USA > West Virginia > Summers County > History of Summers County from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 48
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Elbert Fowler received from Andrew Johnson a pardon for his transgressions as a Confederate soldier. After disposing of the "Border Watchman," he took up the practice of law, which he pursued until his death, on March 21, 1885, making his home at the mouth of Indian Creek on the old Fowler homestead. At the date of his death he and James H. Miller were partners in the law. Mr. Fowler was one of the brightest lawyers and most loyal of men it has ever been my good fortune to be associated with or to know. A comparatively small portion of his time was spent at the mouth of Indian after he applied himself to his profession, being counsel for the Norfolk & Western Railway Company for the last several years of his life, and much of his time was spent in Virginia looking after the interests of that corporation.
He was elected prosecuting attorney of this county in 1874, and served four years ; was a candidate for re-election against the Hon. W. R. Thompson at the election held in 1878. Mr. Thompson, on the face of the returns, had a majority of - votes. Mr. Fowler, believing that the clection had not been fairly conducted and that irregularities existed, instituted a contest in the courts, which was fought through the county and Supreme Courts for some time, when the differences were compromised, and Mr. Thompson was per- mitted to retain the office for the full term.
A law partnership was formed between Mr. Fowler and James H. Miller on the first day of October, 1883. The latter was elected prosecuting attorney at the clection held in 1884, and Mr. Fowler qualified as his assistant, which position he continued to hold until his death.
On the 12th day of March, 1885. Mr. Fowler came to Hinton, from his farm at Indian, a distance of sixteen miles up New River from Hinton, stopping at the office of the firm at the court house for some time, and then went to his hotel for dinner (the old brick Central Hotel, which was afterwards burned), after which he started to return to the court house, when he met J. S. Thompson, an attorney, at the crossing of the alley on Second Street. just below the new hotel of the Hinton Hotel Company, which is now
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
under construction. When Fowler was at the middle of the cross- ing and Thompson about twenty feet above on the sidewalk, they coming towards each other, Mr. Fowler having a bundle of law books under his arm, Mr. Thompson drew a revolver and began shooting at him. Some four or five shots were fired by him, two of which took effect in Mr. Fowler's leg between the knee and ankle, breaking the bones in two places and shattering that part of his leg, the breaks of the bones being about four inches apart. Fowler drew a small derringer, about four inches long, from his pocket, and shot as he fell, but missed his mark. Fowler fell to the ground, and was carried to his room at the Central Hotel, where he was attended by a number of the most skilled surgeons in the country, including Doctors S. P. Peck, of Hinton; Dr. Isaiah Bee, of Princeton, and Dr. McDonald, of Union.
It was not thought at the time that the wounds would prove fatal, and Mr. Fowler would not consent to having an amputation performed, but after four or five days it was apparent that the only hope of saving his life was to amputate the foot. This was done two or three days before his death, but it was too late; blood poisoning had set in, the bones of the leg having been shattered, and on the 21st he died from the result of the wound. A day or so before his death a mistake was made in the administering of his medicine, by wrongfully administering a poison called aconite, which mistake was shortly afterwards discovered and the effects counteracted, but resulted in weakening the patient. This mistake was made by an attendant, an old gentleman, Wm. B. Wiggins, who was greatly distressed by reason of his unintentional carelessness, Mr. Wiggins being an earnest friend and admirer of Mr. Fowler. It was claimed at the trial of Thompson, later, that this mistake aided in producing the death, and was set up as a part of the defense. Mr. Wiggins was deeply pained over his mistake, and at the trial as a witness he was subjected to a very bitter attack by the at- torneys for the defense, especially Captain R. F. Dennis, in argu- ment to the jury, the character of which will be well remembered at the time by those who heard it, and a part of which is of a nature not to be preserved in print, which language was regretted by Cap- tain Dennis in cooler moments.
A coroner's jury was held after the death of Mr. Fowler, and Mr. Thompson was charged with his murder, and indicted and tried. The feeling of a very large portion of the county was much aroused against him, the prominence and connections of the parties naturally made strong partisans. Bail in the penalty of $25,000.00
THOS. NASH READ, Lawyer and Orator.
SHANNON P. PECK, M. D. Twenty-five Years Surgeon C. & O. Ry.
