McGrew Family Photo Gallery

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James McGrew Trowbridge, my great-great grandfather, son of Samuel Grady Trowbridge (1801-1872) and Jane McGrew (1805-1883).  Jane was the daughter of Colonel James McGrew (1779-1873) of Brandonville, Preston County, (West) Virginia and Isabella Clark (1779-1867).  Col. McGrew was the son of Patrick McGrew, who may have been born in Scotland or Ireland, but came to what is now West Virginia from Cumberland Co., Pa. in 1796.  James McGrew Trowbridge was named for his grandfather, Col. McGrew.
My great great grandfather's uncle (brother of his mother Jane Mcgrew Trowbridge) was James Clark McGrew of Kingwood, Preston Co., W.Va. Mr. McGrew served one term in the U.S. Congress, was mayor of Kingwood, one of the representatives in Richmond from the western counties of Virginia that voted against sucession in 1861.  As a result he and his fellow delegates from the western counties were targets of death threats and had to return home by secret routes to avoid assination teams of radical southerners.  He was also one of the delegates that help form the State of West Virginia when the Civil War began.


This portrait is from the West Virginia State Archives.  It portrays James Clark McGrew as he looked in the 1860's, at the time that West Virginia became a state.


This image appears to be a newspaper print of a photo or portrait of James C. McGrew at about the time he was a Republican U.S. Congressman.


This is the monument on the James Clark McGrew family plot in Maplewood Cemetery in Kingwood.  James McGrew Trowbridge named one of his daughters Persis in honor of his aunt.  The names and dates for other family members are engraved on the other sides of this monument.


Close-up of the face of the McGrew monument in the Kingwood (Maplewood) Cemetery.


On the back (west) side of the monument is an inscription for George H. McGrew (1848-1917), the son of James Clark and Persis McGrew, and George's wife Anna Julia (Lore) McGrew (1849-1942).

On the north end of the monument is an inscription for James C. McGrew II (1877-1956) and his wife Dallas D.L. McGrew (1881-1973).  He was the grandson of James and Persis.
Granddaughter Jolie and Grandpa by the Trowbridge plot monument.  James McGrew Trowbridge's headstone is behind me to my left in this picture.  Also buried in this plot in Kingwood is great great grandmother Sarah Ann (Snider) Trowbridge and their grandson Madison E. Trowbridge who was killed in France during WWI.

The bank where James McGrew started as a teller and later became the director of, and the McGrew house in the background on the right.  The bank is at the corner of E. Main Street and Price Street
Center of town in Kingwood looking from the bank on the corner of N. Price St and E. Main St. looking south towards High St. The Civil War memorial and cannon are on the Court House lawn on the south side of Main Street (visible on the right side of the photo).
This is "The Pines" on East Main Street in Kingwood.  Also known as the McGrew House, it was built by James Clark McGrew in about 1841. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.


The placard at the driveway entrance to the McGrew house, which James C. Mcgrew built and named "The Pines."  It reads, "The home of James Clark and Persis Hagans McGrew was built in 1841, with additions in 1869. The building reflects the Federal and Italianate architectual styles and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
"James McGrew was instrumental in the formation of the state of West Virginia and served in the first West Virginia Legislature from 1863=1865.  He later served two terms in Congress and was the first mayor of Kingwood.
The Preston County Commission purchased the house in 1983, and it is being renovated and protected by the Society for the Preservation of McGrew House."

Daughter Tonya and granddaughter Jolie at the McGrew House in April 2009.  The house is only a few hundred feet from the center of town, the bank on the corner of Price and Main where Mr. McGrew started his career as a teller, and the courthouse where he served as the first mayor of Kingwood.


My daughter Tonya and granddaughter Jolie standing in front of the west side of The Pines.  At the time of our visit (2008 and 2009) the house was not yet open for visitors.


The back porch on the west side of the house.


The west side veranda towards the back (north) side of the house.


The front porch looking east down Main Street

Ronald N. Wall
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Updated:  05 May 2011