USA > West Virginia > Barbour County > The history of Barbour County, West Virginia, from its earliest exploration and settlement to the present time > Part 46
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the president for the part taken in a debate. He is a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight Templar.
In 1897 Mr. Reed tendered Governor Atkinson his resignation as State Senator and Regent of the University and accepted a commission from the President as Post-master at Clarksburg. In 1898 he was married to Miss Bonnie Smith, of Clarksburg, who is a graduate of Broaddus College, and who had taken a special course in art and literature at Lebanon, Ohio. Mr. Reed has built a residence at Clarksburg. His example can be cited for the guidance of young men in the struggle of life. Every step in his course has been the result of hard work, patient perseverance, confidence in self, and a clear appreciation of the duties of citizenship; not over zealous in his own advancement, yet ready to accept the honors as well as the responsi- bilities which might fall to his lot. In achieving honors for himself he has also brought honor to his native county.
IDA L. REED, daughter of James and Nancy J. (Lelliardt) Reed, was born 1865 on Rock Camp Run, Barbour County. Herancestors were Scotch, English and German, but were early settlers in Virginia and were soldiers in the Rovolutionary War. Her brothers and sisters were Lucy B., Hamp- ton H., John R., Eugene F., James L., Ira Milton and Isadora. She is a member of the M. E. Church, and resides on a farm near Arden, her father having died in 1892. Her facilities for obtaining an education were limited; but she taught five years in the public schools. She early began a literary life and has contributed largely to the religious literature of her time, chiefly hymns, cantatas and special exercises for Christmas, Easter, Har- vest Home and Sunday School exercises for children. More than five hun- dred of her hymns and thirty cantatas have been published and widley cir- culated by printing houses in New York, Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis and elsewhere. In addition to these, she has written many poems, which have been published in the newspapers. Extensive quotations from her hymns cannot be given. The following will suffice:
CHRISTMAS BELLS.
Hark, the music soft and low, Merry, merry, Christmas bells, Ringing out across the snow, Merry, merry Christmas bells. Tell the story o'er again, Ring the happy, happy strain,
Peace on earth, good will to men, Merry, merry Christmas bells.
CHORUS
Ring, ring, O hear them chime; Ring, ring, 'tis Christmas time ! Peace on earth, the chorus swells, From the merry Christmas bells.
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At the sound the pulses thrill, Merry, merry Christmas bells, Peace and joy each heart doth fill, Merry, merry, Christmas bells. Now the tidings glad proclaim Tell abroad the Savior's fame, Chime ye praises to his name, Merry, merry, Christmas bells.
Now let strife and warrings cease, Merry, merry Christmas bells; Ring in joy, good will and peace, Merry, merry Christmas bells. Over every hill and plain Ring the glad triumphant strain,
King of kings our Lord doth reign, Merry, merry Christmas bells.
REV. IRA MILTON REED, Ph. D., brother of Miss Ida L. Reed, whose sketch is given above, is a writer of ability who has published treatises on scientific and theological subjects, and has written with force on other themes. Although his chief work has not been in the field of poetry, the following two verses show that he possesses ability in that line:
WHO IS THE CHRIST?
A Christ is the glory of one great mind, And the God of that mind expressed Through the love and goodness of all mankind In robes of humanity dressed.
A picture he is that all should paint On the canvass of their life, Through the lights and shadows of sinner and saint But blending in oneness from strife.
In 1895, in Baltimore he published a book, "Earth-Life and the Border- land," which aimed to give a new direction to religious inquiry, by taking a middle ground between materialists and spiritualists, or rather by adopting portions of the doctrines of both and attempting to found a religion upon them. The doctrines set forth in the book would scracely be accepted by the orthodox churches. On the one hand it suggests what Drummond expounded in his "Natural Law in the Spirit World;" and on the other hand it comes very nearly the position of the Persian, Omar Khayyam, who exclaimed:
I sent my Soul through the Invisible, Some letter of that After-life to spell; And by and by my Soul returned to me And answered: "I Myself am Heaven and Hell."
