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 31
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William Wilson, senior (son of Benjamin), and his wife, Mrs. Rachel Lynch Wilson, early settlers of Marion county, were the heads of the branch of this family which is of most interest to us, as their descendants are not a few in this and sister counties.
Their family consisted of twelve children ; viz., Willian, the Dutchman pioneer; Edward, who met a tragic death at his home in Marion county in a runaway accident a year or two ago: Jolin, Beckett, Alexander, James, Benjamin, Eli, Pierce, Rachel (who married Peter Haught, of Wirt county), Mary (Mrs. Archibald Hess), and Sarah Wilson, who re- inained unmarried and still survives at her home in Marion county.
Beckett Wilson was married to Miss Mary Mason, and lived and died in Marion county, where his large family all remained except one daughter, Jane, who was the late Mrs. Henry Morris, of Pullman. His other children were: Mrs. Nancy Hibbs, Mrs. Lucinda Floyd, Mrs. Isabel Kuhn, and Mis. Margaret Wyer, who have all passed on ; and Wesley and Pinckney Wilson, who survive.
Eli Wilson was married to Miss Jennie McCurdy, in Marion county, near the year 1840, and removed to Straight creek, in Wirt county, where he still survives, though blind and almost entirely deaf. His wife died in 1901. They were the parents of : Van C., the late Eber M., Smithville ; Mrs. U. S. Fluharty, Harrisville: Cyrus, who died in childhood : the late Mrs. William Dawson, William Wilson, Mrs. Oliver Smith, of Calhoun county : W. A., and Allie B. Wilson.
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Benjamin L. Wilson was married to Miss Martha Kelley, daughter of Joshua and Martha Brand Kelley, and principally spent his life in Doddridge county, where a number of his descendants still live. He was the father of the following named sons and daughters: The late Mrs. Jane Mason, Toli- gate: Mrs. Rachel Vanhorn, Gilmer county ; Mrs. Margaret Vanhoin, Mrs. Nancy (Joseph) Summers, the late Joshua Wilson, and James K. Wilson, Doddridge county : Mrs. Louisa Vanhorn, and Mrs. Lydia Watson, Roane county ; the late Mrs. Martha Hess Watson ( wife of Wilson Watson), Auburn ; and Charity, who died in youth.
The Rev. M. A. Summers, of the Baptist church, and M. Bruce Summers, cashier of the First National Bank at West Union, are the grandsons of Benjamin Wilson. .
Archibald Hess was also a Marion county man. He three times took the marriage vow. His first wife was Miss Sarah Price ; the name of the second is missing, but the third was Miss Mary Wilson. He came to Dutchman in the early forties, and after a brief sojourn here, removed to near Sum- iners, in Doddridge county. Here the third wife died, and he spent his last hours at Auburn with his daughter, Mrs. M. B Watson, in 1883, and in the Auburn cemetery he lies at rest. Mrs. Watson is the only child of the last marriage. And Henry and George Hess were other members of the family.
CHAPTER XXVII
Devil Hole Creek Settled
HE origin of the name of this stream, "Devil Hole," which has such a forbidden sound, is variously stated. One tradition says that it originated from a remarkable cave in the hill not far from its mouth, near by which is a huge sand-stone thirty or forty feet in height, which stands out prominently alone. and which is designated as the "Devil's Tea-table." Another is that when the old "Worth line" was under survey through this section, one of the party on reaching a hole which resem- bled the far-famed "bottomless pit," exclaimed-"What devil of a hole are we getting into here?" But the venerable Jona -- than C. Lowther, of Berea, who is now past his ninetieth mile- stone, tells us that his father, the late Elias Lowther, who was a member of the surveying party, gave it its name, he being the individual who remarked about the strong resem- blance that this opening in the earth bore to the general idea entertained concerning the abode of Satan and his hosts. Hence the authentic origin of the name.
