History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 150

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The head of the business today is James W. Dils, now the senior of that name, who was born in Parkersburg August 24, 1867. Except for three years he spent in the manufacturing business in Philadelphia his home has always been in Parkersburg. He was educated in the public schools here, and at the age of nineteen entered the estab- lishment of his father. He is a charter member of the Scottish Rite Masonic bodies at Parkersburg, having been a thirty-second degree Mason since 1895. He is also a member of the Shrine, belongs to the Board of Commerce, the International Association of Rotary Clubs and is a splendid business man whose influence always goes out in behalf of a bigger and better city.

His first wife was Eva M. Walker, who died in 1906. In 1907 he married Bessie M. Rogers, of Philadelphia. They have a daughter, Dorothea E. Of the five children of his first marriage the two survivors are Nellie W. and James W., III. Nellie is Mrs. John C. Shryock, of Balti- more, and has two sons, John C., Jr., and James Fuller. James W. Dils, III, joined the United States Regular army at Columbus in May, 1917, and in June of that year went overseas as a member of the Seventeenth Engineers. He was detailed to drive the car of Brigadier General Dawes, and in that capacity he saw much of the battle front in Belgium and France and also was in Switzerland and England. He came back after the signing of the armistice and was honorably discharged at Columbus.

EDWARD S. MOORE. A thoroughly capable business man, active head of one of the leading wholesale grocery houses in the Ohio Valley, Edward S. Moore has converted the opportunities of life into deeds of usefulness and honor, and his friends and associates regard him as one of the best exemplars of loyal but unostentatious Christian con- duct.

He was born on a farm in Wood County, West Virginia, March 24, 1867. His great-grandfather, Jacob Moore, was identified with the early settlement of Monongalia County, having a farm in the Clay District, near the Pennsylvania state line. His son Joseph was born on the farm in that county in 1811, and remained there until 1844, when he spent several years in Ohio, and in 1852 returned and settled on a farm in Wood County, where he lived until his death on November 3, 1890. His first wife was Nancy Tennant and his second, Rachel McCurdy. Of the children of his first marriage Simon Peter was born in Monongalia County May 12, 1839. He had the advantages of subscription schools, and for upwards of half a century was actively identified with the agricultural industry of Wood County, moving to Parkersburg when he retired from the farm in 1904. He held the office of constable nine years and justice of the peace twenty-three years. Simon P. Moore married Sarah Hains, who was born August 17, 1840, and died November 7, 1906. She was a daughter of Justus J. and Harriet (Woodruff) Hains. The five children of Simon

Peter Moore were Nancy E., Mintie, Edward Seldon, Rosa S. and Everett Blaine.

Edward Seldon Moore had the environment of a fa during his youth, and was participating in its labors al management after the age of twelve. He attended distr: school in the winter and occasionally a subscription schl in the summer, and despite limited advantages his indust enabled him to make the best possible use out of his portunities, and at the age of seventeen he passed an amination for teacher and taught three winter terms school, spending the rest of each year as a student in 1) State Normal at Fairmont. Even then he did not look up teaching as a permanent career. He took a course in 13 University of Lexington during 1887, and at once return! to Parkersburg to enter business, and now for thirty-o; years has been identified with the wholesale grocery tra. For fifteen years he was connected with the firm of C. Martin & Company, and then entered the Shattuck & Jad son Company, serving as its treasurer and general manag: and since 1921 has been president, treasurer and geneit manager. In an important degree he has contributed the steady growth and prosperity of this substantial co cern, known throughout the Ohio Valley in the grocery trac He has served as a director for West Virginia in t National Wholesale Grocers Association and is one of t vice presidents of the West Virginia Wholesale Groce. Association.

However, this does not complete his business recol For eighteen years he has been president of the U. Roofing Tile Company, one of Parkersburg's foremost i dustries. In 1904 he was one of the organizers, served the first president and is still one of the principal owne of the Murray Roofing Tile Company of Cloverport, Ke tucky, manufacturers of both roofing and quarry tilin He has been a vice president of the Citizens Building Ass ciation at Parkersburg.

