USA > West Virginia > West Virginia and its people, Volume II > Part 49
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(II) John, son of Thomas Nutter, was born in Virginia before the revolutionary war, and there is every reason to believe that he and his brothers participated with other patriots in the struggle for independence. He married Elizabeth Cottrill, October 2, 1786. The Virginia records show that there were several Cottrills on the roster of the Virginia com- panies in the continental army, and they were doubtless her brothers, cousins or uncles. Among their children was Andrew, of whom further.
(III) Andrew, son of John and Elizabeth (Cottrill) Nutter, was born in Harrison county, Virginia, about 1795. When only seventeen years of age he enlisted and saw service in the war of 1812, thus keeping up the family tradition that the Nutter family was always to the fore when their country needed them. He was in the engagement of Fort Defiance on the Maume river, and saw fighting in other places. He married Malinda, daughter of William and Anna (Douglas) Willis. Children : Willis, of whom further; John; Andrew; Julia, married a Mr. Warren; Nancy, married a Mr. Hart; Matilda, married a Mr. Hart; Elizabeth, married a Mr. Hart; Sarah, married a Mr. Watson. The Nutter and Hart families were close neighbors, thus accounting for three sisters marrying three brothers.
(IV) Willis, son of Andrew and Malinda ( Willis) Nutter, was born in Harrison county, Virginia, now West Virginia, September 15, 1815, and was killed by the falling of a tree, March 8, 1860. He was a pros- perous farmer, and enjoyed the distinction of being the best deer hunter in his section. He was a constable for over sixteen years, filling the posi- tion to the utmost satisfaction of the community. He married Juliet Richards, of Harrison county, like himself of emigrant and pioneer stock. Children : Mary Catherine, born December 20, 1839, died February 23, 1871; Andrew Jackson, born November 28, 1841; Thomas E., born in
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Doddridge county, Virginia, October 18, 1843, died in 1886; Willis Floyd, born December 16, 1845; Nancy Adaline Columbia, born March 28, 1848, died June 20, 1851 ; Philander Austin, born September 21, 1850; Eli, of whom further; William Franklin, born November 3, 1855, died Octo- ber, 1874.
(V) Eli, son of Willis and Juliet (Richards) Nutter, was born July 16, 1853, in Doddridge county, Virginia, now West Virginia. He re- ceived his education in the public schools of the county. He then be- gan farming and worked on one farm eighteen years, and through his frugality and excellent management was enabled to purchase seven hun- dred acres, which he cleared, improved and on which he lives at the pres- ent time (1913). He was bereft of his father when he was only six years old, and virtually since that time has made his own way in the world. There is no man in his community that has a higher standing as a man, a citizen or friend. He is a staunch Republican, has been a mem- ber of the school board for a number of years, and on November 5, 1912, he was elected sheriff of Doddridge county, and holds the office at this time. He married, December 19, 1878, Mary Frances Maxwell, daugh- ter of William and Mary ( Vanort) Maxwell. Children: I. Lyda Idel, born August 18, 1880; married David Kehoe. 2. Susie Alice, born March 3, 1883, married Amos P. Haught. 3. William Lewis, born March 3, 1883 (twin). 4. Eli Marshall, born September 19, 1884; deputy sheriff under his father; married Marie A. Leggett. 5. Chester Bliss, born May 6, 1886; married Gatha G. Sutler. 6. Mary Martha, born August 14, 1887 ; married Boyd Lee Dotson. 7. Carrie Fay, born November 2, 1888; married Hedric Chestine Stinespring. 8. Nellie May, born April 26, 1890; married Victor Goff Stinespring. 9. Dollie Jane, born Decem- ber 13, 1892. 10. Juliet Grace, born January 23, 1895. 11. Bessie Isa- bel, born December 6, 1896. 12. Frankie Virginia, born December 3, 1898. 13. Lucy Maxwell, born March 2, 1901.
Martinsburg has been indebted for many of its ablest MINGHINI officials to descendants of foreign nationalities, and in the case of the present mayor holds its obligation to that oldest and most distinguished of European countries, Italy.
