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James "William" Overfield Sr. was born on Aug. 3, 1853 in Barbour County, WV, the son of John Edgar and Sarah (Hanshaw) Overfield. 

Said the Preston County (WV) Journal, "He was a native of Barbour county but came to Preston when a young man and lived here since." As a young man, while living under his parents' roof, he was trained as a stone cutter.

When he was age 27, William married 21-year-old Allida Anna Eliza "Lida" Zinn (1859-1938), on Feb. 22, 1881. The ceremony took place at the parson age of Rev. Presley F. Flythe. Lida was a native of Preston County and the daughter of Alexander W. and Anna E. (Wright) Zinn. 

They had eight children -- Ida Brown, Bessie A. Born, Roxie Peterson, Eva Summers, Percy "Jean" Farrell Grandon, Nettie Born, James William "Junior" Overfield and George Overfield.

For many years, William resided at Brown Mills near Reedsville, Preston County, WV, where he labored as a farmer.

At the death of his uncle Dr. Guy Hanshaw in 1908, William was entitled to one-forty-eighth of the estate. He received an immediate payout from the estate of $38.54 in 1909. At intervals over the years, through 1942, he received royalty payments from the oil and gas wells. The high point was in 1918, when he received $16.36. In total, he received $171.74 in inheritance. 

When the federal census was taken in 1920, the Overfields made their home on Overhill Street in Morgantown, Monongalia County, WV. That year, William labored in a glass factory, while son Junior, age 22, was a tin opener in a tin plate mill. Also living under their roof was widowed daughter Jean Farnell and her children Leonard Farnell (age 11) and Bessie Farnell (age 9). Living next door was their married daughter and son in law, Roxie and Ray Peterson.

By 1930, when the census again was enumerated, William and Eliza had moved back to the Valley District of Preston County, where they lived alone. William, age 76, continued to make a living as a farmer.

William died of a stroke at the age of 83, on Jan. 16, 1937, while living in the home of son J.W. Overfield Jr. in Lumberport, near Reedsville, WV. He was buried at Reedsville Cemetery, following the funeral at the Methodist Episcopal Church. In his obituary, the Clarksburg Exponent said he was "one of the county's oldest residents." At the time of his death, William and Eliza had 52 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

The following year, on Sept. 14, 1938, Eliza passed away, at age 79, and was laid to rest beside her husband. She had suffered from stomach cancer. Daughter Roxie was the informant for her death certificate.

~ Daughter Ida (Overfield) Brown ~

Daughter Ida Overfield (1881-1976) married Walter F. Brown (1882-1973). Circa 1937, the Browns lived in nearby Morgantown, Monongalia County, WV. In 1957, they were in Rock Forge near Reedsville. Walter passed away in 1973, and Ida died in 1976. They are buried in Reedsville Cemetery.

~ Daughter Bessie (Overfield) Born ~

Daughter Bessie Overfield (1885-1979) married Kasper Henry Born (1875-1973), the son of German immigrants Jacob and Mary (Oupkey) Born. The wedding was held on March 24, 1902, performed by Rev. Rye Radgar in her parents' home. She was just age 16, and he 26, at the time. Her father had to provide a letter of consent to the county clerk so they could obtain their marriage license.

Kasper was of medium height and stout build, with blue eyes and brown hair. They were members of the Church of Christ at Gladesville. 

The Borns had 11 children -- Fred Born, Madonna Peterson, Zelma Farley, Mrs. Reher McKinney, Freda Core, Kathleen Kisner, Edwing McCullough, Chester Born, Vernon Born, Bessie Wilson, Louise Shuman and Lillie Virginia Born. Sadly daughter Lillie Virginia died at age one in 1905, with her grave marker seen at right at Reedsville Cemetery. 

When Kasper registered for the World War I draft, at age 43, he stated that he was a farmer "for myself." In older age, Bessie became interested in the Dr. Guy Hanshaw inheritance situation in 1959. In a letter to distant cousin Frank Wayne Hanshaw Jr., she wrote that "while visiting in Salem W.Va. recently, [I] decided to go into Harrisville, W.Va., to learn what she could about the heirs' interest there." She found the estate administrators "evasive," but learned of the existence of other heirs. They made their home on the Old Kingwood Pike near Reedsville. 

In March 1972, the Borns celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. At the time, they had produced 16 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. Kasper died at age 98 in 1973, and was laid to rest in the Reedsville Cemetery. Bessie outlived Kasper by six years, and went to live in the Morgan Manor Convalescent Center in Morgantown. There, at the age of 93, she died on Oct. 3, 1979.

