USA > West Virginia > Summers County > History of Summers County from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 55
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FOX.
David and Samuel Fox, two brothers, emigrated in the early days from Franklin County, Virginia, and settled at Brooks' Falls on New River, four miles west of Hinton. They were sons of William Fox, who bought land from Brooks, the first settler, who had secured a grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia. David and Samuel had two other brothers, William and Joseph, who settled on the War Ridge in Fayette County. Samuel died during the Civil War, a prisoner at Johnson's Island, one of the Union prisons. David died a few years ago, leaving the following chil- dren, who reside in the county: J. A. Fox, Charles R. Fox, David M. Fox and Samuel H. Fox, all prosperous and living at Brooks and its neighborhood. Joseph R., who moved to Parkersburg. Elizabeth married James H. Martin, a Confederate soldier of Lick Creek; Susan married Henry Bennett, and Mary married John Willis. William, George Fox and Frank. Eldridge and John are also sons of David, and moved from this section several years ago. The Foxes are a thrifty, law-abiding people, good citizens and of the class that go to make a good community.
WILLIAM H. SAWYERS.
Wm. H. Sawyers was born October 25, 1870, on a farm near Meadow Bluff, in Greenbrier County, and, like many of the suc- cessful men of this country, began his career as a farmer and teacher in the public schools, as a stepping-stone to a higher career. Through his own efforts he took a complete course at the State Normal School at Concord, graduating and taking the orator's medal in the class of 18 -; later, he took the law course at the West Virginia University, graduating and taking the degree of L. L. B. in the class of 1894. In 1895 he acquired one-third interest in the "Independent Herald." a newspaper, with Howard Tem- pleton and his son, Maurice Templeton. Later, he disposed of his interest in that enterprise, and he was appointed to a position in
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the Interior Department of the general government at Washing- ton, D. C., at which city, at the Columbia University, he took the post-graduate course in international law and diplomacy. Later, he acquired the entire ownership of the "Independent Herald," a newspaper at Hinton, which he has successfully conducted to the present date, being the editor, owner and publisher.
Mr. Sawyers is an accomplished writer and close student, with a successful future before him. In politics he is a Democrat, and has occupied positions of trust in the councils of that party, having been Chairman of the Democratic County Committee, conducting the campaign of 1898 successfully. In 1904 he was elected a mem- ber of the Democratic State Executive Committee for the Seventh Senatorial District, succeeding James H. Miller on his nomination for the judgeship. He practices his profession incidentally with his newspaper work. Recently he has been selected as secretary and editor of the "Fayette Sun." a Democratic newspaper founded on the first day of February, 1906. He has been twice elected presi- dent of the Board of Education of Greenbrier District, and favor- ably mentioned for other places of trust and honor. He married Miss Josephine McCreery in 1907, a daughter of James T. McCreery. Since the retirement of Judge Daly he has been elected judge of the police court of Hinton for the succeeding term.
FOSTER.
There are a number of people now residing in the county by the name of Foster, and who seem not to have been of the original settlers. One of the first to settle in the county was James Ellison Foster, who came from Monroe County before the war and settled on Wolf Creek Mountain-a very intelligent man, who was promi- nent at the formation of the county. He was related to the old family of that name, descendants of whom live in Monroe County. Addison Foster, a brother of James E., located in the same section of the Wolf Creek country, in Forest Hill District, while James E. located in Greenbrier, Wolf Creek being the line between the two districts.
James E. Foster, who owns a good farm on the same mountain. is now engaged in the butcher business in Hinton. Lee Foster and Peter M. are sons of James E. Foster. Judson Foster, now residing in Hinton, is a son of Addison, both of the older brothers living to be old men. James E. and his sons are Methodists and
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Republicans, while Addison's were Baptists and Democrats. James H. Hobbs married Martha, daughter of James E.
Peter M. Foster, son of James E., is one of the active Demo- crats of Forest Hill, and is a member of the Board of Education of that district. He married a daughter of Thomas W. Townsley, and is a carpenter by trade, as well as a farmer.
There is another family of Fosters residing in Green Sulphur District, of which A. A. Foster is the founder, settling at an early day on the Swell Mountain. His two sons, J. J. and A. J. Foster, are both prominent farmers in the community, Jacob J. Foster having held the office of justice for four years, and Andrew J. president of the Board of Education for four years, being Repub- licans in their political faith. They are among the old teachers of the county, are farmers, and are law-abiding and good citizens. Joseph Martin married their sister, Margaret; Simeon Berkeley, another sister, and Henry Clay Martin, another.
