History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 116

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 116

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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

In May, 1907, Mr. Moore came to Charles- ton and in the following year organized the Moore Construction Company, since when it has done an average annual business of from $500,000 to $700,000. On one square alone, in Charleston, the company has completed over $1,000,000 worth of work. Among the many large buildings constructed by this company must first be mentioned the Alderson-Stephen- son Building, a 12-story structure on the banks of the Kanawha river, which is Charleston's highest building. It was designed by Hard- ing & Upman, noted architects of Washington, D. C., and would be a credit to almost any of the great metropolitan centers. Others only a shade less admirable are : the Bigley Avenue school building; the Capital City Supply Com- pany; the building of Ruffner Brothers; the Kanawha school; the National City Bank, and the warehouse of R. G. Hubbard. The Broad- dus Institute at Phillippi, W. Va., was erected by this company and its cost was over $100,- 000. The company has also done a large amount of work for the McKell Coal & Coke Company, of Thurmond, Fayette county, W. Va., and in many other sections are found ex- amples of their satisfactory building. They make no specialty of erecting dwelling houses but accept contracts for the same when they are of a high class of building, the handsome residence of O. F. Payne probably being a par- ticularly good specimen. Recently the com- pany has taken over the interest of a new street paving plant. Mr. Moore's additional inter- ests include the ownership of real estate at Charleston, and he is vice president of the Nor- folk Brick and Tile Company, of Norfolk, Va., of which he was formerly president, and is a stockholder in the Hinton-Bellevue Relty Company, at Hinton, W. Va.

On January 19, 1893, Mr. Moore was mar- ried, in Kentucky, to Miss Emma Miller, who was born at Cincinnati, O., and they have four children: Junius T. Robert A., Evan G. and Philip J. The family residence is at No. 1418 Kanawha street. Mr. Moore is an active and advanced Mason, belonging to the Blue Lodge and Chapter at Indianapolis, and to the Mystic Shrine at Charleston. He is identified also with the Elks at Charleston and the Knights

of Pythias at Indianapolis. Socially Mr. Moore has pleasant connections, one of these being membership in the Charleston Gun Club.

I. N. ARNOLD, a retired farmer living on Davis Creek, in Jefferson district, where he has twenty-one acres of land, was born at Charles- ton, W. Va., March 14, 1850, and is a son of E. S. and Cynthia (Noyes) Arnold.

E. S. Arnold was born at Lenox, Mass., from which place he removed to New York, and thence to Charleston, W. Va. (then in Vir- ginia), where he was a merchant and also engaged in the salt business with Mr. Noyes. Subsequently he entered into the dry goods business as a partner of W. J. Rand and was a well known business man. He was also prominent in Democratic politics and, being elected sheriff of Kanawha county, was serv- ing in this office at the time the Civil war broke out. He then enlisted in the southern army and was attached to the quartermaster's de- partment, having charge of shoes and other supplies, and during the early part of the war acted as paymaster, C. S. A. On the close of the war he returned to Charleston, but finding a coolness on the part of some of his old friends who had been sympathizers with the north, he went to New Orleans, where he resided for a time. Returning finally to his old Charleston home, after the animosities and prejudices excited by the war had partly subsided, he again entered into the dry goods business, this time with James Ruff- ner as partner, and later he was in the wholesale trade with Mr. Abney. He re- tired some years before his death, which took place when he was eighty-four years old. He was a member of the Presbyterian church and was also a Mason. His wife, Cynthia, was born in Charleston, a daughter of Isaac and Cynthia Noyes. They had four children-two that died in infancy; I. N., the direct subject of this sketch; and Kate, now deceased, who was the wife of F. W. Abney.

I. N. Arnold was educated in Charleston,- among his early teachers here being Miss The- resa Dotrage and Mr. Barr-and at Roanoke College, Salem, where he was under the tutor-

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HISTORY OF KANAWHA COUNTY

ship of Prof. Biddle. For some time he was with C. H. Small at Emory mines; has spent eight or ten years in Texas, Mexico and Ten- nessee, and was afterwards in business at Hin- ton and at Lewisburg. He has never married but has an adopted son, Noyes Arnold, who is now in the U. S. army, being stationed at pres- ent with an artillery regiment at Fort Banks. In addition to his home farm, on which he erected his present comfortable residence, Mr. Arnold owns improved property in south Charleston. He casts his vote with the Demo- cratic party but is not an active politician. He attends the Presbyterian church.

