USA > West Virginia > Summers County > History of Summers County from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 46
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The sons of Jonathan were Samuel S., Remley, Rufus, Ballard P., John E. and Jonathan S. Lilly, known as Togger, several of whom are living near Ellison P. O., in Summers County.
The sons of Washington, known as "Kinney," are James, John, Daniel and Henry, as well as several daughters.
The sons of Elijah are Wm. H., known as "Hickory Bill" ; Pres- ton, Thomas. James, known as "Jerusalem Jim"; Russell, Naaman, Joseph and Lee H.
William ("Dr. Bill") had quite a large family. Their names I am now unable to give. These, the family of Edmond, all lived to a ripe old age, and from them many of the Lillys of Summers, Mer- cer and Raleigh trace their lineage.
From Thomas descended the following: Thomas Lilly, his old- est son, who married Delilah Payne, of Taswell County, Virginia, and settled on Bluestone River, seven miles from its mouth. He was the father of Levi Lilly, Thomas Lilly (who is the father of the present county superintendent of schools of Summers County), Geo. W. Lilly, Josiah Lilly ("Dick"), Robert Lilly, known as "Shooting Bob," and Austin Lilly, the father of ex-county super- intendent of Summers County ; J. F. Lilly, known as "Tess," and several daughters. Thomas Lilly died in 1884. at the age of 82.
The next, William Lilly, known as "Taliancher Bill," was the father of Lewis Lilly, known as "Bolley Lewis" and William Lilly. known as "Preacher Will." Bolley Lewis is the father of Simeon Lilly and John Lilly. ex-county superintendent of Mercer County, and is known as "John Bolley."
The next Robert Lilly, known as "Bearwallow Bob," who also married a Payne, reared a large family and died in 1883, where he first settled, on the Bench of Bluestone, in Summers County. His family consists of the following: William, known as "Billy Bear- wallow"; Washington, now of Wyoming County, and James M .. known as "Jim Cute" (who is the father of J. J. Lilly, known as "Cud") ; Robert, also living in Wyoming County : Pleasant H., now deceased, and several daughters, the oldest of whom. Julia, married Joseph Meador, and Sallie, who married Henley Farley, a member of a very large family of Farleys now living in Pipestem.
William Lilly, the fourth son of Robert. the first settler, was the
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
father of Ameger Lilly, about whom nothing is known. Robert, known as "Fighting Bob," was in Louisiana when last heard from. Andrew Lilly, known as "Sock Head Andy"; Tollison Lilly, the - father of James W .. and Geo. A. Lilly, now living on Little Wolf Creek : George Lilly, deceased (never married) ; William S. Lilly, known as "Shoemaker Bill," ex-sheriff of Summers County, father of Green Lilly; Joseph Lilly, known as "Curly Joe," ex-member of the county court, and James Lilly, known as "Grinning Jim."
Of the sons of Edmond Lilly one was Robert Lilly, known as "Squire Bob." who married Mary Cadle, and settled near the mouth of Bluestone. To them were born the following sons: David Lilly, who died in Kansas not long since; Captain Jonathan Lilly, who died about 1902; R. C. Lilly, known as "Miller Bob," who died near Spanishburg, in Mercer County, about 1904 : Dr. J. A. Lilly, now liv- ing at Jumping Branch; Thomas Lilly, known as "Squire Toin"; Josephus Lilly, deceased. and Samuel D. Lilly, known as "Devil Sam," now living near Dunn's, W. Va., as well as several daughters, among whom are Julia, who married M. C. Barker, and Rebecca, who married Levi M. Neely, Sr., who is the father of L. M. Neely, Jr., the present assessor of Summers County. Also from this same Thomas Lilly, the son of Robert (the first settler), were the fol- lowing other children, viz .. Pleasant. John, Turner, Joshua and Daniel.
