- mond removed to Clarksburg, about 1784, and served as County Surveyor from that time until his death in 1821. He was twice married: first to Cassandria Clelland, who bore him four sons; John, who died in Kanawha County; William, Jr .; Thomas, who died near Clarksburg, whose son Rufus is a physician, and another son, Luther, cashier of a bank at Clarksburg; and Daniel, who died in Ritchie County. Major Haymond next married the widow Mary Powers, nee Pettyjohn. They had one son, Cyrus, who died near Clarks- burg; one of whose sons, William S., was a representative in Congress, and another, Edward, is a Judge in Indiana.
* The following is a copy of an army discharge granted to Major Haymond in 1762: Byj Colonel Adam Stephen, Commander of the Virginia Regiment :
These are to certify that William Haymond, Sergeant in Capt. Byrd's company, is hereby discharged according to an act of the Assembly made for that purpose. He has duly served three years, and has behaved like a good soldier, and a faithful subject. Given under my hand at Fort Lewis, this 24th day of February, 1762.
ADAM STEPHEN, Colonel V. R.
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Major Haymond had three daughters: 1. Sarah Bond; 2. one who was married to Mr. Polsley, whose son is Judge Daniel H. Polsley; 3. another who was married to a Mr. Clark.
The second son, William Haymond, Jr., was born in 1772, near Montgomery Court-house, Maryland, and was engaged in the latter part of the Indian wars along the Monongalia frontier. He married Cynthia Carroll, who was born near the Bull Run battlefield, and was a relative of Charles Carroll of Carrollton. They had seven sons, of whom but three are living (Jonathan H., Augustus and Marcus) : 1. Thomas S., the eldest, was a member of Congress and the father of A. F. Haymond, of Fairmont, who recently resigned the judgeship of the Supreme Court of Appeals of this State; 2. William Calder, an attorney at law, whose son Creed is a judge in California ; 3. Hiram, a merchant; 4. Jonathan H., engaged in commerce in Central America; 5. Octavius, who died in Marion County ; 6. Augustus, the subject of this sketch; 7. Marcus, now living at Fairmont.
Augustus, the subject of this sketch, was born at "Pala- tine Hill," Monongalia (now Marion) County, May 17, 1812; in 1835 he came to Morgantown, and engaged in merchan- dizing until 1856. In that year he was elected a Justice of the Peace, and was re-elected in 1860; was elected Presi- dent of the County Court. One of the decisions made by him and the two associate Justices was appealed from, and was reversed by the Circuit Court, but on further appeal was sustained by the Supreme Court. He served as Coro- ner from December 26, 1842 to 1856. Mr. Haymond was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court, and on the day that West Virginia became a State, June 20, 1863, went into office. He was re-elected in 1866 and in 1872, and in 1878 23
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for another full term of six years. He has been twice married. His first wife was Rebecca Madera, who bore him three children-William C. Haymond, a druggist at Ravens- wood, W. Va., and Mrs. Eunice M. Lemley and Mrs. Susan M. Proctor, who also live at Ravenswood. Hé next married Dorcas Thompson, and their children are, Francis T., an attorney at law, and George, a deputy in his father's office. Mr. Haymond is affable, kind, generous and obliging ; and some three years ago he was described in a newspaper as follows : " In person Mr. Haymond is spare and small of stature, but of grave and venerable appearance."
WILLIAM SANFORD COBUN was born March 12, 1838, near Masontown, Preston County. He was the son of Samuel W. Cobun, who married Susan Guseman. They removed to Fairfield, Barbour County, and thence, on the death of his father, his mother came to Monongalia, about 1844. In a few years young Sanford became the main support of the family. He was industrious, truthful and energetic. He clerked, taught school, and attended Monongalia Academy, until 1861, when, upon the breaking out of the late war, he enlisted in Capt. Frank W. Thompson's Company as a private. He re-enlisted in 1864, and was promoted to First Lieutenant, and was honorably discharged October 6, 1865. After the close of the war he served in the West on the Plains against the Indians, and returned home in June, 1866. Mr. Cobun resumed the work of clerking and teaching until 1870, when he was elected Recorder of the county. In 1872, he was elected Clerk of the County Court, and was re-elected in 1878 for another term of six years. : He married Delia Eckhart on the 3d of July, 1870. He died on the 29th of October, 1882, of dropsical affection,
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leaving a family of six small children-four girls and two boys. II
Lieutenant Cobun was of a genial and obliging disposi- tion ; energetic and earnest, what he did he did it with his might. One intimately acquainted with him wrote in the New Dominion on his death :
" As a neighbor, kind and obliging ; as a friend, true as steel ; as a soldier, brave and generous ; as an officer, capable and obliging ; as a citizen, honest and upright, and as a husband and father, tender, true and devoted."
