Henry Clay Ragland

Henry Clay Ragland (May 7, 1844 – May 1, 1911) was the founder and first editor of the Logan Banner. He transported his printing press equipment up the Guyandotte River on flatboat and published the first edition of the Banner on March 7, 1888.

Ragland was also a Civil War Veteran. He served in the Confederate Army and was captured by Union troops. He was sent to the Point Lookout Prison in Maryland and was imprisoned there until the war ended. Ragland is buried at the City Cemetery in Logan.

Ragland published the History of Logan County in 1896. Below is the Genealogical Section (Chapters 13-22) from this book. Since this excerpt is from the original 1896 version of his book, it is considered to be in the public domain.

CHAPTER XIII

Russell County was formed from Washington, in 1788; Wythe from Montgomery, in 1790; Kanawha from Wythe and Greenbrier (which was formed from Montgomery in 1778), in 1792; Monroe from Montgomery and Greenbrier, in 1799; Tazewell from Wythe and Russell, in 1799; Giles from Montgomery, Tazewell and Monroe in 1898; and Cabell from Kanawha, in 1809. The territory of Logan, as it exists today, was part of Fincastle from 1738 to 1776, then a part of Montgomery until 1790, a part of Wythe until 1792, a part of Kanawha until 1809, when it became a part of Cabell and remained as such until it was organized into a county in 1823.

Upon the passage of the law in 1792, referred to in our last chapter, the owners of grants made before that time, saw the necessity of seeding and cultivating the lands which had been patented to them before the expiration of the period to which that right had been extended (1799), and at once went to work to get some one to take charge of their lands. In the company of John Breckenridge, at the time of the battle of the Islands, was one James Workman, who in addition to being a gallant soldier, was in every respect a trustworthy gentleman. Breckenridge, as soon as possible, employed him to take charge of his survey at the Islands (Logan C.H.) and in 1794, James Workman with his brothers Joseph and Nimrod, built a cabin on the Island and planted a few acres of corn. They planted the same land again in 1795 and 1796, and in the fall of the latter year. James Workman, who was a man of family, moved his wife and children from their old home in Wythe (now Tazewell), and settled on the Island, where the three brothers continued to live until the year 1800, when they moved upon the farm now occupied by Henry Mitchell. More will be said of this family in a future chapter.

The first permanent settlement of which we have any record was commenced by William Dingess, a son of Peter Dingess of Montgomery County, in the year 1799. Peter Dingess was a German, but just when or under what circumstances he came to America, is shrouded in doubt, which will never be dispelled. One account given us by one of his prominent descendants, is, that he came to this country before the War of the Revolution and settled in Montgomery County, and in evidence of this, furniture etc., brought with him from the “Fader Land,” is pointed out; especially a finely finished bureau, which was, for a long time, an heirloom in the family, and a peculiar shaped gourd which was grown in Germany, and used by his son John Dingess as a powder gourd, within the memory of the present generation. Another account given us by William A. Dingess, one of his grandsons, is, that some time between the years 1750 and 1760, that his parents with their family embarked for America, that fell disease carried off his parents on the voyage, that he and a sister landed at Baltimore, neither of whom could speak a word of English, that from some cause they became separated, and that he never saw her or heard of her again. That wandering about the streets, homeless and alone, a merchant from Montgomery County, Virginia, took charge of him and brought him to Montgomery, where he grew up and married a wife, and afterwards served in the War of the Revolution. It is impossible to say which story is correct, but of one thing we are assured, and that is, that he lived in Montgomery County, Virginia, and raised a family of eleven children, four boys and seven girls and died there in 1800. The names of his sons were William, Peter, John and Charles A., and his daughters, Harriet, Betsy, Susan, Nancy, Sallie, Peggy and Polly, who intermarried with Sam Peck, John McClaugherty, William Henderson, David French, (who was, for a long while Clerk of the Courts of Giles County), Ezekiel Smith, William Smith and James Bright, who emigrated to Tennessee, and was the father of John Morgan Bright, who for twelve years represented Tennessee in Congress. Charles A., died unmarried in Mercer County, Col. Napoleon B. French, a son of David French, is still living in Mercer County, aged 96 years.

William Dingess, the oldest of the family, was born in Montgomery County in 1776, and married Nancy McNeeley, and purchasing of John Breckenridge the survey of 300 acres which covers the present site of Logan Courthouse, and a portion of the farm across the river where Mrs. J. W. Deskins now lives, moved upon it in 1799, and built a residence where J. S. Miller now lives; the old chimney of which is still standing. John Dempsey came with him and build a cabin on the little island, but afterwards moved to Island Creek, near where Sam Jackson now lives. William Dingess was said to be almost a giant in strength, but so peaceable that no one could induce him to fight. While he was born at too late a date to engage in the Indian warfare on the border, he, on one occasion, joined in the pursuit of a band of Indian marauders and followed them as far as the Falls of Guyan, where, killing an Indian, he took off a part of his hide, out of which he made a razor strap, and kept it during his lifetime. He had no children by his wife, but was the reputed father of a child born to Katie McComas, who was always known as Peter Dingess, and was for a long time regarded as the best physician in Logan County. Katie McComas was also the mother of the late John Garrett, of Big Creek, one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Logan County.

In the year 1800, Peter Dingess and John Dingess, brothers of William Dingess, joined him and became permanent settlers, of whom more will be said hereafter.

Some time in the next year or two Captain Henry Farley, of Montgomery County, who had served with distinction in the War of the Revolution, and who has been heretofore mentioned as the leader of the whites in the pursuit of the Indians in 1792; with Garland Conley, who had married his eldest daughter, Bettie, settled at the mouth of Peach Creek. He brought with him three stalwart sons and five marriageable daughters, and as might have been expected, the big house at the mouth of Peach Creek, and it was said to have been the largest house in the country, was always full.

Of what tales that never grow old were told, we have no record, and the man in the moon has never divulged the vows which he witnessed, yet we know that enough was said to divide the happiness of Captain Farley’s home among five families.

The blushing Sallie became the wife of Peter Dingess during the year 1806, and they set up housekeeping just across the river where Mrs. John W. Deskins now lives, and to the happy couple there was born, on the 30th day of October 1806, William Anderson Dingess, who, during a long and useful life (dying December 13th, 1893, in his eighty-eighth year) bore the proud distinction of being the first white child born in Logan County. The other children born to this marriage were John, who intermarried with Sallie Moore; Guy, who married Rhoda Toney; Charles F., who married Betty Toney, both of these were the daughters of William and Polly (Caperton) Toney; Polly, who married Lewis Lawson; Matilda, who married James Lawson, both sons of Anthony Lawson; Julyantes, who married Charles Smoot; Minerva, who married W. W. McDonald; and Hattlett [sic Harriett], who married John Justice.

Peter Dingess was a prominent citizen and was for a long while one of the justices of Cabell County.

Another one of the blooming daughters of Capt. Farley, (Chloe), intermarried with John Dingess, who then settled near his father-in-law, at the mouth of Peach Creek. His children were William, who married a daughter of Josiah Stollings; Julius, who married a daughter of Ben Smith; Harvey, who married a daughter of Joseph Adams; Henderson, who married a daughter of Joseph Adams; John and Peter, both of whom married daughters of Washington Adams; Sallie, who married James Butcher; Peggy, who married John Gore; and Nancy, who married William Chapman, all of whom are dead except Sallie and Henderson. All of them except David had a large off-spring.

The daughters of Captain Henry Farley were Judith, who married Thomas Thompson, and, who, after the death of Thompson, married Robert Hensley; Matilda, who married Carter T. Clark; and Mary, who first married Stephen Hensley, and afterwards married Pryyhus McGinnis. Of his three sons, John and Thomas, both married Miss Pinsons of Kentucky, and William was married four times, first marrying Bettie Phillips, second Phoebe Muncy, third Polly Williams, and fourth, Jane Jones. All of them left large families, and with the Dingesses constituted one of the largest family connections in Logan County, and more will be said of them hereafter.

At about the same time that Captain Farley settled at the mouth of Peach Creek, Richard Kezee, another hero of the Revolution, built a cabin near the present residence of Major William Stratton and the branch which flowed past the old homestead still bears the euphonious name of Kezee. His descendants all moved to the State of Kentucky, and many of them are now living inPikeCounty, of that state.

About the same time David McNeeley settled where Floyd Buchanan now lives, and afterwards moved upon the farm now owned by J. E. Robertson. For some reason he was nick-named “Jagger,” and the place, to which he removed on Robertson’s farm was called “Jaggerstown.” His descendants are quite numerous, and the name is familiar not only in Logan, but in all the surrounding counties, and many of them at an early day went with the “Course of Empire” westward. Among his descendants is Rev. John Green McNeeley, the present pastor of the Desciples (sic) Church of Aracoma.

CHAPTER XIV

John Dempsey, who is referred to as having come here with William Dingess, in 1799, was the father of seven sons and three daughters. His sons were William, who married Nancy, a daughter of John Vannatter, who, with his sons and daughters, came from the south branch of the Potomac about 1811; Jack, who married Minerva Vance; Thomas, who married Dicey Lucas; Joseph, who married Sena Vance; Andrew, who married Martha Starr; Mark, who married Lucinda Ward; and Lewis, who married Nancy Stepp. His daughters were Poll, who married John McNeely; Jane, who married Jerry Vernatter (sic), and Rachel, who married James Vannatter.

