History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 139

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the Norfolk & Western Railroad at Bluefield, and he held this place two years. He and his brother William H. then opened a general store on Bluefield Avenue, and two years later he became bookkeeper for the Bluefield Ice & Cold Storage Company, of which he has been accretary, treasurer and manager since 1917.

Mr. Hetherington is a valued member of the Bluofield Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club, is a demo- crat in politics, is a Knight Templar Mason, and is affi- liated also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World and the United Commercial Travelers. He and his wife are zealous members of Grace Church, Methodist Episcopal, South, in their home city, he being a steward and trustee of the same and also superintendent of its Sunday school.

In 1907 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hethering- ton and Miss Blanche Dunn, who was born and reared in Monroe County, this state, and the one child of this union is a daughter, Grace.

Mr. Hetherington is one of the progressive business men and liberal and public-spirited citizens of Bluefield. and in his native county his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances.

CLARKE V. FOLAND as a boy learned the printer's trade, and has been more or less continuously identified with the printing and newspaper business ever since. As a journey- man he became identified with Bluefield some years ago, and is now president of the Foland Printing Company of that city. His citizenship is enthusiastic, and he is one of the forceful men who believe that Bluefield has not only achieved big things in the past but has a still greater future ahead of it.

Mr. Foland was born at Scottsville, Albemarle County, Virginia, May 13, 1879. His grandfather, Valentine Foland, was one of a party of twelve members of the family who came to the United States from Germany. Valentine Foland was a cabinct maker, a very akilled worker in that line, and finally he and his family moved to East Tennessee and later he went to Indiana. Peter Valentine Foland, father of the Bluefield business man, was born at Richmond, Virginia, and during the last two years of the Civil war served as a Union soldier. He was once captured, and spent part of his time as a prisoner of war. Ile was a carpenter by trade, and his home for half a century was at Scottsville, where he died in July, 1915, at the age of seventy. He was a democrat, served as a member of the Council, and also was mayor of Scotts- ville, was a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and for thirty years was superintendent of the Sunday school. Peter V. Foland married Elizabeth Clarke Stratton, who was born in Scottsville and died in March, 1921, at the age of seventy-five. She was a daughter of James and Harrict (Wood) Stratton, of Fluvanna County, Virginia. Harriet Wood was a daughter of Thomas Wood, of that county. Through his father Clarke V. Foland is a descendant of Randolph Jefferson, the only brother of Thomas Jefferson, aons of Peter Jefferson. James Strat- ton, his maternal grandfather, was a veteran of the Mex- ican war. Clarke V. Foland was next to the youngest in a family of seven children. His brother James G. is a machinist at Hendricks, West Virginia.

Clarke V. Foland spent his early life at Scottsville, where he attended school, and was also a student in the Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Blacksburg. In May, 1898, he volunteered for service in the Spanish-American war, being assigned to duty in the Blacksburg Band, and was with Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's command at Jacksonville, Florida. He was mustered out at Salem, Virginia, in December, 1898.

He learned the printer'a trade in the office of the Scotts- ville Courier, and later was employed in variona capacities on the Buchanan, Virginia, Banner, the Fincastle Herald, the Norton Free Press, the Tazewell Republican, and finally on the Bluefield Evening Leader. He was a part owner of the Leader when it suspended publication, and he lost all his savings at that time. In February, 1909, he organized the Foland Printing Company, which took

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over the very limited equipment of the old Leader. He became president of the new organization, which had a cash capital of only $65.00. For a dozen years Mr. Foland has kept the business growing to the limit of its facilities, and now has a complete commercial printing establish- ment, handling a large part of the printing business in this section of the state.

Soon after he came to Bluefield Mr. Foland was a clerk in the postoffice in 1901, under Dr. J. E. Martin, then postmaster, and again in 1904 he served for a time in the local office. Mr. Foland has the gift of music, has developed much skill with the violin, and for several years was choir leader of the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The church organist at that time was Miss Ethel Irene Stovall. This commou interest in music culminated in their marriage on December 4, 1912. Mrs. Foland is a daughter of William A. and Hattie Stovall. Her father was formerly a school teacher, was a conductor on the Norfolk & Western Railroad, and still later in business at Bluefield. Mrs. Foland is a graduate of the Concord State Normal of Athens, West Virginia, graduated in music at Centenary College at Cleveland, Tennessee, and finished her musical studies in the School of Music and Arts in New York City. Her special field of proficiency is the piano, and since her marriage she has continued teaching and musical interests in general. They are now members of the Bland Street Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and Mr. Folaud is a steward in the church and a member of the choir. Fraternally he is senior counselor of the United Commercial Travelers of America, is a past sachem of the Improved Order of Red Men, is a Royal Arch and Knight Templar Mason, being generalissime of the latter, and is a member of the Shrine at Charleston. He belongs to the Bluefield Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club.

