USA > West Virginia > Summers County > History of Summers County from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 40
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Captain Isaac Taylor, Colonel James Montgomery's Regiment, and served in the Holstein country, and then into the Illinois country, under George Rogers Clark. After that he was with the American Army at Yorktown in charge of the British prisoners captured there. He was a fighting missionary Baptist minister, locating on Blue- stone River, at the mouth of Little Bluestone, and among his sons were Josiah and John Meadows. From this Josiah, the soldier- preacher, has descended the large family in this region. Later came Meador. The Meador or Meadows and Lilly families became closely allied by marriage, Robert being the founder of that family, first settling at East River, and later in what is now Jumping Branch District, on the farm owned and on which Joseph Lilly (Curly Joe) lived at his death in 1906. Robert, the founder, was a justice in Mercer County.
Josiah Meadows, the soldier, was the grandfather of Hon. Rufus G. M. Meador, of Athens, and John Calvin Meador, who recently died in this country. He was the great-grandfather of Joseph M. Meador, clerk of the County Court of Summers, and the grandfather of the Rev. John J. Meador, Green M. Meador, the merchant-minister, of Jumping Branch, of the firm of Meador & Deeds, who married his partner's daughter (C. B. Deeds), also of Larkin McDowell Meador, the merchant who died in 1889 at True, while deputy sheriff for Sheriff O. T. Kessler ; as well as of Mrs. B. P. Shumate, and is the ancestor of many other prominent and valuable citizens, including William T. Meador, the first presi- dent of the county court, elected under the amended Constitution about 1874, and James E. Meadows, the present mayor of Avis, a prominent citizen, once a justice of the peace by election for a term of four years, and the Republican nominee for commissioner of the county court, and the father of A. G. Meador, the assistant postmaster of Hinton and mayor of Avis for three terms by election.
In 1778, Josiah Meadows referred to, was with George Rogers Clark, the Virginia explorer, on his expedition into the Illinois country, who marched back by way of the Falls of the Ohio River, this then all being in a Virginia county.
In October, 1778, the Legislature of Virginia created and erected the county of Illinois, which included all of the Northwest territory north of the Ohio, south of the great lakes and east of the Mississippi. The county of Illinois continued as a Virginia county until its session of March, 1784. Kentucky County re- mained a distinct county of Virginia until its organization into a State.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
MEADOR.
There is some difference as to the origin of the families and their names and the source of ancestry, and it is claimed that they are an entirely distinct and separate ancestry, and had separate family beginnings, which is probably true.
Josiah Meador was the father of Squire William Meador, and was probably the first of the name within our territory. Allen H. Meador, the first elected circuit clerk, six years; a commissioner of the county court six years; a justice of the peace of Jumping Branch four years; Larkin McD. Meador, the merchant at the mouth of Bluestone, and was expected to be the owner of a "sang hoe" to complete his outfit. It was not unusual for a farmer to kill three deer in those days before breakfast.
The Meadors were among the earliest settlers of the Bluestone and Jumping Branch region. It is one of the largest family con- nections in the country. It has frequently been remarked that if a candidate for office had the support of the Lilly and Meador families. he was sure of election. Both being among the earliest settlers, the families largely intermarried, and were closely allied by affinity, as well as by a consanguinity. Both families have to the present day and are now largely represented in the annals of political and official history of the county. Probably the first settler by the name of Meador within our territory was Josiah Meador. Juda Lilly was the name of Josiah's wife, and after his death married John Woodrum, who was the father of Major Richard Woodrum; Harrison Woodrum, Green and Hugh were his sons, and Judith their daughter. They were all farmers and hunt- ers. A considerable amount of their time was devoted to "sanging," and farming. The first location was at the mouth of Little Blue- stone, on which plantation is located the oldest cemetery known in the county.
There have been many men of local note of that name. There was John J. Meador, the Baptist minister, the father of "Little Joe," our present courteous county clerk; Green F. Meador, the merchant, of Meador & Deeds, of Jumping Branch, who is also a minister of the missionary Baptist Church, and who was a deputy sheriff under O. T. Kessler, elected in 1888, but who died soon after the election; D. Morgan Meador, the merchant and lumberman of Hinton ; his brother, LaFayette Meador, for a num- ber of years a general merchant in Hinton, now a citizen of Vir-
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
ginia ; Hon. B. P. Shumate's first wife was a sister of Squire Allen Meador; William T. Meador, the first elected president of the county court ; E. B. Meador. the pioneer merchant at the mouth of Greenbrier, and whose wife was a daughter of Rev. Rufus Pack. William T. Meador married a daughter of Ephraim J. Gwinn ; William Meador also, who lives on a part of the Charles Clark place at the mouth of Bluestone.
