USA > West Virginia > Marion County > History and progress of the county of Marion, West Virginia, from its earliest settlement by the whites, down to the present, together with biographical sketches of its most prominent citizens > Part 9
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FONTAIN SMITH, ESQ.
The subject of this sketch is a native Virginian. He was born and reared in the interior of the state, and is now upwards of fifty years of age. He com- menced the study of law in 1848, and was admitted to the bar in 1850. IIe came to Marion county in the Spring of 1857, locating at Mannington, where he
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
engaged for a short time in school teaching, while he practiced in the courts of this and adjoining counties. The Marion county bar at that time was composed of a number of gentlemen of eminent ability-such men as ex-Gov. F. H. Pierpoint, who has since attained a national reputation, James Neeson, Esq., now one of the most distinguished members of the Richmond bar, Hon. A. F. Haymond, at present a member of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, Hon. E. B. Hall, who afterwards presided over the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of West Virginia, (since made the Third,) now a resident of California, Hon. B. F. Mar- tin, present Representative in Congress, Albert S. Hayden, Ellery R. Hall, and others. In 1860, Mr. Smith, being conservative in his political opinions, espoused the cause of Stephen A. Douglas, for Presi- dent, and was appointed by the Douglas convention, elector for the Senatorial district, composed of Marion, Wetzel and Tyler counties. In the following year he was nominated a candidate for a seat in the memora- ble convention, which convened in Richmond in Feb- ruary, 1861, and passed the Ordinance of Secession. He was defeated, however, in the contest by Hons. A. F. Haymond and E. B. Hall. He was a pronounced Union man, and ardently opposed to secession. In the Spring of 1861, he was elected to the Legislature of Virginia, but refused to take his seat in that body, the convention having passed the ordinance of seces- sion. However, when the State Government was re- organized at Wheeling, he co-operated with the authors of that movement. In the organization of the Legislature under the restored government, he was made Chairman of the House Committee on 17
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
Courts of Justice. In the year 1868, Mr. Smith, at the Grafton democratic convention, was tendered the nomination for Congress from his district, but de- clined it. He was, in 1872, with Messrs. A. F. Hay- mond and U. N. Arnott, elected a delegate to the con- stitutional convention of West Virginia, and for a short time in this year was engaged with his son in the editorial management of the Liberalist. Since 1872, Mr. Smith has been living a comparatively quiet life in Fairmont, and has taken no very active part in politics. He is one of the leading members of the Marion county bar, and controls a large practice in this and surrounding counties. He is a gentleman of considerable literary and legal attainment; is fluent and forcible in an argument, and a popular and eloquent speaker. He is one of the most promi- nent men of his county, and is the father of Clarence L. Smith, the present clerk of the circuit court, who is a young lawyer of acknowledged ability.
ALBERT S. HAYDEN, ESQ.
Albert S. Hayden, Esq., was born in Fayette county, Pa., in the year 1825, and lived there until he arrived at the age of twenty-two years. He removed to Fair- mont in June, 1847, where he has since resided, en- gaged in the practice of his profession, which is that of a lawyer. He received an excellent education in the schools of his native county, and studied law in the office of Hon. Robert P. Flenniken, afterwards United States Minister to Denmark, during the ad- ministration of President Polk. Mr. Hayden, being of a very modest disposition, and having no political aspirations or desire for office, has never held any im-
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portant public offices, except that of district court clerk, which position he held from 1852 until 1861, a period of nine years. In his political beliefs he is democratic. He is one of the most popular lawyers at the Marion county bar, and is respected throughout the county as a man and a citizen. Mr. Hayden's genial disposition has made him many personal friends, and his acknowledged superior legal and literary attainments, have distinguished him among his fellow citizens as one of the most prominent men of the county.
CHARLES M. DAVISON, ESQ.
Mr. Charles M. Davison, Superintendent of the West Fairmont Mines, is a prominent business man of the county, to whom is due, in a great measure, the suc- cess of these mines, and the fact that they are now in operation, employing a large number of hands. He was born on the 23d of February, 1840, in the city of Bogota, United States of Colombia, South America ; his parents, who were citizens of this country, resided there at that time. His father and mother returning to the United States of America, when he was between three and four years of age, he accompanied them, and was raised in the city of New York. Mr. Davison is a gentleman of culture, having received in his youth a good education at the public schools of New York, and at the Irving Institute, at Tarrytown on the Hudson, close to Washington Irving's residence. At the age of twenty-one he was married to a Brook- lyn lady, and after spending some years in traveling, during which time he made several trips to different portions of the Globe in search of fortune, he finally
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came to Fairmont, in 1870, to take the business man- agement of the West Fairmont gas coal and coke mines, which position he has since held. During his residence in Marion county, he has gained a reputa- tion as a man who is foremost in the advocacy of any business enterprise which tends to the development of the resources of the county, and is very popular as a citizen. Socially, he is one of the most popular men of the county. He is a member of very high standing in the Masonic fraternity, and one of the few men in the state who have attained to the thirty-second de- gree. He is also a member of high standing in the I. O. O. F. lodges of Fairmont, the Patrons of Husband- ry of the county, and Knights of Honor of Fairmont.