Doubtless, owing to the dreadful title bestowed upon this region, it was not settled until the middle of the nineteenth century, when Michael Hoover ventured into its unbroken wilderness and erected his dwelling on the land that is now owned by the Simmons' heirs, and the Layfields. His father, Thomas Hoover, having patented a tract of six hundred ninety-six acres on the head waters of this stream some time before. Mr. Hoover married a Miss Mullenax and they finally went West and died, and of their family we have no record.
Absalom Cunningham was the second pioneer to pene- trate this wilderness. He was born near Webb's mill. in 1820 ; was the son of Adam and Sarah Sinnett Cunningham, and the grandson of Adam, senior-the brother of Thomas
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Cunningham. He married Miss Huldah Simmons, daughter of Abraham and Mary Mullenax Simmons, and came here in the year 1852. He later resided on Indian run and Indian creek, and finally went to live with his son, John S. Cunning- ham, the Washburn artist, where he died in 1898. He sleeps 111 the Indian creek Baptist churchyard, beside his first wife. His second wife, Mrs. Jane Simmons Nottingham Cunning- ham Divine, was a sister of his first wife. She resides willi her son, Jacob Cunningham, near Washburn.
Mr. Cunningham was the father of eight children, all of whom were born of the first union ; viz., Martin, of Auburn . John S., and George, and the late Mrs. Mary A. (J. A.) Valen- tine, of Washburn: Charles, of Lawford; Mrs. Malinda (James) Valentine. Ohio; and Mrs. Elizabeth (Ellsworth ) Matson, Wirt county.
Jacob Layfield was the next settler, he having taken the place of Michael Hoover, in 1854. He was the son of John and Elizabeth Moats Layfield, and his second wife was Miss Agnes Drake, daughter of James Drake. He passed from earth in 1865, and his venerable widow survived until the autumn of 1908, when she was laid by his side, in the Layfield burying-ground. The youngest son now occupies the old home.
The children of this union were four sons ; viz., William J .. John A., George O., and Newton.
Uriah Shrader was another early settler on the head- waters of this creek. He came from Pendleton county, where he was born and reared, and married Miss Mary Layfield. daughter of John Layfield, senior, and remained here until he was borne to the Mt. Moriah churchyard. He was a soldier of the Union army, and his little family consisted of four children .. Two died in infancy, Phebe, in young womanhood, and Jacob Shrader is a citizen of Cokeley.
Mr. Shrader's grandparents came direct from Germany to Pendleton county, and there his father, Jacob Shrader, spent his entire life : but in 1868, after the death of his father. his mother, Mrs. Phebe Shrader, came to this county, and remained as a member of his household until her death in 1892, at the age of eighty-eight years. She, too, rests in the
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Mt. Moriah churchyard. Uriah Shrader was a member of a family of five children; viz., Ami, and Benjamin, who re- mained in Pendleton county : Mrs. Eliza Groggs, of Calhoun county ; and David Shrader, who came to this county.
David Shrader was long a member of the Board of Edu- cation in Grant district, but he is now a resident of Virginia.
He married Miss Hannah Moats and settled on Addis' run, where Mrs. Shrader died a few years since, and where their daughter, Mrs. Jane Hubbard, now lives. The other children born of this union were: the late Mrs. Anna Ross, and the late Henry, who were both formerly identified among the teachers of this county ; Edward, of Ohio: Mrs. Lucretia -, of Kansas: Mrs. Grace (B. M.) Cowell, of Goose creek ; and Miss Lydia Shrader, of this county.
John W. Simmons was, perhaps, the next settler. He. too, was a native of Pendleton county, and of German descent. But in his boyhood, with his parents, he came to Indian creek, this county, where he grew to manhood. He married Miss Elizabeth Hourhood, of Doddridge county, and their children were as follows :
Mrs. Mary (Cameron) Swadley, Indian creek ; Mrs. Huldah (George G.) Layfield: the late Mrs. Robert Smith, Cokeley's ; and Aaron, and William Simmons, Cantwell. He died at his old home several years ago, and sleeps in the Pleas- ant Hill churchyard, not far distant.
