History of the Upper Ohio Valley, with family history and biographical sketches, a statement of its resources, industrial growth and commercial advantages, Vol. I, Part 29

Author:
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Madison, Wis. : Brant & Fuller
Number of Pages: 842

USA > Ohio > History of the Upper Ohio Valley, with family history and biographical sketches, a statement of its resources, industrial growth and commercial advantages, Vol. I > Part 29

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Charles W. Brockunier is one of our most active, prominent and successful business men. He was educated at Pittsburgh, Penn., and came to this city with his father in 1852. Soon thereafter he entered the employment of Messrs. Hobbs & Barnes, glass manufacturers, in South Wheeling, and by virtue of his superior business abilities and other qualifications, while yet quite a young man, was taken into partnership, the firm narre being changed to Hobbs, Brockunier & Co. The members comprising the firm were John L. Hobbs, John H. Hobbs, Charles W. Brockunier and William Lightner. The business steadily increased until their glass works became one of the largest and best known in the United States, exporting its wares to England, Australia, France and Germany, and achieving a world-wide reputa- tion. For many years Mr. Brockunier was president of the associa- tion of glass manufacturers of the United States, and was selected to appear before the tariff commission appointed by President Arthur in 1882, to represent the interests of the association, and glass manu- facturers generally before that distinguished body. His presentation of the facts and principles which should govern the duties to be laid in the glass schedule was so effective as to draw from the commission the compliment of having every one of his recommendations adopted and his evidence quoted in their final report. He was a member and took an active part in the tariff convention held in the city of New York in 1881. He was also among the pioneers in the oil develop- ment of West Virginia, being associated with Messrs. John Handlan, John H. Hobbs, J. B. Ford and W. C. Brockunier, in operations at Volcano, in 1862 and subsequently. Their enterprise was successful and profitable. In the development of natural gas and its application as a fuel in manufacturing operations he took an active and deep in- terest, and the Manufacturers' Gas company, of which he was presi- dent, was the first to furnish that valuable fuel to the manufactories of our city. In 1887, owing to delicate health, Mr. Brockunier retired. from business pursuits, and the firm with which he had so long been connected was thereupon dissolved, the other partners also retiring. Still retaining his connection with various manufacturing and other interests, he became again, in the current year (1890) engaged in busi-

OHIO COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA. 235

ness affairs, and is now actively operating as president of the Two Brothers Oil company, Brockunier Bros., etc. He is also vice presi- dent of the National Bank of West Virginia, at Wheeling. He was married to Miss Elizabeth C. Brady, daughter of the late Sobieski Brady, of Wheeling. They have had six children: Charles Wesley, Jr., deceased; Samuel H., Mary G., Shirley E., Elbert H., deceased, and Sara Z. Mr. Brockunier is one of the most enterprising and suc- cessful of Wheeling's citizens, and is recognized as an influential leader in all movements promising the advancement of the interests of this community. He is a member of the Fourth Street Methodist Episcopal church. Though taking a somewhat active interest in politics, state and national, as becomes a good citizen, he has hitherto declined the high and honorable positions to which the partiality of his personal and political friends have sought to have him aspire without doubt of success, and is therefore at present a private citizen.

Wilbur C. Brockunier is a native of Wellsburg, Va. (now West Virginia), and came to Wheeling from Pittsburgh with his father in 1852. For several years he was connected with the Central Ohio railroad, and during his incumbency of that office was elected teller of the Northwestern bank of Virginia, the predecessor of the pres- ent National bank of West Virginia. After the breaking out of the civil war he became chief clerk for Col. H. Leonard, deputy pay- master general, U. S. A., which position he held until about the close of the war. Upon leaving the employ of the government he engaged in the iron business, becoming a member of the firm of Acheson, Bell & Co., and subsequently secretary of the Wheeling Iron & Nail works company. This concern was afterward merged in the present Wheeling Iron & Nail company. He is still a stockholder and a director in this company. Mr. Brockunier is at present secretary of the Two Brothers Oil company. He was one of the original pro- jectors of the Wheeling Library association, now the public library, and an active and useful officer of the association for many years. His tastes and preferences are for scholarly pursuits, and amid all the hurry and press of business he has still found time to give some at- tention to literary matters; to such good effect that he now holds the degree of A. M. bestowed upon him by the Indiana Asbury univer- sity, Honoris Causa an honor seldom given.

