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Addison Moffat Scott Taken from History of Charleston and Kanawha County West Virginia and Representative Citizens, W.S. Laidley, Richmond Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, 1911. The subject of this sketch, Addison M. Scott, civil engineer, the son of Chauncey L. Scott, a New York farmer, was born in Dryden, Tompkins county, N.Y., February 20, 1843. He is of mixed Scotch-Irish and English ancestry. His mother, Margaret L. Moffat, was a daughter of Samuel Moffat, a man of considerable prominence in the early history of Dryden, N.Y.; his father, the Rev. John Moffat, was a Presbyterian minister. This reverend ancestor of our subject graduated from the College of New Jersey (later Princeton College) in 1749; he was settled for a time at Middlesex, N.J., and later in Ulster and Orange counties, N.Y. Samuel Moffat, the grandfather of the Rev. John Moffat, the grandfather of the Rev. John Moffat, was a Scotch Covenanter and fought at the battle of Bothwell Bridge in 1679. After this historic defeat he fled to Ballylig, Ireland, afterwards emigrating, with his family, to America and settling in New Jersey.Mr. Scott's grandmother, nee Ann Shaw, on the maternal side, was also Protestant Scotch-Irish. Her parents, John and Isabella Shaw and family came from County Atrium, Ireland, in 1800, and settled in Cayuga county, N.Y., Mrs. John Shaw was Isabella Tennent, daughter of a member of Parliament and owner of large landed estates in northern Ireland. The subject of this sketch in his boyhood worked on his father's farm in Dryden and went to the district school. At about sixteen, and for several years after, he attended the Ithaca Academy, at Ithaca, N.Y., directing his studies in large part to mathematics and surveying. While attending the academy he generally taught school during the winters. In the spring of 1866 he made a trip to the Northwest and at St. Paul joined a party then organizing there under Gen. G.K. Warren of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, for a survey of the upper Mississippi river. Upon the disbanding of this party at St. Louis late in 1866, Mr. Scott returned home and renewed his studies at the Ithaca Academy. While at school in the fall of 1867, General Warren offerred him a position as assistant engineer on the improvement of the upper Mississippi, then getting under way. This position he accepted with much hesitation, as it broke in on his plan of study, which included a course at college. He remained on the Mississippi work for several years. The latter three years of that time he was employed as assistant engineer on the construction of a large railroad and highway bridge built by the United States across the Mississippi river at Rock Island and Davenport. He was on this work from the first survey for the location of the bridge until its completion in the spring of 1873. On the completion of the bridge General Warren, who had been transferred to the East with headquarters at Newport, R.I., tendered Mr. Scott a position under him there. This would have been accepted but for another, and what appeared a more promising offer, made about the same time. In that year, 1873, the United States Government undertook the improvement of the Great Kanawha river, which was in the Ohio River Department, then in charge of Col. William E. Merrill, Corps of Engineer, with headquarters at Cincinnati, and Mr. Scott was placed in local charge as resident engineer. Through several changes that took place in the organization of the river improvement force, Mr. Scott was continuously retained in his position as chief assistant or resident engineer. During his long service here, he devoted himself with persevering zeal and energy to the duties of his professional position, mastering thoroughly the theory and practical details of the Chanoine movable dams which the Government adopted in the movement of the Great Kanawha river. The first movable dams in America were built in this river. For a full description of the Chanoine dams and a history of the improvement of the Great Kanawha river, see a separate article elsewhere in this volume. To all his subordinates Mr. Scott was always courteous and kind, winning their respect and esteem, while he himself possessed the unbounded confidence and kind regards of superior officers. In his profession he has achieved an enviable reputation for capacity, skill, and executive ability. In his general intercourse with the public Mr. Scott is a modest, unassuming, courteous gentleman. He is accurate, prompt, and thoroughly reliable in all business engagements and transactions. Mr. Scott remained in local charge of the Great Kanawha River Improvement until the fall of 1901, when he resigned, making a continuous service of over twenty-eight years on that work and of thirty-four years as civil engineer in the U.S. Corps of Engineers. A reference to his professional service should not omit the following tribute paid him by the distinguished engineer officer, the late Gen. William P. Craighill, under whom he served for twenty-one years, a period embracing the beginning and nearly the entire completion of the lock and dam system of the great Kanawha. As noted elsewhere, Gen. Craighill gave up command of the Baltimore Division of River and Harbor works, which included the Great Kanawha Improvement, in 1895, when promoted to the highest office in his corps, the Chief of Engineers of the Army. In an article on the Kanawha Improvement, that appeared in the "Engineering Record" of June 17, 1899, General Craighill says: "I desire also to call attention in the most emphatic way to another member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, who has for more than twenty-five years been connected with this important improvement which has been most successful from a commercial as well as an engineering standpoint. I refer to Mr. A.M. Scott, who was a principal engineer on this work when I took charge of it for the United States in 1874; he has remained on it up to the present time when it is completed. The conduct of the work has been most economical, wise and excellent in every way. Mr. Scott has exhibited an unusual degree of skill as a designing and constructing engineer in the management of the improvement and in dealing with the many perplexing problems, which have presented themselves for solution in its progress. To him is due, more than to any other person, the success of this work. I say what I know, and it gives sincere pleasure thus to bear record to the merit of a most faithful and deserving man." Mr. Scott has continued to make Charleston his home since giving up active work in the river improvement. He had faith in the future of the city and valley from the first, and proved it by early and judicious investments of his savings in real estate here, that have made a fair provision for his declining years. He has been a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers since 1886; and is Vice President of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce; he is a Mason of long standing - past High Priest of Royal Arch Masons, and past Eminent Commander of Knights Templar of the Charleston Commandery. Though not a member of any church, he has been identified with the Kanawha Presbyterian since first coming to Charleston, and is a member of the board of trustees of that church. He was married in 1907 to Miss Florence L. Jeroloman, a daughter of Judge John Jeroloman of New York City. Mr. Scott has always been a democrat, and though never prominent in politics, he takes a real interest in all public matters, and, as indicated above, is active in various lines of civic duty.

Shafer Family John W. Shafer Submitted by Tammy Barber (TAMIAM38@aol.com) on Sat Mar 8 13:01:32 1997 Is a son of John Shafer, who was born in Ohio, and Mary (Cox) Shafer, born in 1811, in Lewis County, (then) Virginia. Jacob Shafer, grandfather of John W., was a solider in the war of 1812. John W. Shafer served seven months in the Confederate cavalry, enlisting in August, 1862, and taking part in a number of engagements. In Wirt county, (then) Virginia. April 1, 1859, he married Maria Dobson who was born in Lewis County, April 1, 1838. His birth was on the 17th of October 1837, in that part of Kanwaha County now Roane. Their children were born: Viola V.., December 9, 1859; (my g.g. grandfather George B. , January 1, 1862;) David Lee, April 1, 1864; Sarah C.., April 11, 1872; Mary A. August 27, 1876; Charles S. October 30, 1878; Ezra, September 8, 1881. The parents of Mrs. Shafer are deceased, George W. Dobson, born in Culpeper county, Virginia and Catharine (wagoner) Dobson, born in Lewis county. The first wife of Peter Wagoner, Father of Mrs. Dobson, and all their children were made captives by the Indians, who murdered his wife and all the children but two girls and one boy, whom they carried away with them. The girls escaped, the boy grew up among them, and married a squaw. Afterwards he returned to his people, married a white woman and lived to be 102 years old. Farming is the occupation of John W. Shafer, Harper district his location, and Higby, Roane county, West Virginia, his address.Quote from John W. Shafer’s bible: Remember children passing by, as you are now so once was I, as I am now so you must be, prepare for death and follow me. Amen John W. and Maria Dobson were 21 when wed. They were married by Sam’l Sheppard. John W. Shafer & Maria Dobson were married on April 3rd, 1859. They were marred by Sam’l Sheppard. John W Shafer was 21 and Maria Dobson was 21. John & Mary Shafer were the parents of John W. Shafer and G. W. & Catherine Dobson were the parents of Maria Dobson. John W. Shafer was born in Kanawha County, Virginia and Maria Dobson was born in Lewis County, Virginia. Provided by Barbara Cheuvront, Wirt County Clerk Shafer of ROCK CREEK Jacob Shafer and Jane Shafer Jacob Shafer and his wife, Jane, daughter of John and Rachel (Taylor) Harper of the Harper district possible as early as the year 1849. The names of the children of Jacob and Jane Shafer that we were able to give are: John, Sarah, Ann, Susan, David, Henry, George, Issac, and Asa. "Old Jacob and Jane (Harper) Shaffer, father and mother of the above Family, cleared and made a farm and were respectable people there for some twenty years. Both died there some year ago. From the Book of History of Roane County

Greenbury Slack Taken from Prominent Men of West Virginia, Geo. W Atkinson and Alvaro F Gibbens, W.L. Callin Publishing, Wheeling, WV, 1890. Greenbury Slack - "Uncle Green," as he was usually titled among his neighbors - was born in Kanawha county, Virginia, December 3, 1807. Whilst upon the farm of his father, John Slack, he used every spare hour for study, and with the aid of select and private schools acquired a fair English education. He was a Justice of the Peace, by the commission of Virginia's Governor, and also a leading member of the M.E. Church. He was sent to Wheeling, in 1861, as a delegate to the Convention which reorganized the State Government. He was also a member of the Convention of 1863, to frame a Constitution for the State of Kanawha - afterwards christened West Virginia. He served in the State Senate from 1863 to 1868. He died at his home in Charleston July 1, 1873. For native acumen but few West Virginians were his superior. He was an omniverous reader, and retained nearly everything he read. In many respects, he was a remarkable man.

Hedgman Slack Taken from Prominent Men of West Virginia, Geo. W Atkinson and Alvaro F Gibbens, W.L. Callin Publishing, Wheeling, WV, 1890. Hedman Slack was born in 1834, in Kanawha county, Virginia. His education was obtained in district schools of that day. When his country called for volunteers, early in 1861, young Slack, in company with his younger brother - Greenbury, who was killed in the battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia - enlisted in the Union army, the former in the Fourth, and the latter in the Thirteenth Virginia Regiments. Both of the brothers were made Captains. The Fourth Virginia Regiment was changed to the Seventh West Virginia Cavalry, and Captain Hedgman Slack was elected its first Major. He was a man of great courage, and in several severe engagements commanded his regiment. April 20, 1868, President Grant appointed him United States Marshal for West Virginia, which office he held for nine consecutive years. He now resides on his farm seven miles northeast of Charleston.