Pleasant Lilly had four sons-Hiram, John, William, known as "Ground Hog Bill," and Christopher. John had one son, whose name is John, and known as "Pence John," living on the Bench of Bluestone. Turner had several sons: not much is known of their family.
Joshua had one son, William David. Daniel had only one son. whose name was Daniel.
It is an interesting fact to note that Robert Lilly, the first Lilly west of the Alleghenies, died in 1810, at the ripe old age of 114 years, and his wife died in 1807, at the age of 111 years.
The first relationship between the Lilly and Meador families was occasioned by the marriage of Josiah Meador, one of the first, if not the first. minister west of the mountains, marrying a daughter of the elder Robert Lilly : and since that time they have married and intermarried, until their histories in many cases blend very closely together.
This Rev. Josiah Meador was the father of Green Meador, who settled, lived and died at the mouth of Little Bluestone River.
John Lilly, the son of Edmond Lilly, was the father of the
GEORGE W. LILLY, Educator and School Man.
GREEN LEE LILLY, Traveling Salesman.
YORK LIBRARY
TIL :
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
following children: Wilson, Lewis, John, known as "Gentleman John"; William H., known as "One Arm Bill," and one daughter, who married a Cook, and who is the father of Harvey Cook, ex- sheriff of Raleigh County.
William Lilly was the father of the following children, viz., Andrew Lewis, now living near Jumping Branch ; Perry, Wilson, John H., known as "Barlow John," and two other brothers, who went West, and died in 1884 and 1886; as well as several daughters.
To Lewis Lilly was born the following children, viz., Joshua, now living near Jumping Branch ; Dayton, who married Miss Sarah Ellison, and lives in Mercer County; R. P., deceased ; J. A., Ed- mond and Robert, known as "Kansas Bob," all living in Summers.
John ("Gentleman John") had no children, although married twice.
William H. ("One Arm Bill") had the following children : John P., Jackson, Hugh, Hamilton and George. This entire family is living near Jumping Branch. He also had two daughters, one of whom married W. H. Dunbar, and now lives near Foss, this county.
James Lilly, and his twin brother Jonathan, were sons of Edmond Lilly. James had the following children: John W., known as "Big John"; William, know as "Limber Bill" (the father of James L. and Thomas W. and Mrs. S. L. Deeds, of Madam's Creek) ; James, known as "Beaver Jim"; Lewis, Harman, Green W. and G. T. Lilly, known as "Tanner," all of whom live near Cave Ridge, in this county. He also had two daughters, Mrs. A. J. Martin and Mrs. Emily Hogan.
To Edmond Lilly, the twin brother of Rev. Joseph Lilly, was born the following: Allen, known as "One Eyed Allen"; James. known as "Shady Jim," who now lives in Oklahoma, and is the father of C. H. Lilly, near Elk Knob; John R., of Hinton, and P. G. Lilly, known as "Pet," of Raleigh County. He also had three daughters-Mrs. Albert Farley, of Kansas, and Mrs. Prince, of Beckley. The third daughter is now dead. John, Hence, now in Indiana, and perhaps there are some others, but as they are out of the county, we are unable to reach them.
It may be interesting to know that in Summers County there are 285 tax-paying Lillys, to say nothing of the numerous children and ladies who are not on the tax rolls. A conservative estimate would be no less than 1,450 in the county. to say nothing of this numerous family outside the limits of the county and in adjoining counties, all originating from only one family. Hence the impos- sibility of giving anything like a biographical sketch of all this fam-
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
ily. It has been the aim of the writer to give only such part of the history that any one desiring may trace his lineage for several gen- erations, and keep in touch with the family history, and enlarge upon special branches.
