USA > West Virginia > West Virginia and its people, Volume II > Part 60
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CHAFIN The progenitor of this family in West Virginia was Wil-
liam Chafin, who was born in Virginia, and at an early date located in Logan county, West Virginia, where for many years he was a successful farmer. He married Sally Deskins.
(II) John, son of William and Sally (Deskins) Chafin, was born in Logan county, West Virginia, died there December 9, 1885. He at- tended the schools of his native county. He was a Democrat in politics, and prominent in the council of his party. He served as county clerk of Logan county, and clerk of the circuit court for Logan county for eigh- teen years. He married Isabelle Lunsford, a native of Virginia, daugh- ter of Rev. A. M. and Sally ( Holmes) Lunsford. Her father was for many years a prominent clergyman in the Christian church, and died about 1890. Mrs. Chafin, now Mrs. Justice, resides in Logan, West Vir- ginia.
(III) John (2), son of John ( I) and Isabelle (Lunsford) Chafin. was born in Logan, West Virginia, October 4, 1880. He was educated in the public schools of his native. city, and in 1901 entered the law de- partment of the University of West Virginia at Morgantown, graduating in 1903. He was admitted to the bar in this latter year, and in January. 1904. began the practice of his profession in Logan, which he has con- tinued until the present time. He is now associated in his practice with Robert Bland. Mr. Chafin is meeting with marked success in his pro- fessional labors and is considered one of the leading young attorneys in his county. In politics he is a Democrat. In the fall of 1904 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Logan county for a term of four years.
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In 1912 he was re-elected to the same office. He is a member of Christ Church, and is filling his position with marked ability.
He married, May 11, 1907, Gertrude Herald, horn in Cabell county, West Virginia, December 4, 1887, daughter of Stephen and Minnie Her- ald, of Logan county. Her father is a prominent railway contractor and merchant in Logan county. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Chafin, namely : John, who died at the age of eleven and a half months ; Margarett Virginia, born June 24. 1910; James Herald, born February 24, 1913.
BIRD Families of this name are numerous throughout England. The name is found in many counties in that country.
(I) James Bird, the first member of this famliy about whom we have definite information, was born in Highland county, Virginia, in 1830, died in Upshur county, West Virginia, in 1864, from bronchial trouble, he being present in that county on a visit. He was a farmer and stockman. In the civil war he was a Union man and served as a captain of militia. He married Mary Hiner, who died August 30, 1907; she is buried in Green Hill churchyard, Highland county, Virginia. Children : I. Benjamin Franklin, born in Highland county, Virginia, and came into Pocahontas county, West Virginia, in 1869, died in 1894. 2. Martha, wife of Reece Bird. 3. Emma, married J. C. Dilley, of Marlinton, West Virginia ; children : Early, Orval, Ruby. 4. Uriah, of whom further.
( II) Uriah, son of James and Mary (Hiner ) Bird, was born in Highland county, Virginia, January 4, 1850. He was educated in the schools of Highland county, and then was engaged for fifteen years in teaching school in Pocahontas county, West Virginia. After this he was elected county superintendent of schools, and held this position for two terms in Pocahontas county, West Virginia. He was engaged in milling and farming, at Millpoint, Pocahontas county, West Virginia, and after disposing of the mill he removed to Marlinton, but still owns a farm near Marlinton and supervises it. In Marlinton, which has from that time been his place of residence, Mr. Bird engaged in the surveying of land, in Pocahontas, Highland, Greenbrier, and other neighboring counties, partly in Virginia, partly in West Virginia. He was engineer for the Pocahontas Tanning Company up to April 5, 1905, on which date he was seriously injured in a Chesapeake & Ohio railroad wreck. He is a stock- holder of the First National Bank, at Marlinton, and director in the Bank of Marlinton. In 1896 he was elected justice of the peace for Edray district, Pocahontas county, and he served in this capacity for four years. In 1906 he was appointed to fill a vacancy in this office, and on the expiration of his term, two years later, Mr. Bird was elected to this office, receiving the nominations of the Republican and the Democratic parties, and he is still holding this office. He has presided over many hundreds of preliminary examinations and jurisdictional cases. Fra- ternally he is a Mason, a member of Marlinton Blue Lodge, No. 128, and of Ronceverte Chapter, No. 21, Royal Arch Masons.
