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 8
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He was placed in a boat, but he breathed his last just as the boat reached the fort, and thus ended the life of one of the most renowned and intrepid leaders of Indian times. This fatal day was March the 8, in 1781 or '8?, and the scene was near the present site of Buckhannon.
Though the Indians were pursued, they had secreted their canoes, and made good their escape across the Ohio, before they could be overtaken.
(Though varied versions of the life and death of White have hereto- fore been told, this is doubtless the only authentic one. Mr. Westfall not only possesses a remarkable memory, but he has kept notes through- out his life, and to these notes and to his memory, we are indebted for these early reminiscences, he having spent several months in writing them up for us .- Author.)
CHAPTER VI
South Fork Settlers --- Continued
LARGE number of the original settlers along A this river lost their lands owing to defective titles, and when they were laid away, the families of not a few of them sought homes in other parts of the country, and new and permanent setlers took their places. Hence the large number of early families along this river.
A man by the name of Purviance, who resided in Balti- more, had, in Indian times, entered large tracts of land in this wilderness ; and an individual, claiming to be his repre- sentative, came here and sold these lands to the early set- tlers, and, near a score of years afterwards, when the right- ful owner sent his agent did these worthy pioneers learn of the fraud that had been practiced upon them.
Henry Jackson .- Among the first to arrive after the orig- inal settlers was Henry Jackson, who came from his native county-Upshur, in 1830, and purchased the slight improve- ment made by the Belt family at the forks of Hughes river, of a man by the name of Byrd.
Mr. Jackson was born near Buckhannon in 1813, and there he was married to Miss Lydia Reger; and from there he came to this county and settled on the old homestead where his son Ulysses now lives. Here he spent the re- mainder of his life, with the exception of a two years' resi- dence in Mason county, and here he has been sleeping since 1865. His wife rests by his side. He was the father of three sons and one daughter besides the one above mentioned : Granville died in childhood; Virginia is Mrs. B. F. Marshall.
HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
and Cisko and Isaac have passed on, leaving families who occupy their former estates, which lie near the old home.
The Jacksons have an unusually interesting ancestral history. . They are of Scotch-Irish origin.
John Jackson, the progenitor of this family, was born near Londonderry, in the north of Ireland, near the beginning of the second-quarter of the eighteenth century, and with his parents removed to London, England, when he was but a boy. Here, he grew to manhood, and in 1748, he emigrated to America and settled in Calvert county, Maryland, where he was married to Miss Elizabeth Cummins, of London, who crossed the water on the same ship with him.
For a time after their marriage, they resided on the South branch of the Potomac river, but near the year 1768, they removed across the mountains to what is now Upshur county, West Virginia, and settled at the mouth of Turkey run-just below Jackson's fort, and not far from the present site of Buckhannon, where they figured prominently in sav- age warfare.
Mrs. Jackson was a woman of strong mind and of in- domitable courage, and she, as well as her husband, rendered most valuable service in times of Indian invasion. Patents are still in existence, which conveyed lands to her in her own right.
These hardy pioneers were the parents of five sons and three daughters whose descendants are a mighty host throughout the country :
George, Edward, John, Samuel and Henry, were the sons : and Elizabeth, Mary and Sophia the daughters-
Elizabeth was the late Mrs. Abram Brake, and Mary, the late Mrs. Philip Reger, of Upshur county ; and Sophia mar- ried Josiah Davis and lived and died at the old home, near Buckhannon.
George, Edward and John, with their father, were Revo- lutionary soldiers and noted Indian fighters, their heroic deeds being recorded on the pages of "Border Warfare."
Near the year 1770, George Jackson settled on the West Fork river in the vicinity of Clarksburg where he rose to emi- nence as a statesman, as well as a military man.
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Early in the Revolution he was commissioned colonel of a Virginia regiment, this commission having come direct from the hand of General Washington; and after Harrison county was formed in 1784, he represented his county in the House of Burgesses at Richmond. He was a member of tlie distinguished body that ratified the Constitution of the United States, in 1789, and he subsequently served several terms in Congress, being succeeded by his eldest son, John G. Jackson.
George was the grandfather of the late Judge John Jay Jackson, of Parkersburg; of the late Governor Jacob B. Jack- son, and of the late Judge J. Monroe Jackson, they being the sons of General John G. Jackson, who married the only daughter of Governor Meggs, of Ohio.
General Jackson was a close friend of President Madison and the marriage took place at the White House during the Madison administration.
Edward Jackson married a Miss Hadden, of Randolph county, and his son, Jonathan who married Miss Julia Neal, of Parkersburg, was the father of the late renowned "Stone- wall" Jackson, of Clarksburg.
