USA > West Virginia > Randolph County > The history of Randolph County, West Virginia. From its earliest settlement to the present, embracing records of all the leading families, reminiscences and traditions > Part 54
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L. C. ROWAN, born 1854, son of J. A. and Rachel (Chenoweth) Rowan. In 1887 he married Rachel Woods. Children, Alice F., James A., Minnie D., Lizzie, Bernard S., Ida, Rossie L.
STARK A. ROWAN, son of Adam C. Rowan, born at Franklin, Pendle- ton County, 1862; mother's maiden name Phoebe A. Caplinger. He resides at Beverly, where he is deputy in the office of the County Clerk.
CHARLES W. RUSSELL, son of Isaac Russell, born 1819 in Winchester, Va., died 1885; married, 1848, to Mary E., daughter of Solomon Collett. Children, Isaac Perry, hotel-keeper at Crichard; William D., Charles N., merchant at Huttonsville; Thomas C., Harriet A., Fannie B., Idella, Lutie L.
T. C. RUSSELL, born 1868, son of Charles W .; English extraction; was married at Crickard in 1892 to Nannie, daughter of Henry and Polina (Stricklin) Quick. Children, Willie L. and Clarence. He began the mer- cantile business in 1879 and is still in it at Crickard. Owns 200 acres, nearly all improved. Mrs. Russell died March 29, 1898.
FREDERICK RUSH, born 1871, in Switzerland; son of John and Annie Rush; married, 1897, to Katie, daughter of John Karlen, at Helvetia. Child, Frida. Farmer; own 30 acres near Adolph.
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JOHN RUSH, born 1841, in Switzerland, son of John, married, 1863, to Annie, daughter of Samuel and Eliza (Liefred) Miller. Children, Annie, John, Frederick, Leonora and Martha.
WASHINGTON ROY, born 1822, son of Joseph and Sarah (Summerfield) Roy; English and Irish parentage. In 1843 he married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Summerfield. Children, Joseph, Mordecai P., Judson B., Wash- ington J., Anderson N., Franklin F., Amby A., Larkin, James M., Isaac P., Felix, Albert. Mr. Roy says the first house on Red Creek was built by Saul Puffenbarger, date unknown; the first school was about 1830; the first teacher, Absalom Wilmoth. The first school house was of logs, built by Samuel Wyatt, Joseph Roy and David Summerfield. On the bottom land below the Roy homestead is an Indian mound, from which have been taken human bones and tomahawks. Mr. Roy has served as Constable several terms. In his earlier years he was a great hunter, and killed from 25 to 50 deer every fall, and also bears and panthers.
JAMES M. ROY, son of Washington, married Armeda A. Pennington, 1892. Children, Tacy, Belva, James S. Farmer.
ISAAC P. ROY, born 1863, in Tucker County; son of Washington and Sarah (Summerfield) Roy. In 1882 he married Martha E., daughter of H. A. and Catherine Wilfong. Children, Hattie E., Luther B., Harrison M., Virginia C., Gertha M., Zeruia E., Flodie and Hugha A. Farmer and rail- roader in Dry Fork.
ALBERT G. ROY, born 1871, son of Jacob and Amanda (Ferguson) Roy. In 1897 he married Alice Jane, daughter of James William and Phoebe Catherine (White) Bonner. He is a farmer and has lived in Dry Fork all his life.
MARTIN LUTHER ROY, born 1861, on Red Creek, son of Jacob and Amanda Roy; French parentage. In 1879 he married Sarah, daughter of Aaron and Susan (Ayers) Shirk. Children, Della, Ockey, Yeager, Bernard, Starr, Amanda, Elsie and Gertie. Farmer and carpenter; owns 67 acres, 25 improved: lives on Red Creek. The name "Roy" indicates a French descent. In that language its means " King."
ADAM R. ROY, born 1850, son of Simeon K .; married Margaret Carr. Children. Martha J., Chlorinda B., Daniel A. B., Lorenzo D., Phoebe E. He lives at Job.
JOHN PLEASANT ROY, born 1847, son of Solomon A. Roy. In 1894 he married Cora Ellen, daughter of James Buckbee. Children, Blanche and Alta Belle. He was in the Federal army, member of Captain Snyder's Home Guards; joined when 14 years old; was in two engagements.
