Thursday, November 16, 1899
In Easton, Maryland, Judge J. B. Bennett, a prominent Democrat went into a booth on election day and prepared his ballot. As he was about to deposit it in the ballot box, he fell dead. The ballot was afterwards deposited in the box. The Democratic candidate for prosecuting attorney of the county had a majority of one over the Republican candidate. The Republicans are contesting the election, claiming that the vote of Judge Bennett was illegal, and that he voted for the Democratic candidate.
Marlinton to Incorporate
Marlinton has of two evils chosen the less and decided to incorporate. It was either that or form a Vigilance Committee. Main Street looked like a field of battle one day last week, strewn with the fallen in the fight. A canvass was made of the town, and every voter found at home, to whom it was presented, signed the paper with one exception.
The territory proposed to be embraced is the square mile owned by the Pocahontas Development Company for a town site on the east side of Greenbrier River and the land on the west side of the river on which seven or eight families live, which is known as West Marlinton.
BIG BARN BURNED
The big barn at Col. Levi Gay’s place was destroyed by fire last Wednesday eve-ning, the fire being discovered about sunset. Threshing with a steam thresher had been going on all day at the barn, but it is not known whether the fire originated from the engine or not. Smoke was seen issuing from the roof by some railroad hands at the railroad camp just across the river from the barn, and the alarm was given. One horse was the only living thing in the barn, and it was taken from the burning building by Renick Beverage.
The barn measured 50×90 feet, the main part being built of heavy hewed logs and shedded around. The cattle scales standing near the barn were destroyed. The barn contained about 30 tons of choice hay, 6 tons of millet and a lot of straw. A large rick of straw in the barnyard was also destroyed.
BUYING A CHEESE
A man was looking at some homemade cheeses one day in a store in Marlinton. They were all little round solid wads of about ten pounds weight, each one hard enough to knock a bull down. All homemade cheese looks alike from the outside, but there is a great difference in it, ranging from cheese made out of cream, good enough to compare favorably with the Switzer, down to the “buttermilk cheese” which is a delusion and a snare.
There was a row of them on the shelf and an X-ray machine was necessary to tell what was inside of each. A mouse had been busy with one and had eaten a hole into it.
A bystander said:
“If you want the best cheese in the bunch, take the one the mice have been eating. They know how to tell the best cheese.”
The cheese the mice had damaged was selected and proved to be one of the best of its kind.
WEDDING
A very quiet marriage, November 8, 1899, occurred at the home of Mrs. Mary E. Lange on Bucks Mountain, overlooking West Marlinton, when Cameron Loyd Armstrong and Miss Lucy Elizabeth Lange were joined in the bonds of holy matrimony by William T. Price. The groom is the youngest son of the late John Armstrong, and the bride is the eldest daughter of Mrs. Mary E. Lange. A nice and plentiful repast was served, enjoyed by about thirty persons. Twenty and eighteen years were the ages of the contracting parties.
APPLIED HISTORY
In reference to the ancestry of our people, it may be inferred that our citizenship is of a composite character, Germans, English, Irish, Scotch and French.
Such names as these: Lightner, Harper, Yeager, Arbogast, Herold, Halterman, Burr, Siple, Sheets, Casebolt, Sydensticker, Varner, Hevener, Cackley, Gumm, Overholt, Shrader, and Burner indicate German descent.
Moore, Gillispie, McCarty, McLaughlin, Coch-ran, Waugh, Hogsett, McNeel, Kerr, Lockridge, Drennan, Gay, McCollam, McCoy, Beard, Baxter, Slaven, Hannah, Hill, Kincaid, Irvine, McElwee, Wallace, Curry, Hamilton, Sharp, Friel, and McCutcheon imply Scotch-Irish or English-Irish ancestry.
Warwick, Matthews, Ren-ick, Clark, Gibson, Johnson, Galford, Buckley, Kennison, Adkison, Barlow, Gatewood, Jackson, Brown, Wooddell, Hull, Cooper, Duffield, Auldridge, Duncan, Beale, and Sutton indicate English antecedents.
Maupin, Ligon, Devier, Tacey, Dilley, Bussard, and Lange are of French extraction.
Poage, Pritchard, Price, Ruckman denote Welch extraction.
Kee, Doyle, Kelley, Loury, Cloonan, Seales and Roark, leave us in no doubt that the Emerald Isle is their fatherland.
These representatives of nationalities have blended and affiliated so that the characteristics of each fused, and the outcome is a composite citizenship, versatile in their tastes and aptitudes, fitted for a destiny in harmony with the progressive tendencies of the eventful period, the wonderful 19th century.