History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 44

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Richard Wood was a farmer of considerable means, own- ing many slaves and a large body of land. Ile died at the age of ninety in the year 1859.

III. JOHN RICHARD WOOD (1799-1886), the son of Rich- ard Wood of Patrick County, was born in the year 1799. He married Lucinda DeHart, a daughter of James, the emi- grant, and Ellen (Dennis) DeHart and to them were born Annie, Stephen H., Mary, Richard J., Delilah, Rachel and Leah. Stephen H. married Rachel Thomas, a daughter of Joseph and Annie (Turner) Thomas, and had a family of six boys and three girls. Annie married Rev. John Hub- bard and moved to Summers County, West Virginia; their children were two sons and four daughters. Mary married Perry Slusher, a son of Jacob and Tilda (Hylton) Slusher; their children were five sons and five daughters. Richard J. married Judith Anne Shortt, a daughter of John and Judith (Thomas) Shortt; they had two daughters and seven sons. Delilah married Richard Hatcher and had six children. Rachel married Samuel F. Turner, a son of Francis and Nancy (Thomas) Turner; they were the parents of two sons and four daughters. Leah married George Slusher, a brother of Perry, and unto them were born three daughters. John R. Wood lived at the foot of "Wood's Gap," where he owned a large body of land. He owned no slaves, being conscientiously opposed to slavery.

IV. RICHARD JOHNSON WOOD (1828-1917), the son of

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John R. and Lueinda (DeHart) Wood, was born on the :7th day of October, 1828. His educational advantages vere limited. He attended several private schools, and al- ways looked back with pride to the fact that for a short ession he had as his teacher Nathaniel Henry, a son of Patrick Henry of Virginia. His early years were spent on ia father's farm and in the drygoods store of James Moir at "Old Charity." On the fifth day of February, 1853, he married Judith Anno Shortt, a daughter of John Y. and Judith (Thomas) Shortt. They lived first on a 'arm given him by his father in Patrick County, whero hey resided up to and during the Civil war, after which hey moved to the County of Floyd, settling on a farm five niles east of Jacksonville, now the town of Floyd. Rich- ird Wood was a captain of militia for seven years, suc- Feeding Capt. Alexander Wood when the latter moved to West Virginia. When the war broke ont he volunteered n the company of Capt. D. L. Ross, which was Company ), Fifty-first Regiment, Virginia Infantry. He saw service n the western campaign, and while in the City of Mem- his, Tennessee, came near losing his life from typhoid 'ever. After the elose of the war he, like so many other øldiers of the South, returned to their rundown farms and 'aithfully began anew. He devoted himself to farming and tock raising, was long a consistent member of the Baptist Church, and serving for forty years as deacon and clerk. in politics he was no less loyal, being a Jeffersonian demo- rat. His example to his children and neighbors was one of thorough unselfishness and high moral living. His chil- Iren are: Emeline and Susan E., both of whom died in in- 'ancy; Jefferson P., Daniel H., George B., Greenville D., Amos D., Sparrel A. and Doe R. Wood. Jefferson P. Wood narried Belinda Brammer, a daughter of Jonathan and Inliana (Burnett) Brammer. Their children are: Stan- on H., Dora, John E., Benjamin Frederick, Gertrude and Ethel. He is a farmer and long a justice of the peace. Iis address is Floyd, Virginia. Daniel H. (Hillsman as le is called) married Ruth Corn, a daughter of Rev. Peter ind Tiny (Turner) Corn, and they were the parents of Jeorge C., Della, Katherine and Mae. Hillsman'a occupa- ion is farming, but he finds time for politics and public ervice of his county. He has served as school commis- ioner, justice of the peace, and one term as a member of he House of Delegates of Virginia. George B. married Elizabeth Brammer, a daughter of Jonathan Brammer. They have one son, William Jefferson Wood. George is a armer, merchant, constable, and has served as steward of he poor. Greenville D. married first Melissa Graham, a laughter of Andrew and Sonora (Turner) Graham, and fter her death he married Lillie Barnard, a daughter of Conner and Mary Elizabeth (Turner) Barnard. They have hildren as follows: Dr. Richard Hugh; Susan Lee; Eliza- eth; Greenville and John. Greenville is a merchant and armer. Amos D. (see below). Sparrel A. married first Tessie Scalea, of Martinsville, and after her death India Goodwyn, a daughter of Judge Goodwyn, of Nottaway, Virginia. He is a teacher by profession, holding the chair f Latin and German in one of the high schools of the City f Washington, D. C. They have one daughter, Judith. )oc R. married Gertrude Howard, a daughter of Peter L. .nd Belle Howard, of Floyd. He is a banker by profes- ion, having organized the Floyd County Bank, and for many years its cashier. Ile is now holding the responsible position of national bank examiner. He lives at Martins- urg, West Virginia. They have children: Rodley D., Virginia Howard and Catherine.

