USA > West Virginia > Wetzel County > History of Wetzel County, West Virginia > Part 6
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HISTORY OF WETZEL COUNTY.
An additional evidence of Dr. Haskins' straightforward man- ner in business as well as in his professional work, and the gen- eral confidence such a course always inspires among the people, is his recent election to council in his Ward. The Ward gives nearly 400 of a Republican majority, but the people were, it ap- pears, very much dissatisfied with the way in which municipal matters were being carried on, and insisted on the doctor be- coming a candidate. At first he refused, but finally yielded and made the race, defeating his Republican opponent by nearly 200 votes. Such a feat had not previously been performed by any Democrat in the Eighth ward, and many of the doctor's most ardent friends were willing to wager their money that he could not be elected. That everybody was astonished at the returns, it putting it mildly. The doctor not only has, as we have stated, the best equipped general hospital in the State, but has one of the most magnificent homes in the city of Wheeling, which he enjoys thoroughly, and has often been heard to re- mark, "When I have finished my work, there is no place I desire to go so much at home." He is in no sense a society man; how- ever, he always welcomes an old friend, and the entertainment is always pleasing and frequently very elaborate, indeed, as the author of this sketch can testify.
DR. THOS. M. HASKINS.
FRIEND COX.
In 1773 Capt. George Cox emigrated from Maryland to the vicinity of Wellsburg, in Brooke county, Virginia; and in Feb- ruary, 1776, he was married to Susan Decker. During the In- dian war Captain Cox was frequently of most efficient service to the pioneers in the capacity of spy. He had a large family, one of his sons being Friend Cox, who was born near Wells- burg, March 31st, 1794. Of Captain Cox it was said at his death, at the age of ninety, that "as a citizen, as a magistrate, as a neighbor, as a father, and in all the relations of life, he discharged his duties faithfully and worthily, and died at a good old age, lamented by his friends and relations, and re- spected by all who knew him."
Friend Cox was married by Bishop Alexander Campbell to Eliza J. Wood, near Wheeling, May 4th, 1819, and soon there- after became a resident of what is now the county of Wetzel, living on the farm south of New Martinsville, owned in more recent years by his son, Robert Cox, and now comprising some of the most valuable land in that section of the State. Here he lived twenty-one years, being for seventeen years engaged in the mercantile business. Eliza Woods Cox, who died in 1826, was the mother of four children, as follows: Robert W. Cox, long a prominent citizen of the State, who died in 1879; Susan Elizabeth Varnell, who died in 1854; James F. Cox, for many years a wealthy and influential citizen of Keokuk, Iowa, who died in 1877; and Eliza Jane Cox, who died in 1845.
Friend Cox and Rebecca Thistle were married May 26, 1831. Mr. Cox's second wife died in 1838, their children being as fol- lows: Caroline Thistle, considered by many the most beautiful girl ever given by the county to a neighboring State, she be- coming the wife of C. F. Davis, a prominent Iowa banker;
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HISTORY OF WETZEL COUNTY.
Frances Rebecca, who, as the wife of Barney Wells, of Sisters- ville, was one of the most charming and popular ladies in that section of the State, until her death in 1896; Sampson Thistle, still a resident of New Martinsville; and Friend Cox, who died in infancy.
Friend Cox was married a third time, he and Susan T. This- tle, sister of his second wife and of the late Sampson and Ar- chibald Thistle, of Sistersville, being united in marriage Au- gust 15, 1839. They had children as follows: George Decker, who died in boyhood; Friend Clay, a sketch of whose life will be found in this volume; David Hickman, ex-Sheriff of Wetzel county, and one of the most prominent and successful business men in the West Virginia oil fields; Lina Russell, wife of Jo- sephus Clark, ex-Sheriff of the county and a leading business man of New Martinsville; Agnes S., wife of Dr. S. Curits Priest, of Newark, Ohio, surgeon and physician of the B. & O. R. R .; Anna M., who died in infancy; and Ella Sidney, wife of Rev. John H. Jackson, one of the most eloquent and popular min. isters of the M. E. church, South, in the State of Missouri.
From the organization of Wetzel county, in 1846, until his death, Mr. Cox was one of the most prominent citizens. At the first term of the Circuit Court held in New Martinsville, he was appointed Circuit Clerk by Judge Frye, which position he continued to hold until 1871. On the death of Joseph New- man, in 1854, he was elected County Clerk, and held that posi- tion until 1863. Mr. Cox always aook an active interest in po- litical affairs, and, although a man of strong feeling, he always retained the good will of political opponents even in the days when so many ties of friendship were broken by the cruel war. For about thirty-five years he suffered from the deadly malady which ended his life, but the agony was always borne with Christian fortitude. His death occurred on the 27th day of January, 1877.