As noted on another page, the Rev. Josiah Meador, who mar- ried a daughter of the elder Robert Lilly, was probably the first Baptist minister in this part of the country, and to him is probably due the honor of organizing the first church, which is known as the "Old Bluestone Church." It was organized in a grove two miles above the mouth of Little Bluestone, prior to 1800. Later an old log church was erected where Squire John H. Lilly now lives, and at which church the people assembled monthly for divine worship, and from the mouths of good ministers, such as the Rev. Josiah Meador, Elder Matthew Ellison, Rufus Pack and others, heard and partook of the bread of life, and prepared themselves for the future life.
Here many of the Lilly family worshiped, lived, died and are laid to rest in the old Bluestone churchyard, to await the sound of the last trumpet.
In the latter part of the last century the old church was reor- ganized, and was moved to Jumping Branch, where the records of the old church may still be found. From this old Bluestone Church has emanated many new churches, among which is the old Rocky Mount Church at Pipestem, which was organized by Elder M. El- lison, soon after the late war.
Recently another church has been organized where the old church met, and a neat new church edifice has been erected, with a thriving membership, composed in part of the descendants of the old Bluestone Church, which calls to mind very forcibly the lines of Knox, in which he says :
For we are the same our fathers have been, We see the same sights our fathers have seen : We drink the same stream, we see the same sun, And run the same race our fathers have run.
ROBERT W. LILLY.
One of the oldest citizens of the county is a man with a record. He is a farmer, and has a reputation for being a man of considerable bravery. He has acted as special officer in a number of criminal cases, one of which we recollect was in a case where he held a ca-
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pias against Jack Bragg, who was accused of some infraction of the law, and who had been evading it for a long time. He was accused of selling liquor without a license. Mr. Lilly took the capias and got after him, and undertook to arrest him. Suspicioning some- thing Bragg took to his heels. Coming to the Big Bluestone River, he jumped in and swam across, although it was in midwinter, the river up and mush ice floating, making his escape. He is now a peaceable citizen of the county, and has been engaged as an assist- ant deputy marshal for quite a while in the arrest of moonshiners.
Robert W. Lilly, who is known as "Shootin' Bob," shot what was at the time thought to be a deputy marshal, but was George W. Shrewsbury, sometimes known as Lilly. Lilly, however, mi- raculously recovered. He was shot in the body, in the Jumping Branch country, and is still living. He was a Union soldier during the war, and draws a considerable pension from the United States for his services in that army. Lilly was never tried for the shooting until about fifteen years afterwards, when the witnesses were dis- covered, and he was tried, and was acquitted. His son Naamon lives near Hinton, in Jumping Branch. His grandfather, T. J. Lilly, is a constable now of Jumping Branch. Lilly, and the aforesaid Shrewsbury (Solesberry) shot Josiah Lilly, and was acquitted, as there was no desire to prosecute him.
FRANCES LILLY.
This lady was born on Big Bluestone, on the 17th of February, 1815, and raised at the mouth of Pipestem, then Giles County, Vir- ginia. Her father's name was Matthew Pack, who owned one hun- dred and twenty-five acres around the mouth of that river. Her grandfather's name was Samuel Pack, who came to that country with a man by the name of Gatliffe, who was from France. Sam- uel Pack settled on Brush Creek, where he died. Her mother was a Moody, her grandmother Pack being a Farley, who lived to be 105 years old. Mrs. Frances Lilly is now living, and remembers seeing many Indians after there were no more hostilities between them and the whites. They would come to Samuel Pack's, her grand- father's, and say they were on their way to Washington City. There they would get drunk, and Pack would give them liquor to see them dance and shoot their bows and arrows. They would put up dimes to be shot at, and when they hit them they would get the dime. The Indian women didn't get drunk. The Indians claimed to come up New River from near the Ohio, and passed on up
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Brush Creek once a year. They passed up the river on the oppo- site side from where Alderson Pack lived, on New River. They wore feathers and other things in their hair. In the early days of her recollection the country was thinly settled, and the settlers would go twelve and fifteen miles to a log-rolling, starting before daylight and taking their guns, killing deer, bear, panthers, wolves and other wild animals, and return home after supper. The coun- try was then full of all kinds of these and other wild animals. She helped to kill them in her young days. Their clothes were all made of flax and hemp, and they had no mails or postoffices. She tells of a preacher by the name of Lorenzo Dow, who visited this region, and how he ran the hunter outlaws out of the country, who came there hunting and helped themselves to the settlers' property.