David R. Brooks, general manager of the Wheeling Mining & Manufacturing company, first saw the light of day on the 17th day of February, 1851, in Wheeling, W. Va. He is the son of R. T. Brooks, who was the leading confectioner of Wheeling during his life. He was a native of Lancaster, Penn., and his parents were among the old revolutionary settlers of Pennsylvania. From Lancaster he went to Norfolk, Va., where he engaged in the oil business, later he removed to Steubenville, Ohio, and in 1850, came to Wheeling, where he resided until his death in 1860. He learned the confectioner's trade in Lancaster and Philadelphia, and was engaged in that business the greater part of his life. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of James Taggart, who was born in Canada. She is still living and resides in

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Wheeling. Five children are the issue of this marriage: Susan C., wife of Mathew Carpenter, of Wheeling; D. R .; Agnes S., wife of L. H. Albright, of Wheeling; Mary J., wife of David Jorden, of Mingo Junction, and J. W. Brooks, of Wheeling. D. R. Brooks was reared in Wheeling, and secured a common school education. In 1868 he entered the service of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad company, serv- ing an apprenticeship with them, working his way up to the position of assistant master mechanic of the company's shops at south Chicago. He resigned this place in 1876, and returned to Wheeling, where he went into the coal business in connection with S. H. and T. E. Kalsey, mining and shipping coal. The firm of Kalsey, Brooks & Co., was succeeded by the firm of Kalsey & Brooks, T. E. Kalsey and the silent partner retiring. In 1887, the latter firm was merged into the Wheeling Mining & Manufacturing company, which was a joint stock concern, incorporated under the laws of the state of West Virginia, by S. H. Kalsey, D. R. Brooks, J. W. Brooks, W. C. Jacobs and H. C. Richards. The company was formed for the purpose of doing a gen- eral mining and contracting business. D. R. and J. W. Brooks are the only original members now left. Mr. Brooks has been very successful financially, he is interested in the South Side Coal company, the Ben- wood Coal company, and the Hobbs Glass company. He is a mem- ber of Nelson lodge, No. 30, F. & A. M., Wheeling, Union chapter, No. 1, Wheeling commandery, No. I, of the Knights Templar, and is also a member of the Builders' Exchange, and the Chamber of Com- merce. October 13, 1874, he was married to the only daughter of Joshua Bodley, one of the most prominent and influential citizens of Wheeling during his lifetime; he was also the father of Bodley Broth- ers, the large wagon manufacturers of Wheeling. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, two children have been born: Martha, deceased; and David. Mrs. Brooks is a devout and active member of the Fourth Street Methodist Episcopal church of Wheeling.

Thomas C. Burke, passenger and ticket agent of the B. & O. R. R. Co., and one of the well-known young railroad men of the upper Ohio valley, was born at Westminster, Md., September 15, 1860. His par- ents were Chrysostom and Martha (Hasse) Burke, both of whom were born at Westminster, Md. The father died in 1864 and the mother in 1878, she being at the time of her death a resident of Wheeling, making her home with her brother-in-law, R. T. Devries. There were three sons and one daughter born to these parents, two of the sons are living: Thomas C. and William A., an older brother. Thomas C. remained in Westminster until his seventh year, and then went to Sykesville, Md., and made his home with an uncle, William P. Gorsuch, with whom he remained until his fourteenth year, during which time he attended the public schools and received private in- structions. He then attended a school at Westminster for one year, and in 1875 he entered Rock Hill college at Ellicott City, Md., near Baltimore, where he pursued his studies for two years. He began his railroad career in 1877, by entering the B. & O. freight office at Wheeling. He continued in the freight department until March, 1885,

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during which time he was promoted from clerk to cashier. March, 1885, he was appointed local ticket agent, and in February was ap- pointed city passenger agent in addition to that of ticket agent. Mr. Burke was married in Wheeling, August 24, 1887, to Miss Anna D., daughter of Arthur Little, deceased, one of Wheeling's old and highly respected citizens. Mr. Burke is a member of the International As- sociation of Ticket Agents.

