History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 162

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HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

he wife of J. M. Thompson, an oil and gas well driller of Vsyne Court House.

The early educational training of Oscar J. Rife was 80- sured under the capable tuition of his father, after which le attended other public schools in Wayne County and n rivate normal school near Fort Gay, conducted by Wayne farrell and Naaman Jackson. Later he was a student at Marshall College, Huntington, and did some work at the Jniversity of West Virginia, in addition to taking some cor- espondenee courses. He is still a student, as at present le is taking extension work from the University of West virginia. He taught his first school in Grant Distriet. Wayne County, at the age of seventeen years, and has caught or attended school every year since then. After a few years in tho rural districts Mr. Rife became principal of the Wayne schools, a position which he held for eight years, and in 1912 was made superintendent of schools of Wayne County, a position which he retained until 1920. iIe was superintendent of the Ceredo Distriet schools in 1920 and a part of 1921, and at the present time is prin- cipal of the Kenova schools. He has also been known as a newspaper man, having been editor of the Wayne County News for eight years. Public-spirited and with a pride in his community, he has been identified with numerous civie movements, and was a member of the Good Roads Commis- sion when $1,000,000 was appropriated in Wayne County for good roads and ninety-one miles of roads built in the county.

Mr. Rife became interested in polities so early that when he was only eighteen years of age he was making speeches during campaigns for the candidates of the democratic party. He was a member of the Electoral College from the Fifth Congressional Distriet in 1912, when Woodrow Wil- son was chosen for the presidency, and has attended con- gressional, district and state democratic conventions for years. In 1919 he served as elerk in the House of Delegates. Mr. Rife is a member of the Blue Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter of Masonry at Wayne. He became a Pythian in Wayne Lodge when twenty-one years of age, and after be- ing chancellor commander of his local lodge was elected grand chancellor commander at Clarksburg, West Virginia, September 1, 1921. He is likewise an Odd Fellow, and was a member of the Grand Lodge that met at Charleston in 1905, where he made the motion which finally resulted in the building of the Odd Fellows' Home.

In 1900 Mr. Rife married Miss Mamie Wellman, daughter of J. D. Wellman. She was born near Fort Gay and for three years was a pupil in the school taught by her future husband. They have four sons and three daughters: Gemma, who is a reporter for the Herald-Dispatch, through which position she is defraying the expenses incident to her attendance at Marshall College, from which she will graduate in June, 1922; Heber, a graduate of Marshall College, class of 1921, now attending the medical school of that institution; Chester, attending the Ceredo High School; Dorothy, who is a pupil in the Kenova Junior High School; and Jefferson, Dexter and Oscar Jennings, Jr., who are at- tending the graded schools.

Mr. and Mrs. Rife are members of the Kenova Mission- ary Baptist Church, of which Mr. Rife is a member of the executive board. For ten years he was superintendent of the Sunday school at Wayne and for two years at Kenova, bnt resigned the latter position to take charge of the girls' class in the Sunday school.

EDWARD M. MCCULLOCH, proprietor of the Men and Women's Mart, one of the modern and prosperous mercan- tile establishments in the City of Bluefield, Mercer County, here receives a representative supporting patronage in the sale of ready-to-wear apparel for both men and women, with a comprehensive and select stock of goods and the best of incidental service.

Mr. McCulloch was born at Hinton, Summers County, this state, Jannary 25, 1886, and is a son of George M. and Oncia H. MeCulloch. George M. MeCulloch was born near McDonald's Mill, Montgomery County, Virginia, the only son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Atkins) MeCulloch, he having been a ebild at the time of his mother's death and