WILLIAM G. PAYNE was a native of Virginia, and prac- ticed law at Morgantown for many years. He was a large land-holder and speculator. He went to Preston County, where he died, and, it is said, lies buried in an unknown grave on Cheat River.
JOHN K. MINES was the first lawyer whose professional card appeared in a newspaper in Monongalia County. In The Monongalia Herald, in 1821, his card was printed as follows :
"J. K. MINES, | Attorney and Counsellor at Law, | Will practice in the Superior and Inferior Courts of Monongalia and Preston ; also in the Superior Court of Chancery for the Clarksburg District." Mr. Mines remained at Morgantown but a few months.
CHARLES S. MORGAN was a son of Stephen Morgan, and a grandson of the celebrated General Daniel Morgan. He was born in what is now Marion County. He married Miss Alcinda Moss, of Morgantown; he was a member of both houses of the Virginia Assembly, and was for years the Superintendent of the Penitentiary at Richmond.
J. T. Fox ALDEN came from Pittsburgh to Morgantown, but did not remain long. Returning to Pittsburgh, he after- ward became the author of a work on criminal pleading.
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HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
LYCURGUS STEPHEN HOUGH, son of Robert R. and Sarah C. Hough, is of English extraction. The Hough family was among the oldest settlers of Loudon County, Virginia. From this county Mr. Hough came to Morgantown in 1842; he studied law in the office of the Hon. Edgar C. Wilson, and was admitted to the bar March 29, 1844. Mr. Hough married Miss Anna Fairchild, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Ashbel Fairchild, the noted Presbyterian divine and au- thor. He was appointed by Governor Jacob, May 20, 1863, one of the Regents of the West Virginia University. He served several terms as School Director. From the time of his admission to the bar to the present, he has successfully devoted himself to the practice of his profes- sion ; he is a lover of books and pictures, has a fine library, including some rare volumes, and is a gentleman of culti- vated artistic and literary tastes.
ANDREW MCDONALD is a native of Washington County, Pennsylvania. He practiced law at Morgantown for several years, and for some time as a partner of the Hon. William G. Brown, of Preston County; served in the Legislature of Virginia ; married Jane V., a daughter of Mathew Gay, and is now a resident of Orlando, Florida.
JOSEPH MORELAND, son of John Moreland, one of the first coke operators, was born near Connellsville, Pennsyl- vania, May 26, 1842. He attended the Monongalia Acad- emy, and was graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in 1866. He read law with Brown & Hagans at Morgantown, and was admitted to the bar February 10, 1869. He married Mary E., daughter of the late Thomas Brown, of Kingwood, October 26, 1875. Mr. Moreland is a member of the Board of Regents of the West Virginia
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University, and is the Chairman of the Executive Commit- tee. He is still engaged in the practice of law at Mor- gantown.
OLIVER HAGANS DILLE is the eldest son of ex-Judge John A. Dille. He was graduated from West Virginia University in 1871; read law with his father, and was admitted to the bar September 9, 1872, and practiced, in 1873, as a mem- ber of the law firm of Dille & Son. He resides near Mor- gantown, and is engaged largely in the live-stock business.
THOMAS H. B. STAGGERS, son of Harvey Staggers, was admitted to the bar March 22, 1878, and soon after removed to Fairmont, where he is now engaged in the practice of law.
CLARENCE B. DILLE, son of ex-Judge John A. Dille, was graduated from West Virginia University in 1877; read law with his father, and was admitted to the bar March 20, 1879, and is now practicing as the partner of his father, the firm-name being Dille & Son.
JOHN M. DAVIS was born December 1, 1847; took the law course of West Virginia University in 1881-2; passed examination before Judges Haymond, Fleming and Melvin ; was admitted to the bar July 14, 1880, and is now practicing at Morgantown.
FRANCIS T. HAYMOND, son of Augustus Haymond, took the law course of the West Virginia University in 1881-2; passed examination before Judges Green, Johnson and Snyder; was admitted to the bar October 23, 1882, and is practicing at Morgantown.
