WILLIAM THOMAS SINGLETON

1st Lieutenant & Quartermaster

A PHOTO ALBUM of the Singleton Family is owned by Linda Fluharty.
It includes CDVs of Lt. Singleton's 2 brothers, also in the Civil War.

     William "Thomas" Singleton was appointed by General Kelley to serve as the Quartermaster Sergeant of the First West Virginia Infantry, organized at the outset of the war for service from May-August 1861. When the 3 regiment was reorganized, he was appointed by Col. Thoburn to serve as First Lieutenant and Quartermaster.

     The "Honorably Discharged" W. Va. Civil War medal of William T. Singleton is owned by Linda Cunningham Fluharty. Inscription: "W T SINGLETON Q M SERgt 1st REG 3 MONTHS INF VOLS." - The records of his 3 months' service, list him as "Thomas W. Singleton." His correct name is reflected in his widow's pension file. The medals were typically inscribed for the last company and regiment of service - but in this case, with the name transposed on this medal, there were probably two medals struck for this soldier. The other would be for his service in the 3 year First Infantry.

     The parents of William T. Singleton were Jacob Singleton and Elizabeth McGarr who were marrided in Belmont County, Ohio on 20 May 1824. Given that Jacob was born circa 1795 and served in the War of 1812, he may have been married previously and had other children.

     The 1830 Census of Ohio County, (W) Virginia shows Jacob Singleton with 1 male <5; 1 male 15-20; 2 males 20-30; 1 male 30-40; 1 F 5-10; 1 F 15-20; 1 F 20-30.

     The 1840 Census of Marshall County, (W) Virginia (part of Ohio County until 1835) shows Jacob Singleton with 1 male <5; 1 male 5-10; 1 male 10-15; 1 male 40-50; 1 female <5; 1 female 15-20; 1 female 20-30; 1 female 30-40.

     The family is found in the 1850 Federal Census of Ohio County, Va. - Jacob Singleton, 56, Grocer, b. Pa.; Elizabeth, 45, b. Pa.; William T., 20, clerk, b. Va.; Jacob H., 18, painter, b. Va.; Sarah "Sallie" E., 14, b. Va.; James W., 12, B. Va.; Reed B., 6, b. Va.

     William Singleton was married to Mary E. (Ellen) Irwin, daughter of Sam'l. Irwin, Esq. of Wheeling, by Rev. Alfred Paull, all of this city [Wheeling] on March 7, 1854 - [Wheeling Intelligencer, 8 Mar 1854]

     At the time of the 1860 Census of Ohio County, Va., Jacob and Elizabeth Singleton had only two children at home, Jacob H., a clerk, and James W., 12. Their daughter, Sarah "Sallie" E., who had married George B. Kirk, died 21 Aug 1860, at the age of 23. - [Wheeling Intelligencer, 22 Aug 1860]

     In the 1870 Federal Census, Ohio Co. W.Va., "Thomas" (William Thomas), 35, merchant, & Mary were residing in the home of Samuel Irwin, Mary's father. Their children were (Samuel) Irwin, 9; Leena (Leeanna), 13. Daughter, "Lee," married Alfred Paull, son of Judge Paull of Wheeling. [Bio of Hon. James Paull, History of Wheeling City and Ohio County, 1902]

     William T. Singleton died 04 Feb 1871 and is buried in Mt. Wood Cemetery, Wheeling, W. Va. His wife, Mary Ellen, died in January 1898 and was interred at Mt. Wood on 24 Jan 1898. Mary Ellen is also listed in the burials of Peninsula Cemetery, Wheeling. Samuel Irwin, born in 1862, was interred at Mt Wood in 1904. A daughter, Lizzie M., born in 1856, was buried at Mt. Wood in 1860. The death and burial place of daughter, Lee, are not known.

