WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 160 Today's Topics: #1 BIO: RICHARD EDWARD TALBOTT, Barbo [Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000709132330.00c2de20@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: RICHARD EDWARD TALBOTT, 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. 468-469 RICHARD EDWARD TALBOTT. While he has been a mem- ber of the Philippi bar thirty years, only his early con- temporaries know Mr. Talbott as a practicing attorney. The main interest of his career has been the Citizens Na- tional Bank, of which he has been cashier and active manager since its organization. He is a former state sena- tor, and has frequently been recruited for official duty in his home city and county. His family connections are associated with the very beginning of history in Barbour County. His grandfather, Richard Talbott, was the first known settler in what is now Barbour County, West Virginia. At that time all this portion of the state was included in old Virginia. The father of the Philippi banker was Richard T. Talbott, a native of Barbour County, for many years a well known farmer and citizen at what is now Berryburg, but finally moved to Kansas and died at Pratt in that state in 1901, at the age of eighty-one. He married Margaret Weber, who died at Des Moines, Iowa, in May, 1917, age eighty- five. These old people were the parents of eight sons and six daughters, twelve of whom-reached matured years, Rich- ard Edward, being the ninth child. Richard Edward Talbott was born in Pleasant District of Barbour County, February 21, 1867. The first eighteen years of his life he lived on the farm. While there he attended the common school, also select schools, became a teacher, and taught the school where he himself had been a pupil. He continued teaching during the winter months and attending school during the summer vacations, and for a time was a deputy in the office of the clerk of the county court, a work that paid him a salary and also gave him a knowledge of public business. Finally, in 1891, Mr. Talbott entered the University of West Virginia at Morgan- town, where he graduated from the law department in 1893. He was a member and for one term president of the Parthenon Literary Society at the university. Soon after leaving university he began his law practice at Philippi, but continued it for only about two years. In 1896 he was elected Circuit Court clerk of Barbour County, and served that office for six years. He was elected as a democrat and succeeded James H. Felton. Before the expiration of his term the Citizens National Bank was organized, and he was selected as the first cashier, and since retiring from office has given his undivided time to the duties of that position. The Citizens National Bank was promoted by the Davis- Elkins interests, together with local capital of Philippi. The late Henry Gassoway Davis was the first president, and served six years. The bank was incorporated with a capital of $40,000, and on July 1, 1921, the capital was increased to $50,000. The resources are now one and a quarter million dollars, and for a dozen years this has been the largest bank in Barbour County. Samuel V. Woods is now president, E. R. Dyer, vice president, Mr. Talbott, cashier, and Herman B. Watson, assistant cashier. In getting the things that have gone a long way toward making Philippi a city in fact as well as in name Mr. Talbott has been an enthusiastic worker for a long period of years. He was a leader in securing Broaddus College for this town. Broaddus College was formerly located at Clarksburg, and its removal to Philippi was the result of the local citizens of the latter city raising a fund of $25,000, including the price of the campus. Mr. Talbott had charge of the "thousand dollar" subscriptions and secured fourteen of them. He was elected a member of the Board of Trustees of the college in 1908, has held that post ever since and is also treasurer of the college. From first to last his interest has been very readily enlisted in any matter of education. He was president of the Board of Education of the Philippi Independent School District eight years. He has been a member of the City Council, city clerk and for one year was mayor. During his term of mayor the first bond issue was promoted for street paving and the first actual work of paving was started. Mr. Talbott has always been a democrat, casting his first vote for Grover Cleveland, and has been a delegate to several county and state conventions. He was a spec- tator at the Baltimore convention of 1912 when Woodrow Wilson was first nominated. Mr. Talbott was elected a member of the State Senate from the Thirteenth Senatorial District in 1914. He was nominated without his solicita- tion, and was elected by about 400 votes in a district nomi- nally republican by about 1,500. He was the only man on his ticket who carried his own county, which was otherwise republican. Mr. Talbott entered the Senate during the closing months of Governor Hatfield's administration, and served the first years of Governor Cornwell's administra- tion. The Senate was republican. Mr. Talbott was