USA > West Virginia > West Virginia and its people, Volume II > Part 53
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He married, August 6, 1889, Laura Kate Hedding, born November 15. 1868, near Warfordsburg, Fulton county, Pennsylvania. Her father was Noah Hedding, a native of Academia, Pennsylvania, who became a merchant at Paw Paw where he also practiced law, dying at the age of sixty-nine years ; her mother, Prudence ( Tabeer) Hedding, was born at Hainesville, West Virginia, and is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Hedding were the parents of five children: I. Laura Kate, married Philip M. Ap- pel. 2. Addie Hughes, married S. S. Buzzerd; four children. 3. James WV., married Minnie A. Kauffman ; two children. 4. Lilly Eastborn, married H. W. Disher. 5. Elwood Hooper, died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Appel had seven children, five of whom are still living: Guy Hed- ding, Margaret Prudence, Helen Viola, Philip Melancthon Jr .. Anna Hetzel.
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This name, is also less frequently spelled Coxe, is not of very COX frequent occurrence in the United States, but has been borne in this country by several persons of distinction. At the time of our first information concerning the present family, it was settled in the Panhandle of Virginia, now the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, where the old Virginia extended up into the North, a mere strip between the states of Pennsylvania and Ohio.
(I) - Cox, the first member of this family of whom we have defi- nite information, died at Wellsburg, Brooke county, Virginia, where his life was mainly spent. He married -. Child, Friend, of whom further.
(II) Friend, son of - - Cox, was born at Wellsburg, Virginia, died at New Martinsville. About the time of his marriage he moved into Wetzel county, Virginia, and settled at New Martinsville. Here he was the first merchant in the place, became a large land owner, and was a prominent farmer. For twenty-four years he held the office of county clerk of Wetzel county. He married Susan, daughter of Samson and Susan Thistle, who died at New Martinsville. Children: David H., of whom further; Friend, deceased; Lina Russell, married Josephus B. Clark; Agnes, married Curtis Priest; Ella, married Rev. John Jackson.
(III) David H., son of Friend and Susan ( Thistle ) Cox, was born at New Martinsville, Virginia, August 21, 1846. His education was received in the subscription schools, and he entered early into business life. Until 1895 he was engaged in the timber business, and also owned a saw mill. In that year he became interested in oil production and is still active in this field. Beside these interests, he was one of the organizers of the glass plant at New Martinsville and is a stockholder therein, also vice- president and a stockholder in the New Martinsville Bank. In 1892 he was elected sheriff of Wetzel county, on the Democrat ticket, and he held this office for four years. Mr. Cox is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. He married, in 1867. Martha, born in Wetzel county, Virginia, died November 30, 1907, daughter of Samuel R. and Cynthia Robinson. Children: Samuel R., Charles, Thistle, Frank W.
This family is of Dutch descent. but came into West Vir-
ROMINE ginia from that hive of trans-Alleghany pioneers, the val- ley of Virginia. Peter Romine, the first of this family to settle in what is now West Virginia, came from the valley of Virginia. In his new home he was a farmer, and also followed the trade of cooper. He married Molly Maddox. Child, Thomas, of whom further.