• Daughter Zelma Born married Roy Farley (or "Fraley") and lived in Barrackville.
• Daughter Madonna Born married Harvey Peterson and made their home in Reedsville.
• Son Fred Born (1903-1997) married Elsie E. (?) (1906-2005). Their wedding took place on May 29, 1936. They lived in Reedsville. Fred died on Dec. 29, 1997, at the age of 94. Elsie outlived her husband by almost eight years. She passed away at the age of 99½ years on May 4, 2005. They rest for eternity together in Reedsville Cemetery. Their grave marker, seen here, was photographed in October 2008.
• Daughter Repher Born married Parley J. McKinney. They resided in Detroit, MI circa 1972 and by 1979 were living in Port Charlotte, FL.
• Daughter Freda Born married (?) Core. She lived in Morgantown and by 1979 was in Lorain, OH.
• Daughter Kathleen Born wed George Kisner made her home in Lexington, KY.
• Daughter Edwina Born married Morton McCullough and resided in Salem, Preston County circa 1979.
• Son Chester Born lived in Arthurdale.
• Son Vernon Born made his home in San Diego, CA and later in Portland (OR?).
• Daughter Bessie Born married George Wilson and in 1979 resided in San Diego, CA.
• Daughter Louise Born wed Emery Shuman. They made their home in San Diego, CA and later in Lexington, KY.

~ Son James William "Junior" Overfield Jr. ~

Son J.W. "Junior" Overfield (1897-1957) lived in Lumberport, Harrison County, WV in 1937, where he likely labored in coal mines. By the mid-1950s, he was residing in Dellslow, Monongalia County. He married Jessie Lee (1901-1973) and had 11 children -- Dair Overfield, James Overfield, Perry Overfield, Junior Overfield, Clifford Overfield, Jessie Teaford, Betty Pyles, Bonnie Bradley, Shirley Overfield, Sandra Overfield and Judith Overfield. 

Said the Preston County Journal, he "was a veteran of World War I, having served with the 312th Field Artillery. His last employment was as night watchman for the G.C. Murphy Co. in Morgantown. He was a member of the Mellon's Methodist Chapel, Veterans of Foreign Wars and District 50 of United Mine Workers." Junior died in the Veterans Administration Hospital in Clarksburg, Harrison County on Feb. 24, 1957, at the age of 60, of liver and colon cancer. He was buried in the Reedsville Cemetery. Jessie outlived him by 16 years, and made her home in Dellslow.. She passed away on June 10, 1973. 

• Son Dair Overfield lived in Reedsville.
• Son James W. Overfield (1933-1994) served in the US Army in the late 1950s. He later lived in Morgantown, and died on March 15, 1994, at the age of 61.
• Son Perry W. Overfield (1935-2001) served with the US Navy circa 1957. He died in Morgantown on Sept. 28, 2001.
• Son Junior Overfield lived in Lorain, OH.
• Son Clifford Overfield made his home in Reedsville.
• Daughter Jessie Overfield married (?) Teaford and they resided in Columbus, Franklin County, OH.
• Daughter Betty Overfield wed (?) Pyles and lived in Dellslow.
• Daughter Bonnie Overfield married Rev. Willis Edwin Bradley. A graduate of West Virginia University and Wesley Seminar, Willis was a Methodist clergyman who served congregations at Mt. Vernon, Halleck, Lake Lynn, Avery, New Alexandria/Luxor, PA, Sylvester, Poca, Riverview, Marmet, North View, Pruntytown and Rivesville between 1950 and 1975. He and Bonnie have a biographical entry in the 1976 book, The Ministers of the West Virginia Conference, The United Methodist Church, a project of the cabinet and published by The United Methodist Publishing House in Nashville, TN. We believe she is the same "Bonnie Overfield" of Arthurdale (seen at right) who in 1950 served as a Festival Princess at the Ninth Annual Preston County Buckwheat Festival. Distant cousin John "Donald" Everly (son of J. Ami Everly) served as one of the event organizers. The festival celebrated Preston County's position as "West Virginia's and the nation's number one county in the  production of buckwheat," said a 1958 festival program. "Preston County threshed 63,800 bushels and had an acreage of 2,831... This grain is used in astronomical proportions during the Festival. It is the principal ingredient of 15,700 buckwheat dinners served at three Kingwood serving centers." The Festival honored local achievements and public service in the areas of firefighting, education and agriculture. 
• Daughter Shirley Overfield married Jeff Rembert, son of Mary Watkins of Coraopolis, Allegheny County, PA. The wedding took place on July 5, 1958 in the Reedsville Methodist Church, where, said the Morgantown Dominion News, "the custom of 'open church' [was] observed."
• Daughter Sandra Overfield 
• Daughter Judith Overfield

~ Daughter Roxie Dove (Overfield) Peterson ~

Daughter Roxie Dove Overfield (1895- ? ) married William "Ray" Peterson (1894- ? ) on Aug. 8, 1915, at the home of her parents in Preston County, when she was age 20, and he 23. The couple had at least five children -- Harry R. Peterson, Arthur W. Peterson, Garnet V. Peterson, Roy A. Peterson and Eloise H. Peterson. 