Mr. Simmons was the eldest son of Abraham and Mary Mullenax Simmons, who came from Pendleton county to In- dian creek, perhaps more than sixty years ago, and remained until they were laid in the Indian creek Baptist churchyard. He was one of a family of eight children : viz., Hanson, Abra- ham, Salathiel, George, James, Jane and Huldah, all of whom ilave passed on, except Jane and Salathiel.
Abraham, junior; married Mrs. Melissa Wilson Stanley, and was the father of George, and James Simmons, of Au- burn.
Huldah married Absalom Cunningham, and, after hier death, her sister Jane (who first married Jackson Nottingham, and later Jasper Cunningham, and William Divine) became
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the wife of Absalom Cunningham. She now resides with he: son at Washburn.
Hanson passed on several years ago, George and James died in youth, and Salathiel lives on Island run.
Abraham Simmons, senior, was a brother of Peter, whose history appears with the Indian creek settlers.
Later Settlers on this creek were M. D. Cowan. Stacy Stephens, John W. Marshall, Jacob Campbell, Daniei Coke- ley, Samuel Parks, James Eddy, C. H. Harrison and others. but these settlements hardly belong to pioneer days, as they Were of such recent date.
The Miller Flat, which was improved by the noted jurist. Charles T. Harrison, in 1880, is the scene of the oldest settle- ment on the creek, it having been settled as early as 1830 or 40, by the Miller Brothers.
M. Duke Cowan is now the oldest citizen of this creek. He came here in 1878, and made the first improvement 011 the head of the small tributary known as "Rock Fork," and his possessions are now valued at forty or fifty thousand dol- lars, and he is styled the "Oil King" of this region.
His wife was Miss Mary Ann Vanort, of Doddridge county, and their wedding day was November 17, 1854. They came to this county in the ante-bellum days, and found a home on Back run, near Harrisville; and from there, they re- moved to Oil Ridge. He was a soldier of the Union army, and his family consisted of nine children. Two have crossed to the other side, and the rest are as follows :
Mary (Mrs. W. H. Scott), John W., Laura (Mrs. Judd Blam), Martha Jane (Mrs. W. H. Moore), Samuel E., Frank. and Fannie (Mrs. Wade Broadwater).
The Cowans are old citizens of the county. Isaac Cowan was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, on July 11. 1808, and his wife, Miss Nancy Hoult, was born in Marion county, this state, on June 6, 1814; and their marriage took place on November 15, 1831. They called Ohio their home for a time before removing to this county, in 1849, where they found a permanent home, and a final resting-place. Here, near one one-half miles from Harrisville, he died on Septen- ber 19, 1864, and Mrs. Cowan survived until November 15. 1888. when she joined him on the other side.
They were the parents of eleven children: viz., M. D.
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Cowan, already mentioned ; J. W., of Indian creek ; Mrs. Neal (Melvina) Moats, Harrisville; Mary E. Cowan, of Oil Ridge; the late Joseph, of the West; the late Mrs. Rachel (David) McIntyre, of Harrisville : and the rest died in youth.
The Harrison family, who is a very prominent one in the county, merits recognition here, but owing to the innate mod- esty of the head of this family, and to his thorough dislike for publicity, our request for this data was met with a polite dec- lination, as he felt confident that the "little he had done was not worthy of a place."
Rutherford .- The foundation of this village was laid in 1881, when H. S. Wilson, the projector of the Cairo and Kanawha Valley railroad, erected a lumber camp here, which was abandoned a little iater. But he built a station-house and dwelling here in 1892, and in April of that same year, the late John O. Lynch became the occupant of that dwelling, which is still the home of his family. Mr. Wilson opened a store the same year, and then came the post-office (1892) with R. W. Rutherford post-master. The school-house was erected in 1889, on land given by the Ritchie Lumber Com- pany.
