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 35
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41. Dandelion, Dens Leonis.
42. Black snakeroot, Cimicifuga racemosa.
43. Bloodroot, Sanguinaria Canadensis.
44. Curled dock. Rumex crispus.
45. Crow-foot, Ranunculus bulboses.
46. Wild carrot, Daucus Carota.
47. American centaury, Sabbatia Angalaris.
48. Pennyroyal, Hedeoma pulegiorides.
49. Mulleiu, Verbascum thapsus.
50. Elder, Sambucus Canadensis.
51. Blackberry, Rubus villosus.
52. Small Solomon's seal, Polygonatum bifforum.
53. Spicewood, Lindera Benzoin.
54. Savin, Juniperus Sabina.
55. Witch-hazel, Hamamelis Virginica.
56. Unicorn, or cholic root, Aletris furiosa,
470 HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
VINES.
57. Trailing Arbutus, Epigaca repens.
58. Creeping wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbus.
59. Ground Ivy, Nepeta Glechoma.
60. Sarsaparilla. Aralia nudicaulis.
Mineral waters are abundant in West Virginia. In Monongalia only springs of the calybeates have been found, which are sometimes called ferruginous. They are generally known as "red sulphur" springs, and contain tonic proper- ties. A large spring of this class is about one-half mile west of Morgantown, near the road from that town to Granville.
The subject of medical statistics has not received the attention that its importance demands. Statistics of mor- tality, beyond the numerical number of deaths, called the " death figure," should show the relative prevalence of dis- eases and comparative salubrity of climate in different sec- tions, and point out the best means for promoting health and longevity. The annual death-rate doubled generally gives the sick rate.
BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS.
Year. Births. Marriages. Deaths.
Year. Births. Marriages. Deaths.
1850 430 168 153
1868 .. 364 72 94
1854 204 65 129
1869 .368 82 97
1855 243. 72 122
1870 333 ..
70. 112
1856. 244 59 111
1871 346 71 129
1857 322 48
136
1872 .. 370
79 94
1858. .385. 57
122
1873 .. 329
1874 .359 80 111
1860 .. .450
48
62
1875 ... 339
73 94
1861 313
62 117
1876 .. 379.
70 95
1862. 285
58 76
1877 ,363
64 95
1863. 202 49 185
1878 .. 405
66 109
1864
58
1879 .356
64 109
1865 216. 62 137
1880 382
73 124
1866 236. 108 70
1881
388
70 127
1867 .369. 92 99
1882
69
61 107
1859 .. 312 42 53
371
MEDICAL HISTORY.
LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH IN MONONGALIA COUNTY. Compiled from the Auditor's Reports.
YEAR.
| Apoplexy.
WHAHA | Brain disease.
| Cancer.
| Childbirth.
+&SA | Consumption.
1: 20 | Croup.
COHA: | Dropsy.
1H& | Dysentery.
HAH: & | Erysipelas.
27699x | Fevers.
A: ¿ | Heart disease.
Inflammation
of bowels.
Paralysis.
[ Violent or ac-
cident.
.: : : : | Whooping c'gh
1865
1
1
2
3
1866.
3
3
1
6
1
3
3
1871.
1
2
2 12
1
1872.
3
3
1.21
2
2
1
1
4
3
1
.
5
4
2
7
1874
4
2
4 14 A
1
2
2
1
..
5
3
6
2
2
2
1875
1
2
3
1
1
1
6
1
8
1
4
3
:
1876
2
3
14
2
2
1877
2
2
12
2
1
6
2
1
1
1:15
8
.
8
.
15
3
1
1
3
3
42
2010
Q
189896
1
7
1
:
1880
1
1
3 15+
3
1
5
4
.
1881.
1!
1.19
4
3
3
4
1
25
5
3
2| 2
2
2
One death from cholera is reported in 1875 ; and one from small- pox in 1872.
