Tucker County, West Virginia Biography of HON. ABE L. HELMICK 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. 522-523 Tucker HON. ABE L. HELMICK, state senator from the Fourteenth District, belongs to one of the old families of Tucker County, and has achieved a number of important associa- tions with the business and civic affairs of that section of the state. He is president of the Blackwater Coal Company, is vice president of the Miners & Merchants Bank of Thomas and is a director in the Peoples Bank of Davis. The old home of the Helmick family is in Pendleton County, where at least four generations of the name have lived. Senator Helmick was born at Circleville in that county, August 31, 1864. His great-grandfather and the founder of the name on this side of West Virginia was Phillip Helmick. A son of Phillip Helmick was Miles Hel- mick, a native of Pendleton County. Abe B. Helmick, father of the senator, was born in Pendleton County in 1843, and married Catherine Mullennax. Her father, Salathiel Mullennax, was a native of Pendleton County and lived there all his life. Abe B. Helmick and three of his brothers were in the Confederate army during the first half of the war, and if they were not Union men in sympathy at the be- ginning they finally became convinced of the righteousness of the Federal cause and all of them one way or another found their way within the Union lines and fought as sol- diers in that cause. Abe Helmick while on a furlough was taken prisoner by his Confederate comrades, and was kept in Libby Prison for some time without a hearing before being released. Mrs. Abe B. Helmick died in 1877, mother of the following children: Albert C., of Pinto, Maryland; Georganna, wife of John J. Knotts of St. George District, Tucker County; and Abe L. When Abe L. Helmick was seven years of age his par- ents moved into Tucker County, settling at Sugarland, near St. George, and in that community he grew to manhood, having such educational opportunities as were afforded by the local schools and the summer normals. Senator Helmick had a brief teaching experience in his home district. He assisted his father in farming and the stock business until his majority, and after leaving home he began work for the builders of the Western Maryland Railroad on a portion of the land between Thomas and Davis in Tucker County. For six weeks he did common labor and was then made a fore- man. After the road construction was ended he clerked in a store at Thomas for two years, and in 1888 was ap- pointed postmaster of that village, which then contained between 400 and 500 people. He was postmaster for six years, and in the meantime engaged in general merchandis- ing and sold goods at Thomas for eighteen years, finally retiring when elected sheriff of the county. While a merchant at Thomas he was a member of the County Court for six years, and for five years was president of the court. A large number of county road bridges were built during his administration, and his name ia on record as one of the commissioners at the time the conrthouse was erected. In 1908 he was elected sheriff, as successor of Sheriff Jack Jenkins, and served that post of duty four years, when he was succeeded by John F. Repair. During his time of sheriff Mr. Helmick had become inter- ested in business at Parsons, and on retiring from office he bought the Cheat Valley Insurance Agency at the county seat, and until recently was active in that line. He became a coal developer and operator in 1916 as an organizer of the Blackwater Coal Company. He also helped organize the Kanawha Colliery Company. He was one of the organizers of the Miners and Merchants Bank of Thomas, the strongest financial institution of the county, and which has a record of substantial success and prosperity for nearly twenty years. Mr. Helmick was elected mayor of Thomas, and was en- dorsed by both parties for re-election, but declined that honor. While mayor he brought about the improvement of the city water plant and some of the streets. Mr. Hel- mick is a stanch republican, having cast his first vote for Benjamin Harrison in 1888. He was republican committee- man of Tucker County for many years, and has also served as republican state committeeman. He was elected to the first Senate, in November, 1920, as successor of Senator Cobun of Preston County. At the organization of the Senate he was made a member of the finance committee, bank and corporations, railroads, military, federal relations, mines and mining, medicine and sanitation, public library and the redistricting committees, being chairman of the military committee. In the Senate he was father of the movement which resulted in the employment of stenog- raphers by the circuit courts of the state. He introduced the original bill for the hiring of stenographers by the dis- trict judges, thus saving to the state a great expense that was so frequently brought about by witnesses before grand juries, without the service of a public stenographer, denying their testimony. He also introduced a bill for the censor- ship of the moving pictures of the state, a measure that was defeated through the organized opposition of the movie interests. He also introduced a bill to make a felony the act of a father deserting without just cause his wife or family and leaving them without proper support. Another bill introduced by him was to abolish the State Hotel In- spector, a meritorious measure in view of the farcical char- acter of hotel inspection under the old law. At the opening of the session of the Senate, Senator Helmick was chairman of the joint committee to wait upon the house and the governor to notify each that the Senate was organized and ready for business. At Thomas, in 1891, Senator Helmick married Miss Kate Flinn, daughter of Patrick Flinn. She died leaving two children, Marie, wife of Alexander Parks, of Thomas; and Joe, who served with the Canadian army in the World war. In 1905 Senator Helmick married Fannie Liller, daughter of Oliver Liller, of Ridgeville, West Virginia, where Mrs. Helmick was born. She was educated in the Fairmont State Normal School, and was a prominent teacher in Mineral County for ten years. She was appointed postmistress to succeed Mr. Helmick's first wife, and held the office of post- mistress of Thomas for two terms. During the war she was actively engaged in work as a member of the executive committee of the Red Cross in Tucker County, and Mr. Helmick was chairman of the membership drive for the county.