a member of the finance, labor, railroad and other com- mittees. He actively supported and was in a consid- erable degree instrumental in securing the passage through the Senate of the Anti-Gambling Bill. It was a measure with "teeth" in it, and no doubt its enforcement has done much to reduce gambling throughout the state. Mr. Talbott voted to submit the women's suffrage question to the state, which was defeated when submitted, and he voted for the amendment to the constitution. Mr. Talbott married Miss Etta Strickler on June 5, 1895. She was born at the old Strickler property on the comer now covered by the Citizens National Bank, and in the same house she was married to Mr. Talbott. She is a daughter of Isaac H. and Margaret (Jarvis) Strickler, being one of their family of five daughters and two sons. She was educated in the public schools of Philippi, and was a teacher for several years before her marriage. To their union have been born four children named: Margaret, Edward S., Frances Weber and Richard Kenneth. ______________________________ X-Message: #2 Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000 15:15:00 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000709133819.00c3a4c0@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: W. FROST BROWN, Kanwha 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. 470-471 W. FROST BROWN is one of the younger business men of Charleston, and is president, treasurer and general manager of the Brown Milling & Produce Company. This firm was organized in 1911 and incorporated in February of that year. The business has grown into a successful enterprise, embracing the manufacture of meal and feed, as well as jobbing at wholesale flour, grain, hay, produce, fruits, etc. The firm has recently added a line of wholesale groceries, and handles an important share of the business in these different commodities distributed and consumed over the southern end of the state, particularly in the coal fields. They also supply jobbers in mill products outside of the state. Owing to the steady growth of the business it was re- cently found necessary to greatly increase their facilities and enlarge their plant. Mr. Brown is justly proud of the new plant just completed by his firm, which started operation in June. 1922, and is the culmination of years of effort and the realization of an ambition to possess the most modern and complete corn mill and feed manufactur- ing plant in the State of West Virginia. In fact, it is said by authorities to be the highest type of plant of its kind in the country, and while not as large as some plants in western states, it is excelled by none in modern machinery, efficient and economical operation and high quality of the manufactured products. The new additions to the plant are all of 'the most modern construction, and consist of fireproof reinforced steel and concrete grain elevators, with a capacity of 50.000 bushels of grain; a five story mill building with a daily grinding capacity of 2.000 bushels of pearl meal. 250 tons of ground corn feed and 200 tons of mixed stock feeds; a complete cold storage department, with more than 50,000 cubic feet of space, and a steel and concrete warehouse building more than 200 feet in length. The ground space occupied by the entire plant is 90 by 202 feet, located on the tracks of the Kanawha & Michigan Railway at Broad Street, with ample siding facilities and switching arrangements with all other railroads for the prompt handling of car load ship- ments. The entire plant is electrically operated and is equipped throughout with the latest and most modern machinery it was possible to procure. The present investment in the plant is in the neighborhood of a quarter of a million dol- lars, and there are about fifty employes, ten of whom are salesmen covering the territory in which this firm operates. W. Frost Brown was born at Mount Carmel, Pennsyl- vania, October 26, 1881, and came to Charleston with his parents in 1893. His father, William N. Brown, was well known in the Kanawha and New River coal fields, having been superintendent of many operations and largely in- strumental in developing new coal properties and inducing a large amount of foreign capital to invest in the coal districts of West Virginia. He died at Charleston in 1911, where his widow still resides. He was a Pennsylvania soldier in the Civil war, and was commander of the local post of the G. A. R., state adjutant general of the same organization, and actively connected with many religious and fraternal organizations. W. Frost Brown was educated in the public schools at Charleston, and after leaving school was connected with the Kanawha & Michigan Railway for a number of years, holding various important positions in the local and general offices until he resigned in 1906, while chief clerk to the general freight agent at Charleston. He then entered the merchandise brokerage business, in which he was success- fully engaged until 1911, when he organized the present firm, of which he is the head. His brother, George F. Brown, is vice president and as- sistant manager of the company, and is buyer and manager of sales. This business has met Mr. Brown's most sanguine ex- pectations and is recognized as one of the most enterprising of the many substantial concerns of the capital city. He is also interested in the milling industry at other places outside of the state. Mr. Brown has always taken an active interest in civic and commercial affairs, and has served for several years as a director and for one term as president of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce. He married Miss Lula L. Botkin, of Charleston, and they have two daughters,. Mildred Frost and Barbara Louise. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members of the First Presbyterian Church. ______________________________ X-Message: #3 Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000 15:15:00 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000709133823.00cf9d40@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: JOHN E. ARBUCKLE, Gilmer 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. 470 JOHN E. ARBUCKLE is the cashier of the Kanawha Union Bank at Glenville, Gilmer County, a well ordered institu- tion that is a state depository and that effectively safeguards and advances the business and civic interests of the com- munity in which it is established. The bank bases its oper- ations upon a capital stock of $40,000, has a surplus fund of equal amount, its undivided profits are in excess of $6,000, and its deposits are nearly $600,000. S. A. Hays is president of the Bank, C. M. Bennett is vice president, John E. Arbuckle is cashier, and L. D. Zinn is assistant cashier. Besides the president, vice president and cashier the directorate of the institution includes also James H. Arbuckle. Jacob Moore, John S. Withers, A. L. Holt, G. B. Feed and N. E. Rymer. John E. Arbuckle was born in the Village of Troy, Gilmer County, West Virginia, on the 24th of February, 1879, and is a son of James H. and Margaret E. (McClintock) Ar- buckle, the former of whom was born in what is now Green- brier County, this state, in 1846, and the latter of whom was born in Bath County. Virginia, both families having early been founded in the Old Dominion State. James H. Arbuckle was for many years engaged in the general mer- chandise business at Troy, and is one of the venerable and substantial citizens of Gilmer County, with inviolable place in popular confidence and esteem. He was a Confederate soldier in the Civil war, is affiliated with the United Con- federate Veterans and the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Presbyterian Church. Of the six children five are living: Eustice M., who graduated in the West Virginia State Normal School at Glenville. now resides at Parkersburg, this state, and is in the United States internal revenue service; John E., of this sketch, is the next in order of birth; Miss Alice C. remains at the parental home, at Glenville; J. Earl, a graduate of the normal school at Glenville, is one of the prosperous farmers and stock-growers of Gilmer County; and Alma J., a graduate of the State Normal School at Glenville, is now a successful and popular teacher in this institution. John E. Arbuckle acquired his youthful education in the public schools of Troy, and in 1901, shortly after attaining to his legal majority, he took a position as bookeeper for the Little Kanawha Valley Bank at Glenville. Later he was chosen cashier of the bank, and in this executive position he continued his efficient service from 1904 to 1906, in which latter year that institution was consolidated with the First National Bank of Glenville, under the present corporate title of the Kanawha Union Bank, and he was made cashier of the new institution, to the success of which he has contributed much by his careful and progressive policies. He is one of the representative business men of his native county, and here his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances. He and his brother are the owners of a valuable landed estate of 1,500 acres in Gilmer County, and he has capitalistic interests also in gas and oil production arid also coal mining in this section of the state. Mr. Arbuckle is a past master of Gilmer County Lodge No. 118, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and at Weston he is affiliated with the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons and the Commandery of Knights Templar, the while he has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Masonry and is a member also of the Mystic Shrine and the Order of the Eastern Star. In politics he is found arrayed as a loyal supporter of the cause of the democratic party. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church at Glenville, and he is serving as an elder in the same. Oh the 6th of October, 1909, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Arbuckle and Miss Mildred Ruddell, who was born and reared in Gilmer County and who was graduated from the musical department of the Mary Baldwin Semi- nary at Staunton, Virginia, she having there received the gold medal awarded for special proficiency in music. Mr. and Mrs. Arbuckle have no children living, but they have one daughter dead.