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 55
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They were grizzled old warriors, as rugged as Odin, F And they followed the daring and dashing Imboden Who aimed to strike quickly with blow that was bold And come down in the night like a wolf on the fold.
There was only one thing that appeared in the way- A squad of the Yankees out scouting that day Were right in his road and he knew it. What next ? The grizzly old Rebel for once was perplext. But small things like Yankees, though squarely his road in, Could not long block or bother the plans of Imboden. For, in one thing he always was quick and expert-
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To start, go and get there and never get hurt. If it happened the Yankees he found in his path, He slugged them, like David the Giant of Gath; Unless it so happened the Yankees eame baek With a hillside maneuver and hit him a whack Where he looked for it least, and when such was the case, IIe could double and twist at a wonderful paee Into gorges, o'er ridges, through ravine and hollow, Confusing his tracks till no blood-hound eould follow.
"There are Yankees ahead of us," Imboden said, "Let us flank 'em and whip 'em; file on," and he led. The night was as dark as the Land of the Nile When the plagues were on Egypt; and mile after mile, The Rebels rode sullenly. Seldom a word To break the monotonous raindrip was heard. The path which they followed was only a trail On the shelves of the eliffs where the footings were frail; While the noise of the dashing of water below Came np through the night with a murmur of woe. If a horse lost its footing on terraee or scar, And went down the abyss-'twas the fortune of war: If the rider fell too and went down in the gloom, They left him What better than that for a tomb! Then Imboden spoke: ""Fis a treacherous traek ! If the Yankees lambaste us we'll never get back." "If they chase," replied one who was nobody's fool, "We ean stop them-blockading the path with a mule."
Thus they rode in that night which so many remember, , That terrible night of the stormy November,
When the winds through the pines on the mountains were roaring
. And the torrents re-echoed with plashing and pouring. But the Rebels while flanking the Federal piekets Were flanked by a woman who rode through the thickets, O'er by-paths and no paths, o'er mountains that rose To the clouds, and their summits were spattered with snows; And she out-rode the Rebels and eame in ahead- They were balked, they were beat; for the Yankees had fled. She had warned them in time, but no moment to spare; The sentinel challenged her: "Halt! Who comes there ?" The horse was brought up by the bit, and the rider Replied to the sentinel's challenge: "Jane Snyder," The Yankees, disturbed by the sudden intrusion Ran this way and that way in stupid confusion, And they stumbled o'er luggage and saddles and paeks, Till she said, "Here, the Rebels are coming; make tracks !" Then they went in stampede like the Clans of Colloden, And were gone when the Rebels came down with Imboden, And the oaths that he swore were of very high rank As he reined up his horse on the bleak river bank. Then one said: "We will cross, and will follow their tracks." "If we do, we'll have Mulligan right on our backs,"
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Said Imboden, adding: "Where laurel is thick
We can fight them or dodge them, and give lick for lick; But the country before us is open and level, And Mulligan's Irish will fight like the devil.
Let us take the back track." And they took the back track Through the desolate mountains, stormy and black.
CAPTAIN SAMPSON SNYDER, son of John Snyder, was born and raised on Dry Fork. His education was limited to the common schools, and in his early years these were few and poor. In 1861 he joined the Federal Army at Beverly, volunteering in an Ohio company, and was soon in active ser- vice, fighting among the Alleghany Mountains as the Confederates were pushed back across that range. He took part in the battle at McDowell in the spring of 1862, and sometime after that he was sent to the Southwest and became attached to General Grant's army, and took part in all the hard fighting leading up to the siege and capture of Vicksburg. But he was not present when Vicksburg surrendered. Before that event he was sent back to West Virginia to act as a guide for the Union forces among the mountains, where his intimate acquaintance with the rugged country gave him pecu- liar fitness for that duty. From that time till the close of the war he was in constant and active service, often on posts of great responsibility and danger. On February 29, 1864, Governor Boreman commissioned him Cap- tain of the Independent Scouts of Randolph County. They belonged to the State Guards, were clothed and provisioned by the United States and paid by West Virginia. Captain Snyder proceeded to organize a company to operate in the mountains of Randolph, to prevent marauding and to protect the lives and property of loyal and peaceable citizens, as well as to pursue or fight Confederate forces which might invade the county. The roll of this company, when discharged April 15, 1865, showed forty-three men. There were more at an earlier date, but the casualities of war had reduced the number. Following are the names of those who were discharged after Lee's surrender: Sampson Snyder, captain; John W. Summerfield; 1st ser- geant; George W. Snyder, 2d sergeant; Jesse Keller, John H. Middleton, Jesse Harman, Joseph Roy, corporals; George Arbogast, Daniel Bennett, George Bishop, John S. Darrall, Absalom Echard, Henry Echard, George Jennings, Charles Gray, Samuel Harman, Joseph Harman, William Hel- mick, John W. Harper, Mathias Helmick, A. D. Jordan, Noah Jordan, Philip Keller, John Keller, John W. Long, Samuel Long, Absalom Mick, Elijah L. Nazelrod, Jesse Pennington, John P. Roy, Isaac Roy, Solomon A. Roy, Henry Snyder, John Snyder, Benjamin Snyder, Laban Smith, Isaac Smith, Alfred Stalnaker, Adam Wolf, George Wolf, George L. Rimer, Mathew Collins, Solomon Huffman.
