Randolph County, West Virginia Biography of JOHN WALLACE BISCHOFF This biography was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 570 JOHN WALLACE BISCHOFF. A long connection with and extensive experience in the coal industry have made John Wallace Bischoff, general manager of the West Virginia Coal and Coke Company, one of the best-informed men in the industry in West Virginia. Mr. Bisehoff, who .has been a resident of Elkins since 1908, was still a lad when he received bis introduction to the business, and since then has risen steadily through the various departments and posi- tions, his experience having been of a practical character and covering a number of states. Mr. Bischoff was born at Westernport, Maryland, Janu- ary 4, 1877, a son of John and Ellen Catherine (Heckert) Bischoff. His great-grandfather was John Bischoff, a na- tive of Pennsylvania, where the family was well known for a number of years. His grandfather, also named John Bischoff, was born in Maryland, and married Eunice Twombley, they subsequently removing to what is now Pres- ton County, West Virginia. Samson Heckert, the maternal grandfather of Mr. Bischoff, was born in Preston County, West Virginia, and married a Miss Sell. The Bischoffs and Heckerts are both of German lineage. John Bischoff, the father of John Wallace Bischoff, was born in Preston County, West Virginia, where he was reared and educated, and married Ellen Catherine Heckert, a na- tive of the same community. Later they removed to Mary- land and for a time lived at Westernport, but in the spring of 1882 returned to West Virginia and located at Elk Garden, which was their home until 1904, in which year they went to Springfield, Ohio. There the father died when seventy-seven years of age, being survived by his widow, who is a resident of Cumberland, Maryland. When still a young man John Bischoff served in the State Militia, with the rank of colonel, and his title always remained with him. As a youth he had learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for a number of years, but about 1876 turned his attention to coal mining, which vocation occupied him dur- ing the remainder of his active years. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, of whom John Wallace is the fifth in order of birth. John Wallace Bischoff was but five years of age when his parents located at Elk Garden, West Virginia, and there he attended the public schools. At the age of twelve years he began working in the coal mines during the summer months, but did not neglect his education, as he attended school during the winter terms. In 1894 he entered the Ohio State University, where he pursued a course in mining engineer- ing, and was graduated with his accredited degree with the class of 1899. For one year thereafter he was a civil engineer for a coal mining concern at Thomas, West Vir- ginia, and afterward held a like position for a short period at Clarksburg. He was then employed in a similar manner in the coal fields of Kentucky and later in Montana, and in December, 1908, came to Elkins and became assistant chief engineer of the West Virginia Coal and Coke Company. He was later made general superintendent of this concern, and in 1919 was promoted to his present post as general manager. He is accounted one of the experts in his line and his labors have been prolific of results. In 1903 Mr. Bischoff was united in marriage with Miss Bess Sapp, of Preston County, West Virginia, and they have one daughter, Margaret Ellen, who is being given ex- cellent educational advantages. Mr. Bischoff is a thirty- second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Knight Templar and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, and also holds membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He lends his support to all worthy community movements and has a well-established reputation as a reliable, constructive and public-spirited citizen.