History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 112

Author: Laidley, William Sydney, 1839-1917. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co
Number of Pages: 1066

USA > West Virginia > Kanawha County > Charleston > History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens > Part 112

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JOHN V. R. SKINNER, a leading citizen of St. Albans. W. Va., who came first to Ka- nawha county as a promoter of the Coal River Railroad, was born in May, 1863, in Clarion county, Pa., and is a son of Augustus and Cecelia (Van Rensalear) Skinner.

Augustus Skinner was born at Massillon. Stark county, O., and was a son of Charles K. and Elizabeth (Reed) Skinner. Charles K. Skinner was born at Hartford, Conn., and was a man of great business enterprise. After moving to Ohio, in association with James Duncan and Arvine Wales, founded the town of Kendall, on the Tuscarawas river, on the site of the present city of Massillon, all these New England pioneers locating there before the Ohio canal was constructed. Charles K. Skinner was a manufacturer of woolens and his old factory still stands in Massillon, a land- mark of the old industrial days. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Massillon and during his entire period of active life was a useful citizen of that place, the growth of which he had watched with pride. He died there in 1876. at the age of

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eighty-four years. He was a Whig, an ar- dent Abolitionist, and later a Republican.

'Augustus Skinner became a wool merchant. For many years he was a resident of Massil- lon and died there in 1876. He married Ce- celia Van Rensalear, who was born in New York but was reared in Ohio, and died at Massillon in May, 1889, at the age of forty- six years. Her parents were Saunders and Abigail (McCarthy) Van Rensalear, the for- mer of whom was an attorney at Canton, O. Three sons and one daughter were born to Augustus Skinner and wife: Charles, John V. R., Robert P., and Bessie W. Charles Skin- ner, who is a paper merchant in Cincinnati, married Mary Budd, a native of Elyria, O. Robert P. Skinner for many years has been a man of prominence and for the past several years has been consul-general of the U. S. Government, at Hamburg, Germany. H formerly was editor of the Massillon Inde- pendent. A personal friend of the late Presi- dent Mckinley, he was offered the position of consul-general to Marseilles, France, soon after Mr. McKinley's administration began. He received a special appointment as com- missioner for the purpose of negotiating a commercial treaty with King Menelik, of Abyssinia and successfully accomplished the commission through his tact and diplomacy. In 1909 he was appointed consul-general at Hamburg. He married Helen Wales, a daughter of Arvine Wales and a granddaugh- ter of Arvine Wales, one of the pioneers who founded Massillon with his early associates. The parents of the above family were mem- bers of the Episcopal church.

John V. R. Skinner was educated at Mas- sillon and after leaving school opened a book and general mercantile store which he con- ducted for ten years, afterward building a pottery at Navarre, O., which he operated un- til 1902, when he came to St. Albans, in the interest of the Coal River Railroad, the first seventeen miles of which, from St. Albans to the mouth of Fork creek, were constructed un- der his supervision and it later was sold to the C. & O. Railroad. For some years he was interested in the real estate business at St. Albans but now gives his attention mainly to

his own coal and timber properties and his real estate holdings.

Mr. Skinner was married in Heidelberg, Germany, July, 1889, to Miss Anna C. Die- terich, who was reared and educated in France and Germany, a daughter of Carl and Anna C. (Braun) Dieterich, of Heidelberg, Germany. They reside in one of the most beautiful homes of St. Albans. The residence was erected by and formerly was owned by Edward Hunting- ton. It is surrounded by ten acres of land, in a grove of beech and oak trees. Mr. Skinner is a member of the Episcopal church. He is a Republican in politics but his career has been a business rather than a political one.

WILLIAM H. DAFFRON, who is district sales agent for the Fisher Leather Belting Company; for the Keasbey & Mattison Com- pany, manufacturers of all kinds of asbestos goods and supplies, and for the Maryland Rubber Company, a branch of the U. S. Rub- ber Company is the successor to the Daffron & Ellyson Company, and is an able and thor- oughly qualified business man, well and fa- vorably known in different sections. He was born at Richmond, Va., in 1871, and is a son of William and Margaret ( Kerse) Daffron.

William Daffron was born in the city of Dublin, Ireland, while his wife came from Cork, both coming to America when young. In 1862, when at Philadelphia, Pa., he en- listed in a U. S. regiment and served until the Civil War was over, in 1867 locating at Rich- mond, Va. He had an honorable war record and was trusted by both General Grant and General Rosecrans with the perilous duty of carrying their dispatches. At Richmond he went into the furniture business, where he continued for forty years and then retired to Pittsburg, dying at the home of his son, Will- iam H., in 1905, at the age of seventy-two years. In politics he was a Democrat, while in religion he was a Roman Catholic. His widow, who is now in her sixty-third year, resides at Richmond.