Henry Jackson .- And from Henry Jackson, senior, who was born, lived and died, near Buckhannon where he sleeps. the Ritchie county family come. He was the father of twenty- five children-fourteen of whom were born of his union with Mary Hire, and eleven of his marriage with Elizabeth Shreve.
The children of the first marriage were: Esther, Permilia Elizabeth, (Mrs. Hugh Pribble, senior, mother of the Rev. U. Pribble, of Harrisville; Hugh Pribble of Cisko; and the late Mrs. Charles Harrison), Amanda Melvina (Mrs. Daniel Pribble), both of this county; William Vandwater. Hire, Edward. Mariah, Henry, junior, (the Ritchie pioneer), Rachel Esta (who died in her young womanhood), John Henderson Brake, Jacob, Ulysses, Mary (who married and went to Cali- fornia) and Cecelia who became Mrs. Louis Miller and also went to California.
The children of the second marriage: Decatur, Samuel Dexter, James Alonzo, Marion Orlando, Melissa (Mrs. James
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
Lowe), Roxana, George Washington, Artemeshia (Mrs. An- drew Martinee), Clispo Mero, and Draper Camden Jackson.
The Hostetters .- The Hostetters were among the next arrivals. They are of German origin. Ulwrick Hostetter crossed the sea with his family and settled near York, Penn- sylvania, and from there removed to Rockbridge county, Virginia, where he spent the remnant of his days, near Lex- ington. He was an Indian fighter, and with a party of scouts, pursued a band of red men from Rockbridge county to Marietta, Ohio, on one occasion, where he shot one of the number that was across the river from him. On his return, with the rest of the party, he went down to the mouth of the Little Kanawha, and up this river, and thus, became the discoverer of the far-famed Burning springs in Wirt county.
John Hostetter, his son, was born in the Fatherland, and married Miss Elizabeth Riprogal, of Virginia, a sister of Mrs. Daniel Ayres, and came to this county in 1832, and spent the remainder of his life in the Smithville vicinity, where he and his wife sleep. He served as captain in the war of 1812; and was the head of a family of four sons and three daughters :
David, Andrew, John, junior, and Jacob, the last two being twins; Sallie, the eldest daughter became Mrs. Ford of Virginia, and went to Jamestown, Ohio where she died : Mary became Mrs. Welhellam, and remained in Rockbridge county ; and Elizabeth married Alexander Glover and came to this county.
John R. Hostetter married Miss Louisa Webb, daughter of Benjamin Webb, and lived and died in the Smithville
Note .--- This family are doubtless, connected to the late President An- drew Jackson, of Tennessee; for when George Jackson was in Congress he formed a friendship with Andrew Jackson and they were able to trace their ancestry to the same parish in Londonderry, although they were unable to positively establish the connection; but similar characteristics and other circumstances almost establish the fact beyond cavil.
To Isaac Newton Brake of Buckhannon who is a first cousin of "Stonewall" Jackson, and a second, of Henry Jackson, junior, we are in- debted for the greater part of this valuable sketch. And while there is a little disagreement on the names in this record, as some cannot recall the names of Esther and Mariah and add that of Cecelia Miller to the children of the first union of Henry Jackson, senior, it is quite likely that these two died in childhood. For Mr. Brake asserts that this gentle- man was the father of twenty-five children, and if John Henderson Brake is meant for two sons (we were unable to tell) doubtless Cecelia belongs to the last family as one name is missing 'here.
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vicinity. He was the father of Mrs. Martha (Martin) Smith, Mrs. Minerva Parker, and of the late Mrs. Elizabeth (Alvis) Smith, of Smithville.
David married Miss Cathrine Fisher, of Rockbridge county, and came to this county at an early day and spent the remainder of his life. His children were-Mrs. W. A. Valentine, Goff's: Mrs. Mary A. Leason, Pennsboro; Mrs. Verna Thorne, Buckhannon ; the late Mrs. Martha Smith, of the West; Davidson, of Smithville; and Elizabeth, who died in youth.
Alexander Glover and Miss Elizabeth Hostetter were married in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1833, and three years later, they came to this county, and settled on the Glover homestead, above Smithville, where they re- mained until they were borne to the Smithville ceme- tery. He was a carpenter by trade and was one of the earliest in the county. He was the constructor of the first jail build- ing at Harrisville. Mrs. Glover survived him by many years, and the old home is still owned by the heirs, though now in the hands of tenants: They were the parents of nine sons and one daughter, who died in childhood: John, the eldest son never married, and in the Smithville cemetery he was laid at a ripe old age. Jacob, and Taylor, also slumber here. Williams, sleeps in Arkansas, where his family reside ; Robert lives at Clarksburg; Asa, at Fairmont ; Charles, at Spencer ; Samuel is unmarried : and Dr. J. R. at Morgantown.