The Meadors are numerous and scattered throughout this sec- tion of the State, all springing from the common source. Hon. Rufus Meador, of Athens: Calvin Meador, a schoolteacher of this county ; Beecher Meador, now of Little Bluestone, and Hon. Isa- dore Meador, clerk of the County Court of Raleigh County ; Marion Meador, the merchant of Hinton : Squire George Meador, of Rich- mond District in Raleigh County, and others prominent in the affairs of the county.
JOSEPH M. MEADOR.
At the date of the preparation of this sketch the subject thereof is spending the winter in Florida with his wife and children (the former being afflicted with pulmonary trouble), with the view of securing relief for her. Mr. Meador has taken up a temporary abode in the "Sunny South." He is known and loved all over Summers County as "J. Roy Midwinter," the poet of Summers, being endowed with considerable of the poet's genius.
He was born in this county on the 27th day of March, 1866, and is the son of the Rev. John J. Meador, and is one of the numerous families of the name of Meador of this and adjoining counties. On the 15th day of October, 1890, he was married to Mattie L. Burch, of Athens, in Mercer County, and of which union there has been born five children of the following names : Julius C., Aubrey P., Roy H .. John G. and Florentine. He obtained his education by attend- ing the free schools of Pipestem District and the Concord Normal School of Athens, at which place he took the normal course at the session of 1888. His father being a Baptist minister, his financial resources, as is usual with these patriotic people, were limited. The usual experience of ministers' sons in this section is, that they have to look out for themselves after their majority, and are not born with the silver spoon in their mouths, and "Little Joe." as he is familiarly known throughout the county, was not an exception ; and, to use his own expression, he started out early "to root hog or die."
While a youth he began teaching in the free schools for the
J. M. MEADOR (Little Joe), "The Poet of Summers."
D. M. MEADOR, Lumber Manufacturer.
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THE NEW YORK AUDIO LIBRARY
RETUR LANDY AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
purpose of obtaining funds with which to secure a higher educa- tion, teaching one session the Old Red Springs school, at John K. Withrow's house on the Red Springs Branch of Lick Creek, and at other different places in the county. During his attendance at the normal school he made the acquaintance of his future wife, Mattie L. Burch. After leaving the normal school he entered into the mercantile business as a partner with his uncle, B. P. Shumate, at the old Shumate stand, at the mouth of Lick Creek on New River, in Pipestem District, known as Salt Works, at which place he remained a number of years, having the entire control and conduct of the business affairs of the co-partnership, which was operated under the name of B. P. Shumate & Company, Captain Shumate only giving him some general supervisory aid, of which he was very capable by reason of his many years' experience as a pioneer merchant in that part of the country,, as was his father, the late Anderson Shumate, before him.
When Captain J. M. Ayres became a candidate for the Demo- cratic nomination for clerk of the county court, he secured "Little Joe" Meador as his deputy, they making the race together, Mr. Meador to have an equal interest in the profits and proceeds of the office. Captain Ayres being successful at the election of 1896. he entered upon the duties of deputy clerk on the first day of Janu- ary, 1897, serving throughout the full term of six years as deputy clerk of the county court, performing all the duties thereof with extraordinary diligence, care and correctness. At the expiration of the term he became a candidate for the position himself, Captain J. M. Ayres and Jake A. Riffe being his opponents for the nomina- tion. A lively contest ensued between the three candidates at the primary election, out of which Mr. Meador emerged with a hand- some majority. At the election following, in 1902, he was elected over Erastus H. Peck. his Republican opponent. by a majority of 393. In this race J. M. Carden ran with him as deputy, occupying the same position with Mr. Meador as Mr. Meador occupied with Captain Ayres, he having served three years of his term. After the election of Captain Ayres in 1897, Mr. Meador, with his family. removed to Hinton, purchasing property, which he still owns, and in which he makes his home.
