History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 149

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > West Virginia > History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2 > Part 149

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

September 12, 1876, Mr. McCluer married Bettie C. Cool daughter of James Cook and member of a pioneer famil of Wood County. Judge and Mrs. McCluer had the follow ing children: James Steele; John Cameron, now a prom inent lawyer of Pittsburgh; Henry Randolph, a banker i Parkersburg; John G., Jr., who died October 6, 1911 Earl Hamilton, who died October 16, 1916; Lawrence M

James Isfall,

453

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

o ied August 20, 1916; Mary Cook, now Mrs. Paul C. mig, of Parkersburg; and Charles F. A. McCluer, om home is at Electra, Texas.

Taes Steele McCluer, the oldest son, was born at Parkers- rgNovember 15. 1877, and was reared and educated in tive city. For two years he was a student in his he's alma mater, Washington and Lee University, in ademic department, and then continued in the law ır, graduating LL. B. in 1899. After his admission tt bar he located at Parkersburg and became associated ·his father in the law firm of McCluer, Forrer & Mc- 16 For twenty years before his father's death the 1 199 McCluer & McCluer. He is the present city ieor of Parkersburg, and since the death of his father ecome associated with B. M. Ambler and Mason G. ihr under the firm nama of Ambler, McCluer and ıl r.

M McCluer is a democrat, is a member of the Mu Pi r da college fraternity, is a thirty-second degree Scottish ce Mason, member of Nemesis Temple of the Mystic ri:, is a past exalted ruler of the Benevolent and ortive Order of Elks and a member of the Kiwanis

Dober 21, 1903. he married Birdie B. Baker, whose 1:, Gen. S. B. Baker, died while serving as adjutant mal of West Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. McCluer have two len : Anna Elizabeth and Helen Baker.

ALTER E. STOUT has had a varied and active part in rogram of business and civic affairs of Parkersburg. 3 present postmaster of the city, was former clerk .e Circuit Court, and has always been identified at Pent times with the oil interests of the family.

De of the members of the family long prominent in ffairs of West Virginia was John Wilkinson Stout, ulfather of the Parkersburg postmaster. John W. y was born in Pleasants County, Virginia, June 23, soa of Elias L. and Martha (Hathorn) Stout and Ison of Benjamin Stout, who established the family irginia on moving from Pennsylvania. John W. Stout ta farmer and also a civil engineer, and did a great of surveying in Pleasants and adjoining counties, hav- be task of surveying a tract of land once owned by ge Washington. He was a member of the West Vir-

State Senate and for years a school commissioner. W. Stout married Ruth Ann Curtis, daughter of John s and granddaughter of Mathew Curtis of Connecticut. Curtis moved to Pleasants County in 1820, acquir- an immense tract of land in that region.

e oldest of the seven children of John W. Stout wife was John L. Stout, who was born in Pleasants ty, though the greater part of his life he lived in 1 County. He was a farmer and for about twenty 3 was interested in oil production and was also a ersburg manufacturer. His first wife, America Mad- was of Revolutionary ancestry. Their four sons were les R., Walter E., Elden M. and Okey J. Charles and n are deceased.

alter E. Stout was born on a farm February 20, 1871, moved with his parents to Parkersburg in 1883. He nated from the local high school in 1889, and his active less and public career covers thirty years. For thirteen s he was an employe of the Standard Oil Company, he was county clerk of Wood County for six years, : 1902 to 1909. During 1909-10 he was engaged in production and was then elected Circuit Court clerk, ffice he beld during 1911 to 1914. During 1915-16 his legg service was rendered as cashier of the Parkers- Banking & Trust Company. He then resumed his oil uction interests from the middle of 1916 to November,

e appointment as postmaster of Parkersburg on ember 27, 1917, came entirely unsolicited on his part. as capably fulfilled the duties of that office, involving mmense amount of detail and administrative work, now four years. Mr. Stout is a Knight Templar Mason Shriner and is affiliated with the Independent Order

of Odd Fellows, Elks and Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Baptist Church. On Thanksgiving Day, 1896, Mr. Stout married Georgiana Elliott. To their mar- riage have been born eight children, named Virginia, now Mrs. Roy Patton, Martha, Walter E., Catherine, Charles, Jobn, and Robert and Richard, twins.

HUGH PHELPS DILS, who died at Parkersburg January 7, 1919, was a good business man, a good citizen, and per- formed with quiet efficiency a wide range of dutics. He was content and happy in his work and his home, and was perhaps not as well known as some men less successful.

