History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 90

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 90

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George Ritter was only a boy when his par- ents moved to Braxton County, and was four- teen years of age when he came to this city, of which he is one of the most venerable residents. Alvin Goshorn having preceded him. He had few advantages of any kind in his youth, be-

yond family affection and the loving teaching of a good, Christian mother, who was a de- voted Methodist, and he had his own way to make in the world. In spite of many disad- vantages, Mr. Ritter became a man of promi- nence in Charleston, interested as he was in all that promised to be of benefit to the city. In 1863 he was elected a justice of the peace, first under the state law and served in this office for four successive terms, at that time the juris- diction of the court being much more extended than at present. He was a member of the city council for two years and of the city school board for two years and at a time when the public had not yet become satisfied concerning taxation for the maintenance of free schools. Mr. Ritter was entirely in favor of this move- ment of educational progress and did all in his power to bring it about. He was elected mayor in 1868 and his administration was so satisfac- tory that he was re-elected in the following year and served out a second term. In his early po- litical life he was a Whig and later became a Republican. In the early days he was a char- ter member of the Charleston lodge of Odd Fellows.

Mr. Ritter was married in 1850, at Charles- ton, to Miss Sophia C. Hatcher, who was born in Virginia, July 15, 1833, a daughter of Ulysses and Catherine (Hensley) Hatcher. Her father died in this city in 1849, of cholera, but her mother survived until she was eighty- two years of age. Mrs. Ritter has one brother, Henry, and one sister, Mrs. Alethia Monroe, both of whom are more than eighty years of age. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ritter. Henry, the eldest son, died at the age of forty-two years. He married Lizzie Robin- son, whom he survived and they had one son, Hugh, who lives at Charleston. Lillian C., the second born, resides with her parents. She was educated at Charleston and for some years was a public school teacher. William Chauncy is a business man in Philadelphia, where he married Ann Green. Lydia M. married W. L. Robinson, of Charleston, and they have two children, J. Emmet and Marjorie R. George C., who is unmarried, resides at Huntington, W. Va. Elsie Cordelia, the youngest of the family, is the wife of William F. Calbreath, who

WILLIAM B. MATHEWS

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was born near Staunton, Augusta County, Va., where he was reared and educated. He is bookkeeper for the Capital City Supply Com- pany of Charleston. The family, as a whole, attend the Kanawha Presbyterian church.

WILLIAM BURDETTE MATHEWS, one of the leading public men of Kanawha county, W. Va., was born August 27, 1866, in Marshall county, W. Va., and is a son of C. C. and Esther J. (Scott) Mathews. The paternal grandfather was James R. Mathews, a son of Thomas Mathews, originally of Queen Anne's county, Md. His paternal grandmother was Martha M. Davis, a daugh- ter of James and Nancy Ann (Parriott) Davis, the latter of whom was a daughter of Christopher Parriott, a Revolutionary War veteran, and his wife, Martha (Clark) Par- riott. His maternal grandparents were John and Margaret (Ingram) Scott, who came to America from County Armagh, Ireland.

After graduating from Waynesburg Col- lege, Waynesburg, Pa., in 1886, William B. Mathews taught school for several years and during this time did considerable law reading, so that when he entered the law department of the Columbian, now the George Washing- ton University, at Washington, D. C., in 1890, he was able to take the LL.B. degree, in 1891, and the LL.M. degree, in 1892. On April 18, 1892, he was admitted to the bar of the Dis- trict of Columbia. For a number of years he was engaged in the practice of law at Wash- ington, after which he returned to Marshall county and opened a law office at Mounds- ville. In 1897 he came to Charleston after being appointed chief clerk in the office of the state auditor, which position he filled through- out the term of Auditor LaFollette, and was reappointed to the same office by the succeed- ing official, Auditor Scherr. Later Mr. Mathews resigned the above position, having been appointed assistant attorney general, un- der Attorney General Freer. When a vacancy was created by the resignation of General J. A. Holley, the record Mr. Mathews had back of him for faithfulness and efficiency, won for him his appointment as clerk of the supreme court of appeals of West Virginia. In every

office of trust and responsibility in which he has had a chance to demonstrate his capacity and fidelity, Mr. Mathews has proved thor- oughly satisfactory. His general efficiency and high personal character have also been recognized by his fellow citizens of Charles- ton, and they have repeatedly urged public office in relation to civic affairs, on his accept- ance. He is a Republican in his political views and has more than once been his party's choice.

