USA > West Virginia > Summers County > History of Summers County from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 41
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All of the Richmonds were noted for their powerful physical strength. This Wm. Richmond was the one with whom Evan Hinton had the famous fight, recorded elsewhere in these chron- icles. He was a member of the County Court of Raleigh County, a justice of the peace, and in the early history of the State a mem- ber of the Legislature from that county and a well-known character.
Another son of Samuel Richmond, Samuel, resided for many years at the foot of Guyan Mountain, in Raleigh County, dying at a very advanced age in 1904, leaving a family of two sons and three daughters, who reside in that community. The late Wm. Richmond also left a number of sons-Marshall, Sam and John Richmond, residing on the old homestead below Hinton, and a number of daughters, one of whom married Thurmond Hinton, a resident of Hinton, a son of Evan Hinton ; another daughter mar- ried Samuel Ervin, also a resident of Hinton ; another son of Sam- uel Richmond-Marshal-removed in his youth to Iowa, and died a short time ago. He married a daughter of E. J. Gwinn, of Green Sulphur Springs, and a sister of ex-Sheriff H. Gwinn and Hon. M. Gwinn. Marshal Richmond, the son of James Richmond, died,
JOHN A. RICHMOND, Pioneer Merchant at New Richmond.
COLUMBUS WRAN WITHROW, Oldest Living Representative of the Withrow Family.
.
THE NEW YORK PUSLIC LA. BARY
ARTIC. 1 K AND TIL Y ... ASTONA.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
unmarried, some ten years ago at his uncle's, John A. Richmond. He was a young man noted for his generosity; he had traveled extensively through the West, but returned to his uncle's some time before his death.
Samuel Richmond and his descendants were all Republicans in politics, were good citizens, people of strong personality, and fre- quently voted against their party candidates in local affairs, when the opposite party had candidates they deemed better qualified to administer the affairs of the county. This is especially true of John A. Richmond.
Sixty acres of land, including the old Samuel Richmond mansion house, which was a large, two-story, hewed log house, and the old grist-mill, which was operated by water-power from the falls, in- cluding the Richmond side of the falls, was sold in 1871, by Allen Richmond, "Tuck" (whose correct name was "Alexander H."), and the widow of Samuel Richmond, to W. R. Taylor, a Philapelphia capitalist, who is still the owner. He paid therefor the sum of $15,000.00 in gold, but has never utilized the water-power or the property in any way, and has permitted the buildings to decay and fall into ruins.
This Wm. R. Taylor was the same gentleman who, about 1874, or 1875, bought the old Cabell place in the Big Meadows, in Green- brier County, of two or three thousand acres, on which he erected a very large steam saw and grist-mill, with a church in the roof and a large, modern barn, filling it with a fine stock of horses, and a large store building, and other improvements, irrigating the lands, and was a pioneer after the developments began in this country after the construction of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. The build- ings were burned to the ground a few years afterwards; first, the mill, then the barn, with the horses and other buildings, one at a time. It was supposed, and talked of as common gossip at the time, that the wife of Mr. Taylor did not desire to live in that region, and in order to induce Taylor to return to Philadelphia and take her back to that city, burned, or had burned, these buildings, one at a time, to discourage him. If this be true, for which we do not vouch, it seemed to have had the desired effect, for Mr. Taylor abandoned the country, sold the land, removed his family, and is still residing in the city of Philadelphia, never having made any improvements or utilizing the Richmond property in any man- ner, not even leasing the farm.
Samuel Richmond, at the date of his death, left surviving him a widow, Mrs. Sarah Richmond, who was Sarah Caperton before
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
her marriage, closely related to Senator Allen Caperton, of Monroe County and the other Capertons of that county. A daughter, Sallie, " married Rufus Bragg, was the mother of Samuel P. Bragg, an enterprising merchant and citizen, now of Hinton, and a stock- holder and engaged in the managemet of the New River Grocery Compay, the wholesale establishment operated in Hinton. He married Esta B. Hutchinson, daughter of Michael and Mary Hutch- inson, of Elton. Another daughter was the wife of William Gwinn, the pioneer settler of Meadow Creek; another daughter married Samuel Bragg, now residing at Pear, Raleigh County, West Vir- ginia.
The date of the shooting of Samuel Richmond, the senior, was September 11, 1863. This has always been understood as a cold- blooded and unprovoked murder, done in the heat of partisan passion, when the woods were full of bushwhackers on both sides, ready at any moment, when they believed the interests of their partisan sides demanded, to commit cruel, unnecessary and unpro- voked destruction of human life and of private citizen's property. Many depredations of that character were done during the strife of the Civil War, which went unpunished, and which would not be tolerated in times of peace.
