WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 3 Today's Topics: #1 Bio: Dyer, Vernon, Grant Co. [Elizabeth Burns ] #3 bio: McNemar, Harry, Grant Co. [Elizabeth Burns ] #4 bio: Judy, Manassah, Grant Co. [Elizabeth Burns ] ______________________________X-Message: #1 Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 11:46:18 -0700 From: Elizabeth Burns To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-id: <386F9CFA.B380FF34@mainex1.asu.edu> Subject: Bio: Dyer, Vernon, Grant Co. Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc. Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 214-215 Vernon Lough Dyer, M.D. Included among the younger members of the medical profession who are making rapid strides in their chosen calling in Grant County is Dr. Vernon Lough Dyer of Petersburg. To a natural equipment for his calling, which includes inherent ability, a genuine love of his profession and a sympathetic nature, Doctor Dyer has superimposed a long and careful training and as a close observer and keen student of his profession is still further improving himself for the work to which he has dedicated his life and talents. Doctor Dyer comes of an old and honored family of West Virginia was born April 17, 1892, at Fort Seybert, Pendleton County, this state, a son of William M. Dyer. His grandfather, Allen Dyer, was born in Pendleton County, where he followed the pursuits of farming and raising stock and was one of the well-to-do and highly esteemed citizens of his community. He passed his entire life within the borders of Pendleton County and attained the ripe old age of ninety-one years, passing away in the year 1910. He married Miss Martha Miller and they became the parents of eight children who grew to maturity, as follows: Pendleton; Minnie, who married Charles Switzer of Philippi, West Virginia; Annie, who married William Judy; Sue who became the wife of Elias McWhorter of Jane Lew, West Virginia; Edward, who resides near Philippi and is engaged in agricultural operations; William M, the father of Doctor Dyer; Charles, who died in Pendleton County and Florence, the wife of I.E. Bolton of Morgantown, West Virginia. William M. Dyer was born in Pendleton County where he received ordinary educational advantages in the public schools and as a young man adopted the vocation of farming. This he has followed with success in the same county ever since and is now the owner of a good property with all modern improvements. He is a modern agriculturist, owns a large herd of livestock, and keeps abreast of the advancements being constantly made in the business of agriculture. He has always demonstrated his public-spirited citizenship in his support of worthy civic movements and educational and religious enterprises, as well as those of a charitable nature, have found him a friend. Politically he is a republican and his religious connection is with the Methodist Church. Dr. Dyer was united in marriage with Miss Susan Lough and they became the parents of eleven children, of whom ten survive: Nora, who is the wife of J.P. Cowher of Fort Seybert West Virginia; Fred, a resident of Eckman, this state; Dr. Vernon Lough of this review and Mary and Willie, twins, Fannie, George, Jasper, James and Anna who reside at the home of their parents. During the World war Fred and Willie Dyer enlisted in the United States Army and the latter saw overseas service, while the former was a member of the Officers Training Camp at Camp Lee, Petersburg Virginia. All of the members of his family have been given the advantage of good education training. The childhood, youth and early years of his manhood were passed by Vernon Lough Dyer at Fort Seybert in which community he attended the public school. As a youth he spent his time much after the fashion of other farmers; sons, working on the home place during the summer months. In the winters he taught in the county schools of Bethel District, and this continued to occupy his time until he reached his majority at which time he enrolled as a student at the State Normal School at Shepherdstown West Virginia. He was graduated from that institution as a member of the class of 1914 and having thus equipped himself from a literary viewpoint he began the study of medicine. The first two years of his medical course were prosecuted at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana after which he entered the medical department of Loyola University, Chicago Illinois. He was graduated June 1, 1918 and after receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine went to Welch Hospital, Welch, West Virginia, where he spent a year in hospital work, being for a time intern of the institution. With this work finished, he took up the practice of his profession at Petersburg, where he has since demonstrated his skill and thorough learning in a manner that has attracted to him a large practice of the most desirable kind that can fall to the lot of a young