V. DR. AMOS DE RUSSIA WOOD (1869- ), the son of Richard J. and Judith Anne (Shortt) Wood, was born in Floyd County May 16, 1869. He worked on his father's arm and attended the publie sehools of the district and "loyd Academy and Oxford Academy, the latter under the utelage of the Rev. John K. Harris, long a distinguished reacher and educator of Floyd. After leaving Oxford Academy he engaged in teaching and reading medicine preparatory to entering the College of Physicians and Sur- jeons of Baltimore, from which institution he graduated a medicine in the year 1893. For twelve years he followed

the general practice of medicine, mostly at Rocky Mount, Franklin County, Virginia. Giving up the general practice in 1906, he spent two years in New York City, making a specialty of the eye, car, nose and throat, after which he located in Bluefield, West Virginia, where he has a good practice. He is engaged ns a diversion and as a "lubor of love" in writing the history of his native county of Floyd. He is a Baptist in religion and a democrat in politics. On the 29th of June, 1909, he was united in innrringe with Annie Chapman Johnston, youngest daughter of Judge David E. and Sarah Elizabeth (l'enris) Johnston, of Port- land, Oregon, and formerly of Bluefield, West Virginia. Three children have been born to them: Sara Penris; Richard Johnston and Jolin David. Sara Penris died at the age of four years and John David died in infuney.

Mas. AMOS DE RUSSIA Woon is the daughter of the late Hon. David E. Johnston, of Bluefield, West Virginia. Judge Johnaton was a lawyer widely known in the Pocahontas coal fields. Besides practicing Inw Judge Johnston WAS both an author and a promoter of business enterprises. His "History of the Middle New River Settlements" is a standard historical and biographical work, while "The Story of a Confederate Boy in the Civil War" has been widely read as a clever presentation of the experiences of a man in the ranks. When the Pocahontas coal fields first attracted wide attention he was among the organizers of the Flat Top Coal Company, the New River Railroad, Min- ing and Manufacturing Company (later acquired by the Norfolk & Western), the Bluefield Telephone Company, State Bank of Bluefield, Bluefield Hardware Company, and the Flat Top Grocery Company. When a young man Judge Johnston rapidly rose to prominence in his profession. He was attorney for the Norfolk and Western Railroad for seventeen years, commonwealth attorney for Mercer County, state senator and later was elected judge of the Eighth Judicial District, which position he held for two terms of eight years, and in the year 1998 achieved the unusual in winning the place of congressman from the Fifth District of West Virginia, running on the democratic ticket, which previously had recorded a large republican majority. It was ia 1908 that he went to the Pacific Coast and became prominent in business and legal circles in Oregon.

Mrs. Wood through her parents, Johnstons and Pearises, is related to the following prominent Southwest Virginia families: the Frenches, the Gillespies, the Harrisons, the Hoges, the Chapmans, the Bailies, the Cecils, the Snidors. the Straleys, the Sanders and the Georges.

DAVID E. JOHNSTON was born in Pearisburg April 10, 1845. His ancestry was Scotch-Irish. His grandfather, David Johnston, was the founder of the immediate family ia this country. The latter was born io 1726 in Fermanagh County, Ireland, and displayed remarkable courage as a very young boy in taking the step which brought him from the old country to the Colony of Virginia, at an age when most boys would have preferred the advantages of home and friends. He was only ten years old when he obtained a place as cabin boy on a ship which was sailing for Amer- ica, and turned away from the old scenes to cast bis lot with the many older persons of his own country who were creating homes across the water. The several generations that succeeded the adventurous young cabin boy have given evidence of the possession of an initiative which may be re- garded as an inheritance. David Johnston. Jr., born in 1768, married Mrs. Sallie Chapman Miller. Of their three children the oldest was Oscar Fitzalon Johnston, the father of Judge David E. Johnston. David Johnston, Jr., wns a member of the House of Delegates of Virginia from Giles County, aa waa his son, Osear Fitzalon Johnston, later. The Johnstona have always been found among the leaders of their community.

