WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 163 Today's Topics: #1 BIO: BOYD B. STUTLER, Gilmer Co. W [Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000709143900.00cdd530@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: BOYD B. STUTLER, 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. 472-473 [handwritten note "d. 1970"] BOYD B. STUTLER was born July 10, 1889, near Coxs Mills, Gilmer County, West Virginia, the son of Daniel E. and Emily B. Stutler, and was reared to manhood in Grants- ville, Calhoun County, to which point he moved with his parents in 1897. Mr. Stutler is a practical printer and newspaper man. He acquired his first experience in this profession when he entered the office of the, Calhoun Signal at Grantsville in 1900. Later he purchased the Grantsville News, and from July 1, 1907, to September 1, 1917, was editor and manager of that publication. During that period he was mayor of Grantsville, 1911-12, and president of the Board of Educa- tion of Grantsville independent district, 1915-16. Mr. Stutler entered the army as a private for service in the World war, and was honorably discharged as a sergeant with the successful termination of hostilities. He served with Battery A and Headquarters Company, Three Hundred and Fourteenth Field Artillery, Eightieth Division, from Sep- tember 4, 1917, to June 7, 1919, serving with the American Expeditionary Forces in France from May 26, 1918, until May 28, 1919, participating in the St. Mihiel and Meuse- Argonne offensives. Mr. Stutler married Miss Catheolene M. Huffman on No- vember 26, 1911, and they have two sons, William Morris, born in 1914, and Warren Harding, born in 1920. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. ______________________________ X-Message: #2 Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000 17:15:00 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000709143931.00c56e80@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: JOHN BRITTON, Jackson 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. 473-474 JOHN BRITTON, chief of the Charleston Police Depart- ment, is a marked proof of the value and necessity of long practical training for the higher officials of the city government. He has won advancement to the head of his department because of his courage as an officer and his ex- ecutive talents, and his courteous and pleasing personality. Chief Britton was born at Warren, Pennsylvania, in 1883, and is a son of Alfred and Sarah E. (Freeman) Britton. Alfred Britton was born in Quebec, Canada, and as a youth learned the painting trade, which he followed prin- cipally in furniture factories as foreman of inside paint- ing. For some years he was employed in furniture fac- tories at Grand Rapids, Michigan, but in 1895 came to Charleston to assume the management of the Ohio Valley Furniture Company's factory, owned by George Fullerton, of Gallipolis, Ohio, at that time the leading industry of the city, with from 300 to 400 employes. After managing this enterprise for seventeen years Mr. Britton retired and lived quietly until his death in May, 1918, when he was seventy- one years of age. His first wife, Sarah Freeman, died when her son John was but three years of age, and Mr. Britton later married Mary E. Edwards, of Pennsylvania, who sur- vives him, as a resident of Charleston. John Britton secured a public school education and as a young man learned the trade of inside painting with his father, under whom he worked in various factories. Event- ually he purchased the Great Southern Hotel, on Kanawha Street, in 1912, and conducted it for two years, when he be- came president of the Kanawha Taxicab Company, operating a line of ten taxis. He remained in this capacity, and then, under Mayor Breece, because assistant street commis- sioner. Later he was a plain clothes man on the police force, subsequently became a patrolman under Chief A. I. Mc- Cown, and was later promoted captain of police, a capa- city in which he served during the remainder of the ad- ministration. When he left the force temporarily he be- came chief for the Rollins Chemical Company of South Charleston, with twenty-four men under his supervision, dur- ing the war period. Leaving this concern, he went to Nitro, about ten miles from Charleston, on the Kanawha River, where the United States Government was operating an am- munition plant, and under Major Baer, in charge of the organization of the police department at that place, was made a lieutenant on the force, which consisted of about 400 men. He was later transferred to Cabin Creek, where he acted as captain until the signing of the armistice, and then went back to the Rollins Chemical Company as chief. In May, 1919, when Grant P. Hall became mayor of Charles- ton, he was called back to this city as captain of police, and continued in that capacity until February, 1920, when he became chief of the Nitro Police Department, with a force of eighty-men. On August 27, 1921, he was recalled to Charleston to become chief of the police department, which has sixty officers and thirty