WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 172 Today's Topics: #1 BIO: JOSEPH BOWERS, Monongalia Co [Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000716174253.00bb54a0@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: JOSEPH BOWERS, 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. 508-509 Monongalia JOSEPH BOWERS has lived nearly all his life in Union District of Monongalia County. His home, popularly known as "Joe Bowers' place," is eight miles northeast of Morgantown, on the Ices Ferry road. His daily mail delivery is over Route No. 10 from Cheat Haven, Penn- sylvania. Mr. Bowers has been a farmer and is one of the most popular citizens in his section of the county. He was born at Cheat Neck, January 31, 1852, son of John and Harriet (Baker) Bowers. John Bowers was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, was a carpenter by trade, and it was work at his trade which attracted him in the first instance to this section of West Virginia. He was employed for a time as a carpenter in the old iron works on Cheat River, at the locality then known as Prideville, then a considerable industrial center, with iron furnaces and other factories. His wages as a carpenter here were a dollar a day, and he boarded himself. While boarding he met and married Harriet Baker, daughter of John N. and Nancy (Norris) Baker, a substantial family of farm- ers in that neighborhood. Harriet Baker was a sister of Andrew C. Baker, father of George C. Baker, one of the prominent citizens of Monongalia County. John Bowers finally acquired the old home of his wife's grandfather, and kept adding to his possessions until he had a valuable stock farm of several hundred acres. He was the type of citizen who could be relied upon for effective service, and for years he was a justice of the peace, school trustee, and in other offices. It is interesting to note that John Bowers seventy-seven years ago built a house for William Donald- son, and this house is now the home of Joseph Bowers, who purchased it twenty-four years ago. John Bowers was a democrat, and was superintendent of the Sunday School of the Methodist Protestant Church. Eventually Pride- ville became known as Laurel Iron Works. The Iron Works, including a rolling mill, were continued in operation until 1867, and the town which in its high tide of prosperity had a population of between twenty-five hundred and three thousand, also had a distillery, planing mill and other industries. Laurel Iron Works was situated on Cheat River, seven miles northeast of Morgantown, and the community is still spoken of by the old timers as Laurel Iron Works, though the post office has gone and there is practically no trade or industry centered there any longer. John Bow- ers died September 21, 1897, in his seventy-eighth year, and his landed possessions are still owned by his family. His widow survived him eight years and was the same age when she died. They reared six children: George C., who died while a soldier in a West Virginia regiment in the Union Army; John H., Joseph and William D., all residents of Union District; Harriet E., wife of Charles R. Goodwin, of Smithfield, Pennsylvania; and Andrew Coleman, owner of the old Bowers homestead. Joseph Bowers grew up in this locality and acquired a common school education. With the exception of eleven months he has lived here ever since. For thirty-two years his father conducted a general store, and for twenty- seven years of this time Joseph managed this enterprise, until his father's death. Since then he has lived on the farm, and he and Mrs. Bowers have made a practice of opening their home to summer guests who come to enjoy the beautiful scenery of this locality from as far away as New York City and Pittsburgh. The house is full every summer, and there are many parties that motor out to enjoy the chicken dinners which are Mrs. Bowers' specialty. On December 11, 1886, Mr. Bowers married Hattie L. Mack, widow of David Savage and daughter of William and Elizabeth (Dusenberry) Mack, of Easton, Monongalia County, where her parents settled when Hattie was two years of age. Her parents moved here from Laurel Point, and her father was born at the City of Easton, Pennsyl- vania, and married about 1855, after coming to the Mo- nongahela Valley, his wife being a daughter of Samuel and Dolly (Brakeiron) Dusenberry, farmers in that locality. William Mack was a carpenter by trade, but for many years lived on a farm. He died in May, 1911, when past eighty, and the widowed mother of Mrs. Bowers is still living, in her ninety-fifth year, a remarkable example of longevity and well preserved faculties. Her home is now with Mrs. Bowers. Mrs. Bowers lost her first husband a year after their marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Bowers have no children, but they are rearing Eula Cuppett, now eleven years of age, and a bright and promising schoolgirl. Mr, Bowers is a democrat, but has kept out of politics, having refused to make a campaign for county commissioner. He is one of the original stockholders of the Commercial Na- tional Bank of Morgantown. Altogether he has prospered in a financial way, and is regarded as one of the best liked, most accommodating, self-sacrificing, public spirited citizens of Monongalia County. ______________________________ X-Message: #2 Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 17:42:53 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000716174253.00bbdca0@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: E. W. ROSE, M. D, 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. 