West Virginia and its people, Volume II, Part 73

Author: Miller, Thomas Condit, 1848-; Maxwell, Hu, joint author
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 866

USA > West Virginia > West Virginia and its people, Volume II > Part 73

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McDONALD Angus McDonald, the founder of the Glengary family of McDonalds in Frederick county, Virginia, was born in the Highlands of Scotland in 1727, died in Frederick county at his home, Glengary, within a few miles of Winches- ter, August 19, 1878. He was probably son of Angus, who was a young- er son of Alastair Dubh McDonald, the hero of the battle of Kilicrankie. He was educated at Glasgow. Having fought in the battle of Culloden, he was attainted of treason and fled to Virginia. In 1746 he landed at Falmouth, Virginia, bringing with him the short sword, sash and gorget which he had worn on that field, the gorget having on it the Glengary arms. For two or three years he engaged in mercantile business at Fal- mouth : then he moved into the interior and became a captain in the ser- vice of the colonies under Governor Dinwiddie. In 1754 he received for his first services a grant of four hundred acres. In 1760 he established the first Masonic lodge in Winchester, where he then lived. October 29, 1762, he purchased from Brian Bruin a tract east of Winchester, where- on he built his home. This he called Glengary, after the name of his former Scotch home. In 1765 he was commissioned major of militia by Lord Fairfax, and he was appointed. about the same time, his attorney and agent. In latter years he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel,

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made sheriff and justice. In the spring of 1774 he was sent to survey the lands within the grant to the officers of the French and Indian war. The party were compelled by hostile Indians to abandon this undertaking, and he was authorized to raise a force to fight them. This he did, and with a force of about four hundred attacked the upper Shawnee towns in the state of Ohio.

The following letter was received by him from General Washington offering to appoint him a lieutenant colonel under the command of Colo- nel Charles M. Thruston, formerly rector of Cunningham Chapel, in Clark county, Virginia.

"HEADQUARTERS, MORRISTOWN. March, 1777.

DEAR SIR .-

Being informed that you are not yet in the Contenental service, I have taken the liberty to appoint you Lieut. Col. to one of the additional battallians, the com- mand of which I have given to Mr. Thruston.

I sincerely wish that you would accept this office, and let me entreat you not to let the love you bear to the Cause to be smothered by any neglect of at- tention to your military character. The contest is of too serious and important a nature to be managed by men totally unacquainted with the duties of the field.

- Gentlemen who have from their youth discovered an attachment to this way of life are, in my opinion, in so forcible a manner called that they ought not to with- hold themselves.

You will please to communicate your resolution to me by the first opportun- ity.

I am your most obedient servant,

G. WASHINGTON."

Angus McDonald never accepted this appointment, though a most ar- dent friend of the patriot cause, as referred to in the above letter. Eith- er of two reasons were to him sufficient to justify his refusal. He had been a member of the vestry of Cunningham Chapel and there had been a bitter quarrel between him and Mr. Thruston over a matter of business connected with the church, so that McDonald resigned from the vestry. Another reason was that he objected to being subordinate to an officer of no military experience. McDonald himself had seen much active service. He had been lieutenant in the battle of Culloden, and had been in the colonial service as colonel in 1774 in the expedition against the Shawnees.

On August 6, 1776, under an ordinance of the Virginia convention of 1776, he was appointed sheriff of Frederick county by the county court of! Frederick county at that time, giving him military command of the mili- tia of the county which then extended within the present boundaries of Kentucky. Colonel Charles Thruston was a member of the court con- ferring this appointment.

He married, June 20, 1766, Anna, born in 1748, died about 1832, daughter of John and Yocomanche (Eltinge) Thompson, of Hancock, Maryland. Children : Mary, born May 9, 1767, married Elias Langham ; John, born August 19. 1768, died about 1837; Angus, of whom further ; Eleanor, born September 5, 1771, married James Tidball; Anna, born June 25. 1773, married Richard Holliday; Thompson, born March 29. 1776, died July 31, 1822 : Charles, born April 28, 1778, died in infancy.

(II) Angus (2), son of Angus (1) and Anna (Thompson) Mc- Donald, was born at Glengary, Virginia, December 30, 1769, died at Batavia, New York, October 14, 1814. He grew up in the neighborhood of Glengary, and lived on his farm, though his interests do not seem to have been confined to farming. In the war of 1812 he received from the president a commission as captain in the Twelfth Regiment of Infantry, to rank from June 24, 1814. At his death, soon afterward, he held the rank of major ; his death was due to the consequences of a forced march. He married, January II, 1798, Mary, daughter of Edward and Millicent

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(D'Obee) McGuire, who died in March, 1809. Children: Angus Wil- liam, of whom further; Millicent, married ( first ) William Sherrard, (second) Richard Holliday ; Edward Charles, born July 26, 1803, died in 1862, married (first) in 1833, Frances Elizabeth Singleton, ( sec- ond) in 1842, Susan Peaks.

