USA > West Virginia > West Virginia and its people, Volume II > Part 86
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Senator Silver married, at Martinsburg. December 5. 1908, Kate Bishop, born in Martinsburg. August 1, 1884, daughter of John Wesley
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Bishop, a wholesale grocer, and his wife, Emily (Alburtus) Bishop, whose other children are Sprague and Virginia. Senator and Mrs. Sil- ver have had children : Mary Gray, born July 16, 1910; Gray Jr., March 22, 1912.
References : Silvers of Silver Spring, Pennsylvania ; an article pub- lished in the Carlisle Volunteer by J. Zeamer (Mr. Jerry Zeamer, of Carlisle). The Sesqui-Centennial Anniversary of the Silver Spring Pres- byterian Church, Historical discourse by the Rev. T. J. Ferguson. One Hundred and Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Silver Spring Presbyter- ian Church, August 5, 1909. "The Early Patriots of Silver Spring," by J. Zeamer. "Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopaedia," Personal History Department of Berkeley County, p. 2. "Aler's History of Berkeley County." For the history of Henshaw family, and article by Miss Valley Virginia Henshaw, published in "The West Virginia Histor- ical Magazine," April, 1904, vol. 4. No. 2, W. S. Laidley, Editor, pub- lished by the West Virginia Historical and Antiquarian Society, Charles- ton, West Virginia. "Life and Letters of Judge T. J. Anderson and Wife," by James H. Anderson. Edited by James H. Anderson, LL.B.
BRENNAN None who have the opportunity of conversing with Ignatius Brennan will long be in doubt as to the latter's possession of a full supply of the genial humor and wit for which the sons of the fair old Emerald Isle have ever been noted, and while he cannot claim Ireland as the place of his nativity, his par- ents were both born in county Mayo, and he has not been denied his heritage, the "kindly fruits" of which are evidenced in his buoyant per- sonality and ready appreciation of the humorous side of life. He is a native son of West Virginia and has been a resident of Wheeling since 1887, his presence having undoubtedly had due influence in creating the "Greater Wheeling," to which this publication is dedicated and devoted. Mr. Brennan was born at Greenwood, Doddridge county, West Virginia, shortly after the close of the civil war, and, as he himself puts it, "is always for peace therefore and thereby." He is sixth son of Thomas and Catherine (Byrne) Brennan, both, as already stated, natives of county Mayo, Ireland. Apropos of this parental nativity Ignatius Brennan has vouchsafed the following statement: "This accounts for the marked emeraldness I displayed all through the days of my youth and on into manhood, and ever though practically at the high-noon of my life, I am still the possessor of a huge amount of it."
We first find Mr. Brennan, after he had accumulated all the education he couldn't possibly escape in the public schools. a full-fledged ped- agogue "at the head of Arnold's Creek in Doddridge county, with a No. I certificate and a salary of forty-two dollars per month-the re- dundant two dollars having been attached to his emolument as honor- arium for building fires and sweeping the school room." It required three years of this work to fit him for his next position-that of brake- man on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. Two years at this work gained hin: promotion to the position of conductor. and in this capacity he con- tinued to serve for seven years.
On the 14th of October, 1891, Mr. Brennan joined the order of bene- dicts by taking unto himself a wife, in the person of Miss Fannie C. Hughes, and he has never been greatly abashed at the connubial discip- line established by Mrs. Brennan.
Touching the "productive activities" of Mr. Brennan, it may be stated that when he ceased to "conduct" as a conductor in the railway service, he was found peregrinating with characteristic éclat in the dig-
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Ignatius Brennan
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nified office of traveling salesman for a wholesale grocery house, and "doing well, thank you." Ten years of salesmanship, during which his spare moments were given to the "perusing of the sages," brought about his development into a full-fledged poet and life-insurance manager-a combination hard to beat. He enjoys the first part of the combination as a pastime, but when it comes to "paying the rent" he prefers the latter. He issued, in the spring of 1911, from the Gorman Press, of Boston, Massachusetts, his first volume of poems, under the title of "Mountain State Gleanings," and it deserves a prominent place in every household. It is a gloom dispeller, even as is its author in person.
Leonard Dillon Simmons, the first member of this family SIMMONS of whom we have definite information, died March 17, 1909. He served in the Confederate army during the civil war and was wounded at the battle of Cloyd's Mountain. At the close of hostilities he engaged in mercantile pursuits at Spencer, West Virginia, and continued in business until 1898, when he retired. He mar- ried Sarah Artemisa, daughter of William R. and Sarah Goff, of Spen- cer. Children: Howard Dillon, Harvey Jefferson, referred to below; Mary, married - DePue : Kenna Cleveland, Lee L., Mildred Irene.