WILLIAM E. DEEGANS. The man who is the architect of his own fortune is to be congratulated only if the structure has been soundly erected and the materials used in its building are of a character that will stand the test of criticism. Too many of our so-called self-made men have climbed the ladder of success through the misfortunes of others. Likewise there are men who owe their present position te happy circumstance or fortuitous opportunity. The men who have thus risen are not really entitled te be known as "self-made" in the strict sense of the term. Those deserving of this title are men who have relied implicitly upon their own resources and have taken no unfair advantage; who have made the most of their op- portunities, but have not strayed from legitimate methods in making the most of them; whe have builded their structures on sound foundations, and who, on reaching the heights can point with a pardonable degree of pride to the work they have perfected. To have accomplished such an achievement has been the work of William E. Deegans of Huntington, president of the American Bank & Trust Company, an official in numerous other important enterprises, and a citizen whose activities in matters of a community nature have been constructive and helpful. He has traveled the hard road of self-made manhood, has met obstacles and overcome them, has suffered disappoint- ments without allowing them to discourage him, and has attained a well merited position of prominence. The structure of his fortune has been firmly and substantially erected.

Mr. Deegans was born at Bellefonte, Kentucky, March 31, 1875, the son of James Franklin and Mary (Gannon) Deegans, beth of Irish parentage, the former born at Belle- fonte and the latter at Deering, Lawrence County, Ohio. When he was three years of age his parents moved to Monitor Furnace (now known as Coal Grove), Lawrence County, Ohio, and there the lad was reared to the age of eighteen years. When he was nine years old he began driving teams, going to school during the short winter terms, and this constituted his education up to 1893, when his ambl- tion for further preparation of an educational nature led him to enter Valparaiso (Indiana) University. His finances at this time were modest, to say the least, and in order to pay for his tuition, beard and room rent he worked for one

year in the University kitchen. In 1895 Mr. Deegans we to Fayette County, West Virginia, where for a time he w employed as a railroad section hand, subsequently becomi a coal miner under Charles Beurry, of the Beechwood Co. and Coke Company. Later he entered the service of t Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company at Thurmond, th state, under F. J. Ginn, and acted as baggagemaster ar night yard clerk until resigning to accept the position . store clerk of the McDonald Colliery Company at Ma donald, West Virginia, under the management of S. Dixo

In 1898 Mr. Deegans found himself in a position to er bark in a venture of his own, and, with H. C. McClai founded the general mercantile firm of McClain & Deegal at Thurmond. This association lasted until 1900, when : sold his interest in the business to Mr. McClain and openc au establishment of his own, under the style of W. E. De gans & Company, and for five years did a prosperous bus ness, which was terminated by the destruction of his estal lishment hy fire in 1905. Following this Mr. Deegans' a tention and activities were drawn to the restaurant bus ness, and under the style of Hofmeier & Deegans, he ope: ated restaurants at Thurmond, Glen Jean, Scarbro and Mar donald, West Virginia. While thus engaged it was bu natural that he should note the opportunities offered in th coal business, and in 1908 he became the organizer of th Pocahontas Smokeless Coal Company at Welch, McDowe) County. Following this, in the same year, he organized th Bank of Mullens, at Mullens, Wyoming County, of which he was the first president, a position he still retains. Th following year saw him still more actively interested in coal when he purchased an interest in the Prudence (West Vir ginia) Coal Company, of which he became president and gen eral manager. In the same year he was made president o. the National Bank of Thurmond, an office which he hek until 1919, when he disposed of his stock in that institution

In 1910 Mr. Deegans became the organizer of the New Pocahontas Coal Company at Deegaus, West Virginia, a tow! named in his honor, bought the controlling interest in the Holliday Coal Company at Keeneys Creek, this state, and organized the Mullens Realty Company and the Glen Jear Insurance Company, of both of which concerns he was presi- dent and general manager. In 1914 he purchased the con- trolling interest in the American Bank and Trust Com- pany at Huntington, of which he has since been president. His organizing ability during that year was exemplified in his founding the Mullens Smokeless Coal Company, at Mul- lens; the Deegans Eagle Coal Company, at Accoville, Logan County ; The Cub Fork Coal Company, at Yolyn; and the Orville Coal Company, at Ojay. He alse bought the con- trolling interest in the Paragon Colliery Company, at Yolyn, the Guyan Valley Coal Company, at Accoville, and the Miller Pocahontas and Virginian Smokeless Coal Company, at Corinne, Wyoming Company, all of these being West Vir- ginia concerns. In 1915 he organized the W. E. Deegans Coal Company, which is the selling agency for the group of miues which he now owns, and of which concern he is presi- dent and general manager.

