USA > West Virginia > West Virginia and its people, Volume II > Part 93
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But he was soon again called into his country's service, in May, 1865, after the assassination of Lincoln, as a member of the military com- mission to try the conspirators in this crime. Other members of this commission included Generals Hunter and Wallace. Of all, General Harris was the last survivor, and in 1892 he wrote the book entitled "History of the Great Conspiracy", which attracted wide attention.
Returning to Harrisville, General Harris resumed the practice of med- icine, but the prominence he had gained in the war led to political prefer- ment. In 1867 he was elected a member of the house of delegates of West Virginia ; and in 1869 he was appointed adjutant general of the state, un- der Governor Stephenson. Further, from 1871 to 1875 he was United States pension agent at Wheeling, by commission of President Grant. This agency was abolished in 1875, in a scheme of general consolidation, and for the next ten years he was engaged in the practice of medicine, at Harrisville. He retired in 1885. the house in which he had been born and that in which he now lived being only a few hundred yards distant the one from the other.
General and Doctor Harris was the most distinguished citizen of his county, and was respected and beloved by all. He married ( first) in Oc- tober, 1842. Sophia Taylor, daughter of Thomas and Margaret ( Wash- burn) Hall, who was born in Massachusetts in 1817, and died Septem- ber 28, 1885. He married (second) Clara, daughter of Maley ; she was born in Iowa. and was General Harris' cousin. Children. all by first wife: Agnes, died in infancy; Mary Virginia, died in early womanhood ; Martha, deceased, married Rev. J. R. Johnson, of Washing- ton. Pennsylvania : John T., of whom further.
(IV) John T., son of General Thomas Maley and Sophia (Hall) Harris, was born at Harrisville, April 27, 1851. His earlier education was received, partly in the public, partly in private schools, and he con- pleted his general studies at the University of West Virginia, from which he was graduated in 1873. Before entering the university, he had learned the trade of a printer. For a number of years after his college education, he was in journalism, uniting with this work that of a shorthand reporter. In 1878 MIr. Harris entered the service of the Toledo, Peoria and War- saw railroad in the capacity of private secretary to the general freight agent, and he remained in the transportation field until 1885. hold- ing positions of this character at Peoria, Illinois: Detroit, Michigan ; and Buffalo, New York. But, in 1885, he returned to West Virginia,
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and took up actively the work of court reporting. At this he has been steadily engaged since that year, and since 1887 he has lived and worked at Parkersburg, West Virginia, associated both with the state and with the United States courts. In 1895 he was elected clerk of the senate of the state, and he has been successively re-elected to this office from that time, in 1897, 1899, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1909, 19II and 1913; in the last five sessions, his election has been unanimous. He is a Republican. Mr. Harris married, October 26, 1882, Elizabeth McLure, daughter of Elza and Jane ( McLure ) Lazier, of Morgantown, West Virginia. Child : Ruth Florence, a graduate of the Institute of Musical Art, at New York. She is a lyric soprano singer of fine ability, known professionally in New York ( in which city she has permanent church engagements ) and, in fact, widely throughout the country, for her recital and concert work.
The tracing of the ancestries of the immigrant founders DEMING of American families is seldom rewarded with success. Of few colonial families is much known concerning their European relations. In the present instance, it is not even known that the surname is found in England. As the name Damon has, in America, often been changed to Deming, it has been conjectured that the whole family of Demings may be of the Damon or Dammon stock, the name having been changed in England, before the coming of the Deming an- cestor to America. Further, the name Damon is said to be a corruption of D'Hammond, the name of an ancient and illustrious family of Surrey and Buckinghamshire, England, and of Blois and Cherbourg in France. The descendants of John Deming, of Wethersfield, Connecticut, are found in all parts of the American Union, although the name is not common, and the family has extended into Canada also.
