WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 110 Today's Topics: #1 BIO: ARTHUR SPENCER DAYTON, Barbou [Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.20000413060658.008a5ba0@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: ARTHUR SPENCER DAYTON, 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. 404 ARTHUR SPENCER DAYTON, of Philippi, represents the third generation of a family that has been distinguished in the bench and bar of Virginia and West Virginia for over eighty years. He is the only son and child of the late Judge Alston G. Dayton, to whom a separate article is dedicated in this publication. The son is one of the younger members of the bar, but took to his professional work fine talents and an unusually broad and liberal edu- cation, and already stands in the front rank of West Vir- ginia lawyers. He was born at Philippi, March 6, 1887. When he was about eight years of age his father removed to Washing- ton to take up his congressional duties, and the son re- ceived most of his early education in the schools of Wash- ington. Subsequently he entered West Virginia University, graduating A. B. in 1907, began the study of law there, and the following year graduated with the in cursa de- gree LL. B. His work in the university of his home state was supplemented by graduate study in Yale University, where he received the Master of Arts degree in 1909. Mr. Dayton was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of West Virginia, June 3, 1908. Though only twenty- one years of age, he had covered a remarkably wide field of research and scholarship, but his admission to the bar did not mark the end of his student career. He has found it as necessary to go to court with his lessons prepared as when he went to his classes, and among his contempo- raries he is distinguished as much for his diligence as a student as the varied resources he is able to bring forth at demand in solving the problems and intricacies of litiga- tion. He has been admitted to practice in all the higher courts in the state and the Federal courts. For the first two years he was a member of the law firm of Blue and Dayton at Philippi, and since then he has been alone in practice and has found his time more and more taken up with great bulk of cases that represent some of the most important in the state. Mr. Dayton is also known for his substantial contribu- tions to the literature of law. Several of his articles have been published in the Standard Encyclopedia of Procedure, published by L. D. Powell and Company. These articles include treatises on Certiorari, Dismissal, Continuance and Nonsuit. All branches of the law have been included in his practice, and if there is a tendency at all toward spe- cialization it is toward the litigation in which corporations are involved. He has exhibited especially the qualities of thoroughness and accuracy, has a wonderful grasp of legal principles, and his integrity is universally conceded. Among numerous professional connections he is attorney for two of the three banks of Philippi, for the Baltimore and Ohio and Western Maryland Railroad. Mr. Dayton was accepted and approved for army service abroad in the World war as first lieutenant, and was scheduled for sailing when the armistice was signed. For a dozen years he has been active in republican pol- itics, has been a spokesman of his county in the state re- publican conventions, was an alternate to the National Convention in 1912 and was chairman of the Second Dis- trict Congressional Convention of 1916. Fraternally he is a Lodge and Chapter Mason, has done the work of the Subordinate and Encampment degrees in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a member of the Delta Tau Delta and the Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity, and belongs to the DuQuesne Club and the University Club of Pittsburgh. He is an elder of the Presbyterian Church of Philippi. On June 14, 1916, Mr. Dayton married Miss Ruth Woods. Her father, Hon. Samuel V. Woods, was one of the lead- ing lawyers of the West Virginia bar, and also a success- ful business man and financier. Mrs. Dayton was born in Barbour County and finished her education in National Park Seminary at Washington, District of Columbia. ______________________________X-Message: #2 Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 06:11:36 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.20000413061136.008a3200@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: FRANK G. BURDETT, Kanawha 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. 403-404 FRANK G. BURDETT, whose experience has covered the im- portant field of teaching, farming, civil engineering and building contracting, has been a resident of Charleston since November, 1890. In October, 1909, he was appointed county road engineer, and has been in continuous service from that date to the present. Every mile of modern high- way in Kanawha County has been built since he came into this office. He has supervised and handled the technical problems involved in a large part of the improvements which have already gone far toward giving this county a system of high class roadways. Mr. Burdett was born in Fayette County, West Virginia, Septcmber 14. 1856. son of David Clarkson and Susan (Byera) Burdett, and moved to Roane County with his parents. The old homestead where he was reared was on the line between Roane and Jackson counties. His father was a farmer all his life and died at the age of seventy- three. Frank G. Burdett remained on the farm until he was past thirty-two years of age. He acquired a good educa- tion, and from the age of nineteen to thirty he taught school in the rural district. At the same time he did farm ing, and early took up the work of land surveying. From this he broadened out into contracting and building, and in 1890 located in Charleston, where many residences of the city attest his skill and handiwork. Mr. Burdett continued active in this business until October, 1909, when the County Court appointed him county road engineer, and he has been in that office continuously. It was in 1913 that the first stretch of three miles of improved highway was constructed from Charleston north towards Sissonville. This was an