USA > West Virginia > West Virginia and its people, Volume II > Part 67
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He has been connected with a number of business enterprises in this section. He is president of the Greenbrier Springs Company, a director of the National Bank of Summers from its organization, president of the Hinton Hardware Company, stockholder in the Ewart-Miller Company and in other companies. It was he and R. R. Flanagan who first pro- jected a bridge across New river at Hinton, on the site afterwards occu- pied by the Hinton Toll Bridge Company. This was about ten years prior to the erection of the bridge, and they decided that the population at that time and probable patronage were not sufficient to justify the business investment, which was accordingly abandoned for that time. He has written a history of his county.
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Mr. Miller married, February 1, 1882, Jane Tompkins, daughter of James Henry and Margaret Ann ( Munsey) Miller, of whom above. Chil- dren : James Henry Jr., Grace Chapman, Jean, Daisy Corinne.
HARMISON Morgan county, West Virginia, figures as one of the most attractive, progressive and prosperous divisions of the state, justly claiming a high order of citizenship and a spirit of enterprise which is certain to conserve consecutive devel- opment and marked advancement in the material upbuilding of this sec- tion. The county has been and is signally favored in the class of men who have contributed to its development along commercial and agricul- tural lines, and in the latter connection the family mentioned herein de- mands recognition as its various representatives for the past few genera- tions have been actively engaged in farming operations.
(I) Elijah Harmison is the earliest member of this family of whom anything definite is known. The place of his nativity and the date of his birth are not known, but during the greater part of his active career he was engaged in agricultural operations in the vicinity of Sleepy Creek, Morgan county, Virginia, where he passed the closing years of his life. He was a Whig in his political faith but was not incumbent of any public offices. He married and had five children : I. Isaac, married Eliza Barn- hart and they became the parents of ten children, as follows : Sarah, died unmarried ; Rebecca, became the wife of Charles A. Martin and they are residents of Oklahoma; William, married Margaret Gardner, lives in Ohio, and they have two children, George and Anna ; Elizabeth, wife of Lewis Allen, and they have three children : Robert E., H. D. and Letha ; Ezra. died unmarried; Ellen, died unmarried; Mary, wife of John A. Pittcoc and they have one child, May: Samuel, died unmarried; Abra- ham, married Alice Laign and they have one child, Isa Laign Harmison; Phoebe, died young. 2. Thomas, mentioned below. 3. David, died un- married. 4. Samuel, married Ann Tyson and they had three children: Jane, wife of William Edwards: Mary S .: Rachel, wife of Samuel Al- bright. 5. Abigail, married James Courtney.
(II) Thomas, son of Elijah Harmison, was born near Sleepy Creek, Morgan county, West Virginia, June 10, 1813, died at Sleepy Creek, January 3, 1883, at the age of sixty-nine years. He was reared to ma- turity in the place of his nativity and was educated in the neighboring district schools. He was engaged in farming during his lifetime, and while not a politician in the truest sense of the word was deeply inter- ested in public affairs and gave his support to the Republican party. He married Phoebe Mahala Rankin, a native of Berkeley Springs, Morgan county, now West Virginia, daughter of Simeon and Matilda ( Fardon) Rankin, both of whom are deceased. Mr. Rankin was engaged in the lumber business in Morgan county prior to his demise, at the age of sev- enty years. There were six children in the Rankin family and concern- ing them the following brief data are here incorporated: Simeon, died about 1858, at the age of fifty-five years; Aaron Franklin, died in 1872, aged forty years: Mary (or Polly ) deceased : Mariah, deceased ; Jane, died in 1909, at the age of eighty-three years; Phoebe Mahala, wife of Thomas Harmison, died in 1881. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Harmison : 1. John Franklin, killed as a soldier in the Union army in the civil war ; Morgan Simeon, mentioned below.
(III) Morgan Simeon, son of Thomas and Phoebe Mahala (Rankin) Harmison, was born near Berkeley Springs, now West Virginia, Febru- ary 14, 1852. He spent his early life on his father's farm in the vicinity of Sleepy Creek, where he was reared and educated. After reaching
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years of maturity he turned his attention to farming on his own account and is now the owner of a fine estate of two hundred acres in Morgan county, on which he is engaged in diversified agriculture. He is a Re- publican in his political allegiance and has served his party in various official capacities of public trust and responsibility. He was sheriff of Morgan county for a period of four years, and in 1902 was elected county clerk of Morgan county, serving in the latter position for nine years. He is a director in the Morgan County Bank at Berkeley Springs and is financially interested in a number of important local enterprises. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Odd Fellows, having passed through all the official chairs of the Lodge and Encampment. He is like- wise connected with the Junior Order of the United American Mechanics. In their religious faith he and his wife are devout members of the United Brethren church.