(1) John Deming, the founder of this family. probably died in 1705, as his will was proved November 21, in that year. There is some slight reason to suppose that his father's name also was John. He was an early settler of Wethersfield, Connecticut, and may have been among the first settlers, in 1635 : he obtained a lot near Wethersfield in 1640, and in the following year he was owner of a house, barn, and five acres at Wethers- field. At various times he bought other holdings of land, principally at Wethersfield, to a considerable extent. Very little is known of his activ- ities, but enough to show that he was one of the prominent men of the Connecticut colony. Trumbull speaks of him as one of the fathers of Connecticut ; he is among those named in the charter of Connecticut, granted by King Charles Il. ; he was often a representative in the general court . and in the records of the colony his name often is found with the title Mr., then a mark of distinction. He married Honor, daughter of Richard Treat, who was probably deceased by 1692. Children: 1. John, born September 9, 1638 ( possibly in 1632), died January 23, 1712 : mar- ried, in 1657. Mary Mygatt. 2. Jonathan, born about 1639. died January 8, 1700 : married (first ) November 21, 1660, Sarah Graves, (second) De- cember 25, 1673. Elizabeth Gilbert. 3. A daughter, born about 1643 ; married Beckley. 4. Rachel, born about 1644: married, November 16, 1665. John Morgan. 5. Samuel, born about 1646, died April 6, 1709 : married, March 29. 1694. Sarah Buck. 6. Mary, born about 1648; mar- ried John Hurlburt. 7. Mercy, born about 1651, died December 17, 1714: married - Wright. 8. David, born about 1652, died May 4, 1725 : mar- ried, August 14, 1678, Mary -. 9. Sarah, born about 1654, died Sep- tember 29, 1717: married Samuel Moody. 10. Ebenezer, of whom further.
( II) Ebenezer, son of John and Honor ( Treat) Deming, was born at
-
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Wethersfield, about 1659, and died at Wethersfield, May 2, 1705. He married, at Wethersfield, July 16, 1677. Sarah --. Children : 1. Eben- ezer, of whom further. 2. John, born July 26, 1679, died May 1, 1761 ; married (first) June 5. 1712, Mary Curtis, ( second ) August 12, 1731, Catharine ( Beckley ) Dewey. 3. Sarah, born January 6, 1681, died March 19, 1755: married, April 1, 1701, Joseph Talcott. 4. Prudence, born about 1683, died October 24. 1706; married, October 4. 1705, Thomas Wright. 5. Ephraim, born about 1685. died November 14, 1742: mar- ried, January 19, 1716, Hannah Belding. 6. Josiah, born about 1688, died August 12, 1761 : married (first) December 8, 1714, Prudence Steele, (second) August II, 1756, Experience Smith.
(III) Ebenezer (2), son of Ebenezer (1) and Sarah Deming, was born at Wethersfield, May 5, 1678, and died at Wethersfield, April 16, 1765. By trade he was a hatter ; he owned land at Wethersfield and Say- brook, Connecticut. He married, December 27, 1704. Rebecca, daughter of James and Rebecca (Latimer) Treat, who was born about 1686, and died at Wethersfield, December 26, 1753. Children: I. Elizabeth, born March 6, 1706; married - Miller. 2. Joseph, born January 24, 1708, died about 1783 ; married, January 8, 1736, Elizabeth Francis. 3. Oliver, of whom further. 4. Ebenezer. born December 17, 1712, died October 28, 1788: married, May 7, 1741, Amy Bunce. 5. Timothy, born May 17, 1716, died June 25, 1789 : married, December 5. 1740, Susannah Francis (or French). 6. Moses, born March 1, 1720, died July 14, 1811 ; married November 10, 1748, Martha Welles.
(IV) Oliver, son of Ebenezer (2) and Rebecca ( Treat ) Deming, was born at Wethersfield, December 31, 1709, and died at Wethersfield, Sep- tember 30. 1789. He married, at Wethersfield. April 3, 1734. Lucy Hale, who probably died in 1801. After her husband's death, she moved to Granville, Massachusetts. Children : 1. Lemuel, of whom further. 2. Abigail, born May 30, 1738; married Oliver Moody. 3. Rev. Oliver, born March 21. 1742, died in 1775 : unmarried. 4. Lucy, baptized April 26. 1752 ; married Abijah Ranney.
