History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 76

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JAMES L. MAYHEW. The chief executive office in any community is a responsible one, and the individual occupy ing it bears the responsibility on his shoulders not only of handling the multitudinous details of municipal manage ment, but the accountability for its commercial and mora integrity. As he is, so is generally his community, for i soon reflects his character and manner of dealing with large problems, and unless he keeps a firm grip upor the reins of government and influences his associates to ac as he believes is right and just, his administration soo shows the effect of lax principles. For this reason o. recent years the people of the enterprising communitie all over the country have been choosing their chief execu tives more and more from the sound business class, recog nizing the beneficial effect of example and action. Ex Mayor Mayhew, of Chester, West Virginia, is not only

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business man of proved ability and substantial standing, but a man who has had former experience in public office and who has shown his worth in securing the successful bringing about of movements for the public welfare.

Mr. Mayhew was born at the old Mayhew farm home at Pughtown, Hancock County, March 18, 1862, and is a son of James N. and Mary Jane (Crawford) Mayhew. James N. Mayhew was born near Florence, Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1827, and when seven years of age was brought to West Virginia by his parents, John and Elizabeth (Jackson) Mayhew, who settled adjoining the village of Fairview, now Pughtown. John Mayhew owned about 340 acres of land and lived in a brick house which still forms a part of the residence on the property. He followed farming until his death when eighty years old, while his wife died when seventy-five or seventy-six years of age. They had the following children: Rebecca, who died as Mrs. Albaugh; Eliza, who became Mrs. Buchanan and had a son, John Buchanan, an attorney at Beaver, Pennsylvania; James N .; David Simeon, who died in Illi- nois; Nancy, who became Mrs. Fulton and died at the age of ninety-six years, being the mother of Rev. W. P. Fulton, a noted Presbyterian divine of Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania; John W., who died in Beaver County, that state; William, who was last heard from in California; Elizabeth who married a Mr. Travis; and Mary who married a Mr. Custer.

After completing a public school education James N. Mayhew turned his attention to agricultural operations, in which he was engaged all his life, and became one of the highly respected and esteemed men of his locality. He was a democrat in politics, and he and his wife be- longed to the Methodist Protestant Church. In Columbiana County, Ohio, he married Mary Jane Crawford, and they became the parents of thirteen children, all of whom are still living in 1922, the youngest being now in middle life: Thomas C., a resident of Nebraska; John H., of Chester ; David E., of Pughtown, who is engaged iu farming the old home place; William Lucas, a resident of Lisbon, Ohio; Nancy Jane, the widow of Wesley Herron, of Pughtown, who had thirty-two grandchildren in 1922; James L., of this review; Charles C., his twin, who is a resident of California; Ella, the widow of Howard Warren, of Cleve- land; George, of Sebring, Ohio; Ira, residing on the old home farm; Frank, of Salem, Ohio; Elizabeth, now Mrs. Emanuel Thomas, of Salem, Ohio; and Noah, of East Palestine, Ohio.

James L. Mayhew received a public school education and remained on the home farm until reaching his twen- tieth year, at which time he went to New Brighton, Penn- sylvania, where he took up the trade of painting. He followed that vocation for a long period, and was a contractor in the same line for five years, following which for twelve years he was the proprietor of a grocery and neat market. In 1900, while residing at New Brighton, he was elected one of the three county commissioners of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. This proved to be the most responsible position in the county, with court in session all the time during the administration. At the time all he bridges in the county were toll bridges, but in 1900 he commission of which Mr. Mayhew was a member started the movement for free bridges by purchasing he first bridge of this kind in the county. New Brighton 8 located on the Beaver River, near its junction with the Ohio, and there are bridges in every direction. The move- nent for free bridges met with a turmoil of opposition nd the most strenuous objections, but later, after a start ad been made in this line, the enterprise met with grow- ng favor, and finally became popular. Mr. Mayhew, how- ver, met defeat for reelection by a small majority. Later e conducted a hotel at New Brighton for about ten years, nd in 1915 disposed of his holdings and returned to Han- ock County, settling at Chester, where he was elected mayor n 1920 and served capably for two years his term expiring April 1, 1922. He has been prominent in the ranks of he democratic party and is a member of the committee f his party for the congressional district, as well as & ury commissioner, his associates being Capt. Harvey

Robb, of New Cumberland. As chairman of the congres- sional committee he is one of the most active workers in the conduct of campaigns and has frequently been a dele- gate to conventions. At present, in a business way, Mr. Mayhew is engaged in the handling of paints and wall paper, and is contracting in work of this kind. He has several fraternal connections and is accounted one of the most energetic and public-spirited citizens of his com- munity.

