History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 169

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FRENCH M. FARNSWORTH is a doctor of dental surgery, carrying on a successful practice at Buckhannon. He is a

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son of Dr. F. F. Farnsworth, one of the officials of the State Health Department at Charleston.

French Farnsworth was born at Holly Grove in Upshur County, August 11, 1891, son of F. F. and Lasora (Martin) Farnsworth. His father was born at Buckhannon, April 2, 1869, and his mother, at Holly Grove, November 25, 1868. Dr. F. F. Farnsworth was reared at Buckhannon, is a gradu- ate of Union College and the Maryland Medical College, and has had a highly successful career both in his profession and in educational and public affairs. He practiced nine years at French Creek in Upshur County, West Virginia. Altogether he devoted seventeen years to teaching and school administration, being superintendent of the Buck- hannon sehools from 1900 to 1903. For several years he has been director of the Bureau of Venereal Diseases under the State Health Department at Charleston. Doctor Farns- worth is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, is a master Mason and a prominent republican. He was a mem- ber of the Legislature in the session of 1913, and for three years was president of the State Board of Health, being appointed by Governor Hatfield. Dr. F. F. Farnsworth has four children: Dr. French M .; L. E., station agent at Clay Court House, West Virginia; Ora, a graduate of the Charleston High School and now employed in the Public Health Department at Charleston; and Dorsy A., who is a graduate of the Charleston High School and a student in the Indiana Dental College.

French M. Farnsworth was reared at French Creek, finished his literary education in the Glenville Normal School, and in 1912 graduated from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. For the past ten years he has enjoyed a large practice as a dentist at Buckhannon, and is a mem- her in good standing of the Monongahela Valley State and National Dental societies. He is a stockholder in several business enterprises in Buckhannon.

On August 4, 1913, Doctor Farnsworth married Edna Bunten, a graduate of Shepherd College. They have one son, Neil B., born June 18, 1918. Doctor and Mrs. Farns- worth are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he has served on the official board. In Masonry he is affiliated with Franklin Lodge No. 7, A. F. and A. M., Upshur Chapter No. 34, R. A. M., Bnekhannon Commandery No. 25, K. T., and in the Scottish Rite is affiliated with Mizpah Lodge of Perfection No. 5 and the Knights of the Rose Croix No. 5 at Clarksburg. Both he and Mrs. Farns- worth are members of the Eastern Star.

JAMES J. DECK, PH. D., who holds the chair of modern languages in the West Virginia Wesleyan College, con- dneted under the anspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Buckhannon, Upshur County, is a man of spe- cially high intellectual attainments and has achieved marked sneeess in connection with education work in the land of his adoption.

Doctor Deek was born in the canton of Zürich, Switz- erland, on the 6th of January, 1861, and is a son of John J. and Anne (Heidegger) Deck, both of whom passed their entire lives in Switzerland. The father grad- nated from the great University of Halle, Germany, and was ordained a clergyman of the Evangelical Reformed Chnreh, to the service of which he gave his active life, with utmost consecration and zeal.

Doctor Deck was reared in the City of Zürich, Switz- erland, and in the local schools his discipline included the gymnasium, corresponding to college in the United States. His higher academic education was obtained in the Uni- versity of Zürich, from which he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and in the College of St. Francis Xavier in New York City, in which he completed the regular course and was graduated, his intention at the time having been to enter the priesthood. The Doctor was twenty years of age when he came to the United States and entered the college in the national metropolis, in 1881.

From 1883 to 1896 Doctor Deck was at the head of the department of chemistry in Georgetown University, District of Columbia, and from 1898 to 1900 he was a private

tutor in higher branches of study at Washington, D. C In the latter year he accepted the position of instructo in Greek at Taylor University, Upland, Indiana, but i: the following year was called to the chair of languages i: West Virginia Wesleyan College at Buckhannon, with which institution he has sinee continued his effective service an as a member of the faculty of which he now holds th chair of modern languages. The Doctor is an honorer member of the West Virginia Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and both he and his wit are active and influential in various departments of churel work. He is past master of Franklin Lodge No. 7, Aneien Free and Accepted Masons, at Buckhannon, past hig] priest of Upshur Chapter No. 34, Royal Arch Masons, it which he is again serving in this office in 1922, is the presen commander of Buckhannon Commandery of Knight: Templar, and is affiliated also with the Scottish Rite of the time-honored Masonic fraternity, besides which he i: a charter member of Bnekhannon Chapter No. 18, Order of the Eastern Star, of which he is a past patron anc of which his wife likewise is an active member. In politics Doctor Deck gives his allegiance to the republican party

