USA > West Virginia > Tucker County > History of Tucker County, West Virginia, from the earliest explorations and settlements to the present time; > Part 27
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that region. His house has long been the stopping place of hunters, adventurers and idlers from the Eastern and Northern cities, who go into Canaan to spend the heated months of summer.
When he went into Canaan, in 1864, there was no one living in that region. But there was an ancient improve- ment, 80 or 90 years old, made by some one whose memory only remains, but who is supposed to have been an ancestor of S. C. Harness. Cosner left Grant County, then Hardy, and cut a path for 20 miles across the Alleghany Mountains, 14 miles from his present home. He carried all his goods and plunder on horseback. When he reached Canaan, he found it a wild country filled with cattle, horses and stock that had been run in there by thieves during the war. He commenced an improvement near one of the most beau- tiful springs in West Virginia. It was almost out of the world. The nearest stores were at St. George and Mays- ville, each 25 miles distant, and from one or the other of these places he had to carry his groceries.
It was five or six years before any other family moved into that region. The first man to move into Canaan after Cosner was John Nine, of Preston County. He settled on a farm adjoining Cosner's; and the next to come were James and Isaac Freeland, also from Preston. Much of the bread of Canaan's early settlers had to be lugged from settlements fifteen and twenty miles distant. The land produces average crops of grain, and does remarkably well with buckwheat. Potatoes and all vegetables that grow in the ground as potatoes, beets, radishes and onions, grow to perfection. The country, when covered with original for- ests, is swampy, but, as soon as the timber is removed, the water dries up. The soil is of a dense clay, and water
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stands in horse tracks in the woods. Fern is a nuisance to deal with. Fire kills it, and the timber also, when it be- comes dry enough to burn. Grass grows splendidly as soon as the timber is removed.
Cosner was in the war, but his record is not of special interest, inasmuch as he was not in any particular engage- ments of note. His principal record, aside from being the pioneer of Canaan, is that of a bear hunter. He and his boys have killed over half a thousand bears in Canaan, in- numerable deer, two panthers and one wolf, according to their account. He has had many narrow escapes, which, if collected, would more than rival those of Finley. As a sample of his exploits, and also as a sample of his style of narrative, we append a story of his, taken down in writing as it was told, by a visitor who knew something of short hand writing. The story runneth thus :
I got up at midnight and went out in the woods with a dog, gun, and a big trap "hunkered" to my back. Soon the dog roared down the hill like the d-1 breaking tan-bark, and I said to myself : "that's a bear." I ran after him, and soon came to where the dog had treed two bear-whelps. I was skirmishing around to shoot them, when an old bear, in a bunch of laurel, five or six feet away, "hooved " up on his hind feet, and made for me. I tried to shoot, but gun failed. I got out a cap to put on the gun. Just then the bear lunged at me. and I had to jump six or seven feet high to keep from getting gnabbed. The bear kept snapping at my feet, and I ran behind a tree to hide. The bear followed mne, and I kept running round and round until I got dizzy. The bear probably got dizzy too, and quit running and stopped to study how to get ine. It popped its head round one side and then the other of the tree and tried to scare me so that I would jump out. But, I laughed at it and it seemed to get madder. All at once it slung its paws round and tore my pants off. This made me mad, and I leaped out and pounded the old beast with my gun, and had a fearful fight. I was getting tired and wanted to quit, and
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just then my dog snapped the bear and it turned on the dog.
I thought to myself, "Now's my time to take a tree," and I ran to a burnt chestnut snag and tried to climb it ; but it was too slick and I slipped back faster than I could climb. I saw that I could not climb that tree and was looking for another, when the bear came bulging through the brush after me, and I went up that slip- pery snag in a hurry. As I went up, the bear came after me with renewed energy and seized my foot, and tore my shoe off. I scram- bled to the top of the snag and sat down on it. The bear was trying to climb too. It pawed and scraped and bawled and roared, and made the mountains ring. It was the ugliest bear I ever saw. It kept mne up that tree until I got awful tired, and wished that I had staid at home. I nearly froze. The wind whistled against me, and I said to myself, "O, if I only had my pants!" The bear sat down and took times easy, and I tried to scare it off by hitting it with pieces of bark and rotten wood.