In 1918 Mr. Deegans bought the controlling stock in the Royal Block Coal Company of Morrisvale, West Virginia, of which he is president and general manager, and assumed like duties when he organized the Independent Coal Company of Toledo, Ohio, and the Royal Ceal Company of Lansing, Michigan, these two companies operating large retail yards in their respective cities. In the same year he organized the Faulkner Coal Company of Huffce, West Virginia, and the W. E. Deegans Consolidated Coal Company of Hunting- ton, where the main office is located, and is still president and general manager of both concerns. In 1919 Mr. Dee- gans organized the Marietta Coal Company of Stone, Ken- tucky, of which he is president and general manager, and assisted in the organization of the Greenbrier & Eastern Railroad, which connects with the Sewell Valley and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, and of which road he is vice president. His activities in 1920 included the organization of the Margarette Coal Company and the Frances Coal Com- pany, both of Marfrance, Greenbrier County; and his ac- ceptance of executive position in the Winner Gas Stove Com- pany and the Miller Casket Company, both of Huntington,

To Deganz

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wich concerns he is president. He is also vice president Van Zandt Leftwich Supply Company.

Wh the foregoing wealth of business duties it might ær as though Mr. Deegans had his time fully occupied, must not be considered as merely a business drone. joys the companionship of his fellows in a fraternal Vocial way, being a thirty-second degree Mason, a life wer of the Elks, and a member of the Kiwanis, Guyan- tand Guyan Country Clubs, and at all times is ready kd his abilities in support of civic measures directed to- nthe promulgation of movements considered to be før welfare of the community. In politica he is a democrat. d a resident of Fayette County he served as a member t County Court during 1899 and 1900, and aa a mem- the Board of Education in 1911 and 1912.

1899 Mr. Deegans was united in marriage with Miss z.rette Turner, at Thurmond, Fayette County. Mrs. ans, a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church, dMarch, 4, 1917, being survived by two children: Wil- a. E., Jr., and Mary Frances. On April 15, 1922, Mr. e ns married Miss Kathryn A. Burgess, daughter of Mr. ! [rs. James Burgess, natives of West Virginia.

LAS H. BELCHER is one of three brothers who are tnently identified with the lumber business, and all inta of Bluefield. Silas Belcher is district manager he Ritter-Burnes Lumber Company of Huntington, 1.88 been one of the live and enterprising citizens of Meld for fourteen years.

I was born at Rosedale, Russell County, Virginia, May 7, son of George and Maggie (Nuckels) Belcher. His r is now living at Sword Creek, Virginia, at the age kty. The father, who was a farmer, died in 1901. were nine children in the family, and Silas was one la oldest.

Belcher had the advantages of the rural schools in ll County, and as a boy he was employed as water a a sawmill at wages of 25 cents a day. At the age teen he had developed the technical skill required gauger and lumber inspector, and for several years 18 employed in these capacities, and his duties took o the lumber districta of West Virginia, Tennessee, icky and North Carolina. For several years he was e service of the Parkhurst Lumber Company of Sword , Virginia, the Boyce Lumber Company of Richmond, nia, and the Ritter-Burnes Company of Huntington. hree years he was vice president of the Graham Lum- Company.

. Belcher has had his home at Bluefield since 1909, n that time has seen a city built up and outgrow the ;e limits of his first acquaintance here. He was an member of the Chamber of Commerce and the nis Club, and is affiliated with the Elks order. cember 19, 1900, Mr. Belcher married Miss Stella , a daughter of P. E. Steele, of Tazewell, Virginia. Belcher is a member of the Methodist Episcopal .h.

MES W. OVERSTREET, secretary-treasurer and manager e National Armature Company at Bluefield, was for years an official of Southern Express Company and Norfolk & Western Railroad at Bluefield, and is one e city's most energetic and forward-looking younger ns.

was born at Thaxton, Virginia, June 21, 1888, son ameg H. and Jennie (Quissenberry) Overstreet, his r a native of Bedford County and his mother of sylvania County. The mother died when James was Id, and the father, a stock and tobacco farmer, died 12, at the age of sixty. There were only two sons, . Overstreet, of Portsmonth, Ohio, and James W.

nes W. Overstreet attended private school in Bedford y, Virginia, until he was sixteen, and when he came uefield he was employed for one year as a salesman bookkeeper by H. B. Thompson on Raleigh Street. ft that firm to become clerk in the local offices of the ern Express Company, and continued in the service it the end of fifteen years had charge of the office

and supervision over the entire business of the company for the Pocahontas Division of the Norfolk & Western Railroad.