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In the year 1864 occured a running fight of three days between Cap- tain Snyder's men and a force of sixty Confederate guerrillas under Cap- tain Ezekiel Harper. The Confederates had made a raid upon the store of
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a merchant named Hart below Beverly and were retreating through the mountains toward Pendleton when they were intercepted and surprised by Captain Snyder at the house of Isaac Taylor, on Shaver Mountain late in the evening. They were very hungry and had stopped there to cook a sheep and a deer which they had killed. They had stacked their guns some forty steps away and were in the act of sitting down to supper when Captain Snyder's men charged from the woods, captured more than half of the guns, and drove the Confederates into the woods. Having eaten the supper abandoned by the Confederates, Captain Snyder pursued them to Dry Fork, and far up on Gandy, surprised them again and captured all of their guns except one musket. Finally they scattered through the woods, and made their way across the Alleghanies in an almost famishing con- dition.
The Federal authorities were desirous of locating Imboden's camp, who was believed to be on Jackson's River, and Captain Snyder was sent for to go to Wheeling for consultation. He undertook to spy out the camp of the Confederates, and returned to his home on Dry Fork, arriving at midnight. Two hours after he went two bed his house was surrounded by 27 Confed- erates under Colonel Elihu Hutton and he was taken prisoner, together with others who were at the house .* He was taken with all speed to Jack- son's River, for his men on Dry Fork were in hot pursuit to rescue him. His victors took his boots from him and he was compelled to walk in his socks. His hands were tied, and as they approached Imboden's camp Col- onel Hutton, who was his special guard, held him by the coat. They were some distance ahead of the main squad of Confederates. Captain Snyder had quietly untied the rope which bound his hands, and suddenly seizing Colonel Hutton, he threw him into a ditch and ran for his life, while bullets were whizzing about his head. + He took shelter in a thicket, where the darkness of the night made his concealment safe; but he soon discovered that the Confederates were surrounding the woods, and he knew they would find him at daylight. So, he emerged from his hiding while he could, and ran across a large field and reached a mountain, where he felt that his chance was good for escape. At daybreak he was twenty miles away on the road toward home. His feet were worn out, and he stopped long enough to cut off parts of his pants legs and make himself moccasins. He arrived on Dry Fork after three days. He had located Imboden's camp, and that was what he had been ordered to do. But he had scarcely ex- pected to gain the information in the manner he did.
Captain Snyder, in company with M. V. Bennett, had a narrow escape
*Sce sketch of Elihu Hutton.
*In speaking of this affair, Col. Hutton afterwards said: "Capt. Snyder was a pow- erful man, and there was nothing to prevent him from overpowering me, taking my pis- tol from me, shooting me with it and escaping before my men could come up, but he contented himself with giving mne a shove and then running."
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from bushwhackers about that time. They were riding up Dry Fork in Tucker County, when they were fired on from the woods, and Bennett was shot through the lungs. Captain Snyder hid him under a shelving rock at the river's edge, and with a revolver went back and fought the bushwhack- ers as long as his ammunition lasted. He killed a horse, and wounded one of the bushwhackers in the arm. Bennett ultimately recovered, and after- wards married Jane Snyder, Capt. Snyder's sister.
William Harper, of Tucker County, a noted Confederate scout, was killed by Capt. Snyder's company at the house of Leonard Harper, in Pen- dleton County. He refused to surrender. He had been tracked to the house, and was found about two o'clock in the morning, lying on the roof of the porch, covered with white clothes. There was snow on the roof, and he nearly escaped detection, and might have escaped had he not betrayed his presence. One of the Federals approached a window to look out, and Harper probably supposed that he was discovered, although he had not yet been seen. He fired through the window, and barely missed a soldier inside. He then leaped off the roof and ran toward a thicket. Captain Snyder headed him off, and met him face to face, with a fence between them, and called on him to surrender. Harper's reply was a shot from his revolver, which by some miracle missed the mark, although held within a few inches of Captain Snyder's face. Captain Snyder fired and Harper fell, but immediately attempted to rise. Captain Snyder took hold of his coat, and Harper struck him with a knife, and he carries the scar yet. At that moment several shots were fired, and Harper, exclaiming "Don't murder me!" fell dead. He was a man of terrible courage, and was much feared by the Union scouts in that region. He had piloted Garnett's defeated army after the battle of Corrick's Ford, and had piloted Imboden on his second raid into Tucker County. He was a brother of Captain Ezekiel Harper, of Tucker County.
