USA > West Virginia > Summers County > History of Summers County from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 62
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On the 9th day of December, 1865, he united with the Sinks Grove Baptist Church, being the first male member of his family of seven boys to unite with any church organization. On the 25th day of April. 1866, he was married to Louise F. Crews, daughter of Thomas D. and Eveline Crews, of Monroe County. To this marriage five children have been born, four of whom are still living, his second daughter having died at the age of twenty-one years.
Mr. Campbell received his license as a minister in the Mis- sionary Baptist Church from the Springfield Church, Monroe County, in May, 1869, and was ordained as a minister in said church on November 20, 1870. The first sixteen years of his min- istry were spent in his native county of Monroe, serving faithfully and to the satisfaction of his parishioners ; the Red Sulphur Church for fourteen years; Sink's Grove, his native home church, for ten years, and other churches for different periods, giving to each church one-fourth of his time, and during which time two churches, Oak Grove and Ronceverte, were organized through his labors and influence.
He was elected in 1887 to the position of superintendent of free. schools of Monroe County, which position he held until 1881, teach- ing school one term. In November. 1886, he removed with his family to Concord, now Athens, Mercer County, in order to secure educational facilities and advantages for his growing family of children at the Concord Normal School, at which place he resided twelve years, and during which time, through his instrumentality, the Missionary Baptist Church at Athens, Hill Top, in Summers County, and Glen Lynn, in Giles County, Virginia, were organ- ized, and for six years of this twelve years he gave one-fourth of
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his time to the Princeton Church, and for two years he made monthly visits to the church at Beckley, a distance of forty-five miles, which visits were made on horseback. During eight years of the same period he was a member of the executive committee and treasurer of the Concord Normal School, and for four years held the office of postmaster at Athens under Cleveland's second administration. He was also the pastor of the church on Green- brier River, near Foss.
Ile was called to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church at Hinton, March 1, 1898, which position he retained for seven years and two months, resigning of his own accord and against the unani- mous desire of that congregation on May 1, 1905. His ministra- tions to the spiritual welfare of his congregation and to the citizens of the city of Hinton were exceedingly profitable and gratifying to that community.
He was an enterprising citizen, took great interest in public affairs, was liberal in his views, and accorded to others the freedom of thought to which all American citizens are entitled. He always felt and took a lively and active interest in political matters, thor- oughly identifying himself with the Democratic party, but never becoming a politician in any sense of the word, but not ashamed of his political faith and doctrines at any time or at any place, adhering to the doctrine that it was the privilege and duty of a minister, as well as other citizens, to advocate the political doc- trines which he believed in himself and which he believed to be to the interest of the great mass of the common people of the land.
He was greatly admired and a very warm personal friend of the late HI. W. Straley, the noted financier and philanthropist of Princeton, Mercer County, and was called to his funeral, which he attended, traveling a distance of nearly forty miles through in- clement weather, to administer the last rites to his deceased friend.
On account of his great popularity and the great confidence in which he is held and esteemed, many demands have been made upon his physical, as well as mental, strength, to minister during the sickness and death of many of the citizens in different parts of this section of the State, all of which he has fulfilled, although at great sacrifice to his comfort.
After the resignation of Mr. Campbell's pastorate at Hinton, he spent three months as a supply for the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church at Huntington and Mason County, Kentucky, where he is at the time of this writing pleasantly located.
Mr. Campbell is a useful citizen to any community, and he has
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spent the whole of his life to almost the present time in the coun- ties of Monroe, Mercer and Summers. Thirty-five years of his life has been devoted to the ministry of the gospel. His great influence for the good will be felt for many generations, and we doubt if there has ever been a man in all this region of the State who is as favorably known, or known in any wise, to as many people as is Mr. Campbell. When he left West Virginia he had been in the active ministry for a longer period than any other man now ac- tively engaged in the ministry of the gospel in the southern part of the State, and, perhaps without exception, in the State.
Cary C. Campbell, the youngest son of Rev. J. P. Campbell, is now a citizen of Bristol, Tenn., being engaged in the mercantile business at that point. He was educated at the Concord Normal School, and took a business course at Dunsmore Business College, in Staunton, Virginia, graduating in 1899. He then located at Hinton, becoming the stenographer for the writer during the cam- paign of 1900, when he was chairman of the Democratic State Executive Committee. He was one of the most correct and efficient stenographers in the country, and a young, manly man of most excellent habits and of high moral character, being a man of ex- ceedingly honorable and manly instincts. He has recently united with the church of his father's belief at Bristol. He is a young man that will make his mark and a good citizen.