Mr. Mathews was married October 25, 1900, to Miss Elizabeth Blundon, a daughter of Rev. Edgar B. Blundon (now deceased) and Sarah Frances (Young) Blundon. She is a descendant of John Young, one of the first settlers of Charleston, W. Va. Mr. and Mrs. Mathews have two daughters, Sarah Esther and Elizabeth. Mr. Mathews is active in the affairs of the Y. M. C. A. and the Methodist Episcopal church and was a lay delegate to the General Conference of that church which was held at Chicago, Ill., in 1900, and also to that held at Los Angeles, Calif., in 1904. He was also appointed a delegate to the Fourth Methodist Ecumenical Conference at Toronto in 19II. He was on the program at the International Epworth League Convention, which was held at San Francisco in 1901. He is prominently identi- fied with the Masons, Elks, and other frater- nities. Mr. Mathews and family reside at No. 1501 Quarrier street, Charleston.

MEREDITH LANDRESS,* one of the best known of the older residents of Elk Dis- trict, owns a farm at White Man's Fork, and previous to his retirement from business, con- ducted a store here. He was born in this county, May 30, 1839, and is a son of Mere- dith and Mary (Johnson) Landress, and a grandson of Meredith Landress, a member of an early Dutch family of this section.

Meredith Landress, father of our subject, was born in what is now Putnam County, W. Va., and during life followed farming. He died shortly after his marriage with Mary Johnson, a daughter of Nicholas and Sarah Johnson, Virginia people. Two children were born to this marriage, a daughter, now de-

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ceased, and a son, who was born after the death of his father. Mrs. Landress subsequently married James Bowen, and two of their five children survive: James, who lives at Charles- ton, and John who is engaged in the real estate business in the same city.

Meredith Landress lived with his maternal grandfather, Nicholas Johnson, on Tyler's Creek, until he was eighteen years of age. In 1862 he enlisted for service in the Civil War, entering Co. E, 13th Va. Infantry, which was first in the command of General Crook and later in that of General Sheridan. He participated in all the battles and marches of his regiment until September 3, 1864, when he received a severe injury from a gunshot. He was honor- ably discharged June 13, 1865, and resumed peaceful pursuits. He engaged at first in farm- ing on Aron's Fork and then bought his pres- ent farm. On this place stood the historic tree under which an Indian and a white man were killed by the rescuers of a boy they had stolen, and this incident gave the name to the place. Mr. Landress can recall many interesting events concerned with this section. He remembers the school he first attended. It was taught by a Mr. Pollock and was in Black Hawk Hollow, now Two-Mile Creek.

Mr. Landress was married first to Mary Ann Bostick, who died in 1909, aged sixty- eight years. She was a daughter of Thomas Bostick. Of their nine children, six are yet liv- ing. For his second wife, Mr. Landress mar- ried Magnolia Holmes, a daughter of Campbell and Letha Ann (Guthrie) Holmes. They died leaving eleven children, Mrs. Landress being then but two years old. She lived with her uncle, Peter Guthrie, until she was ten years of age, and with N. B. Holmes three years more, and after that took care of herself until her marriage, becoming a very capable woman in every way. Mr. and Mrs. Landress are members of the Adventist church.

VAN G. JONES,* postmaster at Island Branch, Poca District, was born on the main Poca river, near the mouth of Goose Creek, in Poca District, September 27, 1870, and is a son of Lewis and a grandson of Samuel Jones.

Samuel Jones came to Kanawha from Gilmer

County, Va., when his son Lewis was a boy, and settled near the mouth of Goose Creek, where he became possessed of six hundred acres of land. He placed a part of his estate under cultivation and spent the remainder of his life there. He married Nancy Parsons and of their seven children, Sarah, the fourth born, is the only survivor, and still lives on the old homestead.