He was born at Parkersburg July 16, 1856, was a son of James Dils and grandson of Hugh P. Dils, who in 1846 entered the dry goods business in Frederick County, Vir- ginia, and in 1856 moved to Parkersburg, where the name Dils has been a prominent one in commercial affairs for sixty-five years. James W. Dils, who was born at Parkerg- burg in 1826 and died in 1896, was his father's associate in business.

The late Hugh Phelps Dils acquired a public school education at Parkersburg, and at the age of fifteen entered the business founded by his grandfather and then con- ducted by his father. He was successively clerk, partner, and after 1908 a member and officer of the corporation known as H. P. Dils & Son Company. Mr. Dils attended Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York. He was also a director and vice president of the Second National Bank. He was a member of the Methodist Church, but had few associations with organizations, since he preferred the quiet routine of home and his business office. Ha was helpful, public spirited, but always preferred that his name be withheld from any special act of charity.

In 1878 Mr. Dils married Eleanor Mary Hannon, of Parkersburg, daughter of Joseph T. Hannon. The two children of their union are Anna Eleanor and Sherman. The daughter is now Mrs. Roydon Murphy.

Sherman Dila, who was born in Parkersburg March 10, 1881, was educated in the public schools and West Vir- ginia State University, and for fifteen years was associated with his father's business. Though representing the fourth generation of a family consecutively identified with mer- cantile affairs, his talents more dispose him to mechanical affairs, and for some years past he has been a figure in automobile circles in Parkersburg. He now has the author- ized Ford and Ford Tractor agency in Parkersburg, and does an extensive business in the sale and repair of cars and tractors. His plant is a two-story brick building, with total floor space of 25,000 square feet. October 1, 1908, Sherman Dila married Gaynell Davis, of Parkersburg, daughter of H. H. Davis. They have one son, Sherman, Jr.

JOHN W. ROMINE. The Romines were a family estah- lished in the wilderness of Western now West Virginia before the middle of the eighteenth century, and the suc- cessive generations have maintained the name in associa- tions of dignity, honor and usefulness. The family has heen in Wood County for more than a century, and the present generation is represented by John W. Romine, a leading wholesale lumber dealer of Parkersburg.

As early as 1620 four brothers of the name came from Holland and landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Descend- ants have since scattered over the entire nation. From New England a branch of the family moved into the Valley of Virginia. Out of that valley Samuel Romine moved to what is now West Virginia, and died about 1749. A monument to his memory stands in the Bethel Church Cemetery in the Nubeck District of Wood County. His son, Peter Romine, was also a pioneer of this region, a farmer and a cooper hy trade. He married Mollie Mad- dox. Their son, Thomas Romine, was born in Wood County in 1813 and followed the business of farming and broom manufacturing. He was active in the Baptist Church and a member of its Sunday School thirty years. Thomas Romine died in 1892. The mother of his four children was Nancy Rowland. Their two sons were Matthew N. and George Rowland. These two brothers served on

454

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

opposite sides in the Civil war. Matthew was a Union soldier, and subsequently moved to the State of Oklahoma, where he is still living.

George Rowland Romine was born at Quakertown, Wood County, April 2, 1846, had a subscription school educa- tion and when only ten years of age went to work in a tobacco shop at 4 cents a day. During the subsequent years of his early youth he worked on his father's farm and also in other occupations, and at the age of seventeen he walked 200 miles to join the Confederate army, enlisting in Company F of the Seventeenth Virginia Cavalry. This was Jenkins Cavalry. One stormy night while doing picket duty in the Shenandoah Valley Colonel Thompson rode up and tried to pass by, simply announcing his name and rank. Romine made him dismount and give the countersign. His conduct was reported to General MeCausland, now living at Point Pleasant. When Romine appeared before the gen- eral he explained that he was but following orders issued by MeCausland himself. The general ended the interview by asking, "Why didn't you shoot him?" November 12, 1864, in the Shenandoah Valley, he was taken prisoner and remained at Point Lookout, Maryland, until July, 1865. The years following the war he had a difficult experience in getting a start in business. He did farm labor, rented a farm, moved to Parkersburg in 1867 and worked in the city, then became superintendent of a farm in Wood County, and after his marriage in 1870 he rented the farm for two years. He then lived for a time on the farm of his wife's father, and for fourteen years had his home in Jackson County, where he was a farmer and cattle drover. From farming he entered the lumber industry, and in 1899 he returned to his grandfather's homestead in Wood County. For five years he was financially in- terested in and manager of a planing mill at Parkersburg. During his last years he lived retired in Parkersburg, where he died March 23, 1919. He was highly respected by his fellows, was charitable in the extreme, and ever ready to extend a helping hand to the needy. He was a Baptist, a stanch democrat, and while living in Jackson was elected in 1890 a county commissioner, an office he filled six years, and for twenty-five years he was a school trustee. George Romine married sisters, Ellen and Victoria Flynn, daughters of Jolin Flynn, a prominent resident in the southern part of Wood County. His first marriage oc- curred in December, 1870, and his second in 1877. The children of his first marriage were Victoria and Kate, while those of the second marriage were Edna, John Wesley, Dixie, Trixie, Thomas and Lucy.

