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 26
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
hin returning laden with jugs, bottles, coffee-pots or tin- buckets of the "stuff."
It did not seem to be an illicit business, either, as it was carried on openly without interference from the law, and it seemed to grow and to prosper until it was suddenly wiped out of existence by the power of an unseen "Hand."
During the spring of 1858 or '59, Mr. Rush was joined by his brother, Samuel, who had recently returned from the "gold-fields" of California, and together, they were laying their plans for a more extensive manufacture of the "soul de- stroying stuff," when these plans were suddenly foiled, and their unholy work came to an ignominious end.
It was during the month of April in one of these years, amidst a flood-tide in the creek, that Sylvester Rush., being interested in some rafted timber that he wished to market at a certain point down the river, secured the services of Asa G. Dilworth as pilot, and with his brother, Samuel, set out with his raft.
They proceeded without incident until they had reached the Little Kanawha river, when the raft became unmanage- able, and though the three men worked frantically to bring it to shore for the night, their efforts were all in vain-they were carried into the Ohio river. A cold north wind was blowing and soon one of the brothers dropped down exhausted, and becanie so benumbed that he was unable to rise. The other brother went to his assistance, and not returning to his post of duty. Mr. Dilworth groped about in the darkness until he found them lying apparently asleep, but kneeling down so that he could examine them more closely, he found to his horror that both were dead.
By this time, he, too, was so benumbed with the cold that he was unable to rise from his knees, and there bending over the lifeless forms of his unfortunate companions, he fought with all his might against the stupor that threatened to render his body as pulseless as theirs, until the coming light. when he was just able to signal some one on shore, who came to his rescue at a timely moment.
Dilworth, however, recovered sufficiently to accompany the remains of the Rushes back to their home, but he- long
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remembered the horror of that awful experience-perhaps, to life's last hour.
These unfortunate brothers were laid at rest in the Haught burying-ground, on this creek, but a few days after their interment, their father arrived from Pennsylvania, and carried their remains, with those of one of Sylvester Rush's children, back to their old home, and the bereaved family of Sylvester went along, and thus the Rushes, both dead and liv- ing, passed out of the history of this county.
This was the death blow to the distillery business on this creek, an attempt was made a little later to revive the work, but without success, and the fixtures were hauled away, and our informant says that so far as he knows no other such an attempt has since been made within the bounds of the county. As this county has ever stood firmi against licensing such "dens of iniquity."
In incidents like this one can hardly fail to recognize the over-ruling power of an Omnipotent Hand. And how grate- ful we should be that a protecting power has frowned upon the licensing of this greatest curse of the human race in our midst through all these years; and let us hope that the his- torian of the next century can still hand this record down to generations yet unborn.
We had scarcely been able to realize the biessing of the anti-license policy until, a short time since when beyond its influence, we were compelled to listen to the riotous voice of this evil under the sanction of law.
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
"Let us hold fast our integrity"
One says:
"It's nothing to me! I have no fear my boy will tread The downward road of sin and shame, And crush my heart and darken his name;
But-
"Is it nothing to us to idly sleep, While the cohorts of death their vigils keep; To gather the young and thoughtless in,
And grind in our midst a grist of sin?" "Yet, it is something for us to stand, And clasp by faith our Father's hand
To learn to labor live and fight
On the side of God and changeless right."
-
In this Little Corner J Plant A Sweet Fornet-He-Ant
İn
The Memory
nf
My Angel Mother
Mrs. Jennie Kendall Lowther.
"She died in the beauty of her youth, and in my memory she will always be young and beautiful."
CHAPTER XXII
Chevauxdefrise Settled
WO traditions are in existence as to the origin of the name of this stream. The first is that a piece of wood filled with iron spikes called chevauxdefrise-having once belonged to the Indians, was found upon its banks- giving rise to the name ; and the other is, that two hunters, being compelled to lie out in the cold throughout the night, shivered and froze, and ever after in referring to the stream they called it "shiverdy," hence the name.
1
Harmon Sinnett was the first settler. He was a native of Pendleton county, being a son of John Sinnett, and a grand- son of Patrick. In 1835, he was married to Miss Frances Moats, daughter of George Moats, and during the following autumn, took up his residence at the mouth of the creek, on
Harmon and Frances Moats Sinnett.
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the land now owned by the heirs of his late son, John P. Sin- nett, and the Hall Brothers -- the latter being in possession of the old home, which is still standing, though unoccupied.
His services to this community were of a high order. He erected the first grist-mill in this section, near 1850-the well- known Sinnett's mill, which stood a little above the mouth of Chevauxdefrise, on Indian creek ; and which was twice washed away by a flood, and was not rebuilt the last time.