(II) Thomas, son of Peter and Molly ( Maddox) Romine, was born in Wood county, Virginia, in 1815, died in 1892. He was a farmer, and also a manufacturer of brooms. His church was the Baptist, and for thirty years he was a member of the Sunday school. He married ( first) Nancy Rowland. (second ) Hannah Mitchell. Children. all by first wife: Mary Francis, Matthew N .. George Rowland, of whom further ; Eliza J. ( III ) George Rowland, son of Thomas and Nancy ( Rowland) Romine, was born at Quakertown, Wood county, Virginia, April 2, 1846. His education was received in the subscription schools. In 1856 he went to work in a tobacco shop, earning four cents a day. Afterward, until he was twelve years old, he worked on his father's farm, and for the next five years he worked in various ways in the neighborhood of his home. When he was seventeen years old he walked two hundred miles in order to join the Confederate army, and enlisted in Company F. Seventeenth Virginia Cavalry. He was made prisoner. November 12, 1864, and taken to Point Lookout, where he was kept until July, 1865. Returning to his
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home he went to work on a farm, but the next year he went to the Big Kanawha river, near Red Hills, and rented a farm for one year. In the spring of 1867 he came to Parkersburg, West Virginia, and worked there until February, 1868. Then he went to Big Pond Creek, Wood county, as superintendent of a farm. After his marriage, in December, 1870, he rented this farm, and built on it a new ten-room house. Two years longer he worked this farm, then he moved on to his father-in-law's farm. Later he moved to Cavin's Fork, Jackson county, to a farm, and built on it a new house ; there he was for fourteen years engaged in farm- ing and the shipping of cattle. He then entered the lumber business. In 1899 he moved to his other farm, his grandfather's homestead, in Wood county. Having acquired an interest in a planing mill at Parkersburg, he ran this mill five years. In 1902 he built a house on Avery street, Park- ersburg, and here he now lives, retired from business. In 1890 he was elected county commissioner of Jackson county, West Virginia, and he served in this office for six years. He was school trustee for twenty-five years. He married ( first) December, 1870, Ellen Flinn, who died in 1876; (second) 1877, Victoria Flinn. Children, two by first, others by second, wife: Victoria, Kate, Edna, married Samuel Jewell; John Wesley, of whom further; Dixie, Trixie, Thomas, Lucy.
(IV) John Wesley, son of George Rowland and Victoria ( Flinn) Romine, was born at Flinn, West Virginia, February 20, 1881. Having first attended the public schools, he studied at Washington and Lee University, from which he was graduated in 1904 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. On his graduation he entered into business; for one year he was engaged in the lumber business with his father. In 1905 he became a traveling salesman for the Barr and Mills Company of Zanes- ville, Ohio. Since 1908 he has been one of the younger business men of Parkersburg, engaged in the wholesale lumber business. The year fol- lowing his entrance into this business he took into partnership G. L. Dud- ley, and they conduct their business under the name of the J. WV. Romine Lumber Company. Mr. Romine is a member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. His church is the Baptist. He has not married.
BENNETT With the settlement and development of every new country there are always men of superior intellect and business training, who take a deserved place as leaders, some in one role, some in another, but as a rule the ancestry of such men has had a large part in shaping the destinies of such characters and leaders. The Bennett family is no exception to such a rule. Its early ancestors were from England and were possessed of the sterling traits of character found in many of the English who first settled the United States, before, during, and after the formation of the federation of states. (1) Joseph Bennett, the first of the line here under consideration, was born in New Jersey, his father having emigrated (it is believed) from London. England, and served with General Braddock. Later he settled in Pendleton county, Virginia, where he died.
(II ) William, son of Joseph Bennett, was born in Pendleton county, Virginia, 1775, died in 1857. In 1797 he purchased land in Lewis county from George Jackson. He married Rebecca. daughter of James McCally (or McCauley ), an ex-captain in the British marine who resigned to join the colonists in the revolutionary war, and who lived the latter part of his life with William Bennett, and he and his estimable wife were buried on the old farm. William Bennett came to Lewis county in 1707. became prominent, and served on the first grand jury ever empaneled in the county.
