Pioneers of Jackson County - Part 2

   LOWER MILL CREEK

   HISTORY OF THE PARSONS FAMILY
   
   So far as we are able to trace the records back, the founder of the
   Parsons family in Jackson County was a hardy pioneer who has seen
   active service during the Indian Wars of the last half of the
   eighteenth century, and bore a full part in opening the country west
   of the Allegheny Mountains.
   
   His name was Charles Parsons, where and when he was born, we do not
   know. Records gathered by some of his descendants say he was living on
   the Eastern Shore in 1769.
   
   Of course, like all events so long past, and of which no particular
   account was taken by the actors themselves, there are many conflicting
   accounts, theories and traditions. I shall endeavor to thoroughly sift
   and compare these so far as they come to my notice, and will write
   down what seems to be the nearest correct, following as closely as
   possible the record above mentioned, sometimes giving the other
   versions and traditions. This will also apply to the history of other
   families, for the same uncertainty and obscurity, to a certain degree,
   applies to all of them.
   
   A perusal of the chronicles of the early settlements west of the
   mountains show that James and Thomas Parsons were in the Minear
   Colony, on the Cheat River, in 1773.
   
   Minear, having quarreled with Thomas Parsons concerning a very
   valuable tract of land known as the "horse shoe bottom", quoting the
   example of Abraham and Lot, moved the next spring, farther down the
   stream to the present site of St. George.
   
   This James Parsons is sometimes spoken of as Captain Parsons.
   
   They came from the upper waters of the south branch of the Potomac,
   near the present town of Moorefield.
   
   Back of this, I cannot trace them, but at this point, their path
   crosses that of the line of the branch of the Parsons family we now
   have under consideration. From Moorefield, they went separate ways, to
   the south branch, they had come together. This theory, while not
   demonstrable, is a very probable supposition.


   PARSONS FAMILY
   
   1. Charles Parsons was living on the Eastern Shore, in Maryland, in
   1769. His first wife was a Miss Chestnut. After this, he migrated to
   the banks of the South Branch of the Potomac River, and about 1786, as
   the record goes, to the Fort on the Buckhannon River. The actual date
   may likely have been earlier, as the Bush Fort, which it probably was,
   was destroyed by the Indians, in 1782.
   
   There is a tradition that the Parsons and Carney families were in the
   fort when it was taken.
   
   It is commonly the belief handed down by word of mouth that they lived
   on the Buckhannon River, and I have no doubt it is correct.
   
   The next recorded move was about 1796 or 1797, to Warths Bottom.
   
   Whether he came with his son, or later, is not known, but they
   probably moved at the same time.
   
   He lived afterward on Sycamore above the bridge, probably he came
   there about the same time William located on the present site of
   Ripley.
   
   He had moved to the farm owned by John Duke at Frozen Camp, before
   March, 1818. I take this date from patent to H. F. Knopp, land which
   calls for line of land owned by Charles Parsons, but does not say he
   lived on it. Date of patent, 1818.
   
   He made the first improvement on the Upper Mill Creek Bottoms above
   the mouth of Frozen Camp, building his cabin near where Dukes barn now
   stands.
   
   He owned one hundred acres there, extending down to the mouth of Big
   Run, up the creek to Knopps farm, and up Big Run indefinitely far
   enough to make one hundred acres, largely bottomland, for that was the
   way they took up land in those days, leaving the hills for hunting
   grounds.
   
   Joseph Parsons, a squatter, lived in a cabin below the mouth of Little
   Creek, but as he only "camped" there, it could not be called an
   improvement.
   
   Charles Parsons was a hunter and Indian fighter, as were most men of
   his day. His ancestry was from England.
   
   He married, probably in Maryland, and raised seven children. His wife
   dying, he married again, it is almost certain, after moving to Warths
   Bottom, and raised five children more.
   
   Of these, Elias was born about 1798, and was the oldest child. Charles
   was born in 1804, and may have been the youngest.


   BEAR TALE INCIDENT
   
   While Charles Parsons lived on Sycamore, his dogs started a large bear
   and chased it all day, alternately running and fighting for over
   twenty miles. Finally, they caught him as he was swimming Spring Creek
   below where Spencer now stands. The bear was swimming when the dogs
   came up, but letting down to the bottom it could stand on its hind
   feet in the shallow water and fight with a great advantage over the
   dogs. Grabbing hold of a favorite hound, it gave her a squeeze that
   broke her thigh bone, and threw her over to the bank. Fortunately,
   Bill Tanner arrived on the scene in time to take the suffering animal
   home with him and bandage its wounds, and take care of it until it was
   again well.
   
   Parsons had long mourned his favorite as lost, his other dogs having
   come home without her, and was most agreeably surprised when one day
   about six weeks later, his dog came into the cabin, soon followed by
   the good Samaritan who had cared for her. Tanner was on his way to
   Point Pleasant to attend Court.
   
   The animal was nearly as good as ever, though there was a knot on her
   hind leg at the place of the fracture. Good bear dogs, however, were
   too precious an article to lose. In those days, a mans dog and gun
   were the most indispensable articles he possessed.
   
   Charles Parsons divided his land between his two sons, continuing for
   a while to live with Elias.
   
   He died some time between 1820 and 1830, and buried on the farm at the
   present Baptist Grove Cemetery. His is said to have been the first
   grave there. His grave is known to his grandchildren.
   
   It is said that though Parsons served the state of Virginia several
   years as Indian "Spy" in the enlistment of all the remuneration he
   ever received was a black silk handkerchief, or stock.
   
   His wife lived some years later. Lewis Parsons relates that when a boy
   (he was born in 1837), he has seen his father haul her on a hand sled
   over to his house from his Uncle (Lias).
   
   Charles Parsons children by his first wife, who was a Miss Chestnut,
   were:
   
   William Lowther Parsons, married Susan Fink.
   
   George Parsons, married Polly Sleethe.
   
   John Parsons, married a Greathouse.
   
   Polly Parsons, married Thomas Carney.
   
   Betsy Parsons, married John Smith.
   
   Peggy Parsons, married Joseph Bibbee.
   
   Patsy Parsons, married Thompson Pickens.
   
   Children by his second wife, who was a widow Sleethe, whose maiden
   name was Flesher, and who was a sister of Adam and George Flesher, of
   Weston:
   
   Elias Parsons, married first Dolly Mahew, and second, Malinda Wiblin.
   
   Charles Parsons, married Rebecca Wolfe.
   
   Patsy Parsons, married William Casto.
   
   Nancy Parsons, married John Casto.
   
   Sally Parsons, married James Cunningham.
   
   William Lowther Parsons was born on the "Eastern Shore", July 24th,
   1769, and died October 10th, 1839, aged seventy years. He moved with
   his father to South Branch, and later to the Buckhannon Settlement,
   where he married Miss Susan Fink, probably a daughter of the man from
   whom Finks Run received its name.
   
   "Captain Billy", as his friends and relatives are wont to fondly call
   him, won the title by military service in the War of 1812. He was one
   of the most conspicuous patriots and leaders of the Mill Creek
   settlement.
   
   When he first came to Warths Bottom, he utilized a sycamore tree for a
   part of his house, and in it was born his son, John Fink, in 1797. In
   1804, he made the first opening in the wilderness a the present site
   of Ripley. In 1808, his wife died, and later he sold his land to Jacob
   Starcher, and still later, probably after the War of 1812, lived up on
   Sycamore, perhaps on his fathers land. He had had two tracts of land
   surveyed, one at the mouth of Little Creek, and one on Mill Creek
   above, but had not had the patents confirmed before the war was over.
   
   He moved at a later date to the mouth of Frozen Camp, where he owned
   land. The date of this settlement has not been preserved, but he
   probably lived here many years before his death, which occurred
   October 10th, 1839.
   
   He was buried at the Baptist Grove graveyard at Frozen Camp.
   
   When Captain Billy moved to the mouth of Frozen Camp, he was the first
   to settle there, so far as is now known. His cabin as built on the
   raise below the road at the end of the iron bridge, on the south side
   of Mill Creek.
   
   Later, his widow and children moved to a house which stood in the
   garden, directly across the road from Frank Atkins. George W. Parsons
   continued to reside there until 1873, when he sold the farm to the
   Atkinss, who were from Athens County, Ohio.
   
   William L. and Susan Parsons children were:
   
   Henry, who was born in Buckhannon, and was probably the oldest,
   married Lavina Turner. He lived on Parchment. His children were"
   
   Washington A., married a Custer, and died in 1901.
   
   Travis.
   
   Charley.
   
   Sol, married Lucinda Deweese; Filmore, a teacher, was their son.
   
   Elizabeth, married Jacob Lanham.
   