In July, 1898, was solemnized the marriage of Doetor Deek and Miss Catherine F. Fitzgerald, who graduated from the high school in the City of Washington, D. C. They have three children: Ida M., who was born August 14 1899, is a graduate of Miss Ellet's private school for girls at Washington, D. C., and of the Damrosch Institute of Musical Art, New York City, as a member of the class of 1921, where she is continuing her musical studies under the direction of Doctor Goetsehins at the time of this writing, in 1922. Raymond S., who was born December 26, 1900, graduated from the college with which his father is connected at the present time, and later received from the West Virginia Wesleyan College the degree of Bachelor of Arts, he being now principal of the high school at Williamsburg, Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Stanley W., who was born June 16, 1902, graduated from the Buckhannon High School and is a member of the class of 1924 in Columbia University, New York City.

MICHAEL SEIBERT BUTLER, M. D. Nearly half a century of work as a physician constitutes a distinction such as few men can attain. In the case of Dr. Butler that work has been performed, except for the first few years, in the one community of Hedgesville in Berkeley County. His indi- vidual career deserves special mention, and it is noteworthy that his family record includes some of the oldest and best known names in the Eastern Panhandle, including Myers, Seibert, Henshaw, Anderson, Snodgrass and others.

Doctor Butler was born on the Michael Seibert home- stead farm in Hedgesville district. His father, Thomas Butler, was born at Bunker Hill, Berkeley County, in 1825. The grandfather was probably a native of Pennsylvania, and as a young man came to Berkeley County and settled at Bunker Hill, where he followed his trade as a cooper. He married in Bunker Hill, and he and his wife spent their lives there. Thomas Butler learned the tailor's trade, and for several years was engaged in business as a merchant tailor at Martinsburg and Duffields. On account of failing health he removed to the Michael Seibert homestead farm, and died there at the early age of twenty-seven. He married Catherine Seibert, who was born in Hedgesville district, Oc- tober 19, 1831. Her father, Michael Seibert, was born in Maryland in 1791, a son of John Jacob and Elizabeth (Bodarf) Seibert, and grandson of Wendell Seibert. This branch of the Seibert family came to Virginia about 1805. Michael Seibert bought land about a mile southeast of Hedgesville. The only improvements on the land were a log house and barn and a few aeres cleared. Before the days of railroads in order to get his crops to market he transported them with wagon and team to Baltimore, spending a week on the road. He continued working the farm until his death, at the age of sixty-three. Michael Seibert married Catherine Myers, who was born near the present site of Berkeley Station, daughter of John and Mary (Kaufman) Myers, who were life-long residents of Berkeley County.

Jamesl. egy Recht.

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Mrs. Catherine Butler is now past ninety years of age, and ives with her son, Doctor Butler and is in full possession of of her mental faculties. Her only daughter died in infancy. Michael Seibert Butler, the only son of his parents, ac- quired his early education in the local schools, and as a routh began the study of medicine with Dr. George Hamil it Martinsburg, and later with Doctor Johnson at Hedges- ville. He finished his medical education in the University of Maryland, where he graduated in 1874. For the first three years he practiced in the Bunker Hill community, and since then his professional skill and his kindly personal service has been at the disposal of the people of Hedges- ville. Doctor Butler is a member of the Eastern Panhandle Medical Society and the American Medical Association.