asphalt concrete road. At the present time Kanawha County has about sixty-four miles of hard surface road, with extensions being made every year. This was done by con- tract and some by the county. Mr. Burdett has looked after the technical details, and has supervised the building of many county bridges. Mr. Burdett is a republican, and has been active in the party through every campaign since he became of age. He married Maude C. Swaar, who died in 1892, and later he married her sister, Elizabeth Swaar, both of Kanawha County. All of his children are of his first marriage, Nat C., Tom S. and Susie S. Nat is a graduate of West Virginia University and is an attorney and coal producer living in Morgantown. Tom S. received his education at West Vir- ginia University, and is a civil engineer at Charleston. Susie S. died in infancy. The son Nat married Margaret Davis, of Morgantown, and they have a son, Bobby. ______________________________X-Message: #3 Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 06:24:45 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.20000413062445.0089f100@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: OKEY JOHNSON HILL, Tyler 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. 404-405 OKEY JOHNSON HILL, now in his second term as Cir- cuit Court clerk of Tyler County, is a man of versatile gifts and attainments. He has taught school, has been a successful lawyer and merchant, and is also a practical farmer and stock raiser. In referring in this brief intro- ductory way to his place in the affairs of Tyler County it is appropriate to notice also that Mrs. Hill is deputy Circuit Court clerk, a unique honor, since she is the only woman in the state to fill such a position. Okey Johnson Hill was born on McKim Creek in the Meade District of Tyler County, June 27, 1872. His grandfather, Thomas Hill, was a native of Pennsylvania, and as a young man moved to Marion County, West Virginia, and shortly after his marriage settled on McKim Creek, where he spent the rest of his life as a farmer. He married Miss Margaret Cooper, who also died at the old homestead on McKim Creek. The farm they owned there was the birthplace of Israel Nicholson Hill, who was born Novem- ber 26, 1840, and in his mature years owned and farmed the homestead and lived there all the days of his useful and honorable life. He died December 1, 1916. He voted as a republican and was always attentive to his duties as a member of the United Brethren Church. During the Civil war he served as a member of the Home Guards. Israel N. Hill married Elizabeth McCullough, who was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, November 3, 1841, and now at the age of four score is still living on the home farm. She came when thirteen years of age with her parents to Pleasants County, West Virginia. The children born to her marriage were ten in number: George W., a merchant and later a farmer, who died in Wood County, West Virginia, September 29, 1910, aged forty-eight; Lan- dora, living on her farm on Sancho Creek in Tyler County, widow of Lloyd Davis; Horace Greeley, head carpenter in a large furniture establishment at Detroit, Michigan; John Taylor, a farmer three miles from Parkersburg in Wood County; Okey Johnson; Ida Lorene, wife of Charles Shutt, a farmer in Crawford County, Ohio; James Daniel, an employe of the Hope Natural Gas Company at Clarksburg in Harrison County; Oliver, an employe of the Oklahoma Natural Gas Company, living at Warwick, that state; Miss Ettie and Miss Florida, both on the home farm with their mother. Okey Johnson Hill stayed with the farm long enough to learn its practical duties, and all his life has had more or less active connection with agricultural matters. He attended the rural schools, took normal training in Tyler and Ritchie counties, and at the age of seventeen was ap- pointed to his first responsibility as a teacher in the Brush Run School of Meade District. He remained in Meade District eight terms, and for one term taught in Center District. In 1898 Mr. Hill became a merchant on McKim Creek, and sold goods there until June, 1903. For nearly two terms he had served as justice of the peace, and while in that office he diligently studied law. Because of this early preparation he was able to complete his law course and graduate LL. B. from the West Virginia University Law School in 1904, having entered the school September 22, 1903. Mr. Hill was admitted to the bar December 8, 1904, and for a year or so practiced in Middlebourne. In 1906 he moved to Friendly, Tyler County, and was a mer- chant there six or seven years. On March 14, 1913, he returned to Middlebourne to resume his law practice, but in November of that year was by popular election called to his present duties as Circuit Court clerk. He began his first term of six years in January, 1915, and in November, 1920, was re-elected for a second six-year term. Besides being clerk he is also commissioner in chancery of the Tyler County Circuit Court. Mr. Hill is a director of the Bank of Middlebourne and secretary of the Tyler County Farm Bureau, his eligibility to this office resting upon his ownership of 400 acres of farming land in Tyler and Ritchie counties. He does gen- eral farming and raises some blooded Polled Angus cattle. Hia home is a modern residence in Middlebourne. Mr. Hill is a republican, is a member of the Baptist Church, and is now serving his fourth consecutive term as president of the Tyler County Sunday School Association. He is a trustee of his church. Fraternally he is affiliated with Hebron Lodge No. 1ll, F. and A. M., in Pleasants County, with Sistersville Chapter No. 27, R. A. M., Mountain State Commandery No. 14, K. T., and he and Mrs. Hill are members of Friendly Chapter of the Eastern Star. He ia a past grand of Friendly Lodge No. 350, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, past chancellor of Middlebourne Lodge No. 86, Knights of Pythias, and also belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men, Junior Order United Mechanics, Order of Owls, and is a member of the West Virginia Bar Association. During the war he assumed a personal share in the responsibilities for keeping Tyler County well represented in all the war