THE PEARIS FAMILY, from whom Mrs. Wood's mother, Sarah Elizabeth (Pearia) Johnston, is descended, was R French Huguenot family. Her great-great-grandfather, Capt. George Pearis, married Eleanor Howe, a daughter of Joseph Howe, of Giles County, Virginia. Ha was captain of a company who marched against an uprising of the Toriea in Surry County, North Carolina, in 1780. His com

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pany was a part of Major Cloyd's force. In an engagement with the Tories at Shallow Ford of the Yadkin they de- feated them with the loss of fifteen killed and a few wounded; Major Cloyd had one killed and a few wounded, among them Captain Pearis, severely wounded through the shoulder. This fight cleared the way for the crossing of General Greene's army at this ford, which the Tories were seeking to obstruct. Colonel George, the settler, was long a magistrate of Montgomery and Giles counties, and sat in the courts of both counties, and was for a term 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. The parents of Sarah Elizabeth (Pearis) Johnston long re- sided at Princeton, West Virginia. Their home and hotel belonging to them were burned by the soldiers during the Civil war, and in the home were destroyed three officers' uniforms belonging to three different generations of the family, including the one belonging to Colonel George, the settler, which had a bullet hole through the shoulder.

CHARLES ARCHER BRADSHAW, general manager of the Flat Top Insurance Agency at Bluefield, Mercer County, was born in Highland County, Virginia, March 10, 1878, and is a son of Stephen B. and Mary J. (Graham) Brad- shaw, both natives of Virginia. Stephen B. Bradshaw be- came one of the substantial farmers of Highland County, besides having marked ability as a civil engineer, and hav- ing done a large amount of general surveying work in his section of Virginia. He also served as county surveyor of Highland County.

Charles A. Bradshaw gained his early education in the public schools of his native county, and thereafter he com- pleted a two years' course in the Staunton Business College at Staunton, Virginia, in which he was graduated as an ex- pert stenographer and bookkeeper. Upon coming to Blue- field he became stenographer and bookkeeper in the offices of the Flat Top Insurance Agency, with which he has since continued his alliance and with which he has gained ad- vancement through effective service. He acquired an in- terest in the substantial business in the year 1905, and since 1908 has been the efficient general manager of the business.

Mr. Bradshaw is a loyal and valued member of the Blue- field Chamber of Commerce, is affiliated with the local Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery of the Masonie fraternity, as well as the Mystic Shrine, and is a member of the Blue- field Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Bluefield Country Club. He is a democrat in poli- ties, and he and his wife hold membership in the Presby- terian Church.

In the paternal line the genealogy of Mr. Bradshaw traces back to sterling English origin, and on the maternal side to Scotch-Irish. The Bradshaw family was founded in Virginia in the Colonial days, and John Bradshaw, great- grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a leading citizen of Pocahontas County, with residence at Huntsville, where he donated to the county the ground on which the Court House and Jail were erected.

In 1904 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bradshaw and Miss Martha Coles, daughter of Albin and Antoinette (Barnes) Coles, of Bluefield. The parents were born in Maryland, and Mr. Coles, who is now living retired, was formerly engaged in the coal business at Bluefield. Mr. and Mrs. Bradshaw have no children.

OSCAR WALLACE FRAZER is one of the progressive and in- fluential business men of the City of Bluefield, Mercer County, where he is sales manager for the wholesale dry- goods and notion house of the Abney-Barnes Company, of Charleston, West Virginia, and he is also president and general manager in active supervision of the business of the Ulvah Coal Company, Bluefield, West Virginia, with which he has been thus connected since 1918. The mines of the company are situated at Bluefield, Kentucky.

Mr. Frazer was born at Beaver, Nicholas County, West

Virginia, September 17, 1880, and is a son of Benjamin F. R. and Laura H. (Williams) Frazer, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Ohio. The lineage of the Frazer family traces back to Scotch origin, and representa- tives of the family came to America in the Colonial period of our national history. Benjamin F. R. Frazer became one of the substantial exponents of farm industry in Nicholas County, West Virginia, and while active in public affairs of local order he never consented to accept any official position except that of trustee of his school district.