(III) Angus William, son of Angus (2) and Mary ( McGuire ) Mc- Donald, was born at Winchester, Virginia, February 14, 1799, died at Richmond, Virginia, December 1, 1864. At the age of ten he lost his mother and went to live with his grandmother at Glengary. He at- tended school at Winchester, when he was about twelve, and at that time he lived with his uncle, Edward McGuire. July 30, 1814, he en- tered West Point. Being poorly prepared he stood near the foot, but by hard work he made great progress and graduated in three years, July 17, 1817. He was then promoted to the rank of third lieutenant in the artillery ; the following February 13, he was made second lieutenant, and on April 1, 1818, first lieutenant ; these two promotions were made in the infantry, the Seventh. He served in garrison at New Orleans in 1817 and at Mobile Bay, Alabama, in 1818. January 13, 1819, he re- signed. The life of a soldier in time of peace was too tedious; he had made effort to be transferred to the Western frontier, and failing in this resigned and set out for that new region. He was first a clerk for a trading company in Missouri; soon he was able to act as inter- preter with the Indians, who both feared and trusted him; in the second year he was taken into partnership, but the company made a dishonor- able failure, of which he was a victim. For the next three years he en- gaged successfully in trapping and trading on his own responsibility upon the waters of the Yellow Stone. He frequently visited St. Louis with cargoes of furs and skins. After spending about four years in this region the southwest attracted him. He and ten others formed a project to enter Texas, wrest it from Mexico, and make it independent. He re- turned home to enlist others in the enterprise. But meeting then his fu- ture wife, he resigned his projects, settled at Romney, Virginia, and applied himself to the study of law, also performing the duties of deputy sheriff for Hampshire county. In a little over a year he was admitted to the bar, and for the next seventeen years he devoted himself almost exclusively to his practice, making occasional successful investments in western lands. In politics he was a states-rights man; at first he fol- lowed the party of Madison, but opposing the stand of Jackson for fed- eral supremacy he became a Whig; when this party was becoming a federal and anti-slavery party, he returned to the Democrats. states rights being his leading principle throughout. As a Whig he was re- fused permission by President Polk to raise a regiment for the Mexi- can war. In 1846 he determined to remove to Hannibal, Missouri, but after several visits he abandoned this idea and resumed the practice of law at Romney. A few years later he removed to Winchester. Soon after he was appointed commissioner by Governor Wise, on the part of Virginia, to settle the boundary between Virginia and Maryland. In connection with this work he made a visit to London. On his return the presidential election of 1860 was at hand. He was one of the first to of- fer his services to the Confederacy, for which purpose he joined General Harper at Harpers Ferry. His offer was accepted : in June, 1861. he was commissioned colonel of cavalry and ordered to raise and organize com- panies of volunteers for a particular service. His regiment, consisting of eight companies, was ordered to Romney to prevent federal military use of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and to watch General McClellan. His physical strength was already failing, and after brave service in the field he was at his own request placed in command of the artillery defenses

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about Winchester. After the evacuation of this place he was given court-martial duty, and about a year later was assigned to the post of Lexington, Virginia. Evacuating this post at the approach of Hunter, he was captured in June, 1864, he and his son Harry, without other sup- port, having made a brave defense against a party of over twenty. Gen- eral Hunter refused him parole. He was supposed, a supposition utterly false, to have treated harshly Colonel John Strother, a Virginian, whom he had under his charge as a prisoner ; for this cause he was hand-cuffed whilst a prisoner and otherwise severely treated, despite his age, his severe rheumatism, and a wound incurred in resisting capture. The Con- federates proposed retaliation, and selected Colonel Crook for the pur- pose. But Colonel McDonald wrote to President Davis in protest, and the orders were never carried out, even before his letter, on account of the poor health of Colonel Crook, although the United States was al- lowed to think that retaliation was being practiced. Through the in- strumentality of the Union commissioner for the exchange of prisoners, an old friend, General Ethan Allen Hitchcock, who had been a fellow cadet and intimate friend at West Point and for whom his son, Edward Allen Hitchcock, had been named, he was released, November 7, 1864; General Hitchcock also offered him money or anything in his power to offer for his assistance, but liberty only was accepted. A week after his return to Richmond he was taken ill and did not recover, dying De- cember 1. 1864.