Mr. Campbell's other son, James, married a daughter of Hon. J. A. Meadows, of Peterstown, and is a resident of and in business at Athens, West Virginia. One daughter, Gertrude, married Charles A. Settle, attorney at Fayetteville, West Virginia, who died a few years since. The other daughter, Hattie, married E. B. Trent, an employee of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company, and resides in Hinton, West Virginia.
Mr. Campbell believes in the true doctrine, and carries it into active practice-that the fact that a man is a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ should not excuse him from the duties and obliga- tions of citizenship. He is a man of strong and clear personality, and his influence in any community where he is known is bound to be for the good and for the betterment of society in general. He has the moral convictions of a strong man and the manhood to expose them to the public gaze and to advocate them from the pulpit, as well as from his daily life, intercourse and associations.
For instance, he is unalterably opposed to the liquor traffic in any of its forms. This opposition is not negative, but affirmative, and is shown by all his public utterances on all proper occasions.
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There is no middle ground or shifting with him, but he makes his arguments a fight straight from the shoulder; liberal, however, and extending to those who differ from him the same rights and privileges he claims for himself-not hide-bound, narrow or soured by prejudice, but broad, manly, honorable, eloquent and sincere.
Those who know Mr. Campbell intimately are bound to admire, love and appreciate him, however widely they may differ from him. Such a man will leave his impress for the better for endless time. Since this sketch was written Mr. Campbell died, in 1907.
WILLEY.
There has been but one family of this name among the early settlers of this region. Eber Willey was born July 4, 1797, and died February 7, 1870. He was married twice. His first wife was a Miss Maddy, whom he married when twenty-four years of age. His second wife was Juda Symms. He was a native of Vermont. By his first marriage there was one son, Justus, born, who was a soldier in the war of 1812. Eber Willey removed from Vermont in his youth with his parents to New York, and from thence to Greenville, in Monroe County, then Virginia, when twenty-two years of age. The founder of the Willey family in this country was Eber Willey's father, Ahijah Willey, who was a native of England, and emigrated from that country, first settling in Ver- mont, and later settling in New York. He was a soldier in the American Revolution of 1776, and also a soldier in the war of 1812. His wife was Susan Grant, a relative of General U. S. Grant, the great soldier of the Union Army in the Civil War. The children of Eber Willey, the settler in this country, who removed from Greenville to the old Willey farm on the Wolf Creek Mountain, between the mouth of Greenbrier River and Wolf Creek in Green- brier District before the war, were Alma, Eber, Ahijah, Grant, John and Sira W. There was one daughter who inarried Samuel Henry Hartwell, a practicing physician living on the old Willey homestead. There was one other daughter, Susan, who married William S. Wykel, and they lived on the Wolf Creek Mountain. She died several years ago. Alma and Eber Willey were both ยท soldiers in the U. S. Army throughout the Civil War, and are now among the good citizens of the county. Grant was educated at the Concord Normal School, became a merchant in Hinton and died in 1892, having married a daughter of Samuel Huffman. Ahijah is a farmer residing in Greenbrier District. John is a citi-
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zen of Talcott District, postmaster at Talcott, proprietor of the Valley View Hotel, which he built in that town, and a farmer.
Hon. Sira W. Willey is the most prominent member of the Willey family in this country. He has been an active and promi- nent man in the affairs of the county since its formation. He is a man of fine physique, a shrewd manipulator and politician and a man of character. In his younger days he was a constable of the county, a member of the Board of Education, Deputy U. S. Marshal, notary public, chairman of the Republican Executive Committee of the county, and he was appointed postmaster under President Mckinley's first administration, which he held through that term, then through Roosevelt's first administration, and is holding now for the third term of four years each, making a total of twelve years in that important office. He has held the office of United States Commissioner under appointment from Judge John J. Jackson. He was at one time a candidate for the Republican nomination for State Auditor, and was four times a candidate for the office of sheriff of Summers County, as well as a candidate at one time for representative in the House of Delegates. He mar- ried Clara J. Milburn, daughter of Squire Henry Milburn, of Green- brier District, and has one child, Rosalia May, who married Dr. Wykel, a practicing physician in the city of Hinton. He has held the position of deputy sheriff for one term of four years under M. V. Calloway, sheriff of Summers County. He is one of the leaders of the Republican party in the State. It was over his sec- ond appointment as postmaster at Hinton that the factional troubles arose between the Willeys and the Graham adherents. His record as an official has been efficient and honorable, and it is largely due to his enterprise, energy and judgment that the county now has a prospect of a government building in Hinton in the near future.
