History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 107

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > West Virginia > History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2 > Part 107

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).

HarryShows.

323

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

W.roo County. Thomas Irons, the father of John Irons, wt born near Dundee, Scotland, but in early life went to Nithern Ireland to escape religious persecution, thence migrated to America. He first settled in Pennsylvania, nwhat is now Monroe County, West Virginia, where he place he came to Virginia and became a pioneer settler aed the remainder of his life.

illiam Young Irons was born in Monroe County nn Feruary 19, 1841, and died at Roneeverte, Greenbrier Xnty, September 30, 1917. He was a successful exponent farm industry and also prepared himself for the dental ng'ession, as a representative of which he engaged in ptice in Monroe County until 1904 when he removed to 1.na, in Randolph County, where he remained until 1912. then removed to Ronceverte and continued in practice he until his death. He was a democrat, was for many ve's an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and was affiliated di the Masonie fraternity. As a soldier of the Con- eracy in the Civil war Doctor Irons was a member of Miain Bryan's battery in the division commanded by A. Jubal A. Early, he having been in service four years uz having taken part in many engagements, including a riber of major battles. His wife, whose maiden name was My Elizabeth Knapp, was born in Greenbrier County, M.ch 21, 1849, and her death occurred on August 31, 1914. ).their children the first born is Sue Elizabeth, wife of nk W. Huteheson, of Roneeverte; John William, who redes at Richmond, Virginia, is assistant sales manager for b Virginia-Carolina Rubber Company; Lacy C. is a n hinist and resides at Elkins, West Virginia; Harry S., of.his sketch, was the next in order of birth; Dr. Charles }.s now practising dentistry in Shanghai, China, he having se ed in the World war as a member of the Dental Corps it.ched to the Zcheko-Slovak forces that went to Omsk, Bisia.

he public schools of his native county afforded Harry S. ris his early education. For one year thereafter he at- sled Alderson Academy in Greenbrier County, and in 1904 € graduated from the high school at Elkins. He next ut nded Davis and Elkins College at Elkins for two years, u in 1911 he graduated from historie old Yale University, w 1 the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He simultaneously nsued his studies in the law department of the university, nwhich he was graduated in 1912, with the degree of B heler of Laws. His popularity as an undergraduate is lwn by the fact that he is affiliated with the Beta Theta P.College fraternity, the honorary academie society of Phi Ba Kappa, the honorary law society of Chi Tau Kappa, uwell as with the Yale law goeieties of Phi Delta Phi and Cbey Court. In 1912 he received the prize of $50 for ning the highest mark in examinations of all of the three- For students in the law school of Yale, and from 1911 to graduation he served as registrar of the law school. Uon his return to West Virginia he was forthwith admitted the bar of his native state, and he has since been engaged ir successful general practice at Huntington, where he has Birge and representative clientage. He is attorney for the J kson Building & Loan Association, of Ravenswood, with Dnes at Huntington, and for a number of other corporate a:rests of note. He is identified with a number of coal . lumber interests in this section of the state. He is president of The Superior Lumber Company at Hunt- uton; of the Right Fork Mining Company, operating mes at Ivaton, Lincoln County; and of the Coal Mountain Wing Company of Huntington, besides being a director in ious other business corporations.

n polities Mr. Irons is a demoerat, and he and his wife members of the First Presbyterian Church in their home er, he being an elder in the same and also session clerk al superintendent of the Sunday school. His basie Ma- wie affiliation is with Huntington Lodge No. 53, A. F. and AM., and in the Scottish Rite he has received the thirty- mond degree in West Virginia Consistory No. 1 at Wheel- u, the while he is a member also of Beni-Kedem Temple o the Mystie Shrine at Charleston, and of Feramorz Grotto Huntington. He is a trustee of Davis and Elkins College, ir eeretary of the Cabell County Bar Association, a member Vol. II-37

of the West Virginia and American Bar associationa, and is vice president of the Kiwanis Club at Huntington. In the World war period he wna zealous in the furtherance of local patriotie movements and was a member of the Legal Advisory Board of Cabell County.

March 26, 1913, recorded the marriage of Mr. Irons and Miss Cecile Lambert, daughter of David D. and Katharine (Latham) Lambert, of New Haven, Connecticut, where Mr. Lambert ia & public school principal. Mrs. Irons completed her education by atterding Wheaton Seminary at Norton, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Irons have three children: Harry Stuart, Jr., born April 12, 1914; Lambert Paul, born June 19, 1915; and Katharine, born November 26, 1919.