John Slater Submitted by Linda Secco (lsecco@bignet.net) on Sat Apr 3 14:33:30 1999 JOHN SLATER John W. Slater who was born in 1807 came and settled as a young man on Martins Branch at Sissonville, W,VA (Legg, W.VA) He married Mary (Polly) Kelley. Shaw was born in 1808. Mary died in 1884, John died in 1892. Both are buried in the Elizabeth Fisher Slater Cemetery on Allens Fork. This cemetery was named after their daughter in law Elizabeth Fisher Slater. The children of John and Mary Kelley Slater were: MARTHA JANE B. 1829 MARRIED GALENTINE LEE IN 1845. THEY HAD TEN CHILDREN;LOVICA ANN, MARY, REBECCA, THOMAS, FELIX, ELIJAH, ENOCH, ABRAM, ABNER, AND ISAAC. ELKANA BORN MARCH 1831 AT MARTINS BRANCH. HE MARRIED ELIZABETH FISHER, THE DAUGHTER OF GEORGE AND FRANKIE LANHAM FISHER. THEY HAD TEN CHILDREN; GEORGE, MARY, SIDNEY-ANN, WILLIAM PRIOR, JOHN, ELKANA, NORRIS, NOAH, ANDREW, HENRY MARSENA. ELKANA DIED AUG. 7, 1875. GREENBURY BORN IN 1833 MARRIED SALLIE JONES. THEY HAD OLNY TWO DAUGHTERS, MARY SLATER-HUGHART BORN 1866, DIED 1996 AND LOSIA FRANCES SLATER-WINES BORN 1870 DIED 1903. JESSE PRIOR BORN 1836 MARRIED LOUISA ANN KELLEY, APRIL 29, 1860. JESSE PRIOR'S MOTHER And Louisa Ann’s Father WERE BROTHER AND SISTER MAKING JESSE PRIOR AND HIS WIFE LOUISA COUSINS. THEY HAD 11 CHILDREN; CHARLES C. BORN SEPT. 18, 1865 DIED April 12, 1949. Joseph Brooks Born April 1, 1867. HE MARRIED Mary (MOLLY) FISHER MILLER AUG. 11, 1895. THEY HAD ONLY TWO CHILDREN; AMANDA SLATER PHILLIPS AND HEBER ADDISON. JOSEPH BROOKS DIED IN 1933. VIRGINIA (JENNIE) BORN DEC. 24, 1868 NEVER MARRIED. WILLIAM NORRIS BORN MARCH 25, 1871 MARRIED APRIL 2, 1901 TO MARY LANHAM. SIMON PRIOR BORN MARCH 2, 1871, MARRIED MELISSIE JANE MCCLANAHAN, THE DAUGHTER OF RICHARD AND REBECCA ROLENS (ROLLINS) MCCLANAHAN MARCH 31, 1806. THEY HAD TEN CHILDREN; ERNEST BORN MARCH 3, 1907 MARRIED CLARA THAXTON, DAUGHTER OF PERRY AND VIRGINIA THAXTON. ERNEST DIED NOV. 18,1978. SHIRLEY BORN 1908 MARRIED DONNA THAXTON. DIED IN 1963. ARNOLD BORN 1910 DIED 1911. BENJAMIN BORN 1911 DIED 1967. IDA BORN OCTOBER 12, 1913, MARRIED JOHN HAMMONDS. DOCIE BORN OCT. 20,1915 MARRIED GLEN REED. ANDREW BORN 1918 DIED MARCH 1, 1986. EDWARD BORN 1920, DIED NOV. 20,1978. HUBERT BORN OCT. 20, 1926 MARRIED FREDA VIRGINIA FISHER, DAUGHTER OF IDA LEE PEYTON AND ARTHUR LOTS FISHER. JAMES BORN JAN. 1,1928 MARRIED CORDIE BURDETTE. THEIR FATHER SIMON DIED DEC. 7, 1940. THERI MOTHER MELISSIE JANE DIED JUNE 29,1968. BETTY THE SIXTH CHILD OF JESSE AND LOUISA BORN NOV. 7,1872. ONA BORN 1875 MARRIED A BURFORD. SHE DIED IN THE 1890'S. SLATER CHILD, THE EIGHTH WAS BORN IN 1878. JESSE PRIOR BORN IN 1880 DIED IN 1880 ONLY LIVING A FEW DAYS. VIRGIE C. BORN IN 1884 DIED NOV 27, 1924. SHE NEVER MARRIED. MELISSA BORN IN 1888 NEVER MARRIED.

Samuel W. Smiley (1778-1844) Submitted by Mark Etheridge (drkilmer@earthlink.net) on Tue Jan 12 05:32:55 1999 Samuel W. SMILEY was born in about 1778 in what is now Cabell County, West Virginia, near the Kanawha Salt work on the Ohio River. At the time he was born, the area was known as Greenbriar County, Virginia. A year after his birth, in 1779, the area in which he was living was renamed Kanawha County. In 1809, the area was again renamed Cabell County. Today the area is Cabell County, West Virginia. So far, I know nothing about Samuels' parents or possible siblings. One of the earliest records of him is a military record of his appointment to the rank of Captain in the 18th Regiment, Thirteenth Brigade, 3rd Division of the Virginia Militia in Kanawha County. In May 1811, he was appointed Captain of the 120th Regiment, Thirteenth Brigade, 3rd Division in Cabell County, and in July 1813 he was appointed Major of the 1st Battalion of the 120th Regiment, 13th Brigade, 3rd Division. Samuel is found on the Kanawha County 1806 Tax List, and his household is presented there as having 1 free white male over the age of 16 and 4 cows. The 1815 Cabell County Tax List shows him apparently still single with 1 free white male over the age of 16, but by this time he has acquired 1 slave, 8 horses, and 33 cattle. Samuel was very involved in the buying and selling of land throughout his life, and he is listed as an early Patentee in Cabell County, VA., and his name is listed with numerous land transactions in the Big Sandy area until about 1815. Around 1814, Samuel moved to St. Charles County, Missouri, apparently with a wife by the name of Doratha. Doratha's maiden name may have been Cox. Samuel Smiley settled on "Cottles Grant", an old Spanish Grant first issued to Tesin and later transferred to Cottle. In 1817 he built a temporary cabin there to live in while he built a much larger two- story double-log structure with weather boarding, on the Rock Road near Mill Creek. Located on the stage line between St. Louis and northern Missouri (known as the Salt-River Road), this served as an Inn and Tavern by 1821. In October of 1817, Doratha left Samuel and on December 6, 1817 he published a notice in the Missouri Gazette (Vol. 10, No. 479): "NOTICE - The public are hereby notified not to make contracts with my wife, Doratha who has left...Samuel Smiley, St. Charles, December 3, 1817". However it was not until 1820 that he and Doratha were divorced. St. Charles, Missouri records show that on March 20, 1820, a petition was filed in Samuel Smiley vs Doratha Smiley, and an order for publication was handed down by the Court. The St. Louis Examiner (Vol. 3, No. 166) on 10 May 1820 printed that in the case of Samuel Smiley vs Doratha Smiley, filed in St. Charles on March 22, 1820, the petition charged that Doratha left in October 1817, and she was ordered to appear on the first Monday of the July, 1820 term. Samuel and Doratha apparently had at least two children...Virginia Catherine Smiley b. ABT 1805, and Synthia (Cynthia) Smiley, b. ABT 1807. Catherine married Daniel EMERSON, and Synthia married Richard WOMMACK 18 Aug 1825 . They were married at Samuel's house, in what was the second recorded marriage in Lincoln County. William HAMMOCK was Justice of the Peace, but by July 26, 1826 Samuel is listed as having Justice of the Peace in a marriage of Thomas EDWARDS to Mrs. Vaugn. Catherine married prior to Samuel's death in Jan 1844, as reflected in his will. This would not be the last divorce for Samuel Smiley. Lincoln County was formed from a part of St. Charles County in 1820. Samuel would spend the rest of his life in Lincoln County and serve the county in various capacities. He is listed as a taxpayer Union Township, in the northwest quarter of the county, in 1821. He would also marry again, this time to a woman named Elizabeth. Elizabeth's maiden name is not known. Pike County, MO court records 1821-1825 mentions: "McQueen, James dec'd. Samuel Smiley and Elizabeth his wife (late Elizabeth McQueen, exrx of James McQueen, dec'd.) are allowed credit in full of legacies of Thomas McQueen & John A.L. McQueen, two of the legators in said will, said Samuel Smiley having produced deed of the said Thomas McQueen & John A.L. McQueen relinquishing their legacies." Elizabeth and Samuel probably had three children...Reubin Smiley, George Washington Smiley, and John Smiley. I do not have info on Reubin and George (and in fact they may have been Doratha's children), but John was born ABT 1822. He married Cinderella BETHEL and died in Lincoln County on 8 Dec 1842. Also from Pike County court records, 1821-1825 - "Two strays taken by Daniel Emerson, living in Buffalo Twp., appraised by Samuel Smiley and Solomon Gurnsey, 29 Nov. 1823. Goodspeed's History of Lincoln County, Missouri (1888) lists Samuel Smiley as County Court Judge 1825-1827, and Commissioner of School Lands in Union Township in 1823. The first recorded divorce in Lincoln County was Samuel Smiley vs Elizabeth Smiley, on Oct. 3, 1826. Cause - desertion. Divorce mutual. In, "Divorces, Separations and Annulments in Missouri", by Teresa Blattner (1993): Samuel Smiley vs Elizabeth Smiley - An entry in the margin of the circuit court record has the notation, "This entry expunged. Entry will be found of Record Feby 1827". On 5 February 1827, the court overturned the earlier ruling to include the finding that Samuel had not abused Elizabeth. The divorce was again granted on that date. Samuel Smiley married Emily R. NICKELL (NICHOLS) on 25 June 1829 in Lincoln County, Missouri. Emily was born in Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky in about 1811. Together they had three children; David Barton Smiley (married Mildred WELCH 14 May 1851), William G. Smiley, and George P. Smiley. David Barton was born in the Smiley Tavern. Samuel Smiley died in Lincoln County on 7 January 1844. His will is recorded there in Will Book "A", Page 132. Below is an abstract of the will: Smiley, Samuel - will dated 16 Feb 1843 Estate to be sold and proceeds distributed between my wife, Emily, and my sons Reubin, John, David B., William G., and George P. Eldest daughter Catherine Emerson, has received. Also, second daughter Synthia Womack, dec'd., and her infant children, Virginia Eliza Jane & Mary Jane. Exrs., neighbors and friends George W. Zimmerman, James Reed & Jas. Wilson. Wit.: John C. Wells, Carty Wells, James S. Thompson & F.G. Gilmer. Recorded 12 Feb 1844. Emily NICHOLS continued running the family business at the tavern for some time after Samuel died. Emily died 28 May, 1876 in Lincoln County.

Benjamin Harrison Smith Taken from Prominent Men of West Virginia, Geo. W Atkinson and Alvaro F Gibbens, W.L. Callin Publishing, Wheeling, WV, 1890. Benjamin Harrison Smith, who was most conspicuous as the first United States Attorney when the District of West Virginia was created by the throes of war, the will and bravery of her people, and the edicts from Washington, was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, October 31, 1797. His father, also named Benjamin, sold his Virginia estate in September, 1810, and moved to a farm in Fairfield county, Ohio, where the son worked in the field, studied in leisure hours, and in 1819 was graduated from the University of Ohio at Athens. He began law study at Lancaster, under the afterwards distinguished Thomas Ewing, and in 1821 was admitted to the Supreme Court Bar. Loving the hills of his nativity best, he located the next year in Charleston, Kanawha county, Virginia, and grew into a prosperous and renumerative practice.In 1833, Col. Smith was elected to the State Senate, serving six years. In 1849 President Tyler appointed him United States District Attorney for the District west of the Blue Ridge, which position he held until the close of that Administration. In 1855, he represented Kanawha county in the General Assembly, under the Constitution of 1850, in the Convention to frame which he was an active member. He was a Whig in sentiment, and in 1861, President Lincoln made him District Attorney, in which office he served, under the old and new State, until 1868, when he resigned. He was a member of the Convention to frame a Constitution for West Virginia. He was a Democratic candidate for Governor in 1866, and was defeated. In 1870, he was one of Kanawha county's delegates in the Legislature. He died at his home in Charleston, December 10, 1887. Up to within a short time of his death he was remarkably hale and vigorous for one of his advanced age. Col. Smith was one of the finest specimens of physical manhood ever in his section of the State, and of mental clearness and forcible impress contemporary only with George W. Summers, the orator of Western Virginia. He was one of the greatest lawyers Virginia ever produced; not eloquent, attractive or polished, but able, massive, powerful, irresistible. On account of his great legal learning, he will not soon be forgotten.

