Barbour County WV Queries 2012

Barbour County Queries 2012

Send your queries to be posted here. Use either the New Query Form or send them to me in e-mail. Margaret Lew, Page Manager.
New Query Form

J Marks 27 November 2012
MARKS
When did Jim Lee Marks graduate from Philippi High School? He was born in 1931. He died in Nov 2012.

Carl Moore 21 November 2012
DAY - MOORE
Looking for records of death or buriel of Hannah Day Moore. Known to be in Barbour County possibly living with son Joshua from 1870 to ?. Thanks for any info.

Jerry Robinson 8 September 2012
TAYLOR DRAIN CEMETERY
I presently hold the title to the Taylor Drain cemetery in Barbour County off of Arden Road. I am looking for an organization or group of individuals that would be interested in maintaining that two acre cemetery. I live too far away and do not have the funds to continue paying some one to keep it mowed. The cenetery is over 200 years old and there are very few if any relatives alive. You have the War of 1812 vets, Civil War vets, and early settlers of Barbour County buried there. A lot of history buried in that ground. I have done a lot of research and have the names of over 200 people buried there. This would be a good project for a Boy Scout group or a Vets organization or Methodist chuch group. At one time there was a Methodist church on the grounds. If you have any interest please contact me.

Terry W. Farrance 5 September 2012
FARENCE - MAHLE - MALE
I have surveyed various census and found relatives that resided in Pleasant, Barbour, West Virginia. I can't find this place on any map. Can you help please.

Note: Pleasant is a district of the county, you can read about it on this page: The Eight Districts of Barbour County

Helen Lucille (Sturm) Kemper 23 August 2012
JOHNSON - PARSONS - SEE - STUMP - STURM - SUZANNE
Need info on Keziah See B.1829, M. Wm. A. Sturm 1850 and came WEST. She died in IL. My Grandfather was one of her Children. Also anything you might know of Keziah's parents and family.

I have as Keziah's Mother Elizabeth Parsons. Is this correct?

Anything on Nickolas Sturm M. to Elizabeth Gainer?
Thank you so much. Lucille Kemper (I go by my Middle name)

Jamie Webb 20 August 2012
FINLEY - HART
Hi- I see online that the Barbour County 1870 US Fed Census has been assigned and is in the process of being transcribed. I am wondering if those records are kept where they can be accessed and a copy of a page with a specific family sent to me or if I will need to wait until records are avail online.

The family is John L Finley, wife Nancy, children Ira, Cora, Lyda, Debra A. Specifically, I am looking to verify the age of the last child Deborah (hopefully to the month) as her mother is not Nancy.

In 1860, they were listed in Barbour County post office Philippi (John & Deborah Ann) and in 1880 in Barker, Barbour County.

I have not been able to find a birth certificate for the child Deborah Finley b 18 Feb 1867. Her mother Deborah Ann died 10 days later. Thank you so much with any help you can give me. My children and I are working on this as a history project for their school this year.

Chuck Plumb 18 August 2012
BRADY - ROW - RUCKER
Looking for a death date for Mary M. Stonestreet RUCKER, wife of Samuel. Born about 1844 in Bath, Virginia to Jarrett and Sarah Rider Stonestreet, married Samuel Rucker in Barbour County 9 Mar 1869. Children Gideon, Mary James, Olive (Pocahontas) and Jarrett. Samuel died about 1886. I've discovered that Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness is no longer active; is there anyone who will make trips to the courthouse for a fee? Thanks (Southern Arizona)

Richard Right 17 June 2012
BILLER - BUNNER - RIGHT
My name is Richard Right, I'm looking for the locations of the cemetaries where my realitives are buried. They are from Belington,WVA. Their last names are Right, Bunner, Biller. If you can find anything on my family I would be grateful.
Thank you, R. Right

Shirley O'Neil 6 June 2012
TURNER
I've been admiring your website for Barbour Co. I wonder if you know of a researcher that I can hire to do a little searching for me. I'm helping someone join the DAR and we need proof that Abner Turner who died in Barbour county in 1900 was a son of Andrew Turner. An obituary or death record might be helpful.
Thanks,
Shirley O'Neil
Oregon State DAR Lineage Research Chairman

Jackie Gant 20 May 2012
TROTTER
My great grandfather Robert "Bob" Trotter, an African American from Person County, NC, lived in Philippi, Barbour County in 1920,(as seen in 1920 census) where he worked as a furnace man in a coal field. We know he died Feb 27, 1942 in Philippi, WV and was buried in/at Chestnut Ridge. We also know his son Edwin Trotter would visit from Person County, NC before he died in 1937. We also know Robert Trotter often got in trouble in NC and wonder if he stayed away from trouble in WV. . .

I live in Winston-Salem NC and would make a trip to courthouse to look up any information on property, wills or estate records. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks, Jackie Gant

Valerie K. Eavey 9 May 2012
PRITCHARD
I am related to John Pritchard, born in Barbour County, W. VA 1833, died in Barbour County, W. VA 07 July 1905. Can you verify his birth/death and provide the names of his parents?

