History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 87

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 87

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M. M. Robertson married Miss Chloe Gil- bert. a daughter of John C. and Elizabeth ( Gibbons) Gilbert, of Jarrett's Ford, Ka- nawha county, in 1894, and they have two children: Stacy, Alberta and Okey B., aged fifteen and thirteen years respectively. M. M. Robertson is an Odd Fellow.

C. M. TUDOR*, a prominent citizen of Loudon distrist, Kanawha county, W. Va., re- siding two miles south of Charleston, was born in Mason county, Ky., near Maysville, Feb- ruary 12, 1845, and is a son of Thomas and Caroline (White) Tudor.

Thomas Tudor who was born in Africa, came to the United States in early manhood and spent his entire life in Kentucky, where he died at the age of eighty-seven years. He was a tinner by trade. He married Caroline White, who was born at Troy, N. Y., and they had seven children: C. M., Leonora, who died in 1901; Thomas, who is deceased; Thomas (2d) ; and William, Edward and Robert.

C. M. Tudor was educated partly in private and partly in the district schools in Kentucky. He afterward worked as a shoemaker for a number of years and then moved to his present farm of twenty acres, which is operated by his son. In politics, a Republican, he is also a

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public official, being overseer of the poor of Loudon District and sealer of weights and measures for Kanawha county.

Mr. Tudor married Miss America J. Burgess, of Maysville, Ky., and they have four chil- dren: Charles T., who is the home farmer; Addie, who is a public school teacher; Anna, who married Lucien Haws, and has one son, Frank; and William, who is a stenographer in the employ of the Standard Oil Company.

HON. ALBERT M. HOWERY, secretary of the East Bank Mining Company, at East Bank, Kanawha county, W. Va., of which he was one of the organizers, is a representative and enterprising business man of Cabin creek district and East Bank, and in 1908 he served as mayor of his city. He was born December 16, 1872, at Coalburg, Kanawha county, W. Va., and is a son of Charles D. and Mahala (Holden) Howery.

Charles D. Howery was born in Pennsylvania and was reared at Philadelphia and engaged in clerking there prior to the Civil war, during which period he served in the capacity of cook in the Confederate army. After its close he settled in Kanawha county and went into the salt industry near Malden and afterward came to Coalburg and found work in the coal mines. He was married there in 1870 and four years later moved to East Bank, where he opened a general store, an enterprise he continued until his death on July 5, 1906, he being then aged sixty-three years. In 1870 he married Mahala Holden, who was born in Mercer county, W. Va., and died in 1895, aged forty-nine years. Their children were Albert M., Sidney L .. Hol- ley, C. Harry and Myrtle. Holley was drowned at the age of seven years.

A. M. Howery attended the public schools of Coalburg, worked as a clerk for his father and also in the office of the K. & M. railroad at Cedar Grove, and then took a business course in a commercial college in Kentucky where he was graduated in 1895. He resumed work in his father's store and also was again with the above railroad, in the office at Dickin- son, but in 1908 became one of the promoters and organizers of the East Bank Mining Com- pany. This company operates with a capital of

$10,000, and its officers are all well known business men of this section; Edward Clark, president ; P. S. Banister, vice-president ; S. I. Johnson, treasurer ; and A. M. Howery, secre- tary, while W. J. Sigman is also one of the di- rectors. Employment is given twenty men. In December, 1896, Mr. Howery was mar- ried to Miss May Banister, a daughter of P. S. and Ella (Mankin) Banister, and they have one son, Frank B. Mr. and Mrs. Howery suffered the loss of their residence in February, 1909, by a fire, but they have rebuilt and have a handsome dwelling. In politics Mr. Howery is a Democrat and is more or less active in local politics. He is identified with the Im- proved order of Red Men at East Bank and is secretary of the local body.

ADAM H. CONKER, senior member of the firm of Conker & Guill, who conduct a planing- mill and do a large lumber business on Watts street, West Charleston, W. Va., was born in the town of Ripley, Jackson county, Va., April II, 1849, and is a son of Jonathan and Lydia C. (Cunningham) Conker.

