Marion County, West Virginia Biography of Leroy F. ALDER ************************************************************************** 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 (MRS GINA M REASONER) WEST VIRGINIA In History, Life, Literature and Industry The Lewis Publishing Company 1928 - Volume 5, page 159-160 LEROY F. ALDER. Of the origin of glass manufacture nothing is known, but according to Egyptologists the Egyptians made sham jewels of glass at least 5000 or 6000 B.C. In some of the most ancient tombs scarabs of glass have been found imitating rubies, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones. The glass beads found broadcast in three parts of the globe being quite possibly passed off by Phoenician traders on the confiding barbarians as jewels of great price. It is probable that the great center of the glass industry of medieval and more recent times, Venice, received its early impulse and lessons from Constantinople. From that time forward the history of the manufacture of glass has been one of constant progress. Attempts were made to establish glass works at Jamestown, Virginia in 1608-22; at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1639-40; in New York City before 1664, and in Pennsylvania before 1683. Subsequently works were established in 1780 at Temple, New Hampshire; in 1792 at Boston, and in 1797 at Pittsburgh. The manufacture of glass is divided into a number of departments, among which one of the most important is that of flat sheet glass, the process of which is the withdrawal of the ponty from the pot, the glass blown in whirls until it assumed cylindrical form, the ends being then cut off, and the cylinder slit longitudinally, after which it is flattened out. One of the leading concerns in this line of business in West Virginia is the General Flat Glass Company of Mannington, of which concern the able and energetic general manager is LeRoy F. Alder. Mr. Alder was born in Madison County, Ohio, April 30, 1890, and is a son of Lewis C. and Nancy (Patterson) Alder, natives of the Buckeye State. His paternal grandfather, Jonathan Alder, had a most thrilling and interesting history. As a lad of seven years he was captured by the Indians, with whom he lived as an adopted member of the tribe for about twenty years, when he came into contact with members of his own race, and left the Indians to resume the life and customs of the palefaces. In later life he held the rank of captain in the army and fought during the War of 1812, subsequently becoming the first white settler west of Columbus, Ohio. Lewis C. Alder, the father of LeRoy F. Alder, has spent his entire life in Ohio, where he has been engaged in a number of business ventures and is now a successful merchant at Plain City, where he is well and favorably known both as a business man and a citizen. LeRoy F. Alder was reared at Plain City, Ohio, where he attended public school and after his graduation from high school entered the Ohio State University. This was supplemented by attendance at Bliss Business College, Columbus, Ohio, where after completing his course he served as athletic director for one year. Mr. Alder then embarked in the window glass business as bookkeeper with the Buckeye Window Glass Company at Columbus during 1913 and a part of 1914, and in the fall of the latter year came to Mannington as assistant office manager of the Marion Window Glass Company. In 1916 he was made general manager of that concern, with which he remained until 1923, when he organized the Mountain State Glass Company, which bought out the Marion Window Glass Company. In 1926 this company was reorganized as the General Flat Glass Company and changed from the hand operation plan to machine operation, the product being mainly a superior article of window glass and glass for the automobile trade. The company now has 200 people in its employ and is accounted one of the leading concerns in its field in West Virginia. Its officers are H. D. Atha, president; J.L. Keener, first vice president; H.E. DeVaughn, second vice president; Charles W. Prichard, secretary; Chester L. Prichard, treasurer; and Leroy F. Alder, general manager. Mr. Alder is a man who is thoroughly experienced in his business and has gained his knowledge from personal contact rather than through text books. He has a number of other interests and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Gordon Oil Company of Logan, Ohio, and treasurer of the Furbee Clothing Company of Mannington. He is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine, and belongs to the B.P.O. Elks and the Kiwanis Club. Politically he gives his support to the Republican party, its candidates and its policies, and his religious identification is with the Methodist Episcopal Church. With his family he occupies a modern home at 117 Furbee Avenue. In passing it may be stated that Mr. Alder has the distinction of being general manager of the largest plant of its kind in the United States and probably the largest in the world operating under the Fourcault system. On June 29, 1916, Mr. Alder was united in marriage with Miss Adele Furbee, daughter of Howard and Sarah (Atha) Furbee, natives of Marion County. Mr Furbee was for many years engaged in the clothing business on an extensive scale, and was also interested in coal and gas enterprises. For eight years he was sheriff of Marion County, being well known in public affairs, and in his death, which occurred in December, 1919, his community lost a valuable citizen. Mrs. Furbee survived her husband and makes her home at Mannington. Mr. and Mrs. Alder have two children; LeRoy F. Jr., born February 6, 1920; and Howard F., born October, 1922.