Mr. Mayhew married Miss Nannie E. Snowden, who was born near Pughtown, daughter of the late W. D. Snowden, who was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Hancock County until his death. To Mr. and Mrs. Mayhew there have been born two children: Ina, who is the wife of Theo- dore McLain, of New Brighton, Pennsylvania; and William A., who is associated in business with his father.

A. D. OSBORNE. An active and unselfish life, based upon high principles, animated by kindly impulses which have been faithfully devoted to industry and directed to the discharge of every duty and responsibility, may be justly regarded as a successful one, without reference to pecuniary results. Under such a searchlight A. D. Osborne may be pronounced as being a successful man in every sense of the phrase. He has held honorable and responsible posi- tions, has faithfully discharged his duties wherever placed, and has retained the confidence and respect of those with whom he has been associated. For a long period he has been identified with the cause of education, and as sn- perintendent of the Grant District schools at Newell is carrying on a work that is bringing about excellent results.

Mr. Osborne was born in Meigs County, Ohio, where he received his early education, and after attending the Kent State Normal School pursued a course at the Ohio State University at Athens. For five years previously he taught in the rural schools and then for fourteen years was principal of the Ward School at East Liverpool, Ohio, then locating at Newell, West Virginia, where he has been superintendent of the Grant District schools since 1916. Grant District has ten buildings, with twenty-four teachers and 704 pupils. In September, 1921, Superintendent Os- borne's report showed that the enrollment in the grades totaled 299, while 104 pupils were registered in the junior and senior high schools at Newell. The Newell Building was erected in 1912, and consists of eight rooms, a basement library and two portable outside rooms. The high school course consists of a full four years, both junior and senior. There are fourteen teachers, of whom seven are in the high school departments. The matter of education is an important one at Newell, as this is rapidly becoming a place of importance. Newell is one mile below Chester, the two communities being separated by a bluff one-half mile long, with just room between for a railroad and road, which at places is very narrow. A bridge connects both Newell and Chester with East Liverpool, Ohio, these bridges being three-quarters of a mile apart, and a street car line crossing each. Newell has two important industries, the Homer Laughlin China Company, the largest single china plant in the world; and the E. M. Knowles China Company.

Mr. Osborne is secretary of the district school board, and a member of the West Virginia Teachers Association, the Hancock County Teachers Association and the Ohio Valley Schoolmasters Club. He is also one of the three members of the County Board of Equalization. He is a Mason and has attained to the fourteenth degree in the Scottish Rite. Mr. Osborne married Miss Annie Swan, of Washington County, Ohio, and they have two children: Vera, a graduate of Newell High School, who attended the Kent Normal School of Ohio, and is now a teacher in the first grade of the Newell School; and Gladys, a sopho- more at the Newell High School. The family belongs to the Presbyterian Church, in which Mr. Osborne is a mem- ber of the Board of Trustees and an active Sunday School worker.

JOHN A. WATSON, whose fine homestead farm on the Ohio River in Hancock County, is in close proximity to

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Brownsdale, here occupies a house that was erected by his maternal grandfather, John Arbuckle, he having built the house in Hancock County in the early '50s and his death having occurred at the time when the Civil war was in progress. His daughter Margaret was the mother of him whose name introduces this paragraph. As a youth he learned the machinist's trade, and since 1878 he has maintained his permanent home at the ancestral place in Hancock County.

In the year 1882 Mr. Watson here married a daughter of the late John Brown, who was a member of one of the most honored pioneer families of this county. Mrs. Wat- son passed her entire life in Hancock County, and here her death occurred in July, 1915. Of the two children the elder is George, who is a bachelor and who has active management of the home farm, while Miss Mary, the only daughter, has had supervision of the domestic economies and social affairs of the home since the death of the loved wife and mother.

