Hon. John S.
Carlile
Mr. Carlile was born at Winchester, Virginia,
December 16, 1817. He was educated by his mother, who was a woman of high
culture, until he was fourteen years of age. He then entered a dry goods store
as salesman and clerk, remaining till his
seventeenth year, when he commenced business for himself. At an early age,
having a decided taste for the profession, he began the study of law, was
admitted to the bar in 1840, settled at Beverly,
Randolph County, and began practice. He was elected
to the Senate of Virginia in 1847, and served until 1851. His associates were not long in
finding in Mr. Carlile a man of untiring energy, a close student, a diligent
legislator, and a ready and
forceful debater. He took a leading rank in the Senate, which was filled
with the ablest men of Virginia. In 1800 he was
elected a delegate from Randolph County to the Constitutional Convention to
revise the Constitution of the State. In this body of learned and distinguished Virginians Mr. Carlile's splendid
natural abilities, added to his experience of four years in the Senate, made him
influential, and placed him along side of the ablest
men in that body. The people by this time recognized Mr. Carlile's commanding
abilities, and in 1855 nominated him as a candidate
for Congress and elected him in one of the most
spirited campaigns peculiar to that day. He served one term and returned to the practice of his profession, which had
become large and lucrative.
To secure better
opportunities for the display of his superior legal attainments Mr. Carlile
removed his residence to Clarksburg, Harrison County. He was employed in all the
important cases in litigation in County, Circuit, Federal and Supreme Courts in that portion of the State, and accordingly achieved great distinction as a member of
the bar. At the breaking out of the war he was an
avowed Unionist, and threw all of his great powers
on the side of the Government. He was a member of the Wheeling Convention that
established the Restored Government of Virginia,
and was one of the leading spirits in all of its
councils. He was elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress from the Wheeling
District in 1861, and remained a member until his
promotion to the Senate of the United States, the latter
part of that year, from the Restored Government of Virginia. While in the Senate he
served as a member of the Committee on Public Lands and Territories. His Senatorial term
expired in 1865, when he retired to private life at Clarksburg and resumed the practice of his
profession.
As an orator Mr. Carlile had but few, if any, superiors in Virginia. He died at his home in Clarksburg in 1878. While
it is true that Senator Carlile is regarded most as a statesman, yet he was
universally esteemed as an eminent and successful
lawyer, and was an honor to the profession in and outside of the "Mountain State." He was unusually
talented, and maintained a high rank both as a
lawyer and a statesman.
[Bench and Bar of West
Virginia by George Wesley Atkinson, 1919 - Transcribed by AFOFG]
JOSEPH H. CHENOWITH
HENRY DUFFIELD|
JUDGE EDWIN S.
DUNCAN
Judge Duncan, of Clarksburg, is remembered by the older people of that
city as one of the ablest lawyers and jurists of the
first half of the last century. He was born in Shenandoah County, Virginia, in 1790, and was
educated in the schools of that section. He came to Randolph County, in the
western part of the State, where he read law and was
admitted to the bar at Beverly, the seat of justice
of that county, about the year of 1812. He was a man of large natural
endowments, and in a very short time became an
attorney of distinction. He served for a short time as chief of staff in Col.
Booth's Virginia regiment during the second war with
Great Britain, shortly after his admission to the bar
in 1812. After the close of the war he returned to Beverly and resumed his practice; but being desirous to secure a
broader field of operations for a young lawyer of high ambitions, he removed his
law office to Clarksburg in Harrison County in 1816 and
began to practice there. He also opened an office at Weston in Lewis
County, twenty-six miles distant, and had but little
trouble in finding clients there as well as at Clarksburg. His residence,
however, was in the latter town. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney for Lewis
County in the fall of 1816, and in 1820 he was
elected to the State Senate of Virginia from the
district of which Harrison and Lewis were a part;
was appointed United States District Attorney for the Western District of Virginia in 1824, and served
four years; was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1829-30;
was later elected a Judge of the General Court of Virginia
and of the Eighteenth Circuit in 1831; was appointed by the Governor to
represent Virginia at the World's Fair in London,
England, in 1851, and after his return from this
service he retired to private life at Clarksburg. He departed this life February
4, 1858, and is still referred to as one of the
eminent lawyers and judges of that prosperous
city.