     Samuel Irwin Singleton, son of W. T., is listed in the 1900 census of Wheeling, Ohio County with wife Annie, born Apr 1971, to whom he had been married for ten years. His birth date is given as Apr 1863 and he was a "Gov collector.". They had two children: Richard, born Nov 1891 and Mary, born Jan 1893. In the Wheeling City Directory, 1892, 1893, S. Irwin is listed as Examiner of Titles at Wheeling Title and Trust Company. C. J. Rawling a veteran of the 1st West Virginia Infantry, was Vice President.

Wheeling, West Virginia Directories, 1888-93 Henry M. Russell; C. J. Rawling; Louis F. Stifel; S. Irwin Singleton; Geo. R. E. Gilchrist
Location 1: office 1315 Market
Business Name: Wheeling Title & Trust Company
Occupation: President; vice-President; Secretary; ass't Secretary; examiner of titles; does a gen'l banking and savings business; safety deposit vaults for the safe keeping of valuable papers; &c., titles examined and insured against defects, bonds and loans guaranteed; acts as trustee, assignee or receiver; becomes security for executors, administrators, guardians, trustees, &c. Year: 1892, 1893 City: Wheeling State: WV

W. T. SINGLETON, Maj.

[Source: Wheeling Register, Monday, February 6, 1871]

DEATH OF MAJOR SINGLETON

Major W. T. Singleton, late United States Assessor of Internal Revenue, and a gentleman well known and highly respected in this community, died at his residence on Main street, between Adams and Washington, on Saturday last. The funeral is announced to take place this afternoon and the body will be attended to its last resting place by an escort of Knights Templar and the members of Thoburn Post of the Grand Army of the Republic.

W. T. SINGLETON, Maj.

[Source: Wheeling Register, Monday, February 6, 1871]

On Saturday, February 4th, at 2 o’clock P. M., Major W. T. SINGLETON, in the 40th year of his age.

The funeral will take place on Monday, February 6th, at 2 ˝ o’clock P. M., from the residence of Samuel Irwin, Esq., Main street, between Adam and Washington. Friends of the family are respectfully invited to attend.

W. T. SINGLETON, Maj. [Source: Wheeling Register, Friday, February 10, 1871]

FUNERAL

The funeral of Major Singleton yesterday afternoon was attended by the Masonic Fraternity, the Grand Army of the Republic and a large concourse of citizens. The remains were conveyed to Mount Wood Cemetery for interment. An escort of Knights Templar accompanied the hearse and the Masonic burial service was read at the grave by Dr. T. H. Logan. A squad of the Grand Army, under command of Lieutenant Trimble, fired a salute of honor over the grave. The procession was one of the largest that has been seen here for years, and testified the high regard in which Mr. Singleton was held by our people. He was a good citizen, a devoted friend and noble hearted man. May he rest in peace.

ALFRED PAULL, senior member of the firm of Alfred Paull & Son, which conducts one of the leading general insurance agencies of West Virginia, with headquarters in the Board of Trade Building in the City of Wheeling and with sub-agencies numbering about 135 at different points in the state, is not only one of the vital and progressive men who have done much to further the civic and material advancement of Wheeling, but is a son of the late Judge James Paull, who was a distinguished member of the West Virginia bar and who served as a member of the Supreme Court of the state. A tribute to his memory is given in the preceding sketch.

Alfred Paull, son of Judge James Paull and Jane A. (Fry) Paull, was born in the City of Wheeling, October 14, 1854, several years prior to the creation of the State of West Virginia, of which his native city became one of the two original capitals. Reared in a home of culture and gracious influences, he supplemented the discipline of the local schools by a course in Washington and Jefferson College, Pennsylvania. From his youth to the present time he has been actively associated with business interests in Wheeling, and his influence has been wide and important. He served as secretary of the Manufacturers Insurance Company, a West Virginia corporation with its general offices in Wheeling. In January, 1885, he became secretary of the Underwriters Insurance Company of that city. He wielded much influence in the upbuilding of the business of each of these corporations and gained authoritative position in connection with the insurance business in the state. He gave long and effective service as secretary of the Ohio Valley General Hospital, from which office he retired January 1, 1931. He is vice president of the Bank of the Ohio Valley. Deeply interested in all things pertaining to the welfare and progress of his native city, his civic liberality has been on a parity with his civic loyalty. He served four years as a member of the City Council and eight years as a member of the Board of Education. Mr. Paull has been influential in the local councils and campaign activities of the republican party, and was specially prominent in the time honored Masonic fraternity, in which his affiliations may here be briefly noted: Bates Lodge No. 33, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Union Chapter No. 1, Royal Arch Masons; Cyrene Commandery No. 7, Knights Templars; and Osiris Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a past grand commander of the West Virginia Grand Commandery of Knights Templars, and past potentate of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.