Robert B. Burt, a leading retail druggist of Wheeling, and a prom- inent citizen of the Island, was born at Wellsburg, W. Va., July 1, 1857, the son of Samuel W. and Elizabeth (Brown) Burt, who were well- known people of Wellsburg and descendants of pioneer families of that region. Samuel Burt was born at Wellsburg in 1816, and died in 1859. He was a steamboat pilot by occupation, and in partnership with his brothers, was an extensive owner of river vessels. His wife, the daughter of Robert Brown, was born in Burgettstown, in 1836. Her father, a native of Lancaster county, Penn., and one of the prom- inent pioneers of the upper Ohio valley, was a potter by trade, and for fifty years conducted a pottery at Wellsburg. He lived to an extreme old age, and was widely known throughout this region. The only surviving child of Samuel and Elizabeth Brown is the subject of this mention, the other child, a daughter, being deceased. Mr. Burt was reared and educated at Wellsburg, and in the latter part of 1876 came to Wheeling, where he found employment as a drug clerk for T. A. Brentlinger, with whom he remained three years. He then assisted Alexander Young in opening a drug store on the Island, and a year later became a half-partner in the establishment with Dr. Logan. This was purchased by Frank Falore, in January, 1887, and on the first of the following April, Mr. Burt opened his present establish- ment on Virginia street, where he has since met with marked success. Mr. Burt was married February 22, 1887, to Ida, daughter of H. C. Peterman, Esq., of Wheeling, and they have one daughter. Mr. Burt is a member of Island council, No. 4, O. A. M., and Mrs. Burt is a member of the Episcopal church.

William T. Burt, a prominent business man of Wheeling, is a na- tive of Jefferson county, Ohio, born in 1835, but has since infancy re- sided in West Virginia. His father, David Burt, was one of the well- known steamboat men of the second quarter of the present century, running from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, and three of the brothers of his father were also among the first engaged in that business. David Burt died when the subject of this sketch was about eight years old, and the latter when he had reached the age of fourteen sought an opportunity to maintain himself, and entered the office of the Wellsburg Herald, then owned by J. G. Jacob and J. A. Smith. He remained in that office from 1850 to 1857, and then came to Wheeling, and abandoning the trade he had learned, found employ- ment in the business to which he has successfully devoted his atten- tion. He became a clerk in the store of P. C. Hildreth & Co., iron dealers, and remained in the establishment under J. A. Metcalf, who became proprietor two years later, until 1863, when he was admitted as

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HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.

a partner, the firm being styled Metcalf & Burt. In the following year Mr. Burt went to Indianapolis, and with others established a house in the iron business, under the firm name of Burt, Metcalf & Over, which they operated for two years. Then returning to Wheeling in 1866, he continued in business under the old firm name until the death of Mr. Metcalf in 1874, when Mr. Burt succeeded to the business and has since conducted it under the style of W. T. Burt & Co. He has other important interests, and is a stockholder and director of the Woodward Iron company of Alabama, is a director of the La Belle Iron works, a shareholder in the Bellaire Nail works, the Commercial bank, and is one of the original shareholders of the Peabody Insurance company. Politically Mr. Burt is a republican, and was one of the first members of that party in Brooke county, in ante-war times, but he has never sought official preferment. In 1864 he was married to Martha E. Burt, of St. Louis, and they have two daughters.

The Caldwell family has been notable in the history of Wheeling and of West Virginia, from the days of the earliest settlement of the Pan-handle. In 1772, James Caldwell, the elder, came to the beauti- ful country about Wheeling creek, and by virtue of two land patents, took possession of Soo acres running from Wheeling creek down to Boggs' line or Caldwell's run, and made the first settlement in the vi- cinity of Wheeling. He was a prominent man and one of the justices of the first county court in 1777. His children were: John, a sur- veyor and in the land business with his father, was in Fort Henry at the time of the massacre, and escaped to Brownsville, and died in what is now Marshall county; Samuel Caldwell, James Caldwell, the younger; Alexander Caldwell, who became the first judge of the United States court for the western district of Virginia, and died while in office, at Wheeling; Joseph Caldwell, who served in the war of 1812, was for many years president of the Wheeling Exchange bank, and died in 1864, at the age of about eighty-seven years; Jane Relfe, who when a widow, married Dr. Linn, of Missouri, who served in the United States senate as a colleague of Thomas Benton, and Elizabeth Williamson. James Caldwell, the younger, removed to St. Clairsville, Ohio, when a young man, and engaged in merchandise; was success- ful in business and became quite wealthy. He was in the United States congress from Ohio in 1825, and his brother Alex was appointed United States judge. He was in congress and took part in the elec- tion of Jackson and Adams, voting for Jackson. By his marriage to Ann Booker, he had the following children: Alfred, Elizabeth, who married Stephen Caldwell, of Philadelphia, and is now deceased; Theresa, who married John H. Langhorne, of Maysville, Ky., Joseph Caldwell, Jr .; James Caldwell, Jr., of Zanesville, Ohio; Samuel Cald- well, now practicing medicine in Illinois; Ann Caldwell, who married Dr. Chaloner, of Philadelphia; Alfred Caldwell, the elder, was born at St. Clairsville, June 4, 1817. In November, 1833, he entered Wash- ingtsn college as a sophomore, and was graduated there in 1836. He then entered the law department of Harvard college, and on his

