USA > West Virginia > Summers County > History of Summers County from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 76
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Another family was Florence Donohue. He left surviving him Pat, Morris, Dan and Florence, and two daughters, Mary and Annie.
Another family was John Hurley, also from Ireland, and who married a daughter of Thomas Hurley's.
These Irish settlers were faithful Catholics, and about 1876 erected the second Catholic Church built in Summers County, named Saint Kehrens. It was planned and built under the super- vision of Father David Walsh. The first building was of logs. Later the old building was abandoned, and at the present day they have a frame house of worship, the present pastor being Father De Ladd.
There was another family of Irish settlers who located near
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
the top of Keeney's Knob, the head of which was James Hurley. He purchased some four hundred acres of land from the John and Alex. Miller estate, all in the woods. During his lifetime he cleared a large and fertile farm, rearing a family of boys and girls thereon. The boys were Morris, who was born on the ocean, during their emigration. He was a self-made and educated gen- tleman, taking a course at the Concord Normal School; taught school a number of years in the free schools, and attended the old "Gum" School on Lick Creek. He removed to Kansas about 1885. and died soon thereafter. The second son was William, who also emigrated to Kansas, and is now a citizen of that State. Another son, Michael, lives in Raleigh County. The daughters were Mary, Nora and Bridget. Bridget married Joseph Dick, who lives on the old plantation.
These Irish settlers were all devout Catholics, and were vis- ited periodically by the representative of the church. They are good, honest, industrious citizens.
Patrick O'Leary was another Irish-American who settled in this neighborhood, and reared a family of boys and girls.
DOCTORS.
The doctors who have practiced medicine in the county are given as nearly as we can do so at this late day. At the first set- tlement, and for years afterward, there were but few practicing physicians within our territory. Before the war there had been but one doctor located in Green Sulphur District, he being Dr. N. W. Noell, who had located at Green Sulphur Springs a short time before the beginning of hostilities, upon which he migrated to Eastern Virginia and entered the Southern Army, returning after the war and resuming his practice. Before that time the services of a physician were secured from Blue Sulphur Springs. Dr. Samuel Beard, practicing in all that territory, had his office in that place. Dr. Beard was among the older class of physicians, having married a daughter of Jacob Hamilton. There was an- other doctor at Blue Sulphur Springs by the name of Martin-a Frenchman-who also practiced in that region up until the war. One time he claimed a large boundary of land, including the Red Spring, a branch of Slater's Creek, and extending on to the waters of Mill Creek Fork. This large boundary he placed under fence ; but dying about the beginning of the war, and having no heirs or relatives in this country, his title lapsed, and his claim reverted
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
to the Schermerhorns. He was a man of peculiar abilities, had an extensive laboratory, and was possessed of some genius. Dr. Noel, after the war, located on Lick Creek, and continued in active practice until his death, some fifteen years ago, being succeeded by his son, Dr. Edgar E. Noel, who still resides at Green Sulphur Springs, and practices his profession throughout all that territory. During the war Dr. Samuel Williams emigrated and settled on that creek also, and practiced in that region until his death.
These pioneer doctors rode horseback over the mountains into Raleigh, Monroe, Greenbrier and Fayette counties. No call went unheeded. The compensation charged by them was nominal com- pared with the prices of to-day. They were benefactors and phi- lanthropists to those people, and their praises will descend to fu- ture generations. No such thing was ever heard of as these coun- try doctors suing their patients.
Later Dr. J. W. Riffe settled in the Lick Creek country, prac- ticed his profession a few years, and removed to Indiana. Dr. G. D. Lind located first at Meadow Creek and later at New Rich- mond, where he now practices throughout that region. He is an in- telligent, educated practitioner, and was a professor in medicine in the National University at Lebanon, Ohio, for a number of years. Dr. J. E. Hume also located and practiced for some time at Meadow Creek. Dr. Lind is an authority on archaeology and an enlightened gentleman. Drs. Bigony and Cooper of Hinton, both attended the Lebanon School, of which Dr. Lind was a professor.
The first doctor in Pipestem District and Jumping Branch was a Dr. Greenleaf, who practiced throughout the region of those districts and in Mercer and Raleigh. Later Dr. John Lilly, the first native physician within the territory, located in Jumping Branch, and has there practiced his profession for forty years. He is a brother of "Miller Bob" Lilly, Captain Jonathan Lilly, Mrs. M. C. Barker and Mrs. Levi Neeley. His travels cover a territory of many miles on horseback. He discovered and origi- nated the celebrated cure for fevers and malaria which he manu- factures. He is now postmaster at Jumping Branch, and has been for the past twelve years. He was never known to sue for a doc- tor's bill or for medical services. His son, L. L. Lilly, also gradu- ated and located for the practice of medicine at Flat Top, a few years ago. but soon afterward died from consumption. In later years Drs. Amick, Brown and Abshire have located within Dr. Lilly's territory.