Mr. Reed, perhaps, lays himself liable to the criticism that he fails to draw the distinction between what really exists and what, toa person under
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the spell of a hypnotist, seems to exist, as when he says of the Hindoo fakirs:
They are able to communicate mentally with a brother master in a distant city, reverse the power of attraction, cause music to be heard in the air without an instru- ment, with one finger suddenly cause a weight of several tons to be lifted and remain suspended in the air. They change your whole order of vision and send you away to some strange and beautiful land unlike anything the natural mind can conceive of.
Below will be found a few quotations from Rev. Reed's book, discon- nected and selected at random, but showing the tenor of his discourse and the direction of his teaching.
The universe evolves Gods, Christs, Shakespeares and spiders all at the same time. It is all simply according to the degree of fineness and quality of which the thing is com- posed.
There is more pharisaism, bigotry, and rivalry now in our religious society than there was then (in the time of Christ), all because we have too many salvation bosses and peddlers of denomination stationed wherever they can drive the biggest sale or get the biggest salary.
For aught I know, in the far future of eternity somewhere I will become a god of some country or planet or sphere.
Heaven is not a place to pick stringed instruments and blow horns all the time, and say amen and hallelujah and glory.
I used to warn sinners to flee the wrath to come, and tell them of an awful doom gaping before them, when, ten chances to one, they were better than I.
It is the duty of the minister of God to show men their good qualities and not their imperfections-to be the deliverer, not the executioner.
Humanity is getting tired of wrathful gods, devils and hells.
Oh, unprofitable Pharisees of the nineteenth century ! Ye love to be called Rev. and Dr. of Divinity, and hold the upper seat in the synagogue, and recite tales of ribs and burning bushes and big fish, while millions of men are thirsting for a knowledge of their own souls.
Life is what we make it. Devils in hell or a God on some distant star have nothing to do with it. If I were such a God for one day I would stop the mouth of every man who prays for deliverance from a sin-cursed earth, the vale of tears, as he calls it.
Men make their own hells and heavens, likewise their devils and gods.
JOHN RYAN, who settled on a branch of Teter's Creek, was one of the earliest settlers. His father was an Irishman of whom but little is known. There is account of three of his children, John, James and William. The first two went to Ohio. William married Rebecca Bennett, June 27, 1816, and settled where his son, John Ryan, now resides. They had six children who lived to maturity; of these, Mary married Squire Richard Phillips; Jacob went to Iowa while a young man and married Caroline Lewis; James married Deborah Moore and still lives in Cove District; Daniel married Emily Coffman, moved to Iowa, then back to Ritchie County, West Virginia; Michael D. married Mahala Poling, and Jane married Henry Sturm, and they both live on Laurel Creek.
HENRY H. RYAN, born 1857, son of Michael and Mahala (Poling) Ryan, was married March 25, 1879, to Mary C., daughter of Henson H. and
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MR. AND MRS. LAIR DAVIS MORRALL.
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Nancy E. (Boyles) Poling. He is a member of the M. P. Church, of the Junior O. U. A. M., is a Democrat, and is employed on public works. He lives at Tacy, at which place he attended school. He is of Irish and Ger- man ancestry. On his mother's side his grandparents were Roger (born 1798, died 1878) and Mary Poling (born 1800, died 1888), who lived near Meadowville. William and Rebecca Ryan were his paternal ancestors, liv- ing on Teter's Creek, the former dying in 1851, the latter in 1858.
GEORGE MCCLELLAN RIGHT, born 1862, son of Arnold and Elizabeth (Hayes) Right, was married November 1, 1885, to Laura Amanda, daughter of Dr. Charles and Jane A. (Capito) Willis. Children, Grace M. and Lena. He is a member of the M. E. Church, an Odd Fellow, Knight of Pythias, a Republican and a merchant, at Belington. He was educated in the public and private schools, and was deputy sheriff under J. W. Robinson.
