History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 145

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RT. REV. GEORGE WILLIAM PETERKIN, who was the first bishop of the Episcopal diocese of West Virginia, had his official residence at Parkersburg from 1878 until his death on September 22, 1916. He was born at Clear Spring, Washington County, Maryland, . March 21, 1841, son of Rev. Joshua and Elizabeth Howard (Hanson) Peterkin, and a grandson of William W. Peterkin, who was a lieu- tenant in the early navy of the United States, later was a captain in the Merchant Marine, and early in the War of 1812 volunteered and commanded one of the batteries erected for the defense of Baltimore. He died of yellow fever at Baltimore soon after the war. Rev. Joshua Peter- kin was born in 1814, and was a distinguished Episcopal clergyman. From 1855 until his death in 1892, he was rector of St. James parish in Richmond, Virginia. He married in 1838, Elizabeth Howard Hanson, who was born in 1820 and died in 1910.

George William Peterkin was the only son of his panta He was educated in the Episcopal High School of Vi inin during 1856-58, then attended the University of Vi inin and during the war was a Confederate soldier and c'èer at first as a member of the Second Brigade of Storval Jackson's Division. He was made adjutant of the Tvity first Virginia Regiment June 3, 1862, and later W: a aide on the staff of Gen. W. N. Pendleton, chief of art en in the Army of Northern Virginia. He accompanied eral Pendleton, who was one of the three Confederate missioners to arrange the terms of surrender at mattox. Soon after the close of the war he bega h preparation for the ministry, and in 1868 graduated for the Theological Seminary of Virginia. He was made d cor in 1868, first serving in his father's parish at Richind and in 1869 was ordained a priest. He was rector c 8 Stephen's Church at Culpeper, Virginia, from 1869 to :73 and thereafter until he was made bishop, was in c'rg of Memorial Church at Baltimore. He was consecte the first bishop of West Virginia May 30, 1878, and bo afterward removed to Parkersburg. In addition toth heavy duties he performed in directing the affairs of bi great diocese, he was for twenty-five years a membdo the Board of Managers of the Domestic and Foreign Li sion Society, served as vice president of the Amera Church Missionary Society, and had supervising charg o the Episcopal Mission in Brazil from 1893 to 1898. H made a missionary tour of Porto Rico in 1901. The Ba he was consecrated bishop, Kenyon College and Was as ton and Lee University conferred the Doctor of Divit degree upon him and he received the LL. D. degree b Washington and Lee in 1892. He was author and et of several religious works, including the Records of;b Protestant Episcopal Church in West Virginia, publie in 1902.

October 29, 1868, Bishop Peterkin married Consti Gardner Lee, a descendant of the distinguished Lee fail of Virginia, being a daughter of Cassius Francis Leen a great-great-granddaughter of the eminent Virgia Richard Henry Lee. She was born in 1848 and die 1877. In 1884 Bishop Peterkin married Marion McIn Stewart, daughter of John Stewart of Brook Hill, Virgi The children of the first marriage were: George Willn who died in infancy; William G., Constance Lee, Eliza Hanson and Anne C. The children of the second maris were John S., Marion McIntosh and Mary S.

MAJOR WILLIAM G. PETERKIN, a son of the late beloved Bishop George William Peterkin of West Virgi has been a resident of Parkersburg since boyhood and played a prominent part in the affairs of that city. ] is president of the Citizens Trust & Guaranty Com]n and the Citizens Insurance Agency.

Major Peterkin was born in Culpeper, Virginia, Oct 21, 1870, and was eight years of age when his father up his official seat at Parkersburg. Here he contir his education in the public schools to the age of thirt and for six years lived with his grandfather at Richm Virginia, and attended the McGuire private school of city. Major Peterkin was a resident student of University of Virginia five years, graduating with his degree in 1894. In the same year he began practice Parkersburg, and was active in the profession until 1 During the last three years of his practice he was secret of the State Bar Association and later was elected president of the association. For the past fourteen yı his attentien has been chiefly devoted to the surety insurance business.

