USA > West Virginia > Summers County > History of Summers County from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 42
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Following is a copy of his certificate of ordination :
"This is to certify that our brother, Absolem D. Bolton, was publicly ordained and set apart for the full work of the gospel min- istry, with prayer and laying on of hands by the undernamed Pres- bytery, according to the usages of the Baptist Church, on Decem- ber 16, 1861. He was called to ordination by the Big Stony Creek Church, regularly connected with the Valley Baptist Association,
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
of which church he is a member, and which, after full and sufficient opportunity to judge of his gifts, were agreed in their opinion that he was called to the work of the ministry. Our brother was ac- cordingly received with the full and entire approbation of the Pres- bytery called by the church, and also of the church, in thus enter- ing officially upon the full work of the gospel ministry, and is hereby authorized to administer all the ordinances of the gospel, and to perform all the duties under a minister of Christ, and may the great Head of the Church abundantly bless him in all of his labors, and may he walk worthy the high vocation whereof he has been called.
Given under our hands December 16, 1861.
M. ELLISON, JOHN B. LEE, W. R. GITT."
He left two sons, Henry Albert and James D., both residents of Forest Hill, and one daughter, Ettie W. H. A. Bolton is a prosperous farmer and a very intelligent and honorable gentle- man, respected by his neighbors and the community. J. D. Bol- ton has been deputy sheriff of this county during two terms of four years each, first as deputy for James H. George, and the sec- ond term under Harvey Ewart, filling that position to the eminent satisfaction of his principals and to the people. The Bolton fam- ily is of English descent, emigrating to this country from Bolton City, England.
Both of these gentlemen are consistent members of the Mis- sionary Baptist Church, and in politics are Democrats, and have both been warm adherents to the political fortunes of the author, Mr. Jas. D. Bolton having, in the campaign of 1904, personally canvassed large portions of the counties of Raleigh and Wyoming of his own accord and as a matter of personal friendship, in the writer's race for the judgeship. He is now engaged as one of the proprietors of the Greenbrier Springs, with Sheriff A. J. Keatly as his partner. He is the youngest son of Rev. A. D. Bolton, and was born on the 21st day of November, 1855, at Parisburg, Va., and was married to Miss Garten, a daughter of Chas. Garten, Sr., of Forest Hill District.
H. A. Bolton, the oldest son of Rev. A. D. Bolton, also married a Miss Garten, and these two brothers are also brothers-in-law. Charles W. Garten married Miss Ettie Bolton, the only daughter. H. A. Bolton is one of the enterprising farmers of Forest Hill Dis-
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
trict, and is a careful, temperate and honest citizen, respected by all persons, and wherever known.
A GOOD MAN GONE.
(From Independent-Herald.)
The death of Rev. A. D. Bolton, which has been expected at any time for several months past, occurred at his home near For- est Hill, in this county, at 8 o'clock P. M. on the 27th ult.
The deceased was in the seventy-second year of his age, and up to November, 1899, he had been able to keep up his regular pastoral work with the churches of which he was the honored and beloved pastor.
He was a native of Giles County, Virginia, where he lived un- til December, 1878, when he moved to this county, settling in the home where his death occurred. He leaves a widow with whom he had walked in sweet companionship for nearly fifty years-the 5th of next December would have been their fiftieth marriage day.
He leaves two sons, H. A. and J. D., both prominent and use- ful citizens of this county, and one daughter, Etta, who, with her mother, ministered so tenderly at the side of their loved but suf- fering one, during the months of his affliction. Another member of his family was his nephew Abbie, whom he raised from infancy, and whom he loved as his own child.
Brother Bolton spent about forty years of his life in the minis- try of the Baptist Church, and while the writer knows but little of his life and labors before coming to West Virginia, yet I am glad to say that I have personal knowledge of his work in this State, which begun with the Peterstown church in the latter part of 1871, seven years before he moved to this county. During these twenty-nine years he served as pastor, for longer or shorter pe- riods, the following churches of the Greenbrier Association: Pe- terstown, Fairview, Springfield, Talcott, Pine Grove, Indian Mills, Red Sulphur and Little Wolf Creek, in which relation he continued with the last three named till his death. He was also pastor, for a term of three years, of Jumping Branch Church in Raleigh Asso- ciation. No pastor was ever more beloved and honored by the churches and the people to whom he preached than he was. He was recognized as a man of ability, and in debate on questions of doctrine, as the writer has often heard him, he was excellent. He has gone, but he has left to his family, his neighbors and friends,
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
and the churches over which he watched, a name and record and influence of which we may all be grateful to God.
