History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 129

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He is also president of the Farmers National Bank ( Claysville, Pennsylvania, a trustee of the Mutual Saving Bank of Wheeling, a director in the Bank of Fulton, net Wheeling, is treasurer of the Industrial Savings & Loa Company, Morris Plan, at Wheeling, and president of th Fidelity Investment Association of Wheeling.

During and since the World war Mr. Irvine has bee treasurer of the Wheeling Chapter of the American Re Cross. He was also chairman of the Banking Committe in all the Liberty Loan drives and his time and means wer fully at the disposal of the Government at all times. He a republican in politics, has been a member of the officia board of the Fourth Street Methodist Episcopal Church for twenty years, is a past master of Bates Lodge No. 3: F. and A. M., a member of Wheeling Union Chapter No. 1 R. A. M., Cyrene Commandery No. 7, K. T., Wheeling Lodg No. 28, B. P. O. E., and is a member of the Old Colon Club and of the Twilight Club of Wheeling.

Mr. Irvine, whose home is in the suburb of Elmwood married at Wheeling February 25, 1886, Miss Eva A. Drake daughter of David M. and Virginia (Lindsey) Drake, bot deceased. Her father was a Wheeling banker. Mr. an Mrs. Irvine have one son, Russell Drake, born December 27 1890. During the war he enlisted, was stationed at Cam Custer, Battle Creek, Michigan, being army field clerk. H is now secretary-treasurer of the Fidelity Investment Asso ciation of Wheeling.

WILLIAM McCOY. In the family of MeCoy the tradition of ability, honor and worth left by those who have gone beyond set a worthy precedent which the present genera tion, and that from which it sprang, have followed, to which they have added a life chapter that must prove al inspiration and a positive incentive to those destined to

W.M. Svine.

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IIISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

after then. Among the notable exponents of the 's integrity and professional and business capability lliam McCoy, of Franklin, a lawyer, successful pro- r and editor of the Pendleton Times, a former repre- ive of the State of West Virginia in the House of ites, and present prosecuting attorney of Pendleton v. He was hora at Franklin, June 2, 1878, and his is been spent in the city of his nativity.

MeCoy family is one of the oldest in this region, lates back in the history of Pendleton County to r days. The American progenitor of the MeCoys Villiam McCoy, who came to the American Colonies Scotland, settling at Doe Ilill, Virginia. Ile had ons. John and William, and several daughters, whose are not matters of record. William MeCoy, the er, left his father and brother and went into North ja, where this branch still flourishes.

a McCoy, son of William McCoy the American pro- ir, commanded a company of volunteers in the French ndian war, and his son Robert, when war was de- against England, marched on foot into North Caro- o join General Greene, and thus became a soldier : American Revolution. As such he participated in engagements, including that at Guilford Court House. the war was over he returned in safety to his home vicinity of Franklin, where his father, John Meloy, ng before established the family. John MeCoy, Jr., soldier under General llarrison, "Okl Tippecanoe,' ' as killed at the battle of Tippecanoe, at Battefield, ha, in 1811. The only sons of John McCoy to ae- any him into the Pendleton Distriet were Oliver and Im, the former settling on the South Branch, near 's Mill. There be built a house that is still standing, tek. William MeCoy, son of John MeC'oy, became a cant at Franklin, and was an extensive land owner Th Pendleton and Highland counties. In 1811 he was tì to Congress, and was returned for eleven consecu- rms, serving until 1832. During his long period of he served on many committees, among which was portant one on ways and means, of which he was ¿ hairman.

ca MeCoy, the pioneer, married Miss Sarah Oliver, a gter of Aaron Oliver, an immigrant from Holland, who i'd a daughter of Colonel Harrison of Rockingham uty, Virginia. The children born to John MeCoy and a Oliver, his wife, were as follows: Robert, Oliver, Im, John, Benjamin, Joseph and James, and four gters, Elizabeth, Jane, Sarah and Jemima. William O., the congressman, married as his first wife Elizabeth Cr, and she bore him a son, William, who died in vi: as a Confederate officer. The second wife of Wil- a McCoy was Mary J. Moomau, who bore him the ging children: Margaret C., who is unmarried and sit Franklin; Caroline H., who married William Il. , is deceased and so is her husband; Mary V., who q:d William A. Campbell and died, as did her hus- u John, who became the father of William MeCoy, is review; Pendleton, who married Catherine Me- an, and lived and died in the Franklin community, is widow is residing at Moorefield, West Virginia ; " who is the widow of Frank Anderson, resides at ulin; and Alice Virginia, who died at Franklin, mar- I 'harles Chamberlain, now a resident of Salida, Colo- 0

