USA > West Virginia > Summers County > History of Summers County from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 67
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
The late "Jeff" Withrow, the merchant, who died at New Rich- mond a few years ago, married a granddaughter of St. Clair; also, William E. Burdett, the lumberman, of Charleston, was a grand- son, who died some years ago at Charleston.
CHARLES A. BABER.
We have the pleasure of inserting in this book the portrait of our old friend and schoolmate, Charles A. Baber, who now resides at the mouth of Indian, on a part of the old Fowler place, which
677
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
he owns in fee simple. He is a son of the Rev. Powhatan B. Baber, who lived and died near Red Sulphur Springs, in Monroe County. He died on the 2d day of February, 1900, at the age of seventy-five years.
The Baber family were originally from Southwest Virginia, in Bedford County. Rev. Powhatan B. Baber was a minister in the Christian Church, and was one of the best citizens in Monroe County, being a resident thereof for seventy years. He was a man of strong and fixed convictions, adhering strictly to the laws of God and abiding by those of his country. He was a Whig in po- litical views before the war, and a Prohibitionist after. His son, the subject of this sketch, is a sincere Republican. As between the Democratic and Republican parties, the father believed in the tariff views and other policies of the Republican party in prefer- ence to those of the Democratic. At one time he was the nominee on the Fusion ticket of his county to represent Monroe in the State Legislature, at a time when the county was overwhelmingly Dem- ocratic and no prospect for election. Charles A. Baber was born on the 31st day of January, 1858, in Monroe County, residing on his father's farm, of which he is now the owner, until his major- ity, being the youngest of the family of three sons, George W .. who died in Chicago a few years ago, and four daughters. One of his brothers, Granville, is an able minister and missionary of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, having been a missionary in Chili for a number of years. His son Earl is now a medical st11- dent at Battle Creek Medical College, in Michigan.
Hon. E. L. Dunn married the oldest daughter Mattie : Emma V. married J. P. Williams; Fannie married Charles Cald- well. and Ella N. married Hon. Chas. M. Via, now deceased.
The subject of this sketch was married on the 14th day of May, 1882, to Miss Jennie Miller, of Hans Creek. in Monroe County, and is the father of nine living children, his oldest son, Powhatan, following the steps of his grandfather, being a minister of the Christian Church, and now a student of Bethany College.
Chas. A. Baber, like the majority of the young men of his time, had his own beginning to make, and without any assistance has acquired a considerable fortune for these days and times. He re- sides on a good farm at the mouth of Indian Creek, besides the old "Baber Homestead," the Indian Creek roller flour mill, which has lately been acquired by a joint stock company; the Indian Mills Supply Co., of which he was the promoter, chief stockholder and the president. He attended the public schools and the State
678
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Normal School at Concord, in the famous session of 1878, along with the writer, H. Ewart, the late J. W. Hinkle, Harvey Lewis, Mrs. Mark Jarrett, the Misses Ella and Stella Ewart, Clark Ellis, Professor James F. Holroyd, Bettie M. B. Lively, who afterwards married Professor Holroyd, and others. After leaving school he adopted the occupation of farming, which he has followed with incidental connections with other business enterprises, including stock dealing, and the operation of Indian Mills, with his father as part owner.
In politics he has always been a consistent Republican, sup- porting its tickets and nominees in practically every campaign, not being so hidebound, however, as to follow political bosses to the detriment of the interest of his country. He has never been an aspirant for political office, nor a candidate for any position, except at one time his neighbors elected him president of the Board of Education of Forest Hill District, when the Democrats had a majority, although there has never been a time when he could not have received the nomination for any office in his county he would have accepted at the hands of his own party. He is a man of excellent judgment in business affairs, entirely sober, hon- est. and has' the confidence of the community, and is one of the most influential men in his part of the county.
In the political campaign of 1904, he took sides with the "old- timers," and opposed the "floppers" and new converts to his party, taking the entire control of the management of the campaign of that wing of his party in Forest Hill District; and in a clean-cut issue between the two factions of his party in his district at the party primaries in that campaign, the entire party supported Mr. Baber, with the exception of twelve voters, who followed Mr. L. G. Lowe, the leader in that district of the opposing faction, and a very prominent as well as popular man. This is mentioned to illustrate the character and strength of the man among his neigh- bors.