(V) Lemuel, son of Oliver and Lucy ( Hale) Deming, was born at Wethersfield, October 16, 1735, and died at Wethersfield, April 25, 1790. He is called Captain Deming, having been master of the sloop "Ann," plying between Wethersfield and points on Long Island Sound. He probably served in the French and Indian war. He was among those called out, at the beginning of the revolution, in the alarm from Lexing- ton. In 1776 he transported in his vessel a company of troops from Wethersfield to New York. He was a member of Colonel Huntington's regiment, One Hundred Seventeenth Continental. He married Hannah, daughter of Josiah and Hannah ( Butler ) Standish. This marriage is recorded at Wethersfield, but the date is omitted. ( Standish is an old Wethersfield name : the land of Thomas Standish adjoined that of John Deming, at Wethersfield in 1641. The connection of this family with Miles Standish of the Plymouth colony is not known). Children: I. Josiah, born June 7, 1758, died September 6, 1805 : married, November 5, 1783. Susannah Seymour. 2. Hannah, born May 31, 1760, died April 27, 1773. 3. Allyn, born September 19. 1762, died in 1847: married Woodhouse. 4. Levi, born November 25. 1764. died in September, 1848; married. December 18, 1792, Sarah Grant. 5. Rhoda, born April 3. 1767; married ( first ) March 5. 1811, Benjamin Bidwell, (second) 6. Huldah, born October 8. 1769, died November 26, 1843: married, June 17. 1792, Lemuel May. 7. Lucy, born March 31. 1772 : married, January 29. 1800, Simeon Butler. 8. Oliver, born November 1, 1774. died in March, 1825 : married (first) in November, 1806, Ruth Matthews, ( sec- ond) Alice Stanley. (third) Mary Doolittle. 9. Hannah, born November
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10, 1776, died February 12, 1842; married, July 7, 1799, Matthew Fran- cis. 10. Asenath, born April 13, 1779, died October 10, 1841 ; married, April 9, 1812, John Stillman. II. Lemuel, of whom further.
(\'1) Lemuel (2), son of Lemuel ( 1) and Hannah (Standish) Dem- ing, as born at Wethersfield, July 9, 1782, and died in New Haven, Connecticut, March 12, 1841. In New Haven he made his home ; he was master of a vessel, and, like his father, was known as Captain Lemuel Deming. He married, in New Haven, July 2, 1805, Clarissa, daughter of Marcus Thompson, who was born April 27, 1785, and died October I, 1870. Children: I. George, born September 10, 1806, died April 21, 1861 ; married Lauretta Gabriel. 2. Charlotte, born October 18, 1808, died December 23, 1889; married George Gabriel. 3. Charles, born De- cember 8, 1812, died November 19, 1813. 4. Charles Thompson, of whom further. 5. Maryette, born May 31, 1818, died November 2, 1875; mar- ried Owen A. Munson. 6. William Henry, born November 24, 1820, died July 31, 1824.
(VII) Charles Thompson, son of Lemuel (2) and Clarissa (Thomp- son) Deming, was born in New Haven, September 15, 1814, and died at Parkersburg, West Virginia, March 23, 1879. He had interests in lum- ber mills in Cincinnati, Ohio, and afterward at Burning Springs, Vir- ginia. About 1850 he and his brother, Captain George Deming, who was a master mariner and had been on the ocean over thirty years, came to Parkersburg, West Virginia. Here they bought land extensively and built their homes. Mr. Deming was a prominent business man of his day, a leader in the development of this city, and many of the city's larg- est industries owe much to his financial support. He married Adelaide, daughter of Robert and Margaret (Harriott) Macan, who was born in England, and died at Parkersburg, in 1911. Her father was educated to be a barrister, but, coming to the United States, was on the staff of the New York Sun. Mrs. Deming came to this country in her childhood with her parents. Children : Miles Standish, born August 8, 1871, died July 31, 1892 ; Charlotte, married John Booker Finley ; Clara Thompson, of whom further.
(VIII) Clara Thompson, daughter of Charles Thompson and Ade- laide (Macan) Deming, maintains her home at Parkersburg, where she is a well known citizen. Miss Deming has kept close acquaintance with her relatives in New Haven and elsewhere in New England, and is inter- ested in the history of the family. Two of her ancestors beside Lemuel Deming served in the revolution. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
TOWNSEND Thomas C. Townsend, of Charleston, who enjoys the distinction of being the youngest state official to hold office in West Virginia, holding one next in import- ance to the governor, was born in Fayette county, West Virginia. His father, Benjamin Mason Townsend, died October 25, 1912, aged eighty- five years, a resident of Lansing county, West Virginia, having passed the allotted span of life, three score years and ten. Throughout the active years of his life he devoted his attention to the tilling of the soil, in which he was successful. In 1856 he cast his first presidential vote for John Charles Fremont, and retained his allegiance to the party he represented up to the time of his death. He married Julia Rule, who has now at- tained the age of seventy-six years, and she bore him ten children, six of whom are living, namely : William, Emma, Anna, George, Robert, and Thomas C., who was the youngest of the family.
Thomas Chasteene Townsend was born on his father's farm, in Fay-
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ette county, West Virginia, August 14, 1877. He attended the public school adjacent to his home and a Normal School at Fayetteville, and then pursued a law course at the West Virginia University. He began the practice of his chosen profession at Fayetteville, and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1903. He continued his practice at Fayetteville until January 1, 1905, when he removed to Charleston, West Virginia, and entered the tax commissioner's office as chief clerk, remaining in that capacity for four years, and obtaining a thorough knowledge of the de- tails of the work. He then received the appointment of tax commissioner which office he filled for twenty-eight months, serving out an unexpired term, and at the request of the governor he remained in office for three months following. He then opened offices in the Alderson-Stephenson building. Charleston, and has continued ever since in active practice, his patronage increasing in volume and importance with the passing years. In addition to this he is actively engaged in the buying and selling of land, having extensive holdings in the states of Arkansas, Georgia and Ohio, and considerable land in the city of Charleston, suitable for resi- dential purposes. He is a Republican in politics, and is the present nomi- nee for prosecuting attorney of Kanawha county, this honor having come to him without opposition, and also without solicitation on his part, an eloquent testimonial to his popularity. He is the author of the "Uni- form Accounting Law", which saves taxpayers of West Virginia one-half a million dollars annually. He is also the author of the "Inheritance Tax Law." He is a member of the Baptist church.
Mr. Townsend married, December 22, 1901, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Annie Burdette, a native of Fayette county, West Virginia, daughter of the late Thomas Burdette. Children : Helen Pearl, born June 12, 1903 ; Thomas Hillis, born November 25, 1904.
CLARK This family is descended from old New Hampshire stock, the first progenitor of whom there is definite record, having done battle for his country in the war of 1812. His son, Robert Clark, was born at Peterboro, New Hampshire, January 29, 1827, and spent the early years of his life in his native state. He came to West Virginia when a young man, in about the year 1847. where he became a stationary engineer, following that calling until his death. He resided for a while in Wheeling, having married a Miss Anna H. Elettson, a native of Toronto, Canada. In 1856 he left Wheeling and came to Parkersburg. where he passed the remainder of his life in his chosen calling, and where the majority of his children were born. The names of these children were as follows : George T., born in 1852: Stephen G., of whom further : Robert, born in 1857, deceased : William L .; Nora, married to H. Little- ton ; Amber, married to S. D. Kine; Charles F .; Walter; Goldie, born August 18, 1876.