On account of his wide acquaintance with railroad men, mine operators and others, who had absolute confidence in him, he has contributed in no small degree to the suc- cess of the National Armature Company since he accepted his official responsibilities with that firm in March, 1920.

Mr. Overstreet married, April 29, 1914, Rosel Killey, daughter of Dr. P. H. Killey, of Vivian, Virginia. They have one daughter, Emily. Mr. and Mrs. Overstrect are members of the Episcopal Church. He is a York and Scottish Rite Magen, a member of the Shrine at Charles- ton, and is an active worker in such Bluefield organizations as the Rotary Club, Country Club and Chamber of Com- merce. During the war he made strenuous efforts to get accepted for service, either as a private or through the Officers Training Camp.

HENRY BISHOP KITTS might be referred to appropriately as the dean of Mercer County journalism. He was editor of the first paper established in that county, and for a long succession of years carried the responsibilities of an editor and publisher. When he first came to the county the total population was about seven thousand. At the present time 49,000 people live within the limits of Mercer County. At one time Mr. Kitts knew personally nearly all the voters of the county. His home for many years was at Princeton, and he located there before Bluefield was on the map. Mr. Kitts is now one of the active men in Bluefield business affairs and is secretary of the Feland Printing Company.

He was born at Bland Court House, Virginia, April 13, 1861, son of Peter and Marianne (Edwards) Kitts. Kitts is a name of Holland Dutch origin, while the Edwards family lived for many generations in Fincastle County, Virginia. The great-grandfather of Henry B. Kitts was Henry Kitts, who was born in Wythe County, Virginia. His son, Jacob Kitts, moved from Virginia to East Ten- nessee, when his son Peter was a boy of seven, but sub- sequently returned to Virginia. Peter Kitts spent the greater part of his life at Bland Court House, was a shoe- maker by trade, and also carried on farming. Peter Kitts was born in Grainger County, Tennessee, in 1827, and died at Bland Court House in 1878. His wife, Marianne Edwards, was born in 1844 and died in 1888. They were members of the Methodist Church. Henry Bishop Kitts is the oldest of ten children. A brother and sister live at Bluefield, George, an engineer of the Norfolk & Western Railroad, and Mrs. Leroy Landrum.

Henry B. Kitts attended scheel at Bland Court House until twelve years of age, but his literary as well as his technical education was acquired in a printing office. After leaving school he was a boy worker in the office of the Holston Christian Advocate, a Methodist paper. At the age of sixteen he was performing the duties of editor of the Bland County Gazette.

In 1881, forty years ago, and when only nineteen years of age, Mr. Kitts came to Princeton, Mercer County, West Virginia, and took charge of the Princeton Journal a few weeks after the establishment of this pioneer paper of Mercer County. He conducted the Journal for sixteen years. He became prominently identified with the demo- cratic party in the county, was chairman of the Central Committee before he was twenty-one, and since then has called every county convention to order or has served as secretary of the body. While in Princeton he was assistant in the clerk's office at different times.

Mr. Kitts has been a resident of Bluefield since 1897, in which year he established the Advertiser, a weekly paper, and published this until 1904, when he sold out. During that year he was busy compiling and publishing a city directory. He then opened a job office, known as the Kitts Printing Company, on Princeton Avenue. In 1909 he returned to journalism as editor of the Evening Leader, and after that paper suspended he became secre- tary of the Feland Printing Company, one of the largest commercial printing establishments in the southern part

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of the state. During 1900 Mr. Kitts served as city treas- urer.

In 1881 he married Mlss Minnie Kahle, daughter of Samuel and Katherine Kahle. Mrs. Kitts died in 1910, the mother of four sons and four daughters. Two of the sons and two of the daughters are still living. Ernest is chief inspector for the Bluefield Telephone Company; Frank is now manager of a theater at Pocahontas, Virginia, and during the war period was in training at Camp Lee, Vir- ginia. The daughter Eva is the wife of Richard Morgan at Matoaka, Virginia, while Mary is the wife of M. B. Hammitt, of Pocahontas, Virginia.

Mr. Kitts is one of the prominent members of the Kiwanis Club, and his associates in that organization affec- tionately refer to him as "Young Man Kitts." He was a delegate to the Inernational Kiwanis Convention at Cleve- land. He is a member of the Finance Committee of the Men's Club of the Bland Street Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and active in the work of the club. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and member of the Eastern Star, and is one of the oldest members of Bluefield Lodge of Elks.