In the enviable record of Parkersburg during the Wor war Mr. Moore shares credit on account of his leadersh and influence in the various drives. He is a member . the Board of Directors and treasurer of the Parkersbu Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Moore married Mary Louise Meyer, daughter Jacob M. and Mary Ann (Wile) Meyer. Her father was well known Wood County farmer and at one time repr sented the county in the Legislature. Mr. and Mrs. Moo; have two children: Beryl Chase, formerly a librarian : the Carnegie Library, was married in October, 1917, 1 Isaac Maxwell Adams, Jr. Mr. Adams, a prominent your lawyer, member of the firm Coleman, Light & Adams, I ceived his second lieutenant's commission at Fort Benjami Harrison, Indianapolis, was stationed at Camp Sevie Greenville, South Carolina, promoted to first lieutenant, an was doing the work of dishursing agent when the wa closed. He and Mrs. Adams have a daughter, Mary Mool Adams, born January 2, 1919.

The only son of Mr. Moore is Meyer Thorold, who grac uated from the Parkersburg High School, and was a men ber of the Students Army Training Corps at Mariett College during the war. He continued his studies in th University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, until 1920 and is now associated with his father in the wholesal grocery business at Parkersburg, West Virginia.

LUTHER HENRY CASKEY is one of the representative busi ness men of the younger generation in his native City o Martinsburg, Berkeley County, where he was born on th 15th of October, 1891. His father, William H. Caskey, wa born at Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County, this state, Octo ber 28, 1864, and he was a child of about one year at the time of the family removal to Martinsburg. Edward C Caskey, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, wa! born at Martinsburg in the year 1836, a son of Willian Caskey, who likewise was born at Martinsburg, where hi: father, John Caskey, was an honored pioneer citizen. Wil liam Caskey, who died at the age of fifty-nine years, passed his entire life at Martinsburg, where for a number of years he was engaged in the draying business. He served

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it one time as constable. lle married Mary Palmer, daugh- er of William and Julia Palmer.

As a young man Edward C. Caskey entered the service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, with which be was a train conductor many years, he having resigned on account of ill health, and his death having occurred within A short time thereafter, in 1900. He married Mary E. Feaster, of Fairfax County, Virginia, and she died at the age of forty-six years. Their children were six in number.

William H. Caskey was reared and educated at Martins- burg, and at the age of twenty-one years he initiated his service with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, with which be was connected twenty-five years. He is now working inde- pendently at the machinist's trade and is one of the sub- stantial citizens of Martinsburg. At the age of twenty-two years he married Lillie Ripple, who was born and reared at Martinsburg, a daughter of Jamea and Sarah Ripple. Mrs. Caskey passed to the life eternal when forty years of age, and is survived by four children: Lawrence R., Luther H., Anna G. and Mabel Marie.

Luther H. Caskey attended the public schools of Mar- tinsburg until he was about fifteen years of age, when he initiated an apprenticeship to the tinsmith and plumber trades, in each of which he became a skilled workman. After completing his apprenticeship he went to Clarksburg, where he was employed at his trade until 1913, when he re- turned to Martinsburg and formed a partnership with C. B. Grimes in the tinning and plumbing business. Eighteen months later he became sole owner of the business, which he has successfully continued to the present time. He is also a director of the Martinsburg Bank, is a loyal mem- ber of the local Kiwanis Club, is affiliated with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and be aud his wife hold membership in Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

At the age of twenty-five years Mr. Caskey wedded Miss Lulu J. Strode, who was born and reared in Berkeley County, a daughter of Thomas Strode. Mr. and Mrs. Caskey have two children, Luther Henry, Jr., and Irene.

WAITMAN T. SMITH, M. D. The unequivocal profes- sional success that has attended the service of Doctor Smith bears testimony alike to his technical ability and personal popularity and marks him aa one of the repre- sentative physicians and surgeons of Gilmer County, where he has been established in active general practice at Glen- ville, the county scat, since 1915.