JAMES R. SMITH Submitted by Ken Smith (sgtssmith@worldnet.att.net) on Mon Jun 4 22:12:15 2001 BIOGRAPHY OF JAMES R. SMITH OF KANAWHA COUNTY, VIRGINIA James R. Smith was born in Kanawha County about 1839. He was the son of Samuel Smith and Catherine Slaughter. Their only other known children were Mary, born about 1838, Catherine, born about 1845, and Samuel, born about 1853. Catherine was known to family members as "Aunt Kit", and around the turn of the century she owned a boarding house near Mankato, Minnesota, where some of James' children met their future spouses. James' father Samuel died in 1858. In 1860, James was living in a rooming house owned by Charles Slaughter, his uncle. During the Civil War, James furnished supplies to the Union Army, and after the war, opened a general store in Marmet, a town which was known as Brownstown at the time. On March 30, 1864, James married Elizabeth Van Reynolds, daughter of Ellicott and Betsy Howe Reynolds. James & Lizzie had nine children, all born in Marmet. Lula, born February, 1865 and died at 6 months; Minnie W., born April 3, 1866; James F., born about 1868; Bernice, born about 1870; Geneva, born March 19, 1872; Carrie Fenton, born May 29, 1874; Edward G., born about 1876; Percy Howe, born April 17, 1879 and Mable, born about 1881. Most of James and Elizabeth's children were involved in the transportation industry, two of their sons and three of their sons- in-law worked for the railroads, while another son-in-law operated a tugboat on the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. James died fairly young, before 1900, although the record of his death has not been found. Lizzie continued to operate the general store until her death, most likely in 1918. Both James & Lizzie were probably buried in the Ebenezer Church Yard in Marmet, but there are no stones marking their graves. Part of the graveyard was moved to make room for the West Virginia Turnpike, and many of the old markers were not preserved.

PERCY HOWE SMITH Submitted by Ken Smith (sgtssmith@worldnet.att.net ) on Tue Feb 15 03:22:52 2000 BIOGRAPHY OF PERCY HOWE SMITH OF MARMET, KANAWHA COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA Percy was born in Marmet, West Virginia, on April 17th, 1879. Marmet was, at the time, called Brownstown. He was the seventh of eight children of James and Lizzie Reynolds Smith. James ran a general store in Brownstown. After the death of his father, Percy left his home in West Virginia and came to Minneapolis to visit his sister Geneva. He decided to look for work in Minnesota and landed a job with a railroad. Most of his brothers and brothers-in-law worked in the transportation industry too, back in West Virginia. Percy's first job was a run from St. Paul to Mankato. While laying over in Mankato, he stayed at a rooming house in Kasota, just north of Mankato, run by his aunt, Catherine Rowe, a sister of his father. It was at Aunt Kit's rooming house that he met his future bride, Angeline Middaugh. Angie had attended business school and was a clerk in a dry goods store in Mankato. Her parents farmed near Waseca, Minnesota, and she was also staying at Aunt Kit's rooming house. Two of Percy's sisters, Minnie and Carrie, also met their husbands at Aunt Kit's. Percy & Angie were married in St. Paul on September 3rd, 1902. They lived in Minneapolis for a while, then moved to Mankato, where Avavalle and Raymond were born. Percy was moving up in the railroad, and they moved back to St. Paul, where they lived at 391 Goodrich from 1906 to 1913. James and Kenneth were born while they lived there. They moved to 705 Jefferson for a year, then to Minneapolis, where they lived at 965-14th Av. SE. When Percy was promoted to yardmaster at the Rollins yard, they bought a larger home at 1047-17th Av. SE. Percy retired around 1930 as the General Superintendent of the Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railroad. The couple then sold their home in Minneapolis and bought a resort near Mcgregor, Minnesota, on Lake Minnewawa, called Greenwood Lodge. In 1935, their son Kenny was killed in a one car accident while driving to the resort from Minneapolis. They owned Greenwood Lodge until the early 50's, when they sold it and bought a home in Osseo, Minnesota, where they both lived out their days. Percy died on July 22nd, 1960. This information is the personal recollection of their daughter Avanalle, and their grandson Kenneth Smith.

Memorial to Andrew Jackson Songer Submitted by Ellen Pauley(ECPAULEY@aol.com) Published by J. T. Taylor January 15, 1907, five days after his deathAndrew Jackson Songer was born September 8, 1832, and died January 10, 1907 aged 74 years, 4 months and 2 days. His death was a surprise to everybody. He seemed to be enjoying very good health up to the very time of his death. On the night before he died he was taken suddenly ill with cramp colic, and only lived about seven hours He was on a visit to Mechanicsburg, Va., and was spending the winter with his son Ward Songer. He expected to visit several friends in Bland and Pulaski County, and then return to Huntington, W. Va., where be made his home with his children. But, alas! "Man proposes and God disposes." He did not think that ere the winter’s storm should break upon the shore, his soul should be summoned to the Great White Throne Brother Songer was born in Montgomery not far from the White Sulphur Springs. His father, Christian Songer, back in the fifties, moved to Snowville, and there raised an honorable family, viz: George Songer, Gordon Songer, William Songer and A. J. Songer, the subject of this sketch Not long before the war A. J. Songer was married to Charlotte Pannell, and to them were born twelve children, viz: Mary Ann E. Songer, Luella Clary Songer, James B. Songer, Sarah Elizabeth Songer, Virinia Helen Songer, Ward Songer, John T. Songer, Martha Jane Songer, George W. Songer, Fannie V. Songer, Lucinda F. Songer, Charles F. Songer. His wife and four children preceded him to the spirit world At the outbreak of the war our subject was living in the Kanawha Valley, and when the Southern army retreated he made his escape to this country, and had to serve a term in the Confederate ranks. In one of the terrible battles around Petersburg his right arm was shattered near the elbow, but the surgeons saved his arm by removing seven inches of bone -- leaving a limber joint. Thus, crippled for life, he faced a cold world and the many hard battles he fought will never be known in this life. With a cheerful face and a kind word for everybody he moved quietly along. He was perfectly content in every condition of life -- grumbling was not on his lips. He spent most of his life as a miller. Just recently he said "I never took toll from a poor widow’s grain." He never saw the day that he would not have divided his bread or clothes with the poor. He was greatly beloved by all the people. He had no enemies in this world. He trusted God and believed that all things would work together for his good. When old age came, he leaned on the strong arms of his noble children, and his sunset of life was a real "Beaulah Land," where he enjoyed a foretaste of that sweet peace, which the saints inherit in the Kingdom of God. For a number of years he had been a member of the Christian church. He often stood in the congregation and read the Bible and exhorted with warm power. He believed in a "full salvation," and enjoyed this sweet experience. His whole life was as a light in a dark place; his character was simply beautiful; his spirit was meek and lowly, like the Master’s. But our brother came to the last mile-post in life's journey. When asked what word should be sent to his absent children he said: "Tell the children that I have fought a good fight, and for them to follow me as I have followed Christ." A little later he said: "The end has come --farewell, farewell," and without a groan or struggle he fell asleep in Jesus. The funeral services were conducted by the writer. Amidst sobs and tears all that remained of Andrew Jackson Songer was lowered into the grave, while upon the air floated the sweet solemn words: "Life’s labor done, as sinks the clay, Light from its load the spirit flies While heaven and earth combine to say, How blest the righteous when he dies." Mechanicsburg, Va., January 15, 1907 J. T. Taylor

