West Virginia and its people, Volume II, Part 75

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 75

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(II) Nelson, son of Tazwell and Delila ( Horner ) Myers, was born April 18, 1839. He came to Marion county with his parents about 1850, and was married to Susannah, daughter of William and Elizabeth ( Pyles ) Glover, about 1859. Of this union there were five children: Sylvester, of whom further ; Levina, born October, 1862; Martha Jane. April. 1864; Elenora, 1867, died 1876; Rosa Lee, born 1874. Levina married twice, her first husband being Jacob J. Yost, who died about 1888, leav- ing two children: Minnie and Winslow, the former marrying Henry, son of Jacob Fisher, the latter, Mary, only daughter of Alpheus Wyatt. About four years after her husband's death, Levina married Stephen Shuman. Martha Jane married William T. Price. Rosa Lee married Calvin H. Cain. Nelson Myers died May 12, 1913, and his wife, May 6, 19II, and both were interred in Williams cemetery, near New Mar- tinsville, West Virginia.

(III) Sylvester, son of Nelson and Susannah (Glover) Myers, was born July 9, 1861. He received a common school education in his native county of Marion, and at the age of sixteen was employed in a store at Glover's Gap, which position he held about one year, after which he served fifteen month's apprenticeship in the railroad station of his native town, under Jesse L. Courtright. He was given a position as night teleg- rapher at Littleton, West Virginia, December 19, 1880. While there he heard the news flashed over the wires announcing the shooting of Presi- dent Garfield by Gitteau. Shortly following this event, Mr. Myers was transferred to Colfax, Marion county, as station agent and operator. Afterward he was promoted to the agency at Littleton where he remained for several years. Later he served as station agent at Flemington, Bel- ington, Pennsboro, St. Mary's and Smithfield, West Virginia. He also acted as relief agent and operator for a time and during that time he worked at practically all stations between Grafton and the Ohio river, on both Parkersburg and Wheeling divisions of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. In November, 1902, Mr. Myers resigned his position as sta- tion agent at Smithfield, on the West Virginia Short Line division of the Baltimore & Ohio, to accept the deputy clerkship under Captain I. D. Morgan, clerk of the county court of Wetzel county, and served in that capacity the full term of six years, from January 1, 1903. In the sum- mer of 1908 he entered the race for the nomination of county clerk on the Democratic ticket and won by a majority of one thousand and ninety- six votes, and in the general election following he won out by about the 33

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same majority over his Republican opponent, running ahead of the ticket about four hundred votes. He is an old member of the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows, having joined that order more than twenty years ago. He and his wife and all but two of their children are members of the Christian church. When Mr. Myers left the telegraph service, he was recognized as one of the pioneers in his profession, having, as pre- viously stated, entered in active service in 1880 when "registers" or "pa- per mills" were still in use by a number of operators. In fact, Mr. Myers learned on one of those machines. He never used one, however, after serving his apprenticeship. These "paper mills" have long since been relegated to the scrap heap or curiosity shops, and it is very doubtful if one telegrapher in ten of the present day has ever worked one of them, or indeed ever saw one in actual operation; for the great majority of the "old timers" have either passed away, or have found other occupations.

Sylvester Myers married Frances, daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Brumley ) Carpenter, September 16, 1881. Of this union .there were eight children : I. Laura May, born August 14, 1882, at Colfax, West Virginia ; married A. Lee Rhodes, November 5, 1905; one child, Mel- vin. 2. Clyde, born July 11, 1884, died at Littleton, West Virginia, Sep- tember 18, 1884, buried at Glover cemetery, near Glover Gap. 3. Wil- liam Cleveland, born November 1, 1885, at Littleton; married Lizzie, daughter of William Smith, November 5, 1905; two children: Carl and William. 4. Walter Michael, born March 10, 1888, at Pennsboro, Ritchie county, West Virginia; married Claudie, only daughter of Dr. J. R. and Amanda ( Brown ) Sole, August 24, 1912; one child, Nell. 5. Thurman Hugh, born at Littleton, Wetzel county, West Virginia, No- vember 16, 1890; married Olive E. Ward, of Cameron, Ohio, May 28, 1910; two children : Deward, and an infant son not yet named. 6. Bes- sie Vera, born at Pennsboro, West Virginia, May 18, 1893. 7. Edward Nelson, born at Smithfield, Wetzel county, West Virginia, December 31, 1895. 8. Olive Cora, born at St. Marys, Pleasants county, West Virginia, April 16, 1898.