Doetor Smith was born in Roane County, this state, April 20, 1889, and is a son of William R. T. and Cather- ine (Jarvis) Smith, the former of whom was born in Bar- bour County, in June, 1846, and the latter of whom was born in Calhoun County, in 1854, the respective families having early been founded in that section of Virginia which now constitutes West Virginia. William R. T. Smith was reared on a farm in Roane County, and so well did he profit by the advantages of the common schools of the locality and period that he became a successful teacher in rural schools when a young man. He was a republican in politics, and his wife was a member of the Advent Chris- tian Church. Of the five children four are living, and of the number the eldest is Dr. J. W. Smith, who is a gradu- ate of the University of the South and who is engaged in the practice of medicine at Gassaway, Braxton County ; Dora is the wife of C. C. Ferrell, of Roane County; and Lizzetta is the wife of S. E. Steele, of Spencer, Roane County.

The boyhood and early youth of Dr. Waitman T. Smith were passed on the old homestead farm which was the place of his birth, and his educational advantages in this forma- tive period of his life were those of the public schools. In consonance with his ambition and well formulated plans he finally entered the medical department of the University of Louisville, Kentucky, in which institution he was gradu- ated as a member of the class of 1913. After thus receiv- ing his degree of Doctor of Medicine he continued to be engaged in active general practice at Spencer, judicial cen- ter of his native county, until the 1st of November, 1915, when he removed to Glenville, which has since continued the central stage of his earnest and successful professional

service, his practice being of substantial and representa- tive order. The doctor is a member of the Gilmer County Medical Society, the West Virginia State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is a loyal sup- porter of the principles of the republican party, and is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity, in which his basic affiliation is with Moriah Lodge No. 38, Ancient Free and Accepted Masona. In the Scottish Rite division of the great fraternity he has received the thirty-second de- gree, in the Consistory in the City of Wheeling, and at Parkersburg he is a member of Nemesis Temple of the Mystie Shrine. The doctor is a stockholder in the Glenville Banking & Trust Company.

On the 11th of November, 1914, Doctor Smith wedded Miss Grace Looney, who had previously been for three years a student in the Powhatan College for Girls at Powhatan, McDowell County. Doctor and Mrs. Smith have two chil- dren: Gwendolyn and James R.

DALLAS C. BAILEY, county superintendent of the public schools of Gilmer County, is one of the representative citizens of Glenville, the county seat, his birth having oe- curred on a farm near this village, October 9, 1879. He is a son of Jacob F. and Jane F. (Springston) Bailey, the former of whom was born near Freemansburg, Lewis County, in 1855, and the latter of whom was born in Gilmer County, in 1861. Jacob F. Bailey was about ten years old at the time of his parents' removal to Gilmer County, the home being established on a farm on Leading Creek. In the course of years he became one of the substantial farmers of that distriet of the county, and in 1919 he removed from his farm to Glenville, where he has since lived virtually retired. He is a democrat, has served as a member of the school board, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife are earnest members of the Baptist Church. In association with his son he is still interested in farm enterprise in this county, where the two own a well im- proved landed estate of 200 acres. Of the two children Dallas Carr Bailey, of this sketch, is the elder, and the younger, Ora B., is the wife of H. B. Powell, a farmer in the Leading Creek District of Gilmer County.

Dallas C. Bailey was reared on the old home farm and supplemented the training of the public schools by a course in the West Virginia State Normal School at Glenville, in which he was gradnated. For twelve years he was a suc- eessful and popular teacher in the schools of this section of the state, and this direct pedagogic service was termi- nated only when he was elected to his present office, that of county superintendent of schools in 1918. His administra- tion has been forceful, progressive and effective, and he has done much to raise the educational standard in his native county.

Mr. Bailey is a stanch advocate of the principles of the democratic party, and his religious faith is that of the Baptist Church. In the Masonic fraternity he has re- ceived the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, besides being a member of the Mystic Shrine, his basic Masonic affiliation being with Gilmer County Lodge No. 118, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He is a member also of the Order of the Eastern Star, is a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, and is a past noble grand in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with the encampment organization of which he is likewise affiliated.

Mr. Bailey is a direct descendant of Stephen Bailey, who came from England and settled in Westmoreland County, Virginia, where he died in 1698, his life having been passed in the Old Dominion State, with the history of which the family name has been identified for many generations.

CHARLES NELSON MATHENY has been an honored mem- ber of the Parkersburg bar for twenty years. A resource- ful lawyer and business man, he has gained the reputation of being a quiet and efficient worker in everything he undertakes. In 1920 he was nominated and elected prosecut- ing attorney for Wood County, and most of his time is now given to that office.

