WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 182 Today's Topics: #1 BIO: DAVID H. GAY, Kanawha Co. WV [Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000719062108.00ccb260@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: DAVID H. GAY, 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. 520 Kanawha DAVID H. GAY, Charleston agent for the American Rail- way Express Company, is a young man who has made good in a very exacting line of work, and for his fidelity and efficiency has received repeated promotions, each one to higher positions and larger responsibilities. He was born in the university city of Charlottesville, Vir- ginia, in 1888, son of George W. Gay. He acquired his education in the Miller School at Charlottesville, and in 1906, at the age of eighteen, entered the service of the old Adams Express Company as a driver. The subsequent sixteen years have been a record of steady promotion to his work, and he was with the Adams Company until it and other express companies were merged as a war measure in the American Railway Express Company. His first work as a driver was done at Hinton, West Virginia, and subsequently he did similar work at Char- lottesville, Alexandria and Clifton Forge, Virginia. From driver he was promoted to messenger, having a run between Richmond and Clifton Forge on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. From road messenger came promotion to cashier in the company's office at Alexandria, Virginia. From that he was made agent at Alexandria, and in 1916 was sent to Charleston as agent in this city. Two years later, in 1918, he was transferred to Charlottesville, Virginia, where he continued his duties as agent until May, 1921, when he was again returned to Charleston. The express business of the Charleston office and the territory served from this city as headquarters makes up a large part of the volume of such business in the entire state, and the position occupied by Mr. Gay is one of important executive responsibility. Mr. Gay married Miss Vera Thomas of Virginia. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. ______________________________ X-Message: #2 Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2000 21:58:48 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000719062114.00c96380@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: JOHN M. ABBOTT, 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. 519-520 Kanawha JOHN M. ABBOTT, division supervisor of supplies and motor vehicles for the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company of West Virginia, has earned every step of promo- tion to his present responsibilities, and his career as a tele- phone man is an interesting personal story which will be elaborated more fully, after noting the facts of his life. He was born at Newbern, North Carolina, in 1894, and was reared and attended common schools in that city. He left home at the age of thirteen and became an office em- ploye of one of the lumber companies at Newbern. Subse- quently he went to South Carolina, worked in the offices of the Hammer Lumber Company at Little River, and later with the same corporation at Wilmington, North Carolina. In 1909 he entered the service of the Fosburg Lumber Com- pany at Norfolk, Virginia. Upon leaving that company he made application for work in the Norfolk office of the Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Company, and a few days later secured a reluctant consent from the manager, his first duty being cleaning a storeroom, a job he did so well that he was put on the pay roll. November 21, 1912, he was transferred to Charleston as material clerk for what is now the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company, in 1917 was promoted to division storekeeper, in 1919, to division chief clerk, and in 1920, when the corporation organized the new department, he was selected as the first to fill the posi- tion of division supervisor of supplies and motor vehicles for the division embracing the State of West Virginia and several Ohio counties. His rapid rise to this important position as an executive of the company is a splendid tribute to his thoroughness, efficiency and fidelity to his work. How he became a loyal lieutenant of E. F. Hill, at first in the Norfolk office and later at Charleston, was inter- estingly told by Mr. Hill in an article in a telephone journal a year or so ago. Mr. Hill describes his appearance as an applicant for work and his creditable performance in the storeroom and then continues: "Within thirty days he could read a blueprint, and I found one day that he was instructing an employe with several years' service in the proper way to rewire a sub- set. Shortly after this he was made a helper to an installer. On one occasion I happened to be out of my office for a few hours, and while away arranged to have my telephones changed. "On coming in unexpectedly I found the wireman seated at my desk looking over the correspondence and smoking a cigar which he had found in the desk. After sticking around out of sight I found the helper was doing the work and the wireman was amusing himself in other ways. That night the services of the wireman were dispensed with and the helper was given the job. "Within two or three months my clerk left and I had considerable trouble in locating another. One day this young man called up and remarked that he had heard I was looking for a clerk and that he had been studying shorthand and a business course at the night school, and that while he was not very proficient with his stenographic work, he could write very well on the machine and that if I were willing to give him a trial he would make every effort to please me. "This I was very glad to do, and he became very efficient and in every way a satisfactory clerk. If I happened to be out of the office for a day, incoming mail was usually attached to the file if there was any, and after a very short period he was able to get the necessary information from the