his father baving later married Mrs. Elizabeth (Bower) Bash, widow of Peter Bash. Of the second union were boru two sons, Benjamin J. and John R. Benjamin MeCulloch was born in Pennsylvania and was young at the time of the family removal to Virginia, where settlement was made on a farm near the Natural Bridge. Robert H. MeCulloch, a representative of this family, had acquired a land grant of 35,000 aeres in recognition of his meritorious service as a patriot soldier in the War of the Revolution, and this land was situated in what is now Mercer and MeDowell counties, West Virginia, in the great coal-producing dis- triet of the present day. George M. MeCulloch and his two brothers, Benjamin J. and John T., became prosperous merchants at Ilinton, Summers County, and in 1888 they purchased the lot where the White Pharmacy is now situ- ated, at the corner of Princeton Avenue and Bland Street, at Bluefield, where they erected a building and opened one of the first mercantile establishments in the village that was later to become a populous and thriving city. The business of the firm of MeCulloch Brothers expanded and thrived with the growth of the town, and the brothers were prominent figures in the furthering of other enterprises that contributed to eivie and material development and progress in the community. George M. MeCulloch was associated with J. E. Mann in establishing the first banking institu- tion at Bluefield, and later he became cashier of the Citi- zens Bank. Ile was one of the promoters and organizers of the Flat Top Gas Company and the Georgia Lumber Company, and at the time of his death was president of the Flat Top Insurance Company. He was one of the repre- sentative business men and honored citizens of Bluefield at the time of his death, in 1919, at the age of sixty-two years, his widow being still a resident of this city. The two sons, Edward M. and George W., are associated in the ownership and conducting of the Men and Women's Mart, of which Edward M., of this sketeh, is the president and George W., the secretary and treasurer. The modern and finely equipped store conducted by the two brothers has frontage on both Bland Street and Princeton Avenue. The father was affiliated with the Masonie fraternity, inelud- ing the local Commandery of Knights Templars and also the Mystie Shrine, and he was a stockholder in the Blue- field Country Club.

Edward M. McCulloch was afforded the advantages of the publie schools and also of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, in which he took a course in the agricultural de- partment. As a boy he began to assist in the store of his father's firm, and he has continuously been identified with the mercantile enterprise of Bluefield, where he is well up- holding the high prestige of the family name. He is an ac- tive member of the Bluefield Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the Country Club, and is affiliated with the local Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery of the Masonie fra- ternity, besides being a member of the Mystic Shrine. In the elosing period of the World war he was in one of the officers' training camps.

TONY IAFOLLA has made an excellent record in connee- tion with coal operations in the West Virginia fields and is now president of the Tony Pocahontas Coal Company, of which he was the organizer and the mine of which is situ- ated at Mile Branch, three miles distant from Iaeger, Me- Dowell County, and on the laeger & Southern branch of the Norfolk & Western Railroad.

Mr. Iafolla was born on a farm in the province of Aguila, town of San Sebastiano, Italy, at a point about thirty-five miles distant from the City of Rome, and the date of his birth was Jannary 1, 1886. Mr. Iafolla gained his early education in the schools of his native land, but was a lad of twelve years when he accompanied family friends to the United States. His first knowledge of the English language was gained while he was serving as messenger boy in a bank conducted by one of his uncles in New York City. After a few months he found employment in construction work on the Wabash Railroad at Indian Creek, Pennsylvania, nenr Oil City and Franklin. In 1903 he made his appearance at Welch, judicial center of McDowell County, West Vir- ginia, and with his modest capital he here opened a little

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grocery store, from which beginning he developed a large and prosperous general merchandise business, with stores at Welch, War, Canebreak and Logan. He finally acquired an interest in the Ruffin Coal Company, and assumed charge of its commissary department. He later became superin- tendent of the company's mine, and his mining operations have included productive enterprise in the mining district of Harlan, Kentucky, in which town he is the owner of valu- able real estate, as is he also at War, West Virginia, and at Welch, this state. He is the owner of 900 acres of valuable coal land, and on this tract the Tony Pocahontas Coal Com- pany's mine is in operation. He and his brother Samuel are associated in the conducting of a general store at Welch. The parents, Frank and Angeline Iafolla, in company with their other children, came to the United States about five years after Tony became a resident of this country.

In 1910 Mr. Iafolla married Miss Alzina Valenee, who was born at Vulcan, this state. They have no children.

CHARLES B. OSMOND, the efficient office manager for the Berkeley Glass Sand Company at Berkeley Springs, Mor- gan County, has had a somewhat varied career and has won advancement through his own ability and well directed en- deavors.

Mr. Osmond is of ancient English lineage on both the paternal and maternal sides of the family, and is himself a native of England, his birth having occurred in the City of Gloucester, in Gloucestershire, on the 29th of December, 1873.