They lived on North Willey Street in Morgantown in 1920 and 1930, when the census was taken, near the campus of West Virginia University. During that period of time, Ray was employed as a mechanical engineer in a tin plate mill. In 1920, they lived next door to Roxie's parents, brother J.W. Jr., and widowed sister Jean Farrell. 

By the late 1950s, and at least as recently as 1971, Roxie was residing in Baltimore, MD.

~ Daughter Nettie (Overfield) Born ~

Daughter Nettie L. Overfield (1890-1939) married Edd Born (1871-1948), a lifelong resident of Preston County, and the son of German immigrants Jacob and Mary (Oupkey) Born. The Borns were wed in 1909, when Nettie was age 18, and Edd was age 38. (He was about two decades older than she.) They resided at Reedsville, Preston County. They had 16 children -- Glen Born, Guy Born, Harry Born, Jacob Born, Gerald Born, George Born, Carl Born, Edward Born, Robert Ford Born, Geraldine Trickett, Jessie Baldwin, Evadell Wilhelm, Waunita Nuce, Virginia Genevieve Trickett, Mary Rose Trickett and Dorothy Jean Born. When the U.S. census was taken in 1910, the Borns and their newborn daughter Virginia lived together in the Valley District of Preston County, where Edd was a farmer. Foster Coburn, a helping hand on their farm, lived under their roof in 1910. During the decade of the 1920s, Nettie gave birth to seven more children, and in the 1920s, she bore another six. The 1920 and 1930 censuses show this large family continuing to reside in Preston County's Valley District. Nettie died on July 11, 1939, at the age of 48. Tragically, their son Robert died of uremia and acute nephritis at age 12, on Jan. 9, 1941. He was buried at the Reedsville Cemetery. Edd passed away on March 29, 1948, on his 70th birthday, and he was laid to rest beside his wife and son. Their grave was decorated with bright red flowers when photographed in June 2006.

• Daughter Virginia Genevieve Born (1909-1972) married Judson "Judd" Trickett. They resided in Reedsville and moved to Douglas, AZ, where they were members of the Douglas United Methodist Church. They had two sons -- Darrell Leon Trickett and Gary Ronald Trickett. Sadly, Virginia died at the age of 62 in Douglas Hospital. Her remains were returned to West Virginia for interment in Masontown Cemetery in Preston County.
• Daughter Eleanor "Geraldine" Born (1912- ? ) married Russell Trickett and lived in Browns Chapel in 1948 and later in Morgantown.
• Daughter Reva "Waneta" Born (1913- ? ) married (?) Nuce. In 1948, they lived in Dellslow, and circa 1972, they resided on Route 7 near Morgantown.
• Son Harry E. Born (1914- ? ) lived in Washington, DC in 1948, Oakton, VA circa 1972 and Fairfax Station, VA in 1984.
• Son Glen K. Born (1916- ? ) made his home in Arthurdale in the 1970s.
• Daughter Jessie M. Born (1917- ? ) Born married Albert Baldwin and lived in Charleston, Kanawha County, WV circa 1939. Later, Jessie moved to Morgantown. She later married Rodney Didawick and in 1984 they lived in Coconut Grove, Dade County, FL.
• Son Carl M. Born (1918-2002) made his home along the Kingwood Pike in Reedsville. He is thought to have served on the board of directors for a proposed Valley District Ambulance Association circa October 1971. He passed away on Dec. 1, 2002, at the age of 84.
• Son Jacob Born (1919-1984) resided in Reedsville. He married Dorothy C. ( /? - ? ) and they had two children -- Jacob C. Born and Judy S. Born. Jacob was a member of the Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church. A farmer, he competed in the Preston County Dairy Farmers annual Hay and Silage Show, held in conjunction with the West Virginia University Dairy Short Court at the State 4-H Camp at Jacksons Mill. In January 1958, he placed fifth with an exhibit featuring alfalfa hay. In 1959, he placed third in field-cured hay. Jacob and Dorothy divorced at some point in time, with him staying in Reedsville, and Dorothy moving to Kingwood. Jacob died at home on Feb. 2, 1984 at the age of 64. Following a funeral held in the Morgan Funeral Home in Reedsville, he was buried in Preston Memorial Gardens. His obituary was published in the Preston County Journal.
• Daughter Evadell ("Eva Dell") Born (1921- ? ) married (?) Wilhelm of Morgantown. They lived there circa 1984.
• Son Guy W. Born (1922-2000) married Virginia Marie Costilow (1925-1982), the daughter of Elmer and Virginia Violet (Scott) Costilow of Morgantown. The Borns lived in Arthurdale. They had six children -- Ronald Guy Born, Donald Eugene Born, Tricia Ann Born, Barbara Elaine DeBerry, Sherry Marie Born and Marsha Louise Luzier. Virginia passed away at the age of 57 on Oct. 16, 1982, with funeral services held at the Mill Chapel Church of the United Brethren Church. Guy outlived her by 18 years, and died on March 21, 2000. They are buried in Reedsville Cemetery, with their marker seen here.
• Son Gerald Born (1924-1995) made his home in Masontown, Preston County in 1984 and later in Reedsville. He passed away on Nov. 26, 1995, at the age of 71.
• Daughter Mary Rose Born (1926- ? ) married (?) Trickett of Masontown. They made their home there in 1984.
• Son George E. Born (1927-1997) resided in Arthurdale. He is thought to have died at the age of 70 on Jan. 4, 1997.
• Son Edd Born Jr. (1933-1996) lived in Reedsville. In September 1958, he placed advertisements in the Morgantown Dominion News, promoting a public sale of a six-room house five miles north of Masontown on Rohr Road, near the school, comprising 128 acres. Included in the sale items were 17 head of livestock, a Ford tractor, plows, disc and side mower, manure spreader, wagon and other farming implements. He passed away at the age of 63 on Jan. 30, 1996. 
• Daughter Dorothy Jean Born ( ? - ? ) married (?) Coulson and made their home in Stowe, OH. By 1984, they had relocated to Clearwater, Pinellas County, FL.

