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 30
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He (Jacob) was twice married, his second wife, and widow, being Mrs. Drusilla Jackson, mother of C. S. Jackson, who still survives.
Jacob Richards was the father of Mrs. James Elder. of Hardman chapel; of Mrs. Harrison Lamb, of Beeson; the late Mrs. Priscilla (John) Elder, of Leatherbarke; the late Mrs. Eli R. Cunningham, of Eva (who first married Asa . Mancar, and was the mother of Jacob Manear), and the late William Richards, of Beeson. Mrs. John B. Baker, of Lamb's run : and Mrs. Jennie Baily, of Smithville, are among his grandchildren.
Elias Richards was the first citizen of the late "Bail" Wil- son homestead (now the property of John Jobes), on Lynn Camp.
James Richards went to Ohio, and Nelson, to Calhoun county.
The Richardses were of German descent. and were noted Indian-fighters and hunters, and their descendants in this and sister counties are a multitude.
Syelus Hall succeeded the Richardses on Lynn Camp, he having purchased the improvement of both Jacob and Michael Richards, near the year 1849, and founded his home where his son, Elza C. Hall, now lives.
Mr. Hall, the son of Reuben and Anna Stuart Hall, was born in Marion county, on September 16, 1828, and was one of a family of eight children; viz., Mrs. Louisa (John) Cole, the late Strother Hall, Miss Julia, Mrs. Lavina (W. T.) Baker, and the late Wm. S. Hall, all of Marion county : and A. H. Hall, of Pullman ; and Mrs. Laura Amos, of Harrisville. His maternal great-grandsire (Stuart) was a Revolutionary sol- dier, and when he returned home from the war, he brought with him a souvenir in the form of a cream-pitcher of pretty design, which is still a valued heirloom in the family, it being now in the hands of A. Hunter Hall. of Pullman.
On April 12, 1849, Mr. Hall was married to Miss Lucinda
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Hawkins, of Marion county, and soon afterwards came to Ritchie. where he has ever since been identified among the best citizens. Mrs. Hall laid down the "cross" at their home at Pullman, in 1907, but he still survives.
They were the parents of twelve children, all of whom reached the years of maturity and married. One son, Leonard S., has passed on, but the rest survive. What is said of this family can be said of few others of its size, "All are Christians, and none have ever used liquor or tobacco."
The surviving members of the family are: Elliott, and . Wilbert Hall, Mrs. Florence A. (Morgan) Pritchard; and Mrs. Ardenia MeDougal, Pullman: Mrs. Cordelia A. (C. W.) Nutter, Holbrook; Mrs. L. Belle Chipps, Buckhannon: the Rev. I. S. Hall, Stuart L., and Elza C., of Trilby.
The Halls are of Scotch-Irish lineage. They trace their ancestry back to Thomas and Rebecca Story Hall, who were citizens of the Delaware colony at the time of the Revolution.
Thomas was born on September 24, 1721, and died at Duck creek Cross Roads, in Delaware. on May 29, 1772. Here his family (a widow, two daughters and five sons) remained until 1782, when they emigrated to what is now Monongalia county, and settled near the forks of the Cheat river. a few miles below Morgantown; and two years later, removed farther up the river.
Mrs. ( Rebecca Story) Hall was of English descent. She was fifty-two years of age at the time she came from Dela- ware. and she made the entire trip on horse-back, Mrs. Mar- garet White being the companion of her ride.
Shie died in Monongalia county, on December 15. 1812, having been blind for twelve or fifteen years. Her last days were spent with her daughter, Mrs. Rebecca (John) Courtney.
Her other daughter, Parthena, married Isaac Mason, who had served as a soldier of the Revolution under Washington, Greene, and Lafayette, and had witnessed the surrender of Lord Cornwallis.
They remained in Sussex county, Virginia, from 1781 until 1787. when they removed to Monongalia county. There Mr. Mason constructed a boat, and with a number of other families (there being sixteen boats in all) sailed down the
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Ohio river ; but in crossing the falls, his boat, the most valu- able one of all, was lost. Undaunted by this disaster, how- ever, the little colony pressed on, braving the danger of the hostile Indians, which they encountered, until they reached the present site of Nashville, Tennessee, on March 18, 1789, where a fort, known as "French Lick," then stood; and there, they "cast their anchor."
Isaac Mason was the first tailor where the city of Nash- ville now stands, and there in the "land of Jackson and of the Hermitage," he and his beloved Parthena, sleep.
The sons of Mrs. Rebecca Story Hall, were, Asa, Jordon, Rynear, Nathan, and Allen, all of whom remained in Marion and Monongalia county except Allen, who went to Ohio.