Dr. William Edward Minghini, born at Middleway, Jefferson county, West Virginia, June 25, 1867, is the son of Joseph L. and Lydia A. (Sencindiver) Minghini; and on the paternal side a descendant of Italian ancestors. His great-grandfather was an Italian nobleman and an officer in the Italian army, and also a personal friend of General Charles Lee, of American revolutionary fame. His father, Joseph L. Minghini, who was a cabinetmaker and undertaker, enlisted at the outbreak of the civil war in Company D, Twelfth Virginia Cavalry, which was subsequently ordered to burn Hall's rifle factory at Harper's Ferry. For two years and a half he was a scout for General J. E. B. Stuart, and saw strenuous service at Chancellorsville, Kelly Ford, Fredericksburg, Mine Run, and other engagements. At Kelly Ford, where Major John Pelham was wounded, he carried this officer off the field, remaining with him until his death. Joseph L. Minghini has now retired from business. Dr. Minghini's maternal grandfather was a colonel in the confederate army ; the Sencindivers, his mother's family, were prominent people in Berkeley county and Martinsburg, one of them being a deputy sheriff of the circuit court and others influential residents at Arden.
Dr. Minghini received his early education at the public schools in Jefferson county, West Virginia, and Baltimore, being educated in his profession at the University of Maryland, from which he was graduated
Jas. a Farmer.
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with honors in 1893, receiving his degree of D. D. S. Since that time he has engaged in dental practice in Martinsburg, and in connection with pro- fessional pursuits has taken an active interest in municipal affairs. He is one of the best equipped dentists in West Virginia, having in his office the most approved modern appliances for use in his practice. In 1899 he was appointed on the West Virginia State Board of Dental Examiners, and has filled every office of any consequence in that body, having been secre- tary, treasurer and finally president.
Dr. Minghini has been mayor of the city of Martinsburg since 1904. when he defeated the Republican candidate, who was also mayor at the time, by a large majority. This was considered a great tribute to his per- sonal popularity, as he is politically a Democrat and Martinsburg is a Republican town; his administration has proved a very successful one, laws being strictly enforced and good order being maintained in all depart- ments. He has been a delegate to Democratic conventions, and has been offered other political honors all of which, however, he has refused. He has always taken great interest in Masonry. He is past master of Blue Lodge; past high priest of the Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; past eminent commander of the Palestine Commandery, No. 2; and a member of the Mystic Shrine at Wheeling. He is a member in high standing of the Episcopal church. He is an automobile enthusiast, owning a large garage and supply department; he organized the Martinsburg Auto Club, and owned the first automobile in town. He also organized the Berkeley Land Company, which has sold part of its holdings to the La Belle Steel and Iron Works. He is an ex-trustee of the City Hospital. In the prime of life, well educated, enterprising, successful in political and in social life, Dr. Minghini, brilliant professional man and mayor of the city, has a most promising outlook before him.
On October 3, 1899, Dr. Minghini married Viola Marie Pitcher, of Baltimore, the descendant of an old and distinguished Maryland family, and a descendant of Roger Williams and also of Mollie Pitcher of Revo- lutionary fame. They have one child, Lorraine, born May 30, 1903.
The name Garner, while not common, is found in several
GARNER states. The present family came into Virginia from Penn- sylvania; but the name is found also in Virginia and in Kentucky. It has also been used, but only as a variant of Gardner, in the Hingham, Massachusetts, family, of that name.
(I) Hezekiah E. Garner, the first member of this family about whom we have definite information, was born in Pennsylvania, and lived to about seventy years of age. His life was largely lived in Virginia, though after the war he removed to Indiana. He was a farmer, a slaveholder, and served throughout the entire conflict in the war between the states, his sympathy being with the Southern cause. His wife died at the age of forty-nine. Both these deaths were due to typhoid fever, and they occur- red about the same time, 1870. Children: James Arthur, of whom further ; William H., of Los Angeles, and three died in childhood.
(II) James Arthur, son of Hezekiah E. Garner, was born at Leesburg, Louden county, Virginia, September 17, 1863; when he was five years old, the family removed to Jay county, Indiana. As he was only seven years old, when his father and mother died, he lived with relatives on a farm, until he had reached the age of fifteen, and he attended school in Jay county. But when he was fifteen, he went into a hardware store, at Redeky, Jay county, Indiana, as clerk, remaining there four years. Going to Richmond, Wayne county, Indiana, he traveled for several years, from that place, for a wholesale hardware firm. Then, at Evansville, Indiana, he
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entered the employment of the Southern News Company, and remained fourteen years in their employment, there and at other points. In 1890, he came to Huntington, Cabell county, West Virginia, and for the first ten years, was still in the employment of the Southern News Company. In 1900 he established the Chesapeake and Ohio lunch stands, of which he has three : one at Huntington, one at Hinton, Summers county, West Vir- ginia, and one at Maysville, Mason county, Kentucky. He was one of the charter members of the Huntington Land Company, of which he is a director, and is a director in the Union Savings Bank & Trust Company, and in the Sehon and Stevenson Company, wholesale grocers. He is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce, at Huntington, and is sec- retary and treasurer of the Huntington Automobile and Good Roads Association. His fraternal order is the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a Republican. Mr. Garner married, at Huntington, May 12, 1891, Arabella Cassidy, who was born in Lawrence county, Ohio; she is a Methodist in religious faith. Her father was a farmer, and has been dead many years; her mother is also deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Garner have no children.