He married (first) January 11, 1827, Leacy Anne, daughter of Wil- liam and Anne ( Sanford) Naylor, who died February 3, 1843 : (second ) at Hannibal, Missouri, May 27, 1847, Cornelia, daughter of Dr. Humphrey and Anne Linton (Lane) Peake, who survived him. Children, first named nine by first, others by second, wife: I. Mary Naylor, born De- cember 27, 1827, deceased ; married, April 27, 1852, Thomas Claiborne Green, of the supreme court of appeals of West Virginia. 2. Angus William, of whom further. 3. Anne Sanford, born October 30, 1830; married. December 20, 1855, James W. Green. 4. Edward Allen Hitch- cock, born October 26, 1832: married, October 12, 1869, Julia Yates Leavell. 5. William Naylor, born in February, 1834, died January 4, 1898: married, in August, 1867, Catherine S. Gray. 6. Marshall, born October 18, 1835, died September 1, 1905 ; married, December 17, 1867, Mary E. McCormick; as United States commissioner of fish and fish- eries, he gained an international reputation. 7. Craig Woodrow, born May 28, 1837. killed (in battle) at Gaine's Mills, May 29, 1862. 8. Susan Leacy, born December 10, 1839; married Major John B. Stanard. 9. Flora, born June 7, 1842; married, December 18, 1867, Leroy Eustace Williams. 10. Harry Peake, born April 14, 1848, died February 18, --- 1904 : married, April 14. 1875, Alice Keats Speed. 11. Allan Lane, born October 30, 1849: married, February 13, 1878, Fannie B. Snead. 12. Humphrey, born December 31, 1850, died July 30, 1851. 13. Kenneth, born July 18, 1852: married. November 20, 1879, America R. Moore. 14. Ellen, born September 30, 1854 ; married, in 1883, James Henry Lyne. 15. Roy, born August 25, 1856; married ( first) November 23, 1882, Nel- lie Caine, (second) Jean Martin. 16. Donald, born September 5, 1858; married, October 26, 1887, Betsy Breckinridge Carr. 17. Hunter, born June 12, 1860: married, in 1893, Mary Eloise Gordon. 18. Elizabeth, born October 29, 1861, died August 23, 1862.

(IV) Angus William (2) McDonald (known as Major McDonald), son of Angus William ( 1) and Leacy Anne (Naylor) McDonald, was born at Romney, Hampshire county, Virginia, May 16, 1829. Here he attended private school until 1847, when he became assistant teacher therein. The next year he went to the University of Virginia and grad-

(

angus W. M.Donald

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uated in three of the academic schools in 1850. In the spring of 1852 he was the Democratic nominee for commonwealth's attorney. He was de- feated, but elected four years later. At the outbreak of the war he be- lieved in the right of secession, but did not think the occasion sufficient to justify its exercise. In the spring of 1861 he was elected a member of the house of delegates of Virginia. In the following July he became adjutant of his father's regiment, stationed at Romney to destroy bridges and dismantle the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and he shared in the activ- ities of that regiment for the remainder of that year, until the Virginia legislature commenced. At the end of the term, in May, 1863, he was appointed commissary without military rank ; he also held a commission as colonel on the staff of Governor Wise. He was captured by the Union troops and imprisoned at Wheeling ; he was held as hostage for Dr. Ruck- er, a civilian, captured by the Confederate authorities of Virginia, but Rucker escaped, so relieving Mr. McDonald of his danger. He was soon exchanged, and resumed the functions of commissary, in which position he continued until the end of the war. Then he opened a law office at Harrisonburg, Virginia, but soon entered into partnership with his broth- ers, William N. and Edward A., in managing a farm and school at Cool Spring. Clark county, Virginia. About 1870 he removed to Berryville, Virginia, where he practiced law in partnership with Ami Moore for twenty years. After this he removed to Charles Town, West Virginia, where he practiced with his son-in-law. Judge J. Frank Beckwith. In 1894 he was elected a member of the legislature of West Virginia, but de- feated by a very small majority in 1896. He retired from active practice about 1908.