OTHER PROMINENT MEN.
In addition to the foregoing citizens, there are in Marion county many others who are also deserving of special mention in this connection. The space at our disposal, however, will not permit us to give even a short life sketch of each one separately. Those whose biographies appear in the foregoing papers are Marion county men who have been most conspicuous in politics, or whose intellectual attainments and valua- ble services, rendered from time to time, entitle them to be called the leading men of the county. There are others whose names are closely identified with the political and business interests of the county, who may be classed among the prominent citizens of Ma- rion. Among the latter is Mr. James O. Watson, pro- prietor of the Gaston coal mines .* Mr. Watson has
"Mr. James Boyce, of Baltimore, and Judge A. B. Fleming, of Fairmont, are associated with Mr. Watson in the ownership of the Gaston mines.
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
been engaged in developing the mineral and agricul- tural resources of the county for a number of years, and is one of the leading land holders. He is a man of great enterprise, and is probably the best known business man in this community. Shortly after the organization of the county, he was clerk of the circuit court, and took some part in politics, and was, at the same time, engaged in the mercantile trade at the county seat. For some years, however, he has taken no active interest in political affairs, but has diligent- ly applied himself to his mining and agricultural pur- suits, and has contributed largely to the opening up of the county. His present mines, which are situated on West Fork, are connected with the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, at the forks of the river, by a railroad about one mile in length. Mr. Watson's handsome residence is near his mines, and situated about a mile from Fairmont. He communicates with his office in town by means of a Bell telephone, the first and only telephone line used in Marion county. Mr. A. J. Stone is the superintendent of the Gaston mines, and is one of the leading business men of the community. Mr. Morgan D. Orr, of the O'Donnell mines, is another prominent man who is very popular for having con- tributed largely to the business interests of the county. Mr. Oliver Jackson, proprietor of the Central mines, is and has been for years one of the leading business men of the county. Previous to the opening of his own, he was for some time superintendent of the West Fairmont mines, and was for some time engaged in the dry goods business in Fairmont. Among other prominent business men may be named Mr. Joseph E. Sands, cashier of the First National Bank of Fair-
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
mont ; Jacob N. Gould, cashier of the Farmer's Bank ; Captain N. D. Helmick, superintendent of the Marion Machine Works, Palatine; William Ridgely, presi- dent of the Farmer's Bank; Peter Amos, of the firm of Peter Amos & Son ; Daniel Tennant, of the firm of Tennant & Co., of Fairview, proprietors of the two largest steam flouring mills in the county ; F. H. Burt, of the firm of F. H. Burt & Sons, Mannington, proprietors of the Mannington Tannery ; George W. L. Mayers, of the Mountain City Planing Mills ; John Wigginton, proprietor of the Iron Foundry, Fairmont ; Joseph and Elias Nuzum, of the Fairmont Furniture Company ; James Barnes, superintendent of the Barnesville Woolen Factory, and many others.
Among the men who have held office, or figured most prominently in the political affairs of the county in the past, (in addition to those whose biographies are given,) and those who are at present conspicuous in politics, and may consequently be classed among the men of prominence and influence, we may name Messrs. Thomas L. Boggess, Thomas G. Watson, Wil- liam J. Willey, James Neeson, John S. Barnes, David Cunningham, Richard Thomas, William B. Ice, Ben- jamin Fleming, Ephraim B. Hall, Ellery R. Hall, John J. Moore, Frank Conaway, William C. Brice, W. M. Dunnington, Jesse Sturm, John C. Clayton, Alfred Prichard, James H. Furbee, Alfred Hood, A. W. Knotts, C. E. Wells, William C. Haymond, Amos Prichard, Robert Lowe, S. W. Hall, Elias Blackshere, John B. Crane, Lindsey B. Haymond, C. L. Smith, U. N. Arnott, jr., Thomas H. B. Staggers, Jacob Hayden, and others.
THE END.
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