M. D. RACER, born 1829 in Rappahannock County, Virginia, son of John and Martha (Simons) Racer, was married October 3, 1896, at Philippi, to Albina L., daughter of Lair D. and Elizabeth (Harper) Morrall. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and resides one mile east of Philippi, where he is engaged in farming. He served four years in the Confederate army, and his father was a soldier in the war of 1812.
MORDECAI DUNHAM RILEY, born in Harrison County in 1842, son of William H. H. and Margaret (Dunham) Riley; was marriel November 14, 1867, in Barbour County, to Annetta, daughter of Abraham and Maria (Morgan) Hudkins. Children, Walter G., Florence, Edna D. and Roscoe H. His daughter Florence, married Jacob Knapp of Philippi, and Edna married Herman Tyson. Mr. Riley is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, a farmer and stockraiser living on the waters of Elk Creek where he owns 325 acres, half of it underlaid with coal, and all in fine state of cultiva- ation. He moved to Barbour thirty years ago, lived first on Simpson's Creek, and then moved to his present farm. Ten years he served on the Board of Education of Elk District, and four years he was a member of the county court, one year as its president. While a member of the court he introduced machines for working the roads. Mr Riley's great-great- grandfather came from England to America before the Revolution and was a soldier in that war. Three brothers came with him to America. One lo- cated in Fauquier County, Virginia, and two in Maryland. About 1810 the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, with a large family, moved to Harrison County, and took part in the War of 1812, marching to Norfolk, under Colonel Joseph E. Johnson, who was afterwards Governor of Vir- ginia. He took part in the fighting about Washington and Baltimore in 1814 which culminated in the defeat of the British at North Point. William H. H. Riley, father of the subject of this sketch, was born 1813, and his children were, Julia Ann, John W., Jonathan G., M. D., Mary, James K. P. Leonard, Elizabeth, and Amanda.
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HENRY CLAY ROSENBERGER, born 1843 in Jefferson County, son of David Rosenberger, was married September 15, 1874, to Henrietta, daugh- ter of William Elliott. Children, William David and Elizabeth (Mrs. Right). Mr. Rosenberger is a Baptist and I. O. O. F., a Democrat and a farmer living at Belington. He lived from 1875 to 1884 in Tucker County, In early life he was a miller. His education was obtained in public and pri- vate schools. He has a clock that has been running more than a century, and still keeps good time. It belonged to his grandfather.
BURTON BIGGS ROHRBAUGH, born November 22, 1863, in Barbour, son of Anthony and Clarissa (Johnson) Rohrbaugh, was married, first, in 1882, to Adaline E .. daughter of Arnold and Elizabeth (Hayes) Right; the second time September 19, 1899, to Emma E., daughter of Andrew J. Gall. Children, Effie Estella, Nora May, Windell Wilson. Mr. Rohrbaugh is a member of the M. E. Church, South; of the Odd Fellows, Masons and Knights of Pythias, is a Democrat, and now Sheriff of Barbour County. He was educated in the public schools and in a private school at Meadow- ville. He was formerly postmaster at Belington; was a farmer till twenty- five years old; then a merchant at Belington, near which place he owns 139 acres of improved land. His grandfather was John Rohrbaugh.