Mr. Harmison married, September 28, 1876, Martha Prudence Thompson, a native of Sleepy Creek, now West Virginia, where her birth occurred March 21, 1859, daughter of Samuel and Ellen ( McBee) Thompson, both of whom were born and reared in Morgan county, West Virginia, and the latter of whom died in July, 1878, at the age of forty years. Samuel Thompson is a prominent and influential farmer in Mor- gan county. Concerning the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomp- son the following facts are here inserted: I. John W., married Mahala Kerns: both lived and died in Cumberland, Maryland, their children were: Mathias, Edith, Clara, Eliza, Lizzie, John, Mary. 2. Martha Pru- dence, now Mrs. Morgan S. Harmison. 3. Phoebe Jane, married James M. Starliper ; they live in Morgan county ; four children : Ella, Ida, Nan- nie, Charles. 4. Anna M., wife of Edward F. Risinger ; seven children : Edith, William, Samuel, Nellie, Lester, Opal, Donald. 5. Jacob S., mar- . ried Alice Tedrick ; they reside in Washington, Pennsylvania ; five chil- dren : William, Lilly, George, Harry, Anna. 6. Ida MI., wife of John A. Risinger ; they are residents of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. 7. Alger, mar- ried Ollie Kidney ; they maintain their home at Berkeley Springs; three children : Lottie, Ethel, Royal. 8. O. H., married Mattie Luttman : they live in Johnstown, Pennsylvania ; one child, John F. 9. Ira A. married Laura Clark; they reside at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; two children : Nellie and Lola. 10. Ella, wife of Jackson Star- liper ; they live at Hedgesville, Berkeley county, West Virginia ; six chil- dren : Ira, Frederick, Anna, Nora, Paul, Howard. Mr. and Mrs. Har- mison had thirteen children, ten of whom are living and all of whom reside in Morgan county, West Virginia, except one. I. Clara Jane, wife of C. R. Havermale ; they have one child, Fred, born in 1908. 2. Mor- gan Samuel, married Nellie Custer ; they are residents of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. 3. Bessie Mahala, married G. C. Hunter ; one child, Hugh. 4. Martha May, unmarried ; resides at home, as do all the younger chil- dren. 5. Lola E. 6. Etta. 7. Ethel. 8. Katie. 9. George S. 10. Frank. John F., Carrie E. and William T. are deceased.
MATZ Samuel Lewis Matz was born in Russia, August 22, 1875,
and is a son of George' Matz, who later came to America and is now living in Chicago, Illinois. Samuel Lewis Matz emi- grated from Russia when eleven years of age and landed at New York City. He obtained work in a tailoring shop, and after one month, hav- ing saved his wages, he removed to Pocahontas, Virginia, and entered the employ of a clothing merchant, with whom he remained for five years. He then went to Chicago, Illinois, remaining for two years, when he re- turned to Pocahontas and established himself as a merchant tailor with
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a capital of one hundred and fifty dollars, which in one year he increased to three thousand dollars. In 1902 he disposed of his tailoring business and entered the liquor and hotel trade, in which he still continues. On September 8, 1908, he opened the Stag Hotel in Bluefield, West Virginia, and on June 6, 1910, he completed and opened to the public the Hotel Matz, which is considered one of the finest of its kind in the state. It is of fireproof construction throughout, contains one hundred and twenty- four sleeping rooms, is luxuriously furnished, and in addition to a fully equipped laundry, possesses a modern and complete cold storage plant with all the facilities for manufacturing ice for the use of the hotel, also one of finest Turkish baths in the south. Mr. Matz is considered one of the most progressive and public-spirited citizens of Bluefield. He is a Republican in politics : was elected as councilman of fourth ward in the city of Bluefield, at the regular election on May 6, 1913, for a term of two years. He is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
He married, at Pocahontas, Virginia, January 7, 1896, Mary, daugh- ter of Abraham Davis, born in Austria, September 5, 1879. Her father later emigrated to America, and is now living in New York City. Chil- dren of Samuel Lewis and Mary ( Davis) Matz : Maxie, born March 10, 1897: Bessie Helen; Lily: Ray: Isadore: Anna; Nettie: Esther, born January 1, 1910: Sylvia, born February 19. 1912, On December 15, 19II, Mr. Matz moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, in order to give his children better educational advantages.