This family is of Irish origin. The progenitor of the fami- SHOTT lies of this name in Virginia and West Virginia was Rich- ard Shott, who was born in Ireland, and after a service in the British navy came to this country, settling in Pennsylvania.

(II) Hugh, son of Richard Shott, was born in Pennsylvania. He removed to Virginia where he engaged in farming. He served in the war of 1812 and in the war with the Creek Indians. He was a Dunkard in religious belief, and a Whig in politics. He married Rebecca Sheetz, a native of Virginia. Four children were born to them: Daniel Webster: mentioned below ; E. W., G. M., Mary Burke.

(III) Daniel Webster, son of Hugh and Rebecca (Sheetz) Shott, was born in Virginia. He was a farmer. He served during the civil war in the Fifth Regiment Virginia Volunteers, Confederate States army. He was a member of the Methodist church, and was at first a Whig in politics and later a Republican. He married Lucy B., daughter of Isaac and Clercy ( Hamilton) Hoy. Her parents were of Scotch-Irish descent. Children : Hugh Isaac, mentioned below ; James Daniel, Mil- dred, Lottie, William M., John Hamilton, Edward D., Lucy.

(IV) Hugh Isaac, son of Daniel Webster and Lucy B. (Hoy) Shott, was born in Staunton, Virginia, September 3, 1866. He attended the schools of his native city, and at an early age learned the printer's trade. He was then for some time employed in the United States railway mail service. After a few years' service he returned to the newspaper business

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as a reporter, and later engaged as an editorial writer. He subsequently removed to Bluefield, West Virginia, where he purchased the Daily Tele- graph, which he has conducted to date. He is a stockholder in several banking concerns. He is a Republican in politics ; served as postmaster of Bluefield, and was a member of the state Republican committee two terms. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Typographical Union.

He married, at Lynchburg, Virginia, January 10, 1894, Mary Kate, born at River Phillips, Nova Scotia, November 25, 1871, daughter of A. M. and Margaret J. Chisholm. Three children have been born to them : James H., 1895 ; Mary Lillian, 1897; Hugh Isaac Jr., 1901.

HAMILTON John William Hamilton, one of the leading citizens and capitalists of Rose Bud, Texas, was born in Kernstown, Frederick county, Virginia, and is direct- ly descended from William Hamilton, the noble English immigrant who sought the safe harbor of the Colony of Virginia in 1624-26, from per- secution by the Crown. Casting aside his title he became a citizen of the Virginia colony and threw his fortunes in with other cavaliers who were endeavoring, at great odds, to make for themselves homes and to carve fortunes from a seemingly impossible wilderness infested with wild beasts and wilder men. William Hamilton became a man of promi- nence in Virginia and succeeded in amassing what was thought to be a great estate in those days. He also left to his descendants an untarn- ished name for honor, sobriety and courage.

John William Hamilton, formerly of Kernstown, Virginia, now a resident of Rose Bud, Texas, received his early education in Kerns- town, and afterward attending the excellent institutions of learning in historic Winchester, Virginia. On leaving school he chose farming as his vocation, like many of his forbears, and successfully cultivated plan- tations near Kernstown and Winchester. Seeing greater opportunities for more rapid financial gains in a newer country where competition was not so sharp, he selected Texas as the field for his activities, locating at Rose Bud, where he was soon immersed in large business enterprises. He purchased great tracts of land and many cattle and entered exten- sively into cattle raising and ranching. He is a member of the board of directors and a large stockholder of the Rose Bud State Bank of Texas, and ranks as one of the leading representatives of the industrial inter- ests of the state. In his business dealings he is scrupulously fair and exact, and has won a success that is most creditable since it was accom- plished through his own unaided efforts, as the result of foresight and executive ability. He is uniformly courteous to those with whom he comes in contact and this politeness has made him famous throughout the southwest. He is a Democrat, and a thirty-second degree Mason, in high standing, and is one of the influential, popular and prominent men of that section. He married a Miss Powers, and they are the parents of three children.

The Moats family is of German descent. Little is defi-

MOATS nitely known about their American settlement and early history. Many Germans came to the western part of the present state of West Virginia shortly after the close of the revolution, and it is thought that they were Bavarian soldiers brought to this country by Great Britain to assist in putting down the revolution : when the condi- tions of their employment became known, they deserted in large numbers,

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and retired in large bodies beyond the mountains. There was an early German settlement of the Shenandoah Valley. It may also be pertinent to recall that Burgoyne's surrendered soldiers were quartered in Virginia, and it is said that most of them finally remained in the United States.