~ Daughter Eva (Overfield) Summers Taylor ~

Daughter Eva Overfield (1892-1980) first was married married (?) Summers. Circa 1937, she was married again, to Charles Francis Taylor (1891-1954), the son of John Reuben and Emily Jane (Blaney) Taylor. They resided in Reedsville, where Charles labored as a coal miner. He was a member of the United Mine Workers of America. 

Charles passed away at age 63, on Oct. 31, 1954, of hardening of the arteries, along with rheumatoid arthritis. Eva outlived her husband by more than a quarter of a century, making her home in Morgantown. She died at age 88 in 1980, and was buried beside her husband at Reedsville. Their sons Charles Edgar and Harry Francis and daughter Helen Virginia Taylor also are buried at Reedsville. Their surviving children were May Oma Born, Lois Smith, Lucille Martin and Melba DeGolyer.

~ Son George A. Overfield ~

Son George A. Overfield (1882-1971) married Hester P. ( ? -1966). They had no children, and resided in Reedsville, in the section called Rock Forge. 

In the dead of winter 1939, he visited the offices of the Preston County Journal in Kingwood, bringing with him an old newspaper, the Ulster County Gazette, dated Jan. 4, 1880. "The paper was published by Samuel Freer & Son," said the Journal. "It carried several interesting articles about them being an account of the death and burial of General Washington and the opening address of President John Adams to Congress. The paper was well preserved and had many things of interest of the early history." 

George was a longtime employee of the A & P Store, and was a member of the Piedmont United Methodist Church. In 1971, when he was 88, George fell at home, and was taken to University Hospital in Morgantown. He died there on March 2, 1971. Burial was in the Odd Fellows Cemetery at Westernport, MD. His obituary was published in the Journal.

~ Daughter Percy Jean (Overfield) Farrell Grandon ~

Daughter Percy "Jean" Overfield (1889-1979) was twice wed. She first married James Charles Farrell (1883-1919), the son of John and Adeline (Brown) Farrell. The wedding took place on Aug. 11, 1907, at the bride's home near Mt. Vernon in Preston County, when she was age 19, and he was 25. 

They moved west to Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ in the late 1900s and remained there through the 1910s, where James followed his trade of carpentry. They had two children -- Leonard Farrell and Bessie Marcia Farrell. 

Later in the 1910s, the family moved to Parks, Coconino County, AZ, likely for James' work. Tragically, James was shot and killed in a homicide in Williams, west of Flagstaff, AZ on Sept. 24, 1919, at the age of 36. Details of the slaying are not known but will be researched. He was laid to rest in the IOOF Cemetery in Williams, Coconino County. (Seen at left, a bird's-eye view of Williams, nestled in the foothills of the Bill Williams Mountain, rising 9,200 feet above sea level.)

The grief-stricken, widowed Jean returned to Morgantown and temporarily resided with her parents and children circa 1920. Later, by 1930, she married Ohio-born Philo Vanburen "Phil" Grandon (1879-1951). The 1930 census shows the Grandons making their home in Tempe, Maricopa County, AZ, where Phil was employed as a laborer constructing bridges. They lived in Bakersfield, CA in 1937. Philo passed away in Tulare County, CA on June 25, 1951. Jean outlived him for many years, and continued to make her home in Bakersfield in 1971. Jean died at the age of 90, in Kern County, CA, two days before Christmas in 1979, and less than three months after the death of her sister Bessie Born.

• Daughter Bessie Marcia Farrell (1910- ? ) was born in Maricopa County, AZ.