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KANAWHA COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA - BIOS: DONNALLY, William B.
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Submitted to the West Virginia Biographies Project by:
Sandy Spradling
SSpradling@AOL.com
September 25, 1999
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History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and Representative
Citizens
W.S. Laidley
Richmond Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, ILL.
1911
p. 387-390
WILLIAM B. DONNALLY, a well known business man of Charleston, where he is
engaged in the transfer and freighting business, and is also a dealer in
grain and feed stuffs, was born in the Salines, on Kanawha river, this
county, in 1851, a son of Van Bibber and Mary B. (Waggoner) Donnally.
He is a great grands6n of Col. Andrew Donnally, born in the north of Ireland,
who came to this country about the middle of the eighteenth century, at which
time there was a large Scotch-Irish emigration to the Val-ley of Virginia.
This early ancestor soon became a prominent man in his locality, serving as
high sheriff and county lieutenant, or military commander of Botetourte
County. This office of county lieutenant, or military commander, was a very
important one at that day and was borrowed from the Mother Country, where it
was usually held by a person of rank. It carried with it also the title of
colonel. Col. Donnally may have been one of the officers of Bote-tourte
County at its formation in 1770. The fort called Donnally's was built in 1771
in that county. The colonel or county lieutenant was the person to
communicate with the governor and the secretary of the colony, commanded the
militia and presided at the county courts. He was appointed by the governor
with the advice of the council and was generally the most prominent citizen.
The office was held during good be-havior. Ccl. Donnally was subsequently
made county lieutenant of Greenbrier County and continued in that office
under Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, the two first governors of
Virginia. There is a story current in the family that he was with
Washington's army at Valley Forge during the severe winter of 1777-78 and
par-ticipated in the awful suffering of that period, but, however this may
be, there is no further evidence of his being again with the Continental army.
About this time, however, he had his experience of Indian warfare. The murder
of the famous Chief Cornstalk by the whites, or rather, by some white men,
for it was an act denounced by the best men on the frontier, had greatly
exasperated the Indians and they retaliated viciously on the unprotected
settlers. In the spring of 1778 they
attempted to surprise and capture Fort Randolph at Point Pleasant, but
failing in that, they turned their attention to Fort Donnally. The occupants
of the fort were apprised of their danger in time by two men from Fort
Randolph, who succeeded in eluding the savages. Col. Donnally, who had been
absent, returned to the fort at night just as the enemy were investing it,
but succeeded in entering it without being noticed. The attack which followed
was disastrous to the Indians, who' departed after suffering considerable
loss. Four white men in all were killed, two while on their way to the fort.
Among the defenders, Col. Donnally's daughter Catherine took a conspicuous
part, though then but a young girl of twelve years. Another daughter, Katie,
helped to mould the pewter plate and' spoons into bullets and poured hot
water through the puncheons on the heads of the savages. With perhaps one
exception, this was the last raid of the Indians to the Greenbrier. Says a
writer in the West Virginia Historical Magazine (Quarterly) for July, 1901:
"The responsibilities of Col. Donnally's position were very great and the
work heavy. He felt personally accountable for the lives of the people in
the wilds of the Greenbrier, Meadow Creek and Kanawha'rivers and their
tributaries. The duties of his office called him constantly from home, but it
seems that he was ever at hand when emergencies arose. That he was a man of
great executive ability, history proves. Stories of his personal courage and
great physical strength are too well known to admit of a doubt and his racy
repartees became proverbial. . . . He had only 550 men in the militia at
his disposal, for the defense of this western frontier. Governor Jefferson
was now asking for some of these men to be sent to General George Rogers
Clark to aid in his expedition against his Indians of the West. The Assembly
also required of him more men for the Contin-ental army * * * The public
credit was at so low an ebb that no one would advance money. Ammunition was
scarce. The militia must depend upon the corn tax levied on the settlers. Yet
these brave men struggled on and fought for their country."
Cot. Donnally resigned his comnaission as military commander on September 19,
1781. It was not accepted evidently, as he writes officially to Gov. Patrick
Henry in 1785. Cot. Donnalty was one of the trustees of Lewisburg at its
establishment in 1782. He did not come to reside on the Kanawha until after
the battle at Fort Donnally. He went directly to the mouth of the river and
lived just above the present town of Point Pleasant for a year or more. He
was one of those who denounced the murderers of Cornstalk, and on one
occasion meeting with a man who boasted that he had fired the fatal shot that
brought such desolation to the frontier settlements, he knocked him senseless
with a stanchion, so that when he recovered he hastened away from the
locality and was never more heard of. Colonel Donnally owned many negroes,
one of whom, Dick Pointer, distinguished himself in the fight at Donnally's
Fort in 1778. A son of the latter was taken prisoner by the Indians in 1790
and was made a chief by them. He subse-quently aided the Americans in the war
of 1812.
