Lewis County, West Virginia    Biography of WALTER A. EDWARDS

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Submitted by Valerie Crook, <vfcrook@earthlink.net>, July 1999
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The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., 
Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. pg. 180


WALTER A. EDWARDS, cashier of the Bank of Weston, at
Weston, the county seat of Lewis County, was born in
this fine little city on the 13th of October, 1872, and is
a son of Thomas A. and Mary O. (Hoffman) Edwards,
the former of whom was born near Oakland, Maryland,
September 10, 1834, and the latter was born at Weston,
West Virginia, February 16, 1840. Thomas A. Edwards
was a young man when he came to West Virginia, and at
Weston was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mary O.
Hoffman, a graduate of Mount de Chantal Academy. At
Weston Mr. Edwards was for several years engaged in
mercantile pursuits, and thereafter he became editor and
publisher of the Weston Democrat, which he made an
effective exponent of local interests and of the cause of
the democratic party.  He served as a member of the
County Court, and gained prestige as one of the pro-
gressive and influential citizens of Lewis County. He was
an earnest communicant of the Catholic Church, as is also
his widow, who still resides at Weston.  Of the four
children Walter A., of this sketch, is the third in order
of birth; James H. is engaged in the oil and gas busi-
ness in this section of the state; Miss Louise G. remains
with her widowed mother; and Thomas A. is a mem-
ber of the firm of Edwards & Edwards, engaged in the
general insurance business at Weston.

After having profited fully by the advantages of the
public schools of Weston, Walter A. Edwards became a
clerk in the office of the auditor of the West Virginia &
Pittsburgh Railroad, and in 1895 he resigned this post
to accept that of teller in the National Exchange Bank
at Weston. He won promotion to the office of cashier
and continued his service in this capacity until 1907, when
he effected the organization of the Bank of Weston, with
a representative corps of stockholders, and he has been
cashier of this institution from the initiation of its busi-
ness, on the 1st of April, 1908. His personal popularity
and his executive ability along financial lines have inured
greatly to the success of this substantial institution. The
other officers of the bank are as here designated: Presi-
dent, Porter Arnold; vice president, George W. Wilson;
assistant cashier, J. G. G. Heavner. Mr. Edwards con-
tinued a member of the directorate of the National
Exchange Bank of Weston and is a director also of the
Weston Electric Light, Power & Water Company, besides
which he is treasurer of the Sprigg Lumber Company,
director of the Glen Elk Lumber Company at Clarksburg,
and one of the owners of the Monarch billiard parlor at
Weston.  His political allegiance is given to the demo-
cratic party, he is affiliated with the Knights of Colum-
bus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
and he and his family are communicants of the Catholic
Church.

On the 16th of April, 1895, was solemnized the mar-
riage of Mr. Edwards and Miss Mary J. Whelan, who
was reared at Weston and who received the advantages
of the excellent public schools of this city. Mr. and Mrs.
Edwards became the parents of seven children, of whom
five are living: Mary O. is a graduate of the Weston High
School, as is also Thomas A., who is, in 1922, a student
in the great Catholic University in the City of Washington,
District of Columbia; Eugene H. likewise is a graduate
of the local high school; and Alice G. and Katherine are
attending the Catholic parochial school at Weston.