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JOSEPH RALSTON --
Several stories have come down to us concerning Joseph Ralston's early
life, and until I'm sure of one version being true, I won't elaborate on
his youth, however, we do know that Joseph came from Scotland and had
within him a pioneer's heart. Joseph settled for a short time just east of
the Allegheny mountains, but it wasn't long until the lure of the
wilderness brought him and his young family to the Kings Creek area,(near
present day Weirton). Joseph Ralston and his sons Joseph and Samuel staked
out "tomahawk claims" along Kings Creek as early as 1775, making them some
of the earliest settlers in the region. Joseph saw duty in the French and
Indian War, and in Dunmore's War, and he and his sons served in the
American Revolution. After the war, the Ralstons returned to their land on
Kings Creek and expanded their farms and homesteads. Joseph built a grain
mill on the creek which lasted for generations, the area around it
becoming known as Ralstons Mill. Joseph and his wife lived to a good old
age and were laid to rest at Three Springs Cemetery. Both sons married and
raised large families, producing generations of Ralstons living in the
Hollidays Cove, Kings Creek area to the present. Joseph married Ann
McCready of Hookstown, Pennsylvania, and after her death, married Sarah
Greer of Caroll County Ohio. Samuel married Martha Tucker, daughter of
John Tucker, the founder of the Tucker M.E. Church in Hanover Township,
Washington County, Pennsylvania. Joseph and his wives are buried at Three
Springs Cemetery in Hollidays Cove,West Virginia, and Samuel Ralston and
his wife Martha are buried at the Tucker Church Cemetery between Florence
and Paris, Pennsylvania.
Thanks to
Dale G.
Patterson
for this information. |
