WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 143 Today's Topics: #1 BIO: THADDEUS K. WINGROVE, Upshur [Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000704160357.00c41da0@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: THADDEUS K. WINGROVE, Upshur Co. WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 414 Upshur THADDEUS K. WINGROVE. Wingrove is a name that has been identified with West Virginia community life for considerably more than a century. The first American ancestor of the French Creek citizen named above was John Wingrove, who was born in England about 1750, came to America at the age of seventeen, lived in Ver- mont, where he married, and later moved to Virginia and finally to West Virginia, establishing his home in Marshall County, where he lived out his life. His son, William Win grove, was founder of the family in Upshur County and was a millwright by trade. His son, Harrison Wingrove, married Maria Peebles, and they were the parents of Mar- shall P. Wingrove, who was born in Braxton County, West Virginia, November 20, 1834. Marshall P. Wingrove grew up in the French Creek community, acquired a good educa- tion, and after his marriage settled at French Creek, where he continued farming and the milling business the rest of his life. He was an elder and liberal supporter of the French Creek Presbyterian Church, and was a very active prohibitionist in politics. In 1858 Marshall P. Wingrove married Roxanna Anderson, who was born in Frenchton, Upshur County, March 19, 1834, daughter of James and Sarah (Syron) Anderson, who settled in Upshur County from old Virginia. Of the seven children of Marshall P. Wingrove and wife six are now living: Warren, of San Francisco; Oscar, of British Columbia; Maude, wife of I. J. Dunn, an attorney at Omaha, Nebraska; Miriam, wife of J. S. Curry, of Cleveland, Ohio; Thaddeus K.; and Clarence, a farmer and poultryman at French Creek. Thaddeus K. Wingrove was born near French Creek April 9, 1871. He grew up there, acquired a public school education, and also attended the U. B. Academy at Buck- hannon. Since leaving college his years have been steadily devoted to his trade as a carpenter and to his interests as a farmer. He also looks after his farm of sixteen acres half a mile southeast of French Creek. Mr. Wingrove is a democrat in polities, is affiliated with the Modern Wood- men of America, and is an elder in the French Creek Pres- byterian Church and a teacher in the Sunday School. February 6, 1900, he married Miss Mayme Phillips, who was born at French Creek October 9, 1875. They have one son, C. Lyle, born March 19, 1906, now attending school at French Creek. ______________________________ X-Message: #2 Date: Tue, 04 Jul 2000 16:05:56 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000704160445.00c25250@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: JACKSON V. BLAIR, Doddridge Co. WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 414-415 Doddridge JACKSON V. BLAIR. In his experience as a lawyer, Jackson V. Blair of West Union, West Virginia, has prob- ably covered a wider and more important field in his adopted county of Doddridge, than any of his contempo- raries, now engaged in the work of the profession. He was admitted to the bar in 1877, having been examined by Cir- cuit Judges Charles S. Lewis and James M. Jackson, Jr., and by Okey Johnson, judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. He had studied law under the distinguished judge and public leader Hon. Chapman J. Stuart, with whom he became associated in the practice. Mr. Blair was born April 16, 1853, on a farm on Elk Creek, south of Clarksburg, in Harrison County, Virginia, now West Virginia. His great-grandfather, William Blair, was a native of Scotland where he was educated for the Presbytery, but he declined the robes, left his native heath, landed at Philadelphia, passed into Virginia, rendered military service in behalf of the colonists and after the close of the Revolution, purchased land on Hastings Run, tributary to Elk Creek, in Harrison County, where he established his home. He married Miss Martha McCul- lough, a lady of culture, and to this union were born five children, the eldest of whom was Dr. Alexander Blair, grandfather of the West Union lawyer. Doctor Blair, for several years a leader in popular education, devoted the greater part of his life to the practice of medicine. He married Miss Mary Arnold, a native of Harrison County. Her sister, Roana Arnold, was the wife of Hon. Samuel L. Hays, who as Congressman from this section of the Old Dominion, appointed Thomas J. Jackson cadet to West Point, and gave him money to pay expenses thereto. Hays personally knew young Jackson, and lived to see him christened "Stonewall" on the bloody field of Bull Run. To the marriage of Dr. Alexander Blair and Mary Arnold were born three sons and three daughters; The youngest son, George B., became a tailor by trade at which he worked, and also farmed some. He married Miss Har- riet Morgan, a daughter of Morgan Morgan, ("Mod" Morgan, as he was known,) a native of Marion County. He was