districts and answer certain portions of the correspon- dence. "On July 1, 1912, when I was transferred to Charleston, he immediately requested permission to come also, but realiz- ing that a new man going into the job at Norfolk would have an added hardship with a new clerk, I made him see the necessity for his staying on the job and doing his part. After being here a short time he again applied for permis- sion to come out, but was still advised to stay on the job there. Later he got permission from Mr. Richardson to be transferred to this division, and came out early in 1913. In 1914 he resigned to accept a position as inspector with the Home Telephone and Telegraph Company at Henderson, North Carolina, but left them after five months and was re- engaged in October, 1914. "During the time of his employment with the C. & P. Company he has looked after supplies. In fact he was the supply clerk for this division from 1913 to 1916; in 1917 he was made storekeeper at Charleston; in January, 1919, he became division plant clerk; early in 1920 he was pro- moted to division supervisor of supplies and motor vehicles, and has filled that position with credit to himself and his associates. "To sum it up, John M. Abbott has made himself what he is today, and I consider him an efficient and reliable employe, who has educated himself by night study and correspondence school courses, so that he is at present capable of holding down any job on which he is started." Aside from his absorbing duties with the Telephone Com- pany, Mr. Abbott for several years has had a keen interest and active part in the Boy Scout movement, and is deputy commissioner of the Charleston Council of the Boy Scouts of America. These activities led quite naturally to his becoming interested in safety and first aid matters, and in October, 1921, he completed a course in First Aid with the American Red Cross at Washington, receiving the Red Cross diploma certifying to this fact, under which he is authorized to teach first aid to others. This instruction work he is directing among the telephone employes in West Virginia, a work that testifies to the interest the company has in its employes and the general public as well. Mr. Abbott is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Scottish Rite Lodge of Perfection, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. ______________________________ X-Message: #3 Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2000 22:04:46 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000722220422.00c84740@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: PHILIP S. YOUNG , Clay 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. 517 Clay PHILIP S. YOUNG was elected sheriff of Clay County in November, 1920, is giving a most effective administration and is one of the popular citizens of his native county and its judicial center, the Village of Clay, where he maintains his residence and official headquarters. Mr. Young was born on his father's farm in this county, November 4, 1873, and is a son of Samuel E. and Helen M. (Hart) Young, the former of whom was born in Kanawha County, in 1828, when West Virginia as now con- stituted was still on the pioneer western frontier of Vir- ginia. The mother of Sheriff Young was born at Charleston, this state, in 1832. After their marriage the parents resided eighteen years on a farm in Kanawha County, and they then came to Clay County, where the father developed a good farm and where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, secure in the respect and esteem of all who knew them and both earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Samuel E. Young became a loyal sup- porter of the principles of the republican party, was in- fluential in its local councils and served for a long term of years as a member of the County Court of Clay County. He was actively affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. Of the family of ten children five are living at the time of this writing, in 1922: Mary is the wife of William Snyder; James is a substantial farmer in Clay County; Herbert M., who served twelve years as clerk of the Circuit Court for Clay County, is now engaged in the real estate business in the State of Arizona; Anna is the wife of W. D. Samples; and Philip S., of this review, is the youngest of the number. The father was a loyal and gallant soldier of the Union during virtually the entire period of the Civil war, and he manifested in later years his continued interest in his old comrades by maintaining affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic. Philip S. Young early began to assist in the work of the home farm, and while he thus waxed strong in physical powers he also profited by the advantages offered in the local schools. He has always continued his alliance with the basic industry of farming, and the aggregate area of his two well improved farms in Clay County is 500 acres, the value of these properties being enhanced by the gas wells that have been there sunk and are producing. Mr. Young is a stalwart in the local camp of the republican party, has been a zealous worker in its behalf, and on its ticket he was elected county sheriff in the autumn of 1920. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Young is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Shrine. He and his brothers are affiliated with Clay County Lodge No. 97, Ancient. Free & Accepted Masons, of which their father was an active member for many years prior to his death. The year 1900 recorded the marriage of Mr. Young and Miss Mary Smith, and of their fine family of ten children all are living except one, there having been four sons and six daughters. ______________________________ X-Message: #4 Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2000 22:05:25 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000722220422.00c8d570@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: OLIVER E. REED, Clay 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. 