History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 115

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James Carr Gamble, grandfather of the Moorefield law yer, was a pioneer in Hardy County, locating there in IS31. Immediately upon his arrival he was appointed county elerk by the governor of Virginia, and filled that office as long as he lived. He died in 1960, when about sixty years of age. He was born at Winchester. llia wife was Elizabeth Williams, whose father, Edward Williams, preceded Jane's C. Gamble as county elerk of Ilardy County. The children of these grandparents were: Mortimer Williams, father of the Moorefield lawyer of the same name; J. Samuel, Joseph N., James Carr, Hamilton MeSparea and Henry R .; Eliza beth, whe married George Van Meter; Mary, who died as the wife of Dr. Foster Pratt; Ann, who married Judge .. W. F. Allen; and Sallie, whose husband was Harry Dun- can, of Miebigan. Among the sons Joseph, Henry, Doctor Hamilton, James Carr and Mortimer Williams were Con- federate soldiers. J. Samuel was a teacher and was prinei- pal of the college in Norfolk, Virginia, when he died, before the war.

Mortimer Williams Gamble was bora about 1820, spent the early part of his life as deputy county elerk under his father, and was elerking in the first bank organized at Moorefield when the war broke out. He soon entered the army. He was a first lieutenant of the Hardy Blues, a noted military organization at Moorefield prior to the war, and when this company was mustered into the Confederate Army it went West and was captured at the battle of Rich Mountain. Mortimer Williams Gamble was past the age of forty when he entered the army, and after being taken prisoner he was paroled and sent home and never rejoined service. He was a farmer and spent the rest of his years in that occupation. He died at Moorefield in February. 1872, of typhoid pneumonia, at the age of fifty two. Ilis wife was Elizabeth Cunningham, daughter of James and Martha (Snodgrass) Cunningham, the former at one time a member of the Virginia Legislature. He served as a sol- dier in the War of 1812, was a farmer and represented an old family of Hardy County. Mrs. Elizabeth Gamble died in August, 1912, at the advanced age of ninety-one, having retained her mental powers until her death. Her children were: Jesse C., who died at the age of three years; Laura W., now living at Lexington, Kentucky, widow of Welton Cunningham; Miss Catherine Price, who lives with her maiden sister Alice in Moorefield, Aliee being next to the youngest of the children; Bettie W., of Moorefield, widow of B. W. Chrisman; J. Samuel, whe in early life was a merchant in Moorefield and later a farmer, and married Woody Inskeep; and Mortimer W., Jr.

Mortimer W. Gamble, the lawyer, was born June 25, 1962, and was about ten years of age when his father died. He attended public school at Moorefield, had two years in the private school of Henry L. Hoover, probably one of the finest teachers in this section and also widely known as a fisherman. He finally attended the private school of Pro- fessor Hodge, and taught several terms while reading law with George E. Price. He spent two years in the office of Mr. Price, and was admitted to the bar under the old sys- tem of three judges, the names on his license being Judge Armstrong, Judge Boyd and Judge Falkaer.

At the age of twenty-two he took up his career as a law- yer, and his first case in court at Moorefield was the de- fense of a man charged with assault, the whipping of a little girl under his care and custody. He praetired as a partner of his old precepter, Mr. Price, in the firm of Price and Gamble, until Mr. Price removed to Charleston, and

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since then he has handled an individual practice involving all classes of cases from the simplest of civil suits to the defense and prosecution of men charged with murder. His public service has been almost entirely within the line of his profession. He served as a member of the House of Delegates representing the delegate district composed of Hardy and Grant counties during the session of 1893. He was elected prosecuting attorney of Hardy County in 1908, giving one term of capable service. In 1920 he was again elected to this office. During the World war, he was chair- man of the selective service board, and performed a large part of the duty of filling out the questionnaires for the young men of the county, practically giving up his private business to take care of this phase of war work.

On April 14, 1897, in Washington, D. C., Mr. Gamble married Miss Catherine B. Hackney, who was born in Fred- erick County, Virginia, April 27, 1863, but was reared and educated in Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Gamble have two sons. Robert M., who was educated in the public schools of Moorefield, took the pharmacy course in the Richmond Medical College, also studied in the University of Pitts- burgh and then in West Virginia University, as a volunteer for the World war service, becoming a member of the Sev- enty-fourth Regiment of Artillery and was in training from June to September, 1918, at Fort Monroe and then went to France. He reached Brest about October 8, and went with his command to the border of Switzerland and was in serv- ice there until the armistice. His was among the very first organizations to be returned to the United States, arriving in New York December 23, 1918. The younger son of Mr. and Mrs. Gamble, Mortimer W., Jr., is a graduate of the Moorefield High School, had military training at Marian, Alabama, and is now attending West Virginia University, preparing for the law.

