Biography of William John Pritchard WILLIAM JOHN PRITCHARD learned mining in Wales, and for some years had the role of an ordinary miner in the Pennsylvania fields. His long and commendable career of industry has brought him a position among the leading operators and mine owners in the Pocahontas fields of Southern West Virginia. Mr. Pritchard, whose home is at Bramwell, Mercer County, was born at Llandovey, Wales, in March, 1863, and his parents were also natives of the same country. Mr. Pritchard had a limited education in Wales, and was about eighteen when he came to America in 1881. For several years he was a coal miner in the Pennsylvania fields near Wilkes-Barre, and rose to the responsibility of mine foreman there. In 1889 he came to West Virginia and went to work for the pioneer in the development of the Pocahontas coal fields, the late John Cooper. Under Mr. Cooper he be- came mine foreman, and remained with him about three years. His next period of service was with the Algoma Coal and Coke Company as mine foreman, and was there superintendent until this company sold its properties. Mr. Pritchard on leaving the Algoma Company became general manager of the Thomas Coal Company and opened their properties, and for a number of years has been gen- eral manager of all the Thomas coal interests, distributed among the Crystal Coal and Coke Company, Thomas Coal & Coke Company and Flat Top Coal and Mining Company. Mr. Pritchard also controls and is president of three impor- tant properties in Kentucky, the Superior Harlan Coal Company, Virginia Fuel Company and Algoma Block Coal Company. In West Virginia he is president of the Burn- well Coal and Coke Company and the Long Flame Coal Company. After devoting his tireless energies for almost forty years to the heavy work of the coal industry Mr. Pritchard came to a serious breakdown in physical health, and at the pres- ent writing many of his responsibilities have been assumed by his son, W. E. Pritchard. Mr. Pritchard is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge and the Bluefield Country Club. In 1888, at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he married Miss Ann Harris Thomas, whose parents also came from Wales. Mr. and Mrs. Pritchard became the parents of seven children: Mar- jorie, who has two children by her first marriage, named William and Florence Becker, is now the wife of Newton Roberts, secretary and treasurer of the Thomas interests there. William Edward, the oldest son, is now acting man- ager for his father. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and by his marriage to Romaine Thornberry, of Wayne City, West Virginia, has two children, Romaine and William. Elizabeth is the wife of Joseph Bowen, of Simmons, West Virginia, and their children are Joseph, Ethel, William Henry and Ann. David Thomas Pritchard, who is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, married Glenna Pack, daughter of J. C. Pack, of Bramwell. The next child, Daniel Harris Pritch- ard, is unmarried, lives at Cincinnati, and is a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner. Robert Campbell Pritchard is a Royal Arch and Knight Templar Mason, also a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, and married Mary Harmon, of Taze- well, Virginia. The youngest child is Thomas Harold Pritchard, unmarried. From The History of West Virginia, Old and New, page 48 Submitted by Valerie F. Crook **************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. ****************************************************************