Calvin H Harper

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact 1: Fact 1

Notes:

SOLDIERS CAME AND GOT HIM OUT OF BED AND TOLD HIM TO PUT HIS CLOTHES ON. HE STARTED TO TIE HIS SHOES AND THEY TOLD HIM NOT TO TIE THEM. HE WOULDN'T HAVE THEM ON LONG. THEY TOOK HIM ACROSS A HILL IN SIGHT OF ECCLES WVA TO A HILL-TOP WHERE THERE WERE DRAW BARS WHERE HE HAD SOLD CATTLE ON THAT DAY AND HAD 300.00 DOLLARS. THERE WAS A SNOW ON THE GROUND. THE NEXT MORNING THEY WENT WITH SLED AND OXEN AND GOT HIS BODY. HE IS BURIED IN THE HARPER CEMETERY AT HARPER WVA. REF; PEARL HURT DEAVER(NOW 90 OR 91 AND A PATIENT IN PINECREST HOSPITAL) PROBABLY DECEASED NOW AS TOLD BY HER TO FAY PETTRY, DAUGHTER OF FRANK AND JENNIE DAVIS HARPER. 1980
WE KNOW ABOUT JACOB HARPER'S FAMILY PRIMARILY THROUGH RALEIGH CO. LAND RECORDS. SINCE THERE WAS "NO LAW IN RALEIGH CO." AT THE TIME JACOB HARPER DIED, WE HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO FIND A DEATH RECORD FOR HIM, BUT WE KNOW THAT HE DIED SOMETIME DURING THE CIVIL WAR. THE STORY I HEARD COMES FROM MARY JEFFRESS DAVIS, WHO HEARD IT FROM SARAH JANE HARPER DAVIS. SARAH DESCRIBED HER GRANDMOTHER CARRYING SARAH'S GRANDFATHER IN FROM THE FIELDS IN HER APRON AFTER HE HAD BEEN SHOT BY BUSHWHACKERS. THIS WOULD BE ELVIRA AND JACOB, BUT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A SLED AND SNOW. I HAVE FOUND TWO OTHER ACCOUNTS OF HIS DEATH. ONE IS FROM WEST VIRGINIA HISTORY BY HILA APPLETON RICHARDSON, WHICH SAYS ON PAGE 298: "ANOTHER WAR OUTRAGE OCCURRED IN THE FALL OF 1864... A PARTY OF THESE CONFEDERATE OUTLAWS WENT TO THE HOUSE OF MR. JACOB HARPER AT NIGHT AND TOOK HIM PRISONER, LED HIM OUT INTO THE WOODS FROM HIS HOME, AND SHOT HIM. MR. HARPER, REALIZING HIS POSITION, SLIPPED HIS WALLET INTO A NOOK OF THE FENCE CORNER WHEN CROSSING, WHERE IT WAS FOUND SOME TIME AFTERWARDS BY MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY." ANOTHER DESCRIPTION COMES FROM THE "HISTORY OF THE NEW RIVER SETTLEMENTS" AT PAGE 315, WHICH READS: THIS OCCURRED ON THE 8TH DAY OF AUGUST, 1864. ABOUT THE SAME TIME A PARTY OF CONFEDERATE OUTLAWS WENT TO THE HOUSE OF MR. JACOB HARPER, IN RALEIGH COUNTY, AND TOOK HIM A PRISONER, LED HIM OUT INTO THE WOODS AND SHOT HIM. HARPER WAS A PLAIN, HONEST, UPRIGHT, PEACEABLE CITIZEN AND HARMED NO ONE," THE BOOK IS ACTUALLY TITLED "HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE NEW RIVER SETTLEMENTS" BY DAVID E. JOHNSTON.
WE DO KNOW THAT HE DIED SOMETIME IN 1863 OR 1864. HIS ESTATE WAS "SETTLED" IN 1867, WHICH IS ABOUT THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF TIME, CONSIDERING THE ABSENCE OF LAW FROM THE COUNTY. THESE RECORDS BEGIN ON PAGE 402 OF RALEIGH COUNTY LAND BOOK B. THE DISTRIBUTION IS AS FOLLOWS. FIRST A DOWER INTEREST GOES TO ELVIRA HARPER, WIDOW. THEN THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE TAKE INDIVIDUAL LOTS OF TRACTS FROM THE ESTATE: ANDREW J. HARPER, HENRY HARPER, CALVIN H. HARPER, JACOB F HARPER, MARY J HARPER, WILLIAM HARPER, AND ELVIRA F HARPER, AND SAMUEL MCGINNIS. THE LAST ONE MAY LOOK OUT OF PLACE, BUT MAKES SENSE WHEN YOU CHECK THE MARRIAGE RECORDS AND FIND AN EVALINE F HARPER MARRIED TO SAMUEL MCGINNIS. AS A MARRIED WOMAN, SHE COULD PROBABLY NOT RECEIVE PROPERTY IN HER OWN NAME, SO HER SHARE WAS TRANSFERRED TO HER HUSBAND. IT IS FROM THIS PROPERTY DISTRIBUTION THAT I GET THE LIST OF JACOBS CHILDREN.