Charles B. Osmond first attended school in the town of Ryde, Isle of Wight, and at the age of twelve years he be- came a teacher of the junior class, in which service he con- tinued until he was sixteen years old, and in the meanwhile continued his own educational work, in which he made excel- lent advancenient, with annual examinations to determine his proficiency in his various studies. In 1890 he came to the United States, and for the first two years he was em- ployed on a farm in Southern Maryland. On his nineteenth birthday anniversary he went to the City of Baltimore, and there he found employment as bookkeeper in a commis- sion house. Two years later he accepted a position with a tea-importing concern in that city, and this connection continued five years. Thereafter he was associated with the Dixie Oil Works until 1906, from which year until 1913 he was in the employ of the Standard Oil Company.

In February, 1914, he formed his present alliance with the Berkeley Glass Sand Company, for which he has con- tinued as office manager at Berkeley Springs. He and his wife have gained a wide circle of friends in their home community, and both are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

In 1902 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Osmond and Miss Letitia Cowart Cox, who was born in Northumber- land County, Virginia, a daughter of Octavius and Cora (Cowart) Cox. Mr. and Mrs. Osmond have two children : John Baines and Helen Hammond. The son is a graduate of the Berkeley Springs High School and is a student in the University of West Virginia, where he is taking a course in chemical engineering. Miss Helen H. Osmond is a student in the high school at Berkeley Springs.

HOWARD WESTWOOD SHOWALTER is another of the native sons of West Virginia who has here gained prominence in connection with the coal industry, in which he has made a record of successful operation, his home and business head- quarters being maintained in the City of Fairmont, Marion County. He was born at Harrisville, Ritchie County, this state, April 4, 1881, and is a son of H. C. and Hattie B. (Brock) Showalter. The Showalter family has long been one of prominence and influence in what is now West Vir- ginia, and adequate record concerning the family appears on other pages of this work, notably in the personal sketch of Emmet M. Showalter.

Howard W. Showalter gained his early education in the public schools, including those of the City of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he continued his studies two years. At the age of fifteen years he took a position in a bank in his native

town, his intention being to work merely during his schc vacation. But the experience thus initiated proved an en to his school work and the initiation of a successful care in connection with banking enterprise, with which he co tinued his active association twenty-four years. He serv in turn as cashier of the Auburn Exchange Bank at Aubur president of the First National Bank at Monongah; cashi of the Exchange Bank at Mannington; and as vice preside and cashier of the First National Bank of Fairmont, wi which last mentioned institution he thus continued his co nection until it was merged with the Fairmont Nation. Bank in 1915. At one time Mr. Showalter had the distin tion of being the youngest national bank president in tl United States.

In 1915 Mr. Showalter directed his energies into the co. industry as an operator, and he is now president of tl Diamond Coal Company, the Forrest Coal Company, th Westwood Coal Company and the Exchange Coal Company all of Fairmont, with general offices in the Deveney Building

Mr. Showalter has been loyal and specially active in civi affairs, and is at all times the apostle of progressive pol cies in connection with public improvements. As chairma of the good-roads committee of the Fairmont Chamber o Commerce, at the time of its reorganization in 1910, h labored early and late to further the movement for th construction of good roads, and the committee of which h was thus a member had much to do with gaining to Mario: County its present excellent system of improved highways He is a republican in political allegiance, and he and hi wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal Church

On the 20th of June, 1906, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Showalter and Miss Anna Sands, daughter of the lat. Joseph E. Sands, of Fairmont, and the three children o. this union are: Howard W., Jr., born June 25, 1913; Emily Sands, born in 1916; and Joseph Sands, born in 1917.

HORACE A. McNEER, cashier of the Guyandotte Bank of Huntington, West Virginia, has held this executive posi- tion from the time of the organization of the bank and its initiation of business, in 1922. James Murphy is president. H. E. Everett, vice president, and H. A. MeNeer, cashier. This bank was opened for business July 1, 1922, in a new modern brick two-story bank building on Main Street. Among the organizers are R. L. Archer, D. I. Smith, James Murphy, H. C. Everett and other well-known men of this part of West Virginia. The capital is $100,000.