John Wesley Romine, whose mother was Victoria Flynn, was born at Flynn, West Virginia, February 20, 1881. He graduated from the Parkersburg High School in 1897 and in 1904 received the A. B. degree from Washington and Lee University. Since leaving university his time and energies have been fully taken up with a broadening scope of business affairs, chiefly in the lumber business, with which for a time he was associated with his father. In 1905 he became a traveling salesman for a firm at Zanesville, Ohio, but since 1908 has been in the wholesale lumber business at Parkersburg. He is president of the J. W. Romine Lumber Company, and is also interested in the oil and gas industry and a number of other local enterprises. During the World war he was a leader in Parkersburg in promot- ing the various drives for funds. He is an active member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and a member of the Baptist Church. On July 25, 1916, he mar- ried Marguerite Baker, daughter of a distinguished West Virginian, Gen. Samuel B. Baker. They have one daughter, Marguerite Elizabeth, and one son, John W., Jr.

JOHN T. PAULDING, who is now living retired at Mar- tinshurg, Berkeley County, was born at Greencastle, Frank- lin County, Pennsylvania, on the 3rd of November, 1845, a son of Frank Morgan Paulding, who was born in Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, in 1818, and whose father, John Paul- ding, was born in England and came to America at an early day. Representatives of the family have been num- bered among the first settlers in Paulding County, Ohio, which was named in honor of the family. John Paulding

removed to Pennsylvania and located at Valley Forge, wire in his home he had the honor of entertaining Gen. Ge ge Washington, whose family physician, Doctor Johnson, ad married Eleanor Paulding, a representative of the Paulng family. The ancient medicine chest that was carriedby this pioneer physician, Doctor Johnson, as well as the a les which he used in weighing medicines, together with his n. cet, are now in the possession of John T. Paulding of his sketch, the interesting relics having been handed dow in the family. John Paulding married Elizabeth Morgan of Welsh lineage and a member of the same family as as Gen. Daniel Morgan, of Revolutionary fame.

John Paulding became a pioneer settler in Franin County, Pennsylvania, where he acquired large tract of land in what is now Antrim Township, and on a par of this land is now a portion of the City of Greencastle. I married Rebecca Prather, who was born in Venango Couly Pennsylvania, of a pioneer family. Mr. and Mrs. . br Paulding passed the closing years of their lives at Bro Mills, Franklin County.

Frank Morgan Paulding became a prosperous farmer n live stock dealer in Pennsylvania, and about 1847 here moved from Franklin County to Park Head, Washino County, Maryland, whence, three years later, he cam t what is now Berkeley County, West Virginia, purche land and engaged in general farming and stock-raising. I the period of the Civil war his live stock and farm pro. c were confiscated by the Confederate forces, and he mm met with heavy financial losses. After the close of the a success again attended his farm operations, and he rema e on the old homestead place until 1892, when he remove t Martinsburg, where he died at the home of his son Ju T. when eighty-seven years of age. His wife was eigy nine years of age at the time of her death. Her maer name was Sarah Royer, and she was born in Quincy Ton ship, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Ja Royer, the family name of whose wife was Stover. Royers removed from Philadelphia and became pioneer tlers in Franklin County. The children of Frank M. 1 Rebecca (Prather) Paulding were: George Morgan, Nr. Elizabeth, Susan, John T., Rebecca Prather and Fi Farmer. The parents were members of the German Ip tist Church.

John T. Paulding attended the district schools, a vil academy in his native county and Mercersburg College, 1 after duly qualifying himself he engaged in teachingi the rural schools a portion of each successive year. I continued as a successful teacher for twenty-seven ye; principally in the Hedgesville and Martinsburg distit of Berkeley County, West Virginia, and he gave eb years of effective service as assistant county examinero teachers.