Mr. Sinnett was truly the corner-stone of the Indian creek Baptist church ; he having given the grounds and played an important part in the erection of the old log church, in 1855, which was replaced by the present frame structure in 1890. Until the close of his life, which came on March 9, 1904, at. the home of his daughter, Mrs. Alfred Simmons, on Gillispie's run, he was a familiar figure in this community. His beloved companion had fallen asleep just twenty-seven hours before (on the evening of March 8, 1904). When he was told that "she was no more," he expressed a hope that he might be pe !- mitted to go with her ; and on the following morning, though he seemed in his usual health, he remarked that he might "yet be ready to be buried with her," and that night he closed lis eyes, and quietly joined her on the other shore. The family, hearing him making a slight noise, went to his bedside just in time to see him breathe his last. Both were ninety-one years of age, and both were laid in one grave, in the Heck cemetery, on Gillispie's run. Thus this venerable couple, who had traveled hand in hand so far down "the declivity of time," were re-united after but a few hours of separation.
They were the parents of the Rev. James T. Sinnett ; the late Mrs. Susan (Wm.) Heck, Mrs. Mary (Alfred) Simmons, Rutherford: Mrs. Martha (Cyrus) Washburn, the late Mrs. Florinda (Harmon) Nottingham, and the late John P. Sin- nett, Washburn ; Mrs. Harriet (George) Washburn, Harrison county ; the late Mrs. Frances (B. F.) Cunningham, Cantwell ; the late Mrs. Serepta (A. O.) Wilson, Harrisville ; and the late Elizabeth Sinnett, of Cairo.
The Rev. James T. Sinnett was the first merchant in this section. He built the store that is now owned by the Hall Brothers, in 1820; and was engaged in the mercantile business
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here until 1882. when he removed to Smithville, where he still claims his residence.
On May 12, 1864, he was married to Miss Nancy Jane. daughter of Samuel Clevenger, and in 1893, she passed from sight : and, on April 28, 1904, their only son, Dr. J. H. M. Sin- nett, of Smithville, followed her to the grave. Mrs. Addie B. (John) Stanley, of Slab creek : and Mrs. Grace Suttle, wife of Dr. Bruce Suttle, of Tennessee, are their two daughters.
The Sinnett's Mill post-office, with Harmon Sinnett post- master, came into existence in 1860, and went out in 1890.
Owing to a change in the administration, and an effort to carry into effect the Andrew Jackson doctrine, "To the victor belongs the spoils." this office was moved to what was con- sidered an inconvenient point ; and this change brought about a fight, which terminated in the establishment of a new office under the name of "Washburn," in 1889, and in the dis-con- tinuance of Sinnett's Mill, the following year.
Joseph Weaver was the second settler on Chevauxdefrise. He built his cabin on the farm that is now the home of Isaac Riggs-formerly the "White homestead." He was of German descent, and he married Miss Martha Read, who was born on the sea, while her parents were bound for America, and seven children were the result of this union. After her death, Mr. Weaver married Miss Malinda Tucker, and was the father of seven more children. He met a tragic death at the hands of one Nelson Koone during the Civil war (1861), while residing on the West Fork river, in Calhoun county-the tragedy oc- curring at Annamoriah flats, near three miles from his home- and was due, doubtless, to their difference of opinion in re- gard to the struggle that was then engaging the attention of the North and the South.
The children of the first union were: the late Mis. Silas Pettit, Big Bend: Mrs. Katharine Stuart, Mrs. Eugene Weaver, both of Elizabeth ; Mrs. Mark Sears. John Weaver, Burning Springs; Joseph. of Ohio: and Clarinda, who died in childhood. All have joined the throng on the other side.
The children of the second union : Cora died in childhood, Charley was murdered at Elizabeth ; Rufus died at Burning Springs ; and George. at Standing Stone ; Floyd is a traveling
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salesman, and resides in Ohio; Mrs. Joseph L. Pettit resides at Parkersburg, and Mrs. Mary Morgan, at Ravenswood.
Isaac Clarke followed Mr. Weaver on the Riggs farm. He came from Pennsylvania with his family, and returned there after selling this farm to the late distinguished "Mud- wall" Jackson, who, shortly after the Civil war, sold it to Beti- jamin Starkey, whose family are still identified with the com- munity.
Adam Harris (son of Thomas, after whom Harrisville was named) was the pioneer on the Amos farm. He married Miss Margaret Webb, sister of Benjamin, and from Chevaux- defrise, they went to the Kennedy farm, at the mouth of Lamb's run. where they remained for a number of years, be- fore going to the Lemuel Wilson farm, above Smithville, where they passed from earth : and in the Smithville burying- ground they lie at rest.