JOHN A. FULTZ. Probably there is no profession that demands ao much tact, judgment, patience, specialized knowledge and natural executive ability as that of the sehoolmaster, and the man or womna who enters into this important field, seleeting it aa his calling, must be pro- pared to make many personal sacrificea, to endure many disappointments, often to spend himself for others with- out apparent gratitude in return, and to give the best years of his life without the emoluments that equal effort would surely bring in any other profession. It is a pro- fession for which there are no weights and measures. The material with which it deals is rather the life atuff upon which impressions are eternal and affords the man who would serve the raee an opportunity than which there are none greater. One of the men who has dedicated his life to the work in this spirit is John A. Fultz, county super- intendent of schools of Pendleton County, who has been connected with publie school work since 1903.

The birth of John A. Fultz occurred in Bethel District, Pendleton County, July 21, 1882, and he traces his ancestry back in this country to John Fultz, a Hessian soldier, who after his disehargo from the British Army following the surrender at Yorktown decided to remain in the New World, and settled in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It is stated that the majority of these Hessian soldiers who remained in America sent back home to Germany for their sweethearts, whom they married upon their arrival, and it is thought that probably John Fultz was one who did so. A son of John Fultz, Jaeeb Fultz, was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, but he left his native state for Rockbridge County, Virginia, being the first of his name to locate in the Old Dominion.

Joseph Fultz, son of Jacob Fultz, and grandfather of John A. Fultz, was born at Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia, in 1817, and about 1840 he came to Pendleton County, then still a part of Virginia. Ilis original settle- ment was in the Sugar Grove community but he subse- quently moved to the Brandywine leeality, and there he resided during the remainder of his life. Ile was a hatter by trade, and also had mastered the trades of coopering and cabinet-making, and in addition to following all of these callings he was engaged in farming npon a small scale. Joseph Fultz married Catherine A. Keister, a daugh- ter of John Keister, and they had the following children: Susanna, who never married, ja living in the home of her brother Martin; Amos, who died at Brandywine, was a farmer; John A., who lived near Dale Enterprise, Virginia, and there died; Millic, who died unmarried; Jacob, who is engaged in farming in the vicinity of Brandywine: Martin, who ia the father of Superintendent Fultz; and Elizabeth, who is unmarried and lives at Salem, Virginia.

Martin Fultz was born in Pendleton County, October 4, 1853, and is still engaged in farming near Brandywine. Ile is a man of substantial means, and stands deservedly high in the esteem of his neighbors. He married Mary Jane Bolton, who was born on the top of South Fork Mountain, June 30, 1862, a daughter of George Bolton, the descendant of early German immigrants who came to Pennsylvania or Maryland at a very early day, and there made a permanent settlement. George Bolton married into the Guthrie family, Irish people and pioneera of Virginia. When the South withdrew from the Union George Bolton gave it his support, enlisted in the Confederate Army, and served in it until the close of the war, escaping with-

324

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

out having been either wounded or captured. Returning home, he resumed his peaceful activities and was a farmer until he died at the age of sixty years. For many years he and his wife maintained their home on the top of South Fork Mountain. The children born to Martin Fultz and his wife were as follows: John A., whose name heads this review; Fannie E., who was second in order of birth; Frank A., who is a farmer and carpenter of Brandywine, is married; Sallie P., who is the wife of William L. Guyer, of Columbus, Ohio; and Minnie O., who was for- merly a public school teacher, is now living at home.

From childhood John A. Fultz was an ambitious pupil, and after he had attended the country schools of his native locality he took courses at Harrisonburg, Virginia, and in the Keyser Preparatory School, and the regular course in the Shepherdstown College State Normal School. For a number of years he was one of the most popular of the teachers in the rural districts, all of his work in this connection having been done in Pendleton County, with but one exception. During the summer months he also taught in different normal schools, and his experience has been a wide and varied one. Upon each of his schools he left the impress of his character. Possessed as he is with the highest educational ideas, his schools were brought into line with the best and a wholesome intellectual senti- ment created. In the larger life of the community his influence has always been widely felt as an impulse toward progress and an enriched life. In July, 1919, Mr. Fultz entered upon a broader field of activity, at that time assuming the duties of the office of county superin- tendent of the school of Pendleton County, to which he had been elected in November of the preceding year, to succeed Supt. J. H. Cook.