Jonathan Conker was born in Pennsylvania and was a son of John Conker, who was an only son of a Revolutionary soldier who lost his life at Yorktown. When nineteen years of age, John Conker settled in Pennsylvania but late in life moved to Jackson county, O., where he died in his eighty-seventh year. In many ways he is recalled as a remarkable man, having retained his strength and energy into advanced age and at the time of death had few gray hairs. He married a Miss Schwaub, a daughter of a Hessian soldier who had been captured by Washington's troops and later was paroled and settled on a tract of land given him by the government, in Pennsylvania. Prior to the early manhood of Jonathan Conker, the family name had been spelled Conger, but Jonathan had an English employer with whom he was long associated and this employer in- sisted on the latter spelling and it has been accepted by this branch of the family. In Jackson county, W. Va., as at present, Jonathan Conker met and married Lydia Cunningham, who was born and reared on the south branch of the Potomac river, a daughter of William

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HISTORY OF KANAWHA COUNTY

Cunningham. Jonathan Conker was a lumber- man and he erected the first sawmill with a circular saw equipment in what was then all Virginia. He remained in Jackson county, peacefully and successfully carrying on his lum- ber business until the outbreak of the Civil War, when, on account of his strong Union sen- timents, he decided to move into a northern state. Hence, he disposed of his affairs in Jackson county and moved to Meigs county, O., but later in life came to West Virginia, and his death occurred at Raymond city, Putnam county, at the age of fifty-eight years. His widow survived him for many years, her death occurring at Charleston, December 25, 1908, when aged about eighty-nine years. She had been reared a Presbyterian but he was a mem- ber of the Lutheran church. Before the Civil War he was captain of a company of local mi- litia. In every way he was a man far beyond the ordinary and was beloved by his family and respected by his business associates. Twelve children were born to Jonathan and Lydia Con- ker and of this large family there are five sons and one daughter yet living. Of these Adam H. is the eldest. Two brothers, Charles and Edward are general contractors at Charleston, while Robert, the fourth brother, is a carpen- ter, and William is a clothing salesman. The one surviving sister is Mrs. Alexander Turley, also of Charleston.

Adam H. Conker started into the lumber business with his father when little more than a boy and has continued to be interested along this line ever since. He accompanied the fam- ily to Ohio in 1861 and attended school in Meigs county. About 1900, Mr. Conker be- gan in the lumber business at Charleston, in a small way, later associating John H. Guill with him, when the firm became as at present, Con- ker & Guill. For three years the firm operated a rim-bending plant, but in 1910 they enlarged the scope and volume of their business, erecting a sawmill and planing mill. They are heavy dealers in hickory and white oak lumber, excel- lent wagon supply stock, and take the raw ma- terial and convert it into all kinds of wagon- making products. It is rare that any firm do- ing so large a business as this one, carries it on on a strictly cash basis, but for the past fifteen

years that has been its policy and it has proved eminently satisfactory to all concerned. The standing of the firm is very high and there is scarcely any limit to its credit if it should ever ask for it.

Mr. Conker was married in Jackson county, IV. Va., to Miss Margaret Hughes, a daugh- ter of John and Mary (Rhodes) Hughes, the former of whom died when she was young and the latter, who survives, living with a son in Logan county, W. Va. Mr. and Mrs. Conker have had two children: Henry K., who was born in 1877, died in 1906; and Inez, who was born in 1879, and resides with her parents, who came to Charleston in 1882, where she was educated. In his views on public questions Mr. Conker is in sympathy with the Socialist party. He is identified with the Odd Fellows.

JOHN W. TAWNEY,* one of the repre- sentative citizens of Big Sandy district, where he owns a productive coal mine and one of the most extensive farms, was born on the old Tawney homestead, December 20, 1872, and is a son of William and Annie (Cox) Tawney.

William Tawney was born in Roane county, Va., and is still living. He married Annie Cox, a daughter of Valentine Cox, who was a soldier in the Civil War, a member of the West Vir- ginia Cavalry. Mr. Cox lived to the age of seventy years and was survived by his widow, Hannah ( Hill) Cox. To William and Annie Tawney, the following children were born: John W., Walter W., Frank S., Charles W., David Luther, Minnie C. and Ocella, who is the wife of B. Taylor, of Porter's Creek. All sur- vive except David Luther.

During boyhood, John W. Tawney attended school but as soon as he was old enough for the hard work, he entered the coal mines and so continued until he was twenty-five years of age. since when he has been engaged in farming and in operating a valuable coal mine on his own large farm. Mr. Tawney is a hard-working, practical man and is known as a very reliable one and did he so desire could undoubtedly be elected to local offices on the Republican ticket.

