Abraham Elias Huddleston (1855 - 1940)

Born 16 Dec 1855 in Callaghan, Alleghany, Virginia, United States

Husband of Isabella Johnson (Richardson) Huddleston — married 4 Sep 1877 in Callaghans, Alleghany, VA, USA

Husband of Mary Elizabeth (Peacock) Huddleston — married 8 Sep 1920 in White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier, West Virginia, USA

Descendants

Died 10 Nov 1940 at age 84 in White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier, West Virginia, United States

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Biography

Abraham was born in December 16, 1855, son of David George Huddleston and Agnes Hook.

Abraham was married twice.

Abraham was married to Mary Elizabeth Peacock.

Abraham was married to Isabella Johnson Richardson.

Abraham passed away November 10, 1940 and was buried at the Hillcrest Cemetery, White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier, West Virginia, United States. ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial 17027084

Research Notes

Wrote to his grandsons: "I remember the inauguration of Lincoln and the uneasiness felt by my mother for fear that something might happen to him on his way to Washington. My father and mother, while strongly southern in their sympathies, were also opposed to seccession, but when the state [VA] voted to secede, my father immediately offered to volunteer but was rejected because of a crippled right hand, brought about because of a burn in childhood." (There is more ....)

Member of WV House of Delegates from Greenbrier Co. 1913 and 1915.

Birth: Dec. 16, 1855 Death: Nov. 10, 1940

Inscription: h/;o Mary and Isabella J

Burial: Hillcrest Cemetery, White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier County, West Virginia, USA

Created by: Lisa Camp Sampson Record added: Dec 14, 2006 Find A Grave Memorial# 17027084

History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 259-262

ABRAHAM ELIAS HUDDLESTON.

Abraham F. Huddleston, the subject of this sketch, was born in Alleghany county, Virginia, December 16, 1855. Because of the Civil war and after-the-war conditions, his education was rather limited. His first employment was as timekeeper oil a brick-yard at the age of fourteen. He then clerked in a store for four years, after which he studied telegraphy and - as in the employment of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company from 1873 to 1879 as station agent and telegraph operator. In 1876 he opened a store at Callaghan, Va., and in 1879 he resigned from the railroad to go into the lumber business and has since been continuously in the mercantile and lumber business. In 1906 he organized the White Sulphur Supply Company, one of the largest retail stores in southern West Virginia. In 1908 he organized the Mountain Milling Company, and in 1910 the Electric Plant, all situated at White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., where he located in 1887.

The Huddleston family date back to the twelfth century and were among the English settlers of Virginia in the early part of the seventeenth century, one of that name being an aid-de-camp to Ceneral Washington

The grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Abraham J. Huddleston, was born in Bedford county, Virginia, in i8oo, came to Alleghany county, Virginia in 1830, and married Leah Bowyer, who died in 1902. He died April 3, 1873. He had seven sons and four daughters: David G. the father of the subject of this sketch, who died in 1878; Daniel Y., who died in 1913; John, who died in 1862; Joseph, who died in 1863; George W., who died in 1915 ; William B., who died in 1905 ; Robert W., who died in 1912; Sarah (Plymale), now living at Boulder, Cob.; Elizabeth (Lock-hart), now living in Covington, Va.; Minerva (Bowley), now liv-ing in Anselmo, Neb; Nancy (Smith), now living in Grand Island, Neb.

David G., the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Alleghany county, Virginia, March 2, 1834, and married Agnes Hook, of Alleghany county, March 7, ~ She was the daugh-ter of Elias Hook and was born in Alleghany county, Virginia, February 4, 1834, and died in Covington, Va., October, 1903. The children of David G. Huddleston, besides Abraham E., who was the eldest, were the following: Joseph W., born August 22, 1857, married Emily Moyers, January i8, 1883, who died in Coving-ton, Va., in 1891. He afterwards married Mattie Hippert and now resides at White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.; George W., born May 11, 1859, and died at Cedar Grove, Neb., September 9, 1880; Rebecca L., born April 6, i86i, and married Samuel B. Johnson, March iS, 1884, and now living in Chattanooga, Tenn; John D., born March 21, 1863, married Mollie B. Vaughan, December 22, 1882, and now resides at Alexandria, La.; Adelia B., born May I, 1865, and married Howard W. Tyree, September, 1887, and now resides in Alleghany county, Virginia; Cora Virginia, born February 27, 1867, married Henry Brown, September, 1889, and now resides in Chattanooga, Teun.; Bettie P., born September 7, 1869, married Robert W. Butler in 1896 and now resides in Memphis, Teun.; Daisy A., born October 21, 1873, married, in 1909, Converse and resides in Chattanooga, Tenn.; David G., Jr., born August 15, 1876, and was killed in a railway accident in Arkansas, March 4, i906.