He earned his title by a service of more than ten ye in the West Virginia National Guard. During the Span! American war he hecame interested in military matt and was appointed small arms inspector, with the r of major on the staff of Gen. B. D. Spilman, brigade c mander of the West Virginia National Guard. He ( tinued on the staffe of Gen. George W. Curtin, Gen. Clare L. Smith and Gen. W. W. Scott. He was also ju advocate of his brigade, an office which he resigned 1910. Major Peterkin in politics has been a democ:

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F was elected a member of the City Council for 1902-03, 11904 was candidate for secretary of state, and in 1910 w3 chosen a member of the State Senate, serving four v.rs, and in both sessions acting as chairman of the com- tee on insurance. He has been chairman of the (y Democratic Committee at various times, also secretary al treasurer of the Wood County Executive Committee. Tring the World war he was chairman of the Draft Board f. Wood County, under the Selective Service Law. He i loyal to the church of his father and grandfather, a imber of the Elks Order and Kiwanis Club. April 18, 12, he married Miss Ora Moss Martin, of Parkersburg. eir two daughters are Julia Moss and Constance Lee.

HARRY LUDWIG HEINTZELMAN is one of the loyal citizens ad progressive business men who are conserving the civic d material prosperity of the City of Fairmont, Marion unty, where he is an executive officer of leading financial d industrial concerns of important order.

Mr. Heintzelman was born at Manor, Westmoreland Coun- , Pennsylvania, March 12, 1868, and is a son of Andrew d Mary (Wilson) Heintzelman, both of whem likewise re bora in Westmoreland County, as representatives of milies early founded in the old Keystone State. The pa- nts were residents of their native county at the time of eir deaths, the father having passed away in 1894 and a mother in 1896.

The public schools of his native state afforded Harry Heintzelman his early education, which was supplemented z his attending the Duff Business College and the Curry istitute, both in the City of Pittsburgh. As a young man p became identified with the glass manufacturing industry s an employe of McKee & Brothers at Jeanette, Pennsyl- ania. He later became superintendent of the Rochester umbler Company at Rochester, Pennsylvania, this being le largest manufactory of glass tumblers in the world. In 904 Mr. Heintzelman came to Fairmont, West Virginia, nd promoted and effected the organization of the Mo- ongah Glass Company, which here established a modern lant and engaged in the manufacturing of glass. Mr. leintzelman continued as secretary and treasurer of this ompany until the death of its first president in 1910, since hich year he has been its president, his vigorous and pro- ressive policies and his familiarity with the technical de- ils of the business having been potent in the development f the important industrial enterprise. He was one of the rganizers and incorporators of the Fairmont State Bank, f which he has been the president from the beginning; 3 a director in the Peoples National Bank of Fairmont, .nd is vice president of the Marion Securities Company, shich publishes The West Virginian, the evening newspaper f Fairmont. He is vice president of the Hartford-Fair- nont Company, is president of the Fairmont Box Company, s vice-president of the Greater Fairmont Investment Com- any, is vice president of the Stevenson Company, here en- raged in the wholesale grocery business; and is a stock- older and official in various other local corporations. The rief data here given are sufficient to mark him as one of he most liberal and progressive men of Fairmont, and in- icate that he is ever ready to give his influence and finan- ial co-operation in the furtherance of enterprises tending o advance the interests of his home city. Mr. Heintzel- nan is a member of the directorate of the Fairmont Cham- er of Commerce, has received the thirty-second degree of he Scottish Rite of the Masonic fraternity, his maximum York Rite affiliation being with the Commandery of Knights Templars at Fairmont, where also he is a popular member f the lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Mr. Heintzelman married Miss Carrie E. Dougherty, laughter of James Dougherty, of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and the four children of this union are Ruth, Ethel, Grace and Harry. Ethel is the wife of W. C. More- ead, of Fairmont. They have a son, William C., Jr. Harry identified with the Monongah Glass Company at Fair- oont, and his wife, whose maiden name was Eloise Shain, Fas a resident of this city at the time of their marriage. They have a son, Harry L. Heintzelman III.

EDWIN L. DAVIDSON. The family of this name repre- sented by the Parkersburg manufacturer and banker is of Scotch origin and has beea indentified with the life and affairs of West Virginia from almost the beginning of settlement.

Its founder was Alexander Davidson, who came from Scotland to America in 1729. He lived on a farm on the Raritan River in New Jersey. His family consisted of two sons and one daughter. His son William was the progenitor of the family in West Virginia, moving to Taylor County, which was a frontier locality to the close of his days. He was one of the pioneer millers in that vicinity. The next generation is represented by his son Alexander, who was born September 3, 1789. His life industry was that of farming. On February 3, 1820, Alexander Davidson mar- ried Dorothy Burdett who was born December 23, 1791. The names of their children with dates of birth follow: James, January 11, 1821; Joha, June 14, 1822; William, August 22, 1823; George, February 14, 1825; Alexander, September 23, 1826; Mary Martha, February 23, 1828; Joshua, November 10, 1829; Fred Edwin, October 6, 1831; Sarah Ann, February 13, 1834; Lucy, August 3, 1836; Stephen, November 15, 1837; and Franklin, August 9, 1840. One of these children, Alexander, never married and waa distinguished by some versatile gifts and accomplishments. He wrote a history of one of the middle western atates, and was also patentee of what was known as the Yost typewriter, which for several years was manufactured and enjoyed a considerable sale.

