West Virginia Statewide Files WV-Footsteps Mailing List WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 102 Today's Topics: #1 BIO: CHARLES KENNA SWITZER, Barbou [Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19991108211342.00bc2880@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: CHARLES KENNA SWITZER, Barbour County, WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" *************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 293-294 Barbour CHARLES KENNA SWITZER. A special aptitude for me- chanics manifested in boyhood has been turned to the ac- count of useful service in the world by Mr. Switzer through his veteran relations with the grain milling industry. He has operated mills in several sections of his native state, and for many years has been one of the most active of the group of citizens in the Philippi locality in the promo- tion of local manufacturing and industry. Mr. Switzer, who is manager of the Switzer Mill Com- pany of Philippi, was born at Petersburg, Hardy County, April 8, 1853, son of David Nicholas and Frances Switzer. A more complete history of the Switzer family is given in another article in this work under the name P. A. Switzer. Charles K. Switzer spent his boyhood at Upper Tract in Pendleton County, where he remained nntil he was about eighteen years of age. He acquired his education in a country district, and when he left home he went to Fort Seybert and for five years operated the Jacob Cowger mill. Then moving to Kline Cross Roads in the same county, he took charge of and for some five or six years had the responsibility of managing the J. H. Harmon mill. Thus with a total of more than ten years in the milling industry he came to Philippi and was for several years located at the suburban town of Mansfield, where he was a member of the mercantile and milling firm of Dyer and Switzer, his partner being Mr. E. R. Dyer. In 1902 Mr. Switzer resumed his active business as n miller at Philippi, taking over the Haller Mill Company property and becoming its manager. It was conducted as the Philippi Mill Company until October 21, 1915, when the business waa reorganized as the Switzer Mill Company, with C. C. Boyles as a partner. This mill is an important local industry and furnishes a market for the grain prod- ucts raised in the county. Mr. Switzer has carried a liberal share of community work since coming to Philippi. His chief enthusiasm, thought and study in a public way are devoted to educa- tion. For several years he was a regular contributor to the West Virginia Wesleyan College at Buckhannon, the Methodist School there. He was also one of the citizens of Philippi who joined their effort and money in securing the location of Broaddus College here. In 1916 Mr. Switzer became a member of the Philippi Board of Education, and is still in service. This board has set a fine example of progressiveness in the matter of securing thoroughly up- to-date schools for Philippi. In 1922 was completed a splendid new high school building at a cost of about $120,000. This is one of the best school houses in Bar- hour County. It is the culmination of a long and active campaign carried on by the advocates of improved school facilities, and it was only after three efforts had been made that the people of the district secured an overwhelm- ing majority for the bond issue required to put up the building. Mr. Switzer is a democrat; having cast his first vote for Samuel J. Tilden, and only once has failed to vote for the democratic presidential candidate. He was reared a Metho- dist, is a member of the Official Board of the church of Philippi and a trustee. Fraternally he is a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge and the Maccabees. At Port Seybert, Pendleton County, May 29, 1879, Mr. Switzer married Miss Minnie M. Dyer. She is a daughter of Mr. Alien Dyer and a sister of his former business associate at Philippi, and the history of the Dyer family is given elsewhere. Mrs. Switzer was born December 25, 1853. She and Mr. Switzer have three daughters: Ola, wife of W. G. Riley, of Gary, Indiana, and the mother of a daughter, named Jannis Irene; Fannie, who is the wife of W. H. Carter, of Middlebourne, "West Virginia, and their children are Kenwood, Mary Frances and. Ann; and Miss Neva, a graduate of Broaddus College and a teacher in the public schools of Fairmont. ______________________________X-Message: #2 Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 21:16:50 -0500 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19991108211650.00bc2880@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: John M. L. SMITH, Tyler Co. WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" *************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 295 Tyler JOHN M. L. SMITH is one of the young business men of Tyler County and has what is probably the busiest real estate organization at Middlebourne. He has been a practical farmer himself, and is also extensively inter- ested in the oil and gas districts of this section. Mr. Smith was born May 1, 1892, at Wilbur in Tyler County, where his father John M. Smith, now in his eighty- fourth year, is enjoying the comforts of an honorable and well spent life on his home farm. He was born in Tyler County in 1837 and has spent all his life there. The grand- father was also a native of Tyler County, and became owner of a large area of good farming land. John M. Smith took up farm work early, pursued it diligently and persistently through many years, and as a result provided for his family and accumulated the competency which now enables him to live retired. In younger years he served as county assessor, was a member of the board of