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Heatherly, James E. (1853-1897)
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The History of Barbour County, West Virginia, From its Earliest
Exploration and Settlement to the Present Time
by Hu Maxwell
The Acme Publishing Company, Morgantown, W.Va., 1899

Page 399

James E. Heatherly, born near Mt. Olive Church 1853, died 1897, son
of Samuel J. and Helen A. (Corder) Heatherly, was married at
Philippi, February 8, 1877, to Laura E., daughter of John R. and
Susan (Sinsel) Williamson, children, Rissa Dale, Grace Lucile, Wayne
Williamson. His wife is a member of the Baptist Church. He was a
Democrat, a farmer and stock dealer living three miles east of
Philippi. He was educated at the West Virginia College at
Flemington. In 1880, at the age of twenty-seven, he was elected
Sheriff of Barbour County, being the youngest Sheriff in the State.
In 1888 he was again elected, but on account of failing health he
was unable to fulfill the duties of his office, and the County Court
appointed a successor. Before his election to the office of Sheriff
he had been largely engaged in farming and stockdealing, and during
his term of office he was extensively identified with the mercantile
business at Philippi. A consider- able block of stock of the Grafton
and Greenbrier railroad was owned by him. During the latter years of
his life he devoted his energies solely to farming and stock
dealing, handling annually as many as 10000 sheep and 2000 cattle,
and raising thousands of bushels of grain, on his highly im- proved
farm of 1000 acres. It is all underlaid with coal. The first tele-
phone in Barbour County is said to have been introduced by him. Mr.
Heatherly was killed by lightning July 18*, 1897 while taking shelter
in a barn during a rainstorm. Commodore Strawderman was killed at
the same time, and the barn was set on fire. Their bodies were
carried from the barn by James Phillips before the building was
consumed. Since Mr. Heatherly's death, his wife has successfully
managed the large property, making it highly remunerative. His
daughter Rissa Dale graduated with high honors from Broaddus College
and is now a teacher in that institution.

*Note: death-day differs:
       on biography (July 18); 
       on Death-Register (July 17); 
       and on tombstone in Silent Grove Cemetery (July 20)
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DEATH-REGISTER, Barbour County WV
Page 72, No. 463
Name: James E. Heatherly
Date-of-death: July 17, 1897 (differs by one day from the bio)
Occupation: Farmer
Cause-of-death: Struck by Lightning
Place-of-death: near Philipp, W.Va
Burial: Silent Grove

DEATH-CERTIFICATE, Barbour County WV, #13958
Full-Name: Laura Ellen Heatherly
Birth: Sept 15, 1857 in West Virginia
Death: Dec 2, 1922 in Philippi, Barbour County, WV 
Marital-status: Wid.
Father: John R. Williamson, born in West Virginia
Mother: Lucinda Sinsel, born in West Virginia
Cause-of-death: Chronic Nephritis
Burial: Silent Grove
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