Jacob, William, and Robert were soldiers of the Civil war.
Samuel Hyman was another early settler from Rock- bridge county, Virginia. Here he was born on Novem- ber 12. 1812, and he came to this county in his early man- hood, and married Miss Elizabeth Webb, daughter of Benja- min Webb, and settled on the Hyman homestead. below Smithville, which is still owned by his heirs.
Ile was a blacksmith by trade and a noted hunter. He died on April 6, 1904, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Martha Holt, near Morgantown ,and was laid at rest in the Webb cemetery by the side of his wife.
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
The children of this family were as follows : Mrs. Minerva, late wife of John P. Kennedy, of Smithville; Mrs. Mary Roberts, Mrs. Martha Holt, wife of the late William Holt, of Morgantown; Hattie died in youth : Benjamin, in the Civil war; and John resides near Smithville.
Mr. Hyman was the son of - Hyman and Mrs. Rachel Hostetter Hyman-his mother being the sister of John Hostetter, senior. Both his parents sleep in Virginia. His mother was married a second time to Aldridge Evans, of Rockbridge county, and they were the parents of the late A. J. Evans, of the Cross-roads ; J. M. of Lamb's run; Mrs. Mar- garet (Morgan) Rexroad, Mrs. Martha Mitchell, and Eliza- beth, who died single. After the death of the mother all the rest of the family came to this county, and here they sleep. The father lies on the McNeill homestead where most of the other members of the family rest.
The Ayreses .- The year 1836 brought Daniel Ayres withi his family, which included his parents, his sister, Mrs. Polly Campbell, and his son-in-law, Henry Webb, from Rockbridge county, Virginia to the McNeill homestead. They started on their long and perilous journey over the Allegheny mount- ains in November in three large covered wagons with their household effects, driving their cows before them, and not until the first week in January, after seven weeks of suffer- ing and hardships, did they reach their destination.
Mr. Ayres had purchased two hundred acres of land here of the Purviance survey with a small improvement upon it- a two-roomed log house and a few acres of cleared land. The location which is to-day a most beautiful one with its mod- ern conveniences and improvements, is said to have been a picturesque one at that time in its sylvan beauty with its his- toric surroundings.
The river had, in pre-historic times, evidently formed a bend entirely round the farm, but had changed its course at a later period ; and at the time of the coming of Mr. Ayres. the channel had filled up, making a beautiful level bottom. though the ancient river bed was still "visible and interest- ing." A mound supposed to contain relics of an unknown and pre-historic race was another feature of special interest
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on this farm, and but a few hundred yards from the house were the ruins of an ancient fortification-an excavation of several feet having been made and the earth thrown up into an embankment. Flints, darts and arrow heads were found in large numbers about the ground-serving as silent re- minders that this had once been the "happy hunting-ground of a vanished race" whose history, however interesting, will never be known.
Mr. Ayres was of Irish lineage. His grandfather. Daniel Ayres came from Ireland and settled on the Susquehannah river in Pennsylvania, where Daniel Ayres, junior, (father of Daniel of the McNeill homestead) was born in 17-45.
In 1772. Daniel Ayres, junior, was married to Miss Ellen McGee, who was born in Baltimore of Irish parentage in 1745. and from this city, they went to Rockbridge county, Virginia. where they established their home and reared a family, which were as follows :
John, the pioneer school-teacher of this county : Charles, Lewis. Mrs. Polly (Wm.) Campbell, and Daniel (III) who was the youngest son. and the head of the Ritchie county family.
Daniel and Ellen McGee Ayres came to this county with their son, as already mentioned, and on the McNeill home- stead they lie in their last sleep. He died at the age of ninety- seven, and she, at the age of ninety-five.
Daniel Ayres (III) was born in 1789, and he was married to Miss Hannah Riprogal, who was born of German parentage in Virginia, in 1787.
Mr. Ayres served as captain in the war of 1812, and while at Norfolk in 1814 where he had been ordered with his com- pany to assist in the defense of the city, he was stricken with yellow fever and when able to be out again, after spending sixteen weeks in the hospital, the enemy's vessels were still hovering about the city in a threatening manner, though no attack was made.