He was born at Pine Grove, Wetzel County, June 27, 1861,

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son of William Henry and Drusilla Ann (Morgan) Matheny. William Henry Matheny, a son of Noah Matheny, was born in Marion County, Virginia, and during his mature years lived in Wetzel and Jackson counties. His wife, Drusilla Ann Morgan, was related to one of the historic families of West Virginia. Its founder was Col. Morgan Morgan, a native of Wales, who had a military training and was also a minister of the Church of England. After coming to the American colonies he married and eventually moved to the Valley of Virginia and established a church at Win- chester, of which he and his son were pastors. Two of his sons were prominent figures in the early history of what is now West Virginia, David, who settled in Marion County, and Zackwell, who was founder of Morgantown, West Vir- ginia. The father of Drusilla Ann Morgan was Morgan Morgan, better known as "Spy Mod Morgan" on account of his activities in border warfare.

Charles Nelson Matheny was about four years of age when his parents moved to Jackson County, and he grew up there and attended the common and select schools, and after he was sixteen entered the State Normal School at Fairmont. For a number of years he followed teaching as a profession, and took up the study of law under Robert F. Fleming, then circuit judge. He passed a successful ex- amination before a committee of three judges in 1888, and for several years practiced in Jackson County and in 1892 moved to St. Mary's, where he served as postmaster under President MeKinley. Mr. Matheny has been a resident of Parkersburg since 1901, and in addition to his law business has acquired some valuable holdings in the oil industry.

In 1883 he married Electa Ann Swallow, who died Novem- ber 29, 1895. They had two children. On March 18, 1897, he married Mrs. Fredrica Porter, daughter of Samuel A. Barkwill, who came from England to the United States abont 1840. Her first husband, John W. Porter, was clerk of the County Court of Pleasants County, and died in 1895. Mr. Matheny was called upon to endure one of the heaviest afflictions of the human lot in the death of his two sons, Wilbur K., who died on November 12, 1916, and Charles H., on February 26, 1917, both children of his first mar- riage. These young men were just coming to manhood, with every promise of honor and usefulness in the life be- fore them. No respecter of persons, the Grim Reaper's scythe left but ashes in the pathway of the stricken parent aud friends.

JAMES A. WETHERELL. One of the oldest business houses of Parkersburg is J. Wetherell & Son, jewelers, a firm that has been in existence for over half a century.

The name of the company honors the career of his father, Joseph Wetherell, who was a native of England and as a young man was induced to come to the United States by his brother John. For a time they were associated in manufacturing business at Pittsburgh. From there Joseph Wetherell removed to Morgan County, Ohio, and had a contract to build a part of the old Marietta and Cincin- nati Railway, now a part of the Baltimore & Ohio. About 1857 he came to Parkersburg, and for several years was proprietor of the old Northwestern House in the East End, selling that property towards the close of the Civil war. He was one of the good old-fashioned Englishmen of his time, and perhaps his outstanding characteristic was a horror of debt. Both he and his wife were reared as Episcopalians, but in Parkersburg they affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, in which Joseph Wetherell was an elder. Joseph Wetherell married Rachel Winn, also a native of England. She died September 25, 1913. Of their three children the oldest, Mary J., died when about twenty years of age. The older son, Thomas J. Wetherell, a well-known resident of Parkersburg, was born in Ohio August 29, 1847, and has been a resident of Parkersburg since he was ten years of age. For many years he was a steamboat clerk, later engaged in banking. He married Nannie M. Moss, whose father, Dr. John W. Moss, was a prominent figure in West Virginia affairs. Thomas J. Wetherell had three children: Margaret Moss is the wife of Judge C. D. For- rer; Mary Lulu is Mrs. Philip C. Steptoe, of Clarksburg;

the son Joseph A., who died in June, 1918, at the age c thirty-six, is survived by his widow and two children, Nane and Joseph A.

