From "HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY,"  Vol. I, pages 489-490.
Brant & Fuller, 1890.


JOHN LIST

Of the many old and prominent families of the upper Ohio valley 
probably not one is more widely known and respected than the List 
family, members of which have been conspicuously identified with the 
commercial and banking interests of Wheeling for over half a century.  
The first of the family to locate in Wheeling was John List, Sr., who 
was a native of England, where he was born in the year 1757.  He came 
to the United States about 1806, bringing his family with him, and 
after a brief residence in New York, came direct to Wheeling, where 
he died in 1828.  John List, Jr., his son, was born near the city of 
London, England, about the year 1790, and was between sixteen and 
seventeen years of age when he accompanied his father to Wheeling.  
In the year 1809 he entered the store of Joseph Caldwell, one of the 
pioneer merchants of Wheeling, with whom he remained as a clerk until 
January 1, 1814.  At this time he was taken into partnership with Mr. 
Caldwell for a period of three years, and at the expiration of that 
time the partnership was renewed on January 1, 1817.  When the 
Pioneer bank of Wheeling was organized in 1819 Mr. List retired from 
the mercantile business to accept the position of book-keeper for the 
bank.  Subsequently, when this institution was succeeded by the 
Northwestern Bank of Virginia, he became the teller of the same.  
Upon the death of Thomas Woods, brother of Archibald Woods, the 
president of the bank, in 1832, Mr. List became the cashier of the 
bank, and held that position until his death in May, 1848.  Mr. List 
was cashier of this bank at the time it was robbed of $70,000 in 
1832, the particulars of which robbery, and the subsequent recovery 
of a considerable portion of the money by Mr. List, is still fresh in 
the minds of the older citizens of to-day.  Mr. List was twice 
married, the first time to Miss Hannah Carter, to which union three 
sons and one daughter were born.  His second marriage was to the 
widow of William Pallister, an Englishman.  Though of a retiring 
disposition, caring nothing for official position or political 
preferment, Mr. List was in every sense a public spirited man, and 
took a deep interest in the public affairs of both his city and 
state, and could have entered public life at his pleasure.  But it 
was as a financier and a man of sound judgment and conservative ideas 
that he was recognized and appreciated, and his influence both in 
banking and commercial, circles was great.  He is remembered to-day 
not as a public man and politician, but rather as one of the safest 
financiers that Wheeling has ever produced.  Mr. List was very active 
in religious matters, and was a pillar, sound and true, of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, rendering much aid in progressive church 
work.  Both as a Christian gentleman and a good citizen Mr. List left 
a name which survives  him, serving as a monument to his exemplary 
life, and as a model for the men of future generations to pattern 
after.  The children born to the first marriage of John List were as 
follows: John, who was accidentally killed in Wheeling by a provost 
guard, on July 6, 1865; Mary, now the widow of Robert Morrison, 
formerly of Wheeling, now of Delaware, Ohio; Daniel C. president of 
the Bank of Wheeling; and Henry K., president of the City Bank of 
Wheeling.


(Linda Fluharty)