Mr. Paulding was one of the first to recognize the vid of Berkeley County limestone in its application to the industry, and he became associated with others in acquin extensive quarries. In his correspondence with J. Pier Morgan, a distant kinsman, he told of the limestonei Berkeley County and voiced his belief that the proce would be valuable as a substitute for the oyster shells 1a were used at the furnaces of the United States Steel (1 poration. At Mr. Morgan's suggestion the steel men ED experts to make investigation, and the result is that lay quantities of the Berkeley County limestone rock are 11 shipped weekly to the furnaces, the while many men given employment at the quarries. Mr. Paulding was tively identified with the development of this import quarrying industry, in which he still retains an interest, he is now living virtually retired from active business.

Mr. Paulding married Miss Anna Brown Bowman, 11 was born in the house in which she and her husband 11 live, at Martinsburg, she being a daughter of Andrew : Elizabeth (Gruber) Bowman. Mr. and Mrs. Paulding two sons, John T., Jr., and Frank Bowman, but the lat is now deceased. The only daughter died at the age of years. Mr. Paulding is a staunch republican, his first pr dential vote having been cast for Rutherford B. Hay and he and his wife are earnest members of Christ Reforr Church in their home city. Their circle of friends in ti

John s Paulding

455

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

ction of the state is limited only by that of their ac- aintances.

LEVIN SMITH is junior member of the Parkersburg law m ef Merrick & Smith, a partnership that has been in istence for thirty-four years. Mr. Smith is an able wyer, well qualified to handle the splendid practice that s come to this firm from all over the state.

He is a native of Wood County, born on a farm De- mber 22, 1861, a son of William Haimes and Sarah lector) Smith. His grandfather, Robert S. Smith, was i Englishman, being a son of Rev. Franeis Smith and andson of Rev. Robert Smith, both Baptist ministers in ottingham, England. Rev. Robert Smith was a friend ad contemporary of John Wesley.

Robert S. Smith married in England Lucy Lord Brooks, Loughborough, and after the birth of their first child ey came to America in 1819. Their first home was at altimore, later at Pittsburgh, and about 1825 they moved › the pioneer Town of Parkersburg, then in old Virginia. obert S. Smith was a coppersmith by trade, though in irginia his business was chiefly that of a merchant and a rader on the river. His children born in America were robert, Henry, Thomas, Maria, Lucy, Mary and Elizabeth. If these Robert was the father of Charles Brooks Smith, well known West Virginia congressman. William Haimes mith, oldest son of Robert S. Smith, was born in England une 1, 1818, and was about seven years of age when the amily moved to Parkersburg. He finished his education a Kenyon College in Ohio, and in early life was asso- iated with his father in the mercantile business and in naking trips to the stores at various points along the iver. He also did flatboating down the Ohio and Missis- ippi rivers. He became a man of success and prominence n Wood County, and in the early days was appointed to :eassess the lands of the county. He was elected county ecorder in 1870, and served as president of the Board of Education at Parkersburg. He was of a deep religious turn of mind, living his religion in everyday life, and for many years was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In politics he voted as a whig, later as a democrat, and finally as a prohibitionist. He was a man of correct habits, and stood for everything progressive. His death occurred February 22, 1906, and his wife passed away in October, 1890. Sarah Rector, his wife, was a daughter of Charles Rector, who was high sheriff of Wood County when that county comprised the present Wirt and Pleasant counties. Of the nine children of William H. Smith and wife seven reached mature years: Alice Boot, William Haimes, Charles Robert, Arthur Beauchamp, Lucy, Troilus P. and Levia.

Mr. Smith has always lived in Wood County. He at- tended the public schools of Parkersburg and the private school of Prof. John C. Nash, graduated from high school in 1881, and the following fall entered Harvard Law School, where he completed a three years' course. He was admitted to the bar in 1884. He forthwith began practice, and three years later formed his partnership with Mr. C. D. Merrick in the firm of Merrick & Smith. The extensive business of this firm has fully absorbed his time and energies, and while interested in political affairs he held only one office, that of city solicitor for two years.

Mr. Smith is a democrat and a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He has been a representative to the general conference and was appointed a delegate to the General Council of the Churches of Christ in America. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. June 21, 1887, Mr. Smith married Nellie Marshall Williams. They have a family of four children: Helen B., wife of James Selby McClinton, and they have one son, James S., Jr .; Sara Rector, teacher of history in the Parkersburg High School; Levin, Jr., who married Miss Catherine Kennedy; and Elizabeth Keith, a student at Ohio State University.