Mr. Fultz has inaugurated some very wise reforms and introduced a number of measures which are certain to be of great benefit to the pupils and teachers. A strong effort has been made under his administration to place a dietionary in every school in the county, and to establish the nucleus of a library in each one, and this movement is nearing a successful conclusion. A man of unusual ability for stimulating others to a whole-souled effort, he has succeeded in having a 100-percent enrollment of his teachers in the State Educational Association. The organization of clubs of a literary character over the county has been urged and encouraged by Mr. Fultz, and these societies show much progress. The introduction of a pro- gram for the physical exercise of the pupils is another innovation of Mr. Fultz, and his teachers have been urged and instructed with reference to following this program. While these exercises are not inaugurated in all of the schools as yet, many have adopted the program, and Mr. Fultz expects the others will do so in the near future. He urges the teachers to take up the study of the higher branches so as to prepare themselves for work in the higher fields of education. Among other plans for the future at which he is earnestly working is that of a con- solidation of the rural schools, which, if he can obtain the co-operation of the patron of the districts, will go a long way toward securing better facilities for training the youths of the rural districts. He is also planning a four- year high school at Franklin instead of the three-year one now in operation, and the establishment of a junior high school. Mr. Fultz is one of the educational enthusi- asts of West Virginia, and is prominently identified with the different associations of the commonwealth, especially with the State Teachers' Association and the State County Superintedents' Association. His personal acquaintance with the county superintendents of the state extends to all but two.

Mr. Fultz is unmarried. During the late war he was one of the zealous workers in the county, was chairman of the Junior Red Cross for the county, and did everything within his power to assist the Government in carrying out its policies. His fraternal affiliations are limited to his membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He belongs to the Lutheran Church. Mr. Fultz is a deep student of the science of education, and, in addition, is a teacher by birth and temperament. He is also a maker

of teachers, and those under him are fortunate in havir his constructing and stimulating supervision. In fact, ) possesses in full measure the supreme gift of the teache the perfect union of power and purpose to put light ar joy and truth and beauty into other lives, and his prin interest is in character forming education, and because these many excellent qualifications the pupils of Pendì ton County are making remarkable progress.

ISAAC NEWTON RUDDLE. Of the citizens of Pendleti County who have established excellent records in publ and private life, one whose career has been an active a) useful one is Isaac Newton Ruddle, high sheriff. Pri to concentrating his entire attention upon the duties sheriff, he was for many years identified with farmi and stockraising interests, in which he still retains lar and important holdings, and before that, in his young years, was one of his locality's popular and efficient scho teachers.

Sheriff Ruddle was born in Mill Run District, Pendlet County, November 12, 1857, and is a son of John N. a Mary Elizabeth (Eye) Ruddle. The original spelling the family name was "Riddle,"' borne by the great-grar father of Sheriff Ruddle, John Riddle, who immigrat from his English birthplace to America and with his you wife settled in Rockingham County, Virginia, where assisted in the clearing and development of the regi and rounded out his life in the pursuits of the soil. Amo his children were: Isaac, the grandfather of Sheriff Ru dle ; George and John, who remained in Rockingham Cour and there died; and two daughters, Polly and Debora Isaac Riddle was born in Rockingham County, Virgin where he engaged in farming for some years, but lat came to Pendleton County, where he died. He marri Deborah Nesbitt, and they became the parents of the f lowing children: John, the father of Sheriff Rudd] .Joseph, who fought in the Confederate Army during the w between the states; Mary Jane, who never married; Sara who became the wife of David Hulva; Harrict, the st survivor of the family, living in Rockingham County, 1 married and aged eighty-four years; and Louisa, who nes. married.