Among the families of exceptional distinction which appear in the ancestral records of Mr. Moats and his wife, is the Neal family, espec- ially treated elsewhere in this work. The Pierpoint family of West Virginia is a branch of the famous New England family of Pierpont, or as the name was formerly spelled. Pierrepont : both these modes of spell- ing are found also in English records. Pierpoint is an alteration of the original orthography : yet, as the writer can state from personal knowl- edge, the name Pierpont is sometimes, in Connecticut, pronounced Pier- point. The family is traced with clearness and certainty to Sir Hugh de Pierrepont, lord of "the castle of Pierrepont in the south confines of Pi- cardy, and diocese of Laon," in the year 980. The name is derived from Castle Pierrepont, two leagues from S. Saveur, Normandy, and was given to the castle from a stone bridge with which Charlemagne supplied the place of a ferry. Sir Robert, grandson of Sir Hugh, was a commander in the army of William the Conqueror, was ennobled by him for his con- duct at the battle of Hastings, and received great estates in the counties of Suffolk and Sussex, including the lordship of Hurst Pierrepont. Eve- lyn Pierrepont, of the twenty-first generation, counting Sir Hugh as the first, was made Duke of Kingston in 1715: the title has become extinct. The ancestor of the American Pierponts was a near relative, in the nine- teenth generation. The record of this family in America is a remarkable one, and many men of great ability and note have descended from it. Among these may be named Rev. James Pierpont, one of the founders of Yale College : Presidents Dwight and Woolsey, of Yale; John Pierpont. the Abolitionist: J. Pierpont Morgan, his grandson; Edwards Pierre- pont, American minister to the court of St. James. It will be seen else- where in this work that Henry Gassaway Davis is of Pierpont descent.

The family has been very conspicuous in the history of Virginia, and from this branch Mr. Moats is descended, through his mother. It is said that John Pierpoint, of the New England stock, settled near Mor- gantown about the close of the revolution, and was the father of Fran- cis Pierpoint, who, about 1800, crossed the mountains from the east and settled at Fairmont. A partial account of his descendants will be given below, in connection with the immediate ancestry of Mr. Moats.

( I) The great-grandfather of Francis Pierpoint Moats, whose name we find given as John, by another writer, however, as George, came early in the nineteenth century from Pendleton county to what is now Ritchie county, both in what is now West Virginia. Among his many children was Jacob, of whom further.

(II) Jacob, son of John or George Moats, was born in 1799, died . in 1885. He married, in 1823, Mary, daughter of John Starr. They had thirteen children, one being Benjamin, of whom further.

(III) Benjamin, son of Jacob and Mary (Starr) Moats, was born at Harrisville, then Virginia, 1838, and died at the same place in 1905. In his young manhood he enlisted for the defence of the Union in the civil war, and he served actively until 1863. In that year he was wounded in the valley of Virginia, and thus incapacitated for further military ser- vice. At that time he was second lieutenant of Company K, Tenth Regi- ment Virginia Volunteer Infantry. His connection with the army con- tinued, however, to the close of the war. He then retired to his farmi near Harrisville, where he lived the remainder of his days. He married, at Harrisville, West Virginia, 1864, Mary Isabelle, daughter of Zack- well Morgan and Martha (Vandervort) Pierpoint, who was born at Har-

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risville, Virginia, 1841, and there died in 1876. Zackwell Morgan Pier- point was a son of Francis Pierpoint, the settler at Fairmont, and was born in Monongalia county, Virginia; his mother was a daughter of Zackwell Morgan. the famous pioneer, from whom Morgantown was named; Francis Harrison Pierpont, governor of the restored government of Virginia and "Father of West Virginia," was one of his four brothers. Francis Perry Pierpoint was a son of Zackwell Morgan Pierpoint ; he was a major in the civil war, declining a colonelcy, and was appointed adju- tant-general of the new state by Governor Boreman. He died at the age of only twenty-eight, at the beginning of a promising and already notable career. Children of Benjamin and Mary Isabelle ( Pierpoint) Moats: I. Minnie, born in 1865; married George Hopkins ; they live at Hammond, Indiana. 2. Laura, born in 1867; married Andrew Crow; they live at Romeo, Colorado. 3. Francis Pierpoint, of whom further. 4. Homer S., born in 1871 ; lives at Harrisville. 5. Emory E., born in 1873 ; lives at Harrisville.