Lewis Jones obtained the education he se- cured, in a subscription school, and in early manhood was married to Julia Canibery, who was born in Boone County, now West Virginia, a daughter of Thompson Canibery, who moved to Kanawha County when she was young. She was one of a family of seventeen children. To Lewis Jones and his wife the following children were born: Frank, who is a resident of Jackson County; Letha, who is the wife of J. W. Cider, living on Elk River; Martha, who is the wife of Robert Thomas, residing in Jackson County; Louisa, who married Clar- ence Covey, and lives in Jackson County ; Van G .; Peter T,, who lives in Kanawha County ; Charles N., whose home is in Indiana; Allen P., who is a farmer in South Dakota; and Lillie, who is the wife of B. S. Ray, and resides in Roane County. After marriage Lewis Jones resided on a tract of twenty and one-half acres of land at the mouth of Goose Creek. He was a man of importance in his neighborhood serv- ing as overseer of the poor for many years and was active in the matter of public improve- ments, working to have new roads opened so that farmers could market their products more advantageously, his own being wool, cattle and sheep, which he sold at Charleston. He was progressive and enterprising and was thought- ful for his family as was evidenced when he bought the second corn planter that was ever brought to this section, he also bought the sec- ond sewing-machine. He is a member of the Adventist church. During the Civil War he was a member of the Home Guards. He died comparatively early, at the age of forty-two years, and his burial was on his brother Sam- uel's land. His widow survives and resides in Poca District.

Van G. Jones attended school at Camp Creek but as his services were needed at home he had

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but meager opportunities, having had but two months of schooling since he was eleven years of age. After marriage he resided in Kana- wha County, Weatherford, Okla., and Lafay- ette, Ind., and then came back to the section in which he was born and located at the mouth of Camp Creek, twenty-six miles north of Charles- ton, where he has thirty-six acres of land. He also operates the farm of his brother, Peter Jones, which contains fifty-six acres and is one mile distant. Mr. Jones is also a practical car- penter. He remembers many changes and im- provements that have taken place in this sec- tion during his life-time and recalls when the only way that a plank could be sawed by the old mills was by the use of a whip saw, with one man above and one below. He is interested in the Farmers' Telephone Company. Always a Republican, he has served in many local of- fices, was trustee of the Board of Education for Poca District for eight successive years, and is now president of the board. He succeeded Samuel Jones as postmaster of the Island Branch office and his duties require that he re- ceive and send out mail one each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

On September 24, 1899, Mr. Jones was mar- ried to Miss Laura Belle Price, who was born October 25, 1878, in Kanawha County, a daughter and the fifth child of John and Annie (Fields) Price, the former of whom is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have four chil- dren: Charles D., R. Frank, Coda Ray and Byron C. The family belongs to the Second Advent church. The first church of this faith in this section was organized by Silas Whitt- ney ; it was located on Island Branch Creek and was called the Island Branch Organization.

CHARLES CAPITO, president of the Kanawha National Bank, at Charleston, W. Va., and identified with many other important business interests of this city and vicinity, has been a resident for almost a half century. He was born November I, 1849, at Pittsburg, Pa., and is a son of Godfrey and Catherine (Mil- ler) Capito. Godfrey Capito was a native of Germany. In 1856 he moved with his family to Mason City, W. Va., where he was a well known business man for many years, first fol-

lowing the blacksmith trade and later engaging in the brewing business.

Charles Capito was seven years old when the family settled in Mason City and there he was reared and given school advantages which were later supplemented by six years of study in Concordia College, at Fort Wayne, Ind. Mr. Capito then returned to Mason City where he continued in business until 1872, first as a druggist and later as a grocer, and then came to Charleston, where he has resided ever since. For eleven years Mr. Capito conducted a fancy grocery and vegetable market at Charleston, after which he went into the wholesale liquor business, from which he retired in 1905. In later years he became identified with the city's banking interests, and since September 1, 1910, has been president of the Kanawha National Bank, of which he is also a director. He has been officially connected with other large enter- prises, being especially prominent in the Kana- wha Valley Building and Loan Association. He has ever been an active and useful citizen and energetic business man, and the material success which he has fairly earned is alike beneficial to himself and to the city in which he has lived so long. For eleven years Mr. Capito has been president of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce, a fair indication of the confi- dence placed in his judgment and business in- tegrity by his commercial associates.

Charles Capito was married in 1877 to Miss Sophia Bentz, and they have had four children : Gustave, a physician at Charleston; Bertha; Henry, and Kate, who died aged twenty-two years. Henry Capito is also prominent in the business affairs at Charleston, and is superin- tendent of the Diamond Ice and Coal Company. The Capito home is one of the city's beautiful residences and is located at No. 1605 Virginia avenue, Charleston. Mr. Capito was identified with the Democratic party until 1893, since when he has been a Republican. He is a mem- ber of the Lutheran church at Charleston.

HENRY W. SENTZ, general manager of the Charleston Milling and Produce Company, of Charleston, W. Va., with which important enterprise he has been thus connected since its organization, was born in Kanawha County,

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W. Va., forty-four years ago, and is a son of John W. and Sarah A. ( Rhodes) Sentz.