It got daylight, and the sun came up and got warm, and I felt better, but was tired and numb, and the bear seemed to know it. I sat there in despair all day. It was the longest day that ever I pulled through. About sundown one of the young bears com- menced coming down. This was balm and Gilead to my weary back, for I knew that the old one would leave as soon as the young whelps would come down. I watched it patiently and kept as still as I could. It would slide down a foot or two, and then stop a while to study about it, and to look around to see if everything was all right. Then it would drop down a few inches further, and would go through the same maneuvers. It got dark and the moon came up, and that little whelp was not half way down. I was try- ing to be patient, Job might have been a patient old citizen, but he never sat on top of an old snag twenty-four hours with no pants on. Eternity could be no longer than it took that young bear to reach the ground. I wished that an earthquake would come and shake him off. But, at last he got to the ground, and the old beast started to go away, walking sidewise and looking up viciously at me. When I got down, I was so stiff I could hardly hobble home. I have had thousands of battles with bears, and have stabbed them to death and pounded them to death and kicked them to death; but this scrape made me feel the sneakingest that ever I felt.
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Solomon Cosner is a man of giant frame, weighing about 200 pounds, and standing 6 feet tall. In his earlier days he was probably the most powerful man in Tucker County.
F. H. COSNER, son of Solomon Cosner, born 1861, in Hardy County, married, in 1882, to Elizabeth, daughter of John Sears. His only child is Olive E. His farm is in Canaan, 30 miles from St. George, contains 66 acres and has 10 acres under cultivation.
C. P. COSNER, brother to F. H., born 1863, in Hardy County, lives with his father in Canaan.
W. H. H. COSNER, another son of S. W. Cosner, born 1849, married 1875 to Melissa J., daughter of John Nine. His wife died in 1881 and he married her sister, Margaret E. Nine. Children are, Harness F., Ada Bell and Lyda Ann. He owns a farm of 100 acres, one-half improved, in Canaan, 30 miles from St. George. In his time, he says, he has killed 30 bears and 300 deer.
C. C. COSNER, born 1853, in Lewis County; married in 1880, to Mary J., daughter of John Sears, of Grant County. Children : Gilbert E., and Lilly Estella. He has been in Tucker since 1864; and he owns a farm of 90 acres, 30 acres improved, in Canaan, 30 miles from St. George.
. EMIL COSNER, son of Solomon Cosner, born 1859 ; married in 1880 to Lydia A., daughter of Gustavus Muntzing, of Grant County. Farmer, 83 acres, 40 acres improved, 30 miles from St. George, in Canaan. Children: Ora G. and Ida Anice.
FELIX H. COLLINS, was born in 1852, lives on rented land, on Red Creek, 25 miles from St. George.
HENRY COOK, born in Maryland, in 1842, of German and Irish descent. Married Miss Lyda A. Spencer in 1864.
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HISTORY OF TUCKER COUNTY,
Children : Mary Kate, Emma, Ida G., Thomas W., Robert R., Harriet A., Clementine and Harry O. He lives at Thomas, and has been mining for 20 years.
SAMUEL COOPER, was born in 1826, in Grant County, married in 1849 to Elizabeth Wymer, of Pendleton County. He owns 413 acres of land on Red Creek, 25 miles from St. George; he has 180 acres of improved land; he has been in Tucker since 1874. Children : Mary, Martha, John W., Job, Mahala, Melvina, Daniel, Elizabeth, Melissa Jane, Adam, Rosetta and Abraham.
JOAB A. CARR, whose father's name was Abner, was born in 1844, in Randolph County, and was married in 1865 to Sarah C., daughter of Joseph White, and is of English and Irish descent. Children : Virginia C., Albert, Sylvester J., James B., Sarah E., Mary A .. Alpheus, Arthur A. and Mollie. He lives on a farm of 93 acres, with one-third of it improved, on Red Creek, 30 miles from St. George; he was in the Confederate army a few months and in the Union Home Guards.