William H. Daffron was educated at Rich- mond and St. Mary's College, at Belmont, N. C., where he was graduated with his degree of M.A., in 1887, since when his life has been

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mainly one of business. In 1898, however, condition and his residence, which he erected he testified to his patriotism by enlisting for at a cost of $3,000, is the handsomest private residence on this road. It is fitted with mod- ern improvements and is a model home. Mr. Kinser is a man of progressive ideas and takes pleasure in bringing his land and stock up to high standards. service in the Spanish-American War, enter- ing Co. B, 2nd Va. U. S. Inf., and accom- panied the command as far as Jacksonville, Fla., when the war ended. In politics, Mr. Daffron is an independent Democrat. On March 1, 1907, Mr. Daffron and Charles El- Mr. Kinser was married first to Polly A. Dingus, who was survived by four children- G. Stonewall, Rosie, Grover, and one whose name has not been ascertained. He was mar- ried secondly to Sallie Starkey, and they had six children : Alma, who is deceased; and Etta, Maud, Joseph and Guy; and Arthur, who is deceased. Mr. Kinser was married thirdly to May Martin. In his political opinions he is a stanch Democrat. lyson went into business at Charleston as man- ufacturers' agents and in 1909 it was incor- porated as the Daffron & Ellyson Company. In April, 1911, Mr. Daffron took over the business, under the name of W. H. Daffron, manufacturer's agent. From 1893 until 1907, he was on the road for different belting com- panies. He was for several years in the office of the old Southern Rubber Company, of Richmond, later was with the Patapsco Rub- ber Company, later still with the McGowan and other rubber factories at Trenton, N. J .. and elsewhere, and subsequently was in the leather belting line in New York City and Pittsburg.

Mr. Daffron is a grand knight of the order of Knights of Columbus, and district deputy. Additionally he belongs to the Elks and is a member of the National Order of Hoo Hoos. and of the U. C. T. Mr. Daffron is unmar- ried.

GEORGE A. KINSER,* a general farmer residing on one hundred acres of excellent land, situated in Loudon district, Kanawha county, W. Va., operates the whole tract, of which he is part owner, and is numbered with the successful and enterprising agriculturists of this section. He was born in Smith county, Va., March 20, 1855. and is a son of E. and Sophia (Helmach) Warrick, and a stepson of David Kinser. He was born after his father's death, one of four children. His mother was married secondly to David Kinser and both are now deceased.

George A. Kinser came to West Virginia during the closing year of the Civil War and attended school in this state. He then went to work and has been actively engaged ever since, working in the timber, farming, and buying and selling stock. In 1906 he came to his present farm which he has put into fine

: WILLIAM ANDREW FOSTER, car- penter, contractor and builder at Charles- ton. W. Va., is one of the city's enterpris- ing business men and leading citizens. He served as a member of the city council from. 1895 until 1897. and was city build- ing inspector from 1908 until 1909. He was born in Monroe county, now West Virginia. May 8, 1860, and is a son of Jacob Henry and Martha Ann ( Criner) Foster.

Jacob Henry Foster was a son of Madi- son Foster. who was born in Virginia and was of English and German ancestry. The latter lived to be eighty years of age and both he and wife died near Indian Mills, W. Va. Jacob Henry Foster enlisted for service in the Confederate Army, at Center- ville. now Greenville. W. Va., in 1861. and served in Captain Chapman's battery until February, 1863. when he came home on furlough and while there contracted typhoid fever, from which he died February 27. 1863. and his burial was in the family plot on Hands Creek, W. Va. He had been a brave and faithful soldier and had partici- pated in many important battles. He mar- ried Martha Ann Criner, who was born in Giles County, Va., and died at the home of a sister, in Charleston. July 22. 1893. She had contracted a second marriage, with Henry Inhooff. a Pennsylvania German, who was a Federal soldier. He died July 3.

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1893, just nineteen days before the death of his widow. Their burial was in Gibens' Cemetery, on the Elk River, fourteen miles above Charleston. They had one child, Francis, who died in infancy. Jacob Henry Foster was survived by three children, namely : Louis Henry, born October 6, 1858, a farmer residing on Narrow Branch, near Blue Creek, married Martha Martin and they have had five children: William, Math- ew Err, John, Alethia and one deceased : William Andrew; and Mathew Henderson, born January 4, 1862, residing at Ridgeville, Ind., is a traveling salesman. He married Ida Brooking and they have a son and daughter.

