Mineral County, West Virginia Biography of Emerson V. ROMIG ************************************************************************** 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, , May 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 142 EMERSON V. ROMIG. In the twenty years of his residence at Keyser Mr. Romig has made for himself and has been drawn into, through the votes of the people and by his public-spirited enterprise, a most vital relationship with the community. He is the present mayor, is the leading drug- gist of the town, and has devoted money and personal effort to the development of the fruit industry in this section of the state. Mr. Romig is a native of Ohio, born in Tuscarawas County, October 4, 1875. His grandfather, Edward Romig, was of Pennsylvania-Dutch ancestry, but was perhaps a na- tive of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where the family settled between 1800 and 1803. Edward Romig married Elizabeth Auld, of a family of Harrison County, Ohio, of English ancestry. Their children were: Mrs. Sarah Welfley, who spent her life in Tuscarawas County; Elizabeth, who mar- ried Philip Myers and died in the same county; Isaiah, who was a Union soldier during the Civil war, and spent his last years in Texas; Aaron, mentioned below; Miss Mary, still living in Tuscarawas County; and Theophilus, who died at the old parental homestead. Aaron D. Romig, father of the Keyser business man, was born in Tuscarawas County, and is living, at the age of seventy-five, on his farm at Warwick Township, that county. He married Melissa E. McCreery, daughter of James Mc- Creery, whose ancestor came into Tuscarawas County on horseback when all the country was in the woods. The children of Aaron Romig and wife are: James S., of Pitts- burgh; Emerson V.; Otto V., of Dover, Ohio; and Grace, at home. Emerson V. Romig grew up on a farm and had the ex- perience and training of an Ohio farm boy. From the country schools he entered the high school at Gnadenhutten in his native county, and gained his first knowledge of pharmacy as clerk in the drug business at Gnadenhutten. A year later he began the study of pharmacy in Scio College, a school since combined with the Pittsburgh College of Pharmacy. He graduated in 1899, and at once came to West Virginia, locating at Thomas in Tucker County, where he managed the drug store of Dr. O. H. Hoffman. Leaving Thomas, he went to Elkins in Randolph County, and for one year was clerk and pharmacist for William Nydegger. In 1903 he came to Keyser, purchasing the drug business of Dr. J. W. Hall. In 1904 he organized the Romig Drug Company, capitalized at $10,000, but the capital has since been increased to $15,000. The company in 1905 bought the drug business of L. L. Kimes & Brother. Doctor Romig is secretary, treasurer and manager of this prosperous busi ness, while R. O. Richardson is president of the company. Their store is one of the best equipped and stocked retail drug stores in this part of the state. Mr. Romig is a mem- ber of the West Virginia State Pharmaceutical Association and the National Association of Retail Druggists, and has participated in the program of discussions at various meet ings of these bodies. Reference has already been made to Mr. Romig's interest in the horticulture of this section. He is a stockholder and director of the Knobley Mountain Orchard Company, the Buckhorn Peach Company and the Park Orchard Company. These three companies have done some important develop- ment work in planting and maintaining commercial orchards, and the properties now owned by these companies constitute an imposing aggregate in the horticultural enterprise of this part of the state, though the maximum profits from the business have not yet been realized. The Knobley Mountain project embraces 700 acres, almost altogether in apples, there being 30,000 bearing trees. The Buckhorn Peach Company has some 200 acres, with 10,000 bearing peach trees. The Park Orchard is also given over to peaches, and is somewhat larger than the Buckhorn. Mr. Romig was a member of the first council of Keyser under the commission form of government, and was elected and assigned to the department of finance. He served in that capacity four years. Then, after a lapse of several years, he was elected mayor, and began his term in 1921 as the successor of Mayor Pifer. In addition to the routine of municipal administration the chief concern of Mayor Romig is to increase the water supply at Keyser. He is a republican in polities, casting his first vote for Major Mc- Kinley. He has taken the Masonic degrees at Keyser in the lodge and chapter, and is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church. At Keyser, October 4, 1905, he married Miss Catherine Grove, a native of Grant County, West Virginia, and daugh- ter of John and Angie (Clark) Grove. Mrs. Romig is a graduate nurse of the Western Maryland Hospital at Cum- berland, and was one of the first staff of nurses at the Hoffman Hospital at Keyser. Mr. and Mrs. Romig have three sons: Grove, David and Richard. During the World war Mr. Romig was a "Dollar-a-Year Man" designated to solicit recruits for the Merchant Marine. He personally registered under the last draft, but had not received his questionnaire when the armistice was signed.