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graduation in 1838, received a diploma signed by Josiah Quincy, Joseph Story and Simon Greenleaf. He began his practice at Wheel- ing in the same year, and soon acquired a fine reputation and took a high rank at the bar. He was a man of large mental acquirements, and broad capacity for usefulness, and his talents were liberally de- voted to the community and the state. In 1850, he was elected mayor of Wheeling, and was re-elected in the following year. In 1856, he was again called to that that office and again re-elected. During his later service, the republican party had its inception, and the move- ment was looked upon with favor by Mr. Caldwell. His sense of po- litical fairness, prompted him at this time to protect the rights of the members of the new party to meet publicly, the first meeting having been broken up by a mob headed by Bolivar Ward. In 1856, he was elected to the state senate, as a free soiler, and became famous throughout the land, as being the only prominent Virginian who boldly maintained the principles of the new republican party. This brought upon him much denunciation and even social ostracism, but he bravely maintained his position and battled earnestly against the success of secession principles. In 1860, he was the chairman of the Virginia delegation to the Chicago convention, which nominated Abraham Lincoln, and soon after the election of the latter to the presidency, he was appointed consul to Honolulu, the chief city of the Sandwich Islands, where he resided six years. On May 3, 1868, the spring following his return, he died, and was mourned by the com- munity as one of its most honored citizens, and by the profession to which he belonged as its leading member in this city. He was mar- ried August 16, 1839, to Martha, daughter of George Baird, then of Wheeling, later of Washington, Penn., and by this union had the follow- ing children: George B .; Annie, wife of Judge George E. Boyd, of Wheel- ing; Jennie W., widow of Lieut. Thomas T. Dougherty, of the United States navy, now residing at Paris; Alfred; Harry, of St. Paul, Minn., engaged in real estate; Catherine W., wife of Frank W. Farrar, now residing in St. Paul, Minn .; Elinor B., in Paris; Martha T., of Wash- ington, Penn. The first wife died in 1859, and on August 16, 1860, Mr. Caldwell was married to Alice Wheat, of Wheeling. To them five children were born; Joseph, of Chicago; Fannie W., wife of F. B. Hempstone, of Washington city; James, of St. Paul; Alice B., wife of George B. Atkinson, of Washington city; and Maud, of Corning, Iowa. All were born at Wheeling, except Fannie, James and Alice, who were born at Honolulu.

Alfred Caldwell, Jr., attorney general of West Virginia, and one of the leading lawyers of the region, was born July 14, 1847. He received his education partly at Prof. Harding's academy, and at West Liberty, and took a regular course at Oahu college, Honolulu. In 1864 he en- tered Yale college, and was graduated as bachelor of philosophy in 1867. He then returned to Wheeling and began the study of law with his father. In the summer of 1868 he was admitted to the bar, passing examination before the supreme court, and has since practiced his profession, attaining high distinction as an advocate. He was a

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member of the state senate in 1875-7, clerk of the first branch of the council, 1869 to 1875, resigned when elected to state senate, and sub- sequently served as member of the council in 1879-1880, and was city solicitor in 1881-2; in first branch of council again in 1884-5-6. In 1884 he was elected attorney general of West Virginia, and was re- elected in 1888 for four years. Mr. Caldwell was married September 14, 1871, to Laura E., daughter of William S. Goshorn, of Wheeling, and eight children have been born to them.