ARBUCKLE This is one of those old Virginia families which pau- city of records, due in part, but not wholly, to the ravages of war, probably makes it impossible longer to trace to the immigrant ancestor. The family has long been found in Greenbrier county, and was certainly in Virginia before the revolution. Captain Matthew Arbuckle was guide to the Augusta county troops who took part in the battle of Point Pleasant.
( I) Alexander Welch Arbuckle, the first member of this family about whom we have definite information, lived in Greenbrier county, Virginia, died in 1871. He married Child, John Davis, of whom further.
(II) John Davis, son of Alexander Welch Arbuckle, is a farmer and stockman in Greenbrier county, West Virginia, also a breeder of horses. He married Elizabeth Van Lear, born in Augusta county, Virginia; the Van Lears are a long-settled and prominent Greenbrier county family. Child. John Alexander, of whom further.
(III) Dr. John Alexander Arbuckle, son of John Davis and Elizabeth (Van Lear) Arbuckle, was born in Greenbrier county, West Virginia., May 19. 1872. He attended the public schools, and graduated from Hampden-Sidney College in 1892 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. While he was a student at Hampden-Sidney, he was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and an officer therein, and was generally in- terested in the student activities. Thereafter he took a special course in science in the University of Virginia, and he received a certificate upon completion of this course. For the next three years he held the chair of science in the State School at Tallahassee, Florida. Going then to the University College of Medicine at Richmond, Virginia, he studied for three years under Professor Hunter McGuire, and at the same time was assistant instructor in chemistry and science in the Woman's College. In 1901 he graduated in medicine and began practice at Lewisburg, West Virginia ; he also held for three years the chair of sciences in the Lewis- burg Female Institute. After this he did special work with Dr. Herman
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Knapp, of New York City, in his Ear and Eye Infirmary, receiving a cer- tificate upon the completion of his studies. In 1905 he came to Elkins, West Virginia, and entered into practice as a specialist in ailments of the ear, eye, nose and throat; in 1906 he was appointed examiner for the Western Maryland railroad, and in 1911 he was made surgeon and med- ical examiner for this road. He was one of the organizers in 1906 of the Elkins City Hospital, and has been one of the staff from that time; he has also been secretary of the board of directors and financial secre- tary, and holds both these positions at the present time. The success of this institution is due in large part to Dr. Arbuckle. He is a member of the American Medical Society, the State Medical Society and the Tri- County Medical Society. In the Tri-County Medical Society he has been secretary and president, and for several years he has been and is now secretary of the ophthalmic division of the State Medical Society. He is a member of the Psi Chi medical fraternity, and district deputy supreme regent for West Virginia of the Royal Arcanum. Dr. Arbuckle votes the Democratic ticket. He is active in the Elkins Young Men's Christian Association, and is head of its physical culture department.
Dr. and Mrs. Arbuckle are members of the Presbyterian church; she is a member of the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Young Men's Christian Association.
He married Jessie Marshall, of Richmond, Virginia. They have one child, Virginia.
This name is borne by many distinct families in various parts
HALL of the United States. Two lines of Hall ancestry, taking into account both paternal and maternal ancestors, appear in the record of the children of William McLaurine Hall, of Parkersburg, West Virginia, beside several other notable and inspiring lines of descent. They are sprung from four revolutionary ancestors beyond all doubt, and from seven probably.
(I) John Hall, the founder of this family, is thought to have come from England and settled in Virginia. Whom he married is not known, but he had a son David, of whom further.
(II) David, son of John Hall, was born in Henry county, Virginia, March 25, 1760. died in Anderson county, Tennessee, April 22, 1842. His home in Virginia was near the North Carolina border, and he joined Colonel Sevier's army, from eastern Tennessee, campaigning in North Carolina for the purpose of assisting General Greene; he also served int the revolution for two and one-half years. He married Obedience, daughter of James Brazeal, of Morgan county, Tennessee. Child, Sam- uel of whom further.
(III) Samuel, son of David and Obedience (Brazeal) Hall, acquired much land in Tennessee, and gave each of his children a large plantation. He married Docia, daughter of Samuel and Susan (Cowan) Dobbins. Among their children was David Cowan, of whom further.