a near relative of David Morgan, famed in history as a frontiersman and Indian fighter in the upper Mo- nongahela Valley. He was a brother of Col. Zaquell Mor- gan, founder of Morgantown. They were sons of Morgan apMorgan, who was born in Wales, educated in Lon- don, and came to Delaware, where he married Catherine Garretson, the issue of this union being Morgan, Jr., Anne, Zaquell (or Zacquil), Evan, David, Charles, Henry and James. The father with his family, moved to the Valley of Virginia near Winchester, his estate being in Berkeley County. Of David, Doctor De Hass in his History of Virginia, says: "Of those who removed with their families to Prickett's Fort was David Morgan, one of the earliest settlers on the frontier, and a man of great energy of character and sterling worth. He was a near relative of Gen. Daniel Morgan of Revolutionary memory, and like that distinguished officer, possessed, in a high degree, courage and capacity for almost any emergency." Unto the marriage of George B. and Harriet Morgan Blair, were born, Jackson V. (subject of this sketch), Morgan Franklin, Mary Ellen (now deceased), Thomas J. and William A. Their parents were members of the Baptist Church. Jackson V. spent his early years on a farm, attended the common schools and entered the State Normal at Fairmont from which he was graduated in 1875. He taught several terms, his last being as principal of the West Union Graded School. He was twice elected superintendent of free schools of Doddridge County, and served four years. On June 17, 1890, Governor A. B. Fleming commissioned him. major, as judge advocate of the First Regiment, West. Virginia National Guard, and he served four years. In 1898, Major Blair was the democratic candidate for Congress from the old first district. Although he was not elected, he had the satisfaction of materially reducing his opponent's former majority. In 1912, he was his party's nominee for circuit judge and again made a most creditable race. His long and steady practice of law has been varied with other interests. He was one of the organizers of The West Union Bank, the oldest in the county, and is a mem- ber of its board of directors. He was also, one of the original stockholders in the Ideal Window Glass Com- pany and was president thereof several years. Socially, Major. Blair is a Knight Templar, thirty- second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Noble of the Mystic Shrine and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias lodges. He is also a member of the Baptist Church. In 1879, he married Miss Ella M. Smith, daughter of Capt. Francis M. F. Smith and Julia Ann Smith, founders of Smithton, now Smithburg, three miles east of West Union. Captain Smith was a native of Fauquier County, Virginia, and a cousin of the renowned William Smith, who was governor of that commonwealth. The wife of Captain Smith was a daughter of Matthew and Maria Newlon Neely, substantial and most worthy pioneer citizens. Mrs. Blair is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church; past matron in the Order of the Eastern Star and a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Unto Major Blair and wife were born eight children, viz.: Julia, wife of Paul M. Ireland, an attorney; Smith, cashier of The Bank of Jacksonburg; William E. of Cincin- nati; Anne Morgan, wife of George C. Grouse, expert ab- stractor of titles to oil and gas lands; Jackson V., Jr., lawyer of Fairmont; George Neely, broker of Akron, Ohio; Francis Keech, field agent of the Portland Cement Association; and Marion R., a student. When the United States entered the World war, three of these sons enlisted in the military service. George Neely Blair was already in the service as sergeant on duty along the Mexican border. Thereafter, he enlisted for overseas service. On August 26, 1918, he was promoted and com- missioned second lieutenant of infantry. He participated in engagements in the Meuse-Argonne and was at the front when the armistice was signed. After that he was trans- ferred to the Army of Occupation in Germany, as second lieutenant of Company K, Twenty-sixth Infantry, First Division. In August, 1919, he sailed from Brest, France, and on September 4th of the following month, received his honorable discharge. Francis Keech Blair, while a student at Bethany College, went to Pittsburgh and enlisted in the navy on the twelfth day after this nation declared war against the imperial government of Germany. He trained at different stations, was assigned to duty on sub-marine chasers and was transferred to The Canonicus, attached to the mine-laying fleet that planted the mines across the North Sea, which "bottled up" the German war fleet, and it finally sur- rendered. On July 16, 1919, he was honorably discharged, as seaman, first class. Jackson V., Jr., who had had military schooling at the Staunton Military Institute, and as cadet at the State University at Morgantown, enlisted in the aviation branch of the service. He completed the prescribed course at the Military School of Aeronautics at the University of Texas, September 19, 1918; trained in