WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 147 Today's Topics: #1 THE PHELPS CAN COMPANY, Hancock Co [Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000706212142.00c45ea0@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: THE PHELPS CAN COMPANY, Hancock 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. 455-456 Hancock THE PHELPS CAN COMPANY is one of the several estab- lishments that have made an important industrial com- munity at Weirton in Hancock County, practically surrounding the historic old village of Holliday's Cove with factories, teeming population and all the institutions and improvements of twentieth century existence. This plant was established at Weirton in the spring of 1911 by the president of the original company, W. J. Phelps of Baltimore. At that time the plant started with a capacity of 350,000 cans daily and about a hundred em- ployes. Subsequent additions and improvements have trebled the capacity, and employes now number about 350, with a payroll of about $6,500 a week. The tinplate is obtained from the adjacent Weirton Steel Works, the an- nual consumption being between 600,000 and 700,000 boxes of tin plates. The plant at Weirton makes a specialty of tin containers for evaporated and condensed milk, the output being sold to condensaries all over the United States and Canada. The company is capitalized at $50,000. The president and treasurer of the corpoartion [sic] at Baltimore is W. J. Phelps, the vice president and secretary is Forest Bramble, of the same city, while the executive in charge at Weirton is J. Howd Phelps, assistant treasurer and manager. This company maintains four plants, one at Baltimore, another at New Philadelphia, Ohio, the one at Weirton, and another established in 1921 at Clarksburg, West Virginia. Mr. J. Howd Phelps and Mr. J. B. Dresel, the superintendent, started the plant at Weirton and have been in active charge ever since. The plant has floor space of 110,000 square feet, about two and a half acres, and a double rail- road track runs the entire length of the factory. The Phelps family have been pioneers in can manufac- ture. W. J. Phelps as a boy made cans by the hand process before the introduction of any of the complicated machinery now used in can making. He started his first can factory at Baltimore about 1890. The Phelps Can Company now stands third in the United States in relative size and importance, and is probably the first in a special- ized output for packers. J. Howd Phelps was eighteen years of age when he en- tered the shops of the Baltimore plant, and has grown up in the business. He is a Mason, is affiliated with the Scottish Rite Consistory at Wheeling, is a member of the Weirton Masonic Club, and belongs to the Scottish Rite Orchestra at Wheeling and also a similar orchestra at Steubenville, Ohio. Mr. Phelps, whose home is at Holli- day's Cove, married Sarah Marie Turner, a native of New York State. Their four children are Dorothy, Howd, Jr., Marjorie and Virginia. ______________________________ X-Message: #2 Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 21:22:55 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000706212213.00c415a0@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: WILLIAM EDMUND WATSON, Monongalia 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. 455 WILLIAM EDMUND WATSON. The following brief sketch is published for its value as a personal record of one of West Virginia's leaders in the coal mining industry. William Edmund Watson was born at Detroit, Michigan, May 19, 1885, but is a member of an old West Virginia fam- ily. His great-grandfather, James Dent Watson, came from Maryland and was an early settler in Monongalia County. The Fairmont coal operator was named for his grandfather. His own parents were Lee P. and Lucy D. (Lowe) Watson, the former a native of Monongalia County. He practiced law for a time in Detroit, and subsequently in Ashtabula, Ohio. He died in 1900, at Smithtown, Monongalia County, West Virginia. His wife, who died May 4, 1913, was born in Ohio County, Virginia, daughter of Jacob S. Lowe, who was born near Bethany in Brooke County, and after his education in Bethany College was a minister of the Christian Church. William E. Watson was educated at Fairmont, attended high school at Ashtabula, Ohio, and for two years was in the University of West Virginia. He has been connected with the coal industry since he was twenty-one. In 1909 the Rosebud Fuel Company was organized by him. In 1913 he organized the Fairmont and Cleveland Coal Com- pany of Fairmont, and has been its president. Mr. Watson is a Mason, an Elk and a member of the Fairmont Coun- try Club. ______________________________ X-Message: #3 Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 21:28:32 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000706212741.00c28440@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: AARON THOMAS HESS, Berkeley 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. 