   John Fink Parsons, second son of William L. Parsons, is supposed to
   have been the first white child born in the vicinity. He was born in a
   sycamore tree, which was serving as the back room of his fathers
   house, in 1797. (Judge Asbury Parsons gave the date as 1794, if this
   were the correct date, he would easily be the first white child in
   Jackson County.) The place of his birth was near the present site of
   the residence of the late Hiram Douglass. He married Ruhanna Lyons,
   and lived at the mouth of Sycamore, on the left about a half mile
   below Centennial Church. He is buried on a hill near Sycamore. I
   always planned to visit his grave, but did not do so. His children
   were:
   
   Marcus, married first Nancy Hamon, and later Loma Ayers, a sister of
   Buenos Ayers, the singing teacher mentioned in the history of Reedy
   Valley. Charles Parsons on Big Run was their son.
   
   Hannah, married Benjamin Rhodes, son of "Doc" Rhodes.
   
   Alfred, married Emmaline Carr, daughter of John Carr, who lived on the
   hill between Station Camp and Sycamore.
   
   Armstrong, married Malinda Boyer. He died in 1874.
   
   Mariam, married Alex Labachelleric and lived on Joes Run.
   
   Martha, daughter of William L. Parsons, married Charles Love, and
   moved to Pike County, Ohio.
   
   Hannah, daughter of William L. Parsons, married John Turner, and moved
   to New Orleans. Their children born on dates ranging from 1826 to
   1845, were probably never residents of Jackson County. Their names
   were: Susannah, Evan, Rezin, Jonathan, Elizabeth, W.H., Benjamin,
   Martha and John.
   
   Susan, daughter of William L. Parsons, was never married.
   
   Charles, son of William L. Parsons, married Delilah Carpenter, and
   moved to Vinton County, Ohio.
   
   William, son of William L. Parsons, married first Susan Bonnet, and
   later he married Nancy Hogsett. He lived on Parchment. His children
   were:
   
   "Leck", married Phebe Casto. Lovell Casto is their son.
   
   Nic, married Elmer Castos daughter.
   
   Barbara, married a Boles.
   
   Margaret, married Nathan Casto, brother of Charles Casto.
   
   Mark, John, Henry and Lydia were other children, but about them I have
   no further information.
   
   William L. Parsons wife, Susan Fink Parsons, died at the birth of an
   infant daughter, in 1808, and both are buried together. Parsons then
   married Hannah Fauquier, who was born at Front Royal, Virginia. Their
   children were:
   
   Mary, known as "Pop", who married Isaac Rollins. They had three
   children (names not learned).
   
   Travis, son of William L. Parsons, married Mary Hess. Their children
   were:
   
   Henry, married Sarah Ann Boyer, and lived at the Tatterson place on
   Seaman Fork, of Reedy. Their son, Dr. Parsons, of Ripley, was born
   there. Other children of Henry were: Fleet, Travis, Mariam, and
   Ballard.
   
   Henderson, lived at the mouth of Greenbrier on Seaman Fork.
   
   Lafayette, son of William L. Parsons, married Sarah Hastings, in
   Kanawha County, and moved to Memphis, and later lived in Arkansas.
   
   Ann, daughter of William L. Parsons, married first Charles Sheppard,
   and second Zach Hickman. With her second husband, she lived at Buffalo
   City, above Frozen Camp.
   
   Jerusha, daughter of William L. Parsons, married Jared Tolley. They
   lived on Elk Fork.
   
   Elizabeth, daughter of William L. Parsons, married Isaac Casto, and
   lived on Tug Fork. A daughter married an Earle, and another married
   A.M. Lewis.
   
   George Walker Parsons, son of William L. Parsons, married M. E.
   Asbury. Their children were:
   
   William Asbury, married Susan, daughter of T. J. Dawkins.
   
   Robert Bruce, married Nancy, daughter of Jonathan Parish.
   
   Alex R., married Rosa, daughter of C. C. Casto.
   
   Mary, Perry, Lafe and Dr. A. R. were other children of George Parsons.
   
   Janet, daughter of William L. Parsons, married Jabe Rollins, and lived
   at Hartford City. Rollins died, and she later married William
   Humphries.
   
   Caroline, daughter of William L. Parsons, married Joe Miller. They
   lived first at the mouth of Buffalo, where they made the first
   improvement. Miller was a brother of Lewis Miller, who lived opposite
   Beech Grove, on Left Reedy. Some say he started to Oregon, and was
   killed by the Indians on the overland trail, others that he was going
   by sea and was lost on the water, as was his brother.
   
   A deed made by William L. Parsons, in 1823, was signed by himself and
   his wife Elizabeth. He may have been married the third time, but I am
   inclined to think the second wifes name was Elizabeth Walker instead
   of Nancy.
   
   Another of the sons of Charles Parsons, and possibly the next in age
   to "Captain Billy" was John Parsons. He made the first improvement at
   the mouth of Stone Lick, on Grass Lick, and later moved farther up
   Stone Lick, to the place where his grandson, A. G. Parsons, now lives.
   He had probably lived somewhere on the Mill Creek side for some years
   before he moved to Grass Lick. He married first a Greathouse, and had
   seven or eight children, among whom were:
   
   Charles, married a Trueman, and lived on Stone Lick. Their children
   were:
   
   Adam, married an Alderman.
   
   Phebe, married a Randolph.
   
   Annie, married a Raines.
   
   Minerva, married a Gandee.
   
   Moses, son of John Parsons, married Polly Deweese. Their children
   were: Ruth, William, Henry and Lafe.
   
   Ann, daughter of John Parsons, married Tapley Garnes, and lived on
   Grass Lick. They had a daughter who married John Dougherty, and
   another who married Anthony Jordan.
   
   Mary, daughter of John Parsons, married a Raines, on Poca. Their
   daughter married Chris Rhodes.
   
   Barbara, daughter of John Parsons, married Jesse Shamblin. Their
   daughter, Elizabeth Shamblin, married James Rollins. Other children
   were John, William, Wilson, Ezekiel, George, Isaac, Henry, and Jesse.
   
   John, a son of John Parsons, married a Trueman. Their children were"
   
   Ballard, married a Harper.
   
   Melissa, married a Green.
   
   Margaret, married Ben Coleman.
   
   John.
   
   Thomas, married a Milam.
   
   Charles, married a Miller.
   
   Julia Ann, married Thaddeus Shamblin.
   
   Ab, lives above Ripley.
   
   Altice.
   
   Joshua, son of John Parsons, married Joanna Stewart, a niece of "Old
   Billy Stewart". He was one of the earliest settlers on Seamon Fork, of
   Reedy. He made the first improvement on the Newhart farm there, about
   1847. Later, about 1849, he built near where the old well on the Perry
   Hall farm at the head of Little Creek stands (John Hall said "Devil
   Bill" Parsons lived there before Joshua did.) Joshua afterward
   returned to Grass Lick, and died on Middle Fork of Poca. His children
   were:
   
   Moses.
   
   Elizabeth, married Nathan Hill.
   
   Allen, married a Rhodes.
   
   George W., married Sarah J. Rhodes.
   
   Jack (Gen. Jackson), married Delila Burdett.
   
   Benson, married a Green.
   
   Charles, (was deaf).
   
   Sarah Jane.
   
   Analiza, married Preacher" Honaker.
   
   George Parsons, son of Charles Parsons, married Polly Sleethe,
   probably a sister of David Sleethe, who came to Warths Bottom. He made
   the first improvement at Reedyville, Roane County. His cabin was on
   the Petty farm, and was at the site of the village. George and Polly
   Sleethe Parsonss children were:
   
   George, Jr., married a Woodruff. She later died, and he married Fannie
   Newell. Their children were: Hiram, Vashta, Joel, and a daughter who
   married a Smith.
   
   Ruth, daughter of George Parsons, Sr., married Abe Sayre, and lived on
   Parchment. Their children were:
   
   George, married a daughter of Elmore Casto, and lived on Parchment.
   
   A daughter married A. C. Hill.
   
   A daughter married William Sees, and lived on Thirteen.
   
   A daughter married Strother Smith, and lived on Thirteen.
   
   Abe and Bird are mentioned as two other children.
   
   Betsy, daughter of George Parsons, Sr., married George Bord. Their
   children were:
   
   Ballard., married Katy Ingram.
   
   A daughter married N. M. Crites.
   
   A daughter married Sam Starcher.
   
   A daughter married Wilson Starcher.
   
   A daughter married Peter Rhodes.
   
   James, Abe and Bird are the names of other children.
   
   Sally, daughter of George Parsons, Sr., married Edward Green,
   familiarly known as "Old Neddy Green".
   
   Charles, son of George Parsons, Sr., married an Allen. Their children
   were: Asbury, Lon and Leman.
   
   Mandy, daughter of George Parsons, Sr., married John Boyd. Their son,
   Charley Boyd, lived near Peniel and Reedyville.
   
   Jane, daughter of George Parsons, Sr., married Reverend Perry Lowther,
   a son of theirs married John Leonards daughter.
   
   Patsy, a daughter of Charles Parsons, Sr., married Thomas Pickens, and
   lived on the Maumee River.
   
   Betsy, a daughter of Charles Parsons, Sr., married John Smith, of
   Lewis County. Their children were:
   
   George Smith, who lives in Roane County, and was three times married,
   the third wifes name being Smith.
   
   Elias Smith, went to Illinois, was married. His children were Calvin
   and David.
   
