USA > West Virginia > Barbour County > The history of Barbour County, West Virginia, from its earliest exploration and settlement to the present time > Part 43
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On the Sunday morning that General McClellan's forces made an attack on General Garnett at Laurel Hill, he, in company with Colonel William Johnson, of Meadowville and some other citizens, who had spent the night at his home, went to the Confederate camp two miles away, not knowing that there was any possibility of an attack, and expecting to return home in the evening, but the pickets were put on duty, and no one was allowed to pass the lines, and it being a part of his nature not to be inactive, he procured a gun and went into the skirmish, and took a very active part until Garnett's forces left Laurel Hill. He returned home, and after stay- ing a few hours mounted his horse, and with his double barreled shot gun followed the retreating Confederate forces. He overtook them in the vicinity of Corrick's Ford and participated in that battle.
There stood a sugar tree on the farm of Peyton C. Booth, near the Confederate camp at Laurel Hill, which he stood behind and exchanged several shots with the enemy; and for years could be seen the marks of the balls that struck the tree. The few days that passed during the Laurel Hill skirmish were the most trying to his wife and children of all they had ever endured. They had looked for him home on Sunday evening, and when he did not return his wife went to the Confederate lines daily to hear from him, but the pickets did not know him, nor would they let her pass, and the frequent volleys of musketry and artillery not far away increased the anxiety for her husband and made her heart almost break with grief.
After going to the South he was employed by General William L. Jackson as a scout, and was in many close places with the enemy. He came through the mountains home in the latter part of November, 1861, and spent a few days with his family, leaving his horse with a friend on
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Cheat Mountain. On making his return he become lost in the dense hem- lock and laurel thickets between the forks of the Greenbrier River. He first left his saddle so he could get through the brush better, and after cut- ting his way through the laurel with a heavy knife he had to abandon his horse and would have perished in the snow had not some Confederate scouts found him, supposing they had caught a Yankee spy. They con- veyed him to Camp Alleghany, on top of the mountain, and after they had warmed, they permitted him to go through their winter quarters to find some one to identify him. Meeting A. G. Reger, of Philippi, he was released. Jacob Burner, of Pocahontas County, found the saddle three years after the war, hanging where he had left it.
In writing to his wife and children, December 4, 1862, from Camp Washington, Augusta County, he said: "We are with J. D. Imboden, and on the 9th of last month captured a company at St. George, Tucker County, with all their stores." This letter was written with a pen made of elder. He also speaks in this letter of the hardships that he had endured in the past eighteen months as a scout, and that he was "urged by his friends to accept a more honorable position in a regiment." He received the appoint- ment from the War Department shortly after as Major of the 62d Virginia Regiment. He had served as Major of the Militia while he lived in Taylor County, and was very well versed in military tactics. He was with Imbo- den when he made the attack on Beverly, April 24, 1863, and on the 25th, with part of Captain Taylor's company and some others, he came down to General Garrett's old camp at the foot of Lauruel Hill in pursuit of Colonel Latham's command, which had retreated from Beverly. His men camped for the night, and he came home, it being the last night he ever spent with his family. The next morning he left home and the writer went with him to where the house of John Pharis now stands-one mile above Belington- and leaving him, he said, "Be good to your mother." He and his men hurried toward Philippi, and in his diary he says that he and fourteen others made a dash on Philippi, causing the enemy considerable fright. Colonel Mulligan and some of his officers were near Big Rock, which has since been partly taken away to macadamize the main street of the town, and it is said that they came on them so suddenly that the Colonel lost his hat, and as he went galloping into camp he hallooed: "Fire that cannon," while he was still between the Rebels and the guns. The Rebels fell back and camped on the bank of the river near Washington Jones' and the next night camped at the the Hillery Place, near where the town of Mabie now is in Randolph County, and the next day fell in with Imboden near Buck- hannon .*
On the night of of September 25, 1863, he, with a large troop of men,
*For further mention of Major Lang's expedition into Barbour, see the History of Randolph page 260.