He married (first) February 17, 1857. Elizabeth Morton, daughter of Colonel Robert and Eliza ( Morton) Sherrard, who died May 26, 1892; (second) June 5, 1894, Mary Elizabeth, daughter of H. R. and Sallie (Houston) Riddle. Children, both by first wife: Annie Leacy, married Judge J. Frank Beckwith: Angus, who was drowned in the James river while attending the school of Mr. William Cabel in Nelson county, Virginia, on the 27th of September, 1878.

Angus, at the time of his death, with two other schoolmates was boat- ing on the James river. The weather was rough and the small light craft was filling with water. One of the three had to take to the water to re- lieve the boat. Angus, being an expert swimmer, jumped into the water. but within twenty yards of the shore, he was stricken with cramps, and sank never to rise alive, before assistance could reach him from the boat.

MILLARD Samuel Millard was a resident of Ohio at the time of the outbreak of the civil war and he immediately en- listed for service in the Union army as a member of an Ohio regiment. He participated in many decisive engagements and finally met death on the battlefield.

( II ) G. M., son of Samuel Millard, was born at Portsmouth, Ohio, March 16, 1862. He lost his father when he was a mere infant, and in early life he became dependent on his own resources for a livelihood. He came to West Virginia and for a number of years has been justice of the peace and notary public at Williamson, in Mingo county. He mar- ried Elizabeth A., daughter of Christopher Chafin. Among their chil- dren was John Bennett, mentioned below.

(JJI) Dr. John Bennett Millard, son of G. M. and Elizabeth A. (Chafin) Millard, was born in Logan county, West Virginia, July 16, 1886. After completing the prescribed course of the common schools of his native place he entered the high school, in which he was gradit-

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ated. He early decided upon the medical profession as his life work and in order to earn money for a college education began to work in a dry goods store. Subsequently hie purchased a team of mules and hired a man to work them and he was engaged in various occupations until he had gained the wherewithal with which to defray his college expenses. He then entered the Louisville Hospital, at Louisville, Kentucky, in which he was graduated in 1908. He initiated the active practice of his profession at Glenalum, West Virginia, in 1908, and there became asso- ciated in his medical work with Dr. W. D. Amica. He was a resident physician at Glenalum for one year and seven months, at the end of which time he located at Matewan, Mingo county, this state. At Mate- wan he practiced medicine with Dr. H. C. Goings for some time, and April 1, 1911, he came to Williamson, where he has since maintained his home and professional headquarters. Dr. Millard pursued a post- graduate course in the University of Louisville, at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1909-10, and was graduated in that excellent institution with the de- gree of Doctor of Medicine.

At Williamson Dr. Millard is associated in practice with Dr. George T. Conley and the firm are physicians and surgeons for the Sycamore Coal Company and the Mingo county jail. They are assistant physicians and surgeons for the Norfolk & Western railroad and are medical ex- aminers for several important insurance companies and fraternal orders, the latter class including the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Owls. Messrs. Conley and Millard are rapidly gaining distinction as unusually capable physicians and surgeons and their large and lucrative practice keeps them busy day and night. In connection with their medical work they are members of the Mingo County Medical Society, the West Vir- ginia State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In a fraternal way Dr. Millard is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Owls. In politics, although he has no time for active participation in public affairs, he is an uncompromising Republican, and in religious matters he is a Presbyterian. Dr. Millard is unmarried.

The names Read. Reade, Reed and Reid are forms of one

READ name : this name, in its several forms, is very common. The same or a similar name is found among the Germans, the Irish, the Scotch and the Welsh. There seems very little room to doubt that the name means red. Probably the best-known representative of these names in the United States has been Thomas B. Reed, representa- tive from Maine in the United States congress, and speaker of the house, statesman and parliamentarian.

(I) Dr. Thomas Nash Read, the first member of this family about whom we have definite information, died in 1870. He was a dentist, practicing at Danville, Virginia. He usually spent his summers at Green- brier White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. While on his way thither on the Chesapeake and Ohio railway, he was killed in an accident at Jerry's run, on the Virginia side of the Allegheny mountains. The road is laid along the mountain beside the deep ravine of this name, on trestles : the train left the track and rolled down into the ravine, killing thirteen persons. Neither Virginia nor West Virginia had then any law by which damages could be collected in such a case : Virginia was led by this accident to enact such a law, and West Virginia has since acted in like manner. Dr. Read married Rebecca S. Barksdale, of Halifax county, Virginia. She now resides with her sons. Barksdale is an old name in Halifax county, and has extended from that starting point into other

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parts of the south. Her brother, Dr. William Leigh Barksdale, is a phy- sician and surgeon at Hinton, Summers county, West Virginia. Chil- dren : Thomas Nash, of whom further; Leigh, a dentist in Baltimore, Maryland.

(II) Thomas Nash (2), son of Dr. Thomas Nash ( 1) and Rebecca S. ( Barksdale) Read, was born at Danville, West Virginia, February 18. 1868. His father dying when he was two years old, his mother removed five years later, to Alderson, Monroe county, West Virginia. In this place he grew to manhood, and he received his education first at the pub- lic schools and the Alderson Academy. Afterward he took a literary course at Hampden-Sidney College, Prince Edward county, Virginia, and the law course at the University of Virginia. Here he studied under Professors John B. Minor, author of "Minor's Institutes," and Gilmore. He graduated in 1890 and in the same year was admitted to practice and received his license in Virginia. In 1891 he was admitted to the bar and began practice at New Castle, Craig county, Virginia. For a short time he practiced by himself. and then he went into partnership with Judge James M. Marshall. This partnership was dissolved in 1894. and he then removed to Hinton. On July 1. 1894. he entered into partnership at Hinton with James H. Miller : this partnership continued for over ten years, being terminated by the election of Mr. Miller as judge of the ninth West Virginia circuit, on December 1. 1904. Mr. Read succeeded to the business of the firm, and has continued in the practice of the law in the counties of Summers, Monroe, Greenbrier and Fayette, West Virginia. He has been engaged in most of the important cases in Summers county since 1894, and has had much practice in the supreme court of appeals of the state. He is attorney for the city of Hinton, and for the New River Grocery Company, the Hinton Hardware Company, the National Bank of Summers, and a number of other firms and business men. He is a pleasant speaker, with considerable oratorical power. In politics he is a Democrat, but he has not been active therein outside of the county. When the firm of Miller & Read was formed, Mr. Miller was prosecut- ing attorney of the county, and Mr. Read at once qualified as an assist- ant. He served for the unexpired term, and from 1896 for a full term. When Mr. R. F. Dunlap became prosecuting attorney of the county. January 1, 1905. Mr. Read was made assistant prosecutor. In 1900 he was a candidate for the office of prosecuting attorney, but was defeated by fourteen votes. In 1908 he was elected to that position, and on May 25. 1912. he was renominated for this office. He has frequently spoken in the county on behalf of the Democratic candidates. In religion he is a member, trustee and vestryman of the Protestant Episcopal church.

He married. Nannie D., daughter of Thomas B. McCartney, of Craig county, Virginia. Her father was a Confederate veteran, having been a captain in the army, and was for many years clerk of the county court of Craig county. Child, Thomas Leigh.

David Slusher, the first member of this family about

SLUSHER whom we have definite information, is a resident of Floyd county, Virginia. For many years he was sheriff of this county ; he is now living in practical retirement. Through his moth- er he is a relative of the famous pioneer and explorer. Daniel Boone. He married - Bowman, who is also living. Child. William C., of whom further.

(II) Dr. William C. Slusher, son of David and - - ( Bowman ) Slusher, was born at Falls Church, Fairfax county, Virginia, January 15, 1881. He was educated at William and Mary Academy, and in 1900

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entered the Medical College of Virginia, at Richmond, Virginia, from which he graduated in 1903, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. Having then taken a graduate course at the Polyclinic Medical School and Hospital in New York City, he commenced medical prac- tice in the coal fields of West Virginia. In 1905 he settled at Bluefield, Mercer county, West Virginia, and here Dr. Slusher is enjoying a fine practice. He pays special attention to bacteriology. Dr. Slusher is a member of the Mercer County Medical Society and of the West Virginia Medical Association. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, including the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In poli- tics he is a Republican. He is unmarried.

STRATON-NIGHBERT This family is of Irish ancestry and prominent in the history of the north of Ireland. The progenitor of the family in America was - Straton, who immigrated to America in 1800, and settled in Logan county, now West Virginia.

(II) Joseph Straton, son of the immigrant, was born in the north of Ireland, March 4, 1794, died in Logan, Virginia, January 3, 1846. He came to America with his father when he was six years old. He at- tended the public schools of Logan county, Virginia, and became one of the prominent citizens of the county. He married Polly Henderson, born in Monroe county, Virginia, March 27, 1803, died in Saguin, Gua- dalupe county, Texas, April 22, 1890.

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West Virginia and its people, Volume II, Part 73

Author: Miller, Thomas Condit, 1848-; Maxwell, Hu, joint author Publication date: 1913 Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 866

Author: Miller, Thomas Condit, 1848-; Maxwell, Hu, joint author
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 866