RISSLER George Rissler, son of Thomas Rissler, was born in Ches- ter county, Pennsylvania, January 17, 1787. His ances- tors emigrated to America from the Province of West- phalia, Germany, shortly after the religious wars that devastated that country in the first half of the seventeenth century. In 1794 his parents with their children migrated to Virginia and settled near Winchester, in the Shenandoah Valley. There were six sons and three daughters in the family, all of whom except George emigrated to Ohio, Indiana or Ken- tucky between the years 1812 and 1820, those settling in Indiana taking their parents with them.
In early life George Rissler was a miller and operated mills in Freder- ick and Jefferson counties, Virginia, until 1828, when he purchased a farm near Kabletown, Jefferson county, Virginia, where he resided the remainder of his life. He married, May 15, 1817, Mary Roland, a mem- ber of a Welsh family who had settled first on the Eastern Shore of Mary- land, later near Winchester, Virginia. Children: 1. John Gordon, born April 24, 1818; he left home in 1843 and went to Cooper county, Missouri, where he engaged successfully in farming and banking until his death at Beaman, Pettis county, Missouri, July 11, 1903; he married (first) Sarah Ann C. Walker, born in Missouri, December 19, 1825, died July 26, 1858; he married (second) Elizabeth Jane Longan, of Pettis county, Missouri, born June 25, 1825, died October 4, 1888; children of first wife; i. George Winston, born July 17, 1846, died July 14, 1870; ii. Nancy Eliza- beth, born January 17, 1848, died December 7, 1852; iii. Mary Jane, born March 20, 1850, died November 1, 1851 : iv. Samuel Walker, born March 14, 1852, died March 30, 1877; v. William Henry, born July 17, 1853, died at Lamonte, Missouri, September 25, 1909; vi. John Smith; vii. Ailcy Roberts, born March 9. 1858, died November 28, 1868; children of second wife: viii. Augustin Knight, born October 9, 1860, died March 5. 1862; ix. Charles McClellan ; x. Martha Emma. 2. William, born June 22, 1820; went to the California gold fields with a company of prospectors from Jefferson county, Virginia, in 1849, and remained on the Pacific coast six years ; returning to Virginia he resumed farming at Dry Bridge Farm; he married, November 22, 1870, Elizabeth C. Tavenner, in Cooper county, Missouri, and in 1873 took up his residence in that state; their only child, Bessie C., married, October 26, 1898, James William Walker, in Cooper county, Missouri. 3. Mary Catherine, born February 6, 1822:
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married, May 23, 1848, Francis B. S. Morrow, of Jefferson county, Vir- ginia ; children : i. Almida, married, April 3, 1874, in Berkeley county, West Virginia, Harrison D. Kilmer; ii. Edgar, died at age of six months ; iii. Minerva, married, February 13, 1883, David R. Hudgel, and died Feb- ruary 6, 1898; iv. Francis B. S., married, September 19, 1895, Mattie A. Smith, of Clarke county, Virginia ; v. Mary Virginia; vi. Roberta, mar- ried, December 13, 1884, Warner W. Vanmeter, and died near Van Clevesville, Berkeley county, West Virginia, February 10, 1899; vii. Wil- lard, married, April 13, 1885, Ida Blessing, of Charles Town, West Vir- ginia, and resided in Loudoun county, Virginia ; the father of these chil- dred died March 6, 1896, at his home in Berkeley county, West Virginia, where he engaged in farming from the time of his marriage; his wife died November 19, 1901. 4. Thomas, born November 20, 1823, died December II, 1824. 5. Gabriel, born September 14, 1825, died October 5, 1825. 6. Rebecca E., born September 14, 1825, unmarried; after the death of her father she resided with her sister, Mrs. Morrow, in Berkeley county, West Virginia, where she died January 21, 1888. 7. George Lewis, born October 11, 1827; was a farmer and a lifelong resident of Jefferson county, West Virginia ; married, November 29, 1854, Francina Dudrear, of Frederick county, Maryland ; children : Thomas L., William D., George C., Gertrude M., S. G. M., John P. and Gerard M .; all the children resided in Jefferson county, West Virginia, except George C. who emi- grated to Missouri in 1877 and became a prosperous merchant at Buckner in that state ; Gertrude M. married Robert H. Phillips, of Charles Town, West Virginia, and died in June, 1911, leaving four daughters. 8. Samuel L., of whom further. George Rissler, father of these children, died Octo- ber 6, 1865, and his wife, born April 14, 1789, died at Dry Bridge Farm in Jefferson county, Virginia, October 14, 1848.