Mrs. Lilly is now ninety-one years of age, and resides with her kinsman and son-in-law, Squire John E. C. L. Hatcher, of Jumping Branch. . Her mind is as active and bright as ever, and she made us these statements from her own lips. She was the mother of Mrs. Hatcher.
LILLY.
Charles Henderson Lilly was born February 19, 1859, and mar- ried Miss Lavelett Ann Ballard, of Monroe County, a daughter of John C. Ballard, May 22, 1882. He is a son of James Edmund Lilly, and lived where J. E. C. L. Hatcher now lives, in Jumping Branch District. His father and mother now reside in Arkansas, at Pea Ridge. C. H. Lilly resided in that State also for four and one-half years. He now resides on Elk Knob Mountain, and is engaged in farming. In 1896 he was elected constable of Greenbrier District, which position he held for four years. In 1900 he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for sheriff of Summers County, but was defeated by H. Ewart. He is at this time again a candidate, with fair prospects of success. He is an enterprising gentleman, one of the best farmers in the county, and a Jefferson Democrat, and a descendant of the ancient Lilly family of the county.
GEORGE W. LILLY.
George W. Lilly is a native of Pipestem District, in Summers County. He was born on the 30th day of July, 1859. He was educated in the public schools and by private tutors. He is the most prominent school man and educator in Summers County, and has taken a great interest in the success of the free school system. He
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
has held the office of county superintendent for two terms of four years each, the first in - and the second in 1900. He married a daughter of William Ball, the old settler on the New River hills, about two miles from Hinton, and a sister of Thomas E. Ball, Bal- lard Preston Ball and John W. Ball, and a sister of Mrs. Elijah Lilly, a prominent farmer and teacher who lives on Leatherwood, near Hinton. Lother L. Lilly, a son of George W., is a trusted employe in the National Bank of Summers, of Hinton. Prof. T. E. Ball, assistant principal in the Hinton High School for several terms, and at one time candidate for the Democratic nomination for county superintendent, and a son of John W. Ball, is a nephew of Mr. Lilly. Mr. Lilly is an active Democrat, and takes an active inter- est in his party's affairs in the county and State. He has been a delegate to the Wheeling, Parkersburg and Huntington State Con- ventions, and to practically all of the congressional and senatorial conventions held within his district within the last twenty years. He is a man of tremendous physique, standing six feet six inches in his socks, and weighs 250 pounds ; a man of character, education and ability, who has made his way from the ground floor. He has for a number of years been appointed by the courts to make county settlements with the sheriff ; the settlements for the city of Hinton ; making off tax tickets, tax books and property books; is a notary public, and has held many positions of trust. His other children are Grace, who married K. E. Smith, superintendent of the Fort Defiance Coal & Coke Co., of Gauley Bridge : Ada Mary, Cecil W. and Myrtle.
The daughters of Wm. Ball are Nancy, who married Reyburn Buckland; Hulda, who married Ward Meadows, and Mary Ann, who married Jacob A. Epperly. Wm. Ball married Diena Cadle.
Robert C. Lilly, "Miller Bob," married Virginia Gore. He and Captain Jonathan Lilly married sisters. He raised a family of six sons and five daughters, to whom he has given eleven good farms. Their names are David G., J. A., Ida, L. M., Ruhama, V. F., C. J .. R. C., Jr., Zach and A. A. David G. married Estiline Thompson. a daughter of Philip Thompson. J. A. married Arminta, a daughter of James Lilly. and resides on Little Bluestone. His daughter Amanda married M. B. Moyes. Mary, another daughter, married Professor Beccher Meadows, a school teacher and farmer, and an active Democrat, now running the race with C. H. Lilly as his deputy for sheriff of Summers County. Arthur married a Cooper, a school teacher and farmer.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Ida, the oldest daughter of R. C. Lilly, married Chas. B. Ash- worth, who resides on Flat Top Mountain.
