Cabell County, West Virginia - Biography: Frank Bliss ENSLOW

**********************************************************************
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.
**********************************************************************

Transcribed by <AUPQ38A@prodigy.com> (MRS GINA M REASONER), 1999
WEST VIRGINIA In History, Life, Literature and Industry
The Lewis Publishing Company 1928 - Volume 5, page 190-191

        FRANK BLISS ENSLOW as a lawyer, banker, capitalist, oil and gas
operator, was identified with Huntington from the very founding of the
city, and a notable figure in its development, and business and civic
affairs for over forty-five years.
        He was born at Wheelersburg, Ohio, August 4, 1853, and was a son of
Mr. And Mrs. Andrew Jackson Enslow. Andrew Jackson Enslow was a railroad
contractor and builder and he had the contract for the building of the
masonry work on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad into Huntington, and that
city itself was laid out by him. The Enslow family came to Huntington to
reside in 1871, a year before the city was incorporated.
        At that time Frank Bliss Enslow was eighteen years of age. As a boy
he had worked in iron furnaces in Ohio and Tennessee, and subsequently was
associated with his father in the contracting business, and this work
brought him to Huntington at the very beginning of the town. While doing
railroad work he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and in the legal
profession he won high rank as a corporation attorney. For forty years the
firms of which he was a member acted as general counsel for the Chesapeake
& Ohio Railroad in West Virginia, and they also represented the Huntington
Water Company and other corporations. In the early years of his law
practice Mr. Enslow was associated with Henry C. Simms and Eustace Gibson,
until the death of Colonel Gibson, and from that time until the death of
Mr. Simms in 1907 the firm of Enslow, Fitzpatrick & Baker, which with minor
changes continued until the death of the senior partner.
        Had he not chosen the profession of law Mr. Enslow's business
interests would have made him a notable figure in the life of Huntington.
Particularly during the last ten years of his life much of his time was
given to oil and gas development. He was prominent in the organization of
the Columbia Gas & Electric Company, which became one of the largest
organizations of its kind, and he was vice president and general counsel
for the company at the time of his death. He was also interested in the
Lincoln County Oil and Gas Field, was a stockholder and director in the
Guyan Oil Company and the Hamlin Oil Company. His faith in Huntington
caused him to invest in local real estate, beginning fully half a century
ago, and he came to own some of the most valuable property in the downtown
district and was instrumental in the financing and construction of some of
the largest buildings. He was president of the Huntington National Bank,
president of the Banks Supply Company, and a stockholde
r in numerous manufacturing and commercial institutions. Only a few weeks
before his death he was elected president of the West Virginia Board of Trade.
        For a number of years he was regarded as one of the most
influential men in the Democratic party of the state, but he carefully
abstained from politics so far as seeking office was concerned, though the
leaders of the party regarded him as eligible for the highest offices,
including governor and United States senator. Frank Bliss Enslow combined
the charm of personal character with a high degree of business and
professional ability, and in consequence he had warm friends all over the
state. There was a genuine sense of loss on the part of thousands of West
Virginians of all classes, from the leaders in politics, banking, the
railroad world and industry to some of the humblest toilers, when he was
taken by sudden death on February 7, 1917.
        Mr. Enslow first married Mrs. Julia (Garland) Buffington, who was
born in Richmond County, Virginia, and died at Huntington in 1897. Her
first husband was Dr. John Buffington. The only child of Frank Bliss Enslow
by his first marriage is Frank Enslow, Jr., a prominent citizen of
Huntington. Mr. Enslow's second wife was Mrs. Juliette (Buffington)
Baldwin. They were married April 16, 1901. Mrs. Enslow continues to make
her home at Huntington, at 1307 Third Avenue, where Mr. Enslow many years
ago erected one of the finest homes in the city. Mrs. Enslow is a daughter
of Peter C. Buffington, one of the prominent old time citizens of
Huntington. Her first husband was Charles W. Baldwin, of Athens, Georgia.
By this union she had one son, Charles B. Baldwin, an orange grower at
Clearwater, Florida. Mrs. Enslow by her second marriage has a daughter,
Dorothy, who is now Mrs. Leslie Combs II. Mr. Combs, an insurance man at
Huntington, associated with P. C. Buffington, Jr., was born at L
exington, Kentucky, where the name Leslie Combs has been associated with
some the highest dignities of the legal profession. Mr. and Mrs. Combs have
one daughter, Julia Buffington Combs.

**********************************************************************