In Forest Hill District, Dr. L. C. Thrasher was the first doctor
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
to locate permanently in that whole territory, the lower end of Monroe County having been under the practice of Dr. Henry Butt, one of the most celebrated and widely known physicians and surgeons in this part of the State. Later Dr. Wykel, now of Hinton, who married a daughter of Hon. S. W. Willey, located at the mouth of Indian, and practiced there for a short time. He is also a native of Summers County. Dr. Smith, of Virginia, also located at the same place and practiced for a few years. Dr. Kyle Vass and Dr. Dillon, sons of Squire Cary Vass and Rev. Henry Dillon, natives of this county, graduated in medicine in 1907. Dr. J. C. Vermillion practiced medicine in the upper end of Forest Hill and Greenbrier Districts for a number of years, being a resi- dent of Foss, and later located above Pack's Ferry, where he died some six years ago. He was from Southwest Virginia and a cultured gentleman. He married a daughter of "Squire" James E. Meadows. He was a man of fine attainments in his profession.
The only doctor on New River for many miles was Dr. Thomas Fowler, who died in the 50's. He was a native of Tennessee, and located at the mouth of Indian, where he acquired a magnificent plantation, owned a large number of slaves, and built the first brick house ever built in the county, and it remains one of the finest residences therein. He married a Chapman, and there raised a distinguished family, including Dr. Allen Fowler, Hon. I. C. Fowler, Hon. Elbert Fowler, Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Paris. Dr. Holdran located at Tophet, a few years ago, and practiced for a short time in that territory.
At Talcott the first doctors to locate were Drs. J. W. Ford and J. W. de Vebber. These gentlemen practiced under the firm name of Ford & de Vebber for a number of years. After the dis- solution of the firm, Dr. Ford continued, and still resides in that town and practices throughout that vicinity-a very excellent and enterprising physician, and one of the surgeons for the C. & O. Railway Co. He married a daughter of Paul Knight, Esq.
In Greenbrier, the first physician to locate therein was Dr. Benj. P. Gooch ; then Dr. J. G. Manser; then followed Dr. Shan- non B. Peck, Dr. Victor Quesenberry, and later his nephew, Dr. George O. Quesenberry ; Drs. J. Thompson Hume, J. G. Haley. J. A. Palmer, and O. O. Cooper, who owns and operates the first medical hospital established in this part of the State-the cele- brated Hinton Hospital, in which he is chief surgeon, with Drs. R. B. Miler and George Pence as associate surgeons; Dr. John F. Bigony, who established, owns and operates the Bigony Hos-
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
pital, with his brother, Dr. Hiram Bigony, as assistant surgeon. Dr. G. W. Holley is the first and only physician of color to ever locate or practice the profession of medicine in Summers County. He has also erected and owns and controls a hospital for the treat- ment of colored patients in the city of Hinton. Dr. William L. Barksdale, an old Confederate Army surgeon, who has been in active practice longer than any other physician in the county, lo- cated in Hinton some twelve years ago, removing to that city from Alderson. Dr. Jos. A. Fox located in the city some three or four years ago. Dr. Samuel Henry Hartwell, who owns and resides on the old Willey place, on the Wolf Creek Mountain, having married a daughter of Eber Willey, the settler, has a large practice over an extensive territory in that region. The natives of the county engaged in the practice of medicine are: Drs. J. A. Gooch and Carlos A. Gooch, sons of Dr. B. P. Gooch; Dr. B. B. Richmond, a son of John A. Richmond, of New Richmond, now located at Page. West Virginia ; Drs. E. E. Noel, Allen Fowler, W. H. Manser, J. W. Riffe and J. A. Wykel; Dr. Barker, a son of Jonathan L. Barker : Drs. Vass and Dillon ; Dr. W. C. Nowland, and Dr. Hartwell.
The first doctor to locate at Talcott was Dr. Thos. Bray, the English surgeon, about 1871.
There was an itinerant doctor, who for many years did a ram- bling practice in the lower end of the county. He was a "Thomp- sonian" or "herb doctor," and something of a genius in his way. His name was Thomas.
The latest doctor to locate in Hinton is Dr. J. A. Palmer, who married Miss Nellie Gott, an accomplished lady of Hinton.