I. L. married Victoria, a daughter of James and Sarah Hogan, of Summers County.
M. B. married Jonathan F. Lilly, who was once county superin- tendent of the county, and was killed by Tony Meadows.
The youngest son of R. C. Lilly is A. A. Lilly, an attorney-at- law of Beckley, West Virginia. He was born March 25, 1878. He graduated at Athens in '98, took the law course at S. N. U. in Ten- nessee, and married Miss Mary Glenn. of Arlington, Ky., June 16, 1900. In 1900 he was elected a member of the House of Delegates from Raleigh County, being the youngest member of that body. He was assistant clerk of the Senate of West Virginia in 1903. He was elected prosecuting attorney of Raleigh County in 1904, which office he now holds, and is an active, energetic and able lawyer and prosecutor. He. as the majority, if not all of his family, is an active Republican, and he is one of the leaders of this party in his county. Emma married Chapman Wills, of Raleigh County. V. F. mar- ried Henry, a son of James Griffith. C. J. married Arthur B., a son of Simeon Lilly. R. C., Jr., married .Miss Hattie Reed. Zach married Miss Dora Richmond, of this county. He is a school teacher and miller, and now lives near Spanishburg, in Mercer.
T. H. LILLY.
Thomas Hubbard Lilly is a native of Raleigh County, being a son of Thomas Edmund Lilly. and was born on May 23, 1868, near the foot of the great Flat Top Mountain. His father was a promi- nent farmer in that section. The subject of this sketch remained on his father's farm until he was fifteen years old, but not being pleased with a farmer's life, decided to look for something better, as he thought, and wandered into the New River hills, working at saw- mills and as a day laborer in all kinds of work required in the log- ging and manufacturing of timber into lumber, until he reached his majority. He worked for many days at fifty cents a day, and paid his own board. Finally, he was enabled to secure an interest in a sawmill, which he operated for local trade, being able to sell his product at one dollar per hundred for first-class lumber, and forty cents a hundred for the lower grades. Finding the lumber business, under these circumstances. unprofitable, he again retired to the farm and tried farming again for a period of two years, then removed to Hinton, where he secured employment at the stone-
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
mason's trade ; later, with D. C. Wood, the contractor, he purchased the old Gibson carpenter shop. In May, 1895, he purchased from Cook & Burkes a small sawmill and machinery at the price of $1,139.50, agreeing to pay for same in five months. By his energy he succeeded in making this payment. He operated this mill until the spring of 1897, when he engaged in a general mercantile busi- ness at Dunns, West Virginia, and later, engaged in the sawmill business at Flat Top, with a branch store at Odd, West Virginia. This business was not profitable, and in the spring of 1899 he pur- chased a new sawmill and machinery and operated the same in Dickinson and Wise Counties, Virginia, sawing practically on con tract for John A. Taylor & Co., of this county, who failed in busi- ness in the fall of 1900.
Mr. Lilly has had many ups and downs in his financial career, but has always been exceedingly enterprising and industrious. In 1901 he began operating a lumber business in the city of Hinton, to which he gave his entire time and energy and good business judgment, from which he has accumulated a handsome fortune. He has been operating over a territory which had been culled from for the last twenty-five years, and, remarkable to say, has been able to find much good timber near the line of the railroad, which had been overlooked by pioneer lumber dealers and timbermen. His whole- sale trade now embraces all of the territory of Greenbrier, Poca- hontas, Monroe, Summers, Fayette and Raleigh Counties, shipping to the Eastern and foreign markets. The first shipment in his pres- ent trade was purchased by him from John S. Kellogg, of Elk Knob, this county, and shipped from Don station.