There were traits in his character which are worthy of no- tice: Of an obliging disposition, he was ever ready to sacrifice
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HISTORY OF WETZEL COUNTY.
his own interests to serve a friend, and disliked to distress those who became indebted to him; so that, where others would have become wealthy, he remained comparatively poor. His family, however, have a far richer legacy in the unsullied character he sustained, and in the blessing of those "who had reaped his fields and whose wages he kept not back."
Coming here when this county was a wilderness, he lived to see a radical change in the character and appearance of the Ohio Valley, and in the manners and character of the popu- lation.
The judgment of the world in regard to a man's character, while he is living, is apt to be too harsh-his faults are magni- fied and his virtues overlooked; but when he is dead, the re- verse is the case, and it is his faults which are forgotten and his virtues that are magnified. "The good we do lives after," and "the grave covers every fault and extinguishes every re- sentment." The verdict in the latter case may be much too mild and in the former it is too harsh; but of the subject of this sketch it can truthfully be said that he was a good citizen, an accommodating neighbor, an honest officer, a warm, faithful friend, a kind and affectionate husband and father; and if this does not include all his virtues, they are comprised in that other term to which he was so justly entitled, that of a "true Christian gentleman," and the world is better and happier be- cause of his life.
EBENEZER CLARK.
Ebenezer Clark was born on Wheeling Creek, in Washing- ton county, Pennsylvania, May 4th, 1802, and died at his home in the county of Wetzel, August 30th, 1878.
Perhaps no man was so long and so prominently identified with the history of the county with which we deal in this vol- ume as the subject of the present sketch. When but an infant his father removed to the Scioto Valley, Ohio, afterwards go- ing further West; but the boy, Ebenezer, then thirteen years of age, came to West Virginia, living with his mother's people in Marshall county. In early manhood he married and settled near Fanlight, in Wetzel (then Tyler) county, on what is now known as Clark's Ridge. Here the remainder of his life was passed.
Mr. Clark was one of the largest land owners in the county, and managed extensive business affairs with rare good judg- ment; but he was a public spirited man who was never so busy that he could not find time to devote to public affairs. For a generation, perhaps, he officiated as Justice of the Peace, under the old regime, when men served faithfully for honor and not for profit. Nature had given him a legal mind, and he easily grasped complicated cases, going unerringly to the heart of the controversy. In addition to this, few men in similar positions have attained as honorable distinction as a peacemaker. Count- less controversies were brought to an end without litigation through his discreet advice and counsel, the universal confi- dence of the community in his integrity and sound judgment enabling him to make this most enviable record.
Before Wetzel county had come into being, Mr. Clark served as a member of the County Court of Tyler county; and for four
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years he was Sheriff of Wetzel, also serving his constituency faithfully at Richmond as a member of the Legislature of Vir- ginia. Through his influence in that body a bill was passed providing for a turnpike road from New Martinsville to Bur- ton. If carried through, this would have largely influenced the development of the county; but the project was defeated, through the jealousy of local politicians.
Mr. Clark's first wife was Harriet Anderson, and among their children are Josephus Clark, C. E. Clark, and Friend E. Clark, prominent citizens of Wetzel at the present time. His second wife was Mary Richmond, who, with their children, now resides in the State of Missouri.
The following was written of Mr. Clark at the time of his death by Robert McEldowney: "For almost fifty years he has been a prominent and influential citizen, and has left during all this period of public life not a blot on his fair name. In politics Mr. Clark was a Democrat of the old school, and in religion an old fashioned Methodist, who believed in experi- mental religion and was not afraid to say so. He was a promi- nent member of the Church for a half century and was for a generation a local preacher. He was a man hospitable and generous, fond of the truth and fearless in its defense and in the support of what he believed to be right. He was such a man as, take him all in all, we may not look upon his like again."
He was a strong man and a sincere Christian, whose memory is a benediction. His life brings to mind the lesson enforced by the greatest preacher of the nineteenth century: "Value the ends of life more than its means; watch ever for the soul of good in things evil, and the soul of truth in things false, and beside the richer influence that will flow out from your life on all to whom you minister, you will do something to help the solution of that unsolved problem of the human mind and heart, the reconciliation of hearty tolerance with strong posi- tive belief."
ISAAC SMITH.