William Andrew Foster at the age of seven years came to Elk District, Kanawha County, with his mother who was then a widow, and afterward attended the public schools until he was eighteen years of age. From 1880 until 1881 he taught school and then entered the railroad service in the sur- vey department, and had made some head- way when the enterprise engaged in was abandoned. In August, 1883, Mr. Foster began to learn the carpenter trade. He was then twenty-three years of age and fifty cents a day was all the wage he could command, but he showed commendable perseverance and continued until he had acquired a full knowledge of this trade. In July, 1887, he went to Pittsburg, where he worked for a while and then came back to Kanawha County, worked for a time at Charleston and then went farther south to Birmingham, Ala., for a period. He re- turned to Charleston and continued to work as a journeyman until 1900, when he em- barked in business on his own account and has prospered.

On December 3. 1889, Mr. Foster was married near Charleston, to Miss Louella May Bowers, who was born in Adams County, Pa., October II. 1864, a daughter of George and Malissa (Bower). Bowers. They came to West Virginia in 1886 and the mother of Mrs. Foster still lives in Elk District, being in her eightieth year, but the father died in October, 1878, in his home

on Elk Two-Mile Creek. He was a Dem- ocrat in politics. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bow- ers were church members all their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Foster have one son, Sigsbee Lee Bowers, who was born October 6, 1898, and is a bright student in the Charles- ton public schools. The family home has been at No. 1319 Bigley Avenue ever since Mr. and Mrs. Foster settled here, on March 17, 1890.

Mr. Foster is a wide awake, well informed man and an independent thinker. He is identified with the Democratic party in polit- ical affairs. In December, 1908, he was elected city building inspector and was fill- ing out an unexpired term at the time the city became bi-partisan in its government and resulted in the appointment of a Repub- lican for this office, in which Mr. Foster had shown efficiency and thoroughness. He is a member of two fraternal organizations : the K. O. T. M., and the A. O. Y. W.

During the Civil War, not only his father but an uncle, Michael Andrew Foster, served in the Confederate Army and was a sharp- shooter under General Jackson. He was a brave and fearless man and his courage was recognized by his commander, as this pleas- ant little incident proves. On the march of General Jackson through Virginia, when the troops were halted at Winchester, they were cheered by the presence of many ladies and these asked that the bravest man be shown them. Without hesitation the gen- eral called for Michael Andrew Foster and before the assembled soldiers and audience of ladies and gentlemen, introduced him as his bravest man, although he wore only the uniform of a private soldier. The ladies presented him with a bouquet of flowers which he preserved as long as he lived. This brave man received a wound at Appo- mattox from which he subsequently died.

FRANK HAMMAKER, a general mer- chant at Hollow Grove, W. Va., where he also attends to the duties of express agent, may be called the pioneer settler of this hamlet as he built the first house in the place in 1901, and has resided here ever since. He was born No-

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vember 27, 1871, at what was then called En- terprise but now bears the name of Riverside, in Cabin creek district, Kanawha county, W. Va., and is a son of Charles and Ellen ( White) Hammaker.

The father of Mr. Hammaker was a carpen- ter by trade. He married Ellen White, who was born in Kanawha county, and they had the following children: Frank; Rena, who is the wife of W. T. Smith; George; and Laura. The last named, who is deceased, was the wife of Alfred Parrish. Charles Hammaker died in 1880 and his widow subsequently married Thomas Bragg. She still survives.

In the boyhood of Frank Hammaker the family moved to Clifton and from there to Paint creek, which is now Hansford, and there he learned the brickmason trade and con- tinued to work at the same not only until he opened his store but up to the present, being a man of great industry and commendable en- terprise. After building his residence here in 1901 he erected his store building two years later and as his trade has grown has enlarged his quarters from time to time. To accommo- date his patrons through the mining district. he operates a wagon route. He is the owner of considerable real estate at Hollow Grove.

Mr. Hammaker married Miss Matilda Dame, a daughter of Robert and Susan Dame natives of Virginia who moved to West Vir- ginia. Mr. and Mrs. Hammaker have four children : Mabel, Agnes. Gladys and Frank. They are members of the Missionary Baptist church.

VIRGIL GATES MARTIN, secretary and treasurer of the Kanawha Planing Mill Co., doing business at Charleston, W. Va., is a substantial and representative citizen here. where he was born November 19. 1873. His parents were Erasmus E. and Elizabeth ( At- kins) Martin.

