Berkeley County, West Virginia Biography of Alexander B. SMALL ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , March 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 17-18 ALEXANDER B. SMALL is a successful and progressive contractor and builder in his native city of Martinsburg, Berkeley County, and in direct and collateral lines is a representative of well known pioneer families of this county. Mr. Small was born at Martinsburg, West Virginia, on the 26th of September, 1887. and is a son of Wendell Seibert Small and Margaret Ann (Burr) Small. Wendell Seibert Small was born on a farm near Berkeley Station, this county, in 1842, a son of John Carson Small, who was born on a pioneer farm in Hedgeville District, this county, in 1801, it being virtually assured that the latter's father was bora in Pennsylvania, of the stanch old "Pennsylvania Dutch" stock, he having been the pioneer representative of the family in what is now Berkeley County, West Virginia, where he reclaimed a farm from the wilds and where he passed the remainder of his life. John Carson Small here engaged in farm enterprise on land which he inherited from his father, and prior to the construction of railroads he used to drive with team and wagon to Baltimore, Maryland, to market his surplus farm products, several days having been required to make the trips back and forth. On his old homestead farm is now situated the production plant of the Security Lime & Cement Company, one of the important industrial concerns of this section of the state. John C. Small remained on his farm until his death, at the venerable age of eighty-nine years. He married Sarah Mong, who was born on a farm about three miles west of Martinsburg, in the year 1806, a daughter of John and Mary (Painter) Mong, the latter's mother having been a Seibert. The Small, Mong, Carson, Painter and Seibert families all figure prominently in the pioneer history of Berkeley County. Mrs. Sarah (Mong) Small died at the age of sixty-seven years. The names of her children are here recorded: Mary Ellen, Ann Rebecca, Lucinda Catherine, James Henry, Reuben Wiser, John Mong, Susan Virginia, Wendell Seibert, Sarah Jane, William Hunter and Emma Elizabeth. The religious faith of the family has been that of the Lutheran Church. James H., Reuben W. and John M. Small were loyal soldiers of the Confederacy in the war between the states. Wendell S. Small was reared on the old home farm, and as a youth he learned the carpenter'a trade, at which he became a skilled workman. After working for a number of years as a journeyman he engaged in contracting and building in an independent way, he having continued his association with this line of business enterprise until his death, in his sixty-eighth year. At Martinsburg, West Vir- ginia, he was a member of Equality Lodge No. 44, A. F. and A. M., and was affiliated also with the Royal Arcanum. He was a devout communicant of the Lutheran Church while his wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mrs. Small was born about one mile east of Shen- andoah Junction, Jefferson County, a daughter of William and Mary Ann (Porterfleld) Burr and granddaughter of James and Nancy (McGary) Burr. James Burr was a son of Peter and Jane (Calhoun) Burr. On the maternal side Mrs. Small was a granddaughter of William and Mary (Williamson) Porterfield. Mrs. Small died at the age of fifty-five years. Her children were five in number: Eugene is a carpenter and builder at Martinsburg; Nan Burr is in the Government employ at Washington, D. C.; Wendell S. is a rural mail carrier in Berkeley County; May is the wife of William H. Johnson; and Alexander R. is the immediate subject of this sketch. Alexander R. Small gained his youthful education in the public schools of Martinsburg, and as a lad he began to assist his father, under whose direction he learned the carpenter's trade with much thoroughness. He continued his association with his father until he established himself independently in business as a contractor and builder, and he is one of the successful representatives of this line of enterprise in his native city. His basic Masonic affiliation is with Equality Lodge No. 44, A. F. and A. M., and he is affiliated also with the Lodge of Perfection, fourteenth de- gree, and with Tuscarora Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.