Juda Simms, the wife of Eber Willey, was a daughter of Robert Symms, of Norfolk, Virginia. The wife of Robert Simms was Sarah Paynter, and they were from Rockbridge County, Virginia, and relations of Anderson Paynter and other Paynters throughout Raleigh and . Fayette Counties. She was a sister of John Simms, one of the oldest residents of the county, who died in 1907 at Bar- ger's Springs, at the advanced age of eighty years, and whose son, Thomas, now lives at Greenbrier Springs: also of Allen Symms, another aged farmer of Monroe County, and of Garland Symms. who was the father of James Symms, the enterprising citizen now residing at and owning the Lower Pack's Ferry on the old Red Sulphur and Raleigh Trunpike, and a part of the Rufus Pack farm.
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He has been for a number of years ferryman at the mouth of Green- brier, a road surveyor in Greenbrier District, and has held other important positions. Ward Symms, of Junta, at the mouth of Indian, who now owns a part of the Fowler plantation, and Jack- son Symms, of New River, are also sons of Garland Symms. Eber Willey, the founder of the family in this county, was a Union man and opposed to secession. Before the war he was a lieutenant of the organized soldiers in Monroe County, known as the Monroe Guards, the place of muster being at Centerville, except once in three months, when they were required to muster at the Union Court House. This company was organized by Jack Hinton, the father of Joseph Hinton, Silas, William and John, and of which he was the captain and Mr. Willey the first lieutenant.
Captain Ahijah Willey, the founder of the Willey family in America, was a civil engineer by profession, a soldier in the Revo- lutionary War and a captain of an artillery company in the war of 1812. His son, Eber Willey, the founder of the family in this county, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was wounded at the battle of Plattsburg, being a member of the Twenty-ninth New York Infantry. Eber Willey, the second, was a member of Co. G of the Second West Virginia Cavalry in the Civil War. He was present when Robert Adkins was wounded. His own gun being disabled and struck with a bullet at the same time, he replaced it by taking the gun that fell from the hands of Adkins, who was disabled from further service.
Alma Willey was a member of Co. F. Ninety-first Ohio Infantry. The other boys were not old enough to be in the army. Justus Willey, the oldest of the sons of Eber Willey and the only son by his first marriage, was wounded in the battle of Chapultepec, in the Mexican War, from which wounds he died five years after- wards, being wounded in his thigh and on his head.
Alma Willey resides in Forest Hill District, and is a farmer and miller. He and eight others, during the war, in the retreat from Lynchburg, went eight days without a meal, traveling from that place until they got to Boyer's Ferry in Fayette County, this being one of his experiences in war times. Eber Willey is a farmer in Greenbrier District.
The Willeys in this county and the Willeys in Morgantown in Monongahela County are direct descendants from the same original ancestors. Waitman T. Willey, of Morgantown, was a celebrated lawyer in his day, a U. S. Senator and largely instrumental in se-
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
curing the admission of West Virginia into the Union as a State, and in securing the proclamation by and recognition of the State by President Lincoln.
There were two brothers of Ahijah Willey that came across the ocean to this country at the same time and settled in this country.
Eber Willey, the settler in this country, had four brothers, Ahijah, who settled in Michigan; Joseph and Seth both remaining in New York State. Joseph was a preacher. Benjamin located at Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and died there during the war from the fever contracted in the army during the war.
It will be noticed from the records of elections in Summers County that Hon. Sira W. Willey, in all his races for political offices, was on the side of the minority party, and that he ran ahead of his ticket on every occasion. Whenever the Democratic candidate knew that he had Mr. Willey for an opponent, he always knew that he had a fight on his hands, while the majority against Mr. Willey was always less than 100, except on two elections. Captain A. A. Miller defeated him by 121 majority, while the Democratic nominee for the same office two years before had won out by 572 votes. In the race for sheriff between Willey and George, the latter's majority was only 128, Mr. George having on his ticket as deputies a man from each district. The deputies running with Mr. Willey were Chapman Farley, of Pipestem, and Samuel P. Bragg, of Green Sulphur.
