Marshall County, West Virginia - Biography of Jesse Marple.

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Submitted by Valerie Crook.


The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume II,
pg. 528-529
Marshall

JESSE D. MARPLE, who resides at McMechen, Marshall
County, and is division superintendent of the Wheeling
Traction Company, was born at Sherrard, this county,
October 6, 1866, a son of William H. and Sarah Jane (Vana-
man) Marple. The father was born in New Jersey and was
a child at the time of the family removal to Marshall County,
where he was reared to manhood and where he learned the
cooper's trade. In 1872 he established his residence at Ben-
wood, this county, where are located the Wheeling Steel &
Iron Works and the shops of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad,
and here he engaged in the manufacturing of nail kegs for
the Benwood Iron Works. His son Jesse D. began to assist
him at the bench when twelve years of age, and learned the
cooper's trade, at which he became a skilled workman. The
father and son later engaged in business as contract painters,
and from 1886 to 1895 the son was in the employ of the River-
side Iron Works at Benwood, where he became a shearman
and earned a substantial salary. The father continued his
activities as a contracting painter until his death in 1921,
at the age of seventy-seven years. William H. Marple was
a musician of much ability, and gained high reputation in
the organizing and training of church choirs, he having been
a devoted member of the Church of God, as is also his widow,
who is seventy-seven years old at the time of this writing
and who is loved for her gracious character and unfailing
kindliness. Of the twelve children four sons and four
daughters survive the honored father.

Jesse D. Marple attended the public schools in his boy-
hood and youth, but early gained practical experience by
assisting his father, as noted in the preceding paragraph. In
1895 he entered the employ of Hughes & Wareham, con-
tractors in the construction of the Benwood & Moundsville
Electric Railroad. He aided in the construction work from
Benwood to McMechen and thereafter to Moundsville, a
distance of eight miles, and most of the time he served as a
foreman. In the fall of 1896 he ran the first passenger train
over the Narrows, and this first electric car on its initial trip
had two passengers. Mr. Marple continued his service as
motorman five years, and in 1901 was promoted to the posi-
tion of road foreman. Three years later he was advanced
to his present office, that of division superintendent. He
also did temporary service in the security department of
the company's main office in the City of Pittsburgh. He
has supervision of shops, trainmen and other employes.

Mr. Marple was active in local patriotic service in the World
war period, he having been chairman in war activities in his
district, served as a "Four Minute" man, and was an active
member of the local Red Cross. He is a director of the
Ohio Valley Playgrounds Association, is a member of the
Community Health League and is serving as trustee and
deacon of the Church of God at McMechen, he having suc-
ceeded his father in these offices at the time of the latter's
death. He is a staunch republican, and has served as a mem-
ber of the McMechen Board of Education, and was a member
at the time of the construction of the present high school
building. He assisted in drafting the first city ordinances of
McMechen, and was the first treasurer of the city after its
incorporation as a city. He is affiliated with the Knights of
Pythias and Loyal Order of Moose, and is an enthusiastic
baseball fan.

Mr. Marple married, in 1911, Miss Nell B. Riddle, of
Benwood, where her father, the late Henry Riddle, long
served as justice of the peace. Mr. and Mrs. Marple have
two children: Dorothy and Frances.