THE NEW YOR" PUBLIC LIBRARY
A'T '. LENOX AND PH 'UNSATIONE.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
was granted by Judge Holt, the circuit judge at the time, which was easily given, the bondsmen being C. L. Thompson, Col. J. G. Crockett and A. B. Perkins.
At the first calling of the case Judge Holt vacated the bench, and the hearing came on before Judge Frank Guthrie, of the Kanawha Circuit. A motion was made for a change of venue by the defendant, which was vigorously opposed by the State. Af- fidavits were filed by the accused to show that the prejudice of the people was so strong against him in the county that he could not get a fair and impartial trial; counter affidavits were filed by the State to the contrary, but the court held that the case should be removed to another county for trial, which was accordingly done, and the case was removed to Lewisburg, the county seat of Green- brier County, the place of former residence of Mr. Thompson, and where a number of his relatives resided, who were prominent citi- zens in the community. A great many witnesses were summoned for each side, some twenty or twenty-five, and great interest was manifested in the trial throughout this section. The defense claimed by Mr. Thompson was principally on the grounds of self-defense, threats by the deceased against Thompson being proven, the prin- cipals in the tragedy having been on unfriendly terms for a number of years, and not having spoken for some four or five years.
At the trial the State was represented by Hon. John W. Ar- buckle, of Lewisburg, appointed by the court to prosecute, as the prosecuting attorney of that county. Mr. John A. Preston was a relative of Mr. Thompson, and had been engaged for his defense after the removal of the case to that county. Gen. Frank P. Blair, of Wytheville, Va., who had been a former attorney-general of that commonwealth, and James H. Miller, the then prosecuting attorney of Summers County.
The defendant was ably represented by United States Senator John E. Kenna, Gen. J. W. St. Clair, of Fayetteville: Col. James M. French, of Princeton; Col. J. W. Davis, Capt. R. F. Dennis, Hon. John A. Preston and Capt. A. F. Mathews, of Lewisburg, one of the ablest array of attorneys that ever defended any man in this State or in any other State.
There were two trials. The first occupied two weeks, result- ing in a hung jury. A second trial was afterwards had and oc- cupied a similar length of time, which resulted in the acquittal of Mr. Thompson, the jury being out only a few minutes. Mr. Arbuckle occupied in his argument for the State two hours and a half ; Gen. Blair, five hours at the first trial. The attorneys ar-
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
guing the case for the defendant were Senator Kenna, Captain Dennis, Colonel Davis, General St. Clair, Colonel French and Mr. Preston. Jas. H. Miller did not argue the case, being a witness examined for the State.
Mr. Thompson was crippled in one limb from a natural de- formity, from which he had suffered all his life. Mr. Fowler weighed about 140 pounds, had been badly crippled in the capital disaster at Richmond, Virginia, at the time of that catastrophe, by having one leg shattered and his scalp torn off. This was about the year 1870.
Mr. Thompson continued to reside in Hinton until about the year 1903 or 1904, when he located at Beckley for the practice of his profession, but soon afterwards died at his father's residence in Huntington, West Virginia.
Mr. Fowler was a most excellent and enterprising citizen, and at the time of his death was engaged in a number of enterprises for the development of this region of his State, one of which was for a construction of a branch of the Norfolk & Western Railway from the mouth of East River, in Giles County, down New River to Hinton, for which a large part of the right of way had been secured and paid for. He was a promoter of the New River Rail- road and Mining Company, and proposed a railroad up New River. These enterprises lapsed after his death. He was one of the pro- moters of the Hinton Steamboat Company, which proposed to navigate New River from Hinton east.
The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company had become very antagonistic to him, and in his last race for prosecuting attorney fought him at the polls, and did its utmost to encompass his de- feat, by reason of his independence of corporate influence and faithfulness to his constituents, and to the great mass of the com- mon people. This antagonism also grew out of the fact that Mr. Fowler had been largely instrumental in compelling the arching of the Big Ben Tunnel, near Talcott. When first constructed, this tunnel was arched with wooden timber, which after a few years became decayed and began to fall in and endanger the lives of passengers and employes. A short time before he retired from the office of prosecuting attorney a crew on a freight train had been caught in the tunnel by falling rotten timbers from the arch, and a number killed and crippled. Fowler as prosecuting attorney had a coroner's inquest held, the tunnel condemned and the railroad company held responsible. Soon after this the arching of this great tunnel was begin, and continued for a number of years until com-
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pleted, and to Mr. Elbert Fowler is due the honor of changing that hole from a death-trap into safety.