One of the most remarkable men in the history of West Virginia is Isaac Smith. At his death he was the oldest man in West Virginia, and probably the Southern States. He was born at Williamsport, Washington county, Pennsylvania, in the year of 1789, and lived to be 109 years old, which was but a few years back. He was a man of simple nature, kind, strong and always industrious. He lived until his death in Proctor Hollow, a ravine of five miles in length, running east and west through Wetzel county, in a small log cabin, about two miles from Proctor Station, on the Ohio River R. R. He erected the building with his own hands when he came to West Virginia with his family, sixty-nine years before his death. Then the country was a wide forest, with only a few families scattered here and there over the country. His nearest neighbor was a man by the name of Hogan, who resided with his family five miles further up the run.
Some of the older residents who remember him when he was forty to fifty years of age, say he could lift a barrel of whisky and drink out of the bunghole, and that he has often picked up two barrels of salt set one upon the other at a single lift. But of these things Mr. Smith never boasted. He had a smile for everyone and enjoyed a good joke as well as any person. He followed the occupation of keel boating on the Monongahela river until he was forty years of age, when he sold out his pro- perty and moved to West Virginia. When he settled at Proc- tor there were few if any Indians remaining, and the only thing to be feared was from wild animals, catamounts, wild cats and a few wolves. There was also plenty of wild game. Mr. Smith's father settled at Elizabeth, Pa., in the latter part of
ISAAC SMITH. 109 Years Old.
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HISTORY OF WETZEL COUNTY.
the last century. His name was Samuel Smith, and he mar- ried Sallie Watt, the result of which union was several sons, among them being the subject of this sketch. Isaac Smith re- ceived very little education, but learned the trade of keel boat- ing at an early age, which he followed many years. He mar- ried Sarah Hutson, and to them were born five sons, Robert, Charles, Thomas, Samuel and John. Mr. Smith made his home with his grandson, Albert Anderson, who lives on the old homestead, where his mother was born and raised.
WILLIAM LITTLE.
William Little settled where Littleton now stands, on Fish creek, in the year of 1838, when it was a vast wilderness with- out a solitary being for miles around except that of his wife. He was born in Fayette county, this State, and for some time lived in Green county, Pennsylvania. He was justice of the Peace when this county was Tyler county, for sixteen years. There are only three of the family now living, H. H. Little, who has been in the ministry for the past thirty-five years; Ruth Lancaster and James K. Little. William Little's bro- ther, Josiah, was captain of artillery in the Mexican war.
JEREMIAH WILLIAMS.
Jeremiah Williams was one of earliest settlers in this county. He came to New Martinsville about the year of 1800, and set- tled on the land now owned by his heirs and situated about two miles above the town of New Martinsville. He was born in the year of 1766 and for a while was a Fort Henry soldier. He ob- tained the title for the land from a man in Monongalia county (for boot) on a horse trade, he having obtained it from a man who was driven out by the Indians. Mr. Williams witnessed the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
ROBERT McELDOWNEY, SR.
Robert McEldowney was born in Ireland and emigrated with his brother (John) to this country about the year of 1782, and settled on the land about one and a half miles north of the town of New Martinsville, and now owned by Mr. B. F. Bridge- man, in the year of 1804, having lived for a while at Buckhill Bottom, Ohio. His brother settled in Maryland, where his de. scendants still live. Mr. McEldowney died in a carriage. He was very feeble at the presidential election of 1844, and desir. ing to vote for Jamese K. Polk, a carriage was sent after him, and after getting in the carriage he suddenly died and was buried in Williams' Cemetery, where his wife, Hannah Vanda- ver McEldowney was buried.
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H. R. THOMPSON, Clerk of the County Court.
JUDGE THOMAS I. STEALEY.
In the History of Wetzel county, Judge Stealey should not be forgotten for the part which he took in the proceedings prelimi- nary to the formation of the county by the act of the legislature of Virginia. The continued agitation of the re-location of the county seat of Tyler county from Middlebourne to Sistersville. caused the citizens of Middlebourne to take such a course as would put at rest the vexatious question and to that end the father of Judge Stealey, James Stealey, long since deceased, in connection with other citizens of Tyler county, held a meeting in the law office of J. M. Stevenson (then residing at Middle- bourne), but subsequently an honored citizen of the city of Parkersburg, who at the election for president in 1844 was an elector on the Whig ticket, bearing the name at its head of the distinguished American Statesman, Henry Clay, the author of the protection tariff of 1845 and the compromise bill of 1853. This is not wholly a digression, for strange as it may seem, it was a wise act of strategy politically to hold a meeting in the office of a leading Whig such as was James M. Stevenson. It was intended at that time to nominate a Demo- crat as a candidate for the election to the Virginia Leg- islature. P. W. Martin, according to the Democratic party usage, was entitled at that time to the nomination for the office, but there had been local dissentions in the ranks of the party which made it unwise to select a man from that part of Tyler county in the person of P. M. Martin, a staunch Democrat of the Jeffersonian style, to be the candidate, and the friends of the measure, to divide Tyler county by making a new county (Wetzel), by a line striking off all of the northern
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HISTORY OF WETZEL COUNTY.