patrolmen. Chief Britton has placed the department on a well-trained, efficient basis, and has been tireless in his efforts to preserve law and order. He has continually strengthened his reputation as a fine disciplinarian, and upon the occasion of unusual disturbance of the public peace and in the unraveling of several noto- rious crime problems his coolness and bravery and his skill as a detective have stood him in good stead. A man of splendid physique, he possesses also a pleasing personality that commands respect and holds warm friendships. Chief Britton married Lillie B. Canterbury, and they have two sons: Basil and Giles Polly. ______________________________ X-Message: #3 Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000 17:15:00 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000709143918.00c66e00@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: O. J. MORRISON, Jackson 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. 473 O. J. MORRISON. The individual who founds and develops an immense business enterprise must of necessity possess qualities and characteristics of an unusual nature. Com- bined with the mind to plan must be the ability to execute and the foresight to grasp opportunities conditions produce. Contemporary history gives the names and records of a num- ber of men who have worked out worth while successes through the possession of just such an equipment, but perhaps there is no more striking case of what a man may accomplish than the career of O. J. Morrison, proprietor of the O. J. Morrison Department Store Company of Charles- ton, with branch houses in various other communities of West Virginia. . Mr. Morrison was born on a farm near Ripley, Jackson County, West Virginia, March 10, 1869, and is a son of Mr. and Mrs. G. P. Morrison, honorable agricultural people of that community. He received a country school educa- tion and was reared to farming, but did not take kindly to the pursuits of the soil and accordingly turned his at- tention to teaching school. This vocation held him only two years, for the commercial instinct was strong in him and he finally bought a small stock of goods and a horse and wagon and began peddling his wares over the hills of Jackson County, exchanging groceries and calico with the farmers for their produce He was honorable in his deal- ings and honest in his representation, soon gained the im- plicit confidence of his customers and eventually accum- ulated sufficient capital with which to establish a modest store at Kenna, a little village located on the Charleston- Parkersburg Turnpike. The possession of this store, small though it was, gave Mr. Morrison added incentive, and he worked all the more faithfully and industriously, with the result that soon his business outgrew his establishment, and he moved to Ripley, the county seat of Jackson County, where he really began the first of the string of stores that have made his name a household word in this part of the state. It was while at Ripley that Mr. Morrison coined the motto: "Make a dollar worth a dollar," and this he has used consistently ever since. The Ripley store now consists of two stories and a basement, 40 by 125 feet, and is under the management of J. E. Keenan. Later Mr. Morrison founded another store, at Spencer, where he now has an establishment of two stories and a basement, 40 by 150 feet, under the management of W. B. Reed. Later a busi- ness was also established at Clendenin. In 1910 Mr. Mor- rison decided to invade Charleston, where the people soon recognized the fact that he was doing a large business be- cause of the fairness of his dealing and the quality of his goods, together with the astonishingly low prices at which they were offered. In 1914 he established a store at Hunt- ington, where he now has one of the biggest retail houses of the city, four stories and basement, 45 by 200 feet, under the management of I. C. Prickett. In 1919 another store was taken over, at Clarksburg, where he now has a structure of two stories and basement, 50 by 190 feet, man- aged by E. G. Morrison. Mr. Morrison's Charleston store was visited by a dis- astrous fire October 29, 1920, when thousands of dollars worth of merchandise was destroyed and the building was wrecked. There were those who predicted that Mr. Mor- rison's mercantile career in this city at least was at an end, but a few days later work was commenced in dis- mantling the old Burlew Opera House, on Capitol Street, in the place of which was erected a modern structure five stories and basement, 65 by 165 feet, this now being under Mr. Morrison's personal supervision. In all the stores there is represented an outlay of $800,000 capital. There are 300 employes, and the annual gross sales approximate $2;000,000. Mr. Morrison entered upon his career with little or nothing save his self-confidence, his ambition and his willingness to work hard and economize. Nothing was too difficult for him, no labor too exhausting, and when he earned a little money he put it back into his business. In this way he has lived to see that business grow