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 5
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His children were: Isaac, William, Mrs. Nancy Simmers, all of Harrisville : Mrs. Elizabeth Shock, and Mrs. Sarah Rob- inson (mother of honored Sherman Robinson, of Harrisville). both of Calhoun county. His daughter, Mary, married William Sharpneck, of Petroleum, and after her death her sis- ter, Margaret, married Mr. Sharpneck.
Isaac Cokeley married Miss Susana Moats, daughter of Jacob Moats, senior, and spent his life at the old homestead, near Harrisville.
His children : Daniel, of Devil Hole: Jacob, of Elm run. who have both passed on; Isaac, of Harrisville; Margaret, late wife of John E. Simmons, of Spruce Grove; Luvina, late
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FIRST SETTLERS IN RITCHIE COUNTY
wife of Andrew Simmons, and Miss Mary, who, with her mother, resides at the old homestead.
William Cokeley, son of Daniel, married Miss Hannah Starr, daughter of John Starr, senior, and Mrs. Elizabeth Duckworth, of Mt. Zion, is the one child of this union. (See Mt. Zion chapter for further history.)
CHAPTER III
South Fork Settled
ILLIAM LAYFIELD .- Though the Mur- phys have always, heretofore, been accred- ited with the first settlement on the South fork of Hughes river, careful investigation proves this to be in error: the shade of William Layfield rises to a point of justice, as he is the rightful claimant to this dis- tinction ; his settlement on the S. H. West- fall farm, above Smithville, having antedated the coming of the Murphys by one year. For twelve months he was alone in this dense wilderness, being the only settler on this branch of the river, within the present bounds of the county.
After a four years' residence here, he removed to what is known as "Layfield's run," a tributary of Goose creek, where he lived for many years, and where he buried his first wife, Mrs. Margaret Crawford Layfield. He died on March 20, 1852, at the home of his son, Sanford, near Cornwallis, and in the Egypt cemetery, by the side of his second wife, Mrs. Susan Douglas Layfield (widow of John Douglass, of Scotland), he sleeps.
He was of Irish descent. His father, James Layfield, came from the "Emerald Isle," and settled on the South branch of the Potomac river at Moorefield (West), Virginia, . where he (William) was born.
When he was but a lad, all the family, except him and one brother, were captured by the Indians, and they were being hotly pursued by the dreaded foe when they were over - taken by a violent storm, from which they sought refuge under a tree. This tree was torn up by the roots, and William escaped, but he never knew the fate of his brother; never heard of any of the family again, so the many families of this
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SOUTH FORK SETTLED
name in the different parts of the country are descended from him.
He was the father of six sons and one daughter: John, James, Ellison, Sanford, David and William, junior, and Mary Ann, who became Mrs. Augusta Crane, and went West.
To the late venerable Henry Layfield, of Cokeley's, we are indebted for this interesting reminiscence, which he has repeatedly heard from his grandfather's own lips.
The Murphys .- The Murphys were the second settlers on this river. Four brothers came from Harrison county, in 1801, and found homes in the Webb's mill vicinity. Amiziah took up his residence on what is now the Frederick Lemon estate, at Macfarlan ; Willian, on the John P. Kennedy farm ; Samuel, on the late Alfred Scott estate ; and John, on the Rev. M. McNeill homestead. Here these brothers passed from earth, and in the Murphy graveyard, on the John P. Kennedy farm, and on the McNeill homestead, their ashes lie. After the older generation had passed away, their heirs, having lost their lands owing to bad titles, went to Illinois, to Washing- ton county, Ohio, and to Wood county, this State, and conse- quently, little is known of their early history. save the fact that they were Indian fighters.
Other settlers found homes in this wilderness in rapid succession, and for a number of years this was known as the "Murphy Settlement" along the river from the mouth of In- dian creek to the mouth of Slab creek; and the memory of these pioneers is still kept green by the name, "Murphy dis- trict."
Nutter Webb .- After the Murphys came Nutter Webb. He was a native of Harrison county, and the first blacksmith in this vicinity. His old cabin stood on the south bank of the river just opposite the present site of Webb's ( Hardman's) mill, and here he resided until he was laid in the cemetery that bears his name, in August, 1833. A long line of his descend- ants still lay claim to Ritchie county soil.
He married Miss Anna Cunningham, daughter of Adamn Cunningham, brother of Thomas, and was the father of two sons and several daughters: Benjamin, whose history appears in a later chapter, was one of the most prominent figures in
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
the early history of this part of the county ; William was also a pioneer, he having made the first settlement on the Elias Valentine farm; Mrs. Elizabeth Simms, Parkersburg; Mrs. Rebecca (John) Malone, Mrs. Margaret (Adam) Harris, Mrs. Rachel (Wm.) Stuart, mother of Robert Stuart, of Iris, were four of the daughters, and perhaps all of them.