Judge
Duncan lived an upright, honorable life, and left
his impress for good and exalted citizenship in that
portion of the State where he spent a long and
useful life. He never devoted any of his energies to politics, but
preferred to spend all of his time in the profession which he made a special
life work. He was truly a learned lawyer and an
incorruptible judge. His prominent characteristics were a strong will, sound
judgment, a large fund of humor, a keen knowledge of human nature, rigid
devotion to what he believed to be right, and an
integrity of character that riches dared not attempt to bribe and could not corrupt. His character was beautiful in
simplicity and gentleness.
A number of his
descendants are residents of Clarksburg and Harrison
County. He was a man of medium stature and carried
an air of greatness as he moved among the people. He was, in every respect, a
truly representative citizen and stood for the
highest ideals in life and character.
[Bench and
Bar of West Virginia by George Wesley Atkinson, 1919 - Transcribed by
AFOFG]
HEAVNER FAMILY.
This family has had a residence at one point or an other in America since some years before the revolutionary struggle for national independence. It is sometimes spelled "Havenor," but it is always the same original family. From legal papers, such as wills, naturalization papers, now in possession of Major Jacob W. Heavner, it appears that the first to come from Germany to this country was Nicholas Havener, with whom this genealogical narrative will commence.(I) Nicholas Havener, with his wife,
two sons, Jacob and Frederick, and two daughters, Catreen and one whose name is
not given, emigrated from Germany to America, sometime prior to May 20, 1755,
which is the date on which he made his first purchase of land, two tracts, each
containing three hundred acres, lying on the "Southernmost Branch of South
Branch of the Potomac river," for which he in hand paid one hundred and seven
pounds and ten shillings.
The naturalization papers of this
Nicholas Havener are still firmly attached to the seal of "Our Soverign Lord,
King George the Third." The date of this instrument, May 18, 1761, bears also
the signature of Fran Farqueir, "His Majesty's Lieutenant Governor and
commander-in-chief of the Col. and Dominion of Virginia." It is somewhat
difficult to determine the correct spelling of the name of this family, for even
in the third generation the family seems to have written almost exclusively in
German; however, on the first indentures and naturalization papers we find it
recorded "Havener." From the will of Nicholas, written in 1769, fourteen years
after his arrival in America, a good estimate of his character may be had. He
was a God-fearing man, also a man of much wealth, devoted to the welfare of his
family, which is conspicuous in his careful, specific and generous provisions
for the comfort of his "Beloved wife," whom he appoints administratrix of his
estate, in conjunction with his eldest son, Jacob. He had several children,
among whom was Jacob.
(II) Jacob Havener, eldest child of
Nicholas Havener, married Mary Mallow, and it is presumed she died soon after
December 4, 1804, as that is the last date on which her name appears attached to
a deed of gift of land made with her husband to their eldest son Nicholas, which
was for one of the three hundred acre tracts purchased by his grandfather, in
1755. They had eight children: Nicholas, Adam, Henry Michael, Samuel Peter,
Margaret, Mary, Jacob, John.
(III) Nicholas (2) Havener, son of
Jacob Havener, after the settlement of his father's estate in Pendleton county,
Virginia, came to what is known now as Upshur county, West Virginia, in 1815,
and purchased of George Jackson four hundred acres of land on Buckhannon river,
lying partly in Harrison and partly in Randolph counties, including the former
site of "Bush Fort," near which the residence was erected. He married Mary
Propps. They reared a large family of daughters and two sons, Elias and Jacob.
The father died August 3, 1843; his wife died May 19,
1843.
(IV) Elias Heavner, eldest son of
Nicholas (2) Havener, was born April 9, 1805, died October 10, 1884. He was an
unobtrusive, generous man, of great simplicity of spirit and Christian goodness.
He married, October 4, 1829, Elizabeth Hyre, born February 14, 1809, died August
2, 1902. Early in life both he and his wife united with the Methodist Episcopal
Church, in which for many years he was a class leader and a trustee. They were
both noted for their hospitality, and it was in their home the weary, way-worn
itinerant ministers of the early days were always sure of finding a cordial
welcome and a comfortable resting place. This truly worthy couple were blessed
with one daughter, Catherine, who married Daniel J. Carper, and seven sons, five
of whom died upon reaching manhood, and the other two were: Major Jacob W. and
Clark W., of whom further.