(IV) Francis Pierpoint, son of Benjamin and Mary Isabelle ( Pier- point ) Moats, was born near Harrisville, Ritchie county, West Vir- ginia, July 2, 1869. His early life was spent on a farm, and he as- sisted in clearing land which was yet wild and uncultivated, in addition to performing the usual works of farm life. The long illness of both parents necessitated hard work on the part of the five children. He struggled along, ambitious to better his condition, studying faithfully by himself, and attending school for three months each winter; for this purpose he walked two miles to the nearest school house. Thus he gained enough general information to receive a teacher's certificate of the highest grade, and at the age of sixteen he taught a country school several miles from his home. During the next winter he taught in the Harrisville graded schools, in one of the intermediate departments. In all Mr. Moats taught for three winters. By rigid economy he saved a small sum of money, and he attended in the year 1886-87 the prepara- tory department of the college of Adrian, Michigan, hoping to remain there for some time. His very small capital was eked out by serving in the college printing office, where he often worked more than half the night. Nevertheless he found it impossible to continue more than the one year, and this was the end of his college education. His third win- ter of teaching at Petroleum, Ritchie county followed his return ..

Entering the office of Robert S. Blair, at Harrisville, for the study of law, he soon found that he could not do the necessary work on the farm and the hard mental labor requisite for legal study after his farm tasks. Through W. M. Cox, afterward chief clerk in the revenue office under Governor White, he came in the spring of 1889, when he was not yet twenty years old, to Parkersburg, receiving an advance of a small sum of money. Here he entered the office of John F. Laird as clerk, without compensation, and during the intervals of his employment he studied law. He remained with Mr. Laird until March, 1890, when he obtained employment with J. W. Vandervort as a clerk. In order to keep this position he learned stenography. In August, 1890, within two months after his coming of age, he was admitted to the bar, never having attended a law school, and having acquired his entire legal education in the course of this short and limited experience in offices. In 1893 he formed a partnership with his former employer, Mr. Vandervort, which contin- ued until October, 1895. Then he practiced by himself until 1897; in that year he formed a partnership with Hon. W. G. Peterkin, and this partnership was continued to 1900. Since its dissolution Mr. Moats has practiced alone except for a short period from June, 1902, when he

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was associated with the late Judge J. A. Dupuy, from Roanoke, Vir- ginia.

In his legal practice, Mr. Moats has enjoyed a large patronage, prin- cipally that of the people. His practice has been confined almost ex- clusively to the civil side, yet he has been connected with a small num- ber of criminal prosecutions and has thus obtained a reputation as a criminal lawyer. For ten years he was attorney for the Traders' Build- ing Association, but he has never been known as a corporation law- yer, in the modern sense of this term. He was one of the first promo- ters of the Kanawha and New River Fire Brick Company, of Charles- ton, West Virginia, and has been active in the independent telephone business, both at Parkersburg and at Marietta, Ohio.

Francis Pierpoint Moats has been prominently interested in the mu- nicipal affairs of his adopted city. The city charter of Parkersburg, of 1903, was conceived and drafted by him, and he promoted its passage through the legislature. The plan of government, then new and without precedent, embodied in this charter, had for its purpose the separation of the legislative and executive municipal powers; many cities of the state have since adopted its salient features. In 1911 he took a leading part in fostering the adoption of the pure commission form of government for Parkersburg; the Des Moines plan, on which it was patterned, was remodeled to conform to local laws and conditions. Mr. Moats was a leader in the agitation which ended in the adoption of this form of government by the people of Parkersburg. In the tax reform move- ment of 1904 he was also active, and materially assisted in the con- ception and drafting of the present system of taxation. He was con- servative, however, in his attitude to the proposed reforms, and opposed many of the radical measures whose enactment was sought.

Mr. Moats is a member of only one club, the Thursday Club. This has about thirty members, about equally divided between Parkersburg and Marietta. Ohio, and meets once a month for the purpose of dis- cussing the live questions of the day. The intention is to have in the membership of this club only those of these two cities who possess the best intellectual ability in their communities, and admission is difficult. He is a member also of the Wood County Bar Association, the West Virginia Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He is a life member of the West Virginia Horticultural Society, and a member of the Semi-Centennial Commission appointed by the governor to cele- brate the fiftieth anniversary of the formation of the state, in 1913.

