History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 68

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 68

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Charles F. Sterrett has been the moving spirit in the building up of this large busi- ness and while credit must be given to all the members of this succesful firm, as hon- orable and enterprising business men, the

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president of the company has stood at its head and with wisdom guided it through all the early and uncertain years. Mr. Sterrett is unmarried but he has reared and cared for five nephews and nieces and has not only educated them but has found em- ployment for them in his busy mart. As a firm and individually, the Sterrett Brothers are representative men of Charleston, hon- orable in business, thoughtful, intelligent and public spirited in public matters, and reliable, generous and agreeable in private life.

CHARLES F. ARMITAGE, secretary and treasurer of the Payne Shoe Company, an important business enterprise of Charles- ton, W. Va. is widely known all through this section, having been identified with railroad affairs for a number of years. He was born November 23, 1873, in Meigs county, O., and is a son of Francis Marion and Eliza (Donnally) Armitage. His pa- ternal grandfather was George Moreland Armitage, who was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., in 1803. The grandmother, whose maiden name was Maria Ward, was born in Washington, O., in 1805.

Francis Marion Armitage was born near Athens, Ohio, 81 years ago and is a highly esteemed resident of Akron at the present time (19II). His people were early set- tlers in the Western Reserve. They were of pioneering spirit and later moved into Indiana and died in Bluffton, that state, when more than 80 years old. Mr. Armi- tage followed the painter's trade during his active years and lived for some time at Mid- dleport, Ohio. He has always been a staunch supporter of the Democratic party. He is a member of the Universalist church. He married Ann Eliza Donnally, who was born in 1835 and was reared in Ohio. Her parents were Ann and Eliza (Clough) Don- nally. Her father was born in Greenbrier county and was a namesake and nephew of Col. Andrew Donnally, a Revolutionary sol- dier. The Donnallys were large land own- ers in Ohio and Virginia. Mrs. Armitage's

mother Eliza Clough Donnally was born at or near Farmington, Me.

To Francis M. Armitage and wife five children were born, of whom Charles F. was the youngest. The others are: Wil- liam G., who follows a general contracting business at Akron, O .; Clara M., who re- sides with her parents; Harriet, who is the wife of T. C. Coates, of Akron, and has one son, Charles; and Andrew Donnally, who is general manager of the Whitman Barnes Manufacturing Company, of Ohio and Illi- nois. He married Maude McLillian and they have one daughter, Frances M. They reside at Akron.

Charles F. Armitage attended the public schools of Middleport, O., until he was six- teen years of age and then became agent and telegraph operator there for the K. & M. Railroad, remaining three years. He then came to Charleston, where for five years he was train dispatcher for this road, and for two years served in the office of superintendent, as chief clerk. In 1900 he went with the firm of Lewis Hubbard & Co., as credit man, and in 1903 he came to his present firm, becoming credit man and also secretary and treasurer.

Mr. Armitage was married at Charleston to Miss Osa Stuart, who was born and reared at Gallipolis, O., a daughter of J. R. and Nancy (Houck) Stuart, now of Charles- ton. Mr. and Mrs. Armitage have two children: Donnally Stuart, who was born August 19, 1897; and Florence Mae, who was born May 26, 1901. They are members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Armitage votes with the Republican party but takes no very active interest in politics. He is a representative business man and a reputable and useful citizen.

J. WILLIAM LEMON, a prosperous farmer of Union district, Kanawha county, W. Va., where he owns 140 acres of fine land situated eleven miles northwest of Charleston, was born in Monroe county, Va., November 9, 1862, in the year preced- ing the admission of West Virginia, in which state he has spent his life. He is a

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son of J. S. Lemon and a grandson of Peter Lemon.

J. S. Lemon was born in Virginia, March 9, 1834, and attended school in Monroe county, after which he learned the shoe- making trade and followed the same in Monroe county until the close of the Civil War, when he moved to Kanawha county, where he settled for seventeen years. From there he moved then to Fayette county and engaged in farming, having acquired 30 acres of land, and became a man of am- ple fortune through his agricultural opera- tions. In his younger years he was of ro- bust constitution but his health has not been as satisfactory for the past few years. Shortly after the termination of the Civil War he became associated as a traveling minister of the Methodist church, South, but is now superannuated. He is well known and kindly remembered all through Kanawha county. He is a Democrat in politics and at one time served as constable of Union district. Mr. Lemon is identified with the Masonic fraternity.

