U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Haynes, Robert Alexander (1867-1929) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Men of West Virginia, Volume II Biographical Publishing Company George Richmond, Pres.: C. R. Arnold, Sec'y and Treas. Chicago, Illinois, 1903 Pages 519-523 R. A. HAYNES, M. D., vice president of the West Virginia Medical Association and a prominent physician and surgeon of Clarksburg. Harrison County, West Virginia, was born July 22, 1867, in Greenbrier County, this State, and is a son of Rev. James and Susan E. (Shanklin) Haynes. Dr. Haynes comes of pioneer stock on both paternal and maternal sides. The Haynes family is of Germanic origin, although the original spelling of the family name was without the final "s." It is presumed that the family settled in the American colonies some years prior to the Revolutionary War. In that struggle for American independence, Isaac Hayne, the great-great-grandfather of our subject, was a soldier of the rank and file, as were also his seven sons. It is tradition in the family that Isaac Hayne distinguished himself by some act of bravery during the Revolution and was rewarded with a commission, in which his name was written Haynes instead of Hayne. His family, since then, have always held to the name of Haynes. Not a great deal is known of his seven sons, except William, who was the next in direct line of descent to the subject of this sketch. The facts in regard to Charles, Benjamin, Joseph and Moses Haynes, sons of Isaac Haynes, are quite meager. All that is known of Charles is that he was married November 24, 1781, to Mary Dixon, of Greenbrier. Benjamin belonged to General Morgan's legion of riflemen, and is traditionally remembered as a rollicking, hardy, stout young man. After the Revolution, he lived and died on Jackson River, about nine miles below Covington, Virginia. Joseph also lived and died on Jackson River. On April 5, 1782, he was married to Barbara Riffe, of Greenbrier. The late Major Haynes who lived near Oakland, in Alleghany County, was a son, and Col. Charles Haynes of the "Stonewall Brigade," who died some 20 or 25 years ago, was a grandson. Moses settled in Tennessee at an early date, but no special knowledge of his branch of the family can be gleaned. William Haynes, the great-grand-father of our subject, was born December 18, 1763, and settled in Monroe (then Greenbrier) County, on a farm between "Gap Mills" and the Sweet Springs. About the year 1795, Mr. Haynes removed to another farm (now Robert McNutt's) at the foot of Little Mountain, near "Gap Mills." At this point he farmed until his death, which occurred May 1, 1819. Here, too, his wife, who was Catherine Shanklin, of Botetourt County, Virginia, died in June, 1812. In early life, William Haynes was a merchant, but he soon gave up that occupation for farming. Dr. McElhenney says: "The first family I visited in the field of my mission (Greenbrier and Monroe) was that of William Haynes, in the 'Gap,' in Monroe County, and in his house I delivered my first sermon on the west side of the Alleghany." Four sons and one daughter made up William Haynes' family, as follows: James Madison, born February 17, 1794; Agnes D., born April 2, 1797; Andrew S., born May 11, 1799; William P., born August 2, 1802; and Thomas N., born August 9, 1805. Agnes D. Haynes was married in the winter of 1819 to Michael Erskine, of Monroe. Her husband, after many removals, settled in Guadalupe County, Texas, where she died, leaving five sons, — John, Andrew, William, Michael and Alexander, — and five daughters, — Catherine, Margaret, Malinda, Ellen and Agnes. Andrew S. Haynes had only fairly commenced business at the old homestead (the McNutt farm) when he died, February 14, 1824. William P. Haynes, after leaving Lewisburg Academy, where all the children of William Haynes were educated, graduated in medicine in Philadelphia and fixed upon Alabama as the field best suited to the practice of his profession; but death, in the month of November, 1825, nipped his promises of usefulness in the very flower of his youth. Thomas N. Haynes also graduated in medicine in Philadelphia, and practiced for a short time in Monroe County with success and acceptability. He went to various parts of the South, and died about 30 years ago in Texas, having been greatly afflicted with rheumatism. His practice was almost relinquished in his middle and later life. He was never married. James Madison Haynes followed farming more or less all his life — nine years on the McNutt farm and then 10 years on the present site of Rowan's woolen factory, on Second Creek, in Monroe County. In the fall of 1840 he removed to the Greenbrier River, five miles below Alderson, where, after years of suffering from inflammatory rheumatism, he died January 4, 1858. For a long time, Mr. Haynes was a magistrate of Monroe County, often a commissioner of the court, and in a great many cases was selected as an arbitrator of differences between his fellow citizens. Though often most earnestly solicited to represent his county in the Legislature, he steadfastly refused to become a candidate. James Madison Haynes was married September 10, 1821, at Union, Monroe County, to Isabella Dunlap, and they had six children who attained to adult age: Capt. William Haynes, of Summers County, deceased in March, 1897, who held many offices of trust before and after the war, having been a member, from