As a prosecutor he was vigorous and determined. He was a man of high and honest aspirations and instinct, a true and loyal friend, an excellent and faithful lawyer, and an open enemy. His great misfortune was that of a violent temper and strong preju- dices. His death was a great loss and most keenly felt, not only by the public, the county and State, but personally by the author of this book, who had enjoyed his friendship and assistance at a time when it was most valuable, and it is with pleasure an honor and a duty for him to pay some tribute to his character and man- hood.
On the 28th of November, 1878, he married a Miss Bailey, of Griffin, Georgia, and left surviving him two boys, Elbert and Bailey, who are now grown men, but have never made this State their residence, being reared in the State of Georgia, at their mother's home. Just before his death Mr. Fowler executed his last will and testament, which is a matter of record in the clerk's office of this county. He made a dying statement. At the trial Mr. Thompson did not take the stand as a witness in his own behalf.
Sleep on, brave soldier, in the endless battle of man ! If immortality be the crown of lofty aims and noble work, Then thou hast immortality.
That the killing of Mr. Fowler was in cold blood is borne out by his slayer, who told to a number of people from his own lips that he shot Fowler to kill him, and detailed his actions and the manner of the killing, saying that he "shot too high the first time, and the second shot he aimed at his heart; but that his crutch slipped and he hit him in the leg." It was a killing without legal justification.
Last will and testament of Elbert Fowler :
I, Elbert Fowler, desire that all my just debts be promptly paid as possible, and first among my debts I desire that a debt I owe to my sister, Mrs. A. L. Pearis, be paid, and to that end I di- rect that my executrix shall sell at public or private sale, as she may deem proper, both my personal and real estate.
I bequeath to my beloved wife, Mrs. Mary Bailey Fowler, all my real estate and personal, wherever located, whether in the State of West Virginia or Virginia; some mineral lands in the counties of Pulaski and Montgomery, Virginia. I desire that my wife shall associate with her in the settlement of my estate James
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D. Johnson, a lawyer and my brother-in-law, in the county of Giles, Virginia, I desire that the executrix of my estate shall give no bond as such executrix.
I desire that J. H. Miller, my law partner, shall close up any business of mine that he has in hands, and that he shall give no bond.
In testimony whereof I here set my hand, this March 22, 1885.
ELBERT FOWLER.
Witnesses :
J. C. M'DONALD, W. F. M'CLUNG. A. G. FLANAGAN, JAS. H. MILLER.
DAVID HUGHES.
One of the first settlers in all this land was William Hughes. He was a Loyalist, and so continued, and to escape military service in the American Army, hid himself in the wilds of Pipestem Dis- trict on the waters of Bluestone River. The high knob in that region, Dave's Knob, was named for David Hughes, which is some seven or eight miles west of Athens. He had a hiding place on the top of this knob. He was a giant in size and strength, and on one of his expeditions he caught a cub bear, which, by its outcries, brought its mother, which fiercely attacked him, seizing him by the left arm. He succeeded in dispatching the bear by striking it in the ribs with his fist. Afterwards he moved into Wyoming County and had some thrilling experiences with the Indians on the Clear Fork and Guyandotte Rivers, one especially about where X Jesse P. O. is now located, but I have not been able to secure a sufficiently authentic account to detail it here. He afterwards re- turned to the Pipestem country and founded the Hughes family, which is now scattered all over the land. William Hughes, his descendant, died in recent years at Pipestem. He was a prominent man, justice of the peace and the owner of lands. His son. Gordon L. Hughes, at one time owned the Pipestem mill and a large boundary of land, and was engaged in the cattle and lumber busi- ness, and placed the present plank fence around the court house about 1885. He was also a man of considerable literary talent, being engaged as a schoolteacher and at one time a candidate for school superintendent, but is now a resident of Arkansas. Another
ADRIAN D. DALY, First Judge of Hinton, Attorney and Capitalist.