At the age of twenty-two he married Lillie S. Henshaw, who was born on a farm one mile from Bunker Hill, in Berkeley County. Her father was Levy Henshaw, Jr., born on the same farm. The Henshaws are an old English family. There is record of a William Henshaw who was killed at the storming of Liverpool on June 20, 1644. He eft a large estate. His two sons were Joshua and Daniel. In 1651 the widow died, and in 1653 the executor of the estate made a pretense of sending the boys to London, but nstead shipped them to New England and put them under he care of Rev. Richard Mather at Dorchester, now a part of the City of Boston. They were reared and educated there, where Daniel died. The sons of Joshua, John and Nicholas, ·emoved to Philadelphia. A son of Nicholas was Capt. William Henshaw, who was born March 16, 1736, and was one of the earliest pioneers of Berkeley County, pur- chasing a tract of land from Lord Fairfax, located on Mill Creek. . He built bis home on land about one mile vest of the present site of Bunker Hill. He erected a grist mill and sawmill, which were among the first such nstitntions in Berkeley County. He was a man of great enterprise, acquired extensive and valuable holdings of land, and extended his investment to distant parts, having about 2,000 acres in Shelby County, Kentucky, and a large tract long the Kanawha River in West Virginia. He was a soldier in the Indian war and was at the battle of Point Pleasant in 1774, and was also present at the signing of the peace treaty with the Indians at Camp Charlotte at Chillicothe, Ohio. Many of the details of this frontiers- nan's life are preserved in the pioneer history. He was an active influence in securing the formation of Berkeley County in 1772, served as bondsman for Gen. Adam Stephen, vas the first sheriff of Berkeley County and was a member of Col. Hugh Stephenson's Regiment. The body of this old pioneer rests in Christ Churchyard at Bunker Hill. He was justice of the peace, and was one of the first board of rustees of Gerrardstown. Capt. William Henshaw married Agnes Anderson. Her father, William Anderson, was a native of Scotland, where he espoused the cause of Prince James and after the failure of that revolution fled to Eng- and and in 1715 came to America and was an early settler on the South Branch of the Potomac in Hampshire County, n the locality subsequently known as Anderson's Bottoms. He and bis son Thomas joined Braddock's forces at Cumber- and during the western campaign. He always wore the Scotch dress. William Anderson died in 1797, at the age of 104 years.

Levi Henshaw, Sr., son of Capt. William and grandfather of Mrs. Butler, was born July 22, 1769, was a farmer and a niller and for many years operated a merchant and custom nill, shipping his flour to Harpers Ferry with wagons and teams. He was prominent in public affairs, serving as justice of the peace, and was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1821-22, 1830-31, and in 1840 was sheriff of Berkeley County. He spent his last days on his farm. He married Ann McConnell, who was born Septem- Der 18, 1773. Her father, William McConnell, served on Berkeley County's first grand jury.

Levi Henshaw, Jr., father of Mrs. Butler, inherited part of the old estate, and continned the operation of the mill and farm until 1868, when he removed to Hedgesville. He bought the Tomahawk Mill and also a farm, and managed both properties, though keeping his residence in Hedgesville, where he died at the age of eighty-two. He married Sarah

Ann Snodgrass, who was born at Tomahawk in Berkeley County, daughter of Robert and Sarah Ann Snodgrass. Robert Snodgrass was a son of William and Catherine (Patterson) Snodgrass and grandson of William Snodgrass, who came from Scotland to America abont 1700. William Snodgrass was a pioneer of Berkeley County, locating on Back Creek. Robert Snodgrass, who was born October 14, 1744, married, March 23, 1762, Susanne Rawlings, who was born December 26, 1742, and died November 2, 1820. Her son Robert was born September 21, 1792, and on March 29, 1821, married his cousin, Sarah Ann Snodgrass. This Robert Snodgrass commanded the sixty-seventh regiment of Virginia Militia and was a representative in the Virginia Honse of Delegates in 1832-34-36-39. The mother of Mrs. Butler died at the age of seventy-two, having reared seven children.

Doctor and Mrs. Butler had three children, named Charles Claude, Catherine and Edna. Charles Claude, who was edu- cated in the public schools of Hedgesville, subsequently re moved to Rockland, Massachusetts, where he was in the leather business with the firm of French, Shriner & Urner. He married in New York City in 1900 Florence Dalzell, and she and two sons survive him. Her sons are Charles Claude and James Dalzell. The older of these, Charles Claude, was a student for two years in the University of West Virginia and late in George Washington University at Washington, D. C. James Dalzell is now in his fourth year at West Virginia University.

Catherine, the older danghter of Doctor Butler, is the wife of Charles Frederick Kohpisch, and they now live at New Rochelle, New York. They have four children, named Catherine Butler, Charles Frederick, Louise Henshaw and Charles Claude.

Edna Butler married George A. Smith, and they also live at New Rochelle, New York. They have a daughter, named Edna.