Summers County, of the West Virginia Convention of 1871 to revise the State Constitution; Alexander D. Haynes, who was a successful merchant of Red Sulphur Springs, represented Monroe County in the Legislature of Virginia in 1856, and died at Red Sulphur Springs November 14, 1857; Robert P. Haynes, who was a major of militia before the war, entered the regular service of the Confederacy in the 26th Batallion of Virginia Infantry, was captured at Cold Harbor, and a few days after the battle was killed by a railroad collision, July 16, 1864, while on his way to Elmira, New York, as a prisoner of war; Rev. James Haynes was the fourth son, and mention of his life is given elsewhere in this sketch; Catherine, who lived with her brother, James; and Mrs. Jane A. Caraway, wife of William Caraway, of Alderson. Rev. James Haynes, the father of our subject, entered Washington College in 1855, and graduated in 1859. He then entered Union Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, and was graduated in 1862, being licensed by the Greenbrier Presbytery the same year, at Muddy Creek, and ordained the following year in the Lewisburg Presbyterian Church. After preaching one year at Anthony's Creek, he entered the Confederate Army as chaplain in the spring of 1863, and continued as such until the close of the war. He preached at Muddy Creek from 1865 to 1870, when he was placed in charge of an evangelical field in Fayette County for two years, making his home at Gauley Bridge. He later resided at Cotton Hill, Fayette County, but died in 1900, at St. Clair, Tennessee, possessing the respect and confidence of fellow workers of the church, both clergy and laity. He married Susan E. Shanklin, who still survives and is a resident of St. Clair, Tennessee. She is a daughter of Andrew Davison Shanklin, who was born in Monroe County, near Greenville, West Virginia, and was a son of one of the early pioneers of that section. Andrew Davison Shanklin's father was born July 13, 1777, and soon after his marriage, May 18, 1802, to Polly Shirky, settled on Indian Creek, Monroe County, Virginia, now West Virginia. He was the first settler in that section, and raised a family of 10 children, namely: Agnes Davison, Elizabeth Poage, Richard Vare, James, Sirah, John Shirky, Andrew Davison, Nicholas, William Frazier, and Mary Ann. The Shanklin family came from the Valley of Virginia and settled in Monroe County when it was practically a wilderness. The old Shanklin stone house is still standing on Indian Creek. Andrew Davison Shanklin lived and died on a part of the old home place in Monroe County, and his one child was Susan E., who married Rev. James Haynes. In the early "fifties" Andrew Davison Shanklin journeyed west and took up land in Central Indiana, which he sold at the beginning of the Civil War. His sister, Mrs. Andrew Young, took up 1,000 acres of land in Indiana, a part of which tract is now included in the limits of the city of Logansport. Dr. Haynes was the third member of a family of 12 children born to his parents, the others being: James Madison, deceased; Davison Shanklin, of Evansville, Indiana; Rebecca, of St. Clair, Tennessee; Agnes, of Tennessee; William M., of Fairmont, West Virginia: Andrew Nelson, who died aged three years; Mary, of Clarksburg, West Virginia; Herbert H., of Evansville, Indiana; and Susan, Aurelia and Ella, of St. Clair, Tennessee. Dr. Haynes was reared in (Greenbrier and Fayette counties and also spent a portion of time with his maternal grandfather in Monroe County. His general training and medical education were carefully attended to, the former in private and public schools and the latter in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Maryland. He was graduated in the class of 1896, at the latter institution. Prior to this, he had hospital experience, being secretary of the board of directors of the West Virginia Insane Hospital at Weston, and was connected with it from 1888 to 1895. After graduating, he engaged in the practice of his profession at Weston, for 18 months, and on November 1, 1897, located at Clarksburg. Dr. Haynes has taken advantage of every opportunity to perfect his skill and knowledge, and in 1901 took a special course in surgery at the New York Post- Graduate and Polyclinic schools. On October 15, 1896, Dr. Haynes married Hattie Gaylord, of Weston, West Virginia, and two daughters have been born to them, Aurelia Christine and Harriet Jean. Dr. Haynes belongs to the county and State medical associations and is the active and efficient vice president of the latter. His ability is very generally recognized in his locality, and he is numbered among the representative professional men of Harrison County. ------------------------------------------------------------------- From Death Certificate, Barbour County, WV #16378 FULL-NAME: Robert Alexander Haynes BIRTH-DATE: July 22, 1867 BIRTH-PLACE: W.Va. DEATH-DATE: December 5, 1929 (at age 62y-4m-13d) DEATH-PLACE: Barbour County, WV MARITAL-STATUS: Married (Hattie Gaylord) OCCUPATION: Physician FATHER: James Haynes (born in W.Va.) MOTHER: Susan Shanklin (born in W.Va.) CAUSE-OF-DEATH: Accidentally killed in automobile wreck INFORMANT: Bert Haynes (of Oaksburg, W.Va.) BURIAL: Elk View Cemetery ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Harrison County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/harrison/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------