The late Rev. Ashford Hall, who served the Harrisville Methodist Episcopal charge in the early seventies, was the grandson of Nathan Hall, he being the son of Jesse and Sarah Bryan Hall.
Asa married Miss Sophia White, and from his son, Thomas, who married Miss Jane Bennett, the Ritchie county Halls come. Ira Conditt Hall, of Cokeley, being his son, and Syelus and A. H., of Pullman, his grandsons. Reuben Hall, as before mentioned, was the father of Syelus Hall.
The late John Hall, of Mt. Zion (father of D. S., and E. B. Hall, of Washburn, and Fred, of Pullman) ; and the late Mrs. Larkin Peirpoint, were also descended from this family.
And we have strong evidence, though no positive proof. that the family of the late John Hall, of Harrisville ; and the late Mrs. Ransom Kendall, of Chevauxdefrise, came from this family.
Mrs. Kendall's mother, Sarah Hall Rex, was a native of Delaware, and circumstances all point to the fact that she be- longed to this family, but, if so, her name was omitted from the "Hall Record," by Richard S. Miller, of Newburg, West Virginia, from which this information is gleaned. (See last chapter for origin of the name "Hall" and farther history of the family.)
Rock Camp is a small tributary of the North fork of Hughes river-flowing into it at Hannahdale. It derived its
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name from a huge boulder, at its head, upon which a team of horses and a wagon can be turned.
George Richards, junior, son of George, senior, was its first denizen. He and his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Coburn Rich - ards, having come here early in the century, and settled on the farm that is now the home of Parker Grimes.
Nimrod Cross was the next settler. He was of English descent, and was a native of Taylor county. He married Miss Eliza Richards, daughter of George Richards, junior. and took up his residence where Lincoln Wilson now lives, some time in the thirties. Here he passed from earth in 1888, and in the Pisgah churchyard, beside his wife, he rests.
His children were, G. W. Cross, Pullman; John Cross, Indiana (who were both Union soldiers) : the late Mrs. Mary (John) Elder, Leatherbarke; the late Mrs. Susan (R. L. B.) Elder, of Ritchie and Gilmer counties: Mrs. Kathrine (Wm.) Cunningham, Calhoun county : Mrs. Nancy (George) Jeffreys, Mole Hill; the late Mrs. Martha (Bent) Prunty, Doddridge county ; and Mrs. Thomas Hamrick, Wirt county.
John Cross, a brother of Nimrod, was another pioneer on this stream. He married Miss Kathrine Prunty, daughter of David, of Pruntytown, for his first wife, and his second. was Miss Sarah Jones. He sleeps on Beeson.
William K. Elder was another old settler on Beeson. His parents, John and Margaret McHenry Elder, crossed from Ireland and settled in Harrison county, late in the eighteenth century, where they reared their family, and where they spent their last hours.
William K. Elder was married to Miss Ruhama Willis, of Harrison county, and came to this county perhaps in the early forties and settled on this stream. He later removed to Murphy district and on Grass run he died many years ago. He and his wife were the parents of thirteen children, seven of whom died in childhood, and the rest were as follows: the late Rev. John Elder, the late Sanford, Robert L. B., Mrs. Loda Simms, and Mrs. Anna Ferrell Campbell.
Joseph, a brother of William K., also resided in this county for a brief time. And some of his descendants are still identified among the citizens of the county.
CHAPTER XXVI
Macfarlan and Dutchman
HE names of Macfarian and Dutchman are said to have had their origin in a most in- teresting, but tragic incident which occurred here in 1969, and which is as follows :
Early in the autumn of the year 1769, a party of ten white men, which included Jesse and James Hughes, an Englishman by the name of Macfarian, and a Dutchman (whose name is missing owing to the fact that he was always designated by his nationality. "the Dutchman"), were in this section on some unknown mission, perhaps in pursuit of the red-skins. when, on coming up the river near the mouth of Bear run, they met two men who were going in a westerly direction, and who confided to them that they had discovered an Indian trail, which seemed to lead to a camp near the mouth of the stream that is now known as Macfarlan, and warned them to be on the alert. The warning was duly heeded, by the lit- tle party, who followed the trail until they reached the Ox- bow: here they left it, taking a shorter route across the hill to the river near the present site of the C. & K. V. railroad depot, where they came upon the old trail again, and soon detected unmistakable signs that the foe was near; and a council was then held as to what should be done. Jesse Hughes, the leader, thought it best to cross the river, and to resume the journey on the south side, but James Hughes. Macfarlan, and the "Dutchman," and two others, thinking there was no imminent danger, after resting awhile, continued on the "old trail."
