West Virginia Statewide Files WV-Footsteps Mailing List WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 23 Today's Topics: #1 HIST: The MACK Manufacturing Co., [Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990919131529.00e02830@trellis.net> Subject: HIST: The MACK Manufacturing Co., Hancock Co. WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" MIME-Version: 1.0 The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 249 Hancock County THE MACK MANUFACTURING COMPANY. There is no doubt but that concentration along any one line is pro- ductive of the best results. The man or the corporation who scatter their energies, trying first one line and then another, waste their forces and time, and when they even- tually settle down to something definite have neither the opportunity nor the vitality to develop properly. Espe- cially has his been true during recent years, when com- petition has become so strenuous as to demand undivided attention to one given avenue of activity. The men who thus apply themselves not only increase their own material holdings, but by providing employment for many become important factors in the economic world. In this con- nection mention is made of the Mack Manufacturing Com- pany, whose extensive operations in the New Cumberland community of Hancock County have been confined to a given line of production, the manufacture of brick. The general offices of the Mack Manufacturing Company are located at Wheeling, in the old German National Bank Building, sixth floor, where are found the rooms of the operating head and the board of directors. The five plants in Hancock County are all located within a space of eight miles, these being the Crescent, Aetna, Union and Rocky Side, above New Cumberland on the Ohio River, devoted to the manufacture of brick; and the Sligo, three miles south of New Cumberland, the output of which is sewer pipe and paving brick. The present Crescent plant was formerly the Copper and Middle Clifton, owned by Atkin- son, Porter & Company, the product of which, common building brick, was sent by flat-boats down the Ohio River until several years ago. The Upper Clifton Plant was formerly owned by Smith, Porter & Company, who at one time controlled all the Clifton plants, and these plants were eventually consolidated into the Crescent. The Aetna was owned formerly by the Moneypenny interests, and then sold to the John Porter Company, in connection with the Eagle, which was later dismantled, the Union and the Rocky Side. The John Porter Company bought the Smith, Porter & Company interests, and then sold out to the Mack interests of Philadelphia, the business at that time adopting the style of the Mack Manufacturing Company. The Sligo Plant had also been owned by the John Porter Company. The Mack Manufacturing Company in its various plants has a daily capacity of 300,000 paving brick, made of shale and fire clay. There are 400 men on the pay-roll, which approximates $50,000 normally per month, and of these 400 men about 125 are used in the mining of the clay and shale. In all, the plants cover ten acres, while the company owns several hundred acres outright and the mineral rights to many more acres, so that the future insures an adequate supply of clay, shale and coal. The latter lies on top of the clay and is taken out at the same time. Sales are made direct to customers throughout West Virginia, in the New England States and North Carolina. George O. Bowles, general superintendent of the plants of the Mack Manufacturing Company, was born in Belmont County, Ohio, and as a young man adopted the vocation of teaching in the public schools. Later he pursued a busi- ness course at the Elliott Business College, Wheeling, and in 1904 became an employe in the offices of his present company under S. G. Gaillard, then manager of the concern, and former assistant to the president of the Norfolk & Western Railway. His industry, ability and fidelity were recognized by Mr. Gaillard, who advanced him to the posi- tion of his assistant, and in 1914 Mr. Bowles was made superintendent of the plants, a position which he has re- tained to the present. His work has been satisfactory to his superiors, and perhaps much of his success lies in the fact that his relations with the employes have always been of the friendliest character. Many of these old-time employes own homes and other property of their own, and the plant has experienced no labor troubles. Mr. Bowles married Miss Katherine Robertson, daughter of Rev. A. W. Robertson, formerly an attorney and prose- cutor of Hancock County, and later a minister, but now an invalid and retired at New Cumberland. Mr. and Mrs. Bowles are the parents of two children: George 0., Jr., who is attending the New Cumberland High School; and Ruth. ______________________________X-Message: #2 Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 14:49:14 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990919144914.00e083e0@trellis.net> Subject: REVISED LIST OF DECEASED SOLDIERS OF THE WORLD WAR (I), *A* Surnames Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" MIME-Version: 1.0 REVISED LIST OF DECEASED SOLDIERS OF THE WORLD WAR (I) January 1, 1922 West Virginia The Adjutant General's Office, Charleston KILLED IN ACTION *A* Surnames NAME Rank Date Killed Residence Organization Able, Jacob H......... Pvt...... Oct. 5-18.... Statesbnry....... Co F 18 Inf Adams, Alvey H........ Pvt...... Oct. 25-18... Sistersville..... Co A 7 MG Bn Adams, Thomas G....... Pvt...... Sept. 29-18.. Martinsburg...... Co L 320 Inf Adams, Wayne C........ Corp..... Oct. 7-18.... Miletus.......... Co A 110 Inf Adkins, Elisha G...... Pvt...... Nov. 10-18... Hamlin........... Co I 147 Inf Adkins, Harry......... Pvt...... Oct. 15-18... Fort Gay......... Co D 165 Inf Adkins, Robert G...... Pvt...... Nov. 10-18... Sias............. Co M 131 Inf Agnew, Albert......... Pvt...... July 20-18... Huntington....... Co A 28 Inf Akers, Kelly.......... Pvt...... July 15-18... Northfork........ Co B 7 Inf Alderton, Marion L.... Pvt...... Aug. 10-18... Great Cacapon.... Co C 305 F Sig Bn Alderman, Dell........ Pvt...... Mch. 26-18... Whitesville...... Co C 26 Inf Alesci, Joe........... Pvt...... Oct. 12-18... Pax.............. Co K 317 Inf Alexander, Ralph L.... Corp..... July 24-18... Moundsville...... Co I 4 Inf Alexander, Oscar G.... Pvt...... Oct. 14-18... Moatsville....... Co G 60 Inf Alkire, Malford E..... Pvt...... Sept. 30-18.. Diana............ Co A 39 Inf Alien, Nathen G....... Pvt...... Oct. 5-18.... Marshes.......... Co F 18 Inf Altice, Ed............ Pvt...... Nov. 1-18.... Devilsfork....... Btry C 315 F A Amodia, Mike.......... Pvt...... Oct. 4-18.... Reynoldsville.... Co C 59 Inf Anderson, Lane S...... 1st Lt... Sept. 27-18.. Charleston....... Co. F 106 Inf Argironlos, James J... Pvt...... Aug. 15-18... Keyser........... Co F 317 Inf Armstrong, Clyde L.... Pvt...... Oct. 4-18.... Belleville....... Co B 125 Inf Anderson, John L...... Pvt...... Oct. 23-18... Jacksonburg...... Co F 102 Inf Arthur, Osie E........ Pvt...... Oct. 9-18.... Montgomery....... Co F 131 Inf Ash, Benjamin H....... Corp..... Oct. 10-18... Morgansville..... Co D 119 Inf Ayers, Charles L...... Pvt...... July 25-18... Tanner........... Co L 109 Inf ______________________________X-Message: #3 Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 13:14:57 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990919131457.00e07720@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: Frank R. BEAUMONT, MD, Hancock Co., WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" MIME-Version: 1.0 The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 248-249 Hancock County FRANK P. BEAUMONT, M. D. It is not unnsual for the male members of a certain family to follow the same profession or vocation through several generations, and this is particularly true in the medical profession, where son frequently inherits a predilection for the calling and passes it on down to a son of his own. In this connec- tion it is interesting to note that four generations of the Beaumont family have practiced medicine in Hancock County, and that the name is one that is prominent and highly esteemed in medical circles and held in the high- est of confidence by the people. In the third generation of Beaumonts who have be- come physicians and surgeons is found Dr. Frank P. Beaumont, of New Cumberland, a skilled and thorough practitioner and a man of prominence and influence. He was born at New Cumberland, August 5, 1865, a son of Dr. Godfrey L. and N. A. (Campbell) Beaumont. His grandfather, Dr. William Beaumont, was born in England, where he received his education and as a young man came to Lisbon, Ohio, where he engaged in the manufacture of woolens. He was likewise a minister of the Christian Church, in which he preached for many years, but eventu- ally came to New Cumberland, West Virginia, where he applied himself to the practice of medicine until his death, which occurred in old age. Godfrey L. Beaumont was born in Ohio, but as a youth was brought to New Cumberland. He inherited a love for the medical profession, and prepared himself partly under the teaching of his father and partly by attend- ance at a medical school. In 1869 he commenced the practice of his profession, and applied himself thereto assiduously and without interruption until his death in 1891, when he was but fifty-four years of age. His wife, a member of the well-known family which formerly owned a large part of the land upon which is now located the town of New Cumberland, has spent her entire life here and still survives at the age of eighty years. Frank P. Beaumont was given the advantages of a high school education at New Cumberland, following which he entered upon his preparation for the following of a medical career. He did some preliminary work prior to entering the Eclectic Medical College at Cincinnati, where he pursued a full course and received his degree of Doctor of Medicine, and later took postgraduate work in New York City. Doctor Beaumont commenced the practice of his profession at New Cumberland in 1887 in associa- tion with his father, and this connection continued until the elder man's death four years later. Doctor Beau- mont has risen to a recognized place in the ranks of his calling in Hancock County, and has adhered closely to