506 Monongalia E. W. ROSE, M. D. The leading physician of a large sec- tion of country included in the territory surrounding Wadestown, thirty miles west of Morgantown, is Doctor Rose, who located there after graduating from medical school, and has practiced over an ever increasing range of territory. He has been public spirited and has associated himself with every substantial movement for the general improvement of the community. Doctor Rose was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, son of a farmer, and he grew up on a farm. He acquired a common school education, and he studied medicine in Long Island Hospital Medical College at Brooklyn and spent two terms in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore. Some two years after he began practice he did post-graduate work in the same institution. Leaving college, he came to Wadestown, and the first year had practically no exercise for his professional talents, after which his abilities became recognized and his work has assumed increasing importance with every successive year. Doctor Rose is a member of the County, State and Amer- ican Medical associations. He is a democrat, and is recognized as the pioneer in the good roads movement in this locality. Associated with the late M. J. Garrison, Doctor Rose visited the County Court many years ago to arouse an interest in local road improvement. The court at their solicitation visited Wades- town, and out of this movement came the first paved piece of road in the western part of Monongalia County. This good road was later extended, after its patrons had realized the great advantage of substantial highways, and the edu- cational campaign for good roads was ended in the Wades- town community years before the idea secured any hearing in less progressive communities. Doctor Rose married Kate Henderson who died two months after their marriage. His second wife was Ida Lester, who died leaving one daughter, Lucile, now Mrs. Frank Tyler, of Elizabeth, New Jersey. For his third wife Doctor Rose married Bertha Evans, and they have one daughter, Elizabeth. ______________________________ X-Message: #3 Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 17:51:11 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000716175111.00bb8ce0@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: GEORGE W. PHILLIPS, M. D. Monongalia 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. 505-506 Monongalia GEORGE W. PHILLIPS, M. D. Since completing his med- ical education Doctor Phillips has devoted his abilities and increasing skill to the service of the little community of Blacksville in Clay District of Monongalia County. He is a professional man of high standing, and also a citizen whose interest is in the welfare of the community. Doctor Phillips in his home at Blacksville is not far from his birthplace, which was over the state line in Greene County, Pennsylvania. He was born at Waynesburg, Sep- tember 30, 1878, son of Judge Jesse Phillips. The Phillips family moved from New Jersey to Greene County about 1820. The grandfather of Doctor Phillips was Richard Phil- lips, who spent his life as a farmer in Greene County and died in old age. Judge Jesse Phillips was born in Greene County, and was one of the effective leaders in that county for many years. He died at the age of sixty-five. His wife was Deborah Spragg, who was born on a farm in Greene County, daughter of David Spragg, for whom a village was named. David Spragg was a merchant and also post- master of Spragg. Mrs. Deborah Phillips died in Febru- ary, 1918, at the age of seventy-seven. George W. Phillips was educated in the common schools, attended Waynesburg College, and from there entered Jef- ferson Medical College at Philadelphia, where he was grad- uated in 1904. For a year he was an interne in St. John's Hospital in Pittsburgh, and then located at Blacksville to take up his duties as a general practitioner. He has been the leading physician of Blacksville for the past fifteen years. Doctor Phillips is a member of the County, State and American Medical associations, for four years was a member of the Board of Education and also served as mayor of the town. He helped secure the construction of the M. & W. Railroad. Doctor Phillips owns farming lands to the aggregate of about two hundred acres, having one farm in Pennsylvania and one near Blacksville. This is underlaid with oil and gas, but these resources have not been developed. The