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 38
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
The Peirpoints .- Few names have had a longer connec- tion with the history of this town than that of Peirpoint. This connection having begun in 1842, when Zackquill M. Peirpoint came from Marion county, and launched the tan- nery business. He was born at Fairmont, on September 30. 1811, and there he was married to Miss Martha Vandervort. in 1835; and seven years later, they came to Harrisville. where he played an important part in the early history of the tow11, and in the building of the Methodist Protestant church. He died on April 2, 1882, but Mrs. Peirpoint survived him by several years. Both repose in the Harrisville cemetery.
They were the parents of eleven children: viz., W. H.,. the eldest son, whose long business connection with the town has already been mentioned, died in 1906, leaving no issue. He was first married in 1858, to Miss Henrietta Reitz. who died in 1872 ; and in 1849, he married Miss Pauline M. Hami !- ton, of Fairmont, who died in June. 1901 : and his widow was Mrs. Juliette Swisher Cookman.
The second son. Rufus E. Peirpoint, was drowned in a tanvat, at Fairmont, when he was but two years of age.
Francis P.,1 and Virginia died in their young man and womanhood.
Belle, was the first wife of the late Benjamin Moats, of Harrisville, and the mother of Attorney F. P. Moats of Park- ersburg.
Louise was the late Mrs. D. S. Bush, of Harrisville.
Hattie is the wife of the Rev. E. J. Wilson, of the M. P. church ; and John S., J. N., and Charies K. Peirpoint are still identified with the business interests of the town.
The Name "Peirpoint" originated in Normandy in the South of France in the tenth century, and is lineally con- nected with William the Conqueror. They emigrated from England to America in early Colonial days, and settled in the Eastern or Middle states : and near the year 1800, Francis H. Peirpoint and his wife Kathrine, crossed the mountains from the East? and settled at Fairmont (formerly called Middle-
'See Younger Men's Calendar for history of Francis P. Peirpoint.
^The History of Marion County says that John Peirpoint, father of Francis H., senior, settled near Morgantown about the close of the Amer- ican Revolution.
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town), where he sank a tanvard and launched the tannery business. He was twice married, his first wife being Miss Harriet Weaver, sister of Joseph Weaver, an early pioneer of Chevauxdefiise ; and his second, Miss Isabel Stuart, of Mor- gantown.
Five sons were the fruits of his first union : viz., Joseph, Zackquill M., the late Governor, Francis H., junior, Larkin and Newton.
Joseph Peirpoint married Miss Lurena Barnes, and spent his life at Fairmont, where his death occurred in the early fifties, though he had a brief business connection with his brother here. His two sons, Joseph W., and Harry, served as soldiers in the Union army, in the Twelfth West Virginia Volunteers, but Joseph died of fever during his . service. Harry rose to the rank of Captain, and after his return home from the field, spent some time here with his uncle, Uz Barnes, and, at one time, owned the tract of land, on which the greater part of the West end of Harrisville now stands. He died at Fairmont near the year 1890.
Zackquill M. Peirpoint and his family have already been mentioned.
Newton Peirpoint went to Illinois, and later to California, where he died, near 1885. He was the father of five children, but one alone survives.
Larkin Peirpoint came to this county, some years after his brother, and started a branch tannery on Straight fork of Slab creek, which was abandoned at the opening of the Civil war, when he recruited Company E. of the Sixth West Vir- ginia Infantry Volunteers, and entered the service as captain of the company. He later became major, and was mustered out as Lieutenant-Colonel.
He was twice married: his first wife, who was the mother of all of his children, being Miss Elizabeth Jones, of Fairmont ; and his second, Miss Sarah M. Coffrey. of Wis- consin. He died in 1894, both wives having preceded him to the grave.
His children were eight in number and were as follows : Edward, Zackquill, and George Peirpoint, Mrs. Julia Crooks, Mrs. Kathrine Zinn, Mrs. Ella Wass, and Rose and
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
Olive, who married in the West where all the family reside, except Mrs. Zinn, who is of Harrisville.