CLARK LEE ROHRBAUGH, M. D., was born 1856 in Upshur County, son of John and Martha (Butt) Rohrbaugh, and was married January 27, 1885, to Hulda May, daughter of Creed Carpenter. Children, Jessie Pearl, Otis Clark, Flossie, Hazel. Dr. Rohrbaugh is a member of the M. P. Church, is a K. of P. and I. O. O. F .; is a Republican, and a physician and surgeon, at Belington where he has practiced nine years, having practiced at Tal- bott's before that time. He began his education in the public schools, and in 1893 graduated from the Medical College of Ohio,
AMOS F. ROHRBAUGH, born 1871, son of Albert and Mary O. (Thorn- hill) Rohrbaugh, was married October 18, 1893, in Taylor County, to Emma G., daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Hall. Their child's name is Leona. Mr. Rohrbaugh is a member of the M. E. Church, South; is a Democrat, belongs to the order A. F. and A. M., and K. of P., and by occupation is a merchant at Belington, where he was postmaster from 1895 to 1897, and is now deputy sheriff. His education was obtained in the public schools, and he spent his early life on a farm, Then he took up the lumber business with Curtin and Pardee Lumber Company, and later entered the mercantile business. His wife died April 30, 1899.
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DAVID WILLIAM SHAW, son of William and Edith (O'Neal) Shaw, was born May 18, 1852, at Philippi, and on March 12, 1879, was married to Barbara Ellen, daughter of William W, and Jane (Thompson) Woodford, Children, David Blain and William Ralston, The family is Scotch, and
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William Shaw, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, emigrated to America and settled in Preston County, then Monongalia, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and on June 13, 1795 his son, William, father of the subject of this sketch, was born. In early life he came to what is now Barbour County, and made his home where Philippi now stands. As early as 1830, he was a Justice of the Peace in Randolph, and upon the creation of the new county he was one of the Justices who organ- ized Barbour. He was the third Sheriff. In private life he was a miller, a stone mason, a farmer, and for some time was one of the owners of the ferry at Philippi. He was a county officer for twenty-five years, was one of the original trustees of Philippi, and was always a Democrat. He was a soldier in the War of 1812 and was stationed at Norfolk. The last years of his life were spent on his farm one and a half miles west of Philippi, where he died June 19, 1876. The farm now belongs to his son, the sub- ject of this sketch. David W. Shaw was educated in the common schools of Philippi and the West Virginia College, at Flemington, Taylor County, from which he graduated in the class of 1876. He then entered the pro- fession of teaching, devoting his winter months to teaching, and farming during the summer. This arrangement continued until 1885, when he re- linquished teaching and devoted himself exclusively to agriculture, until June, 1894, when he was elected to the position of Superintendent of the West Virginia Reform School at Pruntytown. In the autumn of 1886 he was elected n member of the State Legislature, and was re-elected to the four successive terms. The session of 1893 he served in the important capacity of speaker of the house. He was chairman of the committee on education during the first three sessions. He introduced the bill providing for the abolishing of the special school elections. He was also instrumen- tal in framing and securing the passage of a bill providing for the broad- ening of the common school curriculum, so as to provide for the teaching of civil government, book-keeping, and physiology. He is a member of Philippi Lodge, No. 59, I. O. O. F., and of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
- JOHN COMBS SHAW was born near Kasson, Barbour County, is a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Shroyer) Shaw. He is a member of the M. E. Church, of the Knights of Pythias, in politics Republican, and by occupa- tion a teacher, employed in the State Normal School at West Liberty, West Virginia, but his home is in Barbour. He graduated in 1889 from the Fair- mont Normal School; in 1891 from the Peabody Normal, Nashville, Ten- nessee; in 1892 from the University of Nashville with the degree of B. S., and in 1894 with the degree of M. S. In 1895-6 he was Scholar in Pedagogy at Clark University, Worchester, Massachusetts, and the next year in the same institution he was Fellow in Psychology. The great grandfather of Mr. Shaw came from England and settled at Barton, Maryland, He raised
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five sons, the youngest of whom was Joseph, who married Florence Smar and raised three sons and three daughters. After two of the children were married, the family moved to Cove District, Barbour County. Samuel, the second child, is the father of the subject of this sketch. His children are Julia, John Combs, Joseph Columbus, Francis Elizabeth and Maggie Belle.