But scarcely had they crossed Macfarlan, in front of the present site of the "Beechwood hotel," when they were fired upon from the timber at the right hand side of the road, and the Dutchman and Macfarlan were wounded. Jesse Hughes
.
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
and his party, hearing the firing and guessing the cause, hast- ily crossed the stream near the present pump-station and ascended the hill, and opened fire on the flank and rear of the savages at a most unexpected moment, putting them to flight, and, doubtlessly, saving the five from the tomahawk and the scalping-knife.
Macfarlan recovered from his wounds, but the "Dutch- inan" died that night at their camp on what is now Dutch- man's run, and was buried under the side of a large rock in the bed of the stream, near one-half mile from the mouth.
Though one hundred forty years have gone by since this tragical drama was enacted here, the names of Macfarlan and Dutchman have ever since clung to these streams, and will doubtless perpetuate the memory of these unknown individ- uals who were thousands of miles from their home-lands. Though but lowly monuments, they will endure when impos- ing ones that have been erected to the great earth have crum- bled to decay.1
The Village of Macfarlan. (The scene of the first tragedy enacted on Ritchie county. soil. )
1We are indebted to Mr. John B. Lemon for this interesting tradi- tion, which came down to him from his maternal ancestors, the Deemses. James Deem, a very early pioneer, having come here and viewed the scene of the conflict sixteen years after it took place, and witnessed the bullet marks upon the trees, and copied the date (1769) from a large beech tree that stood until 1840, when it was cut down in building the Pike. Mr. Deem also pointed out the sleeping place of the unfortunate "Dutch- man." A noticeable feature of this tradition is that it antedates the real time of the discovery of Ritchie county, and the naming of its principal streams.
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Dutchman Settled by Robert Lough .- Though the his- tory of this stream began at such an early day, its wilderness remained unbroken until near the year 1840, when Robert Lough came here from Monongalia county with his family and reared the first cabin-on the farm that is now owned by the Dawson heirs.
The records show that in the year 1842 the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia granted to the said Robert Lough a patent for one hundred acres on Dutchman's run. From here, he removed to the Webb's mill vicinity, a few years later, he having purchased five hundred sixty-nine acres of land in this section of Waitman Joseph, of Tyler county, on November 14, 1846, a tract which now includes the farms of John P. Kennedy, John V. Warner, John Hallam, and per- haps. others.
Here he resided until 1862, when this property passed into other hands, and for the next ten years he made his home with his son, John, on Indian run ; and early in the seventies, they all went to Vermillion county, Illinois, where he died shortly after his arrival ; and there, in a rural burying-ground, near Ridge Farm, his ashes lie. He was a native of Monon- galia county and was born in 1800.
A year or two after his death, his aged widow, Mrs. Sarah Lynch Lough, returned to West Virginia, and made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Robert Means, in Calhoun county. until she was borne to the Fluharty cemetery, on Leading . creek, in 1880.
They were the parents of the following named children :
John, Nimrod, Edward D., Pierce, Eleanore, Nancy, Sarah, and Rachel, all of whom were born in Monongalia county, except Rachel.
John Lough, the eldest son-born in the early twenties, married Miss Mary Brand, of Monongalia county, who only survived the nuptial hour a short time ; he then married Mrs. Mary Ann Wilson Drake, sister of the venerable Isaac Wil- son, and settied near the forks of Dutchman, on the farm that is now owned by the Dawson heirs-doubtless the one ill- proved by his father-near the year 1845. After a few years sojourn here, he traded his property to the late Cyrus Daw-
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son for what is now the P. R. Tharpe farm, on Indian run, and there he resided until he went to Vermillion county, Illi- nois, late in the sixties or early in the seventies. There he saw the last of earth, in 1879: and there, beside his wife, he rests, with his father, near Ridge Farm. He had several children, but as they all live in the West, their names are missing.
Nimrod Lough-born in 1823, was first married to Miss Elizabeth Butcher, sister of the late Washington Butcher, and Mrs. Jacob Dougherty, who passed to her final home in 1865 ; and his second wife was Mrs. Rachel Stansbury Goff. He resided in the Hardman chapel vicinity, and on Alum fork of Bone creek for many years. He rendered service as a Union soldier during the Civil war, and finally in 1905, went to tire Soldiers' Home at Dayton, Ohio, where he answered the last roli call" in 1908, and where he slumbers.
The children of his first marriage were, Robert, Thomas, and Jerome, of Lewis county; Caroline, who first married John William Law, of this county, and after his death, went to Harrison county and married Milton Davis, of Salem. She is the mother of Steele Law, of Clarksburg.