FRANK Cox, son of Henry L. Cox, took the West Virginia University law course in 1882; passed examination before Judges Snyder, Johnson and Wood; was admitted to the bar June 18, 1883, and has located at Morgantown.
CHAPTER XX. EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
Early Schools and School-houses-How Furnished-Methods of Teaching-The Subscription Schools-The Free Schools-List of Officers-Institutes-Statistics-Wade's Graduating System -Morgan's Outline Course of Study-Monongalia Academy- Morgantown Female Collegiate Institute-Woodburn Female Seminary-Morgantown Female Seminary-West Virginia University.
" We must educate ! We must educate ! or we must perish by our own prosperity." -Lyman Beecher.
THE school-master was in Monongalia before the year 1780, and schools were taught for eleven years before the Indians finally departed from the county; but now not even the names of those old masters can be obtained, and the de- scription of their school-houses only has come down to us. The frontier school-house was beneath the trees, or inside the stockade fort, or in the cabin of a settler close to the fort, improvised into a school-room for a few hours each day. Its successor was the backwoods school-house, in which, besides schools, were held the religious and the general meetings of the neighborhood. This early school- house was, generally, a single story, round log cabin, built much after the fashion of the early dwelling-houses, as described in chapter eight. There were the huge stone chimney and ample fire-place; the aperture filled with a few panes of glass or covered with greased paper, to admit light ; the puncheon floor and door, and the wood latch and leather string with which to raise it.
The furniture of these early houses was as rude as the
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building itself. The seats were made of split logs, with the broad surface, hewn smooth, turned up. Into auger holes bored through these pieces, wood pins were inserted for legs. They had no back, and generally the seats were so high that the feet of the largest pupils only could reach the floor; and the most of the children were compelled to sit perched upon these benches in a most unpleasant position. The writing desk was a long slab, fastened on pins driven into auger holes in the logs of the sides of the house, and slanting downward from the wall. In later years, when there were more saw-mills, these desks were made of boards, and were hinged to the wall so as to be let down against it, and thus give more room, when not in use.
The "master," as the teacher was then called, was, usu- ally, a grim and stern personage, presiding with absolute authority, and ruling by fear and not by love. He al- ways had on hand a supply of rods, and punishment by their use was very frequently inflicted.
The books were few. The United States Spelling-book, the New Testament, the English Reader, and an arithmetic, were the earlier books used.
The schools were not regulated by law then. A subscrip- tion-paper, stating the price of tuition per scholar for the term or "quarter," was circulated, and each person affixed to his name the number of scholars he would send. If a sufficient number was obtained, the school would commence. Teachers were often paid in produce, and they "boarded- 'round " among the parents of the scholars. The boarding of the teacher was exclusive of the price of tuition, and he was supposed to stay at the house of each patron such number of days as the number of scholars "signed " by him bore to the whole number of scholars.
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HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
The course of instruction was limited to the few pri- mary branches of spelling, reading, writing and arithmetic, the last three constituting the three R's-" Reading, 'Riting and 'Rithmetic." And the qualifications of the masters to teach even these properly were generally wanting, though there were a few good teachers in these first schools. Only the simpler parts of arithmetic were taught ; and the math- ematical ambition of most pupils was satisfied when they could " cipher" to the end of the "Single Rule of Three," called Proportion in modern arithmetics, and which in the old arithmetics came before Fractions. A knowledge of computing interest, which some parents thought their sons might have occasion to practice, was sometimes taught.
Goose-quill pens were the only ones used, and the ink was made by the scholars or their parents from maple bark. Writing was not usually required to be done at any fixed hour, nor by all at the same time. Many teachers even could not make a good goose-quill pen. These, at best, required frequent mending. To make and mend the pens, rule the writing paper, and "set copies" for ten or twenty pupils, took no small portion of a teacher's time, and was often done during spelling, reading and other exercises, in which the worst mistakes of the pupils reciting escaped the ob- servation and correction of the teacher. To avoid this, some teachers made and mended pens and "set copies" before and after school hours. The metallic pen and printed copy-book are valuable improvements of a com- paratively late day.