WILLIAM RIGGLEMAN, born 1829, son of Martin; married in 1851 Sallie A., daughter of William and Prudence (Wilmoth) Wamsley. Children, Mar-
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garet E., Lewis M., Naomi, Emmeline, Adelpha, Lee W., Samuel C. and Lucretia. He has a bible printed in 1700.
MILLARD F. RIGGLEMAN, born 1859, son of Washington and Phoebe (Salisbury) Riggleman; married in 1880 to Martha J., daughter of M. D. and Agnes J. Ruckman. Children, Howard D., Almeda E., Mary A., Louise P. His father was born in 1835, and was a son of Martin Riggleman, who mar- ried Hester Swadley. Washington Riggleman married Phoebe Salisbury.
LEE W. RIGGLEMAN, born 1861, son of William L. and Sally A., (Wams- ley) Riggleman; married 1883 Phoebe Conrad. Children, Dollie M. and Stuart O.
JOHN RIGGLEMAN, born 1851, son of Martin; married 1874 Barbara Swecker. Children, Tabitha A., Columbus W., Isaac F., Calvin C., Lena H.
JACOB RIFFLE was one of the first settlers in Randolph County. There is evidence that he was in the Valley in 1772, and that he subsequently owned, or had a claim upon, 300 acres of land on the creek named from him, where Alfred Hutton now lives. The tradition is that he deserted from the Virginia army during the French and Indian War, and in his efforts to hide he found his way into Tygart's Valley soon after the Prin- gles, alsodeserters, had made their camp in a hollow sycamore on the Buck- hannon. He is said to have owned two slaves. His son's name was Jacob and he, probably accompanied by his father, removed to Braxton County at an early date.
REV HOMES ROLSTON, born 1864 in Rockingham County, son of J. H. and Fanny (Bear) Rolston; Scotch-Irish ancestry. In 1895 at New Provi- dence, Va., he married M. Jacqueline, daughter of Thomas Campbell. Child, Frances. In 1895 Rev. Rolston was sent to Horton as an evangelist by the Lexington Presbytery Synod. During that year, by his efforts, a . church was built at Job, and the following year one at Horton, and in 1898 one at Harman. He preaches at those three places and at Alpina every two weeks; and by preaching on Saturday night and three times on Sunday he reaches a number of school houses which are not visited by any other minister. These are on Alleghany Mountain, Laurel Fork, Glady Fork, Shaver's Fork and at the Sinks of Gandy. In 1896 there were enough members in the field to organize a church, and there are now 85 members. The three churches named, with the Alpina church, were the first built in Dry Fork District, except a Dunkard church on Horse Camp Run, recently finished.
WILLIAM SAMUEL RYAN, born at Beverly 1867; Irish parentage. In 1891, near Beverly, he married Virginia, daughter of John Dryberg. Children, Chattie, Mabel St. Clair, Margaret Elizabeth, Ralph; learned typesetting on the Randolph Enterprise under Bosworth Brothers; worked on the Tucker County Pioncer; was editor of the Mountain Breeze, Wilkesboro,
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N. C., for two years; returned to Tucker County and worked on the Democrat under D. W. Ryan; came to Randolph in 1894 and was foreman on the Inter-Mountain, then under the management of M. S. Cornwell; worked a year on the Tygart's Valley News, and was again foreman on the Inter- Mountain. In 1898 he received the Republican nomination for Constable in Leadsville District, and assisted in compiling the family sketches for this HISTORY OF RANDOLPH COUNTY.
REV. BENJAMIN TAYLOR RADER, born 1849, son of Wm. M. and Mary (Arbogast) Rader; German family; was married in Webster County, 1869, to Elzina, daughter of Peter Harper. Children, Emma J., Marcellas D., Floyd Nestor, Sarah Elizabeth and Lora Edith. He joined the Confederate army when fifteen years old, Elihu Hutton, Captain, J. F. Harding, first lieutenant, Jacob Wamsley, second lieutenant, company C, 20th Va. The other officers of the company were, Eugene Hutton, Wm. M. Rader, and Claude G. Rader, all Randolph men. He began teaching in 1879, taught six years in Webster County, then entered the ministry, M. P. Church, and preached three years in Preston County, and has held the following circuits: Masontown, Freeport, Glenville, Tyler, Hendricks, Elam, Blue Rock and Upshur.