Mr. Tawney married Miss Addie Patton, who was born in Roanoke county, Va., a daugh- ter of Rev. W. H. and Elizabeth (Deal) Pat-

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ton, and they have an interesting family of six children whose ages range from twelve to two years, namely : Dixie, Pearl, Ethel, Kelly, Ros- coe and Ruth. Mr. and Mrs. Tawney attend the Methodist Episcopal church.

JOHN BANISTER, a property owner at East Bank, W. Va., where he erected his com- fortable residence in 1877 and has lived ever since, for many years was very actively engaged in business in Kanawha county and has a wide acquaintance. He was born at Cedar Grove, Kanawha county, where he is also a property owner, November 9, 1846, and is a son of Robert and Martha (Grinstead) Banister.

Robert Banister was born at Knob Shoals, on the present site of Buffalo, Kanawha county, a son of Bennett Banister. The latter came to this section with his wife from the south branch of the Potomac river and engaged in farming near what is now Buffalo, where he died, leav- ing children: Robert and Sophia were of one marriage and Joseph was of another, all now being deceased. Robert Banister was the youngest of the family. He came to Kanawha County to work as a cooper for the salt manu- facturers and located at first at Burning Springs, near Malden. Later he acquired land at Cedar Grove and there followed farming in addition to working at his trade and when his neighbors spoke of him they attached the word "honest" to his name. He died at Cedar Grove in 1877, at the age of sixty-six years. He mar- ried Martha Grinstead, whose parents, William and Elizabeth Grinstead, brought her in child- hood from Albemarle county, Va., and she sur- vived until 1905, being then aged ninety-one year. To them weer born eight children : Will- iam, who is now deceased, was a member of Co. I, 8th Va. Cav., C. S. A .; Robert F., who was a member of an artillery regiment ; Charles Lewis, who also served in the 8th Va. Cav .; John; Mary, who is the wife of W. J Cald- well; and Preston, Van G. and Victor.

John Banister grew to the age of twenty years on his father's farm and then went to work in the coal mines, where he continued for eight years and then became a producer. He was president of the Cedar Grove Mining Com- pany that opened the Cedar Grove field. In

1887 he retired from the coal business and then took charge of the ferry between Cedar Grove and East Bank, Kanawha River, which is now operated by Victor Banister. In 1877 Mr. Ban- ister built his house at East Bank and moved here in 1878. He belongs to Morning Star Lodge, No. 63, Odd Fellows, and to Kanawha Lodge, No. 16, Knights of Pythias, both at East Bank. He took no very active part in political matters in recent years but is identi- fied with the Republican party.

Mr. Banister was married December 26, 1877, to Miss Maggie Hull, a daughter of John L. Hull, and they have two children: Mary Swan, who is the wife of W. B. Shaver, of East Bank, and they have five children: Mary A., Margaret B., Abraham C., John B. and Wil- helmina; and James Lentz, who resides with his father, is a civil engineer with the Sunday Creek Coal Company. Mr. Banister is a mem- ber of the Missionary Baptist church at East Bank.

CHARLES C. CUNNINGHAM, a well known retired resident of Charleston, W. Va., formerly a stationary engineer, and still earlier identified with life on the river, was born at Spring Hill, in Jefferson district, Kanawha county, W. Va., December 12, 1844, a son of William Harrison Cunningham and a grand- son of William H. Cunningham.

William H. Cunningham, the grandfather, was of Scotch-Irish stock, but he was born in Virginia, was a lawyer by profession and a stone mason by trade and spent the greater part of his life in Kanawha county, his death taking place at Charleston in 1858 when aged eighty years. He married a member of the old Wilson family and they had eight children. One son, William Harrison, was born about 1810, in Malden district, Kanawha county. He learned the mason trade and assisted in the erection of many of the old stone buildings which are county landmarks, including the Lit- tlepage and Goshorn residences. His last years were spent on his farm in Union district. In early life he attended the Presbyterian church but later became a Baptist. During the Civil War he identified himself with the Democratic party. He married Frances Lane, a daughter of William H. and Mary (Mattox) Lane, old

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HISTORY OF KANAWHA COUNTY

residents of Kanawha county. She survived her husband some five years. Her father was a soldier in the War of 1812 and later settled on a farm and after Putnam was separated from Kanawha county, was elected sheriff of the former division. Ten children were born to William Harrison Cunningham and wife, nine of whom grew to maturity, all of whom mar- ried and had issue and the following survive : Charles C .; Philip, who is retired from busi- ness and lives with his family at Charleston ; Thomas, who is also a retired citizen of Charleston; Frances, who resides with her six children on her farm in Union district, and is the widow of Thomas Milan; and Emaline, who is the wife of Kelley Groff, of Charleston.