Three of the sons became identified with Parkersburg, where they lived and reared their families. They were Joshua, Stephen and Fred Edwin.

Fred Edwin Davidson became a contractor and builder in Parkersburg, and later entered the lumber business, out of which has grown the present Parkersburg Mill Company. His brother Joshua was also a contractor, and these three brothers at one time were associates in this line of business and constructed many important build- ings in their day. Fred E. Davidson assisted in building the Courthouse of Wood County preceding the present structure. Fred Edwin Davidson died June 2, 1917, when eighty-six years of age. On December 16, 1858, he mar- ried America Mitchell, who died May 31. 1910, after they had been on life's highway together for more than half a century. Their three children were: Ora, Mrs. T. J. Kean, Edwin L. and John Mitchell. John Mitchel David- son has for many years been a merchant at Parkersburg. He married Sue K. Dudley, and his two children are Mary Burdett and Fred Edwin, Jr.

Edwin L. Davidson, whose name has been chosen to represent the present generation of the family, was born November 3, 1863, and his business interests since early manhood have been in the lumber manufacturing field. He is now president of the Parkersburg Mill Company. He is also president of the First National Bank and has various other financial interests in the city.

Mr. Davidson was one of the organizers of the Parkers- burg Y. M. C. A. and its president two years. He is a trustee of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, and a member of the Rotary Club, Country Club, and the Chamber of Commerce, which he has served as president, and his influence and support have been lent generously to every undertaking affecting the broader welfare of the city.

June 9, 1888. he married Miss Nettie Johnson, daughter of Edward and Mary (Irwin) Johnson, representing old West Virginia families. Mr. and Mrs. Davidson'a only child, Dorothy Burdett, died in infancy.

JAMES W. VANDERVOORT. Forty years a member of the Parkersburg bar, Judge Vandervoort has a record of serv- ice fully consistent with the length of his experience. He has been judge, but first and last an able lawyer intent upon his professional work. The community has rec- ognized him many times as one of its constructive factors and most influential citizens.

Judge Vandervoort was born at Masontown, Preston County, West Virginia, May 7, 1855, son of Amos A. and Susan (Holmes) Vandervoort. He is a descendant in the

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tenth generation from Michael Paulus Vandervoort, whose home before coming to America was near Antwerp in the village of Termonde, Belgium, a town practically destroyed in the World war. He immigrated to the Colonies in 1640 and settled at New Amsterdam. His son Paul was born at Bedford, Long Island, and his grandson Paul II and his grandson Nicholas were also natives of Long Island. In time one branch of the family moved to Vir- ginia and Nicholas Vandervoort II went into that state. The sixth generation of the family was represented by Jonah Vandervoort and the seventh by Nicholas Vander- voort, who crossed the mountains and became a pioneer in Monongalia County in what is now West Virginia. Amos A. Vandervoort was a son of William Vandervoort. Amos was a Union soldier, was captured, was held in confinement at Andersonville and died while a prisoner at Savannah, Georgia. He was a member of Company B of the Fourth West Virginia Infantry.

James W. Vandervoort was a boy when his father died. He acquired a public school education, attended George's Creek Academy at Smithfield in Fayette County, Penn- sylvania, and completed his sophomore year in the West Virginia State University. Some of his law studies were pursued under the eminent John B. Minor of the Uni- versity of Virginia, and at this institution he took the complete law course. After being admitted to the bar he began practice at Clarksburg, West Virginia. He re- mained there two years, and on October 10, 1881, removed to Parkersburg, where for a number of years he was asso- ciated in practice with John A. Hutchinson. Mr. Vander- voort for over twenty years has been counsel for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company at Parkersburg and also for the American Express Company, and has been at- torney on one side or another in many important civil cases. He is a republican in politics and was presidential elector on the Mckinley ticket and at different times has entered campaigns actively. Governor A. B. White ap- pointed him judge of the Criminal Court of Wood County, to fill a vacancy due to the death of Judge J. M. Jackson, but after a few months he resigned from the bench to resume his private practice. He is a Methodist, a member of the Country Club, Rotary Club and Elks.