(IV) David Cowan, son of Samuel and Docia (Dobbins) Hall, was born February 1, 1819, died October 26, 1897. Under the Confederacy he was engaged in the civil government of Tennessee. He married Mary Ann, daughter of William and Ann H. (Swann) McLaurine, who was born January 7, 1834, died June 2, 1904. Child, William McLaurine, of whom further. William McLaurine, born June 29, 1790, died December 13, 1862, was the son of William and Elizabeth (Swann) McLaurine. The senior William McLaurine was born in Powhatan county, Virginia, Sep- tember 12, 1761, and is believed to have served in the revolution. His father. Rev. Robert McLaurine, was an Episcopalian missionary in Vir-
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ginia, and died in 1772. Colin McLaurine, father of Rev. Robert McLau- rine, was a son of Rev. John and - (Cameron) McLaurine, and grandson of Daniel McLaurine; he was born in February, 1698, died June 11, 1748. He was the only mathematician of the first rank trained in Great Britain in the eighteenth century, and was second only to Sir Isaac Newton among his British contemporaries in the genius for math- ematical investigation. He was professor of mathematics at Edinburgh University, being recommended for this position by Newton. In 1745 he organized the defenses of Edinburgh against the rebel troops, and his health was shattered by his exertions on that occasion. His principal writings were on algebra, geometry and fluxions, and an account of Sir Isaac Newton's philosophy. The last chapter of this work, dictated only a few hours before his death, and not finished, ends with an argument for a future life. Professor McLaurine had in contemplation at the time of his death a complete course in practical mathematics. Various papers on mathmematical subjects also were written by him. He married, in 1733, Anne, daughter of Walter Stewart.
The Swann family is an old family of eastern Virginia, and descend- ants of this family have been prominent in Maryland and North Caro- lina. William Swann, the founder of this family, died in 1638 at Swann's Point, at the mouth of the Nansemond and near the mouth of the James river, Virginia. This land remained in the family several generations, and here lived his son, Colonel Thomas Swann, who died September 16, 1680. He was a prominent man in civil and military affairs, and the commissioners sent to suppress Bacon's rebellion sat at his house. He married five times, and one of the children of his last wife was Captain Thomas Swann, sheriff of Surry, and several times a member of the Virginia house of burgesses. He married Elizabeth Thompson, and had a son, Major Thomas Swann; he was sheriff of Nansemond, and his eld- est son, Thompson Swann, was clerk of Cumberland county. Thomas Thompson Swann, the next in the line, was father of Elizabeth Swann, who was born December 24, 1758, died in 1842; married, in November, 1782, William McLaurine, Sr. William McLaurine Jr., married, March 25, 1813, Ann H., daughter of Thomas and Nancy (Taylor) Swann, who died March 24, 1866. Her father, Thomas Swann, is believed to have served in the revolution.
(V) William McLaurine, son of David Cowan and Mary Ann (Mc- Laurine) Hall, was born at Fayetteville, Tennessee, March I, 1860. His childhood was spent at Fayetteville, and his education was begun at Fay- ette academy. For about three years he studied at the United States Military Academy, West Point. He is a civil engineer. His first work was assisting in building the West Shore railroad terminal at Weehaw- ken, New Jersey. Afterward he assisted in the building of the New Cro- ton aqueduct for New York City. He also assisted in building the Clinch valley extension of the Norfolk & Western railroad, in southwes- tern Virginia, and had charge of the extensions of the same railroad across the southern end of West Virginia. For seventeen years Mr. Hall has now been with the corps of engineers assisting under the war department in river improvements and in other works. For two and one-half years of this time, beginning just before the war with Spain, he was building fortifications at New Bedford, Massachusetts, being per- haps the first civil engineer transferred to the coast on account of the war. His work on river improvements has been in Kentucky and West Virginia, building and maintaining locks and dams in the Ohio river and its tributaries. For about ten years, he has been stationed at Parkers- burg, West Virginia, in connection with this work, having especial
Suically
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charge of the Ohio and Little Kanawha, and he has made this city his home. He is a Democrat, and a member of the Presbyterian church.
He married, June 9, 1886, Jean Agnew, daughter of Rev. John Agnew and Susan Munro (Gilbert) Crawford, who died October 24, 1908. Her father was a Presbyterian minister at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, son of Samuel Wylie Crawford, a professor at the University of Pennsyl- vania, and he was son of Nathan Crawford, born in Scotland, a Presby- terian minister in South Carolina. Rev. John Agnew Crawford was maternally descended from the Agnews, a Huguenot family, which went from France to England, came to New York before the revolution, own- ing land near Wall and Broad streets in New York City; the family is well known in New York City to the present day. Children of William McLaurine and Jean Agnew (Crawford) Hall : Eleanor Swann, Allan Crawford, William McLaurine.