educa- tion of his district, and is a stanch republican. As a young man he entered the Union army with a West Virginia regiment of infantry, and saw active service until the close of that struggle. He has been one of the leading sup- porters of the United Brethren Church in his community. John M. Smith first married a Miss Morgan, a native of Tyler County. She died leaving two daughters: Viola, wife of LeBoy Pierpont, a farmer at Alma, West Virginia; and Susan C., wife of Henry T. Pratt, a farmer in Tyier County. The second wife of John M. Smith was Cordelia A. Underwood, who was born in Tyler County in 1851, and died at the old home at Jefferson Run in December, 1920. Of her twelve children all but one remain to do her honor: Benjamin O., a merchant at Parkersburg; Estella, wife of Henry C. Williamson, a farmer at Friendly in Tyler County; Bertha, who died at the age of twenty- five; Florence, living at Alma, widow of Arch C. Moore, who was a farmer and merchant; Birkley J., who lives on a part of the old homestead at Wilbur; Wilbur M., Phillip A. and Icy, all with their father on the farm; Orla S., who was a soldier, spending eighteen months in France and was on the battlefront 100 days, and is now at home; John M. L.; Maxie and Amy, both at home. John M. L. Smith attended the rural schools of Tyler County, took the agricultural course in West Virginia Uni- versity at Morgantown, and from the age of twenty-two dill farming on his own account for two years. Since then he has been dealing in farms and building up an ex- tensive real estate business with headquarters at Middle- bourne. He individually owns a number of farms in the county and is a splendid judge of farm and land values in general. Since 1919 he has also done a large business in timber lands, and is financially interested in some of the. oil and gas operations in the various West Virginia fields. Mr. Smith is a republican, a member of Middlebourne Lodge, No. 34, Free and Accepted Masons, and during the war was associated with the various committees raising funds and carrying on other patriotic enterprises. April 25, 1913, Mr. Smith married Miss Nannie Under- wood, daughter of Lamar and Mary E. (Seckman) Un- derwood. the latter now deceased. Her father is a worker in the oil fields and lives at Clarksburg. ______________________________X-Message: #3 Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 21:18:21 -0500 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19991108211821.00bc24d0@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: OLIVER SHURTLEFF, Braxton County WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" *************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 292 Braxton OLIVER SHURTLEFF. The work of the educator is very exacting in the demands which it makes upon its devotees. Ostensibly the duty of the instructor is to instill a prac- tical, working knowledge into each of his pupils, but equally important in his correlative, though less direct, function of instilling character and worthy precepts through his un- avoidable, personal influence. The first duty calls for an individual knowledge and of specialized training; the second for a capable and conscientious person whose life and mode of living provide a fit criterion for the younger generation. When an individual combines the possession of these at- tributes with the exclusion of strongly detrimental char- acteristics the early, formative years of future citizens may be safely entrusted to his care. Such a man is Oliver Shurt- leff, superintendent of schools at Sutton, West Virginia. Oliver Shurtleff was born at Humboldt, Nebraska, and is a son of Roberta A. (Grady) Shurtleff and Edgar W. Shurt- leff, the former born in Ohio and the latter in West Vir- ginia. They were both educated in the public schools of their respective places of birth, and after marriage settled in Nebraska, whence they later removed to West Virginia. Edgar W. Shurtleff was for a number of years a hotel keeper, and also followed the vocation of market gardening and was a man who was held in high respect and esteem. He and his worthy wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the parents of five children. Oliver Shurtleff was reared at Fairmont, West Virginia, where he received his education in the graded and high schools. After his graduation from the latter he enrolled as a student of the State Normal School at Fairmont, where he took one academic course and one professional course in teaching. Later he was a student at the University of West Virginia, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and then began his career as a teacher in West Virginia. After completing the above work in West Virginia Univer- sity he became a student in the Chicago University, where he is now working on his Master's degree. For ten years he taught in the district schools, and for the next four years was district superintendent of rural schools in Marion and Monongalia counties. He then became a teacher in the high schools of Marion County, and was thus engaged when elected superintendent of the public schools of Sutton, Braxton County, in 1919. Mr. Shurtleff has succeeded in elevating the standards of education in the Sutton schools, and is recognized as a progressive leader in the educational field. He has had very agreeable success in his chosen line of work. From the start he was exceptionally fitted for the duties and responsibilities involved, and has invariably given his best efforts toward the betterment and growth of the institutions in his charge. He has taken a personal interest where some others might have felt only a business obliga- tion, and has instilled into the hearts and minds of his