the Eclectic teaching He belongs to the Eclectic medical societies, both state and national. He was a member of the Board of Pension Examiners for many years, served as county health officer for twenty years and has been a town health officer for a decade. During the World war he also acted on the Draft Board, and since the close of that struggle has been an examiner in connection with the Veteran's Bureau. In politics he is a stanch republican. Doctor Beaumont married Miss Maggie B. Joseph, who was reared at Toronto, Ohio, a daughter of John A. Joseph. Four children have been born to this union: Dr. Dudley H., a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and now engaged in the practice of medicine and sur- gery at New Cumberland; Helene L., a graduate of Bethany College; Frank C., a student in the dental college of the University of Pittsburgh; and Godfrey L., who is attend- ing high school. Dr. Dudley H. Beaumont, while a graduate of the regular school of medicine, uses much of the Eclectic sys- tem, and since 1921 has been associated in practice with his father. He is in the fourth generation of doctors of the Beaumont name to practice in this community, and attends the same families as have his father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him. For about seventy years a Doctor Beaumont has been counselor and medical ad- visor at birth, through life and during the last illness of dozens of families, amounting to thousands of individ- uals. Fraternally Dr. Beaumont is a Mason and religi- ously is a Presbyterian. ______________________________X-Message: #4 Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 14:56:06 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990919145606.00e09660@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: J. S. D. MERCER, Hancock Co., WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" MIME-Version: 1.0 The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 250-251 Hancock County J. S. D. MERCER, sheriff of Hancock County, occupies his present position because of his fearlessness as an officer, his executive talents, and his courteous and pleasing per- sonality. This is his second occupancy of the office, prior to becoming the incumbent of which he had filled other posts, and his entire record from the time that he started out to make his own way in the world has been one of stead- fast effort, marked industry and conscientious performance of the duties of public and private life. Sheriff Mercer was born in Grant District, in the north end of Hancock County, on Mercer's Run, where his great- great-grandfather, William Mercer, had settled about 1800, upon his arrival from Washington County, Pennsylvania. One of his ancestors was General Mercer, a noted officer of the Revolutionary war. The father of J. S. D. Mercer was Robert Mercer, a school teacher in Hancock County for some years, and later engaged in the furniture and under- taking business at Hookstown, Pennsylvania, where he was taken sick. Then he removed to Hancock County where he died at the early age of thirty-five years. Robert Mercer married Sarah Elizabeth Allison, a daughter of Jonathan Allison, Jr., a descendant of James Allison, one of the ear- liest settlers of the north end of Hancock County, the old home being on a fork of Tomlin's Run. There were two children who reached maturity: J. S. D.; and J. W. F., a blacksmith of Chester, West Virginia. J. S. D. Mercer was five years of age when his father died, and he was taken into the home of his maternal grand- father, Jonathan Allison, a large land owner. He attended the public schools and was reared on the original Allison homestead, where he remained until twenty-one years of age, then learning the carpenter's trade, at which .he worked for about fourteen years, mainly at East Liverpool, Ohio. His first public office was that of town clerk of Chester, in which he served for one term, being then elected mayor of Chester, an office in which he acted with excellent execu- tive ability for two terms. When he left that office he was chosen county assessor, and served one term, and in 1912 was first elected sheriff of Hancock County, and was the incumbent of that office for four years. During the four years that followed the expiration of his term he was engaged in business successfully as a building contractor, but again in 1920 re-entered public life when he was elected sheriff as the nominee of the republican party. He ran far ahead of his ticket. Sheriff Mercer devotes his entire time to the duties of his office, and is one of the best offi- cials the county has known. He requires only one deputy, this being his son, M. D. Mercer, and the affairs of the office are taken care of in an efficient and expeditious man- ner, much to the satisfaction of the people of the county. Sheriff Mercer is courageous in action, prompt and ener- getic, and possesses more than the average detective ability, which has assisted him in making the county a law-abiding community. He has the support of all good citizens. Sheriff Mercer married Miss Martha B. Allison, of the same stock of Allisons from which he descends, her mother being a Pugh of