The parents of Mr. Sentz were born in Vir- ginia and were married in Kanawha County. In his earlier manhood, John W. Sentz was a drug clerk for some years and later was con- nected with salt manufacturing with Rev. Stew- art Robertson. Some years later Mr. Sentz was elected sheriff of Kanawha County, and served in that office for two terms, and subse- quently was elected president of the board of county commissioners, and at times was a use- ful member of the Charleston city council. He died at Charleston in 1887, at the age of fifty four years. He was a member of the Kanawha Presbyterian church. His widow survives, sub- sequently becoming the wife of C. G. Fell, late of Marietta, O. To the parents of Mr. Sentz nine children were born, six sons and three daughters, all of whom grew to maturity, all survive and all but one have domestic ties of their own.

Henry W. Sentz was reared and educated in his native county and at the age of nineteen years became connected with the firm of Lewis, Hubbard & Co., and was commercial man for the firm for a number of years, having the line represented in the milling and produce depart- ment. He thus was well qualified to assume the duties of his present position. The Charles- ton Milling and Produce Company was incor- porated in 1902 with R. G. Hubbard as presi- dent; F. W. Abney, as vice president; and H. R. Hartman as secretary and treasurer. They are manufacturers and dealers in all kinds of milling products, and in grain, hay and produce of all kinds. The large main building occupied is 100 x 100 feet in dimensions, with wings with engine room and warehouse 120 x 80 feet, with other structures including a cooper shop, blacksmith shop and stables, all of brick con- struction, four stories in height, and is located on a spur of the K. & M. and C. & O. rialroads. The firm keeps ten salesmen on the road and there are sixty names on the pay roll.

Mr. Sentz was married at Charleston to Miss Hope Reid, who was born at Charlotte- town, Prince Edward Island, Canada, a daugh- ter of J. H. Reid. The latter was also born in Prince Edward Island, but is now a resident of

southern California, where he is an active busi- ness man. His wife was of English birth and died on Prince Edward Island. Mrs. Sentz was educated in a convent at Montreal, Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Sentz have one daughter, Muriel Hope, a bright student of twelve years, in the Charleston schools. Mrs. Sentz is a member of the Episcopal church. Politically he is a Re- publican, and he is a very active member of the Charleston Board of Trade.

WILLIS BURDETT,* one of Elk District's well known citizens, a retired farmer, is a mem- ber of one of the first pioneer families to settle on Cooper's Creek, in Kanawha County, W. Va. He was born on the old homestead, June 6, 1840, and is a son of William and Sarah (Young) Burdett.

William Burdett was born in Greenbrier County, Va., and in 1838 was brought to Kana- wha County by his parents. His father owned what is now known as the Vinton Jordan farm, and that was the first home of the Burdett fam- ily in this county. William Burdett married Sarah Young, a daughter of Charles Young, a very early settler also in Elk District. She sur- vived until 1890, dying in her seventy-seventh year.

After the death of his father, in 1863, Willis Burdett purchased the family estate, paying all the other heirs, and remained on the homestead until 1887, when he traded the homestead and moved to Charlestion. For three years he was in the United States mail service, and then moved to Link Creek, and from there to Four- Mile Creek, and afterward lived for fourteen years at Wolf Pen, on February 22, 1909, com- ing to his present place on Cooper's Creek. Mr. Burdett is a Republican in his political sentiments, and never fails to cast his vote, but he has been willing to accept no offices. His business was farming all through his years of active life.

On July 17, 1859, Willis Burdett was mar- ried to Miss Melinda Jones, who was born May 30, 1840, in Poca District, Kanawha County, a daughter of Thomas and Susanna (Schafer) Jones, the former of whom was born in Alle- gheny County, Pa. He accompanied his par- ents, Moses and Sarah (Brown) Jones, to