John N. Riddle (or Ruddle) was born in Rockingh: County, Virginia, and was a lad when brought by ! parents to Pendleton County. When the war between i states came on he offered his services, and through mistake in his enlistment papers his name appeared John N. Ruddle, and he was thereafter known by tl name. He became a member of the Sixty-second Virgil Cavalry and was a non-commissioned officer of his co pany, his regiment forming a part of General Imboden command. He took part in the engagement at Newmarl and the great battle of Gettysburg, in addition to numero other fights, in one of which he was struck in the ba by a spent bullet, which did not lead to serious con quences. He participated also in the final act of . great struggle, but was not present at the surrender General Lee at Appomattox. Following the close of war John Ruddle went back to the farm and applied h self to agriculture during the years that followed and ur his death. No public service of an official character : pealed to him, and the part which he took in politics \ only that of a private citizen and a democratic vot He made no public announcement of belonging to & religions denomination, but was a believer and a Christi He belonged to the Confederate Veterans. In Pendle County Mr. Ruddle was united in marriage with M Mary Elizabeth Eye, a daughter of Jacob and Sa (Swadley) Eye, of German stock, farming people of Sugar Grove locality of Pendleton Connty. Mrs. Rud died in 1908, her husband surviving her until Febru: 17, 1912. They were the parents of the following childr William Pendleton, who carries on operations on his E ents' old farm in Pendleton County; Isaac Newton, this review; Saralı K., who married Jolin Cook and sides at Maquoketa, Iowa; Alice, who is unmarried al lives with her brother, Isaac N .; Virginia H., who m ried John Moyers, now deceased, of Harrisonburg, V

EL Hoggett

325

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

; Mary Emily, who married Jacob Cowger, of Mount con, Virginia; and Maude, who married Floyd Sim- MI, of Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Iac Newton Ruddle was educated in the public schools Js home community and assisted hia father and brothers le home farm until ho reached his twenty-first year. mi he commenced a career of his own he engaged in ming school, and for twenty-five years carried on edu- thal work, in the meantime spending the summer months rming. When he abandoned the school room he gavo s ull attention to the raising of atock and farming, id hrough good management and industry he has acquired Oacres of land, about one-fourth of which is under Mation and producing large annual crops. Mr. Ruddle :firm believer in the efficacy of modern scientific farm- gand farm journals and periodicals dealing with im- o'd methods of agriculture and stock raising are to be a on the tables and ahelves in his pleasant home.

1. Ruddle is also a firm believer in the value of edu- ta. He has been identified with the public school um of his district as a trustce and encouraging patron, iwas a member of the County Text-Book Board when a arrangement prevailed. Likewise, he has served Mill u District as justice of the peace. He has always co- mited with other democrata in his community. He cast sirst presidential vote in 1880, for General Hancock, 't has voted his party ticket in every election since. 1 008 he first became a candidate for sheriff of Pendle- a County, an office to which he was nominated and ed, and succeeded Sheriff Okey Mauzy. After serving xterm he retired to his private affairs, but in 1920 zi entered the race for the shricvalty against competi- o in the primary and secured the nomination. There a.no opposition in the election which followed, and he e into office with the unanimous voice of the voters ak of him, succeeding Sheriff Keyser, who is a merchant ar farmer at Sugar Grove. The routine of the sheriff 'a hi' now holds Sheriff Ruddle's entire attention, the care Che prisoners, the attendance on the sessions of the mit Court, the collection of taxes and the distribution the school funds being chief among the duties devolv- igupon him.

41 April 10, 1886, Sheriff Ruddle married in Pendleton oity Miss Emma Susan Dahmer, a daughter of Reuben Sarah (IIammer) Dahmer. Mr. Dahmer was a farmer, a both he and his wife were born in Pendleton County. h' had the following children: Phoebe, the wife of sic Lough; Edward; Isaac; Emma Susan, now Mrs. ulle, born in 1864; and Hendren and Hammer, twins. OMfr. and Mrs. Ruddle there have been born the follow- N children: Edward Claude; Whitney Hammer; Isaac aor; Reta, the wife of Melvin Eye; Roy C .; Decatur Icton; John P .; Catherine; Dee; Ralph; and Anna. tc C. and Whitney H. were both soldiers during the Vid war and both aaw active service in France, taking a in the great Argonne drive and going into Germany ri the Army of Occupation. Roy C. was a member of h Eightieth Division, while Whitney HI. was a member fthe Thirty-second Division, both being infantrymen. 't latter was wounded by a shell fragment and also ured from a German gas attack, but returned home aly, and is now engaged in farming on the home place. I is unmarried. Roy C. Ruddle married Miss Leta li mons.