(V) Major Jacob W. Heavner, son of
Elias and Elizabeth (Hyre) Heavner, was born January 27, 1841. Twenty years
later—1861— came the bugle call "to arms" for the civil war, and this aroused
his loyal sentiment. After he recovered from a long illness from typhoid fever,
he offered his services to the government and was commissioned a second
lieutenant. On the eve of his departure with his men for the front, General
Jenkins, that omnipresent commander, who was always where he was least expected
and least desired, came with his brave "Riders" sweeping down on the government
stores in Buckhannon, West Virginia. Alas, for the lieutenant and his men, some
were killed and some wounded, while the lieutenant and others were left on
parole. Before an exchange could be affected, Heavner and his brother, Clark W.,
in passing along the highway were "Bushwhacked," and both very dangerously
wounded, the latter so seriously as to prevent his further service in the army.
The gallant lieutenant was more fortunate, for when partly recovered the
exchange of prisoners came. Then he was again ready for service and was
commissioned lieutenant in Company M, Third West Virginia Cavalry. May 23, 1865,
he was promoted to captain in his company, and for special gallantry, brevetted
major. The Third Cavalry, as many recall, was with Hunter in the famous
Lynchburg raid, and with Custer and Sheridan in the
"Valley."
In 1869 Judge Irving appointed Major
Heavner sheriff of Upshur County to fill an unexpired term, occasioned by the
death of Thaddeus S. Heavner. Twice afterwards he was elected sheriff of his
county; in 1884 he was delegate to the National convention; in 1888 an alternate
for the state-at-large to the National convention; again in 1892 on the
electoral ticket; in 1900 an alternate for the third congressional district of
West Virginia. In 1900 he was member-at-large and president of the board of
equalization in the state of West Virginia; in 1904 led the electoral ticket in
West Virginia; has served as vice-president of one and director of two banks in
Buckhannon. He has also served as director in two railroad companies. For years
he has been a successful real estate man and materially aided Buckhannon in all
of her many enterprises in developing her resources and
industries.
He married Lee A. E., daughter of
Rev. John W. Reger, D. D. They have one child: Reta B. B., married Frank P.
Maxwell, and they have one child, Virginia Lee.
(V) Clark W., son of Elias and
Elizabeth (Hyre) Heavner, was born September 7, 1844. He is one of the leading
men of Buckhannon; was one of the organizers and upbuilders of the People's
Bank, of which he has been cashier ever since its organization. He married,
December 17, 1873, Clara DuMont, born April 28, 1858, daughter of Captain
Sylvester B. Phillips (see Phillips IX). Clark W. Heavner and wife had one
child, Ralph Webster, born 1874, died 1898, a student at the West Virginia
University at the date of his death.
[Source: GENEALOGICAL AND
BIOGRAPHICAL OF THE Upper Monongahela Valley, WV Vol. III; By James Morton
Callahan; Edited by Bernard L. Butcher; Publ. 1912; Transcribed by Andrea
Stawski Pack]
Clyde Beecher Johnson
The eldest son of
James L. and Anna C. (Martin) Johnson, Clyde Johnson, was born June 17, 1871, on
a farm in Pleasants County, West
Virginia, near what was then Twiggs Post Office. His father, at the age
of 74, is yet living at Ellenboro, Ritchie County, West Virginia, and has for many years been an
active farmer and business man in that section of the State.
In
conversation with the writer Mr. Johnson talked of little else than his mother,
who died in 1909. He attributes to her any degree of success that has come to
him, and among other things said: "My mother was a queen among women. She was
one of the early female graduates of Marietta College, and I yet believe she was
the most thoroughly cultured and educated woman I have ever met. Her knowledge
was encyclopedic, her memory marvelous, and her judgment of persons and
situations unerring. After her graduation she taught in Mississippi, and later
in Texas and during a portion of the War Between the States she was principal of
the Huntsville Female Academy, now, I believe, a Texas Normal School. After the close of the war she came
back north to care for her aged parents, and in 1866 opened "The Cedars," one of
the first exclusive finishing schools for young ladies west of the Allegheny Mountains. In January, 1870, she married my
father, and in addition to her duties as a wife and mother she found time to
teach what was in fact a private college almost up to the time of her death in
1909. I have spoken thus at length of my mother because she deserves it. She is
by far the most important part of this sketch, as whatever of success has come
to me is almost wholly due to her example and teaching, and to such of her high
ideals and splendid mind as I inherited."