portion of Tyler county for that purpose, and thus get rid of that part of the territory of the county that was in favor of the re-location of the county seat, it became necessary to secure a delegate who would advocate the new county in the legislature, and James G. West, of the northern portion of the county, was selected by James Stealey, James M. Stevenson, and Joseph McCoy, two Whigs, and the last named a Democrat. A com- mittee appointed to select a delegate by the Democratic meet- ing held in the law office of a leading Whig, after the nomina- tion of James G. West by James M. Stevenson and James Stealey, two Whigs, and Joseph McCoy, a Democrat. Judge Stealey, then only fifteen years of age, was directed by said nominating committee to prepare the notice required by law to secure the formation of a new county, which was promptly prepared and posted by him at many prominent places in the county as required by law. After years the people of Wetzel county remembered favorably the part taken by him in the formation of the county by giving him a majority of 1,200 votes over his opponent, the late distinguished Judge C. J. Stewart, for the office of Judge in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, com- posed of the counties of Wetzel, Tyler, Doddridge and Ritchie, which position Judge Stealey held for a term of eight years, discharging the duties thereof faithfully and with ability and honor. Judge Stealey moved from New Martinsville in the year 1889 to the city of Parkersburg, where he has since re- sided, engaging in the practice of law with great success, and having accumulated a sufficient competency to live a quiet life, he retired from the practice of his profession in 1898 and is yet living at the age of 72, the picture of health and content- ment, devoting much of his time to the study of the advanced problems of science, history and economies.
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THET-REVENSO
OLD WETZEL COUNTY COURT HOUSE, New Martinsville.
FORMATION OF WETZEL COUNTY.
Wetzel county was formed in 1846 from Tyler, by an act of the Assembly of Virginia; was named from Louis Wetzel, a distinguished frontiersman and Indian scout (see Louis Wet- zel). The first session of court was held in April, 1846, in the house then owned by Sampson Thistle, which was designated for the place by the legislature. It was situated on the corner of Main and Jefferson streets, and is now the property of Otto Soland. The officers of the court were Joseph L. Fry, judge; Friend Cox, clerk of the Circuit Court; Pressley Martin, clerk of the County Court; Edward Moore, crier of the court; James Snodgrass, attorney for commonwealth; Lewis Williams, sur- veyor. The justices were P. M. Martin, P. Martin, B. F. Mar- tin, Wm. Anderson, P. Witten, F. E. Williams, Owen Witten, Andrew McEldowney, Samuel McEldowney, Hezekiah Alley, R. W. Cox. James Paden, Daniel Anderson, James Morgan, Henry Garner, J. V. Camp, Wm. Sharpneck and Stephen Car. ney. Wm. Sharpneck, being the oldest justice, was made sheriff. At each term of the County Court, three justices acted as commissioners of the County Court. The first to act were B. F. Martin, P. M. Martin, P. Martin, Wm. Anderson and P. Witten, with P. Martin as president. The deputy sheriffs were Charles McCoy and Archibald Thistle; the commissioners of revenue were Thomas Snodgrass, Sampson Thistle, Wm. Little, Ebenezer Payne, James G. West, Ebenezer Clark, Heze- kiah Joliffe, James Ruckman, Isaac E. Haskinson, Wm. An- derson, John Alley, John Klepstein and Jacob Talkington. On April 7th, 1846, J. W. Stephens, C. W. Clark, W. J. Boreman, R. W. Lock, J. R. Morris, F. W. McConaughy, I. W. Horner, James Snodgrass, G. W. Thompson and Thomas Jones were
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HISTORY OF WETZEL COUNTY.