GEORGE WASHINGTON RAINS, born 1858 in Pendleton County, son of Tobias and Elizabeth (Harper) Rains. In 1879 he married Mary, daughter of William and Anna Jane (Carr) Jordan. Children, Cletus, Gertie A., Stella M., Flodie A., Alpha E., Pearl E., Gettie Lee and Denver Hurst. He is a lumberman and exports walnut to Germany, and was a merchant in Harman and Job from 1889 to 1893; deals extinsively in furs and ginseng.
GABRIEL RAINS, born 1869, son of Amby Rains; merchant at Dry Fork, assistant postmaster, and was Justice of the Peace in Tucker County.
JOSEPH R. RICE, born 1869, son of John, was married in 1887 to Mollie, daughter of Andrew Wilmoth. Children, Lewis J., Georgia B., Charles A. and Edgar R.
WILLIAM HARRISON ROHRBAUGH, son of John M. Rohrbaugh, born in Upshur County, 1842; German descent; mother's maiden name Matilda Butt; was married in 1868 to Annie, daughter of Benjamin Conley. Chil- dren, John Hampton, Edward Gay, Lena Victoria, Maud, Minter, Benjamin, Olive and Ruth. His grandfather was one of the first settlers in Upshur County, and lived near the famous sycamore tree which sheltered the Prin- gles. He has his grandfather's old gun, once a flint lock, and a pair of turnkeys for pulling teeth, dating from the past century. Mr. Rohrbaugh is a dairyman and cheese manufacturer, and resides one mile west of Bev- erly. His son, Edward Gay, was educated at Buckhannon and at Allegheny.
CHARLES H. GRANT RINEHART, born 1871 in Tucker County, son of James Rinchart; German ancestry; married at St. George, 1892, to Rebecca
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M., daughter of Thornton and Catharine Hebb. Child, C. H. Edison; min- ister of the United Brethren Church; taught school four years in Tucker and six in Randolph. His father was a Union soldier in Co. K, 6th W. Va. Vol, Inft., under Captain Hathaway.
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JONATHAN SMITH, the name of whose father is not now remembered, was of Welch descent. There is much disagreement as to when he first came to Randolph, but is agreed that he came with Jonathan Hutton when he came in 1795. There is evidence, however, that Jonathan Smith had been in Randolph long before that time. Prior to 1777 he married Jane, daugh- ter of William Currence. In 1777 his son, William Smith, was born in Ran- dolph. Again, it is found in the court records that on February 8, 1803, Jacob Crouch married Jane, daughter of Jonathan Smith. If Jonathan Smith did not marry until after he came with Jonathan Hutton in 1795, he could not have had a daughter old enough to marry in 1803. The conclu- sion must be that Jonathan Smith, instead of coming for the first time in 1795, was really one of the first settlers of Tygart's Valley. His children were William, Jane, Lydia, Samuel, Currence and John. At the time of his death Jonathan Smith was 99 years old. His son, William Smith, was born in 1777, died 1852. He married Ester, daughter of Joseph Pitman .* Their children were Jane, who married Benoni Lazure; Samuel, who mar- ried Katie Mace; Nancy, who married Jacob Wilmoth; Judy, who married Ferdinand Mace; Christina, who married John Smith; Elizabeth and Pop, who died young.
MILTON MARCELLUS SMITH, born 1859 in Grant County, son of Abram W. and Caroline (Michael) Smith. In 1886, at Petersburg, he married Fan- nie G., daughter of Henrv and Sophronia (Iman) Thalaker. Children, Boyd Milford, Helen Irene. He is a merchant in Elkins (Smith & Wees). He was educated in the public schools; began business in 1883 at Greenland Gap, Grant County; six years later came to Randolph and became a mem- ber of the firm Smith & Fout, and later of the firm McCarty, Smith & Fout; was appointed postmaster at Elkins under Cleveland; is a member of the Elkins Board of Trade, and was the first town recorder. His father was a member of both the Virginia and West Virginia Legislatures, and his grand- father, Henry Smith, came from Hamburg, Germany.
GEORGE ALEXANDER SMITH, born 1847 in Tucker County, son of An- drew C. and Elizabeth (White) Smith. In 1867 he married in Pendleton County Emily Catharine, daughter of Joseph and Catherine (Bennett) Mon- toney; children, Charity Ann, Adam, William Haymond, Noah, Minor C., Floyd,
* Joseph Pitman was a native of Hanover, Va. He served seven years in the Revo- lutionary War, and three years in the regular army afterwards, making ten years in all. He then settled in Randolph County.