J. S. Lemon was married at Flat Rock, Monroe county, Va., to Miss Margaret Jane Finton, a native of Ohio and a daugh- ter of John Finton. Seven children were born to them, namely: Margaret, who is the wife of J. T. Lanham, of Putnam county, W. Va .; John A., who resides at Charleston, married Susan Asbury; Mary Susan, who is the wife of W. C. Scidmore, residing in Fayette county; Harriet Ann, who died when aged eighteen months; J. William; Virginia Caroline, who is the wife of J. B. Haynes, residing in Fayette county ; and Alfred B., who died in infancy. The mother of the above family died in Fayette county at the age of seventy-six years.

J. William Lemon attended school in Kanawha county until he was eighteen years of age, after which he devoted himself to farming and after his marriage, for twelve years carried on farming and work- ing in the timber, in Fayette county. From there he moved into Putnam county and resided there for seven yars, during which time he was engaged in mining as well as

farming, and then came to his present place in Union district, Kanawha county. He subsequently made many improvements, remodeling the old buildings and erecting new ones and has his property in excellent shape. He carries on general farming and dairying. He is a member and a stock- holder and was formerly president of the Fairview Telephone Company of Union district and Putnam county.

Mr. Lemon was married September 24, 1884, to Miss Willie E. Haynes, who was born in Fayette county, W. Va., January 27, 1866, a daughter of A. J. Haynes and wife, the former of whom was born in Fay- ette county, and the latter near Urbana, O., July 19, 1825. To Mr. and Mrs. Lemon the following children were born: Clyde L., who married Iva Odell, of Nicholas county, and has one son, Kenneth Olin; Emery O., who married Nannie J. Dooley, af Nicholas county, and has two children-James Kermit and Nell; Icy M., who is the wife of K. J. Odell, of Nicholas county, W. Va .; Margaret T., who died at the age of fifteen months; Ida S., James A. and Effie J., all of whom are promising students in the Union district schools; Fletcher A., Eugene L .; and Hugh I., who died when aged seven weeks.

In his political views, Mr. Lemon has always been active in support of the prin- ciples of the Democratic party. On the Democratic ticket in 1908 he was elected a member of the board of education in Union district and served with faithful attention to duty for a period of four years .. With his wife he is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, South, in which he is one of the stewards. He is identified fraternally with the Knights of Pythias at Raymond City, W. Va. The family is one that is held in high regard in Union district.

GEORGE S. COUCH, JR., a well known citizen of Charleston and a prominent mem- ber of the Kanawha county bar, was born in this city July 31, 1880, a son of George S. and Laura (McMaster) Couch. He is a descendant of Samuel Couch, born Septem-

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ber 16, 1752, probably in Pennsylvania and who at an early day was engaged in tilling land that is now the site of West Philadel- phia. This early ancestor of our subject purchased several thousand acres of land in Goochland county, Va., where he settled in 1777. At that time he was a large slave holder, but subsequently becoming a Quaker, he liberated all his slaves. He married in the old Swedish church at Phil- adelphia, Ann Quig, who was born at Mt. Holly, N. J., in October, 1854. They both died in Virginia-possibly in Hanover county-at an advanced age. Their chil- dren were: Rebecca Webb, who married Anthony Robinson; Daniel, who is next in the present line of descent; and Ann Wool- ston, who married Christopher Anthony of Virginia, who was an eminent lawyer. All the members of this family were of the Quaker faith.

Daniel Couch, son of the above men- tioned Samuel, and great grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Hanover county, Va., April 9, 1782. He there mar- ried Sarah Richardson, who was born June 21, 1782 and who died November 16, 1852. After their marriage they came to what is now Mason county, W. Va., settling on a farm which formed a part of the land granted General Washington for his mili- tary services, and lying along the Kanawha. river. Here Daniel Couch spent the rest of his life engaged in tilling the soil. He was successful in his avocation and became well known along the Kanawha valley. He died on his plantation December 5, 1824.

James Henry Couch, son of Daniel and Sarah Couch, and our subject's paternal grandfather, was born in Hanover county, Virginia, on the old homestead known as "French Hay," August 3, 1821. After com- ing to the Kanawha valley with his father he resided on the farm or plantation in Mason county, becoming a lawyer and a man of great influence in that section. He was a delegate to the secession convention at Richmond in 1861, held to determine the question as to whether or not Virginia should go out of the Union. He was op-

posed to secession, but seeing the tide set- ting strongly in that direction, he withdrew before the vote. He died on his estate, "Longmeadow," where he had spent the last thirty or forty years of his life, No- vember 24, 1899. Few citizens of Kanawha county were better known, none more highly esteemed. In politics he was a staunch Democrat. He had married in Mason county, Helen J. Waggener, who was born July 5, 1825, and who spent her life in that county, passing from life's scenes April 25, 1901. She was a daughter of Col. Andrew Waggener, who was treacherously killed while riding a horse on the highway, just after the battle of Point Pleasant, in the Civil War. Her mother, whose maiden name was Attara Bell, survived her hus- band for some years.