George William Summers Taken from Prominent Men of West Virginia, Geo. W Atkinson and Alvaro F Gibbens, W.L. Callin Publishing, Wheeling, WV, 1890. One of the truly great men of Virginia, when both Virginias were one, was George William Summers of Kanawha county. "A man with noble ancestry," says Pauline, in Bulwer's Lady of Lyons, "is like a representative of the past." But like the supposed prince to whom this analogy was applied, Judge Summers, though the possessor of an honorable ancestry, was not "a pensioner upon the dead." He was himself. He hewed his own way through life. He depended upon his own energeis and his own resources, and won an enviable fame.There is much less of success in life really dependent upon accident, or what is usually denominated luck, than is generally imagined. Much more depends upon the objects that one proposes to himself; what accomplishments or attainments he aims at; what constitutes the circle of his vision and thoughts; what he chooses not to be educated for, but to educate himself for; whether he looks beyond the present hour to the end and aim of the whole of life; or whether or listens to the appeals of indolence or vulgar pleasure, or to the stirring voice in his own soul, urging his amibition on to the higher and nobler objects of life. Pluck is better than luck, and energy is greater than genius. He rises highest that depends most upon courage and perseverence. Judge Summers, in early life, satisfied himself that the way to success did not pass over beds of roses, and that great men did not grow up on parlor carpets any more than trees develop in "hot-beds." He saw that men of commanding powers were made by constantly cultivating mind,body and soul. He also saw opportunities and availed himself of them. It is, therefore, no wonder that his was a successful life. When in his commanding presence, I have often thought that he wasa striking example of the influence of repblican institutions, in assigning to genius and talent their proper station and reward. He towered above the average man, as the stalwart oak rises above the shrubbery on the hill-side. He was a true type of genuine American orator, lawyer and statesman. Mr. Summers was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, March 4, 1807. His parents removing with him to Kanawha county, while he was yet an infant; and in what is now perhaps the richest portion of West Virginia, he grew to manhood. In person, he was of medium height, stoutly built, with strongly marked features. He had a deliberate, though firm and uncompromising expression of countenance, that at once gave assurance of the make-up of the man. He was courteous and affable in demeanor, but frank in manners and expression. Possessing enlarged and liberal views, he formed readily his own opinions, and exhibited a uniform habit of devoting himself earnestly and efficiently to the discharge of his public and private duties. In 1819, he matriculated as a student in the classical course at the Ohio University, at Athens, and graduated from that institution in 1826, taking the Master's degree three years later. Immediately after graduating from college, he commenced the study of law under the tutorage of his brother, Judge Lewis Summers, and was admitted to the bar in 1827. He was elected a member of the House of Delegates in the Legislature of Virginia, from Kanawha county, in the year 1830, and was several times re-elected to the same position. In the spring of 1841, he was elected a member of the United States House of Representatives, and was re-elected in 1843, serving throughout the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth Congresses. While in Congress he commanded the respect of his political adversaries as well as his own partisans; and when he spoke, he was given that consideration by his associates that his splendid abilities merited at their hands. In 1850 he was elected to the Constitutional Convention of Virginia, and occupied a leading position in framing the State Constitution of that year. In that noted Convention, he delivered a speech on the Basis of Representation, that was pronounced masterful both in matter and manner. This speech was generally regarded by the Judge's friends as the greatest effort of his life. He was unanimously nominated as the Whig candidate for the Governor of Virginia in the campaign of 1851. Prior to that time, the office of Governor was bestowed by the Legislature; but in 1851 it was made elective by the people. In this memorable contest, Mr. Summers was defeated by the Hon. Joseph Johnson, of Harrison county, the Democratic nominee. The contest was exciting and close, and was one of the most interesting gubernatorial campaigns ever conducted in the Old Commonwealth. In May 1852, Mr. Summers was elected Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit of Virginia; and after serving six years in that capacity, he resigned his office July 1, 1858, there being two years unexpired of the term to which he had been elected. The "Peace Conference," held at Washington, D.C., in the spring of 1861, was one of the most important gatherings of public men ever held on the continent. Judge Summers was a member of that conference, and took an active and leading part in defence of the Union. While he was in attendance upon this conference he was elected by his fellow-citizens in Kanawha, a delegate to the Richmond convention that passed the ordinance of secession. "These were times that tried men's souls." Judge Summers, great speech in defense of the Union, delivered in this convention, was perhaps the ablest and most forceful argument delivered for or against secession by any member of that great body of statesman. It was published in the Richmond Whig, and occupied over one-half of that large newspaper. After the breaking out of war in 1861, Judge Summers retired to private life upon his farm at the western limit of Charleston, and ever afterwards persistently refused to accept any office tendered him by his fellow-citizens. He, however, in his retirement from public life, kept up the practice of his profession, which was always large and lucrative. As a lawyer, he was sagacious and able, and always in his arguments expressed himself with plainness and force. During the thirty years of his active practice of the law at the Kanawha bar, he was universally regarded as its ablest advocate. Indeed, as an orator he had but few equals, and, in the opinion of many competent to decide, he had no superior in Virginia. His voice was rich and resonant; his rhetoric was faultless; his language was full, flowing and forceful; and he was "So rich, so gay, so poignant in his wit. Time vanished before him as he spoke."It was said of Judge Summers, when in his prime, that he could make a jury believe everything he told them. Like all great advocates, he always depended upon his natural gifts as an orator to force his way out of a bad case; and he rarely failed in accomplishing his desires. He was an irresistible power in the court trial, hence his success in the legal profession, and, in fact, in everything he undertook. Judge Summers was a worthy citizen, a great lawyer, an able jurist, a distinguished statesman, and an humble Christian. He wielded an influence in Western Virginia second to no other man that lived before or after him, and his death, which occurred in September, 1868, was mourned by thousands of his countrymen. He was buried beside his wife and brother at Walnut Grove, on the Great Kanawha river, where his ashes lie in dreamless sleep forever.

Judge Lewis Summers Taken from History of Kanawha County, George W Atkinson, Charleston, 1876. Judge Summers was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, November 7, 1778, of a highly respectable parentage. He was one of the greatest men Virginia ever produced, when the two Virginias were one. He entered upon an active career, during the Presidency of the elder Adams, and from the outset took rank as a man of unusual foresight. With the ardor that distinguished the Virginia youth at the time Judge Summers made his deput in political life, he used his influence to achieve the civic victory which bore Thomas Jefferson into the Presidential office; and through a long and useful life he adhered to the political principles of his younger days with undeviating constancy.In 1808, realizing the vastness of the resources of the western border, he removed to Gallipolis, Ohio, and began the practice of law, for which profession he had previously prepared himself by a thorough education. Shortly after his settlement at that point, he was elected to the State Senate, and served several terms with marked distinction. His usual common sense, and the deliberate judgment with which he had been so largely endowed by nature, fitted him for a law-maker and a leader. Such men are always sought after by the people to fill the important offices at their disposal. Judge Summers, although of an unassuming nature, was nearly always kept in office; oftentimes, however, against his will. In 1814 he took up a permanent residence in this county. Bringing with him back to Virginia a large fund of legislative knowledge and experience, he had little more than become a citizen of the State, when his fellow-citizens called upon him to serve as representative in the legislature of Virginia, in the Assembly of 1817. In 1818 he was re-elected, and in February, 1819, he was chosen one of the Judges of the General Court, and a Judge of the Kanawha Judicial Circuit, which position he filled with great acceptability to all the people, as was evinced by their keeping him on the bench almost constantly thereafter. For a long time he was a member of the Board of Public Works of the State, in which position he did the entire county great service. He was very active in his efforts to carry through the James River and Kanawha Canal; and while it was generally pronounced a physical impossibility to construct a canal through the canyons of the Alleghany mountains, it is said that Judge Summers never faltered in his efforts to make the trial; at least, always claiming that nothing was impossible, and that it was only a matter of time for the construction of a canal and a railroad along the present line of the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad. He clearly saw the necessity for these great internal improvements, and always assured the people that they would some day be constructed. He was right. It was, as he said three-quarters of a century ago, only a matter of time; and now, where it was then considered almost impossible for the wild deer to wend his way through the great canyons of the New river Valley, the locomotive makes its thirty miles per hour, east and west, both day and night; along the same Valley a canal will be constructed before another generation passes from the stage of action. In 1829 Judge Summers was elected a member of the Convention to revise the Constitution of Virginia. In that memorable assembly the sterling, vigorous, and practical character of the Judge's mind made him, before the close of its deliberations, one of the most useful members of that illustrious body. As the able champion of the true principles of elective government, he, in that assembly, performed services and acquired a reputation which will ever cause his memory to be cherished with warm and respectful affection by the people of the western portion of the State. As a Judge, he was most able and faithful. As a lawyer, he had but few equals. As a statesman, his efforts were perseveringly directed to the best interests of his country. As a citizen, he was loved and respected by all who knew him. In all the different relations of his life, his own strong, original and vigorous mind has been indelibly impressed upon the times and events with which he was connected. Judge Summers died at the White Sulphur Springs, in Greenbrier county, August 27, 1843, after having been for more than a quarter of a century one of the Judges of the General Court of Virignia. His remains were interred on the Summers' farm, at Walnut Grove, on the Kanawha river, a short distance below the mouth of Pocatalico river.

Thomas Belt Swann Taken from Prominent Men of West Virginia, Geo. W Atkinson and Alvaro F Gibbens, W.L. Callin Publishing, Wheeling, WV, 1890. It is of not much consequence in what station of life an able man is born. If he have it in him to rise; no earthly power can keep him down; but to become very much distinguished in this busy world, it is necessary for one to toil with great earnestness and with never ceasing industry. The subject of this sketch descended from a sturdy ancestry. His parents were loyal to truth and right, and these characteristics were likewise implanted in the nature of the son. Like the parents, the son, too, has courage, manliness, ballast. He is true to principle, true to associates, true to friends, true to conscience. He was born in Powhatan county, Virginia, September 12, 1825. His father, Richard Archer Swann, was a farmer on the James river, and a man of fine literary attainments. His paternal ancestors, Thomas Swann, was a colonel in the army of Charles I, and fought against Cromwell for the King. He fled from England, with two brothers, who were also officers in the King's army, and settled in Surry county, Virginia, where his tombstone is still standing in the old family burying ground. His mother was the daughter of Dr. Humphrey Belt, a Maryland family related to the Lloyds and Montgomeries.In 1866 a correspondent of the Philadelphia Telegraph, who was traveling in Virginia, wrote the following, which appeared in that paper under the head of "Ramblings in the Old Dominion:" "An ancient tombstone on a plantation nearly opposite Jamestown, bears the following inscription: 'Here lies ye body of ye Colonel Thomas Swann, who departed this life ye 4th day of November, 1680.' Immediately above the inscription is a coat-of-arms, representing a lion and a swan, separated by a shield. The stone or slab is broken in two, but the inscription is plain and perfect. Horses and cattle have trampled upon it, but have not considerably defaced it. The name of the deceased gentleman was evidently one of the few 'that were not born to die.' An ancient cedar, four and a half feet in diameter, stands near the head of the grave. It has been 'belted' and is dead, and all the surrounding country is green with 'waving corn.' In a few years, perhaps, the same hand that belted the ancient tree may upturn the slab of slate and drive the ploughshare through the grave of the unknown 'Colonel Swann.'" Colonel Thomas Swann's two brothers, who fled with him from Cromwell and came to America, settled, one in Virginia, on the waters of the Potomac, and one in Massachusetts. Their descendants are numerous, who, like their ancestors, are men of mark. The subject of this sketch was liberally educated at the Amelia Academy, Virginia. For some time after graduating from the academy he taught school at Orange Court House, in Orange county. While engaged in teaching he chanced upon a law book and became greatly interested. At once he began a systematic course of study in legal text-books under the direction of Attorney William Greene. He received license to practice within sixty days after he began to read Blackstone's Commentaries. After obtaining license as an attorney, he laid aside all other duties and commenced studying in earnest to equip himself for the profession upon which he was then entering. On the 18th of March, 1849, in company with his brother, John S. Swann, he removed his residence to Charleston, Kanawha county, where they entered upon their professional career. They have constantly resided at Charleston ever since, and have attained an eminent rank at that distinguished Bar. Mr. Swann was a Whig prior to the Civil War. He took an active part in the Scott campaign of 1852. He however soon found that politics and law would not work smoothly together, and accordingly abandoned the former that he might give his undivided energies to the latter and thereby achieve success. This was the course of wisdom; and many, many times in after years he has rejoiced that he was thus guided. Being a member of a volunteer company at Charleston when the war came in 1861, he, with the rest of the organization, was ordered into camp by Governor Letcher, and thus entered the Southern army, although he was at the time an outspoken opponent of secession. He believed in the Union, but, like thousands of others who resided in the South, could not resist the temptation, when Virginia seceded, to go with his State. The fact is now patent that thousands of people in the South were then alarmed at the common cry that the General Government was centralizing power, and were forced, even against their better judgments, to support secession as the only cure for such centralization. Mr. Swann was one of this class. Soon after the South had launched into revolution, and at the time when the Conscript law was passed at Montgomery he said to Governor Floyd and Colonel D.S. Houshell, of Virginia, that "the South had nothing left to fight for - that all power was centralized on the James, and if we must have centralized power upon this continent, it had better be on the Potomac, where we were known to the Nations, than on the James, where we were not known." He, however, continued in the Confederate army, for awhile as Captain of a company, and afterwards Colonel of a batallion, until the close of hostilities. Immediately after the surrender of General Lee, Colonel Swann returned to Kanawha county and resumed the practice of his profession. The writer, then a boy, heard him say to a friend the day after he reached Charleston in 1865, "I have come home to stay. In the past I was a Whig; in the future I shall connect myself with the political party that represents the greatest liberty to the greatest number." The circumstance indelibly impressed itself upon my mind. He accordingly became an ardent Republican, and up to this time he's been a leader in that party's councils. He has been a delegate at large from West Virginia to every National Republican Convention since the war, except two, and has several times been an elector for the State on his party ticket. He has many times been urged to accept office, but he always positively declined. He prefers private life to public position. For his home and his law office he has unusual attachment and love. When not in court, he can nearly always be found at one or the other of them. Col. Swann, shortly after his return from the war, married Miss Mary Tompkins, daughter of Mrs. Rachel M. Tompkins, who was an aunt of General U.S. Grant. They have lived all these years in happy wedlock in their pleasant mansion on the banks of the Kanawha river in the city of Charleston. Col. Swann is one of the most indefatigable students the writer ever knew. He revels in books. Being naturally religious, he loves theology. You can scarcely mention a book of any value that he has not read. Such men are rare. He has been a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church for forty-five years (a member of the Vestry of St. John's Parish in Charleston), and is an earnest worker in the ranks. The State of West Virginia has no worthier, more exemplary citizen thatn Col. Thomas B. Swann.