Mr. Bird married Susan, daughter of Elijah and Margaret (Dever ) Hudson, of Pocahontas county. Mr. and Mrs. Bird are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Bird: I. Louressie, married Lloyd Moore, a building contractor at Lynchburg. Virginia : children : Jessie, Beulah, Edna, Lillian. 2. J. Howard, a lum- berman at Durbin, West Virginia: married Virgia, daughter of Dr. Escrage : child, Ina. 3. Mary Edna, married W. W. Tyree, an insurance agent : they live at Elkins, West Virginia ; children: Ward. Mary Gale, Willie Bird. 4. Gertrude, married George Spangler, a drummer ; they live
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at Macon, Georgia ; children : Ralph, Susan, J. C. Uriah. 5. Elva, mar- ried W. H. R. Terry, a railroad superintendent on the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad; they live at Clifton Forge, Virginia ; children : Margaret, W. H. R. Jr. 6. Libbie, married Frank King, a builder and contractor ; they live at Marlinton ; child, Eleanor. 7. Ona, married Arnold Gladwell, a barber; they live at Marlinton; children: Paul, Lucille, Thomas. 8. Mabel, married Henry Gay, a merchant ; they live at Buckhannon, West Virginia ; child, Evilin Jane.
This is one of the old and prominent families of Preston
BAKER county. The founder of the family was Lucius C. Baker, an early settler of Independence and a leading Democratic politician, widely known throughout the state. He was a delegate to all Democratic conventions, and was a member of Preston county court for twelve years, being a justice of the peace in this county for an equal length of time. He was engaged in the harness and saddlery business, and was for many years a prominent member of the Knights of Labor. When the civil war broke out he enlisted in Company A, Tenth West Virginia Volunteers, known as the "West Virginia Bloody Tenth," and served with the Union forces throughout the entire war. He accompan- ied General Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, his company capturing one of the last pieces of General Lee's artillery before the surrender at Appomattox. He was an officer of the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows. He was a man held in high esteem in this part of the country, through his services, civil and military, in the cause of the country's prosperity, and his long career in the county court and as justice of the peace entitled him to an unusual degree of respect and gave weight to his advice and judgment in matters of the law. He married Indiana A. Smith and among their children was Frank C., of whom further.
(II) Frank C., son of Lucius C. and Indiana A. (Smith) Baker, was born at Independence. Preston county, West Virginia, October 24, 1879. He was educated in the public schools of Preston county, West Virginia, after which he attended the Mountain State Business College at Parkers- burg, graduating from that institution in the year 1897. Shortly after his return home he made his entry into business life, being appointed as- sistant county clerk of Tucker county by William Caton. After the ex- piration of his term of office Mr. Baker engaged in mercantile business in Parsons, continuing thus for about three years and a half, and then established himself in his present business of writing all kinds of insur- ance. He has been very active in charitable and humane work, and has been appointed by Governor Glasscock as president of the State Board of Directors of the Humane Society. He is also supervisor of the Chil- dren's Home at Elkins, West Virginia. He has attended various chari- ties conventions, and was a West Virginia delegate to the International Board of Charities, convened at Boston in 1911; throughout the country he is widely known as a most vigilant and efficient officer in all such gath- erings and enterprises. As a politician Mr. Baker is an exceedingly ac- tive member of the Democratic party, taking a great interest in the po- litical and public affairs of the state. He joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Parsons Lodge, No. 39, in the year 1900; he has held all the chairs of the Grand Lodge, and has taken an active interest in the management of the Odd Fellows' Home.
Mr. Baker married Anna B., daughter of Gilbert Woodruff, a retired farmer of Jackson county, West Virginia. Mrs. Baker is a very active member of the Southern Methodist Church, taking an energetic inter- est in all of the various church enterprises. She is treasurer of the
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Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and secretary of the West Vir- ginia Ladies' Home Missionary Society. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have no children.
EVANS
Edward Evans, the first of the line herein described, mar- ried and had a son Hugh, of whom further.
(II) Hugh, son of Edward Evans, born 1769, in Mon- ongalia, Preston county, Virginia, died in Evansville, West Virginia, 1873. He was a man who was honored and respected by every one who knew him. He married a Miss Thomas and had children: James, Sam- uel, of whom further ; Nancy, Hugh, Sarah, Rolley, William.