James Henry Couch and wife were the parents of a large family of children, of whom there are six still living, as follows : John, a farmer residing in Mason county, who married a Miss Day of that county ; George S., Sr., father of our direct subject ; Charles B., an attorney of Charleston, who married Rachel Brown, of Lewisburg, W. Va.,; Samuel, residing on a farm in Mason · county, who married Sallie Miller; Mar- garet A., wife of Edward M. Craig, a book- keeper residing in Charleston, and whose children are Edward M. J. and Helen Couch Craig; and Frederick A., a dentist practicing his profession in Raleigh county, W. Va., who is married and has a family.

George S. Couch, Sr., was born on the family estate in Mason county, then Vir- ginia, January 1, 1852. Beginning his edu- cation in his native county, he later gradu- ated from the college at Marietta, O. Sub- sequently taking up his residence in Charleston, he was admitted to the bar and has since earned a reputation as an able lawyer. He first formed a partnership with Charles Hedrick, this firm was later dis- solved and he then became the partner with Edward B. Knight, and for some twelve or fifteen years thereafter the firm of Knight & Couch was recognized as the leading law firm of the city. After the death of Mr.

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Knight, Mr. Couch retired for a time from the practice of his profession, but later formed the firm of Couch, Flournoy & Price, which did a good law business for some years. Mr. Couch then-in 1905- retired permanently from law practice, and is now exclusively interested in his fine stock-farm and plantation that has come down to him from his father. He was the organizer and up to the time of his retire- ment from business the president of the Kanawha National Bank. He is a Demo- crat, but has always avoided active partici- pation in politics. His religious affiliations are with the Presbyterian church.

George S. Couch, Sr., was married in Marietta, Ohio, to Laura McMaster, who was born in New York state of Scotch an- cestry, and daughter of the Rev. James W. and Mary (Baker) McMaster. Her father, who was a prominent Universalist minister, died on the old Couch home in Mason county in 1910, being then 89 years of age. His wife had preceded him to the grave a few years previously. Mrs. Laura Couch received a careful training and was given a good education by her parents. She is a member of the Kanawha Presbyterian church. She and her husband have been the parents of three children, namely : George S., Jr., whose name appears at the head of this sketch; Mary McMaster, who was educated in the Peebles-Thompson school in New York city, is the wife of Dr. H. H. Young, of Charleston, and has two children - Mazie Hopple and William George; and Lucy Richardson, New York, is the wife of Henry Edmondson Payne, vice-president of the Payne Shoe Company, and has a son, Henry E., Jr.

George S. Couch, Jr., was born in Charleston, W. Va., July 31, 1880, as al- ready noted, and began his literary educa- tion in the city schools. He subsequently attended a school at Lawrenceville, N. J., and after graduating there, entered Prince- ton university, from which he was gradu- ated in the class of 1903. He then began the study of law at he University of Vir- ginia and after duly qualifying himself, was

admitted to the bar in 1905. He is now a member of the firm of Brown, Jackson & Knight, which handles a large amount of important litigation. In this conection Mr. Couch has proved himself to have a firm grasp of his profession, and as he is a young man of energy, ability and ambition, doubt- less the future has much in store for him. He is well advanced in Masonry, belonging to the various branches of the order, in- cluding Beni-Keedem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. In politics he is a Democrat.

Mr. Couch was married December 15, 1909, in Charleston to Miss Keith Fontaine, who was born in this city, March 18, 1884 and was here reared and educated. Her father was Major Peter Fontaine, who mar- ried Mrs. Lydia Laidley, nee Whittaker. Both are now deceased. By her first mar- riage Mrs. Lydia Fontaine had children. Her first husband, Capt. Richard Q. Laid- ley served bravely in the Confederate army as captain of Kanawha Riflemen, 22d Vir- ginia Regiment. Of the marriage of our subject and wife there are no children.

ROBERT SCOTT SPILMAN, a promi- nent attorney of Charlston, a member of the well known law firm of Price, Smith, Spilman & Clay, was born at Warrenton, Fauquier county, Virginia, March 22, 1876. His father was William Mason Spilman, son of John A. Spilman and Susan Rogers, his wife, of Warrenton; and his mother Hen- ningham Lyons Scott, a daughter of Rob- ert E. Scott, of Oakwood, near Warrenton, and Henningham Lyons, his third wife.