farms are operated by tenants, and stock raising is the principal industry. Doctor Phillips has built a very pleasant home in the village of Blacks- ville. He was a member of the Volunteer Medical Corps during the war, and is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason. On February 17, 1906, he married Mary Kennedy, of Mount Morris, Pennsylvania. They have a daughter, Nellie, now a senior in the Blacksville High School. Mrs. Phillips was president of the local Bed Cross Chapter during the war. ______________________________ X-Message: #4 Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 17:51:11 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000716175111.00bbfbd0@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: MORRIS JEFFERSON GARRISON, Monongalia 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. 504 Monongalia MORRIS JEFFERSON GARRISON. Without disparaging man whom destiny makes prominent in state and national af- fairs, the highest credit belongs to those who help mold and improve the standards of living and the welfare of their home community. Such men do the duties that lie nearest them, and are satisfied with the achievement of that most difficult thing, winning the esteem of people who have known them intimately all the days of their lives. Such an enviable character was the late Morris Jefferson Garrison of Wadestown, Monongalia County. He was a merchant, a high minded citizen who worked steadily in behalf of things that only remotely concerned his own prosperity, and he enjoyed the love and fellowship of both his family and a wide circle of friends and admirers. He was born near Jolleytown in Greene County, Penn- sylvania, August 24, 1843, and died at Wadestown, February 18, 1916, after completing a life of nearly seventy-three years. He was a son of Abner and Hannah (Morris) Garrison and a grandson of George Garrison, and represented an old American ancestry. Abner Garrison was a successful farmer in Greene County, Pennsylvania, where he died April 29, 1859, at the age of fifty-five. He was an ardent Methodist, and built up an estate comprising thirteen hundred acres of land. His wife, Hannah Morris, was a daughter of Levi Morris. Morris J. Garrison was reared on his father's farm in Pennsylvania, and in 1868 he opened a general store at Wadestown, thirty miles west of Morgantown. During the many successive years he was in business there he ac- cumulated a handsome property, including some seven hundred acres of valuable land. This is farming and graz- ing land, and is also underlaid with coal, all of which is still retained by his family. Mr. Garrison was a thorough business man, as a merchant kept the stock needed by his patrons, studied their wants, and had the genial nature which made dealing at his store a pleasure. His business was continued three years after his death by his daughters, and after the stock was sold they continued to own the building. Mr. Garrison also did a large business as a stock dealer, kept many sheep, and was a leader in every movement for the advancement of the prosperity and wel- fare of the district in general. He was one of the men who brought the good roads movement to a practical basis, and secured the construction of one of the first improved pieces of highway in this section of Monongalia County. He was an enthusiastic Methodist, and for fifty years his home was an open house for the ministers of that church. In 1868, the year he began merchandising at Wades- town, Mr. Garrison married Adelaide Virginia Jolley, daugh- ter of William Jolley, of Jolleytown, Pennsylvania. She died February 11, 1891. They were the parents of six chil- dren. The son Frank died in childhood. Harry, who operates the home farm, married Blake Maples and has two children, Robert and Adelaide. The daughter Maude, now living at the old home, is the widow of Dr. W. C. Cole, who was a successful medical practitioner and died when in the prime of his powers, in 1904. Mrs. Cole has a daughter, Virginia Garrison Cole, now in the first year of her studies at West Virginia University. Blanche is the wife of W. E. Campbell, a merchant at Oglesby, Okla- homa. Nellie is the wife of R. E. Boggess, a farmer at Ochelata, Oklahoma. The eldest daughter, Miss Kate Garrison, was closely associated with her father in the store and possesses all the personal qualities that made her father such a com- panionable citizen. She was formerly a teacher. Having had special elocutionary training, she is now a public entertainer, being a reader of no little fame. Miss Garri- son is a worker in church and Sunday school, and has done much to advance the social and intellectual standards of her community, which, despite its isolation, is regarded far and wide as a most desirable place of residence. ______________________________ X-Message: #5 Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 18:04:02 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000716180402.00c6c1a0@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: J. RALPH JONES, Harrison 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. 