WILLIAM THOMAS STOFFEL*, a leading business man and widely known citizen of Elk district, Kanawha county, W. Va., con- ducting a store, a blacksmith shop and also en- gaged in wagonmaking, at Pricedale, was born September 13, 1857, in Monroe county, O. His parents were Stephen and Mary ( Penner) Stoffel.

Stephen Stoffel was born in Germany and died in America in 1890 at the age of sixty years. He was a shoemaker and followed his trade at Pittsburg, where he married. Later he moved to Monroe county, O., where he was engaged in farming for seven years. He then moved to Butler county, Pa., remaining sev- eral years there, and then to Beaver county, where he bought and occupied a farm and from there came to Elk district, where he followed farming until the close of his life. He was a member of the Presbyterian church. He mar- ried Mary Penner, who survived him, dying at the age of sixty-five years. She was born in Germany and was nine years old when her parents came to America and settled at Pitts- burg, where her father, Henry Penner, died. Of the children born to Stephen Stoffel and his wife the following are living: Mary, who is the wife of William Carson, of Charleroi, Pa .; William Thomas; Stephen, who lives on the old homestead; Elizabeth, who is the wife of M. S. Jarrett, of Charleston; Caroline, who is the wife of E. E. Price, of Pricedale ; Lou- isa, who is the wife of C. F. Morris, of Charles- ton ; Charles, who is a farmer in Pennsylvania; and John H., who was a soldier and was killed in the Philippine Islands.

William Thomas Stoffel attended school through boyhood and then worked on the home farm until he was twenty-three years of age. He later bought a farm on Willis Creek, which he operated for two years and then sold, in October, 1889, coming to Pricedale, after first prospecting with an idea of locating at Colum- bus, Ind., in the saw mill business. He then bought the blacksmith shop at Jarrett's Ford, which he improved and now has a large black- smith and wagon-making plant and in 1904 bought the present store at Jarrett's Ford to- gether with a farm.

Mr. Stoffel married Miss Elvira Waugh, born in Clay county, W. Va., a daughter of Alexander and Frances (Cochran) Waugh. Mr. Waugh was a cabinetmaker and mill- wright. To Mr. and Mrs. Stoffel the follow- ing children were born: George W., who con- ducts a restaurant at Charleston, married Grace B. Jarrett and has one child, Thelma. Everett A., is a photographer, who lives at Denver, Colo .; Bertha, who resides with her parents; Emmett, who is a bookkeeper with Price, Hig- ginbotham & Co., Charleston; and Chloe and Lillian. Mr. Stoffel and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church in which he has been steward and trustee. He is a Pro- hibitionist and is president of the Elk district board of education, while Mrs. Stoffel was ap- pointed postmistress of Stoffel, near Pricedale.

COL. MICHAEL T. ROACH, a prom- inent coal operator in West Virginia, presi- dent of the Piney Mining Company, located in Raleigh County, is at the head of or offi- cially connected with many other business enterprises of this section and is an asso- ciate of men of large capital and business qualifications like himself. He is in the prime of life, born forty-six years ago, in Virginia, in which state he was educated. During his earlier years and before coming to the Kanawha Valley he was connected with railroad work, spent five years in Georgia and Kentucky, served as train- master for the C. & O. Railroad at different points until 1902, when he resigned and be- came traffic manager for the Kanawha Fuel Company, later being elected president of that company.

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HISTORY OF KANAWHA COUNTY

The Piney Mining Company of New River, on the C. & O. Railroad, was incor- porated in January, 1909, with a capitaliza- tion of $625,000, and has since been in ac- tive operation, producing and selling the coal known as the New River Smokeless. The mines of this company produce 2,000 tons per day and employment is given more than 400 men. Col. Roach has been identi- fied with this large enterprise since its be- ginning, when he assumed control of affairs.

He is also president of the Luring Coal Mining & Washing Company, of Ohio. The mines produce 1,800 tons of coal per day (known as Hocking coal), and are located at Athens, O. The company was incor- porated in 1910 with a capital of $625,000. They have one of the largest and best wash- ers in the country, with a capacity of 1,000 tons per day. In addition to the above vast business interests, Col. Roach has others. He is president of the Memphis Mining Com- pany of Kentucky, incorporated in 1909. which produces Western Kentucky coal. The capacity is 600 tons per day and is steadily increasing. Col. Roach is a stock- holder in the New River Company of the New River District, producing 11,000 tons per diem, and has been officially connected with numerous other coal companies. He was connected with the Paint Creek Col- lieries Company, operating fourteen mines and producing 6,000 tons per day and was president of the New River Kanawha Fuel Company, selling agents for the many mines he was interested in. Additionally he is a stockholder in a number of oil com- panies.