Both the Spilman and Scott families set- tled at an early time in the fertile Piedmont section of Virginia, among the eastern foot- hills of the Blue Ridge, and both took a lively interest in the affairs of their county and state, furnishing a number of county officers, judges, and representatives of Fau- quier county in the legislatures of Virginia, in ante-bellum days, as well as in more re- cent years. Robert E. Scott, Mr. Spilman's grandfather on the maternal side, was one of the leading Virginia lawyers of his day. In politics he was an old line Whig. Like

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most of the residents of this section of Vir- ginia, he was opposed to secession until he conceived Virginia had been practically forced out of the Union. He took a promi- nent part in the Virginia legislature which passed the ordinance of secession. A few years later, during the Civil War, he was killed, near his home at "Oakwood," while engaged with other gentlemen of the neigh- borhood in attempting to capture two ma- rauders who had straggled from the Fed- eral army and were terrorizing a commun- ity left defenseless by the enlistment of all its men of military age in the Confederate armies.

John A. Spilman was a successful mer- chant and business man of Warrenton, liv- ing at his home, "Conway Grove," on the outskirts of this hospitable old Virginia town until the time of his death in the eighth decade of the last century.

William Mason Spilman, his eldest son, and father of Robert S. Spilman, was one of the many gallant soldiers which Fau- quier county furnished to the Confederacy. After several vain attempts he enlisted at . the age of fifteen in the Warrenton Rifles, . commanded by Capt. John Quincy Marr. He was shot thorugh the face and desper- ately wounded at Williamsburg. After re- covering, he joined the cavalry and served for a time as a scout under Col. John S. Mosby, and later with the famous Black Horse Troop, until the close of the war. After the war he engaged in business at Warrenton, and subsequently in enter- prises that took him to Mexico and South America. While in the latter country he contracted a fever from the effects of which he died at Warrenton, December 18, 1897. He was survived by his widow, now living at Richmond, Va., and four children, namely: Robert S., of Charleston, W. Va .; John A., a constructor in the United States navy; Henningham L., widow of Otto T. Hess, now living in Richmond; and Sue Conway, wife of David L. Leake, of Rich- mond.

Robert S. Spilman, who was the eldest child of his parents, was educated in the

public and preparatory schools of Warren- ton, the Virginia Military Institute, and the University of Virginia. After graduating from the Virginia Military Institute in 1896, he was comandant of cadets for a year in the Sewanee grammar school, a branch of the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tenn. For two years thereafter he was an assistant professor in the depart- ment of modern languages, in the Virginia Military Institute, at Lexington. He stud- ied law at the university of Virginia in 1899 and 1900, and comemnced the practice of the law in the summer of 1900 in the office of Flournoy, Price & Smith, at Charleston. After the death of Mr. S. L. Flournoy of that firm, he became a member of the law firm of Price, Smith, Spilman & Clay, with which he is still connected.

Mr. Spilman was married in April. 1907 to Miss Eliza Polk Dillon, daughter of the late Col. Edward Dillon, of Indian Rock, Va., by whom he has three children-Rob- ert S., Jr., Frances, and Edward Dillon.

WILLIAM TAYLOR THAYER, deceased, who, for many years was identified with inter- ests of the greatest importance, coal and iron, in West Virginia, was a lifelong resident of Charleston, where he was born in 1831, and died May 5, 1901. His father was Job E. Thayer, who was born in Braintree, Mass., and a son of Abel Thayer, of old Colonial Puritan stock and who commanded a company of "Minute Men" at the Battle of Lexington, in 1775. Job E. Thayer was the contractor for the Croton waterworks system for New York city, and in that work lost his fortune; to re- pair this disaster he turned his attention to an entirely different section and came to Virginia. locating on French creek, Upshur county, and later in Kanawha county.

Fannie Taylor, the wife of Job E. Thayer, of Braintree, Mass., was a woman of strong char- acter and was the first highly educated woman west of the Allegheny mountains; she also taught the first school west of the Alleghenies.

William T. Thayer was one of the active men of Kanawha county and was exceedingly suc- cessful in all of his undertakings. In associa-

WILLIAM T. THAYER

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tion with his brother Otis A. Thayer, he dis- covered, owned and operated coal mines and to such an extent that both realized fortunes of large proportions. The New River coal mines owned by them and by their heirs, are still sources of wealth. He was a man of sterling worth in every relation of life, a broad-minded and far-seeing citizen when he turned his atten- tion to public affairs. He served in the Con- federate army during the Civil War, as a mem- ber of the "Kanawha Riflemen," but, when his duty had been performed, gladly returned to a life of peace. .