Dr. Thrasher, above mentioned, killed himself by taking the wrong medicine, swallowing poison, at the Red Sulphur, some thirty years ago. His son in recent years located at Forest Hill and practiced for several years, and then removed to Greenbrier County, and is an accomplished physician, and was succeeded by Dr. W. C. Nowlan, a son of Jos. Nowlan, who was succeeded by Dr. Hunter and Dr. Ryan, who now occupy that territory.
LUMBERMEN.
The stave and lumber industry has been one of the principal industries of the county. For a number of years, immediately fol- lowing the advent of the C. & O. Railway, numerous timber and lumbermen came into the county, and began the manufacture and
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
shipment of staves and lumber. One of the first on the ground was Theodore Arter, Esq., of Cleveland, Ohio, a representative of the Standard Oil Company, who made his headquarters at Hinton about 1875, retaining the same practically all of the time at this place, and buying and shipping practically all of the oil barrel staves manufactured in this region. He was an active and shrewd business man.
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Robert Elliott was another of the ancient lumbermen. He was a native of Canada, and was actively engaged for several years in the county, residing in Hinton, and was a member of its city coun- cil in the early days, and was connected with Judge W. S. Lewis' operations, and then entered the business on his own account. He married a daughter of James Rose, of the mouth of Bluestone. a granddaughter of Anderson Pack. Oscar Roles, a son of James Roles, was raised at the mouth of Bluestone, on the old Pack lands, and is now a business man at Bluefield. The other sons of James Rose were Garfield and Howard, who both died-How- ard in the West and Garfield at his home-when about twenty- five years of age. Judge W. S. Lewis, of Kentucky, was a large stave and lumberman operating in the county for many years. W. R. Johnston, a Pennsylvanian, was one of the first stave and lumbermen who came into the county, operating first on Beech Run, and was probably the first man to make sawed oil barrel staves in the county. The first split stave hogsheads ever made in the county were made by Captain Silas F. Taylor, in the hollow known as Ben Bebber (Van Bibber), on the headwaters of Lick Creek, on a tract of land he had purchased from Captain A. A. Miller-one hundred acres-in exchange for building the brick house now resided in by John A. George, Esq., on that creek. Captain Taylor and his sons got out a large number of these large staves, placed them in Lick Creek and floated them to New Richmond, where they were loaded in cars. He was the pioneer stave man in Summers County. It was he who built the brick house for Andrew Gwinn at Lowell, the brick house for Augustus Gwinn, near Alderson, and many brick houses in other counties, being the pioneer brick mason for all this region, and a very hon- est workman and contractor.
Another of the ancient lumbermen in the county was M. Hutch- inson, who did a large lumber and stave business in the lower Lick Creek country, and was succeeded in the business by his son Ed, who was killed while engaged therein. John A. Rich- mond early engaged in the purchase, shipment and sale of the
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
large split staves. Thos. J. Jones and his boys also dealt largely in staves at one time on Laurel Creek. James Allen Graham and his brother, C. H. Graham, as well as their uncle, John Graham. were early lumbermen in the county. The Graham brothers bought a mill and located at the foot of Keeney's Knob, hauling the mill and machinery across that big mountain. They located on the W. A. Miller land, and sawed a large amount of poplar timber, which they hauled to New Richmond and shipped. Later they engaged in business on Laurel Creek. M. A. Carroll located a mill in the early days at New Richmond, and manufactured large quantities of lumber.
The first sawmill man to operate at Meadow Creek was a Mr. Moore, from Pennsylvania, later succeeded by B. F. Hall and Owen Bearse, Jr. Bearse was from Massachusetts and Hall from Ohio. They did a large business at Meadow Creek. A tram-road was built for several miles up that creek, and the products brought down to the railroad; but they finally failed, went into the hands of a receiver, and the business was wound up, George D. Haynes, the lawyer, being the receiver. Owen Bearse. Jr., was a man of parts-educated, courteous and gentlemanly. He did a large busi- ness in the shipment of split staves to foreign lands. Marcelliott & Bearse was the original firm, which began business in the early 70's. on Lick Creek. They at one time owned the whole of North Alderson, purchasing the same and converting it into town lots. Benjamin F. Hall came in the early days of the county into the country, first as a stave inspector, and later engaging in the busi- ness himself. and became an active politician. At one time he was a candidate for commissioner of the county court, and at another time for the Legislature, and at his death was postmaster at Meadow Creek. He was a very large, jovial man, and a bachelor, but was very unfortunate in his financial affairs, and died in pov- erty, his only income being from the postoffice, which he received for his loyal party services. He died some eight years ago.