to propor- tions which utterly exceeded his fondest dreams of earlier days, and the end is not yet. He has several other busi- ness connections, and is a director in the Charleston Build- ing and Loan Association. His religious connection is with the United Brethren Church, but he is not interested in fraternal matters. In 1895 Mr. Morrison was united in marriage with Miss Cora A. Harpold, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. W. Har- pold, farming people of Jackson County, West Virginia, and they have five children: Freda, Pay, Johnson O., Carl H. and Charles W. ______________________________ X-Message: #4 Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000 17:15:00 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000709143909.00cdcd10@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: WILLIAM HORACE MERRILL, Kanawha 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. 473 WILLIAM HORACE MERRILL is vice president and general manager of the West Virginia Sand & Gravel Company of Charleston, and for a number of years has figured as one of the leaders in an industry vitally connected with the constructive enterprise and solid development of the state. Mr. Merrill was introduced to this industry as worker in a stone quarry at Limeville, Kentucky. Failing health had brought orders from his physician to take up outdoor manual work, and this was the work that he chose or which fur- nished the best opportunity at the time. Mr. Merrill was born in Greenup County, Kentucky, was reared and educated there, and had taught school for four years before he went to work in the stone quarry. After considerable experience and learning much of the business he became one of the organizers and the manager of the Wilson Ballast Company of Limeville, Subsequently he was with the Basic Products Company of Peebles, Ohio. Mr. Merrill came to West Virginia in 1913, and at Hunt- ington was associated with the Wilson Sand & Supply Com- pany. In 1917 he and business associates took the contract for furnishing all the sand and gravel used in the construc- tion of the great Government munitions plant at Nitro. This was the contract which brought him to Charleston, and in carrying out that contract he was engaged in an essential war service. In the meantime, becoming impressed with the solid and substantial character of Charleston and convinced of its continued growth and development, Mr. Merrill chose to remain in the city, and he organized and became president of the West Virginia Sand & Gravel Com- pany, which in March, 1919, took over the business and be- came the successor of the Gates Sand & Gravel Company. The West Virginia Sand & Gravel Company under Mr. Merrill's energetic management has achieved a noteworthy and conspicuous success. The business has grown with un- precedented rapidity, much beyond estimates originally made by Mr. Merrill for the extension. The company has the utmost facilities and resources for supplying the sand and gravel used in all sorts of concrete construction, and all branches of paving and municipal or public works. The main plant on the Elk River, at the foot of Glenn Street, has every piece of machinery and equipment for economical and expeditious handling of material. The company has about $200,000 worth of river equipment alone, including tow boats, barges, dredges and pumping machinery. A great tonnage manufactured by the company goes to distant points both by river and rail facilities. For local delivery in Charleston there is a motor truck equipment. The consistent and continued growth of building in Charleston has figured largely in the unusual prosperity and expansion of the business. Mr. Merrill is a member of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce, and is a member of the Kiwanis Club, president of the Ohio Valley Sand & Gravel Associa- tion, and is also a thoroughly public spirited citizen. Mr. Merrill was married to Miss Susan V. Biggs, of Gravenstein Place, Kentucky, in 1905. He has one daugh- ter, Mariana Merrill, aged eight years. ______________________________ X-Message: #5 Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000 19:29:53 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000709143851.00ce49a0@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: BENJAMIN B. WILSON, Logan 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. 