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Logan
County WV
Biography
Avis
Family
The first member of this family to
settle in America was AVIS George Avis, who was born about 1817 in England, and
immigrated to this country when a youth of eighteen years. He immediately
settled in Logan county, West Virginia, where he
engaged in farming for several years. He later removed to the city of Logan,
where he made his home until his death in April, 1860. After locating in Logan
he worked for several years at the carpenter's trade. He married Elizabeth,
daughter of Philip Ellis. She was born in Logan, died in 1860 in that city. Four
daughters and three sons were born to this marriage. The surviving children are:
Hugh Caperton, mentioned below; Ann, married J. E. Robinson; Thomas, resides in
Logan; Elizabeth, married A. J. Perry, resides in Logan; Nerva, married Scott De
Jernett, resides in Logan.
(II) Hugh 'Caperton, son
of George and Elizabeth (Ellis) Avis, was born in Logan, now West Virginia. He attended the common schools of his
native county, and at the age of nineteen years
enlisted in Company D, Thirty-sixth Virginia
Infantry, Confederate States army. His
regiment was commanded by the gallant Colonel John McCouslin, and his company by
Captain Lawson. He took part in the battles of Winchester, Cedar Creek, Harpers
Ferry, Manassas Junction, and in several minor engagements. He was taken
prisoner at Waynesburg. March 2, 1865, and was confined in Fort Delaware until
June 22, 1865. When he was discharged he returned to his native state
and
soon began
a mercantile business in Mann, West Virginia, which
he continued until 1907, when he returned to the home of his boyhood. He
purchased the old family place in Logan, where his father lived until his death.
The first locust trees surrounding his house he planted when a boy. Here amid
the scenes of his early days Mr. Avis is enjoying a well earned retirement from
active business. He has met with marked success in his business ventures and has
acquired a large property. He is a large stockholder and director in the Guyan
Valley Bank. He is heavily interested in several hundred acres of valuable
timber and undeveloped coal lands, and he also has extensive real estate
holdings in Logan. In politics he is a Democrat, but has never aspired to
office. He is a member of the Methodist church.
He married (first) Jane Dingiss. Four children were born to them: Ella
A., married J. P. Burgess and now resides in Mann, West
Virginia; John C., married Lillian Lawson, and is now a farmer in Ralph,
West Virginia; Mary F., married William H.
Johnston, who is at present engaged in farming in Cabell county, West Virginia; James, married and now resides in
Ralph. Mr. Avis married (second) Amanda, daughter
of John Buchannan, a retired farmer in Mingo county, West
Virginia.
[Source: West Virginia and
Its People, Volume 3 By Thomas
Condit Miller and Hu Maxwell - Transcribed by AFOFG]
Farley
Family
Of the many families prominent in
the annals of Virginia and West Virginia is the one herein recorded. The family was
long resident in Giles county, Virginia, and from
there removed to Logan county, West Virginia. Their
descendants have taken a prominent part in the civil, business and social
affairs of the state. Dreury Farley, of Giles county,
was one of the pioneer settlers in West Virginia.
He was a soldier in the revolutionary war. His descendants are now
residing in various sections of the state.
(I)
William Farley, a descendant of the Farley family of Virginia, was born in that state and at an early date
removed to Logan county, West Virginia, where he
engaged in agricultural pursuits for many years. He was interested in various
business enterprises, being one of the first in the state to manufacture salt.
He died in Logan county in
early manhood. He married Nancy Allen, of
Boone county, West Virginia.
(II) Thomas Benton, son of William and Nancy
(Allen) Farley, was born in Logan county, Virginia,
in 1837. He engaged in farming for many years and was one of the most
prominent citizens of the county. At the breaking
out of the civil war he enlisted in the Second Regiment West Virginia Infantry, under Colonel McCouslin, and he
was soon promoted first sergeant of his company. He took part in many battles
and was slightly wounded. He was taken prisoner toward the close of the war and
was confined at Point Lookout. He was a Democrat in politics and held several
offices. He was assessor of Mingo county, West Virginia,
for eight years, and a justice of the peace for the same length of time.
He married Nancy, daughter of Allen Pinson, a prominent citizen of Pike county, Kentucky. Mrs. Farley now resides in Mingo county, West Virginia. Fifteen children were born of this
marriage, among whom was Hiram Pinson.
(III) Dr.