HENRY COOPER Was born in 1833, in Frederick County, Va., of English and German descent; married in 1867 to Mary M., daughter of George Randolph, of Hampshire County. Children : Charles H., George F., Anna M., John Robert, Mary Catharine, William S., Frederick A., and Hattie May. He lives in Canaan, 33 miles from St. George. He owns 1,400 acres of land, of which 110 acres is im- proved ; has been in Theker County since 1882 ; He was a scout for Lee in the Confederate army.
THOMAS CARR Was born in 1857, son of John Carr ; married in 1877 to Elizabeth Pendleton ; lives on Dry Fork, 23 miles
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from St. George; a farmer and owns 60 acres of land, 6 acres improved. Children ; Martin, Ursula and Ellen.
JAMES L. CORRICK Was born in 1861 ; lives at Fairfax.
JAMES CLOSS, of Scotch descent, was born in 1851 ; married in 1873 to Margaret V., daughter of Thomas M. Mason; lives on the railroad, 14 miles from St. George. Children : Duncan McClure, Charley Ross and Anna Belle.
WILLIAM M. CAYTON, editor of the Tucker Democrat, was born in 1862, in Upshur County, came to St. George in 1881 : is a printer by trade. For further sketch see the history of the Pioneer and Democrat, in this book.
W. E. CUPP, born in Virginia 1856; married, 1882, to Mary J., daughter of C. W. Mayer, of Terra Alta; attended school at New Haven, and commenced clerking when he was 16 years of age. He resides in St. George, and is in the mercantile business in the firm of Mayer & Cupp.
A. E. CALVERT, M. D., of Guysville, Ohio, a few miles west of Parkersburg, was born in 1862. In his earlier years he attended school near home, and put in his time to good advantage. When he was twenty years old, that is, in 1882, he entered P. M. College at Indianapolis, Ind. At college he was noted for his devotion to his books and to hard study. He was a ready writer, and generally had a book well nigh reproduced in notes by the time he was through with it. In 1884 he graduated with honors, after having de- voted two years of intense application to his studies. From college he returned home, and after a short visit proceeded to St. George and took up the practice that Dr. Austin had resigned. As a doctor, he has been eminently successful, and his support is of that kind that will endure.
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HISTORY OF TUCKER COUNTY.
JOHN W. CASSADY, born 1856; married in 1876 to Eliza- beth James, daughter of Ephraim James. Five acres of his 53 are improved, 3 miles from St. George, on the head of Dry Run. Children : George Harvey and Thomas Q.
D. M. CORRICK, son of William Corrick, was born in 1830, of German descent; married in 1855 to Louisa Turner, of Lewis County. Children: Pasthena, James L., Mary, Georgiana and Virginia. In 1867 his wife died at Newburg, where he then lived, and he married Charlotte Stone. He lives 8 miles above St. George on the river, where he owns a farm of 99 acres, with 40 acres improved.
SEYMOUR CARR lives in Dry Fork.
MARSHALL CAMPFIELD was born 1841 in Randolph, and married in 1865 to Lucina J. Day. Their children are: Lyda Grant, Jesse Colfax, Albert Isaae, George A., John R., Hanning F., Martha Luvenia, and Noalı P. He is a farmer living fifteen miles above St. George on a farm of 300 acres, one-fifth of which is improved. He was in the Union army three years and was wounded in the arm by a Minie-ball.
WILLIAM CORRICK, was born in 1800, in Randolph County, and died in 1882; son of John Corrick, of German descent, was married in 1825 to Daborah Martney, of Randolph County. Their children are: Washington, Jefferson M., Eunice, Daniel M., Martha Jane, John, Francis M., Jetson, Baxter, Elizabeth Ann, Mary Lucretia, Anzina, Eda, Adam, Dow, Joseph, David and Elias. His farm of 620 acres had 100 acres of improved land on it; he held several offices in the early history of the county. The battle of Corrick's Ford was named from him. The word is nearly always wrongly spelled. It should be Corrick not Carrick. His house was made a hospital for the sick and wounded.