Stephen G. Clark, son of Robert and Anna H. ( Elettson) Clark, was born in Wheeling. West Virginia, September 25, 1854. When he was two years of age his parents removed to Parkersburg, and here he grew to maturity, receiving his education in the subscription schools. Upon en- tering the business world he adopted his father's calling, becoming, like him, a stationary engineer. On August 11, 1879, he became engineer in the Farmers' and Merchants' Flour Mill ; and afterwards was appointed chief engineer of the water works of Parkersburg, which position he held for a period of four years. In 1891 he was made manager of the Flour Mill, which position he has filled admirably until the present time. He is a man of marked ability and influence, and is now one of the largest stockholders in the concern which he manages, and he is also a man of high social standing in the community.
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In the year 1890, Mr. Clark married Miss Jessie B. Compton, daugh- ter of Robert M. and Anna Compton. Mr. and Mrs. Clark became the parents of four children : 1. Bertha W., born May 18, 1893. 2. Baby, born June 6, 1895, died July 26, 1895. 3. Ruth Virginia, born December 19, 1897. 4. Anna Roberta, born February 6, 1908.
Richard Lee ()'Neal, a well known man of affairs and one
O'NEAL of the most popular citizens of Huntington, comes on both sides of old Kentucky stock, and has, throughout his career, exhibited the far-seeing enterprise characteristic of his pioneer ancestors. ()'Neal, grandfather of Richard Lee ()'Neal, was born in Kentucky, and was a farmer and slaveholder. He died in 1866, at the age of sixty- five years.
( II) Lewis, son of - ()'Neal, was born in Kentucky, and as a young man served in the Mexican war. He took up arms in the cause of the Confederacy, and throughout the war between the states served in Morgan's Cavalry. He was captured during Morgan's Raid in Ohio, and for nine months was a prisoner. He married Elizabeth, born in Kentucky, daughter of Hezekiah Cox, a farmer, distiller and slaveholder of Owenton, in that state. Mr. Cox died in 1869, from injuries received in a railroad accident, being then sixty years old. Mr. and Mrs. O'Neal were the parents of three children : Richard Lee, mentioned below ; Mrs. Charles F. Close, died in 1908, in Huntington ; and Mrs. Ferdinand O. Clemmer, died in 1905. in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mrs. O'Neal died March 17. 1900, aged fifty-seven years, and Mr. O'Neal passed away a few years later, at the age of sixty.
( III) Richard Lee, son of Lewis and Elizabeth (Cox) O'Neal, was born October 24. 1868, at Vincennes, Indiana, and received his education in the public schools of his native place. After leaving school he was em- ployed for four years in a hotel, the Oliver House, at South Bend, In- diana, and it is a significant fact, illustrative of the spirit manifested throughout his subsequent career, that although he began at the bottom of the ladder in this hostelry, he rose, before leaving, to the position of chief clerk. In 1888 he became connected with the old Jay House, at Findlay, Ohio, in this responsible capacity, serving for five years as chief clerk. In addition to this, he held the office of assistant manager.
In 1892 MIr. O'Neal came to Huntington where, for a period of ten years, he was connected in various capacities with the Florentine Hotel, his final position being that of manager. In association with L. H. Cox, promoter of the present Frederick Hotel, he drew all the plans for that structure, which was completed in November, 1906, since which time Mr. O'Neal has been its most enterprising and efficient manager, having filled the position continuously from the opening of the hotel until the present time. In politics Mr. O'Neal is a Democrat. He affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in religious matters is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church.
Mr. O'Neal married, in May, 1907, in Cincinnati, Lizzie L., born in Huntington, daughter of Jacob L. Crider. Mr. Crider was formerly a druggist in Huntington, but he and his wife are now living in Seattle, Washington. Mr. and Mrs. O'Neal have no children.
During the twenty years of Mr. O'Neal's residence in Huntington his most earnest efforts have ever been given to the promotion of the best in- terests of his home city, with results which are fully appreciated by his - friends and neighbors, and which have made him one of the most re- spected and popular men to be found throughout the length and breadth of the community.
1
HECKMAN
BINDERY, INC. Bound-To-Please"
AUG 04
N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA 46962
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