His funeral service took place from the Fairview Baptist Church, a discourse being preached by the writer from Acts 11:24: "For he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost of faith, and much people was added unto the Lord."
Revs. Hank, Thorne and McClelland were present and took part in the services.
A large gathering of people was present, coming from afar to testify their love for the good man. His remains were laid to rest in the Fairview Cemetery, to wait the blast of the trumpet sig- naling the great rising and crowning day.
J. P. CAMPBELL.
MADDY.
There is an old family of settlers in Monroe County who have an ancient as well as a tragic history. Nancy, or Nannie, or Annie Parsons, was a sister of Robert Morris, the patriot financier of the Revolution of 1776, who resided in Philadelphia ; and in providing funds to carry on the great Revolution impoverished himself, dying in poverty by reason of the obligations assumed by him, and as a compensation for which, and as a partial remuneration, the Gov- ernment granted to him many thousand acres of wild, unappro- priate lands, much of which lies in West Virginia and west of the Alleghenies, and especially in Raleigh, Wyoming, Mercer and Mc- Dowell Counties, and some of which patented lands extends into Summers County, known as The Robert Morris Patents or Grants, and many acres of the finest timber territory in the world is in- cluded therein, and which is now worth an inestimable amount of money since the developments of recent years; but during the lifetime of Morris a sufficient amount could not be realized there- from to cover the tax assessments thereon. This sister of Mor- ris' married a man by the name of Maddy, who was a soldier in Washington's Colonial Army, and after the close of that war was accidentally drowned in the Shenandoah River in the Valley of Virginia. His widow, with her children, emigrated to Monroe County, and settled on what is still known as the "Charles Maddy Place." near the Saltpetre Cave near Greenville, where she reared her family. She had a considerable estate in Virginia, which it became necessary for her to return to and settle up, and she rode horseback through the mountains and the wilderness, crossing the
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Alleghenies. After transacting her affairs and recovering her money-a considerable sum-she proceeded on her return, and in doing so she stopped over night with a settler in the wilderness. During her stay she incidentally disclosed the fact of her carrying on her person considerable funds. On the next morning the gen- tleman of the the house told her he knew of a direct route through the hills that would save her a great part of the distance, and vol- unteered to show her the near cut. They proceeded for some time, until they came to a wild place and a great cliff, where the man stopped, told her to give him her money, and declared his object to be to secure the money, which she carried on her person in her clothing, and to murder her. She declined to give up the money, when he demanded her to take off her dress, it being his purpose to secure it and the money therein, and throw her body over the cliff. She requested him to turn his back, as she did not desire to undress in his presence. This he did, turning his back to her and facing the precipice, whereupon she gave him a sudden push with all her strength, sending his body headlong over the cliffs and into the ravine below, by which he was instantly killed, thus saving her own life, as well as the money which she carried. She then proceeded on her journey, and arrived at her home in safety.
After the death of her first husband, Maddy, she married a gentleman by the name of Parsons, and lived to a very old age, and was known throughout her neighborhood as "Granny Par- sons." She never bore any children by her last husband.
From this lady has descended some of the best citizens of this region of the country, and many of her descendants still reside in Summers, Monroe and adjoining counties. John Maddy, who died at a very old age, lived and died near Greenville, and was a very wealthy man; was a pioneer merchant at that place, and owned good lands around the country. His son, Richard Maddy, who married a Miss Peck, died a few years since at that place, where he owned a splendid farm, the Riley Cook place, where his widow and children still live. John Maddy late in his life married a Miss Arnet. Charles Maddy was a brother of John, and together with their brother-in-law, David Hinton, at one time, some fifty years ago, owned the Hinton lands on which the city of Avis is built. The land, about 150 acres, was sold under judicial decree of the circuit court of Monroe County, and purchased by the Mad- dys and David Hinton, who were brothers-in-law and brother of John Hinton, at this sale, it being sold for the payment of debts of John Hinton-"Jack." Later they conveyed it to Mrs. Avis
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
. Hinton, who held it to the date of her death. These two Maddys also at one time owned the Boyd farm at Little Bend Tunnel now owned by Lewis N. Bartgis. Matthew Maddy, another brother, lived on Little Stony Creek, and it was during his life the sulphur spring on the Maddy farm, known as the Lindeman Spring, was discovered. It was a deer lick and swampy place. A gum was placed in the ground, through which the percolating water es- caped. After sixty years this gum-a piece of hollow tree-was taken out, and it was found as sound as the day it was placed in the spring.