James A. Wetherell was born in Ohio August 13, 184! but since early boyhood his home has been in Parkersburg He acquired his education here, and he served an apprentice ship at the jeweler's business with Robert A. Little. How ever, he had earned his first money as a train newsboy Joseph Wetherell bought out the business of Robert A Little, and when he attained his majority James A. becam a member of the firm of J. Wetherell & Son, a name tha has been continued for half a century. He succeeded t. the business on the death of his father, and the store ha become noted for its reliable merchandise. Mr. Wethere is also a director of the First National Bank, treasurer o the United States Roofing & Tile Company, and for a num ber of years has been president of the Citizens Building Association.

He is active in social affairs, is a member of the Episcopa Church, a democrat in politics, and while president of the Board of Education was father of the movement that re sulted in the building of the handsome high school building Mr. Wetherell is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Commander of the Court of Honor, and is now treasurer of several of the Masonic bodies at Parkersburg. He is a Knight Templar and is a charter member of Nemesis Temple of the Mystic Shrine and has been its treasurer since it was organized.

JOSEPH MILTON HARTLEY. The success and the high es- teem in which Joseph Milton Hartley is held are due to a long devotion to the realm of business. He was learning the mercantile business during the Civil war, left to go into the army, and in the fifty-five years since the close of the war his time has been fully taken up with merchandising and in later years, since his removal to Fairmont, with the broader aspects of business, banking and the executive management of a number of financial and industrial con- cerns.

While he has achieved success over the long and difficult road beginning with his personal experience and the capital acquired by his earnings, Mr. Hartley inherits the tradi- tion of a good and old family of West Virginia. His earliest known American ancestry was Joseph Hartley. His son James was a native of Virginia and was founder of this branch of the family in West Virginia, locating in Pleasant Valley of Preston County. Edward Hartley, a son of James, was born in Preston County and married Margaret Miller. Their son, Peter Hartley, father of the Fairmont banker and business man, was born at Mason- town, Preston County, in 1810, and devoted his active life to farming and stock raising. For many years he held the post of justice of the peace in his district. He married in 1834 Susan Swindler, daughter of Drake Swindler.

Their son, Joseph Milton Hartley, was born on a farm near Masontown October 20, 1842. During his youth he was educated in the common schools and in Morgantown Academy. His business apprenticeship was acquired in the store of the Morgantown merchant, George M. Hagans. He left in 1864 to enlist in Company E of the Seventeenth West Virginia Infantry, and was with his command until the close of the war.

Shortly afterward, in 1866, he made a business alliance with Mr. Hagans, and under the firm name of Hagans & Hartley they opened a store at Reedsville in Preston County. This was sold two years later and they resumed with an- other store at Independence in the same county. Mr. Hagans sold his interest in 1872, and the business was then continued by the firm of Hartley & Johns, general mer- chants, and two years later Mr. Hartley became sole owner.

Mr. Hartley moved to Fairmont in 1877 and with a com- paratively modest capital started his career in this city, where now for forty-five years he has been an honored resi- dent. Though he began with a small stock of dry goods and notions, it comprised, nevertheless, the largest store in Fairmont at that time. Later he took into partnership Daniel and George Morrow under the firm name of Hartley

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. Company and later Hartley & Morrow. In 1891, by rchase, he again became sole owner. In 1902 he ad- tted as partnera his son Harry J. and Mr. J. H. Rownd, which time the title of the firm was J. M. Hartley & n. The business was incorporated in 1911 as the J. M. irtley & Son Company, of which Mr. Hartley is president. all the years this business haa steadily grown with the owth and development of Fairmont, and is the leading tablishment of its kind in the city.

With the broader business interests and civic welfare of airmont Mr. Hartley has been closely associated, since , nature he is public-spirited and generous. He was for teen years president of the First National Bank of Fair- ont. He is now a director of the National Bank of airmont, which took over the old First National. He as one of the organizers and president of the West Vir- nia Grocery & Candy Company; helped organize and came president of the Fairmont Electric Light & Power ompany, now the Monongahela Valley Traction Company ; as one of the organizers and is still president of the arneville Manufacturing Company; was an organizer and president of the Fairmont Building & Loan Association. [r. Hartley is president of the Cook Hospital, and for any years, until recently, wag president of the Fairmont onng Mea's Christian Association. He is a Knight Tem- lar and thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and hriner, is a member of the Rotary Club, Country Club, Chamber of Commerce, and is president of the board of the 'irst Presbyterian Church.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 150

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