Marion County, West Virginia Biography of LAWRENCE S. SCHWENCK 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. 561-562 Marion LAWRENCE S. SCHWENCK. Twenty years a member of the West Virginia bar, Mr. Schwenck has kept his interests and work strictly defined by his profession, without im- portant diversions or excursions into politics, and he ranks as one of the leaders of the Marion County bar and also the bar of the state. Mr. Schwenck, whose home is at Mannington, was born April 7, 1877, at Bucyros, Crawford County, Ohio. His fa- ther, Samuel S. Schwenck, was born in the same county, November 22, 1851, son of Hieronomua Schwenck, who came to the United States at the age of seventeen with his parents who located in Crawford County, Ohio. Samuel S. Schwenck in 1886 removed to St. Mary's, Auglaize County, Ohio, where he is still living. He married Lovina Fralic who was born in Crawford County, December 6, 1857, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Hardin) Fralic, the former of German ancestry and the latter of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Lawrence S. Schwenck acquired his early education in the common schools near St. Marys, also in the high school of that city, and was a teacher in Auglaize County until he entered the Ohio Northern University at Ada where he was graduated A. B. with the class of 1899. Subsequently for the credit his career had reflected upon the university he was given the Master of Arts degree in 1905. On leav- ing college Mr. Schwenck taught school for three years in Pennsylvania. In 1902 he entered, the law department of West Virginia University, and received credit for two years work. While still a student he was admitted to the bar of West Virginia in 1903. In that year he began prac- tice at Mannington, and his success has earned him a stand- ing among the ablest lawyers of the county. As noted above he has kept studiously aloof from the allurements of politics. He is a democrat, and on one occasion in 1908 without his consent and practically without his knowledge until the day following the convention, he was nominated as democratic candidate for the state senate, his successful opponent being the present Circuit Judge, Winfield S. Meredith. Mr. Schwenck was appointed and since 1915 has served as Divorce Commissioner of the Circuit Court of Marion County, and is the only commissioner for those special duties Marion County has had. Mr. Schwenck has an extensive private practice, involving his appearance in all the courts of West Virginia and in the Federal Courts as well. He is a member of the County, State and American Bar associations, is a charter member and president of the Mannington Kiwanis Club, and is a prominent layman in the Methodist Church. From 1905 to 1911 he was as- sistant superintendent and since 1911 has been superin- tendent of the Methodist Sunday School at Mannington. August 5, 1903, Mr. Schwenck married Miss Leila Sloan, daughter of Francis M. and Phoebe (Billheimer) Sloan of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Her father for many years was a prominent Pennsylvania Railway official. In the maternal line Mrs. Schwenck is a descendant of Capt. Philip Null, an officer of the Pennsylvania line in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Schwenck is a member of West Augusta Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Schwenck is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State Normal School at California, Pennsylvania.