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captured thirty of General Averell's men at the Burned House, at the cross- ing of Cheat River, on the Seneca Trail .* He went into their camp under disguise, after they had lain down, and, ascertained their number and pos- ition, and returned to his men on the mountain, and captured the company, all but one man who made his escape. His intention had been to surprise a company stationed at Belington; but finding this company at the river, he took it and returned South. In a letter written to his wife July 13, 1864, from Blair's House near Washington, he said, he had been under fire every day since May 7, and had marched over 600 miles, and had escaped with nothing more than a few holes through his clothing, until the day before. He had been given the post of honor, and was put in front, and drove the enemy five miles to the fort. In the fight his spur was struck by a ball which slightly disabled him. The spur saved his foot from amputation. On September 5, 1864, while commanding the skirmish line at Bunker Hill, eight miles below Winchester, he fell mortally wounded, and died the next day at Winchester, having been carried off the field by his comrades. He said that "If he could see his wife and little children he could die happy," and that he "asked no greater compensation from the Confederate government for his services than the education of his children." As you enter the Stonewall Cemetery, at Winchester, from the south gate his grave is the second on the right of the sleeping Virginians, marked by a plain marble slab, (the same as all the Virginians) "Lieut. Col. David B. Lang, 62d Va. Reg., Died Sept. 6, 1864." He believed in the virtue and triumph of the cause he had espoused, and said in one of his letters to his wife that, " If this unholy war should last until my youngest son is eighteen years old, you would inspire such patriotism in each of them that they would shoulder their muskets in defense of their country." In another he said, "I shall see Virginia free or be buried beneath her sod." He was a cool and brave officer, respected and beloved by his men. He was always delighted to be in command of the skirmish line, and was cheerful and hopeful in all vicissitudes of life.
Colonel Lang was sued on a security debt a year or so before the war, and, having some creditors of his own who desired to be secured, he gave a deed of trust on his property, and his wife signed her interest in it. It was not sold until after the close of the war, when it took everything to pay off his debts, and left his wife and children without anything, but courage; yet there was never a murmur or regret that she had signed her interest to secure his creditors. Their children were, Winfield S., who married Catherine Fitzwater: Margaret E., who married Marshall Scott; Martha P. married Jesse Phillips and died 1888; Payton P. married Alice Gainer and died 1895; David B. married Grace V. Vanscoy; George W.
*See page 263 of the Randolph History.
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married Ella Wilmoth. The last three lived in Randolph County Mrs. Lang died November 19, 1898, at the home of her son, David, near Kierans, Randolph County, at the age of 70 years.
WINFIELD SCOTT LANG, born 1852 in Taylor County, son of Colonel David B. and Elizabeth (Powell) Lang, was married near Meadowville in 1872 to Catherine, daughter of Jesse and Sarah (Harris) Fitzwater. Chil- dren, Emma Olive, Thurman, John Lemuel, Minnie A., Jesse David, Boyd Otto, Martha Susan. He belongs to the M. E. Church, South; is a Demo- crat and a farmer, residing on Glady Creek. The office of Assessor for the eastern district was held by him in 1882, and for several terms he was Jus- tice of the Peace. He assisted in collecting data for this History of Barbour County, his work lying chiefly in Barker, Glade and Cove Districts.
MYRON CARLETON LOUGH was born four miles south of Philippi, June 25, 1870, and is a member of the Baptist Church and of the Junior O. U. A. M. He was reared on a farm. Until sixteen years of age his winters were spent in the country schools and his summers on his grandfather's farm. He began teaching in his seventeenth year. When he was eighteen he led the county in the teachers' examination, giving him a standing in the teachers' ranks. He attended the summer normal school taught by Prof. J. F. Ogden, at Philippi, W. Va., for three years, and received much inspira- tion from that noble man. At the age of twenty he entered the Business College run in connection with the West Virginia Normal and Classical Academy at Buckhannon. He paid his tuition there by teaching in the school. In the spring of 1891, one month before he was twenty-one years of age, he was elected County Superintendent of Free Schools of Barbour County, on the Republican ticket. In the fall of the same year he entered the M. E. Conference Seminary at Buckhannon, from which institution he graduated in 1894, having completed both the scientific and normal courses, with the degree of Bachelor of Pedagogy. The next year was spent at the same institution, and he was graduated from the classical department. While at the Seminary he was on three annual contest debates, winning two and losing one. He has the record of being on for more public per- formances than any person who has ever graduated at the Seminary. He was the orator of the class of 1894.
In 1895 he received a scholarship at Denison University, Granville, Ohio. He attended that institution one year. His reputation as an orator and debater followed him there. He was chosen to represent the the lead- ing society of the University and won a cash prize of $40-no small honor for a West Virginia boy. In the summers of '95 and '96 he and Mr. C. I. Zirkle taught very successful summer schools at Belington, Barbour County. At the close of their last normal there, Messrs. Lough & Zirkle purchased the Philippi Republican, Mr. Lough being elected principal of the Graded Schools at Belington at the same time. In 1897 he was elected to his pres-
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ent position, that of teacher in the Fairmont State Normal School. While teaching at Fairmont he has been pursuing work leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree, at the West Virginia University. He is now a Senior at that institution. He will take the degree the present year, as he has been granted a leave of absence from the Normal School until the spring term of 1900. Take it all in all, Mr. Lough's life has been a very busy one, as will be noticed from the great number of things he has accomplished while se- curing his education. He has earned every dollar of money spent on his education and is now entirely out of debt. He claims December 25, 1898, as the happiest day of his life, for it was upon that day that the sweetheart of his youth, Miss Emma Parks, also of Barbour County, became his wife. They seem to have many years of usefulness before them.
