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The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 124-125
FLAVIUS BAXTER HALLER. Living itself is an achieve-
ment, but when to living are added the carrying of bur-
dens, the performance of useful work, and the fulfillment
of duties, the individual existence acquires distinctions that
make it something better than the common lot. Some-
thing in the nature of satisfying fulfillment has marked
County, and the following record of himself and family
will therefore be not one of the least interesting sketches
to appear in these volumes.
The Haller family is of German origin. The grandfather
of Flavius Haller, John Haller, was born at Fredrick,
Maryland, but little is known of his life work. His brother,
Godfrey Haller, spent his life in Barbour County, and
Tobias Haller also lives there. Godfrey was a hatter by
trade and Tobias made combs out of horn. All these
brothers left posterity in Barbour County.
Michael Theodore Haller, father of Flavius Baxter, was
born at Shinnston, Harrison County, was a farmer and
teacher, was a captain of militia in the old mustering days,
and when the Civil war was fought he was a captain in the
State Guard. While engaged in rounding up Confederate
stragglers, who were returning home from the main army
after the surrender of General Lee, he and his squad ran
into an ambush and he and several others were killed. This
tragedy occurred after the war, on April 24, 1865. His
body was brought home and laid to rest in St. John's Ceme-
tery in Huffman Settlement of Barbour County. He was
forty-one years of age when killed, and left a number of
sons and daughters to succeed him. Michael T. Haller was
a man of excellent mind and a great reader, and due to the
habit of reading was a man of superior education in the
county. He was a staunch admirer of Abraham Lincoln,
one of the few men in the county who voted for him in
1860, and he was also a personal and political friend of
Governor A. I. Boreman. While reading Mr. Lincoln's
speeches in the great debate work with Douglas, Mr. Hal-
ler was converted to Lincolnism and declared in the pres-
ence of his family, striking his hand heavily upon the
table, "I'll vote for Abe Lincoln."
Michael T. Haller married Sarah Nestor, a native of
Barbour County, born on the waters of Teters Creek. Mrs.
M. T. Haller's father, George Nestor, born in the same
locality, married Amelia Poling, and both of these families
came originally from Holland. George Nestor was a miller
on Teters Creek and also enjoyed the reputation of a great
hunter. For many years he held the office of magistrate,
and one of his sons succeeded him in office. The children
of Michael T. Haller and wife were: Catherine, of Elkins,
West Virginia, widow of Samuel Shanabarger; Amelia,
wife of Jacob Huffman, now living on the waters of Teters
Creek; Charles W., of Fairmont; John Webster, a farmer
and carpenter near Arden in Barbour County; Flavius
Baxter; Mary Elizabeth, who became the wife of Isaac
Coonts, of Belington; Watson Herschel, of Bridgeport,
West Virginia; and Michael Lorenzo, in the hotel busi-
ness at Belington. The mother of these children married
for her second husband Jackson Ramsey, but had no chil-
dren by that union. She died June 19, 1899, at the age
of seventy-six.
Flavius Baxter Haller was born on Teters Creek in Bar-
bour County, February 1, 1855, and had only the advan-
tages of the common schools, which during his boyhood were
not noted for the efficiency of their discipline. Better than
any school work was the inheritance of his father's disposi-
tion to read and investigate for himself, and more than most
men Mr. Haller has been a student all his life. The read-
ing room and table in his home are covered with magazines,
daily papers and other periodicals. Perhaps the first money
he ever earned was in making soapstone pencils, which he
sold and the proceeds he invested in a third reader. The
fact that he grew up on a farm is evidence that he early
learned the meaning of hard labor. He was sixteen years
of age when his mother married again, and after that he
lived with strangers until he acquired a home of his own.
