USA > West Virginia > Genealogical and personal history of the upper Monongahela valley, West Virginia, Volume II > Part 32
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mont State Normal School and the University of West Virginia. At the latter institution he studied both medicine and surgery for two years. He then attended Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, and graduated with the class of 1908 of Maryland Medical College, of Baltimore, Maryland, with the coveted degree of Medical Doctor. The same year he commenced his active medical practice at Fairview and has been highly successful. He owns a fine professional library, has a laboratory and all the necessary office equipments for handling the most difficult cases that come under the care of a physician and surgeon. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Sigma at Morgantown, West Virginia; the Phi Alpha Sigma, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; the Marion County and Mannington Medical societies; and the American Medical Association, which brings him in touch with the best talent in the medical world. The doctor is unmarried and devotes all his time and attention to his chosen profession, taking but little part in politics or secret societies, not being a member of any of this kind of fraternities.
VANDERVORT This family is of Holland origin, the first mem- ber coming to America was Nicholas Vander- vort, who emigrated to this country when a young man, becoming a thrifty Virginia farmer, and married and rear- ed a family in which was one son named Paul.
(II) Paul, son of the emigrant ancestor, Nicholas Vandervort, was born in Virginia. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and was at Fort Meigs. He married Mary Jenkins, and died in Marion county, West Virginia, and with his wife was buried in the old Fleming bury- ing ground at Fairmont, near where they owned a good farm, which is now known as the Peabody place. They lived in Fairmont at one time.
(III) James G., son of Paul and Mary (Jenkins) Vandervort, was born in Monongalia county, Virginia, now in West Virginia, in 1827, died July 22, 1907. He came to Weston, Lewis county, in 1849. He received his education in the primitive schools of West Virginia. After his few years in the school room he learned the then popular trade of hat-making under Benjamin Fleming, at Fairmont. In 1849 he went with P. M. Hale to Weston, and there they opened a hat factory and later added shoemaking, continuing until 1860, when Mr. Vander- vort bought a farm where he resided thereafter, depending on the tilling
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of the same for a livelihood. In 1864 he was appointed deputy sheriff by A. C. Hale, continuing in that office under Sheriff Allen Simpson. From 1877 to 1881 he was sheriff of Lewis county, and was for many years an active real estate dealer, laying out numerous additions to Weston.
He married (first), in 1855, Nancy Butcher, born in Weston, daughter of the old pioneer, Jacob Butcher, and wife, whose maiden name was Barbara Flesher; she was a descendant of the Flesher family who located Flesherville (now Weston). Nancy (Butcher) Vander- vort died in 1861, and her husband then married (second) Cordelia Horner. The Vandervort family were strong Union people in the days of the civil war. Politically James G. Vandervort was a Repub- lican and always active in the conventions and other councils of his party. His children by his first marriage were: Emery M., of whom further; Jacob Scott, of whom further. By his second wife: Mary, wife of James Pickens; John, residing at Weston; Melissa, now Mrs. W. R. Smith, of Weston; James, who died in December, 1905; Mar- garet, now Mrs. Roy R. Hale, of Weston; Lulu, now Mrs. D. H. Dent, of Roanoke, Virginia; Thomas, died in March, 1908.
(IV) Emery M. Vandervort, son of James G. and Nancy ( Butcher ) Vandervort, was born December 29, 1855. He obtained a good com- mon school education, and after he grew to manhood he served as deputy sheriff under his father. For twenty years he was the station agent at Weston for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. After this he accepted the management of the famous Bailey House in Wes- ton, owned by his mother-in-law, Mrs. L. S. Tunstill. He was con- ducting this house at the date of his death, December 3, 1910. He was a director in the Citizens' Bank of Weston, and treasurer of the Weston Fuel and Light Company. He married Sallie Tunstill, and had two children : Lacy, died in infancy, and Stokes.
(IV) Jacob Scott, son of James G. and Nancy ( Butcher) Vander- vort, was born in Weston, February 28, 1861. He attended the com- mon schools of Weston, and the Fairmont State Normal school two years, with a two-year course at Adrian College, Michigan. In 1882 he returned to Weston and was connected with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company until 1892, when he was elected assistant cashier of the Citizens' Bank, remaining in such position until 1902, when the
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Lewis County Bank was organized and he became cashier of it. The position he still holds and to his good business ability is due largely the present success and popularity of the bank. Mr. Vandervort is a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Weston Lodge No. 10, Bigelow Chapter No. 4, St. John's Commandery No. 8, and is a mem- ber of the Shriners at Wheeling. He also holds membership in the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Politically he is a Republican. He is an elder in the Presbyterian church, and his wife is active in church and society matters. He married, in 1885, Belle Saltsman, daughter of Jefferson Saltsman and wife, of Toronto, Ohio. Children : Lottie L., born August 10, 1888, educated at Wilson College, Cham- bersburg, Pennsylvania, now at home; Harry S., born December 17, 1894, now in the Weston high school.