different fields and with his squadron, was ready to embark for oversea duty, when the armistice was signed. Thereafter he received an honor- able discharge. While these sons were doing their duty in the army and navy, their father was active in home work, serving as chairman of the local draft board; and their mother in doing Red Cross work, and patriotically cheer- ing her own and other soldier boys on to duty. Major Blair, although approaching the "three score and ten" goal, is yet vigorous and active in the practice of his profession. ______________________________ X-Message: #3 Date: Tue, 04 Jul 2000 20:41:54 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000704203944.00c12600@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: JOHN A. KIMBLE, Grant County WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 415-416 Grant JOHN A. KIMBLE. The chief officer of the courts and law enforcer of Grant County is Sheriff John A. Kimble, a fearless and alert official whose work in office has justified fully the confidence of the citizens who put him there with their votes. For many years he was associated in the tim- ber and lumber industry, and was in that business during the early years of his residence at Bayard. Mr. Kimble was born in Pendleton County, April 4, 1863. His father, also named John A. Kimble, was born in Ger- many and as a young man came to the United States. In Pendleton County he married Miss Sarah Shirk, who was of Scotch ancestry. His father devoted his active years to farming, and at the time of the Civil war he enlisted as a Union soldier and died just about the close of the struggle. His widow was left the task of rearing her young children, and she did her part by them nobly. She finally married Isaac Harman, and by that union had one child, Rosa, wife of John Judy, of Maysville, West Virginia. The children by her first marriage were: William R., of Pendleton County; Wellington F., a fanner in the same county; Phoebe J., who married Jacob Harman and died in Pendle- ton County; Rebecca, wife of David Harman and a resi- dent of Denver, Colorado; and John A. Sheriff John A. Kimble spent the first thirteen years of his life in Pendleton County. He then left the home of his mother, and at that early age began making his own way in the world. His first employment was at Flinstone, Mary- land, where he was waterboy for a tanbark crew, gathering tanbark for the market. He continued his work until the close of the fall season for gathering bark, and then came up the Potomac Valley to the vicinity of Luke, Maryland, where there was in operation a saw mill of the Davis Coal and Coke Company. For two years he operated the gang- saw of this mill. His next removal took him to Mount Pleasant, Ohio, where he worked as a farm hand and utilized some of the experience gained as a boy on the farm. For this work he was paid wages of $25 a month and board. After a year he continued his western experiences, and for about a year worked on a farm at Spring Hill, Johnson County, Kansas. From there he went on to Texas, joining a brother at Austin, and was in that state some seven or eight months. For a time he rode a cow pony for his brother, and he knows something of the life of the cow- boy. Having in the meantime seen a great deal of the West and the Southwest, he returned to Maryland, and again resumed work with the Davis Coal and Coke Company in their saw milling plant at Deer Park, and later at Chafee on the Western Maryland Railway. From there he came to Grant County, West Virginia, and had charge of the timber property for the Wilson-Colston Company, and then removed to Henry, called Hamilton, and had charge of the timber and mill of the firm of Miller and Levering for eight years. While there he married, and when he left the service of the lumber company he located at Bayard, and has ever since been an influential factor in that community. At Bayard he entered business, conducting a livery and a retail lumber yard. He followed this enterprise for about six years. Since then his time has been almost fully taken up with public office. For a dozen years he was postmaster of Bayard and deputy sheriff of the county, be- ing appointed postmaster under the Roosevelt administra- tion. He was deputy sheriff until his elevation to the posi- tion of high sheriff. He won the republican nomination for sheriff against three competitors in 1920, and was elected over his democratic opponent by more than 1,200 votes. He succeeded Sheriff W. H. Munsing in office in January, 1921. Sheriff Kimble has discharged his respon- sibilities as sheriff in a way to merit the esteem of all good people and to entitle him to the respect and awe of law breakers. He was personally instrumental in bringing to light the details of the Harman Bell murder and getting the guilty parties brought to justice. The manufacture of illicit liquor in Grant County is rapidly disappearing, since the law violators understand that the sheriff means to en- force the law impartially and firmly. Mr. Kimble is a republican, cast his first presidential vote for James G. Blaine at Bayard, and