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The kitchen was a prison for the captured Confederates. Everything on the farm that could be eaten was gone, ex- cept a few potatoes in a barrel in the garret, and one old goose. It was Corrick's account that three Union and twelve Confederates were killed.
S. M. CALLIHAN was born in 1844, in Harrison County, of Irish descent ; married in 1870 to Virginia, daughter of Jacob H. Long. Their children are, Cora M., Otho C., and Stanford J. S. M. Callihan came to Tucker County, in 1867, to build E. Harper's house, being a carpenter by trade and having the contract of building it. After that, he went into the merchant business at Holly Meadows, 6 miles from St. George, and subsequently bought 90 acres of improved land on the river bottom at the finest part of the Holly Meadows. He died in 1884. He was a man of strictest honesty, and people placed in him the most unbounded confidence. He had been Justice four years, county com- missioner one term, and president of the county court one term. He was just fairly entering upon a life of usefulness, when, at the age of 40, he was suddenly taken off. His loss was felt throughout the county, and our neighboring coun- ties joined together to extend to us their sympathy for our loss.
He was a man who never was neutral on anything. He had an opinion on every subject that claimed his at- tention. In the war, his sympathies and support were given to the South. He entered the army and was under Stonewall Jackson until the General's death. He was soon afterward taken prisoner in Highland County, Va., and was sent west. At Grafton he made his escape by jumping from the train. He went east and was soon retaken 25
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and sent to Camp Chase, where he lay a whole year, and was then sent to Fort Delaware. His sufferings were as all prisoners suffered who were confined in those bastiles.
J. R. COLLETT was born in 1860, son of H. P. Collett, of Scotch descent, married in 1883 to Nora M., daughter of Garrett Long. Their child's name is Maury. He is a mechanic and lives at Alum Hill.
L. D. CORRICK, son of William Corrick, was born in 1845, at Corrick's Ford, married in 1874 to Mary J. Messenger. Children : Walter J., Adam J., Otis E., and Ollie B. He is a farmer, owning 250 acres of land, with 100 acres im- proved.
WILLIAM CHANNEL was born in Randolph County, in 1855, of English, Irish and German descent, married in 1875 to Martha E., daughter of Adam Dumire. Their children are: Albert Tilden, Icy Margaret, and Edwin. He lives at the mouth of Wolf Run, 3 miles from St. George, where is his farm of 88 acres, with 8 acres improved.
PHILIP CONSTABLE was born in 1835, in Preston County, of English descent, married in 1859 to Catharine, daughter of William Calvert; he is a farmer, living 9 miles from St. George on Shafer's Fork, where he owns 63 acres of land, one-half improved. And has worked to some extent in the shook and lumber business.
SYLVESTER CHANNEL was born in 1843, of English and Irish descent, was married in 1867 to Marsilla, daughter of James R. Parsons. Their children are : Robert W., Irwin, Emma Susan, Mahala, Harriet and Rachel E .; his farm of 92 acres, one-fourth improved, is on Shafer's Fork, 15 miles from St. George. He was in the Union Army.
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G. L. CARDER, not a citizen of Tucker, but a preacher traveling here in 1884, was born in Harrison County, in 1850. In 1872 he married Martha Fitzhugh : his child's name is Howard. He has been preaching the doctrine of the Methodist Protestant Church four years.
ALEXANDER B. CLOSS, son of David Closs, born 1856, was married in 1882 to Catharine, daughter of Jacob Dumire, of Limestone; his children are, Lizzie Bell and James ; he is a farmer, living on Horse Shoe Run, 7 miles from St. George, on the old Stephen Losh farm, one of the oldest plantations on the Run ; he also is partner in a shingle-mill and saw-mill.