Mr. Lough is a graceful and forceful writer, both in prose and verse. The following is from his pen:
THEY'RE SMARTER'N US.
I've read the papers a good deal of late
Of boys with nothing who've made themselves great. It makes me so blamed discouraged sometimes, Out here on the farm of brambles an' vines. That I almost wish I'd never been born. All day a-plowin' an' hoein' the corn Ain't very much fun to a feller like me,
Who'd like to be something, but knows he can't be.
I tell you what, Jim, I'm down in the mouth,
When I read of the boys in the North an' the South
Who've ris from the lowest an' porest of homes, While I'm left a-diggin' in these ol' stones. An' Jim, my ol' boy, you're right here with me, There's a reason fer 't all, as plain as can be; We'd as well give in, an' without any fuss, They're smarter'n us, Jim, They're smarter'n us.
I read t'other day that our own congressman
Was once a young lad all yellow an' tan With the rays of the sun; that he worked all the day From morning till night; never had time to play: But now jes look at him and see what he's done. Can't explain it, you say? 't's as easy as fun.
I've thought it all out an' see it, you mus'. He's smarter'n us, Jim, He's smarter'n us.
An' our President, Jim, was once a pore lad, Worked hard ever' day in good weather and bad; How he ris is a wonder in some people's mind, 'N' how he managed through all a plain way to find
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To come to the front. But, Jim, I know, An' if you think a minute, you'll see it's so, That no matter'n what else he put his trus' He's smarter'n us, Jim, He's smarter'n us.
There is many another as I've hearn tell With odds against 'em who've come out well; But we're too old, Jim, an' its now too late Fer us to be tryin' to change our fate. All wecan do, then, at this late day Is to comfort ourselves as ever we say, " We know it's not fair an' we think its not jus'." But they're smarter'n us, Jim, They smarter'n us.
Some people may say that's a pore excuse; But I've seen it tried, and what's the use Of a feller who's built for the farm and the plow To make a to-do an' a great pow-wow An' try to be somethin'. Jim, do as you please, I'll not try to catch 'em, but live at my ease, An' run my ol' plow, just to keep off the rus'. For they're smarter'n us, Jim, They're smarter'n us.
Great people are not always happy, I'm told, But ever are greedy and graspin' fer gold; An' seekin' fer honors still higher than they Have ever seen a comin' their way. Forever impatient an' lookin' ahead, They'll never be satisfied till they are dead, An' all of their bones hev returned to the dus', But they're smarter'n us, Jim, They're smarter'n us.
An' will they be satisfied when they are dead? Will each have a golden crown then on his head? 'F it's true what I've heard 'bout a few of them, Jim, 'T strikes me their chances 'll be pretty slim. But they ought to be satisfied, don't you think so? For all through this wilderness down here below, Whether counted as wrong, er reckoned as jus', They've been smarter'n us, Jim, Been smarter'n us.
WILLIS LANTZ, born 1853, near his present home, son of William and Martha (Woods) Lantz, was married at the old Sturm homestead, February 13, 1876, to Arminda, daughter of Jesse and Delita Ann Sturm. Children, Pheny, David, Thomas, Estella, Martha Ann, Athie Minerva, Willis, Ertle. He is a Missionary Baptist, an Odd Fellow, a Democrat, a farmer and black- smith, and lives near Calhoun where he owns 320 acres, mostly improved.
MYRON CARLETON LOUGH.
WILLIAM JUDSON BARTLETT.
COLUMBUS KELLEY.
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His great grandfather came from Germany and settled on Peck's Run. Mrs. Lantz's grandfather was Colonel Henry Sturm; and her grandfather, Thomas Wood, came from New York to West Virginia. The father of Mr. Lantz served in the Confederate army, and his uncle, Henry Lantz, was killed at the battle of Gettysburg. He was elected president of the county court in 1896.
WILLIAM HENRY LANTZ, born 1862 near Buckhannon, son of William and Martha (Woods) Lantz. On January 11, 1885, in Barbour, he was mar- ried to Marietta Sturm. Children, Ida Belle, Idella, Florida May, Willie A., Lovy Grace and Baby. He is a member of the M. E. Church, South, and a hard-working, progressive farmer near Calhoun where he owns 120 acres, mostly cultivated or in grass. The fruit on his place is of excellent grade. A new variety of bearded wheat was introduced by him into Bar- bour. His ancestors were German.