449-450 AARON THOMAS HESS, former business man and a vet- eran of the Confederate service in the war between the states, is now living virtually retired at Martinsburg, Berke- ley County, and is a citizen whose character and achievement entitle him to special recognition in this history of his na- tive state. He was born at Martinsburg, which was then a Virginia village, on the 6th of September, 1840. His fa- ther, David H. Hess, likewise was a native of Berkeley County, where his birth occurred on a pioneer farm on Tus- carora Creek. His father was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and was a pioneer in Berkeley County, Vir- ginia, where he resided twenty-five years, when he removed to Logan County, Ohio, and settled on a farm in East Lib- erty Township, where he passed the remainder of his life. The name Hess is of Swiss descent, and most of them were Lutherans and Huguenots. They came to this country from the borders of France to escape religious persecution during the reign of Queen Anne, who rescued them from Louis XIV. David H. Hess was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio, but as a young man he returned to Berkeley County and purchased a farm near Martinsburg, the major part of the estate being now included in the city limits. He was a successful farmer of the old times before the introduction of mowing and reaping machines and other mechanical im- provements that have transformed agricultural industry. After returning to Berkeley County Mr. Hess made several horseback trips to Ohio to visit his parents. He was a pro- gressive farmer, and owned and operated the first two threshing machines in Berkeley County. He operated his machines throughout Berkeley and Jefferson counties, and was thus engaged during the greater part of the recurrent winter seasons, the while he customarily received his pay in grain. On his old farm stand today many attractive resi- dences and business buildings. In the Civil war period he was taken prisoner by the forces under Gen. J. E. B. Stu- art, and with other prisoners was sent forth, under guard, on the march to Winchester. His son Aaron T., of this sketch, was then with his Confederate command near Darks- ville, and by going to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and making a personal appeal and representation he secured the release of his father. The latter was seventy-seven years of age at the time of his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary J. Cline, was born near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and died at the age of thirty-six years, she being survived by her husband and five children, Rayanna B., Emma E., Sarah Virginia, D. William and Aaron T. Also by two brothers John and D. Aaron Cline. The latter lived to be ninety-six years of age. Aaron T. Hess gained his early education by attending the subscription schools during the winter terms, and in the intervening summer seasons he aided in the work of the home farm. On the 19th of April, 1861, he went forth as a loyal young soldier of the Confederacy. He became a member of the Wise Artillery in November, 1859, after the John Brown raid on Harpers Ferry, and with this command he participated in many engagements and arduous marches under Gen. Robert E. Lee. His service continued until April 9, 1865, when he was captured and taken to Point Lockout Prison, Maryland, where he received his parole on the 9th of the following July, of which he is very proud. Aaron T. Hess' war record is numbered among those on the "honor-roll" in the Confederate Museum at Rich- mond, Virginia. Soon after the close of the war between the states Mr. Hess entered the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. He was soon advanced to the position of train conductor, and he continued in the service of this railroad corporation twenty-seven years. In the meanwhile he had established his wife and his son Edward L. in mercantile business at the corner of North Queen Street and Hess Avenue in Martinsburg, and they made the enterprise very successful. To assist them in the conducting of the busi- ness Mr. Hess finally felt it incumbent upon him to resign his railroad position. He was postmaster of Substation A located in his store. In 1910 his son Edward assumed full management of the business, and Mr. and Mrs. Hess have since lived retired, in the enjoyment of an attractive home and surrounded by friends who are tried and true. At the age of thirty-three years Mr. Hess wedded Miss Elizabeth C. Staub, who was born in Martinsburg, Virginia, a daughter of Henry L. Staub, who was born and reared in Baden, Germany, and who was a young man when, as the only representative of the immediate family to take such action, through the advice of his uncle he came to the United States and established his residence in Martinsburg, Virginia. Three of his paternal uncles, Henry, Philip and Jacob Staub, preceded him to America. In Martinsburg Henry L. Staub married Eva Margaret Heininger, who like- wise was born in Baden, Germany. Mr. Staub was a miller, and for a term of years followed the milling business at Martinsburg, Virginia (now West Virginia). He finally removed to Frederick County, Virginia, where he purchased an extensive farm and mill on Green Spring Run, and there he lived, near Winchester, until the close of his life, when he was seventy-three years of age. Mrs. Eva Margaret (Heininger) Staub died at the age of thirty years and six months, and was survived by four children: Mary M., Elizabeth C., John F. and Louisa Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Hess became the parents of seven children: Edward Lee, Frank Tilden, Mary Virginia, Henry Hunter, Margaret Catherine, Carrie Leonora and Nellie Estelle. Edward Lee, who met his death in an automobile acci- dent November 22, 1914, married Mary Becker, who sur- vives him, as does also one son, James Frederick. Frank Tilden Hess married Bessie MePherson, of Baltimore, Mary- land, where they reside, and he is president of the Hess Printing Company of Baltimore. Carrie Leonora is the widow of Carroll G. Henkel, born near Spokane, Washington State, and has three children, Carroll Hess, Elizabeth Cath- erine and Virginia Marnell. Nellie Estelle is the widow of Prof. Martin L. Wachtel, and she has two sons, Martin L. and William Hess, twins, born in Martinsburg, West Vir- ginia. Mr. Hess is a democrat in political adherency, is affiliated with the United Confederate Veterans, and he and his wife are earnest communicants of St. John's Lutheran Church at Martinsburg. ______________________________ X-Message: #4 Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 21:30:02 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000706212931.00c412d0@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: JAMES HENRY FELTON, Barbour 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. 