In 1880, but one out of every 120 of the population of Monongalia County, died, and but one of each 240 was sick in the same year. In the United States, in this year, the death-rate was 1.51 persons to each 100 of the population. It is said that there never was but one case of cholera in the county, and that was a boy who was going through with some movers. He died and was buried in the county.
The first marriages on record in the county are of the year 1794, and were solemnized by James Fleming, as follows: John Marble and Barbary Weaver, November 11; Joseph Hartley and Ann Holt, November 12. But nineteen marriages are recorded in the year 1795.
We have record of three persons living in Monongalia County to the age of 100 years. Evan T. Morgan, who died in 1850, was 100 years of age; Syefax Washington died at Morgantown in 1861, aged 108 years. He was a negro,
·
3
4
2
1878
2
81
3
3
2
2
11
1879
2
2
9
8
6-911
20
7
1
3
3
5
2
3
2
1873
1
1
10
1
9
·
.
1
1868.
1
3
.
.
·
..
81
2
5
92A.
5
. .
.
..
20
1
3
2
.
5
921
821
.
& & & & 2 | Diphtheria.
and infantum.
Cholera morb's
1870.
3
..
| Old age.
1
.
-
472
HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
and said he was once the property of George Washington's brother John. Mary Kenedy, who died in 1869, was 105 years old.
Of nonagenarians, we have record of the following :
Year of Death. Name. Age at Death.
Year of Death. Name. Age at Death ..
1854 .. .Hannah Manlin. 5.92 1867. .Catharine Workman.92
1854 .Celia Wade .93
1869 Annie Collins. 92 1855 .Lucy A. Lanham .93
1879 Wm. R. Hopkins 98 1856 .Sarah Newbrough .99
1872 Joseph S. Tennant .90
1857 .Francis Ross 90
1873 .Susanna Piles 90
1858 .Jacob Bankard. 94
1873 .George P. Wilson 96
1860. Mary L. Henry 91 > 1874. . Enoch Evans 96
1861. .. Christopher Core 93
1876 Martha Brand 92
1865 .. Henry Pethal. 99
1879. Wm. W. Price .92
1866 Jane Lough. 96
1880 Elizabeth Semore 90
1866 .Susan Mayfield. 90
1882 Elizabeth John 91
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Dr. CHARLES McLANE, an eminent physician and citizen of Monongalia County, was born in Tyrone, Ireland, in 1790. He came to New York City in 1805; read medicine with Dr. Luther, at Lancaster, Penn., and attended lectures at the University of Pennsylvania. He practiced medicine with his brother, Dr. William McLane, at Connellsville, Penn.
Dr. McLane settled at Morgantown in 1823. His wife was Eliza, daughter of John Kern, of Greensburg, Penn. He was a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was the inventor of the liver pills known by his name, and which have a great sale in America, and are known in almost every civilized country on the globe.
Dr. McLane practiced medicine at Morgantown for a half century, and died there in 1874. He was about five feet eight inches in height, and had a round face, auburn hair and blue eyes.
HUGH W. BROCK, M.D., was born January 5, 1830, at Blacksville, Monongalia County, and died April 24, 1882, at
473
MEDICAL HISTORY.
his home in Morgantown. His father, the Hon. Fletcher Brock, soon after the birth of the subject of this sketch, removed his residence to the Pennsylvania side of Mason and Dixon's line, and was thenceforward connected with the politics of that State, though his business-that of a mer- chant-was still conducted in Virginia. He was a man whose sterling worth, unstinted benevolence, unaffected piety, warm heart and active brain made him a leader in the community in which he lived. Blessed, too, with a a mother of rare excellence, Dr. Brock had the advantage of a pure and pious parentage-of a descent whose mingled English and Scotch blood was, so far as the record shows, untainted.
His boyish characteristics foreshadowed the playfulness and seriousness, the freedom and dignity of his manhood. One incident points out the incipient physician. Scarlet fever was in his uncle's family. As the disease was malig- nant, a nurse could not be found. He begged permission to help nurse his little cousins-himself eleven years old, -- saying he was not afraid, and that he would not return home until all danger of contagion was past. His earnest- ness and bravery gained the permission.
At fourteen he began his academic training at Car- michaels, Penn., and continued it at Monongalia Academy. At sixteen he entered on his medical studies with the then celebrated Dr. Charles McLane. In 1852, he received his degree from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia.
From the time of his graduation till 1870, he was in part- nership with Dr. Joseph A. McLane. This association was amicably dissolved, and his brother, Luther S. Brock, having received his degree, became the junior partner of the firm of Brock Brothers.
474 HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
During the civil war, his fondness for surgery led him to take the position of acting surgeon in Sheridan's field hos- pital at Winchester, Va., where he remained several months. With this exception, his life-work was done in Morgantown and its vicinity.
May 29, 1878, he was married to Isabella J., daughter of the late Rev. Andrew Stevenson, D.D., of New York City.
Dr. Brock's personal appearance was commanding. He had much of what is called "presence," but this he owed even less to his physique than to the quiet dignity which marked his bearing. Nearly six feet in height, finely pro- portioned, his grey eyes keen and expressive, his look direct, the whole manner was suggestive of the nobility within.
He was pre-eminently a man of one profession. An inde- fatigable student, he made everything pay tribute to his medical lore. With a strong tendency to specialization, he was never one-sided nor narrow-minded. His judgment was clear and decisive. He was conservative on all ques- tions, except where purity and honesty were involved. He believed in physical, mental and soul culture. He had studied the physical too well to ignore the psychical. His ministry to the suffering was more than materia medica. In the homes of the people, doubtless, there is a history written which, if it could be told, would be his highest trib- ute. Through thirty years of professional toil, he counted not his own life dear that he might be of service to others.
For the sublime and magnificent manifestations of nature in our rugged country he had an intense admiration. His were the first appreciative eyes to rest upon many a now famed view. He studied natural science by the roadside, and was acquainted with our fauna and flora, and knew the note of every forest songster.
475
MEDICAL HISTORY.
As a physician, he was wise and trustworthy. Firmness and gentleness, wonderfully combined, made him an ideal physician. But it was in surgery that he took most interest and found most pleasure. Regarding anatomical knowledge as the basis of all success and skill in this department, he spared no pains to make himself familiar with the structure of the human body by dissection. He never lost an opportunity for an autopsical examination, to observe and study pathalog- ical lesions. Living in a country where it is necessary to be a general practitioner, he performed most of the so- called capital operations, such as lithotomy, herniotomy, ovariotomy, and all of the most important amputations, except that of the hip joint, and many of the more delicate operations, as that for cataract, etc., and with almost uni- form success.
His courteous bearing toward his professional brethren, and never-failing consideration for them ; his high sense of honor and acknowledged ability, secured for him an ex- tended consultation practice throughout his own State, and many counties of the contiguous State of Pennsylvania. A medical friend in Pennsylvania pays the following tribute, which is so true an index to his gentlemanly treatment of those whom he esteemed worthy, that we take the liberty of quoting :
"When I was a very young man, with limited training and no experience, he always met me kindly and treated me encourage- ingly, guiding me into paths that are, in ripening years, proving highways of professional pleasure and profit. I esteemed him the most scholarly and thoroughly scientific physician and surgeon among my acquaintances ; a man with whom I never associated an hour without feeling more deeply impressed with the importance of our profession, and the necessity of more accurate and thorough knowledge."
476
HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
Dr. Brock was one of the charter members of the Medical Society of West Virginia, and remained one of its most active and industrious members. He was one of its early presidents, and for several successive years, a member of its board of censors. He made frequent contributions to the transac- tions of the society, and his report of cases of strangulated hernia was reprinted in the New York Medical Journal and in the Richmond and Louisville Medical Journal. His per- sonal worth and professional attainments were recognized by eminent representative medical men throughout the nation.
In 1881, he attended the International Medical Congress in London, as a delegate from the American Medical Asso- ciation. Even in his limited sojourn in the Old World he exemplified his accustomed devotion to his chosen work, spending most of his time in visiting the hospitals of Lon- don, Dublin, Edinburgh and Paris. He was a member of the American Surgical Society, and, at its last meeting in New York, read a paper of surgical interest on traumatic aneurism. At the time of his death he was professor of Anatomy, Physiology and Hygiene in West Virginia Univer- sity, and a member of the board of regents.
Memorial services were held at the University in connec- tion with commencement exercises, at which ex-Senator Willey, the Rev. J. R. Thompson, Col. D. D. Johnson, and Dr. J. E. Reeves presented the various phases of his char- acter.
It would seem unnecessary to add that Dr. Brock was a Christian, but in this age of rationalism it is noteworthy that he was not only a communicant in the Methodist Epis- copal Church from boyhood, but that his religious faith gave tone to his whole life.
477
MEDICAL HISTORY.
We cannot more appropriately close this sketch than with a quotation from an editorial notice in a Wheeling daily :
"There were few physicians more learned, more skilled, and more highly esteemed, both among members of his profession and his acquaintances than the deceased. No man was more ambi- tious to master problems of his profession ; none took greater pains and studied more deeply ; none was better posted or kept pace more fully with the progress and development of medical sci- ence. He was prominent in all movements for the elevation and improvement of his profession in the State. Not only was he dis- tinguished and esteemed as a physician, but as a man whose per- sonal character and reputation were without spot or blemish. He had the complete confidence of all who knew him. There was not the slightest taint of hypocrisy or deceit in him. He abhorred all shamns. He was frank, straightforward, manly, and absolutely incorruptible in all the relations of life. He did nothing for effect; was sincere and upright in all his impulses ; and there is perhaps not a man of his acquaintance who would not have taken his word as willingly as his bond. This is high praise, but those who knew him, know also that it is justly due the character of the deceased. He has dropped out of his place in the prime of manhood, with . capacity for great usefulness, and with the promise of great honor and distinction in his profession. His death is a loss to his own community, to the University, and the profession he so much honored."
Dr. GEORGE W. JOHN was born February 4, 1827, in Monongalia County. His father's name was William John, who died in 1855, and his mother was Mary McVicker, who died in 1880. He received his education in the common schools at Stewarttown and at Monongalia Academy. August 31, 1849, he married Sisson, eldest daughter of the late John S. Dorsey, of near Morgantown. His children are: Alice, wife of William Moorhead, of Morgantown ; Ellenora, wife of Joseph M. Wood, of Scottsdale, Penn .;
478
HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
and George M. John, of Morgantown. Of his father's family of eleven children, but two survived Dr. John, namely : Permelia John and Elizabeth, the wife of E. W. St. Clair.
About 1850, Dr. John began the study of medicine with Dr. U. L. Clemmer, at Smithfield, Penn .; after one year, he attended lectures at the Cincinnati Eclectic Medical Institute, and began the practice of his profession at Stewarttown in 1852. In medicine he was an ardent advo- cate of reform, and his efforts were devoted principally to the elaboration and perfection of the materia medica. Such was his love for his profession, that he continued to practice it until a short time before his death.
In 1860, Dr. John opened a general store at Stewarttown, and also had stores at New Geneva and Rosedale, in Penn- sylvania. In 1871, he removed to Durbannah, and opened a store in Morgantown. Three years later he bought the · property opposite the Wallace House, and removed his store to the store-room in that building, where he continued the business until his death. He also had branch stores at Morgantown, Uffington, and Reedsville, Preston County. During this time, he was engaged also in the lumber and timber trade. Prospering in his business pursuits, he left a competence at his death. Though delicate in constitution, Dr. John possessed great capacity for business, and was remarkably gifted with the power of endurance. He was an indefatigable worker, and a man of great energy.
At the age of eighteen years, Dr. John joined the Meth- odist Protestant Church, of which he remained a consistent and conscientious member until the division of the church into the North and South branches. He strongly opposed what he considered the introduction of politics into the de-
497
MILITARY HISTORY.
afterwards re-organized as Company C, Battalion Oregon and Washington mounted rangers. Dallas Price and Oliver Price, two brothers who were descendants of the old Indian-figliting Morgans, and who were born and reared in Monongalia County, were in Thompson's company.
Among the hottest contests of this war was a four-days' fight on the Walla Walla River, at the point where Fort Bennett now stands-which fort, it is said, was named in honor of Captain Bennett, of Marion County, who was killed in that battle. The Indians were commanded by Peopeomoxmox, or Yellow Serpent, one of the most famous chiefs ever on the Pacific Coast. During the fight, Colonel Thompson saw this chief killed by a Missouri soldier named Sam Warfield, who knocked him in the head with his gun and afterwards scalped him, in retaliation for outrages com- mitted by his warriors. After the chief had been scalped, Oliver Price cut a piece of skin from his back, had it tanned, and made a razor strop of it-another illustration of the savage hostility existing between the Morgan blood and the Indian race.
THE CIVIL WAR.
We already have seen (in chapter thirteen) with what promptness and earnestness the people of Monongalia deter- mined to stand by the Union, and abide under the govern- ment of the fathers. The various large meetings held, the ringing resolutions adopted, and the intense earnestness of feeling which pervaded all, evinced upon the part of the citizens of the county an unwavering, undying loyalty to the Union of the States. The call of President Lincoln of April 15, 1861, for 75,000 troops, met a prompt response, nor was the county behind any part of the loyal North in 32
1
-
498
HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
the promptness and zeal of her responses to the subsequent calls. During the four long and terrible years of this great conflict, the men and women of the county were profoundly stirred, and never once did their loyal zeal flag nor their devotion to their country waver. Deserving of lasting honor and of perpetual remembrance are the sons of Monon- galia who volunteered to fight their country's battles in the field. They went from every township, from every neigh- borhood, and almost from every home. And many of them never came back any more. They wasted away with disease in the hospital, died of wounds on the field, or met sudden death in the terrible tide of bloody battle. The list of their names is a list of heroes. The record of their glorious acts is a history of which old Monongalia may well be perpetually proud. In following pages may be found the result of a patient attempt to present a list of these soldiers. That it is not full and accurate is no fault of the author. Some States have published a complete list, giving the name of every volunteer furnished by them during the civil war, with his county and residence. West Virginia, however, is not one of these.
West Virginia soldiers were among the very best of the troops which fought for the Union. The soldiers from Monongalia were among the very best of West Virginia troops. Has any other regiment of the war, either Federal or Confederate, a more heroic history than that of the Seventh Infantry? In it was a company from Monongalia. Said ex-Governor Pierpont, in his address at the Grafton National Cemetery, on Decoration-day, 1883 :
"During the winter of 1864-5, I was twice at the front on the Peninsula before Richmond. West Virginia regiments were there ; many Northern troops were also there. Desertion from picket
MILITARY HISTORY. 499
duty had become common ; I supposed, confined principally to bounty jumpers, but the custom became so prevalent that the com- manding general had to put a guard in the rear to catch the deser- ters. No guard was ever placed in the rear of West Virginia sol- diers. Some of the officers complained of this. General Ord, to whom complaint was made, replied : 'The West Virginia boys had a whole year to decide which army they would go into, and not one of them was ever known to desert '."
Illustrating the high estimation in which West Virginia troops were held by the generals of the army, Governor Pierpont said :
"In 1865, at the front, at Hatcher's Run, General Meade was in command, General Turner next ; Terry. commanded the corps. Two West Virginia regiments had been sent forward on picket duty. They had not gone far until they encountered a battalion of Con- federate soldiers, and captured them and brought them within the Federal lines. General Meade saw the regiments returning with the prisoners, and, riding up to General Turner (who was a very profane man), said : 'General, you must take better care of your soldiers, or they will get captured.' Turner replied, 'Captured, h-1! these are West Virginia soldiers, and when they get into a fight every d-d one of them is a general. They never will be cap -. tured'."
COMPANY A, SIXTH W. VA. C.
This company was recruited at Morgantown, and orig- inally organized as Company A, 3d West Virginia Infantry. It was mustered into the service of the United States at Clarksburg, June 25, 1861. Frank W. Thompson was elected captain and acted as such until the organization of the regiment was completed, when he was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. On August 13, 1864, this compamy was re-organized, and became Company A, 6th West Virginia Cavalry. It had been doing duty as mounted infantry for several months previous. On Septem- ber 7, 1864, the non-veterans in the company were mustered
500
HISTORY OF MONONGALIA COUNTY.
out, their term of service having expired, and it was again re-organized, this time becoming Company F, of the same regiment. Soon after the re-organization the company was ordered West, and did duty on the plains until 1866, when, on May 22d, its members were finally mustered out of the United States service.
Officers.
James J. Thompson, Captain
Joseph J. Cline, Sergeant
A. C. Pickenpaugh, Lieutenant
Robert J. Fleming, Corporal
Nicholas B. Medara,
John M. Triplett, 66
Oliver S. Jones, Sergeant
Jacob T. Shroyer, Bugler
George W. Debolt, ..
John Smith,
William F. Cullen, 66
Privates.
Windsor Austin
George W. Harding J. F. Ross
Thomas L. Berry
William Hess
Charles A. Schiller
Isaac W. Criss
John D. Jenkins Solon Stone
Sanford Courtney
Thomas M. Johnson
John M. Solomon
John A. Cox
Titus Lemley
George Wright
Anthony Conard
Thomas H. McBee
James Watkins
Garrett T. Fogle
Jas. M. McVickers
Charles E. Watts
William Hennen Marshall Phillips
Recruits.
Richard W. Blue George W. Collins
John E. Price
William A. Schriver
John Dancer B. Jennewine
Rezin L. Piles
William H. Tasker Wilford Watkins
Theodore Stone Discharged.
F. W. Thompson#Capt. W.A. Widney,Sergeant Geo. Garrison Corporal Jas. F. Linn, Sergeant D. E. Holines Corp'l John Powell .6
John'C. Davis, Lieut. E. F. Haskins
H. C. Spitsnagle "
Transferred.
Sepheus Jenkins, Corp'! William P. Goodwin
Died.
William D. Minker
Salathiel Burke
Chas. M. V. Gould
John J. Frederick Thomas Herrington Matthew Jenkins
William Cole William H. Guthrie James Kennedy
* Promoted to be lieutenant-colonel, and afterward, at Martinsburg, in the summer of 1864, to the office of colonel.
M. Berry, Corporal James' R. Matthews
James W. McKenny
Henry Shisler
501
MILITARY HISTORY,
John H. MeNemar
William Piles ..
Frederick G. Maze
James Scott
Veterans. i
W.W. Hickman, Serg't James F. Ashby
W. S. Cohun,
John E. Blany .. . .
David L. Davis 66 John H. Cortney
E. H. Baird, 66 John E. Caruthers
David Simpson
Josiah Davis, Corporal John H. Cole
John T. Baily,
John A. Doty
Marshal Scott, 66 W. W. Fleming;
David G. Casey,
Wm. Hawker
Wm. Collins, George Smith,
Stephen O. Lewellen
James McGraw William McPeck
Solomon Wright
Charles Martin
John N. Maze
Óliver P. Widows
William Doty
Ephriam Provance
Jacob M. Widows
W. R. Batson
COMPANY E, SEVENTH W. VA. I.
Officers.
Henry B. Lazier, Captain
Marcus Fetty Jan. '62
Isaac Hastings, Lieutenant
Wm. E. Canthers
1
Anthony Jacquett,
Jos. W. Conway .6
Charles A. Calaban, Sergeant
Geo. T. Benthem
William J. Roger
Clark Kelley
Cyrus B. Morgan 66
James P. Houston 66
Thos. E. Sullivan, Corporal
Privates. -
William Adams
Aaron Austin Isaiah Adams
Calvin Cobun
Thomas J. Cole
George A. Cummins
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