Facts about this person:

Occupation
School Teacher and Deputy Sheriff of Raleigh Co. WVa

Jacob married Elvira Snuffer on 7 Jan 1836 in Richmond VA (Recorded). Elvira was born on 17 Sep 1819; died on 3 Apr 1868. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact 1: Fact 1

Notes:

JOSEPH HARPER IS TEMPORARY HEAD OF THE HARPER CLAN. THE FIRST IS A QUOTE FROM THE WRITINGS OF GENERAL ALFRED BECKLEY, REPRINTED IN BECKLEY USA, VOLUME 2 PAGE 336, WHICH READS: JOSEPH HARPER, ESQ., HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS ON COAL RIVER ESPECIALLY MY OLD FRIEND JACOB HARPER, SO SHAMEFULLY MURDERED AND HIS ENTERPRISING SONS, JACKSON, JOSEPH, GEORGE WESLEY, WILLIAM AND FRANKLIN." THE SECOND IS THE RALEIGH CO. DEATH RECORDS SHOWING THE DEATHS OF JAMES HARPER, AGE 18 YEARS, UNMARRIED, WHO DIED OF FEVER AT COAL RIVER, WVA ON SEPT 19 ,1853; AND JOSEPH HARPER, AGE 20 YEARS, UNMARRIED, WHO DIED OF FEVER AT COAL RIVER, WVA ON SEPT. 21, 1853. BOTH OF THESE WERE SONS OF JOSEPH AND FRANCES HARPER, ACCORDING TO THE DEATH RECORDS, AND THEIR DEATHS WERE REPORTED BY THEIR BROTHER JACOB. THE EARLY LAND RECORDS TO RALEIGH CO ALSO SHOW A JOSEPH HARPER, BUT THERE IS NOTHING THERE TO INDICATE HOW HE IS RELATED TO OTHER HARPERS.

Facts about this person:

Occupation
Farmer and Large land owner on Clear Fork of Coal River Raleigh Co. Wva

Alt. Occupation 1860
Mail carrier

Burial
Raleigh Co. WVa

Residence
Lived in Giles /Logan and Fayette and Raleigh Counties Virginia

Census 1850
Joseph resided with Henry and Susan Miller family

Alt. Census 1860
Joseph resided with son Jacob and Elvira Harper and family

Joseph married Franceis " Fanny" Stover on 3 Aug 1814 in Giles Co Virginia. Franceis (daughter of Jacob Stover and Sarah "Sally" McGhee) was born on 21 Aug 1805 in Fayette Co Wva; died on 29 Sep 1877 in Raleigh Co. Wva. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact 1: Fact 1
• Name: Fanny

Notes:

Facts about this person:

Census 1850
resided with son Hamilton and Mary Harper family

Notes:

The cemetery at Workman's Creek sits on top of the mountain, and at the very top is an 8 ft Monument dedicated to Jacob Stover and Sallie McGhee. There is a drawing of a Pioneer Man and Pioneer Woman on the monument and it reads: Dedicated to Jacob Stover ca 1767-1844 Sally McGhee ca 1776-1836
Married on 3-16-1788
And their children are listed as: Jacob Jr, Obediah, Henry, John, Lewis, Francis, Abraham, Susan, Sampson, and Jubal.
The following inscription is on the stone-
"Who with great faith in God left their homeland in Franklin Co. Virginia and settled here on Coal River at the mouth of Lick Run about 1815, and by word and deed set, an example for their ancestors to follow. We, their many descendents are forever grateful to these,'true pioneers for the courage they showed and the hardships they faced. It is to these the grandparents of us all that we give our greatest honor and our deepest respect." Dedicated 5-29-1994

Jacob married Sarah "Sally" McGhee on 16 Mar 1788 in Franklin VA. Sarah was born about 1767 in Virginai; died between 1823 and 1824 in Coal River, Raleigh Co. Wva. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Sally