physician. During the period of the World war Doctor Dyer was a student at Loyola University, and his name was placed in the enlisted Medical Reserve Corps, but was not called for active duty and his medical studies were uninterrupted. Doctor Dyer is a close and careful student of his calling, and holds membership in several medical organizations, including the Grant County Medical Society and the West Virginia State Medical Society. He is at present serving in the capacity of health officer of Petersburg, an office in which he is rendering capable service. Fraternally he is affiliated with Petersburg Lodge of the Masonic Order. In political matters he is a republican, although he has not been active in political affairs, his entire attention being devoted to his profession. However, as a citizen he has given his support to worthy movements and has expressed his approval of advanced educational standards and worthy charitable and religious enterprises. With Mrs. Dyer he holds membership in the Presbyterian Church. On June 18, 1919 at Jane Lew, Lewis County West Virginia, Doctor Dyer was united in marriage with Miss Ruth Hickel, who was born in Wirt County West Virginia, one of the four children of Rev. Thomas J. and Arnette (Bee) Hickel, Rev. T.J. Hickel being a well-known divine of the Methodist Protestant Church who has held numerous pulpits in West Virginia. Mrs. Dyer who is the second of her parents' children was born March 18, 1895. Her sister is Mrs. Catherine Peterson, who lives at Weston West Virginia and her brothers are Fred, of Grantsville, this state and John. Doctor and Mrs. Dyer have one daughter, Susan Arnette, born October 10, 1921. ______________________________X-Message: #3 Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 23:54:07 -0700 From: Elizabeth Burns To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-id: <3870478F.B967CCC7@mainex1.asu.edu> Subject: bio: McNemar, Harry, Grant Co. Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc. Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 215-216 Harry H. McNemar. In naming the representative business citizens of Grant County more than passing mention is due the career and accomplishments of Harry H. McNemar of Petersburg who although still a young man has developed one of the leading industries of his community, a produce business, the trade of which approximates a fifth of a million dollars annually. This enterprise has been built up within a few years, during which time Mr. McNemar has also found the opportunity in interest himself in other business affairs, as well as in matters affecting the public welfare of his community. Mr. McNemar was born July 26, 1884 in Grant District, Grant County and is a son of Samuel B. and Elizabeth (Harris) McNemar. He belongs to one of the most ancient of the early settled families of West Virginia, which was introduced into old Hardy County four generations back of Harry H. McNemar, by his great-grandfather Martin McNemar. Martin McNemar settled in Grant District, Grant County, as it is now constituted, ten miles from the present town of Petersburg, and there continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout a long, active and useful life, being buried on his farm. Among his children were Joseph McNemar, the grandfather of Harry H., of Petersburg. He spent his life on the estate of his father, agriculture being his chief vocation. He was one of the prominent and influential men of his day and for forty years served in the office of sheriff of Hardy County, as it was then. His official record was an excellent one, as was that also of his business and private life, and he was held in high esteem by his fellow-citizens. Mr. McNemar was buried at Lahmansville Cemetery, about one mile below Petersburg. In the family of Joseph McNemar there were two sets of children, he having been twice married and Samuel B. McNemar, the father of Harry H. belonged to the second wife's family. Samuel B. McNemar was born in 1842, at the old family home in Grant District, Grant County and was liberally educated. He early demonstrated intellectual attainments that directed his career along the line of the educator's profession and throughout his life he was a teacher in various parts of the state and never ceased to be a student. He was one of the best-known educators in his part of West Virginia and was popular as well as efficient, having the happy faculty of being able to impart his own knowledge to others. At the outbreak of the war between the states, while a strong supporter of and sympathizer with the Confederacy, Mr. McNemar was found physically unfit to withstand the rigors of participation in the hard and strenuous life of the soldier, and his connection with the war activities therefore was limited to his moral and financial support of the Southern cause. He was a well-known democrat of Grant County and was frequently seated in conventions of his party. Mr. McNemar