Oscar W. Frazer was afforded the advantages of the pub- lic schools of Summerville, judicial center of his native county, and thereafter he learned the art of telegraphy, and for twelve years was in the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company as operator and station ageut at various points, including Monongah, Marion County. For four years thereafter he was a traveling salesman for the Christian Peper Tobacco Company of St. Louis, Missouri, and he then passed three years as a traveling representative of the F. H. Hammond Notion Company of Charleston, West Virginia. Since severing this connection he has been continuously identified with the Abney-Barnes Company of Charleston, West Virginia, at Bluefield. He is one of the progressive members of the Bluefield Chamber of Commerce, is affiliated with the local York Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity, including the commandery of Knights Templar,' also the Beni-Kedem Temple of the Shrine at Charleston, West Virginia, is a member of the Bluefield Country Club, and he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian Church in their home city.

At Charleston, this state, in 1907, Mr. Frazer wedded Miss Laura B. Dyer, daughter of Homer M. and Margaret A. (Woodell) Dyer, and the three children of this union are Margaret Lucile, Ruth Laura and Oscar Wallace, Jr.

JOHN HILL WRIGHT, secretary and treasurer of the Home Insurance Agency, one of the leading underwriting cor- porations in the City of Bluefield, Mercer County, was born in Campbell County, Virginia, February 4, 1874, and is a scion of an old and honored family that was founded in Virginia in the Colonial period of our national history, one. of his great-grandmothers on the paternal side having been a first cousin of Gen. William Henry Harrison. Mr. Wright is a son of James William and Amanda (Walthall) Wright, both natives of Virginia, where the father became a rep- resentative member of the bar of Campbell County aud where he was also identified with mercantile enterprise, with high standing as one of the leading lawyers and in- fluential citizens of that section of the state. He was a staunch supporter of the Union in the period of the Civil war, in which two of his brothers served as gallant soldiers of the Union, and while he was a republican in a strong democratic county, such was his high place in popular es- teem that he was called upon to serve sixteen years as a member of the Board of County Commissioners, besides which he was a member of the Board of Supervisors.

The youthful education of John H. Wright was acquired in the public schools of his native county, and from the age of eighteen years until he attained to his legal majority he was associated with the work and management of his father's farm. At the age of twenty-one Mr. Wright came to Bluefield, West Virginia, and assumed the position of chief clerk to the master mechanic of the Norfolk & West ern Railroad. He continued in this service nine years and in the meanwhile became interested in the insurance busi- ness. Upon leaving railroad service he turned his attentior exclusively to the insurance business. In 1916 he assumec active charge of the business of the Home Insurance Agency, of which he is now secretary and treasurer. This agency was organized in 1912, is incorporated under the laws of the state, and the volume of its general insurance business now averages $5,000,000 annually. Mr. Wright is an active member of the Bluefield Chamber of Commerce the Kiwanis Club and the Bluefield Country Club. He is & Knight Templar Mason, a member of the Mystic Shrine, and a pastmaster of Bluefield Lodge No. 85, F. and A. M. besides being affiliated also with the Elks, the Knights of

Erewhile

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Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows aud the Loyal Order of Moose. He and his wife are communicants of the local parish of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

The year 1900 recorded the marriage of Mr. Wright and Miss Daisy Kingsbury, daughter of L. D. and Miriam (Lamb) Kingsbury, of Bluefield, both parents having been horn in North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have no children.

EDWARD E. WHITE. The White family of Monongalia County, West Virginia, was established here at an early date almost one hundred and fifty years ago, and from that time until the present its members have been hou- orably identified with its development, both agricultural and otherwise. A prominent representative of this old and important family is Edward E. White of Morgan- town, formerly sheriff of Monongalia County and at pres- eut county assessor. Mr. White was born on the White homestead in Battelle District, Monongalia County, West Virginia, August 19, 1879, and is a son of Eli and Martha ( flennen ) White.

The West Virginia branch of the White family was founded in Monongalia County in 1774 by Gratton White, who settled as a farmer at Maidsville, near Morgantown. He was a descendant of Stephen White, the American an- cestor, who settled in Maryland in 1695. Grafton White was born in 1752, in St. John's parish, Baltimore County Maryland, a son of Stephen (3) and Hannah (Baker) White, and from there came to West Virginia, married Margaret Dinney and became the father of eight chil- dren. William White, son of Grafton and Margaret White, was born August 15, 1783, married Mary Darling, and settled in the westera part of Monongalia County, where he reared a family.