HAYNES.
The family of Haynes has never been a numerous one in the county, though of eminent respectability, prominence an intelli- gence. They are of German descent. "The Dutchman naturally takes to blue grass, limestone and fat cows," so the original Haynes settle in Monroe County, then Virginia. The original German was Hayne, and the only American modification is the addition of the letter S. The German botanist, Friederich Gottleib Hayne, 1763- 1832, preserved to the present century the original orthography in his native country, as also the American poet, Paul H. Hayne, Isaac Hayne, a Revolutionary officer, and Robert Hayne, the Amer- ican statesman and orator, 1791-1840.
The family of Haynes of which we treat are descendants from the Revolutionary officer, Isaac Hayne, who was famed for his patriotism in the days of '76. Isaac was the father of seven broth- ers, soldiers in the struggle for American independence. The pro- genitor of the Monroe branch was William Haynes, who emerged from the Revolution of 1776 with an S to his name. Of the seven brothers, Charles is without a history, except for the single item of his marriage, November 24, 1781, with Mary Dixon, of Green- brier.
Benjamin belonged to General Morgan's "Legion" of riflemen, and is traditionally remembered as a rollicking, hardy, stout young
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
man. Late one evening, when the "Legion" was about to bivouac for the night, a young bull came bellowing into camp. Getting down on all fours, Ben began to menace and bellow, too. At an unguarded moment the animal made a furious lunge, and, catching a horn under the waistband of Ben's leather breeches, bore his terrified tormentor off in triumph some forty or fifty yards, to the great amusement of his "Legion" comrades, who had stopped to witness the performance. After the Revolution Ben lived and died on Jackson's River, about nine miles above Covington, Virginia.
All traces of the family of these brothers have entirely disap- peared.
Joseph also lived and died on Jackson's River. April 5, 1872, he was married to Barbara Riffe, of Greenbrier. The late Major Haynes, who lived near Oakland in Allegheny County, was a son of Colonel Charles Haynes, of the "Stonewall Brigade," who died a few years ago, and was a grandson of Joseph Haynes.
Moses settled in Tennessee at an early day, but no special knowl- edge is had of him.
William, born December 18, 1863, settled in Monroe County (then Greenbrier) on a farm between Gap Mills and the Sweet Springs. His wife was Miss Catherine Shanklin, of Botetourt County, Virginia. About 1795 Mr. Haynes moved to another farm at the foot of Little Mountain near Gap Mills, where he resided until his death, May 1, 1819, and his wife died there also in June 1812. In early life he was a merchant, but soon gave up that occupation. The pioneer Presbyterian divine, Dr. McElhenny, says : "The first family I visited in the field of my mission (Green- brier and Monroe) was that of Mr. Haynes in the Gap in Monroe County, and in his house I delivered my first sermon on the west of the Allegheny. By the aid of physical phenomena and certain topographical features, the locality in which Mr. Haynes lived is of considerable interest to the lover of natural curiosities. The point was named from the gap torn by Second Creek through Little Mountain by the bygone ages. This and the forcing of New River through Peter's Mountain at the Narrows, measure up in grandeur almost with Jefferson's description of the 'Passage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge.' The marks of disruption and avulsion left where these mountains of Monroe were cloven from apex to base also furnish monuments of war between rivers and mountains, which must have shaken the earth to its center. Relics of the glacier and plutonic era prevail extensively throughout the New
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River and Greenbrier Valleys. Everywhere, turn whithersoever you will, there causes are to be seen
"'Flinging their shadows on high, Like dials which the wizard, time, Had used to count his ages by.'"
William Haynes was a prominent citizen. He had one daugh- ter, Agnes D., who married, in the winter of 1819, Michael Erskine, of Monroe, afterwards removing to Gaudolope County, Texas, where she died, leaving five sons, John, Andrew, William, Michael and Alexander, and five daughters, Catherine, Margaret, Melinda, Ellen and Agnes. The late Mr. Erskine Miller, of Staunton, Vir- ginia, was a grandson of Mrs. Agnes D. Erskine.