Gabriel Maddy lived on this farm for many years, being a son of Matthew. Later he removed onto the Wolf Creek Mountain, in Greenbrier District, where he died, leaving a widow and five boys. Thomas C., for a long time a ferryman at Talcott until the bridge was built there in 1905, was a brave soldier in the Confederate Army, and noted for his patriotism and faithfulness to the Demo- cratic party. He has been a member of the Board of Education, a road surveyor for several years, and is an honest man, being the present and only tax collector for the Talcott toll bridge since its construction. His son Oscar also resides at Talcott. Thaddeus R. Maddy, another son of Gabriel, now lives at Dugat, in Raleigh County. He was for many years a resident of this county. a val- iant soldier in the Confederate Army, and held the office of consta- ble for several years in the county. Jesse, another son, a farmer, died in 1906, near Hinton. Two other sons of Gabriel were killed in battle during the Civil War, and one shot and killed accidentally. Their names I have failed to secure. One daughter married Mar- shall Scarberry, and lives on the Gabriel Maddy place on the moun- tain. A brother of Gabriel was Dr. Eber W. Maddy. Another descendant of Nancy (or Annie) (Maddy) Parsons was Alexander Maddy, who died in Monroe County many years ago. Wilson (the litigant), who lives not far from Talcott, was his son. He has been famous for the great number of lawsuits he has maintained, and by which he has unfortunately made himself poor, but en- riched the lawyers.
Dr. Eber W. Maddy, a dentist, was a noted man in his day, but not in the way of bearing out the good reputation of the Maddy name. He was a scientific dentist, who practiced throughout ad- joining counties. He owned large boundaries of real estate in Tal- cott District and in Raleigh, valuable in coal. but through dissi- pation and litigation it all passed from his hands before his death- lands now easily worth more than $100,000. He and his nephew
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Wilson had many bitterly contested suits. His descendants still reside in the county.
Another of the Maddy descendants was Rev. John C. Maddy, an eminent Methodist divine in Ohio State, where his sons, Frank and Charles, still reside at Toledo. His daughter Ella, who mar- ried a Mr. Tucker, resides in Topeka, Kansas. Augusta, who is married and lives in Los Angeles, California, and Miss Emma, also a resident of Toledo.
Another of the descendants was James Maddy, who settled at Gallipolis, Ohio. His son William was a steamboat captain on the Ohio, and was sent for and operated the "Cecilia," the only steam- boat ever operated in New River. A daughter of James, Mary, married Mr. Caleb Johnson, an honorable gentleman of Monroe County, and whose daughters, Misses Josephine and Salome, now live in Hinton, and the daughter Ella married Mr. Edgar Johnson, president of the Greenbrier Valley Bank, at Alderson, and one son James C. Johnson, who now lives in Texas.
Another daughter of James Maddy, Eliza, married Major Rich- ard Woodrum, and other children are scattered throughout the Mid- dle West.
Another descendant was Peter Maddy, a son of Matthew Mad- dy, who married Miss Elizabeth George, a daughter of John George, of Greenbrier County. He owned 400 acres of good land on Lick Creek. While a young man he joined the Confederate Army, con- tracted the typhoid fever and died at Union, leaving a widow, Eliza- beth, who died in recent years, and two infant sons, John Peter and William T., who still reside in the county, and are enterprising and honorable citizens. Richard MeNeer, Sr., married Elizabeth Maddy, a sister of John, Charles and Matthew Maddy, and from whom all the generations of McNeers and allied connections are descendants.
We are unable to give any detailed account of this ancient and honorable family, and give only such incidental information as we have.
CAPTAIN ROBERT W. SAUNDERS.
Captain Robert W. Saunders was born June 8, 1828, in Bedford County, Virginia, and was of English descent. He died on the 20th of October, 1904. Early in life he located in the territory of Forest Hill District. His first wife was Lina Miller, by whom he raised three children-Lewis, Rebecca and Maria-all dead, dying from diphtheria during the war. The second wife was Sa-
HUN. UPSHUR HIGGINBOTHAM. Lawyer, Orator and Republican Politician.