Erasmus E. Martin was born at Malden. Kanawha county, in 1835, and now lives re- tired at Charleston. His parents were Tipton L. and Martha Martin, the former of whom came to Malden among the early settlers. He was a plasterer by trade. Erasmus E. Martin was a soldier in the Union army during the

Civil War. For a number of years he was in the Government service as mail clerk on the steamboat between Charleston and Gallipolis, O., and also on the K. & M. Railroad. He married Elizabeth Atkins, who died in 1906, at the age of seventy-one years. She was born in Henry county, Va., and in girlhood was brought to Kanawha county, where her father, William Atkins, was a farmer. Ten children were born to the above marriage, Virgil Gates being the eighth in order of birth. Mattie, the eldest, is the widow of J. J. Krantz, of Charleston. Joanna is the wife of Gordon Nelson, residing on Campbell's creek. Ella is the wife of W. H. Anderson, of Mercer county, W. Va. James L., who is engaged in the insurance business in Mercer county, was formerly a mine inspector. Minnie is the wife of Thomas Wilson, of Charleston. Emma died at the age of thirteen years and Samuel W. died when aged thirty years. Bessie is the wife of N. C. Smith, of Charleston. Hu- bert. the youngest of the family, is with the Frankenberger Clothing Company.

Virgil Gates Martin was educated at Charleston and after completing the high school course, took a position as clerk in the Charleston post-office. under Judge McWhor- ter. and remained there for three and one- half years, after which he entered the Rolland & Elliott Business College. where he was graduated and then entered the employ of the James Lumber Company, in this city, as sten- ographer and bookkeeper, and while connected with this firm was also associated with the Elk River Boom Co. as bookkeeper, and from 1900 to 1903 was manager of the concern. Mr: Martin remained with that firm from 1896 until August. 1903, when he came to the Kanawha Planing Mill 'Company, first in the capacity of bookkeeper. later on acquiring stock in the company, and since 1909 has been secretary and treasurer and also a director in the same. one of considerable importance in Kanawha county. Mr. Martin has property investments at Charleston but devotes his en- tire time to his lumber interests.

In 1899 Mr. Martin was married to Miss Mamie A. Van Sandt, a daughter of Joseph and Mary (McClure) Van Sandt. Mrs. Mar-

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tin was reared at Dayton, Ky. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have three children: Margaret, Grace and William, all of whom are pupils in the public schools. The family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Martin is a Republican in politics.

JACOB C. MAY, a retired farmer resid- ig at St. Albans, W. Va., was born in Loudon district, Kanawha county, WV. Va., April 3, 184I, and is a son of J. W. May and a grand- son of Jacob May.

Grandfather Jacob May was born in Bed- ford county, Va., and was the first of the May family to settle in Kanawha county. He was a salt maker and was kettle tender for some time. To his first marriage he had but one child, J. W., who was born at Marmet, W. Va. For his second wife he went back to Bedford county, after the death of his first, at the age of thirty-eight years. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Grandfather May was a Whig in politics. He lived to be seventy-one years old and died in Amherst county, Va.

J. W. May, father of Jacob C., was reared in Kanawha county and in early manhood mar- ried Annie Heff, a daughter of Frank Heff, of the same county, and they had eight chil- dren, all of whom survive : J. L., W. H., Ever- ett, Jacob C., Cynthia, Octavia, Evelyn 'and Ann. J. W. May followed salt making for a time and then moved to Lincoln county and for several years was engaged in farming there. He died at the age of seventy-two years and was buried at Griffithville. His wife did not long survive and her burial was at the same place. After the death of her hus- band she united with the Missionary Baptists, he having been a Methodist.

Jacob C. May obtained his education in sub- scription schools in Lincoln county. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in Co. G, IIth W. Va. Vol. Inf., and served until he was honorably discharged, and at Richmond, Va., was mustered out as corporal of his com- pany. He had never been absent from his command, with the exception of the time re- quired for the healing of two bad wounds, one in his right hand and the other in his foot.

He then came to Charleston and for five years was an engineer in salt works between Charleston and Malden, at the end of which time he bought a farm in Lincoln county, con- taining one hundred and forty-nine acres, two miles east of Griffithville, which he still owns, and lived there for forty-three years. He then retired for two years and lived at Danville, in Boone county and from there moved to St. Albans, where he has lived ever since and is identified with the interests of the place. He is a member of the council at St. Albans, is a stockholder in the Bank of St. Albans and also of the First National Bank of St. Albans and is a charter member of the Boone County Bank. Additionally he owns eighty-three and one-fourth acres in Putnam county.