WM. H. SAWYERS, Editor, Lawyer and Humorist.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
brother, Hugh J. Hughes, was a merchant in Hinton for a number of years, and now resides at Beckley, Raleigh County. His son, G. J. Hughes, resides in Hinton and is engaged in the mercantile business, as is also his brother, Edward Hughes. H. M. Hughes was a deputy sheriff and jailer and died in 1905. He married a daughter of Captain Mark M. Miller. Wm. Hughes married a Jordan. The Hughes of modern days have been prominent and good citizens. G. J. Hughes is an active and energetic gentleman. They are active in the councils of the Democratic party and are Methodists in their religious beliefs. David Hughes, the founder of the Hughes family in this region, was a native of North Carolina, and when the Revolution of 1776 began, he came to this wilderness to avoid service in the American Army, being a loyal supporter of King George the Third.
GOTT.
One of the first settlers in Hinton was John R. Gott, who first located in what is now the city of Avis, then Upper Hinton. He is a native of Mercer County and a son of Andrew Gott, of that county. Andrew Gott was a brave Confederate soldier. John R. Gott was a carpenter and the first undertaker who ever located and who has successfully operated his business in this city. He married a Miss Carr, daughter of Captain Carr. of Mercer County. His son, Andrew, who married a Miss Smith, is a resident of Hin- ton, W. Va. A daughter, Miss Sallie, married S. O. Fredeking, the locomotive engineer of Hinton, and another daughter, Miss Nellie, married Dr. Palmer. Miss Mary Gott, a sister of John R. Gott. married Isaac Gerow, the New Yorker, who located in Hinton soon after its foundation, and is the brother of H. S. Gerow. Wil- liam Gott, another brother, married a Miss Lavender, residing now near Ronceverte, W. Va.
Andrew Gott, a brother of John R., and now a citizen of Mercer, was a captain in the Confederate Army during the Civil War of Co. I. 36th Virginia Infantry.
John R. Gott has been a member of the city council of both Hinton and of Upper Hinton. Another son, Fred, is an undertaker in the town of Princeton, W. Va.
DALY.
Adrian D. Daly is one of the rising lawyers of this section. He was born in Bridgeport, Alabama, July 11, 1876: studied telegraphy
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
at fourteen years of age, rose to the position of train dispatcher on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, which position he occupied at Thurmond and Hinton. During his employment as telegraph operator he studied law; took the law course at the West Virginia University in 1902, was admitted to the bar in 1903, and began the active practice in 1905, retiring from the railway service. When the law was passed in 1907 establishing the office of police judge in the city of Hinton, he was appointed police judge, which position he now holds, being a fearless and just official. In 1904 he was united in marriage with Miss Vella V. Flanagan, a daughter of Andrew G. Flanagan, of Hinton. He is an active and enterprising lawyer and citizen, free from deceit, sham or hypocrisy. His course as judge of the police court, the first the city ever had, and under a law passed by the Legislature of 1907, against the protest of many of the best citizens of the city, has been efficient and in the interest of good government, and has met the approval of the great majority of the best citizens of the cities. He is the founder of "Sunset Hill" addition to Hinton, for which he deserves credit for his enterprise.
COMPTON.
William Egan Compton was an early settler in Hinton, though not one of the earliest. He was a native of Tazewell County, Vir- ginia, and married Lucinda Neal, of Bland County, Virginia. In 1875 he bought a plantation, including a part of the Clover Bottoms on Bluestone, in Mercer County, which is still owned to this day by his children. He owns that part of the Clover Bottoms known as the old Clay place, and the exact spot on which Tabitha Clay was killed by the Indians. Her grave is still to be seen by rough monuments, and the place where the Indian stood who shot her, close to a spring, is still pointed out. Mr. Compton came to Hinton in 1883, and made that city his permanent home until his death in 1903, his wife having died in 1900. Their children were Edward W., who now lives in Beckley and is one of the largest stockholders, and is the general manager of The Raleigh Supply and Milling Company, which manufactures feed and other foodstuffs and op- erates a general feed business and rock crushing plant at Whorley's Mill. one of the ancient water grist-mills in Raleigh County on Piney. He was at one time sergeant of the city of Hinton. Miss Susanna Belle Compton. the second child, resides in Chillicothe, Missouri, in the same town with Thos. K. Campbell, an old resident
THE COMPTON FAMILY, Early Settlers of Hinton.