was a devout member of the Southern Methodist Episcopal Church and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the church of that denomination at Williamsport. Samuel B. McNemar married Miss Elizabeth Harris of Goodhope, Illinois, where she was born although her parents were formerly West Virginia people and agriculturists here. She is now a resident of Petersburg, aged seventy-seven years and highly esteemed. Mr. McNemar after one year of retirement from the schoolroom, died in September 1912 and his community lost a reliable and worthy citizen. He and his wife were the parents of the following children: Miss Daisy D., who holds a life certificate to teach and was engaged in school work for some years, but who for the past four years has occupied the position of postmistress of Petersburg; Edward S., who is engaged in agricultural pursuits near Williamsfield, Illinois; Harry Hennen of this review; W.V. and J.V. twins, the former an attorney at law of Logan West Virginia and the latter a resident of Akron Ohio. Harry Hennan McNemar received his early education under the tuition of his father, and later completed his training in the public schools. In his young manhood he adopted his father's vocation of teaching, being a country school teacher when only sixteen years of age, and continued his school work for eight years, terminating it as principal of the Petersburg schools. When he left the schoolroom he was appointed the first railway agent of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Petersburg, and served in that capacity for eleven years. When he resigned he did so to embark in the produce business, establishing the first exclusive business of that kind at Petersburg. This he has developed to considerable proportions for the year 1921, an average one, showed a business of $200,000 passing through the McNemar house alone. Naturally, a man with the ability to build up an enterprise of this kind is in demand by other enterprises and Mr. McNemar is a director of the Central Tie and Lumber Company, a stockholder in the Grant County Bank and a director in the Community Power Company, a hydro-electrical company, organized to furnish electric power for Petersburg and Moorefield. The organization of this project was effected in 1921, the plant site being at the twenty-foot dam across the south branch of the Potomac River above Petersburg. Mr. McNemar's politics is democratic and his first presidential ballot was cast in favor of the candidacy of William Jennings Bryan in 1908. He has been on his party's ticket for the office of county superintendent of schools, also later for that of sheriff, in which latter campaign he reduced the republican majority of his opponent from 1500 to less than 500 votes. As a fraternalist he is a Master Mason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America and is popular in all three lodges. On June 30, 1909 at Petersburg Mr. McNemar was united in marriage with Miss Mary B. Clark, a daughter of William and Carrie (Baker) Clark, the latter being a sister of Bernard J. Baker, the well known banker of Petersburg. Mrs. McNemar is the youngest of three children, the others being Mrs. D.G. Marshall and Mrs. Frances Stump both of Romney West Virginia. ______________________________X-Message: #4 Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 23:54:42 -0700 From: Elizabeth Burns To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-id: <387047B2.427DC40D@mainex1.asu.edu> Subject: bio: Judy, Manassah, Grant Co. Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc. Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 216 Manassah S. Judy When the citizens of Grant County elected Manassah S. Judy to the dual office of circuit and county clerk in 1920 they placed in this responsible position a representative of one of the oldest families native to this region of West Virginia. He descends on both sides from native parents of Grant County, and their fathers were likewise born in Grant County, so that he can justly lay claim to being a genuine West Virginian. In the discharge of his official duties he has displayed the possession of marked efficiency and a conscientious desire to improve the public service and give a good account of his stewardship. Mr. Judy was born on a farm in Grant County, adjoining the town site of Petersburg, September 23, 1891 and is a son of George F. and Mattie E.V. (Sites) Judy. Manassah Judy, the grandfather of Manassah S. Judy was born in Grant County where he passed his life as an agriculturist and was greatly esteemed and respected. He married Sarah Dyer and they became the parents of the following children: Jennie, who married Andrew Trumbo and resides in Bedford County, Virginia; William A., a resident of Petersburg; Fena who died as Mrs. W.H. Cola at Monterey, Virginia; H. Seymour of Petersburg, a retired farmer; George Franklin, the father of Manassah S; Edward D., a retired farmer of