MOSES WILLIAM BURR, a scion of one of the very early pioneer families of what is now West Virginia, was born on the old homestead of the family near Bardane, Jeffer- son County, on the 8th of February, 1819. His father, James Burr, was born near Bardane, April 2, 1776, a son of Peter Burr, who was born near Fairfield, Connecticut, October 21, 1727. Peter Burr married Mary Stuart, born August 17, 1730, and in company with a cousin who con- manded a vessel in the coastwise trade, he landed at Alex- andria, Virginia, and thence followed an Indian trail to the site of the present city of Harper's Ferry, West Vir- ginia, where he obtained from Lord Fairfax a tract of land a short distance west of the present Harper's Ferry. He left his father in charge of this property and returned to Connecticut to settle his business and property affairs in that state. On his return to Virginia he was accom- panied by his wife and seven children. In the meanwhile his father had become dissatisfied with the land which had been taken, the result being that the tract was given up and from Lord Fairfax another tract was secured, a part of the present village of Shenandoah Junction being sit- uated on this land. About a mile west of the present vil- lage Peter Burr built a house and established a home in the midst of the wilderness. He reclaimed and otherwise improved much of his land, and on this old homestead he passed the remainder of his life, Alexandria having been the nearest market point and several days having been re- quired to make the trip back and forth with teams and wagons. The names of the seven children of his first mar- riage were: Mary, Abigail. Sarah, Miriam, Jane, Peter and Hannah. For his second wife Peter Burr, Sr., mar- ried Jane Calhoun, who was born near Lancaster, Penn- sylvania, a representative of the old and influential family of that name. The six children of this union were: James, Elizabeth, Moses, Anna, William and Esther. The son Moses was a captain in the War of 1812.

James Burr succeeded to the ownership of a part of his father's landed estate, and there he and his young wife established their home in a small log house. For several years he hauled his farm produce to Alexandria, stopping enroute at the wayside inns or taverns, and he won substantial success in his farm enterprise. He became the owner of two slaves, a negro and his wife, and these two, with their progeuy, were all the slaves he ever re- tained. James Burr died in November, 1848, his wife having passed away in the preceding year. The maiden name of Mrs. Burr was Nancy McGarry. She was born in what is now Jefferson County, West Virginia, April 7, 1781, a daughter of John McGarry, who came from Ireland with his family and became a pioneer settler and farmer in Jefferson County, as now constituted. He was a weaver by trade, and with his hand loom did much manufacturing of cloth for the other pioneer settlers. James and Nancy Burr became the parents of five chlidrent Edmund, James, Jr., John, Moses William and Nancy Jane.

Moses William Burr gained his early education in little log school house erected by the people of the n borhood, and profited much by instruction there giver John McKnight. He eventually succeeded to the ov ship of his father's farm, and there he continued his cessful activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower his death, February 25, 1895. He was one of the hon and influential citizens of Jefferson County, and did his part in advancing its civic and material prospe In May, 1845, he married Mary Ann Porterfield, who born in Berkeley County, October 23, 1824, a daughte William and Mary (Williamson) Porterfield. William terfield was born in the present Hedgesville District Berkeley County, in 1776, and was a son of William terfield, whose . father likewise hore the personal nam William. Mary A. (Williamson) Porterfield was a daug of a Revolutionary soldier who received from Virgini tract of land in what is now the State of Ohio in reco tion of his military service. Mrs. Burr died on the of July, 1894. The names of their eight children are ! recorded : Margaret Ann, Mary Jane, Bettie Porterf. Susan Emma, James William, Nannie Belle, Milton 1) liamson and Alice Calhoun. Milton W. and his sist Mary J., Bettie P., Nannie B. and Alice C., now occ the old homestead, and are among the few persons in . ferson County, thus owning a property that has been the family possession for four successive generations. " old homestead place, in Jefferson County, is situated ( fourth of a mile from the village of Bardane, and present house, a commodious frame structure of Color style of architecture, with modern improvements, includ, electric lights and steam heat, stands on the site of old log cabin which was the original family domicile, site being on an elevation that affords a commanding v of the surrounding country. The farm is in charge Milton W. Burr, and his sisters are the gracious and p ular chatelains of the beautiful and hospitable home. V liam Porterfield, the maternal ancestor, was born in ] land, of Scotch lineage, came to America in the Color period and was one of the first settlers in what is Berkeley County, West Virginia. The family name his wife was Paul, and her father was one of the fi settlers in the vicinity of Falling Waters, Berkeley Coun where he acquired a large landed estate.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 139

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