The Bird Family ******************************************************************* "IN THE SPIRIT OF MENDING THE SACRED CIRCLE" GREY FOX www.egroups.com/subscribe/South-East-Creek A Native American Research Group ******************************************************************* THE BIRDS 1. John Bird (1750-1840) m. Susanne Wintrow a. Catherine b. Adam * c. John d. Valentine e. William f. David g. Mary h. Jacob 2. Adam Bird m. Elizabeth Ryder-1798 (second wife-Nancy Ryder his first wife's sister) a. Sarah (1799) m. Otho Briscoe b. William (1801-1876) m. Sarah Malcomb * c. Mary m. Jacob Gillispie, Pocahontas Co. d. Elizabeth m. Jacob Dilly e. Thomas (1807) m. Nancy J. McCarty (Second wife's children-Nancy) f. Benjamin m. Elizabeth Bird g. John m. Latiticia Dilly, Pocahontas co. h. Frederick never married (died at age of 80) i. Nancy m. Jacob Stuart, Ohio j. Margaret m. Jacob May k. Valentine Faulty m. Mary Chatham and Heater McCarty 3. William m. Sarah Malcomb a. Andrew m. Eleanor Bird and Elizabeth Wodell b. James m. Mary Hiner c. Peter m. Charlotte Callahan, no children d. Elizabeth (1832-1872) m. Otto Wade e. Jacob m. Matilda S. Bird, Mason Co. f. Francis M. m. Julia Black and Sarah Shaver g. Charles Wesley m. Mary E. Brown, Mason Co. * h. Sarah Jane (1842) m. Peter L. Curry 4. Charles Wesley Bird (1840-1908) m. Mary Elizabeth Brown a. Cora Susan m. J. E. Watts, Gallis Co., Ohio b. William Guthrie m. Hattie Miller Cable * c. Josephine m. Lou Petty, New Jersey d. Sally died in infancy 5. William Guthrie Bird (d. 1942) m. Hattie Miller Cable (b.1876) a. Mary Elizabeth Bird (1901-1976) m. Robert Martin, Preston Co. b. Charles Wesley (1904) m. Ola Maxwell c. Blanche (1908) m. Lawrence Lee Crosby, Georgia d. Cora Virginia (1910-1911) e. Nancy Day (1911) m. Aubrey Dennis f. Hattie Margaret (1914) m. Ervin Beckman, Butler Co., Pa. * g. William Guthrie (1916-1916) h. Florence Frances (1918) m. Ray Butler, South Carolina 6. Hattie Margaret Bird m. Ervin Western Beckman a. Margaret Anne Beckman m. Robert Ranson b. Nancy Louise Beckman m. Dayton A. Duvall * c. Ervin Western Beckman, Jr. m. Dianne Standish The Birds were essentially from Germany. They settled in great numbers in the same area of Virginia as the English Byrds. This is the actual meaning of the different spelling, contrary to the popular belief that the spelling changed with the Civil War. However, the Birds and Byrds intermarried to the point that they spelled their name either way. The Birds are from Mill Gap and Monterey of Highland County, Virginia. Highland County was created from a portion of Bath County in 1870. David Osburn bird was living on 200 of the original land grant, of 500 acres given by King George for services prior to the Revolutionary War in 1960. My great aunt visited David Osburn at that time (he was 94 years old). Harry Bird, David's 70 year old son, was also living on the land in another house. Janie Bird Rexroad (76 years old), William Guthrie Bird's first cousin, was the last living child of Francis Bird at the time of great aunt Elizabeth's visit. Elizabeth said Janie looked "like Aunt Cora. Aunt Lizzy went to see her also Aunt Joe, Anna Hill and Marjorie and Elizabeth years ago." John Bird, the Bird linage has been traced to this point so far, was a Revolutionary War Veteran. He was born in1750 and died at the age of 90 while plowing in the field. John's great grandson, Charles Wesley Bird was born in 1840. He married Mary Elizabeth Brown (Pictured left to right: William Guthrie Bird, Cora Watts, Mary Brown Bird, and Josephine Petty). The Brown's are a source of pride in my mother's family. Both my grandmother and Roberta Knox (daughter of Mary Elizabeth Martin) spoke of the desire to trace the Brown linage because it would probably come back to the "first or second boat." In my great grandma's diary she wrote an entry after she learned of Alice Chapman's death (last of the Browns.) The Browns were steamboat captains, specifically Uncle Marvin and Uncle Miles. So great grandma Bird wrote: "A boat passed up the Ohio River and blew a whistle during the service. I think it was a salute to Browns passed beyond." Charles Wesley Bird disagreed with slavery although he lived in Virginia. He moved to Gallapolis, Ohio because of his opposition to slavery. His brother, Francis M. Bird served in the Civil War four years on the Northern side. Charles Wesley became a self-made lawyer. He studied on his own without the aid of law school. When he was going to Wheeling by boat, the state capital at that time, he met a man who was authorized to give the bar exam. So Charles Wesley Bird passed the bar on a boat on the Ohio River. Charles became the first mayor of Gallapolis, Ohio. The next area of the story of the Birds basically deals with how Nitro, WV came to be a town. My great grandfather came to Nitro when it was being built during the World War I era. The following are excerpts from the Kanawha Valley Leader (9-13-63) in regard to the area which would become Nitro (please excuse the politically incorrect language in regard to Native Americans): A long time ago great herds of buffalo roamed through the Kanawha Valley and they always traveled the same paths and trails. These trails were worn deep and were later used by the Indians. Then after the Indians were gone, the white men took over for them their roads and highways. One of these roads that was once a buffalo and Indian trail is our own Third Avenue. . . a family of Indians passed by. One of the squaws had a papoose on her back which she called "Cornstalk." He had been born several months before on what is now