Joshua Tate Submitted by Linda Secco (lsecco@bignet.net) on Tue Apr 13 17:28:24 1999 Taken from Sissonville A Time To Remember pg. 123-124 Joshua Tate was born about 1780 in Virginia. He saw two months service in the War of 1812 in Rockingham County, Virginia in 1813. in 1816 he married Susanna Hinecker, a lady of German descent. By 1820 this family went farther south and lived in Rockbridge County. In eastern Virginia is where Joshua and Susan had their first eight of their nine children. Again around 1830 Joshua uprooted his family and took a turn to the western part of Virginia and settled briefly in Greenbrier now Fayette County, West Virginia. This is where they met and made close friends with Mathais Geyhard Young family. In 1833 the Tate's took their last journey with the Young family and traveled to Kanawha County settling on Kanawha Two Mile Creek in Union District. This is where the Tates made their permanent homes. Farming, raising hogs, blacksmithing and dairying were their main occupations. Later generations produces successful businesses from their country livelihood. The Tate descendants are still known to Union and Poca District today. Tate Hollow in Union District was named for this family. Children of Joshua and Susan Tate: Sarah b. 1813 married John Hickman Young who had 13 children. Mary A. b. 1832, married John J. McFarland. William Lewis b. 1834 married Lavina Edens. Susan Catherine b. 1835 married Andrew Jackson Holmes. Mathais S. b. 1836 married twice first to Harriet Casdorph second to Manreva Stark. Matilda b. 1838 married to James Selman. Simon b. 1839 married twice, first to Cynthia Emizatta Young, second to Lenora W. Lilly. Sarah Eb b. 1843 married William A. Thomas. John H. b. 1845 married to Lou Fisher. Nancy b. 1848 died in childhood. George Robert b. 1852 married twice first to Mary E. Mullins second to Thomas. Henry Fry b. 1856 married Luvenia C. Withrow. Julia b. 1857 married to Lisbon Whittington.

Job E. Thayer Life of J. E. Thayer Charleston Daily Gazette, Sunday, January 13, 1901 Highly Esteemed Citizen of Kanawha Valley Man of Sterling Character and Estimable Qualities A story of His Early Life, His Struggles, Successes and Failures, and Many Fine Personal Traits. Contributed by Garland Jeffrey Thayer, (mthayer2@msn.com)on 5:55 AM 7/1/98 The passing of Job E. Thayer removes one of the oldest, most active, well known, highly respected and generally esteemed citizens of the Kanawha Valley. The writer having know him in close social and business relations and intimate friendship for more than one half a century, can bear witness to the Sterling character and estimable qualities of head and heart. For the many who have now known him so well for so long as the writer, a short sketch of the man and his life may be of interest. His father, whose name was also Job, with his young wife and others as a colony, came from Braintree, Mass., early in the century and settled in Western Virginia, first in Upshur County, but not been contented there, came on to the Kanawha Valley. They had a family of nine children, six sons and three daughters of whom only one --W. T. Thayer, of this city--now survives. Joe E., the third child in order of age, was born in Kanawha County in 1827, and has been recently passed his 73rd anniversary. His school education was limited to the common schools of the county at that day. It has been said that "the boy is father to the man". Young Job at a very early age, developed unusual Energy, self-reliance, good nature and a hopeful disposition. Equipped with this valuable outfit, he started out very young "on his own hook for individual tussle with the world. He first went down to Connelton, Ind., and was engaged there for some time with a large coal company, and afterwards spent a year or tow at New Albany. Returning to Kanawha, he operated a shall me on the South Side of the river at Kanawha Falls, with success and profit. Later, about 1859, he started and operated a foundry and machine shop at Malden to supply the wants of the salt Works, then the dominant interest in the valley, after which he engaged in the manufacture of sale in connection with Mr. Frank Noyes, and later purchased, owned and operated the Kenton furnace and what was known as the Venable property. During the Civil War, when the assets of the Branch Bank of Virginia here had been removed and the building destroyed by the Federal Army, he, in connection with a few others, organized " The Bank of the West," which was for some years a very useful and profitable institution; he later parted with this interest to his brother William. The Federal Army having destroyed or seized and carried off the stream packet boats then in the river (there were no railroads here in those days), Mr. Thayer and a few others built the well remembered steamer Annie Laurie, and ran her as a Charleston and Cincinnati packet with great accommodation to the public and profit to the owners. Mr. Thayer for a long time commanded the boat in person. About 1870 Mr. Thayer polled the salt property with the owners of the Noyes and Donnally properties, and they organized a company called "The Splint Coal Company, having three large salt furnaces, about 800 acres of Kanawha bottom land and about 2,000 acres of coal and timber land, but the values of salt property were being much depressed by an outside competition, and the panic of 1973, and general business depression which follows was a crushing blow to the Kanawha salt interest and broke up nearly ever body connected with it. Mr. Thayer full of courage and resource, as usual, started a boat yard and dry docks for building and repairing steam boats and barges, and operated them quite successfully for some years, when a sudden high freshet in the river carried away his entire plant, making a total loss to him. From advancing age and declining health he has not undertaken any active business enterprise since. Mr. Thayer was a public spirited and generous man, was always ready to "take a hand" in any worthy public or private enterprise as long as he was able, and to the needy he was always ready to "lend a hand" in any way he could. He was a many of sound conservative judgment and a good judge of values. He was often selected by individuals and appointed by the courts as one of the commissioners to value estates, partition properties and settle controversies; his decisions were so reasonable and fair that they were generally, if not always, accepted as just and equitable. As a salt maker he was often sent as one of important committees to other salt districts to the markets to negotiate purchases or sales of salt or establishing of agencies. Mr. Thayer was twice married, first in 1859 to Miss McClung of Greenbrier county, they had one son. The wife lived but a short time, and the son is since deceased. About 1864 he married Ms. Harbin, of Kentucky; they had a family of six daughters and two sons. The widow, five daughters and two sons survive. In religion Mr. Thayer was a Presbyterian, and a loyal, staunch and orthodox to the core; his religious duties took precedence over all others. He was a ruling elder in his church for about a third of a century; he was prompt and active in church meetings, choir meetings, communion services. He had a musical ear and a fine voice and for a long time sang in the choir. When delegates were sent to the meetings of Presbyteries abroad he was always one of those selected to represent this church district. His honest good sense and jolly good nature were very taking with strangers, as well as highly appreciated by his friends. Partly from religious duty, more perhaps from natural instinct, for he was full of "milk of human kindness", and was fond of visiting and comforting the sick and afflicted, and especially the aged and inform, and he was always prompt to attend the funerals of his old friends of earlier days, most of whom have now passed on in advance of him; but many of those left will miss his familiar footsteps, the hearty grip of his hand and his cheering words of comfort. Mr. Thayer was an all around man, indeed a remarkable man, and one with his characteristics and qualities would have developed into a remarkable man in any community in which his lot might have been case. He was one that class of intelligent, progressive, self-reliant and aggressive men of whom this wild western country produces so many, and who we are generally dominated "self made men and he was a fine specimen of the type". A prominent trait of Mr. Thayer’s character deserves special mention, and that was his humor; his bump of humor was immensely developed. His repertoire of funny stories and amusing anecdotes gathered in a long lifetime and stored up in a retentive memory, was almost unlimited and always ready to at his tongue’s end to be told in his inimitable style apropos to the occasion an illustrative of the subject in hand. Since the passage of Job E. Thayer and John L. Cole, the "past masters" of humor in the valley the telling of funny stories and amusing anecdotes is henceforth a new "lost art" here. There are non left who are worthy to latch their shoes in that line. Another trait worthy attention must have mention, and that is patience under suffering, perhaps equaling if duly compared, that of illustrations namesake of old. He had experiences loss of fortune, family afflictions, and personal suffering stoically and heroically and almost with cheerful resignation. "Blessed are they who comfort the afflicted and suffer with patience, they shall be remembered"