The nearest church is the "Fairview" M. E. church, the grounds of which were donated by Mrs. Rachel Six.
W. H. Reynolds was the first blacksmith. The dwellings now number near a score, and the population is close to eighty- five.
It was named in honor of the Rutherfords, who were the charter members of the "Ritchie Lumber Company."
John O. Lynch, the first citizen of the town, was a Tyler county product, he having been born on Pursley creek, seven miles from Sistersville, on July 2, 1858, but he came to this county in his youth or early manhood, and taught school for a time, and served as assessor later on. He married Miss Miranda Smith, daughter of Aaron Smith, of Smith's chapel. and was the father of six sons: Okey, Charley, who has passed on, Gainer, Theodore, Emmett and Hallie.
He was merchant, post-master, and one of the most use- ful citizen of the place until his death early in the year 1908.
CHAPTER XXVIII
Ritchie Mines
HE famous Ritchie coal mine, which is located two miles from the mouth of Mac- farlan creek, was discovered during the autmn of 1852. by the late Frederick Lemon.
The country had been visited by one of the greatest floods in its history, during April of that year, and the general wash-out revealed this noted mine.
Mr. Lemon, being impressed by its every appearance (the coal standing on edge instead of lying down, etc.) that he had made a valuable discovery, covered it up, hoping to make a deal for the land, but, before his plans were carried into effect. another flood came, in 1858, which again revealed the hidden treasure, and the coal was then put to the test for black-smithing purposes. Thus it was found to be different from other coal and of far greater value, and it has since proved to be asphalt-the only asphalt mine in the United States.
This same year, Mr. Lemon purchased the tract of land covering two hundred sixteen acres, of John Webb and Robert Marshall ; and the following year, he sold to Nelson Beall, of Frostburg, Maryland, who soon after began to oper- ate the mine: but the Civil war came on, and operations ceased until its close in 1865, when Mr. Beall sold to a syndi- cate from New York and Baltimore, who constructed a nar- row-gauge railroad, from Cairo to the mine, which was known as the "Calico railroad." This launched a boom for business. and marked an important epoch in the history of this part of the county. The population rapidly increased. Many good families having found permanent homes here near that time. Among them were a large number of Irish people, who are still prominently identified with the citizenship of this com-
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munity : The Dolans, the Goldens, the Burkes, the Coyles, the Overtons, etc.
But in 1874, the coal vein was lost, and work suddenly ceased ; and everything sank into a state of apathy-into dilapidation and ruin, and thus continued until 1885, when the land, mine, and railroad, were purchased by H. S. Wilson, of Parkersburg, who (in 1890) sub-railed the road and ex- tended it as far as Mellin (in 189?), and, on to the river at Macfarlan (in 1894), under the changed name of the "Cairo and Kanawha Valley railroad." In 1906, Mr. Wilson and his sons sold this railroad to a syndicate, which has since that time been talking of transforming it into a broad-gauge road and extending it to the coal-fields in some of the south-eastern counties of the state.
The Hon. Charles F. Teter, and S. A. Moore, of Philippi : T. R. Cowell and C. B. Kefauver, of Parkersburg, are the trustees, and several other strong financial interests of Park- ersburg, and elsewhere, are members.
The ruins of the Ritchie Mines and Frederic Lemon, the discoverer.
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The mine, too, passed from the hands of Mr. Wilson several years ago, and has since that time been operated by a Michigan syndicate ; but it is now taking on new life with a Mining Company at the helm, which is composed of local people, and New York and Wheeling men of means. Machinery is now on the ground and a shaft is being. sunk as rapidly as possible, and important developments are looke:1 forward to with interest.
The opening of the C. & K. V. railroad gave rise to the towns of Mellin and Macfarlan. Thomas L. Lemon, son of john B. Lemon, erected the first store at Mellin, in 1891 : and H. S. Wilson and John S. Warnick opened the first store at Macfarlan, in 1894. The post-office was established a little later with Mr. Warnick, post-master.