COLONEL HENRY STURM, was born in Cove District about 1794. He was the son of Nicholas Sturm, an Englishman, and one of the earliest set- tlers in Barbour, coming here from Virginia. Henry Sturm represented Randolph County in the Legislature; and in the War of 1812, he joined our army at Norfolk. In the Civil War, though old, he again entered the army. Nicholas Sturm, (sometimes written Storm), was a Justice of the Peace in Randolph County in 1811, and Henry, his son, was Constable in 1821, Justice 1831, and Ensign of Militia the same year. He was twice married, first to Susan Alexander, a widow, and a daughter of Frank and Elizabeth (Eng- land) Johnson. The children of Colonel Sturm 'were, William, Jackson, John, James, Lair, Thomas, Samuel, Rachel, Elizabeth and Sally. Samuel, son of Colonel Henry, furnished the timbers for the Philippi bridge. His children were, Jesse, David, Elizabeth, Harvey, Henry, Amanda, Eldridge, Phoebe Ann, Charles, Deniza Ann, Catherine.
ISAAC STURM, born near Meadowville, 1821, son of Nicholas and Anna (McClaskey) Sturm, was married 1841 to Isabel, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (Poling) Mckinney. Children, Melissa Ellen, Hulda J., Nicholas J., Sarah A., Mary C., Harriet and Wade H. He is a member of M. E. Church and a farmer and lives near Olive Hill School House.
DAVID STURM, born 1841, son of Samuel and Matilda (Vannoy) Sturm, was married October 11, 1864, at the old Williamson homestead, to Susan Virginia, daughter of John R. and Lucinda (Sinsel) Wiliamson. Children, Lucinda A., Charles Bruce, George Frederick. He is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church; a Democrat, a farmer and a carpenter, residing on the waters of Sand Run. He has held the office of member of the Board of Education. Facts concerning the ancestry of Mr. Sturm are given in the biography of Colonel Henry Sturm.
JACOB W. STURM, born in Barbour in 1852, son of Melker J. and Mary (Bolyard) Sturm. On July 18, 1877, on Ford Run, he married Lucy, daughter of John E. and Elizabeth (Knapp) Bennett. Children, Hatzel, Charles, Harman and Vidie. He is a member of the M. E. Church, and is a farmer, residing near Olive Hill. His education was obtained in the public schools of Barbour; owns 55 acres underlaid with coal, and chiefly devoted to grazing purposes.
WILLIAM WALLIS STALNAKER, born in what is now Barbour, 1827, son of Samuel and Isabel (Ryan) Stalnaker, was married in Taylor County, April 29, 1852, to Elizabeth, daughter of John and Sarah (Haymond) Lew- ellen. Children, Adolphus Waitman, Sarah Olive and William Henry. He. is a Methodist, a Republican and a farmer, living on Teter's Creek, where
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John J. Nachaway'
ASTLEY SILAS HAWKINS.
ARTA FRANK HAWKINS.
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he owns 263 acres, nearly all cleared; and in partnership with his son, Will- iam H., he owns 650 acres, including land on which his grandfather, Will- iam Stalnaker, settled when he moved from Beverly to this vicinity. They are engaged in general farming and stockraising, cutting fifty stacks of hay, handling over 100 cattle and from fifty to seventy-five sheep a year. The land is underlaid with coal and also contains a deposit of potter's clay, which was worked for some years by Burley & Bennett on Teter's Creek. His son Adolphus moved to Texas in 1877 and married, December 6, 1882, Sarah C. Marsh, of Texas, and has been successfully engaged in stockrais- ing and owns 1160 acres, under wire fence. He and his brother, William H., and their sister, Mrs. Sarah Cole, own 640 acres on Red River, a gift from their father. His daughter, Sarah C., married Andrew Cole, a suc- cessful farmer of Pleasant Creek, Barbour County; and William H. married Alice, daughter of Colonel Truman T. Elliott of Belington. She died July 5, 1897, leaving two children, Lena Gladys and Hugh Elliott.