PUBLIC LIGARY
AUTO',, LEN .X AND TILDEN FOUNDA
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
rah E. Meadows, daughter of Robert Meadows, who lived near the old church on Greenbrier River. Their children were Edward Lee, Josephine, who married A. A. McDowell; A. H. and C. E. Saun- ders. His third wife was Sallie A. Harvey, a daughter of Allen L. Harvey. Robert A. Saunders was a captain during the Civil War in the Confederate service. He was one of the main supports of the Missionary Baptist Church of Forest Hill, of which he was a member for thirty years. His sons are now prominent and law- abiding citizens of the county, active in affairs. Captain Saunders was a man of property, and one of the founders of the county.
HIGGINBOTHAM.
Upshur Higginbotham was born in Mercer County, West Vir- ginia, December 1, 1875; spent his youth on the farm; was edu- cated at the Normal School at Athens and at the West Virginia University, taking the law course in the latter institution. Having completed the same, he located in Hinton, December, 1900, for the practice of his profession. Soon after entering the practice he was appointed by Judge Jackson referee in bankruptcy, which position he held until his resignation in 1905. In 1906, seeking a wider field for his abilities, he located in Charleston, entering into a parner- ship for the practice of law with Hon. Dell Rummell, city attor- ney. In 1904 he was appointed private secretary to Hon. Jos. H. Gaines, member of Congress from the Third West Virginia Dis- trict, which position he has successfully and intelligently filled until the present time. Mr. Higginbotham is a Republican in poli- tics, a shrewd party leader, and has had the confidence of his party associates. In 1902 he was elected Secretary of the Republican Congressional Committee for the Third West Virginia District, which position he still holds. On May 29, 1902, he was united in marriage with Miss Roberta R. Kessler, of Talcott District, a daughter of Henry F. Kessler, Esq. Mr. Higginbotham is an able lawyer and a strong man, with bright prospects in his profession.
BROWN.
Garret Brown was one of the old settlers of Forest Hill. A son of Garret Brown still lives on the old place near Barger Springs, at the top of the hill. Garret's father's name was Wil- liam. The grandfather of Allen first settled on Bradshaw's Run, at the Bolton farm. A mound still stands on this farm where his
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
house was burned by the Indians, who came to the house in the absence of the menfolks and set fire to the flax in the roof and burned the house. They carried the old lady Brown away. She was a very fleshy woman, and when the Indians came to the house and found the old lady alone and the men gone, set the house afire. The men came home, found the house burning, followed the In- dians to Paint Creek, at an old Indian camp on the land afterwards owned by Eber Maddy. They were preparing to burn Mrs. Brown at the stake, as she was so fleshy they had decided not to be both- ered with her any longer. The Indians had everything ready for the bonfire, when the men fired on the Indians, and thus rescued her. Garret Brown settled where Allen F. Brown now lives, sixty- three years ago. His son Allen married a daughter of Rufus Clark, of Pipestem. Her name was Mary Ellen, and they were married in 1855. He was a member of Philip Thurmond's Rangers during the war. He had one sister, who weighed only thirty-three and one- half pounds, was twenty-two inches in height, and lived to be twenty-two years old. She was born in 1853. The Garret Brown patent was issued by the Governor of Virginia in 1855, for 136 acres, and adjoined the John Carden patent of 100 acres. The old Watkins patent adjoins the Brown lands. Garret Brown mar- ried Harriet Ann Alford, of Monroe County, and who was a Scotch woman from Scotland. The children of Allen Brown are Roxie, Nora, Mary, Jennie Lee and Lura ; also one son, Prince Clark. Gar- ret Brown was made famous by the old ejectment suit of Carden vs Brown, which pended in the circuit court for thirteen years. It was pending in Monroe County prior to its removal to this county.
THOMAS W. TOWNSLEY.
The ancient and celebrated auctioneer was born March 25, 1835, in Roanoke, Virginia. His father's name was W. N. Townsley, of England, born in May, 1800. He married a Miss Wade. Thomas W. emigrated to this part of the country in 1840, and located first within one mile of Peterstown, and has been within the territory of this county thence hitherto; was a brave Confederate soldier, a member of Clark's Battalion, 30th Virginia, Horton's Brigade, Breckenridge's Division ; was in many of the great battles of the Civil War, including Cold Harbor, Leetown, Winchester, Kerns- town and New Market, and was at the battle of Lewisburg. He was constable of Forest Hill District for twelve years. His first wife was Nancy J. Brown ; his second wife a Keatley, and third a
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Shelton. His children are Mary, Eliza, who married Judson Fos- ter ; Alice, who married Peter M. Foster ; and Josephine, who mar- ried Green Taylor. Thos. Jalysle and C. Luther are his two sons, residing at Hinton, engaged in the employment of the C. & O. Ry. Co. Thomas W. Townsley is a shoemaker by trade and a Demo- crat in politics ; was for one year the sergeant of the town of Up- per Hinton, and has been for a number of years the janitor of the court house.