James Madison Haynes was the eldest child of William, the senior, and was born February 17, 1794. He was one year old when his father moved to the McNutt place, which event he distinctly remembered in after years. He lived to be sixty-four years of age; was a student of Lewisburg Academy and member of the military company thereof. He married Miss Elizabeth Dunlap, September 20, 1821. He was a magistrate of Monroe County and a commis- sioner of the county court. He removed to Greenbrier County in 1840, five miles below Alderson, where he died in 1858. He left six children, William Haynes, of Summers County; Alex. D. Haynes, a successful merchant of Red Sulphur Springs, who rep- resented Monroe County in the Virginia Legislature in 1856, and died November 14, 1857. Robert P. Haynes was a major of militia before the war between the States, and entered the regular service of the Confederacy in the 26th Batallion, Virginia Infantry. He was captured at the battle of Cold Harbor, and a few days after killed in a railroad collision. July 16, 1864, while on his way to Elmira, N. Y., as a prisoner of war.
The fourth son was Rev. James Haynes, who was graduated from Washington College in 1859, entered Union Theological Semi- nary in 1859, and graduated in 1862, and located the same year at Muddy Creek, and was ordained into the Lewisburg Presbytery in 1863. After preaching one year at Anthony's Creek, he entered the Confederate Army as chaplain in the spring of 1863, and there continued until the close of the war. He preached at Muddy Creek from 1865 to 1870, which included McElhanny Chapel in the Mead- ows and Lick Creek, when he was placed in charge of an evangeli- cal field in Fayette County for two years, making his home at Gauley Bridge; thence he made his home at Cotton Hill. He
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HON. WM. HAYNES, Farmer and Statesman.
MICHAEL HUTCHISON and Mary, His Wife.
THE NEWYORE PUBLIC LIBRARY
RA ITADY ANE
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
recently died, leaving a large family. One daughter of James M. Haynes never married; the other, Jane A., married Wm. Caraway, of Alderson, West Virginia
Andrew S. Haynes died at the age of twenty-six at Gap Mills.
William P. Haynes was born August 2, 1802, and graduated in medicine in Philadelphia, and located in Alabama for the prac- tice of his profession, but died November, 1825.
Thomas N. Haynes also graduated in medicine in Philadelphia, and practiced for a short time in Monroe; went to various points South, and died in Texas. He was the youngest son of William Haynes, and was born August 9, 1805, and was never married. A cave on the farm of William Haynes at Gap Mills is pointed out as being the scene of the death of two Guinea negroes, man and wife, many years ago. They were the property of William Haynes, and were noted for their thieving propensities. They committed some theft, for which they received a severe whipping by the overseer, with the promise of its repetition in a day or two. The next day they were missing. Search being made, they were found with their throats cut and sitting erect against the side of the cave, the man still holding in his hand the razor with which the fatal deed had been done. These superstitious slaves, believing that they would return to Guinea after death, had taken all of the clothes and money they possessed into the cave with them. The money had been placed in the dress pocket of the woman with a view to bearing the expenses of their spiritual transportation, and was buried in the cave with the bodies.
The present family of Haynes of the county are the descendants of the late William Haynes, a son of James Madison Haynes, who resided at the old Haynes ferry plantation on Greenbrier River about five miles west of Alderson, and Thomas N. Haynes, of Pack's Ferry, on New River near the mouth of Bluestone, on the opposite side therefrom, residing on the old Captain Grandison Landcraft place, on which the old Pack's Ferry was originally established many years ago by the Packs, the first settlers of that region. He is the son of Mr. George Haynes, of Big Wolf Creek in Monroe County, who was a famous horse-trader and owner of the water-mill on that creek. J. N. Haynes is one of the best citi- zens of the county, and is the father of James Haynes, a successful employee of the C. & O. Railway, and Harvey Haynes, a farmer on New River.
J. N. Haynes married a Miss Mclaughlin, sister of Rev H.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
McLaughlin, the able minister of the Missionary Baptist Church, and a daughter of James McLaughlin, of Nicholas County.
Hon. William Haynes resided at his farm of Oak Lawn at the old Haynes' Ferry near Pence's Springs all his life. He was an educated farmer, practical as well as theoretical, a fine surveyor and mathematician. Some of the finest maps of land surveyed existing anywhere were made by him. One is now held by Mr. Andrew Gwinn at Lowell of his magnificent plantation of 2,000 acres. He was a son of James Madison Haynes and grandson of William, the senior, of the "Gap," and the grandfather of William J. Haynes, of Hinton, now engaged in the Hinton Department Co., and from whom we acknowledge much of the information we have in regard to the ancestral Haynes, having furnished me with a sketch from "Dr. McElhenny's Scholars," the old Lewisburg Acad- emy, from which we have liberally quoted; William Haynes, Jr., being the only son and child of the late James H. Haynes, a son of the Hon. William Haynes.
