Barbour County, West Virginia Biography of Golden Frank ROW This biography was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 307-308 GOLDEN FRANK ROW. The important industrial town of Junior stands on and adjacent to the original hold- ings of the pioneer Row family in this section of Bar- bour County, and some of the family were identified with merchandising there before the present name was given the village. Golden Frank Row is one of the younger generation of the family, and while he has been a miner, educator and in other lines of usefulness, his chief interest for some years past has been conducting a store. His pioneer ancestors here were his grandfather, Andrew Jackson Row, and his great-grandfather, Ben- jamin Row, who came from Page County, Virginia, and the latter built a mill on the Tygart Valley River and continued its operation until his death, when he was succeeded in its ownership by his only son, Andrew J. Benjamin Row, is buried on the hill within the corpora- tion limits of Junior. Andrew J. Row was a merchant as well as a miller, and he continued in business at Junior for a number of years. He died there in 1905, at the age of seventy-three. He was a member of the Dunkard Church and in politics a republican. Andrew J. Row mar- ried Delila Williams, and she was the mother of the fol- lowing children: William A., Mrs. Mary Brady, James B., Mrs. Celia Wilson, Mrs. Virginia Thorn, Mrs. Roxanna Arbogast and Mrs. Margaret Thornhill. The second wife of Andrew J. Row was Mary K. Fitzgerald, and the children of that union were: Belle, who married S. S. Bolton; Fannie, who became the wife of A. K. Perry; and Icie, wife of B. F. Shomo. William A. Row was born in Barker District of Barbour County, November 27, 1856. He attended local schools, and through all his active years has been connected with farm- ing and mining. He became president of the Row Coal Company. He has always voted as a republican, and is a member of the German Baptist Church. William A. Row married Sarah E. Coffman, daughter of Frank Coffman. Their children were: William J., a farmer and minister of the Church of the Brethren at Junior, who married Pearl Hayes; Cora V., of Junior, widow of Charles Hillyard; Ada D., who married W. R. Shomo, of Junior; Mattie, wife of William Corrick, of Cumberland, Maryland; Golden P.; Leonard H., connected with the mines- of Junior, who mar- ried Hazel Powley; Miss Zeta, a former teacher at Junior; Miss Hallie; and Gladys, wife of William McNemar, of Junior. Golden Frank Row was born in Barker District, October 6, 1884, and the public schools gave him his early advan- tages and his work training was largely the labor of the farm until he went into the mines. He did work in the mines as early as the age of thirteen, and for six years was a factor in the actual mining at Junior. He turned from that vocation to become a house painter and paper hanger, and he supplied most of the service in this line in his community for about seven years. Following that he became a teacher in the Junior School, and taught there four terms. Since then he has been a merchant, engaging in that line of business in the early winter of 1913. Mr. Row was secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Row Coal Company, incorporated November 27, 1918, with a mine at Dartmoore, near junior. This property was sold in June, 1920, to W. J. Flanagan of Pittsburgh, and was then incorporated as the Ida May Coal Company. Mr. Row helped organize in 1918 the Merchants and Miners Bank of Junior, is a stockholder, is second vice president and a director. On July 28, 1917, he was commissioned for a term of ten years as notary public. While a busy man with his private affairs, Mr. Row has performed some kind of public service practically since reaching manhood. He cast his first presidential vote for William Howard Taft, and has been influential in the republican party in his district. In June, 1919, he was appointed postmaster of Junior, as the successor of F. A. Matthew. He was one of the few republicans appointed to postmastership during the democratic administration. Besides acting as postmaster he has served since his elec- tion in 1918 as a member of the Barker District Board of Education, and in 1921 was appointed registrar of vital statistics by State Registrar Carl F. Raver, his duties being to record and report births and deaths and to issue burial permits. At Junior, April 14, 1910, Mr. Row married Irma Yaple, daughter of William and Ellen (Bennett) Yaple. She was born in Athens County, Ohio, September 25, 1885, and had a grammar school education. Mrs. Row died October 14, 1918, leaving her husband and young children to mourn her loss. The children born to their union were: Maurice F., born February 11, 1911; Harold W., born May 12, 1912; Jessie, born September 6, 1913, and died in infancy; Orion Yaple, born May 7, 1915; and Eileen Ellen, born April 5, 1918.