John White, son of William and Mary ( Darling) White and grandfather of Edward E. White, became a prosper- ous farmer, married and reared a family of sous and daughters, and died on his own estate, and was succeeded by his son, Eli White, who spent his entire lite at farming in Battelle District. Eli White was a man of more than ordinary capability for his time. A stanch republican of democratie ancestors, he was one of the few men in his neighborhood who stood for the Union Cause, and so voted when the time of splitting the State of Virginia came to hand. lle stood firm for all that makes for good cit- izenship and was a devout and active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He and his father were the prime movers in the building of the Oak Forest, West Vir- ginia, Methodist Episcopal Church. lle married Martha Jane Hennen, who was born in Greene County, Pennsyl- vania a daughter of Enoch and Lucinda (Stafford) Hen- nen, who then lived near Stafford's Ferry on the Cheat River. Enoch Hennen was a son of William Hennen, who was born in 1812 and was a son of Matthew Hennen, who came to the United States from County Down, Ireland, and settled in Virginia.

Edward E. White grew up on the home farm and at- tended the distriet schools, continuing to make the farm his home for a number of years even after the duties per- taining to publie ofliee demanded the greater part of his time. He was brought up to have great respect for the laws of his country, and from early manhood took a good citizen's interest in public affairs. From 1907 to 1909 he served as deputy sheriff and tax collector under Sheriff T. W. Barker, and in the same capacity under Sheriff William H. Brand from 1909 to 1913. On January 1, 1914, he became chief deputy sheriff and jailer under Sheriff J. B. Wallace, moving then to Morgantown, in which office he served until August 2, 1915, and following the death of Sheriff Wallace in that year, was appointed to fill out his unexpired term. He was then appointed a member of the County Board of Review and Equaliza- tion, and served two years, when he resigned. In 1921 the confidenee of his fellow citizens was still further shown by his appointment to the office of county assessor.

For sixteen years Mr. White has been continuously in the lime light as a public official, and it is not too much to say that the county has profited greatly by the courage,

efficiency and sermalives Insty that have been mal fested in his sincere performance of duty. While werving as deputy sheriff of Battelle District, and later as sheriff, he showed a recognition of public responsibility that was greatly appreciated by his fellow citizens. He made a notable record in the matter of tax collections and I counted for more than the face tickets that were pin et in his handy for collection for the years 1915 16 the col lections for those two years amounting to nearly three quarters of a million dollars, and the interest collected by him amounted to more than the amount lost on necount et uncollectable taxes.

At the time when Mr. White took office as cluef deputy sheriff under Sheriff John R. Wallace, a man of far more than ordinary resourcefulness, aud of the highest honor and integrity, Morgantown was presumably "dry" or ritory, but he found the complaints of reputable citizen- that the town harbored innny "hootleggers" and "blind tigers" justified and he was not slow in making prepara tions for a municipal "cleanup." On May 29-30, 1911. a raid was made, Chief Deputy Sheriff White being in charge, and about one hundred and fifty violators of the law confessed and fined, and about three car loads of beer, whiskey, ete., were confiscated aand destroyed, being emptied into the sewers. Mr. White's record since assum ing his present official duties has been in keeping with that of other years, and he has won the admiration and respect of the best citizens of Morgantown.

Mr. White married Miss Rosa Lemmon daughter of Sala thiel and Naney ( Renner) Lemmon, of Greene t'ounty, Pennsylvania, an old and honored family, the father be ing one of the heaviest land holders in his section. They have one son, Stanley R., who is n senior in the West Vir- ginia University and is a Mason and Shriner. In 191> he volunteered for service in the World war, received an honorable discharge and is now a member of the American Legion.

EDWARD TAYLOR TYREE, second vice president of the Flat Top National Bank in the City of Bluefield, Mercer County, is a vigorous and self reliant man who had depended upon his own resources not only in making his way to the pinne of substantial material success but also in earlier yenre in paying the expenses of his educational work. He is a scion of a family that was founded in Virginia many generations ago, but his paternal grandfather left the Old Dominion State when the subject of this sketch was a child of two years and established his home in Indiana, where ho passed the remainder of his life.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 44

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