for years was a consistent admirer Of Colonel Roosevelt and supported him as a progressive candidate in 1912. He still retains some important business interests at Bayard, having some holdings in the lumber business there, is a partner in the Barrett Hardware and Furniture Com- pany and one of the first stockholders of the Bayard Na- tional Bank and one of its directors. He is a past noble grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, past master of Bayard Lodge. Knights of Pythias, and a member of the D. O. K. K. The family are Presbyterians. On February 14, 1892, Sheriff Kimble married Miss Sarah E. Bartley, who was born in Deer Park, Maryland, in 1868, daughter of John F. and Sadie E. (Thrasher) Bart- ley. Her father was born in Virginia, served as a Confed- erate soldier in the war, and was a farmer. The children of Sheriff and Mrs. Kimble are: Beulah, who married J. B. Blocher, of Pierce, West Virginia, and has one child, Billie Blocher; Twila, a graduate of the Keyser High School and now connected with the Bayard Hardware and Furniture Company; and Juanita, a student at Dayton, Virginia. ______________________________ X-Message: #4 Date: Tue, 04 Jul 2000 20:42:28 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000704204043.00c40240@trellis.net> Subject: BIO: HON. WILLIAM W. BRANNON, Lewis Co. WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 416 Lewis HON. WILLIAM W. BRANNON, a representative member of the bar of Lewis County, has been engaged in the active practice of his profession at Weston, the county seat, for more than forty years. He was born at Winchester, Vir- ginia, November 1, 1853, a son of Seward J. and Mary (Carper) Brannon, both likewise natives of that locality, the father having been born in 1823, at Winchester, and his death having occurred in 1859. Seward J. Brannon became one of the prosperous farmers near Winchester, and there remained until his death, his widow having sur- vived him a score of years and her death having occurred in 1887. Both were zealous members of the Baptist Church. Of the eight children only two are now living - William W., of this review, and John Robert, a farmer near Middletown, Virginia. William W. Brannon was reared on the home farm and gained his early education in subscription schools. On the 7th of February, 1872, he came to Weston, West Virginia, and found employment in a brick yard, at a wage of $1.50 a day. He was thus engaged about three years, and in the meanwhile his ambition led him to take up the study of law, under the preceptorship of his uncles, who were at that time prominent members of the local bar. He made rapid advancement in his technical studies and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1879. He opened an office and con- tinued in individual practice two years, since which time he has had various associates in his large and representative law business. He has served as special judge, as notary public and as city attorney. In 1886 he was elected mayor of Weston, and was reelected for the four succeeding terms, and upon the expiration of his term, in 1890, he was elected representative of the Fourth District - Lewis and Webster counties - in the State Legislature. He gave his full term of characteristically effective service and did not appear as a candidate for re-election. While in the Legislature he was a member of five important committees of the House of Representatives. In 1899 Mr. Brannon was appointed by Governor Atkinson attorney for the State Board of Pardons, on which he served five years, during a portion of which time he was president of the board. He was later appointed by the governor of West Virginia a commissioner on uniform state laws, and al- though he resigned this place he has never been formally released. He is a stalwart in the camp of the democratic party, has taken lively interest in all that concerns the civic and material welfare of his home city, county and state, and has long controlled a large and important law business, which has involved his appearance in many litiga- tions of major order. Mr. Brannon owns an interest in 2,000 acres of land in Webster County and is interested also in oil and gas production in this section of the state. He is past chancellor of the local lodge of Knights of Pythias, has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge of the order in the state, and has served as a deputy grand chan- cellor besides having been a member of the Grand Tribu- nal of the fraternity. His wife is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Mr. Brannon is now senior member of the leading law firm of Brannon, Stathers & Stathers, with offices both at Weston and Clarksburg. In 1904 he was elected president of the West Virginia Bar Association for one year, and he is likewise a member of the American Bar Association and of the World's Congress of Jurists and Lawyers. Mr. Brannon wedded, on the 14th of February, 1884, Miss Addie Alkire, of Hackers Creek, Lewis County, and they have two daughters: Bertie is the wife of John R. Davis, a lumberman; and Miss Hattie remains at the par- ental home.