Pughtown. Five children have been born to them: James Raymond, D. D. S., who is engaged in the practice of dentistry at Akron, Ohio; Merwyn D., his father's deputy in the sheriff's office; Thelma Elizabeth, a teacher in the public schools of New Cumberland; and Martha E. and Mary L., who graduated from the high school at New Cumberland as members of the class of 1922. The family was reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which Sheriff Mercer belonged until recently, when he transferred his membership to the Presbyterian Church at New Cumberland. As a fraternalist he belongs to the Knights of Pythias; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed through the chairs and at one tune sat in the Grand Lodge; and the Junior Order United American Mechanics, in which he has also passed through the chairs. ______________________________X-Message: #5 Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 14:56:06 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990919145606.00e090e0@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: Roy Earl PARRISH, Harrison Co. WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" MIME-Version: 1.0 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by bl-14.rootsweb.com id LAA15252 The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 251-252 Harrison County ROY EARL PARRISH. Of the Gold Stars set in West Vir- ginia's honor roll of soldier dead in the great war, one represents Roy Earl Parrish, a son of Thomas Jefferson Parrish, the Clarksburg business man and banker. He left a secure place in his profession and the honors of politics and public office to become a soldier, and in that new and strange role, until his death, he expressed, as the tributes of his superiors and comrades testified, some of the most noteworthy characteristics of the American soldier. A son of Thomas J. and Mary (Morgan) Parrish, he was bora at Wallace, Harrison County, November 27, 1888. He was educated in the public schools, graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College, studied law in West Vir- ginia University, was admitted to the bar at Clarksburg in 1910, and was engaged in practice until he went into the army. In 1912 he was elected to the House of Dele- gates, serving through the session of 1913, and in 1914 was elected to the State Senate by a large majority from the Twelfth Senatorial District. He was vice-chairman of the Republican State Committee for the first Congressional District, and was chairman of the Republican County Ex- ecutive Committee of Harrison County. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and the Clarksburg University Club. So much for the dire statistics of his life. For the significance of his character and the service he rendered as a civilian and as a soldier a deft record is found in the proceedings of the State Senate for January 21, 1919, a day set apart by formal motion for memorial services in honor of Lieutenant Parrish. From the proceedings of that day it is possible here to quote a portion of only one address, that delivered by his successor in the Senate from the Twelfth District, Harvey W. Harmer, a life-long friend of Lieutenant Parrish. Senator Harmer, after re- viewing his boyhood, his continued interest in his church, the First Methodist Episcopal of Clarksburg, his gradua- tion in 1908 from the Wesleyan College at Buckhannon, the graduation from the University Law School in 1910, his active practice as a member of the Clarksburg bar and the unusual influence he exercised as one of the youngest members of the House of Delegates and the State Senate, took up his patriotic record, and what he said on that point may properly stand as the permanent tribute to this brave young West Virginia officer. The concluding para- graphs of Senator Harmer's address are as follows: "Largely because of the conditions growing out of our entering into the great World war, the Governor of our State called the members of the legislature to assemble here in a second extraordinary session on the fourteenth of May, 1917. Instead of heeding this call of the Gov- ernor, instead of seeking the pleasure of your association in legislative work, ROY PARRISH chose to volunteer as a soldier in the American Army, and on the day you as- sembled here, he entered Fort Benjamin Harrison, at In- dianapolis, Indiana, in the training school for officers. In that school he remained until August 15th, when he was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Field Artillery. "After a few days at home he reported to Camp Sher- man, Chillicothe, Ohio, on September first, and eight days later he was transferred to Camp Sheridan, Montgomery, Alabama. Shortly after his arrival at Camp Sheridan, his ability as a soldier and lawyer was recognized and he was made Assistant Judge Advocate, a position he filled until November 15. On November 20, 1917, he was detailed as Judge Advocate and served in that capacity until ordered to prepare for duty overseas. He left Camp Sheridan December 15th, with orders to report in New York City on January 2d, 1918. In the few intervening days he visited his friends and family at home, leaving for the last