USA > West Virginia > Summers County > History of Summers County from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 60
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
ALBERT SYDNEY JOHNSTON.
While the subject of this sketch is not a resident or citizen of this county, being of the good county of Monroe, from which a portion of our country was formed, and having during his early and mature manhood been closely identified with our interests, engaged in the publication of a county, newspaper largely circu- lated within our territory, and his influence having always been for the best interests and advancement of the best social, intel- lectual and higher manhood, we take the liberty of giving him a passing notice in these sketches.
Albert Sydney Johnston is native of the old Commonwealth, near Warrenton, in the county of Fauquier, and was born on April 2. 1862, being the oldest child of Charles McLean Johnston and Virginia Lee Johnston, his wife. He attended the local schools of Virginia and in the city of Washington, D. C.
In 1876 his father with his family removed to Union, the county seat of Monroe County, West Virginia, becoming the owner and editor of the "Border Watchman," a Democratic news- paper then published in that town. His father died in 1880, and on his death his son, Albert Sydney, took entire charge of the newspaper plant and establishment, being then only eighteen years of age. He became at this early age the proprietor, printer, publisher and editor, and from that day to the present he has ful- filled those duties faithfully, honorably and with an eminent de- gree of intelligence. Shortly after assuming control of the estab- lishment he changed the name of the paper to "The Monroe Watchman." It is one of the clean, strong, intelligent and force- ful newspapers of the State, and one of the ablest edited papers in the country.
Mr. Johnston is in politics an ardent Democrat, and a fol- lower of Bryan. His political editorials are clear, clean and strong, clearly defining his position on all subjects; utterly fear- less ; never cringing to the grafter nor submitting to the boss, and never hesitating to denounce the wrongful politics of his own party or of its individual members when occasion demands it. By rea- son of the fearlessness of his advocacy and the genuineness of his logic his paper has obtained a standing and an influence en- viable in the newspaper field.
Mr. Johnston, while a partisan and in some respects a poli- tician, has not been of the office-seeking class, having refused fre-
HON. ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON, Journalist, Statesman and Publisher.
ARCHIE ROY HEFLIN, Attorney-at-Law and Orator.
THE NEW YOR.S PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIOND.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
quently the calls and demands of his party friends to become a candidate. In 1890, however, he was the nominee of his party for House of Delegates, and was elected by a flattering majority, at a time when the county was close. In 1892 he was again the nominee of his party and was again elected, and refused afterwards to again become a candidate. He was during the second Cleve- land administration tendered an appointment to an office under the administration, as a recognition of his intelligent and patri- otic services rendered his party.
He is a leader and not a follower-a maker of public opinion. When Albert Sydney Johnston advocates a measure, he does so in no uncertain manner, but not until he is satisfied of the cor- rectness of his position. He is a man of honorable. character and instincts, and has the confidence of those of the opposite party, there being among many of his admirers and personal friends those of an opposite political faith. For a quarter of a century he has been thoroughly identified with all the enterprises of a public character advanced for the betterment of his county.
As a legislator, he advocated those measures beneficial to the great masses, known in those days as the common people, and was one of the Democratic "people" on that side of the House. In the memorable session of 1898-9, Mr. Johnston was selected by the party leaders to edit and conduct the Charleston "Gazette" newspaper, and was active in the councils of that party at the capital.
Mr. Johnston is one of the self-made men of the State, and has made his mark, and will leave the impress of his manly char- acter for generations to come.
In 1894 he married Miss Izzie McNeer, of Union, a daughter of the late James W. McNeer, a son of Major A. A. McNeer, and whose mother was Mary Ann Miller, a daughter of John Miller, Sr., her mother being a daughter of the late E. M. Brown, one of the old-time merchants of this country, and of this union there has been born five children.
The circulation of the "Monroe Watchman" newspaper is one of the largest of any country newspaper in the State, now num- bering more than two thousand, and going into many States of the Union, and is a model newspaper-clean, newsy and sensible.
I regard Albert Sydney Johnston an honest man, a cultured gentleman, a patriotic, manly and just citizen.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
YOUNG.