pupils a tenderness and respect. The Sutton schools include a normal department, which is in charge of Mrs. Shurtleff, who prior to her marriage to Mr. Shurtleff was Miss Mary McCulloch. She was born in Pennsylvania and had the same training as her husband, with the exception that her normal work was done at Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. They belong to the Presbyterian Church, of which Mr. Shurtleff is an official member. As a fraternalist he is affiliated with the local lodges of the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mr. Shurtleff belongs to a family that came to the Amer- ican continent in 1637, locating in the Plymouth Colony. Members of the family have participated in all the different wars of the country, including the World war, in which Mr. Shurtleff enlisted as an athletic director and public enter- tainer. He spent one year in the army, and then resumed his profession of teaching. ______________________________X-Message: #4 Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 21:18:23 -0500 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19991108211823.00bafc80@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: JAMES E. HENRY, Monongalia Co. WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" *************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 294 Monongalia JAMES E. HENRY. Six miles southwest of Morgantown on the Fairmont Road is the village center of Laurel Point, formerly a postoffice but now served by rural route No. 1 out of Morgantown. It has been a trading point for a great many years, and the principal general store is con- ducted by James E. Henry, and he is the logical successor of a business of this kind that has been conducted for at least three quarters of a century. Mr. Henry represents one of the sterling pioneer families of Grant District in Monongalia County. His ancestor was Franklin Henry, a typical pioneer, who acquired some 400 acres in Grant District. He moved to West Virginia in Indian times and frequently had to place his family in the local forts to protect them. His son Eli spent his life in the same district and died at the age of sixty. The third generation here was represented by Sylvanus, who succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead and lived there until his death at the age of seventy-two. The three sons of Sylvanus were: Jesse H. who was county super- intendent of schools eight years; Omar C.; and Elroy, who is now principal of the Riverside school. The father of the Laurel Point merchant was Edgar Henry, a son of Eli Henry mentioned above. Edgar Henry was a shoemaker and farmer and always lived on his farm in Grant District, He died at the age of forty-nine. His wife was Rachel Brand, daughter of Elliott and Susannah Brand, and she is still living at the age of seventy-seven. Edgar and Rachel Henry reared seven children: Emery Marcine, who was an able physician practicing in the home district where he died in 1909 at the age of forty-one after an operation in a hospital at Baltimore, and his son Otto is a professor in the Polytechnic College in Brook- lyn, New York; Grace is the wife of Joseph E. Conway, one of the oldest teachers in Monongalia County living at Westover; Charles is a fruit grower in the Grand Dis- trict; the next in age is James E.; Nettie is the wife of Amos Scott of Grant District; Otis is a farmer near the old homestead; and Boss is a commercial salesman. James E. Henry was born January 1, 1878, and was reared and educated in Grant District. At the age of twenty he began traveling for a Fairmont wholesale grocery house, and continued that business four years. In 1905 he bought the old store at Laurel Point and has enjoyed a prosperous and growing trade extending his patronage over a large part of the surrounding territory. Mr. Henry is one of the very popular citizens of Mon- ongalia County, is justly esteemed for his integrity and executive ability, and is a stanch republican in politics. He was twice a candidate at the primaries for county assessor. Mr. Henry married Nora Lezier. They have six sons, Robert, Stanley, Lee, Frederick, Max and Hugo. The first two are attending the Morgantown High School. ______________________________X-Message: #5 Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 21:18:25 -0500 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19991108211825.00bacec0@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: HUGH WARDER, Monongalia Co. WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" *************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 294-295 Monongalia HUGH WARDER. A number of sound achievements stand to the credit of Hugh Warder, primarily in the law, to the practice of which he was admitted more than a score of years ago, and also in the polities and public affairs of his home city and state. Mr. Warder, who is senior member of the well known Grafton law firm of Warder & Robinson, was born at Webster, Taylor County, West Virginia, January 30, 1879. His father Francis S. Warder was born on a farm near Pruntytown, served as a government teamster during the Civil war, was a stone-mason by trade, and spent nearly all his life at Webster, where he died in 1892 at the age of fifty-one. He was a republican in politics, and for a time served as a school trustee. He married Lucinda Keller, daughter of Isaac and Nancy (Moore) Keller. She was born in Barbour County, but was reared at Gilmer, and she died in 1892 the same year as did her husband. Of their seven children, five survive: Miss Clara B., at the old home in Webster; Charles H., a dairyman at Graf- ton; Hugh, the lawyer; Miss Ina M., a teacher in the Grafton public