Richard Elkins, of Montgomery, also came with William Dingess and settled near the big island on Island Creek. The island was covered with a heavy growth of cane, and Elkins leased it from Dingess and cleared it out, and the first year that he cultivated it in corn he raised three thousand bushels, or about one hundred bushels to the acre. (a few acres of the Island had been cleared before that time by the Workman brothers heretofore mentioned, and cultivated in corn.) He was also the father of a large family his wife being a Miss Maguire, of Montgomery. His sons were Archibald, who married a Miss Gillaspie (sic), of Tazewell, James, who married his cousin – a daughter of Zach Elkins, of Hewett; Robert, who married the widow of Edward McDonald and who was formerly a Miss Harvey; Israel, who married a daughter of William Browning; Richard, Jr., who married a Miss May, and Eddie and Harvey, whose wives are unknown. His daughters were Lucretia, who married James White; Martha, who married Elijah Elkins (son of Wm. Elkins, of Hewett); Nancy, who married William Walls; Susannah, who married John White, (son of Jack), and Hannah, who married William Moore, of Tazewell. This last mentioned couple joined the Mormons and were with Joe Smith at Nauvoo. Zach and William Elkins, brothers of Richard Elkins, settled on Hewett and, like Richard, had numerous descendants, but we are unable to give their names. From these three brothers, however, are descended the Elkins family of Logan and adjoining counties.

David McNeely, who has been heretofore mentioned as the progenitor of the large McNeely family, was the father of four sons – John, who went to Illinois; Sam, Joe and William – and one daughter, who married Ben Cary, who is the progenitor of our Cary family in Logan and Mingo. No doubt there were other sons and daughters of David McNeely, but we have been unable to ascertain their names. The family is a large one and is scattered over several counties.

Isaac Cole, a native of England, who came to Montgomery County, just before the War of the Revolution, who was a gallant soldier for our independence and who was with the Clay brothers in following the Indians down Cole river as heretofore mentioned, settled near where Major Straton now lives, about the year 1800, where he lived for about one year, and buried one of his daughters; and then moved to Island Creek, and settled near the mouth of what is now known as Cole Branch. His wife was Kate Thompson, of Montgomery County, (Now Giles County) Virginia. After remaining on Island Creek for a year his family became tired of frontier life, and he returned to his old home near Pearlsburg where he died at an advanced age. Isaac Cole was a noted scout and a man of great force of character and will power. Hon. L. D. Chambers, of Rum Creek, is his grandson.

Thomas Childress, another Revolutionary soldier of Goochland County, and who married a Miss Parrish of the same county, settled about the same time near the forks of Island Creek, but after remaining a few years, went further down the river, and settled near the present site of Susenberry’s mill. The Childresses of Cabell County are his descendants.

Robert Lilly, of Fluvanna County, came to Montgomery while a boy, and married Miss Bridget Conley, a sister of Garland Conley, heretofore mentioned as a son-in-law of Henry Farley. In 1800 he purchased of William Ward one of his surveys in the lower end of this county, and settled on it at or near the place where Andy Fowler now lives, near Chapmanville, in 1801. It is said that an Indian chief accompanied him from his old home in Montgomery to his new home in Logan and remained with him for some time. Lilly was the father of twelve children, six sons and six daughters. Of his sons, Thomas went west when a boy; Robert married a daughter of Garland Conley; William was never married; John married a daughter of John Adkins of Kanawha and move to that county; James married a daughter of James Ferrell, and settled near the mouth of Big Creek; and Edward Bailey, who is still living, married Susan Butcher, a daughter of Joshua Butcher. Of his daughters, Elizabeth married William Thompson; Sarah married Garland B. Conley; Polly married Patton Thompson; Fannie married Simeon Payne of Cabell County; Dolly married Joseph Myer, and moved to Missouri; and Nancy died unmarried.

Garland Conley, who has been mentioned as a son-in-law of Henry Farley, first settled on Island Creek near where Mrs. J. W. Deskins now lives. He was the father of five sons and three daughters. His sons were Col. Henry Conley, who was born in Montgomery County, Virginia, and who first married a Miss Thompson, and after her death a widow named Dingess, who was the daughter of Washington Adams; Thomas Conley, Jr., who married a daughter of Thomas Conley; Garland B., who married a daughter of Robert Lilly, and afterward a daughter of William Farley (Hopping Bill); John, who married a Miss Ward, of Kentucky; and James, who married a Miss Cumby. The Thomas Conley mentioned above as the father of the wife of Thomas Conley, Jr., was a cousin of Garland Conley, and was better known as Thomas Hackett. He had one son – Gordon, who went to Ohio – he was also the reputed father of Martin Brumfield. Of the daughters of Garland Conley, Juliet, the oldest, who was born in Island Creek on the 25th day of December, 1806, and said to be the first white girl born in the limits of Logan County, married Robert Chambers. She is still living and is the mother of Rev. B. S. Chambers, one of the most eloquent divines of the M. E. Church, South. Judy, the second daughter, married Rob Lilly, Jr., and after his death, married George Hensley; and Dolly, the third daughter, married Wesley Stollings. She is still living.

Jacob Stollings, who settled on the farm now owned by W. F. Butcher, opposite the mouth of Crawley Creek, was the father of four sons and one daughter. His sons were Josiah, the father of Wesley, William, Nelson, Lorenzo, and Griffin, and two daughters, one whom married William Dingess, and the other James Hill; Griffin, who is the father of Col. J. E. Stollings, a prominent attorney of Boone county, and twice a member of the Senate of West Virginia; Isaac, who is the father of Granville Stollings, of Coal River; and Jacob, who went to the interior of the State. His daughter married William Hinchman of Rich Creek.

Edward Chapman, who settled at the present site of Chapmanville, married Mary Godby, a daughter of William Godby of Big Creek, and was the father of three sons – Burgess S., who married a daughter of Henry Farley, of Pigeon; William B., who married a daughter of John Dingess, of Peach Creek; and John R., who married a daughter of Washington Adams of Crawley. John Stone, who settled at the old Stone farm in 1809 was also represented in the county. He was from Pittsylvania County, where he married a Miss Jennie Shelton. Among his sons are Crispin I., who was born in Pittsylvania County in 1807. He married Miss Mildred Workman and died in January 1892, in the 85th year of his age. He was one of the best and most useful men in Logan County, and during a long and honorable life, served the people well and faithfully in several official positions among which were Justice of the Peace, Surveyor, Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Superintendent of Free Schools. He left three sons, Edwin, Charles I., and M. Dyke, and several daughters. Samuel S., another son of John Stone, married a Miss Hatfield, of Cabell; he also left a large family of sons and daughters. John Stone’s daughters were Dolly, who married Isaac Morgan, for a long time a member of a member of the County Court of Logan County, and for one term a member of the Virginia Legislature; Mary, who married Dr. Peter Dingess, who was also a member of the Virginia Legislature; and Chloe, who married Edwin Robertson, who was, up to the time of his death, Clerk of the Courts of Logan County. Of the children of Edwin Robertson, John Edwin and Chloe, who married Dr. George W. Lawson, and Sidney B. Robertson, are still living. We will have more to say of this family in another chapter.

CHAPTER XV

When Jacob Stollings came to the Butcher farm opposite the mouth of Crawley’s Creek he was accompanied by John Baker and Dick Johnson; both were men of families, Baker having married a daughter of Stollings, and John having married a sister of Baker. Both of them settled on Crawley’s Creek and raised their families. Of the children of John Baker, only three sons are mentioned. These are John, who moved to Cabell County about seventh [sic] years ago; Jacob, who was a cripple and died unmarried, and Henry, who is still living at the age of one hundred and eight years; his mind, however, has been a blank for many years.

Dick Johnson had two daughters – Elizabeth and Matilda. Elizabeth first married George Bryant, and after his death married Peter Mullins, and had a large number of children. Matilda was never married, but was the mother of several children. Charles Johnson was one of the number. When Baker and Johnson went to Crawley, they found one settler on the creek, who had a cabin at the mouth of Tims Fork. At what time he came there is not known. Two families on the same creek were crowding the country too much for him, and he soon left to get elbow room amid the broad plains of the West.

At the forks of Harts Creek, where Henderson Dingess now lives, Stephen Hart had a cabin. He cared nothing for the soil, but put in his time in hunting the deer, which were so abundant on the creek. On the left-hand fork, a short distance from his cabin, he built a house in which to cure his venison, in order to take it to the settlement whenever an opportunity would offer itself. No one knows when he first settled there, and like his neighbor Wallace, he left for the West as soon as other settlers got within a few miles of him.

Early in the century, probably in the year one or two, John Brumfield settled at the mouth of Ugly, (now in Lincoln County). He was the father of a large family, and among his sons are Evermont, William, Wirt, Sampson, Jack, Allen and Paris, from whom have sprung the numerous Brumfield family of Lincoln, Logan and Wayne.

Moses Brown settled near the mouth of Harts Creek about the same time. He was from Tazewell County, and his wife was a Miss Gillespie. He had several sons and daughters. One of his daughters married the late Paris Brumfield.

James Toney, the brother-in-law of Brown, settled near him, but the writer knows nothing of his family.

John Fry settled at the mouth of Green Shoals, (now in Lincoln County) about 1806. His sons were Hamilton, who married a Miss Haney; Jack, who married a Miss Hunter, daughter of Robert Hunter, of Spruce; Baptist T., who married a Miss Steel, and Admiral S., (Bill) who married a daughter of Obadiah Workman. His daughters married respectively Albert Abbott, Charles Lucas, William Lucas and a man by the name of Speers, from Wayne County.