Charles C. Cunningham was reared in Kan- awha county and attended school through boy- hood, afterward taking farm duties on himself and for some years carried on agricultural op- erations in Union district. In 1874 he came to Charleston and for a number of years was in the river trade, mainly concerned with the tow- ing of vessels. He then became a stationary engineer. In his political views, Mr. Cunning- ham is a Democrat.

Mr. Cunningham was married in Union dis- trict, to Miss Mary E. Lyon, who was born in 1852, in Albemarle county, Va., and was brought to this section when six years old and lived in Kanawha county until her death oc- curred, October 12, 1906. Her parents were James W. and Eliza (Burfet) Lyon and Mrs. Cunningham was the eldest of their family of eight children. Six children were born to Charles C. Cunningham and wife, as follows : Henry Evert, who is a successful business man of Little Rock, Ark., married Grace Bishop and has one son, Howard B .; Edward E., who is a marine engineer, and resides in Charleston ; Charles L., a moulder by trade, who is employed at Charleston, married Ora Burford, and has five children; Emma B., who is a teacher in the public schools and lives at home; James C., a graduate of the Baltimore Medical College. who is a physician at Little Rock, Ark .; and Ada B., who resides at home. The family be- longs to the Calvary Baptist church. Charles- ton.

EDWARD CLARK, president of the East Bank Mining Company and a resident of East Bank, Kanawha county, W. Va., for the past thirty years, was born July 19, 1864, at Cov- ington, Va., and is a son of Patrick and Cath- erine ( Winters) Clark.

Patrick Clark was born in County Galway, Ireland, and came to America in early man- hood, locating at Baltimore, Md., where he en- gaged for a time in merchandising. In 1859 he came from there to Covington, Va., where, during the Civil War, he conducted a store. In 1867 he came to Charleston and became a miner of coal at Snow Hill, moving from there two years later and engaging in mining at Coalburg in Kanawha county. In 1878 he came to East Bank and during his still later years was an active and useful man, being the mail carrier between East Bank and Cedar Grove. His death occurred in 1896, at the age of seventy- three years. He married Catherine Winters, who was a native of Baltimore and her death took place in 1869. after the birth of eight chil- dren, namely : Mary, Susan, Thomas, Cather- ine, John, Michael, Edward and Anna, there being three survivors: Susan, Edward and Anna.

Until he was fourteen years of age, Edward Clark attended school, but was then considered old enough to contribute to his own support and entered the mines at Blackberry, Kanawha county, and he continued in the mining indus- try until he had reached the position of fore- man, working in different mines on the river, including Cedar Grove, Monarch and Belmont. He was one of the organizers of the East Bank Mining Company, in 1909, of which he is mine boss. He is a Democrat in politics. Mr. Clark is one of the leading mine men of this section and is a respected and representative citizen.

McCLUNG BROTHERS & McCLUNG FAMILY .* A Virginia and West Virginia family that has been well known for years in both states and which has numerous members in Kanawha county, many of them being prom- inent in business life, has worthy representa- tives in the four sons of Joseph A. McClung -- Albert J., William, Joseph and Samuel.

JAMES P. CLARK

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Albert J. McClung was born in Putnam County, W. Va., in 1871, and is the eldest son of Joseph A. and Cally (Doyle) McClurg. The father who was born near Blue Sulphur Springs, in Greenbrier county, Va., served in the Confederate army all through the Civil War. He married Cally Doyle, who was born at Malden, now in West Virginia, where her father engaged in manufacturing copper pipe after coming from Marietta, O. She still sur- vives and resides with her sons, but her hus- band died in 1909, at the age of sixty-eight years. Mrs. McClung has two brothers, James and Albert Doyle. Albert was the first cashier in the old Dickinson Bank of Richmond, Va., and James who now lives at Huntington, ran the first foundry at Malden. Five children were born to Joseph A. McClung and wife, the four sons already mentioned and a daughter, Harriet, who met an accidental death in 1878.

Albert J. McClung attended school through boyhood and was reared at Kanawha City where his father owned property. When he entered into business it was as a traveling rep- resentative for a real estate firm. Twelve years ago he leased his present farm from the Kana- wha Land Company-a tract of 200 acres-and here carries on extensive farming operations. He married Dolly Holden, who was born in Georgia, and they have two children: Harriet, who is aged four years, and Lester, who is one year old. Mr. McClung and his three bro- thers all vote the Democratic ticket.