VERETT LEON IIOGSETT. For a number of years Mr. I sett performed a very important service in behalf of deation in the southern and southeastern counties of the te. While teaching he studied law, laid the foundation fis reputation in this profession while a school man, but vitually turned all his talents to the law, and recently he blished his law office in Huntington, where he is at- o.ey for the Main Island Creek Coal Company and other i lar interests.

e was born near Ripley, Jackson County, West Virginia, 11 a farm, March 31, 1879. His grandfather, Ashur Esett, was born in Augusta County, Virginia, in 1828, u as a young man he moved over the mountains into

Greenbrier County, theu Pocahontas County, and in Is61, to .Jackson County, where during the rest of his life he was a former and millwright. He died there in 1891. His wife was Ellen Cowhorn, who was born in 1824, and died in 1880.

James Samuel Hogsett, father of the Huntington Inwyer, was born in Grecabrier County, June 24, 1846, and spent his early life in a little community in Pocahontas County known as Little Levels. While there he attended Dunlap's Academy. The town is now known as Academy, being changed from Little Levels to a namo suggested by the prescace of this school. After his marriage in Jackson County ho continued to livo there as a successful farmer until 1902, when he removed to Meigs County, Ohio, and finally left his farm and retired to the City of Akron, where he died June 23, 1917. He was a republican, and he did much to keep up the interest in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in his community. Janice S. Hogsett mar- ried Alice Wolfe, who is living at Akron. She was born in Jackson County, West Virginia, in 1853. These parents had a large family of children. Pearl, tho oldest, is the wife of Thomas S. Burch, a farmer at Saadyville, Jackson County. Everett Leon is the second in age. Willa, widow of Elias S. Rhodes, who was a school teacher, lived at Akron and has herself taught in public school and is now con- nected with the Department of Charities at Akron. Verna is the wife of Clinton Farley, of Akron. Otia C., an em- ploye of the Mellon National Bank of Pittsburgh, had an interesting record as a World war soldier, apending fifteen months in France and Italy with the Three Hundred and Thirty-second Infantry, this regiment being sent to Italy with other American troops to give support to the Italians when the Austrian armies wero overruning the northern part of that country. He served as first sergeant and was private secretary to the colonel of the Headquarters Divi- sion. Theodore P., the seventh child, now a law student at Akron, is also a World war veteran and was in France fifteen months, being on the firing line at Saint Mihiel, the Argonne and in Belleau Wood and one other major sector. He was in four major engagements. He cnlisted in the Engineer Corps of the Ohio State Guard. He was also mustered out a sergeant. Another aon, James P., lives at Parkersburg. Marie, the youngest child, is a stenographer in the office of the Goodrich Tire and Rubber Company at Akron.

Everett Leon Hogsett had as the background of his carly life and experience his father's farm, and his first advantages were given him in the rural schools of Jackson County. He also spent two years in Ohio Valley College at Ravenswood. For ten years he waa a teacher in Jackson and McDowell countica. Ile interrupted this work as a teacher to carry on his law studies in West Virginia Uni- versity, where he graduated with the class of 1910. Instead of taking up practice immediately, he resumed tenching in McDowell County, and for three years wns principal of the Jaeger graded schools, and was then appointed and served one year as district superintendent for the Sandy River District of McDowell County.

In the meantime he had handled his first eases as a lawyer, and in 1914 he gave up school work to practice in McDowell County. In November of that year he removed to Logan County and formed a partnership with his brother- in-law, Edward II. Greene, and they continued their pro- fessional associations and work in Logan County until No- vember, 1920. At that date Mr. Hogsett came to Hunting- ton to look after his duties as attorney for the Main Island Creek Coal Company. He also handled the legal business in connection with the coal and oil interests in West Vir- ginia and Kentucky of A. J. Dalton and John A. Kelly. His offices are in the Robson-Pritchard Building at Hunt- ington.

Mr. Hogsett is a republican, a member of the First Baptist Church of Logan, is affiliated with Aracoma Lodge No. 99, F. and A. M., at Logan, Logan Chapter, R. A. M., Logan Chapter No. 60 of the Eastern Star, and ia a member of the West Virginia Bar Association, Since coming to Huntington he has acquired an attractive home in one of the best residence sections of the city, at 332 Fifth Avenue.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 107

Author: Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: