Biography of Bruce Y. Branhan

BRUCE Y. BRANHAN, superintendent of the Leevale Mine
at Leevale, is one of the capable men and good citizens of
Raleigh County whose courage and efficiency have been
sorely tried during the disturbances in the coal industry.
He was born at Acme, West Virginia, September 28, 1892,
a son of John W. and Ella (Coiner) Branhan. The pater-
nal grandfather, Shannon Branhan, was of Scotch ancestry.
John W. Branhan was born in West Virginia, and his wife
was a native of the same state. Beginning as a boy in a
mine when about fourteen years of age, he came to Leevale
in 1912 and gradually worked his way up through the vari-
ous positions to that of superintendent, and was holding
the latter at the time of his death. He was one of the
influential men in the coal industry in his locality, and
was for years a Mason.

After completing the eighth grade in the public schools
of his native place Bruce Y. Branhan went to Charleston,
West Virginia, and took a business course at the Capitol
City Commercial College, completing it in 1914. Coming
then to Leevale, he was bookkeeper and store manager for
five years, and then was his father's assistant until the
death of the latter, at which time he succeeded to the super -
intendency of the mine. During the period of the war he
was kept at the mine by the Government, who regarded his
work there as more essential than service in the army. Dur-
ing the labor troubles of 1921 Mr. Branhan had some ex-
citing experiences, and for weeks he and his family lived
in fear for their lives. A gang of forty men, all armed
with high-power rifles, visited the mine and demanded and
took away with them all of the arms belonging to the
company.

In December, 1916, Mr. Branhan married at Huntington,
West Virginia, Miss Naomi Russell, a daughter of Don C.
and Daisy (Derrick) Russell, both of whom were West
Virginians. He is engaged in a real estate business. Mr.
and Mrs. Branhan have two children, namely: Robert
Lewis and Paul Frederick. Mr. Branhan is a Blue Lodge
Mason, a member of the Scottish Rite of Wheeling, West
Virginia, and of Beni-Kedem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.
In politics he is a republican. He is a reliable man, experi-
enced in his work, and faithful to the responsibilities rest-
ing upon him. As a citizen he is loyal to his home commu-
nity, and anxious to do all within his power to improve
conditions and advance its well being. Such men as he are
a tower of strength in times of public stress, as well as
those of normalcy.

Source:  The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., 
Chicago and New York, Volume III pg. 136-137


Submitted by Valerie F. Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>

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