(III ) Samuel, son of Hugh Evans, born at Evansville, Virginia, 1807, died at Evansville, 1889. He followed the occupation of farm- ing and stock dealing. He married Sarah Carroll. Children: Eliza- beth, married William Keener: Hugh, born 1823, died 1892, married (first ) - - - Shroyer, ( second ) Jane Jones, child by first wife, John S., by second wife, Mollie : Isaac, of whom further : John, William, James, Samuel, Nancy.
(IV) Isaac, son of Samuel Evans, was born in Evansville, Preston county, Virginia, February 9, 1833, being one of eight children. He spent his early days on his father's farm, and later was employed by the contractors in the construction of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad across the mountains east of Grafton, and after the completion of the road to Wheeling was made a conductor, which position he held for a number of years. The life of a railroader did not appeal to him and he retired to Fetterman, West Virginia, where he turned his attention to butchering and tanning, and also carried on farming operations in the immediate vicinity of this town. Politically he was a Democrat and was always active in the political affairs of his county, and though often urged to accept office himself he always declined. He was a trustee in what is now called the West Main Street Methodist Episcopal Church from its organization prior to the war. On April 12, 1860, he mar- ried Sarah, daughter of Samuel Jones, of Knottsville. Children: Na- than, Fannie, Martha J., Charles W., of whom further ; George W., Eliz- abeth A., Joseph Lee, Sallie, Hugh, Clark.
(V) Charles W., second son and fourth child of Isaac Evans, was born at the old town of Fetterman, Taylor county, West Virginia, De- cember 18, 1867. He attended the public schools of this place, where he received his first preparation as a teacher. He taught his first school known as the Poe School, in Fetterman district, in 1885-86. He later at- tended the Fairmont State Normal School, from which he graduated in 1887, and finished his education in the West Virginia University at Morgantown. He taught school for thirteen years, three years as prin- cipal of the Fetterman graded school, seven years as teacher of mathe- matics in the Fairmont State Normal School, and in the summer of 1897 was elected city superintendent of schools at Fairmont, West Vir- ginia, which position he held for three years. During this period of school work, he was prominent in the educational affairs of West Vir- ginia, and assisted in conducting Teachers' Institutes in several counties of the state. In the year 1900 he entered the field of fire and casualty insurance, in which business he continues at the present time. At the general election in 1910, ten years after retiring from teaching, he was nominated and elected to the position of county superintendent of pub- lic schools of Marion county, but owing to his large business interests he resigned this position, believing that it was a position which required the undivided attention of the man who attempted to fill it. In June,
any
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19II, after a reorganization of the Fairmont Board of Trade under the name of Fairmont Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Evans was elected its secretary, which position he still holds. Mr. Evans has always been a public-spirited citizen. In addition to his being secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, he was one of the first directors of the Fairmont Business Men's Association, and a director in the Fairmont Young Men's Chris- tian Association. Mr. Evans is a charter member of Mountain City Lodge, No. 48, Knights of Pythias ; belongs to Fairmont Lodge, No. 9, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is one of the officials of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Fairmont. He has always been identified with church and religious movements, and while yet in his teens was superintendent of his home Sunday school in the town of Fet- terman for several years, and is now serving his eighteenth year as su- perintendent of the First Methodist Episcopal Sunday school in Fair- mont. In the year 1908 he had the honor of being elected to represent the lay electoral conference of West Virginia as delegate to the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church which convened in Balti- more, Maryland.
He married, August 15, 1894, Lillie, daughter of Isaac Newton and Sarah (Pritchard) Lough. Children: A son, born March 9, 1907, died in infancy, and Sarah Elizabeth, October 3, 1909. Lillie (Lough) Evans is of revolutionary ancestry, being a lineal descendant of William Pritchard who served in that war, enlisting as private in 1776, for three years, in Captain Alexander Lawson Smith's company, General Daniel Morgan's regiment. The line of descent is as follows: William Pritch- ard married Amelia Knotts ; their son, William Pritchard, married Han- nah Meredith ; their son, Davis Pritchard, married Millie Dawson ; their daughter, Sarah Pritchard, born July 20, 1848, married Isaac Newton Lough, born July 7, 1849; their daughter, Lillie, married Charles W. Evans.
