U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Merchant, James (1818-1886) ------------------------------------------------------------------- History of Ritchie County by Minnie Kendall Lowther Wheeling News Litho. Co., Wheeling W.Va., 1911 Pages 500-501 James Merchant is regarded as the pioneer hotel keeper here. He came in 1856, and built the "Alpha House," which remained in the hands of his family, his widow and son, Bonapart Merchant, until a few months since when it was sold. Mr. Merchant came to Cairo as contractor on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and he was subsequently a contractor on the "Calico railroad." He was of French descent, and was born at what is now Charlestown in Jefferson county in 1813*; and there he was first married to Miss Jeannette Harley, and five children were the fruits of this union: Edwin died in youth; John, at Atlanta, Georgia, where he left a family; Jacob, at St. Joseph, Missouri; Charley, at Cairo; and James is a druggist at Murphytown, Tennessee. After the wife of his youth was laid to rest at Charlestown, he married Miss Sarah Jane Foster, of Pennsylvania, who is of High Dutch stocky and with her he came to Cairo. Their children were five in number: viz., E. B., George, and Mrs. Jennie Carroll, and the late F. S., Cairo; and the late Minor, of Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Merchant passed on several years ago, and rests at Cairo. *Note: the birthdate on his tombstone differs from the 1813 in this article. ------------------------------------------------------------------- (2nd wife of James Merchant) Register of Deaths, Ritchie County, WV (Page 123) NAME: Sarah Jane Merchant AGE-AT-DEATH: 81 years DEATH-DATE: April 12, 1914 DEATH-PLACE: Cairo MARITAL-STATUS: Widow CAUSE-OF-DEATH: Incident to old age ------------------------------------------------------------------- There's a double tombstone in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery, Cairo, Ritchie County, WV James Merchant Sarah J., his wife born Nov. 8, 1818 Apr. 14, 1833 died Dec 14, 1886 Apr. 12, 1914 ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Ritchie County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/ritchie/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------