Petersburg; Rebecca who is the wife of Jared A. Hiner of Doe Hill Virginia; and Manassah Parren who is a farmer at North Manchester Indiana. The maternal grandfather of Clerk Judy was Rev. Sampson G. Sites, a Dunkard preacher who gave his life after middle age to active church work and the farm. Reverend Sites was born and passed his life in Grant County where he was widely known and universally esteemed for his sterling excellencies of mind and heart. He was the father of thirteen children, of whom eleven grew to maturity: Mattie E.V. who became the wife of George F. Judy and died Decmeber7, 1907; James, who died at Idaville Indiana; B. Harvey, one of the prosperous and extensive farmers and stockmen of the vicinity of Hoopeston Illinois; George E., a well known citizen and prosperous agriculturist of Monticello Indiana; Charles, a railroad man of Salem Illinois; Mrs. M.P. Judy of North Manchester, Indiana; Mrs. M.A. Judy also of that city; Sampson G. Jr. of Monticello Indiana; I. William, a farmer operating the old Sites homestead near Petersburg; D. Eston, a traveling salesman of Kansas City Missouri; and Edgar C., a student of medicine at the University of Indiana. George Franklin Judy was reared on his father's farm in Grant County and received the usual country school education of his day. When he attained years of maturity he chose farming for his life work, and for some years carried on agricultural operations near Petersburg, a community in which he had an excellent reputation for integrity in business affairs and as a public spirited citizen. He died in 1896 at Petersburg West Virginia. He and Mrs. Judy were the parents of the following children: Edna R., who married W.H. Judy of Peru, West Virginia; Manassah Sampson, of this review, named for both of his grandfathers; and Sarah Elizabeth who married Clyde Ours and resides at Fisher, Hardy County, West Virginia. The first fifteen years of the life of Manassah Sampson Judy were passed in his home neighborhood near Petersburg, where he attended the public school, following which he entered Bridgewater College, at Bridgewater, Virginia. After spending one year at that institution in the fall of 1908 he went to Indiana and attended North Manchester College until 1912, where for three terms he taught penmanship and assisted in the commercial department. He also supervised penmanship in the public schools during these years. During the summers of 1910, 1911 and 1912 he was a student at the Zanerian Art College, Columbus, Ohio. In the fall of 1912 he became principal of the commercial department of the high school at Cambridge, Ohio and in the spring of 1913 returned to West Virginia, locating at Petersburg, where he was engaged in the stock business on the old home farm. While thus engaged Mr. Judy became interested in politics, and eventually was persuaded by his friends to make the race for the office of county and circuit clerk of Grant County. In the primaries of 1920 he became a candidate for this office against one of the ablest clerks of West Virginia and one of the ancients among the state officials, and won the nomination as a republican. He defeated his opponent in the primary election by 355 votes and in the general election defeated his opponent by 2,200 or 200 votes ahead of the ticket. When he took office, succeeding the veteran D.P. Hendrickson, whom everybody delights to honor, he became the third clerk Grant County has ever had. In his official position Mr. Judy has "made good" and has lived up to his pre-election promises. He has entrenched himself firmly in the confidence of the people of the community who have recognized and appreciated his efforts in their behalf. Mr. Judy was one of the organizers of the Potomac Valley Bank of Petersburg, in which he is a member of the Board of Directors and its secretary. He belongs to the Blue Lodge and Chapter of Masonry, and is a past master of Petersburg Lodge No. 145 in addition to which he holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian Church in the work of which he is active, being a teacher in the Sunday School. On June 9, 1912 at Bowers, Montgomery County Indiana, Mr. Judy was united in marriage with Miss Lillian E. Dunbar, who was born in Montgomery County Indiana, as were her father and paternal grandfather both of whom were agriculturists. She is a daughter of E.P. and Emma (Parker) Dunbar, the latter being a native of the State of Delaware. To Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar there were born eight children: May, who is the wife of L.V. Halliday of Bellfontaine Ohio; Lillian E., now Mrs. Judy who was born February 23, 1891; Joseph E. of Colfax Indiana; Austin, a farmer near that place; Harvey M. of Bowers Indiana; Willard P., who is attending high school at Kokomo Indiana and Roscoe and Theodore who are students at Blue Ridge College, New Windsor Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Judy have no children.