AUSTIN H. BROWN resides in the fine old family home- stead, a stone and brick structure on one of the well-im- proved farms of Hancock County, and in this dwelling he was born July 17, 1875, his father likewise having been born in this house, which is situated 41/2 miles north of New Cumberland, the county seat. The stone part of the building was erected in 1821 by Jacob Nessly, who came here as a pioneer of the year 1785 and who here became the owner of 5,000 acres of land, which he obtained by trading a rifle to an Indian. The historic old house faces the Ohio River. The brick addition to the original struc- ture was erected in 1865, and the entire building, of most substantial order, is well preserved. The original tract of land continued along the shore of the Ohio River and extended as far as Georgetown, Pennsylvania, there hav- ing been about forty miles of shore line and the tract hav- ing been comparatively narrow. By the payment of 100 English pounds sterling Mr. Nessly later extended the width of his holdings by the purchase of an additional tract of 1,500 acres. Nessly came to this section from Eastern Pennsylvania, in accord with the advice of his father-in-law, who was a man of wealth. This young pio- neer first erected a log cabin at the mouth of Yellow Creek, but soon removed two miles further south, to the site of the present house. Mr. Nessly developed a productive farm and continued his general supervision of the same until his death, at an advanced age, the closing years of his life having been passed in the home of one of his daughters, on the opposite side of the river, at Port Homer, Ohio. It is related that on one occasion, when he was on a trip on the Ohio side of the river he was pursued by Indians, but saved his life by taking refuge in a rocky cave, across the river from his own dwelling, he later having chiseled on a rock at this cave his name and the date of this inci- dent. Barbara, daughter of this sterling pioneer, became the wife of Col. Richard Brown, who was of Holland Dutch ancestry and who served as a patriot soldier and officer in a Maryland regiment in the War of the Revolution, his wife having inherited the old homestead and both having there passed the remainder of their lives. Colonel Brown had local renown as a fighter in personal contests, and many tales are told of his prowess along this line. Adam Poe, was at one time a dinner guest at the Nessly home, and the two subsequently diverted themselves by engaging in a spirited fight, the result of which was that Poe had to be put to bed. A brother of Poe later appeared on the scene, while Adam was still at the Nessly home, and when he learned of the recent conflict and its result he boasted of his own ability as a fighter, with the sequel that he endured worse punishment at the hands of the doughty colonel than had his brother, he likewise having been cared for in the Nessly home after having thus failed to best his antagonist. On another occasion Colonel Brown, while on a trip back from Philadelphia, was followed and challenged by a man, and in the ensuing fight the colonel broke this man's neck with a blow. The eldest of the sons of Col. Richard Brown was Jacob Nessly Brown; John, the second son, settled at the mouth of Tomlinson's

Run and was a young man at the time of his death; George continued his residence near the old homestead until his death, when past eighty years of age; and James likewise attained to venerable age, he having owned and occupied a part of the ancestral farm estate.

Jacob Nessly Brown married Ann Myler, and they re- sided on the old home farm. He owned and operated a flour mill at Wellsburg, twenty miles distant from his home, and on the ferm he operated a distillery, besides developing a clay bed on the place and supplying clay for the manufacturing of jugs at Wellsburg, this having been the initiation of the clay industry and the original jugs having been used for the whiskey containers. On his farm Mr. Brown originated and developed the "Willow Twig" apple, he having planted a large orchard, having main- tained his own nursery and being credited with the origina- tion of the above mentioned variety of apples, which be- came the standard in this section, his orchard having pro- duced an average of 20,000 bushels of apples annually. The old home farm of Mr. Brown now comprises only sev- enty-two acres. Mr. Brown died in 1879, after having passed the eightieth milestone on the journey of life, his wife having passed away in 1865. Their daughter Barbara became the wife of Archibald Hendrie; Virginia never married, and she had charge of the old home farm for thirty years, she having been seventy-five years of age at death; Richard H. is more specifically mentioned in a later paragraph; Ann became the wife of William L. Brown, they purchased a part of the old homestead and there they passed the remainder of their lives, a nephew, Charles M. Brenneman, having succeeded to the ownership of the farm; Alice was a young woman at the time of her death; George, who became a representative lawyer in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, died a bachelor, as did also Jacob, who remained with his sister Virginia on the old home farm; and Edward removed to Bloomfield, Ohio, in which state he passed the remainder of his life.