M. M. WARREN.
Mathew Madison Warren is a native of Monroe County ; was born on the 9th day of February, 1838, near Peterstown, and is the son of Curtis H. Warren. In the early settlement of the Amer- ican continent, two English cousins, named Uriah and Nathaniel Warren, took passage on a ship sailing from Liverpool to this country, and after a very stormy passage, including one shipwreck, in which they had to abandon their ship and take chances in an open boat on the open sea, after about eight days, almost without food and drink, were picked up by a Dutch ship, in almost a starv- ing condition, and were landed at Plymouth, Mass. Nathaniel Warren located in Massachusetts not far from where they made their landing, and from this source sprang a numerous progeny, and in all probability including the Gen. Joseph Warren, of Bunker Hill fame, and who was killed at that famous battle. All schoolboys who have read their country's history will remember the story and bravery of Gen. Warren, and his death at the battle of Bunker Hill.
Uriah Warren made his way to Virginia, and finally settled in
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
the Valley of Virginia near what is now the town of Harrisonburg, and from him descended the Warren family of this region. The grandfather of M. M. Warren, Uriah Warren, was born in the year 1777, and at the age of twenty-three he was married to Elizabeth Stevens, of German descent, and from best information, this Uriah Warren was the grandson of Uriah Warren, who crossed the seas as above described.
Uriah Warren moved in later life to Monroe County, not far from Rehobeth Church, near Union; later, he removed to Sinking Creek, in what was then Giles County, Virginia, now Craig County, and in the year 1848 moved back to Monroe County, near Peters- town, where Uriah Warren, the grandfather, and his wife both died, he at the age of seventy-eight years. The grandmother died at the age of eighty-nine years. They raised a family of twelve chil- dren, eight girls and four sons. The father of M. M. Warren was Curtis H. Warren, the third of the family, and was born on the 12th day of November, 1807. In 1830, he married Sarah A. Lowe, a daughter of Levi Lowe, who was of English descent, of Kanawha County, Virginia, and through the Lowes Mr. Warren was con- nected with the late Joshua Lowe and Gran Lowe, of this county, as well as A. C. Lowe, of Lowell, and from this family of Lowes the town of Lowell takes its name.
They lived in Monroe County until the year 1857, when they removed to Fayette County. C. H. Warren raised a family of seven children, four girls and three boys. The boys were named as follows: M. M. Warren, the subject of this sketch, being the oldest ; W. W. Warren, who now resides at Jumping Branch ; Lewis Warren, who was killed by a C. & O. Ry. train in Fayette County on the third day of December. 1901. The four girls were named Margaret M., who first married a Basham; after his death she married Franklin Alderson, and after his death, Isaac Cales, of Laurel Creek, in this county; Sarah E. married John Fleshman, formerly of Monroe County; Eliza A. was never married; Mary L., the youngest, married Harvey Walker, of Fayette County. All of the brothers and sisters are still living, except Lewis, who was killed, as above stated, and Margaret.
L. L. Warren removed to Fayette County from Hinton in the year 1899 or 1890, and is still a resident of that county.
M. M. Warren removed to this county, having purchased the D. M. Riffe farm at Riffe's Crossing, on Greenbrier River, on the 9th day of February, 1894. He married Mary J. Fleshman, daugh- ter of John Fleshman, of Dutch descent, June 16. 1859. Mr. War-
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
ren was a member of Captain W. D. Thurmond's company in the Confederate Army, and known as Thurmond's Rangers, enlisting in September, 1862, in Fayette County. His company was dis- banded near Blacksburg, on the 11th day of April, 1865, he re- maining with his company during all of that time. He was for- tunate in not being wounded during the hostilities, was never cap- tured, nor ever had to be excused at a single instance on account of sickness or failure in performance of duty, during the whole of his time of service. At the close of the Civil War he removed to Fayette County, and resided in that county until his removal to this county in 1894.
He raised a family of eight children, five boys and three girls, viz., Amanda R., John C., Sallie M., Ellen, Wm. H., Chas. B., Lo- renzo D., and James B. Warren. Mr. Warren is a Democrat in politics and a Methodist in religion. He has occupied many posi- tions of trust among his political associates in Fayette County. He was chairman of every Democratic Convention held in Fay- ette County for twenty years. He was a member of the Board of Education, justice of the peace, and assessor of internal revenue in that county before his removal.
Since removing to- this county he has occupied a prominent place in the councils of his party, being a member of the Execu- tive Committee from his district, and was elected to the House of Delegates in the West Virginia Legislature from the county, in the year 1903, as a Democrat. His majority over his Republican opponent, George Wiseman, a popular railroad engineer of Hinton, was 100 votes.