472 Logan BENJAMIN B. WILSON. For a man of his years Benjamin B. Wilson has had an unusual series of responsibilities in the coal mining industry. He comes of a family of miners and coal operators, and has had personal experience in nearly every branch of the industry. He is now superintendent of the C. J. H. Coal Company at Peach Creek in Logan County. This mine was opened recently, and all its modern equip- ment was installed under his supervision. Mr. Wilson was born on a farm at Covington in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, December 11, 1884, son of Thomas and Jennet (Clendening) Wilson. His father was born in the North of Ireland, and was two years of age when brought to the United States. The mother was born in Scotland, and was a young girl when her people came here. She is now living, at the age of seventy-eight, at Logan, West Virginia. Thomas Wilson, who died in Pennsylvania in 1894, at the age of sixty-eight, was at that time a resident of Clearfield County. He was a farmer, was a miner and mine superintendent, and inherited that voca- tion from his father before him. Thomas Wilson was a Federal soldier in the famous Bucktail Regiment of Penn- sylvania, and served three years, rising to the rank of lieutenant. He was in several of the Virginia campaigns, and also at the battle of Gettysburg, and was twice wounded. He voted as a republican, was a member of the Presby- terian Church, and was affiliated with the Masonic Order, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias. Thomas Wilson had a family of seventeen children, five of whom are still living: H. T., president of the H. T. Wilson Coal Company, with mines near Logan, and he was a pioneer in the coal industry in this section of the state, being first interested at Dingess in Mingo County. His home is in Cleveland. Ella Wilson is the wife of Andrew Mitchell, a mine foreman for the Wilson Coal Company. Mary is the wife of Arthur Evans, a miner and farmer at Glenrichey, Pennsylvania. Thomas, the youngest of the family, is sales agent for the Wilson Coal Company at Detroit. Benjamin B. Wilson attended school in Tioga County and also the Mansfield High School. He completed his educa- tion at the age of seventeen, and at the age of eighteen became a mule driver in a Pennsylvania mine. In 1901 he came to H. T. Wilson's operation known as the Camp Branch Coal Company at Dingess. While there he kept store and was general utility man for three years. He then returned to the mines in Pennsylvania, but a year later reached Logan County, West Virginia, as mine foreman for the Draper Coal Company. He held that position five years, and for two years was mine foreman and six years superintendent for the H. T. Wilson Coal Company. His next work was as superintendent of mines numbered 7, 9. 14 and 15 for the Main Island Creek Coal Company at Omar. He left that work just seven months before opening the C. J. H. Mine. That seven months he spent in the business of writing in- surance for the West Virginia and Kentucky Insurance Company. In 1910 he married Julia McDonald, daughter of Bryant McDonaId, a pioneer family in the Guyandotte Valley. She was born near the mine location of the C. J. H. Coal Com- pany, at the mouth of Peach Creek. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have two children, Thomas and Francis. Mrs. Wilson is a member of the Baptist Church. He is a Master Mason and an Elk. ______________________________ X-Message: #6 Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000 19:30:00 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000709143843.00ce8130@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: CARL E. WILLIAMSON, Kanawha 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. 472 Kanawha CARL E. WILLIAMSON is vice president and general man- ager and founder of the Williamson Paint Manufacturing Company of Charleston. This is a corporation and industry whose business has already added to the great volume of commerce in the capital city. Mr. Williamson is a native of Meigs County, Ohio, but all his business life has been spent in West Virginia. For fifteen years he was representative in this state of the Barrett corporation, manufacturers of roofing and roofing materials. Mr. Williamson covered the state as represent- ative of the Pittsburgh branch of the house. One of the widely known and exceedingly popular traveling men of West Virginia, Carl E. Williamson has for years been a welcome visitor in the various cities and towns. His long record of honorable dealing with his trade has been of great service to him in establishing and carrying on a manufacturing business of his own. The Williamson Paint Manufacturing Company opened its plant and began the manufacture of paint in September, 1920. From the beginning it has enjoyed a large and suc- cessful business. It specializes in two brands of paint, '' Leak Not,'' an asbestos fiber roof paint, and the other "Rust Not," a black metal paint. These paints are manufactured in a well equipped factory on Watts Street and the Kanawha & Michigan Railroad, the raw materials being brought in tank cars, and the plant has a capacity of 4,000 gallons per day. The president of the com- pany is Hon. A. A. Lilly, former attorney-general of West Virginia and one of the state's most prominent citizens. Mr. Williamson has always taken an active interest in political affairs, and during his residence in Ravens- wood, West Virginia, from which place he removed his home to Charleston in 1920, he served four consecutive terms as a member of the town council. He married Miss Georgia M. Bryan, of Ravenswood, and to them have been born a son and two daughters. Mr. Williamson is a member of the order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias, and of the Presbyterian Church.