HARTLEY For five generations this family has resided in West Virginia, as the territory is now called, originally Virginia. They were early pioneers, and as a family have seen the transformation from a wilderness in the "Mountain State" to a land now rich in its mineral development.
(I) Edward Hartley, the earliest member of whom any definite knowledge is known, was born in Monongalia county, Virginia, near the present city of Fairmont. He was a blacksmith, a farmer and operated a mill. He married Mary Miller. Children: Peter M., of whom further; Elizabeth Mary, Charlotte, Joseph M., Henry, Nancy, Amos, James.
(II) Peter M., son of Edward and Mary (Miller) Hartley, was born at Fairmont, June 9, 1809, on a farm; died in October, 1882. He was educated in the pioneer schools which were not of the best type. He purchased a farm which he tilled and upon which he raised stock, following this vocation all his active years. He was a man of some influence in the community, was a justice of the peace, a member of the county court, also a school commissioner one term. When the state seceded from the Union, in 1863, he was one of the commissioners to lay out the boundary line. He again became a member of the county court, under the new state government. He belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church. He voted the Whig and later the Republic ticket. Mr. Hartley married Susan, daughter of Drake Swindler. She died
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December 22, 1872. Children : Edgar M., Henry Amos, Joseph M., Lydia Kathern, Sylvanus C., Luther E., Homer P., Samuel W., of whom further.
(III) Samuel W., son of Peter M. and Susan (Swindler) Hartley, was born in Preston county, Virginia, June 5, 1845. He obtained his education at the common schools of his county, and then engaged in farming and stock raising. For four years he was deputy sheriff of Preston county, and a member of the board of education, being its presi- dent for four years. In 1893 he sold out his property interests and removed to Ohio, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1904 he returned to Morgantown, West Virginia, as superintendent of the street car lines. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, was a delegate to the general conference and a member of the official board twelve years. Mr. Hartley votes the Republican ticket. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity. He married, May 18, 1869, Wilhemina, daughter of Lemuel and Hannah Menear. Chil- dren : Alva C., born March 12, 1870; Lowrie C., December 29, 1871; Carrie M., February 16, 1874, wife of Levi Lancaster; Samuel M., September 10, 1875; Guy B., of whom further.
(IV) Guy B., son of Samuel W. and Wilhemina (Menear) Hart- ley, was born June 26, 1885, at Masontown, Preston county, West Virginia. He was educated in the public schools of his native county, and attended the West Virginia State University. He took a course in civil engineering and completed his course in 1908. In February, 1909, he opened an office in Morgantown, in which city he still carries on his profession, doing much mining engineering for the surrounding district. May 1, 1911, he was elected city engineer; he is also engineer for several large coal mining companies. May 1, 1911, he formed the G. B. Hartley Company, engineers, with branch offices at Elkins, West Virginia. In 1910 he published an atlas of Belmont county, Ohio. Mr. Hartley is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church; also holds membership in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
SCHWENCK The Schwenck family now under consideration is of German ancestry. The grandfather of Law- rence S. Schwenck, an attorney at Mannington, Marion county, West Virginia, was Heironimus Schwenck, a native of 22-M
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Germany, who came to Ohio at the age of seventeen years with his parents. In his family was a son named Samuel S., a native of Craw- ford county, Ohio, who married Lovina Fralic. The Fralic family came from Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, where they were residents at an early day as a distinct family, near Harrisburg.
