William D. Cunningham and the second Cunningham generation
1817 - 1858
Nancy Long Cunningham died Feb. 20, 1847. William D. lived until 1859. 75 of his 81 years he had lived on this farm. He died at the nearby home of his son Samuel Orrick Cunningham.
Two years later, within sight of Sam O's house, JEB Stuart, captured 45 Union soldiers. Still in his blue uniform, Stuart was mistaken for a Union officer. It was his first day of Civil War battle experience, July 2, 1861, at the "Battle of Falling Waters."
Several of William D.'s brothers and sisters moved to the Western Frontier in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Three of them were involved in interesting military service:
Hugh (Jr.) and John were members of the militia sent out by President George Washington to quell the "Whiskey Rebellion" (August, 1794). President Washington himself set out at the head of the troops. They were commanded by General Harry Lee, who was then the Governor of Virginia and was the father of Robert E. Lee. According to a family account from the late 1800's, Hugh and John "were captivated by the fair and fertile fields of Western Pennsylvania and the two brothers, with their families, came in 1804 to Washigton County, PA. They brought the first wagons that crossed the Alleghenies." (See Centennial Hist. of Belmont Co. below.)
Robert was posted at Ft. Meigs (Ohio) in the army during the War of 1812. The fort was built by General William Henry Harrison (U.S. President March 4 to April 4, 1841)
Robert Cunningham was wounded in the first battle, and died a few days later, May 16, 1813.
They raised 8 children (William, Hugh, John, Dolly, James, Samuel Shields Cunningham [picture at right], George, and Jane.)
In 1811 the Falling Waters Presbyterian Church ordained Samuel as an elder to serve with his father, Hugh, because Hugh (70) was, in his own words, "past use on account of my age and infirmities."
James, a year younger than Samuel, married Margaret Winning (Winnan?) and moved West. He died in Belmont County, Ohio in 1841.
"One of the pioneers of Belmont County was John Cunningham, who sas born of Scotch-Irish parentage, in March 1771, in Berkeley County, Virginia. (Note, I think he was 13 when he moved to Virginia, and was born in PA. D.B.) He, with his brother Hugh, were members of the militia sent out under General Lee to quell the "Whiskey Insurrection" in Pennsylvania. Both of these brothers were among the first persons who ever drove wagons over the Allegheny Mountains. Mr. Cunningham and his wife, Hannah (Robinson) Cunningham, came to Belmont County in 1805 and settled near Bellaire on what is now the Rhodes farm. He built of logs the present house occupying the knoll opposite the Klee farm. The house was subsequently weatherboarded and it is still in a good state of preservation after the lapse of almost a century. Mr. Cunningham and his wife were ardent advocates of temperance. Indeed, so strong were Mr. Cunningham's temperance principals that he has been called the "father of temperance" in the community. Mrs. Cunningham was much interested in foreign missions work, then in its infancy. Her prayers were answered by the calling of two granddaughters, Mrs. Margaret Capp and Mrs. C. W. Mateer, and a great-granddaughter, Mrs. Margaret Wells, to the mission work in China.
Mr. Cunningham was ordained as one of the two first elders of the Rock Hill Presbyterian Church, and near this church he lies in his last sleep. Mrs. Cunningham died in 1859, being the last of the original members of the Rock Hill Church. The family consisted of six sons and six granddaughters.
The sons were Israel, James, Hugh, John, Samuel, and George. The daughters were: Abigail, who married John Mooney; Hannah, who married Robert Brown; Sarah, who married William Rankin; Rebecca, who married John Faris; Julia, who married George Milligan, and Agnes, who died in early girlhood. Of the sons, two were lifelong residents of Belmont county. These were George, who married Mary Harris, and Samuel, who married Eliza Work, daughter of Andrew and Anne (Anderson) Work, of the vicinity of St. Clairsville. The living children of George Cunningham are Mrs. Leroy Wise of Washington, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Reese Thomas, Mrs. Alva Wise and Miss Hannah Cunningham of the vicinity of Bellaire. Samuel Cunningham's living children are Mrs. Jesse Bonar, of Moundsville, West Virginia; Miss Alice Cunningham, principal of Bellaire High School, and William Cunningham of Toledo, Ohio. The descendants of the remaining sons and of the daughters of John and Hannnah Cunningham live in Delaware and Champaign Counties, Ohio, and in ohio County, West Virginia."