Francis Harrison Peirpoint, the third son of the family. was of a literary turn of mind, and was the one member of the household that reached a college education. He was born at Fairmont, on January 25, 1814, and began his public career as a school-teacher. He was graduated from the Alle- gheny college at Meadville, Pennsylvania, with high honors. and, subsequently, made quite a record at the bar. At the breaking out of the Civil war when Virginia seceded from the Union, he took an active part in the calling of the Wheeling convention, whose purpose was to show loyalty to the Gov- ernment : and, on July 20, 1861, when this convention had completed the re-organization of (the loval counties) Vir- ginia, he was elected as Provisional (or War) Governor with his seat of Government at Wheeling; and so important was his service in the formation of the new State that he has been styled the "Father of West Virginia." After the "Little Mountain State" had been admitted into the Union, and Arthur I. Boreman had been installed as Governor, Mr. Peir- point again took his seat in the Gubernatorial chair of the "Old Dominion," he being inaugurated on January 1. 1864 and continued in office until 1868. Just before the admission of the new state, his seat of government was transferred from Wheeling to Alexandria, and at the close of the war, was re- moved back to Richmond.
Governor Peirpoint served as a member of the Legis- lature of West Virginia in 1868, and was Collector of Internal revenue under President Garfield.
He died at Pittsburg at the home of his daughter, on March 24, 1899, and was taken back to his native town. Fair- mont, for burial.
He and his wife. Mrs. Julia Roberts Peirpoint, were the parents of four children. One daughter died in early life, and the other one is Mrs. Nannie Siveter, of Pittsburg. His sons. Samuel R., and William Peirpoint are also of Pittsburg, and the latter is an agent for the Methodist Protestant Book Con- cern of that city.
On April 30, 1910, a statue of the late Governor Peirpoint.
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which had long stood in Statuary Hall at Washington city, was unveiled with impressive ceremonies. His grand-daugh- ter, Miss Frances Peirpoint Siveter pulled the cord that un- veiled the statue and read a poem that had been penned for the occasion, and quite a number of distinguished West Vir- ginians had part in the exercises, among them being Senator N. B. Scott, who said:
"Governor Peirpoint was a large-hearted, true man, and a just one. His love of country was of the intense order. and to the support of his views he brought a fine logic which but few could combat. He was possessed of a wonderfully letentive memory, and was splendidiy equipped legally. There is, perhaps, no one within the confines of the state which Governor Peirpoint helped to create. that does not acknowledge the versatility and clear-headed legal acumen he manifested in the presence of the serious problems that he so successfully solved as a leader in the troublesome times, just before and during the Civil war.
"History may do but scant justice to this man; his fame may be perpetuated by the marble statue that has been un- veiled to-day, but there is a monument which bears his nanie indelibly, and one which is found in the hearts of his country- men. There Francis H. Peirpoint will live while the life- blood flows."
Only one other West Virginian shares the honor of a place in Statuary Hall at Washington city with Governor Peirpoint, and that is the late Senator John E. Kenna.
The Woodses too, have long been identified here. James Woods, senior, came from Wales and settled in the Keystone state, where his son, the Rev. James Woods was born in 1797. This son, (the Rev. James), married Miss Eliza Axtel, daughter of Phillip Axtel, in 1820, the marriage taking place at Pittsburg : and in 1846, he came to this county, and settled on the Wells homestead. at the mouth of Bun- 'nell's run, where he remained until 1868, when he removed to Missouri where his labors came to an end.
He was an early minister of the Baptist church, and the first Superintendent of Free schools of this county, he hav- ing been appointed for a brief time. He was an ardent advo-
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
cate of the Union cause, and was pronounced in his views on the slavery question. He was the first pastor of the Clarks- burg Baptist church, and his ministry extended over the Counties of Ritchie, Doddridge, Harrison, Tyler, Pleasants, Wood and Wirt.
He was the father of the following named children: The Rev. P. A. Woods, Josiah M., Brantley, Erasmus, James, and Robert, Mrs. Mary (John) McGinnis, and Mrs. Elizabeth, (Solomon) Hopper.
Phillip Axtel Woods was born at Pittsburg, on January 4, 1828; and on December 12, 1846, he was married to Miss Salina Wells, daughter of Isaiah Wells; and from that time until his death, on September 17, 1902, he was a resident of this community. He was a faithful servant in the Master's Vineyard, his father's mantle having fallen upon his shoul- ders, when he went West in 1868. He was widely known, the field of his ministry having embraced many points in central West Virginia, which included, Sistersville, Middlebourne, Harrisville, Stillwell, Briscoe run, Willow Island, and numer- ous others.
His death severed the first link in the family circle, which was again broken during the spring of 1909 by the death of his aged companion, who was laid by his side in the Harrisville cemetery.