The Webbs are of Indian fighting stock, they being de- scended from Jonas Webb, an early settler of Harrison coun- ty, who is mentioned in "Border Warfare."
Adam Cunningham was another early settler in the WVebb's mill vicinity, he having found a home on the Hoff, now the John S. Deem, farm. He was a brother of Thomas Cunningham, and here the remainder of his life was spent, and in the Murphy graveyard he sleeps.
He was the father of twelve children, whose names in part are missing, but the following are among them : Adam, the grandfather of John Cunningham, the Washburn artist : Edward and Elijah, and Mrs. Rebecca Beard, Mrs. Drusilla Beard, Mrs. Rachel Nutter, Mrs. Hannah Harris and Mrs. Nutter Webb.
William Stuart .- Contemporary with the settlements of the Murphy Brothers was that of William Stuart, senior, on the late John Byrd estate, near the old "State Ford," above Goff's. He was a typical son of "Old Erin," having been born, reared and educated in the city of Belfast, Ireland. Here he learned the trade of cabinet-maker and joiner; and here he was married to Miss Martha Boyd, an English maiden, of Southampton; and from here they emigrated to America in 1789, landing in the "City of Brotherly Love." where he worked at his trade, for a time, before purchasing land in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, on the banks of the "blue Juniata river," below the then little village of Hunt- ingdon. Here they remained but a brief time ; and from here they came to Ritchie county, in 1801, and settled on the Byrd farm, where he died on March 13, 1809. His wife died in 1834. Both sleep on their old homestead, in the burying- ground that is now designated as the "Reeves graveyard." Their son, John, and daughter, Sarah B., who was the victim of the first surgical operation in this county, also sleep here :
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SOUTH FORK SETTLED '
Polly, and Martha, who married Benjamin Webb, rest in the Webb's cemetery : Jane married Enoch Cunningham, and at Smithville she reposes ; James died in Harrison county, and William, who was the father of Robert, at Iris.
Among the grandchildren of this pioneer, who are citizens of the county, are Lewis Rogers, of Lamb's run, P. J. Cun- ningham, of Pennsboro. James T. Smith, of Burnt House ; and B. F. Prince, of Cantwell, are great-grandsons.
Thomas Summerfield was the first settler on what is now the W. A. Flesher and the late John Miller homesteads. He afterwards moved across the river and made a settlement on the J. R. Westfall farm, and finally went to Ohio.
Alexander Davidson .-- In 1820, the Miller and Flesher farm became the property of Alexander Davidson, who con- tinued to reside here until he was borne to the Smithville cemetery, in 1837.
Mr. Davidson was of Scotch-Irish descent. His father, James Davidson, was born in Ireland, and his mother, Mary Allen, in Scotland; and shortly after the Revolution they came to America and settled in the valley of Virginia, near Winchester; here Alexander was born; and here he was married to Miss Kathrine Kline, a German maiden, who was also a native of the "Old Dominion:" and after the birth of their third child, they removed to Parkersburg, where Mr. Davidson engaged in the shoe-maker's trade for a time, be- fore coming to the Harrisville vicinity, near 1816, where he remained until he came to Smithville.
He was the father of ten children; and after his death Mrs. Davidson and the family, having lost their land here, emigrated to Illinois in a wagon. Here a number of them siecp.
He was the father of the venerable Israel Davidson, of Spruce creek, who is, perhaps, entitled to the distinction of being the oldest (living) son of Ritchie county, he having passed his ninetieth milestone; and of the late Samuel, of Gilmer county ; of the late Mrs. Eleven Riddle, of Lawford ; and the late Mrs. Edward Rogers, who sleeps in the Pioneer cemetery, at Harrisville.
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
William Cline, early in the century, built the first house at Smithville, on the site that is now marked by the hotel of M. A. Ayres. He was the father of Abraham and William Cline, whose names will appear later; but in 1816, this im- provement passed into the hands of James and Benjamin Hardman, two brothers, who came from what is now Gilmer county. These brothers had married the daughters of Thomas and Phoebe Cunningham, the first settlers in the Frederick's mill vicinity (in 1807), whose interesting history occupies another chapter.
