Biography of Stephen D. Frantz - Wyoming Co. WV

STEPHEN D. FRANTZ. As the demand for only sound
banking institutions increases and the value of such institu-
tions to the community is more and more appreciated, the
character of the men who administer their affairs receives
closer attention, and when these individuals have been found
efficient and worthy confidence in their financial concerns is
solidified. One of the sound and conservative institutions
of this character in Wyoming County is the Bank of Mul-
lens, the cashier of which, Stephen D. Frantz, has been
identified with this banking house for ten years.

Mr. Frantz was born on a farm at Maywood, Fayette
County, West Virginia, September 12, 1887, a son of Noah
D. and Mattie (Hedrick) Frantz. His father, born in
Franklin County, Virginia, died at Huntington, West Vir-
ginia, in 1921, aged sixty-seven years, while his mother, a
native of Greenbrier County, West Virginia, survives her
husband as a resident of Huntington, being sixty-five years
of age. Noah D. Frantz was sixteen years of age when his
parents moved to West Virginia, and as a young man he was
employed by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company at
Stretcher Neck Tunnel. His first employment was as a mule
driver, but before the tunnel was completed he had been
advanced to the position of stone mason. Later he de-
veloped into a contractor, and as such built a bridge on the
Sewell Valley Railroad, but finally turned his attention to
farming, a vocation in which he won a gratifying success.
In 1919 he retired from active labor and moved to Hunting-
ton, where he spent the rest of his life. He was a democrat
in politics and was reared in the religious faith of the
Dunkards, while his widow is a member of the Methodist
Church. Of their children six survive: L. N., who is vice
president of the American Bank and Trust Company of
Huntington; Elsie, who is the wife of W. L. Bailey, of
Mount Hope, West Virginia; Stephen D., of this review;
Edna, who is the wife of H. K. Miles, of Clifton, West
Virginia; L. E., who is engaged in the insurance business
at Mullens; and Truma, who is unmarried and makes her
home with her mother at Huntington.

Stephen D. Frantz attended school in the vicinity of his
birthplace in Fayette County, following which he supple-
mented this training with a commercial course at Dens-
more's Business College at Staunton, Virginia, which he
completed in 1910. Previous to this he had worked on the
farm at home, but then felt qualified for other employment
and accepted a position in the office of the New River
Colliery Company at McDonald, West Virginia. Later he
was employed in the office of the P. M. Snyder Lumber
Company at Mount Hope, where he remained until 1912, at
that time joining the Bank of Mullens. This institution was
organized in 1909, opening its doors for business January
1, 1910. Its first officers were: John Faulkner, president;
W. E. Deegans, vice president; and L. N. Frantz, cashier.
The present officers are: W. E. Deegans, president; L. N.
Frantz, vice president; and Stephen D. Frantz, cashier. He
is also a member of the board of directors of the Corine
Coal Company.

Mr. Frantz has also been prominent in public affairs and
has rendered efficient service to his community. He was
city recorder of Mullens for three successive years, following
which he refused to accept a re-election, and was also post-
master of Mullens for six years, during the administrations
of President Wilson. His political tendencies make him a
stanch democrat. A thirty-second degree Mason, Mr. Frantz
is a past master of Mullens Lodge, A. F. and A. M., a
member of Beckley Chapter, R. A. M., Mount Hope Com-
mandery, K. T., and Wheeling Consistory. He also holds
membership in Beni-Kedem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., in
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of
Pythias, in which latter he is a past chancellor.

Source:  The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., 
Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 142-143

Submitted by Valerie F. Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>

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