The only society in which Mr. Gamble is enrolled as a member is the Presbyterian Church, of which he is an elder. During the war Mrs. Gamble took an active part in pro- moting the success of the Red Cross and other auxiliary organizations. The Gamble home is one of the most com- modious and attractive in Moorefield, situated on a large tract of well landscaped ground in the old town.

THOMAS CUMMINGS. When Thomas Cummings, one of the substantial business men of Keyser, now profitably en- gaged in merchandising, was brought to West Virginia nearly sixty-seven years ago the state presented a very dif- ferent appearance from what it does today. He is one of the last of those who passed through the state's great lum- ber-manufacturing activity, and has seen the virgin forests of white pine, poplar, spruce and cherry fall under the woodman's axe until these lands have been denuded of one of the great sources of natural wealth. He was born in England, October 8, 1855, a son of Maurice and Catherine (Condry) Cummings.

Maurice Cummings and his wife were married in Ire- land. She was born in Ireland, of Irish parents, but moved to England in her girlhood. In 1857 Maurice Cum- mings brought his family to the United States, and made his first home at Clarksburg, West Virginia, from whence he moved to Rockford, Harrison County. Still later he went to Lewis County, West Virginia, and there he died in 1884, when eighty-four years old. His wife had died many years before, passing away January 15, 1869. Their children were as follows: James, who spent his life in Lewis County, was a mason and farmer, and during the war of the '60s served in the Union Army as a teamster. He died at Weston, and is buried near his old home at Belle Mill in Lewis County, West Virginia. Martin died in Phoenix, Arizona, and is buried close to Belle Mills in Lewis County, West Virginia. George, who also spent his life on a farm in Lewis County, died and is buried in the vicinity of his former home. Frank, who was also a farmer, lived on the lines of Lewis and Braxton counties, died and is buried at Clarksburg. Thomas was the youngest born.

But a small boy when his parents settled on Elk Creek, Rockford, Thomas Cummings was reared in that locality and the vicinity at the headwaters of the Little Kanawha River in Lewis County. His surroundings were those of

farm life, and his educational advantages those of the count try schools. Leaving home before he reached his majority Thomas Cummings began to be self-supporting by working on the completion of the terminal of the Western Maryland Railroad. He remained on this job for thirty days, an then went with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and helper to lay the track through Mountain Lake Park and Oakland Maryland. In 1873 he left railroading for the lumbe woods as a lahorer, and with an axe and saw as his tool came to know all phases of lumbering from that of a com mon laborer to serving as superintendent of a large fore of men. Beginning as an employe of the Lochiel Lumbe Company at Bloomington, Maryland, he was in the servic of many concerns, including the Saint Lawrence Boom . Manufacturing Company in Pocahontas County, West Vi

ginia, Rumbarger Lumber Company at Dobbin, Gran County, West Virginia, Backwater Lumber Company o Davis, West Virginia, the Beaver Creek Lumber Company at Davis, Welch Brothers and the Otter Creek Boom & Lumber Company, both at Hambleton, West Virginia. Mi Cummings then went with Whitmer, Lane & Company a Horton, West Virginia, leaving them to return to the Rum barger Company at Dobbin. Following that he returned to Elkins and abandoned the mill business for that of con tracting, in connection with which he furnished logs to the Whe saw-mill owned by the Burger Lumber Company. this contract was completed Mr. Cummings helped to or ganize the Coketon Lumber Company of Coketon, Wes Virginia, and when he terminated his connection with i went with the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company af superintendent of the four-foot department of the plant In 1908 he retired from the lumber industry to engage in merchandising, and has been interested in this line of busi ness at Cass, Durbin and Keyser, coming to the county sea of Mineral County in the fall of 1920 and here opening hin general store at the corner of Second and Main streets On June 12, 1921, he opened his new place of business which he had erected, and here he is engaged in supplying the needs of a large trade.