On September 4, 1877, the subject of this sketch was married to Isabella Johnson Richardson, the daughter of John F. and Marguerite Richardson, of Alleghany county, Virginia, and to whom the following children were born: Sarah Blanche, born June 19 1878, married to Harry E. Crickenberger, June 18, 1901, and' lives at White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.; Bessie Lee, born August 1, 1879, married to Edward M. Haynes, December 12, 1906, and resides at White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.; Ada Edith, born May 19, 1881, married to Edward H. Butts on September 15, 1908, died at Logan, W. Va., April 6, 1915; George Dice, born ovember 12, 1882, died in infancy; David Franklin, born December 12, 1883, married Mabel Kerr, September 22, 1909, and now resides at White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.; Alfred Elliott, born August 2, 1885, died in infancy; John Lester, born February 13, 1887, married Maud M. Wineberger, April, 1912, resides at White Sulphur Springs; Mary Isabella, born February 21, 1889, married Dr. David H. Hill, June 3, 1915, resides in Charleston, W. Va.; Ruth and Rose, twins, were born January 1, 1892, and died in infancy; Agnes Jane, born June 13, 1895, and died December 2, 1914; Beulab, born January 13, 1897, died in infancy; Albert I Elias, born January 7, 1899, died July 4, 1900.

Mr. Huddleston and his wife now live in their home (Hillcrest) Overlooking the town of White Sulphur Springs. He is a man of somewhat retiring disposition, but has been kept before the public in various capacities. As a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, he has been Sunday school superintend ent for nearly forty years; was a delegate to the general conference of his church, which met at Dallas, Texas, in 1902, and at Birmingham, Ala., in 1906; has been a member of the joint board

The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 544-545 Greenbrier

ABRAHAM E. HUDDLESTON, mayor of White Sulphur Springs, ex-member of the West Virginia State Legislature, and one of the most prominent men of Greenbrier County, was born in Alleghany County, Virginia, December 16, 1855. He is a son of David G. and Agnes (Hook) Huddles- ton. According to the family tradition two brothers bearing the name of Huddleston came to the American Colonies from England in 1734, one settling in New York State and the other at Tidewater, Virginia. It is from the latter that Mayor Huddleston descends. One of the name served in the American Revolution, a portion of the time being on the staff of General Washington. Practically all of the Virginian Huddlestons sympathized with the South in the war between the two sections of the country, and bore their part in the Confederate cause. The majority of the Huddlestons have followed farming. For the past century, with the exception of a few years, Bedford County, Virginia, has had a sheriff of the name of Huddleston. As a rule all of the name have been law-abiding, industrious and upright, a credit to the communities in which they have resided.

The grandfather of Mayor Huddleston was Abraham J. Huddleston, born in Bedford County, Virginia, in 1800. During the '20s of the last century he located in Alleghany County, and was there married to Leah Bowyer, and they had a large family. David G. Huddleston, one of their sons, and father of Mayor Huddleston, was a civil en- gineer and engaged in railroad construction work. Prior to the '60s he helped to build the Chesapeake & Ohio Rail- road, and he followed that line of endeavor very success- fully until his death, which occurred September 7, 1878.

Abraham E. Huddleston is the eldest of five sons and five daughters, and was reared in his native county. After com- pleting a common-school education he began to be self- supporting as a telegraph operator, and worked as such and as a station agent for ten years. At the expiration of that period he branched out into a lumber and mercantile busi- ness at Gallahan, Virginia, and in 1888 came to White Sul- phur Springs and established himself here in the same line, in which he has since continued.

Coming as he did to White Sulphur Springs when it was in its formative period, he has taken a determining part in all of its progress and was one of the prime movers in the organization of the Mountain Milling Company; built and installed the electric light plant; and was one of the leaders in the establishment of the local bank. A strong democrat, he was elected mayor of White Sulphur Springs when it was first incorporated, and has also long served on the Board of Education. In 1912 he was elected to the State Assembly and re-elected in 1914, and while a member of that body served on some of its most important committees, and was very efficient as a legislator. In 1922 he was again elected mayor of his city, and it is a singular tact that he was nominated by every vote cast in the convention, and elected by every vote at the polls. Mayor Huddleston is a thirty- second degree Mason, A. A. S. R., and also a Knight- Templar of the York Rite. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and has served as a lay delegate to its general conference three different terms.

In 1877 Mr. Huddleston married Isabella Richardson, of Callahan, Virginia, and they became the parents of thirteen children, five of whom now survive. Mrs. Huddles- ton died January 4, 1918. Mr. Huddleston married for his second wife, Miss Elizabeth Peacock. Mr. Huddleston is a practical man who has reached his present leadership through his own efforts and because of his personality and ability to accomplish big things. The city of which he is chief executive owes practically everything to his energy, far- sightedness and good sense, and he has achieved marvels for it not only as an official, but as a private individual as well. His work of a public character has not been con- fined, however, to local issues, for as a member of the State Legislature he did much for the entire state, and a number of excellent laws are on the statute books because of his introduction or championship of them, or both. Personally he is one of the most popular of men with all classes, and in spite of the honors which have been bestowed upon him, is simple and unassuming, glad to lend a helping hand or to further any enterprise which in his judgment will bring about some improvement. There are not many men of his caliber in a community or even in a generation, and when they are found they are appreciated by the more intelligent, who know their value.