schools; and Mrs. J. F. Fordyce, whose husband is a train dispatcher of the Baltimore & Ohio at Grafton. To a large degree Hugh Warder was left to discover his own resources and make his own opportunities. He was thirteen when his parents died, and he had the direction of his career from that time. After a country school edu- cation at Webster, he graduated from the Grafton High School in 1896, and while a clerk in the office of the circuit clerk of Taylor County, under Frederick J. Burdett and J. B. St. Clair, he read his first lesson in law. Mr. Warder finished his law course in West Virginia University and wag admitted to the bar in 1900. Instead of beginning practice at once, Mr. Warder deemed it more to his advantage to continue his duties as book- keeper for the Speidel Grocery Company, a wholesale house at Grafton. Then in 1904 he became associated with Judge Ira E. Robinson and was his partner until the latter went on the bench of the State Supreme Court. At that time a new firm was formed by Mr. Warder and Jed W. Robin- son, a nephew of Judge Robinson, and they have a splendid business and a widening reputation over the state. Mr. Warder's first case in court was a justice trial in- volving the recovery of a watch. He was successful in regaining the timepiece for his client, but never got a fee for his service. He has since participated in much litigation of a general nature, and of late years an im- portant share of cornoration practice. The firm have been attorneys for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. In 1908 Mr. Warder was elected to the House of Dele- gates, and was in the session of 1909 under Speaker James H. Strickling. He was a member of a special committee to investigate the affairs of the penitentiary, served on the committee of cities, towns and villages, and devoted himself to the promotion of a number of worthy bills, without having any pet measure of his own. Once he suc- ceeded in getting the consideration of a bill that had been adversely reported in committee, and it passed the House. Mr. Warder went to the Legislature as a republican, and he has acknowledged that political faith since boyhood. He cast his first presidential vote for Major McKinley in 1900, and has attended a number of state conventions and was an alternate to the national convention in Chicago in 1916. Mr. Warder managed Judge Robinson's primary campaign when the latter ran tor governor, and had charge of the Robinson headquarters at Grafton. In Taylor County, June 10, 1903. Mr. Warder married Miss Anna M. Moran, a native of Grafton and daughter of Patrick and Anne (Grayston) Moran. Mrs Warrior was well educated, and left a position as stenographer in the Merchants & Mechanics Bank of Grafton to become the bride of Mr. Warder. They are the proud parents of seven children. Frederick B., Robert, Francis P., Thomas G., Anna M., Charles E. and John B. Frederick, the oldest son, is already on his way to distinction. He is a graduate of the Grafton High School, and is a cadet in the class of 1925 in the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. ______________________________X-Message: #6 Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 21:23:58 -0500 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19991108212358.00baf660@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: RALPH T. ARMSTRONG, D. D. S. Braxton County, WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" *************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 289 Braxton RALPH T. ARMSTRONG, D. D. S. Dependable, highly trained and enthusiastic with reference to his profession, Dr. Ralph T. Armstrong is one of the leading dental sur- geons of Braxton County, and is enjoying a large practice from the people of Gassaway and its vicinity. He was born at Sutton, West Virginia, July 25, 1886,. a son of Cornelius and Elizabeth J. (Traxell) Armstrong, both natives of Braxton County. He died in May, 1911, but she survives and is still residing at Sutton, maintaining her membership with the Baptist Church of that city, to which her husband also belonged. In politics he was a democrat. They had four sons and two daughters, namely: W. L., who is an attorney practicing at the bar of Sutton; G. B., who is a graduated attorney, is now engaged in merchandising; Mary L., who is a business college graduate, is living at home; Jessie M., who is also a business college graduate, is the wife of P. H. Murphy, an attorney of Charleston; Doctor Armstrong, whose name heads this review; and A. P., who is a physician of Sutton and Morgantown. Doctor Armstrong attended the West Virginia State Uni- versity, and is a graduate of the Cincinnati Ohio, College of Dental Surgery. For some four years he traveled about, working at his profession, but in 1915 settled permanently at Gassaway, where he has built up very desirable connec- tions and won proper appreciation from his patients. In 1912 Doctor Armstrong married Ida E. Cool, of Webster County, West Virginia, and they have two daugh- ters, Lucile and Louise. Mrs. Armstrong is a member of the Baptist Church, and active in church work. Doctor Armstrong belongs to the Loyal Order of Moose. While he has never eared to enter politics, he has always given a conscientious attention to civic matters, and voted the democratic ticket. He is a man of broad outlook on life, and not only is a skilled dental surgeon, but a highly edu- cated gentleman and public-spirited citizen and one who is anxious to give his community the benefit of his knowledge and experience. Both he and his wife are popular, and are the center of a congenial social circle. ______________________________X-Message: #7 Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 