Their children were six in number; viz., Thomas lost his life in the Civil war: Benjamin, Robert, Mrs. Jane (Robert) Lucas, Mrs. Martha (Thomas) Martin. Smithville; and Mrs. Rebecca (Joe) Silman, Gilmer county.
John Harris, brother of Adam, familiarly known as "Sum- mer John." was another early settler on this creek. He first built a cabin in the vicinity of Mt. Zion, and later removed to the Amos farm, and afterwards resided at different places in the Washburn vicinity, and on Husher's run, before going to Illinois, where he passed to the "confines of the tomb." His wife was Miss Margaret Calhoun, niece of Samuel Calhoun, and his chief occupation was hunting.
Ephraim Culp and his wife, Mrs. Julia Moats Culp. were the first to establish a home on the J. O. Kelley-now the N. E. Conaway-farm. They came here some time during the forties, and remained in the immediate vicinity for several years, before removing to the North fork of Hughes' river- on the Cornwallis road-to the farm that was long designated as the "Culp homestead"-later the Horner. Mr. Culp disap- peared while on a business trip down the river, and his fate was never known, as nothing was ever heard of him again.
Mrs. Culp and her sons, Henry and James, rest at Har- risville : John died while serving as a soldier in the Union
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
army. The other two above mentioned were also soldiers; and the daughter, Martha, became Mrs. Husher.
Owen Watson and his wife, Mrs. Martha Clarke Watson, were the second settlers on the Kelley farm, but they went to Illinois, where they founded a permanent home near Cherry Point. He was an unele of Dr. J. W. Watson, and a farther account of the family will be found in the Harrisville chapter.
Noah Boston was the first citizen of the George Nangle farm. He came from Rockbridge county, Virginia, and finally went West. His wife was Miss Kathrine Webb, daughter of John Webb, senior, of Washburn.
James Braden, of Pennsylvania, and Charles Ayres, son of Jeremiah Ayres, were other early settlers on this creek. Mr. Braden was the father of Thomas and James Braden. and other children, and he died on the Anthony Wagner farm, and sleeps in the Indian creek Baptist churchyard. Mr. Ayres settled the Thomas Hardbarger farm and finally went West.
Henry H. Amos .- The year 1849 was marked by the com- ing of Henry H. Amos and his family, from Marion county to the farm now owned by his son, J. E. Amos. Mr. Amios was born on July 31, 1817 ; and on April 4, 1841. he was mar- ried to Miss Malinda Rex, the marriage taking place at her home near Fairmont ; and in 1848, they came to this county and resided on the Nay farm, for a brief time, before coming to Chevauxdefrise, where they both fell asleep-he, in 1889. after a long invalidisin, and she, in 1891. Both rest in the graveyard at the Chevauxdefrise church. Both having long been faithful members of that church. Their children were as follows :
John W. Amos, who now resides at Vandalia, Missouri, was a soldier in the Civil war, serving under General Sheridan in the Valley of Virginia, in Co. K, of the Tenth West Vir- ginia Infantry Volunteers; the late George W. Amos, of Har- risville, who served as County clerk for twenty-six years in succession. (He married Miss Laura Hall, and died on December 5, 1898, without issue) ; Eli R. Amos, fell asleep two weeks later at his home in Southern Missouri ; Mrs. Jacob Hardbarger, of Washburn; and Mrs. Lydia K. (J. M ) Low- ther, of Auburn, have also, passed on. Mrs. Margaret (E. E.)
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CHEVAUXDEFRISE SETTLED
Cokeley, and Mrs. Eliza (P. M.) Jones, reside near Harris- ville ; J. E. and Miss Lizzie, at the oid homestead ; Mrs. Hattie (S. C.) Foster, at Vandalia, Missouri ; and W. H. has a furni- ture and undertaking establishment at Auburn.
The Amoses are of German origin. Their ancestors came from the Fatherland, near the middle of the seventeenth cen- tury ; but the authentic and connected history of this family begins prior to the Revolutionary war, when Henry Amos, senior-grandfather of Henry, of Ritchie county, came to Monongalia county, where, in 1790, he was married to Miss Dorcas Hall, of Pennsylvania, whose parents came from Dela- ware.