John Young came to the territory of this county in 1852. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and his father's name was Corne- lius. John settled on the waters of Little Bluestone River, then Mercer. and died July 10, 1900. His wife was Mary A. Bradford. born in Botetourt County, Virginia, and her father was a soldier of the war of 1812. She died in August, 1903. Their children were J. Floyd, now a resident of Raleigh County; W. Reed, who died on the 24th of December, 1896; Michael A. W., who resides in Hinton, and has had a varied career, at one time being a min- ister of power and influence in the M. E. Church, and now a sales- man for a number of wholesale houses; John L., who was killed by his son, August 2, 1900, an account of which is given else- where; Augustus C., one of the most prosperous, intelligent and conscientious farmers in the county, living on his farm in Jump- ing Branch District: George S .. who lives near Hinton; S. G. L. Young, who lives near Jumping Branch, and Victoria J., who mar- ried J. A. Cox. and C. L., who married M. B. Simmons-consti- tuting a large family.
W. R. Young died very suddenly December 24, 1896, near the mouth of Bluestone, from heart disease, while traveling. He fell from his horse and expired in a moment. He was a most excel- lent citizen.
Augustus C., who is a Jefferson Democrat and a Missionary Bap- tist. has frequently been spoken of for important official positions. In 1903 he was appointed postmaster at Jumping Branch under Cleveland's administration, and held for a full term, and until President Mckinley came into office. G. F. Meador, the mer- chant at Jumping Branch, was his assistant. It was while he held that position that Enon Basham broke into and robbed the postoffice, for which he served a term of years in the penitentiary. He was arrested by his brother. Robert H. Basham, in order to get the fees due therefor.
This family is not related to the Young family which settled on New River in the early days.
THE COOK FAMILY.
In the year 1779 were married in Germany one Daniel Cook and Rosanna Willhoit, who shortly after emigrated to the New World, and settled somewhere in Virginia, and soon after, becom-
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
ing dissatisfied with their home, decided to move farther West. Crossing the Alleghenies and coming down the valley of the Greenbrier, they settled in what is now Pipestem District, Sum- mers County.
To this couple were born thirteen children, eight boys and five girls, as follows: Rhoda, Abram, Joel, Annie, Dinah, David, Ephraim, Cornelius, Jemima, Elizabeth, John, James and Madison.
The oldest, Rhoda, was born in the year 1791, married Larkin Williams in 1812, settled in what is now Jumping Branch District, and reared a large family of children.
To this Rhoda Cook Williams was born the following sons and several daughters, viz .: Fielden, Andrew, who is the father of Geo. W .; Allen G. and C. A. Williams, now living near Hin- ton; John, Lewis, Allen and Samuel, all of whom are now dead except Allen and Samuel. Rhoda, after the death of her husband, Larkin Williams, lived with Andrew Williams, her son, on the farm now occupied by Jas. H. Hobbs, and known as the "Old Williams Place," until her death, which occurred in 1879, at the age of ninety-eight years.
Abram Cook was born in 1793. Soon after his marriage he went West, settled in Indiana, reared a family and there died in 1876, at the age of eighty-three years.
Joel Cook, born in 1795, also went to Indiana, and there died the same year as Abram Cook (1876), aged eighty-one years.
Annie Cook, born in 1797, married Andrew Farley, and reared a very large family, consisting of the following: Malinda, who married Mace Petry, and was living when last heard from in Jackson County, this State ; Wilson, deceased, the father of Rev. John G. Farley, of River Ridge, in this county; Joel, who is now living and is the father of C. T. Allen, Mrs. W. C. Keaton and Mrs. W. O. Farley.
James, deceased, the father of J. Richard, and John A. Far- ley, of Pipestem ; Savina, deceased, who married John Petry, of Pipestem ; Melven, deceased, who is the father of Mrs. Thomas Lilly, Mrs. Tobe Weatherhead, Mrs. M. D. Neely, Austin G. and Thomas Farley; Ida, who first married Charles Abbott, and after his death married William Hughes, of Pipestem; Jackson, who is the father of Lewis B. Farley, the present sheriff of Mercer County ; Annie, who married William Dwiggins; Mary, deccased. who married Mandeville Cook: and Thomas, deceased, the young- est child, who entered the Confederate Army, fought under Gen- eral Early, was captured at the Battle of Winchester, and died in
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Camp Chase, Ohio, in 1864. She (Annie), died on River Ridge, in the year 1895, at the age of ninety-eight years.