Sarah Ellen became Mrs. Isaac Smith, of Smithville ; and Isa married a Mr. Clarke, and resides in Lewis county.
The children of his second marriage were the late John Lough, Moses, and Newton, who now live in Ohio; and Auriila, who was the late Mrs. Phineas Folden, of Jackson county.
Edward D. Lough was born on March 24, 1824, and on April 10, 1849, he was married to Miss Dorcas Dawson, of Marion county ; and there settled down until 1855. when he removed his family to land owned by his father on lower In- dian creek. From there, he went to what is now the Amos Scott farm, farther up the creek, and finally, in 1820, to the old homestead, near Harrisville, which is still in the hands of his heirs. Here on August 25, 1903, he bade adieu to earth. On December fifth of the same year, his aged companion fol- lowed him to the grave. Both rest in the Odd Fellows ceme- tery, at Harrisville.
They were the parents of five children: John A., died in
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infancy. Napoleon E., and Misses Mary F. and Henrietta. who has been an invalid for many long years, reside at the old home; and Phillip S. is engaged in the mercantile busi- ness in Ohio. All are unmarried.
Pierce Lough was born in 1828, and near the year 1863. he was married to Miss Malinda Campbell, of Wirt county. and for a few years after this event he called the "Buckeye state" his home, but for many years past he had been a resi- dent of Leading creek, in Calhoun county. In 1877, his wife passed on, leaving three children ; viz., Hiram Douglas Lough, of Williamstown; Mrs. Virginia (I. C.) Fox, of Lough. Cal- houn county ; and Mrs. Ida Black, Gilmer county ; and after her death he married Mrs. Mary Martin Hayhurst, and the one child of this union died in infancy.
Eleanor Lough (daughter of Robert) married Jacob Hibbs, of Marion county, who died in this county, in 1895, and she now lives with her daughter, Mrs. Sarah Marshall. in Ohio. Her other children are: Mrs. C. D. Furbee, Grai- ton ; Mrs. Wilson Rollins, Parkersburg; the late Mrs. Nancy (Walter) Dotson, the late Ulysses, Grant, and Walter, of this county : John C., of Wood, and Charles, of the West.
Nancy Lough (daughter of Robert) married Granville Sleeth,1 an early merchant of Smithville, and she died in 1856, and he, the following year. Their children are Robert Sleeth, of Ohio ; and William, of Parkersburg.
Sarah Lough married Robert Means, who came to this county from Lewis, in the early fifties, and figured in the affairs of the Ritchie Mines vicinity until 1875, when he re- moved to Leading creek, in Calhoun county, where his wife died in 1897, and where he still survives. Their children were, the late Scott Means, of Calhoun county ; Mrs. Ella L. (Wm.) Otto, of Revere ; and Edward E., who lives with his aged father at the old homestead.
Rachel A. Lough, the youngest daughter of Robert, mar- ried James Rogers, son of John B. Rogers, of Smithville, and at Hutchinson, Kansas, they reside. They have no children.
Robert Lough's father, whose first name is wanting. crossed the sea from Downs county, Ireland, during the lat-
1See Sleeth history in Smithville chapter.
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
ter part of the eighteenth century, and probably settled in the Virginia colony, but this is uncertain. He married a Miss Hart, however, and was identified among the citizens of what is now Monongalia county, as early as 1800, when his son, the progenitor of the Ritchie county family, made his exit upon the stage of life ; and there, perhaps, he spent the remnant of his days.
Cyrus Dawson .- The family of the late Cyrus Dawson have been identified with the history of this stream since 1852, when he traded the P. R. Tharpe farm, on Indian run, for the possessions of John Lough, at the forks of this creek.
Mr. Dawson was born of German-English parentage, in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, on October 31, 1822; was the son of John and Margaret Vanati Dawson. He was first married to Miss Jemima Braden, a native of Greene county, Pennsylvania, and with her came to this county in 1849, and resided on Indian run, for a few years, before coming to Dutchman, as above mentioned.
Here on August 1, 1860, Mrs. Dawson fell asleep; and some time afterwards he was married to Miss Sarah E. Haught, daughter of Peter Haught, of Wirt county ; and dur- ing the autumn of 1861, he, with his little family, leaving the old home on Dutchman's run, set out for Iowa, where he re- mained for two years and farmed with his brother, William! Dawson.
But on May 2, 1864, both families started across the plains in their emigrant wagons, drawn by mules and horses. with California as their destination.
