Cabell County, West Virginia Biography of Purla V. BESWICK ************************************************************************** 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, , July 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 168 PURLA V. BESWICK, administrator of the estate of his father, the late Samuel Beswick, incidentally has the active management of the substantial lumber business which was established by his father in the City of Huntington and which is still conducted under the title of Sam Beswick, which had been adopted by the father. Mr. Beswick was born in Gallia County, Ohio, February 10, 1878. His father, Samuel Beswick, was born at Stock- port, Morgan County, that state, May 14, 1855, and died at Huntington, West Virginia, December 2, 1921. Samuel Beswick was reared and educated in his native place and was a young man when he removed to Gallia County, Ohio. At Pomeroy, Meigs County, that state, his marriage oc- curred and he was thereafter identified with operations in the oil fields of that county until his removal to Marietta, Ohio, where he found employment in a coopering estab- lishment, as did he later at New Brighton, Pennsylvania. In 1877 he returned to Gallia County, Ohio, where he was engaged in farm enterprise until the following year, when he came to West Virginia and engaged in farming near Greenbotton, Cabell County. There he continued his suc- cessful operations until January, 1883, when he removed with his family to Huntington and entered the employ of the Ensign Manufacturing Company, the title of which is now the American Car & Foundry Company. In 1886 he here established himself in business as a contractor and builder, and with this enterprise he continued his active alliance until 1892, when he founded the retail lumber business which is still conducted under his name and which he developed into one of the most substantial and impor- tant enterprises of its kind in the city. He erected his office building on Fourteenth Street, between Second and Third avenues, and the lumber warehouses extend from the corner of Fourteenth Street and Second Avenue for a dis- tance of 210 feet to the east of Fourteenth Street, on Sec- ond Avenue, and 140 feet on Fourteenth Street. Mr. Bes- wick was a loyal and public-spirited citizen and aggressive and successful business man, was a democrat in politics, and he served as a member of the City Council of Hunting- ton from 1895 to 1898. He was affiliated with Huntington Lodge No. 64, I. O. O. F.; Huntington Lodge No. 33, Knights of Pythias; Huntington Camp No. 5257, M. W. A.; and with the local organization of the Improved Or- der of Red Men, besides which he was an active and pop- ular member of the Huntington Chamber of Commerce. His widow, whose maiden name was Augusta Kuhn and who still resides at Huntington, was born in Washington County, Ohio, May 14, 1855. Of their children the first- born is Clyda, who remains with her widowed mother; the subject of this sketch was the next in order of birth and is the only son; and Addie is the wife of K. A. Runion, of Huntington. Purla V. Beswick supplemented the discipline of the Huntington public schools by attending Marshall College, in which he continued his studies until he had partially completed the work of his senior year. He left college in 1895 and became .actively associated with his father's lum- ber business, his experience thus fortifying him effectively when he was called upon to assume the active management of the business upon the death of his father. He is found loyally aligned in the ranks of the democratic party, is an active member of the Huntington Chamber of Commerce, and is affiliated with Huntington Camp No. 5257, Modern Woodmen of America; Huntington Lodge No. 313, B. P. O. E.; and with the local organization of the lumbermen's fraternity, the Concatenated Order of Hoo Hoos. He is a member of Central Christian Church, and his wife is a member of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church. In 1922 he completed the erection of his handsome and modern resi- dence on Fifth Avenue, in one of the most attractive resi- dential sections of the city. November 17, 1903, recorded the marriage of Mr. Bes- wick and Miss Annette Norton, who was born in Kanawha County, this state, October 14, 1880, and whose death oc- curred July 23, 1909, no children having been born of this union. On the 13th of September, 1918, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Beswick and Miss Blanche Rogers, daughter of Samuel Rogers, who is living retired at Mount Sterling, Kentucky, his wife being deceased. Mrs. Beswick was born near Mount Sterling, Kentucky, August 14, 1886, and was reared and educated in the fine old Blue Grass State and in Marshall College. She is the gracious and popular chatelaine of the beautiful home at Huntington, and is actively identified with the representative social life of the community. Samuel Beswick, grandfather of the subject of this re- view, was born in Stockport, England, and died at Stock- port, Ohio, September 22, 1867, he having been a young man when he came to the United States and settled at Stock- port, Ohio, where he became a pioneer merchant and hotel proprietor, the owner of a wharfboat, a contractor in the construction of county roads, and a promoter in the local oil fields. The maiden name of his wife was Emily Thorni- ley, and she likewise died at Stockport. The great-grand- parents, James Beswick and Elizabeth Gaywood Beswick, were born in England and came to this country in 1818.