Tin McCoy, of the above family, was born in Pendle- ounty, in 1850, and was reared at Franklin, where .ther had large business interests, and was one of : ading factors of the place. He was very carefully @ ed, and took a classical course at the famous Wash- ,t and Lee University at Lexington, Virginia, at the @ hat Gen. Robert E. Lee was its president. After meting his course in that institution John McCoy re- n to his home and took charge of his father's farm I ock interests, and it was the need for assuming these p sibilities which kept him from continuing his studies d reparing for a professional life. He continued in me lines of business throughout his life, and died n 19, 1919, universally respected. A loyal democrat,

he gave his party a faithful service, and was its success- ful candidate as representative to the House of Delegates in 1890, and he was twice re-elected to that office on the same party ticket. While he was adverse to practical poli- ties, his service in the House interested him and he re- garded it as time well spent. For many years he served the Presbyterian Church as an elder, and was a member of it from early youth.

John MeCoy married Martha Price, a daughter of Jamea Price, who survives him and is living at Franklin. They became the parents of children as follows: Katie, who is the wife of Byron Boggs, of Franklin; William, whose name heads this review; George P., who is a practicing physician of Neodesha, Kansas; Richard C., who resides at Montrose, Louisiana; Cortland, who is also a resident of Montrose; and the youngest child, Alice, who is con- nected with the Farmers Bank of Pendleton.

Growing to manhood ia his native place William MeCoy attended its public schools and Hoge Academy at Black- stone, Virginia, for two years before entering his father's alma mater, Washington and Lee University, and he grad- uated from its law department in 1902, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Immediately thereafter Mr. MeCoy entered upon the practice of his profession at Franklin, and while carrying on its work took a prominent part in polities as a democrat. In 1906 he was elected to member- ship in the West Virginia House of Delegates, and aerved for one term. As the House was overwhelmingly repub- lican, the only committee appointment he received of any importance was that on the judiciary. The speaker of the House was James A. Seaman. llis experience as a legislator did not incline him to seek re-election, but he did consent to be the nominee of his party for the office of prosecuting attorney, was elected by a handsome mu- jority, and assumed the duties of the office in January, 1909, succeeding II. M. Calhonn. The record he made was of such a character that he was returned in 1912, again in 1916, and in 1920 was elected for the fourth time, he having served longer than any other in this office during the history of Pendleton County. The service he has rendered has been endorsed repeatedly by the voters of the county, and it has been and is of a high order.

In February, 1913, Mr. McCoy began his identification with newspaper work when he founded the Pendleton Times, a weekly paper devoted to connty matters and puh- Jished as an independent organ. Its object is to record the local news and furnish a medium of advertising for the business men of this locality. The paper is a four-page folio, issued every Thursday. The circulation is 1,775, and it is the only paper published in the county, occupying as it does the field as the successor to the South Branch Review.

On October 27, 1918, Mr. McCoy married at Washing- ton, District of Columbia, Miss Grace Hedrick, a native of Pendleton County, and a daughter of Robert E. Hed- riek, postmaster of Franklin. For several years prior to her marriage Mrs. McCoy was a teacher in the schools of Franklin, and was very popular. Mr. and Mrs. MeCoy have two children: Martha and William, Junior. Mr. Me- Coy is a Master Mason and Modern Woodman. Reared in the faith of the Preshyterinn Church, he long ago enrolled his name on its membership books. In addition to his professional and newspaper work Mr. MeCoy has contrib- uted generously to movements calculated to promote the public welfare and those having for their object charitable purposes.

HON. HARRISON M. CALHOUN. To portray what manner of citizen and lawyer Harrison M. Calhoun undoubtedly is, how important are his services to the City of Franklin, the County of Pendleton and the State of West Virginia, and how ably and honorably he follows the profession of the law, needs no friendly hand. They are matters of public knowledge, unassailable facts, and as such are merely atated in what follows. He was born at Dry Run, Pendleton County, West Virginia, September 18, 1866, and is of the fifth generation from the ancestor, John Calhoun, who founded the family in this part of what was then

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Virginia, and who was a first cousin of the distinguished statesman of South Carolina, once vice president of the United States, and for many years the leader of the demo- eratie party, not only in the South, but all over the country.