I. G. Bennett
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(III) Jonathan McCally, youngest child of William and Rebecca (McCally) Bennett, was born in Lewis county, West Virginia, October 4, 1816, died October 28, 1887. After obtaining such schooling as the locality and times afforded, he was appointed deputy to the county clerk, and was afterwards a deputy sheriff of his county. He finished his edu- cation by a wide range of reading. He studied law and in 1843 was ad- mitted to the bar. He became the first prosecuting attorney of Gilmer county. He formed partnership with Gideon D. Camden, who later was a member of the legislature, judge, and candidate for the United States senate, but was defeated. This partnership continued until 1852, when Mr. Camden was elevated to the bench. In 1846 Mr. Bennett was elected first mayor of Weston. In 1852 he was elected to the legislature, taking the seat vacated by his partner. Mr. Camden. When his term expired he was appointed auditor of public accounts for the state by Governor Wise, which responsible position he held until 1865, making an enviable record as an official. To Mr. Bennett is largely due the fact that Weston is the site of the Hospital for the Insane. In 1853 he was defeated for nomination for congress on the Democratic ticket by only a small margin. At the outbreak of the civil war he was in Richmond, being then auditor of the state of Virginia, and continued as such until the close .of the war. It had been his distinction to be instrumental in securing the appointment of "Stonewall" Jackson to cadetship at West Point, and also to the position of brigadier-general in the Confederate States army, and General Jackson tendered him a position on his staff.
Returning to Weston he resumed his law practice, was elected a mem- ber of the state senate, and was one of the commissioners appointed to negotiate with Virginia relative to the division of the state debt, preparing the most comprehensive review of the subject which has ever been made. He was president of the Weston & Buckhannon railroad, and held with credit many prominent positions of trust and honor in the old and new state. He was an Odd Fellow of high rank.
Mr. Bennett married Margaret Elizabeth, daughter of Captain George W. Jackson, who was born February 9, 1791, died in Lewis county in 1876, a soldier of the war of 1812, who was appointed first lieutenant of the Nineteenth Regiment of Infantry, United States army, by Presi- dent James Madison, on July 6, 1812, and later attained the rank of cap- tain. His father, George Jackson, was a member of the Virginia con- vention which adopted the federal constitution. He was also for years a member of congress from Virginia, and a member at the time of the Burr and Jefferson contest for the presidency. Captain George W. Jack- son was a brother of John G. Jackson, first United States district judge for the western district of Virginia, whose first wife was a sister of Dolly Madison, and his marriage was the first ever celebrated in the White House. His second wife was a daughter of Postmaster-General Meigs of Ohio, and also governor of that state. Two sons and two daughters were born to Jonathan McCally and Margaret E. Bennett: I. Gertrude, wife of Dr. Fleming Howell, of Clarksburg, noted physician and author, a graduate in 1879 from Long Island College, Brooklyn, New York; has served as an officer in the county, state and national medical associations and societies. 2. Mary Lee, wife of Hon. William D. Bowe, of Baltimore, Maryland, a son of the late Governor Bowe, and an ex-member of the state senate. 3-4. William George and Louis, of whom further mention is made.
(IV) Hon. William George Bennett, ex-judge, and a large land owner in this section of West Virginia, son of Jonathan McCally and Margaret Elizabeth ( Jackson) Bennett, was horn January 5. 1847. at Weston, West Virginia. Judge Bennett obtained his early education under
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private tutorship and at private schools in Richmond, Virginia. In 1866 he graduated from the Virginia Military Institute. During his sojourn there he saw something of the civil war. He participated in the battle of New Market, witnessed the engagements about Lynchburg, and was on the firing line when Brigadier-General Hunter destroyed the Institute buildings.
He graduated from the law department of the University of Virginia in 1869 with the degree of LL.B. He was the first member and first presiding officer of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, president of the first congress of the same, and assisted in organizing the University of Virginia Chapter, which still flourishes. He later organized a chapter in Weston. After graduating in law Judge Bennett came to Weston and established a very extensive legal practice in both criminal and civil branches. In his numerous criminal cases he has never had but one criminal convicted of felony whom he defended. He was elected circuit judge as a Democrat in a strong Republican district in 1889 for the term of eight years, and re-elected in 1898, retiring from the bench in Janu- ary, 1905. As an evidence of its appreciation of a just judge, the bar presented him with a magnificent gold watch. He was defeated only by a small margin in 1892, when a candidate for governor of West Virginia. He was nominated hy the Democratic party for justice of the state su- preme court of appeal in 1900, and at the general election received a thousand more votes than any man on his ticket. In 1912 he was the nominee of his party for the same position. He was a delegate to the first Democratic state convention, and has attended every convention since then, and has been chairman of the Democratic state executive committee.
