History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 38

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FREDERICK R. CHRISTIE has had twenty years since he completed his education in which to lay the foundation of a secure business success. More than half of this time he spent in the service of the Norfolk & Western Railway Company at Vivian and Bluefield, West Virginia, and for the past eight years has been an official in one of the lead- ing financial and business organizations of the city.

Mr. Christie was born at Princeton, Mercer County, West Virginia, July 7, 1884, son of Richard Clark and Elizabeth Pearis (White) Christie. The Christies are of English an- cestry and were early converts to the Wesleyan Reformation in the eighteenth century. On his mother's side Mr. Chris- tie is of French Huguenot origin, his ancestors having set- tled near Charleston, South Carolina. The Pearis in his mother's name represents another branch of her ancestry. Colonels George and Richard Pearis were soldiers of the Revolution and Celonel George donated fifty-three acres of his plantation for the townsite and from him the town known as Pearisburg, Virginia, was named. Richard Clark Christie was born in Monroe County and his wife, Elizabeth Pearis Christie, was born in Mercer County. Rich- ard Clark Christie served eighteen years (three terms) as circuit and criminal clerk of Mercer County, was a graduate of the class of 1876 from the University of Kentucky, es- tablished his home at Princeton the same year and achieved prominence as a lawyer in Princeton.

Frederick R. Christie attended the common and high schools of Princeton, graduated from the Princeton Acad- emy in 1902, and on leaving school entered the service of Castner, Curram & Bullitt, coal shippers. He was a clerk in their office two years at Vivian. Since then his home has been at Bluefield, where for ten years he was assistant car distributor on the Pocahontas Division of the Norfolk & Western Railway. Mr. Christie in 1914 joined the Vir- ginia Realty Loan Company, Inc., as secretary and director and is now vice president of that prosperous business. This institution has contributed largely toward the building of the City of Bluefield, having built more homes than any other organization in the city. He is also vice president and a director in the Bluefield Trust Company, a new financial institution recently organized with a capital and surplus of $220,000.

Mr. Christie married at Bluefield, August 14, 1907, Miss Willie Gay Barrow, daughter of Capt. and Mrs. William H. Barrow, of Dublin, Pulaski County, Virginia. Captain Barrow was a gallant soldier of the Southern Confederacy and died a number of years later from a wound he re- ceived during the war. The following children were born

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to Frederick R. and Willie Gay (Barrow) Christic: Freder. ick R., Jr., fourteen years old, Sarah Elizabeth, ten, and Margaret Gay, five years old.

Mr. Christie is a Master Mason, Royal Arch Mason, Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, active in the Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Bluefield Country Club, and his favorite recreation is hunting and fishing. lle is a member of the First Baptist Church, on its Board of Dea- cons, assistant superintendent of the Sunday School and a zealous worker in all of its endeavors. Mrs. Christie and children are also members of the First Baptist Church. Mr. Christie volunteered for Y. M. C. A. work (being too old for army service) with the American army in France, but was not called into service on account of the sudden ending of the World war. He is treasurer of Bluefield College, a mem- ber of the Board of Trustees, also a member of the Build- ing Committee and was instrumental in founding and lo- cating the college in Bluefield. IIe traces his ancestry through the following genealogy :

The Christie family: James Christie, the original set- tler, was born in England and came from London to Amer- ica with John and Charles Wesley and Theodore Whitfield, going first to Georgia and later crossed the Alleghany Mountains in the carly days of the colonies and settled where Union, Monroe County, West Virginia. is now lo- cated. He became a member of the "lloly Cross," and the motto of this order was, "I swear to cross the moun- tains. ''

He was a Methodist preacher and firm supporter of the Wesleyan Reformation. He held a position under the King of England as cup bearer in the King's Court. He resigned the position, however, as a protest against a religious tax imposed upon him by the Church of England.

In the year 1785 he built the first church on the western slopes of the Alleghany Mountains, and it is now known as Old Rehobeth. At the age of 110 years he could mount his horse without assistance, and he rode about the country- side marrying people aa long as he was able to sit upon his horse.

James Christie, the settler, had two sons, James and Rob- ert. They enlisted in the War of 1812 but were not called into service. Robert married Margaret Crosier and several children were born to them, as follows: James MI., who married Cynthia Peters Clark in the year 1-39; Thomas M., who married Catharine Boggess; Catharine, who mar- ried James Carpenter.