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Roane County, Va., and later came to Kana- wha County and died in 1866, in Poca District, aged fifty-four years. His widow, Susanna Jones, daughter of John and Mary (Parsons) Schafer, died March 3, 1906, aged eighty-seven years. To Mr. and Mrs. Burdett ten children were born and they have many grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, a large and pros- perous family. Miles Burdett, the eldest, lives in Raleigh County, W. Va. He married Alice Moles and they have one child. Amanda is the wife of J. Medley and they live on Lick Branch and have eight children. Albert follows farm- ing. He married Minnie Miller, who is deceased and has one child. Sarah is the wife of George Baxter, a farmer, and they have six children. Thomas is deceased. James S., who lives in Kanawha City, married Freda Mace and they have two children. Henry C., who lives at One-Mile Fork, married Nancy Davis, and they have four children. Harry M., who lives at One-Mile Fork, married Annie Thiel, and they have two children. Frank, who is a farmer on the above Fork, married Mamie Thiel, and they have two children. Fred L., the youngest son, is his father's farmer. He was born on the old homestead, February 2, 1882. He married Eliza Eden, who was born May 21, 1893, on Wolf Pen Creek, a daughter of Benjamin J. and Mary Jane (Copen) Eden, and they have one son, Thomas Felix. Mr. Burdett and family are members of the Ad- ventist church.

PERRY M. PRICE, who was engaged in the mercantile and real estate business at Charlestion, W. Va., for many years, and is well and favorably known all over Kanawha County, now lives retired, occupying his com- fortable residence located on Price street, West Charleston, the same having been named in his honor. Mr. Price was born November 14, 1850, in Greenbrier County, Va., a son of John and also a grandson of John Price, both of whom were natives of Greenbrier County.

The Price family is of Irish-German de- scent, and the name has been an honored one in Virginia for generations. Grandfather John Price was twice married and the son, John Price, Jr., was born to the first marriage.

He was reared on his father's farm and re- mained there until 1865. In the meanwhile his two half-brothers, Jesse and Patrick Price, had both died of illness contracted while serving as soldiers in the Confederate army. In the above year, John Price, Jr., came to Kanawha County, and became a farmer in Union Dis- trict for a time and then moved to Spring Hill, Jefferson District, and from there to Ferry Branch, later lived on Blue Creek, and finally purchased the old Atkinson homestead on Elk river, where he was residing at the time of his death, on January 31, 1897, when aged eighty- three years and eleven months. He was a Re- publican in his political views and served for a protracted period as a justice of the peace. For many years he was an official in the Missionary Baptist church and officiated as superintendent of the Sunday-school. He was a man of cor- rectness of life, of kind and gentle demeanor and one whose influence could never have been otherwise than beneficial. He married Cather- ine Judy, who was born August 8, 1823, in Greenbrier County. Mrs. Price not only sur- vives but presents a beautiful picture of con- tented womanhood as she quietly goes about her accustomed domestic duties in the old home, her retention of all her faculties being as re- markable as the preservation of her physical powers. She is the mother of eight sons and two daughters, all of whom survive with two exceptions. Lizzie died in childhood. William died when aged forty-three years, from acci- dent. James H., resides with his own family at Cincinnati, O. Jacob T. is a resident of Kanawha County. Perry M. is the third child living. John C. lives with his venerable mother on the homestead. Susan C. is the wife of Daniel A. Moore, a farmer and merchant in Jefferson District, and they have one son. George F., Thomas D. and Elmer E., all reside in Kanawha County.

Perry M. Price was fourteen years of age when his parents came to Kanawha County, where he grew to manhood and in 1892 came Charleston. For some years he was a clerk in a store and then embarked in the grocery trade for himself and continued a successful business man until he retired from that line in 1906, since when he has devoted himself exclusively

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to looking after his property interests. For a number of years he has been concerned with the development of West Charleston or Elk City and owns a large amount of valuable real estate.

Mr. Price was married in Kanawha County to Miss Mattie R. Mayes, who was born Janu- ary 27, 1843, in Washington District, Kana- wha County, and was reared and educated at Charleston. Her parents were Ezekiel and Malinda (Gillespie) Mayes, the former of whom died at the age of sixty-three years, and the latter when in her eighty-fourth year. The father of Mrs. Price was a Democrat in politics and both he and wife belonged to the old- school Baptist church.' Three of their children are deceased : Alfred, Emma and Catherine. The following survive: Mary, who is the widow of Samuel Gilliland, and has one son; B. Franklin, who is a merchant at Charleston; Fannie J., who is the widow of Thomas Rob- erts, and has one son; Mrs. Price; Ella, who is the wife of Charles Walton, of Detroit, Mich .; Robert, who resides with his family at Okla- homa City, Okla; and Laura B., who is the wife of Henry E. Wintz, of Charleston, and they have two sons. In politics Mr. Price is a Republican, but he has never been unduly inter- ested in public affairs. With his wife he be- longs to the Missionary Baptist church.

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History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 90

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