James R. Baber was the ancestor of the Baber family in this region. He was the father of Rev. P. B. Baber, Hostin Baber and Granville Baber. He was born in 1783, and died at the age of eighty years. Granville Baber went to California in the days of the gold discoveries and excitements, and returned, bringing ten thousand dollars in gold attached to his person. Hostin Baber lived for many years on Wolf Creek, and died a few years ago, leaving James R. Baber, who married a Miss Bush, now residing on Beech Run, in Jumping Branch District. John Baber and
J. LEE BARKER, Surveyor, Teacher and Farmer.
THE NEW YOR! PUBLIC LIBRARY
ABTOR, LENAX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONT.
679
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Charles Baber, his other sons, are now in the employ of the C. & O. Ry. Company, and reside in Hinton. Hostin Baber was a cele- brated auctioneer in his day.
Rev. Powhatan B. Baber was born on the 14th of September, 1824, and died February 3, 1900. He was born in Bedford County, Virginia. He was a fine shoe and boot maker, as well as a minis- ter of the gospel and farmer. He married Miss Caroline Tuggle, who died on the 26th of August, 1904.
GENEALOGY OF THE BARKER FAMILY IN WEST VIRGINIA.
James Barker was born in 1726, and was an Englishman and captain of a British man-of-war. He married a Miss Smith, a dis- tinguished lady of Portsmouth England, in the year 1751. From them sprung Jacob Barker, in 1761, a boatman on the James River, who married Susan Garner, of French descent, in 1786, and from them sprung William A. Barker, in 1796, who married Miss Sarah Hobbs, a woman of distinguished intellectuality, born in Bedford County, Virginia, in 1800, and married in 1817, and front this union sprung James B. Barker, in 1818; Mary V. Barker, in 1820; M. C. Barker, in 1821; Wm. E. Barker, in 1824; A. L. Bar- ker, in 1826; Thos. J. Barker, in 1828, and Francis S. Barker, in 1830. M. C. Barker, who settled finally on the Gatliff land, was born in 1821, and married Miss Julia A. Lilly, who was born in 1827, daughter of Robert C. Lilly, a prosperous planter and slave- owner, in 1842.
The brothers of M. C. Barker settled in the West, Thos. J. Barker being a wealthy banker of Kansas City, Kansas.
M. C. Barker was one of the sturdy and thrifty settlers of the county twenty odd years before the Civil War. He removed from Giles County in 1842, and married Miss Julia A. Lilly, one of the great family of that name, who settled the country west of New River. He first settled on Beech Run, but later purchased the old Gatliff bottom, formerly owned by Anderson Pack, the bot- tom being one of the Gatliff patents, and is one of the most fertile and productive tracts of land in the county. He was a man of fine business sense, and noted for his love of peace, being the mediator by which many neighborly disputes were amicably settled, and enemies made into friends by reason of his good services. He was a man of fine physique and judgment in business and other matters. He was justice of the peace at one time before the war.
680
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
back in 1859, and was justice also during the war, and at the time he was taken prisoner, the Union soldiers carrying him to Beck- ley, before General Hayes, who discharged him after three months' imprisonment.
By his last will his wife retained control of his fine home farm and other property, the same eventually reverting in fee to his son James and two daughters-Ollie, who married John Webb, and Frances, who married John Bradberry. He was, at the time of the change in the Constitutional Convention abolishing the county courts, president, elected for a full term. He was later an inde- pendent candidate for delegate to the Legislature, but was de- feated by the regular Democratic candidate.
His son, William A., died early in life, unmarried. His daugh- ter, Mary E., married James Lilly, and resides now in Raleigh County. Robert J., who married Miss Malot, died in the Confed- erate Army during the war between the States. The next son was John W., an enterprising and successful farmer, who resides on the old Clark plantation near the mouth of Bluestone, and is ยท also a silversmith and a reliable surveyor. He married Miss Me- lissa M. Meador. Thos. Benton, the next son, resides on a farm in Jumping Branch District, and is a successful farmer. He mar- ried Miss Harriet Lilly. James L. married Miss Emma Jordan, a daughter of Hon. G. L. Jordan, and, after her death, Miss Alice Johnson. He died in 1888. Sarah M. married James H. Gore, and died in 1892. Julia A. married William Houchins, Jr., of Pipestem, a prominent farmer, teacher and merchant.