He is an exceedingly polite, conscientious and gentlemanly of- ficial, having the respect of the public of both political parties. Hc grew up in the company of boys like himself, wholesome, honest. 'self-respecting, who looked down upon nobody, and his advance- ment has not made him. to use a common expression. "stuck-up." His parents were sober, God-fearing people, intelligent and upright,
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
without pretension and without humility. "Little Joe" Meador is a self-made man, and is not ashamed of the job. Early in his young manhood he began writing verses, and still at his leisure time de- votes himself to that pleasant occupation. We have taken the liberty of reproducing, at random, from some of his productions.
The following lines are based upon a conservation had with Mrs. Wilson one Sunday afternoon at the home of her son-in-law, the late J. J. Charlton, and were written especially for "The Inde- pendent-Herald": *
I was in your city ; 'twas long ago, And a noble forest broke on my view ; The grand New River was bright and clear, And we crossed it's tide in an old canoe. Beside this craft did our noble horse Swim safely across ; no boatman's oar As then had dipped in its crystal wave Where the city of Hinton now marks the shore.
Yes, that was three-score years ago. And I a young woman in my prime ; But then, as now, what the future held Was hidden away in the chest of time. We were hunting a home, my husband and I, Where hopes would bud and open to bloom ; But the woof we weave in the warp of life Is never woven in fancy's loom.
We judge of the future, 'tis said, by the past ; What wonderful things are then in store For those who will seek them, rememb'ring this : The costliest pearls are not found ashore ! And what of the three-score years to come? With the marks of a century creasing your brow ? Perhaps you will tell of the strange, strange past, As I'm telling you of the strange past now.
Yes, what of the three-score years to come? Your city is but an infant still.
But her pulse is strong and her courage grand. And ere then she may reach from hill to hill; For they tell me now soon an arch of steel Will span the river-a bridge in lieu Of the mode of crossing long, long ago. When we swam the horse by the old canoc.
* This lady, at the time of the conversation above referred to, . was over ninety years of age, and has since visited relatives in the city of Hinton, and. I am creditably informed, is still living.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
WE MAY NOT UNDERSTAND.
(Written for "The Dispatch," Richmond, Va.)
In others oft we but behold The quartz, nor seek to find the gold ; Each serves its purpose. Night and day Shall each chase each, like boys at play, Through cycles yet untold.
Let's weigh their faults as if our own ; The brighest flowers are ofttimes grown In thorny wilds, and gems of worth Oft taken from the depths of earth, 'Midst worthless pebbles strown.
The dews that glitter on the flowers Are but the tears of midnight hours, And oft the very pangs of grief Bring to the heart a sweet relief ; Oft sunshine gilds the showers.
Deep treasured in the heart of man There lies a view we may not scan ; There dwells a hope serenely sweet Where tide of earth and heaven meet We may not understand.
J. Roy Midwinter.
ADMONITORY.
(Written for "The Republic," St. Louis, Mo.)
My son, if in thy song is sadness, sing it not ; Each mountain hath its echo, and each grot Some slumbering sadness of its own doth keep; Let not thy words arouse it from its sleep. Turn not thy key unto the crypt of years, Nor tell us of the rankling of thy fears; Enough to know the past its sorrow holds, Enough to know what time to time unfolds.
But, if thy song be gladness, let it fill The valley with its music ; let the hill Echo and re-echo back its joyous notes Until responsive wells from other throats Gladness alike to thine. As leafy trees Nod to the summer's gently rustling breeze. So do our hearts respond to joy's strain, E'en though they bear of sorrow oft the stain. J. Roy Midwinter.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
TO MY SOUL.
(Written for "The Republic," St. Louis, Mo.)
Be still, my soul; spurn not this house of clay
That seeming hides thee from the light of day, But temper it unto thy Master's will, And let thy warmth its every chamber fill Of this, thy dark abode, and may thy care Attend me in the silent hour of prayer.
Know thou this earthly mold is legal heir To vales of hope with castles of despair, Where sorrow, in his might, grim war doth wage Alike upon the peasant and the sage ; Forsaking not, attend me in the strife, Thou better being of the inner life.
And when these hands would grasp some sin-bought prize, Be thou a veil before these mortal eyes; Kindle upon the altar of my heart A flame of love that may become a part Of every act of mine, to make life's whole A dwelling-place more meet for thee, my soul.