Dinah, born in 1799, married Gideon Farley, settled near Beech Springs, in Pipestem, and reared the following children: Polly, who married Jackson Petry, and now lives in Kanawha County ; Andrew, deceased, who is the father of O. J. Farley, of Pipestem, and several daughters; Rebecca, who married Thomas Lilly, and is the mother of Allen G., B. P., Thomas H. and Geo. W. Lilly, the present county superintendent of Summers County; Levi, the father of N. H. Farley, of Pipestem, and several other children; Nelson, now living in Mercer County; Frank, now living in Ken- tucky; Rachel, who married Samuel Hopkins; Nancy, who mar- ried Reuben Hopkins; Malinda, who married Solon Meador, and William, the youngest, now living in Raleigh County. She died in the year 1884, at the age of eighty-five years.
David, born in 1801, married a Farley, sister to Andrew, Gid- eon and Archibald, for his first wife. He was the father of Isaac Cook, and had several daughters. He settled, lived and died in Pipestem. His death was caused by a fall from a cherry tree in 1876, at the age of seventy-three years.
Cornelius, born in 1803, married a Petry, settled at the foot of Bent Mountain, in Mercer County, and reared a large family, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in 1884, at the age of eighty-one years.
Jemima Cook, born in 1806, married Archibald Farley, and settled on the old homestead now owned and occupied by their youngest child, Mr. L. W. Farley. They reared a family consist- ing of the following: Madison, who is the father of Henderson, of Mercer County; W. O., present member of the county court ; Robert, Walter and Mrs. C. M. Vest; Mrs. John Cawley, de- ceased; A. G. P., Henderson, of Indiana; H. C., A. P., Chloe, deceased, who married Allen G. Lilly, and L. W. Farley. She died in 1883, at the age of seventy-seven years.
Elizabeth, born in 1809, married Martin Cadle, who is still liv- ing, and able to walk thirty miles in a day, and is now ninety years old, and has never been sick a single day during his life. To Elizabeth and Uncle "Mart" were born the following: John, deceased; William, deceased, and Daniel, now living in Iowa, be- sides several daughters, among whom is Mrs. Geo. W. Williams, of Leatherwood, near Hinton. Elizabeth died in the year 1900, at the age of ninety-one years.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
John Cook, who was born in 1813, and was living in Indiana when last heard from, and if living is now ninety-three years old.
James Cook, born in 1816, married Nancy Neely, and lived in Pipestem until his death, which occurred in April, 1901, from the effects of a burn. He was eighty-five years old when he died. James was the father of Mrs. Delila Meador, the stepmother of County Clerk J. M. Meador ; Mrs. Sarah Oxley, John, deceased ; Daniel H., living near Foss, W. Va .; Mahala, deceased; Martha J., who was the first wife of Rev. W. C. Keaton; James W., liv- ing in Mercer County ; H. C., William G., and Mrs. Lucretia Mil- ler, deceased.
Madison Cook, born in 1818, was the youngest child. He was fifty-eight years old at the death of the first child of the family.
Four of this ancient Cook family married in old Drewry Far- ley's family, who came and settled in Pipestem about the same time. They were Annie, Dinah, Jemima and David, who married Andrew, Gideon, Archibald and Elizabeth, and by so doing formed a very close relationship between the two families, so much so that their histories are very closely blended. Mention will be made of the Farley family in another chapter.
This ancient Cook family, without a single exception, so far as I can learn, were all Baptists, and many of them connected with that church before the "split," as it was called, after which the individual members of the family followed the dictates of their own consciences. Some united with the old New River or Indian Creek Association, and others with the old Greenbrier Associa- tion. Only a few years since another wing of the Baptist Church. known as the "Regular" Baptists, have organized, with quite a membership, several churches and a few associations, and the descendants of this Cook family are still adhering to one of these Baptist churches, either the Primitive, Missionary, or Regular Baptist churches, never losing "the faith once delivered to the saints," and honestly contending for baptism by immersion as the only mode authorized by God's Word.
Many of the old Cook family are laid to rest in the old family churchyard on the farm first settled by the ancient Drewry Far- ley, near the shadows of the "Old Rocky Mount Church," upon the farm where Alexander Farley now lives, and near Farley Post- office.