John Calhoun was also a nephew of Patrick Calhoun, father of the South Carolina statesman, and it is believed he was a son of William Calhoun, a member of the Cal- houn family of Pennsylvania, dating back to the settle- ment of the Keystone State. John Calhoun was born in Augusta County, Virginia, where his father had settled during the Colonial epoch, but he left it in young man- hood for Pendleton County, settling on Dry Run, a trib- utary of the North Fork of the Potomac River, and began there the pioneer work of developing a large farm, which work his descendants have continued to the present day, the original homestead still being in the family. The records do not show that John Calhoun was a Revolu- tionary soldier, but others of his family were. A great ad- mirer of his cousin, John C. Calhoun, he followed him in his adherence to the principles of the democratic party.

William Calhoun, one of the sons of John Calhoun, was the great-grandfather of Attorney Calhoun of Franklin. He was a soldier of the War of 1812, and he, too, spent his life in the rural community where his father had set- tled, and they both lie in the same graveyard, on the farm now owned by Robert Warner, on Dry Run. William Cal- houn married Elizabeth Mallett, and their children were as follows: Eli, who was born in 1813; Aaron, who be- eame the grandfather of Attorney Calhoun, was born in 1816; Mahela, who married Enoch Teter, was born in 1818; Amelia, who married John Mick, was born in 1820; Susannah, who married Absolute H. Nelson, was born in 1822; Elizabeth, who married Job Lambert, was born in 1824; Jane, who married William Rymer, was born in 1826; William J., who was born in 1829, spent his life in Upshur County, West Virginia; Martha, who died when a child; and Jacob, who was born in 1833, esponsed the Union cause when war broke out between the two sections of the country, and because of his sentiments, the remainder of his family - being Southern sympathizers, became estranged from them, and following the elose of the war went to Missouri, where he continued to live, and where he died, childless. William Calhoun, father of these ehil- dren, lost his first wife, and later married Sarah Simmons, who bore him one son, John C., in 1840, who became a Confederate soldier and was killed in action at Williams- port, Maryland, when his brigade was covering the retreat of General Lee from Gettysburg. There was also a daugh- ter, Margaret, born to the second marriage of William Calhoun, in 1843. She married William Wimer, moved to Missouri, and subsequently died in that state.

Aaron Calhoun was a man of industry, and his entire life was spent on the farm in the community of his birth on Dry Run. There he lived an uneventful life and passed away, being the first one to be buried on the home farm. His marriage license, as shown by the order his father gave him to seeure authority to marry Catherine Lambert, is of interest, and states as follows:

"October 24, 1835. "Mr. Z. Dyer :-

"You will please give lieens for my son Aaron and Catherine Lambert and by so doing you will mneh oblige, as I could nott cum myself. This giving from under my hand the day and date above written.

" William Calhoun "Elizabeth his wife."

This issue of Aaron Calhoun and his wife were many children, for they had one of the old-fashioned families, as follows: Martha, who married Miles Tingler, was born in 1836; Winifred, who married Edward Mullenax; Eliza- beth, who married George Wimer, and after his death, while serving in the Confederate Army, she was married to Henry Mullenax; Sarah C., who married William Mulle- nax; F. Marion, who became the father of Attorney Cal- houn, married Phoebe C. Harper; John W. O., who mar- ried Elizabeth Rymer, moved to Hyland County, Virginia; Mary J., who became the wife of Pleasant D. Bland ; Aaron F., who married Jennie Hinkle; Winfield Scott,

who married Catherine Bennett, and of them all only Marion Calhoun served in the war, he being a member Company C, Sixty-second Virginia Mounted Infantry, } boden 's Brigade.

Francis Marion Calhoun was born November 27, 18 and received only those educational advantages afford by the schools of his home community on Dry Run. WI he was eighteen years old he enlisted in the Confeder. Army, and helped to fight the battles of the South ur the elose of the war, being at the close of the war detached duty on the North Fork of the Potomac as( member of Doctor Priest's company guarding against Union forces at Beverly, where he was at the time per was proclaimed. Although he saw some very severe fig ing, especially at Gettysburg, he escaped without woul and was never taken prisoner.

Returning from the army, Francis Marion Calhoun, F. Marion Calhoun as he preferred to be known, beg farming in the place of his birth, and here he has su resided, giving to local affairs an intelligent interest, a to the democratic party the loyalty to be expected of of his name. The Methodist Episcopal Church is his ligious home, and he has served the Dry Run church this denomination as steward for many years.

