Taylor County, West Virginia Biography of SAMUEL A. SHACKELFORD This file 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. 627-628 SAMUEL A. SHACKELFORD. A half century of labor, con- structive labor, the building of homes, schools, churches and places of business, is the achievement that marks out Samuel A. Shackelford of Grafton and confers upon him an unusual distinction. He is still in business, though its heavier burdens are now carried by his son and partner, L. E. Shackelford. Samuel Andrew Shackelford was born near Morgantown, Monongalia County, June 4, 1851, son of John Alexander and Elizabeth (Kincaid) Shackelford. His mother was a native of Marion County and daughter of Moses Kincaid. John A. Shackelford was born near Alexandria, Virginia, and while a youth acting as overseer of slaves for his uncle conceived a hatred of slavery that caused him to seek the free atmosphere of the West, leading to his settlement in Monongalia County. He cultivated a farm near Morgan- town, and also followed the trade of shoemaker. When well advanced in years he moved to Taylor County, and lived out his life at Grafton, where he continued the work of his trade. He was a strong republican and one of the most loyal Union men in the state, furnishing a son to the army and being liberal with his means and the hospitality of his home in entertaining passing soldiers. He and his wife had the following children: Mary Ann, who died in Marion County, wife of Henry Past; Elizabeth, who died in Preston County as Mrs. Elza Turner; Lucinda, who married William Reed, and died in Grafton; Nancy, deceased wife of Martin Goff, one of the old residents of Grafton; John W., the Union soldier, who was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg and died some days later in Grafton Hospital; and Samuel A., the youngest child. Samuel A. Shackelford while attending school at. Grafton gained a knowledge of the common branches which had to suffice in absence of the more technical training that is now part of the curriculum in most of the better high schools of the state. At the age of eighteen he began his apprentice- ship at the carpenter's trade with William Morgan, of Grafton, and while working at the practical side of the busi- ness he attended a drawing school at night, and seized every opportunity to perfect himself in the varied arts used in the construction work. Before reaching his majority he took his first contract, and from year to year the scope of his work and its importance have broadened, so that it is a conservative estimate that almost half of Grafton has been built under his direction and supervision. The field of his business has been widely extended, including building con- struction as far away as Newburg. Business houses, resi- dences and public institutions too numerous to mention com- prise his record. Typical among them have been the West Side, the East Side and Fetterman schoolhouses, the Meth- odist and United Brethren churches, the residences of Judge Holt, Mr. McCormick and Tom Davis. His energies have been quite fully expended in his busi- ness, but he was at one time a member of the council of West Grafton and on the city council after the two munici- palities were merged. He has voted his convictions as a re- publican, and is a Royal Arch Mason. At Oakland, Maryland, in December, 1872, Mr. Shackel- ford married Miss Elmyra Jane Miller. She was born in Taylor County, West Virginia, in 1854, oldest of the chil- dren of George W. and Mary (Bowers) Miller. Mr. and Mrs. Shackelford have three children. The daughter Bertie is the wife of Neal Heflin, of Fairmont. Mabel May is the wife of John McCafferty, a Grafton business man, and they have a daughter, Lucile. Lloyd Russell Shackelford, the only son, who has been personally associated with the building business at Grafton for over a quarter of a century, was born in the city August 16, 1875. He attended the public schools, learned his trade under his father, and has put the best of himself into the business. He is now the responsible head of the enterprise. He is a republican and a member of the Baptist Church. At Grafton in 1902 he married Mamie Gillian. By this marriage he had two daughters, Mary and Madaline. Later he married Anna Guseman, and they have a son, Lloyd, Jr.