(III ) Samuel L., youngest son of George and Mary ( Roland ) Rissler, was born in Jefferson county, Virginia, September 30, 1830, died Septem- ber 5, 1905. The active years of his life were devoted to farming, from which occupation he derived a comfortable livelihood. He served in the civil war, acting as private in the Stonewall Brigade, Confederate States army. He married, November 4, 1857, Sarah J., daughter of David and Joanna Johnston, of Jefferson county, Virginia. Children: 1. Margaret Ruth, married, December 5. 1882, S. Lee Phillips, of Charles Town, West Virginia. 2. Samuel L. Jr., engaged in the grain business at Pleasant Green, Missouri. 3. William B., cashier of the Bank of Pleasant Green, Missouri, and ex-county clerk of Cooper county, Missouri. 4. George David, died January 2, 1910; he was a farmer in Jefferson county, West Virginia. 5. Charles, a resident of Jefferson county, West Virginia. 6. Robert C., editor and publisher of The Farmers Advocate at Charles Town, West Virginia. 7. Annie M., married Charles H. Phillips, of Ber- ryville, Virginia. 8. Frances, died February 28, 1889, aged seventeen years. 9. Sarah, twin of Frances, died in infancy. 10. Warren H., a farmer in Jefferson county, West Virginia. 11. Donna G., residing with her mother in Jefferson county, West Virginia.
CARTER The Carter family of Virginia has been famous, through succeeding generations, since three of the name found their way into the Province of Virginia and there settled. Giles Carter landed on the Virginian soil at Jamestown in 1612. He came from Gloucestershire, England, and located in Henrico county, some miles above Jamestown, where he established himself and soon had a consider- able estate. In 1615 John Carter arrived at Jamestown from Norfolk, England, and located in or near Jamestown. Later he also went up the 22
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James river to the Berkeley Hundred, where he took up land, cleared and planted tobacco on it. He was successful from the beginning, and in 1620 he not only had a large estate but also owned one of the few negro slaves that had been brought into Virginia the year before. He also had a number of indentured servants as well as Indians, who were willing to work at certain seasons of the year for a home when the winter came on. Virginia, the mother colony of the thirteen, rapidly filled up, and maintained her importance as the first and most aristocratic of the subse- quent sisterhood of provinces. During the early colonial period large fam- ilies were the rule, and being dependent almost wholly upon agriculture, the division of land, with each new generation that sprang up in Virginia, reduced the probability of the success of those descendants who remained on the home plantations. The result was a constant migration, of those not heirs to large estates, away from the tide water region to the back counties and later to new states and territories. Thus it happened that some of the descendants of John Carter, of Berkeley Hundred, left the family nest and sought other homes in what is now West Virginia.
(I) Henry Carter, lineal descendant of John Carter, English emigrant to Virginia in 1615, was born in the tide water region. He moved to Upshur county, in the western part of Virginia, now known as West Vir- ginia. Among his children was Henry Emerson, of whom further.
(II) Rev. Henry Emerson Carter, son of Henry Carter, was born at Sage, Upshur county, Virginia, in 1838, died in 1879. He became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church while yet a youth, and on reaching maturity was ordained as a minister of that denomination, and during the remainder of his life was an earnest, consistent Christian, doing good in his work and greatly beloved by the congregations which had the good fortune to be served by him. He married Samantha Reed, who died February, 1910. Children : Florence May, married J. G. Mayfield; Dora J., married L. L. Swan; Georgia E., married J. C. Mayfield; Edward E .; William H., of whom further; Olin C., born in Sage, Upshur county, West Virginia, May 12, 1869, married, September, 1903, at Middlebourne, West Virginia, Mary F. Mckay.
(III) William H., son of Rev. Henry Emerson and Samantha (Reed) Carter, was born in Centerville, West Virginia, January 29, 1879. He received his preparatory education in the public school of his native town and finished at the West Virginia Conference Seminary at Buckhannon. He then entered the law department of the West Virginia University, graduating therefrom. In 1905 he moved to Philippi, West Virginia, where he established himself in his profession, remaining until 1912. In that year he went to Middlebourne, West Virginia, and immediately there- after he was appointed clerk of the circuit court to fill a vacancy, which position he holds at the present time (1913). He was member at large of the council at Philippi for one year, and in that capacity did notable work. He is regarded as one of the progressive citizens in every town in which he makes his home, and commands the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens. He married, October 28, 1908, Frances S., daughter of C. K. Switzer. Mr. and Mrs. Carter have one child, Kenwood Switzer, born September 20, 1909.