Phoebe C. Harper, wife of F. Marion Calhoun, was be mear Riverton, West Virginia, in 1846, a daughter Philip and Sarah ( Hinkle) Harper. The Harpers ca to Pendleton County from Rockingham County, Virgin a little prior to the advent of the Calhouns. They ider fied themselves with the farming interests of the counl The Hinkles, too, were among the first settlers of t region, coming here about 1760, and at once beeomi prominent in agriculture. They were active in cours polities, and many of them were elected to office. 1 children born to F. Marion Calhoun and his wife were follows: Harrison M., whose name heads this review; Et who is the wife of George R. Lambert, of Franklin; G bert, who is operating the Calhoun homestead; and Chyl ton, who lives at Cuyler, New York.

Harrison Mayberry Calhoun, named for a Confeder soldier, spent the first thirty years of his life upon 1 father's farm and in educational work at Dry Run. T. common school fitted him for teaching, and he began at the youthtul age of sixteen years. After several yes however, he eommeneed taking summer courses in norn school work, and he left the educational field after s teen years spent in it. During that time, from 1894 1898, he served as county superintendent of schools Pendleton County. He continued teaching during his o cial life, and as the head of the public schools he earri on the routine work of his office.

With the expiration of his term of office Mr. Calho was admitted to the bar, having studied law while tead ing, and in November, 1898, was sworn in by Judge Da of the Cirenit Beneh. He opened his office at the cour seat, and his first case was a criminal one in which was assistant counsel for the defense of John W. Sitt charged with the murder of Ed Sites. This was one the noted criminal cases of the county, and the trial : sulted in the acquittal of the defendant. Since then M Calhoun has been conducting a general practice in tl and adjacent counties of West Virginia and Highla County, Virginia, and in the Supreme Court of the sta

In 1900 Mr. Calhoun was elected prosecuting attorn on the democratic tieket, succeeding B. H. Hiner in th office, and was re-elected four years later and served 1) a second term. In 1912 he was elected a member of t House of Delegates, and served for one term in the Hou Taylor George of Philippi was the speaker of that boi and Mr. Calhoun oftentimes laughingly states that the were so few democrats in it that he felt lonely all t time he was a member of it. However, he served as member of the judiciary committee and other committe and was very active in many ways. It was he who inti duced a resolution to ratify the amendment to the N tional Constitution ratifying the election of United Stat senators by the people and another resolution to rati the income tax amendment to the National Constitutic

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so introduced a resolution to amend the constitution est Virginia to provide for the initiative and refer- , and also one for the recall of officials. but the last hailed of passage. In the election of a United States or by the House he voted for a time for Col. R. P. but later supported Judge Daily of Ronmey, but Nnthan B. Goff was elected. He has frequented conventions of his party, and has also been a dele- to those of his congressional distriet, and as such to arrange the ticket for the subsequent elections. › matter of assisting in local business enterprise, he zed the Pendleton County National Farm Loan Asso- 31, of which he is seeretary-treasurer. He is a prom- layman of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, fraternal circles is well known as an Odd Fellow. May 28, 1889, Mr. Calhoun married in Highland ·, Virginia, Miss Virginia Mullenax, a daughter of Mullenax and his wife, formerly Elizabeth Calhoun. ghter of Aaron Calhoun. Mr. and Mrs. Calhoun he following children: Camden H., who is now en- in the lumber business in Nicholas County, West sia; Alfred R., who is a merchant of Franklin, mar- [ary Judy; Edwin M., who is a merchant of Mill- West Virginia. married Lena Shinn: Mary Lillian, the wife of V. M. MeMains, of Pittsburgh, Penn- ia: Phoebe Evelyn and Elaine, who are teachers in hools of Pendleton County; and Harlan M .. who is ent in the Potomac Academy at Keyser. West Vir- is the youngest child. Of these children, Camden lhoun served in the World war as a member of ny A. Sixty-first Infantry. He served overseas, and the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensive, in the of which he was wounded. In July, 1919, he reached after his honorable discharge.

Calhoun's office is a veritable curiosity shop. For years he has been a collector of rare objects of art, ologieal specimens and aboriginal relies until his presents the appearance of a museum. The develop- of fire arms from the old punk rifle and flint-lock th all the stages of improvement to the sporting and y rifles of today are shown. and these, together with ultitude of pistols which decorate the walls, give pression of an arsenal or military stronghokl.