(II) Captain Harvey Jefferson Simmons, son of Leonard Dillon and Sarah Artemisa (Goff) Simmons, was born at Spencer, West Virginia, May 2, 1876. He received his early education in the public schools, sup- plemented by a three years' course at the University of Virginia, and then became associated in business with his father. When the Spanish-Ameri- can war broke out he enlisted, and was commissioned as a second lieu- tenant in the Second West Virginia Volunteer Infantry. Later he joined the Forty-first United States Volunteer Infantry, with the rank of sec- ond lieutenant, and served for two years in the Philippine Islands, under the late General Frederick Dent Grant, in Northern Luzon. He was com- missioned captain and assigned to the command of the troops and sta- tion at Bacalor, Pampanga province. He was in continual active service, his district comprising twenty-one square miles and containing eighteen thousand natives, and in all nine hundred insurrectos, together with four hundred rifles were captured by Captain Simmons. In 1905 he organized, at Spencer, Company D, of the Second Regiment of Infantry, National Guard of West Virginia, and commanded the company for five years, when he was transferred to the regimental staff of the same regiment as inspector of small arms practice and ordinance officer, which position he still holds. He possesses one of the finest collections of Philippine coins and curios in West Virginia. Since his return from the Philippines, he has been engaged in the real estate and oil business and has an interest in large tracts of oil lands. He is a Presbyterian in religion, and a Demo- crat in politics. He is a member of Moriah Lodge, No. 38, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; of Parkersburg Lodge, No. 198, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of Spencer Lodge, No. 55. Knights of Pythias. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Redmen of America. He married, November 14, 1904, Mande, daugh- ter of Rev. J. N. and Martha (Hildreth) Burdette, of Spencer. Chil- dren : William Leonard, Harvey Jefferson, Charles Burdette.
McDOUGLE The McDougle family, of which Judge Walter Ed- mund McDougle, the able jurist and one of the circuit judges of West Virginia, residing at Parkersburg, is a representative, is, as its name would suggest. of Scotch origin. Its Amer- ican history ante-dates the revolution, and except for a short early resi-
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dence in Maryland the family has lived in Virginia, including the present state of West Virginia, throughout its American residence.
(I) John McDougle, the founder of this family, was born in Scot- land, March 16, 1731. He was the father of a son Benjamin, of whom further.
( II ) Benjamin, son of John McDougle, was born in Maryland, Sep- tember 15, 1762. He married Elizabeth Duke. They had one child, Sam- uel, of whom further.
( III ) Samuel, son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Duke) McDougle, was born in Rappahannock county, Virginia, June 14, 1798. He married Mary Armstrong. Child, Albert Armstrong, of whom further.
( IV) Albert Armstrong, son of Samuel and Mary (Armstrong) McDougle, was born in Warren county, Virginia, December 2, 1838; came to Wood county in 1848, and was killed July 5, 1905, in Wood county, West Virginia, being struck hy a train at a railroad crossing. His entire life was that of a farmer and breeder of and dealer in live stock. He served as trustee of public schools in Wood county, West Virginia. He married, at Washington Bottoms, Wood county, West Virginia, Feb- ruary 11. 1866, Louisa Jane, born February 21, 1841, died October 7, 1870, daughter of Francis Keene and Marietta ( Simpson) Lewis. Fran- cis K. Lewis was a native of Wood county, where he was a prominent farmer; he was the father of seven children, the others being: Perry, Sarah, Adeline, Betty, Martha, Fannie. Children of Albert Armstrong and Louisa Jane (Lewis) McDougle: Walter Edmund, of whom further ; three younger, of whom none lived more than a few days.