permitted to practice law in the courts. On May 4th of the same year, Isaac Hoge, J. Morris and Abraham Samuels were permitted to practice law before the court. The house of Sampson Thistle was bought for $400, and R. W. Cox and B. F. Martin appointed to see that the court house was properly re- paired, and to superintend the building of a jail. In 1848 the county had sufficient funds in the treasury to build a new court house, which they did, but it was not completed until the year of 1852. The ground where the court house and jail were built was donated by Sampson Thistle and Pressley Mar- tin, and when the court house was completed it was pro- nounced one of the best houses of its kind in the State. Court was held in the building until 1900. The building was beginning to look shabby, it was behind the times, and was very inconvenient, and the county court, which consisted of James Joliffe, John De Bolt and Abe Fair gave the contract for the erection of a new building, which will cost about $100,- 000 when completed. The first grand jury appointed by Sheriff Sharpneck were John M. Lacey, foreman; Absalom Postlewait, Frances Hindman, Archiles Morgan, Hiram J. Morgan, James Cochran, Caleb Headlee, J. Van Camp, Jeremiah Williams, Thomas Stiel, Richard Postlethwait, Joseph Wood, Robert Leap, Zadoc L. Springer, Andrew Workman, John Roberts, Ja- cob Rice, Jacob McCloud, and Wm. Little. The first indict- ment brought against a person was the commonwealth against Elisha McCormick, for assault and battery. Wm. McDonald, a native of Cork, was the first man to be naturalized. The first trial before the County Court was the Commonwealth vs. Holden Cooper, upon his recognizance for a felony. The first estate settled in this county was the estate of C. B. Pitcher, of which J. C. Pitcher was administrator, and Friend Cox, Press- ley Martin and B. F. Martin were appraisers. The estate amounted to $207.05.
On May 31, 1861, delegates from twenty-five counties in Virginin assembled at Wheeling and determined that they
W. F. SHUMAN, Commissioner of the County Court.
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HISTORY OF WETZEL COUNTY.
would not take part in the war against the Union without the will of the people. The delegates from Wetzel county were Elijah Morgan, T. E. Williams, Josephus Murphy, Wm. Bar- rows, B. T. Bowers, J. R. Read. J. M. Bell, Jacob Young, Reuben Martin, R. Read, R. S. Sayre, W. D. Walker, Geo. W. Bier, Thos. McQuown, John Alley, S. Stephens, R. W. Lauck. John McCaskey, Richard Cook, Andrew McEldowney and B. Van Camp. The next convention was held June 11 of the same year. The members of this convention being elected. the others being appointed. The State was represented by thirty counties this time. At this convention Wetzel county sent James G. West, Reuben Martin and B. J. Ferrell. At this convention Francis H. Pierpoint was elected the first governor of the State. The third convention was held November 20 of the same year, for the purpose of reorganizing the government. The delegate from Wetzel county was R. W. Lauck. Another convention was held two years later, in 1863, at Charleston. It was under the new constitution. Septimius Hall was elected.
Officers of Wetzel county from the formation down to the present time:
Sheriffs-Wm. Sharpneck, Edwin Moore, Wm. Anderson, Josephus Clark, Levi Shuman, A. P. Brookover. W. M. Brook- over, John Stender, B. B. Postlethwait. John Stender, J. N. Wyatt. James Pyles and Alex Hart.
Clerks of the County Court-Pressley Martin, J. W. New- man. Friend Cox, Z. S. Springer. J. D. Ewing, Z. S. Springer, H. E. Robinson, John C. McEldowney, the latter serving twen- ty-six years, having been appointed for two years, and Henry Thompson.
Clerks of the Circuit Court-Friend Cox. John C. McEl- downey, J. W. Neewman and John Kauffman. Mr. Newman having served eighteen years.
Prosecuting Attorney-James Snodgrass, L. S. Hall. R. W. Leuck, Wm. Guthrie. George Boyd, L. S. Hall, M. R. Crouse. W. S. Wiley. M. R. Morris and E. L. Robinson.
COL. ROBERT McELDOWNEY.
Robert McEldowney, of whom we present a fair likeness, was one of the most widely known editors in the State. He was editor of the Wetzel Democrat and his writings were often quoted by some of the leading journals of the State. He was often referred to as the Bill Nye of West Virginia. He was born in 1837, at New Martinsville, and atended the schools at that place, later going to the Moundsville Academy and the Marietta College, but before graduating at Marietta he enlisted as a private in the Southern army and was later commissioned captain, commanding the Twenty-seventh Stonewall Brigade, being twice wounded. He served until the close of the war. At the battle of Gettysburg he took charge of the wing of the army in which a general was killed, and led a part of the whole army at that place. He was the first teacher appointed by the board of education in Magnolia district. He was a member of the Legislature and was one of the delegates to the National convention that nominated Hancock for president. The last years of his life were passed in sufferings that were untold, and on he diedwith cancer of the tongue. Thus ended a life of usefulness, which was shortened by that dread affliction.
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