To James M., who married Cynthia Peters Clark, were born the following children: Damaris Catharine married William S. Hobbs, who was an officer of MeComas Battery and distinguished himself as a gallant soldier of the Civil war; Margaret E. remained single in life; Newton J., who was a gunner in Chapman's Battery, was a gallant sollier, was taken prisoner at Camp Lookout and died there; John Wesley and Caroline died at the ages of eleven and two years, respectively; Harvey R., who remained single, dis- tinguished himself as a musician and writer of many beau- tiful hymns and composed several of the leading hymn books of this country, was a graduate of the University of Tennessee; Thomas H. R., who married a Miss IIunt, was also a very distinguished musician, possessing an unexcelled tenor voice and wonderful skill in instrumental music : Lewis F., who married Linnie A. Lemon, is a cattle grazer and owns about 1,000 acres of Blue Grass land in Monroe County; Samuel M., who married Emma C. Burdett, is also a very prosperous farmer and grazer of Greenbrier County ; Milton W., who married Ozella Ruth MeKinzie, served as deputy circuit and criminal clerk of Mercer County, also as deputy sheriff for a great number of years. Richard C., who married Elizabeth Pearis White, is a lawyer by pro- fession, having graduated at the University of Kentucky in the class of '76, was elected to the Circuit and Criminal elerkship of Mercer County three successive terms, and re- ceived the nomination of the democratic party for the fourth term, but was defeated in the republican landslide of 1896.

To Richard C. and Elizabeth Pearis Christie the follow- ing children were born: Henry E. (Hal), Frederick R., Paul C. and James B. Henry E. married Miss Rose Pike,

of Kentucky, and to them one child was born, Anna F za beth. They live in Win hester, Kentu ky, ned He is a trav eling sulesman, ns is alo his Ir ter Jeme B. Pod C.

a veteran of the World war, w " in th grit Arv of the American Army from ('a'is, cogn 1 in the great I att of Somme Riv r. St. Mche, 11 tth f\el ml Argonne Forest, went over the t thres teres in this ries of battles unl was vont l l ail ga ] in th att2 of Argonne Forest.

The Clark Famdy. Benjamw ('ark, rn in Ki . ] Queen County, Virginia, In 17 , ttel i \ was a son of Jonathan, his wir lie] h W The father was the fourt' in atfr ..... w from England to James River in 163". T , wif f 1. jamine Clark was Elisabeth. Teer on Sinw 1 rn 1764 and died in 1957 He att .in ar l'in, Men County, West Virginia, in 1757. w. a voran of th Reso lutionary war, and prior to the Reol ou l wa a for a number of years in the Fresh arl lil i will

Samuel Clark was a nar reatis of Geir - Rear ( ek who was born in Virginia in 122 : id who ) una rel pioneer and whod-man. Ile w: s. 1 k W. At . .. r veyor with chain and comp. s. With axe al 1 rile 1 his way far into the lonely for t of the n r O n. ]] was one of the scouts of Virginia who aol 1 th por r of Virginia in the expedition against ( rnet ]\ r } the one who aided in his de font at the Inttle Pit P 1 ant at the mouth of the Kanawah River. Later (; rk dle his way into Kentucky with Darid Boer . Majer Sur el Clark, the Revolutionary solller, was both & crier onl scout, a devoted friend of George Washington. On bu sent out onee as courier to deliver a dispatri for W whiny ton the Indians chased him so closely he was once bir. the Indians yelling at him on the other.

Maj. Samuel Clark married Margaret Han v. anl t. them the following children wie burn: Jaroc II., hore in 1792, died in 1$64 and married C'in breda Das | W ] iam married Nelly Benson in Is . : Alexander murri F.iz abeth Dickey in 1819; John married Mary Elizabeth J En son in 1814: Cynthia married Capt John Poters in 1518.

The children of John ( lark, who n. rri d Eha th Johnson in 1414, were: Peggy, who married Thomas Fl die; Mary, who married David Pence; Caroline, who war ried Granville Smith; Cynthia Peters, who marr . 1 Jun M. Christie; Thomas, who married Eliza Smite, S nost M., who married Martha B: lland.

The children of Cynthia Peters ('lark, who m rI J M. Christie, are given under the capt'on uf te "Chri family."