The Hardmans .- In the meantime, while these settlements were going on at Smithville, Peter Wolfe, of Harrison county, was making the first improvement on the farm that is now the A. P. Hardman estate, in the Frederick's mill vicinity : and he and James Hardman traded farms. Mr. Wolfe moved to Simth- ville, where he died before the year 1830, and Mr. Hardman took up his residence on the A. P. Hardman homestead, which he twice lost owing to a defective title : and he then moved to the Staunton pike, and became the first settler in the Hard- man chapel vicinity, on the farm that is now the estate of his late son, James S. Hardman. Here he passed from earth in August, 1874. He was a lay minister of the Methodist Episco- pal church, and he gave the grounds for the cemetery and the church which bears his name, "Hardman chapel," and beneath its shadow his ashes lie. He was born in the "Old Domin- ion," on November 14, 1795, and, with his parents. came to Gilmer county, to the Kanawha river, when he was but a small child. At the age of eighteen years, he enlisted as a soldier in the war of 1812, taking the place of his father, who had been drafted, and served one year, until the close of the war. He was never engaged in battle, but frequently wit- nessed the maneuvers of the enemy's vessels far out at sea. In 1816, he was married to Miss Phebe Cunningham, who was born in Lewis county, on August 10, 1295, and died at her home at Hardman chapel, on July 3, 1871.
From this venerable couple, the many different families of the name in the county are descended. Their two surviv- ing daughters are Mrs. Nancy (Asa) Dilworth, of Eatons ; and Mrs. Julia (Ira S.) Goff. of Walker. And their late
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SOUTH FORK SETTLED
sons and daughters were Joseph, who died in childhood ; Mrs. Leah (John) Beall, Leatherbrake; Mrs. Harriett Fisher, Gil- mer county ; Mrs. Dorcas Beall, Weston; Mrs. Barbara (George) Wells, Cornwallis; Mrs. Phebe (J. M.) Mc Whorter, of Buckhannon, who first married Harrison B. Cunningham ;
James Hardman.
Hardman Chapel.
-George W., James S., and Asbury Poole, Hardman chapel ; and Thomas C., of Auburn.
Benjamin Hardman changed his place of residence from Smithville to the bank of the river at Frederick's mill, he being the first settler here, and the builder of this mill; and from this community, a number of years later, he went to Iowa, where he remained but a short time. Returning to this State, he went to Roane county, and settled on the Middle fork of Reedy, and from there, passed into the other world, He, too, was a lay minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, one of the earliest in this wilderness. His wife was Sira Leah Cunningham, and by his side she is sleeping, on the old home- stead in Roane county.
Their children were: the late Thomas, of Gilmer county ; . William, Joseph, Benjamin, Nathaniel, Mrs. Emily Ingraham and Mrs. Argabrite, all of Roane county ; Mrs. Phebe (Phillip) Frederick, Burnt House: Mrs. Rebecca (Henry) Elliott, Cal- houn county ; Mrs. Sarah (Alexander) Burdett, Missouri ; and
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
Mrs. Mary (Henry C.) McWhorter, Charleston ; mother of Judge Mc Whorter, who stepped down from a long term as judge of the Supreme Court of the State, in 1909.
The Hardmans have a very interesting ancestral history. Joseph Hardman was born in Germany not far from the middie of the eighteenth century, and about the time he had reached manhood's estate, he, leaving the Fatherland with an emi- grant party, which included his sister, Margaret Hardman (who may have been Mrs. Jeremiah Riddel at this time), James Riddel, John Goff and Salathiel Goff, went to England : and from there, a year later, they all embarked to America, landing in Baltimore a short time before the Revolution-per- haps in 1773 or 1774, where they remained for twelve months before going to Georgetown, in what is now the District of Columbia. Mr. Riddel and the Goffs being more advanced in years than Mr. Hardman, were the heads of families, that they brought with them across the sea; and ere long, the fair face and charming manner of Miss Dorcas Riddel completely captivated the affections of young Hardman, and they were married ; and upon the banks of the Potomac, within a neigh- boring distance of the Washington estates, they founded their" home. And thus it was that Joseph Hardman came to know George Washington, not only as a general, for he was a Revo- lutary soldier, but as an intimate friend. It is said that the ability and the judgment of the young German was of such an order that he was, not unfrequently, called into council with other trustworthy pioneers, by General Washington, to con- struct plans for the safety and protection of the inhabitants of certain districts of Maryland and Virginia.