Mr. Warren is a Shriner in Masonry, having taken all the de- grees in that ancient and honorable order.
The third son of the Hon. M. M. Warren, Wm. Henry War- ren, born March 3. 1866, is one of the leading men of the State. He is the secretary and treasurer of the New River Smokeless Coal Company, and its general manager, which corporation owns a very large proportion of the output of the celebrated New River soft or Red Ash coal. He is a stockholder and identified with the coal development and business in the New River coal field. as well as the president of the Citizens' Bank of Hinton, and has the con- fidence of the business public. He is one of the enterprising citi- zens of the city of Hinton, and whenever there is an enterprise pro- jected tending to the advancement of his city and county, we usu- ally find him in the front ranks among those promoting its inter- ests. He married. November 15, 1892, a daughter of Alexander
HON. M. M. WARREN, Soldier, Surgeon and Farmer.
WM. H. WARREN, President Citizens Bank, Coal Operator and Capitalist.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIFRARY
ASTUR, LENOX AND TIDEN POMOCI
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Laing (Miss Mary Webster Laing, born in Scotland), a Scotch coal operator of Fayette County, removing to this county in the year 1901. He has recently erected a magnificent residence on Ballangee Street, in the city of Hinton. His principal place of business at this writing is at Thurmond, W. Va., in Fayette Coun- ty, while his residence is in Hinton.
John C. Warren, another son of M. M. Warren, has held the office of constable in Talcott District.
M. M. Warren is a man of honorable and upright character, and has been a successful and enterprising citizen. He is also an engineer and one of the first discoverers, as well as one of the first to bring the valuable New River coal deposits to the attention of capitalists, and has greatly aided in the great coal industry of Fayette County.
George W. Warren, now cashier of the Bank of Raleigh, is a cousin of M. M. Warren. He is a son of Stuart I. Warren, of Monroe County ; married Miss Harlow, a daughter of the cele- brated editor and veteran newspaper man of Lewisburg ; a brother- in-law of Jake A. Riffe, of Hinton, who married his sister. He was educated for the law, and located in Hinton for the practice of his profession in 1883. Later he purchased an interest with J. H. Jordan in the "Independent-Herald" newspaper, and edited the same for a number of years. He was appointed postmaster by Cleveland during his second administration, which office he faith- fully filled four years, when he removed to Clifton Forge, Vir- ginia, purchased, edited and published the "Review" for several years, when he was elected cashier of the Bank of Raleigh, which position he now fills, at Beckley, W. Va.
JOHN W. WISEMAN
Is a native of this county; is the son of Jos. G. and Clementine Wiseman, who was Clementine Ingle before her marriage to Mr. Wiseman, who was a native of Potts Creek, in Monroe County. The subject of this sketch is one of a family of seven sons. All of this family are Republicans except John W. His brothers are Dr. Gooch Wiseman, who is a mail agent in the railway service, and located at Roanoke, Va .; George W., who is a railway loco- motive engineer, and was the Republican candidate for house of delegates at the election of 1902, being defeated by Hon. M. M. Warren, by a majority of 100 votes: Sira, James and Finly, each of whom are residents of the county.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Joseph G. Wiseman, the father, died six years ago, at the old Wiseman homestead, near the mouth of Greenbrier River, at Zion Church. John W. Wiseman is now the jailer of this county, and one of the deputies of A. J. Keatley, sheriff of the county. He was elected a member of the Board of Education of Greenbrier District at the election of 1888, and faithfully discharged the du- ties of the position. He also served four years as constable, and ran with James H. George as one of his deputies at the election of 1896. which position he held for four years. Mr. Wiseman has for the greater part of his life been engaged in farming and mer- cantile pursuits. He is a man of honest character, and popular in the confidence of the people and of his neighbors. His wife, who was a Miss Webb. daughter of George W. Webb, died a few years ago.
As jailer of the county, he is now rendering faithful service to his principal and constituents. While not elected to the posi- tion, he was selected promptly as a suitable person to fill the position rendered vacant by the death of H. M. Hughes, who was elected jail deputy of Sheriff A. J. Keatley. He was born on the 11th day of April, 1855, and is now in the prime of life, being fifty-one years of age.
W. J. BRIGHTWELL.
Captain W. J. Brightwell is a native of Prince Edward Coun- ty, Virginia : born May 4, 1852. on a farm, at which occupation he remained until July, 1869, when he emigrated to West Vir- Virginia, landing on the Big Ben Tunnel July 11th, of that year, which was then in Monroe County. He worked on the construc- tion of the railroad, and after its completion became a railroad employe, and has continued in the service of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company continuously from its completion in 1872 until the present time.