The White Family was of English or gin, 01 2 . America in the early days of the C'oloni - : ] 11 the James River in Virginia. Wwwcam White, w a Miss Workman, was the brugen tor of the finley i T well County, Virginia, and Morar Conv W VU .. He came to this region from (. miphe ) cority, VI Benjamine White, his son, was Heriff of ' ( tv Mercer and represented this county in the Girl A bly of Virginia before the states were wirat 1 ] w prominent in the business and political aff ir of th for more than half of a certory. Hd norr 1 1 Paris and enjoyed a long and hajgy merr li being been married sixty one years before the death of Al wine lle died at the age of eighty six and l's wife t this eighty-three. Ile was a man of very strong nr r ling character. To them w re hen the fol wirz .selr : George W., who married Alice Bai v; John IL. nl ner ried Julia Cunningham; Charles, who w tri rr Sarah Louisa, who married Andr w .h. H irr : I Pearis, who married Richarl C. Cori tie: a ! )r 1 ters, Bell, Mary and Minnie, died nt tl. ar of fit en. sixteen and seventeen, all within tw. w ., fr d h theria.

The Pearis Family. According to tr din th ( f Paris, France, derived its name from this family. Tv were descendants of French Royalty, nol ten this family were Huguenots who fiel fr m Fr. t- ping temporarily in Barbado s. th n e, a t 171 . to Sit Carolina, locating on an i land al oot five i fr Pert

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Royal, to which they gave the name "Paris Island." This name is sometimes spelled "Pearris," again "Paris" and "Pearis," the modern spelling being Pearis. The set- tler was Alexander Pearis (Parris), who became quite a distinguished man in the early days of the history of South Carolina.

Judge MeCrady, in his History of South Carolina under the Proprietary Government, 1670-1719, gives considerable prominence to Col. Alexander Pearis, whom he shows to have been commissioner of free schools, commissioner for build- ing churches, member of House of Commons, of which Col. William Rhett was speaker, as a military officer and one of the judges to try pirates, and as commander of militia in the Revolution of 1719. Col. Alexander Pearis had a son, Alexander, who made some conveyance of property in 1722- 26. Alexander Pearis, Jr., had a son, John Alexander, who likewise had a son, John Alexander, as shown by his will probated in August, 1752. The last mentioned John Alexander had a son, Robert, who spelled his name, as did his father, John Alexander, "Pearis." This Robert Pearis died about 1781. He had a daughter, Malinda, who married Samuel Pepper, who removed to the New River Valley prior to 1770 and located at the place where, about 1780, he es- tablished a ferry, and which place has since been known as Peppers. His two brothers-in-law, George and Robert Alexander Pearis, sons of the preceding Robert, came with him, or about the same time. At the date of the coming of Pepper and the Pearises, in fact before that date, there lived in the neighborhood where Pepper located a gentle- man by the name of Joseph Howe, who had some pretty daughters, and it did not take long for these young Hugue- nots to fall in love with these girls, at least with two of them. An examination of the Pearis Bible discloses that George Pearis was born February 16, 1746 and was mar- ried to Eleanor Howe February 26, 1771. Robert Alexander Pearis was probably two years younger than his brother George. He married also a daughter of Joseph Howe, and about 1790 removed with his family to Kentucky and set- tled in what is now Bourbon County, and from whom it is said the town of Paris in that county is named. He had a son who in the early history of that state was a member of its Legislature. George Pearis remained in the vicinity of Pepper's Ferry until the spring of 1782. Prior to this time he had been made a captain of one of the militia com- panies of the County of Montgomery.

On the advance of the British Army into the Carolinas, in the fall of 1780. there was a Tory uprising in Surry County, North Carolina, of such formidable proportion as to impell Gen. Martin Armstrong, commanding that mili- tary district, to call on Maj. Joseph Cloyd, of the Mont- gomery County Militia, to aid in its suppression. About the 1st day of October, 1780. Major Cloyd with three companies of mounted men, one of which was commanded by Capt. George Pearis, marched to the State of North Carolina, where he was joined by some of the militia of that state, augmenting his forces to about 160 men, with which he. on the 14th day of the month, attacked the Tories at Shallow Ford of the Yadkin, defeating them with a loss of fifteen killed and a number wounded. Major Cloyd had one killed and a few wounded, among them Captain Pearis, severely, through the shoulder. This fight cleared the way for the crossing of General Green's army at this ford, which the Tories were seeking to obstruct. Captain Pearis returned home wounded, and in addition to his suffering from his wound had the misfortune to lose his wife by death in a few days after his return, she dying on November 14th. Captain Pearis' wound disabled him from performing fur- ther military service, and having purchased from Capt. William Ingles, about the year of 1779. for seventy pounds sterling (about $350.00), the tract of 204 acres of land on New River-whereon is now situated Pearisburg station on the line of the Norfolk & Western Railway, and which land was known for years as the Hale and Charleton tracts -he in the spring of 1782, removed thereto, erecting his dwelling house at a point nearly due south of the residence of Mr. Edward C. Hale, and a little to the southeast of where the road from Mr. Hale's house unites with the turn- pike. Two or three years after Captain Pearis made his

location he had a ferry established across the New River, and kept a small stock of goods, and later kept public en- tertainment. On October 5, 1784, he married Rebecca Clay, daughter of Mitchell Clay. The children of Col. George Pearis and his wife, Rebecca Clay Pearis, were: George N., Robert Alexander, Samuel Pepper, Charles Lewis; their daughters, Rebecca, Julia, Rhoda, Sallie and Eleanor.