Mr. Johnson was educated in
the common schools of West Virginia,
later spending some time both at Marietta and at West Virginia Wesleyan Colleges,
but is not a graduate of either. He taught public schools for a number of years,
in the meantime devoting himself to the study of law, being admitted to the Bar
in 1895. He is proud of the fact that Arthur I. Boreman, the first Governor of
West Virginia, and then Judge of
the Third Circuit, was the first Judge to sign his law license. His first year
of practice was at Sistersville in Tyler County, at the end of which he returned to Pleasants
County and was the nominee of
his party for Prosecuting Attorney in the election of 1896. He says that his
defeat in that election at once curing him of running for office, and forcing
him to settle down to hard professional work was a blessing in disguise.
He
practiced in the town of St. Marys from 1896 until July 1, 1913, when he removed
to Charleston and formed a partnership with Hon. William G. Conley, who had just
finished his term as Attorney-General of the State. This firm represents The
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company in many matters in West Virginia, and has a wide general practice in
both State and Federal Courts.
In 1898 Mr. Johnson married Miss Anna Grace Hart, of
Randolph County, West Virginia,
and with their two children — Myra and Bosworth — they reside in a
pleasant home in the City of Charleston. At this home with his family and in his
modest home library Mr. Johnson finds his greatest pleasures. Amid pressing
duties of a general law practice he has found a few spare hours to devote to
literary pursuits, and in addition to some editorial work has written occasional
bits of verse. Some of these were published in 1914 in a little volume entitled
"Rhyme and Reason."
He is a member of the
American Bar Association, the West
Virginia Bar Association and the local Bar Association of the City of
Charleston. His highest ambition is to be remembered when his life is finished
as a lawyer worthy of fellowship in these associations, which include the great
legal minds of America.
In politics Mr. Johnson is a life-long Democrat of
the school, he says, that trusts the popular judgment and believes that no cause
or party emergency is great enough to demand a sacrifice of candor. While never
himself a candidate for public office since 1896, until the present year, being the nominee of his party as a
candidate for State Senator, he has always taken an active interest in the
affairs of his party, and has as wide an acquaintance throughout the State as
perhaps any man of his age. He is a believer in Government by party, and it is
never difficult to know where he stands on any public question. He is one of the
ablest stump speakers in the entire State in all of the political
parties.
Mr. Johnson confesses of
having lived the quiet life of the country lawyer who must live by his work, and
assures the biographer that there is little to tell about it that would seem of
importance except to his family and intimate friends. He is an orator of high
grade, and is a trial lawyer of pronounced ability and is a sound pleader as
well.
[Bench and bar of West
Virginia by George Wesley Atkinson, 1919 – Transcribed by AFOFG]
Morgan Family
This is the Morgan family of great renown as relates to pioneer days in America. The family is of Celtic origin—extracted from the only white race or clan that was never at one time or King Lear" another conquered or subdued. The word "Morgan," traced back to its Cymric origin, means "seabrink" or "one born on the seashore." Glamorgan County, Wales, which is situated on the coast, takes its name from the Morgans. The family is very old; members of it held important posts in early English history, and were provincial rulers. To one of these Morgans is accredited the adoption of the jury system, in England, in the eighth century; to members of the family in Britain were awarded more than thirty different coats-of-arms for as many different achievements, throughout the medieval period.
(I) Rev. Morgan Morgan. The West Virginia Morgans, of Welsh extraction, are descendants of Rev. Morgan Morgan, Glamorgan County, Wales. He was educated in London; ordained a clergyman of the Church of England; settled at Christiana, Delaware, in 1702; removed to Winchester, Virginia, and followed his calling. Children: Morgan, Anne, Zackquil, Evan, David, Charles, Henry and James. In 1726 Rev. Morgan Morgan crossed into Berkeley County, Virginia, and near Bunker Hill Post office made the first white settlement in what is now West Virginia territory, and also built the first church in the state. Later, Rev. Morgan Morgan's children removed farther west, crossing the Alleghany Mountains to the Monongahela Valley, and founded Morgantown, West Virginia.
(II) David Morgan, born May 12, 1721, at Christiana, Delaware, son of Rev. Morgan Morgan, was a skilled engineer. He aided George Washington, under commission from the governor of Virginia, in surveying Mason and Dixon's line; was with Colonel Washington on other trips, on one of which they discovered the region on the Monongahela afterwards taken up and settled by the Morgans. He married Sarah Stevens, a Quaker lady of Pennsylvania. Children: Stephen, Sarah, Zacquille, Morgan, Katharine.
At the opening of the revolutionary war, Morgan Morgan, son of David, was captain of a company of Virginia militia. This company, with Morgan Morgan, together with the latter's father, David, and Evan and James, brothers of David, and James Jr., son of the latter James (five Morgans in one small company), entered a company, in 1777, which served in the revolutionary war, on expeditions in Pennsylvania, with William Haymond as captain, and Morgan Morgan as lieutenant, and the other four Morgans as privates. One year later, David Morgan, in his fifty seventh year, had his deadly encounter on the Monongahela River with the Indians.* Evan and Zackquil Morgan, brothers of David, saw service in the revolution at another time, in Captain Brinton's company, when they made an expedition up the Allegheny River, raided an Indian village called Muncietown, killing several savages and one or more white desperadoes. See accounts of this trip, written by Zackquil and Evan, when they were in their seventies, at the request of the secretary of war. These documents contain also a brief family history, with dates, etc., and are remarkable for their diction and the evident educational attainments of these pioneers who, doubtless, were never inside a schoolhouse, and whose time was mostly taken up guarding the frontier settlements from Indian depredations. The original payroll of Captain William Haymond, with the names of the five Morgans thereon, is in the custody of Colonel Henry Haymond, of Clarksburg, West Virginia.
(III) Captain Morgan Morgan was a son of David Morgan, the Indian slayer. He was captain of a company of Virginia militia, also lieutenant in Captain Haymond's company of revolutionary soldiers. Children: James, Morgan, David, Jacob, Druscilla, Elizabeth, Aaron and Achilles.
(IV) Captain James Morgan, son of Captain Morgan Morgan, was captain in the war of 1812, in which was also commissioned a major, and during said war was, at one time, in command of Fort Meigs (now Toledo, Ohio). Children: David, John, James, Stephen, Alpheus, Sarah, Mary, Salinda, Marcus.
(V) Captain David Morgan, son of Captain James Morgan, removed from Marion to Randolph County in 1858. Early in the war of 1861 he raised and became the captain of a company of Union soldiers, in which company his son, Charles, became a lieutenant, and another son, David C, a corporal. Captain David was born June 26, 1806, in Marion County; married Pleasant Harris, born October 1, 1808, of Dutch extraction. Children: 1. Charles, born June 12, 1827; lives near Buckhannon, West Virginia. 2. Morgan, born January 9, 1829; lives near Lorentz, West Virginia. 3. Juretta, born September 9, 1830; married Joseph Garlow. 4. Hilleary, born December 25, 1831; died a child. 5. Aaron, born June 19, 1833; died a child. 6. Littleton T., born January 30, 1835; died a child. 7. Littleton Taswell, born November 22, 1837; lives at Buckhannon. 8. Aarah, born January 14, 1840; died August, 1899. 9. Sebra, born June 18, 1842; married Rev. B. B. Brooks; both dead. 10. David Crockett, born February 28, 1844; lives at Buckhannon. 11. James P., born May 22, 1846; lives near Selbyville, West Virginia. 12. Helen, born December 28, 1848; deceased. 13. Waitman, born October 23, 1850; died a child. 14. Elmira, born September 16, 1863; died a child. 15. Martha died an infant.
Note: As a matter of fact, David Morgan never skinned a human being —he was "all in" after this conflict. In which he lost two Angers, and it would have been a physical impossibility for him to have denuded the Indian of his Integument. The Indian was Skinned by refugees of Prickett's Fort, and not by David Morgan. The skin war tanned, made into a shot pouch, and presented to David as a souvenir.
(VI) Corporal David Crockett Morgan, son of Captain David Morgan, was a retired farmer, and a member of Presbyterian Church. Politically he was always a staunch Republican, never bolting a primary or convention nor scratching a ticket, until, as he says, he became convinced that the party had fallen into the hands of a set of dishonorable men who were politicians not because of any patriotic sense but merely for the business and the money they could get out of it, since which time he votes for the best man, regardless of politics. He served clear through the war of 1861, as a Union soldier, enlisting in his father's company, at the age of seventeen, and was drawn up in line of battle at Appomattox, the day General Lee surrendered. His first wife was Evelyn Phillips. Children: Infant died a child; Loren Boriors and Orlan Bunyan, both married, have families, and live in Stillwater, Oklahoma. His second wife was Eliza Jane Phillips, daughter of Richard and Eliza J. (née Perry—Commodore Perry family) Phillips, of French Creek, West Virginia. Richard and wife, then children, came to French Creek with their parents, in 1815, from Massachusetts, overland, making the trip of nearly one thousand miles in carts drawn by oxen through the forests, following the buffalo trails, and driving their stock before them. Richard's paternal ancestor, Nicholas Phillips, was an Englishman, and immigrated to America in 1630, and was one of the incorporators of the town of Dedham, Massachusetts. When David C. Morgan married his second wife she was the widow of the late Lieutenant Claudius B. See, by whom she had three children, namely: Sylvester Bunyan, Claudius Synnamon, and Julia Agnes, all of whom are married, have families, and live in Upshur County. By his second wife, Eliza Jane, he had four children: Haze, Patrick Lawson, Otto, and Clara, all of whom are married and live in West Virginia.