"The reminiscences of these stirring days, and his in- timate acquaintance with the great General, were ever dear to his heart," and to the close of his life "his deep blue eyes would sparkle and radiate with a peculiar light," as his mind reverted to those heroic scenes. After a seven years' resi- dence at Georgetown, he, with the other families above men- tioned, removed to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he engaged in the butcher business, and by strict economy soon accumu- lated a sufficient amount of money to cause him to cast wist-
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SOUTH FORK SETTLED
ful glances to the land beyond the mountains ; so one morning in the early spring time, late in the century, he, with his be- loved Dorcas and three children, Nancy, James and Thomas, and their belongings, set out in wagons for the great North- west; and after long weeks of peril and hardships, such as only pioneers of civilization can know, they reached Ran- dolph county, where they "pitched their tent" and sojourned for a time, before coming to Cedar creek, in Gilmer county, where they reared their humble dwelling and remained for many years.
Shortly after they settled down here, another child was added to the family, which they called "Benjamin," and in 1813, the fifth and last child was born, and his name was "George Washington," for the fond parents de- clared that his very features were like none other than the great General. He grew to the intelligent manhood that his early youth promised, and married Miss Rachel Goff, granddaughter of Salathiel Goff, and settled five miles below Grantsville, on the little Kana- wha river, at what is known as "Hard- man's Bend," and here, on the old homestead, beside his wife, he quietly George W. Hardman. reposes. He was promoted to the rank of major in the Mexican war, and was a large land-owner and stock-raiser, and from him the Hardmans, who are so prominently known in political circles in the State, are de- scended. He being the father of the following named chil- dren: Sylvester and Orlando, who have joined the throng over there, once occupied seats in the State Senate: George W., late candidate for Congress on the Democratic ticket, has twice served as sheriff of Calhoun county : Columbus, who passed on in 1909 ; Cassett, Marcellus, Jerome and Allen, who are all prominent farmers, stockmen and timbermen of Roane county ; Warren and Floyd, who died in infancy ; the late Mrs. Dorcas (Levi) Ball, and Mrs. S. Jane (Albert)
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
Pearcy. C. C. Hardman, of Kyger, Roane county, the young instructor of Farmers' Institutes, who recently formed the acquaintance of the people of this county, is the son of the late Slyvester Hardman.
Nancy Hardman, the only daughter of Joseph and Dorcas Hardman, married a man by the name of Parsons, of Gilmer county, and he went to the war (of 1812) with James Hard- man and died soon after his return home. His wife, Nancy, then married a Mr. Kearns, of Stuart's creek, Gilmer county, and there some of her descendants still live.
Thomas Hardman was married to Miss Rebecca Goff, daughter of John and granddaughter of Salathiel, and settled at Reedyville, in Roane county. Here, at his home, Joseph and Dorcas Hardman died and at Reedyville they lie at rest. Joseph was ninety-six years of age at the time of his death.
Some time after the Civil war, Thomas Hardman and his wife went to Parsons, Kansas, where they spent the clos- ing hours of their lives with their children, and there their ashes lie.
Their family consisted of the following named children :
William, the eldest son, still survives as a citizen of Roane county, though well advanced in years ; Nancy was the late wife of Sandy Board; Christena married Kellis Arga- bright : George, John, James, Salathial and Drusilla, who was the wife of Captain Albert G. Ingraham, of the Confederate army. The late John's family live in Roane county, as do other descendants, and some of them reside in the far West.
Note .- To Mr. Paul Hardman, of Nebo, Clay county (only son of Mar- cellus and the late Chantilla Stump Hardman, and grandson of George Washington), we are indebted for this valuable ancestral sketch of the Hard- mans, and for the verification of the nationality of the Goffs and the Riddles. He having been selected a few years ago to prepare a history of the Hard- mans to be read at a re-union of his branch of the family, set himself about the task sparing no pains in gathering and verifying this data, so far as it was possible to do so. And though the Riddles claim to be French and the Goffs, English, it has been proved beyond a doubt, that they came from Germany to England, and from there to the colonies. Mr. Hardman's sources of information were many and varied. He inter- viewed aged persons in his quest who had known the older generations of these families, and who had heard them tell in their German brogue (for they could not speak English distinctly) of the oppression that drove them from the land of their birth beyond the deep. He also met with a young lady from Germany, not long since, who is acquainted with the Hardmans of the present generation in her native land, and she remarked about the striking resemblance that he bore to them.
Another strong proof of the long association of the Goffs, the Riddels and the Hardmans is the numerous marriages and inter-marriages of the families for the past five or six generations.
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Several of these sons served as Union soldiers during the Civil war.
