The History of Wana West Virginia
By Martha (Mae) Robinson Stiles
In 1923 Martha Catherine Stiles wrote a "History of Wana" a small
West Virginia village in western Monongalia County, WV. The mill
area at Wana was known as Wise. As the area grew the name Wise
was dismissed and the area was known as Wana as it is today.
One of the earliest settlers in the area was my 5th Ggrandfather.
Stephen Stiles was born in 1738 in Morristown New Jersey, married with two sons.
His wife died in 1762 and his two sons went to live with his
brother John and Stephen went west and settled in Greene County, Pennsylvania.
He remarried and claimed a large farm of nearly 1000 acres.
His eldest son Jonathan from his second marriage was born here and after serving in the
war he sold his Pennsylvania land and bought a 1000 acres
in Monongalia County Virginia near the small village of Wana in 1786.
Stephen later served under General George Washington
during the insurrection in western Pennsylvania known as the
Wiskey Rebelion. Stiles descendants can be found in western
Monongalia County, West Virginia and many other areas of
West Virginia and many other states. Stephen died in 1818 and is buried
in the Cross Cemetery located in Cross Roads, WV.
Martha Robinson married the GGgrandson of Stephen, Milton Engline Stiles
on June 23, 1895. Milt and Martha (also known as Mae) lived
in Wana and later moved to Ohio County noted living in Warwood, WV
next do to their daughter Nell Morton as listed in the 1940
census. After Milt died Martha is found living with her
daughter, Nell, until her death on December 1st, 1961.
Through luck I learned that a copy of "History of Wana"
was held by West Virginia University and I requested and
received the small but very informative book (20 plus pages)
If you would like to read Martha's (Mae) book please click below
History of Wana
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