Hiram Pinson Farley, son of Thomas Benton and Nancy (Pinson) Farley, was born in
Logan, Logan county, West Virginia, October 15,
1878. He prepared for college in the schools of his native county and was for two years, 1897-98, a student at
Marshall College. During 1900-01 he was a student in the medical department of
the University of Nashville, Tennessee. In 1902 he entered the Hospital College
of Medicine at Louisville, Kentucky, and graduated with high standing in 1904.
He began the practice of his profession in Man, West
Virginia, where he remained two years. In 1906 he located in Holden,
West Virginia, where he continued his practice for
one and one-half years. He then removed to Logan, where he has since practiced
his profession. He has gained a high standing in his profession and is
considered one of the ablest physicians in the county.
He has a large practice in the coal regions of the county. He was one of the organizers and is one third
owner of the Logan Hospital Association with Drs. Steele and Lawson. Dr. Farley
paid his way through school and college by teaching and by engaging in various
lines of work. He is a prominent member of the Logan County Medical Association and the West Virginia Medical Society. In politics he is a
Democrat. He is a member of the Masonic order and the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows.
He married, July 26, 1902, Myrtle May,
daughter of James Pritchard. They have two children: Erman, born in Logan, May
6, 1903; Violet, July 21, 1906. Mrs. Farley was born in Logan county. West Virginia, June 30,
1885. Her father was a prominent merchant in Wayne, where he died in
1910.
[Source: West Virginia and
Its People, Volume 3 By Thomas
Condit Miller and Hu Maxwell - Transcribed by AFOFG]
Ferguson, Judge James H.
The subject of this
brief memoir was born in Montgomery County, Virginia, April 14, 1817; was entirely self-educated,
and was self-made. He possessed a massive intellect,
and was almost a giant in stature. By application
and industry he became one of the great lawyers,
jurists and legislators, the State of Virginia ever produced. He showed greatness in everything
he undertook. He was learned in the law and towered
above most men in knowledge as well as in physical stature. He left his impress
upon the times in which he lived, and was recognized
by the people who knew him personally as a man who possessed the elements of
true greatness. He was regarded, not only as an erudite lawyer; but as a
law-maker, in which, he had but few equals, and
probably no superiors. He was admitted to the Bar
in 1840, and settled in Logan County, now
West Virginia, and in a very short period of time,
became the leading lawyer of that entire section. In politics he was a Whig. He
was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Logan County, which office he held and ably filled until 1848, when he was elected to the
Virginia Legislature from the counties of Logan
and Boone, and was
re-elected to the same office each year until 1851. In 1850, he was elected a
member of the Constitutional Convention of Virginia
of 1850 and 51, while he was a member of the
Legislature of the State, and was one of the leaders
of both bodies. He was formidable in all of the debates on all of the important
questions that arose. He opposed everything that pointed toward dissolution of
the Union, and opposed the pernicious doctrine of
secession from the commencement to the close of the Civil War.
In 1864, he became a
citizen of Cabell County, and in the Fall of that
year he was elected a member of the Legislature of the new State of West Virginia, and was re-elected to the same position
every year to and including 1871. In all of these
bodies he was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and
was the controlling factor in practically all of the legislation that was
enacted at those several sessions. In 1868 he was chairman of the Joint
Commission on the revision of the West Virginia
Code. He did most of the work, and by
direction of the Legislature prepared and indexed
the Code of 1868 for publication. During the autumn of that year, he was elected
Judge of the Circuit Court of Cabell, Boone, Logan, Wayne and Lincoln Counties; and
after about two years of pronouncedly able service on the Bench, he resigned, opened a law office in Charleston, and
became chief counsel for the Chesapeake and Ohio
Railroad, where he remained until his death. He was elected to the Legislature
from Kanawha County in 1876. He was able in all branches of the law, but was
perhaps strongest in land litigation. There were but few equals to him in all
branches of the law pertaining to the adjustment of controverted land titles. Ho
was also a specialist in corporation controversies. As a matter of fact, he was
an all-around lawyer: and as a law maker, he had no
superior in West Virginia.
He was twice married,
and was a devout member of the Baptist Church. He
died at his residence in Charleston at the advanced age of 86 years.
At the close of the
Civil War, Judge Ferguson identified himself with the Democratic Party, but
never was a pronounced partisan.
[Bench and bar of West Virginia edited by
George Wesley Atkinson, 1919 – Transcribed by AFOFG]
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