Nor had the black-board yet come into use. Neither were scholars taught arithmetic in classes. Each got the assistance of the master as he could. Voices were heard from different parts of the room: "Master, I can't do this
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sum ;" or, "Please, master, show me how to do this sum;" and often the sum was solved by the teacher while a spell- ing or reading class was reciting. Asking permission to "go out," or to "go and get a drink," were "always in order;" the teacher going about the room to "help" the scholars, or to do their work for them; and scholars run- ning to him to get hard words pronounced; the buzz of the scholars learning their lessons-all these, and other things that might be mentioned, kept up a continual confusion. Wood, of course, was the fuel; and the noon hour, or part of it, was often spent by teacher and pupils, in cutting it.
These first school-houses possessed the advantage of good ventilation, being generally very open and admitting a great deal of fresh air. In winter often it was impossible to keep them comfortably warm, and scholars would take turns in occupying the benches next to the fire. The ink froze during the night, and was thawed in the morning by setting the bottles on the hearth before the great wood fire; and later, on and under the stove.
The school history, for the purposes of this chapter, will be divided into three periods: the Pioneer schools, the Subscription schools, and the Free schools. What has been said will suffice for the first period; some of it will apply to the Subscription schools also.
SUBSCRIPTION SCHOOLS.
As the country settled up, improvements were made in the houses and in the methods of teaching. On the 10th of Feb- ruary, 1810, an act was passed by the General Assembly crea- ting the "Literary Fund." It was provided that all escheats, confiscations, fines, penalties, and forfeitures, and all rights in personal property, accruing to the Commonwealth, as der-
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elict, and having no rightful proprietor, shall be appropri- ated to the encouragement of learning ; and the Auditor was directed to open an account, to be designated the "Literary Fund." On February 21, 1818, an act was passed for the annual appointment, by the court of every county, of commissioners of schools. Each county was to receive such proportion of $45,000 as its free white pop- ulation might bear to the whole free white population of the State, for the education of poor children. This money was appropriated from the Literary Fund. This was the first provision made for the education of poor children, and was the inauguration of what was known as the "poor" or " primary" school system, attached to the subscription system, and which existed until 1864, when it was suc- ceeded by the present Free school system.
The act of 1818 provided for the appointment of school commissioners by the county courts each year at their Oc- tober sessions. The county court of Monongalia on October 25, 1819, appointed John Henthorne, Thomas Wilson, Wil- liam Haymond, Nathan Hall, William Willey, David Mus- grave, Boaz Burrows, Joseph Harrison and Samuel Minor, School Commissioners. The Board of Commissioners re- ceived the quota of the county from the Literary Fund each year, and used it as far as it would go in paying the tuition of indigent children whom they selected and sent to the subscription schools taught in the county.
In 1842, the county court appointed as the Board Thomas Meredith, John Watts and William Robinson, Commission- ers on the "East Side" of the Monongahela River, and William Price, Aaron Barker and Morgan L. Boyers on the "West Side." This division of the East and West side was kept up as long as the system continued.
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Under the act of March 5, 1846, amending the "Primary School System," the county court of Monongalia, October 25, 1846, divided the county into twenty-seven districts, and appointed a school commissioner for each, as follows:
Eastern District (east side of the Monongahela)-No. 1. Seth Stafford; 2. Reuben Sensebaugh; 3. William John ; 4. James Evans ; 5. Rev. Peter T. Laishley ; 6. E. C. Wilson ; 7. John Han- way ; 8. Asby Pool ; 9. Rawley Holland; 10. Leven Howell ; 12. Elijah Tarleton ; 13. Thomas Meredith ; 14. Thomas Tarleton.
Western District (west side of the Monongahela)-No. 1. John H. Bowlby ; 2. M. L. Boyers ; 3. Gideon Barb ; 4. Caleb S. Price ; 5. John Stewart; 6. Michael Core ; 7. William Price ; 8. William Lantz ; 9. Alex Wade; 10. James White; 11. William Cotton, Jr .; 12. Enos Haught ; 13. George Wilson.
The last board appointed (October 29, 1862) was as follows:
East Side-No. 1. John Bowers ; 2. Thomas M. Jarrett ; 3. Jacob Miller ; 4. John Mills ; 5. William Anderson ; 6. A. S. Vance ; 7. Charles Watts ; 8. Robert Mayfield ; 9. Caleb Beall ; 10. Moses Steel ; 11. Isaac Reed ; 12. William Holland ; 13. Henry Watson ; 14. Thomas Tarleton.
West Side-No. 1. Waitman Davis ; 2. M. L. Boyers ; 3. Peter Fogle ; 4. John N. Waters ; 5. Dudley E. Miller ; 6. Michael Core ; 7. William Price ; 8. David Lemley ; 9. R. S. Thomas ; 10. Alex. Wade : 11. James G. White ; 12. Milton Wilson.