Frederick S. Thomas, MD Taken from History of Charleston and Kanawha County West Virginia and Representative Citizens, W.S. Laidley, Richmond Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, 1911. Frederick S. Thomas, M.D., who for a number of years was well known as one of the leading medical men in the southwestern part of the state, and as proprietor and physician in chief of the Thomas Private Hospital, at Charleston, was born near Sissonville, in Poca district, Kanawha county, W.Va., August 18, 1850. He was a son of George D. and Sarah (Jones) Thomas, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter in the district of Columbia. The mother died in Roane county, W.Va., in August, 1910, at the remarkable age of 102 years. George D. Thomas and wife were early settlers in Sissonville, where for some years he followed the occupation of teacher and later that of a farmer. The family is of Scotch origin, belonging to the clans of Campbell and Sausria and its members have the coats of arms belonging to those families or clans. The grandfather of our subject was exiled from his native land for some cause, probably political, and, coming to this country, settled in Virginia. Both he and his son George were Presbyterians. Frederick S. Thomas was only twelve years old when his father died, and, being the eldest son, a heavy responsibility fell upon his shoulders in the care of his widowed mother and the other members of the family. Among the latter was a brother, P..S. Thomas, who is now a physician and surgeon conducting a sanitarium in Kansas, who is married and has two children. A sister is also living - Mrs. Mary Whitney, of Roane county, W.Va., who has four chidlren. Energetic and ambitious, our subject faced his responsibilities bravely and did all that could have been expected of him in caring for the family. He also managed to attend private and select schools and finally worked his way through Marshall college at Huntington, W.Va. He taught school for a time and later read medicine under Dr. T.P. Carpenter, of Poca, W.Va. In 1878 he was graduated from the medical department of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and later, from Bellevue Hospital, New York City - this in 1887. He also had the additional benefit of a post-graduate course in the New York Medical and Baltimore Medical colleges, and for a number of years subsequently he took post graduate courses annually, both in Baltimore and New York in order to keep in close touch with the progress of medical science. In 1878 Dr. Thomas took up his residence at Malden, W.Va., his work lying largely among the mining population of that locality. Coming to Charleston in 1884, he entered into practice here, and was for a time interested in a drug business, in partnership with Mr. Potterfield, under the style of Thomas & Potterfield, but in 1892 he sold out his interest to his partner. He then devoted his main attention to the practice of medicine and surgery and soon built up a wide reputation as one of the leading members of his profession. It was he who introduced the bath treatment for typhoid fever, since adopted by many other able physicians. But perhaps Dr. Thomas is most widely known as the proprietor of the Thomas Private Hospital at Charleston, a noble institution, in which the residents of the city take a just pride. The fine and commodious building was erected by the city during 1896-97 at a cost of $30,000 and was under lease to Dr. Thomas, who with a corps of able assistants, conducted the institution in a most efficient manner, reflecting credit upon him and his confreres and making it of great value to the southwestern part of the state. Among his assistants were able specialists upon every disease or class of diseases to which human flesh is heir. The hospital is considered on broad lines and is admirably equipped. Not only are the dangerously sick provided for, but provision was made for those who merely sought rest and restoration from the strain of either business or social life. Dr. Thomas was regarded as the head of his profession for some years before his death, which event took place January 7, 1900. He had been influential in the establishment of other hospitals and sanitariums and belonged to the American and State Medical Associations and the County Medical Society. Aside from his profession, he was interested in several important business enterprises, being president of Charleston Ice & Coal Company, a stockholder in the Charleston National Bank, and being interested also in coal mining operations. He was a member of the First Presbyterian church and was a made of high-minded and charitable disposition, giving freely of his means to worthy causes. In politics he was a Republican. Dr. Thomas was married, October 7, 1879, in Malden, W.Va., to Ruth Lee Putney, who was born in Malden, March 19, 1856, a daugter of Dr. James and Mary E. (Reed) Putney. Mrs. Thomas is a great-granddaughter of Ellis Putney, a native of England, who, coming to this country settled in Virginia and married Fannie Fearn. He and his wife resided in Buckingham county. Their son, Dr. Richard Ellis Putney, born in Virginia, March 13, 1774, was a physician, and about 1812 or 1814 settled in Malden, Kanawha county, where he died May 12, 1862. He was a man of considerable local prominence, both as a physician and in politics, serving as magistrate for 25 or 30 years. He was also engaged in the manufacture of salt. He married Oct. 11, 1815, Ann, the daughter of David Ruffner. She was born in 1792 and died some years before her husband, who subsequently contracted a second marriage, of which there were no issue. By his first marriage, Dr. R. Ellis Putney had several children, including Dr. James Putney, father of Mrs. Thomas. Dr. James Putney was a graduate of the Cincinnati (O.) Medical College and an active physician in Malden for some years, where he died in 1876, being then in his sixty-first year. He was married May 7, 1850, in Farmington, Iowa, to Mary E. Reed, who was born in Palmyra, Mo., April 13, 1830., and was reared and educated in Farmington. She is still living and although advanced in years, is bright and active both mentally and physically, and keeps well informed on current events. She is, indeed, one of the intellectual women of her day and her interest in the progress of humanity, the advancement of her sex, the purification of politics and other weighty subjects, is deep and keen. Her father, Samuel C. Reed, was government Indian agent in Iowa from 1836 until his death in 1848. He was also elected more than once to the Iowa state legislature. Born in Pennsylvania in 1798, he was reared in Ohio, and married in Charleston, W.Va. to Maria Slaughter. She was born in 1799, a daughter of Goodrigh and Hannah (Van Bibber) Slaughter, pioneer settlers in Kanawha county. At the time of Mrs. Mary E. Putney's residence in Iowa, there were many Mormons settled in that state with whom, owing to her father's official position, she was brought more or less into contact, thus obtaining a familiar knowledge of their religious, social and political ideas. Dr. and Mrs. Thomas have been the parents of two children: James Putney and Ruth Mary. James Putney Thomas, born July 13, 1880, was educated in a military school and at the University of West Virginia, and is now an electician residing in Los Angeles, Calif. He married Miss Drusilla Bolin of Ohio. Ruth Mary, born 25 years ago, is a graduate of Lewisburg college (W.Va.), class of 1906. She married R.W. Edmunds, of a Farmville, Va. Family, but now residing in Charleston, W.Va. He is a graduate of Hamden-Sidney college, a civil engineer by profession, and is also engaged in the coal business.

James Thomas Submitted by Kristie Cornett (KayDeeCee@aol.com) on Thu Feb 11 20:15:31 1999 James Thomas was born to John Thomas about 1860 in what is now Buckingham County, Virginia. He married Elizabeth Roberts the daughter of Elliott and Elizabeth on May 3, 1786 in Amherst County, Virginia. In the late 1790's he moved to Upper Falls, on the Coal River, a few miles above what is now the town of Saint Albans. His children were: Sarah Elizabeth born c1787 wife of Jacob L. Hill. Nancy born c1792 wife of Samuel Hudson. Elizabeth born c1795 wife of Lindsey Thomas. Susan born c1804 wife of Isaac Reaburn. Jane H. born c1798 wife of Benjamin Rust. James M. born c1810 husband of Caroline Ward. Pleasant born c1797 husband of Sarah Margaret Rust. Henry Roberts Thomas born c1802 husband of Helena A. Thomas. Elliott Roberts Thomas born c1804 husband of Ruth Blaine. Willis born c1800, and Charles born c1790. James Thomas and his older brother Joseph ran a grist mill on Upper Falls and farmed. James died in 1819.

Frank Thompson 1883-1952 and Millie Sloan Thompson 1890-1931 Submitted by J. Versiackas (WrldTrvlr2@aol.com)on 6:56 AM 2/2/98 THOMPSON FAMILY, circa. 1926, Carbon, Cabin Creek, WVa. Standing, Violet Thompson Sitting, Millie Sloan Thompson and Frank Thompson Standing in the middle, Teddy Thompson. Frank Thompson was born March 21, 1883 near Inez, Martin Co., Kentucky, the son of Henry and Mary Pollie Porter Thompson. Siblings: Lincoln, Jennie, Ben, Lizzie, Med, Lovie, Ivory, and two who died probably during infancy. Between 1900 and 1910, Frank, his mother, and siblings moved from Kentucky to Cabin Creek in Kanawha County. There, his mother Pollie ran a boarding house. Frank and his brothers became coal miners at local companies. On September 28, 1910, Frank (who was divorced) married Millie Sloan. The new couple moved to Republic, which was also up Cabin Creek. Their children: Violet, born March 4, 1915, Hurchel, born July 13, 1921, and Teddy, born September 12, 1923. In 1930, Millie became very ill and was emitted in Charleston General Hospital. On February 26, 1931, Millie Thompson died of septicemia due to chronic tubo-ovarian disease. Frank, in grief, embraced drinking. He became an abusive father and a terrible "ladies man." In 1937, Frank married Lunenna Eleanor Harper. Harper, later, stole Frank's car and took all of his money out of a bank and ran off. Frank Thompson's life was some what uneventful after that. After having a fight with his latest wife, he moved into his son Ted's house. In the early morning, Ted's wife found Frank on the floor of his room, pills spilt over his bed, and foam coming out of his mouth. Frank Thompson died November 7, 1952 at Kanawha Valley Hospital of a cerebral vascular accident. Part 2--Early History of Millie Sloan  Millie Sloan was born in July of 1890 near Catlettsburg, Boyd Co., Kentucky. She was the daughter of George and Lizzie Sloan. Her siblings: Addie, Georgia, Willie, Wade, and 5 children who most likely died during infancy. Little is known about her family's life in Kentucky, except that her father was a farm laborer and that she had little schooling (Millie was illiterate all of her life). The Sloan family moved to West Virginia between 1900 and 1910. After marrying Frank Thompson in 1910, she remained a housewife until the day she died in 1931.

The Thompson Family Submitted by J. Versiackas (WrldTrvlr2@aol.com)on 11:49 AM 2/5/98 EARLY THOMPSON HISTORY The Pollie Porter Thompson family came from Kentucky to West Virginia between 1900 and 1910. She was the widow of Henry Thompson. Their children: Lincoln, born 1879, Jennie, born 1881/2, Frank, born March 21, 1883, Ben, born November 2, 1886, Lizzie, born 1890, Ned, born August 23, 1891, Lovie, born 1895, Ivory, born 1900, and two children who died probably during infancy. When Pollie and her family came to Kanawha County, they settled in Cabin Creek where she ran a boarding house to support her family. Frank and Med were also coal miners for Carbon Fuel Co. The teens and the 20’s of the 20th century was a time of mischief in the Thompson family. To pass time, the Thompson boys started or just got into fights with local Cabin Creek men. Some men, one time, got Frank Thompson drunk and tied him to train tracks. Luckily, for his sake, his brothers untied him before a train came. The Thompson brothers, and even a few of the sisters, were known to be heavy drinkers and possibly even drug abusers. The ones who were that way stayed that way all of their life. THE THOMPSON CHILDREN’S HISTORY The oldest of Henry and Pollie Porter Thompson was Lincoln, who was born in 1879. After moving to West Virginia, Lincoln married Martha Burton and had many children. Like his brother Frank, when work could not be found, Lincoln moved his family from Kanawha County over to Ameagle on Coal River. Unfortunately, Lincoln died in a mining accident (possibly a slate fall) in 1933. Lincoln is buried at the Ameagle Cemetery--Ameagle, WV. ***Frank and Millie Thompson are also buried there*** Jennie, the second child, was the first of the children to get married. She married William or Frank Bowman around 1900 in Kentucky. After they settled in West Virginia, one night, William said he was going out for a pack of cigarettes. He left, and was never heard from again. Jennie now had the burden of raising her children by herself. She luckily managed and did support her family. Jennie was also one of the two people to be with her brother Frank when he died in 1952. Ben and Med Thompson were two fighters in their youth like Frank. As they got older, they did mellow down, though. Med married a woman by the name of Mary and settled down up Cabin Creek. He was also probably the Thompson that lived the longest. Little is known about Ben. He was married about seven times, the only woman known was named Gernie. Ben lived until the 70’s and died at Colcord. Ivory and Lovie Thompson were basically two of a kind. In their old age, if one of them happened to get cancer in a certain spot, the other got it in the same place too. These two women were both alcohol drinkers and pipe smokers. Lovie, also, might have been a drug abuser. One could see Lovie walking on a local dirt road, coming to her house, high on drugs and liquor. Lizzie, on the other hand, was more stable and settled down. She interacted with her sisters, but did not take part in what they did. Jennie, Med, and Lizzie were probably the most calm (in their old age) of all the Thompson children. In the present date, all of the Henry and Pollie Porter Thompson children are deceased. The ones that lived to be adults died between 1950 and 1980 in various locations. In the end, almost none of them stayed in touch with each other. ***Also see the Frank Thompson 1883-1952 and Millie Sloan Thompson 1890-1931 biography. Thompson Family Photos Jennie Thompson Bowman circa. 1950 Ben and Frank Thompson circa. 1950 Lovie Thompson Crumm, Lizzie Thompson Walker, and Ivory Thompson Arden circa. 1948