   Dolly Smith, married Jonah Woodruff, brother of David Woodruff. He was
   drowned, and she later married John Law, who, it is said, was also
   drowned. One child by the first marriage, John Woodruff, is mentioned.
   
   Peggy, daughter of Elias, married Joseph Bibbee. Their children were:
   
   Elijah Bibbee, married a Sayre, children: Elijah and Ephraim.
   
   Susan Bibbee, married John Coe, children: Alfred, Mary, Tamar, Lottie
   and George.
   
   Delilah Bibbee, married Abe Slaughter, children: John and Elijah, who
   was once Deputy Sheriff of Jackson County.
   
   Alfred Bibbee, married a daughter of John Percy, children Lewis, Lula
   and others.
   
   Charles Parsons, Jr., was a son of Charles Parsons, Sr. He was born
   June 4th, 1804. He lived all his wedded life on the McVay farm, near
   the mouth of Big Run. He died there December 7th, 1875. He married
   Rebecca Wolfe about 1827, and their children were:
   
   Wilson W., married Flora Graham. Their children were: Ezra B.,
   Eldridge, Everett, and a daughter who married John Hall, son of Sam
   Hall, of Reedy. Elias, son of Charles Parsons, Jr., married Martha
   Lattimer. Their children were: Sam, Lewis, and a daughter, who married
   a Lee.
   
   Frances, daughter of Charles Parsons, Jr., married first James
   Lattimer, and later James Conley.
   
   Hiram, son of Charles Parsons, Jr., married Phebe Dye, cousin of
   Dusassaway Dye. She had formerly married a Waybright, and was Widow
   Waybright when she married Hiram Parsons. (Ed Waybright was her son by
   this former marriage.)
   
   Hannah, daughter of Charles Parsons, Jr., married John Conrad, of
   Reedy.
   
   Lewis, son of Charles Parsons, Jr., married Malinda Depue, a
   granddaughter of John Boggs, one of the pioneers of Spring Creek.
   
   Jesse, son of Charles Parsons, Jr., married Polly Humphries. He died
   in 1906, and she several years earlier.
   
   Sarah Jane, daughter of Charles Parsons, Jr., married John Wesley
   Cain, a son of Gamaliel Cain.
   
   David, son of Charles Parsons, Jr., married Rebecca Staats, sister of
   Bill Staats.
   
   Mary Catherine, daughter of Charles Parsons, Jr., married Nathan Lee.
   
   Elias Parsons was another son of Charles Parsons, Sr., who lived on
   the farm now owned by John Duke, at Frozen Camp. He was born just
   after the immigration to Warths Bottom, and died December 29th, 1849,
   when fifty two years old. He was twice married, first marrying Dolla
   Mayhew, who is buried by his side at Frozen Camp. His second wife was
   a Widow Graham, whose maiden name had been Burdett. After Parsons
   died, his widow married Elijah Staats, and lived near Evans.
   
   Three of Elias Parsons children died while young. They were Sarah,
   Melinda and Elizabeth. The names of the remaining children were:
   
   Charley (Little Charley), married Melinda Wiblin, and lived at the
   head of Frozen Camp. Their children were: M. M. (Murl), and Debby, who
   married a Brown.
   
   David, married Betty Roush, and lives on the Kanawha River, in Mason
   County.
   
   Ben, moved to Ohio, and married Ollie Kelley, of Byesville.
   
   James, married Jane Dye, daughter of John Dye.
   
   Angeline, married Leeman Allen, son of Jesse Allen,
   
   Patty, daughter of Charles Parsons, Sr., by his second wife, married
   William Casto, ("Devil Bill"), who lived to be one hundred three years
   old. Two of their children, John and Ann, died in infancy. Others of
   which I have only the names, were: Wylie, Charley, Augustus, Jacob,
   and Mary. There were, also:
   
   Elias, married a Casto.
   
   Margaret, married William Gandee, of Roane County.
   
   Emily, married Rev. Nicholas Casto.
   
   David, married a daughter of Isaac Staats.
   
   Martin, married William Johns daughter.
   
   Nancy, a daughter of Charles Parsons, Sr., and his second wife,
   married John W. Casto, a brother of "Devil Bill". They had one child,
   Anna Casto, who married Jim Rhodes, and lived on Elk Fork. Casto died,
   and Nancy married John Bord, who was a son of Patrick Bord, the first
   settler of Reedy District. They first lived on Little Creek, at what
   is called the "old improvement". They left there about 1829, and moved
   to the mouth of a branch of Big Run called, for him, Bord Run. He died
   n 1875, and it is said that Nancy Bord "lay a corpse when Lee
   surrendered to Grant".
   
   The children by this marriage were:
   
   Polly Bord, married a Boyd, and lived on Reedy.
   
   Charles Bord, married a Tolley, and lived on Frozen Camp.
   
   William Bord, married a Waybright, lives on Middle Fork.
   
   Margaret Bord, married Matthew Cobb.
   
   Mahala Bord, married Hiram Cobb, brother of Matthew.
   
   Miles Bord, married Elizabeth Bradley, lives at Frozen Camp.
   
   Sally, the other daughter of Charles Parsons, Sr., and his second
   wife, married James Cunningham. Of their children, Charles Cunningham
   was drowned in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Rath married Jane Graham. He died
   in Ripley.
   
   There is another Parsons family connected with the settlement of the
   Mill Creek county, which is no doubt related to the Charles and
   William Lowther Parsons who came to the mouth of Mill Creek. The head
   of this last named Parsons family, so far as it appears in the Mill
   Creek section, was Joe Parsons. He was probably either a brother of
   Charles Parsons, or a son of a brother of his.
   
   Joe Parsons, being a hunter and a rover, appears to have been mostly a
   squatter in different sections, rather than a permanent resident. He
   at one time lived on one of the streams flowing into Mill Creek, which
   was named Joes Run, for him.
   
   A more detailed account of the life of Joe Parsons will be found in
   connection with the settlement of Upper Mill Creek further on. Of his
   family, there is none I can find mentioned, excepting William, who was
   universally known as "Devil Bill" Parsons.
   
   They children of William (Devil Bill) Parsons were:
   
   John Parsons, married Elizabeth Good, daughter of Jacob Good. He lived
   on the Middle fork of Poca.
   
   Josiah, killed on West For, during the war.
   
   "Said", lived with her father.
   
   James, was in Major Harpolds Company during the war, and was killed at
   Cedar Creek.
   
   Alf, was lost in the Union Army.
   
   A son was, when a boy, killed during the Civil War, in an incident
   which occurred on the Ripley-Ravenswood pike, which incident is
   mentioned elsewhere in this volume.
   
   Then there was a Joseph Parsons who came to Sand Creek in 1800. The
   Charles Parsons and George Parsons mentioned in the Sandy Valley
   section were probably connected with him.
   
   He once lived at the head of Little Creek, and for a time lived under
   one of the several rocks on Gardner Run, a small tributary to Little
   Creek.
   
   Adam Parsons, who lived at Salt Hill, was probably also connected. His
   daughter -
   
   Mary, married William Stewart. Their children were: Charles, George,
   Elisha, Adam, Sarah, Ephriam, Elizabeth, John, Violetta and Lewis.
   
   Charles Parsons was killed by the Indians while floating down Shade
   River, Meigs County, Ohio. He was said to have been a red haired man.
   Charles Parsons married a Westbrook. Their children were:
   
   James, who was but six years old at the time his father was killed by
   the Indians.
   
   Anthony, married Catherine McCune, daughter of Peter McCune, Sr. Their
   children were John, whose daughter Amelia married Rev. M. B.
   Edmondson, and a daughter who married John Conally, son of Dr. George
   Conally.
   
   Joseph, married Elizabeth Bush, a daughter married Jacob Schoolcraft,
   and another, Christina, married Jacob Wayne.


   STARCHER FAMILY
   
   Perhaps the name most identified with the history of the town of
   Ripley, is that of Starcher.
   
   The founder of the family was Jacob Starcher. Where he came from, or
   when he came to Mill Creek is not recorded. One year older than
   Captain Parsons, he came to the mouth of Sycamore as his successor in
   the prime of manhood, about 1812.
   
   He probably came to Mill Creek about the time Abram Staats did, whose
   daughter he married, and from the same place. If this be the case, it
   is not recorded.
   
   Jacob Starcher married Anna Staats. They both lived to the same age,
   and now lie under the beautiful shade of the beech trees in the Ripley
   graveyard.
   
   He was born in 1768, and died in 1838, at the age of seventy years.
   
   She was born January 3rd, 1777, and died on July 8th, 1847, aged
   seventy years.
   
   The names of four of their children are recorded on the stone leaves
   of the cemetery:
   
   Jacob, born in 1795, the oldest.
   
   John C, born in 1796.
   
   Abraham, born in 1800.
   
   William, born in 1810.
   
   There are probably other children, whose names I did not learn. Of
   those mentioned:
   
   John C. Starcher, married Charity Lyons. Names of any children not
   learned.
   