Lawrence S. Schwenck was born in Bucyrus, Crawford county, Ohio, on a farm owned by his parents, April 7, 1877. His grand- father, on the maternal side, was a merchant and postmaster at Porters- ville, Crawford county, Ohio, for many years. Lawrence S. was edu- cated in the schools of his native place and at St. Mary's, Ohio, high school, to which place his parents removed when he was aged nine years. After his graduation from the St. Mary's high school, he at once engaged in school teaching, until he concluded to enter the Northern Ohio University, from which he graduated in 1899 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He was a careful, studious pupil and active in scholastic work, being a member of Franklin Literary Club. For one year after he graduated with his degree he taught school in West New- ton, Pennsylvania, in the graded schools of that city. The following two years he was instructor in mathematics and English in East Hunt- ington, Pennsylvania, high school. During the period he was at the last-named place he devoted considerable time to the private reading of law, and resigned his position there to enter the law department of the West Virginia University. After pursuing his legal studies there for a short time, he was admitted to the West Virginia bar at Morgantown, West Virginia, April 28, 1903, and immediately opened a law office in Mannington, Marion county, where he is still a successful lawyer. At the commencement in 1905 his alma mater conferred the degree of Master of Arts upon him for his educational work and attainments since graduation. He is an honored member of the Northern Ohio University Alumni Association, of the Marion County Bar Association, and stands high among his fellow lawyers. Mrs. Schwenck is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church and its numerous auxiliary organizations; also a member of Augusta Chapter, Daughters of the Revolution, and Mr. Schwenck attends the church of which his wife is a devoted member. Among the able lawyers of this section of the state with which Mr. Schwenck has been intimately associated in legal
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work may be named Mr. B. L. Butcher, of Fairmont, so well and favorably known to the county and state bar.
Mr. Schwenck married, August 5, 1903, Leila, daughter of Francis M. and Phæbe Sloan, of Ruff's Dale, Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- vania, where the father is district superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Mr. and Mrs. Schwenck have no issue.
JENKINS This family is probably of Welsh origin. David Jen- kins, who came from Wales about 1700 and settled in Chester county, Pennsylvania, may be the immi- grant ancestor.
(I) Ezekiel C. Jenkins, the first member of the family about whom we have definite information, died in 1899. He came to Fairmont, West Virginia, about 1845, and was a farmer in Marion county. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Lavelle. Children: Edward, living at Fairmont; Mary, married - West; Nancy Baker, mar- ried - West; William Riley, living at Salem, West Virginia; Freeman, living at Grafton, West Virginia ; John C., of whom further.
(II) John C., son of Ezekiel C. and Elizabeth (Lavelle) Jenkins, was born at Fairmont in 1855. He was identified with the coal mining industry, and for a long time was superintendent of the Lynch Mining Company. He now lives at Indianapolis, Indiana, and is a concrete block manufacturer and building contractor. He married Elizabeth Holland, who is also living. Children: Charles E., an undertaker at Morgantown; Frederick L., of whom further; Jeanette, married ---- Faulkner ; Blanche, married - Fitch; Mabel, married - Chad- wick.
.(III) Frederick L., son of John C. and Elizabeth (Holland) Jenkins, was born May 4, 1879, in Upshur county, West Virginia, his parents being there for a short stay. He attended the Fairmont schools and afterward entered the employment of the Fairmont Coal Com- pany. When he resigned after thirteen years' continuous employment, he was store manager for this company at Lynch. Purchasing a farm, he conducted it for one year and then sold it. He took up at Monon- gah, Marion county, West Virginia, the study of undertaking and embalming and passed the Embalmers' State Board examination with high honors. Since 1905 he has owned a complete and modern estab-
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lishment at Fairmont. He owns a farm and some city property besides his business buildings. Mr. Jenkins is an active member of Marion Lodge, Knights of Pythias; Palatine Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Improved Order of Red Men; and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a past sachem of the Red Men and past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. In politics he is independent. Mr. Jenkins is a member of the Palatine Baptist Church, and for some years has been musical director, having complete charge of the choir.
He married Clarabelle, daughter of Sylvester and Mary Elizabeth (Ellsworth) Drummond. She is a member of the Central Christian Church. Her mother's mother was of the Shinn family of Shinnston, Harrison county, West Virginia, which family has been in Harrison county since 1778. Children : Beryl Genevieve, born August 6, 1903; John, September 2, 1905, died November 8, 1911 ; Frederick L., Octo- ber 16, 1907; Hugh Drummond, March 12, 1910; Lloyd George, born February 6, 1912.
The Tates were among the pioneer families of Harrison
TATE county, Virginia (now West Virginia). As farmers, in- dustrial workers and military characters this family have been foremost.
(I) Thompson Tate, who by trade was a hatter, was a native of Harrison county, Virginia, and lived to the age of sixty years. He mar- ried a Miss Shuttlesworth, by whom three children were born: Mary, William, and Oscar Hudson, of whom further.