Susan Munro (Gilbert) Crawford had two interesting lines of an- cestry. Elisha Gilbert, the founder of one of these families, is said to have been descended from Sir Humphrey Gilbert and related to Sir Wal- ter Raleigh. The family was first settled in New England. In the pres- ent line, the name Elisha was borne for five generations; in the time of the third and fourth Elishas, the family moved from New England and settled at New Lebanon, New York. The son of the fifth Elisha Gilbert was Rev. Eliphalet Wheeler Gilbert, Doctor of Divinity, a Presbyterian minister, who became president of Delaware College and continued in that office until his death. He married Lydia Hall Munro, a descendant of three revolutionary officers (probably four). Her father, George Munro Jr., was son of George and Lydia (Hall) Munro. Two George Munros seem to have served in the revolution from Delaware, and Sec- ond Lieutenant George Munro was probably George Munro Sr. About George Munro Jr., there is no question : He was a surgeon's mate and later a surgeon in the continental establishment. His wife, Jemima, was the daughter of John Haslet, a native of Ireland and a physician in Kent county, Delaware. John Haslet was colonel of a Delaware regi- ment in the revolution ; Delaware, having then a very small population, furnished only two regiments which served for any length of time in the revolution ; two other organizations which saw little service and a parti- san company completed the contribution of this state. Colonel Haslet, having served with credit in several battles, was killed at the battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777. His son, Joseph Haslet, was the only man to be twice governor of Delaware, being elected in 1810 and 1822. George Munro Sr., married Lydia, daughter of David Hall. This David Hall was the colonel of the other principal Delaware regiment of the revolu- tion, which was known as the Delaware Line, being the only strictly con- tinental regiment furnished by Delaware which saw active service. Colonel Hall was disabled by a wound received in the battle of German- town, October 4, 1777, and his service was thus ended. He was elected governor of Delaware in 1802.
Rev. John Agnew Crawford was brother of Brigadier-General Craw- ford, who probably saved Little Round Top in the battle of Gettysburg ; later in the war he was made a major-general. Rev. John Agnew Craw- ford himself served the Union as a chaplain. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Hall, was an exceptional woman.
NOTE .-- The foregoing statements regarding Virginia and Delaware ancestors are mainly compiled from the historical records of these states.
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This name is of English origin. In England it is also called
DODGE Doidge. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the name is found in the counties of Cheshire, Kent, Norfolk
and Devon. In America there are two main Dodge families, with some similarity in names, but no connection between them has been traced. One is the present family, the other is descended from Tristram Dodge, of Block Island, Rhode Island.
(I) John Dodge, of Middle Chinnock, Somerset county, England, is the first member of this family about whom we have definite information. His will was dated April 2, 1632, proved October 15, 1635. He married Margery -. Children : William, born about 1604, died about 1690, settled at Salem (now Beverly), Massachusetts, before 1629; Richard, of whom further ; Michael ; Mary.
( II) Richard, son of John and Margery Dodge, was probably born about 1600, died at Beverly, June 15, 1671. He came to Salem about 1638, and was received as an inhabitant, October 29 of that year. In 1644 he was received into the church. In 1667 he was one of the founders of the First Church, at what is now Beverly. For a short time he lived on land belonging to his brother : he received his own first grant in 1638. His home was at North Beverly, near Wenham Lake. Before 1648 he was a member of the church at Wenham. Of twenty-one subscribers to Harvard College, recorded in a list pertaining to the year 1653, he was much the largest giver. He married Edith Children : I. Richard, baptized in England in 1628. 2. Margery, baptized in England, September 7, 1630, buried February 2, 1630-1. 3. John, baptized in England. December 29. 1631, died October 11, 1711 ; married Sarah -. 4. Mary, baptized in England, April 19, 1635, died August 18. 1710: married, in 1653, Zechary Herrick. 5. Sarah, baptized in 1644, died in 1726: married Peter Woodberry. 6. Richard, born in 1643, died April 13. 1705 : married, February 23, 1667, Mary Eaton. 7. Samuel, born in 1645. died December 4, 1705 ; married Mary Parker. 8. Edward, died February 13, 1727; married, April 30, 1673, Mary Haskell. 9. Joseph, of whom further.
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