Judge Bennett has been a successful business man as well as a suc- cessful lawyer. He was one of the promoters and organizers of the Clarksburg & Weston narrow gauge railroad, and one of its directors and its attorney for many years. He was also connected in like manner with the Weston & Buckhannon railroad. While yet a young lawyer he was on the State Board of Hospitals for the Insane, and was appointed commissioner to assess railroads for taxation.
Judge Bennett is probably the largest owner of farm lands in Lewis county. He owns six farms comprising over two thousand acres, and his "Riverside Farm" is known throughout the entire country. He is an extensive breeder of fine blooded cattle and standard bred horses. He is a director of the American Association of Trotting Horse Breeders, and director of American Trotting Register Association. He enters his horses in the meets in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and other states and at dis- trict races. While he still follows law practice, his special delight is in horses. He owns a fine breeding and training farm at Beltsville, Mary- land. He joined the Free and Accepted Masons at Weston in 1872, be- ing a member of Weston Lodge, No. 10, and has held most of the offices in that body. He has been grand master of the Grand Lodge of West Virginia, grand high priest of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter. and grand commander of the Grand Commandery of West Virginia. William G. Bennett Lodge, No. 46. of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Walk- ersville, West Virginia, was named after him. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Judge Bennett married, in 1872. Alice, daughter of the late Judge John Brannon, of Weston, by whom six children were born: 1. John Brannon, born April 13. 1873: educated at Episcopal high school. Alex- andria, Virginia ; attended Washington and Lee University and Univer- sity of West Virginia : graduated in the law department of the last named University with the degree of LL.B., 1806, being admitted to the West
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Virginia bar the same year; is now in individual practice at Weston. 2. William George Jr., died when less than two years of age. 3. Hunter M., born November 30, 1876; graduated B. L. from University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. 1897, and after regaining his health grad- uated with the degree of LL.B. from the University of West Virginia, 1903, and was admitted to the state bar ; is now practicing for himself at Weston. 4. William Bland, born September 10, 1883 : educated at Fish- burn Military Academy and at the Virginia Military Institute; now the active farmer of the Bennett family. 5. Margaret, educated at Female Seminary, Winchester, Virginia, and at Mrs. Reed's School, New York ; is now the wife of Robert Crain, a Baltimore lawyer and a prominent Democratic politician. 6. Bertha, educated at Forest Glenn Seminary, Washington, D. C .; now the wife of T. T. Vandergift, a large indepen- dent oil operator of Carlyle, Illinois.
Concerning the Brannon family of which Mrs. Bennett is a member, it may be stated : Alice (Brannon) Bennett is the daughter of Judge John Brannon. of Weston, by his wife, Amanda (Bland) Brannon. Mrs. Bennett's great-grandfather was a native of Ireland, and a soldier in the revolutionary war. Her grandfather, Robert Brannon, born in Berkeley county. Virginia, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and married Catherine Copenhover, of Frederick county, Virginia, both dy- ing at Winchester, Virginia, in 1851. Judge John Brannon was edu- cated at Winchester (Virginia) Academy, studied law there, and was admitted to the Winchester bar in 1846; a year later he located in Wes- ton, West Virginia : he was a member of the legislature in 1852-56; mem- ber of state senate. 1856-61 : initiated legislation creating Insane Hospi- tal at Weston : elected circuit judge in 1872, serving until 1881. He was a brother of Judge Henry Brannon, who was a judge of the supreme court of appeals of West Virginia for twenty-four years.