He served as justice of the peace almost throughout his residence here, and was one of the chief factors in the organ- ization of the county, in 1843-a short time before his death,
HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
which was due to typhoid fever. He and his wife both died of this malady near the same time, and side by side they lie at rest on the McNeill homestead. Their children were nine in number; viz., Jackson died in early manhood, and one in infancy. Margaret married Henry Webb and went to Mis- souri where she rests. Ellen was the wife of John Starr, Eliza, of James Starr : Sarah, of Dr. Wm. R. Lowther ; and the late John B.
John B. Ayres, the youngest son of this family, above mentioned was long prominently known in this county. He was born in the Old Dominion almost within the shadow of historic old Lexington, and not far from the Natural bridge, in 1831, and was a child of but five summers when his parents came to the McNeill homestead. Six years later they both passed on, and he being thrown upon the world, bound him- self to J. J. Vandivort, the Harrisville saddler and harness- maker, in 1847, and worked as an apprentice in his shop for the next four one-half years. He was then a journeyman saddler, and merchant for several years, before settling down to his trade at Harrisville, in 1870, where he remained until 1903, when his declining health prompted him to seek a change of climate, which he found in Colorado, after visiting Zion City, the far-famed domain of the late Alexander Dowie, for a brief time. After a short stay in the West, he then re- sided near Washington City, and at Grafton for a time before going to Spencer in Roane county. He died at his home at Sapulpa, Oklahoma, in November, 1910, and there his remains were interred.
He married Miss Anna Hall daughter of Hannibal Hall, who was twenty-three years his junior, and the two sons, Edgar and Charles, born of this union both died in infancy.
The Princes .- The name Prince became identified with the Webb's mill vicinity, in the year 1850, when the late John H. Prince married Miss Drusilla Webb, daughter of Benja- min Webb, and became the partner of his father-in-law in the mill and the mercantile business. The store was destroyed in 1863, by the Jones' raid, but he remained in connection with the mill until his death, near 1877. He sleeps by his wife in the Webb's cemetery. He was born in 1815; and was
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the father of three sons and two daughters: B. F. Prince, Cantwell; and John Willian, and Robert J., who with their sister, Mrs. Anna E. M. (John P.) Kennedy, have passed on : and Mrs. Martha Frances (E. S.) Byrd, is of Wood county.
Captain William Prince came from Prince William coun- ty, Virginia, and settled near Claysville in Wood county at an early day. He was born on August the 31, 1714, and died on September 4, 1825.
He married Miss Frances Groves, and was the father of Elizabeth Prince, who married David Sleeth, the founder of Smithville; of William R., Mary A., Robert K., Nancy J., John H., Benjamin G., and Frances, J. G. Prince. John H. and Mrs. Sleeth were the two that were identified here. After the death of Captain William Prince his widow was married to Mr. Vandiver, of Wood county, and the late James V. B. and Jerome A. Vandiver, of Louisville, Kentucky were the fruits of this union.
The Tinglers .- The year 1836, brought Henry Tingler and his wife, Mrs. Mary Phryne Tingler from their native county-Harrison, to the B. H. Wilson homestead, which for long years after his death was known as the "Tingler farm." Mr. Tingler remained in this part of the county until his death, and on the E. R. Tibbs' farm, beside his companions, he found a resting place. After his first wife, passed on, he married Miss Jane Campbell, and on Indian creek, spent his last hours.
He was the father of ten children, all by his first mar- riage except one son, Thomas, who lived in some other part of the country.
The children of his first union were as follows : Granville, Cebart, John, the late Mrs. Tabitha (Daniel) Ayies, the late Mrs. Elizabeth (Wm.) Collins, Mrs. Matilda (Washington) Elliott, Mrs. Julia Westfall-mother of W. H. Westfall, of Harrisville : Mrs. John Ayres, of Long Run ; and Mrs. Rosetta Prunty Martin Gardner Schoolcraft.
John married Miss Eveline Martin and was the father of Peyton Tingler and of Mrs. Safronia Propts Tibbs, of Lamb's
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY'
11111. He was a Union soldier during the war, as was Gran- ville, but he died in the Saulsbury prison in North Carolina.
Cebart, who resides on Macfarlan was a Confederate sol- dier.
Granville married Miss Mahala Schoolcraft, daughter of Aaron Schoolcraft, and was the pioneer on the farm where he still resides, on Dry run near Juna. He is the father of :
Morgan, of Eva; Aaron, Mrs. John Flemming, Mrs. Thamer Newlon, and Miss Addie Tingler, and the late Mrs. Samantha M. (R. W.) Goff, all of Juna.