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Margaret, Jacob S., Phoebe E .; farmer, owns 51 acres, 30 improved. He moved to Randolph in 1886, and was elected member of the board of educa- tion; his son, Minor C., is a teacher.
ANDREW C. SMITH, born 1821 in Tucker County, son of Charles and Hannah (Carr) Smith .. In 1843 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas White. Children, Phoebe Aun, George A., John H., Aaron, Malinda, Ga- briel L., Job, Mary E.
WILLIAM AMBROSE SMITH, born 1849 in Pendleton County, son of Dan- iel C. and Delila Smith. In 1872, in Pendleton County, he married Rebecca P., daughter of John and Susanna Swadley. Children, Delila Catherine, Elijah H., Mary Frances, Charles, Irad J., William H., Martha A., Adam L., Eston A., Arlie Luther, Ernest E, Estella R .; farmer; lived in Pendle- ton until 1898.
CHARLES H. SMITH, born 1877 in Webster County, son of Thomas and Phoebe (Cogar) Smith; English descent; lives in Mingo District.
JACOB B. SMITH, born 1845, died 1894, son of William and Alice (Mor- gan) Smith; married 1869 to Angelina, daughter of John and Sarah (Lyle) Ray. Children, Lily R., Theodore, Earnest, George. His son Theodore now resides in Mingo.
JOB SMITH, born on Rich Mountain 1868, son of Abraham Smith. In 1889 he married Rebecca Virginia, daughter of Abraham and Catherine (Judy) Mallow. Children, Texanna, Ella Elizabeth, Charles Otis; farmer, owns 30 acres, 20 improved.
ABRAHAM SMITH, born 1841 in Pendleton County, son of Laban V. and Elizabeth (Sites) Smith. In 1863 he married Rebecca, daughter of Laban ยท Hoffman. Children, Albert C., who married Mary S. Mallow; Solomon, who married Alice G. Teter; Job and Elizabeth.
ADAM STALNAKER, whose ancestors came from Holland, was one of the early settlers in Randolph, but before the county was formed. It is not known whom he married. His children were, John, Adam, Andrew, Jacob, Eunice, and three other daughters whose names are not remembered. In 1782, he was killed below Beverly by Indians. His son Adam married Naomi, daughter of Zedekiah Morgan. Their children were, Ellen, who married Jehu Harper, Daniel H., who married Miss Wiley, of Greenbrier County, Maria, who married Isaac Baker, and Randolph, who was born June 17, 1808, on Files Creek. He died in 1885. In 1830 he married Caroline Erskine Zoll. Their children were, Dr. J. W. Stalnaker, of Green- brier County, who was a surgeon in the Confederate army, and died in Texas; Sarah, who married F. B. Baugh, of Virginia; Caroline Erskine, who married William Preston Hix; Dr. Albert Galletine Stalnaker, who married Belle Paxton, of Virginia; Henry, who died young; Mary Lewis, who
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married Joseph C. Hale and lives in Brooklyn; and Randolph Stalnaker, born June 8, 1846, in Greenbrier County, who now lives in Wheeling.
ANDREW STALNAKER, born 1815, died 1888, son of Jacob and Nancy (Channel) Stalnaker; married in Lewis County, Margaret, daughter of Adam Smith. Children, Marcellus, Adam, Eunice, Newton Kain, Mary E., Hannah, Caroline, Thaddeus, Henry, William, Margaret.
JOHN I. STALNAKER, born 1830, died 1894; lived near Leadsville; son of John W. and Mary (Chenowith) Stalnaker; married 1885 Mary, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Bailey) Hilkey. His father was born in Randolph, May 19, 1783, and his father's father, also named John, was killed by the Indians, according to the family tradition. His wife was named White and came from Frederick County, Va. The Hilkeys were from Hampshire County.
ADAM STALNAKER, born 1836, son of Andrew and Margaret (Smith) Stalnaker, was married in 1859 to Virginia, daughter of Noah and Elizabeth (McLaughlin) Harris. Children, Margaret, Lee Ann, Adeline, Mary Elizabeth, Virginia Belle, John, Andrew, Jasper Floyd, Judson Wayne, Francis Terrell, Bertha, and Eva; owns 620 acres, 130 improved; has been Constable and school trustee; was in the Confederate army, under Imboden. He piloted the soldiers (300) sent by Jackson to cut the telegraph wire on the top of Rich Mountain. While on this duty he was captured one mile from Beverly at the Baker house.