Jonathan Lee Barker resides on the James Roles farm, at the mouth of Bluestone, a part of the old Anderson Pack lands. He is a successful farmer and surveyor, as well as one of the successful teachers of the county, and prominent in Republican politics. He was at one time the nominee of his party for member of the county court, but was defeated by reason of the party being in the mi- nority. In 1904 he was appointed by Governor Dawson to re- assess the real estate of the county at its true and actual value under the new tax system then coming into existence. His as- sessment was very generally satisfactory and but few complaints were heard, being much more satisfactory than in the adjoining counties. No appeals were taken from his judgment, and but few. if any, changes made, and only complaints where an error was made, which was promptly corrected. His work in this line should be very gratifying, as usually great dissatisfaction arises from work of this character. Mr. Barker was also a member of the
681
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Board of Examiners of the county for a term of four years, and has taught in the public schools for twenty-six years. He is also a notary public and a careful business man.
The first clock ever made in West Virginia was made by a cousin of M. C. Barker, John Barker, many years ago.
The oldest son of J. L. Barker, Dr. Barker, graduated in medicine at the University of Louisville in 1906, and is now practicing his profession in the State of Kansas. He graduated at twenty-one years of age-as young as it is possible for any person to graduate in that profession.
Dr. Joseph L. Barker, the youngest son of M. C. Barker, gradu- ated from the University of Kansas, and has for the past several years practiced his profession in that State. He was one of the witnesses for the State in the celebrated trial of J. Speed Thomp- son, at Lewisburg. in 1886, for the killing of Elbert Fowler. M. D. Barker resides in Greenbrier County, having married Miss Eliza- beth Johnston, of that county.
R. E. Barker, a son of John W., also graduated in medicine from the University of Kansas, and is a practicing physician in Kansas at this time, at Kansas City. Ethan Barker, another son of John W., is in his third year in taking a medical course in the Medical College of Louisville.
I am under obligations to Mr. Jonathan Lee Barker for many incidents of interest incorporated in this book, and for which he is entitled to credit, as he has taken much interest in procuring data for me.
R. J. Barker, above mentioned son of M. C. Barker, is in Kan- sas City, Kansas, and was one of the engineers who surveyed out Oklahoma, and a member of the first Legislature of that Territory, and introduced the bill establishing the Agricultural Experimental College at Guthrie, Okla., and was made the first president of this college by appointment of President Harrison, at a salary of $2,000 per year, and was postmaster at Crescent City for a dozen years.
The following poem was written and set to music by Jonathan Lee Barker :
All Hail to Summers! (COPYRIGHTED.)
Oh, Summers for me! yes, dear Summers for nie! The land of the noble, the home of the free! Where peace and contentment throughout the good land Are showered on all by a generous hand.
682
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Chorus :
Then hail to thee, Summers! yes, all hail to thee! Thy hills and thy rills are delightful to me; There's room in thy borders for all who may come, And a welcome for all who will make thee their home,- Who will make thee their home.
O'er hill and o'er dell, wheresoever you roam, There's always a welcome in some happy home, Where maidens are singing and laughing with glee, In innocent mirthfulness and ecstasy.
The fairest of flowers adorn every hill, And the eye is enchanted by brooklet and rill; School-houses and churches are on every hand,- All these make a country both lovely and grand.
HON. WILLIAM WITHERS ADAMS.
It is a pleasure and a duty the writer owes to the memory, and to pay some tribute to a deceased friend, that he writes of William Withers Adams.
Mr. Adams came to this county soon after its formation, and made his home at Hinton, in that part of the town now under the municipal jurisdiction within the territory of Avis, building a cot- tage on the ground now occupied by Mr. H. Ewart, which ground he afterwards sold to Major Benj. S. Thompson. He took part in the legal battles growing out of the question of the location of the county seat, and formed a copartnership for the practice of the law with the Hon. Fount W. MaHood, a son of the late Judge A. MaHood, of Princeton, Mercer County. Mr. Adams was a na- tive of Petersburg, Virginia, the son of a Methodist minister. His wife was a Miss Withers. He was educated by an uncle, Dr. Withers of Petersburg, graduating at the University of Virginia, taking his degrees, and was one of the foremost in his class, tak- ing the orator's medal. He first practiced law in the city of Rich- mond, Va., before coming to Hinton. After the death of Mr. Ma- Hood and of Elbert Fowler, he and the writer formed a copartner- ship, under the style of Adams & Miller, which continued until the date of his death, in April. 1895.