Their children are as follows :
Isaiah W. and Judge Homer B. Woods,1 Harrisville : Joel, Parkersburg: William, Keyser; Mrs. Independence (E. E.) McDougal, Hannahdale; and Mrs. E. M. Patton, Luke, Maryland.
The Pattons are of Irish nationality. They came from the "Emerald Isle" and settled in what is now Monroe county West Virginia. Here in 1797, William Patton, senior, was born : and here he was married to Miss Virginia Campbell. daughter of Robert Campbell, who was, also, of Irish lin- eage : and in 1843, the year that Ritchie county was formed, . they came to this county, and settled on what is now the Hugh Pribble homestead at the mouth of Gillispie's run-on
1See Younger Men's Calendar for history and career of Homer B. Woods.
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the opposite side of the river ; and in 1859, they came to Har- risville where Mr. Patton fell asleep, in 1819, and she, in 1888.
They were the parents of the following named children : WV. M., A. J., B. F., Sarah, A. Patton, and Mrs. Martha Wells, who have all passed on; and A. D., John C., of this county ; and Mrs. Mary V. Campbell, Mrs. Lydia (P. W.) Morris, and Miss Louisa Patton, all of Parkersburg, are the surviving ones.
W. M. Patton, who first owned the hotel and who was an early Sheriff of the county, married Miss Kathrine Rad- cliffe, and they spent the remainder of their lives in Harrison county, after leaving here.
Their three children are all single : Emma and Mollie are the daughters, and John, the son.
The Pattons were in sympathy with the Southern cause during the Civil war and some of them were soldiers. They have always been strong and influential Democrats.
Isaac Lambert and his wife, Mrs. Kathrine Crable Lam- bert were natives of the "Old Dominion." They came to this county from Harrison in 1844, and settled at Ellenboro, where their son, G. W. Lambert, now lives. Here they passed away and in the Ellenboro vicinity, they sleep.
They were the parents of, Joseph, G. W., David, M. M. Lambert, of this county ; Mrs. Anna Maxwell, West Union ; the late Mrs. Virginia Byrd, and Mrs. Kathrine Lynch, Har- rison county : Madison Lambert, and Elizabeth who died single.
Joseph Lambert was born in Virginia, on July 31, 1821, and on September 1, 1846, he was married to Miss Margaret Lynch, of Harrison county, and the following year, they set- tled on the Keith farm near Harrisville, and in 1878, they re- moved to the town, where Mrs. Lambert died in March, 1905, and he, the following year. Both rest in the Harrisville cemetery.
Their family consisted of seven daughters : the late Mrs. Virginia Wells, Mrs. Ella Woods, Mrs. George Cokeley, Mrs. Bird Cokeley, Mrs. Metta Talbott, and Mrs. Cora Martin. The other one died in infancy.
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
Robert Kercheval .- The name Kercheval, too, has had a long connection here. Robert C. Kercheval having come to this town and opened a law office in June 1854. He was born and educated at Winchester, Virginia, and after reaching his majority, went to Romney where he studied law under his brother, Samuel Kercheval, and became associated with him in the practice of law.
He married Miss Indith Singleton, who was, also, a na- tive of Winchester, and, with her, returned to Romney where he practiced his profession in the Courts of Frederick, Berk- ley, Hampshire and Hardy counties until he removed to Har- risville. He was twice elected to the office of Prosecuting At- torney, of this county, and was at one time a candidate for Judge of the Circuit court with a fair prospect for success : but. withdrawing from this race, he offered himself for Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, and was defeated. He spent the remainder of his life here, passing away at his old homestead near town, on October 18, 1874, at the age of sixty - eight years. His wife and daughter, Miss Frances, preceded him to the grave, and his son, Robert, has since been laid by them on the old homestead. Mrs. Susan C. Phelps rests at Denver, Colorado; Mrs. Anna Harkness resides near Waverly : and W. M. Kercheval, and Misses Mary and Lucy are all of Harrisville.
The Kerchevals are of French descent, the original name having been De Kercheval. Louis Kercheval and his brother left France shortly after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in the year 1685, and went to England where the brother died unmarried. Louis emigrated to the Western world and settled in Gloucester county, Virginia. and from him the American branch of the family come.
Samuel Kercheval who was a lineal descendant of Louis. was born at Berryville, Virginia ; and there on September 28, 1784. he was married to Miss Susana Chinn, great-grand- daughter of Raleigh Chinn, whose wife was Esther Ball. half- sister of Mrs. Mary Washington. The Chinns were in some way connected to Sir Walter Raleigh, hence the name "Raleigh."