William McClung was born at Malden, Kan- awha county, September 30, 1873. After his school days were over he was engaged in farm- ing on the home place until 1891 and then came to the present farm, on which he built his house and carries on general agriculture. He owns several properties and also leases land. He married Mary B. Hoge, of Winfield. He and wife attend the Presbyterian church.

Joseph McClung was born at Malden, De- cember 28, 1876, and has followed farming all his life. He married Margaret Oakes. All three brothers, with the mother reside together. The family is very well known through this section and is held in very high regard. The brothers are all practical business men and all but Samuel are farmers. He resides at Cedar Grove, Kanawha county.

JAMES PATRICK CLARK, one of the successful business men of Charleston, where, for the past thirty years he has been in the wholesale whiskey business, owns a large amount of valuable property in this city and in other parts of Kanawha county, including his beautiful home at Spring Hill. He was born at Pomeroy, O., April 15, 1860, and is a son of Patrick F. and Margaret (Daley) Clark.

Patrick F. Clark was of Irish ancestry but both he and wife were born in England. His father, Patrick Clark, was accidentally killed in Scotland, and his widow after remarriage came to America and died at Mason City, \V. Va. Patrick F. Clark was in sympathy with the cause of the South during the Civil War and was thrice drafted for service in the Union army, in which his brother, James Clark, was a soldier and lost his life. Patrick F. Clark was a mine expert and was interested in the coal business for some years, but in 1874 em- barked in the mercantile business at Shawnee, O., where his death occurred in August, 1888, at the age of fifty-two years. His first mar- riage was to Margaret Daley, who died when but twenty-three years old, the mother of four children, namely: Mary, wife of John T. Joyce, of Corning, O .; Frank, an electrician, of Shawnee; James Patrick; and Catherine, widow of S. R. Grant, of Shawnee, O. Pat- rick F. Clark married Annie Foster for his second wife and nine children were born to them, as follows: Patrick, Ellen, Michael, Charles. Cecelia, Gertrude, Thomas, John and Emmett.

- James Patrick Clark had but meager school- . ing, being largely self-made and self-educated, having been thrown upon his own resources when a boy. He was nineteen years of age when he crossed the Rocky Mountains as a member of the construction gang engaged in building the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad through the Black Canyon of Colorado, and he remained in the West for a number of years afterward, principally engaged in min- ing, and he continued to be interested along this line after returning to the East, until 1882. In that year he entered into business at Trimble, Athens county, O., two years later removing to Columbus, where he was in

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business for nearly one year and afterward for two years was at Murray City, and for a lit- tle more than one year at Gallipolis, O. In 1890 he came to Charleston and has been in business here for himself for a long period, prior to which he traveled for several leading business concerns. Mr. Clark is a typical American business man, active, alert, quick to see a good business investment and possess- ing the judgment to properly guide him in taking it up, and at the same time he has the pride and public spirit which makes the ideal citizen. He has been a hard and indefatig- able worker all his life and has built up a fortune entirely through his own efforts. Among his many valuable pieces of real estate at Charleston is the Stag Hotel, a hostelry with fifty rooms; his own business quarters, Nos. 24, 26, and 28 Summers street; a drug store on the corner of Smith and Capital streets; the Roth drug store building; one fine residence on Lee street and another on Mc- Corkle Hill, South Side; eight eight-room dwellings; twenty smaller properties, together with many of the vacant lots within the city limits, the value of which for prospective building is daily increasing. On July 22, 1908, he purchased the handsome residence of Capt. James Sintz at Spring Hill, and he and family have resided there ever since.

Mr. Clark was married February 3, 1885, to Miss Margaret Geoghan, of Massillon, O., a daughter of William and Ellen Geoghan, and they have the following children: Mary, who is the wife of Dr. J. P. Kuntz, of Hunt- ington, W. Va .; and Margaret, Leo, Virginia, Joseph Staunton, Julia, Evelyn, James and Agato. The family belongs to the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic church at Charleston. All the children have been given superior edu- cational advantages. Mr. Clark was reared in the Democratic party but his personal atti- tude at present is complete political independ- ence. He exerts a wide influence as an ear- nest, interested and helpful citizen and is one of the ready contributors to all charitable and benevolent movements.

JOHN DAVIDSON, oil operator and for a number of years largely interested in contract-

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History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 87

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