Charles Spurlock settled about the same time, on what is known as the Toney farm, below the mouth of Big Creek. He came from Montgomery County, and lived for some time after coming here under a cliff  (known as a rock house). The old man said that when he was first married he took his wife to a good substantial frame house and she was not satisfied when he took her to a log house with the same result; he then moved into a rail pen and still she grumbled, and as a last resort he took her to a rock house built by God Almighty and still she was not satisfied. He was a man who like easy and was never thrown off his balance. On one occasion, for some slight offense he was fined in Cabell circuit court, and a capias was placed in the hands of the sheriff for him. Meeting him in the road, the sheriff informed “Uncle Charley” that he had a capias for him. Nothing abashed, the old man, who had grown to be very stout, informed the sheriff that he was a law-abiding man and laid down in the road and told the sheriff to take him. It was needless to say that the sheriff rode off and left him. His sons were John, Seth, Lifas, and Robertson, all of whom were the fathers of large families, and the name of Spurlock is familiar in the lower Guyandotte Valley. Whether he had daughters or not, the writer is not informed.

Frederick Haner was another hero of the Revolution, who settled at a very early date at the mouth of Big Creek. He had one son, Jacob, who died childless, and three daughters. Of his daughters one married George Fry and one married Obadiah Godby. The other daughter, Polly, was never married, but was the mother of four children, one son and three daughters. Her son, Noah, married Mary Barker, a daughter of Joseph Barker, and was the father of a large family of children, some of whom still live on the old homestead. Of the daughters one married Oliver Perry, one L. D. Perry, and the other John Foster.

At the mouth of the North Fork of Big Creek Richard Welsh, another soldier of the Revolution, made a settlement. He had but one child, Samuel, who has been dead for several years, and left no descendants.

Joseph Barker came from Montgomery and settled on Big Creek where Columbus Pauley now lives. He was the father of four sons and one daughter. Of his sons, John A., moved to Kanawha County(now Boone) and settled near Peytona. William married Dorcas Workman, a daughter of Joseph Workman and granddaughter of James Workman, who has been heretofore mentioned as being the first settler of Logan Court House. Mrs. Barker is still living at quite an advanced age. Ben married a Miss Fry, and Anderson married a daughter of James Ferrell of Big Creek. His daughter married Noah Haner, as has been already stated.

John Lucas, a hero of the Revolution, from Montgomery County, married a sister of John Fry, and settled near the present residence of Dow Perry, on Big Creek. He is the first Baptist preacher mentioned in the county. His sons were William who married a Miss Fry, Ralph, who married a daughter of William Godby, and who was the father of William Lucas, who now lives near the mouth of Limestone, Price and Fry, who moved to Kanawha County. John Lucas had several daughters, one of whom married Burbus Toney.

About the year 1807, William Godby settled on Big Creek. He belonged to an old and prominent family in Montgomery, and when a boy had served in the artillery company of Major John Trigg. His sons are William T., who married a Miss Austin, and was the father of Obediah Godby, who (note: typo in original text) the late Tolbert S., and FrenchS. Godby. Obediah, who married a daughter of Frederick Haner, and who was the father of Mrs. James Hill, Mrs. George Hill and Mrs. E. J. Stone Russell, who went west when a young man, and John, who married a Miss Alecessor, and who has a large family of sons and daughters. John Godby is still living at the age of ninety-four years, having been about five years of age when his father settled on Big Creek. Of the daughters of William Godby, Mary married Edward Chapman, Eliza married John Garrett, and was the mother of several sons and daughters, among whom is Elder William Dyke Garrett of the Disciples Church. Letty married Anderson Barker, who also had a large family of children.

About the same time that William Godby moved to Big Creek, Charles William Jerome, who was at the head of the Guyandotte Colonization Society, formed in France to colonize the land of James Swan, in the Guyandotte Valley, came to Big Creek with several families from Germany among whom were five Miller brothers, John, George, Daniel, Moses and Jacob and George Sizemore. Finding that Jerome had gone too low down for the Swan lands, and that the settlement had been made within the J. J. Benoist survey, the colony soon went to pieces. John Miller died while on the creek and is buried near the residence of Columbus Pauley. His sons, John and Sigmond went their way to Barboursville, the county seat of Cabell County where each one of them was successful in business, and became leaders in the community.

Moses Miller moved to Island Creek, and afterwards to the Mud River country. Jacob went to Rock Creek, in Kanawha County and Daniel and George went to Turtle Creek. All of them raised large families. George Sizemore remained on the creek for awhile and then went to Ohio; not, however, until John Godby had become enamored of his fair daughter, Eliza, who he soon followed to her new home, and brought her back to the old Godby homestead as his blushing bride.

At the time that Daniel and George Miller went to Turtle Creek, several other families had already settled there, among whom were John Cummings, Peter Price, Solomon Price, Phillip Hager, James Mitchel and John Miller, all of whom raised large families, and who will be more fully mentioned hereafter.

CHAPTER XVI

Passing back to the neighborhood on Crawley’s Creek, we find Phillip Hager, another of the old settlers who was the father of a multitude, having come from Pittsylvania County, Virginia, when a boy, he first settled for a short time in Tazewell County, Virginia, where he married Kate Vannatter. He then came to Logan and settled near the mouth of Crawley for awhile and then moved to the waters of Coal River. His sons were James Hager, who married a Miss Pauley; Andrew, who married a daughter of Joe Barker; John, who married a Miss Miller; and Rev Ben., who married a Miss Brooks. Of his daughters, Polly married John Toney of Boone, and Rosannah married a Mullins, of Kentucky. Ben Hager is still living, full of years and with the memory of a life well spent, having been sixty years a minister of the M. E. Church. He is the father of Hon. L. D. Hager, of Boone, and the grandfather of John B. Hager, a prominent attorney of Boone County.

About the year 1819, Joshua Butcher settled just above Big Creek, upon the farm where M. D. Stone now lives, and still known as the Butcher farm. He and his wife, Miss Sarah Clarke, came from Monroe County. He had five sons, James, Allen, William Floyd, Melvin and John Green, and four daughters, Mary Ann, Rebecca, Susan and Emily. James married a Miss Dingess, daughter of John Dingess, both of whom are still living at an advanced age; John Green married a daughter of Ralph Lucas; Wm. F., married a Miss Lawson, a daughter of Lewis Lawson, he is still living; Melvin and Allen, both died unmarried. Rebecca married William Dingess of Harts Creek; Susan married Edward B. Lilly; Mary Ann married William Smith, generally known as Crawley, and she is still living at Guyandotte. Among her children are Mrs. W. D. Garrett and Mrs. J. I. Dingess, now living in this county; Mrs. George S. Page, Mrs. Lewis Wigal, Albert Smith and John B. Smith, who still lives at Guyandotte. Emily married John Lawson, who was killed by a falling tree in 1844. By this marriage her children were the late M. B. Lawson, J. M. Lawson, a daughter, who married a Mr. Crockett of Tazewell County, and Dr. George W. Dawson, who is still living, and who is the father of Dr. Sidney B. Lawson, a prominent young physician of Logan, and a member of the Legislature of the session of 1895. After the death of John Lawson, Emily married George Smith of Russell County, by whom she had two children; one son, Allen, and a daughter, Victoria, who married Alvis Maynard. Mrs. Smith is still living at Williamson, being eighty-five years of age.

Prominent among the earlier settlers were the Toney Family. While several of the family came to Logan, we believe that there were only two ot them that made permanent settlements here. These were Squire Toney and William Toney. Squire Toney settled near Chapmanville, on what is known as the Fowler farm. He married a Miss Brown and was the father of six children, one son and five daughters. His son, Burbus, married, as we have seen, a daughter of Rev. John Lucas of Big Creek, and of his daughters, one married the late Theophilus Fowler, one married Samuel Ferrell, one Andrew Dial, and one a Morris, from Wayne County, whose first name is forgotten. William Toney married Polly Caperton, of Monroe, and settled on the place still known as the Toney farm. He was one of the Justices of Logan County, and was, during a long life, one of the leading men of the county. He was the father of six children, two sons and four daughters. His sons were Overton G. and Hugh, and his daughters, Bettie, Rhoda, Mary and Julyantes. Overton G., died several years ago, and Hugh died at Guyandotte in 1895. Hugh was a captain in the Confederate Army and was a gallant soldier, and at one time, represented the county in the West Virginia Legislature. Neither Overton nor Hugh were ever married. Of the four daughters, Bettie married Charles F. Dingess; Rhoda married Guy Dingess; the others were never married. Miss Mary is the only one of the children that is now alive, and she is still living at the old homestead.

We have already noticed that when William Dingess purchased the land now covered by the town of Aracoma, that the Workmans left it and settled on the farm now owned by Henry Mitchell. They remained there, however, but a short time, selling their place to another pioneer and moved to the waters of Cole River. That other pioneer was John White, who came with a family of grown men and one daughter. John White had not only served his country in the War of the Revolution, but several of his sons had served with him, and also engaged with him in fighting the Indians. His sons were Jack, who married Susannah Marcum, of Franklin; Ben, who married Anna Stuart, of Montgomery; James, who married Lucretia Elkins, a daughter of the old pioneer, Richard Elkins; and William, who married a daughter of John Sansom, another old pioneer of whom more will be said. His daughter, Nancy married Robert Whitt, who afterwards moved to Ohio.

The oldest son, Jack, was the father of twelve children, William, who married Editha White; John, who married Susannah Elkins; Thomas, James, Reuben, Isaac, Charles, Major, Elijah, Hiram, Mastin, and Judith, who married James Thompson. Thomas, James and Reuben went back to Giles County, and Major went to Indiana. All the others remained here and raised large families. Ben White was the father of seven children, five sons and two daughters. His sons were John, Arter, Ben, William and James; his daughters were Nancy, who married Pleasant Chafin, and Margaret, who married John Chambers, a son of Robert Chambers, of Monroe County. William, the youngest son, having been born at too late a date to serve his country, and, thirsting for military glory, joined the regular army in 1806, and was assigned to duty in a regiment that was being raised by Col. Wade Hampton of South Carolina. When Hampton was made Brigadier-General, in 1806, and assigned to duty at New Orleans, White went with him, and when Hampton was superseded by Wilkinson, White remained with Wilkinson, and then under Jackson until after the battle of New Orleans, of January 8th, 1815, in which battle he participated. Returning home in 1816, he married as we have seen, the daughter of John Sansom, and to this marriage was born two sons and two daughters. His sons were Hampton, who is still living, who married the widow of John Chambers and daughter of his Uncle James White; and Hickman Sansom, who married Harriet, the daughter of George Avis. Hickman S., was at one time Sheriff of Logan County, and served for two sessions in the Lower House of the West Virginia Legislature. The daughters of Wm. White were Nancy, who married Hiram White, son of Jack White; and Elizabeth who married Green C. White, a grandson of Jack White and son of John White.