HERBERT H. WITHERS, who is conducting a prosperons livery business at Glenville, judicial center of Gilmer County, is a scion of a family that was founded in Virginia in the Colonial period of our national history. Alexander S. Withers, grandfather of Herbert H., was born in Virginia on the 12th of October, 1792, and became a man of fine intellectual and professional attainments, he having attended historic old William and Mary College in Virginia and hav- ing prepared himself for and been admitted to the bar. He did not long continue in the practice of law, but became a pioneer settler at Bridgeport, in what is now Harrison County, West Virginia, where his character and ability made him a citizen of prominence and influence and where he did much to advance civic and industrial development.

Herbert H. Withers was born at Weston, Lewis County. West Virginia, on the 19th of June, 1867, and is a son of Henry and Dorcas D. (Lawrence) Withers, the latter having been a daughter of Jacob and Melinda (Fisher) Lawrence. Henry Withers was reared to manhood in what is now West Virginia, received the advantages of the common schools of the period, and he was a young man when he tendered his services in defense of the Union at the inception of the Civil war. He became a member of the Tenth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, was made major of the same, and con- tinued as an efficient and popular commanding officer until the close of the war. With the same spirit of loyalty he then set himself to winning the victories of peace. He settled on Fink Creek in Lewis County, and became the owner of a large landed estate in that locality. Finally he sold this property and purchased another farm tract, on Cove Creek in the same county, and later he was elected sheriff of Lewis County, an office of which he was the in- cumbent at the time of his death. He was a democrat and was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, his wife, who survived him by several years, having been an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Sonth. Of the nine children only three are now living, and of the number the subject of this sketch is the youngest; John S. is actively identified with the banking business at Buckhannon, Upshur County; and Miss Emma resides at Weston, Lewis County.

Herbert H. Withers profited hy the advantages of the

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public schools and thereafter attended the State Normal School at Glenville. He was identified actively with farm enterprise in Gilmer County for a number of years and also with the general merchandise business. He is now one of the substantial citizens of Glenville, where he conducts a well equipped livery. He is unwavering in his allegiance to the democratic party, and he attends and supports the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of which his wife is an active member.

On Christmas day of the year 1894 Mr. Withers was united in marriage with Miss Estella Whiting, who had been a popular teacher in the public schools and who had at- tended the State Normal School at Glenville. Mr. and Mrs. Withers have two sons: Dr. Herbert F., a graduate of the State Normal School at Glenville and of the Ohio Dental College, is now engaged in the practice of dentistry at Normal School at Glenville, and he remains at the parental Glenville; Everett W. likewise is a graduate of the State home.

WILLIAM C. BOBBITT, whose permanent residence is in the City of Richwood, Nicholas County, has made a specially admirable record in connection with educational affairs in his native state and has done much to raise the standards of the various schools with which he has been identified in a pedagogie and executive way.

Mr. Bobbitt was born in Nicholas County, this state, September 15, 1886, and is a son of A. W. and Zerilda L. (Huff) Bobbitt, both likewise natives of that county, where the former was born December 3, 1853, and the latter, January 11, 1865. As a young man the father was a suc- cessful teacher in the schools of his native county, and after his marriage he settled on the old homestead farm of his grandfather, Rufus Bobbitt, who was one of the pioneer settlers in Nicholas County, the family having been founded in Virginia in the Colonial period of our national history. Rufus Bobbitt became the owner of a large landed estate in Nicholas County, reclaimed and improved much of the same and was prominently identified with the early develop- ment and progress of the county. A. W. Bobbitt has well upheld the honors of the family name and has been a prom- inent figure in industrial enterprise and civic advancement in his native county. He is the owner of a fine farm prop- erty in Nicholas County and is president of the Lanes Botton Bank in that county, his son, William C., of this review, being a director of this institution. Of their family of eight children six are living: William C. is the im- mediate subject of this review; Luster, who completed her education by attending Rawlings Institute, is the wife of W. D. Rollison; Mary, a graduate of the Cowen High School, is the wife of William Rogers, of Clarksburg; Elner is engaged in the brokerage business in the City of Charleston; Mabel, who is a successful teacher, graduated from the Cowen High School, and thereafter attended the normal training school at Sutton, the State Normal School at Fairmont, and the University of West Virginia; Lillian graduated from the State Normal School at Fairmont, later continued her studies in the State University, and she is now the wife of Harold Smith, of Fairmont.

