Henry G McCauley (1798 - 1872)

Born Dec 1798 in Pendleton County, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Alkire) McCauley — married 27 Aug 1810 in Harrison, West Virginia

Descendants

Died 28 Aug 1872 at age 73 in Vanceburg, Lewis, Kentucky, United States

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Biography

Henry McCally was born in 1789 in Pendleton County, Virginia (now West Virginia). After moving to Harrison County with his family, he worked in Highland County, Ohio as a teenager, supplying lumber for the state's new capitol. On August 10, 1810 his marriage bond to Sarah Alkire was signed by his father, James, her father, John Alkire and his brother-in-law, William Bennett in Harrison County, Virginia (this later became Lewis County, Virginia). There was no further record of Henry again until 1824 when he was living at Sand Fork. Henry and Sarah had eleven children; Susannah (Wheeler), Prudence (Mitchell), Elizabeth (Powers), John S., James, Lysander, George, Solomon, Joseph, Margaret (Thompson) and Sarah (Duncan). Roane, WV Historical Society.

In the fall of 1869 Henry was charged with being a Southern sympathizer. Being too sick to respond to the summons, Henry, at the age of 80, was disenfranchised. This meant that he had no rights as a citizen of the state. Shortly thereafter he moved to Kentucky where the disenfranchisement had no effect. There in 1872 Henry died. His will was probated in 1873. His wife, Sarah died on November 30, 1887 and is presumed to be buried here, too.

On October 4, 1869, the Lewis County, WV Registration Board gave notice that open sessions would be held concerning charges that certain residents were or had been sympathetic to the Confederate States. All that was required for an individual to be charged was for someone to "think" that the person was a southern sympathizer. It was up to the person charged with the crime to prove his innocence, but the Registration Board could disallow any or all testimony that it wanted. An individual found guilty lost all civil rights and was not considered a citizen of the state. There was no appeal to any court over the decision of the appointed board.

Three members of this board were James McCorley, his son-in-law James Coonrod, & Dr. W. H. Hall. Shortly after the hearings started, Dr. Hall resigned. He declared that his conscience and the oath he had taken would not allow him to be a part of this travesty of justice. When the notices were sent to the individual charged, they were told that they would need two witnesses to testify on their behalf. Once the hearings began, however, they were informed that they had to have four witnesses and no time would be allowed to obtain additional witnesses.

Twenty nine were found guilty and were disenfranchised; all were from Collins Settlement District. Each case and individual is a story of its own. One such story appeared in the Weston Democrat on Nov 1, 1869.

"The hardest case of disenfranchisment, under Corley's administration, we believe, is that of Henry McCally, Esq. Long before the formation of Lewis County, this gentleman moved to what is now Battelle Township, where he has resided for 68 years. He is now 80 years of age and is of course very feeble and is in bad health. His character is unblemished, and in the community he stands as high as a man can, yet the infamous rascals knowing that it was physically impossible for him to travel notified him with the rest of his neighbors and by not appearing his name was stricken off.

In a recent conversation, the old man said that he now intends “to go to Kentucky, where two of my sons reside and seek a grave among strangers.” And so the poor old decrepit man whose once sprightly form is bound beneath the weight of years -- whose hair has been whitened by the frost of 80 winters, is driven by the devilish malignity of one man to leave the cherished scenes of his childhood -- the well loved home of his manhood and the old hearthstone around which cling the memories of a long and well spent life, the graves of his kindred, and the land of his nativity and seek among strangers that freedom which is here denied. This is but one case of how the hands of Stevenson make emigrants."

Courtesy of Richard E McCauley: Joseph Bennett (1805-1880) son of William and Rebecca (McCally) Bennet, was tried for treason and disenfranchised in 1869. He left the state and moved to Illinois where he died.

Hacker’s Creek Pioneer Descendants, Inc.

Other children and grandchildren of Henry McCally also buried in Lewis County include his son, Lysander, buried near him here; children of his son James: Prospina McCally Armstrong in the neighboring Armstrong Cemetery and Dexter in the Waring Cemetery; Joseph's son, Hazli or Hazel E., also buried in the nearby Armstrong Cemetery; Solomon's son James P.; and James P.'s son, George in the Evans Cemetery on Town Branch.

Spouse: Sarah M. Alkire McCally (1793 - 1850)

Children: Susan P. McCally Wheeler (____ - 1887)* Susanna P. McCally Wheeler (1810 - 1887)* John Samuel McCally (1816 - 1905)* Elizabeth Watson McCauley Powers (1818 - 1887)* Lysander B. McCalley (1825 - 1898)* Sarah Amarillis McCauley Duncan (1837 - 1905)*

• Fact: census (1850) , Harrison, Virginia, USA
• Fact: Residence (1850) Lewis county, part of, Lewis, Virginia
• Fact: census (1860) Clarksburg, Harrison, Virginia, USA
• Fact: Residence (1860) [Blank], Lewis, Virginia, United States
• Fact: Residence (1870) Kentucky, United States
• Fact: Burial ( 1872) Clarksburg, Harrison, West Virginia

Sources

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 14 April 2017, 03:53), entry for Henry Mc Cally(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LHR5-ZD5); contributed by various users.

See also:

• http://www.wvroane.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=21

• https://hackerscreek.com/norman/MCCAULEY/JAMES.htm

• https://hackerscreek.com/cpage.php?pt=217

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/163910726

• https://sites.rootsweb.com/~hcpd/disenf.htm