George B. Caldwell, elder brother of the foregoing, and partner with him in the firm of Caldwell & Caldwell, attorneys, and is one of the able lawyers of Wheeling. He was born August 1, 1840. In 1859 he was graduated from Washington college, Penn., and two years later enlisted as a private in the United States army, and served in that capacity fourteen months. He served first in the Twelfth regi- ment Pennsylvania infantry, three months, and then enlisted in Com- pany A, One Hundreth Pennsylvania, or " Roundhead" regiment, and was on an expedition to South Carolina. Subsequently he be- came second lieutenant in the Twelfth West Virginia infantry, and was promoted first lieutenant and adjutant. He served under Milroy, Crooks, Hunter, Sheridan, Butler and Grant to the close of the war. Then, returning to Wheeling he began the practice of law, in which he has since been engaged. He was brevetted by President Johnson as captain, major and lieutenant colonel, for gallant and meritorious conduct. In 18So he was nominated by the republican party for at- torney general, but suffered defeat with the rest of the ticket. He is a member of Holiday post, G. A. R. On June 28, 1866, he was mar- ried to Sue M. Smith, of Accomac county, Va., and five children have been born to them, of whom four are living, viz .: Perry M., who was among the first six in the graduating class of Yale in 1889; Martha, Sue M. and Virginia. During the war Mrs. Caldwell (then Miss Smith) was concerned in an adventure which for a time threatened serious results. A half-brother of hers, now an Episcopalian divine, was then an officer on the rebel iron-clad ram Virginia, located for a long time on the James river near Richmond. Taking a crew of five or six sailors from the ram he would frequently cross overland to the Chesepeake bay and at night, with muffled oars, in a small row boat laden with tobacco, run the national blockade to the eastern shore. The trip was one of thirty miles and part of the time out of sight of land, and its execution was one of peril. Miss Smith would receive the tobacco at the mouth of some little inlet, and would secretly ex- change it for gray cloth, for confederate uniforms, or other useful supplies for her brother and his friends. The negroes betrayed the arrangement, and one night the boat was surprised by federal troops and the officer and one sailor alone escaped death or capture. Though not present at the encounter, Miss Smith was arrested by order of Gen. B. F. Butler, and taken to the Hygeia hotel, then used as a military prison. There for six weeks, she was in close imprison- ment with the terrors of a court martial and banishment to the con- federate lines hanging over her. Happily, however, Hon. Joseph

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Segar, since United States senator from Virginia, who was retained to defend her, discovered that the soldiers who had taken possession of the contraband tobacco, at the time of the arrest of Miss Smith, had appropriated it as booty and he managed by a judicious intimation of the results of this failure to turn the property our to the quarter- master's department, to prevent the appearance c: witnesses against Miss Smith. She was released, but given a parole forbidding her to leave the county of Accomac until further orders. The war ended and she left her native county, but those orders have never come.

James W. Callahan, an enterprising citizen of Wheeling, who is asso- ciated with the famous La Belle Iron works, as stockholder and manager of a department, is a native of the upper Ohio valley, having been born at Martin's Ferry, June 15, 1846. The grandparents of Mr. Calla- han settled in Belmont county at an early date, and were prominent among the pioneers of that portion of the valley. At Martin's Ferry Mr. Callahan was reared and educated, and he there first found em- ployment in a cooper shop, where he worked his way from the posi- tion of apprentice to that of manager of a shop. In September, 1875, he removed to Wheeling, and at once took charge of the cooperage department of the La Belle mills, of which he subsequently became a . stockholder. In addition to the successful pursuit of his occupation, Mr. Callahan has taken a conspicuous and honorable part in munici- pal affairs, and in politics as a republican. He is a member of Black Prince lodge, No. 19, K. of P., and of Welcome lodge, No. 6, A. O. U. W. Mr. Callahan was married to Emma Oliver, of Bellaire, Feb- ruary, 1874, and they have three sons.

Hon. A. W. Campbell,* the subject of this sketch, is the son of the late Dr. A. W. Campbell, of Bethany, Brooke Co., W. Va., and was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, April 4, 1833. He removed to Beth- any in his boyhood days and was educated at the well-known college there, graduating in 1852, when nineteen years of age. He after- wards studied law, attended lectures at Hamilton College Law school, New York, and graduated from that institution inf 1855. He removed to Wheeling in the spring of 1856 as an attache of the Daily Intelli- gencer, then owned by Pendleton & Beatty, and in the fall of that year bought out that paper in partnership with John F. McDermot and became its editor. At once the paper took ground in favor of liberal political principles, and soon allied itself with the then young but rapidly growing republican party. These were not the days of free speech on the slavery question on the soil of Virginia. The influence of the eastern part of the state was predominant here in the west, al- beit so many of the western counties had so few slaves, and to be a republican was but little better than being an out and out abolitionist, and to be an abolitionist was but little better socially and politically than to be tainted with crime. All classes of society felt the despotic influence of slavery over their status. It made preachers timid in the

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History of the Upper Ohio Valley, with family history and biographical sketches, a statement of its resources, industrial growth and commercial advantages, Vol. I, Part 29

Author: Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Madison, Wis. : Brant & Fuller Number of Pages: 842

Author:
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Madison, Wis. : Brant & Fuller
Number of Pages: 842