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Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/wUI.2ACIB/188
Message Board Post:
Source:
http://www.pioneerindex.com/firsts.html
THIRTY - FIVE FIRSTS
WHICH OF YOUR
RANDOLPH COUNTY
ANCESTORS WERE THE
FIRST TO … ?????
[ANSWERS BELOW]
#1 … live on Leading Creek?
#2 … open a hotel in Elkins?
#3 … be a defendant in court?
#4 … build a water & tub mill?
#5 … live on Kelley Mountain?
#6 … settle on the North Fork?
#7 … be postmaster at Alpena?
#8 … settle on Horse Camp Run?
#9 … foreigner to be naturalized?
#10 …establish a store in Helvetia?
#11 … invent a gauge for handsaws?
#12 … build in vicinity of Blue Spring?
#13 … settle on lower end of Middle Mtn?
#14 … build a house on Shaver Mtn. in 1849?
#15 … prosecute in Randolph County Court?
#16 … build a grist & saw mill in Mingo area?
#17 … build his own coffin & dig his own grave?
#18 … teach school in Jackson County, Kansas?
#19 … enlist in Civil War as a Confederate soldier?
#20 … live near to where Huttonsville now is in 1777?
#21… settle at Pickens, nearest store 22 miles away?
#22 … build the first house on the Cheat River in 1770?
#23 … was the family first settling on the Upper Cheat?
#24 … build the first home on Horse Camp Run in 1823?
#25 … have a livery stable and grow & sell fruit in Elkins?
#26 … teach at the new school on Horse Camp Run in 1830?
#27 … official in the US to enforce the law to prohibit slavery?
#28 … write a code of laws adopted by any state in the Union?
#29 … first barber in Dry Fork and colored jurist in Tucker Cty?
#30 … live on the summit of the Alleghenies and have 21 children?
#31 … settle on Seneca Creek & establishing the Onego postoffice?
#32 … to be caught in a blizzard and become the first resident of Job?
#33 … be born in 1772, first white baby in would become Randolph Cty?
#34 … pioneer Augusta, Rockingham, Greenbrier and then Randolph Cty?
#35 … & only man pensioned by US government for which he never worked?
A N S W E R S :
1. FIRST TO LIVE ON LEADING CREEK
Abraham SPRINGSTONE 1797 m Mary Innis, dtr of William Innis his settlement
near Leading Creek named in his honor Springstone Run [BOSp242]
2. FIRST TO OPEN A HOTEL IN ELKINS
Rev. Hamilton POTTS son of Mathias C. Potts*, Confederate soldier in 20th Va
Cavalry
pioneer of hotel industry with Temperance Hotel a landmark of Elkins m1 Lizzie
Logan,
m2 Maggie Baxter; 6 Ch : 3 Unknown, Lizzie, Broadus, Bucy [BOSp366]
3. FIRST DEFENDANT IN COURT
James LACKEY 1787 - vs William PETERSON, plaintiff [BOSp41]
4. FIRST TO BUILD A WATER & TUB MILL?
William CURRENCE Sr. imm from Ireland to MD; settling at Beverly in Randolph,
built
the first water / tub mill on mouth of Mill Creek on river; m Miss Steele*; 10 Ch:
John,
William, Samuel, Sydney, Jane, Sally, Ann, Lydia, two unknown females; 1791 :
killed
by Indian ambush on May 12; on the flat between Beccas * Riffles Creek [BOSp334]
5. FIRST TO LIVE ON KELLEY MTN
William KELLEY , his father imm from Ireland also, Ch: Dolbeare*/
6. FIRST TO SETTLE ON NORTH FORK
Phillip HARPER Ch: Elias*[MAXp402]
7. FIRST POSTMASTER AT ALPENA
Ellis WYATT 1848 : first house on Shaver's Mtn, first & only voting Democrat
in county, 1879 - 1897: first postmaster of Alpena, a farmer, merchant, civil
engineer
only six families of the original one hundred immigrants remained at Alpena, the
Swiss settlement on Shaver's Mtn [Sen]
8. FIRST TO SETTLE ON HORSE CAMP RUN
Jonas HARMAN 1823: first house built on Horse Camp Run, brother of Solomon
[MAXp405]
