Taylor County, West Virginia Biography of William Bernard CRUISE ************************************************************************** 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, , March 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 95-96 WILLIAM BERNARD CRUISE was at one time train dispatcher and trainmaster for the Baltimore & Ohio, and after retiring from the railroad service he returned to his home city of Grafton, where he has built up and is still active in a business of general insurance. He is the present chairman of the Taylor County Democratic Central Committee. He was born in Reno District of Preston County July 31, 1867. His father, Thomas Cruise, was born in Dunmore, County Galway, Ireland, and married there Mary Kenny. They crossed the Atlantic in a sailing vessel, and spent succes- sive stages in Baltimore, Green Springs and Sykesville. He did construction work for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, also excavating work and contracted a portion of the tunnel con- struction at Tunnelton. At that point he retired from the railroad service and spent the rest of his life as a farmer there. Thomas Cruise possessed a liberal education, early became an American citizen, was interested in American affairs and was affiliated with the democratic party. He died at Tunnel- ton January 30, 1900, at the age of eighty-six, and his widow passed away August 12, 1904, aged seventy-six. Their chil- dren were: Catherine, of Cumberland, Maryland, widow of Thomas Dorsey, one of the old engineers of the Baltimore & Ohio; Miss Annie, of Fairmont; Agnes, wife of Judge Hay- mond, of Fairmont; William B.; John T., who spent his active life as a telegraph operator and died April 16, 1906; and Ellen, wife of James S. Hunt, of Tunnelton. William Bernard Cruise, who has never married, lived the first fifteen years of his life on his father's farm near Tunnel- ton, attending the common schools, and at thirteen began the study of telegraphy with his brother-in-law, then the Baltimore & Ohio operator at Tunnelton, now Judge Haymond of Fair- mont. He succeeded his relative as operator at Tunnelton, and two years later was promoted to the duties of train dis- patcher at Grafton, where he began his work July 6, 1885, when only eighteen years old. In 1896 Mr. Cruise was trans- ferred to Cumberland, Maryland, and made chief train dis- patcher and then trainmaster of the Baltimore & Ohio division between Cumberland and Grafton. After a time he resigned, and returning to Grafton entered the insurance business and has developed an extensive general agency, handling all kinds of insurance and surety bonds. Mr. Cruise has worked for the upbuilding of Grafton through the Chamber of Commerce and other organizations, and is one of the well known leaders of the democratic party in the state, having served as county chairman for ten years. He was a delegate to the state convention of 1904 which nominated John J. Cornwell for governor, and has attended many of the local and state conventions since. He served as a clerk in the State Senate through appointment by Senator Kidd. Mr. Cruise is an exalted ruler of the Elks and was a factor in building at Grafton one of the best homes of that order in the state. He is also affiliated with the Loyal Order of Moose and the Knights of Columbus. He is Taylor County chairman and member of the state committee of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, a movement to raise a million dollar fund to be used for awards or rewards to the individual or group that has rendered, within a specified period, most meritorious service to democracy, public welfare, liberal thought, or peace through justice. Mr. Cruise was chairman of the local Draft Board for Taylor County for 1917-1919, during the World war.