(V) Judge Walter Edmund McDougle, son of Albert Armstrong and Louisa Jane (Lewis) McDougle, was born at the old McDougle home- stead at Washington Bottoms, December 4, 1867. Having laid his educa- tional foundations in the public schools of his native county, he attended the Tri-State Normal College, at Angola, Indiana, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Commercial Science. He returned in 1889 when he entered the office of J. G. McCluer, where he read law and made the preliminary steps for a thorough legal education, which was received at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, from which he was graduated in 1891 with high honors, the faculty conferring upon him the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Mr. McDougle had already been a farmer, prior to commencing his advanced studies in 1886. From that year he was studying continuously until 1891, and he was then admitted to practice law. In this practice he has been engaged from that year. Except during the times when he was away at college, from 1886 to 1888, and again from September. 1890, to June, 1891, Mr. McDougle has been a lifelong resident of Wood county, and he has risen to a high position in the county bar, as shown by the offices which he has held. From Decem- ber 31, 1892, to January 1, 1897, a period of four years, he was prose- cuting attorney of Wood county. During all these years he was success- ful in every case which he prosecuted, never having had a mistrial or any case successfully appealed against him in the higher courts. The late Judge J. M. Jackson stated that Mr. McDougle was the best prosecuting attorney that had ever practiced in his court, for the reason that he always had the evidence well in hand and had the law to fit the case, never over- looking a point, always on the alert. While never indulging in oratorical flights in the arguments or in presenting a case, he was incisive, effective and convincing. In 1909 he became assistant prosecuting attorney and continued in this position up to 1912. In the latter year Mr. McDougle was nominated and elected judge of the fourth judicial circuit of West Virginia, his jurisdiction covering Wood and Wirt counties, to serve in this position up to 1920, a period of eight years. For this position Judge
Walter &. MEDangle
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McDougle has already exemplified his fitness in many ways. He is an indefatigable worker, and instituted a new departure from the methods of his predecessors, by his determination to clear the calendar of the vast number of cases which he found upon going on the bench, some of which had been on the docket for many years. In order to do this Judge McDou- gle held special sessions of from two to five days each week for months, not excepting the hottest months of the summer. This, and his able and just decisions, soon placed him among the most popular judges, not only with the members of the bar, but with all persons having business with the court.
He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, Modern Woodmen of America, the Order of Owls, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Junior Order of American Mechanics, the Elks Club, and the Germania Singing Society.
He married, at Marietta, Ohio. April 18, 1891, Myrtle Elizabeth, born at Middleport, Ohio, July 22, 1869. daughter of George and Eliza (White) Curry. Her father was a manufacturer of brick, and served as a soldier of the Union from 1861 to 1865. Mr. and Mrs. McDongle and son are members of the Presbyterian church. Child: Robert Bore- man, born February 7, 1892 ; he is a graduate of the high school at Park- ersburg and is now a student at Washington and Lee University, class of 1916, from which his father graduated in 1891.
This is one of the leading families in Wood county, promi- ROBB nent on both sides for its culture and refinement, and leading back on the mother's side to the pioneer days of the colonies and the distinguished performances of the maternal ancestor of that time, Captain James Neale, in whose honor Neale Station received its name. William J. Robb, whose widow is one of the descendants of the doughty captain, was born in Waynesburg, Greene county, Pennsylvania. in April, 1821. When he was only two years of age his parents removed" to Wheeling, then in the state of Virginia, and he received his education at Washington-Jefferson Academy, in Washington, Pennsylvania. After his course of studies had been completed, he engaged in mercantile busi- ness until the outbreak of the civil war, when he became a soldier in the Union army, enlisting in the First Regiment of Virginia, and served throughout the entire war. . He was promoted in rank, but was made a prisoner at the time of this promotion. Mr. Robb was a strong advocate and upholder of fraternal organizations, having been prior to his death on August 2, 1892, a member of the Odd Fellows, and the Free and Ac- cepted Masons. On October 31, 1848, he married Josephine, eldest daughter of Daniel Rowell Neale (see Neale IV), and had the following children : 1. James, born September 28, 1849. died March 13, 1888. 2. John B., December 13, 1851, died in January, 1888. 3. Neale, born Feb- ruary 6, 1854, died October 31, 1904. 4. William J., born December 25. 1856: was a dry goods merchant in this city for twenty-seven years, but is now engaged in real estate. 5. Harry B., born January 1. 1859: has been engaged in the drug business in this city for many years. 6. George, born November 3, 1862.
(The Neale Line).
The immigrant ancestor of the Neale family, Captain James Neale, came to Maryland about the year 1650, some authorities claiming the date to be 1638. He was an admiral of the Royal navy, sailing from Spain via Portugal, bringing with him his wife and their four children, all born in
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Spain. An act of assembly of 1666 discloses a glimpse of his former life as follows: "The humble petition of Captain James Neale viz: For nat- uralization of his four children, Henrietta Maria, James, Dorothy, and Anthony Neale, born in Spain of Anna, his wife, during his residence there as a merchant : and also employed there by the King and the Duke of York in several emergent affairs, as by commission herewith pro- duced," etc. Henrietta Maria Neale. eldest daughter of Captain James and Anna Neale, married (first) Richard Burnett, who was drowned in early manhood, leaving two children, a son and daughter. She married ( second ) Philemon Lloyd, by whom she had a number of children, the eldest of whom, Edward Lloyd, became a member of the Maryland legis- lature, his descendants all being prominent people of the state. Dorothy Neale, the second daughter of Captain James and Anna Neale married Taney, and became the ancestress of the late Chief Justice Taney. Of Anthony Neale, the second son of Captain James Neale, little is re- corded : some historians not seeming to be aware of his existence, naming only three children.