After the death of his uncle in Petersburg, whose property he
683
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
inherited, he continued to practice law in the city of Hinton un- til his removal to Charleston, seeking a broader field for his abil- ity, in the year 1884, in which city he resided until his death, be- ing at that time the senior member of the firm of Adams, Couch & Smith, of Charleston, W. Va.
In politics he was a sincere believer in the policies of the Democratic party, and advocated its cause from the stump and the hustings, being one of the most eloquent and forcible speakers in the Democratic ranks in his time. He was averse to being a can- didate for any office.
In 1880 the writer had determined on making the study of the practice of the law as a profession, and applied to Mr. Adams for books, aid and instruction, which was readily granted, and it seemed to me, while under his tutorship, that it was hardly reasonable to believe that one man knew as much law as he seemed to be familiar with. He was nominated in the year 1878 as the Demo- cratic candidate for State Senate from this district, over his pro- test. His friends had to drag him into a seat and hold him there until the convention adjourned, in order to prevent his then and there declining and refusing the nomination. His opponent was the Hon. William Prince, a very popular gentleman from Raleigh County, who ran as an Independent candidate, being supported by the Republican party and a number of Democrats who were op- posed to Mr. Adams on factional grounds ; but party lines were not so closely drawn, and he was elected by a creditable majority. He held this office for four years, taking a prominent place in the councils of the law-makers of the State, being an associate and col- league in the Senate with the Hon. R. F. Dennis, of Greenbrier County.
He died very suddenly in Charleston, W. Va., of heart disease, leaving a wife, who died within a few years, and four children- Wm. Withers and Wilcox, his two sons, and two daughters, Misses Sherred W. and Bessie, each of whom still resides in Charleston. His age at his death was about forty-four. He was an eminent Christian, affiliated with the Episcopal Church, and was practically the founder of that organization in Hinton, and largely financed the construction of that denomination's first church edifice, St. Luke's Church, built of brick, one story, on the corner of Third Avenue and Temple Street, on the site of the present Episcopal Church, and which was blown down and destroyed by a severe thunder storm some years ago, and on the site of which the wooden church structure has been built on the old foundation. Mr. Ad-
684
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
ams largely paid for this brick building out of his own private mean's. He and Messrs. C. L. Thompson, Major B. S. Thompson, and their families, with Captain A. A. Atkinson and his family, were the main support of that church organization in this city for a number of years.
Mr. Adams had the confidence of all the people. He was a great lawyer, and they believed in him. He was unselfish, patient, of great tact, and stood for the common people. His kindliness of heart, gentleness of character, lack of resentfulness, without malice or hatred, always ready to forgive an insult or unkindness, and to bestow charity and mercy. All of these characteristics he pos- sessed in an eminent degree, and it is a matter of impossibility to give this Christian gentleman the merit to which he was entitled, and the writer owes much to his teaching and his example-a debt of gratitude which he will never be able to repay.
He was a Knight Templar in Masonry, and he was buried by that fraternity.
THE PRINCE FAMILY.
Burke and E. O. Prince were pioneer settlers in the city of Hinton, and are sons of the late Edwin Prince, of Beckley, West Virginia. We are enabled to give something of the Prince geneal- ogy through the courtesy of Hon. I. C. Prince, of Beckley, a son of the late Hon. Wm. Prince.
E. O. Prince, one of the first settlers of the town of Hinton, with his brother, Burke, was engaged in the hardware business for a number of years. Afterwards, Burke Prince removed to the city of Bluefield, where he died by his own hand from temporary insanity, supposed to have been caused by unfortunate business reverses. E. O. Prince was the second cashier of the Bank of Hin- ton, of which establishment he was in charge for a number of years, and is still a resident of the city of Hinton, as clerk at the Chesa- peake Hotel.
First in the history of this family we have John Prince, who was rector of East Shefford Church, Berkshire, England, and who married a daughter of Dr. Toldenbury, of Oxford, England. There were four sons born of this marriage and seven daughters.
Second-John Prince, the eldest son of John No. 1, born at East Shefford. England. in 1610, came to America in 1633, and married Alice Honor, of Watertown, Mass., in May, 1637, of which there were the following issue: John, Elizabeth, Job, Joseph, Mar-
WM. WITHERS ADAMS, Christian, Lawyer, Orator and Statesman.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDALIVE
685
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
tha, Samuel, Benjamin, Isaac and Thomas. John Prince was the elder of the church at Hull, Mass., for thirty-four years, and died at that place on August 6, 1676.