Alfred Paull married Lee Singleton, a daughter of Captain W. T. Singleton, of Wheeling, West Virginia. Four children have blessed this union: Alfred S., who is mentioned in later paragraphs; Mary Irwin, married to Arthur G. Hubbard, and they have four children, Lee A., Elizabeth, Chester and Paull; Lydia P., married to Lyman B. Kirkpatrick, of Rochester, New York and their two children are Helen and Lyman; Lee C. married Mary Glessner, daughter of William L. Glessner, and they have two children, Lee C. and William Glessner. Alfred Singleton Paull, the junior member of the representative insurance firm of Alfred Paull & Son and president of the Saturn Foundry and Machine Company and the McClaskey, Inc., of Wheeling, was born in this city on the 4th of April, 1883. He attended Linsly Institute at Wheeling and later a preparatory school at Lawrenceville, New Jersey, after which he entered Princeton University, of which Woodrow Wilson, former president of the United States, was then the president. In this institution he was graduated as a member of the class of '05 and with the degree of Bachelor of Science. Since that time he has been actively associated with his father in the insurance business, and his energy and progressive policies have contributed distinctly to the expansion of the enterprise. He is a republican of unwavering allegiance, and holds membership in the Rotary, Country, Fort Henry and Hamphshire Clubs of Wheeling. In April, 1913, was solemnized the marriage of Alfred S. Paull and Miss Mary Virginia Sands, daughter of Lawrence E. Sands, who was formerly connected with the National Exchange Bank of Wheeling and who is now an executive of the First National Bank of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Paull have one child, Eugenia.

Alfred Paull, a son of Judge Paull, was born October 15, 1854, in Wheeling, and was educated mainly at Washington and Jefferson College, of Pennsylvania. At the close of his sophomore year, in 1873, he entered the manufacturing business in Wheeling. In this and in other kinds of business he continued until he engaged in his present line, that of general insurance. Mr. Paull is manager for a number of companies for the state of West Virginia, and has from 75 to 100 agents who report to him. All adjustments are made and all losses are paid from his office. Mr. Paull devotes his entire time to his business. His office has been, for the past five years, at No. 1120 Market Street, where a force of clerks is kept busy. Alfred Paull married Lee Singleton, of Wheeling, a daughter of Capt. Thomas Singleton. Her mother was a descendant of Samuel Irwin, the Irwins being an early family of Ohio County. Mr. And Mrs. Paull have two sons and two daughters, as follows: Mary Irwin, who married Arthur Greer Hubbard, secretary of the Wheeling Mold & Foundry Company; Lyde; Alfred Singleton, who is attending Princeton College; and Lee, who is twelve years old. Mr. Paull owns a beautiful home at No. 729 Main Street. He served for four years in the first branch of the city council, and was a member of the board of education. He is past grand commander of the Knights Templar of West Virginia. On July 20, 1901, he received the commission of aide-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, on the staff of Governor White.

Alfred Paull married Lee Singleton, of Wheeling, a daughter of Capt. Thomas Singleton. Her mother was a descendant of Samuel Irwin, the Irwins being an early family of Ohio County. Mr. And Mrs. Paull have two sons and two daughters, as follows: Mary Irwin, who married Arthur Greer Hubbard, secretary of the Wheeling Mold & Foundry Company; Lyde; Alfred Singleton, who is attending Princeton College; and Lee, who is twelve years old. Mr. Paull owns a beautiful home at No. 729 Main Street. He served for four years in the first branch of the city council, and was a member of the board of education. He is past grand commander of the Knights Templar of West Virginia. On July 20, 1901, he received the commission of aide-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, on the staff of Governor White.