   Abraham Starcher married Margaret Evans, and lived"down next to the
   river" as my informant expressed it. He died in 1871, at the age of
   seventy one. His wife died in 1852, at the age of fifty four. Their
   children were:
   
   Daniel Starcher, who died in 1846, unmarried.
   
   Mark Starcher, married Mary Williamson. Both are buried in the Ripley
   cemetery, along with his father and mother. His grave is decorated
   with a flag, for his gave his life for the Union. He died from the
   effects of wounds, after lingering ill two years after his return. He
   was forty five when he died. His wife survived him twenty there years,
   but now lies buried by his side.
   
   Joe Starcher, unlike his brother Mark, was a soldier in the
   Confederate Army, and was killed in service. (Thus did this tear
   families apart.)
   
   Sally married Jim Park.
   
   In this family there were also other children whose names I did not
   learn.
   
   Jacob Starcher, son of Jacob, Jr., married Rachel Woodruff.
   
   William Starcher was the youngest of the four sons of Jacob Starcher,
   Sr. he married Sarah (Sally) Evans, a sister of Abrahams wife. He
   lived across the creek, near the depot. He died in 1872. His wife died
   in 1883, at the age of eighty years, and lies also in the Ripley
   Cemetery, under the beeches.
   
   Edward, a son of William Starcher, married Emily Ables, of the
   Sycamore family. Probably a daughter of Alex Ables.
   
   Rosa, a daughter of William Starcher, married E D W King, a circuit
   rider of the Methodist itinerary.
   
   Robert E Starcher, son of William, was born near Ripley, in 1827. He
   filled during his life may positions of honor and trust. He served as
   sheriff, deputy sheriff, township supervisor, and for many years was
   Justice of the Peace.
   
   The Starchers who comprised the mercantile firm of Starcher Brothers,
   of Ripley, were grandsons of William Starcher.


   GRAHAM FAMILY
   
   After the death of Jacob Starcher, the old homestead in Ripley was
   sold to Thomas Graham, of Mineral Wells, in Wood County, in 1838 or
   1839.
   
   Graham was born in Monahan County, Ireland, in January, 1782, and
   seven years later his father emigrated to America. Like all the hardy
   pioneers of the day, young Thomas had his share of experience with the
   Indian foes, and his brother Robert was a soldier in the Indian wars.
   
   Whether Virginia or Pennsylvania was the site of the elder Grahams
   residence is not now known.
   
   Thomas and Robert were both soldiers in the War of 1812. The former
   was a member of the Methodist Church from 1833 to 1873. He died in
   July, 1878, at the advanced age of ninety six years, and was buried
   near Mineral Wells.
   
   Thomas Graham married Elizabeth Reeder, and settled at Mineral Wells,
   about 1808. He had to make pilgrimages to the Kanawha salt fields for
   salt and had often admired the beautiful country on Mill Creek,
   through which the trail passed, and having an opportunity to secure a
   farm at the mouth of Sycamore, he hastened to do so.
   
   Some of the old apple trees he planted in the bottom below George
   Armstrongs are said to be still standing.
   
   He afterward returned to Wood County, where most of his children
   lived.
   
   He appears to have been a trader before coming to Ripley. His salt was
   procured from his brother at the salt springs above Charleston, for it
   he bartered skins and furs, which were carried on pack horses over the
   hills.
   
   One daughter, Elen R., who married Sam Sayre, son of Joel and died in
   1849 at the age of seventeen, and an infant son, Clermont, died in
   1846, are buried in the central part of the old burying ground at
   Ripley.
   
   A daughter, Louise Caroline, married Isaiah Vail, who was born in
   Meigs County, Ohio, January 19th, 1825, and died in Ripley, where he
   made his home after marriage, November 19th, 1895, being just seventy
   years and ten months old.
   
   His sons Robert Vail engaged in undertaking and furniture, and John R.
   Vail, the genial hardware man, are among Ripleys most progressive
   citizens.
   
   William Graham, a son of Thomas, was in the Union Army, First West
   Virginia Cavalry, and was taken prisoner by the Confederates.
   
   Richard B. Graham, son of Thomas, seems to have alternated between
   Ripley and Mineral Wells, as a place of residence.
   
   William Graham, a brother of Thomas, located on the Kanawha River,
   above Charleston. He was the owner of the salt works at Grahams Mines,
   and shipped that commodity out of the Kanawha on keelboats. One of his
   sons, the Rev. C.B. Graham, was long presiding elder of the Charleston
   District in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
   
   An older brother, Robert Graham, was a large landholder on Reedy and
   Spring Creek. He was a practicing physician, a graduate of the
   University of Glasgow.
   
   (This next paragraph is offset by horizontal lines in the original
   text)
   
   A James Graham moved from Monroe County, Virginia, to Reedyville. Mrs.
   Westfall, a daughter was born there in 1830. She tells me these
   Grahams are not known to be related to the Mill Creek or Parkersburg
   Grahams. He married Sally Burdett, daughter of John Burdette. They
   moved to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where he died in 1839. His family then
   came back to a house built for them by their neighbors, across from
   where Luke Parsons now lives.
   
   The following story was told me by Robert Vail, in 1904:
   
   Before the settlement at Ripley, Robert Graham had an appointment to
   meet another man at the intersection of the Charleston and Parkersburg
   trail with the overland path from Warths Bottom to Harrison County.
   Not finding his man on the ground, Graham went in to camp at the
   crossing of the trails near where the Hon. James A. Seaman now lives.
   Awaking in the night, he found himself covered over with leaves, like
   the babes in the woods.
   
   Being an experienced woodcraftsman, he knew in a moment what that
   meant, so he crept carefully out and heaped the leaves up again as
   nearly as possible as they had been before he moved. Then cautiously
   he climbed a neighboring tree, and with his trusty rifle in hand,
   watched until daylight.
   
   His vigilance was rewarded by seeing through the grey morning light,
   an enormous panther appear on the scene, followed by two cubs.
   
   She crept stealthily to within eight or ten feet of the leaf pile, and
   crouching low, sprang on it with all her power. Never was panther more
   surprised than she when she grasped the empty leaves, and before she
   had recovered from her momentary confusion, a rifle spoke out from the
   tree top, and she sank down in the agonies of death, with a bullet
   through her heart.
   
   When "Dick" Graham was a small boy, he was allowed to accompany Black
   Ed, a negro, to Charleston for a load of salt. Shortly before they
   reached the foot of Salt Lick Hill, as it was gathering dusk, they
   heard a noise in the thicket bordering the trail, like the screaming
   of a woman in distress.
   
   The boy wanted to go to her relief, but the more wary colored man told
   him to "never mind the woman, but hurry on". The noise however came
   nearer and nearer, until presently a large panther came into the path
   before them. Upon seeing the travelers, it climbed a tree and
   crouching on a horizontal branch, watched them as they gathered fuel
   and built a fire, for it was now growing dark. This done, the colored
   man had the boy mount the horse and flee for the nearest cabin.
   
   While he brandishing a long knife, his only weapon, jumped around
   wildly, defying the animal to come down to him, the panther, however,
   did not choose to come down to the fire, and the mans gyrations had
   the desired effect of attracting its attention from the boy and horse,
   who made good their escape.
   
   Ed had to remain awake and keep up the fire until morning, when
   daylight came, the panther jumped from its perch and disappeared into
   the forest, much to the tired mans relief.
   
   One time, at an earlier date, before the animals had grown
   sufficiently accustomed to the firearms of the pioneers, to have
   become cowardly, a large panther attacked Thomas Graham in his camp on
   the head of Sandy, near where Andrew Somerville resided later, while
   on a trip to Kanawha for salt.
   
   When shot, the animal measured nine feet from tip to tip.


   SMITH FAMILY
   
   Another name intimately connected with the history of Ripley and
   Jackson County is that of Smith. Indeed, what town or village was ever
   founded without Mr. Smith having his part in it.
   
   Go where you may, and ask where Mr. Smith lives, and they will tell
   you, for there is no neighborhood so poor or so remote that he is not
   there.
   
   The founder of this family was Jonas Smith, born on Long Island, in
   1787. His wife was Diana Nostrand. She was born in 1790. They moved
   west with their family, consisting of four sons and three daughters,
   locating at Point Pleasant, about 1820. There, the mother died in
   1835, the father died in Illinois ten years later.
   
   Of the sons, George, Nehemiah and James are identified with the
   history of Ripley.
   
   Nehemiah Smith, commonly known as "Mire" Smith, was born in New York,
   December 14th, 1805, and died at Ripley, April 28th, 1859. He married
   Rachel Wetzell, a daughter of Adam Wetzell, who was a nephew of the
   renowned Indian fighter, Lewis Wetzell. She was born in 1805 and died
   February 15th, 1865. Both rest under the beech trees of the old
   graveyard. "Mire" Smith, with his brother James, who was the builder
   of the Court House in Ripley in 1833, opened the second mercantile
   establishment in Ripley in 1833. The first was by Alfred Beauchamp, of
   Elizabeth, a few months earlier. In 1841, they also opened a store at
   Reedy, in a little hewed log building built for that purpose by
   William Stewart, nearly where the Ball tavern now stands. This was the
   first store at Reedy. "Wash" Rader was salesman, and like most stores
   of the day, whiskey was one of the principal commodities handled.
   