At the time he came into the territory of the county there was no railroad nearer than White Sulphur Springs, and trains ran over the Lewis Tunnel, which had not been completed. He has been engaged in all kinds of railroad construction and mainte- nance, carpentering, mining, firing and engineering; but his great success has been as a master wrecker, and in the thirty years of his service he has been faithful to all of the demands of his company.
At this time and for many years he has had charge of the wrecking force and train. and is one of the most expert wreckers
CAPT. W. J. BRIGHTWELL, Railroader, Financier and Capitalist.
BENJAMIN P. GOOCH, M. D., Soldier and Statesman.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LISRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONE.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
in the United States. He was never suspended or discharged- not even criticised by his superiors-his wages having been ad- vanced from time to time as his merit was appreciated.
He was married in Bath County, Va., to Miss D. V. Saylor, on June 3, 1875, first residing at Alderson, then at Talcott until 1890, when he removed to Hinton, and from that date to the pres- ent has been a citizen of that town. His two sons are following in the footsteps of their father. H. A., although but twenty-one, is captain of a tool car force at Richmond, Va., and the other son, F. H., is a railway clerk in Hinton. He has three daughters -- Misses Pauline and Maude, and Mrs. Kate Plumley, who resides at Parkersburg, W. Va.
Captain Brightwell is one of the most enterprising citizens of the town, and through his industry and judicious management has acquired a considerable fortune. He is a director, and has been since its formation, of the Bank of Summers, and has been a mem- ber of the Board of Education, and several terms a member of the city council, having been re-elected on the 5th day of December, 1905. He has never been a politician or sought any office, and is a Democrat, and adheres to the policies of that party. In the "money" campaign of 1896 he supported Bryan, and, because he displayed Bryan's picture at his residence conspicuously, his wages were reduced $10.00 per month for some time. He is engaged in numerous business enterprises, including coal production, banking and merchandising.
CAPTAIN J. M. AYRES.
Captain Ayres was born in the year 1843, in Monroe County. at Dickson's Springs, near Pickaway ; was a son of Stradford and Nancy Ayres, who were natives of Rockbridge County, Virginia. and removed to Monroe County in the winter of 1842, thence to Greenbrier County when Captain Ayres was 18 years old.
He volunteered in the Rocky Point Grays, and was a brave Confederate soldier throughout the Civil War-Louis F. Watts being his captain-and was attached to the 27th Virginia Infantry, a part of the time under Generals Jones, Echols and Breckenridge. He enlisted on the 11th day of April. 1861, lacking nine days of being eighteen years of age, and was mustered out of the service on the 12th day of April, 1865, at Blacksburg. Va. He was cap- tured at the Battle of Cedar Creek, but escaped from his captors the following night, slipping away from them after dark, and pro-
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
ceeding into the Massenot Mountain, where he spent three or four days and nights, finally getting into Page Valley at Luray, and joining McCausland's Brigade, with whom he fought a battle, and was brought in with McCausland's men, and rejoined his com- mand on the eleventh day after his escape. Captain Ayres was engaged in the battles of Scarey, Cedar Creek, Cross Lanes, Rude's Hill, second Battle of Strasburg, Fisher's Hill, New Market, and many other of the bloody battles of the war.
He helped bury in one grave 214 Federal soldiers killed at New Market. At this battle he was promoted on the field to ser- geant major, and afterwards promoted to adjutant. After the war he located in Greenbrier ; was engaged in farming, measuring lum- ber, etc., and came to this county in 1883, to Green Sulphur Dis- trict, where he clerked in a store and worked as a carpenter until he arrived at Hinton, in 1890, being at that time appointed deputy clerk of the county court, which office he so faithfully administered that, in 1896, he was nominated over his predecessors. E. H. Peck and J. A. Riffe, for clerk of the county court of this county, and was elected by a large majority for the term of six years. He was a candidate for renomination, but was defeated by a strong com- bination against him; has since been engaged in the mercantile business, and now resides in the city of Hinton.
Captain Ayres stands high in the esteem of the citizens as an honorable, law-abiding citizen. He was married twice, his first wife being Miss Belle Ingles, of Greenbrier County, and his sec- ond wife Miss Priscilla Young, of Summers County. He has one son, William Ayres, residing in the State of Indiana.
Captain Avres was also twice elected to the office of recorder of the city of Hinton, and was deputy clerk of the circuit court of this county for six years.
SILAS F. TAYLOR.