9. FIRST FOREIGNER TO BE NATURALIZED?
John LAMBERTSON 1787 - first foreigner to be naturalized, from Ireland [BOSp263]
10. FIRST STORE IN HELVETIA
Gustave SENHAUSER 1872: established first general store in Helvetica,
Sunday school with store boxes for seats 1873 - trustee of first public school
in Helvetica [BOSp267,268]
11 FIRST TO INVENT A GAUGE FOR HANDSAWS
Henry H. Withers POWERS 1861:b Gilmer Cty s/o Elmer & Minerva Powers, Elkins
carpenter, teacher, WV railroad & lumberman, inventor of a gauge for handsaws
1884:m Samantha McCann* in Upshur Cty Ch: Ortha, Elmer, Leslie, Nellie, Flora
[MAXp450]
12. FIRST TO LIVE NEAR BLUE SPRING
Jeremiah COUGER 1840: built first house in vicinity of Blue Spring [MAXp434]
25. FIRST TO HAVE A LIVERY STABLE & GROW & SELL FRUIT IN ELKINS
B. F. WHETZEL 1863 : born, Preston Cty, WV; son of Ruckner P. & Charlotte
Trembly) Whetzel, 1889 : Randolph, first livery stable in Elkins, pioneer
commercial
fruit grower, [BOSp443]
26. TEACH AT THE NEW SCHOOL ON HORSE CAMP RUN IN 1830
David KETTERMAN at age 70 was killed by bushwackers in the Civil War [MAXp405]
27. FIRST OFFICIAL IN THE US TO ENFORCE THE LAW TO PROHIBIT SLAVERY
Hon. Stephen Benton ELKINS 1841:b 9/26, moved to Missouri in early childhood
1863:lawyer, Union Army, 1864: New Mexico, learned fluent Spanish in 1 yr,
1867: Attorney General of New Mexico, 1868: District Attorney of the Territory,
one of the few officials whom Gen Grant did not remove from office,
first official in the U. S. to enforce the law of Congress for the prohibition of
slavery,
freeing thousands of peons in Mexico, 1869: president of First National Bank of
Sante Fe , 1873: Congressman from Mexico, m Miss Davis* [MAXp372]
28. FIRST TO WRITE CODE OF LAWS ADOPTED BY ANY STATE IN THE UNION
Col. Creed Haymond 1836:b 4/22 Beverly, s/o Calder Haymond 1852: age 16
crossed the Great Plains heading for Sierra Nevada Mtns in California1859:lawyer,
Chairman of the Code Commission for the State of California (the first complete
code of laws ever adopted by any State in the Union or in fact by any English
speaking people, Sacremento District State Senator, Colonel of the First Artillery
Regiment, National Guard1860: Captain of the Sierra Greys against the Indians
of Nevada after the Pyramid Lake Massacre 1882:railroad m Alice Crawford [MAX401]
29. FIRST BARBER IN DRY FORK AND COLORED JURIST IN TUCKER CTY
Lewis Benjamin DORCAS 1867:b NY African descent 1891: m Mary E. Hedrick
at Harman Ch: Lewis B., Frederick D., Hubert & Hubbert 1886: Roalsburg WV
barber, 1887: first colored juror to serve in Tucker Cty, res St. George,
highly educated, one of finest pen men in the state, first barber on Dry Fork
at Horton [MAXp371]
30. FIRST TO LIVE ON THE SUMMIT OF THE ALLEGHENIES
Jacob Conrad HARPER 1834:b near mouth of Senaca s/o Moses & Phoebe
Conrad Harper, German res summit of Alleghany Mountain when it was a
wilderness 1861:Randolph farmer 1860:m Susan McDonald* at Macksville
in Pendleton Cty 21Ch: Jeremiah, Adam, Peter, Albert, Seymour, Riley, Mary,
Agnes, Isom, George Washington, Henry, Miner, Almira, Florence Ida,
Rosanna, Walter, Elizabeth, Gettie, Susan, Virginia, Delphia [MAXp402]
31. FIRST TO SETTLE ON THE SENECA CREEK
ESTABLISHING THE ONEGO POSTOFFICE
Henry Vandevender CUNNINGHAM 1850:b Pendleton Cty, s/o Thomas &
Sallie Ann (Turner) Cunningham, Irish ancestry, one of first settlers on
Seneca established Onego Post office, Brethren church minister,
killed 109 deer, 1877:m Susan Elizabeth Raines [MAXp358]
32. TO BE CAUGHT IN A BLIZZARD & LIVE AT JOB
Thomas B. SUMMER first settler at Job suddenly caught in a blizzard he spent
the winter in a hut of pine boughs against a rock [MAXp356]
33. FIRST WHITE BABY BORN IN WHAT WOULD BECOME RANDOLPH in 1772?
Major John CROUCH 1772:b s/o Randolph pioneer John Crouch who had
settled mouth Shaver Run, m Judy Westfall Ch: Isaac, Abraham, Andrew,
Marshall, Miss [MAXp354,355]
34. PIONEER AUGUSTA COUNTY, ROCKINGHAM, GREENBRIER AND RANDOLPH ?
Jacob STALNAKER of very first pioneers of Randolph, from Holland; Ch: John,
Adam, Andrew, Jacob, Eunice, 3 dtrs [BOSp373]
35 ONLY MAN TO PENSIONED BY THE GOVERNMENT WHEN NEVER EMPLOYED
Jesse F. PHARES 1835: s/o Benjamin & Catherine Phares, held dangerous
job as "War Sheriff" with the Confederate generals invading WV
1863: shot through body during Imboden's raids between Beverly &
Huttonsville,
left for dead & recovered under the care of Dr. G. W. Yokum, first & only
man
pensioned by the government who never belonged to the army
1856:m Lucinda Quick* Ch: Squire B., George, William H., Elihu F. [MAXp443]
SOURCES
[BOS] Bosworth, Dr. A. A. A History of Randolph County West Virginia 1916
[MAX] Maxwell, Hu History of Randolph County 1898
[SEN] SENIC, Helen The History of Alpena
[YOK] Yokum, Martin L. " Recent Findings Disclose New Twist to Randolph
History"