Col. Roach undoubtedly is a man of great business capacity and in all the large enter- prises with which he has been connected he has also impressed his associates and the public with his business integrity. He is at present the receiver for the Charleston News-Mail Company, issues the Daily Mail and conducts a large jobbing plant. In all matters concerning the progress and devel- opment of this city and section he is vitally interested and few men are better known in varied ways than is Col. Roach. In 1908

he was honored by his fellow citizens by election to the General Assembly and was made chairman of the committee on mines and mining, than whom no better informed representative could have been selected. Col. Roach is a member of the staff of Gov- ernor Glasscock, having the rank of colonel, and has served in this honorable position for two administrations.

Col. Roach was married in West Virginia to Miss Jessie Knopp, who was born in Mason County, where she was reared and educated. She is a member of the Presby- terian church. Col. Roach is identified with the Masons and is a "Shriner," also with the Elks and belongs to the order of Rail- road Conductors. He is a man of marked personality, has a deep understanding of human nature and possesses that convinc- ing manner that commends attention and the knowledge that enables him to prove his claims concerning any project he desires to bring forward.

HARRISON B. SMITH, of Charleston, W. Va., is a man with many important busi- ness interests and stands among the foremost citizens of this section although but in the prime of life. He was born September 7, 1866, a son of Isaac N. and Caroline (Quarrier) Smith, the former of whom was born in 1828 and the latter in 1840. They had seven chil- dren.

Harrison B. Smith enjoyed excellent edu- cational advantages. He is a graduate of Princeton College of the class of 1886, and of the law department of the University of Vir- ginia, and was' admitted to the bar in 1889. In 1894 he became a member of the very prom- inent law firm of Price, Smith, Spileman & Clay, of Charleston, with offices in the Coyle & Richardson Building. In addition to his large law practice, Mr. Smith is actively interested in numerous successful business enterprises and is an officer in a number of them. His busi- ness activities are mainly along the line of financial institutions.

Mr. Smith married Miss Katharine Bowne, a daughter of Samuel Bowne of New York, and they have three children: Harrison Bowne,

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HISTORY OF KANAWHA COUNTY

Helen Dana and Alex. Q. Mr. Smith and family are members of the Presbyterian church. Politically he is a Democrat and in 1896 he served as city solicitor of Charleston. His nu- merous business interests, however, have left him little time for public office even if he de- sired distinction along that line. He is identi- fied with the Masonic fraternity. The family residence is at No. 1223 Virginia street, Charleston.

ELDREDGE BRAXTON CLAY*, a gen- eral merchant at Eskdale, W. Va., where he is a representative and respected citizen, was born February 9, 1862, on his father's farm in March Fork district, Raleigh county, W. Va., and is a son of Henry B. and Nancy Jane (Thompson) Clay.

Henry B. Clay was also born in Raleigh county and there his life was spent, with the exception of the period during which he was a soldier in the Confederate army during the Civil war. He served three years in the 7th W. Va. Infantry, participating in many battles and suffering both imprisonment and wounds. He died at his home in Raleigh county before he was fifty years old. His business was farm- ing and dealing in timber. He married Nancy Jane Thompson, who still survives, and their children were Eldredge Braxton, Andrew B., John L., Ira T., W. Harvey, Charles, Etta Belle and Virginia. All are living except Etta Belle, who was the wife of B. Miller. Vir- ginia is the wife of John Miller.

Eldredge B. Clay spent his boyhood on the home farm and attended the local schools and recalls the old log building with its slab benches. Wishing to see something of the world and having some dramatic talent, after leaving home at the age of sixteen years, he traveled for eighteen months with a minstrel show. Afterward he worked for one year digging coal for J. B. Lewis, at Campbell's Creek, and for eighteen months was engaged in the same work in the Wini- frede coal mines. He then returned to the home farm, which he cultivated for a time after his marriage and which he still owns. In 1904 he came to Cabin Creek district, Kanawha county, and has been engaged

ever since in mercantile business at Esk- dale. He is a Republican in politics.

In 1887 Mr. Clay was married to Miss Eliza Jane Milam, a daughter of the late A. D. Milam, of Raleigh county, and they have three children, Ada Belle, Dennis C. and Clinton, the elder son being manager of the store for his father.

