Marion County, West Virginia Biography of T. Wilbur HENNEN ************************************************************************** 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 Valerie Crook, , April 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 646 T. WILBUR HENNEN was one of those rare men who can keep their energies apace with the broadening spread of their interests. Most men as they grow older have to eliminate the less essential things from their program. He continued active in business, church, fraternal and civic affairs, and death found him while still young and com- pletely engrossed in the affairs of life. Fairmont was always his home. He was born in that portion of the city once known as Palatine, February 21, 1878, son of Thomas J. and Mary Sterling Hennen. His mother died only a few years ago. There are two surviv- ing brothers, William S. and Lawrence M. Hennen, both at Fairmont, and a sister Mrs. Eva M. Mestrezat of Morgan- town. T. Wilbur Hennen acquired a public school education in Fairmont, attended the State Normal School, and as a youth entered the merchant tailoring business, being asso- ciated for several years with George Morrow. He was in business for himself in that line several years but after 1913 his energies were chiefly bestowed on real estate and bank- ing. He organized the Community Savings & Loan Asso- ciation, and under his management it became one of the sound and prosperous financial institutions of the city. Among other tributes one of the most significant is the following: "Wilbur Hennen in business was a banker, and he was really more. When sickness, death or other mis- fortune came to the home of the lowly, he was not only their banker, but their friend. The little loans that he made to the masses alleviated a world of suffering and of sorrow and made for him a following that did not end until his body was placed in the grave." For a number of years Mr. Hennen had been one of the ranking Masons of the state. He was master from 1902 to 1904 of Fairmont Lodge No. 9, F. & A. M., was grand master in 1915, held the official chairs in Orient Chapter No. 9, R. A. M., and Crusade Commandery No. 6, K. T., in the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite he was affiliated with West Virginia Consistory at Wheel- ing, and was a member of Osiris Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He was secretary-treasurer of the Masonic Build- ing Association at Fairmont, having charge of the con- struction of the building and acting as its manager since. He was a member of the board of governors of the Masonic Home now in course of construction at Parkers- burg. It was while attending a meeting of the grand lodge in Huntington that he was taken seriously ill, an ill- ness that ended in his death on November 26, 1920. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Fairmont. Another prominent interest of his life was the First Methodist Episcopal Church. At the time of his death he was church treasurer and member of the official board. February 21, 1905, Mr. Hennen married Miss Nellie A. Cochran, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. N. C. Cochran. Her father for many years was in the jewelry business at Fair- mont. Surviving Mr. Hennen are Mrs. Hennen and two children, Thomas Wilbur, and Mary Emily. An appropriate conclusion of this brief article is the following editorial from a Fairmont paper: "Mr. Hennen has been prominent in the business, religious and fraternal life of Fairmont for many years, and he was one of the city's best known residents. His range of useful activities was remarkably wide and he will be missed sorely not only in his immediate family but in his church, his lodges and among his banking associates. In all of those fields he was always willing to do more than his share of the work, and whatever he undertook he performed well. Coming as it does in the very prime of his life, Mr. Hennen's death will be a great loss to the city."