A. P. Hardman .- Asbury Poole Hardman was the first to mark the forest on the Osbourne farm east of Hardman chapel. He was born on the old homestead that is now his estate, on January 18, 1822 ; and shortly after his marriage to Miss Thankful Ann Goff, daughter of Thomas Goff, in 1850. began to carve out his fortune on the Osbourne farm. He inherited the faith of his fore-fathers, and was long a pillar in the church at Hardman chapel. He died on July 30, 1903 on the sixth anniversary of the death of his wife, having spent his entire life within the bounds of the community where he was born ; and in the churchyard at Hardman chapel, by the side of his wife, he sleeps.
He was the father of thirteen children : His sons, jehu R., Charles F., James H., and his daughters, Mrs. Nora Hen- dershot, and Mrs. Louella Carder Sutherland, all reside in the West ; and Mrs. Paulina Smith, Misses Verna and Vedella A., all rest there; T. A. and A. K. are of Fonsoville ; and A. L., of Burnt House : the other two died in childhood.
The Osbournes .- John Osbourne, senior, was the second owner of the Osbourne farm which is now the home of his grandson, M. R. Osbourne.
Mr. Osbourne came from the "Buckeye State" to this vicinity more than sixty years ago, and purchased what is now the A. P. Hardman, the A. K. Hardman, the Otis Mc- Neill and the Cumberledge farms. (He also owned what is now the Lowther homestead) ; and some years later he and Mr. Hardman traded farms, and by this exchange they each obtained permanent homes; for here they remained until they
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were borne to their final resting places. It will be remem- bered that the late Rev. James Hardman, father of A. P., had owned and lost the A. P. Hardman homestead owing to a de- fective title before the coming of the Osbournes.
The Osbournes are of English descent. John Osbourne, senior, was a soldier of the war of 1812 ; he served under a cap- tain by the name of Christopher Columbus, and was in the engagement at Bladensburg. He was a bricklayer by trade, and was one of the number that helped to lay the first wing of the Capitol building at Washington City; and the old trowel that he used in this historic work, is now a cherished possession of his grandson, M. R. Osbourne.
He was three times married, but the name of his first. wife is missing. The second, however, was Miss Sarah Bald- win, of Washington city, who died at their home in Knox county, Ohio, in August, 1849; and the third was Mrs. Augusta Henry Welsh, of New York, who was the mother of one daughter, Carrie Osbourne, the late wife of J. R. Hard- man, of Missouri.
Mr. Osbourne died on February 11, 1871, and filled the first grave in the Hardman chapel churchyard ; and after his death. his widow married the late Rev. Eli Riddel, of Riddel's chapei. and there she sleeps.
The sons of the first marriage-Frank and Daniel went to Kansas where their descendants live.
The children of the second marriage were as follows :
The late J. William, and Addison, of Hardman chapel vicinity ; Mrs. Kathrine (Levi) Kirkpatrick, of Slab creek ; the late Mrs. Matilda Welsh, and Joshua, Iowa ; the late Mabray, Kansas; Marion, who lost his life in the Union cause; and James, who died shortly after his marriage, to Miss Hila Cun- ningham, the late Mrs. John Modisette, sleep on the A. P. Hardman homestead. Mary became the wife of Perry Cun- ningham, and was the mother of Mrs. Phebe Foster, of Penns- boro; Addison, who was the father of J. M., of Parkersburg; and Joshua, and Mabray, were also Union soldiers.
James S. Hardman, brother of A. P., succeeded his father on the old homestead west of Hardman chapel, where his son, Sherman Hardman, now resides. He was born on October
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HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY
31, 1829 ; and near the year 1856, he was married to Miss Hila Ann Goff, daughter of George Goff, who was born on May 5, 1836, and at the old home above mentioned he lived and died.
The same old hills that were resonant with the funeral notes of the bell when he was borne to his final resting place in the Hardman churchyard, on June 21, 1900, reverberated the first sound that fell from his childish lips seventy years before. For here he was born : here Nature smiled upon hini in youth, and in the pride of manhood, and looked on in sym- pathetic silence when the mantle of sorrow fell heavily upon him in "manhood's middle day," and from here he passed into the presence of the great King.
He was a soldier of the Union army, an exhorter and a pillar in the Methodist Episcopal church.
On March 9, 1879, the wife of his youth bade adieu to earth, and a little later he was married to Miss Elizabeth Frederick, daughter of Joseph Frederick, who only survived the nuptial hour by twelve weeks. He then married Miss Edmonia Rogers, daughter of John B. Rogers, who died after a few brief years, leaving two little sons, Sherman, and Creed, who died at the age of four years. Mrs. Sarah Jane Galloway Flesher widow of Asa Flesher was the next wife, and Mrs. Ruama Starcher Northcraft, widow of the Rev. Richard Northcraft is the surviving one. His first wife, only, sleeps by his side.
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