Capt. Otho William Heiskell 1808-

Otho was the son of John Heiskell and Ann Sowers. He was born in Winchester, VA, on 1 March 1808.

Otho married Susan Mary Gibson on 16 May 1837 in Frederick, Virginia. She was born on 1 March 1815, the daughter of Captain James Gibson. She is buried at Old Presbyterian Cemetery, Romney, WV.6 They had one child, Henry Lee Heiskell. Henry Lee Heiskell enlisted at Camp Stephenson on December 9, 1861, and became a private in the Shriver Grays (Company G 27th Virginia Infantry), which was organized in Wheeling, W. Va. in May 1861.

Otho was married a second time to Matilda Paxton on March 26, 1845 in Ohio County (W)Va. Matilda Paxton was the only daughter of William Paxton

They had:
Otlio [Otto William] married Mary S. Bell on 25 March 1875. Received a commission in the Confederate Army as Commissary of Subsistence on 19 February 1865. 5
Annie [Anna J], who married Augustus M. Burke on 18 april 1867, and had Matilda Heiskell Burke and William Paxton Burke
William P Heiskell
Matilda H., married to Henry Moore Russell, Sr..
Known children: Henry Moore Russell, Jr., partner in the firm Russell and Russell, lawyers, 1421 Chapline Street, Wheeling, W.Va. Residence: Highland Park, Wheeling. Born July 6, 1879 in Wheeling, son of Henry Moore Russell, Georgetown university 1869, University of Virginia 1870, a lawyer, and Matilda (Heiskell) Russell (died in 1880). Henry Jr. married Eleanor Brice, daughter of S.L. Brice of Wheeling. They had two children both born in Wheeling: Jane Taney Russell (b. May 8, 1906) and Ann Heiskell Russell (b. October 17, 1908). Henry Jr. received the degree of LL. B. from the University of Virginia in 1903. He was admitted to the West Virginia Bar, abd practiced law with his father.4
Eliza Paxton Heiskell, who married Judge J. R. Paull
Sydney Ott Heiskell. Sydney married Thomas Stephen Brown, a lawyer, on 21 October 1891, and had two children: Oliver Wellington Brown (lawyer) born Oct 3, 1893; and Matilda Heiskell Brown (graduate of Vassar, class of 1919), born 23 Nov 1895.
Daniel L. Heiskell. In 1892, Daniel purchased the Warwood Tool Company of Wheeling, West Virginia, which was founded by Henry Warwood in 1854.

Source: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia at is twenty-first regular & extra sessions commencing January 11 & February 25, 1893. Charleston, 1893.

A special schedule of the 1890 Census (Persons who served in the army, navy & marine corps during the War of the Rebellion), Ohio County, West Virginia shows: HEISKELL, Matilda P., Widow of OTHO W. HEISKELL, Captain, 1 WV Inf.
Enlisted Feb 1862; discharged 1866; length [of service], 4-0-0. Address: Wheeling, WV.

Otho fought in the Civil War on the Union side. He enlisted on 19 February 1862 in the First (West) Virginia Volunteer Regiment with the rank of Captain. Since he had experience in dry goods and general merchandise, he was assigned to the Commissariat of Subsistence, whose business it was to provide food for the troops. He was honorably discharged on 20 March 1866.2 We know from Thomson's Mercantile and Professional Directory - Virginia - 1851 that Otho's dry goods business was located in Market Square, Wheeling, Ohio County, WV. Otho moved to Wheeling in 1824, where there is still a street named in his honor. His business interests also extended to coal, and we learn that on 17 June 1859, he and his partners purchased the rights to coal deposits in Charleston, WV.3

Otho Williams, born March 1, 1808, married Susan M. Gibson*, May 16, 1837, by whom he had one child; Henry Lee Heiskell married a second time to Matilda Paxton, died September 30, 1885; Robert Patton, born March 25, 1812, died June 9, 1821; Ann Elizabeth, born June 27, 1826; John White, born February 12, 1829, and Amelia Susan Heiskell, born July 24, 1826. Otto W. Heiskell was born in Winchester, Va., where he received his education, he came to Wheeling, Va., now West Virginia, in 1824, and entered the employ of Wade Hampton Heiskell as a clerk in his general merchandise store. Subsequently he established a dry goods business and operated it with much success until the breaking out of the war of the rebellion. He enlisted in the First Virginia volunteer infantry, and was made captain. His military career was crowned with bravery and honorable conduct. He was the only member of the family who fought on the side of the Union. Several of his kinsfolk gave their lives and services to the cause of secession. They fought with the same devotion and heroism, and although on the defeated side, never flinched from their duty. Two of his cousins were killed at the battle of Cedar Mountain while bravely fighting for all that they loved best. After the war Mr. Heiskell returned to Wheeling, and spent the remainder of his days in retirement from active business life. His death was a public calamity, and the loving memory of his life and deeds, his quiet, gentle charity and Christian spirit are the best monument which could possibly be erected to his memory. A true, honorable gentleman, a staunch friend, a sincere Christian and a brave soldier, is the epitaph which is written on the hearts of all who knew and loved him. His widow and seven children still survive him, they are: Otlio, Annie, who married Augustus Burke, their two children are: Matilda Heiskell Burke and William Paxton Burke, the latter now connected with the bank of the Ohio valley; William P., Matilda H., second daughter, married Henry M. Russell, a prominent lawyer of Wheeling; Eliza Paxton Heiskell, who married Judge J. R. Paull, mentioned elsewhere; Sydney and Daniel L. 1

Obituary: The Shepherdstown Register (Shepherdstowm, W. Va.) Friday, 9 October 1885: Mr. Otho W. Heiskell, father of Capt. H. L. Heiskell of this county, died last week in the 78th year of his age.

1 History of the Upper Ohio Valley, vol. 1, Madison, Wisc.: Brant & Fuller, 1891, pp. 316-318.
2 Historical Register of the United States Army 1890, p. 335.
3 Report of cases determined by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia by Clarke W. May (vol.59, 1906), p. 450.
4 Yale University. Class of 1902: Achievements (1912:657)
5 Official Army Register for 1865:68
6 Now a parking lot, but the gravestones were moved to Indian Mound Cemetery, Romney, WV. Susan M. Heiskell: died Nov. 27, 1841 "aged 26 years, 7 mos 29 days" "Wife of O.W. Hiskell" "She was an affectionate daughter, a truly-devoted wife and mother, and adored the religion she professed by her humble and constant zeal and piety" "Blessed are the dead which die in the lord from henceforth, Yea, asith the spirit that they may rest from their labours and their work do follow them."