Throughout the period of the World war Mr. Vander- voort was president of the local Red Cross Chapter. That organization was the chief medium for all local philan- thropic work, undertaken by it directly or under its auspices, and the splendid patriotic record made by Parkersburg is due in no small degree to the efficiency of the organization of which Judge Vandervoort was the head. He is now a member of the Board of Law Examiners for West Virginia and represents the General Council of the American Bar Association for West Virginia.

June 7, 1882, Judge Vandervoort married Maude Shut- tleworth of Clarksburg, daughter of Benjamin F. and Miriam (Blair) Shuttleworth. Her mother represented an old family of Augusta County, Virginia, and was a de- scendant of James Blair, founder of William and Mary College. Judge Vandervoort lost his wife by death October 11, 1914. He has four children: George H .; Edna B., wife of K. F. Williams; Maude S .; and Margaret E., Mrs. Frank F. Turner.

CHARLES D. MERRICK has been a Parkersburg lawyer over forty-five years, and throughout has been steadily ac- cumulating honors due to the able lawyer and a scholarly gentleman.

Mr. Merrick was born in Portage County, Ohio, August 1, 1852, son of Henry A. and Sarah (Green) Merrick. His mother was a native of England. Henry A. Merrick was born in the Western Reserve of Ohio, son of Minor Merrick, who came from his native state of Connecticut in 1817, and was a pioneer in the Ohio Western Reserve. His home for many years was in Portage County, but he spent his last days at Salem in Columbiana County. Henry A. Merrick was identified with merchandising and lumber manufacture, and in the prosecution of his lumbering interests, and to secure a wider field of supply, he moved to West Virginia in the spring of 1868, locating in Ritchie

County. In 1873 he moved to Chicago, and from thereto Washington, D. C., where he died in 1887.

Of four children Charles D. Merrick is one of the 70 survivors. During his boyhood he lived at Salem, Co, attended school there, also at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Id did much private study. At the suggestion of Major Al. sey he began the study of law with Col. John S. Hoffin at Clarksburg, and while pursuing his studies he actecus Deputy Circuit Court Clerk of Harrison County. Mr. It- rick was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1873, and i two years practiced at Harrisville in Ritchie County. n 1875 he removed to Parkersburg, and this city has been e scene of his professional labors ever since. For one *u he was a member of the firm, Scott, Cole & Merrick, tn practiced alone, and in 1887 formed a partnership vh Levin Simth. The law firm of Merrick & Smith is e of the oldest and has long been recognized as one of e ablest at the West Virginia bar. Mr. Merrick has satisd his ambition in the profession of law and has allowed w outside interests to intrude upon his important professicil duties. In former years he took considerable interestn politics and is a republican. He is a member of the Pres". terian Church.

April 4, 1878, Mr. Merrick married Miss Addie Hl, of Harrisville, West Virginia. Her father, Dr. Moses H], was a captain in the Union Army in the Civil war :d came out with the brevet rank of colonel. Doctor Ell was a brother-in-law of Gen. Thomas M. Harris, a memr of the court that tried Mrs. Surratt, the famous Southn spy, for complicity in the assassination of President I- coln. Mr. and Mrs. Merrick have four children. The oldt is Fred H., who about 1905 became a socialist and sın became a prominent one, somewhat radical in his methci, and was in consequence called upon to endure some vy hard things, which he did without flinching and show? great courage. He became a writer and speaker of Il capability, and is still pursuing the calls of his sociat faith. Julia M. is the wife of Henry B. Walker, f Lancaster, Ohio. Eleanor Constance is Mrs. J. C. Rosa :. of Utuado, Porto Rico. The youngest is Roderick G.

Roderick G. Merrick left law school in 1917, to enter Officers Training School in Fort Benjamin Harris, Indiana, was commissioned a second lieutenant in artille and was in training at Camp Shelby, Montgomery, Alabai. He did special census work there and at Camp Gord, Atlanta, and in January, 1918, was sent overseas to Fran After a period of intensive training he was assigned the Fifteenth Regiment of Artillery in the Second Divisi composed wholly of regular troops. His record includ some of the famous campaigns of the war, including .? battles of Belleau Woods, Soissons, after which he v3 promoted to a first lieutenant, St. Mihiel, the fighting the Champaign district east of Rheims, the Argonne woo and the final march to Sedan. He continned with 13 Army of Occupation at Coblenz after the signing of 1: armistice and in July, 1919, secured leave to return America. He now lives at Kalamazoo, Michigan.