Mr. Willey is the holder of the oldest title paper to real estate I have been able to find in this region. It is an original patent issued by Thomas Jefferson, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, bearing date on the Ist day of January, 1781, and the fifth year of that commonwealth. This patent was issued to Abraham Dick. assignee of John Robinson, the original founder of the Dick fam- ily in this country west of the Alleghenies, and was made by virtue of a survey made on the 6th day of May, 1772, and is for sixty-five acres. A portion of this patent is printed, with the old English "S," which resembles the "F's" of the present day, and in which governor is spelled governour, and is signed Th. Jeffer- son, in his own handwriting. The written portion of the document is perfectly plain and is in elegant handwriting. All this territory was then in Botetourt County.
John Willey is probably the most powerful man, physically, in the county at this time. All the Willeys of the county are men of great physical strength.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
WILLIAM R. THOMPSON.
William R. Thompson, the youngest son of Major Benjamin S. Thompson, came to Summers County, a youth of twenty years, immediately on its formation, and was prominently identified with the destinies of the county for twenty years. He came with his father and brothers, Cameron L. and J. Speed, studied law with the latter, with whom he formed a co-partnership for the practice of that profession under the firm name of Thompson & Thompson, which continued for several years. He taught school on the Swell Mountain at the John B. Walker place, and later a term in Hinton, studying law in the meantime. He was the first gradu- ate in law at the West Virginia University, taking the degree of LL.B. He practiced his profession in Summers and adjoining counties with his brother until later, when that firm was dissolved, and a co-partnership with James P. Pack, a son of Josephus B. Pack, the first county clerk, was formed under the firm name of Thompson & Pack. This partnership continued for a few years, until Mr. Pack retired from the profession, when the co-partnership of Thompson & Lively was entered into, Hon. Frank Lively being the junior member. This continued until after the removal of Mr. Thompson to Huntington, in 1894, to which place he removed, seeking a wider and more inviting field for his abilities. In 1880 Mr. Thompson was elected prosecuting attorney of Summers County, which position he held for four years, making a vigorous prosecutor. It was over his election that the celebrated contest of Fowler against Thompson was inaugurated. He was elected delegate from Summers County to the West Virginia Legislature in 1890, and was a prominent candidate for Speaker of that body, but was defeated by Hon. Lewis Bennett, of Lewis County. After his removal to Huntington, he formed a co-partnership with Hon. Z. T. Vinson, which continues to date.
Mr. Thompson is one of the ablest and most widely known attorneys in the State, and has been retained and appeared in many of the most noted and vigorously contested causes, either criminal, chancery or civil, in all Southern West Virginia. Ile is one of the most eloquent advocates of the State, and has the repu- tation throughout the State of a chaste, eloquent, clean and at- tractive speaker. He is a careful lawyer, a close student and attentive to the interests of his clients. He has always been especially popular in the county among the people in general, as
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
well as the members of the bar, by reason of his courteous man- ner, broad mind and sincerity. He has been frequently a candi- date for the higher offices; at one time for Attorney-General of the State, and at the convention in 1904 for the Governorship, and whenever a candidate in the conventions of his party. the delegates from this county have at all times voted for him to a man, regard- less of the factional troubles which at one time rent the party in twain. In 1904 the friends of Mr. Thompson insisted on using his name as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor, and he went to the convention at Parkersburg with a greater following than any other candidate. but was defeated by a com- bination of circumstances for which he was in no wise responsible. He has always been a Democrat, standing by his party in defeat as well is in victory. During the second Cleveland administration he held the position of Assistant United States District Attorney for the West Virginia District, with General C. C. Watts, Cleve- land's appointee, as U. S. District Attorney.
While a resident of the county he took an active interest in its advancement and development.
GRIMMETT.
Joseph Grimmett, Sr., was a native of Franklin County, Vir- ginia. His father's name was Greenberry Grimmett, and emigrated to the territory of what is now Summers County when Joseph was eight years old. The Grimmetts are of English descent. Green- berry Grimmett died on Elk Knob, and was buried there. He lived to be a very old man. His wife's name was Mihaly Stans- ley, of Virginia. Joseph Grimmett lived to be a very old man, dying at the age of eighty-eight years. He married Mary Gill, and lived all his life on Greenbrier River and its waters, raising a family of boys and girls, nine in all, four boys and five girls. The boys were John, Jordan, Peter M., and Joseph. The latter died in Illinois immediately after the Civil War. The daughters were . Martha, who married "Squire" James E. Meadows; Sarah, who married Sam Henry Fox. of Brooks: Amanda, who married James A. Fox, of Brooks; Nancy, who married J. M. Boone, who only lived thirty days after their marriage; and Mary, who married John M. Wyant.