Passing about a mile up river from the White settlement we find that William Henderson, of Montgomery County, who has been mentioned as having married a daughter of Peter Dingess, Sr., made a settlement upon the farm now owned by James R. Henderson. He first settled where F. M. White now lives, in 1810, and after remaining there a few years, moved to the above named place. Mr. Henderson was both a school teacher and a class leader in the Methodist Church, and in both positions did much to point the youth of that generation to high and noble aims in life. His sons were John, who married a daughter of General McComas, and moved to Missouri; Henry G., who married a Miss Alexander and moved to Texas; and Dingess, who married a Miss Hatfield, of Cabell County, where he is still living. His daughters were Mary, who married Joseph Straton, son of Mrs. Martha Straton, who, after the death of her husband, in Montgomery County, moved with one son and one daughter to Island Creek. The daughter married Ben Smith of Buffalo, and as the family afterward became a prominent one, more will be said of them in a future chapter. Bettie, the other daughter of Wm. Henderson, married John McDonald. She died on the 11th day of March 1896, wanting but one day of being ninety years old, having been born near Pearisburg, Virginia, March 12, 1806.

Still passing up the river from the Henderson place, we come to the McDonald settlement. Here in 1804, Mrs. Mary McDonald, the widow of Bryan McDonald, of Montgomery county settled with her six sons and one daughter. Bryan McDonald was the son of Edward McDonald, of Washington, who is said to have built the first house at Abingdon,Virginia. This Edward McDonald was the grandson of Bryan McDonald, who, about the beginning of the 18th century, settled at Newcastle, Delaware. He was the son of a Highland chief who was regularly descended from the McDonalds, of Clanranald. Her sons were Hercules, Jonas, Richard, Edward, Joseph and John. Her daughter, Mary, married John B. Clark, of Sandy. Hercules, the first son mentioned, married a Miss Brown. He was the father of Lewis and Charles, the latter being at one time Sheriff of the county. Jonas married a Miss Clark, and after her death married Miss Ida Smith. Of the children of the first marriage, are Alexander Hamilton, and two daughters, one of whom married the late Levi Vance, and the other the late Guy Clark. The children of the second marriage are Jonas and Bryan. Richard McDonald married a Miss Ingram, and had five daughters, but no sons. His daughters married respectively, Geo. W. Clark, Henry P. Clark, Ira L. Clark, Zatoo Dingess and Milton Dingess, and all are living. John married Miss Bettie Henderson, and their children, are Maltravrs, Astynax, Bolivar, Scott and Andromanche; the latter married John Justice. Joseph and Edward were never married, and died a few years ago near the old homestead at a ripe old age.

CHAPTER XVII

John Sansom, who we have already mentioned as one of the old pioneers, came from England as a boy of fourteen years, about 1790. He lived awhile at Norfork (sic),Va., and then came to Giles, and from Giles to Logan about 1803, and settled near the mouth of the Crooked Creek. He married Elizabeth Davidson, of Giles County. His sons were William, who married a daughter of Ben White; James, who married a daughter of John Hurley, of Kentucky; John, who married a daughter of John Stafford; Andrew, who married a daughter of John Smith, of Wayne; Riley, who married a daughter of Jacob Cline; David, who married a daughter of Wm. Hensley, and Hiram who went west. Of his daughters, Polly married Wm. White, Matilda married John Hardin, Landa married John Hurley, Bettie married Randall McCoy, and Jennie died unmarried. All the children except Jennie left numerous descendants, and through them, many of the families of Logan, Wayne and Mingo, and Pike County, Ky., are closely connected.

Joseph Gore settled where F. M. White now lives, and had a large family of sons and daughters. He married a Miss Pine, from Mercer County, and was a member of the Virginia Legislature. His sons were James, who moved west; John, who married Margaret Dingess; Eli, who married Nancy Ellis; and Levi, who married a Miss Hinchman, a daughter of William Hinchman. His daughters were Delilah, who married James Bailey; Rebecca, who married Jacob Ellis; Rena, who married Henderson Shannon; Celia, who married Jacob Petrie; Nancy, who married Robert Massie, and Martha, who married J. H. Hinchman.

Robert Clendenin settled where Eli Gore now lives. He had three sons – Robert, who married a daughter of Wm. Hinchman, and who was Sheriff of the county; Archer and Adam. All of the family moved to Minnesota about 1840.

Ben Cary settled at the mouth of Rum, and married a daughter of David McNeeley. He built the first jail of Logan County. He had several sons and daughters, but all of them moved to Kentucky except John and Lewis and one daughter, who remained in Logan. John married a Miss Tiller, and was the father of a large family. The daughter married Milton Hinchman and afterward moved to Michigan. Ben Cary sold his place at the mouth of Rum to Rev. James Chambers, a minister of the M. E. Church. While Mr. Chambers came to the county at a little later date than the body of the pioneers of whom we have been writing, his life is so interwoven with the men of that generation that he is entitled to be mentioned in this connection. He married Elizabeth Cole, daughter of Isaac Cole, of Mercer County, and the offspring of the marriage is a large and influential one. His sons are Ira, who married Sarah Hinchman; Leroy, who married Demaris Farmer. He was a leading merchant of Wyoming County, and represented that county in the legislature; Asbury, who married Martha McDonald, Lorenzo Dow, who married Margaret L. Auxier (He, also, was a prominent merchant, President of the County Court, and twice a member of the Legislature.) Harrison F., who married Araminta Burgess, a daughter of Wm. Burgess, and James M., who was drowned several years ago at the Falls of Guyandotte. The daughters were Hannah, who married Hon. Wm. Workman, of Boone; Malinda, who married Jacob Cook; Rebecca, who married James Workman; Martha, who married Jasper Workman, and Elizabeth, who married L. D. Hinchman.

Rev. James Chambers was the son of Robert Chambers, who was born in London, England, and came to America when a boy. He served as an American soldier in the Revolution, and when the war was over he settled in Montgomery County,Va., where he married Hannah Thorn [Doran?], a German lady. Robert Chambers had six boys and two girls. His oldest son was Jacob, who married a Miss Smith, and was the father of six sons and one daughter. Richard, the oldest son of Jacob Chambers, married a Miss Perry and settled on the Spruce Fork of Cole. He was the father of a large family, among whom was the late Rev. Russell Chambers. Richard afterwards married a Miss Canterby, who is the mother of several children, Sidney S. Chambers being one of the number. Robert, the son of Jacob Chambers, married Juliet Conley. He was the father of the Rev. B. S. Chambers, one of the most eloquent divines of the West Virginia Conference of the M. E. Church, South. Robert Chambers also settled on the Spruce Fork of Cole. He afterwards went to Louisa, Ky., where he died. His widow is still alive at the ripe age of ninety years. John, the next son of Jacob Chambers, married Nancy White and settled at Pecks Mill. The other sons were William, Frederick and James, who never came to Logan. His only daughter was Polly, who married Henry Perry, of the Spruce Fork of Cole.

Richard Chambers, the second son of Robert Chambers, Sr., moved to Louisa, Ky., where he raised a large family. Among the children was Jane, who married Col. William  Vinson. James, the next oldest son of Robert Chambers, has been mentioned above.

The other sons of Robert Chambers were Jack, who died of cholera in Cincinnati; Robert, who was killed in Monroe County by the falling of a tree, and William, who was for a long while the Colonel of the militia of Monroe County. He was the grandfather of Judge Luther L. Chambers of McDowell County.

The daughters of Robert Chambers, Sr., were Anne, who married Snow Ballard, of Monroe Bounty, and Kittie, who married Robert Curry, of Island Creek, and who afterwards moved to Indiana.

Thomas Riggans was another old settler, and located where Anthony Lawson now lives. He had several sons and daughters, but all of them went West except one daughter (Jane) who married Hiram Mullins.

Nathaniel Mullins was among the earliest of the settlers. He came from the Catawba region of North Carolina, and settled where Milton A. Mullins now lives. His sons were Hiram, who married Jane Riggans; Wilson, who married a Miss White; Nathaniel, who married a Miss Norton; Jackson, who married a Miss Cook; Milton A., who married a Miss Ellis; John, who married a Miss Baisden; Harrison, who married a Miss Ellis, and Anthony who never married. The daughters are Rachel, who married Jack Burgess; Margaret who married Thomas Cook, and Nancy, who married Wilson Cook. Several of these sons and daughters are still alive and are among the best people of the county.

Ben Smith was another one of the early settlers. He came here as a young man and settled first at, or near the mouth of Rich Creek. Marrying a daughter of Mrs. Straton, who has been spoken of as having settled on Island Creek, he moved to the mouth of Buffalo where he remained for many years as one of the leading citizens of the county and was one of the early members of the Virginia Legislature from Logan. He had but one son, William, (better known as “Crawley”), who has been spoken of as having married the daughter of Joshua Butcher. His daughters were Eliza, who married Julius C. Dingess, and Rebecca, who married Alexander Pine. After the death of his first wife Ben Smith married Elizabeth Hinchman, daughter of Wm. Hinchman.

Lewis E. McDonald also settled near the mouth of Buffalo about the same time. He was a cousin of the McDonalds already mentioned, and was the son of Edward McDonald, who entered and surveyed the lands just below Oceana, known as the “Big Bottom.” This Edward McDonald was a brother of the Bryan McDonald already mentioned, and his sons were William, Stephen, Joseph, (who was the first clerk of Logan County and father of W. W. McDonald of Huff’s Creek.) Lewis E. McDonald married a Miss Harvey of Washington County, and was killed while still a young man by an accidental shot from one of his negroes while out hunting. His sons were Gordon, who married a Miss Hill of Tazewell, and Lewis E. Jr., who married a Miss Taylor of Tazewell. The daughters were Rebecca, who married Dr. U. S. Hinchman, and Keziah, who married George Bean, of Tazewell.

Jacob Walls was another of the old settlers, and the name Walls is still a familiar one in the county, but we have been unable to trace the line of the family.

CHAPTER XVIII

William Hinchman settled near the mouth of Rich Creek, on the farm now owned by his son, George Hinchman, about the year 1814. He was the son of William Hinchman, an English sailor, and was born in Dorchester, Maryland, about 1770. He was too young to enter the army at the time of the Revolution, but was in hearing of the guns of Yorktown; and was familiar with the stirring events of the time when America desired to be independent [text missing] county, Virginia, now Monroe County, West Virginia, about the close of the last century, when he married Mary Ann Perry, a daughter of John Perry, who had emigrated from the north of Ireland. After several of his children were born he came, as we have seen, to the mouth of Rich Creek. His sterling worth was seen and appreciated by the people and he was soon made one of the Justices of Cabell County, and upon the organization of Logan County he became a member of its first County Court. His children by his first marriage, were John K., who married the daughter of Ben White; Cyrus, who married a daughter of F. R. Pennell; Hiram, who married a daughter of Thomas Riggins; Milton, who married a daughter of Ben Cary; William, who first married a Miss Seymour, then a Miss Hatfield, and as a third wife a Miss Chapman; Dr. Ulysses, who married a Miss McDonald; James Harvey, who married a Miss Gore; Elizabeth, who married Benjamin Smith; Amanda, who married Robert Clendenin; Sarah, who married Ira Chambers, and Mero, who married Levi Gore. After the death of his first wife William Hinchman, Sr., married Nancy Stollings, and the children of this marriage were Floyd, who married first a Miss Chambers, and after her death a Miss Mangus; Nancy Ann, who married Joseph Scaggs; Penelope, who married George Claypool; Risby, who married Thomas Nelson Ballard, and Edna, who died single. Of the first children of William Hinchman, John K., Cyrus, Hiram and Milton moved to the State of Michigan, William moved to the county of Cabell, Dr. Ulysses was a practicing physician and held many offices of public trust, and was several times elected as a member of the West Virginia Legislature; James Harvey, who is still living, was a successful farmer, a member of the West Virginia Legislature, and at different times held other important offices in the county.

F. R. Pinnell was another one of the early settlers. He settled on the farm where James Buchanan now lives and where Dr. Ulysses Hinchman lived and died. He was the first surveyor of Logan County, which position he held for several years. He had a large family of children who went with him to Michigan, where the old man died a few years ago at the ripe old age of ninety-eight years.

Archelaus Mitchell, who married a Miss Goodwin, of Montgomery County,Virginia, settled on Buffalo Creek about the year 1812. His sons were Jordan who married a Miss Gore, of Montgomery County,Virginia; Gustavus, who moved to Smyth County,Virginia, and Micajah, who married a daughter of Absalom Elkins, of Huff Creek, and then moved to Kanawha County. Jordan Mitchell had four sons, James, John, Archelaus and Micajah, and four daughters, Mary, who married Patterson Christian; Victoria, who married Curtis Ballard; Isabella, who married Paren Christian, and Emaline, who married Anthony Jarrell.

Absalom Elkins settled on Huffs Creek about 1815. His sons were Henry, Thomas, William, Isaiah and Uriah Watson. His daughters were Mahala, who married Eli Trent; Peggy, who married Edward Mason, and Frances, who married Micajah Mitchell. Absalom Elkins died about two years ago, after having just passed his hundredth year.

Some time not far from the beginning of 1820, Thomas Christian, a nephew of Col. Wm. Christian, of Montgomery, settled at the mouth of Huffs Creek on the survey made for John Seets. He married a daughter of Alexander Pine, of Montgomery County. His (blank space in original text) Alexander Pine took his name from the fact that a gentleman by the name of Alexander found him while an infant of only a few days under a pine tree where he had been left, and his parents were never discovered.

Thomas Christian was the father of three sons (James, Thomas and Allen) and several daughters, all of whom, except James, moved with their father to Kentucky about the year 1824. James, who was born in 1800, married a Miss Anne More [sic], and remained in the county. He was a member of the first county court of Logan County, and held many positions of trust, all of which he filled to the satisfaction of the people. He was the last survivor of the first court, and died in 1892 in the 93rd year of his age, leaving an honorable name and numerous descendants, among whom are Patterson Christian, who was for a long while one of the justices of the county, and is at present a member of the county court; Paren Christian, one of the leading citizens of the county, and Rev. Byron Christian, who was for many years a minister of the M. E. Church, South. His daughters married R. P. Spratt and D. P. Ellis.

Isaac Spratt, of Tazewell County, first settled at the mouth of Gilbert Creek, on the survey made for Edward Crawford. He married Kate Buchanan, of Tazewell, and to this marriage was born three sons and seven daughters. His sons were John, who married a Miss Perry, of Tazewell; James, who married a Miss Steele, of Tazewell; and Alexander, who married a Miss Rogers, of Tazewell County. His daughters were Jane, who married Francis S. Browning; Amanda, who married Augustus Lecompte; Amelia who married Lewis Lichenett; Kesiah, who married Henry Buchanan; Louisa, who married John Stafford; Kate, who married William Steele, and Flora, who married Lloyd Ellis.

Passing up Gilbert Creek, we find, about the year 1806, domiciled in a brand new cabin at the first fork above the mouth, Frederick Trent, of Russell County, Va. He married Agnes Horton of Tazewell County. He had three sons and two daughters. His sons were Humphrey, who married Martha Smith; Eli, who married Mahala Elkins, and Frederick, who married a daughter of Wm Cline. The daughters were Susan, who married Andrew Hatfield, and Sarah, who married Wm. Riffe. The children of Humphrey Trent are Alexander, who married a Miss Mounts; Smith, who married a Miss Cline; Eli, who married a Miss Ellis, and Clarissa, who married Madison Ellis.

Some time before Frederick Trent had settled on Gilbert, Thomas Smith, another gentleman from Russell, and a Revolutionary hero, had settled on Horsepen, a creek which had derived its name, as we have seen, from the fact of its having been used as a place to pen the stolen horses of Baker and his Indian allies. The name of the wife of Thomas Smith is not known, but he had a wife and three children where he first settled on Horsepen. His children were John, who first married a Miss Murphy, of Kentucky, and after her death a Miss Charles of Kentucky; Mary who married Peter Cline, and Martha, who married Humphrey Trent. John Smith had by his first wife two sons, viz., Harrington, who married a Miss Mullins, and then moved to Kanawha, and Larkin, who was twice married, and who, having passed his three score and ten years, is still living at the old homestead on Horsepen. His first wife was a Miss Lusk, by whom he had eight children; his second wife was a Miss Trent, by whom he had six children.

At what is still known as the Hatfield place on Horsepen, Valentine Hatfield, of Washington County,Va., settled at quite an early day. He was the father of nine sons and three daughters, and from them have sprung many of the Hatfields of the Guyandotte and Sandy Valleys. Valentine Hatfield married a Miss Weddington, and he was a half son of Thomas Smith. His sons were Al, who married a daughter of Ferrell Evans; Joe, who also married a daughter of Ferrell Evans; Ephraim, who married Bette Vance; (This Ephraim Hatfield was one of the quietest men in the county, and was for a long time a justice of the peace, yet he was the father and grandfather of the Hatfields who were engaged in the Hatfield-McCoy feud). Andrew, who married a daughter of Humphrey Trent, and those descendants live in Wyoming county; Thomas, who married a daughter of Frank Evans; John, who married a daughter of Abner Vance; Joseph, who married a daughter of John Toler; (Squire M. Hatfield and James Hatfield are the sons of this marriage.) Jacobs who married a daughter of Peter Cline, and Valentine who was never married. Of his three daughters, Phoebe married Alexander Varney; Celia married James Perry, and Jennie married James Justice, who was at one time sheriff of Logan County, and who was the father of John Justice, a prominent merchant in Logan Court House; B. J. Justice, a merchant and timber dealer of Cabell County, and William E. Justice, a merchant at North Spring and at one time a member of the West Virginia Legislature. Joseph Hatfield, a brother of Valentine Hatfield, settled about the same time at Matewan and will be mentioned hereafter.

CHAPTER XIX

Passing up the Horsepen and on to Island Creek, on the trail used by Baker and his Indians, we find that two brothers and a brother-in-law from North Carolina had made settlements at quite an early date – thought to be about 1812. These brothers were Francis and Edmund Browning and the brother-in-law was Barnabus Curry.

Francis Browning, who married a daughter of Abner Vance, of Tazewell County, settled at the mouth of Cow Creek, and was the father of three sons and four daughters. His sons were William E., (known as Buck) who married a Miss Wallace; Jesse, who married a Miss Webb; and Jackson, who went west while a young man. The daughters were Francis, who married John Curry; Rebecca, who married James Browning; Nancy Ann, who married L. D. Hill, and Amy, who married William Ellis.

Edmund Browning, who was a Revolutionary soldier, married a Miss Hall, of Washington County,Virginia, and settled where John R. Browning now lives. By his first wife he had two sons and one daughter. His sons were Enoch, who, still a young man, moved to Russell County,Virginia, and Reece, who married a Miss Boyd, of Tennessee. Reece Browning was one of the prominent men of the county, having held, at different time, offices of honor and trust and was a long time major of militia and Sheriff of the county. Reece had but two children – Thomas Edmund, who married a Miss Vance and moved to Missouri, and John Reece, who is still living at the old homestead on Island Creek. Jane, the daughter of Edmund Browning by his first wife, married Thomas Cunningham, of Russell County,Virginia.

Edmund Browning married, as a second wife, Miss Robertson, of Russell County. By this marriage he had four sons – Jesse, who married a daughter of Barnabus Curry. He was the father of John L. Kemper, and the late Adam Browning, Mrs. A. H. McDonald and Mrs. Joseph Hatfield and several other sons and daughters. Isaac, who married a daughter of Phillip Ellis; Frank, who married a daughter of Isaac Spratt, of Gilbert; and Edmund, who also married a daughter of Barnabus Curry. Edmund and Frank Browning are still living, aged respectively, 85 and 83. Edmund is the father of George F. Browning, a prominent merchant of Cow Creek, and several other sons and daughters.

Barnabus Curry, who as we have already seen, married a Miss Browning, sister of Edmund and Francis Browning, settled on Island Creek, where Thomas Steele now lives. His sons were Robert, who moved to Lincoln County, and is the progenitor of the Currys of that county; John, who married a Miss Browning; Eli, who married a Miss McCoy. After the death of his first wife he married a Miss Pressley, by whom he had several sons and daughters, among whom are Calvin and Victor D.

Ralph Steele also from Russell County,Virginia, at an early date, and married a daughter of John Ferrell, of Sandy, and settled where Anderson Hatfield now lives on Island Creek. His sons were Hawkins, who married a Miss Ellis; John, who married a Miss Mounts; William, who married a Miss Spratt; George, who married a Miss Ellis; and Lorenzo D., who married a lady from Tazewell. His daughters were Catherine, who married H. B. Justice and Rebecca, who married Lewis Hinchman.

Passing down the creek we find that two brothers – Evans and Phillip Ellis – made settlements about 1811. They were from Monroe County and were descendants of the Evan Ellis who emigrated from Wales in 1730, and settled in the James River Valley. Evan Ellis, who married a Miss Hines, settled near where John T. Vance now lives. His sons were Jacob, who married a daughter of Joseph Gore; Henry, who married a daughter of Isaac Spratt; Lloyd, who also married a daughter of Isaac Spratt; Madison, who married a daughter of Humphrey Trent; and Zatto C., who moved to Roane County. His daughters were Nancy, who married Eli Gore; Catherine, who married Hawkins Steele; Margaret, who married Henderson Bailey; Sallie, who married George, and Evaline, who went to Roane County.

Phillip Ellis married a Miss Black and settled where Howard Ellis now lives. His sons were William, who married a daughter of Francis Browning; Squire, who married a daughter of John Vance, and James who married a daughter of William Browning. His daughters were Hannah, who married Thomas Taylor; Christina who married Isaac Browning; Polly who married Thomas Buchanan, who for a long time was Clerk of the Circuit Court of Logan County; and Bettie, who married George Avis, an Englishman, and father of Hugh C., Thomas and Burwell Abis (sic-Avis?) and Mrs. J. E. Robertson, Mrs. Scot Dejarnette, Mrs. Andrew Perry, and the late Mrs. H. S. White. Simpson Ellis, a late member of the County Court, is a son of Lloyd Ellis.

Mrs. Martha Straton, of whom mention has been made, settled about the same time, near where Howard Ellis now lives. She married Ben Smith of Buffalo. Joseph Straton was a man of considerable prominence in the county, having represented it in the Legislature of Virginia and Sheriff for a long time. He was the father of William Straton, a prominent lawyer who is still living at Logan Court House, and who was for a long time clerk of the Courts of the county, and for one term, representative of the county in the Legislature of West Virginia and was during the civil war, a major of cavalry in Confederate service. The widow of Joseph Straton moved to Texas where she died a few years ago, leaving their one son, David, and one daughter, Eliza, who married a gentleman named McKean.

CHAPTER XX

About the same time that Wm. Hinchman settled at the mouth of Rich Creek, four brothers named Perry came into the county from Monroe. Of these, Jack settled about a mile above Huffs Creek. He was the father of seven sons and two daughters. His sons were Dr. James, who married his cousin, Margaret, a daughter of Joe Perry; Oliver, who married a Miss Haner; Henry, who married a daughter of Jack Chambers; Alexander, who went to Texas and joined the forces of Gen. Houston and was never heard of afterwards; Ephraim, John and Silas, who moved West. Jane married Peter, a son of Conrad Riffe, who was one of the oldest settlers on Upper Tug. Mrs. Riffe is still alive, though about 87 years old, and is the mother of John, Gordon and Patterson Riffe, Mrs. F. M. White and Mrs. Eli Gore. The other daughter of Jack Perry was Mary, who married Richard Chambers.

Joe Perry, the next brother settled on Buffalo. He had five sons and four daughters. Of his sons Frank married a Miss Workman; Eli married a Miss Johnson; William and John E., both married Miss Buchanans, and James married a Miss Hatfield. Of his daughters, Margaret married Dr. James Perry, who was at one time Sheriff of the county, and Polly married Rhodes D. Ballard, one of the most prominent and highly esteemed citizens of the county. Mr. Ballard was for years a justice of the peace, and for one term a member of the West Virginia Legislature and was for a long time a member of the county court. He died in 1888, in his 88th year. Jane married Abner Vance and Flora married Amos Workman.

Henry Perry, the next brother, settled on Guyandotte River near the mouth of what is now known as Henry’s Branch. He moved west and nothing is known of his family.

James Perry, the fourth brother, settled at what is still known as the Perry place. He was the Colonel of the Logan County militia for a long while and was among the most prominent men in the county. His sons were Dow, who married a Miss Elkins; Granville, who married a daughter of Carter T. Clark; Preston, who married a daughter of Pyrrhus McGinnis; John A., who married a daughter of John Farley; Oliver, who married a daughter of W. W. McDonald; James, who went West, and Andrew, who enlisted in 1846, in the company of Capt. Elisha McComas, and went to Mexico, and died while still in the service near Vera Cruz. James Perry had two daughters – Mary, who married Maj. Wm. Straton, and Elba, who died unmarried.

Jack Perry married a Miss Dixon, of Monroe County; Joe Perry married a Miss Shirkey [?], of Greenbrier County, and James Perry married a Miss Roach, of Monroe County. It is not known who Henry Perry married. They were the sons of John Perry, a native of the north of Ireland, and who has already been mentioned as the father of Mrs. Wm. Hinchman. John Perry had two other daughters, who moved to this county, viz, Bettie, who married Isaac Stollings, of the mouth of Crawley, and Flora, who married Samuel Canterberry, who afterwards moved to Boone County. John Perry was said to be quite a learned man, and was the author of an arithmetic which was for a long time a text book in the schools of Virginia and North Carolina.

Near the same time the Perrys settled here, several other families from North Carolina made settlements on Buffalo and the waters of Spruce, among whom were William Browning, William, John, Tandy and Meredith Burgess and Ben White.

William Browning brought with him, in addition to his own family, which consisted of a wife and several daughters, two nephews – Nathaniel and Simeon Browning. He first settled on Buffalo, and while he had no sons to perpetuate his name, he had four daughters. Sarah, who married James Madison White; Lucinda, who married Griffin Canterbury, Peggy, who married Nathaniel Browning and Polly, who married Simeon Browning.

Tandy Burgess settled on Buffalo. His sons were Calvin, Hiram and Cornelius. William Burgess moved in Kanawha at an early date. His daughter, Araminta, who married Harrison Chambers, is still living, however, in this county.

John Burgess settled on Spruce. His sons were Milton, John A., and Lewis. He had one daughter, (Peggy) who married Russell Trump, of Raleigh County.

Meredith Burgess also settled on Spruce. His sons were Fernandus, Jackson, James, George and John W., and his daughters were Polly, who married William McCreeley, and Martha, who married Lewis McDonald.

Ben White, who, to distinguish him from Ben White, son of John, who has already been spoken of was known as “Chickasaw Ben.” He settled on the farm now owned by Stephen Browning, and was the father of a large family. His sons were Gradon, who married a daughter of William Browning; Russell, who married a Miss Coon; Benjamin Wesley, who married a daughter of Tandy Burgess, and Andrew, who married a daughter of George Ferrell. His daughters were Amanda, who married Oliver Browning; Elizabeth, who married Byron Christian; Nancy, who married a Ferrell, and Paulina, who married Chapman Miller, of Boone County.

As has been before stated, James Mitchell and John Miller settled on Turtle Creek about the year 1815. They were brothers-in-law and both were soldiers in the War of 1812. Mitchell was the son of Joshua Mitchell (or Michel,) who came from France with Rochambeau, and served under him at the battle of Yorktown. He married Elizabeth Miller, a daughter of Michael Miller, and his children were Michael, Joshua, a well-known Baptist preacher, and Dr. James, who is living and practicing his profession.

John Miller was the son of Michael Miller, a Hessian who deserted his command and joined the American forces, and after the war settled in Montgomery County,Va.John, who married a daughter of Joshua Mitchell, settled where Riland Ballard now lives. He had two sons – Benjamin and Ezekiel. Ezekiel married a daughter of Joshua Mitchell and is the grandfather of C. M. Turley, a prominent attorney of Logan.