Hon. William Haynes was born September 5, 1822, and in his eighteenth year moved with his father, James M. Haynes, to "Oak Lawn," where he died. In 1850 he was married to Miss Amanda Ellen Harvey. a sister of the late "Squire" Allen L. Harvey, and who was a daughter of James Harvey, of Monroe County. Of this union there were born three sons, Jas. Harvey Haynes, who was en- gaged in the mercantile business in Hinton at the date of his death, on the 15th day of October, 1897, suddenly and without a moment's warning. He was a man of strong parts, open, manly and gen- erous. At the time of his death he was at the head of the Demo- cratic party organization of the county, and it was by his leadership the notable victory of 1896 was won, when foes from without and traitors and enemies from within the party organization had de- termined to annihilate the organization within the county, when the C. & O. Railway, with all its prestige and power, endeavored to force the county under its "Gold Standard" into the Republican camp; when the president of the great road went all over the city in a carriage drawn by four horses, accompanied by the superin- tendent and lesser officials, threatening employees with confiscation of jobs and dire calamity. It was then that the great power of Jas. H. Haynes was exhibited at its best as an organizer. Never losing his head or his good temper, he organized the party as had never been done before, and saved the county to the Democratic party. At the next convention of the party strong and sincere resolutions were passed, emulating his character and his virtues.
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He had been a teacher, farmer and merchant. The other son, John, is one of the leading merchants of Hinton and one of the owners of the Hinton Department Co., a leading Democrat, and one of the members of the common council of the city of Hinton. The other son, Harry Haynes, resides with his mother at the ancestral home on the banks of the Greenbrier, is a farmer and was elected in 1900 a member of the county court of the county, and is now its presi- dent.
Hon. William Haynes was elected a member of the Constitu- tional Convention of 1871, which framed the second Constitution of West Virginia and the one now existing in the State. He was prominently connected with farm organizations for many years ; was lecturer and secretary of the State Grange, and believed that in the union of the farmer there was strength. In 1892 he was nominated and elected a member of the State Senate from Eighth Senatorial District of the State of which Summers was a part, serving for four years with honor. It was during this term that Charles J. Faulkner and Johnson N. Camden were elected for the last time to the Senate of the United States, they being the last Democrats elected to that body from the State. He was educated at the old Lewisburg Academy under Dr. McElhenny, as had his father before him, and, as stated elsewhere, was directly related to the American poet, Paul Hayne, and the great orator and statesman from South Carolina, Hon. Robert Young Hayne, who had the celebrated oratorical tilt with Daniel Webster. He was a consistent and energetic member of the Presbyterian Church for forty years, high in its councils, and one of its pillars in this section of the State. He was noted for his kind heart and Christian character. His farm was a model; he demonstrated his theories by practical applications. At the date of the formation of this county as created he made a survey for a new county under the direction of Dr. Samuel Williams and A. P. Pence, Esq., of New Richmond. Had this county been formed in- stead of Summers, the county seat would have been at New Rich- mond instead of Hinton.
In 1874 the famous political fight was made. in which Mr. Haynes was the Democratic nominee against Hon. Sylvester Upton, a very estimable citizen of Jumping Branch, and who had represented the county of Mercer in the State Legislature. Mr. Upton was a Repub- lican of conservative inclinations, but ran as an independent candi- date, receiving the full vote of his own party and a strong element of the Democratic party, led by Mr. Elbert Fowler, who found fault with the manner of the nomination of Mr. Haynes, which was made
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by "passing around the hat" at a mass-meeting held in the grove where Mr. Dwight James now lives in Hinton. Whether the nomi- nation was regular or fair, or whether it was unfair, it is not possible now to say; but no charge or hint was ever suggested that Mr. Haynes was a party to anything wrong in connection with the nomination, as he was in no wise a candidate. Mr. Upton was successful, and the result submitted to by Mr. Haynes in that philo- sophical spirit for which he was noted. In the election for the Constitutional Convention and to the State Senate he was not a candidate for either position, but was nominated and elected by reason of the high esteem in which he was held by his fellow citi- zens. In those days the custom had not entirely ceased to exist of the office seeking the man.