Mr. McNeer was born at Union, Monroe County, West Virginia, October 23, 1880, and is a son of James W. and Caroline (Brown) MeNeer. James W. McNeer, a man of sterling character and marked business ability, was horn in what is now Greenbrier County, West Virginia, and was fifty-six years of age at the time of his death, in 1906. He was a cadet in the Virginia Military Academy and as a youth was a Confederate soldier during the final six months of the Civil war. He was for years engaged in the mercan- tile business, at Union, Alderson and Peterstown, and then became cashier of the Bank of Union, Monroe County, where he continued his residence until his death, his widow being now a resident of Sprigg, Mingo County. He was a staunch democrat and was a communicant of the Pro- testant Episcopal Church, as is also his widow. Of the seven children six are living, James H., one of the sons, being cashier of the First National Bank at Pocahontas, Virginia.

After attending the public schools of his native town Horace A. McNeer pursued a course of higher study by at- tending the University of West Virginia. After leaving this institution he was clerk in the store conducted by his father's firm, J. W. MeNeer & Company, until he assumed a clerical position in the Bank of Union. Later he was in active service with the Fayetteville National Bank and with the Flat Top National Bank, in the City of Bluefield. Thereafter he was employed four years in the offices of the Loup Collieries Company, and for the ensuing eighteen months he was associated with his brother R. M. McNeer in conducting a grocery store in the city of Huntington. He severed his connection with this enterprise in 1912, to 88-

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ime the position of cashier of the First National Bank of „awalt, which is one of the staunch and well ordered finan- ul lastitutions of McDowell County. Mr. MeNeer has had desire to enter the arena of practical politics but la a ral supporter of the principles of the democratic party. "th he and his wife being communicants of the Protestant Discopal Church.

In 1913 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McNeer to iss Doris Stark, daughter of William Stark, of Belleville, ood County, and the three children of this union are Helen arshall, Horace A., Jr., and William Stark.

JOHN WILLIAM WEDGWOOD is one of the three inter- ted principals in an auto sales company at Welch, judicial nter of McDowell County, and is the progressive general anager of the business. in which his associates are G. A. rope and P. A. Marini. This concern has the agency r the Hudson. Essex and Chevrolet automobiles. and der the vigorous management of Mr. Wedgwood the en- rprise has been developed into one of broad scope and portance.

Mr. Wedgwood waa born in Brotton, Yorkshire, Eng- nd. October 25. 1878, and is a son of Joseph and Mary Wilson) Wedgwood. Joseph Wedgwood was employed in e iron mines of Yorkshire. and there his death occurred ben his son John W., of this review, was a child. The tter was ten years old when in 1888. his mother came ith her family to the United States. she now being a resi- ent of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. near which place or second husband, Thomas Goodwin, formerly a miner, is w the owner of a well improved farm.

John W. Wedgwood gained his rudimentary education his native land and after coming to America he at- aded school in Fayette Connty, West Virginia. where the imily home waa first established. at Mount Carbon. When nt twelve vears of age he found employment in and about ›al mines in Favette County, and with the passing veara ? acquired intimate knowledge of the practical details of le coal-mining industry. For efficient service he won ad- incement in this field of enterprise, and in 1910 he he- ime superintendent of the Glen Jean Mine in Fayette onnty. in the employ of the New River Collieries Company. 'e later was made superintendent of the Prudence Coal ompany at Prudence. that county. and the New Pocahontas oal Company at Deegans. McDowell County.

Mr. Wedgwood continued his active alliance with the coal- ining industry until 1918, when he turned his attention › the automobile business, the present partnership having een formed in that year and the concern being now one f the foremost of the kind in McDowell County. Mr. Tedgwood is liberal and public-spirited in hia civic atti- ide and is serving in 1921-2 as a member of the City 'ouneil of Welch. He is a trustee and also a steward of ne Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in his home city, esides heing a teacher in its Sunday school. His wife kewise is active and influential in the work of this church. a politics he maintains an independent attitude and gives is snnnort to men and measures meeting the approval of is judgment, irrespective of strict partisan lines.

Mr. Wedgwood married Miss Martha Burnhope, who kewise was born in England. Their acquaintanceship was ormed in West Virginia and after Miss Burnhope returned › England her future husband found it meat imperative to isit his native land, their marriage having been solemnized 1 England. Mr. and Mrs. Wedgwood have three fine sons: leorge, Arthur and William. The family home at Welch 3 known as a center of generous hospitality and good cheer.