Mr. May was married January 9, 1868, to Miss Edna Jane Spurlock, who was born in Cabell county, Va., January 12, 1851, a daughter of Alexander and Mary Spurlock, and they have had the following children : Landon H., who is unmarried; Wilber S., who lives in Jefferson district; J. Everett, who lives at St. Albans, married Lulu Lawrence and has four children-Vere, Ralph, Alemett and Bes- sie; C. C., who lives in Nebraska; B. F., who lives at home ; Carrie B., postmistress at Dan- ville, Boone county, who is the wife of Charles H. Price, and has two children-Rexford and Jacob; and Annie E., who is the wife of C. B. Curry, lives at Lock No. 7, Jefferson district, and has three children-Verbal, Richard and Edna Ruth. Mr. May's comfortable resi- dence is located on Railroad avenue, St. Al- bans.

GUY PARISH MATTHEWS, deceased, was born in 1805, in Buckingham county, Va., a member of a family of importance in that and other sections of Virginia. He was a son of Thomas Matthews, whose father was Thomas Matthews, who was a son of William Matthews, who soon after the death of Oliver Cromwell came from Wales to the United States or colonies, settling in Virginia. It is said of him that he acquired an immense es- tate but was a man of such simple habits that he was just as willing to earn his living by labor as to live in luxury. He had three sons :

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Thomas, Matthew and Sampson, and three daughters, one of whom married a Waller, another a Seddon, and the third also a Waller.

Thomas Matthews, son of William the set- tler, was the great-grandfather of Guy Parish Matthews. He was born in Virginia and owned a fine estate in Buckingham county, on which his son, Thomas Matthews, was born and spent his life. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Supposedly he was a man of wealth but his death occurred when away from home and his hidden money was never discovered. He married Farnut Sharp, of Sharpsburg, Ky., and they had these chil- dren: Thomas, Judith, Jemima, Barbara, Di- ana, Joseph, Guy Parish, R. Lot, and Thomas (2), who was the father of the subject of this record.

Thomas Matthews was born in Buckingham county, Va., and was a farmer there, but after coming to Kanawha county, in 1808, was a watch and clock maker and acquired a large fortune. For a time he lived in the house where Miss Sarah Matthews lives, but died where Major Moulton formerly lived, in Ka- nawha. He married Mary Jones, of Buck- ingham county, Va., but her people were from South Carolina, being French Huguenots. Three children were born to Thomas and Mary (Jones) Matthews; Thomas Seddon, Lucy Jones and Guy Parish.

Guy Parish Matthews remained with his father and from him received the old family farm that is now owned by the former's two daughters, situated in Loudon district, which formerly contained two hundred acres. Mr. Parish engaged in farming during his active years and survived into old age, passing away November 1, 1889. He was very highly re- spected and during the Civil War this was plainly seen. He was a Democrat but was not in sympathy with secession, nevertheless he had no difficulty in securing a protection paper from General Cox, and neither he nor his were ever molested.

Mr. Matthews married Miss Jane Wilson, who was born in Kanawha county, a daughter of John Wilson, and seven of their children grew to maturity, as follows: Mary, who is deceased, was the wife of Frank Porter, also

deceased; Elizabeth Mosby, who died in 1908, was the wife of Mr. Berks, who is also de- ceased; Thomas Jones, who is a resident of Loudon district, formerly was a well known surveyor, married Mary Fletcher Wygar, of Pulaski county; Lucy, who is deceased, was the wife of George Morrison, also deceased ; Sarah and Martha, who reside on the old homestead and own it; and John, the second youngest, who is deceased, married Mary Jo- sephine Walker, who survives. Five children died young. This is one of the old Southern families that through many changes has kept up many of the customs of former days and the two ladies occupying the old home have a wide circle of appreciative friends.

HENRY C. CAPITO, superintendent of the Diamond Ice and Coal Company, of Charleston, W. Va., is one of the progressive and enterprising business men of this section. He was born at Charleston in 1881, and after completing the high school course, entered the University of West Virginia, where he was in attendance three years, since when he has been identified with the Diamond Ice and Coal Company. He is a son of Charles Capito, who is a prominent citizen of Charleston and is president of the Kanawha National Bank.

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History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 112

Author: Laidley, William Sydney, 1839-1917. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co Number of Pages: 1066

Author: Laidley, William Sydney, 1839-1917. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co
Number of Pages: 1066