   "Mire" Smith was Sheriff of Jackson County in 1850, and in his day one
   of the most enterprising of the business men of Ripley.
   
   Nehemiah and Rachel Wetzell Smiths children were:
   
   "Bub" Smith.
   
   A daughter who married Henry Progler. [Elizabeth]
   
   A daughter who married James McKown. [Samantha]
   
   George W. Smith was born in Watertown, New York, in 1814, came with
   his parents to Point Pleasant when six years of age. In 1839, he
   married Anna Staats, a daughter of Jacob Staats, who lived on Mill
   Creek just below Ripley. About 1841, he acquired the old Rader
   homestead on Elk Fork, and lived there until his death. Both he and
   his wife were buried in the Rader graveyard.
   
   Like his brother, he died young. Born August 14th, 1814, he died
   February 19th, 1860, when but forty five years old.
   
   George and Anna Staats Smiths children were:
   
   F.F. Smith, born in 1840, died in 1864, was a Major in the Confederate
   Army, and killed at Urbana, Maryland.
   
   A.A. Smith, born in 1842, was in the same regiment with his brother.
   He died in 1910.
   
   C.C. (Clay) Smith, born in 1844, was on the other hand, in the Union
   Army. He later lived at Spencer.
   
   George H. Smith, born in 1846, died in 1860.
   
   Ellen Diana Smith, born in 1848, married John A. Mackintosh, a
   merchant, of Ravenswood.
   
   Virginia Alice Smith, born in 1850, died in 1888.
   
   Everett Crittendon Smith, born in 1852.
   
   Victoria Ann Smith, born in 1856, died in 1865.
   
   Mary Jane Smith was born in 1858. She married first a wealthy English
   land owner named Rosset. After his death, she later married F. Leon
   Clere (pronounced Clare), a young lawyer and real estate man, of
   Ripley. Clere was born at Montiers, Switzerland, in 1845, and died at
   Ripley, in 1886. His is one of the most imposing granite monuments in
   the old cemetery.
   
   Nancy Smith, a sister of Nehemiah and George Smith, is also buried in
   the cemetery. She was born in 1793, and died in 1852.


   WETZELL FAMILY
   
   The name of Wetzell, once prominent in Ripley, was later transferred
   to Ravenswood.
   
   Adam Wetzell was the son of one of Lewis Wetzells brothers.
   
   He lived at Point Pleasant, and raised a family of several children,
   but came to Jackson County before 1831.
   
   His wife was a Miss McDaniel, of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, her
   mothers name was Slack, and her grandmother, Phillips, from Scotland.
   
   Of their children:
   
   Rachel married Nehemiah Smith, as mentioned before.
   
   William, Perry and George went to Missouri.
   
   Another son was publisher of a Union paper at Point Pleasant, and was
   shot to death by a man who took offense at an article which appeared
   in the paper.
   
   John H. Wetzell was born at the Point in 1811. When a young man,
   arrayed in tow linen breeches, young Wetzell walked to Charleston,
   seeking his fortune. There he learned the tailors trade. He came to
   Ripley about 1830, and was one of the Virginia Gazetteers two tailors
   mentioned. This essential avocation of the pioneer days, like that of
   the hatter, has gone from our midst, years ago, and even the calling
   of boot and shoe maker is fast disappearing. He was assessor in 1864,
   and was postmaster at Ripley for many years.
   
   He was married to Harriet Lowther, a descendant of Col. Wm. Lowther,
   of Harrison County, and daughter of Robert Lowther.
   
   A gray old weatherbeaten headstone under the shadowy beeches of the
   central part of the old Ripley graveyard bears the quaint inscription
   
   "Here lys the body of Harriet Wetzel wife of John Wetzel born Dec the
   12th 1817 and died the 7th of March 1845"
   
   John and Harriet Lowther Wetzells children were:
   
   Hon. Robert T. Wetzell, of Ravenswood.
   
   Elizabeth Wetzell, married Ben Chase, who was killed in the
   Confederate Army, at Lloyds Mountain. They had a daughter, Greek
   Chase, who married a Park. She was very proud of her New York origin.
   She once said "Virginia doesnt hustle enough to suit me. One class
   does not have to work, and the other wont".
   
   After the death of his first wife, John Wetzell married Anna, a
   daughter of Joseph Hall. She was born in 1821, and died at the home of
   her son, Dr. Wetzell, in Ravenswood, in 1903, at the age of eighty two
   years. The Wetzell children by the last wife, were:
   
   Dr. J. H. Wetzell, lived at Ravenswood.
   
   J.P. Wetzell, married Miss Sarah Wetzell of Ravenswood. He was a
   painter by trade.
   
   A family of Wetzells living in Roane County claimed relationship with
   the Ravenswood Wetzells. David Wetzell, a soldier of the war of 1812,
   claimed to be a descendant of Lewis Wetzell. He was born in Shenandoah
   Valley, in 1792, and married Regina Fultz. His children were:
   
   William B. Wetzell, was killed at Cloyds Mountain.
   
   Aaron M. Wetzell, was in the Ninth West Virginia Infantry.
   
   Rebecca Wetzell married William Curtis. They had children: Francis,
   Albert L., Lyda, Martha and Nathan.


   LOWTHER FAMILY
   
   Robert Lowther, probably connected with Col. William Lowther, came
   from Harrison County to Ripley about 1831.
   
   He was one of the first members of the Ripley bar, and for several
   years, postmaster of the place.
   
   He was born March 24th, 1795, and died April 22nd, 1856.
   
   His wife, Mary Lowther, was three years his senior, and died five
   years earlier, or in 1851. They both sleep in the old cemetery at
   Ripley.
   
   By them lies a son, E. D. (Dunck) Lowther, born in 1830, died in 1897.
   Over his grave waves a faded American flag, showing that in "the times
   that tried mens souls", his rang true. Honor to all the graves, the
   flag waves over, be they never so lowly and peace to the ashes that
   sleep beneath.
   
   Andrew Lowther was another son.
   
   Mary Lowther, a daughter, died in Baltimore.
   
   Major Henry Harpolds wife was also a daughter, and the last of the
   family to cross the bar was Mrs. Minerva Smith, widow of the late
   Judge Joe Smith. She died a few years ago.
   
   Robert Lowther, as surveyor, first laid off the town of Ripley, in
   1832, and for a quarter of a century, he was a distinguished and
   progressive citizen.
   
   The Court House Square was given by Jacob Starcher, who laid out the
   town.


   ARMSTRONG FAMILY
   
   There are two families of Armstrong whose history is connected with
   that of Ripley. The one is associated with the town from the
   beginning, the other is of later migration.
   
   The latter, headed by John J.P. Armstrong, who was born in Bath
   County, Virginia, came from Lewis County, in 1841.
   
   His wife was a Miss Margaret Jones. They had two sons, who became
   prominent in county affairs, Jacob L. Armstrong, born in Lewis County,
   July 24th, 1827, moved to Jackson County, with his parents in 1841. He
   married Eliza Ayres July 24th, 1850, and moved from Ripley to
   Ravenswood in 1855, where he died.
   
   Holly G., J.V., and Virginia, who became Mrs. W.W. Riley, were their
   children.
   
   J.L. Armstrong was Clerk of the County Court, in 1876. He died
   November 6th, 1901.
   
   Merceline Armstrong, a sister, married John Bonnett.
   
   Margaret, wife of John P. Armstrong, died in February 16th, 1871, at
   the age of eighty. She was Margaret Jones, born in Wales, and mother
   of J.L. and M.B. Armstrong.
   
   Mathias Benson Armstrong was born in Lewis County, February 10th,
   1820. He was a son of John J.P. Armstrong, and came to Jackson County
   in 1843. (Other accounts put the date of the Armstrong immigration at
   1844.) He was one year First Lieutenant in Company G, 36th Virginia
   Infantry. Frank Turners Company of John A. McCauslands regiment, a
   Deputy Sheriff in Lewis County, and under "Mire" Smith in Jackson
   County in 1850, four years State Senator, four years County surveyor,
   and several years postmaster.
   
   He was three times married, his first wife being Nancy, daughter of
   Joseph Rader.
   
   He died (from tombstone) February 19th, 1894, was born February 10th,
   1819.
   
   M. B. Armstrong lived on the farm where the Spencer pike leaves the
   middle Fork of Reedy to cross over to Reedyville, in 1855 or 1856.
   
   The second wife was Rachel Bennett.
   
   The third wife was Luisa, daughter of Elijah Flesher, and widow of Dr.
   F.A. Holt. An inscription on her monument says she was born March
   21st, 1825, and died December 15th, 1889.
   
   William H. Armstrong, who died in 1846, is said to have been a son of
   J. J. P. Armstrong. He married Aerligh Rollins, who afterward was
   wedded to Elias Stone and John A. Goodwin.
   