HARRISON HAGANS STALNAKER, born 1827, son of James and Eliza- beth (Neptune) Stalnaker, was married 1850 in Tucker County to Catherine, daughter of William R. and Catherine J. (Ward) Parsons. Children, James, William (deceased), George Washington, Imboden and David Floyd. The subject of this sketch belongs to the M. E. Church, South, is a Democrat and a farmer, living on Mill Run of Teter's Creek, where he owns 440 acres, 250 cleared. In 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate service and served till the close of the war, under General Imboden, and laid down the last Confederate flag at Buchanan, Botetourt County, Virginia. At Port Republic he received a wound in the head, rendering him unconscious. He took part in all the battles with Imboden. While on a visit home in 1864 he narrowly escaped capture by Home Guards under Captain Haller. Just after dinner they came upon him so suddenly he did not have time to get away, and his wife concealed him behind a three-cornered cupboard, and was quietly washing the dishes when the Guards entered. They searched the house, but failed to find him. He was twice elected Assessor of the Eastern District, and served six years as County Commissioner.
WILLIAM STALNAKER, brother of Adam Stalnaker, who was killed by Indians near Beverly in 1782, was one of the early settlers on Teter's Creek, living where W. W. Stalnaker now resides. The exact date of his location there is not known. He married Margaret McHenry, near Beverly. His children were, Elizabeth, who married Colonel Henry Sturm in 1815 (the ceremony being performed by Simeon Harris); Samuel, who married Eliza- beth Ryan; Mahala, who married William Marteney; Andrew, who married Rachel Holsberry; James, who married Elizabeth Neptune; Willis, who married Nancy, daughter of Charles Digman, who was drowned on Hunter's Fork of Sugar Creek; Isabel, who married Alexander Shaw; John, who married Margaret Black, and Dorcas, who married Daniel Marteney, brother
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of William Marteney. Mr. Stalnaker's only neighbor was John Ryan, Sr. They put bells on their horses and cattle and turned them out to range in Nelson's Low Gap, of Laurel Hill, in the spring, leaving them there till fall, or till needed. A combat between a bear and a panther, in their na- tive wilderness, is not oftened witnessed; but Mr. Ryan once saw such an encounter, which he described as follows:
A tree had fallen across a ravine and the bear started to cross the log, and at the same time the panther started to cross from the opposite end, and they met near the middle. Neither would give way to the other, and the bear dealt the panther a blow with his paw and knocked him off into the ravine. The panther deliberately walked back to the same end of the log and met the bear again, for the bear instead of proceed- ing across while the way was clear, had sat down on the log to wait. As the panther came up the bear again struck him a blow and the second time knocked him off. Once more the panther returned to the same end of the log and for the third time faced the bear. But this time the panther was more cautious, and instead of walking up within range of the powerful paw, he crouched a few feet away, and sprang on the bear and fastened his claws in the animal's head. Both tumbled off the log together, and the battle in the ravine was fast and furious. But the bear was too strong for his antag- onist, and bore him down, and seizing him by the throat and clutching him in his arms, held him in a death grip and soon killed him. But it was a dearly-bought victory; for the panther had so lacerated the bear with his claws that he almost disemboweled him. The bear walked a few paces, lay down and died.
GARRETSON J. STALNAKER, born in Randolph County, 1858, son of Granville and Jane (Hilkey) Stalnaker, was married May 25, 1879, to Mary M., daughter of Burr P. and Sally A. (Lake) Newlon. Children, Alman J., Lenora, Baxter B., Oral and Mary F. He is a member of the M. E. Church, a Republican, and a manufacturer of lumber at Belington. He has filled the position of Justice of the Peace. He owns 50 acres near Belington and 45 acres in Randolph County. He has a bayonet plowed up in Belington in 1897. It had probably lain buried since 1861.
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