(II) James (2), the eldest son of Captain James ( I) and Anna Neale settled and married on the western shore of Maryland, and his descend- ants, with those of his brothers and sisters, are legion, more than a thou- sand being recorded at the beginning of the last quarter of the nineteenth century ; as history quaintly records, "Anna Neale was a great mother !" Among their children was probably John.
( III) John, son of James (2) Neale, married ( first) Caroline Kyger, by whom he had eight children, among whom was Daniel Rowell; mar- ried (second) Elizabeth, daughter of Jonas Beeson, by whom he had one son named in his honor.
(IV) Daniel Rowell, son of John Neale, was born in Parkersburg, January 29, 1809. being the fifth son of John Neale by his wife, Caroline Kyger. He married -. Children of Daniel Rowell Neale : 1. Josephine, now the widow of William J. Robb, as previously stated. 2. Paul. 3. Ro- maine, died in infancy. 4. Eloise, died in infancy. 5. John Dexter, living in Houston, Texas. 6. Florida, who is the widow of Spencer Cooke, liv- ing in Parkersburg. 7. Caroline, widow of Captain James Hume, who died at Chicago, Illinois, February 2, 1907. she herself dying on Novem- ber 26, 1909.
This is one of the most frequently met names in America. SHAW The present family is of Scotch origin. William Shaw, the founder of this family, came probably from Scotland, and settled in Monongalia county, Virginia, (now Preston county, West Vir- ginia), in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Child: William, of whom further.
(II) William (2), son of William ( 1) Shaw, was born June 13, 1795. and died near Philippi, Barbour county, West Virginia, June 19, 1876. In early life he came to what is now Barbour county and made his home at or near where Philippi now stands. In 1830 he was a justice of the peace in Randolph county, and, on the organization of the new county he was one of the justices who organized Barbour county. In 1847 he was sheriff of the county. In all he was a county officer for twenty-five vears. He was one of the original trustees of Philippi. By occupation he was a miller, stone mason, and farmer ; for some time he was one of the owners of the ferry at Philippi. At an early day he owned the entire site on which Philippi was later built ; his farm, where he died, was one and one-half miles west of Philippi. In the war of 1812 he was a soldier. stationed at Norfolk. He was always a Democrat. He married Edith
ABlain Shows
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O'Neal ; she died at the age of eighty-five. Child: David William, of whom further.
(III) David William, son of William (2) and Edith (O'Neal) Shaw, was born in Barbour county, Virginia, in May, 1852. He was edu- cated at Philippi, in the common schools, and at West Virginia College, Flemington, Taylor county, then the only chartered college in West Vir- ginia, from which he graduated in 1876. He has been a prominent edu- cator. From 1869 he taught school, devoting the winter months to this work, and farming in the summer, and continued in this dual activity un- til 1885. In 1885 he gave himself wholly to agriculture. In June, 1894, he was made superintendent of the West Virginia Reform School, at Pruntytown, Taylor county. In the antimn of 1886 he was elected a member of the state legislature, and he was re-elected four times in suc- cession. In the session of 1893 he was speaker of the house of dele- gates. Previously, from the beginning of his legislative career, he had been chairman of the committee on education. In 1896 Mr. Shaw was felt to be the logical nominee for governor of the state, but did not al- low the use of his name.