WILLIAM WELCH HENRITZE, vice president and general manager of the Welch Lumber Company at Welch, judicial enter of McDowell County, was born at Dublin, Pulaski County, Virginia, March 11, 1877. His father, Judge "homas Lynch Henritze, was born at Marion. Smith County, Virginia, February 11, 1849, and died at Middleboro, Ken- ucky. October 8, 1910. Judge Henritze was a son of Will- am Henritze, who was born in the southwestern part of Virginia and who passed the greater part of his life at farion, that state, he having been a tinsmith by trade and Ocation. William Henritze was a gallant soldier of the

Confederacy during the Civil war and took part in many im- portant battlea.

Judge Thomas L. Henritze depended upon his own re- sources in making advancement in connection with the prac- tical affairs of life. Hia early education was that of the common schools. and he learned. under the direction of his father. the trade of tinsmith, which he followed until he was thirty years of age. He then read law in the office of Judge Hudson, of Dublin, Virginia, and after his ad- mission to the bar, upon examination before Judges Fuller and Blair, he engaged in active practice and became a dis- tinguished lawyer, his practice having been largely con- fined to civil cases. In later years he became actively identified with the development of coal mining. He served as the first judge of the Criminal Court of MeDowell County. West Virginia, under appointment by Governor McCorkle, and he continued his service on the bench for three years. In the years of hia active practice he maintained partner- ship alliance with various others who attained to marked distinction in the legal profession, including Dr. Hale and Judge R. C. McClaugherty, of Princeton, M. H. Haythe, Edward Cooper and Judge B. F. Keller. After his retire- ment from practice he was associated in the orgnization of a number of important coal-mining corporations. in- cluding the following named: Louisville Coal & Coke Company, Algoma Coal & Coke Comnany MeDowell Coal & Coke Company, Empire Coal & Coke Company, Croziers Coal & Coke Comnanv. Tidewater Coal & Coke Comnanv. and Charleston Coal & Coke Company. In addition to his finan- cial and executive connection with these corporationa he was alao one of the organizers of the Bank of Bramwell. While residing at Bramwell. Mercer County, he served as president of the Rock District Board of Education. He was one of the three charter members of the Presbyterian Church at Welch. McDowell Countv. where he maintained his home a number of years. While a young man Judge Henritze was emploved at his trade in the City of Chatta- nooga, Tennessee, and incidentally was a member of the Chattanooga Red Sox. a ball team which made an excellent record. he having been a young man of exceptional ath- Jetic ability. After leaving Chattanooga Judge Henritze lived in turn at Dublin. Virginia; Mount Airy, North Caro- lina. where he was editor of a newspaper for five yearg: Central City, Virginia, where he was emploved by the Will- iam Mahone Company in transporting freight down the New River to Glen T.vn: Pearisburg, Virginia, where he was engaged in the practice of law for some time. While a resi- dent of Pearishurg his wife, whose maiden name was Fran- ces Welch. died. in October, 1885. He later married Misa Louisa Fairchild. of Hammondsport, New York, and she now residea at Middlesboro, Kentucky.

In 1887 Judge Henritze established his residence at Princeton. Mercer County. West Virginia and later he en- gaged in the practice of his profession at Bramwell. that county, whence he later removed to Welch. McDowell Connty, where he remained until four years prior to his death. when he removed to Middlesboro. Kentucky. In the Masonic fraternity he received the thirtv-second degree of the Scottish Rite, was a paat master of a Blue Lodge in Virginia, and waa a charter member of Ivanhoe Command- ery No. 10 at Bramwell, West Virginia. He was a stal- wart advocate of the principles of the democratic party and waa influential in ita councila. Hia first wife was a dangh- ter of Cant. I. A. Welch. in whose honor the City of Welch, McDowell County, was named. Captain Welch was one of the historic "forty-niners" in the gold fields of California, and was an officer in the Confederate Army in the Civil war. He waa horn near Charleston, West Virginia, and lived for many years at St. Albana, this atatc. He was a member of the Virginia Legislature prior to the creation of the State of West Virginia, and also served as county judge. He purchased most of the land now owned by the Poca- hontas Fuel Company, and was one of the foremost fig- ures in the organization of that great industrial corpora- tion. He owned most of the land In and around the pres- ent City of Welch.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 162

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