Felix Superfisky 8 May 2012
SUPERFISKY
My grandparents came to the US in the early 1900's and settled in Century #1. I am trying to find out what their surname was before the teachers changed it to "Superfisky" also "Superfesky" in that part of the country.

My grandfather's first name was Elia or Elias and my grandmother's name was Eva (Ruzdavich maiden name). The 2 names that rattle around in family letters are "Sucharewski" and "Schuhairayoshskus". My father thought the 2nd was the correct name.

Grandfather worked in the mine. They had 4 children when they arrived, Leonard(Walter) (7), Helen (5), Connie (3), and Ida (1).

Shelba Walls 4 May 2012
BARRETT - BOARD - CHRISLIP - HOFF - TETER
Thank you for all your work keeping the website.
I live in Miami, Oklahoma. My great grandmother, Zetella Hoff Barrett, was from Philippi, Barbour County, WV, according to my grandmother. I inherited an old deteriorated leather photo album of Zetella Hoff's relatives: Chrislip's, Hoff's and Teter's. Zetella Hoff was supposed to be the child of Clifton Hoff. I have been using Ancestry.com to search for her mother and hit dead ends. Yesterday at the public library I found an article stating that she was the daughter of Clifton and Cora J. Board.

I would love to be able to find out the real story about Zetella. She was truly an awesome woman and I adored her while she was alive. As a young girl and woman, I did not think to talk to her about her past. Now I am searching for roots.

Any assistance you can give me on where to look for information/history on the families above would be greatly appreciated.
Shelba Walls

Christine Todd 2 May 2012
COX - WILLIS
Hi, I wonder if you can help. I am tracing my family history and have a story that I am so far unable to verify.

My great great grandfather was called Clarence John Harris Willis and he was born on the 10th March 1843 in Deal in Kent. He married Louisa Ann Lover on the 7th July 1864 in Surrey. He appears with his wife and children on the English 1861 census. He is shown again on the 1871 census, but for some strange reason he has changed his name to Charles Willis. He does not appear on the 1881 census.

Rumour has it that he left his wife (without getting a divorce) and went to America. That is probably why he changed his name. I managed to find details of a marriage in Barbour of Charles J H Willis on the 16th May 1876 to Catherine E Cox. The details of his birth and also his occupation seemed to tie up with the details in England.

With the help of a friend of mine who lives in Arizona, I have obtained the American Marriage Certificate. I had hoped to be able to check the signature against the one on the English certificate, but the American certificate doesn’t have a signature. The certificate I have shows the issue date of May 13, 1876 and the Marriage date of May 16, 1876. The state is WV Barbour County. The marriage record book is 1-1/2 Page 89 – 40.

Do you know if there is likely to be any other way of confirming if this is the same person? Are there any other documents with a signature on that I can perhaps order? If in fact there is a signature in the Marriage Record Book, would it be possible to see a copy?

Sorry for all the questions, but this story has been puzzling myself and other members of my family for quite some time. We thought we were nearly there when we ordered the certificate.

In the event that you don’t hold anything with a signature, could you perhaps give me any suggestions as to how I may establish if the Charles Willis in America is in fact the one that left England.

Any assistance you can give me would be appreciated.
Kind regards
Christine

Christine Phillips 13 April 2012
Belington School
Hello- I am looking for information on a school located in or near Belington around 1930-1932. My grandfather Hobson Dewey Phillips was a teacher in the area up to his death in 1932. I would love the name of the school, how long he taught, and of course, any pictures or stories/information about him, his immediate family, or the school. My dad was very young at the time of his father's death and remembers very little [and they left the area shortly after his death]. I am trying to track down information for him.
Many thanks!
Christine Phillips

Rosalind Rountree 13 December 2011
LOWMAN - SANDERS
My great-great grandparents were John Jacob Lowman and Eliza Jane Sanders, both of Barbour County. It was a second marriage for both. I would very much like to find out about her earlier life. She had daughters from her first marriage, and one son from the second (my great grandfather, Jacob Eugene Lowman). I know that her father was widowed early and sent his daughters to a boarding school. Where, I've never known. I seem to remember hearing that Eliza Jane's first husband (Sanders) was a minister. I would like to find out what her maiden name was.

John Jacob Lowman had six sons and some daughters from his first marriage, to Mary Evans, and then he and Eliza Jane had one son, my great grandfather, born the first year of the Civil War. John Jacob did not live to see his son. He collapsed while building a fence around a family cemetery plot (Providence Cemetery?) and didn't recover.

Are there newspapers surviving from that era that might have marriage and death notices? Are there courthouse records still surviving?

I would very much appreciate any information on the Lowman and Sanders families. I would be happy to share anything I've found out with anyone interested, and hope to visit Barbour County to do some in-person research.
Thanks very much,
Rosalind Rountree

Barbour County Queries 2012

© 2013 Margaret C. Lew Last Updated: 2 February 2013

© 2013 Margaret C. Lew
Last Updated: 2 February 2013