So when the shadows from the twilight hill Fall o'er life's vale, and ev-ning's gath'ring chill Bespeaks the gloom of the approaching night, That thou mayest know, within the morning bright, Thine eyes, my soul, shall hail a fairer dav Than ever kissed the dews from rose of May.
J. Roy Midwinter.
The foregoing quotations were selected at random from the nu- merous poetical compositions of Mr. Meador, who sometimes wrote as J. Roy Midwinter, and other noms de plume.
The first tradition of the Meador or Meadows family is that the original ancestor came from England and settled in Baltimore City, and his son came into the Bluestone region. This Meador who settled in Baltimore had seven sons, and named them all, beginning with "J," and they were known as the "7J family."
A. G. MEADOWS.
A. G. Meadows, the present mayor of the city of Hinton, was born on the 12th day of May, 1865, and is the son of James E. Meadows. He was educated in the common schools of this county
A. G. MEADOWS, Three Times Mayor of Avis.
JOSEPH HINTON, Banker and Capitalist.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
and the Concord Normal at Athens, West Virginia. In 1889, he was united in marriage with Miss Nannie Anderson, of Greenbrier County ; is a Republican in politics, identified with the organization of the county, and as such was first elected mayor of the city of Avis in the year 1903; re-elected in 1904 and 1905, being the regular nominee of his party. In 1906 he declined further nomination, and his father, James E. Meadows was elected as his successor, the term of office being twelve months. The administration of Mayor Meadows, both father and son, have been fair and intelligent and to the general satisfaction of their constituents. Early in the ad- ministraton of Hon. Sira W. Willey as postmaster of Hinton, he appointed him as his assistant in that office, which position he has well filled for ten years. Mr. Meadows has a large relationship through the county. His father, James E. Meadows, has held the office of justice of the peace for four years by election ; has been prominent in the councils of his party; was the Republican can- didate for commissioner of the county court in 1906. He married a daughter of the late Squire Joseph Grimmett.
THE RICHMOND FAMILY.
There are large settlements of people of this name in the coun- ties of Summers, Fayette and Raleigh. William Richmond was the founder of the Richmond family in this part of Virginia. He was an Englishman, and the family is of English descent. William Richmond, the founder of the settlement of that name throughout this region, although a native of England and an emigrant from that empire, fought through the War of 1812 in the American Army. At the close of that war, he emigrated from Norfolk, Virginia, and settled at New River Falls, in what is now Raleigh County, living there the remainder of his life. He died in the year 1850, at the age of ninety-eight years, leaving a family of six children, his youngest son, Samuel, retaining the old homestead, including the lands now owned by W. R. Taylor, of Philadelphia, consisting of sixty acres, and including half of Richmond's Falls, sometimes known as New River Falls, the old Richmond grist-mill and the lands upon which Allen Richmond now lives, as well as the Rich- mond Ferry. From this William Richmond are directly descended all of the people of the Richmond name in this region of the State.
Samuel Richmond was the youngest son of William. He was born on March 1, 1801, and died on September 12, 1863, leaving a family of eight boys and five girls, his two youngest sons, Allen
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
and "Tuck," as he is commonly known, and his widow retaining the old homestead, as above described. His fifth son, John A. Rich- mond, located at the mouth of Lick Creek, where he lived all his life, having married Permelia S. Thomasson, of Raleigh County. John A. Richmond was a man of excellent natural sense and abil- ity, and was a man of fine personal appearance. His opportunities for education were limited, but he was a successful business man throughout his career. He was one of the first postmasters ap- pointed in that part of the country. He was appointed postmaster in April, 1856, by President Buchanan, the name of the post office at that time being Richmond's Falls, afterwards changed to New Richmond in 1871. He retained the office of postmaster without change until his death on March 1, 1901, at the age of sixty-eight years. His widow, Mrs. P. S. Richmond, succeeded him as post- mistress, and retains the office to this day.
His business included a general merchandise business, from 1870 until his death, and the business was continued by his widow until 1905, when her two sons, John W. and Fred., succeeded, and are now operating the business at New Richmond, at the mouth of Lick Creek. John A. Richmond was a man of strong person- ality, very true to his friends, and for his enemies he had no use. He was noted for his frankness, and was without deceit. If he disliked a person, that person was sure to know it, and he desired no transactions with him. If he was a friend, he was kind and considerate, although sometimes his manner was rough and un- couth to those he liked best. He adopted that method of showing his friendship.