In August, 1886, Thomas Cummings was first married wedding Ida Hickman at Greenbank, West Virginia. Shu died at Horton, West Virginia. On January 4, 1904, Mr Cummings was married second to Mrs. Rebecca (Stahl) Col camp at Davis, West Virginia. She was born at Balti more, Maryland, but was reared in Preston County, West Virginia. Her first husband was John Colcamp, now de ceased. By his first marriage Mr. Cummings had the fol lowing children: Ledo Ethel, who lives at Cumberland and has rendered a valuable service caring for crippled sol diers; and Edna Mary, who lives at Philadelphia, Pennsyl vania. Mr. and Mrs. Cummings have no children, but by her first marriage she had three children, namely: William F. Colcamp, who lives at Mountain Lake Park, Maryland; Cora, who is the wife of J. E. Rembold, of Keyser, West Virginia; and Lula May, who is the wife of C. C. Watts of Durhin, West Virginia.

Mr. Cummings is not a politician, but he has taken ar intelligent interest in public matters. He first voted as & democrat, but during the first administration of Grover Cleveland became converted to republicanism, and has since been a strong tariff man and a protectionist. For severs years he was a member of the City Council of Durbin, West Virginia, and was its mayor during one term, but these have been the only offices he has held. Mr. Cummings is 8 most remarkable man. For many years he was engaged ir one of the most strenuous of occupations, and now, although nearing "three score years and ten," is carrying on a large business enterprise with the vigor of one half his age. He has never lost his grasp on events nor his keen judgment of men, and his advice is sought and followed by many of his fellow citizens.

RICHARD WILLIAM THRUSH. The Circuit Court clerk, Richard William Thrush, is one of the men of Mineral County who have made a success of everything they have undertaken, and his connection with an enterprise leads others to feel that it is worth consideration, for his good judgment and astuteness are well recognized. Mr. Thrush

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pugs to one of the old-established families of the country, r was bern near leadsville, Mineral County, May 1, 1884, on of Vause R. Thrush, also a native of lleadsville, se birth occurred ia January, 1848. llis father was hard Thrush. He married Fannie Rogers, and they be- ne the parents of nine children. One of their sons, Rich- , served in the war of the '60g, being killed at the battle . Cedar Creek, but Vause R. was too young to participate the conflict. Three of his cousins were soldiers, one ef um was killed at Winchester, and the other two died in Confederate prison at Andersonville. Vause R. Thrush always been a farmer, and has operated in the Heads- la community. His only participation in polities has in that of a voter, and he casts his ballot for republican didates.

"ause R. Thrushi was married to Martha Taylor, who born on Cabin Run, Mineral County, September 17, 3, and died April 27, 1918. She was a daughter of n William and Sarah Ann (Cunningham) Taylor, and a at-granddaughter of Daniel Taylor, who came into that t of Virginia which is now Mineral County, West Vir- ia, at the close of the American Revolution, being given and grant as a reward for his war service. He served lee enlistments, and while he was known as "Captain" ler, the official records credit him with the rank of geant. Mr. and Mrs. Vause R. Thrush became the par- 13 of the following children: Richard William, whose je heads this review; and Sarah Margaret and Albert ise, both of whom are living at Headsville.

Intil he left home Richard William Thrush lived oa a m. After attending the country schools he became a stu- t of the Keyser Preparatory School, now the Potomac Ite School, and completed his courses and later was a lent at West Virginia University. During 1909 and 10 he was with the Terra Alta schools, and then for the owing year served as principal of the South Park School Morgantown. While at the latter school he was elected nty superintendent of schools in his home county, to reed George S. Arnold, and took charge of the office in y, 1911.

is head of the Mineral County schools Mr. Thrush at 'e began to plan for better buildings and more efficient chers, and he inaugurated club work for boys and girls. Te first exhibit of this work was made at Keyser and at- ted very favorable comment. The annual school rally launched at his insistence, this custom has spread to er counties, and is continued here and is recognized as of the factors most likely to interest the public gener- in the schools. While serving as county superintendent W Thrush was secretary for two years of the State Edu- wional Association. His work as superintendent was in- Rupted by his army service, for he retired from it to go 3) the Young Men's Christian Association, and was sta- hed at Camp Sevier, South Carolina. He entered the hvice as educational secretary, but was soon placed in Birge of the entertainment work, and remained at camp il after the armistice was signed, being there almost , years, as demobilization was almost completed before left in June, 1919. Upon his return to civilian life he mimed for the summer his connection with Chautauqua w.k, in which he had been engaged during his summer ration for some years.