In politics Mr. Moats has been prominent and a potent factor in po- litical life. He is a Republican. His holding of office has been limited to one term in the West Virginia house of delegates, as a member from Wood county. Yet in this single term he was made speaker of the house, the youngest speaker in the history of the state, and he presided in this capacity during the regular session of 1903 and the special session of 1904.

Mr. Moats now resides at Rosemar, on the Inter-Urban street car line between Parkersburg and Marietta, and there he owns several acres of land which he is scientifically farming. To all matters pertaining to agriculture and horticulture, he has given much attention, and he is con- sidered an expert on soils and fertilizers, having written many articles on these and allied subjects. In horticulture he has been particularly interested, and through his efforts the Rosemar Orchard Company, a corporation composed of a few of the leading citizens of Parkersburg, was formed in 1910. This company has purchased two hundred and forty acres of land just above Parkersburg, which it is planting with all domestic fruits and berries, apples being the principal line. In addi-

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tion to this, the company has rented numerous orchards in the vicinity, which had long been in a state of neglect, and by cultivation, pruning, spraying, and scientific treatment in general, the effort is being made to produce on these orchards valuable crops of apples. Mr. Moats and his family are members of the Protestant Episcopal church.

He married, at Parkersburg. October 4, 1893, Fanny Shrewsbury, born at Parkersburg, September 27, 1871, daughter of Benjamin T. and Sarah Burns (Shrewsbury) Neal. She is a great-granddaughter of Captain John Neal ; her grandfather, Cincinnatus Neal, was born in Neal's blockhouse. Benjamin T. Neal has been connected during his whole life with the Adams Express Company except for a short time in the Union service, with the quartermaster's department, in the civil war. Children of Benjamin T. and Sarah Burns (Shrewsbury) Neal: I. Benjamin T., assistant treasurer of the Union Trust and Deposit Com- pany, Parkersburg. 2. Fanny Shrewsbury, married Francis Pierpoint Moats. 3. Edward Burns, assistant clerk of the United States court for the northern district of West Virginia. 4. Wellington Vrooman, con- nected with the El Paso Street Railway Company, El Paso, Texas. Chil- dren of Francis Pierpoint and Fanny Shrewsbury (Neal) Moats: I. Mary Neal, born February 2. 1895, died September 26. 1896. 2. Ed- ward Burns, born September 27. 1896, died the same day. 3. Francis Pierpoint, born December 12, 1897. 4. Eleanor, born July 11, 1901, died as result of accident. December 12, 1912. 5. Benjamin, born July 20, 1904. 6. Wellington Vrooman, born January 15, 1907, died August 27, 1910. 7. Neal, born April 20, 1912.

Judge J. Frank Beckwick, of Charles Town. who

BECKWITH has been for many years prominently identified with the political life of West Virginia, and has filled with honor offices of trust and responsibility, is the representative of the Vir- ginia branch of an ancient English family, distinguished for centuries in the history of the mother country.

Sir Hugh de Malebisse, from whom all the Beckwiths trace their ori- gin, was a native of Normandy and accompanied William the Con- queror to England, where for his services he received grants of land. Among his descendants was Sir Hercules de Malebisse, who in 1226 married Lady Dame Beckwith Bruce, daughter of Sir William Bruce, Lord of Uglebarby, which lordship and other lands he had inherited from his ancestor, Sir Robert Bruce, of Skelton Castle, the progenitor of the royal Bruces of Scotland. It is from this marriage that the Beckwiths derive their name. Lady Beckwith Bruce possessing by inheritance an es- tate or manor called "Beckwith," in the old Anglo-Saxon "Beckworth," from "Beck," a brook, and "Worth," an estate. With a view, evidently, to the perpetuation of the name, her husband was required, by a marriage contract dated 1226, to assume the name of Beckwith. The coat-of-arms of the Beckwiths is as follows: Arms : Argent, a chevron gules fretty or. between three hinds' heads erased, of the second. On a chief engrailed gules a saltier engrailed between two roses or, in pale, and on a chief joined to the dexter and sinister sides a demi fleur-de-lis paleways or. Crest : An antelope proper, in mouth a branch vert. Motto: Jouir en bien.

(I) Sir Marmaduke Beckwith, founder of the Virginia branch of the family, was horn in 1687. at Aldborough, Yorkshire, England, and in 1700 emigrated to Virginia. From 1708 to 1748 he was county clerk of Richmond county. It is probable that he died at the latter date.

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West Virginia and its people, Volume II, Part 75

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