Samuel Kercheval was the author of the "History of the
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Valley of Virginia," the first and most authentic history of the Shenandoah and the South Branch Valleys; and one that is still in demand though out of print. And he was once High Sheriff of Frederick county.
He was the father of eleven children, the five sons being as follows: Samuel, junior, Richard, Algernon S., Robert C., and William, all of whom he gave good educations. Three were lawyers, one a physician, and the other a miller.
Samuel Kercheval junior, located at Romney where he rose to distinction as a jurist. And his son, Andrew Wood- row Kercheval, also figured prominently in public affairs in that section of the state, he having played an important part in securing, for Romney the charitable institution for the Deaf and the Blind.
Robert C. Kercheval, as above stated, married Miss In- dith Singleton, and came to this county. His wife was a member of a distinguished family, she being the daughter of General James W. and Mrs. Indith Ball Singleton, and a descendant of the same family as Mary Ball Washington. Her father was a general in the war of 1812, and her brother, Gen. James W. Singleton, junior, distinguished himself in the Mormon war, and thus won his title. After leaving his na- tive state, he (Gen. Singleton, junior.) went west and settled at Springfield, Illinois, where he engaged in the practice of law; and where he became closely associated with Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglass, of whom he had many pleasing reminiscences to tell. And the last official docu- ment, perhaps, that was ever penned by the hand of Presi- dent Lincoln is in the possession of General Singleton's family in New York. This priceless treasure is in the form of a pass, which was written for the late Gen. Singleton, junior, who had been called from his Western home to be the bearer of a message of peace to the Southern people, and it read thus :
"Allow Gen. Singleton to pass to Richmond and return. "A. Lincoln. "April 13, 1865."
On April 14, that ever memorable day in the history of our country, after General Singleton had received his final in-
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
structions, and had taken leave of the President, he went out in company with the Secretary of the Interior, going a little later in the evening to join Governor Yates of Illinois and some other friends at an appointed supper; but when he reached his destination, he was greeted at the threshold withi flying rumors of the assassination of the President at Ford's Theater. The General recognizing the value of the memento in the form of the pass which he never used, ordered a case of gold, and under a glass in one compartment is this pass with its significant date.
T. E. Davis .-- For many years the late T. E. Davis was a prominent citizen of this town. He was born at Holbrook. this county in 1846. His father, Thomas N. Davis, crossed to the other side, shortly before his birth, and he began life as an orphan. His mother, Mrs. Amelia Zinn Davis, some years later married Eli Heaton of this town, and two children were the fruits of this union: the late Mrs. J. N. Peirpoint, and W. H. Heaton, of Spokane, Washington. At the age of fourteen years, Mr. Davis came to Harrisville, and attended school, and became one of the first teachers of the county, under the free school system. He spent three years in the Washington and Jefferson University, at Washington. Penn- sylvania, and was admitted to the bar in 1869.
He served as Prosecuting Attorney for two terms, (being the first native son of Ritchie to attain to this office) and was a member of the House of Delegates : was deputy sheriff and deputy County and Circuit clerk all at the same time. He had a brief connection with the "West Virginia Star" here in the seventies, and was a member of the Masonic order, he having attained to the degree of Master Mason in 1812. He died at his residence here, on February 15, 1906, and was laid in the Harrisville cemetery.
On December 24, 1869, he was married to Miss Anna Leggett, daughter of the late Enoch B. Leggett. and of this union four children were born : one died in infancy, and the others are, Mrs. H. B. Woods, Mrs. Juniata Boggess, who with her husband the Rev. Wheeler Boggess, has just re- turned from a several years service in the Mission-fields of
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Southern India; and Thomas J. Davis, who is a prominent young barrister of this town.
The Davises are of English descent. Four brothers, Wil- liam, John, Thomas, and Alexander, came from England in 1600, and settled in New Jersey, near the present site of Jersey city. William had four sons and three daughters, and from his son, William, junior, this family comes. His son, David, mar- ried Miss Lydia Jeffrey, and they were the parents of the late Thomas N. and the grandparents of the late T. E. Davis of this place. From this same ancestral line, the Hon. Henry G. Davis, of Elkins, is said to be descended.