     MEANWHILE, after the Civil War, Jacob, Sr. and Elizabeth Singleton, the parents, moved to Iowa, where they are found in records with their children, Jacob H., James W. and Elizabeth S. They remained in that state for the remainder of their lives.

     Elizabeth Singleton, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth, and John Gilchrist, born 5 Dec 1820, the son of John and Sarah (Robinson) Gilchrist, were married in Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia on Apr. 14, 1847. Their children were John J. Singleton, born about 1848, and William, born about 1853.

     In the 1870 Census of Allamakee County, Iowa, James W. Singleton, 30, head of household, was residing with his wife, Sarah, 20, and their children, John A., 2, and Harry J., 2 months. Parents, Jacob and Elizabeth Singleton were living with them. Also in the home was J. (Jacob) H. Singleton, son of Jacob, Sr. & Elizabeth, and Sarah Hammond, born about 1798, sister of Jacob Singleton, Sr. and the widow of David Hammond. Sarah and David Hammond were found in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, living in Wheeling. David died 20 Apr 1864, aged 64.

     James Weed Singleton, served as a First Lieutenant in Companies I & C, 1st W. Va. Infantry. He was married to Sarah Albert by Rev. James Frothingham, assisted by Rev. Dr. A. H. Houghton, all of Lansing, Iowa, on 23 Oct 1866. [Wheeling intelligencer 1 Nov 1866] The name of James W. Singleton is included with his family, buried in Lot 36 at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Allamakee County, Iowa. It is unmistakably Lt. James W. Singleton because his grave is marked with "Co. C., 1 W.Va. Inf." He was born 9 Jan 1838 and died 19 Oct 1877.

     Jacob H. Singleton, born 16 Jun 1833, served an an Acting Ensign in the US Navy during the Civil War. His name is found in the US Navy History records in association with the the ship "Fair Play" in the Mississippi Squadron. He died 4 Jan 1872 in Iowa and is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Allamakee County.

The USS Fairplay, a 156-ton side-wheel "tinclad" river gunboat, was built in 1859 at New Albany, Indiana, for civilian employment. During the early part of the Civil War, she was used by the Confederacy as a transport and was captured in that role at Milliken's Bend, on the Mississippi River, on 18 August 1862. Captured and taken over by the U.S. Army, she was commissioned in September 1862 and transferred to the Navy the following month. After being converted to a gunboat, the Fairplay operated on the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the Ohio rivers during the rest of the Civil War. In February, 1863, she helped break up the Confederate Army attack on Federal forces at Dover, Tennessee, and later engaged an enemy battery at Bells Mill near Nashville. In 1864, she captured two confederate steamers. After a brief postwar patrol period on the western rivers, the USS Fairplay was decommissioned, sold in August, 1865 and renamed the Cotile. This photograph was taken by Bell and Sheridan of Clarksville, Tenn.

     By the time of the 1880 Census of Allamakee County, Iowa, William T., Jacob H. and James W., the sons of Jacob and Elizabeth Singleton, were dead. At that time, the elderly parents were residing with their daughter, Elizabeth S., the wife of John Gilchrist.

     Jacob Singleton, Sr., a veteran of the War of 1812 - HILL'S REGIMENT PENNSYLVANIA MILITIA - died 13 Jul 1883, aged 88 yrs, 1 mo., 24 days. Elizabeth died 18 Mar 1887, aged 80 yrs., 10 mos. & 18 days. Elizabeth Singleton Hammond, sister of Jacob, was born 18 Jul 1798 and died 21 Sep 1875. They are all buried in Lot 36, Mt. Hope Cemetery, Allamakee County, Iowa.