At the time of the settlement of Pipestem District by these ancient Cook and Farley families, there were scarcely any white settlers nearer than Lewisburg. Indians were often seen passing
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
through the country. The forests abounded with bears, deer, pan- thers and all kinds of smaller game. But time has wrought great changes. Generation after generation has come and passed away. The forests where the wild deer and the Indian roamed at will, where the moonbeams sparkled upon unbroken forests, where the "Indian lover wooed his dusky mate"-these solitary forests have been transformed into fine farms, where a healthful and thriving populace are now living under the eaves of schools and churches, and who hold beckoning hands to the weary traveler to come in and find a welcome with their stalwart sons and ruddy-cheeked daughters, and hide from the cold blasts of winter storms. A more generous and kind-hearted people will be hard to find than these, the descendants. of this ancient Cook and Farley families, who now compose perhaps one-half the population of Pipestem District.
"But the old families are gone, With their forests wild and deep, And we have built our homes upon Fields where their generations sleep."
The first settlement on Indian Creek was made by the Cooks in 1770, three miles from its mouth. This is near where Indian Mills now stands, and there they built a fort known as Cook's Fort, into which the settlers in the surrounding region-Brad- shaw's Run, Indian Creek and the Stinking Lick country-were gathered on the alarm of the approach of Indians. The horses and cattle were permitted to run at large with bells hung to their necks, and these cattle and animals would also be gathered into the fort to prevent their theft and destruction by the Indians.
We are not able to state what generation of Cooks made this settlement.
FLANAGAN.
Among the very first settlers who located in Hinton, and be- fore it was a town or even a village, were the Flanagan brothers, from Fayette County. R. R. Flanagan has lived longer in the city than any other man now living, except the Hinton boys, who were living here before the coming of the railroad. There were three brothers of the name who located early in the town-Robert R., Richard A. and Andrew G. Flanagan. They were the sons of Richard Allen Flangan, one of the oldest pioneers of Fayette
ANDREW G. FLANNAGAN, Capitalist.
THE NEWY
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
County, who settled and lived near Boyer's Ferry, now Sewell, in that county. He was born in Nelson County, Va., in the year 1807. While a small boy his parents moved from Nelson to Al- bemarle County. His father's name was James Flanagan, and he was a son of Flanagan, who emigrated from England, the Flanagan's being of English descent, the original ancestor crossing the ocean in the early settlement of the English in Amer- ica. The grandmother of the present Flanagan generation was Nancy Allen, a sister of Judge James Allen, of Richmond, Vir- ginia. Richard A. Flanagan married Nancy Gwinn, a sister of Avis Hinton, William and Lewis Gwinn, of Meadow Creek, and Andrew Gwinn, of Illinois, and was a descendant of the old set- tler at Lowell, Samuel Gwinn. The children of Richard A. Flana- gan were the three brothers above named and William G. Flana- gan, now a resident of this county at the old Eldridge Gwinn place in the Little Meadows. He has occupied a number of posi- tions and offices of trust, both in Fayette and Summers Counties. In Fayette County he was deputy sheriff, justice of the peace, road surveyor and a notary public. After his removal to Sum- mers County he held the office of justice of the peace for four years, president of the Board of Education four years, and was a notary public and one of the leaders of the Republican party. There were two other brothers, James Allen and Laban, and one sister, Hettie, the three now being dead. The latter married Isaac Gilkerson, of Fayette County. Laban married a daughter of William Ford, a sister of the wife of W. H. Boude, clerk. James was never married. Another son died when eleven years old. He was killed by a tree falling on him accidentally. The other two daughters were Mrs. Eliza J. Maxwell, who married Robert H. Maxwell, now residing in Hinton ; the other one, Eliza- beth, married W. T. Timberlake, of Fayette County, the father of Dr. Timberlake, who married Josa Fredeking of Hinton, and who is now surgeon for the Deepwater Railway Company at Page, West Virginia.
Robert R. Flanagan was born in 1848, and married Miss Frede- king, a daughter of Lee Fredeking, of Hinton. He was engaged for some years as superintendent of the C. & O. telegraph sys- tem between White Sulphur and Huntington. He is one of the wealthiest men in Hinton, and possibly the largest holder of real estate within that city. He had faith in the city from the earliest, and made judicious investments in real estate, which he has re- tained, improving the same from year to year, and which has
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
greatly appreciated in value. He held the office of posmaster of Hinton for a term of four years by appointment from President Benjamin Harrison. He has been a member of the city council, and has frequently declined to run for political office on the de- mand of his party. He is connected with all of the principal business enterprises of the city, and has done as much as any other one man in developing the same. He is a stockholder and director in the First National Bank: president of the New River Milling Company; director in the Greenbrier Springs Company; was manager, stockholder and director in the Hinton Water Works Company from its organization in 1890 for a period of fifteen years, and after its repurchase by home capitalists he again became a stockholder and general manager, which position he now holds against his protest. He is a director in the First Na- tional Bank of Pineville, and is one of the promoters of the Hin- ton Toll Bridge Company, whose bridge spans New River at Hinton, as well as in a number of other local enterprises. He is a Presbyterian in his religious belief.