time on January 1st, 1918, for New York. On the 14th of ^January, he sailed for overseas, and after three weeks, which must have been stormy, he arrived at Liverpool, England, February 5th, and in a few days sailed for Prance. After arriving in France, he entered an artillery school established by Napoleon Bonaparte for special training, and after three months he was ordered to the front with the Sixth Field Artillery, First Division. "He was in the big drive at Chateau-Thierry, that spelled success for the Allies and defeat and disaster for the German army. "On the 6th day of July, DeLano Andrews, Second Lieutenant, Field Artillery, Acting Adjutant, United States Army, wrote his commanding officer: 'The Brigade Commander directs me to communicate to you his com- mendations of the services of Lieutenant ROY E. PAR- RISH, 6th F. A. as Liaison Officer with the Infantry. His reports have been clear, intelligent and full of valuable information. They are models of Liaison work and re- flect great credit upon Lieutenant Parrish's energy, power of observation and devotion to duty.' "Later, G. McDowell, First Lieutenant, Field Artillery, United States Army, Acting Adjutant, wrote: 'Lieutenant PARRISH was sent forward on July 18th on Liaison work with the Infantry in the attack on that date. Nothing more was heard of him, and after the attack, when the regiment reassembled, he was missing. About two weeks later a report was secured by me from the captain of the Infantry who had talked with him for a few moments as they were going forward, and a second later this officer saw Lieutenant PARRISH killed by a shell.' " ' We have buried our dead on a thousand hills And thousands unburied lie, In battered village and shattered wood, Agape at the drenching sky, Where they poured their blood in the trampled mud As a witness to God on high— As the last full price of sacrifice For that which shall never die.' "Our own Major John Bond, who has just returned from overseas, met Lieutenant PARRISH shortly before he was killed in action, and where the German shells were falling all around. Major Bond says: 'ROY PARRISH was one of the most fearless men I ever knew. He was a second Roosevelt—never satisfied unless he was in the thickest of the fight.' "The father of ROY PARRISH sits here at my left. Of his five sons, four followed the flag in this awful war —two crossed the seas and two were on the seas. One that crossed never returned. The other that crossed sits here today. " 'And some shall come home through a sea of flags When the cannon their thunder cease; And some shall lie alone with the sky In the Valley of Long Release; And what shall it matter—if freedom stand On the Rock of Eternal Peace.' "The heart of this father and these brothers and a sister are sad. Your words today, I am sure, are a com- fort and a consolation to them. Brother Senators, know- ing this father and these brothers and sister as I do, I know that the greatest comfort and consolation and the greatest hope that fills their hearts today is the fact that ROY has been faithful not only to his country and his flag—for he had never wavered there—but that he had also been faithful to his God, and his soul has a resting place we all hope shall be ours." Since the return of the troops from France Mr. Par- rish has been tireless in his efforts to establish the identity of his son. And we quote herewith from correspondence which Mr. Parrish received from the War Department. (A) Proximity of the place of death of Lieutenant Parrish and place of original burial of the body, which has been identified as being that of the deceased. Lieut. J. Hamilton, 6th Field Artillery, reports: Lieut. Boy E. Parrish, 6th F. A. was killed July, 1918, and buried in a large shell hole marked with a wooden cross, and tag was attached for identification. This shell hole was in a big open field north of Missy-en-Bois, between there and the railroad from Soissons to Chateau-Thierry, near the town of Brezy-le-Sec. (B) The only means of identification found was a can- teen cup with the name "Lieut. Faris" inscribed thereon, and in view of the similarity of names, and the fact that the name on the canteen cup may have been corroded to such an extent that in all probability it had been "Par- rish," this office arrived at the conclusion that the body contained in grave 178, Section E, Plot 4, American Ceme- tery, Ploisy, Aisne, is that of Lieutenant Parrish. The remains of Lieutenant Parrish will be interred with full military honors in an American National Cemetery in France. "Best Ye in peace, ye Flanders dead, The fight ye so bravely led We've taken up, and we will keep True faith with you who lie asleep With each a cross to mark his bed. And poppies blooming overhead, Where once his own life blood ran red, So let your rest be sweet and deep In Flanders' field. Fear not that ye had died for naught, The torch ye threw to us we caught, Ten million hands will hold it high, And freedom's light shall never die! We've learned the lesson that ye taught, In Flanders field." *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ***********************************************************************