In October 1, 1919, Mr. Thrush was appointed Circuit Cirt clerk to succeed Joseph V. Bell, one of the well- own citizens and pioneer elerks of Mineral County, and w; elected to the office on the republican ticket for a pe- El ef six years in 1920. His political training from his y th up was in republican doctrines, and he east his first p sidential vote for William Howard Taft in 1908. Mr. I ush was named to succeed himself without opposition u'the primaries, and was without a democratic competitor uthe general election in 1920.

fr. Thrush was made a Mason in Keyser by Davis Lodge 0, 51 in 1911, and he is now senior warden of his lodge. E is also a member of the Chapter and Commandery of Erser, and of Osiris Temple, Mystic Shrine, at Wheeling, Vst Virginia. For some years he has belonged to the Fights of Pythias. A member of the Methodist Episcopal

Church, Mr. Thrush has always taken an active part in the work of the local congregation and is now a member of its board of stewards. He has rendered other public service as secretary of the Uppor Potomac Fair Association during tho past two years, which organization was organized and has been sustained as a stimulus to education and agricul- ture and the mechanical arts. ]Ie is still chairman of the Mineral County Chapter of the Red Cross, and is secretary of the Keyser Rotary Club. It would not be easy to over. estimate the influence of a man like Mr. Thrush upon his community. His scholarly attainments and widely-diffused knowledge, his high senso of civic responsibility and his efficiency all are directed toward raising the moral stand- ard and furthering the intellectual development of his home city and county, and his efforts are receiving the apprecia- tion they deserve. Mr. Thrush is not married.

FAIRFAX STUART LANDSTREET, JR. Among the successful coal operators of the younger generation whose activities are being carried on in Mingo County, one who has met with prosperity in the Pigeon Creek District is Fairfax Stuart Landstreet, Jr., of the Landstreet-Downey Coal Company, whose property is located about one and one-half miles above Burch Post Office. He is of Virginia and Dutch descent, and was born June 5, 1895, at Davis, West Vir- ginia, his parents being F. S. and May (Davis) Land- street.

F. S. Landstreet was born in Virginia and was a coal operator with the Davis interests, among the big mine owners of West Virginia. Mr. Landstreet is now located at New York City, where he is president of the Belgina- American Coke Oven Corporation of New York, a by- product company. Formerly Mr. Landstreet was vice presi- dent of the Consolidation Coal Company for a number of years. The education of Fairfax Stuart Landstreet, Jr., was acquired in the graded schools of New York City, a high school at Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and at Yale, from which latter institution he was graduated with the class of 1917, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. On May 15, 1917, he enlisted in the regular United States Army and received the rank of second lieutenant. He went to Fort Meyer, Washington, D. C., where he remained three months, being assigned to the Twelfth Field Artillery, with which he went overseas from Hoboken in January, 1918. Landing at Liverpool, he spent about a week in England and then crossed the English Channel to La Havre, France, whence he went to the Valdohou, France, Training Camp. On March 18 he was sent to a quiet sector on the Verdun frent, where he spent six weeks, his regiment then "hiking" across France in time to support the United States Marines in the famous engagement of Belleau Woods. Mr. Landstreet, still with the Regular Twelfth U. S. Artil- lery, then moved to Soissons, where on July 18 he took part in the engagement, and on August 20 was ordered to the United States as an instructor, arriving on September 5 of that year. Going to Camp Meade, Maryland, he was commissioned a captain in the Thirty-first Artillery, and continued to hold that rank until the close of the war, re- signing his commission December 5, 1918. In February, 1919, Mr. Landstreet came to West Virginia and went to work for the Island Creek Coal Company, in May, 1920, transferred his services to the Mallory Coal Company of Logan Field, and in December, 1921, came to the Pigeon Creek District and began the werk of opening up the prop- erties of the Landstreet-Downey Coal Company. These properties are owned by the Davis interests, and are being operated in splendid style by Mr. Landstreet and his cousin, George Faher Downey. Mr. Landstreet is a member of the Episcopal Church, and as a fraternalist holds membership in the Zeta Pai College fraternity. While he takes a good citizen's interest in local affairs, he has been too busily engaged with his business operations to enter politics as an active figure. He is widely popular, both with his associ- ates and the men in his employ. He married March 29, 1921, Elanor A. Hoover, daughter of William D. Hoover, of Washington, D. C., the president of National Savings & Trust Company.