Last but not least among the men who left their impress upon the people of the Guyandotte Valley was Anthony Lawson, who settled where J. S. Miller now lives, about the year 1823.

Anthony Lawson was a native of Northumberland, England, and was born about 1780. Some time about the year 1815 he emigrated to America with his wife and four sons, John, Lewis H., James and Anthony. He remained for a while at Alexandria,Va., where his brother, John, who had preceded him to America, lived. Col. Andrew Bierne, of Lewisburg, soon made his acquaintance, and induced him to come in the wilds of the Guyandotte Rive rand engage in the fur and ginseng trade. Mr. Lawson first settled near the present site of Oceana, where he remained about four years and then moved to the present site of Logan C. H., where he remained until his death, which occurred in Guyandotte in 1846, while he was returning from Philadelphia, where he had been to purchase goods. The state of trade in Logan at that time and the difficulty of getting goods and of taking produce to market will be treated of hereafter. Mr. Lawson was a member of the first county court and was during his life a leading citizen. His wife survived him for something over a year, when she was murdered by two of her slaves. Her tombstone in our cemetery had the following inscription: “Ann Lawson, wife of Anthony Lawson, of Logan County, Va., who was born in the Parish of Longhorsby, in the county of Northumberland,England, on the 17th day of March, A.D. 1783. Murdered on the night of the 17th of December, 1847, by two of her own Negroes.”

The sons of Anthony Lawson were all prominent men in the county, and will be noticed more fully in some future chapters. John married Emily Butcher, daughter of Joshua and Sarah (Clarke) Butcher, and was killed by a falling tree in 1844; Lewis B. married Polly Dingess, James married Matilda Dingess, both daughters of Peter and Sallie (Farley) Dingess, and Anthony, the youngest son, married Ann Brooke Robertson, the daughter of Edwin and Mary (Minnie) Robertson.

CHAPTER XXI

While the Guyandotte Valley was being settled with hardy pioneers from Montgomery and the territory which formerly belonged in that ancient county, the Tug Fork of Sandy was being peopled by those who had for awhile paused in their march to the wilderness on the waters of the Clinch and the Holsten. From the time of the building of the old Block House at the forks of Sandy, about the year 1789, frequent visits were made from the cabins on the frontier by daring hunters to their friends in the old fort, but there is no account of any settlement being made on the West Virginia side of the river below the McDowell County line, or even above that line, until the year 1800, when Richard and John Ferrell, sons of Richard Ferrell, who was killed by the Indians in Thompson’s Valley in 1780, settled on the farm where M.A. Ferrell now lives.

Richard Ferrell, the youngest brother, married a Miss Romaines, of Russell County, Virginia, and was the father of ten children – six sons and four daughters. His sons were William, who married Mahala Tiller; John R., who married Elizabeth Coleman; Elizah, who married Barbara Jackson; Richard, who married Letitia Eskew; Evans, who married Martha Duty, and Moses, who married Jane Lockhart. His daughters were Rachel, who married William Tiller; Rebecca, who married Green Justice; Elizabeth, who married Joab Justice, and Nancy, who married Cummings Music.

John Ferrell married Nancy Jackson of Russell County,Virginia. He was the father of three sons and two daughters. His sons were William, who moved to Roane County; Andrew, who married Polly Slater, and then moved to Missouri; and John, who married Jane Taylor, and was through a long life, a prominent Baptist preacher, and was greatly beloved by all who knew him. His daughters were Jennie, who married John Murphy, and Levisa, who married Ralph Steel, of Island Creek.

Reuben Thacker made the first settlement at what is now known as Thacker. He came from the James River Valley, remained for a few years, giving to the creek its name, and then moved further west.

Peter Cline, who was of German origin, settled about the year 1802 just below the mouth of Peter Creek on the West Virginia side of the river. It is claimed that he had settled on the Kentucky side, on Peter Creek, some eight years before that time, and that the creek took its name from him, and that he came direct from Montgomery County, Va. Be this as it may, it is well known that he lived and died at a ripe old age on Tug River, and that he was the father of four sons and one daughter, from whom has sprung the Clines and Mounts of the Tug and Guyandotte Valleys. His sons were Michael, who married a Miss Hinkle, of Kentucky; Jacob, who married a Miss Fuller, of Kentucky; William, who married a daughter of Thomas Smith, of Horsepen. This Peter Cline Jr., died on Gilbert’s Creek in 1893, aged something over one hundred years. The daughter of Peter Cline, Sr., whose name was Margaret, married David Mounts, a young man who came to the Tug Valley a short time after Clines had settled there. It is not known where he came from, but it is believed from the name that he is a descendant of a Portugese family by the name of Mountz, which settled in South Carolina about 1750, some of whom served under Sumpter in the War of the Revolution. Mounts settled just above Cline, on the river, and was the father of six sons and four daughters. His sons were William, who married Mary Blankenship; Charles who married a daughter of Isaac Spratt; Peter, who married a daughter of William Cline; Michael, who married a daughter of Peter Cline; Jackson, who married a daughter of William Cline, and Alexander, who married a Miss Charles. His daughters were Nancy, who married Asbury Hurley; Patsy, who married John Steel; Elizabeth, who married Alexander Trent, and Sarah, who married Daniel Christian.

As was stated in our last chapter, Francis Browning married a daughter of Abner Vance, of Tazewell. This Abner Vance was hung for killing a man named Horton – a justifiable killing, as was afterwards shown – had four sons and four daughters who came to Logan early in the century and settled on the waters of Tug, and who are the progenitors of the Vance family of this county. Abner Vance, the father spoken of, was a native of North Carolina, and, after serving through the Revolutionary War, settled in Russell County, Va., and married a Miss Howard. His sons spoken of above were James, who married a Miss Miller; John, who married a Miss Rader; Richard, who married a Miss Sutherland; and Abner, who married a Miss Perry. His daughters married respectively, Francis Browning, Jos. Dempsey, James Brown and John McCloud. There was another daughter – Bettie – who was never married but had two children of whom John Ferrell was the reputed father. These were Mrs. Ephriam Hatfield and the late James Vance.

Joseph Hatfield, who has already been mentioned as the brother of Valentine Hatfield, and a half-brother of Thomas Smith of Horsepen, settled at what is now Matewan, at about the same time that his brother settled on Horsepen. He married a Miss Evans, of Russell County, and was the father of ten sons and one daughter. His sons were Joseph, William, Ferrell, Ephriam, John, Valentine, Richard Thomas, James, Seth and McGinnis, and the name of his daughter was Phoebe. All of them moved across the river into Kentucky, where Richard and McGinnis are still living, both being old and highly respected citizens.

The settlement at the mouth of Spruce, where Lewis Rutherford now lives, was made by Benjamin Sprouse. At just what time he settled there is not known, but he raised a large family of boys and girls, and with Reuben Thacker, a brother-in-law, moved further to the west, selling his place to William Davis, who came from Albermarle County, and claimed to be a first cousin of Thomas Jefferson. Davis married a Mrs. Hensley, of Russell County, who was the mother by her former marriage of four sons and one daughter. Three of the sons – William, Robert and John – and the daughter, whose name is forgotten. There was another son – Daniel – who had been captured by the Indians in 1790, and who remained with the Indians until 1807, when he joined the family and married a daughter of Thomas Davis, of Albermarle County, and niece of the William Davis above mentioned, settled at the mouth of Rockhouse Fork of Pigeon. Of the other Hensley boys, Robert married a daughter of Capt. Henry Farley, and settled at the mouth of Sugar–tree; William married a Miss Brewster, and settled opposite the mouth of Pond, on what is now known as the Lawson farm, and John married a Miss Davis and settled lower down the river. The daughter above mentioned married William Davis, a son of Thomas Davis of Albermarle, and nephew of the William Davis above mentioned, who settled near the mouth of Pigeon. William Davis, Sr., had one daughter by his first wife. William Davis, Sr., married a Miss Runyon, by whom he had two daughters, one of whom married Jess Stratredge and the other Jacob Runyon.

William Davis, Jr., above mentioned, from whom descended all of the Davis’ of the Tug Valley, had four sons and two daughters. His sons were George, who married a Miss Dillon; Henry, who married a Miss Stotts, and William and Joseph, who married Miss Dillons. His two daughters married respectively, Daniel Hensley, Jr., and Jas. Bailey. The Dillon girls above mentioned, were the daughters of Christopher Dillon, who settled on the waters of Pigeon at quite an early day, and had a large family of boys and girls from whom sprung the large Dillon family.

Vinson Grant, a mulatto, settled at the mouth of Sycamore. He had a white woman with him by whom he raised a large family. He moved to Ohio about 1820, and settled near Haverhill, Lawrence County.

Moses Parsley, of Russell County, who married a Miss Loving, of the same county, settled at the mouth of the Rockhouse Fork of Pigeon. He was the father of five sons and four daughters. His sons were John, who married a Murphy, and settled at the mouth of Upper Burning Creek; William, who married a Miss Chafin, and settled on Lower Burning Creek; Alexander, who married a Miss Smith, and settled near Warfield, Ky.; Jesse, who married a Miss Marcum, and settled at the mouth of Jennie’s Creek, and Riburn, who married a Miss Muncey, and settled near the mouth of Jennie’s Creek, but becoming involved in the Marcum-Muncey feud he moved to Mississippi, and became a brigadier-general of the Confederate States in the late unpleasantness. His daughters were Sallie, who married William Starr, and Polly, who married William Muncey. The other daughters were never married and their names are not known.