During the summer season he worked for wages on a farm,
and turned these wages to good account by attending school
in winter. Thus even his schooling meant a considerable
struggle and self sacrifice. After leaving school Mr. Hal-
ler went to Indiana and worked on a farm in Elkhart, John-
son, and Shelby counties. Harvest hands were then being
paid $2 a day and ordinary labor $1 a day. After being
in Indiana six months he returned home and worked for
Squire John N. Hall on his farm on Elk Creek for two
years. Following that Mr. Haller became a photographer,
taking pictures by the old daguerreotype process. He then
came to Taylor County, worked on a farm two years, and
following that was a merchant at Tyrconnell for eight years.
He left business of his own to go on the road as a com-
mercial traveler, and successfully represented the firms of
Jacobs and Eisenburg for four years; was on the road for
the Deleplain Dry Goods Company of Wheeling fifteen
years; then for John A. Horner of Baltimore; H. P. Mc-
Gregor and Company of Wheeling; the Koblegard Com-
pany of Clarksburg; and concluded his twenty-seven years
of travel work as representative for the firm of Hicks and
Hoge.
After selling his own store Mr. Haller bought a farm
at Rosemont, established his family there, and, when not
on the road, personally supervised farm work and farm
developments. Since retiring from salesmanship he has
made farming his chief interest, the most profitable feature
of his farm enterprise being dairying and poultry raising.
Mr. and Mrs. Haller are not actuated by a strenuous am-
bition to get rich and have found it better to be content
with a moderate degree of prosperity and really live while
they live.
Mr. Haller's citizenship has been of a public spirited and
practical kind. For eight years he was a member of the
Board of Education, and while on the board helped es-
tablish the first district high school in Taylor County and
one of the first district high schools in the state. Other
matters that have been accorded his earnest support are
good public roads and other improvements. He has been
a worker in the republican party, was a delegate to the
State Convention when Governor Atkinson was nominated,
and was a delegate to the well remembered state conven-
tion at Charleston when one faction nominated Swisher for
governor and the rump convention nominated still another,
while later both candidates were withdrawn through the
Elkins influence and Governor Glasscock was put up and
elected.
In Taylor County, September 5, 1883, Mr. Haller mar-
ried Miss Amanda Bailey, daughter of Silas P. and Almyra
(Kelley) Bailey. Mrs. Haller was the oldest child of her
father's second marriage and was born in Taylor County,
February 7, 1863. She had two sisters, the wife of Dr.
C. R. Peck of Clarksburg and Mrs. Alta Lanham, the lat-
ter having died, October 2, 1899. Her brothers are the
late B. F. Bailey a prominent attorney of Grafton, who
died suddenly in New York City on December 1, 1914;
Grant, of Rosemont; Carl, a successful dairyman and farmer
in Randolph, New York; and Bruce Bailey, a civil engineer
at Fairmont. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Haller
the oldest is Earl Stanley, manager at Staunton, Virginia,
for Sine's Ice Cream Company of Harrisburg, Virginia.
The second child, Enid, is the wife of H. Ralph Harper,
who is in the office of the Grasselli Chemical Company at
Zeising, West Virginia. M. Quay is an inspector for the
Hutchinson Coal Company at Erie, West Virginia. Sallie
married Carl Huffman a chemist living at Denver, Colorado.
Morris Jacob, the youngest of the family, graduated A. B.
from West Virginia University is also a graduate of the
Fairmont State Normal School, for a time was a high
school principal and is now in the real estate business at
Morgantown.
Something should he said in conclusion concerning the
Haller home at Rosemont. It is one of the old homes of
that locality, stands on an elevation near the public high-
way, and is marked both for its domestic conveniences and
for the air of hospitality that surrounds it. In point of
conveniences it is in a class with many city homes. The
house, barn. back buildings and grounds are illuminated
from a Delco electric lighting system, and this plant is
used not only for lighting, but also to supply current for
a number of mechanical devices, not least among which is
the electric iron and washer. The house has a complete
water system, bathroom and other facilities. After hav-
ing equipped five children abundantly for useful work in
life, it seems appropriate that Mr. and Mrs. Haller should
have such an attractive and comfortable place in which
to spend their remaining years and enjoy the fruit of their
labor and economy.
Submitted by: Valerie Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
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