John Lilly, Important Ancestor To Many

" I took possession of a double log cabin built for me in the fall of 1835, by Mr. John Lilly, Sr., of Blue Stone, and I changed the name of my residence from 'Park Place,' a name given it by my kinsman, Clarkson Prince -- to that of 'Wildwood."-- Gen. Alfred Beckley (father of Beckley WV).

John Lilly (1794-abt 1860) lived near the Jumping Branch/Streeter area. At the time Lilly built the house for Alfred Beckley there were only 4-5 families between the Bluestone and the Beckley area. In fact, Beckley notes this in his own writings.

My own relatives should note that John Lilly was one of our ancestors. He was the grandfather to Ida Jane Lilly (first wife of John Wesley Basham).

As for Beckley, he owned roughly 170,000 acres in Southern WV- what is called the Moore-Beckley patent. Many of our ancestors bought property from him, including Samuel Pack who bought the Streeter area (more details pertaining to this later).

Source: History of Raleigh County, Jim Wood, 1994.