JACOB PARSONS STALNAKER, son of George W., born 1844 on Stal- naker Run, mother's maiden name Melinda Daniels; was married in 1878 to Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Reed; maiden name of wife's mother was Susan Shelton. Children, Ada May, Matie Ellen, Wilbert Parsons, George Edgar, Page Cameron, Nathan Bush, Carrie Rose, Maggie Lee, Vernie Catherine and Maudie Gay. He owns a farm of 400 acres.
WHITE STALNAKER, son of John M. Stalnaker, born 1853; mother's maiden name Bethany Kittle; married in 1882, Rebecca Jane, daughter of Silas Moore. Maiden name of wife's mother was Kelley. Children, Howard and Cleo.
THOMAS JEFFERSON STALNAKER, born 1852, son of George W. and Malinda (Daniels) Stalnaker. His mother was a daughter of Jacob Daniels. He married Mary, daughter of George and Betsy (Fleming) Flint. Children, Cora A., Edward, Belle, Robert B., Georgia, Stella, Kate, Ila, Wm. J. and - Bryan; farmer in early life; then Constable and later went into the hotel business in Elkins, and then went into the saloon business. In 1894 he enlisted in the National Guards as second lieutenant.
ALFRED STALNAKER, son of Garrison and Elizabeth Stalnaker, was born in 1847, and married Mary M., daughter of Abraham Summerfield;
*See sketch of Zedekiah Morgan for further mention.
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and after her death he married Mary J. Wilfong, and after her death Rebecca A., widow of Alba Stalnaker. Children, Stella and Hyre. He is a farmer and carpenter, and now lives near Orlena. His father was born near Beverly and his children were Granville, Hyre, Tallman, Alfred, Almira and Eliza- beth. His grandfather was Isaac Stalnaker.
ABRAM STALNAKER, born 1850, son of John Stalnaker. His mother's maiden name was Bethany Kittle. In 1877 he married Edith M., daughter of William Collett. Children, Harry T., Willie, Mary Effie Kate, George L., and Freddie Otto. He has lived in both Beverly and Elkins, and in the latter town has been proprietor of the Fremont House, the Elkins House and the Central Hotel.
THOMAS HENRY STALNAKER, born 1861, son of John M. In 1887 he married Maggie, daughter of Miles and Martha(Corley)King. Children, Guy, Joe, Ada and Burr. His second marriage was to Ella, daughter of Amos Mathew, 1896. His son Joe was the first child born in Elkins. He spent one year in the West, now resides in Elkins and is a carpenter.
ISAAC D. STALNAKER, born 1848, son of Levi, was married in 1870 to Mary E., daughter of Washington and Malinda Taylor; child, Bwight L. He is a farmer, also pastor of the Mt. Harmony Independent Evangelist Church of Christ. He entered the ministry in 1894. This denomination has one house of worship in Randolph County, on Beaver Creek, near the Barbour line, and a large congregation. The church takes the 18th chap- ter of Mathew as its discipline, and "the Word of God as its guide".
IMBODEN STALNAKER, born 1862, son of Harrison H., married Belle Mouse; children, Karl and Leo; graduated at the Fairmont Normal School; now a merchant at Harman.
RUFUS MARION STALNAKER, born 1860, son of Hyre H. and Emme- line (Taylor) Stalnaker. In 1881 he married Orlena Elizabeth, daughter of Johnson and Mary E. (Hinkle) Phares; children, Charles Wade, Dollie Grace, and M. Blanche. He is a farmer and carpenter; has been member of the Elkins City Council and Constable in Leadsville. The postoffice at Orlena was named in honor of Mrs. Stalnaker.
WILLIE RANDOLPH STALNAKER, born 1866, son of Hyre A. and Em- meline(Taylor)Stalnaker. In 1890 he married Cora, daughter of Andrew J. and Osa(England)Thompson; children, Effie L. and Frank; was educated in the common schools; taught one term in Tucker County; was a lumberman seven years; now lumber inspector for the Hemelreich Company at Wom- elsdorff. He was three years a brakeman on the W. Va. Central, and spent three years in the hotel business in Colusa County, California.
WILBUR L. STALNAKER, son of Adam C. and Drusella Stalnaker, born near Elkins, married at Oakland, Md., 1898, Ota V., daughter of Randolph
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M. and Ida E. Harper. He was educated in the common schools and took a course in pharmacy at the Ohio Normal University. He has taught eleven terms of school, and is now located at Elkins, as a druggist.
