Lewis County, West Virginia Biography of JOSEPH FUCCY 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 III, pg. 463-464 JOSEPH FUCCY. Before his busy career was ended by death on Sunday, March 19, 1922, Col. Joe Fuccy, as he was popularly known, had accumulated a record of achieve- ments that made him one of the prominent railroad builders and contractors of the State of West Virginia. He was a veteran in the field of railroad building, a work he had carried on more or less continuously for forty years. There are half a dozen different lines in West Virginia and the Ohio Valley in whose construction he participated. While this work made a reputation for him over the state, he was especially known and esteemed as a citizen of Weston, where he had his home for thirty years. Joseph Fuccy was born in Italy, February 11, 1857, son of Russell and Lucretia Fuccy. His parents were reared and educated in Italy, grew up and married there, his father becoming a grist miller and farmer. Both were devout Catholics. The father died in Italy November 26, 1877. Of his nine children four are now living: Sullivan; Vic- toria, who is married and lives in South America; Domi- nico, a contractor in West Virginia; and Mary Antoinette, who is married and living in Italy. Joseph Fuccy was reared in Italy and lived there until he was twenty-two years of age. He had three years of service in the army. In 1881 he came to the United States, and for about two years lived in New York, doing railroad work. He early rose to the responsibilities of a foreman of the construction gang, and in 1883 moved to Pennsylvania and continued to act as foreman. He was at Pitt, Pennsyl- vania, and while there began taking small contracts or act- ing as sub-contractor. His first work as a contractor in West Virginia was in Preston County, where during 1886 he helped build the narrow gauge railroad from Tunnelton to Kingwood. Subsequently he was in construction work along the Ohio and Kanawha valleys, built four miles of railroad at Middletown, Ohio, two miles at Reading, Ohio, two miles at Coshocton, four miles at Short Creek, Ohio, and on returning to West Virginia built three miles of a railroad at Fairmont. During 1890 he was one of the eon- tractors who changed the narrow gauge to a standard gauge from Clarksburg to Buckhannon. He also laid the railroad tracks from Weston to Sutton, and built a branch of thirteen miles from Flatwoods to Wayneville during 1891-92. During 1893 he built the pike from Kovan to Webster Springs. In 1892 Mr. Fuccy established his permanent home at Weston, and while he did considerable railroad building afterward his organization and facilities were gradually adopted for a broader service of general con- tracting and he was head of this profitable business until his death. Outside of railroads there are many evidences of his contracting experience over the state. He was the contractor for the old Fair Ground race track, now occupied by Highland Park at Clarksburg. In 1910 he built about six miles of the interurban line from Clarksburg to Weston, and in 1905 he built part of a similar line from Fairmont to Clarksburg. In 1909 he built the road for the Coal and Coke Railroad Company between Sutton and Gassoway. In 1917 he had the contract for the street paving at Burns- ville, West Virginia. Some of the concrete roads constructed in Marion County during 1919 were assigned to his organi- zation, and during 1920-21 he built two miles of concrete and brick road in Lewis County, the first curbless road in West Virginia and which has been pronounced by Govern- ment engineers as the best road in the state. This was the last important contract he handled. His business involved an enormous amount of capital in the aggregate, and also the handling of hundreds and even thousands of men and brought him in touch with prominent leaders in industrial affairs. As a contractor he enjoyed especially the esteem of engineers and other officials of railroad companies who were unstinted in their praise of his efficiency as a contractor. One of the prominent engineers of the Baltimore and Ohio System, C. McC. Lemley, once wrote concerning the work of grading and construction done under his direct supervision and concluded his letter with the words "Mr. Fuccy I know to be an honest and reliable man, and would cheerfully recommend him to anyone as being thoroughly efficient in any work that he might undertake." The death of Colonel Fuccy came suddenly, following a day of visiting in Grafton with some relatives. He had never married. After the death of his father he supported his mother and brought her to the United States in 1896, and at the age of ninety-four she survives him at Weston. Colonel Fuccy was a member of the Weston Lodge of Knights of Columbus, and a charter member of Grafton Lodge No. 482, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was a member of the Catholic Church and a republican in politics. Through all his active years as a business man he was noted for his charitable spirit, and one of the provisions of his will is characteristic, being a request that ten per cent of his estate should be invested in the Citizens Bank of Weston and the proceeds be distributed among the poor of Weston as long as the funds remained. Colonel Fuccy was a stockholder in the Citizens Bank, and was an official in the Dancer Manufacturing Company, having been vice president of that corporation. During the World war period he took on active and prominent part in movements for the benefit of the cause, was a large contributor to war saving funds, Liberty Loan drives, and many times was called on as an arbitrator among his own people, proving his patriotism and loyalty to his adopted country by his true Americanism. He was recognized as the leading spirit and figure among the Italian people of the state, and his verdict and word was never questioned by them.