He has now a large farm in Barbour county, but resides in Philippi. The present standing of the Morris Harvey College, as one of the best schools in the state, is due to him, he having been its president from 1900 to 1910. Beside his principal activities in state affairs, he was deputy sheriff of the county in 1884-85, and president of the board of education at Philippi from 1884 to 1888. For a little over a year, in 1883, and 1884. he was editor of the Barbour Jeffersonian. He is a member of Philippi Lodge, No. 59, I. O. O. F. Mr. Shaw is a Democrat, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
He married, March 12, 1879, Barbara Ellen, daughter of William W. and Jane (Thompson) Woodford, who was born at Philippi, in 1857, and now resides at Philippi. She is a descendant of General William Woodford, an Englishman who married a daughter of Sir William Howe afterward General Howe, in command of His Majesty's forces in Amer- ica in the early part of the revolution; General Howe opposed the mar- riage and the couple left England and settled in the Shenandoah valley. William Woodford, father of Mrs. Shaw, was a stock dealer on a large scale : he died from an accident at the age of fifty-nine. His wife lived to the age of seventy-one. Among their eight children, five are living, all in Barbour county : Riley and Austin, on the old Woodford homestead ; George, a farmer : Mrs. James P. Robinson and Mrs. Shaw. Children of David William and Barbara Ellen (Woodford) Shaw : David Blain, of whom further ; William Ralston, born May 30, 1885, now living at Phil- ippi, where he is a teacher, and a famous baseball coach.
(IV) David Blain, son of David William and Barbara Ellen (Wood- ford) Shaw, was born at Philippi, February 9, 1883. He was eleven years old when his father was appointed superintendent of the State Re- form School at Printytown, and there in part he received his early edu- cation. Afterward he studied at Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, Up- shur county, West Virginia, and graduated in 1906 from the Morris Har- vey College at Barboursville, Cabell county, West Virginia, with the de- gree of A. B. He and his brother Ralston built up the athletics of this college so that in 1905 the baseball club won seventeen games out of eighteen played, and about ten of the players are now in major leagues. Ralston Shaw afterward played with the Vanderbilt University ball term.
In 1906 David Blain Shaw engaged in the real estate business, dealing in lands in the southwestern part of the state and in Kentucky. He es- tablished in the same year his present business and the Cabell Investment
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and Development Company, and built the building which it now occupies, the Hotel Edgar building, which is the best business building in Bar- boursville. Mr. Shaw has been the most efficient promoter of Barbours- ville, which had in 1903 a population of 449, and had in 1910 increased to 987 and in 1913 to 1225. During this time he has sold about five hun- dred pieces of real estate and built between forty and fifty houses. Be- fore entering the real estate field he was assistant cashier of the Citizens' National Bank at Philippi, and he was the chief organizer and for three years vice-president of the First State Bank at Barboursville. Of the latter bank he is now a director. From 1907 to 1909 he was a member of the Bowman Realty Company, of Huntington, West Virginia. He owns the Barboursville Budget, of Barboursville, Cabell Record, of Mil- ton, Cabell county, and the Tri-State Enterprise of Kenova, Wayne coun- ty, West Virginia, all leading weekly journals. He founded the orator- ical contest among the church schools of this state. He was also at one time director of the orchestral department of Morris Harvey College. In music he has special ability, and has composed some instrumental pieces. He is a member of the F. and A. M., the 1. O. O. F., and the Royal Ar- canum.
In 1910 Mr. Shaw established a general insurance agency in Bar- boursville, through which he covered several large lines in the southwest- ern part of the state, and which was incorporated as the Shaw-Union
- Agency Company. An unexpectedly large business was developed in this line, and this agency was considered a model for efficiency and methods; it was the first general agency ever established in Barboursville. It was bought by a syndicate early in 1912, Mr. Shaw retiring from the business. .
In 1912 Mr. Shaw established the Bluefield Daily Courier, a new ven- ture in the afternoon newspaper field in the South-State metropolis. It proved a strong factor in the campaign of 1912 and is given credit for a large part of the increase in the Democratic vote of this section. The paper soon had a circulation of 3500 copies. In 1913 Mr. Shaw made sale of this property, upon advantageous terms, and returned to his other business interests in Barboursville and Huntington.
A great part of his time in the past two years has been devoted to the promotion of water and sewerage systems in Barboursville, paving, hard-road connections with near-by cities, and the building of a trolley system between Charleston and Huntington. Largely through his efforts, most of these have been consummated. Barboursville now has all of the public utilities of a city, including a heavy natural gas supply ; the hard road system has been extended on the three leading pikes of Cabell county for a total distance of thirty miles, connecting Barboursville and Hunt- ington, and several other important points in the county. This road is built of regular paving brick, the only county road of its kind in West Virginia. The trolley line has been surveyed and will doubtless be built within a few years. In the furtherance of these enterprises, Mr. Shaw has met with many honors and recognitions for his services, having at different times been chosen as councilman, special manager and mayor of his town. He is at present serving as mayor, (having been elected upon his return from Bluefield), and during this term the town will take over the new water plant under municipal ownership plans, being one of the first in the state to try this innovation.
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