Harrison Gwinn, of Green Sulphur Springs, has been engaged in the lumber business for many years, as also the stave business, successfully. D. M. Meador is now one of the largest lumber and . stave manufacturers, with headquarters at Hinton.
The Lilly Lumber Company, a corporation, was organized by T. H. Lilly, the lumberman. He opened business in Hinton about 1901, becoming very successful. He does a wholesale and jobbing business, with a yard at Hinton, and mills on. the Greenbrier Branch of the C. & O. Railway. His corporation was organized
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
with a maximum capital stock of $100,000, his brother, Everett Lilly, being treasurer; T. H. Lilly, president; H. Ewart, Jas. H. Miller, J. M. Godfrey (vice-president), A. G. Flanagan (secre- tary), D. M. Meador, Martin Hill, Jr., Everett Lilly, R. H. Max- well and F. B. Kidd being directors. They ship to the foreign markets; also to the local business.
Kidd & Kirby have been maufacturing extensively in this county for the last few years. W. R. Best has been manufactur- ing in the Jumping Branch District, on the Davis lands, on Mad- am's Creek.
B. B. Burks is one of the oldest lumbermen in the county, having begun operations as early as 1873. He is from Ashland. Kentucky, and is now residing in Florida. He first began opera- tions at the mouth of Bluestone, on Tallery Mountain. R. H. Maxwell was also one of the pioneer lumber and stave men, along with R. M. Commack, of Cleveland, Ohio. He did a large busi- ness in this county at one time. William James & Sons began operations directly after the formation of the county, locating their mills on the pond in Avis, acquiring seven acres of ground. and utilizing the pond for storing logs and boom purposes. They still operate large saw and planing mills in the city of Avis, and have done so continuously since the founding of the business by William James. John P. Mills was another of the pioneer lum- ber manufacturers in Hinton. He was a New Yorker, and built a large steam mill below the Hinton ferry. He erected a hand- some residence, which was destroyed by the flood of '78, and his mill greatly damaged. Daniel F. Mohler was one of the first tim- ber men to operate on a large scale. He was at the mouth of Griffith's Creek-"Mohler's Switch"-in 1880, and made consid- erable money at the business.
In the early days great quantities of staves and lumber were floated down the New River in batteaus by Captain Thomas Quinn, the Irish boatman. He married a Farley, of Pipestem, and his two sons still reside in that district, Fowler and Miller, Mike being killed in a railway accident with John Flanagan, in 1906. He was a fireman on the railway. Squire Homer Ballen- ger, of Talcott, is also engaged in the lumber business at this date. Welder & Son, of Forest Hill District, enterprising saw- mill men and stave manufacturers, have been doing business in the region of Forest Hill and Barger Springs for a number of years. Green L. Scott and J. D. Scott, his brother, have been en- gaged in the lumbering manufacturing business for several years
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
successfully in Talcott District. Captain Mark M. Miller came to the county with its formation, and began the lumber manufac- turing business, having his mills in Jumping Branch and Green- brier Districts, and Hinton. J. S. Kellogg, a New Yorker, oper- ated on Big Creek extensively for a number of years. A. J. Mil- ler and his son Cornelius, who now lives in Talcott District, op- erated on Big Creek for a number of years, on the John Buckland property. In 1904 Evans & Company, of Michigan, purchased the timber on the Dr. Barksdale property, near Brooks-three thousand acres-and have been removing the same since. Dr. Barksdale, about 1885, operated at Barksdale Station, near Brooks, extensively in the manufacture of lumber. The timber from the Schermerhorn tract was largely removed by Crosby, Bodman and others, a good many years ago. John M. Holland, an old citizen of Green Sulphur District, a native of Franklin County, Virginia, and an enterprising and an honest man, whose family now reside in that country, operated a lumber business for a number of years in the Lick Creek country and also in Pipestem, where he was operating at the time of his death.
The first man to engage in the walnut timber business in the county was Sam Smith, of Ohio. He came into the Lick Creek country immediately after the construction of the railroad, about 1874, and purchased large quantities of the finest walnut timber in any country, which he undertook to get out and ship to foreign markets, but managed his affairs badly, secured the people's wal- nut timber and failed. This walnut timber was originally pur- chased and gotten out by Dr. Samuel Williams, for Dr. Richard P. Lake, the average price paid being one dollar per tree. Dr. Lake was at one time chief surgeon for the C. & O. Railway Co., and a very celebrated man in his profession. I. N. Johnson oper- ated in the timber business at one time on the head of Lick Creek. but did not succeed, as did a great many of the pioneer timber inen1.
