THE HOLSBERRY FAMILY
from Hu Maxwell's
History of Barbour County

The great-grandfather of John D. Holsberry came to Pennsylvania from Germany when sixteen years of age. All the people in this county of that name are descended form him. He had three sons, Samuel, Conrad and John. Samuel married in Pennsylvania but died without children; Conrad and John went to Ohio and bought land near Zanesville. Other settlers, from New Jersey, located there about the same time. The locality proved unhealthful, and after much sickness the colonists arranged to return to the East. They arrived in Barbour and settled among the foothills of Laurel Hill in Glade District. Among the families so settling was one named Poling, and Margaret Poling belonged to the family. Before she left Ohio John Holsberry became acquainted with her and desirous of possessing so estimable a young lady for a wife, he sold his land for almost nothing (it afterwards became very valuable) and followed the Poling family to Barbour, where he was soon successful in winning the hand of the charming girl. They built their house where Kalamazoo now stands. When the War of 1812 began, John Holsberry volunteered and became a commissioned officer and went to Norfolk; but on account of sickness in his family he resigned before the close of the war. His family consisted of six children, all of whom married an now have descendants living in Barbour County. The children were Rachel, who married Andrew Stalnaker; Nancy who married John Regan; Samuel, William, Catherine and Martha, who is now the only one living. John Holsberry died in 1862 at the age of eighty-two, and was laid to rest in the M. P. White Oak Cemetery by the side of his companion who had gone on before. The descendants of Conrad Holsberry drifted from Ohio down the Mississippi and are now in Texas.

JOHN D. HOLSBERRY, born 1848, son of Samuel and Magdalena (Digman) Holsberry, was married in Randolph County in 1870 to Marietta, daughter of Thomas and Bashaba (Nutter) Schoonover. Children, French S., Leroy Virgil, Della, Granville Cicero, Hattie and Chloe Rue. He is a member of the M. E. Church South, a Democrat and a farmer, owning 215 acres in Barbour County, principally cleared and a half interest in 1050 acres of woodland in Tucker County. He lives at Kalamazoo. His father was born in 1810 and died 1878; his mother was daughter of Charles Digman, who was drowned on Hunter's Fork of Teter Creek. Their children who are living are, Nicholas Nancy, who married Wilson Stalnaker; Malissa, wife of J. E. Moore; Amanda, wife of Lemuel Nestor; the subject of this sketch; and Johnson, who died in youth.

LEROY VIRGIL HOLSBERRY, born in Glade in 1873, son of John D. Holsberry. He is a member of the M. E. Church, South, in politics a Democrat, and by profession an educator. In 1896 he graduated from the State Normal School at Fairmont, and soon afterwards was elected Superintendent of schools of Barbour County. Such time as he can now spare from the duties of his office he spends in the West Virginia University as a student.

JAMES K. HOLSBERRY, born 1849 on Teter's Creek, son of William and Rebecca (Vannoy) Holsberry, was married in 1868 on Teter's Creek to Elizabeth C., daughter of George and Mary (Stalnaker) Howdershelt. Children, Liona, Devilla F., William W., Effie M., Sophronia F., Nora V., Howard F., E. G., and Tracy H. He is a member of the German Baptist Church, a Democrat, a farmer and a stockman, residing on Teter's Creek, where he owns 750 acres. William Holsberry was born at Kalamazoo in 1819, and was a farmer and miller, owning the Holsberry Mills on Teter's Creek. His father was John Holsberry, born near Pittsburgh in 1780, and came to Barbour about 1800 and settled near Kalamazoo. On the farm of James K. Holsberry, on April 24, 1865, Captain M. F. Haller, Lieutenant Nestor and William Martin, Home Guards, were killed by Confederates.

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