In 1816, their second son, George, married Miss Idna Hawkins,1 a descendant of an old English family : her grand- father having come from England to the Virginia colony as early as 1750; and from him the Ritchie county families are descended. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, and was the father of thirteen children: viz., Henry, of Ritchie county, was the eldest son; the late Asel, of Pennsboro; George, of White Oak; Bennett, Tracy, Edgar, Stephen, and Jehu, who died in early manhood, were the other sons; Mrs. George Smith of Weston-mother of the Rev. G. D. Smith, of the West Virginia M. E. conference ; Mrs. Zana Saterfield, of Bellaire, Ohio : Mrs. M. Shumley, of Marion county ; Mrs. Rhoda Snod- grass, Illinois ; and the late Mrs. Elizabeth (\m.) Bell, of Marion county, were the daughters.
Thomas Smallwood Wilson was the first denizen of the Iames farm. He was born in Monongalia county, in 1784, and there he was married to Miss Hannah Camp, daughter of Adam Camp, and in 18-13, he came to this county, and settled on the Michaels' farm, near Oxford, for a brief time, before coming to the Iames homestead. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, his father, Thomas, senior, being a native of Scotland (he having crossed the ocean after his eldest son. Joseph, was born).
This pioneer was a lumber merchant, and while on a trip to Cincinnati, in 1848, he contracted cholera, and by the time he had reached Parkersburg, on his return, he was stricken
1The other Hawkins of the county belong to this family.
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
with the fatal malady, and died there; and was laid at rest near the present site of the B. & O. depot, at that place. Mrs. Wilson died at the P. R. Tharp homestead, on Indian run, in 1856, and in the Drake burying-ground, on the County farni. she sleeps.
Their children were ten in number: the late John MI., Freeport, Wirt county ; Mrs. Miranda (Elias) Summers, Slab creek; Wm. L. Wilson, Monongalia county, who died at the home of his daughter, near Grantsville: Mrs. Mary All (John) Lough, Illinois; Joseph, of Doddridge county: Mrs. Lucy Ann (Manly) Zinn, Holbrook : Mrs. Melissa Simmons. Anburn: Isaac Van Buren, Indian creek-the only survivor of the family : Thomas Peter, also of Indian creek, and Israel. who died in youth.
All of the family were born in Monongalia county.
John M. Wilson, son of Thomas M., above mentioend, was the first to make an improvement on the farm that passed into the hands of Ransom Kendall, in 1849. He married Miss Sarah Reed. of Monongalia county, and from here they went to Marion county, and finally to Freeport. Wirt county, where he rests. He was a minister of the M. P. church, having served various charges in West Virginia and Ohio: was pas- tor of the Freeport circuit at the time of his death.
He had seven children: Thomas, Mary, Melissa, Caro- line, and Jackson have all joined the hosts on the other side : Nathaniel and Mrs. Ellen Barker, live in Ohio : and Mrs. Leone Hammond, in Wirt county.
Ransom Kendall .- In 1849, Ransom Kendall purchased the improvement that had been made by J. M. Wilson, and took up his residence here, where he remained until he "passed through the Gates." on October 12, 1887. And near two years later this old homestead became the property of J. M. Leggett. who sold it to Mr. Davisson, the present owner.
Mr. Kendall was born in Marion county, on March 28. 1816 : and there, on August 27, 1838, he was married to Miss Lydia Rex. daughter of Eli and. Sarah Hall Rex, who was born in Pennsylvania, on August 25, 1820, but with her parents removed to Marion county, when she was but a child of two summers. He and his wife were both loyal members
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of the Methodist Episcopal church for almost a half-century -were pillars in the church at Chevauxdefrise from the time of its institution until the close of their lives. They gave the grounds for the church and cemetery and were important factors in the erection of the first church, near 1867. And their son, John, who died in childhood, filled the first grave that was made in this cemetery, in October, 1857.
Mrs. Kendall died on September 25, 1888. Her last mo- ments were full of triumph, her last words were an expression of praise.
Well does the writer remember that impressive hour, as one by one she bade us adieu, and admonished us to meet her beyond the "Gate Beautiful," which she was just then enter- ing.
On the old homestead, beside her husband. she is sleeping.
The children of this household were fourteen in number, seven boys and seven girls :
The late Dr. James Emery Kendall, who was for a num- ber of years a prominent physician of Parkersburg, was the eldest son. He served as assistant surgeon of the Eleventh West Virginia Infantry Volunteers during the Civil war, and at one time, later in life, represented the West Virginia Med- ical Fraternity at the International Association at London, and while there was presented with a medal by the late Queen Victoria, which is now a valued possession of his family.
The late Amos Kendall, of Tonganoxie. Kansas, was, also. a soldier of the Civil war; and Eli Rex lost his life in defense of the Union, at Beverly, on July 2, 1863, and in the National cemetery, at Grafton, he reposes.