A. L. THOMAS, who owns an excellent farm of forty-six acres, near Spring Hill, lying between the railroad and the Kana- wha river, in Jefferson district, Kanawha county, W. Va., is a water well driller and for the past twenty-three years has done a large amount of business in this line. He was born on Coal River, Kanawha county, December 18, 1852, and is a son of David and Caroline E. (Thomas) Thomas.

David Thomas was born in Albemarle county, Va., and from there came to Kana- wha county in early manhood. He married Caroline E. Thomas, who was born and reared in Kanawha county, a daughter of Lindsey Thomas. Her father was one of the early Freemasons in Albemarle county, uniting with the Warren lodge on April II, 1807. Of the children born to David Thomas and his wife, there were four to reach maturity, namely : James, Maria, Joel F. and A. L. James Thomas was a soldier in the Confederate army during the Civil War and died in 1868. After marriage David Thomas lived for a time on Coal River and then moved to Spring Hill and acquired a large tract of land along the Kanawha river, this land having been inher- ited by his wife, from her father's estate. They were members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, south.

A. L. Thomas attended school at Spring Hill and afterward went to work on the railroad and also followed farming. Since 1888 he has been engaged in the water well drilling business in connection with farm- ing. On October 18, 1882, he was married to Annie Louisa Hamilton, who was born April 6, 1857, in Louisa county, Va., a daughter of A. M. and Mary Virginia (Lewis) Hamilton. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas

VINCENT T. CHURCHMAN, M. D.

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are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, at Spring Hill. He has always given political support to the Demo- cratic party but has never desired to hold any office. He is a well known and re- spected citizen of this section.

WILLIAM HOMER WILSON, M. D., physician and surgeon at St. Albans, W. Va., where he has practically spent all his life, was born in this place, November 14, 1875, and is a son of O. T. and Mary C. (Carpen- ter) Wilson.

O. T. Wilson, who is now one of the older residents of St. Albans, where he spent his active life as a carpenter and contractor, was born here after his father had settled on the Kanawha river, coming probably from either Scotland or Ireland. The latter was a farmer and tobacco manufacturer. O. T. Wilson married Mary C. Carpenter, who was born at Richmond, Va., and is a daugh- ter of Nathan and Maria Carpenter. Na- than Carpenter came to Kanawha county a's a contractor on the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad. Six children were born to O. T. Wilson and wife, namely: Oliver, who died when one year old; William Homer; Sam- uel Spencer, a resident of St. Albans who has charge of the sales department of the Electric Supply Company ; Maria Parthenia, who is the wife of William A. Burgess, of St. Albans; Rena; and Maria, who is the wife of Samuel Bartholomew, a timber con- tractor on the Kanawha river near Cedar Grove.

William Homer Wilson attended the pub- lic schools at St. Albans until he was seven- teen years of age and then was engaged for four years as a telegraph operator for the C. & O. railroad, and during this time made his preliminary preparation for medi- cal college. He then entered the Louisville Medical college at Louisville, Ky., and was graduated in the class of 1898, from the Bal- timore Medical college. For three years he was engaged in medical practice at Spencer and for three years more at Huntington, being assistant physician at the asylum there, and this was followed by two years

of mining practice at Cabin Creek. This varied experience contributed in an unusual degree to qualify Dr. Wilson for a general practice and for the past five years he has been at St. Albans, where he founded the St. Albans Hospital, in 1910. His reputa- tion as a surgeon is by no means confined to St. Albans or Kanawha county. He is a member of the county, state and American Medical Associations and keeps closely in touch with all the advancement made in medical science.

Dr. Wilson was married in 1901, to Miss Kate L. Lackey, a daughter of John and Julia (Doddridge) Lackey, the former of whom was from near Natural Bridge, Va., and the latter of whom was born in Ohio. Mr. Lackey, who was a timber contractor, died at St. Albans.

In politics Dr. Wilson is a Democrat and on that ticket was elected mayor of his native city, in April, 1911. He is affording an example of how beneficial the adminis- tration of a trained man of science may be to a municipality. He is a member of Moriah Lodge No. 38, F. & A. M., at Spen- cer, W. Va.

VINCENT TAPP CHURCHMAN, M. D., who has been a leading physician at Charleston, W. Va., for a number of years and a resident for twenty years, was born in Augusta County, Va., August 31, 1867, a son of Vincent T. and Margaret Jane (Graham) Churchman.