He was notably charitable and gave generous support to the First Presbyterian church, of which he was an active member.

Mr. Thayer was married December 17, 1863, at Maysville, Ky., to Miss Ann Eliza Atkinson, who was born at St. Louis, Mo., a daughter of John Cape and Susan Bright (Fleming) Atkinson, names very familiar both in Kentucky and Missouri in connection with both business and professional life. John Cape Atkinson, father of Mrs. Thayer, was born in Lexington, Ky., in 1812, and died in Fort Smith, Ark., in 1871. He was a Southern cot- ton planter, owning many slaves. He belonged to a family in which all the sons and daughters were given college educations. The mother of Mrs. Thayer was born in Lexington, Ky., in 1816, and died in Fort Smith, Ark., in 1891. She was a member of the famous Fleming fam- ily, owning cotton plantations and large num- bers of slaves. The Fleming ancestral record has been preserved unbroken clear back to Lord Fleming, uncle of Mary, the unhappy Queen of Scots. Mrs. Thayer was carefully educated and is a lady of very agreeable presence and en- tertaining conversation. To Mr. and Mrs. Thayer three children were born: William Taylor, Mary Atkinson and John Atkinson. William Taylor Thayer, Jr., was born in Charleston, August 19, 1866, educated at Pur- due University, Lafayette, Ind., and is a promi- nent business man of this city. He married Mrs. Jessie (Kay) Beckley, daughter of James Kay. Mary Atkinson is the wife of Sidney Arthur, an attorney at law, and the only son of Judge William E. Arthur, of Covington, Ky. John Atkinson who is an attorney in Charles-

ton, was educated at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania and Harvard University, and was an officer in the Spanish-American War. For four years he served with the rank of Cap- tain on the personal staff of ex-Governor Mac- Corkle. Later he served as a delegate in the West Virginia Legislature. He married Katharine, daughter of Joseph W. Reinhart, late president of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad, and Lizzie Allison, of Pittsburgh, Pa. They have two children : Mary Elizabeth, born November 5, 1902, and Josephine Rein- hart, born January 7, 1904. Mrs. Thayer and family are prominent in the social life of the city.

WILLIAM MAIRS, M.D., a retired physician and a former member of the West Virginia state legislature, has long been one of the prominent men of Union district, Kanawha county, W. Va. He was born April 3, 1827, in Jefferson county, Pa., at- tended school in Jackson county, Va., and secured his medical education in a medical school at Cincinnati.

Dr. Mairs began practice at Ripley, in Jackson county, now West Virginia, where he continued for two years and then came to Pocotaligo, Poca district, Kanawha county, and here has been the field of his professional labors. Dr. Mairs is known all over the county both as a physician and also as a public man. For a number of years he served as a justice of the peace and twice he was honored by his fellow citizens by election to the state legislature. Dr. Mairs has a farm of 300 acres in Poca district, but since the death of his wife has resided with one of his daughters, Mrs. J. E. Layne, on a farm of thirty-seven and one-half acres, situated in Union district, eleven miles north of Charleston.

Dr. Mairs was married October 17, 1850, to Miss Martha Aultz, who was born No- vember 2, 1829, and died May 28. 1874. She was a daughter of Adam and Martha Aultz, belonging to a fine old family of this section. The following children were born to this marriage : J. B., the eldest, was born June 25, 1851, and is a farmer on 251 acres,

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situated twelve miles north of Charleston; Martha Ann, who was born February 21, 1853, is the wife of Leftrich Milam, of Poca district, and they have six children -- Ben- jamin, Minnie, Claude, Pearl, Verna and Carter; Adam T., who was born February 14, 1855, is a physician at Charleston, mar- ried Louisa Gibson, and they have three children, the eldest being a physician-Att- lee, Tressa and Bessie; W. B., who was born March I, 1857, resides in Poca district and married Virginia Morgan; Melissa J., who was born April 2, 1859, is the wife of J. E. Layne, of Union district; Mark W .. who was born September 8, 1861, resides in Iowa and married Josie Richey ; H. C., who died in infancy; John W., who was born March 5, 1865, resides at Charleston, mar- ried Laura Marley and they have one child, Mildred Joyce; Mary Minerva, who was born July 22, 1867, married first, Samuel Rust, who left three children, and married secondly, Andrew McClanahan ; and James D., who was born January 2, 1870. The last mentioned left home at the age of twenty- one years for the far West and has never returned, but after being absent eighteen years, they had a letter from him, a few weeks ago, informing them that he is now in Illinois. Dr. Mairs is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church as was also Mrs. Mairs. In politics he has been active in the Republican party and has exerted a wide influence.

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History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 68

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