THOMAS ALONZO LAW, born on Hacker's Creek, Lewis County, in 1858, son of Oscar and Barbara (Post) Law, was married November 4, 1880, in Taylor County, to Rozaltha, daughter of John and Elizabeth (McDonald) Cleavenger. Children, John, Arnett, Edison Oscar, George and Ethel. He is a member of the M. P. Church, and belongs to the order of I. O. O. F. and K. of P. He is a Republican and a farmer, residing on Simpson's Creek. His great grandfather Law was a native of Ireland, and his great grandfather Post was from New Jersey. Mr. Law owns 81 acres of highly improved land on Hacker's Creek, in Lewis County. He imported the first Aberdeen-Angus cattle into the northern part of Barbour County, where he moved in 1893.
M
THOMAS JACKSON MURPHY, born 1866, on Haddix Creek, in Tucker County, son of Herbert and Jane Amanda (Price) Murphy; and was married in 1887 on Sugar Creek to Doretta, daughter of Nathan and Lydia' C. (Shoemaker) Bennett. Children, Naomi, Ira Hamon, Essie C., Oda May, Charles Gordon, and Wilma Belle. He is a Democrat and farmer, residing on the head of Sugar Creek, where he owns 46 acres, three miles from Meadowville. His father lives in Randolph, near Montrose, and his grand- father, Elder David P. Murphy, was a noted minister of the Primitive Bap- tist Church.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MURPHY, M. D., born 1868 near Burnersville, son of Isaac R. and Nancy (VanGilder) Murphy, was married at the resi- dence of Albert G. Wilson, Philippi, August 3, 1898, to Alice C., daughter of Albert and Jennie (Jones) Wilson. He is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, an Odd Fellow, in politics a Democrat, and by profession a physician. Dr. Murphy attended school at the West Virginia Conference Seminary at Buckhannon; and then took up the study of medicine in the
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Medical College of Virginia, at Richmond, remaining two years and gradu- ating in April, 1895. He located in Philippi, where he built up an extensive and lucrative practice, being frequently called into other counties. Drs. Murphy and Williams performed the first operation in Barbour County for the restoration of double hairlip, being so successful as to greatly relieve the deformity and to establish speech. Dr. Murphy has been especially successful in his treatment of fever, having lost but one case during his practice. On his father's side his ancestors were Irish, and on his mother's side German. His grandfather, Marshall Murphy, came from ยท Virginia.
ANDREW MILLER. This man was one of the pioneers of Barbour and settled in the Coves when that was in Monongalia County, but the exact date of his settlement there has not been ascertained. It was, however, subsequent to April, 1781, for he was at that time living on Cheat River, four miles below St. George, and a ridge named from him is called Miller Hill to this day. He came from the South Branch of Potomac to St. George when sixteen years of age, a member of the colony which John Minear planted on Cheat River in 1776. It is not certain whether Miller was a member of the Horse Shoe Colony, planted by Minear in 1774, and broken up by Indians the same year; but he was certainly a member of the second colony in 1776. He was born February 25, 1760. He remained on Cheat River several years, and in the spring of 1781 accompanied John Minear an others to Clarksburg to meet the land commissioners and obtain certificates on which to base claims for land patents. The disaster which befell them while returning, in which Minear and two others were killed by Indians below Philippi, is fully detailed elsewhere in this book. On that occasion Miller's horse was killed. Sarah, the wife of Andrew Miller, was born January 11, 1756. The names of their children and the dates of birth of each are as follows: John, September 25, 1786; Mary, March 5, 1789; Elizabeth, August 17, 1792; Andrew, August 15, 1794; Susanna, September 5, 1797, Sarah, January 9, 1800. Andrew Miller died on New Year's day, 1834, in his seventy-fourth year. His wife died March 4, 1840, aged eighty- four.
JOHN MILLER, son of Andrew and Sarah Miller, born 1786, was mar- ried to Abalonia Baker who was born February 20, 1788, and the names of their children and the dates of their births were as follows: Sarah, born December 26, 1809; Melker, February 20, 1812; Andrew, January 20, 1814; John, April 29, 1816; George, October 25, 1818; Elizabeth, March 16, 1821; Jacob, August 9, 1823; Martin, November 9, 1825; Henry, August 1, 1828. John Miller died May, 12, 1868, and his wife died November 16, 1875.