Dr. Vincent T. Churchman, father of the present Dr. Churchman, was also born in Augusta County, a son of John K. Church- man, who was once a large planter in Au- gusta County and a man of public import- ance there, serving as sheriff for twenty years prior to the Civil War. John K. Churchman married Nancy Tapp, who was a daughter of Vincent Tapp, an honored name that has been preserved in the family. The Churchmans descended from William Churchman, who came from England to America in 1670 and settled in Delaware and once owned the land on which the city of Wilmington now stands. William

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HISTORY OF KANAWHA COUNTY

Churchman was a son of Rev. John Church- man, who was an Episcopal clergyman. The direct ancestor of Dr. Vincent T. Churchman of Charleston, settled in Au- gusta County prior to the Revoluntionary War and later participated in the same.

The late Dr. Vincent T. Churchman was practicing physician at Greenville, a Augusta County, for twenty-five years. He received his academic training at the Vir- ginia Military Institute and was graduated from the medical department of the Uni- versity of Virginia, in the class of 1847, and from Jefferson Medical College, Phila- delphia, in the class of 1848. He was one of the organizers of the Virginia Medical Society and served through the Civil War as a surgeon in the Confederate Army. His death occurred while he was in the midst of his usefulness, in January, 1872, at the age of forty-seven years. Dr. Churchman was a member of the Methodist church. While he was a Democrat in his political belief, he was opposed radically to the secession of the states from the Union. He married Margaret Jane Graham, who was born in Augusta County and who died at the home of a son, in Philadelphia, March 3, 1897, aged sixty-four years. Her parents were Thomas and Susan (Smith) Graham, the former of whom conducted a hotel at Green- ville, for a number of years. To Dr. Vin- cent T. and Margaret J. Churchman, seven children were born, four of whom are de- ceased : J. Frank, who died at Philadelphia, was a merchant there; Anna, who died at the age of thirty-seven years, was the wife of John A. Kegler, of Newark, O .; Alice Clark, who resides at Charleston, is the widow of James C. Matthews; Vincent T .; Henry Jouette, who is a druggist, residing at Springfield, O .; Margaret, who died aged ten years ; and Graham, who died at the age of four years.

Vincent Tapp Churchman, as did his hon- ored father, received his academic instruc- tion in the University of Virginia, and in the class of 1889 graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. In the same year he located at Alderson, W. Va., where

he engaged actively in the practice of his profession for two years, when he returned to Philadelphia and took advantage of the thorough scientific instruction offered in her noted colleges of medicine and surgery, making a special study of diseases of the eye, ear and throat. In 1892 he came to Charleston and his time has been con- tinuously taken up with the duties of his profession, his knowledge and skill having made his name one of much more than local prominence. He is a member of both the Kanawha County and the West Virginia State Medical Associations, and has served for six years as treasurer of the State Med- ical Association, of which he was president for one year.

Dr. Churchman was married to Miss Janette Kay, a daughter of John Kay, of Putnam County, W. Va., and they have two children: Vincent T. and Margaret Chris- tina. Dr. Churchman is advanced in Ma- sonry, being a Knight Templar and a Shriner. He has few fads, being a man of unusually liberal mind, a lover of good horses, perhaps, being the only special in- terest he delights in, outside his profes- sional work. He maintains his thoroughly equipped offices in the Alderson-Stevenson Building, Charleston.

J. LYNN RICHARDSON,* of the well known firm of Coyle & Richardson of Charleston, one of the largest dry goods houses in the state, was born in Frederick county, Md., April 12, 1853. He comes of an old and highly esteemed Maryland fam- ily dating back to colonial days, the first American progenitor of whom came from England. Our subject can trace his pa- ternal ancestry back to William Richardson, who was born in Maryland about 1750 and who died in that state at an advanced age. William married Lady Ann Edlind, who also lived and died in Maryland.

Of the children of William and Ann Rich- ardson, Davis. the next in line of descent and the grandfather of the subject of this article, was born March 22, 1785. and died about 1857 or 1858. He married Elizabeth

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Lynn, a daughter of Col. John Lynn, who took a prominent part as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and who was seriously wounded in the battle of Eutaw Springs, S. C., Sept. 8, 1781. She was born March 12, 1790. Col. Davis Richardson and his wife were well known and highly esteemed people of their locality; in religion Episco- palians. Their children were Alexander Hamilton, John, Ann Ursula, William and Ellen, twins (born July 15, 1819), Eliza- beth, Mary Jane, George Washington and Rebecca.

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History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 116

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