One of the most celebrated suits tried in the county was con- cerning a lot of staves manufactured by R. H. Maxwell, on the lands of Joseph Thompson, in the upper Lick Creek country. Maxwell manufactured his staves, but Thompson refused to per- mit him to remove them out off his land, and Maxwell sued him for damages, recovering a judgment for $500, and instituting a chancery proceeding to enforce the same, and the matters were litigated for ten years, the lands of Thompson being finally sold to satisfy Maxwell's judgment. It was one of the most hotly con-
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
tested cases ever litigated in the county, and is known generally as the Thompson-Mexwell-Locker case. A large part of the land undertaken to be sold was claimed by H. S. Locker, of Lexington, Virginia, the father-in-law of Joseph Thompson, who was the son of Captain James Thompson, and Locker succeeded in hold- ing his property, which was known as the old Robert Gore tract of some eight or nine hundred acres. Maxwell was generally suc- cessful, however, in the litigation.
A. E. Miller and W. N. McNeer lumbered extensively at one time on Lick Creek; also, J. W. Alderson and W. B. Dean, and the Dean Lumber Company, which was composed of Dr. Fletcher Dean and William Ballard Dean, sons of George W. Dean.
The timber business, however, is about terminated in the ter- ritory of this county. The valuable forests have been cut and re- moved, and the timber industry is practically at an end within the territory of Summers County.
William James & Son first began the floating of timber down New River, being the pioneers of the boom business, having con- structed a large dam and boom across Bluestone River near its mouth, also a dam-up at the mouth of Little Bluestone; another dam at J. W. Pack's, at the mouth of Leatherwood, and one at their mills in Avis, in Upper Hinton.
The Commonwealth Lumber Company, now operating on Grif- fith's Creek and Keeney's Knob, is a corporation composed of Pennsylvania capitalists. It has erected a bridge across Green- brier River at the mouth of the creek, and built a broad-gauge railroad to the top of the Keeney's Knob, eight miles, where they own the old Jos. Jarrett 3,000 acres of land. They have built up a village of fifty houses near the site of the old fort. The Wm. James Sons' Co. during the winter-the dry season-would prepare a large run of logs, containing many hundred thousands of feet : then, when the floods came, run them down to their booms, and finally to their mill. When the floods came there would be a great rush and demand for laborers to save the logs, and also to make the run. As an instance, at one flood in recent years, among the laborers engaged in securing the logs were two preachers, one justice of the peace. one constable, one doctor and one president of a coal company. all engaged in driving these logs, as laborers. If the boom broke. or it was an extraordinarily high flood, many logs would escape down the river, probably being caught in the Kanawha, or going on out into the Ohio. Their boom at Avis was near where the concrete breakwater was built in 1906, by William H. Charlton,
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
a contractor, to turn the floods into the rivers, and prevent the overflowing of the upper town. A. E. & C. L. Miller at one time did a considerable lumber business in the upper Lick Creek coun- try. Price & Heald are also in the lumber business at Hinton, with offices in the Ewart-Miller Building.
There has also been a large planing mill and lumber business done at New Richmond in the last ten years. The business was originated by John W. Graham, who established and built a large manufacturing building, which still stands. The planing mill busi- ness was established by Oscar Honaker, later succeeded by the T. H. Lilly Lumber Company, and now by a corporation of which Otho Graham is general manager; J. A. Graham, Wm. W. War- ren, L. P. Graham and others, are stockholders, and James Gwinn, president.
"Squire" Chas. H. Graham is still engaged in the lumber manu- facturing business in the county, at Brooks, as is his son Otho, at New Richmond and David Graham Ballangee, at Clayton.
TWO MURDERS.
Page Edwards killed his wife in April. 1878, and Hugh J. Wil- burn killed George W. Farley on the same day. Page Edwards was a negro living at the east portal of the Big Bend Tunnel. His wife was a bright mulatto woman of handsome appearance. She was standing in the cabin door, holding a child in her arms, when Edwards shot her with a shotgun filled with buckshot. Strange to say, the woman was killed, but the child was unhurt. Edwards was jealous of his wife. He was tried for murder in the Summers Circuit Court at the term following, was found guilty and sentenced to life confinement in the penitentiary, where he died. He was defended by Mark Jarrett, a descendant of the pio- neer settler of that name in the Muddy Creek country. He was an orator of wide reputation, and a graduate of Roanoke College. His speech was said by those who heard it to have been one of the finest pieces of oratory ever delivered in Summers County. He married Miss Lula J. Garst, of Salem, Va. He afterwards died in the West, and his widow married John H. Clay, of Alder- son. Mark Jarrett left one son, Mark Jarrett, Jr., who has re- cently completed a course at law in the University of Virginia.
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