Jasper Newton, who was at one time superintendent of the schools of this county, has for a number of years been prominently identified among the Methodist Episcopal church ministers of the South and West; he having been a member of the Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Idaho con- ferences. William Alpheus is a physician of Crescent City, Oklahoma. John, as above mentioned, has been sleeping in the churchyard, since his childhood ; and Marcellus Allen, the youngest son, who is of Parkersburg, served one term as State
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
Treasurer, and is now doing service as United States Bank Examiner.1
The daughters are: Mrs. Anarie (D. S.) Cox, who re- sides on part of the old homestead on this creek ; Mrs. Sarah Kathrine Mitchell Mason, Pullman: Mrs. Mary L. Lowther (wife of the late Dr. J. G. Lowther), Parkersburg: Mrs. Martha L. (L. C.) Jones, Clarendon, Texas; Mrs. Bertha Blanche Kelley (wife of Dr. W. C. Kelley), Morgantown ; the late Mrs. Maria Louisa Davis (wife of the Rev. D. H. Davis, of the M. P. church) ; and Jennie, the late wife of W. G. Low- ther, of Fonsoville.
The Kendalls are of English origin. In Westmoreland county, England, is a river named "Kent," whose valley is known as the "Kentdale." Here in the town of Kirby-Ken- dal, or Kendale, as it was formerly spelled, lived one of the "big families of Westmoreland," who became generally known as the Kendal, Kendall, or Kendale family." Hence the origin of the name."
In County Cornwall to-day there is a family of the same name who came from Treworgy centuries ago, and while their ancestry is not traceable to Kirby-in-Kendall, it is quite prob- able that they hailed from the same stock.
Eleanor Lexington, in her "Colonial Families," says :
"The Kendall family bears the proud distinction of hav- ing sent more members, perhaps, than any other family to the British parliament. At all events it has sent as many."
The first record we have of the name in America begins with George Kendall, a member of the first Jamestown Coun- cil, who crossed the water with this little colony in 1607; but the Ritchie family, and the numerous others scattered throughout the Union to-day, trace their origin to members of the family who crossed a little later.
According to Miss Lexington two brothers, Francis and Thomas Kendall, who were born in England, came to the Western world before the year 1640, and settled in the Mass- achusetts Bay Colony.
Francis went to Woburn, Massachusetts, then known as Charlestown, where he was married to Mary Tidd, but he
1See Younger Men's Calendar.
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later removed to Reading. He had four sons and five daugh- ters, and thus gave the family name quite a start in the New World. By the year 1828, eight of his line had been gradu- ated from Harvard, three from the College of New England, and one brave member had been killed as a witch. Amos Kendall, the statesman, who served as Postmaster-General under President Andrew Jackson's administration, and George Wilkins Kendall, the journalist, who died at Oak Springs, Texas, in 1867, belonged to the family of Francis.
Thomas settled at Lynn, Massachusetts, where he was married to Rebecca - -, and about the year 1653, he also removed to Reading, where he died in 1681, leaving behind him a reputation for manliness, and for a highly religious character.
He had no son that reached the years of maturity, but lic left eight daughters, who lamented the fact that "so good a surname as theirs could not be preserved," so they met in council and decided that the first born son of each should bear the name of "Kendall." and as a result there was Ken- dall Pearson, Kendall Eaton, etc.
One of the biographers of these families says .
"The descendants of these pious Puritans have spread themselves over the length and the breadth of this country as pioneers and settlers-waking the forests and plains from their long sleep. Some were eminent divines, some were dis- tinguished lawyers and jurists, and others were journalists. statesmen, authors and travelers."
The tradition of our own branch of the family, as well as that of the Ohio branch, says that three brothers crossed at the same time, and that the third one settled in Virginia ; and from him the Kendalls of Ohio and both Virginias are de- scended. But as Virginia has been visited by fires which have swept away some of her records, the given name of the founder of this family is missing. However, our record begins with William Kendall, senior, whose son, William Kendall, junior, was married to Miss Jemima Kirk, on May 10, 1738, in Stafford county, Virginia.
This couple (William and Jemima) were the parents oi ten children : Jesse. Thomas, George, Anne. John, William,
1
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
Samuel, Mary Anne, Elizabeth, and Jeremiah. And one of these sons, which one cannot be determined, crossed the mountains from the "Old Dominion" and settled in Marion county, not far from the time of the birth of his youngest son, James Kendall, in 1784. His family consisted of six other sons, besides James, who scattered to Ohio, Indiana and Ken- tucky (with perhaps an exception or two), but James re- mained at the old homestead in Marion county, where he died in 1868, and where he lies buried.
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