Silas F. Taylor was an old resident of Lick Creek. of Green Sulphur District : was a native of Bedford County, Virginia, hav- ing emigrated with his father to Monroe County when sixteen years of age. He died in the year 1896, having been a resident of the territory within the county for sixty years, settling on Lick Creek in 1855. He married Miss Sabina Nutter, in Monroe County, in 1842. He was the father of six children-James M. Taylor. W. J. Taylor, generally known as "Jack": D. C. Taylor, Mark D. Taylor, Charles Lee Taylor and Eli W. Taylor, and one daugh-
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
ter, Mary Susan, who married D. R. Thomas in 1872, and now resides on Griffith's Creek, in this county. C. L .. Taylor now re- sides in Fayette County ; Mark D. Taylor resides in Beckley, Ra- leigh County ; James M. in Greenbrier County; Eli W. being the only one of the sons remaining a citizen of this county, and who now resides at Greenbrier Springs, being one of the stockholders in the corporation which owns that property, and is, like his father, a brick mason by trade. Silas F. Taylor, the ancestor, was a brick mason by trade, and had a reputation throughout all this section of the country for his honest work and ability in his oc- cupation. He built the brick house of Captain A. A. Miller on Lick Creek, also one for Augustus Gwinn near Alderson, one for Andrew Gwinn at Lowell, and also the Ephraim J. Gwinn brick house at Green Sulphur Springs, now occupied by ex-Sheriff H. Gwinn, and many other old, substantial brick buildings of the county. Some years before his death he removed to Alderson, in Greenbrier County, where he died in 1896.
At the breaking out of the war he was captain of the militia, and became a soldier of the Confederacy, being captured in 1862, confined in Johnson's Island prison, and after his discharge entered the service under Captain Philip Thurmond, and was again cap- tuired and confined in the same prison, and finally exchanged at the close of the war and dismissed from prison.
Each of the sons followed their father in the selection of an oc- cupation, and those residing in this county who are personally known to the writer are Eli W., James M., Mark D. and C. L. All are fine brick masons, Eli W., during the year 1905, having su- perintended the construction of the Ewart-Miller building in Hin- ton, opposite the court house, and also the new brick store build- ing of the New River Grocery Company.
We reproduce a letter written to Silas F. Taylor by his son, Wm. J. Taylor :
"August 1, '62. Camp Chase, Ohio, Prison No. 1, Mess 5.
"Dear Father: I take my pen in hand to inform you that I am well and hearty. I was taken prisoner at Lewisburg on the 23d day of May. I was slightly wounded in the thigh. I want you to write to me as soon as you get this letter and let me know how you have been and when you heard from home. I have not heard from home but once since I was taken. I would like to see you. I want you to write to me soon. Direct your letter to Prison 1. Mess 5. I got a letter from Sam Fox. He said that John Sur- baugh was well. I would like to see you and all of the family. So
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
nothing more at present, but remain your friend, Wm. J. Taylor, to Silas F. Taylor."
We also copy a tax ticket of 1859 of Mr. Taylor's, which is something of a curiosity in these days :
"Mr. Silas F. Taylor to the sheriff of Greenbrier County, Dr., 1859. To 2 county levy at 90 cents, parish levy at 80 cents, $3.40; to capitation tax at 80 cents, $0.80; to slaves at 120 cents, -; to property tax on $78 valuation at 40 cents, $0.32; to land tax on -; total, $4.52. Received payment, -, deputy. For Andrew Beard, S. G. Co."
THE BOLTON FAMILY.
Absolem Dempsey Bolton was the head of the only family of that name that we have any information of in this county. This gentleman emigrated to this country from the county of Giles, in the State of Virginia, in the year 1878, locating permanently on Bradshaw's Run, near Forest Hill. He had been preaching in this county, and was a pastor of the Baptist churches for twenty- eight years before his permanent removal into the State. He was a minister of the Missionary Baptist Church ; a man of fine attain- ments and fine character. No man left a better name to his pos- terity, or better heritage to his descendants, than did Rev. A. D. Bolton. He was ordained as a minister of the Missionary Bap- tist Church December 16, 1861, and we are able to append a copy of his certificate, executed by the venerable Matthew Ellison and others. We have a memorandum from his diary showing that from June, 1873, to October 22, 1899, he preached three hundred sermons, and the texts and places at which these sermons were delivered, as well as the date of each ; from 1885 to 1898, inclusive, he married 95 couples. He was born December 12, 1828, and on December 12, 1850, was married to Miss Clementine Albert. He delivered his last sermon at Indian Mills, on November 5, 1899, from the text, II. Thess .. 14-16.
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