Third-Isaac Prince was born at Hull, Mass., July 9, 1654, and married Mary Turner, of Boston, in 1679, leaving the following- named children : Alice, Isaac, Elisha, David, Jacob, James and Joseph. He died at Boston, Mass., in 1718. This Prince was a sea captain, and spent several years in the naval service of the United States.
Fourth-Joseph Prince was born at Boston, in 1694, and mar- ried Mary Townsend, of Boston, in 1722, of which marriage were born the following children: Joseph, Isaac, Abijah, Mary Jane and Ballard. This gentleman was also a seaman.
Fifth-James Prince was born January 28, 1734, at Boston, Mass., and married Mary Saunders, of New York City, June 20, 1762. His children were named James, who was born in 1766, and died June 11, 1826, at Porto Rico, in the West Indies; Mary, the mother of General Alfred Beckley, late of Beckley, W. Va., was born in 1772, at New York, and died July 17, 1833, at Lexington, Ky .; Joseph, Margaret, Isaac, the grandfather of Hon. I. C. Prince, and Thomas.
Sixth-Isaac Prince was born June 1, 1782, at Baskenbridge, N. J., and married Mary Clarkston, of St. Kitts, West Indies, June 6, 1810, and died at Philadelphia, December 5, 1866. Their chil- dren were: Clarkston, Anna, William, Sarah, Edwin, Isaac, Julia Maria and Alfred.
Isaac Prince was the father of the late Edwin Prince, William Prince and Clarkston Prince, who emigrated to and settled in Ra- leigh County, in 1836, Edwin coming to that county a year later than William and Clarkston, and General Alfred Beckley locating in that county at the same date.
General Alfred Beckley was the son of the first clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and was a graduate of West Point Military Institute, and a general of militia before the late Civil War. He was one of the patentees of the famous Moore and Beckley grant of land, a large survey located in the counties of Summers and Raleigh, the larger part being in the latter county. General Beckley was a fine engineer and scholar, and a celebrated man in this region of the country, and died only a few years ago at his home, known as "Wildwood," at Beckley, W. Va. While a very intelligent and scholarly gentleman of the old Virginia "F. F. V." type, he was not fortunate in business ventures. His son,
686
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
John Beckley, resides at Beckley, West Virginia, a very intelligent, Christian, conscientious and gentlemanly man, and is now engaged in the mercantile business. He was clerk of the county court of that county for some eighteen or twenty years.
The descendants of Clarkston and William Prince live princi- pally in Raleigh County. William Prince at one time represented Raleigh County in the Legislature of West Virginia, as did also his son, Hon. I. C. Prince, a capitalist now residing at Beckley, W. Va., and one of the founders of the Bank of Raleigh, and its vice-president. William Prince, another son, resides at Prince Station, and is one of the principal coal operators of this section of the State. James Prince was one of the early settlers of Hin- ton, engaging in the mercantile business, and afterwards served one term as postmaster of that town, and is now the postmaster at Prince Station. His daughter married our townsman, Hon. Frank Lively, the attorney.
The only member of the Prince family now residing in the county is E. O. Prince, a son of Edwin Prince. Edwin Prince was one of the most sucessful business men in this section of the State, leaving an estate at his death, some eight years ago, estimated to be in value $150.000. One of his sons, Geo. H. Prince, married a daughter of the late Dr. John G. Manser, Miss A. G. Manser, who resides since the death of her husband at Burden, Kansas, having located there with her father when he emigrated to Kansas, a few years before his death.
CHARLES GARTEN, SR.
Charles Garten, Sr., was born on Wolf Creek, near the pres- ent postoffice of Buck, then Monroe County, on April 5, 1818. He was a son of Charles Garten, of near Greenville, Monroe County, who removed to Wolf Creek about 1810. The father of the sub- ject of this sketch died when he was nine years old, and his mother died when he was fourteen years old. He worked for a number of years on the farm of Isaac Carden, which is the farm now owned by the Greenbrier Springs Company, at the low price of seven dol- lars per month. In December, 1844, he married Miss Rhoda Wood- rum, the daughter of John Woodrum, who also lived on Wolf Creek, a mile above the present postoffice of Buck. He settled on a farm on the mountain a mile and a half from where he was born, and on which plantation he still resides. He was the father of seven children, Mrs. D. S. Thompson, of Forest Hill; Mrs. Oliver
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.