ALBA M. STALNAKER, son of Asbury and Rachel, born 1845 and mar- ried in 1870,Rebecca A., daughter of Adam and Emily Mouse. Children, Thomas W., Daniel M., Emma Grace, Albina Hattie, James G., Florence B. and Addie May; farmer on the home place; member of the M. E. Church. His father was born near Beverly in 1807 and died in 1894, and was a son of Isaac Stalnaker.
DANIEL M. STALNAKER, born 1871, son of Alba and Rebecca A. (Moore) Stalnaker. In 1890 he married Myrtle, daughter of Franklin B. and Jane (Corley) Coffman. After her death he married Ada M. Right. In 1891 he moved to Idaho, where he engaged in farming, and was employed in the U. S. Geological Survey of that State. Two years later he returned to Randolph and lives near Kerens. His grandfather was Asbury and his great grandfather was John W. Stalnaker.
HARRY TETER STALNAKER, born 1876, son of Abraham and Edith M. (Chenoweth) Stalnaker; was married in 1876 near Elkins to Nellie B., daughter of Johnson W. and Mary (Ward) Phares. Child, Myrtle. He is a printer, learned the trade in the Randolph Enterprise office, worked on the Tygart's Valley News from its founding up to 1898; was Constable and en- listed in the West Virginia National Guards, 1894. In 1898 he enlisted in the Spanish War as corporal; was released fifteen days later.
JOHN SNYDER was born on Dry Fork early in the present century. His father, his grandfather and his great-grandfather were all named John. They were German, and the eldest John Snyder settled in Pennsylvania at an early day, and from thence they moved to the South Branch, and in 1800 the father of the subject of this sketch settled on Dry Fork. John Snyder married Lucinda Hensley, of Albemarle County, Virginia. Children, Eliz- abeth, Sampson, Mary Jane, George Washington, Henry, Phoebe, Lorenzo Dow and Hannah. During the war he was a staunch Union man, and had many narrow escapes. Once a large force of Confederates crossed into Dry Fork with orders to "find John Snyder and kill him." His escape on that occasion was due to an accident, and he never, to his dying day, knew the danger he had been in. On another occasion he was shot by bushwhackers who had waylaid him, and although the wound would have killed an ordi- nary man, yet his great vitality enabled him to live through it. A Confed- erate newspaper published a song in celebration of the attempt to murder him, beginning with these lines:
"The Dixie boys have right smart sense, They shot John Snyder through the fence."
On another occasion, in 1862, at the time of Imboden's first raid to St. George, Snyder met the Confederates in the road near that village, and the
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fight he gave them received a special mention in Imboden's report of his expedition. Snyder escaped through a laurel thicket. It was on that occasion that Jane Snyder, daughter of John Snyder, performed the peril- ous ride in the night down Dry Fork to notify the Union outpost at Abra- ham Parsons' mill, where the town of Parsons now stands, that Imboden was coming. She saved the outpost from capture, and probably also saved the railroad at Rowlesburg from destruction; for the Confederates were striking for that point. Jane Snyder's midnight ride through the moun- tains has often been misrepresented, both in prose and verse. The facts are these: Imboden did not pass down Dry Fork, but went through the wilderness over the Alleghanies to the head of Glady Fork, cutting a path, and passed down Glady to Dry Fork. Jane Snyder learned from a spy that the Rebels were in the woods on some mysterious expedition, and she correctly surmised their purpose. Her father had gone to St. George the preceding day, and it was more to save him than to notify the Federal posts that she hastened down Dry Fork to give the alarm. She outrode the Con- federates and passed the mouth of Glady Fork(where that stream empties into Dry Fork)before they reached that point. Thus she was ahead of them, and gave warning of their appoach. A peculiar coincidence occured that night as she approached the Federal pickets at Parsons' mill. The password that night was "Jane Snyder", and it had been selected by chance. When she approached the pickets, and was challenged, she replied "Jane Snyder", and they supposed it was some one with the countersign; but it was only an accident. Among the celebrations of the event in verse is the following extract:
The Rebels, equipped for a galloping raid. Came over the mountain through forest and glade. They followed no path that had ever been followed, But through swamps where the bear and the buffalo wallowed Long ages ago; and they took to the ridges, And crossed the ravines without grading or bridges. They had crowbars and axes and all kinds of tools, And howitzers strapped on the saddles of mules; They had powder and matches and fuses and funnels, And they struck for the railroad to blow up the tunnels.
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