Andrew G. Flanagan, the youngest son, was born in Fayette County, on March 15, 1852: located at Hinton about 1876, and was for a number of years depot agent for the C. & O. Rv. Co. He held the office of town sergeant for three years, when he re- signed : was elected mayor for one term : has been a commissioner in chancery for about ten years, appointed first by Judge Mc- Whorter and then by Judge Miller, which position he still holds. He has represented the United States Government as River Ob- server for the Weather Bureau for the past twenty-five years. He married Miss Alice E. Fredeking, daughter of C. A. Frede- king. one of the first settlers in Hinton. in 1879. and is one of the substantial and large property owners of the city, and connected as stockholder and official with a majority of the local business enterprises, including the Hinton Hardware Company, of which he is secretary, and has been from its organization: secretary of the Lilly Lumber Company; stockholder in the National Bank of Summers, and is one of the principal stockholders in the Hinton Toll Bridge Company, and a stockholder in the First National Bank of Pineville and the Greenbrier Springs Company, and also in the Hinton Water, Light & Supply Company, which succeeds the old Hinton Water Works Company, of which he was a stock- holder, and was manager of that company at one time, when owned by the Pennsylvania stockholders. He was a stockholder. promoter and manager of the Hinton & Southeastern Telephone
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Company, the first telephone company that ever constructed its lines into the city of Hinton. Mr. Flanagan is one of the substan- tial citizens, progressive and enterprising. He has never in poli- tics been in office, and believes in good government, and is identi- fied with the best interests of the county.
Richard Albert, known as Albert, died in 1891. He was a resi- dent of Roanoke, Va., but died at his brother's in Hinton, and was buried in Hilltop Cemetery.
When Richard Allen Flanagan, the ancestor, was eighteen years of age, his mother started to emigrate to Ohio overland. passing over the Allegheny Mountains through Greenbrier, stop- ping over night at Colonel George Alderson's, at what is now Meadowdale, where J. C. Henry lives. The next morning, by reason of the stormy weather and snow, Colonel Alderson offered Mrs. Flanagan, the mother of R. A. Flanagan, a house about a half-mile from his residence, known as the John B. Gwinn place. She accepted the offer and spent the winter in that house. By that time she had decided to remain in that country.
His first wife was Mary Ellen Cary, born October 7. 1829. James Allen was born October 31, 1831; Laban, October 14, 1834. I'm. G., who now lives in the Meadows, was born November 22, 1836. His mother died at Meadow Creek Station, at the David Bowls place. From the time of his location, Mr. Flanagan was a resident of that country, and spent the remainder of his life there, except for a short while he resided in Jackson County, West Vir- ginia, from 1840 to 1841, when he married his second wife. He settled on the old place at Sewell, then Boyer's Ferry, in 1844. He was a justice of the peace for two terms-eight years-prior to the Civil War, and held that office at the beginning of the war. The justices at that time composed the county court. Ile was opposed to secession, and was a Union man throughout the Civil War. He was the only justice of the peace at that time of that county who was opposed to secession. The justices entered an order of record as follows: "We are in favor of secession, and we pledge our sacred honor to use all the means at our disposal and our present means, and when all is exhausted we will live upon roots and still fight for the cause of secession." against which Flanagan voted. This is the substance of the resolution entered by the county court which met with his opposition. Prior to the war he was a strong Democrat, and took an active part in all elections. In 1860 he and three sons, who were old enough to vote, voted for Douglas against Breckenridge. In April. 1861,
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
a vote was taken whether we should secede. Mr. Flanagan and his sons, Joseph and William C., who were of voting age, voted against the secession of the Southern States. After 1860 he voted the Republican ticket. Often in county and district he favored the best men. He favored the Flick Amendment, which prac- tically abolished the ironclad test oath, his policy being, "If the rebels were guilty, let them be punished according to law, and not by disfranchisement or decitizenising them."
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