Col. George N. Pearis married Elizabeth Howe, daughter of Maj. Daniel Howe; Robert Alexander Pearis married Miss Arbuckle, of Greenbrier County; Samuel Pepper Pea- ris married Rebecca Chapman, daughter of Isaac and Elian Johnston Chapman; Charles Lewis Pearis married Margaret Peck, daughter of John and Elizabeth Suidow Peck; Re- becca married John Brown, they went to Texas about 1836, leaving a son, George Pearis Brown, who lived for a num- ber of years in Mercer County; Julia married Col. Garland Gerald; Rhoda married Col. John B. George; Sallie married Baldwin L. Sisson; and Eleanor married Capt. Thomas J. George.

The children of Col. George N. Pearis and his wife, Eliza- beth Howe Pearis, were: Capt. George W., who never married, and died in 1898, at the age of nearly eighty-nine years; Col. Daniel Howe, who married Louisa A. Johnston; Rebecca, who married George D. Hoge; Nancy, who married Archer Edgar; Ardelia, who married Daniel R. Cecil; and Elizabeth, who married Benjamin White. Robert Alexan- der Pearis and his wife had no children, and after the death of said Robert Alexander his widow married Colonel McClung.

The children of Col. Garland Gerald and Julia Pearis Gerald, his wife, were: Sons, Thomas, Robert, Pearis, Gar- land T .; daughters, Rebecca, who married Dr. Edwin Grant; Louisa, who married James M. Cunningham; Mary, who married ..; Fannie, who married a Mr. Yost; Virginia, who died in Texas, unmarried; and Ophelia, who married

The children of Col. John B. George and Rhoda Pearis George were: George Pearis George, who married Sarah A. Davidson; Jane, who married Judge Sterling F. Watts. The names of the children of Capt. Thomas J. George and wife are as follows: A. P. G. George, Robert, and John; the daughters, Larissa, who married Jacob A. Peck; Ma- tilda, who married a Mr. Austin, and Rebecca, who married George W. Jarrell.

Charles Lewis Pearis and his wife, Margaret Peck Pearis, had but one child, a daughter, Electra, who married Dr. Charles W. Pearis, and they had no children.

As already stated, John Brown and family went to Texas prior to 1836. Some of his older sons were soldiers in the Texan army. He settled in that part of the state that be- came Collin County. George Pearis Brown, the son of John, remained in Virginia. He married a Miss Mahood, a sister of the late Judge Alexander Mahood, and he and his wife left numerous descendants.

The elder Col. George Pearis, the settler, was long a mag- istrate of Montgomery and Giles counties, and sat in the courts of both counties, and was for a term the presiding magistrate of the latter county. The first court of the County of Giles was held in a house belonging to him, and the land for the county buildings and town was given by him and the town of Pearisburg took its name from him. He died on November 4, 1810, and his ashies repose in the bury- ing ground on the farm on which he died, on the little hill just southwest of Pearisburg station. His widow married Philip Peters, and she died April 15, 1844. The elder Col. George Pearis' wife, Rebecca Clay, who was the daughter of Mitchell Clay, of Clover Bottoms, was a first cousin of Henry Clay of Kentucky, who was one of the greatest and most honored statesmen this nation ever produced.

EVERETT A. LEONARD, JR., went into business soon after finishing his education, was a merchant for several years in old Virginia, and for the past twenty years has been a resi- dent of Bluefield and a prominent factor in the growth and development, keeping apace with the city itself, of the Blue- field Hardware Company, of which he is president and manager.

AnElement

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Mr. Leonard was born in Russell County, Virginia, Au gust 15, 1876, son of Edward A. and Eliza (Reynolds) Leonard, both natives of Virginia, his father of Washington County and his mother of Russell County. Edward A. Leonard was a Baptist minister and was also a Confederato soldier, all through the war with a Virginia regiment. The last year he was captured and was confined in a Federal prison at Rock Island.