DAVID CLOSS was born 1823 at Ayrshire, Scotland, where he lived until he was a man. At the age of twenty-four he married Agnes Furguson, in the city of Glasgow. He was a miner by trade. Soon after his marriage he came to America, and worked three years in the Maryland mines about Lonaconing and New Creek. In September, 1850, he came to Horse Shoe Run, and moved into John Stephenson's loom house, near where J. H. Fansler now lives, and re- mained there about ten days until he could build himself a house. When it was done, he moved into it. It stood two or three hundred yards from the present Pine Grove School- house. He lived there about three years, and then moved up on the mountain, which from him is now called " Closs Mountain." His experience in farming was enough to discourage almost anybody else. He planted three acres of corn and got only six bushels of ears ; sowed three acres of oats, and hauled it all home, straw and all, on a one- horse sled; went to the Glades and bought potatoes at 873 cents a bushel, carried them home on horseback and planted them, but never dug them. The only thing raised that was
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worth anything was a little buckwheat and rye. He went ' back to work in the mines to get a little money to try it over again. His fortune began to grow better. When he got on top of the mountain he raised enough to do him a year; or rather his wife raised it while he was working on the Glover Gap Tunnel, on the railroad to Wheeling.
While clearing his land on the mountain, the first year, he waded through snow knee deep, and when he would eat dinner, which he had carried with him, he was often obliged to keep walking while eating to keep from freezing his feet. In 1864 he worked two months in the mines. It was war times and wages were high. In one month he made $157.43.
He has been a hard-working man all his life. Although he lived in the woods, yet he never killed a bear or a deer. As he expressed it: "I did all my hunting with the ax and grubbing hoe, and I expect I am as well off as if I had trot- ted over the mountains all my life with a gun." And he is. He has cleared from the woods a fine farm of 225 acres, and has besides 378 acres of wild lands. He has given good farms to his children, and he has the satisfaction of seeing them all industrious and respected citizens, honest and well- to-do. He has plenty left to last him his lifetime, and he can spend the remainder of his days in ease. His life and what he has done are samples of what perseverance and in- dustry will do, even in the rough mountains of Tucker. There are many localities better than the one which David Closs selected, and any man with health and strength might dlo as well as he. The great trouble is that there is not enough energy among our people. There is a wide field to work in, and, although there are few opportunities for amassing fortunes, yet there is room for every one to make
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a good living, have plenty to eat and wear, and get along well in the world.
His children are : William, John, James, Margaret, Alex- ander, Sarah, Isabel and Duncan. John lives in Maryland, near Oakland.
David Closs is known the neighborhood over for his hos- pitality. No one in need was ever turned from his door un- cared for. No one, really suffering, ever asked him in vain for a favor. He is a steadfast member of the M. P. Church.
BENJAMIN CLARK was born at Fort Pendleton, Md., (near Grant County, W. Va.) in 1853, son of John Clark, of Irish and German descent; came to Tucker in 1865. He lives at Leadmine, 10 miles from St. George ; is a farmer and is a partner in 110 acres of land, partly improved.
MARTIN V. CANAN born 1844, in Hampshire County ; mar- ried, 1865, to Catharine Martin, of Mineral County. Chil- dren : Fred, Lewis, William N., Augustus M., Elizabeth Ann, Mary T., Rosa E. and Thomas U. Garfield; is a farmer, liv- ing on the upper waters of Horse Shoe Run; he was in the Union army and was stationed at different places along the Potomac, but was not in much fighting. He came near freezing to death while in the army.
ENOS G. CARR, born 1850, son of Jacob Carr, married in 1872 to Angeline Carr. The children are, Mary Francis, Thomas H. M., James B., Henry S., Ella V. and Amos G. He owns 310 acres of land on Dry Fork, 21 miles from St. George, 125 acres of which is improved.
SYLVESTER CARR, born 1858, son of Sylvester Carr, mar- ried in 1876 to Martha E. Goldessen, of Grant County. Children : Henry and Sylvenas. By occupation he is a farmer and lives 30 miles from St. George.