Miss Virginia Brown showed marked ability in the man- agement of the old homestead farm, as foreman of which she retained a colored man, William Wilson, who came from Albemarle County, Virginia, and who served as a youthful soldier in the Twelfth West Virginia Infantry in the Civil war, then commanded by Col. R. Hooker Brown, father of him whose name initiates this review. Wilson was about sixteen years old when, after the close of the war, he accompanied Colonel Brown to Hancock County and entered the employ of the latter's sister, Miss Vir- ginia, with whom he remained until her death. He then purchased a part of the old Brown farm, and he is today one of the highly respected and very substantial citizens of Hancock County, his fidelity to the Brown family hav- ing never wavered and his service to the family having been of most conscientious and appreciative order.

Col. Richard Hooker Brown was graduated in the Duff Business College in the City of Pittsburgh, and he dis- tinguished himself as a gallant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, in which he became colonel of the Twelfth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, his service having con- tinued until the close of the war. In 1867 Colonel Brown married Miss Elizabeth Pugh, daughter of David and Nancy (Allison) Pugh, Mrs. Brown having been reared at Pugh- town, Hancock County, a place uamed in honor of the family of which she was a representative. Colonel Brown added the brick portion to the old stone house in which he was born, and he served as county commissioner prior to the creation of Hancock County as did he also after the organization of the new county. He served one term as county sheriff, but in the meanwhile continued his resi- dence on the old home farm. Here his death occurred on the 19th of March, 1910, and his widow passed away on the 20th of January, 1917. Of their twelve children all but one attained to maturity: Walter died in young man- hood; Anna is the wife of A. H. Bowker, of Rochester, New York; King resides at Chester, West Virginia; J. Campbell is a merchant at East Liverpool, Ohio; Austin Hooker is the immediate subject of this sketch; Alice died within a short time after her marriage to Frederick Por- ter; Margaret is the widow of Joseph Hough and resides

France

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at Chester, Hancock County; Frank is a mill man at War- ren, Ohio, and his twin brother, Edward, died in child- hood; Barbara is the wife of Harry Darrington, an oil refiner, and they reside in the City of Chicago, Illinois; Richard is a railroad man at Wellsville, Ohio; Benjamin is a merchant at Toronto, Ohio.

Austin Hooker Brown was reared in his native county, and after the discipline of the rural schools he received that of the high school at Wellsville, Ohio, and was for two years a student in the West Virginia State Normal Schools at West Liberty and Fairmont, and attended the University of West Virginia one year. He gained youth- ful experience in the produce trade at Pittsburgh and Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and from 1905 to 1913 was en- gaged in the wholesale produce business at Steubenville, Ohio. Since the latter year he has resided on and given his attention to the management of the old homestead farm on which he was born and where he has precedence as one of the leading horticulturists in this section of the state, his fruit orchards producing an average of nearly 1,000 barrels annually. He has excellent storage provisions and has developed an appreciable business as a dealer in apples. He is one of the liberal and progressive citizens of his native county, was for nine years president of the school board of his district is secretary of the Farm Bureau of Hancock County, and is a stalwart republican in politics, as was also his father. He and his wife are active mem- bers of the Methodist Protestant Church, and attend the Nessly Chapel, which was named in honor of the pioneer, Jacob Nessly, who donated the ground on which the chapel is situated. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, including the Commandery of Knights Templars at Steu- benville, Ohio.

In 1902 Mr. Brown wedded Miss Eleanor Gallagher, of West Newton, Pennsylvania, she having been educated in the Pennsylvania State Normal School at California and having been a popular teacher prior to her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have one son, William James, who was graduated in high school and who is, in 1922, a student in the University of West Virginia.

FRED W. VANCE, M. D., has been a physician and sur- geon at Mannington for the past seventeen years. He has high standing in his profession, and his good citizenship is on a par with his professional character.

Doctor Vance was born at the Village of French Creek in Upshur County, West Virginia, February 23, 1874, son of John E. and Anna M. (Darnall) Vance, the former a native of Highland County and the latter of McDowell County, Virginia. The grandfather, Col. Morgan A. Dar- nall, served as colonel of his regiment in the Union Army. John E. Vance and his wife were married October 24, 1871, and are still living at the old home place at French Creek, where on October 24, 1921, they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.