Everett A. Leonard, Jr., acquired a common school educa- tion, finished his high school course in Russell County in 1893, and about that time his parents removed to Greene County, Tennessee. While there he attended Mosheim Col- lege, and took a six months commercial course at Lexington, Kentucky. After completing his education Mr. Leonard determined to seek bis opportunities in the Far West, but after about a year as bookkeeper for the Weston Mercan- tile Company at Weston, Oregon, he changed his mind about the West and returned to Old Virginia. For three years he was employed in the hardware business at Leba- non by Mr. A. Hendrieka, and then bought this business and conducted it as proprietor until 1900. On selling out his business at Lebanon Mr. Leonard removed to Bluefield, which was then just coming into prominence as a commer- cial center of the great industrial district of Southern West Virginia. He connected himself with the Bluefield Hard- ware Company as one of its traveling salesmen, and for nearly ten years was on the road. By his personal and faithful efforts he contributed in no small measure to the great volume of that company's business, and the confi- dence reposed in the corporation by a host of retailers. After about ten years Mr. Leonard was made vice presi- dent of the company, and for the past six years has been president and general manager. The Bluefield Hardware Company is one of the largest organizations of the kind ia the state, has a capital and surplus of $700,000, and does an annual business aggregating $2,000,000.

In 1898 at Castlewood, Russell County, Virginia, Mr. Leonard married Miss Eleanor Fields, daughter of William and Elizabeth Fields. Her father was a Confederate sol- dier and at the battle of Petersburg was shot through the thigh, a severe wound from which he suffered all the rest of his life. He was by occupation a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Leonard have one daughter, Lucille Alton. Mr. Leonard is a Baptist, while Mrs. Leonard and her daughter are members of the Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Leonard, while he has kept his mind closely on busi- ness, is a man of genial qualities and of wholesome com- panionship and ig identified with several social organiza- tions. He is a member of the Fallsmills Fishing Club, Chamber of Commerce, plays golf at the Bluefield Country Club and is fond of all outdoor sports. lle is a Knight Templar and Royal Areh Masen, a Shriner, and a thirty- second degree Scottish Rite Mason. In polities he is a dem- ocrat.

JOHN FLOOD LAND bad the wisdom to identify himself when a young man with the expanding destinies of Blue- field, where he has lived for nearly thirty years, and is owner and director of one of the leading general insurance agencies in this section of the state.

Mr. Land was born in Campbell County, Virginia, March 28, 1874, of old Virginia stock. His father's people eame originally from Wales, while his mother's ancestors were English. His parents, C. H. and Sarah E. (Martin) Land, were both born in Virginia, his father being a tanner and farmer. During the Civil war he was in the Confederate Army from the beginning until the end, in the quartermas- ter's department.

Jeha Flood Land acquired a common school education in Campbell County and attended the New London Acad. emy. Leaving school at the age of seventeen, he came to Bluefield and went to work as a elerk for his oldest brother in the Surface and Land Supply Company. This firm did an extensive business supplying merchandise and etber ma- terials to the contractors who were then building the streets and railroads in this section. John F. Land had charge of the general supply store. He remained with the firm eight years, and in 1899 entered the insurance business with the

S. M. Smith Insurance Agency in Bluetield. Ho entinue] with Mr. Smith about six years, and then became one of the organizers of the Citizens U'nderwriters Agen y of Bluefield. Selling his interest in this in 1912, ho organize l the Bluefield Insurance Agency, which he now controls an l to which he devotes all his bus ness time and energy. This is an agency with an extensive business and handling al classes of insurance service except life, the total aggregate of its annual premiums running to about $ 6,com.

In 1915, at Lynchburg, Virginia, Mr. Lanl married Stise Ella Victoria Woolevine, daughter of Join D. and Ohje Woolevine, natives of Virginia. They have two children. John F., Jr., and Mary Ella. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. Land is a Royal Arch, Knight Templar and Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, and is secretary of the Masonic Trust Association, owners of the Masonic Temple at Bluefield. Ho is also secretary of the Elka Lodge and a member of the Cham ber of Commerce and Rotary Club.

GORDON S. SEAL, of Bluefield, has had an extensive ex- perience as a coal operater, banker and in other linea. This is one of the prominent names in West Virginia bust- ness eireles, his father, Capt. John R. Seal, having long been prominent as a banker and coal man at Charleston.

While Gordon S. Seal is a native of New York City where he was born June 23, 1-80, his parents were born in Virginia and he represents an old family of Virginin an- cestry. Ile is a son of Capt. John R. and Nannie ( Wood) Seal. His father was vice president of the Charleston Na tional Bank, and for many years had extensive holdings and management of coal and railroad properties.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 38

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