HARDMAN George Washington Hardman, the first member of this family of whom we have definite information lived in Calhoun county, Virginia, now West Virginia, and was a son of Joseph Hardman whose father was one of the pioneer settlers of the country on the border line of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. George Washington Hardman had three brothers, James, Thomas and Benja-
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min. He married Rachel Goff. Children: Sylvester, referred to below; Dorcas, married Levi Ball; Cassett; Columbus; George Washington, Jr., who was sheriff of Calhoun county, and has been prominent for many years in the politics of his district, receiving the Democratic nomination for congress in 1908; Orlando, at one time a member of the State Senate of West Virginia; Verna, married Albert Pearcy ; Marcellus ; Jerome ; Allen.
(II) Sylvester, son of George Washington and Rachel (Goff) Hard- man, was born in Calhoun county, West Virginia, August 22, 1836. He was a farmer and breeder of cattle, and an extensive dealer in timber. At the outbreak of the civil war he was drafted into the Federal army but did not see active service. He was a member of the West Virginia state sen- ate in 1893 and 1895. He married, March 20, 1872, Martha, daughter of George and Susanna (Horton) Crow, born January 15, 1844, in Monroe county, Ohio. Her father was born March 26, 1804, in Greene county, Pennsylvania, and died in 1900. He was a son of Martin and Elizabeth (Cackler) Crow, and in 1832 removed to Illinois, near Chicago, which he described as a "small village with two taverns." He later removed to Jackson county, Virginia, and became prominent in politics, being twice elected to the Legislature at Richmond. He served in the Confederate army, until being wounded, and after leaving the hospital he purchased cattle for the Confederate government until general amnesty had been granted by President Lincoln. After the war he was elected to the West Virginia state legislature at Charleston. His wife, Susanna, was the daughter of Moses Horton who was born in Dublin, Ireland, and their children were Michael; Dorinda; William, who served as captain of Company B, Twenty-second Virginia Infantry, in the Confederate army. during the civil war; Jane; Martha, referred to above; George B., for eighteen years county clerk of Jackson county ; Charles Horton. Chil- dren of Sylvester and Martha (Crow) Hardman : Ira R., Susanna, mar- ried W. B. Petty ; Charles Crow ; Owen Ruby, referred below.
(III) Owen Ruby, son of Sylvester and Martha (Crow) Hardman, was born near Spencer, West Virginia, January 27, 1885. He received his early education in the public schools and later pursued a course of study at the Mountain State Business College at Parkersburg, West Vir- ginia. He then formed a partnership with his brother, Charles Crow Hardman, in farming and the raising of pure bred cattle, sheep and hogs and the shipping of live stock, and they became extensive dealers also in wool, country produce and merchandise, with headquarters and offices in Spencer, West Virginia. He is a member of Moriah Lodge Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, of the Modern Woodmen of America, of the Benevolent Protec- tive Order of Elks and of the Grange.
ARNOLD This family can be traced back to a period prior to the revolution, at which time the family home was in Penn- sylvania. Their coming into (West) Virginia was in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. According to the best conjecture and to tradition in the family, the family was settled in New Jersey before its migration to Pennsylvania, and the name Arnold has long been found in that colony and state. They were descended, or were of the same family as the Rhode Island stock of that name. Finally, it is not improb- able that Jonathan Arnold, with whom our historical account will begin, was the son of Richard Arnold, who died in the vicinity of Philadelphia in 1820, leaving a large family. This was the only family of Arnolds
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residing in that section at the time mentioned in the history of Chester county.
(I) Jonathan Arnold, the first member of this family about whom we have definite information, moved in 1765, with two brothers, Andrew and Jesse, from Chester county, Pennsylvania, to the western part of that col- ony, and made settlement at Fort Redstone, now Brownsville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania. He married, before 1765, Rachel Scott. Children : Samuel, Benjamin, Levi, Jonathan, William, of whom further, James, Rachel, Hannah, Sarah. The said James and William were twin brothers. ( It may be mentioned as an interesting incident that in a genealogical chart of this branch of the Arnold family, on file in the Congressional Library in Washington, extending back to the eleventh century, inscriptions are copied from four tombstones in England of about the 16th century-and about three of the four bear the same family names above given, viz: William Arnold, born 1587, James Arnold, died 1631, Sarah Arnold, born 1623).
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