Fred W. Vance, at the age of eight years, began help- ing his father in a systematic way, in proportion to his strength, in the latter's blacksmith shop. He attended common schools regularly, and also attended the Frenchi Creek Summer Normal School. In 1892 he began teach- ing with a No. 2 certificate, and the following year he taught on a No. 1 certificate. Doctor Vance taught alto- gether five winter and two summer terms.

In the meantime he had continued to exercise his strength and manual skill in his father's shop, thus master- ing the blacksmith's trade, and when he left teaching he opened a shop of his own at French Creek. He remained there two years, and for three years conducted a black- smithing business at Crawford in Lewis County. While a blacksmith Doctor Vance was diligently studying medi- cine, and finally he entered the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, where he was graduated M. D. with the class of 1905. During his senior year he was interne at Seaton Hospital in Cincinnati. In 1904 he passed the West Virginia Medical Examining Board, and for several months practiced at Gains in Upshur County, but in 1905 returned to Cincinnati to receive his medical degree, and in May of that year established his home and office at

Mannington. Almost from the beginning he has had an extensive private practice, and has done much professional work besides. Since 1912 he has been a member of the United States Board of Pension Examining Surgeons. He took post graduate work in the New York Post Graduate College in 1910. He is a member of the Marion County, West Virginia State and American Medical associations.

In 1912 Doctor Vance was elected mayor of Mannington and in 1920 was chosen a member of the Board of Educa- tion for the Mannington District. He is a Knight Templar and Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, and is a charter member of the Mannington Kiwanis Club. In 1921 he was appointed a member of the Board of Trus- tees of Davis & Elkins College in West Virginia.

Doctor Vance, in 1897, married Mabel Florence Brooks, also a native of French Creek in Unshur County and daugh- ter of Adolphus and Josephine (Phillips) Brooks. Doctor and Mrs. Vance are members of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is an elder. He is a republican in politics. His two children are: Mary Eugenia. born August 24, 1905; and John Brooks, born January 12, 1915.

GEORGE G. BRENNEMAN. Seven miles north of New Cumberland, the county seat of Hancock County, and near the Village of Arroyo, is situated the splendid fruit farm owned and actively managed by Mr. Brenneman, who is one of the most extensive and successful fruit growers in this section of West Virginia. He was born on his present homestead farm, on the 10th of May. 1847, and is a son of Jacob and Margaret (Brown) Brenneman, the latter a representative of an honored and influential pioneer family of which mention is made in other personal sketches in this publication. Jacob Brenneman was born in Penn- sylvania and after his marriage he and his wife con- tinued to reside on the farm that is now owned by their son George G., this being one of the fine places on the Ohio River in Hancock County and comprising 31834 acres. Jacob Brenneman showed marked progressiveness and initia- tive ability in here developing one of the best of the early apple orchards of Hancock County, where his father, Chris- tian Brenneman, has obtained a large tract of land and divided the same ultimately among his three sons, Jacob, Richard and Cyrus. Richard Brenneman developed a fine landed estate of 300 acres. One of his sons, Dr. R. E. Brenneman, is a representative physician and surgeon at Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania, and another son. H. C., resides at Point Pleasant. Mason County, West Virginia. Cyrus Brenneman sold his land to his brother Jacob, and even- tually he became a railroad agent at Empire, Ohio. Jacob Brenneman was seventy years of age at the time of his death and his sons Cyrus E. and George G. succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead farm, which they equit- ably divided, Cyrus having later died, at the age of fifty- six years, and, with no children of his own having willed his property to his brother George, who thus retains the old homestead in its entirety. To the property George G. Brenneman has added by the purchase of an adjacent tract of forty-three acres. He specializes in the fruit-grow- ing department of farm enterprise, has an orchard of 100 acres. devoted mainly to apples of the best grades, many of the trees having been planted by him and the annual yield from the great orchard averaging about 20.000 har- rels, the while he has storage facilities for the accommoda- tion of 14 000 barrels and is thus enabled to regulate effectively the placing of his fruit on the market. He is still extending his orchard, and he limits his production of applies to four standard varieties, in which he gives prefer- ence to the popular "Willow Twig" type. Mr. Brenne- man's farm is situated in the finest apple-growing section of the state, soil, water and drainage being such as to insure the maximum returns from orchards and to make the industry one of major scope and importance.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 76

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