WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 20 Today's Topics: #1 Bio-Willard A. Wilson, Williamson, [Joan Wyatt ] #2 Bio- Harry Scherr,Esquire, William [Joan Wyatt ] ______________________________X-Message: #1 Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000 09:13:24 -0500 From: Joan Wyatt To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <3881D200.94A4719D@uakron.edu> Subject: Bio-Willard A. Wilson, Williamson, WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc. Chicago and New York, Volume 11 Page 242 Bio- Willard Alexander Wilson Williamson, WV Willard Alexander Wilson, with residence and business headquarters in the City of Williamson, is superintendent of the Pond Creek By-products Colliery Co. and the Vulcan Colliery Co., the former corporation having its base of operations at the mouth of Pond Creek in Pike Co., Kentucky, and the Vulcan Colliery Co., with office in Mingo Co. and mines in Pike Co., Kentucky, on the line of the Norfolk & Western Railroad. Mr. Wilson has been actively identified with operations in the coal fields of this district, including the adjoining Kentucky county of Pike, since 1903, when he engaged in engineering work for the United States Coal Co. at Gary, McDowell Co. He remained at Gary during the period of mine opening and construction work, and in 1912 went to Pond Creek District, where likewise he took part of development work. In 1914 he came to Red Jacket, Mingo Co., and in 1918 became associated with operations at the Vulcan mines. In 1920 he became associated also with the Pond Creek By-products Colliery Co., and is now superintendent of both corporations, as noted earlier in this paragraph. Mr. Wilson was born at Cynthia, Ohio, February 22 1880, a son of Lewis C. and Emma A. (Steele) Wilson, the former of whom was born in 1848 and the latter in 1850. Lewis C. Wilson became a member of the historic rifle brigade known as the " Squirrel Hunters" which was organized in Ohio to repel the forces of the celebrated Confederate raider Gen. John Morgan at the time of the Civil war. In his earlier life Lewis C. Wilson was a farmer, and later was identified with various lines of business, including the insurance business. He is a stalwart republican and at one time served as county commissioner in Pike Co., Ohio, he and his wife being now residence of Columbus, that state, and both being members of the Presbyterian Church. They became parents of six sons and two daughters. Willard A. Wilson, who is familiarly known to his host of friends as " Tug" Wilson, continued his studies in the public schools of his native town until he had completed a course in the high school, and in 1899-1900 he was a student in the Ohio State University at Columbus. A youth so fine athletic powers, he was leading and popular member of the football team of the university, and it was in this connection that he gained his nickname of "Tug" He played also on the baseball team of the university, and later he became infielder with the Utica team of the New York State League. It was a ball player that Mr. Wilson came to West Virginia and became a member of the team at Gary, where he was also given employment with an engineering corps in the coal fields. He "made good" in both connections, and though he had previously had no engineering experience, he so proved his value that when the United States Coal Co. reduced the membership of its engineering corps from hundred and forty to twenty he was one of the twenty retained in service. He has served continuously as mine superintendent since 1906, and has made a most excellent record as an executive. Mr. Wilson is a republican, he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church at Williamson, in which he is an elder, and while a resident of Vulcan he served as a member of the Board of Education. In 1906 Mr. Wilson married Miss Grace Myers, daughter of Mrs. Malissa P. Myers, of Columbus, Ohio, and the three children of this union are: Elizabeth, Frances Ann and Mary Lou. ______________________________X-Message: #2 Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000 20:14:59 -0500 From: Joan Wyatt To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <38826D10.F2195C95@uakron.edu> Subject: Bio- Harry Scherr,Esquire, Williamson, WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society Inc. Chicago and New York Volume 11 Page 243 Bio-Harry Scherr, Esquire, Williamson, WV Mr. Scheer was born June 6, 1881, at Maysville, Grant Co., West Virginia, the son of Arnold C. and Katherine (Nickel) Scheer. Arnold C. Scheer was born in Switzerland, August 19, 1847, and accompanied his parents to this country at the age of eight years. His father was a colonel in the Swiss Army, who with other Swiss officers at the outbreak of the Crimean war went to England and tendered his services to the British Queen, becoming an officer in the British Army. Coming to the United States, he was offered a colonelcy in the United States Army at the outbreak of the Civil War, but could not accept on account of ill health. Arnold C. Scheer was a merchant and manufacturer, and for many years was prominent in the public life of West Virginia. He served eight years (1901-1909) as state auditor, and was the republican candidate for governor in 1908, being defeated. He died in 1917. The subject of this sketch attended the public schools at Maysville and Keyser, a military academy in Allegheny Co., Maryland, and the West Virginia University. He was admitted to the bar in the summer of 1905 and located at Williamson, having accepted a position in the law office of Sheppard and Goodykoontz. On July 1, 1907, he became the junior partner in the firm of Sheppard, Goodykoontz and Scheer. In 1912 Mr. Sheppard retired from the firm, and the present firm of Goodykoontz, Scheer and Slaven became the successor of the firm of Goodykoontz and Scherr in 1919, Mr. Lant R. Slaven having been admitted as a member. Mr. Scherr is an officer and director in several financial and industrial enterprises, among others the National Bank of Commerce of Williamson: and is city attorney and member of the Board of Education of Williamson Independent School District. He was the first president of the Coal City Club, which later became the Chamber of Commerce, of which, he was the first president and in which capacity he is now serving. He served two years as assistant prosecuting attorney of Mingo Co., having been appointed in 1906. During the entire period of the World war, he was a member of the Local Draft Board of Mingo, Co. In 1920 he was a delegate to the Republican Convention, which nominated President Harding. Mr. Scherr is married and has two children, Harry, Jr., and Barbara. He is an Episcopalian, a Kiwanian, and his college fraternities are Kappa Alpha and Delta Chi. He is a member of the Mingo Co., West Virginia State and American Bar associations.