Levin Smith, Jr., is a graduate of the Kentucky Mili- tary Institute. He volunteered his services for the World war and made a good record while a non-commissioned

officer at Camp Shelby. Deeming his chances of getting into service overseas unfavorable, he secured change of assignment to the tank service as a member of the Threo Hundred and First Tank Battalion. He was with the British during the drive on the Hindenburg line September 29, 1918. On that date the tank blew up, four of the eight erew being killed and two seriously wounded, though young Smith escaped injury. After this he was assigned to special motor service, driving officers on tours of in- spection until the elose of the war. He is now a resident of Parkersburg.

VACHER BARNES ARCHER. One of the ablest lawyers of West Virginia, Vacher Barnes Archer has praetieed in this state over forty years, the greater part of the time at Parkersburg. His eminence does not rest upon a record of publie service so much as upon the ability with which he has handled a great mass of important litigation. He is also widely known as a legal author.

Mr. Archer was born in Noble County, Ohio, April 1, 1851, son of Elisha and Susan (Archer) Archer. The Archers for several generations lived in Virginia. Soon after the Revolutionary war the family moved into the Shenandoah Valley and later to the vicinity of the present City of Moundsville, West Virginia. From there a repre- sentative of the family, known as ""James the first, " estab- lished a home in Noble County, Ohio. "James the second" was the father of Elisha Archer, above named.

Vacher Barnes Archer was five years of age when his parents moved to Athens County, Ohio, and he grew up on their farm in that county. He supplemented the com- mon schools by attending Miller's Seminary at Marshfield, and from the age of seventeen until twenty-five was a teacher, chiefly in the schools of Athens County. For seven years of this time he studied law, entirely under his own direction, and made such progress as to win special commendation from the judge of the court who examined him and licensed him to practice in the courts of Ohio in the spring of 1876. In June, 1879, he was admitted before the State Supreme Court.

Soon after qualifying as a lawyer Mr. Archer removed to West Virginia and was engaged in practice at Elizabeth in Wirt County until 1886, when he removed to Parkers- burg, where his professional interests have been centered for the past thirty-five years. For some years he specialized in railroad law, and was general counsel for the Ohio River Railroad Company. While he has been engaged in an ex- tensive general practice, he is probably best known as an authority on all branches of the law affecting the oil and gas industry. Out of his wide experience in that field he prepared and compiled a standard work entitled " Areher's Law and Practice in Oil and Gas Cases." An- other legal work, deriving from his experience and litiga- tion in interstate commerce cases, is "Archer's Federal Liability Aet," which is yet to be published.

These few notes indicate the type of lawyer represented by Mr. Archer. He is noted for his broad scholarship, his comprehensive knowledge of a great range of the law in its theory and in its application, and it has never been necessary for him to resort to politics or the minor busi- ness of the courts to satisfy his ambitions for success in this field. Mr. Archer is a republican, and his father was one of the original members of the party, supporting Gen- eral Fremont in the first campaign in 1856. Mr. Archer is a Methodist, and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. April 18, 1876, he married Elvira Beard, danghter of William Beard, of Wood County, West Virginia. Mrs. Areher died in June, 1909, and is survived by a daughter, Zaluma, now the wife of John T. Chesley, of Washington, District of Columbia.

JAMES W. DILS is head of a business at Parkersburg that has been in existenee for three quarters of a cen- tury and into which the energies, enterprise and business acumen of three generations of this family have been placed.

His grandfather, Hugh P. Dils, was a native of Penn- sylvania and in 1846, under the name of H. P. Dila & Son,

456

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

entered the drygoods business in Wood County, Virginia. In 1856 the business was removed to Parkersburg, where H. P. Dils continued active in the firm until his death.

His business partner and successor was his son, James W. Dils, who was born at Parkersburg in 1826 and died in that city in August, 1896. He bore a strong resemblance to Abraham Lincoln. He was a model citizen, a good hus- band and father, and too much cannot be said of his sterling character. He first became a member of the firm J. W. Dils & Hopkins, then was his father's partner in H. P. Dils & Son, and after the death of his father con- tinued the business alone until 1871, when he and his son Hugh comprised the firm of J. W. Dils & Son, and with the addition of the present James W. Dils became J. W. Dils & Sons. The senior J. W. Dils was also for several years president of the Second National Park of Parkers- burg, and was a leading member of the Methodist Church. He married Welthea Little, who died in 1904. After his death his sons Hugh P. and James W. bought out the other heirs and continued the business as the H. P. and J. W. Dils, but in 1907 incorporated as H. P. Dils & Son Company.

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

History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 149

Author: Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: