USA > West Virginia > Ritchie County > History of Ritchie County, with biographical sketches of its pioneers and their ancestors, and with interesting reminiscences of revolutionary and Indian times > Part 11
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The Allenders .- Jacob Allender was an early settler on the Marshall Prunty homestead. He and his wife Mrs. Elizabeth Vangrift Allender, were natives of Hampshire county, he being of English, and she, of German descent. He was the son of James Allender, and his grandsire crossed the sea from England. After their marriage they resided in Marion county for four years before coming to Ritchie in 1851, where the remnant of their days were spent, and where they sleep side by side in the White Oak cemetery. Mrs. Allender passed away a number of years before he did; and some time after her death he married Mrs. Elizabeth Sinnett Lowther, widow of John A. Lowther, and daughter of the late George Sinnett, of Harrisville, who still survives.
His children were born of the first union, and were as follows: T. K. Alexander, Sistersville; Mrs. Sarah Nutter, mother of Okey Nutter, Pennsboro: John Allender, of Ox- ford ; Christopher, James, Rachel, and Iva, and two others all died of diphtheria in childhood. All died within one week, and two were borne to the grave at one time.
CHAPTER VIII
North Fork Settled
ACOB COLLINS was the first settler on the head of the North fork of Hughes river.
He came from the Shenandoah valley, Virginia. early in the century with his wife. Phebe Stuthard Collins, and several chil- dren, and reared his humble dwelling on the farmi that is now the home of his grandson,
W. J. Collins.
The wilderness at this time was unbroken, and they lived in their wagons until they could construct a cabin, and kept fires out so as to protect themselves and their stock from the wild beasts.
Fearful storms occasionally visited this section, and their home, at one time, was almost demolished by one of cyclonic fury.
Mr. Collins is said to have been a man of strong Christian character with an innate love for doing good to his fellow- men, but of his ancestral history we know nothing except that he was of Welsh descent, and that he was probably a native of the "Old Dominion."
But Mrs. Collins was of Revolutionary stock. her father, and his only brother having served as soldiers in the Con- tinental army, (the latter dying before his return home).
Here on the old homestead where they settled, they spent their last hours, and here they rest.
They were the parents of a large family of children, who were also identified among the early settlers of this part of the county, and who are as follows: William. Jacob, junior. Henry B., Nancy, Margaret, Phebe, Frances, James and John. All of whom reared families except James who died single.
William Collins .- William Collins, the eldest son, mar- ried Miss Ellendor Britton, and settled near three miles from the old homestead where he died in 1871 at a ripe old age.
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The fruits of this union were five children: Columbus, of Pennsboro: Cordelia, the late wife of John Maulsby, of West Union; Mrs. Charlotte (Joab) Martin, Peunsboro: Lafayette Collins, and Mrs. Helen (Silas) Taylor, who reside at Tollgate.
After the birth of these children the wife passed on, and he married Miss Harriett Allen, who was the mother of the late Mrs. Ida Martin, wife of Dr. Edgar Martin, of Oxford ; the late Mrs. Salome (Wm.) Hudkins, of Greenwood; and of George and Alice, who died in infancy.
Death again robbed him of his companion, and he mar- ried Miss Talitha Lynch, of Harrison county, for his third wife, and she was the mother of Mrs. Maggie (Omer) Garner. and Mrs. Ora (Banks) Martin, both of Tollgate: Mrs. Lora (Dorsey) Browne, of West Union; Mrs. Lona (John) Har- per, Pennsboro; and Hiram Collins, of the North Fork, and of the late Draper.
Jacob Collins, Junior .- Jacob Collins, junior, married Miss Sarah Ripley, of Tyler county, and settled near the old homestead, where he reared a large family and where he spent his last hours.
He was a soldier of the Union army during the Civil war. and his ten children were as follows :
Kenner, George, and Benjamin died in the West and Floyd resides there: Mary is Mrs. Edgar Keys, and Lurena, Mrs. Andrew Cunningham, both of California: Frances is Mrs. Ellis Thomas, of Pennsylvania; Eveline, Mrs. Thomas Dillon, and Eliza, Mrs. Simon Bradford, both of Parkersburg ; and Amelia is Mrs. Richard Wilson, of Pennsboro.
Henry B. Collins .- Henry B. Collins married Miss Eliza Britton, and also settled near the old home.
He was quite prominent in public affairs, and was one of the early representatives of the county in the Richmond Leg- islature. And though he did not take up arms in the Civil war, he was a strong advocate of the Southern cause. He died near 1895 at his old home here, and in the family bury- ing-ground he sleeps.
He was the father of eight children : Mortimer, the eldest son, lost his life in the Confederate cause at the battle
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of Rich Mountain. Richard, Jasper, Casandra, who married the Rev. A. Jones, and India, who was Mrs. Perry Flesher, of Shiloh, have all joined the throng over there. F. H. Col- lins, Drusilla, the wife of Dr. Bartlett, and Almira who first married A. Archbold, and after his death Mr. Wilcox, of Har- risville, are the surviving members of the family.
John Collins, the youngest son of this pioneer family, was married to Miss Phebe Brice, of Harrison county, and settled four miles north of Penns -- boro, where he died in 1874.
He, too, represented the county in the Legislature at Rich- mond when this state was a part of the "Old Dominion," and was ever prominent in public affairs. He was an ardent advocate of the Southern cause during the Civil war, though not a soldier.
Mrs. Collins came of an old and aristocratic Welsh family, she being descended from the John Collins. Earl of Carmarthen, through his daughter, Lady Janet Griffiths, who married a Brice.
Her grand-sire, Captain William Brice, who was born in Kent county, Maryland, in 1740, was one of the few patriots that helped to establish our American Independence. Hc served at Valley Forge and Trenton and died in 1983, at Blandenburg, Maryland, from the effects of the hardships endured during that memorable winter at Valley Forge .. His sons, Benjamin, and Dr. Brice both: married the daughters of Col. Ben Wilson, senior, and Benjamin was the father of Mrs. Collins.
The family of John and Phebe Brice Collins consisted of eight children : viz., Sarah, the eldest daughter, is Mrs. E. Thomas, of Blacksville, Pennsylvania; Anna was the late wife of John B. McKinley : Angie is Mrs. P. B. Michaels, of Oxford ; Jennie L. is the widow of the late Dr. J. B. Crum- rine, of Pennsboro; the late Creed, and William, of Penns- boro ; and Benjamin and Virginia who both died in childhood.
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Nancy Collins, the eldest daughter of this pioneer family. married Elias Marsh, and they too lived and died in the vicin- ity of the old home on the North fork. She having passed away near the year 1895.
They were the parents of eight children; viz., Victoria, who married John Lantz, and went to Pennsylvania; Eliza married Sydney Joseph and went to Missouri, where she died in 1910 : Margaret was the late Mrs. Saul Thomas, of Pennsyl- vania ; Isabel is Mrs. James Hickman, of Pennsboro ; Adaline was the late Mrs. Jacob Lantz, of Mole Hill; Laura became Mrs. John Steele, and at the old homestead, she resides : and the only son, Napoleon Marsh, lives at Centreville.
Margaret Collins married a Mr. Doak, and lived and died on Middle Island. in Tyler county, near the year 1890, leaving one child.
Frances Collins married Eli Cline and settled at the head of the North fork of Hughes river, where she died near the year 1849.
She was the mother of Helen, (wife of the late M. H. Tarlton), of Nicklin, who died as a prisoner of war at Camp Chase, in the sixties ; and of Jacob Cline, who married Jane Ridgeway.
Phebe Collins married James Hammond, and for many years they were identified among the early settlers of Bond's creek, where she died in 1866. Their children were ten in number: Cornelius, Granville, Irwin, the late Rev. William Hammond, of the West Virginia Methodist Episcopal con- ference ; Mrs. Fannie Markle, Mrs. Berthena Crum,, Mrs. Sarah Whitecotton, and Mrs. Mary - of Ohio: Mrs. Anna Clayton, of White Oak, and Mrs. Libby Whitecotton.
MOLE HILL.
Daniel Haymond was the first settler at Mole Hill. He came here from his native county-Harrison-near the year 1817, and found a home on the farm that is now owned by
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
Benson Cunningham, where the remainder of his life was spent. He, being a man of a high degree of intelligence, played an import- ant part in the early affairs of the county.
He twice occupied a seat in the State Legislature (being Sen- ator), and narrowly missed being a successful candidate for Con- gress.
He was born near Clarksburg, on April 28, 1787-on Saturday Daniel Haymond. morning at 5 o'clock-and here he grew to manhood, and married Miss Mary Ann Bond, sis- ter of Lewis Bond, who passed from earth at her home at Mole Hill in 1822, after having given birth to five children.
In 1824 he was again married to Miss Elizabeth Griffin, who passed on a few years later, leaving three daughters. He then, in 1835, married Miss Hannah Pindale, who only survived a short time; and in 1838, he again took the marri- age vow when he claimed Miss Mary Ann Moore, of Harrison county as his bride.
The one child born of this union-Anna L .- is now Mrs. James C. Cline, of Minneapolis, Kansas, and the only sur- vivor of Daniel Haymond's family.
Mr. Haymond died on December 10, 1814, and, beside his first three companions, sleeps at Mole Hill. The last wife rests in the Cloverdale cemetery in Doddridge county.
The children of his first marriage were, Mansfield B., Eveline, William, Daniel C. and Rowena. The last two men- tioned died in infancy.
Mansfield lost his life in his early manhood, by an ex- plosion on board a steamer, while on his way home from Texas, he being so badly scalded that he only survived the accident by a few hours.
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Eveline Haymond was married to Elijah Tarleton,1 and their children were the late ex-Sheriff M. H. Tarleton, and the late Reeves L., Thomas, Creed H. and Edgar Tarleton, all of whom have passed on.
William C. Haymond, the one son that reached the years of maturity, went to Texas in his young manhood, and there served in the Texan army during some trouble with Mexico, but he afterwards returned home, and married Miss Eleanor Cline, of Tollgate, and remained a substantial citizen of his native county until he was borne to his final resting place. His family consisted of nine children; viz., Marsh Haymond, Mrs. Florence Peirpoint, Mrs. Lina Lantz, and Mrs. Ella Stuart, all of Mole Hill, are the surviving ones ; and the late ones were Josephine, who died in youth ; Buena (Mrs. Henry Davis), Reeves Haymond who met a tragic death at Mole Hill a number of years ago; and Ida (Mrs. F. G. Pyle of Tyler county).
The three daughters of Daniel and Elizabeth Griffin Hay- mond were Casandra, and Frances, who died single, and Mary Ann, the late wife of Saul Thomas, who was the mother of Mrs. Mary Cooper, Mrs. Laura Kysor, and Mrs. Fannie Mc- Cullough, all of Mole Hill.
The Haymonds, like not a few of the other pioneer fami- lies, have a distinguished ancestral history. John Haymond emigrated from England before the year 1734-as the records show that he had land patented to him in that year-and settled in the Maryland colony. Tradition says that he was a skillful mechanic, and that he came to America to build a fine residence for a Maryland planter, and being so weil pleased with the appearance of the country, he decided to adopt it as his home. It is not known whether he was mar- ried before he came to this country or not. But his wife's name was Margaret and he first settled on a large plantation, known as "Constant Friendship," in what is now Montgom-
1Elijah Tarleton was first married to Miss Casandra Haymond, daugh- ter of William, and one son. William Tarleton, was the result of this union. His second wife was Eveline Haymond, above mentioned, and his third, Miss Rowena, daughter of Thomas Haymond, and one daughter Helen, was the result of this union.
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ery county, Maryland -- near the present site of Rockville, and fourteen miles from Georgetown. Here, he died during the autumn of 1750. Six children, which are as follows, were named in his will, which was dated September 27, 1750, and was probated on October 20th of the same year: Nicholas, Caider, William, Hannah, who was the wife of John Jones, Ann and Mary, who afterwards married-one a Kenton, and the other, a Jarbo or Kelly.
Nicholas died in 1767 leaving a son and daughter. Calder imarried and resided in Marion county until about the year 1812, when he went to Ohio, to join his son. He finally went to Indiana where he died in 1817, and where many of his descendants live. His son, Edward, was a soldier of the Rev- olution, and was in the battles of Monmouth, Saratoga and other fierce engagements, and his name was added to the pen- sion roll in 1818. And from William, the youngest son of John Haymond, the Ritchie county families come.
William Haymond .- William Haymond was born on the old plantation - "Constant Friendship" - in Montgomery county, Maryland, on January 4, 1740 (old style) and here his youthful days were spent. When he was only a lad of fifteen summers, he accompanied the army of General Ed- ward Braddock on its expedition to Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburg) where it met with such dreadful defeat on July 9, 1755 ; and in 1758, he was a member of the successful ex- pedition led by General Forbes against the same point, when the name was changed to Fort Pitt, in honor of the English prime minister.
In February, 1759, he enlisted in the Virginia regiment. commanded by Col. George Washington, which had been de- tailed to garrison the territory captured from the French. and served along the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, and as far North as Lake Erie. When the regiment had been withdrawn from the west, it was marched up the Shenan- doah valley, and on to the Holstein river to suppress an out- break among the Cherokee Indians, after which it was dis- charged. The date of William Haymond's discharge was February 24, 1762, and the place was Fort Lewis, near Staun- ton, Virginia.
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Shortly after his return home, on April 19, 1763, he was married to Miss Casandra Clelland, who was born on Octo- ber 25, 1741, and settled down to the life of a planter: but in May, 1773, he sold his possessions in Maryland and removed to the District of West Augusta, Virginia, and settled on the Monongahela river, near where Morgantown now stands. Here he engaged in farming, and is said to have raised a crop of corn on the very site that is now marked by the pretty lit- the City of Morgantown.
After the formation of Monongalia county in 1776, he filled various positions of honor and trust-such as that of justice of the peace, deputy surveyor, coroner and sheriff ; and at the commencement of the Revolution, he, being an ardent advocate of the Colonial cause, was appointed captain of the militia, and was frequently called into active service by the hostility of the Indians. In 1727, he was piaced in command of Prickett's Fort with a detachment at Scott's mill : was promoted to the rank of major in 1781, and per- formed the duties of an officer of the militia throughout the Revolution. He was just on the eve of leaving for a point cast of the mountains to join the regular army when the news of peace reached him.
He was a member of the official body that administered the oath to the male citizens of Virginia over sixteen years of age requiring them to renounce all future allegiance to the British Crown.
When Harrison county was born in 1784, Mr. Haymond was made the first principal surveyor of the new county. He traveled on horse-back to Williamsburg in order to be ex- amined by the professors of William and Mary's College. The test was a satisfactory one, however, and he was commis- sioned by the Governor of Virginia; and as this office de- manded his removal to Clarksburg, he purchased a few acres of ground, near this town, where he took up his residence that same fall (1784).
He was a member of the commission that built the first two court houses in Harrison county-one in 1787, and the other in 1812, and as surveyor, he assisted in marking out the State road from the Valley river to near Marietta, Ohio
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In 1291, he purchased a tract of one hundred ninety-four one-half acres on Elk creek, six miles from Clarksburg, and to this place he changed his residence, and here, on Novem- ber 12, 1821, his long and useful career came to a close. This old time mansion-house, which has been transferred by will from father to son, since its purchase, still stands and is occu- pied by his descendants.
His wife, Casandra Clelland Haymond, died at Clarks- burg, on December 23, 1788; and on December 29, 1789, he was again married to Mrs. Mary Pettyjohn Powers, who died on March 20, 1830, and sleeps by his side in the Haymond burying-ground on the old homestead, near Clarksburg.
John G. Jackson in paying tribute to his niemory through the columns of the "National Intelligencer" of Dec- einber 13, 1821-on the occasion of his death-says :
"This excellent man was the surveyor of his county, and a justice of the peace therein, from its first formation until his decease, and such was the purity of his life, notwithstand- ing the tendency of his official duties to excite the ill will of the disappointed speculator, and suitor, that he lived and died without an enemy ; and his virtues became so proverbial that when excellence was ascribed to a great and good man, it was said of him, "He was almost as perfect as Major Hay- mond."
He also says, that "He died in the presence of his wife and his children. He had nineteen children of whom eleven survive him: eighty-one grandchildren, sixty-two of whom are living : thirty-two great-grandchildren, thirty-one of whom are living ; nine sons-in-laws, six of whom are living; and four daughters-in-law, all of whom survive."
Family Record .- Children of William and Casandra Hay- mond :
William, born May 14, 1764, and died September 11, 1769.
John born December 2, 1765, and married Mary Wilson1 July 3, 1787.
Mary Wilson Haymond was the daughter of Col. Benjamin Wilson, senior, and her daughter Sarah Haymond became the wife of Levi Max- well, and their son Rufus Maxwell was the father of the Hon. Hu Max- well.
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Ann born August 3, 1767, and married Thomas Douglas, May 10, 1787, and after his death, she became the wife of Dr. Isaac Miller Johnson.
Margaret born September 6, 1769, and married Jacob Polsley, May 31, 1791.
William born June 11, 1771, and married Cynthia Car- roll, on March 12, 1793.
Elizabeth born on Easter Sunday, April 11, 1223, and died June 30, 1773.
Walter born May 30, 1774, and died November 16, 1774.
Thomas born January 11, 1776, and married Rebecca Bond on January 6, 1803.
Sarah born January 24, 1778, and married Allison Clarke January 3, 1796, and Thomas Bond, November 21, 1813.
Susannah born June -, 1780, and married Robert Bart- lett, January 12, 1797, and moved to near New Madrid, Mis- souri.
A son was born on February 22, 1783, that died on the 29th day of the same month without a name.
Rowena born June 17, 1784, and married Daniel Davis- son on March 30, 1802.
Daniel-born April 28, 1787-was the Ritchie county pioneer, whose history has already been given.
Children of William and Mary Haymond .- His second wife :
Cyrus born September 8, 1790, and married Jane Somer- ville, on April 18, 1822, and Polly Carpenter on November 17, 1851.
Ruth born November 20, 1792, and married Joshua. Nixon on September 24, 1811, and went to Illinois.
Maxa born March 14, 1795, and married Robert Robin- son on August 8, 1816, and went to Illinois.
Julia born July 28, 1799, and died June 30, 1801.
A daughter born July 30, 1804, died the same day.
Thomas Haymond, son of William, who married Miss Rebecca Bond-twin sister of Lewis Bond, was a scout dur- ing the latter part of the Indian wars, and was surveyor of Harrison county for thirty-two years, and held other offices of public trust and honor. His son Lewis, married Miss
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
Rachel Wilson, youngest daughter of Col. Ben Wilson, senior, and was the father of Mrs. Creed Collins, of Pennsboro.
He (Thomas) died in Harrison county on August 31, 1853, rich in the love and esteem of his fellow-countrymen. He was also the father of the late Luther Haymond of Clarks- burg, who almost reached the century mark.
The descendants of William Haymond, senior, which are prominently known in different parts of the Union, are in- numerable, but among them we find the name of one which is familiar to us all-that of the Hon. Hu Maxwell, the well known West Virginia historian, who now holds a position in the Forestry Service at Washington city.
John Haymond's Will .- "In the name of God, Amen. I John Haymond, of Frederick county, Carpenter, being in good health of Body & of sound mind & perfect mind & mem- ory, praise be therefore given to Almighty God, do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following, that is to say, First.
First and principally, I recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God, hoping through the merits, Death and passion of my Savior Jesus Christ, to have full pardon & forgiveness of all my sins & inherit everlasting life, and my body I commit to the Earth to be decently burried &C.
First Item. I give and bequeath unto my well-beloved wife Margaret Haymond, a tract of land called the "Constant Friendship," with the Plantation that I now live on, the tract of land containing one hundred fifty acres during her natural life, then the said Plantation & land to be my dear son William Haymond's forever.
Item. I give and bequeath unto my well-beloved wife, Margaret Haymond, a negro man named Sam, and also a negro man Cesar, and also a negro woman, named Jenny & also a negro woman named Poll, and also a negro girl named Nell & and also a negro Girl named Fillas and also a negro girl named Lucy, and also a negro girl named Cate & also a negro boy named Robin & also a negro boy named Sampson, and also a negro girl named Sall & also a negro girl nanied
(To Mrs. Creed Collins of Pennsboro we are indebted for this valu- able information, which we gleaned from a record of the Haymond family published in 1903.)
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Dyner. Ye, said negroes my well-beloved wife, to enjoy dur- ing her natural life, then the said negroes to be divided be- tween my children, my dear son Nicholas Haymond to have negro, Poll & also a negro boy named Robin, forever. My dear son Calder Haymond to have a negro man named Sanı, and a negro woman named Jenny & a negro girl named Dyner, forever. My dear daughter Hannah to have a negro man named Cesar and a negro girl named Lucy & a negro girl named Alice forever. My dear son William Haymond to have a negro boy named Sampson & a negro girl named Cate & a negro girl named Sall, forever. My dear daughter Ann Haymond to have a negro girl named Fillis and a negro girl named, Nell, forever.
Item. I give and bequeath to my dear son, Nicholas Haymond, all that tract of land called Constant Friendship, containing one hundred fifty acres, being the other part of the tract of land that I now live on. to be the said Nicholas Haymond's and his heirs forever, as soon as the said tract of land is made over by Mr. Thomas Lucas and wife, which land is now in the prosecion of will the said Thomas Lucas' wife is at age, to make the land over, and I also give my dear son Nicholas Haymond a negro man named Will forever.
Item. I give and bequeath to my dear daughter, Mary Haymond a negro boy named Nacy, and one negro girl named Candeth.
Item. I give and bequeath a negro girl named Alice to my dear daughter, Hannah Jones, forever, the said negro is now in the possession of her husband, John Jones.
Item. I give and bequeath unto my dear son, Calder Haymond, part of that tract of land called "Haymond's addi- tion," beginning at the end of the first line of Constant Friend- ship, forever. Calder to have that part that lies next my own Plantation and to go with the main Road by Lawrence Owens, and to the Church Road.
And my dear daughter, Ann Haymond, to have the other part that lies above Mr. Lawrence Owens, next to Mr. Alex- ander Barricks, running right up to the main road, to join with Mr. Owen's line.
Item. I give and bequeath unto my dear and well-be-
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loved wife, all my household goods, and all ye stock of every- thing. Cattle, Sheep Horses Hoggs, during her natural life, and then the stock and household goods to be divided alike between my dear sons Nicholas and Calder and William and Ann Haymond.
Item. I give and bequeath unto my dear and well-be- loved wife, the House called the "Mill House," during her natural life, and then the said House to be for the use of my dear sons, Nicholas Haymond, Calder Haymond, and William Haymond during their lives and their heirs forever, and each son to have as good a part as the other."
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