CULLINAN Michael J. Cullinan, of the Ohio county bar, is one of the most prominent of the junior members of the pro- fession in the northern portion of the state. He was born March 25, 1880, studied law at West Virginia University, complet- ing the course in 1904, when he entered practice in Wetzel county, this state. In 1909 he moved to Wheeling where he formed a partnership with ex-Congressman B. B. Dovener, under the firm name of Dovener & Cullinan, which continued until 1909 when the firm dissolved and since then Mr. Cullinan has practiced alone. Mr. Cullinan is president of the West Virginia Alumni Association, of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, and president of the Carroll Club of Wheeling, West Virginia.
COLEMAN Seaton Lorenzo Coleman was born in Ireland, where he passed his boyhood and youth and whence he immi- grated to the United States as a young man, settling first in Maryland. In middle life he came to Fayette county, West Vir- ginia, and here was a prominent and influential farmer during the re- mainder of his lifetime. He married and had a son Seaton, mentioned below.
(II) Seaton, son of Seaton Lorenzo Coleman, was born on the old homestead farm near Ansted, Fayette county, West Virginia, March 3. 1832. He grew up under pioneer influences and tells many an interest- ing tale about the packs of wolves and other wild animals that infested the region about his home. At the time of the outbreak of the civil war
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he entered the Confederate service and during the progress of the war participated in a number of decisive battles. He was captured by the Union army and held in duress in the Lewisburg prison for several months but eventually escaped from that place by means of a tunnel that took him twelve days to dig. His entire active career was devoted to farming operations on the old home farm in Fayette county and there he resided until 1908, when he came to live with his son, Dr. Coleman, of Fayetteville. His wife, Lydia (Skaggs) Coleman, was born a quarter of a mile distant from the old Coleman farm, and she died in 1908, aged seventy-two years. There were five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Seaton Coleman : Charles, died in 1908, at the age of twenty-eight years ; James Emory, mentioned below ; Robert L., lives at Beckwith, West Vir- ginia ; Howard E., resident of Clifftop, this state; George W.
(III) Dr. James Emory Coleman, son of Seaton and Lydia (Skaggs) Coleman, was born on his father's farm in the vicinity of Ansted, Fay- ette county, West Virginia, June 23, 1868. He early began to assist his father in the work and management of the home farm, and his early edu- cational training was obtained in the public schools of Ansted. This dis- cipline was later supplemented with a course in the Kentucky School of Medicine, in which excellent institution he has graduated as a member of the class of 1894 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediate- ly after graduation he located at Ansted, where he controlled an exten- sive medical practice for the following four years. He came to Fayette- ville in 1898 and here has won renown as one of the leading physicians and surgeons in Fayette county. In 1906 he built and equipped the Fay- etteville Hospital, which is the only private hospital in the county and which enjoys a very good business. The hospital is equipped with all the latest devices for operating and every conceivable comfort is furn- ished the patients. Dr. Coleman performs most of the surgical work in this region and in this connection has proved wonderfully skilled. He is affiliated with a number of representative medical organizations, and his professional career excites the admiration and has won the respect of his contemporaries. In a calling in which one has to gain reputation by merit, he has advanced steadily until he is acknowledged as the superior of most of the members of the profession in this part of the state, having long since left the ranks of the many to stand among the successful few. Dr. Coleman was one of the founders of the Bank of Fayette and is a heavy stockholder in that substantial financial institution. In politics he is a stal- wart Republican, and in a fraternal way is affiliated with the Masons, be- ing a Knight Templar and a Shriner. He was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian church.
Dr Coleman married, on Christmas Day, 1895, at Cross Lane, West Virginia, Blanche Malcolm, a native of Nicholas county, West Virginia. Mrs. Coleman's father, John G. Malcolm, is now living at Cross Lane, where he is a prominent merchant and ex-sheriff. Her mother, whose maiden name was Lydia Remick, is still living, her home being at Cross Lane. The Malcolm family is one of Scotch descent and representatives of the name were pioneer settlers in Nicholas county, West Virginia. Dr. and Mrs. Coleman are the parents of three children, namely: Sher- rill Malcolm, Conrad, Imogene.
DOWNS Berkeley county, Virginia, was the home of this family
back in the eighteenth century, and many of its descend- dants are now within adjoining states, including those of West Virginia, of which Harry Allen Downs, of Martinsburg, is one, The earlier generations of which there is an account were pioneer
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builders, and aided in transforming the wilderness and waste into a charming, well developed land, wherein is plenty and prosperity.