(II) Oscar Hudson, son of Thompson Tate, the pioneer hat-maker of western Virginia, was born at Clarksburg, Virginia, in 1827, died in February, 1899. He was a blacksmith throughout his active years and a splendid worker in iron. He was public-spirited and held many positions in his town and county. He served on the city council of Clarksburg several terms, was chief of police six years, and served as town collector. He was prominent in politics, affiliating with the Re- publican party. When the civil war came on between the north and south, he enlisted as a member of the Sixth Virginia Cavalry in the Union army and served throughout the entire conflict. He married Hannah L. Bailey, who died December 27, 1861. She was born in Harrison county, was but twenty-seven years of age at her death. Chil-
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dren : Edward Scott, now at Adamson, West Virginia, a teamster ; Will- iam Ernest, of whom further; Frank Lee, an engineer at the Clarksburg brick works. The deceased children were named: Mary, Emma, George B. Joseph Bailey, father of Mrs. Oscar Hudson Tate, was a large landowner in Harrison county, West Virginia, where he lived and died, his occupation always being that of a farmer. He served in the war of 1812 and was crippled for life by having his horse fall upon him. He married a Miss Hickman.
(III) William Ernest, son of Oscar Hudson and Hannah L. (Bailey) Tate, was born in Clarksburg, Virginia, now West Virginia, April 18, 1853. He received his education at the free schools of his native place. He early turned his attention to mechanical pursuits, which he has followed thus far in his career and with success. He manufactured artificial gas for two years, then went with Hart Bros., machinists, where he remained two years and four months, after which he was employed at Baltimore, Maryland, for a year with T. C. Bashor & Company. For the last two years he has held the position of in- spector for the Clarksburg Water and Sewerage Board. For about a dozen years he operated a plumbing shop at Clarksburg, commencing in April, 1899. Politically Mr. Tate is a Republican. He is a Master Mason, and identified with the Presbyterian church. He married, in Hartwell, Ohio, November 6, 1889, Lucy Fuller Vandervort, born in Morrow, Ohio, in 1858, daughter of Joseph Vandervort, who died about 1891. He was a well known druggist of Morrow, Ohio, and was a veteran of the civil war. He married Anna James, who died in 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Tate have no living children-they lost an infant.
In this connection will be given some of the more interest-
SHAW ing and important facts and incidents connected with the Shaw family of which ex-Sheriff Leroy Shaw, of King- wood, West Virginia, is a member.
(I) Benjamin Shaw, the first of whom anything can be learned in this country, was made a sheriff in one of the East Virginia counties by reason of his having been justice of the peace longer than any other in his county. He had children : Edgar, Celia and William Shaw.
(I) Samuel, the brother of Benjamin Shaw, settled near Sand
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Creek, on the Scott farm. He married Elizabeth , who died at the age of seventy years.
(II) Alexander, son of Samuel and Elizabeth Shaw, became a very successful farmer before his death, which occurred at the age of about sixty-five years. He owned a large farm near Kingwood and was one of the most successful, progressive agriculturists in Virginia in his generation. Later he removed to Ohio and there continued his farm- ing operations in Darke county. Subsequently he returned to Preston county, West Virginia, locating near Tunnelton, where he died. As a stock grower he was considered an authority and contributed to the material prosperity of his county and state. He married Sarah Money- smith, of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. Children : 1. Benjamin, who died by an accident when seventy years old. 2. Minerva H., wife of Daniel Anderson, of Mississippi. 3. John W., who died young. 4. Alexander W., a large farmer in Oklahoma. 5. Rev. William H., a retired minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, residing at Point Pleasant, West Virginia. 6. Elizabeth, deceased. 7. Joseph M., lived near Morgantown, but now residing near Los Angeles, California. 8. Leroy, of whom further. 9. Sarah, of Atlanta, Georgia. 10. George C., in business in Grafton, West Virginia.