   The John Armstrong who taught the first school at Ripley is said to be
   no relation, possibly he was of Col. Armstrongs family.
   
   The earlier Armstrong family was founded at Ripley in 1831, by Col.
   James Armstrong.
   
   He was born in 1805, and died in 1879.
   
   He married Catharine Weas, a daughter of George Weas, who lived six
   miles from Beverly, in Randolph County.
   
   She was born on January 12th, 1812, and died at the home of George W.
   Armstrong in January, 1900. Had she lived a few days longer, she would
   have been eighty two years old. She was a member of the Baptist
   Church. James Armstrong and Catharine Weas were married in 1830, and
   came to Jackson County the fall of 1831, settling at the mouth of
   Sycamore.
   
   Judge V.S. Armstrong, B.F., and George W. Armstrong, Mrs. Thomas E.
   Graham, of Parkersburg since about 1896, Martha J., who married Dr.
   Charles N. Austin, formerly of Ripley, and Mrs. James Brown, of
   Sandyville, survived both their parents. Florence, wife of J. E.
   Brown, died in Parkersburg, in 1906. Annie, wife of V.S. Armstrong,
   died April 15th, 1904. Julia Watson, of Iowa, was also a daughter.
   
   Calvin Armstrong, who died at Ripley, December 23rd, 1872, in his
   seventy second year, was a brother of Colonel Armstrong. Another
   brother, Alpheus, lived about two miles up Sycamore on the Sandyville
   road.
   
   A sister married James Thomas, and lived on Little Creek in the 30s or
   40s (about 1831).
   
   Virgil S. Armstrong died October 28th, 1917.


   ROBERT MATE
   
   Robert Mate, who died in Ripley, of which he had long been a citizen.
   He was born in Pointor, Lincolnshire, England, January 14th, 1821,
   came to New York in 1844, married Eliza Harker, also from England, in
   1850, on the 4th of July, started for Ripley the morning of the 5th,
   where he located on the 22nd.
   
   He was an accomplished blacksmith, and from his shop are said to have
   graduated:
   
   Adam Cunningham
   
   Frank Fabry
   
   J. M. Miller
   
   Nathan Ong
   
   Charles Landfried
   
   Henry Landfried
   
   James McKown
   
   Robert Conley
   
   John Murphy
   
   John T. Vail
   
   Frank Cromley
   
   John Rhodes
   
   Henry Perry
   
   John Henen
   
   James E. Batten
   
   A. A. Kidd
   
   Daniel Cunningham
   
   About fifty others have worked in his shop at different times.
   
   His father died in England, in 1834, and his mother at his house in
   Ripley, in 1871.


   MCKOWN FAMILY
   
   John McKown was born in 1788. He came with his fathers family from
   Greene County, Pennsylvania, about 1810 or 1812.
   
   John McKown was of Irish descent, his father was James McKown, and is
   said to have seen service in the Revolutionary War with General
   Washington. John was the youngest son. He had a brother, Gilbert, who
   also came to Jackson County, later.
   
   John married Sarah Stone, who was born in 1788. He owned a fine farm
   three miles below Ripley, and had a grist mill, saw mill and carding
   machine. He was also prominent in the organization of Jackson County,
   in 1831, and was one of the first magistrates of the county. He died
   in 1883, and Sarah (Stone) McKown died in 1882. Of their children:
   
   Elias McKown never married.
   
   Lydia McKown married first a Love, and second Nathan Ong.
   
   Margaret McKown married first Robert Griffin, and second John Hogg.
   
   James McKown was born on the farm at the mouth of parchment, in 1828,
   and died in February, 1905, at he age of seventy seven years.
   
   While engaged in merchandising in Ripley with Nehemiah Smith, he
   married his partners daughter, Samantha Smith. They lived at what was
   later the site of the Valley Bank, and had a large family of ten
   children.
   
   Gilbert McKown, their son, was the father of Isaac and Ephraim McKown,
   of Roane County.
   
   Gilbert McKown, son of John McKown, lived about the time of the Civil
   War, in Spencer. He had a son Norman McKown.
   
   A Sam McKown married a Rollins, and died before the war.


   KIDD FAMILY
   
   Dr. Amos Kidd was born near Marietta, in 1827. His father, Amos Kidd,
   married Keziah Roberts. He was from Greene County Pennsylvania, and
   she from Loudoun County, Virginia. In later life, they came to Jackson
   County, and died there. Dr. Kidd studied medicine at Sterling Medical
   College. He came to Ravenswood in 1863, and practiced there for some
   years, then practiced at Ripley until his death.
   
   He married Mary Dorman. Dr. W.W. Kidd, of Ripley, is their son.


   JOHN GREER
   
   John Greer lived in Bath County, Virginia, prior to 1808, on the banks
   of the Bull Pasture River. Here was born his family of five children,
   William, born in 1793, Margaret in 1794, Jane in 1800, John in 1803
   and James in 1805.
   
   In the year 1808, he crossed the mountains to the "wild and wooly"
   west, there being no wagons or roads other than trails, the family and
   such household utensils as were brought along were conveyed on the
   backs of five or six horses. One carried the mother with the youngest
   child in her lap, one carried the father, and the others the children
   and effects. William, who was thirteen, rode a horse, and John, who
   was five, rode behind. Someplace on the route, a meddlesome dog
   slipped out and nipped the horses heels, and the animal promptly
   dumped the boys in the road.
   
   Greer fixed his residence just above Point Pleasant, on the Kanawha
   River, and raised about eight acres of corn the first year, after his
   arrival. While going out to his place, his dogs, an indispensable
   possession of every pioneer, treed a black bear in what is now the
   corporate limits of the city.
   
   The son John celebrated his ninety fourth birthday on December 14th,
   1897.
   
   Asbury Parsons told me Jack Greer remembered seeing Captain Billy
   Parsons Company march for Norfolk in the War of 1812.
   
   William, the oldest son of John Greer, was born in 1793, and died in
   1837, by being drowned in Mill Creek, near Cottageville. He married
   Martha E. ----, who died in 1879. They had five children:
   
   John, married Catharine Redman.
   
   Samuel Beatty, born October 2nd, 1830, died November, 1906, married
   Mary Frances Ayres.
   
   James A. Greer.
   
   William T. Greer.
   
   Martha Greer, married W. Brown Gibbs.
   
   Mary Greer.
   
   John M. Greer, son of William Greer, was born on the 15th day of
   December, 1823, and died on the 19th of May, 1900. He married
   Catharine Redman.
   
   He came with his father, when seven years old, living on the Isaiah
   Cunningham farm.
   
   On the death of his father, John, the oldest child, though but
   fourteen years old, had to take a mans place in providing for the
   family, for his father was a man of small means.
   
   While a boy, he carried the mails through woods and over stream from
   Ripley to Arnoldsburg, Spencer being the only intermediate office. He
   made one trip each week, and received $150.00 per year. He also
   carried the mail from Ripley to Belleville.
   
   He also helped in driving cattle to Harrison and Lewis Counties for
   the magnificent renumeration of $8.00 per month.
   
   In politics, John Greer was a Whig up to the war. Voting for Bell in
   1860, and against secession in 1861. After the war was over, he was
   first a liberal, then a "let upper", and finally, a full-fledged
   Democrat. In 1847, he held his first office, being appointed constable
   by the County Court, composed of John Kountz, Jesse Carney, Thomas
   Coleman, and Dr. John Armstrong, Justices.
   
   This was to fill a vacancy caused by John K. Stone failing to give
   bond.
   
   His sureties were John Harper, Hugh Kyger, Charles Carney, and S. B.
   Seaman, and the bond was for $3,000.00. On the 11th day of June, 1849,
   he was reappointed, the court being John W. Rardon, Ephraim S. Evans,
   Warren Reed, Joel Cunningham and Joel Sisson, and his bondsmen John
   Harper, Hugh Kyger and W. H. Watson. Twice more he was constable, by
   appointment in 1851, and by the vote of the people in 1854.
   
   On the 22nd of May, 1856, John Greer was elected Sheriff of Jackson
   County, giving bond in the penalty of $80,000.00.


   KEENEY FAMILY
   
   John Keeney married Rachel Burdett, a sister of Willis Burdett. He was
   one of the Middle Fork pioneers, settling on the Deem place, on the
   Middle Fork of Reedy, being the first settler on that farm.
   
   After staying there a few years, he moved away, finally bringing up in
   Ripley.
   
   He is said to have been a Methodist preacher.
   
   John D. Keeney died June 10th, 1855, in his sixty sixth year. Rachel
   Burdett Keeney died September 11th, 1861, aged sixty seven. Both are
   buried at Ripley. He lived in Ripley as early as 1839.
   
   Of his children:
   
   Alec Kenney, married Elvira Rader.
   
   D.J. (Jack) Keeney, married a daughter of John Koontz. He was
   Republican candidate for Sheriff of Jackson County, in 1870.
   
   Maria Keeney, married "Wash" Burdett.
   
   Caroline Keeney, married John Mackintosh.
   
   Lewis Keeney.
   