(I) Charles Downs erected the first flouring mill at Falling Waters, Berkeley county, Virginia, and was probably born in the latter part ot the eighteenth century, not long after the revolutionary struggle. He was one of the largest land owners in the county, and died in the seventy- sixth year of his age on the old Downs homestead.
(II) Davenport, son of Charles Downs, was a native of Falling Waters, Berkeley county, Virginia, now in West Virginia, and became a ranchman in Iowa, spending many years of his life near Wapello, that state, where he died. He was a Republican. He possessed great indus- try, using his every effort in Iowa to build up a great commonwealthi. He married a Miss La Fever and had two sons, Joseph Allen, of whom further ; William Smith. The mother died at Wapello, Iowa. She was a member of the Lutheran church.
(III) Joseph Allen, son of Davenport Downs, was born August 20, 1856, in Wapello county, Iowa, where the family became early pioneers. He was reared, however, on the farm of Sayle Van Meter, in Berkeley county, West Virginia, near the city of Martinsburg. His education was obtained at the public schools, graduating at Hyde's Seminary in Martinsburg. He followed teaching in and near Martinsburg, and be- came principal of the fifth ward schools of Martinsburg, where he re- mained until his death, April 19, 1901, aged forty-four years. Politically he was a Republican, but never cared for public offices, being content as an up-to-date educator. He married Caroline Jennett, born near Mar- tinsburg, daughter of Tilottson Evans, the youngest in a family of seven sons. He was a farmer of Berkeley county, Virginia, where he died. He was a son of James Evans, who was one of the first settlers of the state, also of Indian Jame, at what is now known as Big Spring, Ber- keley county, where he ran Evans' fort or blockade against the Indians. His wife was Mary Ann (Orr) Evans. The children of Tilottson Evans, beside Mrs. Downs, were: I. James W. B., married Mollie Orcutt; he was county school superintendent in Berkeley county several years, and one of his sons was holding the office in 1911 ; their children were six in number. 2. Emma Virginia, married George Davenport Swimley ; three children. 3. Nellie, married Russell Sperow. Joseph Allen and Caroline J. (Evans) Downs had children: 1. William Smith, born in Martins- burg, 1883; attended public schools of his native city, and in 1901 en- tered the State University at Morgantown, graduating from the engin- eering department in 1905 with degree of B. S. C. E .; after his gradua- tion he was connected with the Bolivian government in South America for two years in railroad building, afterwards returning to the states and locating at Kingwood, West Virginia, and is now engaged as engineer for the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Hydro-Electric Company; married Nellie Jane Albright. 2. Harry Allen, of whom further. 3. Mary Ethel, born in Martinsburg, August 20, 1894; unmarried; now in Randolph Macon Woman's College. The father was a Lutheran, while the mother was of the Presbyterian church faith. He was a deacon in his church.
(IV) Harry Allen, son of Joseph Allen and Caroline J. (Evans) Downs, was born at Martinsburg, West Virginia, February 14, 1886. He spent his youth in the city of his nativity, attended the public schools, graduated from the high school in 1905, from the West Virginia Uni- versity (law department) in the spring of 1907. with the degree of LL. B. He has been engaged in the practice of law, succeeding W. H. Thomas, in whose office he was until he removed from the place. In college he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity ; a member of
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the Delta Chi law fratenity; Theta Nu Epsilon, cap sheaf of the great fraternities. He was a member of the Varsity base ball team three years, and was in a foot ball team for two years. In 1907 he was presi- dent of the law class. In 1908 he took a post-graduate course. Po- litically Mr. Downs is a Republican. At present ( 1911) he is a member of the congressional committee, in the second congressional district, for the party to which he belongs.
In 1912 Mr. Downs was nominated by the Republican party for the office of prosecuting attorney, and was defeated only after a strenuous campaign, in November, 1912. After the election of Dr. Hatfield as governor of West Virginia, Mr. Downs was prominently mentioned for the appointment of assistant attorney general of the state. In January, 1913, Mr. Downs was appointed United States commissioner by Judge A. G. Dayton of the United States district court, for the Northern Dis- trict of West Virginia. He is exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge, No. 778, at Martinsburg; a member of the Royal Arcanum and the Loyal Order of Moose, No. 120, of Martinsburg. He is a member of the board of governors of the Elks Home. He served as delegate to the conven- tion that met at Bluefield, and chairman of the Elks Reunion Associa- tion of West Virginia. He attends the Lutheran church.
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