The "Beechwood" hotel was built near the same time by H. S. Wilson. This large, commodious building, which is surrounded by an ideal forest, was for a time quite a retreat for the lovers of quietude and sylvan beauty. After Mr. Wil- son had rented and leased this hotel property for several years, he sold to James D. Hill and Burleigh Fowler, and not long after this transaction (in 1904), it was destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt by Hill and Fowler, who sold to J. E. Snyder. William H. McCray is now the owner and proprietor. The village, which numbers near a dozen scattered dwellings, has another hotel, known as the "Dogwood," with B. P. Goff pro- prietor.
It has two stores, with W. R. Hayes Trading Company at the Warnick stand, and F. J. Lemon in charge of the other, a good school-house, a blacksmith shop, a pump-station. a depot-building, and a physician in the person of Dr. Lester Miller.
Frederick Lemon, the discoverer of this famous mine, claims a place in this chapter :
Mr. Lemon was born in Botetourt county, Virginia, in 1812, and came to this county in 1835, with his father. George S. Lemon, who settled at the forks of Hughes river. On January 15, 1838, he was married to Miss Roena Deem, daughter of Phillip Deem, and shortly after his marriage took up his residence at Macfarlan, on the old estate, where
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his life came to a close in 1902. Nine children were the fruits of this union : Phillip J., C. N., F. J., John B., A. W., Z. T., and L. L., Mrs. Roena Pribble, and the late Mrs. Cinderilla (John K.) Bradley, all of Macfarlan, except Z. T., and L. L., who are numbered with the dead. The first three mentioned were Confederate soldiers during the Civil war.
The Lemons are of German extraction, their ancestors having come from Prussia during the last quarter of the seventeenth century, and settled in the fertile valley of the James river, in Virginia. Here Frederick Lemon, senior, was born in 1739, and at the breaking out of the Revolution, he took up arms in defense of the colonies, and was in the en- gagement at Yorktown. His son, George S. Lemon, wilo came to Ritchie county in 1835 and settled at the forks of Hughes river, was also a native of the "Old Dominion."
George S. Lemon was married to Miss Nancy Tilden, of Virginia, and was the father of twelve children, all of whom reached the years of maturity. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, and enjoys the distinction of having been the first man to bore an oil well in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
In 1844, while putting down a well for salt water, near the mouth of Flint run, in Wirt county, he struck oil at a depth of one hundred twenty-five feet. His object in sinking the well being to engage in the manufacture of salt, which purpose was defeated by the in-flowing of oil. But his labor, however, was not lost, for he pumped the well and introduced the oil into the Marietta market, where it sold for medicinal purposes. But scarcely had he begun to reap the benefits of his labor, when one Bushrod W. Creel appeared upon the scene, and laid claim to the land and took this enterprise out of Mr. Lemon's hands. This distinguished pioneer died at Hockingport, Wood county, in December, 1865, and sleeps at Cisko, this county. His venerable companion was laid by his side in 1872.
Their children were as follows: James sleeps at St. Joseph, Missouri ; Frederick, at Macfarlan; John. in Illinois; George, Jacob, and E. T., who lost his life in the Confederate cause, in the family burying-ground at Cisko ; and Albert, the oniy survivor of the family, lives in Wirt county. Charlotte.
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the eldest daughter, married Henry Valentine ; Harriet, Adam Valentine: Nancy, Alex. Mackey, and all spent their lives in this county: Sallie became Mrs. Nelson Hickle and went to Kentucky ; and Almi married Abe Maloney and spent her last hours at Hockingport, in Wood county.
The Irish families who have largely made up the citizen- ship of this part of the county for the past half-century or longer, merit a corner in this chapter, but as our appeals have gone by unheeded, we are unable to do them justice. How- ever, the facts concerning the family of Michael Goldin are at hand :
Michael Goldin was born in Ireland in 1819, and came to New York in 1848, where he met and married Miss Mar- garet Mullin, and from that commonwealth, they came to this county, in 1858, and settled at Oxbow, where he followed farming and teaching school, in winter. for several years: and where he served as post-master for twenty-three years. Ile passed from earth on April 11, 1898, and in the Catholic cenie- tery, at Oxbow, he rests.
His family consisted of four sons and one daughter: James A. Goldin. of Minnesota: Thomas, Patrick, and Michael, of Oxbow : and Mrs. Mary Dolan. Parkersburg.
H. S. Wilson .- No other one individual is more entitled to recognition in the history of this part of the county than H. S. Wilson, of Parkersburg, who was the chief factor in the opening up of much of the wilderness in the Southern section of the county.
Mr. Wilson comes of Irish stock. His father. Robert Wilson, was born in County Downs, Ireland, on May 1, 1792. and crossed the water to Philadelphia in 1816, and spent the remaining years of his life in the "Keystone" state -- (at Coxestown, Highspire, and Paxtong). He died in 1878, at the age of eighty-six years, and lies buried in the Paxtong church- yard.
Robert Wilson was married in the year 1825 to Miss Mary Stewart, daughter of Henry Stewart (born 1768-1864). who embarked to America from County Downs. Ireland, in 1811, and settled at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and H. S. Wil-
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son, the subject of this sketch, was the second child of this union.
Henry Stewart Wilson stepped upon the battle-field of life at Highspire, on July 5, 1829, and there spent his youth and the early days of his manhood. From 1856 until 1871, he was engaged in the lumber business in his native town, and from there during the latter year, he came to West Virginia and started a saw-mill, on Lick run in Doddridge county. which he continued to operate until 1874 when he removed it to Grafton.
In February, 1827, he first made the acquaintance of the forests of this county when he moved his saw-mill to Buz- zard's run, and shipped his lumber from Tollgate. He also shipped lumber from Beeson, and Pennsboro a little later. (1878-9) ; and removed his mill to Devil Hole where he ex- ported his products from Cairo over the "Calico railroad."
In 1890, he and his son, Robert, organized the Cairo and Kanawha Valley Railroad Company, and built the narrow- guage road from Cairo to Macfarlan, a distance of sixteen miles, and thus opened up the forest and founded the towns along this road as stations.
In addition to his labors in this county, he and his son, Robert managed a saw-mill at Davisville from 1885-87, and during the latter year established one at Parkersburg, which has been in operation almost continuously ever since that time.
In accord with the faith of his fore-fathers, Mr. Wilson is a Presbyterian in religion. He was baptized at the Paxtong church two one-half miles from Harrisburg, in 1831, and has been a deacon in the church at Parkersburg for a number of years. He was Mayor of Parkersburg from 1891-93, and has had official connection with the Second National Bank, and various other business concerns of that city ; was a dele- gate to the National Democratic convention in 1896 and in 1904 : was a member of the Board of Directors for the Insane Hospital at Spencer from 1888-90, and served as a director for the Girl's Industrial School at Salem, from the time of its ill- stitution until this board was abolished by the Legislature of 1909. Though so closely allied with the affairs of this county
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he has never claimed his residence here, as his home was at Grafton from 1874 until 1881, when he removed to Parkers- burg, where he is spending the evening hours of his long and useful life, surrounded by the comforts that his industry has so well merited.
On July 1. 1856, Mr. Wilson claimed Miss Anna M. Ennis, of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, as his bride, and seven children were the result of this union ; viz., Sophia and Wallace died in childhood, and the rest are as follows: Robert married Miss Lilian McGregor, and lives at Parkersburg, where he is promi- nently identified in business. Carrie Porter is the wife of the Rev. R. C. Hughes of the Presbyterian church of Madison, Wisconsin. Ellen Blair married the Rev. E. W. Work, of Logan, Ohio, who is now pastor of the West End Avenue
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