Amanda (Bland) Brannon, wife of Judge Brannon, was born in Harrison county, daughter of Thomas and Mary ( Newlon) Bland. Thomas Bland removed in 1817 to Lewis county, where he died in 1868. He was a member of the constitutional convention of Virginia : served under General Harrison in the war of 1812: was deputy sheriff and sheriff of Lewis county, West Virginia. His son. Dr. William J. Bland, was his deputy sheriff at the age of seventeen years, and two years later entered the Medical College of Louisville, Kentucky, graduating in 1842 : in 1843 began the practice of his profession at Weston, continuing until 1861, when he went to Richmond and was made surgeon of the Thirty- first Virginia Infantry, and later became chief surgeon of General Wil- liam L. Jackson's cavalry brigade. He served during the entire civil war, except such time required at Richmond as member of the house of dele- gates. He resumed practice in Weston, continuing until 1892, when he removed to Clarksburg. From 1881 to 1889 he was superintendent of the Insane Hospital at Weston, and is an ex-president of the West Vir- ginia State Medical Society.
(IV) Hon. Louis Bennett, youngest son of Jonathan McCally and Margaret Elizabeth (Jackson) Bennett, was born at Weston. West Vir- ginia, November 27, 1849. He attended the private and public schools of Weston and Richmond, Virginia, and was appointed a midshipman in the Confederate States navy in 1865. After the war he attended the Collegiate Preparatory School of Judge Richard Coleman at Fredericks- burg, Virginia. Later he entered the University of Virginia, graduating there in law in 1871. He then accepted the private secretaryship of Pro- fessor Charles S. Lewis, state superintendent of West Virginia free schools. He was committee clerk in the state senate and while there was appointed principal of the State Normal School at Glenville, West Vir-
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ginia, which position he retained three years, resigning to take up the legal practice at Weston. But he abandoned this idea for a year to become principal of the Weston high school, having been appointed such without his solicitation or knowledge. He then took up law in earnest and soon acquired a large and successful practice, from which his other large and increasing business interests have in late years practically caused him to retire.
He was elected prosecuting attorney for Lewis county in 1880 and re-elected in 1884. In 1890 he was elected member of the West Virginia house of delegates as a Democrat, and was made its speaker in 1891. He has held many offices of trust and honor with signal credit, and has come to be looked upon as one of the leaders in the party of his choice in West Virginia. He has more than once been spoken of as the proper man for United States senator. In 1904 he was a Parker and Davis elector-at-large, and in 1908 the Democratic nominee for governor, but was defeated, though he led his ticket by a large vote. He is among the largest landowners in the state and partly through his realty has derived a large fortune. He is also extensively interested in coal and in oil and gas wells, from which he realizes a handsome income. Always loyal to his home city and county he has ever taken a leading place in all that tends to add to their progress and welfare, and he is ever ready to aid and co-operate with those of less affluent circumstances. He has sev- eral large well improved farms in the state, and delights in fine stock of all kind. His is truly a busy life, and he gives personal attention, wherever possible, to each of his many business interests. He is president of the Lewis County Bank; president of the Weston Electric Light, Power & Water Company, and president and director of many other banks and cor- porations. He ranks high in Masonry, and is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. Despite his business activities he nevertheless finds time to enjoy the lighter side of life, his principal pleasure being found in travel with his family.
In 1889 Mr. Bennett married Sallie, daughter of the late James and Ruth Maxwell. James Maxwell was a prominent merchant and banker at Wheeling, West Virginia. They have had three children: James Maxwell, deceased : Agra, who after graduating at St. Mary's Hall, Burlington, New Jersey, completed her education in Paris and was pre- sented at the first court of King George V .: Louis Jr., a student at St. Luke's School preparatory to college.
PEADRO John Peadro, the first member of this family about whom we have definite information, died in Randolph county, Virginia, in 1831. He was a farmer in that county. His death was due to an accident on the railroad. He married Tacy Butcher. Children : John Washington, of whom further; Henry, Mandeville, Lafayette, Anne, Elizabeth.