(III) Leroy, son of Alexander and Sarah (Moneysmith) Shaw, was born January 5, 1844, in Preston county, West Virginia. He had but about two months' schooling each year until seventeen years of age. But by close application, observation and self-study, he has obtained a knowledge of affairs and of men. He is a real and practical leader among men in his section of the state. He enlisted in the Seventh West Virginia Infantry Regiment, July 4, 1861, serving as a private until promoted to rank of corporal. He was wounded at the battle of Antie- tam, then discharged, because of his wound; but again enlisted, the second time as sergeant in the Sixth West Virginia Cavalry, serving as a member of Company G until the close of the war. After the assassi- nation of President Lincoln, he served as provost guard in the city of Washington, D. C., a number of months, and was able to see the famous Grand Review, one of the greatest military pageants in the world, which occurred at the close of the civil war. He then crossed the plains in pursuit of warring tribes of Indians, and in 1865-66 was at Fort Casper, Dakota. In May, 1866, he received his discharge at
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Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and returned to Preston county, West Vir- ginia. Since that time, he has been steadily engaged in agriculture and has been much interested in the departments of farm life. As a stock raiser, a producer of grains and fruits along the latest lines of improved culture, his efforts have been highly successful. He has been interested in various agricultural societies and helped raise the standard of digni- fied farming. He is secretary of the Farmers' Institute of the Univer- sity of West Virginia, and is secretary also of the Corn Association of Preston county. Politically he is an independent Republican. His first presidential vote was cast for President Lincoln in 1864. In official life he has been prominent; was constable five years; census enumer- ator, in 1880; deputy assessor, eight years ; member of the county court, four years; and president of that body, one year. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic; a past commander of George H. Thomas Post; and belongs to the Odd Fellows order at Kingwood. He was for four years a director of Spencer Hospital. Perhaps the most important official place Mr. Shaw has ever held was that of sheriff of Preston county. To this office he was elected in 1892, and during his term of office met with many exciting experiences, some of which proved serious and almost fatal, but his duty was always discharged. The Preston County Journal of April 25, 1895, relates the subjoined of one of his trying experiences :
"On Thursday evening, at about 9:30 o'clock, a telephone message from Albrightsville, three miles east of Kingwood, announced that two horse thieves had passed through there, and were headed towards Kingwood, and requested the sheriff to start with a posse to arrest them. Sheriff Shaw started in a few minutes, accompanied by ex-Sheriff D. R. Jackson and E. M. Menear, all on foot. They had little thought of the desperate characters they were to encounter, and believed the three officers could easily capture two men, but in fact there were four of the outlaws. John Elliott, Cloyd M. Crane, Marcellus Taylor, Bert Feather and Cline Bishop left Albrightsville immediately after the out- laws passed through the town and followed closely behind them. At Benoni Jordan's barn the sheriff and his party met Bert Feather who had passed the outlaws on the pike, near Charlie Stone's place and was halted by Jackson, who tied his horse and went back with them. From him they learned that they were near the gang, and they proceeded
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cautiously down the pike, past Mr. Jordan's house, about a hundred yards, when they met them and commanded them to halt. The sheriff and Menear walked on one side of the pike and ex-Sheriff Jackson and Feather on the other side. The outlaws were riding in single file- George Smithley in front, William Smithley and George Harvey in the center, and Archibald Patterson in the rear. William Smithley and Harvey were on one horse. Sheriff Shaw commanded the boys to sur- render. Both commands were given at about the same time and the officers at the command covered the outlaws with their revolvers. Will- iam Smithley and Archibald Patterson threw up their hands and were seized by Feather and Menear, making no resistance. When Sheriff Shaw commanded George Smithley, he answered the command by firing on the sheriff. At the flash of his revolver, the sheriff fired, both shots being almost simultaneous. The instant he fired, Smithley whirled on his horse to shoot at Jackson who instantly fired at Smithley. Smithley's shot took effect in the sheriff's right breast. Jackson's shot struck the horse. The ball from the sheriff's revolver went straight to Smithley's right breast. These three shots were fired rapidly in succession and all within less than ten seconds. When the horse was shot, it fell forward with great force and threw Smithley violently over its head to the ground, badly bruising his face and stunning him. The officers thought him dead, and the horse died instantly. Smithley's escape was miracu- lous, as the ball from Sheriff Shaw's revolver struck a package of four cigarette photographs in his upper vest pocket and fell into the pocket below, where it was afterwards found. As Smithley fell, Sheriff Shaw cried, 'Boys, I am shot, but give attention to the capture of the thieves.' Mr. Jackson supposing Smithley to be dead, turned his attention to the rest of the gang. During the melee with George Smithley, they were being securely held by Menear, Feather, Crane and Elliott, who by the sheriff's direction closed in, pulled them from their horses, and began to disarm and handcuff them. By this time George Smithley had re- covered and was searching for his revolver which had dropped as he fell, but Sheriff Shaw, standing over him, called out, 'Boys, this fellow will get away; I can't do anything as I'm shot, and shot bad.' Jackson then caught Smithley, found his revolver and handcuffed him. They soon had the entire gang disarmed, handcuffed and ready to march to Kingwood. By this time the sheriff's wounds were becoming very
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