OBEDIAH TINSLEY 1814 - 1883 Submitted by Marieda DERRICK Edens (MDEroots@aol.com) on Fri Sep 4 16:27:54 1998 Obediah was born in VA, not known where, or who his parents were, he first shows a marriage record in Kanawha in 1841 to Elizabeth PATTERSON and second to Susan FIGGATT 9/1/1846. Two children born of the first marriage were John and Elizabeth, Elizabeth never married and died at the age of 70 in 1916. John only shows once in the 1850 census, at age 6, he may have died young. Children of Obediah's second marriage were: Henry M., Susan Permelia, Obediah William, Edmond B., Eli H., James Andrew, Jefferson Monroe, Levi C., and George P. The family and many descendants lived in the Union Dist. of Kanawha Co., the Tyler Mt. area, just a few miles from Charleston WV. Obediah left a will which mentions all of his children, and two grandchildren, children of his deceased son Edmond. He had a good size farm, with orchards that were divided among the children. Obedia's wife Susan FIGGATT, daughter of Henry and Susan ( ) Figgatt, died in 1909 and also left a Will, naming her daughter Susan, granddaughter Mary May and stepdaughter Elizabeth to share and share alike in all her property left, farm animals, household, kitchen, and farming equipment. The children married into these families: BOWEN, CARBINE, CARY, COFFMAN, CONEY, BURFORD, GILLISPIE, MORRIS and YOUNG. http://members.aol.com/MDERoots1/THETINSLEYFAMILY.html

William M Welsch Taken from History of Charleston and Kanawha County West Virginia and Representative Citizens, W.S. Laidley, Richmond Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, 1911. William M Welsch, superintendent of the Monarch Mines at Monarch, Cabin Creek District, Kanawha County, W.Va., is a native of Germany, born there April 5, 1876, and is a son of Nicholas and Theresa (Leipertz) Welsch.Nicholas Welsch was born in one of the Rhine Provinces in Germany, where he married Theresa Leipertz and in 1888 the family came to America and located at Ford City, Pa., moving from there to Ohio in the following year, and the father securing work in the coal mines at Jacksonville. He took out his first citizen's papers immediately after coming to this country, at Kittanning, the county seat of Armstrong County, Pa., and his second papers in 1893, at Athens, the county seat of Athens County, Ohio. While living there his wife died. He survived her and now resides with his son, William, at Monarch. There were many children beside William in the family, he being the eldest, namely: Hubert; Nettie, the wife of William Heiser; Harry; Gertrude, the wife of John L. Mandt; and others who died in infancy. William M. Welsch attended school in Germany for seven years before coming to America and for a short time afterward - long enough to learn the English language - and in 1889 became a miner in Jacksonville, O., where he was rapidly advanced, being appointed a mine foreman in 1901. In that capacity he came to Kanawha County in 1904, for the same company, the Ohio Sunday Creek Coal Company, and continued in their employ until July, 1910, when he came to the Monarch people. Mr. Welsch has been a hard working man all his life and has exercised prudence and forethought and is in comfortable circumstances. On December 31, 1901, Mr. Welsch was married to Miss Mary Hatfield, a daughter of Theodore and Mary Hatfield, and they have two children, William and Dorothea. He is a member of three important fraternal organizations: the Red Men, the Foresters of America and the Woodmen of the World.

Edward Langley Wood Taken from History of Charleston and Kanawha County West Virginia and Representative Citizens, W.S. Laidley, Richmond Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, 1911. General Edward Langley Wood, sergeant-at-arms of the West Virginia House of Delegates and formerly adjutant general and also state librarian, is one of Kanawha County's best known citizens. He was born on Brown's Creek, January 30, 1846, a son of Augustus W. Wood, who removed with his family to Ohio in 1848.Edward L. Wood completed his education at Gallipolis, O., and then returned to his native county, locating at Charleston, W.Va., in 1869. He studied law under the supervision of Mollihan & Nash but before he was ready to apply for admission to the bar, other interests entered into the life and he never engaged in the actual practice this profession. On September 1, 1875 he was appointed state librarian and, as the legislature of West Virginia, in the following year, passed a law making the incumbent of this office also adjutant-general, Mr. Wood was called on to serve in both capacities. On November 1, 1881 he resigned his offices but was immediately reappointed adjutant-general and served some years longer when he retired somewhat from public life but was recalled when he was appointed sergeant-at-arms of the West Virginia Legislature on January 11, 1911. General Wood resides at No. 1520 Kanawha Street, Charleston. For some years he has been interested in the real estate business. January 28, 1880 he married Nannie T. Smith, daughter of Snelling Merideth and Elizabeth Stockton Trimble Smith, natives of this county. One child, Margaret L., is the fruit of this marriage.

Irvin Woodrum Taken from History of Charleston and Kanawha County West Virginia and Representative Citizens, W.S. Laidley, Richmond Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, 1911. Irvin Woodrum, who is proprietor of the best general store on Joplin Branch, Loudon District, Kanawha County, W.Va., was born May 17, 1877, in Boone County, W.Va., a son of Green and Mary Frances (Estep) Woodrum.Green Woodrum was also born in Boone County and has Followed farming all of his life and is one of the older residents of his neighborhood, having reached his seventy-first year. He was married first to a Miss Griffith and they had three children, William, Robert and Letha, the last named being deceased. He married second Mary Frances Estep, who was born in Boone County and was a daughter of James Estep, once a well known farmer there. Six children were born to this marriage, namely; Victoria, who married E.W. Belcher; and Irvin of the present record. Mr. Woodrum married for his third wife, Louisa H. Dolan, and they have had eight children, as follows: J. Mc., the only son living; Bertie, Sarah and Isaac, all of whom are deceased; Belle, who married Nicholas Dolin; Virginia C., who married Olie Dolin; Virginia C., who married Olie Dolin; Geneva, who married William Miller; and Loria, who married William Triplett. Irvin Woodrum went to work on the railroad after he was through with his school books and was in the employ of K & M road for three years. In 1904 he embarked in the mercantile business at this point and carries a large and well selected stock, including general merchandise and groceries and draws trade from the entire district. He owns his building and also has property on Roane Street, West Charleston. Mr. Woodrum may be justly styled a self made man and what he possesses he has honestly earned through his energy, temperance and industry and well deserves his prosperity. Mr. Woodrum married Mary Frances Holstein, a daughter of L.D. Holstein, a farmer of Boone County, and they have four children, born as follows: Virgie May, Feb. 19, 1903; Annie Marie, Feb. 28, 1905; Margie Elsie, Nov. 4, 1907; Clarence Irvin, May 11, 1911. Mr. Woodrum is identified with the Odd Fellows and the American Mechanics.

Dreama Gail Workman Submitted by Dreama Lake (DREAMAinDayton@webtv.net) on Mon Apr 12 09:26:34 1999 I wish to leave behind all possible info concerning my ancestors for my grandchildren. I was born Drema Gail Workman June 11,1940 at Left Hand Fork of Lens Creek, W.Va. Father: Theodore Roosevelt Workman born: Mar.16,1906 at Crown Hill W.Va. Died: June 4, 1961 from massive brain hemorrhage. buried at Marmet cemetery Mother: Myrtle Leatha Fraley born: Feb.22,1912 at Moorehead Ky. Died: Sept.6, 1986 from diabetes. Buried at Left Hand Fork of Lens Creek. They were married June 4,1928. I have 3 sisters: Leotha Workman born:Jan.17,1929 Glena Ellen Walker born: May 27,1930 Della Rosemary King born: June 18,1935 died: July 31, 1975 accidental death buried at Left Hand Fork of Lens Creek . I brother Theodore Joseph Workman Born: Nov.12,1932 Died: Oct.16,1967 accidental death. Buried: Marmet cemetery. 2 adopted brothers. Larry DeVonn Workman Born:Oct.26,1946, Hobert Franklin Workman Born: Oct 18,1950. On Nov.3,1956 I married Garred Richard Clark at Marmet W.Va. Had2 children, Vicki Rose Clark born: Mar 31,1957 and Gregory Alan Clark Born: Jan 7, 1959 I was divorced in 1962. Re Married to Kenneth Lee Lake Aug. 8, 19771 in Dayton, Ohio. Had 2 children Susan Diane Lake born: Jan 3,1965 and Michael Wayne Lake Born:Mar.4,1972. My grand parents were Richard Cartwright Workman married to Mary Ann Stevenson and Owen Jackson Fraley married to Lena Ellen Fraley. I have 2 granddaughters Misty Dawn Gunnoe Born: July 3,1975 and Leslie Diane Bice Born. Apr.28,1982. 3 Grandsons Austin Lee Bice Born. Jan 7, 1984 Anthony Lee Laytart Born: June 4, 1988 Gregory Alan Clark Jr. I have 2 great grandsons Austin and Tray Gunnoe Mother: Misty Dawn Gunnoe.

Theodore R. Workman Submitted by Dreama G. Lake (DREAMAinDayton@webtv.net) on Mon Apr 12 08:34:02 1999 Father: Theodore Roosevelt Workman born: March 16,1906 at Crown Hill W.Va. married to Myrtle Leatha Fraley born:Feb.22,1912.at Moorehead Kentucky. Married June 4, 1928 at Left Hand Fork, Lens Creek W.Va. Had 5 children, Theodore - Leotha-Glena- Rosemary-and Dreama. Lived many years in Marmet, W.Va. Parents of Theodore were Richard Cartwright Workman and Mary Ann Stevenson. Parents of Myrtle Leatha Fraley were Owen Jackson Fraley and Lena Sexton.

William Workman Taken from Prominent Men of West Virginia, Geo. W Atkinson and Alvaro F Gibbens, W.L. Callin Publishing, Wheeling, WV, 1890. William Workman, son of Joseph and Elizabeth Workman, was born in Kanawha county, Virginia, April 12, 1821. Education in those days was rare and limited. In a school near Bald Knob, he was enabled only to receive instruction in the rudiments of the English language and the primary principles of arithmetic. A close student, he read much, and was thrown into the society of intelligent men, he disciplined his mind in serious, useful thought. He made common sense his guide, and became a good logician before he knew what logic meant. He was a successful teacher, and studied only such books as tended to develop the higher faculties of mind. When the war of the rebellion came on, he was determined in his opposition to secession and was warmly attached to the Union.September 15, 1861, he was taken prisoner by H.C. Pate, and spent eighteen months in Libby and Saulsbury prisons. In 1866 he was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates, in which and in the Senate, he served six terms - House of Delegates, 1866-67; Senate, 1868; and extra sessions, 1868-69; House of Delegates, 1885. He was an indefatigable and intelligent member in each, and his zeal in the performance of his duty won him the unstinted praise of his colleagues. He was president of the Board of Supervisors and of the County Court of Boone county, eight years, during which time he gave the greatest satisfaction. He was appointed Deputy Collector of the United States Internal Revenue, under General I.H. Duval, in 1880, and continued until the change of Administration in 1885. As Legislator, President of Board of Supervisors and County Court, his conduct was always in strict conformity with his conscience, and never has he allowed passion or prejudice to pervert his judgment. As an officer of the United States Government, while discharging his duty faithfully, he always advised the people to obey the laws and lead quiet, sober and industrious lives. In the life of this Legislator we can see what industry and integrity can accomplish - an example that our young men may follow with profit to themselves and with honor to their country.

Conrad Young Submitted by Julie Matthews Burnette (julieb@micronetics.com) on Mon Aug 4 20:05:08 1997  The following is a partial transcript from "The Young Family, Kanawha Pioneers" published in 1912. From an address by Harvey Humphreys Young, Dana, W. Va., delivered at the Second Annual Reunion of the Young Family, at Pinchville, August 19, 1911. About 1769, Conrad Young came across the water from Germany with his wife and child, and landed at Norfolk, Va. They started inland on horseback while crossing the Appomatox River, the horse the wife was riding stumbled and fell, throwing her into the river. Before the husband could take the child to shore and return to the rescue of his wife she was drowned. Conrad and his child were thus left in a strange land infested with wild beasts and wild Indians. The child whose name was John grew to manhood and was commissioned by the government of Virginia as a Captain of Indian Scouts or Spies, and has been known as Capt. John Young, the Indian Spy. Conrad in time married a second wife to who were born a son named Charles. While the mother of Charles was sitting before an open fire place in their log cabin a violent storm arose and a bolt of lightening struck the chimney, killing her instantly. Conrad married the third time, and to this union were born two sons, William and George. These four sons of Conrad Young, John, Charles, William and George, were all born in the latter part of the eighteenth century, all settled in this section of the country in early life, and are the ancestors of our old and numerous family. The children of these four brothers are printed in Capitals. It will be noted John was the father of 11 children, Charles of 5, William of 6 and George of 6.

John Young, Indian Spy Back to Kanawha County Biographies Submitted by Julie Matthews Burnette (julieb@micronetics.com) on Mon Aug 4 20:03:28 1997  The following is a partial transcript from "The Young Family, Kanawha Pioneers" published in 1912. THE FIRST WHITE CHILD OF KANAWHA From the Address of Wm. B. Mathews as delivered at the First Annual Reunion of the Young Family at Mt. Tabor Church, August 20, 1910. ...The earliest permanent settlers of this region were the Youngs, the Clendennins, the Tacketts, the Aarons and the Morrises. Lewis Tackett and family settled at the mouth of Coal River at the present site of St. Albans, and built Tackett's Fort about 1787. John Young and his brothers came here about the same time and were famous trappers and Indian scouts. John married the Widow Townsend, who had been Keziah Tackett, a sister of the famous Indian fighter, Lewis Tackett, and not a daughter as previously stated. Into this home of the wilderness, about 1783 or 1790, the first child of the first settlers was born. Therefore, the first youngster of Kanawha was a Young, Jacob Young, and while he was born in the eighteenth century and we are now in the twentieth, yet this son's son is alive today and issued the call for this meeting. This first youngster has well been called the child of the storm. However much of this story may be tradition, it is well authenticated that Tackett's Fort was suddenly surprised by the Indians, that the courageous John Young seized his wife and their first born, only a few hours old, rushed out of the fort and into the darkness and a storm, reached the river, placed his precious burden in a canoe, and pushed off amid a valley of bullets and arrows. He soon escaped from the view of the savages as he poled his canoe toward Clendennin's Fort, twelve miles distant, where Charleston is located. Strange to say, none of the little family suffered either from the shots of the enemy or the exposure and anxiety of that awful night. As our patron hero looked back, in his frantic but successful effort to escape, he could see the flames of the fort where nearly all who remained were killed or captured. These facts have been narrated by Mrs. Mary Patton Hudson, of Cincinnati, and the late John Slack, Sr., who long resided in this county. They might well be preserved in poetic story, as soon as the family produces a poet laureate. John Young, the father, was named as one of the trustees in the first charter of Charleston, passed by the legislature of Virginia, December 19, 1794, was commissioned captain of scouts, and was a hardy pioneer, with just the fortitude necessary to subdue the primitive wilderness with its fierce savages and wild beasts. Jacob Young, the first child, lived a long and useful life, and died in Putnam county about the year 1875. He, like his numerous brothers and their descendants, was noted for his industrious habits, patriotic devotion and religious fervor. If, on that perilous night, the red men had killed that first youngster and his parents, what would have become of you!

Lewis Young Back to Kanawha County Biographies Submitted by Linda Secco (lsecco@bignet.net) on Sat Mar 27 17:03:48 1999 Lewis Young pg 135 Sissonville A Time To Remember Conrad Young (Jung) was born in Germany in the year 1732. As a young man he migrated to the English Colonies in America. He was married and had two sons, William and Charles. By the beginning of the 1800's these two sons had settled in the Kanawha Valley neat Charleston, W.Va. at the intersection of the Kanawha and Elk Rivers, where family legend tells us they made their home in a hollow sycamore tree, living in wild food and game. William Young. married Mary Tilly January 2, 1806. John H. Young was born Sept. 20, 1808. John H. Young married Catherine (Kate) Slack on March 1, 1830 in Kanawha County. This marriage produced eight sons: Henry b. 9-30- 1832 Lewis O. who in 1872 became Jackson County's first Superintendent of Schools; Squire; William. Hiram, Ely, James and Brigham. Kate died Feb. 8, 1874 and John died Sept. 16, 1879. Both are buried in Mt. Olive Cemetery in Jackson County. Henry married Sarah Elizabeth Waybright on Jan. 28, 1858. To this marriage were born ten children; William H., Benjamin H., Mary Alice Phillips, Leona Dove Guthrie, Emily Jane Smith, Lucy Cunningham, John E.S., Francis (Frannie), Bridwell, Lewis O. Edward, Grover Franklin b. April 18, 1880. Henry died April 24, 1894 and Sarah Elizabeth died June 5,1921. Both are buried in private family cemetery on Zion ridge near Statts Mill in Jackson County.

Mathias Young Submitted by Linda Secco (lsecco@bignet.net) on Fri Mar 26 18:15:11 1999 Taken from Sissonville A Time To Remember pg. 135 Mathias Geyhard was born in 1788 in Greenbrier County and his parents were George and Catherine who were German immigrants. He married in Greenbrier County on Dec. 5, 1806 to Nancy Sarah Hickman who was the daughter of John and Nancy Wallace Hickman, also of Greenbrier County, WVA. Mathias and Nancy had 13 children while living in the wilderness type country. Nancy died in 1833, while giving birth to her last child. Around 1833. Mathias traveled to Kanawha Co. and traded a rifle for a few hundred acres of land on Kanawha Two Mile Creek. Mathias married his second wife here, who was Maria Tate in 1838. They had four children themselves before hid death in 1845 at age 57. Mathias Sr. was buried in the Young Cemetery that lay on the Dawley Farm which is now the subdivision Laurel Meadows. The land where the cemetery laid on, is Kanawha Farm Circle, which was owned by the National Cemetery Service who purchased it from Sarah Dawley. When Laurel Meadows was developed the cemetery was removed and relocated. The remains of Mathias Geyhard Young Sr. was never located and his remains still lie eternally buried there. After Mathias' death, his second wife Maria Tate Young, for a mysterious reason gave away all of her children. Many of the Youngs and their descendants are present day residents of the Sissonville area. Children of Mathias and Nancy Young John Hickman Young b. 1807 m. Sarah Tate George b. 1809 m. Elizabeth Newby Hugh Peter b. 1812 died in Kentucky Owen Robert B. b. 1816 m. Anna Wallace Rosella b. 1818 Charles b. 1822 Jacob b. 1824 m. Julia Mary Geray Simon b. 1826 Thompson Mathias b. 1827 m. Nancy Isabel Reveal Mary A, b. 1832 m. Hugh Allen Haynes Henry Lanis b. 1833 m/ Lucetta Jones Mathias and Maria Tates children: Mathias Geyhard Jr. b. 1840 m Mary E. Mundy Andrew Jackson b. 1841 m. Margaret W. J. Miller Sarah Susan (Phoebe) b. 1842 m David A. Brown William b. 1843 m. Nancy Shepard Also a picture of Mathias Geyhart Young Sr. (spelling different in book)

Peter Young Taken from History of Charleston and Kanawha County West Virginia and Representative Citizens, W.S. Laidley, Richmond Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, 1911. Peter Young, grocery merchant at Charleston, W.Va., and one of the representative business men of the city, was born in what is now Union District, Kanawha County, W.Va., April 2, 1843, and is a son of Rev. Robert Young and a grandson of Mathias Young.Rev. Robert Young was born in Greenbrier County, Va., April 11, 1816, and died at Charleston, November 19, 1892. He was a son of Mathias Young, who was of German parentage, but was reared in Greenbrier county, what is now Fayette County, Va. He there married a Miss Hickman, and later moved into what is now Roane County, W.Va., where his wife died at the birth of their youngest child, who is Rev. Henry Young, the only survivor of a family of seven sons and six daughters. All of the thirteen children married and all but one daughter had children, the family being a prolific and vigorous one, although the mother died when about forty-three years of age. At a later date Mathias Young moved to Kanawha County, settling in Union District and was there married to Maria Tate, who survived him and married again, dying at the age of sixty-five years. Mathias Young was fifty-seven years old at the time of his death and had four children born to his second marriage. He was a Whig in politics and his business life was entirely agricultural. Robert Young was the fifth in order of birth in the family of thirteen children. He became the owner of 700 acres of excellent farm land and for twenty-five years was interested with his son in the grocery trade at Charleston, being a silent partner. At the age of thirty-five years he became a Baptist minister and continued in unity with that religious body during the remainder of a long and eminently useful life. He married Anna Wallace, a daughter of Alexander Wallace, Esq., the latter of whom was a justice of the peace for sixteen years in what is now Poca District, Kanawha County, and was very prominent in other ways. He laid out one of the first roads in Kanawha County, and for years was foreman for the Ruffner's early gardeners in the Kanawha Valley. Mrs. Young was born April 23, 1823, and she still survives, remaining all of her faculties. Her memory is quite remarkable. She is a devoted member of the Baptist church and has always been beloved and esteemed for her womanly virtues. To Rev. Robert Young and wife ten children were born, three sons and seven daughters, all of whom married and nine of whom survive. Mrs. Young resides with her widowed daughter, Mrs. Mary Duley, No. 242 Kanawha Street, Charleston. Peter Young was the eldest born of his parents' family and he remained on the home farm until 1867, when he came to Charleston and in association with his father opened a grocery store at No. 247 Kanawha Street, he being the active member of the firm. The business was continued at the above stand until 1905, when removal was made to the present commodious brick building at No. 233 Virginia Street, where a large stock of staple and fancy groceries is carried. Mr. Young was married in Union District, Kanawha County, W.Va., to Miss Lorena Casdorph, who was born there March 14, 1846, a daughter of Ezariah and Mary Casdorph, natives of Kanawha and Monroe County respectively. Both of them died in Union District, the father at the age of eighty-four years and the mother aged sixty-seven years. They had thirteen children, all married but one and all deceased, but two. One brother of Mrs. Young, William Harrison Casdorph, who was a private in the Federal Army, serving as a faithful soldier in the 7th W.Va. Cav., was captured by the Confederates in the Lynchburg, Va., raid, and died in Libby Prison. Mr. and Mrs. Young have had eight children: Anna Laura, who married Henry Cohers, and died at the age of thirty-two years; David, who resides at home; Walter, who is associated with his father, married Anna Smith and they have one son, Lawrence; Alvin, who is associated with his brothers in operating a laundry; Minnie, who is the wife of Mordica Wallace, a druggist at Ft. Worth, Tex., and has two children; Clarence, who is in the laundry business at Charleston, and is also money-order clerk in the post-office; and Cora and Charles. Mr. Young is a Republican in politics and is serving as councilman of the Third Ward. He belongs to Kanawha Lodge No. 25, Odd Fellows.