Their route lay through hundreds of miles of wild and unbroken forests, and their experiences with the Indians were many and varied, though none of them resulted seriously. Yet they were constantly kept on their guard lest they should be molested by these dusky denizens of the forest, who often hung about their tents and their wagons like "hungry hounds" begging. as best they could in their unknown tongue, for something to eat.
Not unfrequently did this little party come across signs of encounters that other emigrants had had with the savages, and noted with sadness where the "dark pathway of death
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had been :" for time and again did they find lonely graves by the way-side with rude inscriptions telling of the tragic late of some one who had traversed this path before.
They camped out all the way and feasted upon all kinds of wild meat, such as was everywhere abundant, except the buffalo, which seemed to be shy of the paths that were fre- quented by travelers.
After leaving Omaha, Nebraska, they were unable to purchase food until they reached Salt Lake City. Here they remained over night and had the pleasure of seeing the late renowned Mormon Leader Brigham Younge, who was out driving in his carriage.
In October they landed at Stockton, California, and early in the spring removed fifteen miles farther north, where they found employment on a ranch ; and in 1866, they removed to Mercer Falls, near the foot hills of the Rocky Mountains, and there remained over winter. There the rain fell almost in- cessantly throughout the season, and amid such surroundings the thoughts of Mr. Dawson and his wife turned longingly to the humble cottage far away among the Virginia hills ; and on May 2, 1867, they turned their faces homeward. The same old wagon, and the same team of horses that had borne them Westward a few years before, were now pressed into service for the homeward-journey. Everything was green and beau- tiful when they set out, but a few days travel brought them to banks of snow in the mountains. Their road lay over much the same country, and the incidents of camping-out and guarding their stock differed but little from the Westward journey.
They came across many other families coing back to "the States," as they termed it, and soon their wagon-train numbered sixty-six men, besides the women and the children : and on the Fourth of July they camped and had a "general hunt," which resulted in the death of seventeen antelopes, the hams of which, only, they could save.
As they passed east of Denver and traveled down the Platte river, they encountered the workmen who were con- structing the Union Pacific railroad, and felt that they were again nearing civilization.
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
By the time they had reached Ohio, however, their travel- ing companions had all gone their respective ways, to their former homes, and they were left alone; and late in October they arrived at the home of Peter Haught, in Wirt county. and for the first time since they left California, in May, slept in a house.
During the following week they returned to their old home on Dutchman's run, and joyfully entered the "lowly. thatched cottage" that they had deserted for fairer scenes.
And "no more from this cottage again did they roam," for here, on July 27, 1897, the second Mrs. Dawson fell asleep ; and on March the twenty-fifth of the following year (1898) Mr. Dawson joined her on the other shore. Both rest in the Straight creek burying-ground.
The old homestead, which is now rich in oil, has been divided and Daniel G. Dawson occupies the parental dwell- ing, and John and Calvin reside on other portions.
The children of the first union were five in number, but two alone survive; viz., Peter, of Wirt county ; and Williani, who is a surveyor and Notary public, of Williamstown; Ezekiel and Kathrine died in childhood and shortly after their departure. Julia Ann met a tragic death by pulling a pot of boiling-hot coffee front the table upon her.
The nine children of the second union were as follows :
Rachel D., who is Mrs. E. P. Haught, of Calhoun county : Mrs. Margaret (James A.) Hefner, and Newton J., of Hart- ley ; the late Mrs. Lucinda (Wm. H.) Hayes, Daniel G., John, and Calvin, of Dutchman; Elmore C., Wirt county ; and Richard F., who died in his young manhood.
Newton is the father of Gilbert, the young pedagogue.
William Wilson and Archibald Hess were other early settlers here. Mr. Wilson was a Marion county product, and his wife, Mrs. Anna Shuman Wilson, was a native of Mc- Curdysville, Monongalia county. He was born in 1821, and came to this county in 1845, and settled on Dutchman's run, where he finished life's pilgrimage in 1894. And in the Ilart- ley burying-ground, beside his wife, he sleeps. His late children were Mrs. Ruth Snodgrass, Mrs. Rachel Bush, Mrs. Rosena Lemon, and James P. Wilson ; and the surviving ones
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ale: Mrs. Mary Jane Richards, Doddridge county ; Mrs. Manda Mason, Ohio; Arthur Wilson, Freed ; and Daniel Wil- son, who resides at the old home.
This family are of Irish lineage, and there is but little doubt that they are of the same stock as the other Wilsons of the county.
Benjamin Wilson, grandfather of William ,of Dutchman, was a second cousin of the late father of the venerable Isaac Wilson, of Washburn, and his ( Benjamin's) son, George, was the grandfather of E. C. Wilson, of Hazelgreen.
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