Ohio County, West Virginia Biography of William R. COOEY ************************************************************************** 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 Sue Schell , March 2000 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume II, Pg 328 & 329 BIO: William R. Cooey, Ohio Co., WV William R. Cooey, president of the Cooey-Bentz Company, of Wheeling, whose retail furniture business represents one of the two largest enterprises of the kind in West Virginia, holds a place of much prominence in connection with the industrial and commercial life of the City of Wheeling. He was born at McMechen, Marshall County, this state, on the 1st of September, 1860, and is a son of Matthew and Nancy (McCombs) Cooey, the former of whom was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, in 1828, and the latter was born in what is now Marshall County, West Virginia, in 1830. The parents passed the closing years of their lives at Martins Ferry, Ohio, where the death of the mother occurred in 1895 and that of the father in 1901. Of the children the eldest was John, who became a farmer in Marshall County, West Virginia, and later a huckster at Martins Ferry, Ohio, where he died at the age of fifty-five years; Mary Rachel, who became the wife of William Minden, likewise died at Martins Ferry, and Mr. Minden is now a farmer near Clarington, Ohio; William R., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; Ella is the wife of Thomas Hasson, a farmer near Zoar, Ohio; Everett is engaged in the shoe business at Martins Ferry. William R. Cooey was reared on the farm which his father owned and operated in Wetzel County, West Virginia, where he remained until he was twenty-five years of age, his educational advantages having been those of the local schools. After leaving the farm he was variously employed until 1887, when he came to Wheeling where for the ensuing five years he was employed in the furniture store of John Arbenz, the following four years having found him similarly engaged with the Altmeyer in 1897 Mr. Cooey and Herman Bentz purchased the business, which was then one of small order, and their vigor and food management played full part in the development of the enterprise to its present extensive and substantial proportions. The large and modern store building of the company is situated at the corner of Thirty-sixth Street, and the personel of the official corps is as follows: President, William R. Cooey; vice president, Herman Bentz; secretary and general manager, Charles Kettler; manager of branch store at Benwood, Marshall County, Edward Cooey. In addition to full lines of furniture the company also handles house furnishings and has an undertaking department of the most modern equipment and service. Mr. Cooey is a director of the McConnell Box & Barrel Company, conducting one of the important manufacturing industries of Wheeling; is a stockholder in the South Side Bank of Wheeling, the Community Loan Bank of this city, the Uneeda Match Company, the Wheeling Milling & Grain Company, brass manufactory at Fairmont and the North Wheeling Glass Works. Mr. Cooey, a democrat in politics, served one term as a member of the City Council of Wheeling, but is essentially a business man and has not cared to enter the arena of practical politics. He is a trustee of the Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Church in his home city, and in the Masonic fraternity his basic affiliation is with Nelson Lodge No. 30, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, while in the Scottish Rite he has received the thirty-second degree in West Virginia Sovereign Consistory No. 1, besides being a member of Osiris Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Wheeling. He is the owner not only of his modern and beautiful home property, at 3740 Woods Street, but also of two other houses on that street and near his own residence. In 1885 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Cooey and Miss Mary Sengenwalt, daughter of Frederick and Wilhelmina (Kupfer) Sengenwalt, both now deceased. In conclusion is given brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Cooey: Walter is a salesman in the store of Cooey-Bentz Company; Edward has the management of the ranch store at Benwood and is individually mentioned in the sketch following; Wilbert, who is associated with the Block Brothers tobacco Company of Wheeling, resides at McMechen, Marshall Ccounty; Bertha is the wife of Roy Black, and they reside at McMechen, Mr. Black being connected with the Coory-Benz branch store at Benwood; Archibald was graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1919, just prior to the signing of the armistice that brought the World war to a close, and as a member of the United States Army he is now (1921 stationed at Camp Sherman, Ohio with the rank of first lieutenant; Wilma is the wife of Mr. Elmer Burrall, who is a skilled machinist at the Uneeda Match Factory in Wheeling; and Mary is a student in the Wheeling High School. John Cooey, grandfather of the subject of this review, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and died at Elm Grove, Ohio County, West Virginia, in 1875. He came to the United States as a youth of sixteen years, established his residence at Wheeling, West Virginia, and after his marriage he engaged in farming in Greene County, Pennsylvania, which vocation he later followed in Marshall and Wetzel counties, West Virginia, in which latter county he established his residence in 1865. After retiring from the farm he passed the remainder of his life at Elm Grove, Ohio County. His wife whose maiden name was Mary Porter, was born near West Alexander, Pennsylvania, and died at Elm Grove, West Virginia. Both were active members of the Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Cooey was a democrat in political allegiance.