“Abraham Helmick, born 1842, in Pendleton County, son of Miles Helmick; married, 1861, to Catharine Mullennax. She died in 1877, and he married Prudence, daughter of William Ware, of Randolph County. Children: Abraham L., Georgiana, Albert, Martin Howard and Effie Huldy; is a farmer of 116 acres, with 50 acres improved, almost every foot of which he has cleared himself; has a large part of his farm sown down in grass, and cuts a considerable amount of hay, which he feeds to stock; is a prosperous farmer, and lives in the Sugar Lands, seven miles from St. George. He joined the Confederate army at the commencement of the war. At Alleghany he was shot through the shoulder by a Minie-ball, and at Laurel Hill he was knocked down by a shell; was in Garnett’s retreat. In Virginia, soon after, he left the Confederate army and joined the Union. He was in several battles, Gettysburg among them, and was also in several skirmishes along the B. & O. R. R., notably that of Paw Paw Tunnel; he fought through the entire war, and has since lived on a farm. Once he came near being killed by a bear which he had caught in a trap. It tore loose and tried to catch him, and he could only spring up a tree, taking his gun with him. Finally, he shot the bear.”

Source:  History of Tucker County, West Virginia, From Its Earliest Explorations and Settlements To The Present Time, by Hu Maxwell, Preston Publishing Co., Kingwood, W. Va., 1884, page 417