JACOB MILLER, son of John and Abalonia (Baker) Miller, born 1823, was married November 3, 1848 to a daughter of Nathan and Mary Hall .*
*Nathan Hall, born 1799, was married to Mary, daughter of Isaac Means in 1820. He was nearly all his life a Justice of the Peace or a member of the Legislature, and at
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The names of their children and the dates of their births are as follows: Mary A., born April 5, 1850; Isaac H., November 2, 1851; Sarah E., Decem- ber 10, 1853; Nathan W., October 5, 1855; Syrena C., August 13, 1857; So- phrona J., July 2, 1859; John H., January 28, 1863; George W. B., July 22, 1865. Mr. Miller is a member of the M. E. Church, a Republican and a farmer, living on Gap Run, where he owns 250 acres, well stocked. He and his wife have celebrated their golden wedding. On his mother's side, his grandfather, Melker Baker had a gun factory in Pennsylvania. He was several years a captive with the Indians, and made himself useful by repairing their guns.
ANDREW MILLER, son of Andrew and Sarah, born 1794, married Hes- ter Ann Poling, and their children are as follows: John Z., born July 17, 1842; Sarah, March 25 1844; Susanna, July 27, 1846; Lucinda, January 29, 1849; Lucinda, April 18, 1851; Mary, September 17, 1853; Andrew K., Sep- tember 17, 1855.
ANDREW K. MILLER, married Sophia Shanabarger, and their children were, Theodore, born October 29, 1881; Mattie, March 29; 1883; Addie Grace, 1885; Andrew Boyd, April 1886; George L., January 15, 1888; Floyd, March 23, 1890; Bradford, March 15, 1892; Goldie, Janunry 22, 1894; Ben- jamin D., November 19, 1895; Brisco, September 25, 1897.
JACOB MCLEAN, born in Randolph County 1838, son of William and Hannah (Wees) McLean, was married March 13, 1862. Children, James William, Samuel Henry, Malissa, Hannan F., Arthur, Charles L., Fleming, Edwin Parsons. He is a member of the M. E. Church, South, a Democrat, and a farmer, living on the Valley River, where he owns 200 acres, with 115 under improvement. His son Samuel is a graduate of the Fairmont Nor- mal School, and studied law in the West Virginia University. He is now principal of the Beverly school, and is an able and progressive educator. Another son, Arthur, is a minister in the M. E. Church, South, and is now preaching on the Cedar Grove Circuit, Kanawha County. Mr. McLean is post master at Orpha, Barbour County.
ISAAC D. MARTIN, born in Cove District, 1878, son of Isaac and Sus- . anna (Knotts) Martin. He is a member of the M. E. Church, belongs to the society of Modern Woodmen, of the Masons, of the Junior O. U. A. M., and in politics is a Republican, and in business is a clothing merchantat Beling- ton, and is joint editor of the Belington Independent, and an enterprising business man. He was educated in the public schools.
ROBERT ANDREW MCCUTCHEON, born 1833, son of James and Ellen (Benson) Mccutcheon, was married at Beverly in 1861, to Margaret, daughter of George and Elizabeth (Hart) Buckey. Children, Almonta Ben- son, George P., Golden Frank, Howard Kerr, and Robert E. He is a Meth-
one time he owned part of the land on which Grafton now stands. He died in 1846, and his wife in 1863. They had eleven children.
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odist, an Odd Fellow and a Republican. He is post master at Belington, and proprietor of Mountain View Hotel, and was educated in the schools of Staunton and Washington College and Massay Creek Academy. From 1868 to 1872 he was Superintendent of the schools of Barbour. His paternal ancestors were Scotch-Irish; and his brother, J. S. K. Mccutcheon, was a Colonel in the Confederate army, and now lives at Exeter, California.
GEORGE MCKINNEY, first of the name in Barbour, came from Ireland to Virginia, and later to Overfield in what is now Barbour. He had married Mary James, a Welsh woman, and their children were, Nancy, who married Jacob Talbott; Sally, who married Samuel Talbott; Margaret who married a Mr. Dennison; Polly, a school teacher; Joseph William, who married Mary Reed; George who married Margaret, daughter of Simeon Harris. George had a family of the following names: Mary, who was married to Levi Phillips; Hannah, who was married to Daniel Poling; Sarah who mar- ried Silas Talbott; Nancy, who married George Phillips; Elizabeth, Pheobe, who married Joseph Poling; Catherine, who married Hamilton G. Bartlett; David James, who married Sarah St. Clair; Rachel, Bessheba, who married Thomas Pepper. The children of James Mckinney were, Melissa Victoria, Thaddeus G., Berthena, Clinton T., Cleophus J., Lair D., Florence and William Delbert. The last named was born in 1868, and on August 2, 1897, married Stella McDonald. They have one child, Nellie.
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