When the war closed, Capt. Snyder's company was mustered out. The next year he was commissioned by Governor Boreman captain in the West Virginia militia. He took up the pursuits of peace, and entered upon vari- ous lines of business on Dry Fork, where he still resides.
W. F. SNYDER, M. D., born in 1859 in Charleston, son of David H. and Mary Snyder, Scotch-Irish ancestry, was married in Barbour County to Isis, daughter of J. H. Woodford; child. Thomas A. He graduated at the Vir- ginia Military Institute, and in the medical department of the University of Virginia; also from the Philadelphia Medical College. He located at Hut- tonsville in 1887. In 1898 he received the Democratic nomination for the House of Delegates, and a few hours later he died of paralysis of the heart.
PRINCE ALBERT SNYDER, born in 1872, son of Sampson and Elizabeth (Bonner) Snyder, was married in 1891 to Clara Virginia, daughter of Benja-
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min and Nellie (Puffinbarger) Bodkin; children, Glenn, Omar, Argel and Stellman. He is a farmer on Rich Mountain.
HARMON SNYDER, son of John and Barbara (Waybright) Snyder, was born in 1821 in Pendleton County, now Highland. His ancestors were Ger- man. In 1865 he married, in Barbour County, Elizabeth, daughter of Elias and Elizabeth (Teter) Lawson; children, John B., Elizabeth B., Mary C., Harmon E., Martha W., Blaine R., George W., William L., and James A. G., Mr. Snyder settled in Randolph in 1845 and he acquired valuable property which was largely destroyed during the Civil War, his loss being no less than $9,000. He was Justice of the Peace many years, and was president of the board of education. In 1884 he was elected by Randolph and Tucker to the Legislature. He owns 1400 acres, 400 improved. Snyder's Knob, the highest mountain in Randolph, is named from him.
HOWARD MADISON SNYDER, born in 1865, son of W. M. and Hannah (McNeal) Snyder, German and Irish parentage. He came to Randolph in 1888 and is a lumberman, having worked in Tucker, Preston, McDowell, Po- cahontas, Webster and Greenbrier Counties. A bible 130 years old is one of his souvenirs.
THOMAS C. SUMMERFIELD, born on Dry Fork in 1822, son of Thomas B. and Anna (Rains) Summerfield, English ancestry. He married Eliza, daugh- ter of Abner and Bettie (White) Carr; children, Sallie Ann, Eliza Jane, Eliz- abeth, Cinda, Christina Sampson, Thomas and Solomon; a farmer. His mother killed an elk, about 1825, while watching a lick for deer, near the Sinks of Gandy. The fact is also handed down through the family, as well as through the Bonners, that the last hostile Indian who invaded that re- gion was killed near the mouth of Red Creek by Peter Peterson.
JOHN WESLEY SUMMERFIELD, born in 1842 in Pendleton County, son of Abraham and Catherine Ann (Hensley) Summerfield. In 1862 he married Mary C., daughter of Solomon A. and Margaret (Pennington) Roy; chil- dren, Abraham, Wesley Alfred, Maudie K. Presley, Margaret Catherine Ann, Ida Belle, Robert W. and Melvina Alice. He went to school one month each to three different teachers; enlisted in Company D, 10th W. Va. Vol. Infantry, and fought with that regiment in many hard battles. He taught school ten years, and was then elected Justice of the Peace for Dry Fork District, and held the office twenty years, and for the same length of time was chairman of the Dry Fork Republican Committee; and was also secre- tary of the District Board of Education; was postmaster at Harman under the Harrison administration, and has been notary public since 1880 and has been agent for the Dry Fork Railroad since 1894.
WESLEY ALFRED SUMMMERFIELD, born in 1863, son of John W., was married in 1889 to Lora C., daughter of Robert W. and Mary (Vandevender) Montoney; children, Pearl Blanche, Mary Chloe, Elsie, Frank Bretz and
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Baby. He owns 175 acres, half improved; he also owns a house and lot in Harman; was postmaster at Day's Mill under Harrison, and assistant agent for the Dry Fork Railroad at Harman. He had few school advantages, and when 21 years old he had not a second suit of clothes. By industry he has worked his way up.