Peter Wolfe, as before stated, made the first settle- ment on the A. P. Hardman estate, and he, trading farms with James Hardman, went from there to the M. A. Ayres farm at Smithville, where he was laid to rest before the year 1830. He was born in Harrison county of German parentage, and was of Indian fighting stock. He married Miss Maudlin Hanley, of Harrison county, and came to this county early in the century. He was the father of Samuel Wolfe, who resided here in pioneer days, but finally found a resting place in the west: of the late John Wolfe, of Gilmer county ; Susan, who married James Malone, junior, and sleeps at Harrisville ; of the late Mrs. Elizabeth (Righter) Cunning- ham, of Ohio; and the late Mrs. Mary Drimon, of Harrison county.
Mrs. John M. Brown, of Hannahdale, is the great-grand- daughter of this pioneer, and the Wolfes, of Wolfe Pen, are also his descendants, besides not a few of them live in Gilmer county.
Valentine Bozarth was the successor of Mr. Wolfe on the Smithville farm. He and his wife, Mrs. Rebecca Hall Bozarth, came from Harrison county and went to Iowa, here their brief history ends. The Bozarths were brave Indian fighters, and their thrilling adventures with the red men are recorded on the pages of "Border Warfare."
The Malones .-- Contemporary with the settlement of Mr. Wolfe on the Hardman farm was that of James Malone, senior, on the W. G. Lowther homestead, which joins it on the east.
Mr. Malone was of Irish descent, and along with Mr. Wolfe, he came from Harrison county, and erected his cabin near the present site of the Lowther residence, which. though somewhat modernized, was built more than three-quarters of a century ago by Samuel Wolfe, and is one of the oldest land- marks in this section.
The location of this farm is one of the most beautiful . along the river, and among its other points of special interest are : an old Indian mound, which, though once visible for
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
miles around, is fast disappearing under the plowman's cul- tivator ; and a lasting spring, which has quenched the thirst of the children of men, the dusky face as well as the pale, for "thousands of moons," and over its lucid waters bends the branches of a willow of hugh dimensions, the history of which began less than forty-five years ago, when Miss Abigail Os- bourne, eldest daughter of the late William Osbourne, who was then a small girl, planted her riding switch there. The circumference of this tree at the base now measures fifteen feet.
Mr. Malone removed (from here) to the Kennedy farm, at the mouth of Lamb's run, and here, he and his wife, who was Miss Elizabeth Findlay, a descendant of the Drake family, lie sleeping.
The Old Malone homestead as it appears to-day ("Wyldewood cot- tage") where the "History of Ritchie County" was written. One of the oldest landmarks on the river.
He was the father of James Malone, junior, of John, Mrs. Jane Cunningham (mother of Mrs. Israel Davidson, of Spruce creek) : and of the late Mrs. Elizabeth (Cornelius) Wyer, of Gilmer county. His children were all the heads of pioneer families of this county.
John Malone married Miss Rebecca Webb, sister of Ben- jamin Webb, and was the first settler on the E. R. Tibbs farm, at Goff's. He went from here to Bull creek, where some of his descendants still live.
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SOUTH FORK SETTLED
James Malone, junior, married Miss Susan Wolfe, daugh- ter of Peter, and succeeded his father on the Kennedy farm. He removed from there, early in the forties, to the farm that is now designated as the Willianr Flannagan homestead, near Hannahdale, and here he passed from earth, in the early six- ties, and in the Harrisville cemetery, beside his wife, he sleeps.
He figured prominently in the early history of the county, as justice of the peace and as representative in the legislature at Richmond.
He was the father of Alfred Malone, a lay minister of the M. E. church, who sleeps in Kansas; James (the III), who died in the Union cause; Francis M., who rests at Lima, Ohio; the late Samuel, of Nebraska ; and Osbourne, who died at Weston : Fannie became Mrs. Broadwater, of Hannahdale ; Rebecca, Mrs. Jacob Trainer, of Riddel's chapel ; Mary Jane. Mrs. William Malcy, of the same vicinity ; Elizabeth was the late Mrs. John Clutter, and Eliza, Mrs. Harvey Clutter, of Iowa; Martha married and died in St. Louis, Missouri ; and Sarah, the only survivor of the family, is Mrs. Clutter, of Pitts- burg, Kansas.
Mrs. J. M. Brown, of Hannahdale, is the granddaughter of this pioneer.
Among the great-grandchildren of James Malone, senior. who are citizens of this part of the county, are C. J. Valen- tine, of Fonsoville; S. A. Wyer, of Auburn ; J. B. Valentine, of Macfarlan ; and not a few of the Wyers of Gilmer county.
John Wilson was the pioneer on the Kennedy farm, Mr. Malone having purchased his improvement.
Mr. Wilson and his wife, who was formerly a Miss White, went from here to Iowa, and we have been unable to learn anything farther of their history, save that Francis Wilson, of Tanners, belongs to this family, he being descended from a brother of John Wilson.
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