William C. Bobbitt was reared on the home farm, was graduated in the Cowen Iligh School, attended the Sum- mersville Normal School, and later graduated from the West Virginia Wesleyan College at Buckhannon, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later he did effective post-graduate work in the University of West Virginia and the great Uni- versity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. His initial service as a teacher was in the rural schools of his native county, he was principal of the public schools at Cowen one year, later was principal of the schools at Webster Springs, district super- visor of Glade District, Webster County; principal of the Richwood High School; superintendent of the schools at Flatwoods, Braxton County; and principal of the Clay County High School at Clay, of which position he is the present incumbent.

Mr. Bohhitt is the owner of a fine stock farm in Nicholas County, where he is giving special attention to the raising

of the best types of Hampshire sheep, Southdown and Duroc-Jersey hogs and good grades of cattle and horses.

Mr. Bobbitt is loyally aligned in the ranks of the demo- cratie party, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Cowen in which latter he is a past noble grand, and he is a member of the Baptist Church, while his wife holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mrs. Bobbitt, whose maiden name was Alta Haton, was graduated in the West Virginia Wesleyan College, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and is a teacher in the Clay County High School, of which her husband is principal.

JAMES W. PRICE, M. D. One of the old and distinguished families of West Virginia bears the name of Price. The etymology of the name goes back to Wales, the family's native country, where "ap" designates a son, and "reese" means strong or stout, the combination indicating a sturdy stock.

The earliest known Price ancestor in the United States was one Ap Price, who is recorded as having served the American colonies in the Revolutionary war, and his an- cestor served in the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, and is referred to in Shakespeare's drama King Richard III. One of the earliest bearers of the name in Virginia was one Samuel Price, a native of Wales, who settled near New Hope in Augusta County, and was the father of a family of sons. One of these, Samuel, settled in Greenbrier County ; another, Jacob, lived on the Big Levels, and he had a son, also Jacob, who was a veteran of the War of 1812.

The Pocahontas County Prices are directly descended from Thomas Price, who came from North Carolina to what is now West Virginia, settling in Greenbrier County, where he was a farmer and also kept a hotel at Fincastle. His ashes rest at the base of the Seven Mile Mountain. Although not a graduate of medical school, he appears to have pos- sessed extended knowledge of medical science and surgery for his time, and became widely known through voluminous writings. One of his books that was published in 1790, now a rare volume, is owned by his great-grandson, Dr. James W. Price, a prominent physician and surgeon of Marlinton, West Virginia.

Thomas Price was twice married. One son, John William Price, was born to his first marriage, and he served as a ship's surgeon during the second war with Great Britain. Thomas Price's second wife was Margaret, the eldest daugh- ter of John Beard, and they had four children, the eldest of these being James Atlee Price. He was a farmer and stock- raiser, was an uncompromising whig and persistent voter for Henry Clay, was bitterly opposed to the Mexican war and was a man of wide importance. He married Margaret Davies Poage, one branch of whose family originated in Londonderry, in the North of Ireland. James Atlee Price and his wife both died in 1874. The late William T. Price, D. D., was the eldest born of their thirteen children, of which family but one, the youngest, survives in the person of Mrs. Mary MeLaughlin, who lives in the old family home, "Maxwelton." A collateral member of the family is found in Dr. H. L. Beard, of Lewisburg.

The late William T. Price was one of the notable men of his time, distinguishing himself in more than one field of effort. He was born at Marlinton, then in Virginia, July 19, 1830, and his death occurred in the town of his birth on January 19, 1921, at the age of ninety years. The eldest of a large family, he had a favorable environment in his youth, a happy, healthful boyhood on the home farm and afterward educational advantages that well prepared him for the duties and compensations that pertained to the noble activities that engaged him through a long and busy life. He was early graduated from Washington College, Lexing- ton, Virginia, where the degrees of A. M. and A. B. were conferred on him, and later, when this hoary institution be- came Washington and Lee University, he received the degree of D. D. For three years he was a student in the Union Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1851. Practically his entire life was passed in the Presbyterian ministry, his work being mainly in Virginia

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 169

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