Preston County, West Virginia Biography of Rolandus S. LARUE ************************************************************************** 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, , July 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 198-199 ROLANDUS S. LARUE, of Kingwood, went into the mines as a boy worker, has been foreman, superintendent and for many years one of the leading coal operators of Pres- ton County. His career has been one of success, and he is connected with families of social and civic prominence. The LaRues are widely scattered over Kentucky and West Virginia, and some spell the name Larew, but prac- tically all are descended from an original French stock. The ancestor of this branch was a French physician who came to the Carolinas with the Huguenots in 1756, re- moved to Virginia before the Bevolutionary war, and reared his family near Winchester. One of his sons was Hiram LaRue, grandfather of the Kingwood coal operator. This Hiram LaRue was born January 29, 1793, near Winchester, Virginia, and was a soldier in the War of 1812, probably in the army under General Scott. He was a weaver by trade and he took in many young apprentices and taught them the art. About 1850 he moved from Winchester and established his home in "The Coves" in Barbour County, West Virginia, where he continued his trade as a weaver until his death. May 23, 1856. He was a whig, and in religions faith was a follower of the Wesleys. His wife was Elizabeth Grimes, of Winchester, and their sons were William, James, John, Hiram and Samuel L., their daugh- ters, Ellen and Sarah. Hiram LaRue, Jr., was born June 13, 1830. Although he had but the common school education to be obtained in those times, he remained a student throughout his life and was especially devoted to the study of history. He did not take to the weaver's trade, but became a farmer instead. In 1858 he moved with his family from Barbour County to Preston County, and settled in the southern part of the county, near Evansville. During the war he was a member of Colonel Moore's regiment of militia. A crippled hand made him unfit for active duty, and as a guard he and the militia were stationed along railroads. He later bought a farm about a mile west of Evansville, where he passed the remainder of his active life. He died in Independence, Preston County, July 30, 1913, and was laid to rest beside his wife at Evansville. He was a re- publican, although he took no active part in politics, and was a member of the Methodist Church. Hiram LaRue, Jr., married in 1854, Miss Alcinda Hotsinpiller, daughter of John Hotsinpiller, who came from Whitepost Tavern, Virginia, a property he had owned, and moved to West Virginia at the same time as the LaRues. Mrs. Hiram LaRue died in 1887, at the age of fifty-four. They reared the following children: Rolandus Summerfield, Maria, Sarah, Mary, John, Martha, Hiram and William. Rolandus S. LaRue was born in Barbour County, West Virginia, January 23, 1856, and was two years of age when the family moved to the farm at Evansville. He acquired his education in private and public schools, and when about seventeen changed his farm duties for work in the mines, and mining has been his life work. At an early age he became mine foreman, and has had charge of many mines throughout this section of the state. Under appointment from Governor Dawson he served as state mine inspector, continuing in this office altogether for four years. He then went with the Consolidation Coal Company, being employed by ex-Governor Fleming, and remained with this company eight years. During this period Mr. LaRue, who has always been deeply interested in mining conditions and especially in mine ventilation, contributed several valuable articles to the mining journals of this country. His ar- ticles on steam ventilation attracted particular attention in both foreign and American press. He was the recipient of many letters of commendation and inquiry concerning these articles, among these being letters from representa- tives of the French, Belgian and Russian governments. The system advocated by Mr. LaRue has been adopted by some of the leading coal companies of the country, the Consolidation Coal Company being the first to adopt it. After severing his connection with the Consolidation Coal Company, Mr. LaRue became an independent operator in the Kingwood locality along with the Gibson Brothers. He ia interested in the LaRue By-Products Colliery Com- pany, LaRue Coal Company, and the Lick Run Collieries Company, being general manager of the first two com- panies and a director of the third. He also has financial interests in the undeveloped coal properties of Preston County, and is a director and stockholder in the Bank of Kingwood, all these indicating the substantial nature of his business connection with the locality. Mr. LaRue is a republican, but one of liberal tendencies and has never been the type of man that lends blind obedi- ence to party policies. He has done his political duty chiefly as a voter, though he has attended different county conventions as a delegate and has many friends among the party leaders. He has been an Odd Fellow for forty years and is a past noble grand of the lodge and past chief patriarch of the encampment. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In Preston County, May 5, 1878, Mr. LaRue married Miss Mary Melissa Glenn, a native of the county and a member of a prominent pioneer family. The Glenns were of Scotch descent. The first of the name to come to America, Sander Leendertse (Alexander Lindsay) Glen, a Scotchman in the service of the West India Company, set- tled at Fort Nassau on the Delaware in 1631. He received a grant of land in Delaware and in 1665 obtained a patent for lands in Schenectady, New York. He called this sec- tion of land Scotia, and he resided there until the time of his death, November 13, 1685. The home that he built on this estate is still standing. Later, some of the family came to Maryland and settled in Cecil County. The first to spell the name with two n's was Samuel Glenn, who was born in Cecil County in 1737 and was the great-great- grandfather of Mrs. LaRue. He and his son Jacob and many others of the family were all born in Cecil County. Jacob Glenn married Charlotte Baldwin, who was a direct descendant of Pocahontas. Their son, Elias Bolling, grand- father of Mrs. LaRue, was born December 26, 1801, and married in 1825 Rachel Ann Taylor. Elias B. Glenn founded the family in what is now West Virginia, settling near Morgantown, where he was a farmer and horse dealer, taking his stock to Baltimore to market for shipment. In his family were ten children. Among them was Samuel Chambers Glenn, father of Mrs. LaRue. He was born in Monongalia County, September 29, 1831, and spent his active life as a lumber dealer and in railroading. He married Sarah Jane Shaw, October 12, 1854. She died February 5, 1899, while he passed away in August, 1905. The Glenn children were: Mary Melissa, Alberta, Amelia Jane, William M., Rachel Ann, George W., Albert H. and Rosa. Mrs. LaRue was born November 7, 1855. She ac- quired her education in public and private schools and was a successful teacher of the county until the time of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. LaRue have three children: George Barton, Ethel and Mary. The oldest child, George Barton LaRue, a coal operator at Kingwood, was born March 9, 1879. He married Hallie Paugh, June 7, 1899. Their children are Esther, born August 2, 1900, and George William, born April 5, 1902. The second child of Mr. and Mrs. R. S. LaRue, Ethel, was born May 1, 1883. She was married February, 12, 1912, to Joseph Vincent Gib- son, attorney and coal operator of Kingwood. Their chil- dren are: Milford LaRue, born January. 7, 1913; Nancy Jackson, born April 26, 1916; Margaret Jane, born June 3, 1919. The third child, Mary, born July 20, 1891, was married, June 27, 1912, to Dr. Robert Parvin Strickler, in- structor in Greek in Johns Hopkins University at Balti- more. Their daughter, Mary Rosalie, was born May 7, 1913.