443-444 JAMES HENRY FELTON, who resides at Belington, Barbour County, was born and reared in this county and is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of this section of West Virginia. He was born September 30, 1859, on the old homestead farm in Philippi District, this county, five miles northeast of Philippi, in the beautiful valley of the Tygart River. His father, Daniel Felton, was born in Frederick County, Maryland, January 19, 1807, and in 1814 the family home was established in what is now Preston County, West Virginia, where his father, John Fel- ton, became a pioneer farmer on the Cheat River, near Kingwood. Of John Felton further mention is made in the personal sketch of another grandson, Capt. John C. Felton, on other pages of this volume. Daniel Felton was reared under the conditions and influences of frontier life in the western part of the Old Dominion State, and in Barbour County was solemnized his marriage to Lucinda England, a daughter of John England, who was reared in Belington District and who, as a loyal supporter of the Union, was a member of the Home Guard during the Civil war. Daniel Felton became one of the substantial farmers and honored and influential citizens of Barbour County, and remained on his old homestead farm until his death, on the 24th of September, 1894. His widow, who was born in September, 1837, is still living (1922) and is eighty-four years of age at the time of this writing. Of their children James H., of this review, is the first born; Samuel D. is a farmer near Arden, this county; Sarah A. is the wife of J. E. Moore, a farmer in that locality; and Mary Ellen is the wife of Israel P. Fry, their home being in the State of Pennsylvania. James H. Felton profited by the advantages of the rural and select schools, as is shown in his having been for six years a successful teacher in the schools of bis native county, his final term having been in the Overfield school in Elk District. After retiring from the pedagogic profession he became actively identified with farm enterprise and in the manufacturing of and dealing in lumber and timber, with which later line of enterprise he has continued his con- nection, to a greater or less extent, to the present time, and besides which he still owns and has general supervision of his fine farm in his native county. He cast his first presi- dential vote in 1880, for General James A. Garfield, and has since continued his allegiance to the republican party. He remained on his farm until 1890, when he removed to Philippi, the county seat, upon his election to the office of clerk of the Circuit Court, a position which he retained six years. Thereafter he again resided on his farm until 1899, when he was appointed to the position of examiner of property accounts in the office of the quartermaster gen- eral in the United States Army and Navy Building in the City of Washington, D. C. His appointment came through Gen. Charles G. Dawes, who was the comptroller of the currency, and he became well acquainted with General Dawes, whose splendid powers were brought into service in connection with the nation's participation in the World war, and who has since proved one of the ablest men ever enlisted in the work of organizing the financial affairs of the Government upon a proper system of economic stability and retrenchment. Mr. Felton continued his service at Washington 3 1/2 years, and he then returned to his farm, upon which his family had remained. Here he has continued his association with agricultural and live-stock industry and the lumber business, and he has maintained the family home in the City of Belington since August, 1912. Here he has given most effective service as president of the Board of Education of the independent district of Beling- ton. The religious faith and affiliation of the family is that of the Methodist Episcopal Church. September 22, 1885, recorded the marriage of Mr. Felton and Miss Lora D. Gall, who was born in Pleasant District, Barbour County, July 17, 1862, and who is a daughter of George W. and Elizabeth (Talbott) Gall. Gretchen, eldest of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Felton, is the wife of Atlee C. Bolton, of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and they have two children, Craig Felton and Margaret. Grace is the wife of R. M. Wylie, of Baltimore, Maryland. Min- nie is the wife of Clarence Dilworth, of Huntington, West Virginia, and they have one son, Richard. Miss Prudence is principal of the Junior High School at Belington, she being a graduate of the West Virginia Wesleyan College, which her sisters likewise attended. Mrs. Wylie graduated from the Mountain State Business College and attended Marshall College, with which latter institution she was identified in a clerical and executive capacity for ten years. Mrs. Dilworth graduated from Marshall College, and prior to her marriage was a successful teacher in the public schools, including those of the City of Charleston. Miss Prudence Felton likewise graduated from the Mountain State Business College at Parkersburg, and all of the sisters have proved successful and popular teachers.