Taylor County, West Virginia Biography of F. S. SUDDARTH, M. D. ************************************************************************** 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. 81 F. S. SUDDARTH, M. D. The able service of the physi- cian and surgeon has been only part of the record Doctor Suddarth has made since becoming a resident of Grafton twenty years ago. His resources and influence have in a very vital sense been contributed to the community's institutions and commercial advancement. Of an old Virginia family, he was born at Monterey, High- land County, February 4, 1871. William Suddarth, his grandfather, lived at Charlottesville, and his mother was a sister of General Sumner, one of the brilliant officers of the Revolution. William Suddarth married a Miss Mann, and they had four sons. Two of them became soldiers of the Union, James, now living at Clarksburg, West Virginia, and Joseph, a resident of Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Frank Suddarth, father of the Grafton physician, was born in Albemarle County, and when he was about six years of age his father removed to Upshur County. He was living there when the Civil war broke out, and, differing from his two brothers on the issues of that conflict, he volunteered in the Confederate Army, joining the Upshur Grays, under Colonel Higginbotham. He was wounded at Rich Mountain and again at the Wilderness, but came out of the army with no serious afflictions. After his marriage he remained in Highland County, engaged in farming in the country border- ing the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, and died there in 1906, at the age of seventy-four. His wife, Susan Frances Seiver, a native of Highland County, was the daughter of James Seiver, a full-blood Scotchman and a tailor by trade. She died in April, 1874, aged twenty-nine, leaving three children: Ada, wife of Albert Wagner, of Monterey, Virginia; Doctor Suddarth; and Archibald, of California. In common with other enterprising youth bent on making something of themselves, and without the facilities of wealth at their command, Doctor Suddarth had problems to solve as soon as he was old enough to appreciate them. He attended public schools, a normal school in Virginia, and then entered the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, where he had the fortune to come under the influence of that brilliant educator, Professor Holbrook, then in charge there. After graduating in 1891 Doctor Suddarth returned to his home state, and for seven years bestowed his talents on teaching. His last work in that line was done in the country schools of Highland County. In the meantime he was making progress in private studies needed in his medical college course, and also carried on work in the medical department of the University of Virginia, where he graduated in 1897. For five years he looked after his growing practice at Williamsville in his native state, and part of the time was county health officer. Leaving there, he was in New York a student for five months in the Post-Graduate School of Medicine, and with this additional training to supplement his practical experience he established himself in Grafton in 1902. Here his professional interests have had a widening scope of service. He was one of the builders, with Dr. R. H. Powell, of the Grafton City Hospital. For four years he was president of the Grafton Board of Education. The other members of this board, which among other things accomplished the monumental task of building the new high school, were N. F. Kendall and O. Jay Fleming, local bankers, and W. A. Beavers and G. W. Steele. Doctor Suddarth has proved his faith in Grafton to the extent of his capital and enterprise. He built several homes on the West Side, is a director in the Taylor County Bank, a stockholder and president of the Grafton Mercantile Com- pany, and formerly had interests in other commercial enterprises of the city. On the outside he has done much in coal development, was formerly vice president of the Fairmont Coal Company, is now vice president of the Fort Grand Coal Company, is president of the Suddarth Coal Company, and owner of some undeveloped coal lands. Coming of a democratic family, he has been satisfied to vote in the same political faith. He is an elder in the Presby- terian Church, and in Masonry is a past high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter, past eminent commander of the Knights Templars, and a member of Osiris Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Wheeling. In Bath County, Virginia, December 10, 1903, he married Miss Eddie McClintic, daughter of William and Hettie (Montgomery) McClintic, she being second in their family of six sons and three daughters, three of the sons being now deceased. Mrs. Suddarth finished her educa- tion with a course in kindergarten training at Washington, and was a teacher until her marriage. Doctor and Mrs. Suddarth have two children: Gertrude, a student in Fairfax Hall, Virginia; and Glen, in the Grafton schools.