Joseph Grimmett was a man of fine natural sense: was one of the oldest and best remembered justices of the peace of Summers County. For several years prior to his death he became totally
1
HON. WM R. THOMPSON. Lawyer, Orator and Legislator.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LEN : X AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONE.
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blind, but retained his mental faculties until his death. He ac- quired a large and valuable estate for those times, and while he had considerable business in the courts, he always, even in his blindness, attended court and gave his matters his personal atten- tion. He was a justice of the peace elected in Monroe County before the formation of the county, and held the office for a full term. His dockets were kept in intelligent shape, and were models for our justices of a younger generation. He died in July, 1896. His wife died six years before.
A. G. Meadows, who was mayor of Avis for three successive terms, is his grandson. James E. Meadows, the present mayor of Avis, and who was justice of the peace for four years before his election, was his son-in-law. Peter M. Grimmett married Miss Maggie J. Watterson, was one of the best educated school teachers of the county at one time, a member of the Board of Examiners, and an intelligent citizen, died in March, 1887, aged thirty-seven years. Jordan Grimmett is a farmer residing on Wolf Creek, and married Rebecca Lowe, a daughter of Mathhew Lowe, and is the father of J. B. F. Grimmett, of the Hinton post office, and T. G. C. Grimmett, they being twin brothers; Miss Alice, who married James A. Symms, who now lives at Pack's Ferry, owning a part of the old Pack lands; Miss Lizzie, who married William Smith, now residing in Hinton, and Perry, a farmer, residing with his father on Wolf Creek. John M. Wyant married Mary Grimmett, and they were the father and mother of one daughter, Carry, who married R. R. Billingsley, a son of Samuel Billingsley. His first wife was Lucinda Noble, a daughter of Wiley Noble, of Forest Hill District. There are three grandchildren of Mr. Wyant living at this time-Texie Webb, Ollie Webb, who lives with her grand- father Wyant, and Harry Webb, who lives with Squire William C. Hedrick in Talcott District.
MICHAEL HUTCHINSON.
One of the oldest and most enterprising citizens the county has the honor of claiming was he whose name heads this sketch. He was the son of Adam and Mary Hutchinson, who in the early days settled on the "War Ridge" in Fayette County, near the Summers line, on land patented by the Commonwealth of Vir- ginia to him. Adam Hutchinson was born February 22, 1796. and died March 27, 1881. Mary, his wife, was a Coffman, and was born September 26, 1796; died March 11, 1886, aged ninety
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
years. They were married on the 18th of February, 1819. They left three children. Janet, the daughter, married John Mognet, died without issue, leaving her husband, by her last will, her sole devisee and legatee. Michael Hutchinson was born Decem- ber 24, 1821, and died July 21, 1896. Mary C., his wife, was Miss Brooks, born April 2, 1839, and died in 1898. They were married January 28, 1859, residing all their life on Lick Creek and vicin- ity, and was one of the leading families of all that region. Mr. Hutchinson was a man of small stature, a quiet, unassuming gen- tleman, determined and positive in his character and convictions. For many years he was one of the leading officers of the Presby- terian Church, of which he and his wife were consistent members. He had no political ambition, and was never a candidate for office, and devoted his whole life to his business affairs and to his family. He, before the Civil War, purchased a water grist-mill at the forks of Mill Creek, where he rebuilt a modern, large, two- story frame grist-mill for the manufacture of flour, meal and feed, and which was the only mill for miles around, being the only turbine wheel in that section. He and Jackson Smith were the first merchants at that place, constructing the old log storehouse which was used until recent years. Mr. Hutchinson entered into the mercantile business with Smith; later, with A. P. Pence ; later, with J. W. Miller, his son-in-lay. Directly after the war there was no goods sold in that region; Dr. Samuel Williams hauled goods from Gauley Bridge, which he purchased from James H. Miller, and opened a store in the old log house, under the firm name of S. Williams & Co. It was operated by his brothers-in- law, John A. and James W. Miller, sons of Ervin B. Miller. Later. the enterprise was moved to the old log house at Green Sulphur Springs, and A. P. Pence & Co., M. Hutchinson being the com- pany, began their business, which continued a number of years.
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