WILLIAM TILGHMAN RITTENHOUSE. Though a nat: of Ohio, William Tilghman Rittenhouse has lived his 1 in Parkersburg, has been identified with oil producti interests in West Virginia for many years, and is a a Parkersburg banker and one of the foremost Masc of the state.

He was born in Ross County, Ohio, February 27, 186 son of William and Ruphelle (Flint) Rittenhouse. T Rittenhouse family in America was established by Willi: Rittenhouse, who immigrated from Holland to Pennsylvar about 1687. Among his descendants was David Ritte house, one of America's early astronomers and with inte national distinction in the world of science. Several gener tions of the Rittenhouse family were identified with t paper manufacturing industry at Germantown, near Phi. delphia.

The Parkersburg business man is a great-grandson Samuel Rittenhouse, a grandson of Tilghman Rittenhon: This branch of the Rittenhouse family became identifi with Ross County, Ohio, very early in the nineteenth ce

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C. N. Jenkins.

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HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

y One of the pioneers of the family there lived to the of 110 years. William Rittenhouse was both a ar and merchant in Ross County, was honored with the le of county treasurer there, and in every way upheld , pnorable traditions of his family.

Wliam Tilghman Rittenhouse when six years of age was Mht by his parents to West Virginia. They first lived Irkersburg and later his father moved out into the oil d Mr. Rittenhouse acquired a public school education, lo ttended Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, w York, and his first business experience was in the [ ]ds, in the Burning Springs District. More or less manously ever since he has had aome share and interest 13 oil industry.

1. Rittenhouse established his permanent home in ir rsburg in 1886, and in 1888, when the Citizens Build- g ·ssociation was organized, he was elected its secretary, da that capacity has to a large degree had the executive mistration and management of this prosperous asso- ata for a period of thirty-three years. He is also erary of the U. S. Roofing Tile Company, a Parkers- ur industry which has an almost world-wide market for roducts.

I Masonry Mr. Rittenhouse haa filled the offices of wer, high priest and eminent commander in the Parkers- u York Rite bodies, is a member of the Scottish Rite .story, and a member and officer of Nemesis Temple e Mystic Shrine. The chief credit is due him for the eion of the Masonic Temple at Parkersburg, and he upeen one of the officers of the Masonic Temple Asso- on from the beginning. Mr. Rittenhouse in 1910 waa eed right eminent grand commander of the Grand Com- alery of the state, and in 1914 was high priest of the .d Chapter. He is a Knight Commander of the Court Honor and recently elected to the thirty-third degree That Rite. Mr. Rittenhouse was city clerk of Parkers- during the construction of the City Hall. He is a Iblican, a Methodist, is a charter member of the Parkers- Kiwanis Club, a member of the Automobile Club and CCountry Club. He married Miss Isabelle Bryan. Four L'ren were born to their marriage: William B., a m'ent of Parkersburg; George Flint, of Wheeling; Owen e, who was a second lieutenant in the World war and instructor in training camps, and died of bronchial umonia at Camp Meade, Maryland, in 1918; and Tilgh- , who died when seven years of age.

LETUS HAROLD JENKINS, a prominent coal operator and hential citizen residing at Fairmont, Marion County, born on a farm in Barbour County, this state, Novem- 13, 1871, and is a son of the late Joseph J. and Delilah oth) Jenkins. The father was born in Barbour County, 846, and was a resident of Taylor County at the time lis death, in 1917. He was a son of Jonathan Jenkins, was a native of Virginia and who became a pioneer ler in Barbour County. Delilah (Booth) Jenkins was a in Barbour County, in 1847, and died in 1918, in ·lor County. She was a daughter of James Booth and a descendant of General Booth, a patriot officer of minence in the war of the Revolution. General Booth · numbered among the very early settlers in what is now ·bour County, West Virginia, and in that county his ne and memory are perpetuated in the name of Booth's ek. On this creek stood a school house that was long wn as the General Booth School.

When Cletus H. Jenkins was one year old his parents ved to the village of Astor, Taylor County, where his her engaged in the drug business. After attending the lic schools Mr. Jenkins continued his studies three years the West Virginia College at Flemington, Taylor County, institution that now figures as a county high school. He reafter devoted six years to successful service as a teacher the rural schools. He next attended the Mountain State siness College at Parkersburg during one year, and in 9 he entered the office of the Hutchinson Coal Company Fairmont. He has continued his association with this portant industrial corporation during the long interven- period of more than thirty years, and from the position

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 145

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