   Analiza Keeney, married a man named Taylor.


   STONE FAMILY
   
   Connected with the history of Ripley is that of the Stone family.
   
   This family came to Jackson County from Mason County. There were four
   in the family, three brothers and a sister.
   
   John Stone, lived at Stevens, Mason County, was the father of Attorney
   E. L. Stone. He raised eighteen children and was married three times.
   He was born about 1832 or 1833, and died March 4th, 1907.
   
   Fred Stone was born in 1825 or 1826, and married Lizzie Harpold
   daughter of Solomon and Matilda Shinn Harpold.
   
   Elias Stone, the youngest brother, lives below Ripley, on Mill Creek.
   
   Elizabeth Stone, married Enoch Sayre, and later George Shinn, father
   of Owens and brothers. She was born April 16th, 1822, and died
   February 24th, 1907. J.W. Sayre and Samantha, wife of Harpold, were
   her children.
   
   James Stone, married Analiza, daughter of Sam Shinn, of Grass Lick or
   Parchment.
   
   Minerva Stone married David Sayre.
   
   A cousin, Elias Stone, married Rolly Ann Shinn.
   
   George Stone and wife, Lucinda Miller, and his daughters, Minerva,
   Sally and Elizabeth, left Green County, Pennsylvania in October 1823,
   and floated down to the mouth of Mill Creek, locating on the Elias
   Stone farm two miles below Ripley. They brought two horses, two cows
   and household goods with them in the boats.
   
   George Stone was a member of the County Court in 1831.


   SYCAMORE CREEK
   
   Sycamore Creek enters Big Mill Creek at the town of Ripley.
   
   It rises in the divide between Mill Creek and Sandy and flows in a
   southwesterly direction, and is about five miles long.
   
   It was named from the number of gigantic sycamore trees that grew
   along its banks near the mouth, their white limbs clothed with a
   wealth of dancing buttonwood balls, and their massive trunks mirrored
   in the crystal flow of the stream, like the water birth, annually
   shedding bark as well as leaves.
   
   As these trees grew of immense girth and were frequently hollow, in
   the backwoods economy, they were often used as shelter, or for camping
   purposes, sometimes serving the settler as a house for years.
   
   The first settlers on the Greenbrier River, Marlin and Sewell, dwelt
   in the cavity of one of those trees, which stood on the site of the
   present town of Marlinton in Pocahontas County, for two or three
   years, and the Pringle brothers, John and Samuel, on the Buckhannon
   River, had long a similar home.
   
   As previously related, Captain Billy Parsons utilized a large sycamore
   as a part of his dwelling house, when he first came to the mouth of
   Mill Creek, and at an earlier date, while yet the Indians were
   struggling to hold their homes and hunting grounds against the
   steadily encroaching civilization of the white man, Andrew Anderson
   established himself, solitary and alone, in the hollow of a. huge
   sycamore tree, which grew somewhere in the Great Bend, across the Ohio
   River from Warth's Bottom, where he continued hunting and trapping for
   several years.
   
   Another useful purpose to which the hollow Sycamore was put was the
   making of grain bins, boxes, barrels and even chests and trunks, into
   which they were converted by simply cutting the thin shells, which in
   a large tree would sometimes be no more than two of three inches
   thick, into sections two to four feet long, nailing clapboard across
   one end, and after the inside was smoothed out if necessary, there
   resulted the useful bins to hold their grain.
   
   It is related that when John Bord on Frozen Camp was elected a justice
   of the Peace, he got in a gum. and had his wife "call court", so he
   could practice answering to his name.
   
   She "lowed " "There ain't any Squire but jist you and me, pap".
   
   Sycamore chips were sometimes used as a substitute for tea, and was
   said when properly prepared and sweetened with maple sugar, the staple
   article of the backwoods, to be a fragrant and pleasant drink.
   
   Sassafras, sweet birth, ground ivy, wintergreen, dittany and various
   other barks and herbs were used instead of tea and coffee, both of
   which were scarce on the frontiers, and the latter was usually
   disliked until the taste for it had been acquired. Milk, however, was
   the drink most commonly used at the table.
   
   Mrs. Price told me she had seen "lots of bears and deers thicker than
   squirrels are now" (1906). One could stand in the cabin door and shoot
   turkeys flying over, and her brother, Ben Rollins, "had killed mor'n a
   hundred bears on the head of Tug."
   
   Mrs. Price said also that Captain Billy Parsons shot an elk (possibly
   a buffalo) at Lick Spring, at the mouth of Sycamore, near where it
   enters Mill Creek. The last bear killed near Ripley was on Sycamore.
   
   It is almost certain that the first white settler on Sycamore was
   Charles Parsons, and he probably came at the same time his son settled
   at the mouth of the creek. or very soon after, that is to say, about
   1804 or 1805.
   
   It is also probable that he reared his first lowly cabin about the
   forks of the creek , between a quarter and half mile from its mouth.
   
   By water, the distance to the entrance of the left branch is much
   greater, as the stream flows to within a few rods of mill Creek, and
   turning, flows back along itself, perhaps thirty six poles, to the
   mouth of Green Run, where it turns again and flows past Ripley, to its
   confluence with Mill Creek, a few rods farther up that stream than it
   would but for the double loop.
   
   After Captain Parsons returned from the War of 1812, he also lived up
   on Sycamore.
   
   Luke Parsons told me in a conversation on October 1st, 1906, that his
   grandfather, Charles Parsons, Sr., lived, when his father (Charles
   Parsons, Jr.) was a boy of fourteen, in a cabin that stood on a
   raised piece of ground where the creek makes a turn, just below the
   lower Straley house, and above the forks of Sycamore. He had but
   little cleared ground, and and was probably only a squatter on the
   land. When they left there, Charles Jr. wanted to move back to the
   river, but his father and captain Billy decided to move back into the
   hills where hunting would be better. They moved to the mouth of Frozen
   Camp, on what was then known as the Trace Fork of Mill Creek.


   ABLES FAMILY
   
   From the forks of Sycamore, the Parsonses at one time or another,
   owned the valley of the right branch up for over two and a half miles,
   or as far as the site of the Centennial Church and school house.
   
   They were probably the first permanent settlers of the lower Sycamore
   valley.
   
   About 18, Martin Ables came from Greene County, Pennsylvania, and
   located about a mile and a half up on Sycamore, at what is now known
   as the Straley farm, where he made the first improvement, though it is
   probable Parsons had lived for a time at the wide bottoms above at an
   earlier date. Two sons came with him and lived somewhere near Sandy.
   
   He is said to have had a horse mill, which was patronized by the
   pioneers of Sandy.
   
   Some of his descendants are still living about Ravenswood.
   
   Alexander (commonly known as Alec) Ables, married Hannah Staats,
   daughter of Old Abram Staats, of near Evans.
   
   He got a piece of land at the farm now owned by William Carney,
   building his house across on a knoll near the mouth of two runs which
   here flow into Sycamore.
   
   Here was born on January 5th, 1831, his daughter, Anna, who is now
   residing at Reedy, in Roane County (Mrs. William Stewart).
   
   He lived a while at the mouth of Sycamore.
   
   Margaret Ables, a sister of Alec, married William Staats, a son of
   Abraham, and brother of Alec's wife. He lived on Sycamore for a time,
   and then emigrated to Indiana.
   
   Late in the thirties, a man named Hamilton bought the farm now known
   as the Connolly farm, about a mile above town, there was a camp ground
   laid out by the Methodist people in the woods in the Connolly bottoms.
   Here they continued to hold camp meetings annually until the ground
   was cleared, when the camp ground, with its paraphernalia of sheds,
   cook rooms, seats, etc., were removed to the flat at the head of the
   run where the road crosses from Sycamore to Station Camp.
   
   Here the meetings were kept up until the division of the church, in
   1844.
   
   This was locally known as the "Seedtick" camp ground, from the immense
   quantities of a small white insect, known as seedtick, by which the
   leaves and brush of the thickets were inhabited.
   
   These, with the still well known "Chiggers" and woodticks, were a pest
   to the backwoodsman.
   
   Where the run just mentioned enters the creek, another large run
   enters from the right, which heads a the Short Bend schoolhouse.
   
   At a spot near the mouth of this run was the site of the Ables cabin.
   Mr. William Staats, of near Reedy, informs me that he remembers when
   small, perhaps about 1846, going with his father when he took his wool
   to the carding machine.
   
   They stopped with his aunt, Hannah Ables, and she sent a son, Alfred,
   to a neighbor, on the adjoining farm, the house was by the creek on
   the Carney farm possibly the same one torn down about 1903 for a
   cabbage head, on which errand he went also. The people, he remembers,
   were German, the old lady talking volubly in that tongue.
   
   There is on record in the Clerk's office at Ripley, a deed made
   January 30th, 1834, wherein Martin Ables, in consideration of the sum
   of $200.00 and the maintenance of himself and wife, Margaret Ables,
   conveyed to Alexander Ables, three hundred acres on Sycamore, being
   the upper part of the tract of four hundred acres bought by him of
   John Leonard, and by Leonard of John Swan.
   
   As a means of easy reference, the following condensed information is
   given:
   
   Martin Ables (wife's name was not learned) came from Greene County,
   Pennsylvania. His children were
   
   Alexander, married Hannah Staats. He died in Illinois.
   
   Jacob.
   
   Margaret married William Staats.
   
   There was a family named Ables who moved from Greene County,
   Pennsylvania, to Guernsey County, Ohio, about 1805, or earlier.


   STRALEY FAMILY
   
   There lived in the first and second decades of the century, on the
   site of the old fort on Hacker's Creek, in Lewis County, a man by the
   name of Christian Straley, a native of Germany.
   
   His wife's name was Elizabeth Bonnett. There were three sons, all of
   whom married and settled on Hacker's Creek.
   
   Their names were George, Stephen and Jacob.
   
   George Straley lived on the farm where West Fort stood on Hacker's
   Creek, traces of the fort were yet visible in the 1800's. He married a
   Chapman.
   
   Stephen was born in Lewis County in 1801, and died in 1885.
   
   About 1857, or 1858, they came to Mill Creek, Stephen locating on the
   farm where Martin Ables lived, and George bought the house by the
   creek where the German lived, now owned by William Carney.
   
   Jacob returned to Lewis County without purchasing.
   
   Stephen married Mary Alkire.
   
   His son, Christian Straley, born in 1828, marred Anna, daughter of
   Alex Ables, New Year's Day, in 1852. On the following October 7th, he
   died, and on December 10th, was born his twin children, Margaret E.
   and Hannah E.
   
   Stephen Straley and wife and two grown sons are buried in the
   northeast quarter of the old cemetery at Ripley.
   
   About one fourth mile above the Sycamore bridge and the two runs
   previously mentioned, a considerable branch comes in from the left.
   There stands in the little bottom where this run flows from the hills,
   an old vacant, tumble down, hewed log house. Just in front of this
   stood the dwelling of John F. Parsons, the son of Captain Billy, who
   was born in the tree.
   
   A more detailed genealogy of the Straley family, an outline of which
   has been given before, is as follows:
   
   Christian Straley, a native of Germany, came to America, lived at the
   fort on Hacker's Creek. He married Elizabeth Bonnett. They had three
   sons, two of whom lived in Jackson County.
   
   George Straley married a Chapman.
   
   Elizabeth married Jim Wolfe and lived on Station Camp.
   
   Abe.
   
   Angeline married first a Rollins, and later she married Chris Rhodes,
   a cousin of "Uncle" Johnny Rhodes.
   
   Hannah married Sandusky Harpold.
   
   Cinderella married William Staats.
   
   Martha married Dan Bartlett.
   
   Liza married Brooks Kessel.
   
   Amelia died unmarried.
   
   Jacob married Hannah Staats.
   
   Stephen Straley was born February 4th, 1806, married Mary Alkire in
   Lewis County. He died July 8th, 1885. His wife was born in 1815, and
   died in 1879. Of their children:
   
   Elizabeth married John Ferguson, and lived on Sycamore. He died in
   1906.
   
   Christian Straley, born in 1828, died in 1852, married Anna Ables.
   They had twin daughters, Margaret E. and Hannah E.


   LANDFRIED FAMILY
   
   Another quarter mile above this a large run comes in from the left.
   
   The bottoms hereabout are rather wide. Opposite the mouth of this run
   are built the Centennial Church and school house.
   
   About half way between these two branches and well across to the
   southern side of the valley is an old well and a part of the wreckage
   of an old orchard. Here was the homestead of Travis Parsons, another
   son of Captain Billy.
   
   He lived at this farm on Sycamore, as above mentioned, until 1848,
   when he sold his farm to Philip Landfried.
   
   He bought on the right fork of Reedy, building at the foot of the hill
   below the Pleasant Grove Church.
   
   After the war, he sold his farm to an oil company and return to
   Sycamore, locating at the John Jewell farm on the left fork.
   
   There were three Landfried brothers, by the names of George, Henry and
   Philip Landfried, who came to Jackson County about 1848.
   
   They were born at Leitweller "six miles from the River Rhine", in
   Germany.
   
   They came to New York in 1835, with their father's family.
   
   George, the eldest, was married about 1837. He lived in Ripley some
   fifty years, dying there.
   
   Henry.
   
   Philip Landfried was born in 1829, and was nineteen when they moved to
   Sycamore in 1848.
   
   He married Sarah Ann, daughter of Jacob Ables.
   
   He died in 1904, and was buried at the Ripley graveyard.
   
   Their children were:
   
   Charles Landfried.
   
   Jacob L Landfried
   
   James M Landfried
   
   Adam Landfried.
   
   A daughter married J. P. Carney
   
   A daughter married A. W. Boid.
   
   In the cemetery at Ripley are also the graves of Adam Landfried, born
   December 15th, 1785, died December 10th, 1871, aged almost eighty
   seven years, and Charlotte Landfried, who was born January 18th, 1791
   and died February 6th, 1867. These are in all probability the parents
   of the Landfried brothers.


   LUDWIG FAMILY
   
   On the upper waters of Sycamore live the children of Daniel Ludwig,
   who came to Sycamore from the "Dark Hills of Monroe" since the war.
   
   He was killed in a runaway accident at the hollow, by the old plank
   house on the hill beyond the Sycamore bridge.
   
   The accident occurred on Saturday, December 28th, 1899, he dying the
   next morning, interment at the new graveyard on his own farm.


   RICHARDSON FAMILY
   
   John C. Richardson was a Baptist minister. He lived in Spotsylvania
   County, Virginia, during the war between the states. He came to Ripley
   about 1873, was instrumental in building up the Baptist Church at that
   place. Before his death in 1889, he moved to a house in the cove, near
   where Isaac Spears now lives. His wife, Lois Wright Richardson, was
   born in England, in 1812, and died at the home of her daughter, Mrs.
   Spears, in October, 1903. Their children were:
   
   John Richardson. A daughter married D. D. Rhodes.
   
   A daughter married Isaac Spears.


   KING FAMILY
   
   One evening in September, 1904, while returning from Ripley, I stopped
   for a chat with Mrs. "Lizzie" Wolfe, at her home on Station Camp.
   
   Among other reminiscences of the past, she spoke of Leonard King, who
   had long lived on the top of the hill I had just passed over on the
   flats lying off to the right of the road, but now for many years
   sleeping under a giant oak tree in the Mount Olive Cemetery.
   
   She said the Kings lived on Sycamore when she first came to the
   country when a girl. King, she said, was a son of Francis King, who
   came from Hacker's Creek with her husband's father, in 1821.
   
   She remembered being at the King's house when young, they being
   already residents when her father, George Straley, settled at the
   mouth of the run which heads up in the King farm.
   
   Though she did not say whether or not they lived on the hill.
   
   The Kings kept sheep, which, like all stock in that day, ran at large
   in the forest, but they kept them trained to come up at nightfall,
   when they confined them in a pen near the house, to protect them from
   the wolves.
   
   Mrs. King would blow the long tin dinner horn, making the wolves howl
   in the neighboring woods, which would bring the sheep home.
   
   Mrs. King, whose name was, according to the recollection of my
   informant, Elizabeth Hughes, before her marriage, was a first cousin
   to her husband. Her father was "Bill" Hughes, and he is supposed to be
   a relative of Jesse Hughes, the famous Indian fighter.
   
   They had three grown children who were not strong, and died young. One
   was a dwarf. She is the only of the family with a marker to her grave.
   
   In the Mount Olive graveyard, by the side of the Spencer pike, is a
   grave, the head and footstones of which are not more than four and one
   half feet apart, the inscription on the headstone reads-
   
   Catherine, daughter of L. and R. King
   died June 15, 1871
   aged 35 yr. 5 mo and 3 d
   
   There is a row of graves near the outside of the cemetery, under the
   oak trees, which is said to contain the ashes of the rest of the
   family.
   
   Leonard King was a member of the second grand jury in Jackson County,
   in 1831.
   
   Samuel R. King married Mary C. Riley, lived near Ripley, in 1836.
   
   George S. Matson King was born near Ripley, in 1836, was sheriff of
   Jackson County in 1866. His wife was Caroline O., daughter of Elijah
   Staats. They had seven children.
   
   A Mrs. Nancy King, widow of Samuel King, died in 1896, at the age of
   nearly seventy nine.
   
   M. V. King and John I. King were her sons. She was either a second
   wife of Samuel R. King, or there was also another Samuel King.
   
   Rufina King died at Buckhannon, in April, 1904. She was wife of
   Reverend F. B. J. King, sister of Mrs. Koontz and Mrs. S. D. King.
   Reverend W. W. King, Dr. J. M. King, E. M. King, and Mrs. Heaton were
   her children.
   
   Reverend D. E. W. King, of Jackson County, was probably a brother of
   F. H. J. King, perhaps a son of G. S. Matson King.
   
   There were Kings on Cow Run and Little Mill Creek. One married a
   Carter.
   
                          (c) 2001 by Betty Briggs