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GEORGE FABER DOWNEY, JR., junior member of the Landstreet-Downey Coal Company of Burch, West Virginia, is essentially one of the younger men of action of the Pigeon Creek District, who have taken advantage of the opportu- nities for advancement to be found in this community by men of action and vim. He was born November 14, 1896, in New York City, and comes of Irish stock, his mother's people being all from West Virginia and his father's fam- ily being of Maryland and Pennsylvania origin. His pa- ternal grandfather was a major in the United States Army. Gen. George F. Downey, the father of George Faber Downey, Jr., was born at an army post in Arizona during the Indian wars period on the western plains, and on arriv- ing at man's estate he enlisted as a soldier. He took part in the Spanish-American war, was in Cuba during the pe- riod of pacification and readjustment, later had added experience in the Philippine Islands, and was through all the World war in France as one of the generals in charge of the Quartermaster's Department, being at present in that department at Washington, D. C.

George Faber Downey, Jr., attended school at Washing- ton, D. C., and was a high school student at the High Hill School, Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Finally he entered Yale, in which institution of advanced learning he was a member of the graduating class of 1918, but left college to join the Twelfth United States Regular Artillery as second lieuten- ant, with which he established an excellent record. He was a first lieutenant at Belleau Woods, and in August, 1918, was commissioned captain and returned to the United States as an instructor, a capacity in which he acted at Camp Meade until the close of the war. He resigned his commission in December, 1918, and secured employment with the Guarantee Trust Company of New York City as a runner. Later he was in the foreign exchange depart- ment of the same company, but after eight months left his position and came to Holden, West Virginia, where he was with the Island Creek Coal Company for about two and one-quarter years. At that time he joined Mr. Land- street and came to the Pigeon Creek District, where he be- gan the work of opening up the properties of the Land- street-Downey Coal Company.

Like his partner, Mr. Downey is a young man of much energy and perseverance. He belongs to the Zeta Psi col- lege fraternity and is a member of the Episcopal Church. He married, June 1, 1922, Katherine Van Ingen, daughter of Mrs. Edward Van Ingen of New York City.

MANASSEH DASHER. The South Branch Valley National Bank of Moorefield, which Manasseh Dasher has served faithfully for a quarter of a century and of which he is cashier, is one of the oldest and most substantial banking houses in this section of the state.

It was founded in 1883 by J. William Gilkeson, A. M. Inskeep, A. Sommerville and George Mathias. The first president of the bank was A. Sommerville, and his suc- cessors were Garrett Cunningham, A. M. Inskeep, Jesse Fisher, Joseph D. Heiskell and Mr. M. S. Henkel is now president. The bank has had only two cashiers in the forty years of its existence, the first being J. William Gilkeson, and his successor is Mr. Dasher. The board of directors at present are M. S. Henkel, C. B. Welton, G. W. McCauley, George W. Miley, George W. Fisher, George T. Williams and P. W. Inskeep. The bank's original capital was $55,- 000, it is now $100,000, the surplus and undivided profits are $39,000, and the average deposits are $400,000. The prosperity of the bank and its able management is evi- denced by the fact that it has paid its stockholders divi- dends of eight and ten per cent annually since it found- ing.

Mr. Dasher, the cashier, has spent all his life in Hardy County. He was born September 6, 1876, at Dasher's Mill, a locality now known as Milam. The Dashers were German pioneers of Pennsylvania, and it was his great-grandfather who came from Pennsylvania to Western Virginia. His grandfather, Noah Dasher, was born in the Milam locality of Hardy County, spent his life on the farm, acquired val- uable land holdings, and died in 1906, when almost four score years of age. He was active in politics only to the

extent of casting a democratic vote. He married Martha Dasher, who died in 1896, and their children were: Isa V. S .; Carrie A., who married George S. Cowger; Keren : who married Manasseh Cowger; Mary E. L., who beca: Mrs. James M. Davis; and N. George, who married Mim A. Simon and is still farming the old homestead.

Isaac V. S. Dasher, father of the Moorefield bank spent his life on a farm and died at Milam in April, 18! at the age of forty-eight. He married Hannah M. Cowg who is now the widow of George W. Trumbo. Her parer were Jesse and Polly A. (Keister) Cowger. Jesse Cowg owned a large farm at Fort Seybert in Pendleton Count and had several sons in the Confederate Army. The ch dren of Isaac V. S. Dasher were: Martha A. L., who first husband was P. R. Dasher, and who is now the w' of James W. Dove, of Peru, Hardy County; Manasseh the next in age; Virgie D. is the wife of M. C. Dasher, Peru, Hardy County ; Jesse V. lives at Oakland, Californi and Gleason R. is a resident of Fort Seybert, West V ginia.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 115

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