(VII) Haze Morgan was named for a distant relative of the same name who was shot in the forehead and instantly killed, while on the firing line as a Union soldier in the war of 1861. He was born June 19, 1876, on his father's farm, one mile south of the noted Raccoon Meeting House Rock, Laurel Fork of French Creek, Upshur County, West Virginia, son of David C. Morgan. He was educated in public schools; spent four years at Wesleyan College, Buckhannon; took a degree in Georgetown University; was five years in one of the legal departments, Washington, his duties taking him over most of the United States. He resigned from the government service in 1903 and went to Clarksburg, West Virginia, and opened up a law office. He is a member of the Presbyterian church of Clarksburg, in which a relative was the first pastor; in politics is an independent Republican. He married, at Washington, D. C., September 29, 1897, Anna G. Jones, born near Smithton, Doddridge county, West Virginia, September 29, 1879, daughter of William H. Jones, a miller by trade, and of revolutionary stock, who was born April 4, 1851, died August 26, 1896; had but one other child, Eula B., who was born November 10, 1886, graduated at Clarksburg high school, and died June 17, 1907. Children of Haze and Anna G. Morgan: William H., born at Washington, November 13, 1898; Eliza Isabelle, born at Clarksburg, May 17, 1905; Virginia, born at Clarksburg, September 27, 1907; Anna Mildred, born at Clarksburg, November 6, 1911.
In the possession of Haze Morgan, Clarksburg, West Virginia, is quite a large piece of the skin taken from an Indian slain in a combat with David Morgan. It is accompanied by the affidavit of Josiah P. Smith, who received it more than sixty years ago from a son of David Morgan, which is as follows:
State Of West Virginia, County Of Harrison,
Ss.:
Josiah P. Smith, being by me first duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that he was born on Big Rock Camp, Harrison County, West Virginia, on the 21st day of December, 1826, being the first white person born on that stream according to the statement of his parents; that, sometime in about the year 1850, a little while after affiant attained his majority, he visited a son of the Indian Fighter, David Morgan, at his house on a branch of Fishing Creek, in Wetzel County, West Virginia; that, while there, the said son (whose Christian name affiant has forgotten) exhibited to affiant an old-fashioned shot-pouch, which had been partly cut away, and stated that said shot-pouch was made of the tanned skin of an Indian which had been killed by David Morgan, in an encounter on the Monongahela River, West Virginia, wherein the said David Morgan fought two Indians; that said shot pouch had been given to him, the said son, by the said David Morgan, and that he, the said son, was disposing of it by cutting it up into pieces and distributing it among his friends as souvenirs; that the said son then and there gave affiant a piece of said shot-pouch about two inches square; that affiant afterward gave away a piece of said skin; that the remaining piece has been in the possession of affiant ever since; and that the piece of skin hereto annexed is a portion of the same piece of the aforesaid shot-pouch given to affiant by the said son at the time aforesaid.
(Jurat Follows). (Signed): Joseph P. Smith.
(V) John Morgan, son of Captain James Morgan, was born on the old Morgan homestead about 1800, died February 7, 1854. He was a farmer, and died on the old homestead farm after having been a successful agriculturist for many years. He married Mary, daughter of Archie Wilson, a native of Monongalia County; she died in 1863. The children of John and Mary (Wilson) Morgan were: Cassil, deceased; Alcindia, deceased; Matilda, deceased; Margaret; Lydia; Oliver Perry, mentioned below; William, deceased; John; James E., mentioned below. The parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and politically the father was a Whig and later a Republican.
(VI) Oliver Perry, son of John Morgan, was born in what is now Marion County, West Virginia, September 14, 1835. He was brought up on the old homestead, where he lived and labored until he reached man's estate, when he purchased a farm in the neighborhood and carried on farming and stock raising. During the civil war period he served in Company A, Sixth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry. He participated in several battles and skirmishes, and was also among the guards along the frontier. After two years' service he was wounded and honorably discharged. After the war he resumed farm life and continued there until 1895, when he engaged in the mercantile business, and later removed to Fairmont, where he is engaged in the real estate business. Politically he is a supporter of the Republican party, and in church affiliations is connected with the Methodist Episcopal denomination.
August 19, 1860, he married Margaret, daughter of Bushrod W. and Sarah (Shaw) Vincent. The children of this union were: 1. John, a farmer who married and has five children: Wateman; Lester; Virgil; Bertha C.; and Roy. 2. Francis Lorenzo, a farmer, married and has two children. 3. Laura E., married James Carpenter, and they have three children. 4. Mollie, married O. S. Holland, and they have one child, Pearl. 5. Henry, married Alice Brown, and they have eight children. 6. Lee, married Nettie Vincent, and their children are Oliver and Mary. 7. Virginia, married Samuel H. Keener, and their children are Clarence, Opal and Ralph.
(VI) James E., son of John Morgan, was born on the old Morgan homestead in what is now Marion county, March 18, 1854. He was reared on his father's farm and educated in the common schools. He followed farming until the autumn of 1892, and in the spring of 1893 was appointed a member of the Fairmont police force, and has held the office of chief of police, water commissioner and street commissioner for a number of years, to the entire satisfaction of the citizens of the municipality. In March, 1910, he resigned as street and water commissioner. Politically Mr. Morgan votes the Republican ticket, and is an attendant at the Methodist Episcopal Church.
He married, July 18, 1875, Ella Swisher, a native of Marion county, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Swisher, of Winfield district, Marion county. Children: Mary, born August 28, 1876, wife of Thomas Howard, and they have two children: James E.; and Mary E. 2. William Curtis, born February, 1879, died aged sixteen years. 3. Mont E., born August 14, 1881, now an attorney-at-law. 4. Mary Edna, born April 15, 1884, married Gale Fishback, and they have two children: Annetta, and Irma. 5. Maud Belle, born June 2, 1887, died September 24, 1888.
(V) Marcus Morgan, son of Captain James Morgan, was born in 1835. He was brought up on his father's farm, receiving the ordinary common school education, and was a justice of the peace eight years; also member of the board of education, and county commissioner when the present courthouse was erected. He served as a trustee in the Methodist Episcopal church. During the civil war he served in Company E, of a volunteer regiment in the federal army. Politically he was a staunch Republican. He died in 1906, his wife preceding him fourteen years, she having died in 1894.
He married (first) Mary Wymer, daughter of Levi Wymer, who came from Virginia; he was a blacksmith. Their children, four in number, were: Lydia; Della; Levi W.; and one deceased. He married (second), in 1868, Virginia Wymer, and to them were born five children: Ephraim F., mentioned below; Pearlie, wife of Elbert Moran; Mattie, married Marcus Layman; Mary, wife of M. West; Nettie, wife of Wayne Meredith.
(VI) Hon. Ephraim F., son of Marcus Morgan, was born in Foxburg, Marion county, West Virginia, January 16, 1869. He obtained his education in the common schools, taught nine years, attended the State Normal School at Fairmont, graduated from the law department of West Virginia University in 1896 and was admitted to the bar in 1897. He commenced to practice law in the spring of 1898, in Fairmont, where he built up a large legal practice. He continued until elected judge of Marion county in 1905 for a term of six years. He is proving himself an excellent judge. He was president of the board of education for Palatine independent district for four years; was city solicitor of Fairmont two years. Politically he is in accord with the general principles of the Republican party, and in church connection is of the Methodist Episcopal society at Fairmont. In May, 1898, at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, he enlisted in Company E, of a West Virginia regiment, serving until February, 1899, when he received an honorable discharge; he acted as quartermaster for his company. Judge Morgan is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Woodmen of the World; also is an honored member of Fairmont Lodge, No. 9, Masonic fraternity, as well as of the Chapter and Commandery.
He married, in September, 1903, Alma Bennett, a native of Monongalia county, daughter of Albert and Isabelle (Robe) Bennett, of English descent. One child has been born to Judge Morgan and wife, Lucile, who died aged fifteen months.
[Source: GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL OF THE Upper Monongahela Valley, WV Vol. III; By James Morton Callahan; Edited by Bernard L. Butcher; Publ. 1912; Pgs. 949-956;Transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack]
Hon. Wayne
K. Pritt
The subject of this sketch was born in Randolph County, West Virginia, January 23, 1872, and
is the son of George W. and Lucinda Pritt of
said county. His education was obtained in the common schools of his native
county and in the Law Department of the West Virginia University at Morgantown, Monongalia County.