MORDECAI SUMMERFIELD, born 1856, son of Andrew J. and Elizabeth (Pennington) Summerfield. In 1877 he married Lucy J., daughter of Harvey and Martha White; children, Andrew, Leonora E., Sylvena A., Ulysses G., Lillie Frances, Benjamin Harrison, William Arthur, Oda May and Stella Iona. He owns 65 acres. 30 improved; was postmaster and deputy marshal under Harrison.
SAMPSON SUMMERFIELD, born 1860, son of Thomas C. In 1880 he mar- ried Sarah Anna, daughter of Solomon and Susanna Carr; children, James Walter, Sarah Ellen, George Kenna, Riley C., William A. and Stawyer E.
THOMAS JEFFERSON SUMMERFIELD, born 1860, son of Thomas C., was married in 1876 to Maria Elizabeth, daughter of Garrison Stalnaker. She died in 1878, and in 1898 he married Ella White. Her maiden name was Nelson. They have one child, Tallman.
VINSON SUMMERFIELD, son of Andrew J., was born in 1863 and in 1883 he married Phoebe C., daughter of Levi and Mary Ann White; children, Al- bert, Miles, Walter, Frank, Glenn, Goldie and Peachie.
ANDREW SKIDMORE, of English extraction, was born near Norfolk, Va. He had three brothers, John, the eldest, born in 1735, Benjamin and Samuel. Of these, John was probably the most noted. He was a captain under Gen. Andrew Lewis at the battle at Point Pleasant, and his brother Andrew was a soldier in his company and both were wounded. Andrew subsequently settled in Rannolph, on the river below Elkins. He commenced to dig a millrace across the narrow isthmus at the bend of the river, but after the work had progressed some time, he had a second survey made and he found that the fall was so small that it would not give power enough to run the mill, and he abandoned the enterprise. He raised a numerous family, and his descendants are found in several counties. He died at Sutton, Braxton County in 1826, where his grave, marked by a plain stone, may be seen. One of his daughters married Joseph Friend, and his eldest daughter mar- ried John Arthur, the father of Rev. Anderson Arthur, now of Webster Co., and of the late Nat Arthur of Wheeling. James Skidmore, son of Andrew, lived at the railroad junction below Elkins. One of his daughters, Mrs. Rachel Scott, still lives near Huttonsville, aged 82 years. Another of his daughters, Sarah Ann, married W. F. Corley, formerly Superintendent of Schools of Randolph, and whose son, Hon. A. W. Corley, now resides at Sutton, Braxton Co. James Skidmore married a daughter of Jacob Kittle.
JAMES SKIDMORE, born in 1838, son of William and Sarah (Evans) Skid-
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more, was married in 1875 to Celia, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Tyre, children, Lizzie and James A. He was in the Union army. His father was son of James Skidmore, and came from Pendleton. Mr. Evans, the father of Mrs Skidmore, came from Philadelphia and died in Braxton County. The Tyre family is French; the first of the name came to America with Lafayette.
DAVID SKIDMORE, born near Elkins in 1837, son of William and Sarah. In 1866 at Philippi he married Martha A., daughter of James and Rebecca (Williams) Corley; children, Almira, Charles, Luverna, Edna, Cora, Gar- field and George. He owns 668 acres, 160 improved, three miles from Elkins.
ALPHEUS SKIDMORE, born in 1829, son of Elijah and Margaret; mar; ried in 1853 Angeline, daughter of Maxwell and Sarah (Wilmoth) Rennix; children, Luther M., Elijah R., George B., Gilbert Irwin, Mary and Ira K.
EDWIN SCOTT, born 1849, son of John K. and Rachel (Skidmore) Scott, Irish and German parentage, was married in 1891 to Carrie L., daughter of G. W. and F. M. Kittle; children, Stephen B., Russie and Rachel. He is a farmer and contractor. His weight is 340 pounds; at the age of thirteen he weighed 220 pounds. He spent several years in the Northwest where he learned the carpenter trade. He lives in Roaring Creek District.
BENJAMIN THICSON SCOTT, born in 1788 on the North Fork, a son of John and Mary Scott, Irish ancestry, married Jane, daughter of William and Polly Currence; Homer, William, Mary, John, Thomas B. and Catherine were his children.