Campbells Creek above Charleston. This little Indian grew up to become a great Shawnee Indian chief who led his warriors . . . The first white men to come this way more than 200 years ago were John Peter Salley and John Howard. They had been hired by the governor of Virginia to explore the land on this side of the mountains. . .At the turn of the century Nitro was a peaceful lumber camp and agricultural valley . . . Workers at the Mohler Company enjoyed a comparatively high standard of living as the lumber industry prospered. . . With threats of war, Nitro soon felt the impact, as the land where the lumber company stood was sold to the government. The quick change in Nitro, from a peaceful community to a war boom town changed the lives of many former mill workers and nearby residents. . . Nitro might still be know as Lock Seven if Newton D. Baker, World War I Secretary of War, had not selected this site from a list of several proposed areas as the location for the government to build a powder plant. . . The first name proposed for the town was "Redwop" (powder spelled backwards), but this name was discarded for ethnical connotations. He then selected the name of Nitro for the town. William Guthrie Bird met Hattie Miller Cable in Point Pleasant and they married. Hattie (my great grandmother) was among the first graduating students at Point Pleasant High School. Their family started out in Gallapolis, Ohio in 1918. My grandmother was four year olds when the entire family was transported to Nitro, WV. William had gone ahead of his family working for the Hercules Powder Company. The task was to literally build the town. My grandmother said he roomed in dunbar and went into Nitro each day to build houses so theri woul be enough for the families to come. She said they were building three houses a day. Apparently this increased to 25 a day with the influx of workers. When the children arrived their parents had acquired a house in the location of the present day interstate junction. An article written by James J. Gotch described the life of a plant worker during this time. Gotch arrived in Nitro from Sioux City, Iowa in the summer of 1918. The streets were nothing but mud "but wooden sidewalks were being built as fast as the help came from the farms and towns of the west, north, and south." There were daily trains into Nitro from all over the country. A hospital was established (this no longer exists in Nitro). I was employed in one of the many tall "Press" buildings in the Plant. This appeared like a coal tippel, with the huge brass press on the top floor. A cake of raw powder the size of a 50 lb. piece of cheese was placed into the press and steam power turned on and small strings of powder like spaghetti appeared on the next floor below. This was led to wooden pails and then fed into slicing machines which cut it into lengths of about one-half inch, after which it was placed in warming ovens and dried. Later it was weighed and placed into silk bags for use in fields and guns. During the war, the plant worked seven days a week. This decreased to six days during the armistice and finally to five days. The plant was open 24 hours a day. Wages were close to $120 per month. Eventually the workers were laid off in large groups. The families would either go to other industrial areas or back to their original homes. Great grandma Bird taught school at Sattes. Great grandpa was a fireman, photographer, and even a politician at on time. He ran for mayor of Nitro but lost. Great Grandma Bird was a very patient and loving woman which is evident in her marriage with William Guthrie. He was a handsome man, and often took advantage of this. My great aunts disagree slightly on whether some of the tales of my great grandfather are true. However, I was particularly amused by one story my Great Aunt Blanche told about him. Apparently, William Guthrie made a deal with a cleaning woman that he would give her a particular pair of shoes if she would meet him. The meeting place was a barn late at night. Reportedly, great grandmother came in the woman's place and wore the shoes to breakfast the next morning. My great grandfather did not say a word. My grandma Hattie said this story was not true. However, she frequently complained that her mother never liked her because her hair was the same color of a woman who William Guthrie was caught. Great gandma Bird stuck by him to his death. She wrote in her diary on June 18, 1966: William G. bird my husband died 24 years ago today." Still lamenting his loss after all those years. Great grandma Bird was a charter member of St. Paul's United Methodist Church, which was organized in 1919. After the war the government sold its plant to the Charleston Industry Corporation and the houses built by the government were bought by individuals during the Depression. These homes are still standing in Nitro and most of them have been remodeled into fine looking structures.

What a lot of interesting information on your BIRD family!! I wish we were related so I could use all that, but my BIRDs are from England and it is spelled B-I-R-D. There are many, many BIRDs in England. Diana Alberta, Canada Researching BIRDs in Northamptonshire, England in 1800's GREY FOX wrote: > The Bird Family > . . . > The Birds were essentially from Germany. They settled in great numbers in > the same area of Virginia as the English Byrds. This is the actual meaning > of the different spelling, contrary to the popular belief that the spelling > changed with the Civil War. However, the Birds and Byrds intermarried to > the point that they spelled their name either way.