The rate of tuition, in 1859, was by the day; three and one-fourth to three and one-half cents per day was about the general average.
The Assembly of 1845-6 provided for the appointment, annually, by the Board of School Commissioners in each county, of a Superintendent of Schools, among whose duties was that of receiving the county's quota from the Literary Fund and paying it out for the teaching of indigent scholars upon the orders of the Commissioners. Each teacher in- structing indigent children made out his report of the same,
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and had it certified by the Commissioner employing him, and delivered it to the Superintendent, and received his pay. John Watts, it is said, was the first Superintendent. Waitman T. Willey was appointed by the Board, and filed his bond November 27, 1848. He was appointed annually thereafter until 1862, when, on the 29th of October, J. Marshall Ha- gans was appointed, and served until the Free School sys- tem of West Virginia was created.
In the "poor system," supported from the Literary Fund, we see an advance by Virginia towards a free school system. Another step forward was an act passed by the Assembly of 1845-6, providing for an optional system of free schools, which might be adopted by the "council of any city or town having a corporation court," or by the voters of any county at a special election held for the purpose. Monon- galia County, however, never voted upon the system, although a free school system similar to the present one was agitated as early as 1850. In that year, the Rev. P. T. Laishley, in his card as a candidate for a seat in the Convention to amend the Constitution, said: "I am in favor of having an item embraced in the Constitution, establishing a general system of education, so that in our primary schools the children of the rich and the poor may meet on an equality, extending to all the opportunity of acquiring knowledge." In the period embraced between the years 1856 and 1861, A. L. Wade lectured and wrote in favor of a free school system; and Albert G. Davis, in 1857-9, made speeches in favor of free schools.
THE FREE SCHOOLS.
The patriotic men who, in the troublous times of sixty and sixty-one, refusing to follow the State in secession,
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stood steadfast by the Union, and who were driven by the stern logic of events to advocate the formation of a new State, and who were chosen by their fellow-citizens to frame a Constitution for it, had seen the beneficial work- ings of a uniform system of free schools in the adjoining States of Pennsylvania and Ohio, as well as in other States of the Union. Foreseeing the antagonisms that such a system would encounter, and knowing the difficulties that would attend the introduction of such an innovation, they placed the system beyond the reach of the passions and prejudices and discontentments of the hour-they put into the first Constitution of West Virginia this injunction :
"The Legislature shall provide, as soon as practicable, for the establishment of a thorough and efficient system of free schools. They shall provide for the support of such schools by appropriating thereto the interest of the invested school fund, the net proceeds of all forfeitures, confiscations and fines accruing to this State under the laws thereof ; and by general taxation on persons and property, or otherwise. They shall also provide for raising, in each township [now district], by the authority of the people thereof, such a proportion of the amount required for the support of free schools therein as shall be prescribed by general laws."
The first Legislature of West Virginia, on the 20th of December, 1863, obeying the command of the organic law above quoted, in both its letter and spirit, passed a long act establishing the free school system. The voters of each township were to elect a Board of Education consisting of three commissioners, and the voters of the county, at the same time, were to elect a County Superintendent of Free Schools. The duties of the Board of Education combined those which are now performed by the Boards and the Trustees; they had the control and management of the school property of the township; were to take the anuual
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HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
enumeration of youth between the ages of 6 and 21 years ; divide the township into sub-districts; cause a sufficient number of schools to be taught to accommodate all of the proper age in the township; direct what books should be used ; buy lots and erect, buy or rent school-houses, and supply them with fuel, etc .; appoint the teachers and fix their wages ; visit the schools, etc. The County Superin- tendent, among other things, was "to examine all candi- dates for the profession of teacher," and to those competent grant certificates ; to visit the schools " at least three times during every term of six months;" to "encourage the for- mation of county associations of teachers," and teachers' institutes ; to " use all proper means to create and foster among the people an interest in free schools, and for this purpose, shall, as far as practicable, take advantage of such public occasions as may present themselves, as the dedica- tion of school-houses, public examinations, &c., to impress upon the people the importance of public education, and the duty of sustaining the system of free schools as es- tablished by law ;" and " to secure, as far as practicable, uniformity in the text-books used in the schools throughout the county." He was to receive an annual salary of from one hundred to five hundred dollars, to be fixed by the board of supervisors of the county.
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