After graduation, he was admitted to the Bar of
Tucker County at Parsons, September 19, 1911, where he has since practiced. He
has been admitted as an attorney in the United States District Court in West Virginia and the Supreme Court of Appeals of the
State. Before entering upon the practice he was elected Clerk of the Circuit
Court of Tucker County in 1896 and served acceptably
the full term of six years, and was re-elected in
1902 for a second term. This experience has been most valuable to him as an
attorney, because he became thoroughly familiar with the rules of practice, the
forms of pleadings, drawing orders and decrees,
etc., etc. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Tucker County in 1912 and served four years. He proved a strong prosecutor,
and enforced the law with vigor and fairness, and to the
entire satisfaction of the people. From the first he showed remarkable tact in
the trial of causes; is a strong advocate, and has
the confidence of Judge and juries; prepares his
cases with care and thoroughness; has confidence in
the correctness of the positions he takes, and
asserts himself with fervor and earnestness,
but always with proper respect towards his opponents. He is upright and just, courteous and
considerate in all of his dealings, and
commands the respect and confidence of the
people who know him.
He is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church, the Orders of Odd
Fellows and Elks, and of
the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. He is an enthusiastic Republican, and takes a live interest in politics, but devotes
practically all of his time and energy to the
practice of his profession.
He has never
married.
[Bench and bar of West Virginia edited by George Wesley
Atkinson, 1919 – Transcribed by AFOFG]
Tallman Family
In the veins of
this family flows the blood of the old pioneer and hero, Daniel Boone of Kentucky; Boone
Tallman having married
Mary Logan, a sister of the late James H. Logan of Randolph county, and become the father of Robert L. Tallman, who
was a farmer and surveyor of Barbour county, West
Virginia. The latter married Harriet L. Blake, daughter of Herod and
Elizabeth Blake, of which union there were born Floyd Ellis Tallman and four
other children.
Floyd Ellis Tallman, son of Robert L. and
Harriet (Blake) Tallman, residents of Barbour county, West
Virginia, was born March 9, 1882, in Barbour county, West Virginia. He spent his early years on the
farm, during which time he attended the rural schools until the year 1900, when
he became a teacher in the public schools of his native county, and during the years 1900-1905 he was a teacher
in the rural schools of Barbour county and a
student of Wesleyan College at Buckhannon, West Virginia,
from which institution he graduated in the year 1905. In the fall of 1905
he entered the College of Law of the West Virginia
University, where he continued for the school year
of 1905-1906. In September, 1906, he was married to Bess Lillian
Talbott, daughter of George E. and Ellen E. Talbott of Barbour county; and during the winter of 1906-7 taught in the
public schools of Barbour county. In the fall of
1907 Mr. and Mrs. Tallman moved to Elkins, Randolph county, where they have since resided. Mr. Tallman held
the position of principal of the Grammar School of the city of Elkins for the
years 1907-8 and 1908-9, returning to the West Virginia
University in the fall of 1909, where he again resumed his law studies,
completing his course in the spring of 1910. He was admitted to practice law in
Randolph county in November, 1910, and soon
thereafter entered into partnership with the Hon. J. F. Strader under the firm
name of Strader & Tallman. and has remained in the active practice of his
profession since. In August, 1911, he was appointed commissioner in chancery of
the circuit court of Randolph county, a position
which he still holds, and in 1912 he was elected as a member of the Elkins city
council from the second ward, having been the candidate of the two leading
parties. He is also a member of the Republican
party.
Mr. Tallman is a member of Delta Chapter of the Phi Sigma
Kappa college fraternity at Morgantown, West Virginia,
a member of Elkins Chapter, Royal Arcanum, and a member of the Masonic
Blue Lodge and Chapter at Elkins, West Virginia.
His wife, Bess Lillian (Talbott) Tallman, graduated from Wesleyan College
at Buckhannon in the year 1904 in the literary and elocution courses, and is
very active in the Methodist Episcopal church and its societies. Mr. and Mrs.
Tallman have two daughters, Lucille and Mary Louise. Their home is at 220
Boundary avenue.
[West Virginia and its people, Volume 3
by Thomas Condit Miller and Hu
Maxwell - Transcribed by Therman Kellar]
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