Morgan County, WV Biographies

Compton Family
     The name of Compton is an honored one, the family COMPTON in England being able to trace its lineage back to illustrious ancestors. Spenser Compton, Earl of Northampton, was lord treasurer of England in the reign of Charles the First; Henry Compton was lord bishop of London during the reign of William the Third; and William Compton was in childhood the playmate of Henry the Fourth. Four brothers came to this country and settled in New Jersey, Samuel, Gabriel, Elycum and Daniel. The homestead was on the New Jersey shore, not far from the Metuchen "Meeting House," in the neighborhood of Woodbridge.
     (I) Elycum Compton was the one of the four brothers from whom the Comptons of West Virginia trace their descent. He married and had nine children: Joanna, married Benjamin Elston, of Utica, New York; John; Rachel, married Andrew Lykens; Elycum Jr.; Anna, married Peter Keneskern, of Albany, New York; Archibald; Isabella, married John Allen; Hannah, married a Mr. Desilva, of Schoharie, New York; Robert, of whom further.
     (II) Robert, son of Elycum Compton, was born in New Jersey, and in early life enjoyed the unique distinction of acting as messenger for General George Washington during the Trenton campaign. Robert Compton removed from New Jersey to Berlin, Pennsylvania. He married Lydia Brown, of Chester, New Jersey. Robert and Lydia (Brown) Compton had twelve children: Archibald, married a Miss Geisey; Phineas, married Adaline Glotf elty; Eliza, married Daniel Durst; Sallie A., married Joseph Glotfelty; Catherine, married John Davis; David, married Elizabeth Brown; Robert; William; Henry, of whom further; Charles; Lydia, married George Matthews.
     (III) Henry, son of Robert and Lydia (Brown) Compton, was born in Berlin, Pennsylvania, July 2, 1825. At the age of twenty-five he and his wife crossed the Allegheny mountains and settled in the little village of Fetterman, at the time the company was trimming the timber along the right of way to build the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. After the Parkersburg branch was built the family, consisting of the father and mother and three sons, Charles E., Marcellus and Millard Fillmore, moved to Grafton in the fall of 1856. In Grafton, Henry Compton engaged in business, opening a store and developing property. At that time there were only eight families living in Grafton, and the old path that ran in front of the house is now Main street. His was the first twostory house built in the town. For years Henry Compton was a leading business man, having a tinshop, a store and a sawmill. He took a prominent part in establishing the Grafton Sentinel, now the most important paper in the town. He was an ardent Republican, and as a public servant he served both the county and the municipality. He died at the ripe age of eighty-four in 1911, the patriarch of Grafton. He married, in 1849, Ruth Hardman, of Cumberland Valley, and their children were the three already mentioned: Charles E.; Marcellus; Millard Fillmore, of whom further; and in Grafton were born: William F., now a minister in White Plains, New York; Leonora, married E. G. Jeffreys, of Washington, D. C.; Harry C., now engaged in business in Grafton.
     (IV) Rev. Millard Fillmore Compton, son of Henry and Ruth (Hardman) Compton, was born at Fetterman, now Grafton, West Virginia, April 5, 1856. He spent his boyhood at Grafton, attending the public schools of the town. In 1881 he graduated from Allegheny College with the degree of M.A., and in 1883 from Drew Seminary with the degree of B.D. In 1899 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity. For fifteen years he was a pastor in New York and its vicinity, his first appointment being to St. Paul's in Brooklyn. He was transferred to West Virginia in 1898 and stationed at the old historic State Street Church in Charleston. Here for four years he had a large congregation, the governor of the state and many of the state officials being members of it. The four years of his pastorate marked a period of great spiritual and material prosperity in the church. The church debt was removed, a new brick parsonage was built, and the church building renovated. There were more than five hundred conversions during the period. His next appointment was at Morgantown, where in a busy and successful pastorate of five years he erected a magnificent stone church, and received several hundred into church fellowship. From Morgantown he was moved to Parkersburg, where he spent five years. Two hundred and sixty were added to the membership of the church at Parkersburg, the lin Lsi parsonage in the state was erected, and a fine stone church, that for design and beauty ranks with the best among Methodist churches, was completed. During his ministry Dr. Compton has built or helped to build eleven churches and parsonages. He has been an active leader in the work of his denomination in the state, and has given freely of his time and strength to every good movement for the betterment of the civil and religious life of the commonwealth. He inaugurated a movement to increase the fund for the pensioning of old and infirm ministers, and in a few years saw it advance from $9,000 to $37,000, and an interest created in the subject that promised much for the future. In the fall of 1912 Dr. Compton was appointed as district superintendent of the Wheeling district, the metropolitan district of Methodism in West Virginia. He now resides in Moundsville.
     Dr. Compton married, May 23, 1883, at Moundsville, Mary N. Tomlinson, and they have two children: Henry Tomlinson, born on Madison street, New York City, and now in business in Moundsville; Alfred Fillmore, born on Willett street, New York City, and now taking the medical course at the University.
     Mrs. Compton's ancestors were among the pioneer settlers of the Ohio Valley. They came from Ireland, and her great-grandfather, Joseph Tomlinson Jr., was born in Maryland, and married Elizabeth Harkness, also of Maryland. They emigrated and were the discoverers of the Great Mound on Grave creek, and settled in the flats of that stream in 1770. He was the first white settler of that valley. They had ten children: Robert; Drusilla, married Hezekiah Bukey; Samuel; Joseph; Isaac; Mary, married John Kinnard; Lucy, married (first) Samuel Riggs, (second) Isaac Hoskinson; Elizabeth, married Joseph McMahon; Nathaniel; Jesse.
     Nathaniel Tomlinson, the grandfather of Mrs. Compton, enlisted in the war of 1812. He was a farmer. He married Margaret Ransom, a daughter of William Ransom, a native of county Armagh, Ireland, who had married Eleanor Carr, of Berkeley county, Virginia, in 1790. Nathaniel and Margaret (Ransom) Tomlinson had two children: Alfred, of whom further, and Ellen.
     Alfred Tomlinson, father of Mrs. Compton, was all his life a farmer at Moundsville, living on part of the land settled by his ancestors in 1770. He married Mary Drusilla, daughter of James D. Morris, who for a great many years was clerk of Marshall county. Their daughter, Mary N., became the wife of Dr. Compton.
[Source: West Virginia and Its People, Volume 3 By Thomas Condit Miller and Hu Maxwell - Transcribed by Therman Kellar]