His death was sudden and without warning. In addition to his three sons, he left surviving him two daughters, Misses Isabella and Mary and his widow, who still reside at the old homestead with Mr. Harry Haynes. The homestead is a part of the 400 acres at Haynes' Ferry granted by the Commonwealth of Vir- ginia to James Graham, Sr., which was acquired by James Madi- son Haynes, who owned it at his death. A part of this farm de- scended to William Haynes and to his children, and a part was purchased by Joseph Nowlan, and is now owned by Mrs. Tolly. Hon. William Haynes was a scientific farmer, as is his son, Harry, and it is not uncommon for his cornfield to produce 100 bushels to the acre.
BACON.
Robert Carter Bacon was a direct descendant of the famous pa- triotic leader of Bacon's rebellion against the authority of Lord Berkeley in Virginia in the early colonial days, Berkeley being the English nobleman. then Governor, against whose authority Na- thaniel Bacon led a revolt, and on whose death the revolution col- lapsed, facts of history known to all who have read the history of this county, and his name will live in history to the remotest ages and as long as history is written.
Robert Carter Bacon came to this country before the Civil War, formed an acquaintance with Jacob Fluke, who resided on the plantation now known as the Bacon place. At that time there was located where Bacon's Mill is now situated, around the bend of the Greenbrier, back of the Big Bend Mountain, some two and one half miles from Talcott Station, "Fluke's" mill and carding ma- chine. run and operated from the splendid water-power at that
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
point. Soon after Mr. Bacon's arrival in the community this mill was burned and utterly destroyed, a total loss to Mr. Fluke, who was not able to rebuild on the plans desired, and Bacon became a partner and interested in the property, and on the site of the de- stroyed plant was built Bacon's Mill, just prior to the war a few years, and which is still standing to-day, being a large two-story frame structure, with wooden turbine, wheel and machinery for the manufacture of grain into flour, feed and meal. It has for years been the only available mill in that region, and is patronized for miles around, it being an "all-the-year-around" mill, and not a "wet-weather" enterprise. Later, Mr. Bacon married Miss M. N. Fluke, the only daughter of Jacob Fluke, and each of her brothers dying in the Southern Army. On the death of her father she inherited all of the properties formerly owned by him, and is now the posessor of one of the best and most elaborate farms in the county, consisting of 1,000 acres of land on the Greenbrier.
Robert C. Bacon died in the year 1880, leaving the widow who still survives, and who is a lady of rare good sense, culture and refinement, one son, Nathaniel, and one daughter, Miss Mary, who died a few years ago in New Mexico, where she had gone in search of health.
N. Bacon, the son, is now cashier of the Talcott Banking & Guaranty Co., incorporated under the laws of the State of West Virginia on the 29th day of September, 1906. He is also president of the Talcott Toll Bridge Co. and actively engaged in farming and stock raising, and is progressive and active in business affairs. We are able, through his courtesy, to give some data in regard to the Bacon lands.
Robert C. Bacon was a gentleman of education, an "Old Vir- ginian" of business foresight. To secure the advantages of the water-power below Talcott on the Greenbrier, which is very fine, he secured all the river frontage from above Talcott to a distance below his mill, three miles. Some time before his death he prepared his last will and testament in his own handwriting, de- vising all of his property to his wife. Nathaniel Bacon is the only man of the name in the county, and is a direct descendant of the colonial Bacons and Carters. Jacob Fluke was one of the first settlers on the Greenbrier River within the county.
Robert Carter Bacon came to the territory of Summers County to John Gwinn's, in the Lick Creek country, on the 23d of Novem- ber, 1853. There he took sick, and meeting with Andrew Gwinn, of the Lowell settlement, when he became able, he returned to Mr
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Gwinn's house, a mile east of Lowell, and while there he was present at a trial before Squire Gwinn over a sheep killing dog, at which trial he met Jacob . Fluke, his future father-in-law and the grandfather of Nathaniel Bacon. Mr. Fluke's mill-and carding machine-had been burned down a short time before, which was located on the present site of Bacon's Mill and where it now stands. He bought the site of that mill from Jacob Fluke, and while build- ing the present mill thereon, boarded with him and remained there until he married his only daughter, Miss Nancy Mathews Fluke.
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