OLA M. SMITH. There are several reasons why M. Smith, proprietor of the reliable house of O. M. general hardware and implement merchant of burg, has succeeded in life-energy, system and prac- nowledge. The range of his activities is now large, om the beginning of his career Mr. Smith has sought rk steadily and well for ultimate results, and has heen content to labor merely for the present. Since ng connected with his present house Mr. Smith has · contributed to its expansion until it is now one leading ones of its kind in this part of West Vir-

bla M. Smith was born in Pendleton County, West ja, November 5, 1870, a son of Isaac D. Smith, on of Jacob Smith, and great-grandson of Henry who lived to he nearly one hundred years old. Dur- of his active years he was connected with the farm erests of Pendleton County. and he is buried in the netery below the mouth of Seneca Creek, in Pendle- unty. Jacob Smith was born in Pendleton County, he lived and died, passing away early in the '80s, bout seventy years of age. He never sought public but was content to do his duty as a private citizen, sneh won and retained the warm friendship of the of his home community. He married a member of 1 Davis family, of South Fork, Pendleton County, and his wife became the parents of the following n: R. Calvin, S. Henry, Isaae D., Mrs. George Har- .nd her sister Susan, who, after her death, became ond wife of George Harmon.

: D. Smith was born in Pendleton County, and died .nt County, West Virginia, October 5, 1889. He tive as a farmer and stockraiser. While he did not n the war of the '60s, he furnished a soldier to the

Union forces, and did everything within his power to assist the Federal Government, to which ho romained consistently loval throughout the great struggle. He and his wife had ten children, of whom Oceola McClure Smith is the eldest.

When his father died Oceola M. Smith was about nine- teen years of age, and he continued to reside. with his mother until he was married and established a home of his own. Leaving the farm when about forty years old, he came to Petersburg and entered his present house, the name of which became Parker, Smith & Ours. Mr. Par- ker subsequently died, and Mr. Smith purchased the in- terest of Mr. Ours, and now eonduets his house under the caption of his own name, which he has continued to use since 1911. Ilis trade is principally a retail one, and he handles a general line of light and heavy hardware and implements, and he also does a small jobbing business in heavy hardware and machinery. His customers come to him from a wide arca from Petersburg. The financial strength of this house is equal to the volume of its business.

Mr. Smith has always been intelligently interested in local affairs, and has served as a member of the City Council of Petersburg, and also spent several terms on the School Board. As deputy sheriff under A. A. Parks and Isaae Lewis during their oceupaney of the office of sheriff he made so excellent a record that he was chosen as the nominee of his party to succeed Mr. Lewis. He was elected sheriff by a gratifying majority in 1904, and en- tered upon the discharge of his duties in January of the subsequent year. During his term in office he proved him- self utterly fearless and incorruptible. It was during his administration that so much trouble was experienced with the "moonshiners" in "Smoke Hnle," and he proved his efficiency and resoluteness in handling these cases as well as those involving capital offenses. One of the dastardly deeds committed during that period, the murder of Mrs. Reed and her son at Medley, remains an unsolved mystery, as the guilty party was never found, but Sheriff Smith did everything possible to track down the misereant and bring him to justice. So relentless and resourceful did he prove that his name became a dreaded one to offenders, and he succeeded in clearing the region of many old erim- inals who grew to recognize that he was not an officer who would overlook any infraction of the laws, but would pur- sne the suspect until he was captured, and then exert himself to the utmost to secure a conviction. When he retired from office Mr. Smith bent all his energies to mer chandising, with the results recited above, although he had some time previously entered his present business. He is interested along other lines. and is a large stockholder in the Grant County Bank of Petersburg.

On October 5. 1913, Mr. Smith married at Kevser, West Virginia, Miss Elizabeth W. M. MaeDonald. a sister of Wil- liam MacDonald, a prominent attorney of Keyser. Mrs. Smith was born at Lonaconing, Maryland. in February, 1882, and is of Scotch descent. A record of the Mae- Donald family is given in the sketch of William MaeDonald elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have a daugh- ter, Elizabeth Wilson M., who was born March 4, 1920. In politics Mr. Smith is a republican, and has always been very active iu party work in both the city and county. He is a Blue Lodge Mason, and zealous in behalf of his order He was reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Smith is an Episcopalian, and is active in church affairs, and during the late war took part in war work in connection with the Keyser Chapter of the Red Cross. The Smith home at Petersburg is a delightful one, the house being of the bungalow pattern, brick in structure. and modern throughout. It is one of the attractive resi- denees of the city, and its ten rooms are tastefully fur- nished. Here a genuine Southern hospitality is to be found, for both Mr. and Mrs. Smith are delightful entertainers, and welcome their many friends upon numerous occasions.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 129

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