The Liningers have been prominently connected with the affairs of this town since 1874, when the late Col. John C. Lin- inger came here as teacher of the Harrisville school. He was of German descent, and his wife, Mrs. Katherine McGough Lininger, of Scotch. Both were natives of Pennsylvania, he having been born in 1832, and she in 1833. They were mar- ried in 1856, and removed to Iowa a few years later, where he entered the Union army as captain of an Iowa regiment ; buit owing to ill health, he returned to his native state in 1862, and the following year re-entered the army as colonel of a Penn- sylvania regiment of volunteers. After the war, in 1865, he removed to Fairmont, where he was placed in charge of the first graded-school that was established under the free school system at that place.
Filling this position but a short time, he resigned to be- come editor of a Fairmont paper ; and from there in 1867, he went to Putnam county, where he held the position of princi- pal of the Buffalo Academy, until he came to Harrisville. where he died in 1877.
He was educated in the free schools and academies of his native state, and spent the greater part of his life in teaching.
Mrs. Lininger died on January 10, 1909, and at Harris- ville, beside her husband she sleeps.
They were the parents of four daughters, and one son: Mrs. Addie M. (C. K.) Peirpoint, Mrs. Kathrine B. (L. R.) Fox, Mrs. Annie B. (Homer) Sigler, Mrs. Minnie Stoops, and
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
John H. Lininger, whose career merits more than a passing notice.
John H. Lininger was born on October 15, 1862, and with his parents came to this town when he was but a boy of twelve years. He improved his time and his opportunities, and at an early age, entered the profession of teaching, continuing in this work for ten years. He served as a member of the Teachers' Examining Board for three terms, and filled the office of Circuit clerk for twelve years; and has been the Cashier of the Peoples' Bank since its organization in 1899.
On May 22, 1888, he was married to Miss Dora Heaton, daughter of the late John Heaton, and three children are the fruits of this union : Edgar Howard, the only son died in 1903, at the age of fourteen years, and Maude and Helen are the daughters.
Arthur Watson and his wife, Mrs. Jane Hawker Watson. with their family came from Monongalia county to the Har- risville vicinity in 1844, and settled near two miles south of town on the farm that is now owned by Colfax Moats. Here Mr. Watson died in the early sixties, (?) and not long after he was laid in the Harrisville cemetery, the family went to Cherry Point, Illinois, where the following named members still survive :
James R., Thomas D., Amos M., Asby L., and Mrs. Mary (Samuel) Clouse. Owen Hawker, also, lives in Illinois, but William has joined the throng on the other side.
Thomas D. Watson married Miss Sarah Shore, sister of Mrs. Mary Ann McDonald, of Hazelgreen, but after her death, a few years since, he married Miss Sarah Miller of Illinois.
John Watson, another son of Arthur, was the progenitor of the family that remained in this county.
He was born in Monongalia county on February 24, 1824, and with his parents came to this county at the age of twenty years.
On April 11, 1845, he was married to Miss Eveline Smith, who was born in Marion county, on March 7, 1825, and, at the old home south of Harrisville he resided until his death, on December 17, 1853.
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Two sons were born of this union, James W., and Joseph A. Watson, but the latter died on October 13, 1857, at the age of seven years, and the former, in his young manhood.
In 1864, Mrs. Watson traded the homestead for the corner in Harrisville which is now marked by the National Bank building, and in April of that year, became the owner and manager of the hotel that was for long years known as the "Watson House." In 1901, she, having retired to private life some years before, transferred this property to the First Na- tional Bank. She died at Harrisville during the summer of 1909, rich in the love and esteem of a multitude of friends that she had made during her long public service, and in the Hai- risville cemetery by the side of her husband and sons she was laid at rest.
James Willy Watson, her one son, who grew to manhood, was born on April 8, 1848, and was married to Miss Frances Starr, daughter of John and Eleanor Ayres Starr, on Novem- ber 8, 1868 ; and they were the parents of two sons, John, the eldest, died in early childhood ; and Dr. J. W. Watson is the other.
Mr. Watson met a tragic death by a run-a-way accident on the Ellenboro hill on September 20, 1870, and his widow is now the wife of Frank Foster, of near Harrisville.
So Dr. James Willy Watson,1 of Harrisville, who was porn on March 12, 1871, a few months after the death of his father, is the only living descendant of the Watson family in this county. He was graduated from the Dental department of the Maryland University in the class of 1892, and was mar- ried to Miss Christine Mather, daughter of the late W. T. Mather, on September 26, 1895, and they have no children.
The Blairs are of Scotch-Irish stock. Three brothers came from Ireland. One settled in New Jersey, one. in Penn- sylvania, and the other, in the South-land.
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