He left surviving him eight children, John W., who is now jus- tice of the peace of Green Sulphur District. elected on the Repub- lican ticket at the election of 1905; Samuel A., who now resides at Thurmond, in Fayette County, and who was elected and served as justice of the peace for two terms in that district on the Repub- lican ticket; Enfield, who is a railroad conductor, residing at Cov- ington, Ky .; Fred., the youngest, who resides with his mother on the old Richmond homestead ; Dr. B. B. Richmond, a graduate of the Louisville Medical College, now practicing his profession on Gauley River, and is a successful practitioner and surgeon. One of his daughters, Leona, married Robert H. Miller, of Gauley Bridge, where they now reside; another daughter, Martha, mar- ried John Nutty, a United States Government employee, residing in Louisville, Ky .; another daughter, Kitty, married Chris. Rodecap, both of whom died several years ago. He was a railway locomotive
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
engineer on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. Misses Ida and Laney reside with their mother at the old homestead, and Norma died, unmarried, some four years ago.
Samuel Richmond, the father of John A. Richmond, was shot and killed in 1863. He was a Union man, and opposed to the sev- erance of the Union and the secession of the Southern States. With the Richmond characteristics, he left no doubt in the minds of the people as to his beliefs, but proclaimed them far and wide. Being over the age at which he could be required to serve in either of the armies, he remained at home, owning a large burrh hewed log grist-mill, located at the lower side of the falls, which was pat- ronized for many miles around, as it ran all the year, and the people on both sides of the river were enabled to have their grind- ing done at this mill when the water had dried up during the summer and fall months, and the other mills were out of commis- sion by reason of the low water and dry weather.
The feeling was intense, and a great deal of bitterness had been engendered between the partisans of the Southern and Northern cause preceding and during the four years of the Civil War. Sam- uel Richmond, on the day of his death, ferried Allen Vincent across New River, from the Raleigh side. His wife insisted on his not crossing, fearful that some harm would result, but he disregarded her warning, went down to the ferry, some half mile below the residence, got into his canoe, ferried Mr. Vincent across to the Summers side, who landed, and as Mr. Richmond started to row back, he was shot at from ambush by two persons who were hid on the mountain side, the ball passing through Mr. Richmond's lungs. Being, however, a man of powerful determination and physique, he rowed his canoe back to the opposite side, where he was carried home, and died instantly from the result of the wound. The death of Mr. Richmond has been supposed to have been caused by Hen- derson Garten, who is mentioned in this history in another con- nection, and Jefferson Bennett, a warm secession advocate.
The Falls of New River were named Richmond's Falls, and have borne that nanie for nearly 100 years, after the original settler. William Richmond. New Richmond Post Office was also named after this family. The C. & O. depot was known as New Rich- mond for many years, but has been within recent years changed to Sandstone, by reason of there being another depot of the same name on the road at the time of the extension of the road from Hunting- ton to Cincinnati, which required a change of the name of this depot. The Sandstone name was taken from the sandstone quarry
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
at that place, where many of the foundations, piers, abutments and much of the building stone for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway construction was secured, as well as much of the ballast made from crushed stone at that place. The stone used in the construc- tion of the large grain elevators at Newport News was taken there from this quarry, and also the stone was taken therefrom that was placed in the Washington Monument, secured through the enter- prise of Dr. Samuel Williams.
The village of New Richmond was also named for John A. Richmond. James W. Richmond, another son of Samuel Rich- mond, died during the war. He resided near the Sandstone depot until his death, leaving several children and a widow, who died in recent years and who was a sister of Mrs. John A. Richmond. Wm. Richmond, another son of Samuel, lived and died on the fine bottom about a mile below the round-house at Hinton, on the Raleigh side. This is noted as one of the best small bottom farms in this section of the State. Wm. Richmond secured it in his early days, built himself a residence and resided thereon until the date of his death, some seven or eight years ago. He was another noted character in this section, having been engaged actively during the Civil War on the Federal side. There are many adventures recorded of him, and he took the name during the war of "Devil Bill" Richmond.
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