516-517 Clay OLIVER E. REED is one of the popular young native sons of Clay County, and resides at its judicial center, where he is giving effective service as deputy county clerk. On his father's farm in this county Mr. Reed was born April 2, 1897, a son of Levi J. and Martha E. (Walker) Reed, the former of whom was born in Calhoun County, this state, February 22, 1863, and the latter of whom was born in Clay County, in 1868, her death having here occurred in 1903. The father still resides upon the homestead farm on which he and his wife established themselves within a short time after their marriage, and he is one of the sub- stantial and honored citizens of Clay County. Of their five children three survive the mother, and of the number the subject of this review is the youngest, he having been but six years of age at the time of his mother's death; William C. is a resident of the State of Iowa, where he is telegraph operator and train dispatcher in the service of the Illinois Central Railroad; and Frederick W., who graduated from Marshall College and also from the University of West Vir- ginia, is, in 1922, a student in the Western Reserve Medical College at Cleveland, Ohio. For his second wife the father married Adora Steorts, and the children of this union are four in number: Nina, Luther, Earl and Helen. Reared on the home farm and afforded the advantages of the public schools, including the high school at Clay, Oliver E. Reed thereafter completed a commercial course in the Mountain State Business College at Parkersburg. For two years thereafter he was identified with the general mer- chandise business in the Village of Procious, Clay County, and on the 1st of January, 1921, he assumed his present official position, that of deputy county clerk. He is a re- publican, is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica, he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is a stockholder in the Elk Elec- tric Light & Power Company at Clay. In 1917 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Reed and Miss Ella Strickland, and they have three children: Eu- gene, Garnett and Warren E., a merry trio of boys who add vitality and joy to the attractive home circle. ______________________________ X-Message: #5 Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2000 22:05:40 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000722220422.00c90850@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: OSCAR L. HALL, Clay 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. 516 Clay OSCAR L. HALL has won for himself secure vantage-place as one of the representative members of the bar of Clay County, and is established in the successful practice of his profesison [sic] at Clay, the county seat. He was born in Braxton County, this state, April 13, 1883, and is a son of Henry Y. and Edna (McMorrow) Hall, the former of whom was born in Clay County, in 1845, and the latter in Braxton County, in 1849. After their marriage the parents estab- lished themselves on a farm in Braxton County, and on this old homestead they still reside, venerable and honored citizens of the county, both being most zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to the clergymen of which their pleasant home has ever extended cordial welcome and entertainment. E. B., eldest of the children, is a progres- sive and successful farmer in Braxton County; Ella is the wife of J. Lee Fox, a prosperous farmer near Sutton, that county; O. W. is a substantial agriculturist and cattle grower in Braxton County; W. C. is a popular teacher in the city schools of Charleston; Oscar L., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Percy, a graduate of the law department of the University of West Virginia, is now general counsel for the Ohio Fuel Oil Company for the State of Texas, with residence and headquarters in the City of Dallas, Texas; and May is the wife of P. M. Bamsey, a representative farmer in Braxton County. Reared on the home farm and afforded the advantages of the public schools of his native county, Oscar L. Hall thereafter made a record of excellent service as a teacher in the rural schools, his pedagogic service having continued three years. He pursued higher academic studies in tile- University of West Virginia, and in the law department of this institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1907. Thereafter he was established in practice at Sut- ton, judicial center of his native county, until 1912, when he went to the City of Charleston and became connected with the legal department of the Ohio Fuel Oil Company. In 1914 he engaged in the active general practice of his profession at Clay, and he has here continued as one of the leading members of the Clay County bar. In 1916 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the county, an office of which he continued the incumbent until January, 1921, and in which he made a most excellent record, his being specially high standing as a trial lawyer of versatility and resource- fulness. Mr. Hall is a stalwart advocate of the principles of the republican party, and as owner and publisher of the Clay Messenger, a weekly paper, he has been able to render effective service in promotion of the party cause. He is president of the Elksplint Coal Company and a stockholder in other industrial and business corporations. In the Masonic fraternity his affiliations are with Sutton Lodge No. 21, A. F. and A. M.; Sutton Chapter No. 29, R. A. M.; Sutton Commandery No. 16, Knights Templars; and Beni- Kedem Temple of the Mystic Shrine, in the City of Charles- ton. In December, 1910, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hall and Miss Fannie E. Lorentz, who had been a popular teacher in the Sutton High School, she having graduated in the same, and also in Morris Harvey College, from which she received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Mr. and Mrs. Hall have two children: Jean E., born March 1, 1912; and Ann Lorentz, born May 3, 1917.