Christopher Chafin who came from Montgomery County, Va., settled near the mouth of the Elk Fork of Pigeon. He married a Miss Roberts and first settled near Burlington,Lawrence County,Ohio, where several of his children were born. He then moved to the Elk Fork of Pigeon, where he lived for many years and then mysteriously disappeared. His sons were Stanley, who died unmarried; William, who married Sarah Deskins; Joshua who married Sarah Collins; Nathan, who married Matilda Varney; Pleasant, who married Nancy White, and Thomas, who married Jennie Horn. His daughters were Bettie, who married Harrison Blair;  Alafair, who married ____ Nelson, and Margaret, who married James Copley. John Chafin, who was for a long time clerk of the circuit and county courts of this county, and Francis M. Chafin, who was sheriff of the county, were sons of William Chafin, and John B. Wilkinson, the present prosecuting attorney of the counties of Logan and Mingo, is his grandson.

John Stafford, of Tazewell, settled at the mouth of Lick Creek. Just at what time he settled there or who he married is not known. He had three sons and several daughters. His sons were John, who married a daughter of Isaac Spratt, and settled at the mouth of Gilbert; Compton, who married a daughter of Isaac Brewer, and settled at the mouth of Breeding, and Fleming, who married a daughter of Frank Evans, and went to Mercer County. Of his daughters, Sarah married Andrew Varney, and Phoebe married Smith Trent.

CHAPTER XXII

Emile Millard, usually called Miller, a Frenchman, who had served under Lafayette in the Revolutionary War, made the first settlement near the town of Nolan. He settled after the war in what is now Tazewell County, and married Sallie Roark, of Roark’s Gap. Sallie had two children by former husbands at the time of her marriage with Millard, both of whom came with Millard to his new settlement. They were John Deskins and Isaac Brewer, who will be spoken of again.

Millard, and his brother Charles, the grandfather of Ben and A.J. Millard, were in the county as early as 1792, at which time Charles was drowned in Johns Creek, Ky., near the mouth of the creek now known as Miller’s Creek.

Emile Millard had three children – one son and two daughters. His son, whose name was Timothy, married Polly Boreman; and his daughters were Rachel, who married James Starr, and Rebecca, who married Arter White. This James Starr was one of the prominent men of the Tug Valley, who, after the death of his first wife married Rebecca Hensly, and after her death married a Miss McCoy. He died about ten years ago at the age of 91, after having built the first Methodist Church in the valley, which is of stone and will long remain as a monument to his memory. He had no children.

John Deskins, spoken of above, married a Miss Holt and settled near the Millard place. He was the father of five sons and four daughters. His sons were John, who married a Miss Bevins, of Kentucky; James, who married a Miss Hibbard; Jackson, who married a Miss Leslie; Nathan, who married a Miss Phillips, and Lewis, who married a Kentucky lady whose name is forgotten. His daughters were Esther, who married Benjamin Williamson; Sarah, who married William Chafin; Bettie, who married Benjamin Maynard, and Nancy, who married Wm. Taylor.

William Farley, a brother of Capt. Henry Farley, of Peach Creek, settled near the mouth of Buffalo. He married a Miss Thompson of Albemarle County,Va., and was the father of four sons and one daughter. His sons were William – known as “Punch Bill” – who married a Miss Allen, of Boone; Thompson, who married a Miss Chapman; Nimrod (Father of the late Senator Farley, of California), married a Miss Slater, and Henry, who married a Miss Starr. Henry was quite a prominent citizen, and represented the county in the Virginia Legislature.

Adam Runyon settled on Pigeon. His sons were Alexander, who married a Miss Starr; Adam, who married a Miss Harris; James, who married a Miss Simpkins; William, who went West, and John, who married a Miss Mead, and [was?] murdered by George Aldredge. He had two daughters, Christina and Anna, who were never married.

Joseph Clark, of Culpepper County, settled at what is known as the Floyd place, on the Trace Fork of Pigeon. He married a Miss Briton, of Pittsylvania County, and had six sons and four daughters. His sons were John B., who married Mary McDonald; Thomas K., who married a Miss Clay; Carter T., who married a daughter of Capt. Henry Farley; Joseph M., who went to Tennessee in 1812; Henry who went to Texas, and George, who went to Kentucky. His daughters were Nancy, who married Jonathan B. Bailey of Mercer; Polly, who married James Suthers; Rebecca, who married Jonas McDonald, and Sallie who married Roland Dillon. Of these sons, John B., settled at the mouth of Pigeon, and had one son; Thomas K., had three sons, one of whom (Charles) was a soldier in the Mexican War, and Carter T. had four sons – Henry P., Ira H., Joseph M., and Guy, and from these have sprung the Clarks of the Tug Valley.

Thomas Evans was an early settler in the valley. He married a Miss Closser, and was the father of Richard Evans, who married a Miss Thompson. The names of his other children are not known, but they are the progenitors of a large Evans family.

Alden Williamson was the first person to settle at the mouth of Laurel Fork of Pigeon. He was a descendant of Hugh Williamson, who came from Wales about 1720 and first settled in New Kent County, Va., and then moved with the tide of emigration to Western Pennsylvania. Alden Williamson had three sons – John, who married a Miss Hibbard and moved to Kentucky; Richard, who married a Miss Wiley, daughter of Jennie Wiley, and settled on Twelve Pole, and Benjamin, who married a Miss Porter, and settled near the present site of the town of Williamson. By his marriage with Miss Porter, Ben Williamson had two sons (Benjamin, who married Esther Deskins, and John, who moved to Kentucky), and three daughters, who married respectively Abraham Millard, Joseph Porter and James Taylor. By a second marriage he had two sons – Hammond, who married a Miss Maynard, and Julius who married a Miss Butcher, and who is still living.

Jean Schmidt Baisden was another early settler at the mouth of Laurel. He came with Lafayette to America and served under him during the Revolution. After the war was over he located at Richmond,Va., and then moved to Reeds Island of New River, where he married a Miss Braham, and about the beginning of the present century, settled at the mouth of Laurel. He had three sons and two daughters. His sons were Joseph, who married Lucinda Osborne, Solomon, who married Mary Chafin, and Edward, who married Susan Barnett. His daughters were Polly, who married John Blair, and Frances, who married Thomas Copley.

John Blair, who came from Powells Valley, first settled just above the present site of the town of Williamson, but after marrying Polly, the daughter of Jean Schmidt Baisden, he settled near his father-in-law at the mouth of Laurel, where he died in 1860. His sons were Harrison, who first married a Miss Chafin and then a Miss Johnson, and who was Logan’s first Democratic Sheriff after the war; Anderson, who married a Miss McCoy, and Joe, who also married a Miss McCoy. His daughters were Mahulda, who married Anderson Dempsey; Chlorina, who married John McCoy, and Rhoda, who married Moses Parsley.

Josiah Marcum was also an early settler on Laurel. He came from Franklin County, and brought with him eight sons, from whom has sprung the large and influential house of Marcum. These sons were Moses, who first married a Miss Elswick and then a Christina Wiley, daughter of Jennie Wiley; Stephen, who married a Miss Sperry, and was the grandfather of Wm. W., Jno. S., and Lace Marcum, prominent lawyers ofWest Virginia. J.M. Marcum, the late state senator from Cabell, and Thos. D., and Penbroke Marcum, of Catlettsburg, Ky.; William, who married a Miss Sutherland; John, who married a Miss Copley, and was a Baptist Preacher; James, who married a Miss Chapman, and Jacob and Randall, who married ladies from Franklin County, Va., whose names are not known.

Alexander Sutherland settled at the mouth of Marrowbone, and is spoken of as the first settler in that locality. He had two daughters, one of whom married William Marcum and the other a Wellman.

William Bingham Meade, who married Mildred Esther Davis, came from Virginia about 1790, and settled at the old Vancouver settlement at the blockhouse at the forks of Sandy. In the early part of the present century – about 1801 – he moved with his family to Marrowbone Creek. He had three sons and five daughters. His sons were Wm. B., Jr., who married Jane Ellen Rutherford; _______ , who married Isaac Brewer; Margaret, who married Thomas Watts; Frances, who married Theodore Gooding; Anna, who married Perry Burruss, and Keziah, who married John Cline. Wm. B., Jr., had seven boys and four girls. His sons were James, who married a Miss Lowe; Reuben, who married a Miss Rose; John, who married a Miss Dingess; Lewis, who married a Miss Spaulding; Thomas B., who married a Miss Sartin; Wm. B., who married a Miss Brewer and Pyrrhus who married a Miss Messer. The daughters were Mary, who married John Field; Priscilla, who married Hiram Rose;Lydia, who married Silas Damron, and Ellen, who married G.R.C. Floyd, and who was the mother of Hon. J.B. Floyd, Mrs. S.P. Kelly, and several other children.

Isaac Brewer, who married the oldest daughter of W. B. Meade Sr., was of English stock. Among the soldiers who came with Braddock to America, in 1755, were two brothers by the name of Brewer: one of them was killed at Fort Duquesne, on July 9th, 1755, and the other survived the war and settled in Southwestern Virginia, where he had several sons and daughters. One of these sons, after serving in the Revolution, married Sallie Roark, who afterwards became the wife of Emile Millard. To this former marriage of Sallie Roark was born Isaac Brewer, who came with Millard to the Tug Valley, and after his marriage was born eight sons and three daughters. His sons were Lewis, who married a Miss Marcum; William, who moved to Kanawha; Isaac, who married a Miss Spaulding; Samuel who married a Miss Kirk; Johnson, who married a Miss Clark, Calvin, who married a Miss Messer, James, who married a Miss Newsom; Aaron, who married a Miss Mead, and Anthony, who married a Miss James. His daughters were Eliza, who first married Jacob Marcum and then Compton Stafford; Evaline, who married another Jacob Marcum, and Matilda, who married Moses Ferrell, who was for a long time a member of the County Court of Logan.

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