RATLIFFE MYSTERY.
During the building of the Big Bend Tunnel in 1872, a peddler by the name of Ratliffe disappeared, and was never heard of after. He had on his person $375, and left the tunnel accompanied by Harry Gill, who lived in the mountains back of Bradshaw's Run, in Forest Hill District. Mr. Henry Milburn saw the peddler and Gill cross the Greenbrier River near his place, and they went on in the direction of Gill's. That night a Mr. Lowe, who lived in the neighborhood, heard the cries of distress of some one appeal- ing for help. At first he thought the cries came from his father's, and he ran in that direction, on Bradshaw's Run, but discovered that the trouble was in the mountain. The cries ceased, and later in the night a great fire was seen in the direction of Gill's. The next day it was learned that Gill's stable had burned during the night, claimed to be accidental. The peddler was never seen or heard of afterwards, and no evidence could be found of him except a piece of his trousers was found in a hollow hickory tree in the neighborhood of where the stable had burned, with a hole near the waistband, indicating and appearing to have been made by a bullet. No arrests were made, as no evidence could be found for certain that Ratliffe was dead. A few years ago this same Harry Gill died, and during his last illness the neighbors came in to attend on him and administer to his wants, and during this last illness he seemed to be in great despair, although perfectly sane in mind. and he would cry out, "There is Ratliffe! Take him away!" Finally he secured possession of a pair of scissors, and demanded to know if Ratliffe was gone. He kept hold of this weapon until his death. People were present at his death who were not in the State at the time of the disappearance of the peddler, and had never heard of him or of the circumstances. Gill lived to be an old man, and was in his late years elected a constable. Whether Ratliffe was killed was never known. The corpus delicti could never be proven.
Here is the foundation for one of the "Strange Schemes of Ran- dolph Mason, Lawyer."
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
MAXWELL.
There is but one family of this name in Summers County, that of Robert H. Maxwell, of Avis, who has been a resident thereof almost since the formation of the county. He was born in Clover Bottom, on Bluestone River, on the 26th day of December, 1843. When he was fourteen years old his father moved to Raleigh Coun- ty, in the Winding Gulf region, where he remained until the out- break of the Civil War, at which time he removed to Jackson County, West Virginia, and on the 15th of August, 1862, enlisted in Company K, West Virginia Infantry, United States Army, re- maining in the active service throughout the remainder of the war. He took part in the Hunter raid throughout West Virginia, and participated in many battles and skirmishes. When his army reached Lynchburg, Virginia. on this raid, he was shot, and was left on the field of battle and taken prisoner by the Confederate Army, carried to Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, and there confined in the famous Libby Prison. He was paroled on the 14th of September, 1864, and went to the Union hospital at An- napolis, Maryland. When Mr. Maxwell left Libby Prison his first movements were to secure something to eat. He drew a day's ra- tions, which he ate for breakfast. He sold his canteen and blanket for nine dollars in the coin of the Confederate realm, all of which he spent for bread, and all of which he ate at one meal. He then started down the James River to the place where prisoners were exchanged, and again found himself under the stars and stripes ; and it was then that he saw the first bacon and ham which he had seen in all the time since he had entered the army, and there he finished up the meal which he began at Libby Prison, and there he secured the first coffee he had seen in three months. After the war he returned to Jackson County, having been discharged from the army in 1865. He there married Virginia Rand, a daughter of Robert Rand, of that county, to which union there were born three children-John B. Maxwell, now of Texarkana, Texas; Nel- lie, who married Captain Bobbett, the Railway conductor of Hin- ton ; and Annie, who married a Mr. Barker, of Kansas City, Kan- sas. After the death of his first wife he moved to Hinton, West Virginia, in 1883, and married Miss Eliza Flanagan, a daughter of Richard A. Flanagan, of Fayette County, and by this union one son was born-Irvin Maxwell, the lawyer, now located in Virginia. Upon locating in Hinton he engaged in the timber and lumber business, which he has followed up until 1904, since which time
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