JOHN J. SCOTT, born in. 1854, son of John K. and Rachel Scott, in 1880, married Nancy A., daughter of Oliver and Rachel (Kittle) Scott; children, Emma Lucretia, Simon Clay, Porter, James and Claude. He owns 156 acres, half improved. Mr. Scott has seven brothers, and with himself, their combined weight is 2180 pounds, and their names and their weights are as follows: Jefferson, 240; Charles, 275; Hugh, 250; James S., 258; Oliver J., 276; Winfield, 225; John J., 276;, Edwin, 340. Their father was born in 1818 on Roaring Creek and weighed 225. He married Nancy A Skidmore, who weighed 208. The average height of the eight sons is six feet.
THOMAS BEEKS SCOTT, born 1823 near Huttonsville, son of Benjamin T. and Jane (Currence) Scott, Irish descent, was married in 1848 to Mary Ann, daughter of Moses and Mary Hutton; his second marriage was in 1866 to Martha, daughter of Elias Wilmoth; and his third marriage was in 1875 to Rebecca, widow of Solomon Hull Parsons; children, Felix Seymour, Lucy, Elizabeth, Cyrus Hall, Virginia, Annie, George Clinton, Clyde and Eva- line C. He served eight terms as Justice of the Peace, and was president of the county court. He has long been one of the leading men of the county.
HON. CYRUS HALL SCOTT, son of Thomas B. Scott, was born near Hut- tonsville in 1856. His mother was Mary Ann, sister of Col. Elihu Hutton. He was educated in the common schools, at the Huttonsville Academy, the
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Fairmont Normal School and in the Roanoke College, graduating at Fair- mont in 1874, at Roanoke three years later. At the age of twenty-one he was principal of the Beverly school .. He early turned his attention to law and was admitted to practice in 1879, and the next year was elected Pros- ecuting Attorney of Randolph County and held the office eight years, in the meantime conducting many important criminal cases which made him a high reputation as a lawyer, not only in Randolph but also in neighboring counties. Possessing indomitable will power, he rose in spite of discour- agements that would have turned back many a young man. He borrowed money to maintain him at school the last two years, and when he left col- lege he was several hundred dollars in debt. He was placed at a great dis- advantage in his start in life; but his industry, energy and perseverance triumphed; he forced his way to the front and was not only able to take ad- vantage of every opportunity that was presented, but also to bend circum- stances to his own advantage. The practice of his profession was attended from the start with unusual success; and he paid his debts, accumulated means and greatly enlarged his circle of friends. From his youth he has been identified with the Democratic party, always serving his party with integrity and fidelity. He was elected Mayor of Beverly four successive terms, and was a prominent candidate for the Democratic nomination for Congress in 1888, but was defeated by Hon. W. L. Wilson. Four years later he was elected to the State Senate from the Tenth Senatorial District. He at once attracted attention in the Senate, where he was recognized as an able leader. His vigor and attainments naturally attracted the burdens that fell upon him in the Senate, where he was made a member of the com- mittees on mines and mining, forfeited, delinquent 'and unappropriated lands, rules, a prominent member of the judiciary committee, and chairman of the committee on Federal relations and railroads. At the subsequent sessions of the Senate he was a most prominent figure, being the leading member upon senatorial committees, notably the fiduciary committee and the committee upon railroads and upon forfeited and delinquent lands. He was the author of the present law governing railroad freight and passenger traffic, and also the present law concerning forfeited and delinquent lands, both of which are working in a most satisfactory manner. He was also the friend and patron of many other measures of great public importance, among them the Industrial Institute Bill, the Girls' Industrial Home, Home for Incurables, and he prepared and passed the Elkins Independent Dis- trict Law.
His record upon the Virginia Debt question was especially pleasing to the people of the State and has given him a wide reputation as a solid and safe man. The elegant school building in Elkins is a monument to his memory, for it was through his services that it was obtained. He was also
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the author of the Davis Institute Bill, and secured its passage through the Senate, but it failed in the House.
Mr. Scott still possesses a fondness for farm life. He has made judi- cious investments in real estate and is now the owner of several fine farms, one of them near Elkins, where he has built a magnificent residence upon the Heights. He is also the owner of large tracts of timber and coal lands, and has been a dealer in such lands for years, and by his public services and his private business he has risen to a position of influence and wealth.
Mr. Scott has been twice married, his wives being sisters, and the daughters of Prof. James H. Logan, and he has one child living, about ten years old. He resides upon his farm, and practices his profession in ad- dition to overseeing his stock. In the heated controversy over the removal of the county seat from Beverly to Elkins he was a conspicuous advocate of removal. He also took a leading part in the political campaign of 1898 for the election of the Democratic ticket. Governor Atkinson recognized his prominence in 1898 by selecting him as a delegate to the National Imi- gration Congress at Cheyenne, Wyoming.
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