causes. He gave much time to filling out questionnaires for recruits, and for this work received an honorary discharge from the Govern- ment, and also delivered a number of speeches in behalf of Liberty Loans throughout the county. On January 15, 1898, in Ritchie County, Mr. Hill mar- ried Miss Zanie Alice Corbin, who was born at Highland in that county, was reared there and acquired a common school education. She is a member of the Baptist Church, and in addition to looking after her home and children is performing her duties as Deputy Circuit Court Clerk. Her father, Joseph Corbin, was born near Highland in Ritchie County, November 4, 1843, and was a leading farmer in that section until he retired in 1914, while living at Belmont in Pleasants County. He was a democrat, a member of the Baptist Church and the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Corbin married Julina Hogue, who wag born at Beech Grove on Bond's Creek in Ritchie County in 1845, and died at her home near Highland in 1887. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Corbin were: Olive, wife of William Boggess, a farmer on Bond Creek; Alonzo Taylor, an oil contractor at Muskogee, Oklahoma; Mrs. Hill; Floyd Haymond, fore- man in the oil field of the Ranger District in Texas; Sarah Rebecca, wife of Morris Morgan, an oil well contractor of Muskogee, Oklahoma; Lillian, wife of Samuel Campbell, a traveling salesman living at St. Mary's in Pleasants County; Howard, an oil well contractor at Muskogee. Mr. and Mrs. Hill have an interesting family of six children. The oldest, McKinley Tennyson, born February 18, 1899, is specializing in agriculture at West Virginia University, and on September 18, 1918, was enrolled in the Students Army Training Corps at Buckhannon, serving until the armistice. He is a graduate of the Tyler County High School at Middlebourne. The second son, Franklin Herman, born March 26, 1901, is also a graduate of the County High School, and is now specializing in mechanical engineering at Virginia University. Edith Marion, born February 18, 1903, is a graduate of the County High School in the literary and normal courses, and is a teacher in the Emerson School at Monongah in Marion County. The three youngest children of Mr. and Mrs. Hill are Zelma Rebecca, born September 18, 1904, in the sophomore class of the County High School; Thelma, born September 8, 1911; and Ada Esther, born December 12, 1913. ______________________________X-Message: #4 Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 07:05:45 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.20000413070545.008929b0@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: LEONIDAS W. BARTLETT, Taylor 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. 405-406 LEONIDAS W. BARTLETT became widely known for his business and commercial interests at Buckhannon before he was appointed postmaster of that city. He is now in his second term, a very capable and efficient administrator of the office, and a popular citizen as well. Mr. Bartlett was born at Webster in Taylor County, West Virginia, June 21, 1859, son of Dr. T. Bailey and Rhoda A. (Hudkins) Bartlett. His parents were also born, reared and educated in Taylor County. Doctor Bart- lett served four years in the Confederate Army. After the war he returned to his family, completed his course in medicine, and then located in Harrison County, where he practiced for some years. Later he bought a farm in Lewis County. He was a member of the Baptist Church, and was affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Lynchburg, Virginia. Of his five children four are living: Dora D., wife of John W. Linger, of Lewis County; Hannah E., widow of L. A. Linger; Camdena, wife of Leonidas A. Wet- sel, of Clarksburg; Florence, deceased; and Leonidas W. Leonidas W. Bartlett was reared in Harrison County, attended the common schools, and for a time was in the mercantile business at Buckhannon. From 1886 for a period of nineteen years he was a traveling salesman, and during that time he built up a large acquaintance all over the state. Mr. Bartlett has been a prominent leader in the democratic party, and has been a member of both the county and state committees. On July 1, 1914, Presi- dent Wilson appointed him postmaster of Buckhannon, and he was reappointed November 21, 1918. In April, 1888, Mr. Bartlett married Miss Anna Vir- ginia Latham. Mrs. Bartlett is a daughter of the distin- guished Col. George R. Latham, member of an old Vir- ginia family. Colonel Latham was born on the Bull Run battlefield in Virginia, March 9, 1832, and at the age of seventeen accompanied his parents to Taylor County, West Virginia. Largely by his own efforts he acquired a liberal education, and taught school for a number of years before the war. In 1859 he was admitted to the bar, and opened the first law office at Grafton. He published a paper there during the campaign of 1860 in behalf of the Bell Everett ticket. At the beginning of the Civil war he immediately announced his Unionism, recruited a company, and took it to Wheeling, where it was mustered in as Com- pany B of the Second Virginia Infantry. With this com- pany he participated in the early campaigns in West Virginia. In the fall of 1864 he was elected a member of the Thirty-ninth Congress, serving from March 4, 1865, to March 4, 1867. On account of ill health he refused a renomination. From 1867 to 1870 he was at Melbourne, Australia, as United States consul, and in 1875 was elected superintendent of public schools of Upshur County. Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett's only living child, Edna L., is a graduate of Wesleyan College of Buckhannon. Their son Frank attended a military academy and at the age of eighteen volunteered for service in the infantry, and while a sergeant was killed in the battle of Belleau Wood in France. Mr. Bartlett is affiliated with Franklin Lodge No. 7, F. and A. M., Upshur Chapter No. 34, R. A. M., of which he is a past high priest, and is treasurer of the Knight Templar Commandery. He is one of the directors of the Peoples Bank of Buckhannon, and has some valuable real estate holdings both in Buckhannon and in Maryland. He and his family are members of the Baptist Church.