21:24:44 -0500 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19991108212444.00bafad0@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: CLINTON W. FLESHER, Braxton County, WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" *************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 289 Braxton CLINTON W. FLESHER. In the profession of law in Brax- ton County a name that has become well known and that ia invariably identified with legal ability and personal probity is that of Clinton W. Flesher, a successful practi- tioner of Gassaway. During his career Mr. Flesher has been a teacher and has had experience in the field of insur- ance writing, and while his prosperity has been gained in his present calling, a part of that prosperity is probably due to the experience gained through his connection with the other vocations mentioned. Mr. Flesher was born in Pleasants County, West Virginia, September 10. 1870, and is a son of Crayton and Harriet R. (Taylor) Flesher. His father was born in Lewis County, West Virginia, in 1841, a son of Isaac Flesher, the latter also born in Lewis County, in 1810. Adam Flesher, the father of Isaac, was born in Lewis County, in 1754, at Weston (then called Fleshersville in honor of the family), he being the son of Henry Flesher, who was born in Eng- land and immigrated to America when a boy, settling at Weston. Henry Flesher settled as a pioneer in Lewis County, where he built a fort on the site of Weston as a protection against the savages in 1730, but in spite of this precaution he and his family were surprised and all slaugh- tered later by the hostiles with the exception of the mother and one son, Adam, who managed to make their escape to the distant fort at the point now known as Janelew. Crayton Flesher grew to maturity in his home community, where he received his education in the public schools, and as a youth learned the trade of carpenter, which he was fol- lowing at Parkersburg as an apprentice at the time of the outbreak of the war between the North and the South. He enlisted in the Union army and served bravely with an infantry regiment of volunteers until the close of the war, at which time he returned to Pleasants County and resumed his trade, which he followed with success until his death, October 1, 1879, when his son was ouly nine years of age. His widow still survives him at an advanced age, being a resident of Williamstown, West Virginia. They became the parents of six sons, as follows: Clinton W., of this notice; Harry E., a graduate of the State Normal School at Fairmont, and now superintendent of the Industrial School for Boys at Pruntytown; T. Earl, who is engaged in agricultural operations in the vicinity of Fleming, Ohio; Forest P., who is engaged in the contracting business in Oklahoma; Okey J., who is following the machinist's trade at Jackson, Michigan; and Crayton, Jr., who is deceased. Clinton W. Flesher was reared on a farm in Pleasants County, West Virginia, and received his early education in the graded schools. Later he pursued a course at the normal school at Fairmont, West Virginia, from which he was graduated in 1894, and for ten years thereafter taught school, his last work as an educator being in the office of superintendent of the city schools of Elkins, this state. During this time Mr. Flesher studied law, and, having been admitted to the bar, applied himself to the practice of his calling and the writing of insurance at Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1905 he came to Gassaway, where he has since been en- gaged in the practice of his vocation, with a constantly increasing practice. In September, 1916, Mr. Flesher was appointed referee in bankruptcy by Judge Benjamin F. Keller, and has served in that capacity to the present time. In the ranks of his profession he is held in high esteem, and his official record has always been an excellent one. On September 1, 1896, Mr. Flesher was united in mar- riage with Miss Mary E. Powell, who was educated in the public schools of Elkins, West Virginia, where prior to her marriage she was engaged in teaching. To this union there have come two children. Lucille, born July 1, 1899, is a graduate of the high school at Buckhannon, and at present is a. senior at Goucher College at Baltimore, Maryland. Clinton Wellrose, Jr., born December 16, 1905, is a fresh- man at the West Virginia University. Mr. and Mrs. Flesher are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Flesher was president of the Conference Laymen's Association from 1907 to 1919. He was a delegate to the general conference in 1912, 1916 and 1920. He has also served as a member of the Board of Sunday Schools and is a member of the executive committee of the International Sunday School Association. Mr. Flesher is a member of Bright Hope Lodge No. 557, F. and A. M., at Knoxville, of which he ia a past master, is a thirty-second degree Mason, and belongs to Osiris Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Wheeling, West Virginia, in all of which he has numerous friends. His business interests are numerous and important, and he is nearly as well known as a capable business man as he is as a skilled and industrious attorney. He is a stockholder in the Gassaway Development Company and the Gassaway Pharmacy, and is owner of the Flesher Building, in which the postoffice is situated. He is counsel for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the Gassaway Development Company, Standard & Company and the J. C. Penoyer Company, and represents R. G. Dun and other agencies. He and Mrs. Flesher belong to the Order of the Eastern Star, and Mr. Flesher is also a member of the Knights of Pythias.