Doddridge County, West Virginia Biography of GEORGE H. TRAINER 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 II, pg. 613-614 Doddridge GEORGE H. TRAINER. Through the process of one modest operation leading to another George H. Trainer has for years been recognized as one of the prominent oil and gas operators in Central West Virginia. His home for many years has been at Salem, and he is one of the most substantial business men and citizens of that locality. Mr. Trainer was born on a farm in Doddridge County, West Virginia, March 27, 1861, son of William and Louisa J. (Hoult) Trainer. His people were farmers in Dod- dridge County, and their family consisted of three sons and three daughters. The grandfather of George H. Trainer was Rev. John Trainer, a native of Virginia, who combined the vocation of agriculture with that of a minister of the Gospel. George H. Trainer acquired a district school education, and he lived on his father's farm until he was twenty-one. On leaving home he became a merchant at Seymour, re- maining there four years, and, disposing of his interests, next moved to West Union, where he continued merchan- dising for ten years. While at West Union he became in- terested in the business of handling oil and gas well sup- plies, and from this his capital and equipment were called into the scene of practical operations in the oil and gas district. He began production on leased land, and is now associated with his brothers Edward and Prank in the oil and gas business. The oil produced by them is sold to the Standard Oil Company, and at times they have had as many as sixty oil and gas wells in production at once. An important by-product of their business is the manu- facture of gasoline from natural gas. A resident of Salem, Mr. Trainer takes an active part in its business and civic affairs. He is a director in the First National Bank of Salem, is a director in the Clarks- burg Trust Company at Clarksburg, a stockholder in the Union National Bank and the Merchants National Bank of Clarksburg and has been a director in Salem College for twenty years. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club, is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mrs. Trainer is a member of the Seventh Day Baptist Church. She taught in the public schools for a number of years. On September 27, 1884, Mr. Trainer married Miss Viola C. Davis, a native of New Milton, West Virginia, and daughter of Rev. James B. and Emily V. (Davis) Davis. Her father was a preacher and a farmer.