THE NE . FORM PUBLIC LIBRAR
AUTOR, LENOX IAS
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
of Camp Creek, and J. H. Campbell, his son, who was for some time a resident of this county, having emigrated to Missouri in 1905. The other children are Miss Hester, unmarried : Miss Lily, who married C. T. Nunnelley, a competent locomotive engineer of the C. & O. Railway, and they reside in Hinton ; Captain B. T. Compton, a conductor on the C. & O. Railway, who married Miss Maddox, of Front Royal, Virginia, and who live in Hinton; Miss Mary, who married James Eubanks, another locomotive engineer of the C. & O. Railway; and Walter Compton, who resides at Charleston, in the employment of the K. & M. Railway, occupying the position of road foreman of engines.
CLARK.
There were two families of Clarks of Pipestem District who deserve special mention in any correct history of this region-that of Charles Clark, mentioned in another section, and that of Rufus Clark, which is undertaken to be dealt with, and, as in so many in- stances, we have the same difficulty on account of defective fam- ily records.
Rufus Clark, the founder of the family in this county, was born near Indian Mills, then in Monroe County. where Esquire James M. Keatley and his family now reside, on the 13th day of December, 1812, during the period of the second struggle of our country with great Britain, his father being in the army of the United States at the date of the birth of Rufus Clark. He was the tenth of a family of twelve children. His father's name was Al- exander Clark, and, as above stated, a soldier of the war of 1812. and was of Irish descent. The date of the emigration of the re- mote ancestor from beyond the sea is now unknown. The first founders of the family resided near Union, in Monroe County, and were familiar with all the hardships and burdens of pioneer life, and with the treacherous and deadly modes of the Indians. Rufus Clark was united in marriage with Mary Ford, and there were born to them ten children, four boys and six girls. Sa- rah E. married Joel A. Butler; Derinda, Joseph F. Wood; Mary E., A. F. Brown, P. C., Z. R. Butler and Virginia Clark, and N. G., who married A. H. Via. The boys were Allen T., A. F., Jas. G., John and R. W.
Rufus Clark and wife settled on the old Clark homestead, now occupied by R. W. Clark, overlooking the New River, in 1851. Alexander Clark's wife's maiden name was Mary Hawkins, and
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
they were married in what is now Monroe County, in 1796, and the following year that county was formed.
Rufus Clark died January 12, 1886. Alexander Clark, a brother of Rufus, settled in Kanawha County, and Judge Henry C. Mc- Whorter, of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, mar- ried one of his daughters.
Allen T. Clark, the oldest son of Rufus, and James G., were brave soldiers in the Confederate Army throughout the Civil War, the latter receiving a severe wound at the Seven Days' Fight around Richmond. A. F., another brother, joined the army in 1863, and was severely wounded at the Battle of Winchester, on September 19, 1864.
Rufus Clark and all his family are noted for their good citi- zenship and as law-ibiding and pious people-that character of people who go to make the "bone and sinew" of a good commu- nity. Several of the boys have held positions of trust among their neighbors, Allen T. having been the president of the Board of Education of Pipestem District and a justice.
R. W. Clark, the eighth child, and who resides on the old plantation of his father, is one of the oldest and most progressive teachers in the county, having begun that occupation in 1877, and is noted in this section as one of its most progressive educators. He was elected as a member of the Board of Examiners of the county for a term of two years. On the 13th day of April, 1887. he was united in marriage with Miss Mary C. Crawford, and they have seven children. He is now a member of the Book Board of the county, having been elected to that position by reason of his character, probity and good judgment : served his district for four- teen years as a justice of the peace, and refused to serve longer. His conduct of that office was characterized by honest, fair and good judgment. So admirably were his official duties performed that his constituents desired him to continue to hold the position, but he declined, after having been elected four terms in succes- sion, only serving two years of his last term.
The ancestors of this family were engaged as fighters of the Indians, and one of them-possibly Alexander-took part in a fight on an island at the mouth of Indian Creek, near where Charles A. Baber now resides. This fight on the side of the whites was fought by Captain Paull, and it was in this fight that a Mrs. Gwinn was recaptured from the Indians, who had taken her prisoner and were conveying her West when overtaken and recaptured in this Indian fight on said island.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Unfortunately, the details of this fight are lost to history, and only by tradition are we able to chronicle that there was such a fight, commanded by Captain Paull on the part of the whites, and that they were victorious, and that it resulted in the recapture of the white woman, who was thus enabled to be returned to her friends, and the Clark ancestry were engaged on the side of the whites and of civilization.
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