At this time he has handsome offices in the Ewart-Miller Build- ing in the city of Hinton. He owns a handsome home formerly occupied by B. L. Hoge ; he is a stockholder in the Bank of Sum- mers and a director in the Hinton Hotel Company, active, energetic. reliable and responsible. He is president of the New River Land Co., Hinton Steam Laundry, and president and general manager of the Lilly Lumber Co.
In a difficulty with Creed Meador, he was shot through the body, at Dunns, in Mercer County. His recovery from this wound was very remarkable, by reason of the character and the seriousness of the same, but from which he has suffered continuously to the present time.
Mr. Lilly is one of the successful business men of the city of Hinton. His father still resides on the old farm at the foot of Flat Top Mountain, and is one of the honored Confederate soldiers
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
of the Civil War. Mr. Lilly has three brothers, Everett W., W'm. Lundy and Grant. His mother was Abagail Turner, of Patrick County, Virginia. His grandfather's name was Elijah Lilly, and was a descendant of the original Robert Lilly, the pioneer settler of that name in this region.
GREENLEE LILLY.
Greenlee Lilly, now a resident of Florida, was born two miles and a half from Jumping Branch, and is a son of "Shoemaker Bill" Lilly, the second sheriff of Summers County. His son Green- lee, served four years as his deputy, beginning when seventeen years of age. He also later served four years as deputy sheriff for Harrison Gwinn, being equally interested in that office. He married a daughter of Charles Clark, Miss Emma, who died within a few years after. For a number of years he engaged in farming after retiring from office. During Cleveland's second administra- tion he was appointed to an office under the general government in Washington city, and later was made a policeman at the capitol, which position he held for over four years. Retiring from that posi- tion he engaged as traveling salesman for the first wholesale grocery company ever established in Hinton, the Hinton Grocery Company. He was an active promoter and one of the principal persons who organized the New River Grocery Company, with which he en- gaged for a number of years as traveling salesman, after which he retired and removed to Florida on account of his health, and for the last four years has been engaged as a traveling salesman in that state, making his home at Oceola. In January, 1908, he mar- ried Mrs. Smith, of Hot Springs, Virginia.
Mr. Lilly is an active, energetic and intelligent gentleman and one of the descendants of the original ancestor, Robert Lilly, who founded that great family in this region.
LEE WALKER.
Lee Walker is an enterprising citizen of Hinton, who has made his own way in the world. He was born in Boone County, West Virginia, on the 12th of September. 1872, and is a son of John Thomas Walker, a native of Boone County and of English descent. On the 23d day of October, 1893, he married Miss Florence G. Cook, a daughter of John H. Cook, of Old Sweet Springs, in Monroe County. He located in the city of Hinton, December 21, 1891, and
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T. H. LILLY, Founder Lilly Lumber Company.
JAMES B. LAVENDER, Civil Engineer.
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HENYCH! IC LIBRARY
A.T ., LINUX AND AUTIONS.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
engaged as a brakeman on the C. & O. Ry., and later lie became agent for the Standard Oil Company in Hinton and surrounding territory, which position he has held for several years, being in charge of the distribution of the products of that great corporation in the region round about Hinton. In 1896 he organized the New River Milling Company, a corporation which is now doing a large business in the manufacture of feed, with its headquarters and mills in Hinton, its business now averaging $10,000 per month. His corporation has erected a large three-story brick milling plant in the lower end of the city of Hinton, and of which corporation he has been the general manager from its organization until the present, and which position he fills with ability, fidelity and intelligence. The leading citizens of the city are stockholders in the enterprise, including Robert R. Flannagan, president ; C. B. Mahon, vice-presi- dent ; H. Ewart, secretary, and E. W. Grice, John Richmond, J. H. Jordan, A. E. Miller, C. L. Miller and others.
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