Tucker County, West Virginia Biography of J. W. MYERS, M. D. 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. 488 Tucker J. W. MYERS, M. D. The work and service that con- stitute the principal distinction of Doctor Myers comprise over a quarter of a century of devotion to the routine of a general medical practice, a leadership in community affairs where business enterprise and capital are essential for the accomplishment of beneficial results, and since his removal to Philippi he has also been a successful manu- facturer of medicines and home remedies. Doctor Meyers [sic] was born near St. George in Tucker County, December 6, 1872. His grandfather, Josiah Myers, was a native of Pennsylvania and of Pennsylvania Dutch stock. As a young man he removed to West Virginia, set- tling in Barbour County, was a farmer, and when the Civil war came on he joined the Confederate Army and died in the service. Three of his sons were in the conflict, and all of them wore the Confederate gray uniform. Michael Myers, father of Doctor Myers, was born in Barbour County but spent most of his life in Tucker County, going there before the outbreak of the Civil war. He was a practical and industrious farmer, did his part in sharing public duty, was a member of the Board of Education and for several years president of the County Court. He joined the Sixty-second Virginia Infantry in the Confederate Army, and served three years as a private soldier under General Early and General Lee. He was never wounded, though a participant in some of the great- est battles of the war. In one battle he was captured and was a prisoner in Camp Chase, Ohio, when the war ended. Michael Myers, who died in 1910, at the age of eighty, married Amelia Auvil, daughter of John Auvil, who was a farmer and miller near St. George. Mrs. Michael Myers is now seventy-six years of age and lives at the home of her son. There were only two children, the daughter being Mrs. Charles Phillips, who died near St. George. J. W. Myers grew up in the community where he was born, attended the country schools there, was one of a small family, and the resources of his parents were ample to provide a good living and a margin for education. While lie did not attend a college, he supplemented his early advantages by serious study and in this way was well qualified to begin his preparation for a medical career. Just after passing his majority he began reading medicine with Doctor Calvert of St. George. From his office he entered the Physio-Medical College of Indianapolis, In- diana, where he graduated in March, 1895. In May of that year Doctor Myers began practice at Nestorville in Barbour County, and performed the arduous duties of a country physician, riding and driving about the country, a work that has been well described as a twenty-four hour a day and 365 days a year occupation. After attending to these exhausting duties Doctor Myers found time to help in several community affairs. He was the leading spirit that gave his community one of the best telephone systems in a country district of West Virginia. This was the Citizens United Telephone Company, of which he was manager. The system extended over a large portion of Barbour, Taylor, Preston, Tucker and Randolph counties, embracing 1,000 miles of wire, 1,000 subscribers, and nine switchboard exchanges. Since 1910 Doctor Myers has been a resident of Philippi. Some years ago foreseeing a shortage of doctors, especially in the country districts, a condition that has recently been the subject of a report and discussion at medical con- ventions, Doctor Myers took steps to supplement the work of the physicians by compounding home remedies, which have been placed on the market and now include about twenty-four preparations of different kinds. These reme- dies are now on sale in more than 500 drug and general stores throughout a large part of West Virginia and points in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and old Virginia. The laboratory for the compounding of these remedies is one of the industries of Philippi, and in 1914 a company was incorporated for the manufacture and sale. Doctor Myers has had little time or disposition to par- ticipate in politics. He was reared in a farmer's home, was the first physician the family has produced in sev- eral generations, at least, and his vocation has been one to absorb all his energies. In Barbour County October 20, 1898, Doctor Myers mar- ried Miss Lennie C. Johnson, daughter of Joseph L. and Ella (Crim) Johnson, her mother being a sister of the late merchant prince of Philippi, Joseph Crim. Mrs. Myers, who was one of a family of three sons and three daughters, was educated in country districts and summer normal schools, and for two years was a teacher at Hamilton and Parsons in Tucker County. Doctor and Mrs. Myers have a family of five children: Karl J., a junior medical student in the University of Maryland; Hu C., who is taking his pre-medical work in the University of West Virginia; Edna and Elmer, twins, students in the Philippi High School; and Junior Myers, who is in the grammar school. Doctor Myers is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Philippi, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Maccabees, is one of the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and is a democrat in national polities.