(II) John Washington, son of John and Tacy ( Butcher) Peadro, was born in Randolph county, Virginia, in 1830, died May 30, 1902. From Randolph county he moved into Wood county, Virginia. He was engaged in contracting and built bridges and large buildings. For four years he was assessor of Wood county. He married Amelia L., daughter of Thomas H. and Sallie (Saunders) Brooks; he died in 1867, and she died in 1875. Children: John Thomas, of whom further; Lucy L., died in 1900; Rose A., married Speed S. Goodloe.
(III) John Thomas, son of John Washington and Amelia L. ( Brooks) Peadro, was born in Wood county, Virginia, February 8, 1857. He was educated in a subscription school and in the public schools of Parkersburg,
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West Virginia. For many years, from 1879, he was in the service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, and in 1897 he was promoted to be local agent at Parkersburg, which position he held for two years. In 1901 he entered into the fire insurance business, at Parkersburg, and in this Mr. Peadro is still engaged. For a number of years he was assessor of Parkersburg, having been first appointed to this office in 1899. In this capacity he made in 1900 a re-assessment of the Parkersburg district. He was a charter member of the Blennerhassett Club.
Mr. Peadro married, November 10, 1908, Daisy Mathiot, daughter of Andrew Clark and Ruth Anne (Dorsey) Stephenson.
WILLIAMS Members of the Williams family have figured promi- nently in business life in various sections of Ohio. Ebenezer Williams was born in Llanon Caermarthen, Wales, April 15, 1816, died August 22, 1886. During his lifetime he was actively engaged in coal mining and in general merchandising in Meigs county, Ohio. He was very successful until 1884 when heavy floods damaged all his merchandise and flooded his mines. He married Mary Thomas, who died January 5, 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Williams had eleven children, John E., mentioned below, and Gwennie, who was the wife of David Lewis, of Minersville, but is now divorced, being the sole surviv- ors at this time.
(II) John E., son of Ebenezer and Mary (Thomas) Williams, was born at Minersville, Ohio, April 26, 1850. He was educated in the com- mon schools of his native place and as a young boy began to work in his father's mines. He learned the business from the bottom up, begin- ningn by digging coal and ditches and driving mules. He displayed so intelligent an interest in mining and was so ambitious for advancement that he soon became thoroughly familiar with every phase of that in- dustry and at the age of fourteen years began clerking in the store, at nineteen took charge of a coal office in Portsmouth, Ohio, at twenty- one took full charge of his father's business. In the year 1884 every- thing was swept away by the immense floods in Ohio, all the mines were drowned, the timber destroyed and the goods in the store damaged. This caused the business to fail in 1885 and Mr. Williams compromised with his father's creditors on a basis of sixty cents for a dollar. He fought out the debt, gradually paid it up and in due time built up a new business for himself out of the wreckage. Prior to 1893 he was the owner of a inely equipped store, a prosperous coal mine, several barges and a tow boat. He also leased and operated a large salt furnace. In 1893 the financial panic brought things to a crisis with him and about that time the duty was taken off coal and salt. This combination of circumstances again caused failure, but Mr. Williams rose bravely to the emergency and with the passage of time managed to recuperate his finances. In 1897 he came to Williamson and three years later managed to obtain an option on some valuable lands in West Virginia. This proved a great investment and he is again practically independent. January 2, 1910, he opened up the finest grocery store in Williamson and now controls the greater of the first class trade of this place. He is the owner of some valuable real estate in Williamson, and has coal-land interest in the state. His persistency and determination to succeed in spite of all obstacles that beset his path show him to be a man of unusual strength of character and of sterling integrity. He is a Republican in his political convictions, and in religious matters believes in the Presbyterian faith. In a fraternal way he has passed through the circle of the York Rite branch of Mason- ry, being a Knight Templar. Although he does not take an active part in
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