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HISTORY OF TUCKER COUNTY.
FISHER CARR was born in 1864, brother of Sylvester Carr; married in 1883 to Alice Carr. They have one child, named Wilford C.
GEORGE W. CROSS, born 1855, in Barbour County. His children are Flavius B., Flora A. and Ida May ; he lives on Clover Run.
HUGH P. COLLETT, born 1825, in Beverly ; is of French and English descent ; married in 1855, to Louisa, daughter of Jolm R. Goff. By trade he is a carpenter, but owns 200 acres of land, one-forth improved, on Black Fork, 10 miles from St. George. Children-Florence E., Pleasant O., John R., Jefferson D., Perry L., Sophronia, Lycurgus, Tazewell, Chesy Lyon, Homer, Lettie and Clinton M.
JOHN C. CLINE, born 1830, in Harrison County ; is of Irish descent ; he was married in 1855 to Margaret, daughter of Aaron Loughry. Children-Samuel N., Charles W., Miner- va J., Serena and George. He owns 299 acres of land with 50 acres improved, 10 miles from St. George; was in the Union army 7 months, under Kelly.
D.
FREDERICK DAVIS, son of John Davis, born 1814, in Ohio ; was married in 1861 to Mary A., daughter of John Robin- son. He lives 8 miles from St. George, on rented land, in Licking District. His children are, Charles, Frank and Malissa.
CHARLES DAVIS, son of Frederick, was born in 1868. Far- mer of 110 acres, 25 acres improved; lives on Licking, 8 miles from St. George.
WILLIAM A. DULING, born 1852, in Mineral County, of German descent, is doing business in the firm of Shilling- burg & Duling, at Fairfax.
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BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES.
OLIVER DUMIRE, born 1855, is a son of Stephen Dumire, and was married, in 1880, to Sophia A. Lansberry. He is of German descent and follows farming principally. Chil- dren : Agretta, Elizabeth, and Abraham Orvis. He has lived awhile in Pennsylvania ; but he now resides on Horse Shoe Run.
WILLIAM DUMIRE, born 1833, is a son of Charles Dumire, and was married, in 1863, to Rebecca, daughter of Jacob Pifer. In 1875 his wife died, and he married Mary Hibb. Children : James M., Lucinda R., Mary Ann, Ruth J., Vir- ginia F., John L., and William E. He lives 6 miles from St. George, on Mill Run, and has a farm of 48 acres. He was in the Union army, under General Kelly, and had his ankle injured in the service.
JAMES E. DEMoss, son of W. W. DeMoss, was born in 1849 in Gilmer County, W. Va., married in 1866, to Mary M. Norman, of Doddridge County, W. Va. Their children are Darul and Clarinda. He came to Tucker in 1882; he was in the Union army two years; part of the time under General Harris, and was in the battle of Cedar Creek, Cross Roads and Bull Town; owns a farm of 34 acres, 8 miles from St. George on Brushy Fork.
DANIEL K. DUMIRE was born in 1831; is of German de- scent, and the history of his ancestors is found in another chapter of this book ; was raised on Mill Run, near St. George. When 21 years of age, he married Sarah Ann Sell. On his wedding day he cradled rye till noon, and then went to hunt a horse to ride to the appointed house. He had so much difficulty in finding a horse, that he was two hours behind time, and found the guests very impatient with so much waiting. However, he was married, and set
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HISTORY OF TUCKER COUNTY.
up house-keeping for himself, with little of this world's goods. He was a schoolmate of A. P. Minear's, at St. George, and has since held several offices in the county ; his principal business has been farming and working with a saw-mill. He lives on Mill Run, 1 mile from St. George. Their children are Malissa J., Solomon, Henry J., (Col.), Virginia C., Liza A., Maggie S., Laura and Wilson. He was at Hannahsville when McChesney was killed, and heard Captain Miller brag of killing him; he owns 223 acres of land, of which 55 acres is improved.
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