503-504 Harrison J. RALPH JONES, president of the Bridgeport Bank and one of the principals in the Bridgeport Lamp Chimney Com- pany, has exemplified in his business career the initiative ability and vital progressiveness that make for definite success, and he is one of the leading business men of the fine little City of Bridgeport, Harrison County. Mr. Jones was born in Lewis County, West Virginia, on the 20th of November, 1876, and is a son of Samuel C. and Catherine (Peterson) Jones, both of whom likewise were born in this state, where the respective families were founded prior to the creation of the new commonwealth of West Virginia from the mother state of Virginia. The father gave his entire active career to productive farm industry, and he and his wife now reside near Weston, judicial center of Lewis County, where he is living virtually retired. Their children are eight in number, three sons and five daughters. That J. Ralph Jones profited well from the early educa- tional advantages that were his is evidenced by the success which attended his efforts when he initiated his independent career by becoming a teacher in a rural school in his native county, his service in the pedagogic profession having con- tinued four years. For fifteen years thereafter he was a successful traveling salesman for a leading wholesale sad- dlery and harness house in in the City of Louisville, Ken- tucky, and in 1908 he established his residence at Bridge- port, where he became one of the organizers of the Bridge- port Lamp Chimney Company, a partnership concern in which his associates are John and William F. Duncan. This company now represents one of the important industrial enterprises of this section of West Virginia, and when the plant is running at full capacity a corps of 175 employes is demanded. The company manufactures virtually all types of lamp chimneys of the best grade, and the trade has been extended not only into all parts of the United States but also into South America and Cuba. Mr. Jones has im- portant interests also in farm enterprise and natural-gas production, besides which he is president of the Bridge- port Bank, which was organized in 1904 and which bases its operations on a capital stock of $25,000, its surplus fund being now $50,000. This is one of the solid and well ordered financial institutions of Harrison County. Mr. Jones is affiliated with both the York and Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity, as is he also of the adjunct organization, the Mystic Shrine, and he holds membership also in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the United Commercial Travelers. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. October 19, 1901, recorded the marriage of Mr. Jones and Miss Mintie C. Horner, of Lewis County, her parents, John and Lucy (Hammer) Horner, being deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have five children: J. Horner, Samuel C., W. Lyle, J. Ralph, Jr., and Pauline. ______________________________ X-Message: #6 Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 18:04:02 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000716180402.00c6c9a0@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: ALBERT GALLETIN JENKINS, 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. 503 Barbour ALBERT GALLETIN JENKINS. Of the men called to the service of the state government at Charleston by Governor Morgan in the spring of 3921, one is A. G. Jenkins, state pardon attorney. Prior to that time he had made a success- ful record as a lawyer in his home county of Barbour. He was born at Philippi in Barbour County, November 27, 1874, son of Henry Middleton Jenkins, of the same county, and grandson of Jonathan Lewis and Manda Jell- kins, who came from Loudoun County, Virginia. Henry M. Jenking, who died in 1916, was for many years a member of his local school board in Barbour County and also justice of the peace. A. G. Jenkins finished his normal school education at Fairmont, and for nine years gave his time to teaching school in Barbour County. He was elected and served four years as county superintendent of schools. Among other educational advantages he pursued a business course at Parkersburg in 1890. In 1907 he graduated from the law school of West Virginia University, and has been a member of the Barbour County bar for fifteen years. He was elected on the republican ticket, and served four years as prose- cuting attorney. Governor Morgan made him pardon at- torney in March, 1921. Mr. Jenkins has been active in republican campaigns in his home county. He is an out-door man, and spends his vacations usually along streams and in the forests and mountain sections of the state. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, Junior Order United American Me- chanics and Woodmen of the World. Mr. Jenkins married Miss Hazel Elizabeth Miller, of Barbour County. They have a daughter, Pauline, now in high school at Charleston.