Frank P. Rease Biography Barbour County, WV ********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ********************************************************************** Submitted by: Valerie Crook The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 530-531 Barbour FRANK P. REASE, who is familiarly known by his title of captain, which he gained in his youth as a captain of a river boat, has been a prominent figure in connection with civic and industrial development and progress in West Virginia, where he is one of the representative and influential citizens of Belington, Barbour County. Captain Rease was born near Corning, Steuben County, New York, October 6, 1862, and is a son of Peter and Lucy N. (Watrous) Rease, the former of whom was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the latter in Susquehanna County, that state. Peter Rease was born in the year 1808, and he became a successful merchant at Corning, New York, where also he conducted a hotel and was engaged in the manufacturing of lime, his death having there occurred in June, 1873, and his widow, who was born February 12, 1814, having died in 1888. Both were earnest communicants of the Protestant Episcopal Church and he was a democrat in politics. Of their children the eldest, Morris, who served as captain of engineers in the Union army in the Civil war, eventually became chief engineer of the Union Pacific Rail- road, and he retained this position until his death at St. Louis, Missouri. Louise married B. N. Wentz, and after his death became the wife of A. J. Owen, her death having oc- curred at Wyalusing, Pennsylvania. Henry, a Union soldier in the Civil war, took part in the historic Red River cam- paign under General Banks, and died while in service and is buried at New Orleans. Helen is the wife of William H. Herrick, of Hollywood, California. Frank P., of this review, is the youngest of the number. Capt. Frank Pierce Rease gained his early education in the public schools of Corning, New York, where he com- pleted the curriculum of the high school. In connection with his father's business activities he early became iden- tified with the operation of canal boats, and he served as captain of boats plying between Corning, New York, and Newark, New Jersey, in the transportation of lumber, steel rails and limestone. He was captain of a boat when but sixteen years of age, and continued his service until he was nineteen, when he was made superintendent of the Corning quarry which supplied stone for the building of the State Reformatory at Elmyra and for the Beecher Church in that city. Leaving this position, he became outside superintendent of mines for the Fallbrook Coal & Railroad Company at Fallbrook, Pennsylvania, where he re- mained two years. This was during the reign of the "Molly Maguires," an unlawful organization which at- tempted to dictate policies in operating mines and the members of which became outlaws by the thousands, the while they terrorized mining communities and shed much innocent blood. Captain Rease gained the enmity of this organization and caricature of skull and cross- bones was placed on the door of his home as a warning. After leaving Fallbrook he was transferred to Corning as baggage master and freight agent on the railroad oper- ated by the same company, and finally became a train conductor. January 1, 1880, he became general super- intendent of the Butler Colliery Company at Pittston, Penn- sylvania, in the service .of which corporation he continued twelve years. He then, in 1892, came to West Virginia to assume charge of development work for the United States Coal & Iron Company in Randolph County, where he opened the company's first mine and erected its first tipple, at Harding. He became concerned also in the construction of the company's service railroad, and soon after the com- pletion of the Roaring Creek & Charleston Railroad, the Roaring Creek & Belington line also was constructed, this work having been done under the auspices of the Berwind, White Coal Mining Company, which bought out the other concern. The Belington & Beaver Creek Railroad was next built, between Belington and Weaver, to open up the coal owned by Captain Rease himself, the road having been built by Rease and Weaver. Captain Rease managed the mines and several railroads until 1901, when the properties were sold, the railroad lines being absorbed by other railroad companies. Captain Rease then turned his attention to other devel- opment work, including the construction of the Consumers Heat, Light, Water & Power Company's plant at Beling- ton. He was the originator of the enterprise for utilizing the power of the Middle Fork of the Tygart River in the developing of a system for the supplying of water and elec- tricity for adjoining cities and towns of this section of the state. In this connection the Highland Water and Power Company was organized. They made surveys through Fair- mont, Grafton and other places, and then sold the con- trolling interest to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, which has failed thus far to institute further development work. Captain Rease is still interested in mining properties that are producing coal successfully, and is still Southern representative of the Berwind, White Coal Mining Company. He was associated in the establishment of the first banking institution at Belington, and was president of the Beling- ton National Bank until its consolidation with the First National Bank, of which he continues a director. He has lived at Belington since it was a village of less than 100 population, and has been an Influential force in the devel- opment and upbuilding of the now thriving little city, of which he has served several terms as mayor, besides having been president of the Board of Education. He cast his first presidential vote for Samuel J. Tilden, and has since continued unfaltering allegiance to the democratic party. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. On the 7th of January, 1873, at Corbettsville, New York, Captain Rease wedded Miss Anna C. Corbett, who was born at Corbettsville, that state, April 10, 1852, a daughter of Ira and Juliette (Bowes) Corbett. Mr. Corbett was born in Broome County, New York, and was there a successful farmer and extensive lumber manufacturer. Mrs. Rease was the sixth in a family of five sons and five daughters, of whom two sons and four daughters are living at the time of this writing, in 1922. Captain and Mrs. Rease be- came the parents of three children: Lena is the wife of A. H. Woodford, of Belington, and they have three chil- dren; Adelaide died in young womanhood; and Louanna is the wife of Rev. A. C. Carty, chaplain at the United States Navy Yard at Philadelphia, they having one child.