Cot. Donnally lived a short time at the mouth of the Elk after leaving Point
Pleasant. Kanawha county was formed in 1789 and he was chosen the first
representative. The population at this time however, was so sparse that but
thirteen votes were cast, at-thought the polls were open for three days. He
again served his county as representative in 1803. From the mouth of the Elk
he moved to his permanent home, about five mites above Charleston, on the
south side of the Kanawha, where he lived in comfort and prosperity for many
years. He died about 1825. He had one brother, whose descendants reside in
New Jersey and Ohio
Of his own immediate family he had several daughters, who are represented by
the Slaughters, Hendersons and Wilsons, now living here and elsewhere, and
are prominently married and represented in the different professions and
trades. There has scarcely been a period in the last century that this
state, county or town was not represented by one of Cot. Donnally's
descendants, either directly or indirectly through marriage. The renowned
Daniel Boone was neighbor for years to Colonel Donnally, re-siding on his
place up to the time that he left for Spanish Missouri in 1799. Daniel's son,
Jesse Boone, who was Colonel Don-natty's brother-in-law, resided in his
father's home until i8i6, when he also went West.
Colonel Donnalty was one of the early salt manufacturers of the county, this
industry being an important one at that time on the frontier, as salt, while
one of the most necessary articles for the pioneer, was also one of the most
difficult ones to obtain, except in the immediate vicinity of salt springs,
where the salt was manufactured by the tedious process of boiling and
evaporation. The Colonel and his wife were Presbyterians in religious faith.
They died when between 60 and 70 years of age and were buried in what is now
the old family plat, where many of their descendants have found a last
resting-place. They had a family of four or five children.
Andrew Donnally (2d), son of the fore-going and grandfather of the subject of
this sketch, was born in Fort Donnally, ten miles west of Lewisburg and, like
his father, in turn became a prominent man in his com-munity, owning about
100,000 acres of land together with 150 slaves. Together with a Mr. Ruffner,
as the firm of Ruffner and Donnally, he owned and controlled the entire salt
output of the county, this being the first commercial monopoly known in the
his-tory of the tounty. At one time he lived in Charleston, where he owned
valuable prop~ erty, though he and his wife resided for nearly half a century
on the old homestead, which they improved and greatly enlarged in area. A
Whig in politics, he was twice high sheriff, was clerk of the courts, and
magistrate and a representative in the Virginia legislature. His death toQk
place in 1849 when he was about 70 years of age. In 1802 he had married
Marjory, daughter of Captain John Van Bibber, and they had six sons that
arrived at maturity, besides two daughters. The sons married into prominent
old families of the valley, and all were engaged conspicuously in business
interests. The two daughters married respectively, Henry Fry, great grandson
of Col. Joshua Fry, who commanded the Colonial army in 1754, and who had been
prominent in Virginia history for thirty years or more, and Col. John Lewis,
grandson of Gen. Andrew Lewis, the Indian fighter, and Colonial and also
Revolutionary officer of renown. The members of this family, which numbered
nine children in all, are all now deceased.
Van Bibber Donnally, father of the subject of this sketch, was the eldest
child of his parents. He was born in Charleston, W. Va., in 1809 and grew to
manhood in Kanawha county. His literary education was obtained in a college
at Athens, Ohio. Like his father, he engaged in the salt business and
continued in it most of the time until the breaking out of the Civil War. He
was an active member of the Democratic party and in religion a Presbytenan.'
His death took place in Buffalo, W. Va., when he had attained the age of 72
years. He had married in Mason county, W. Va., Mary B. Wag-goner, a native of
that county. She was born a little later than her husband and died later, at
the age of 75 years. Like him she was a Presbyterian in religion. Their
family num-bered ten children, of whom there are five still living, one
daughter being a widow and two of the children being yet unmarried.
William B. Donnally, the date and place of whose nativity has been already
given, was educated in the public schools, but endowed with a good brain and
an energetic nature he has since largely increased his mental equipment in
the domain of practical knowledge. Coming to Charleston in 1885 he
established here the freighting and transfer business, of which he is now the
head, and which has since grown to large proportions, giving employment to 25
people. A Democratic in politics, he was nominated for the office of sheriff
and twice for county clerk, but this being a strong Republican district, he
was defeated.
Mr. Donnally was married in this county to Sallie Ashton Cotton, who was born
in Charleston in i858, daughter of Dr. John T. and Sarah (Fitzhugh) Cotton,
one time resi-dents in Ohio, but who were for many years prominent in the
business and social life of Charleston, Va. Of this union there have been
ten children, of whom two died young. The living are as follows: Sarah is the
wife of L. L. Sheets and has one son, Donnally. John C., who was educated at
Phillips-Exeter Academy, graduating also from the law department of the
University of Virginia in the class of 1903. Frank Woodman died at the age of
9 years. William B. Jr., who is a well educated young man, is associated with
his father in business. The other children, Henry Fitzhugh, Van Bibber,
Dorothy, Fitzhugh and Robert, are attending the high school. Mr. Donnally
adheres to the religious faith of his ancestors, being a Presbyterian, while
Mrs. Donnally is an Episcopalian.
Sandy Spradling
SSpradling@AOL.com
State Contact for WV GenExchange
http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm
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