History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 18

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The last survivor of their children was William A. Wilson, who was born at the family homestead on Fifth Street in

Wheeling, July 8, 1842, and who died at his home on Mn Street, November 24, 1920, when past seventy-eight. . 9 73 educated in the public schools, learned business undo. s father, and in 1866 engaged in the lumber and planing nl business in association with Clark Hanes, under the fil name of Hanes & Wilson. He also succeeded to the busins interests left by his father, including a manufacturing plat formerly devoted to the manufacture of nail kegs and s- sequently utilized for the making of packing boxes. En el- nection with his lumber yards and planing mills W. .. Wilson engaged in coutracting, the firm handling mar extensive contracts involving large buildings. As a bran of this business there was opened a retail paint and oil sta in 1875, and that was the nucleus of what is now the m.a interest of the firm of W. A. Wilson & Sons, a business tlt is both wholesale and retail and with a trade extending or five states. The headquarters of the firm for many yes have been at 1409-1411 Main Street. Since 1894 William'. Wilson has been a member of the firm and the younger sy, Arch A. Wilson, entered the partnership in 1900.

The late William A. Wilson was for some years presid t of the Commercial Bank, and later this bank was absorli by the Wheeling Bank & Trust Company. He acted a hearty accord with the public spirited citizens of Wheel y in advancing the commercial and general welfare of e community. Mr. Wilson was one of the most popular f Wheeling's business men. In his personal relations he vs characterized by a fine sense of humor. He liked the oja air and almost to the close of his life he enjoyed his gae of golf at the Wheeling Country Club. He was a stalwt democrat in politics and a member of the North Strt Methodist Episcopal Church,

The late W. A. Wilson practiced and exemplified the hb ideals of the Masonic Order and he was one of the mt prominent Masons in the state, particularly in the Scotth Rite. In February, 1866, he was raised in Ohio Lodge ]. 1, F. and A. M., and subsequently became a charter mem r of Nelson Lodge No. 30. He was affiliated with Wheel z Union Chapter No. 1, R. A. M., Cyrene Commandery No, K. T., Osiris Temple of the Mystic Shrine. In March, 18i, he joined the Scottish Rite organization and becames charter member of West Virginia Cousistory No. 1 upon s organization in 1894, and was elected the first treasurer f the four bodies of the Scottish Rite at Wheeling, a posita he held until his death. At the meeting of the Supree Council for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United Sta's held in October, 1919, he was elected to receive the thin'- third honorary degree, which was conferred upou him in e Cathedral at Wheeling, April 12, 1920.

June 10, 1867, Mr. Wilson married Miss Texana Arrt, daughter of a prominent Wheeling citizen, Jacob Arn .. Mrs. Wilsou survived her honored husband. Of her the children the only daughter, Flora C., died January 20, 19), as the wife of Charles Lamb. The two sons, who contije the business organization of W. A. Wilson & Sons, are VI- liam P. and Arch A., hoth of whom are married and t'y and their families are socially prominent iu Wheeling.

This article may properly close by quoting an editonl from the Wheeling Intelligencer: "The death of W. .. Wilson has removed from the Wheeling community a na of a type that any city can ill afford to lose. Virile ad successful in his many business undertakings, he typifiedn his life the spirit and the achievements of Wheeling. Bn and reared here, there was ever a great mutual admiratn between him and his native city, and he was always a starb supporter of worthy civie movements. During his seven"- eight years here Mr. Wilson became intimately and proi. nently connected with practically every phase of Wheelin s activities. As a manufacturer, merchant and banker e helped to lay the solid foundations of the city's prospery and to build the splendid superstructure. His lodge ad church connections were admirable and consistent, and a the midst of all his busy life he found time to be a lea r in charitable work. His associates in all of these activiis will miss the unassuming support and keen judgment n which they were accustomed to rely. Those most closy associated with him will miss his unostentatious acts f kindness. ''

IIISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

LLOYD M. STEMPLE is manager of the Service Storea Cor- ration at Bretz in Preston County, is also postmaster of at village, and is a business man whose responsibilities ive been steadily growing during the past fourteen years. He was born near Aurora, Preston County, May 11, 1882. e is a direct descendant of Godfrey Stemple, who settled ar Aurora in the early years of the nineteenth century, ent his remaining years as a farmer and is buried in that cality, and a large number of his descendants are still und over Preston County. Lloyd M. Stemple grew up on farm, attended the public schools, and cither through his xn efforts or his earnings supplied himself with the equiv- ent of a liberal education. At the age of twenty-two he gan teaching, a vocation be followed altogether for some ve or six years. In the meantime he took the course in the reparatory school for teachers at Keyser, and in the sum- er of 1908 graduated from the Mountain State Business ollege at Parkersburg. Following that he became stenog- apher and claim clerk in the coal billing office of the Balti- ore & Ohio Railway Company at Fairmont, West Virginia. ourteen months later he resigned and returned to Austen in reston County, where he taught another term of school and the spring of 1910 became a clerk in the Austen Coal & oke Company's general store. After about a year he was "ansferred to the office of chief clerk to the auditor of the ompany. With the collapse of the coal industry in 1913 e left the service of the Austen company and went south to tapleton, Alabama, where be tried farming and merchandis- 1g. The conditions of the climate were adverse to his ealth, and after about a year he returned to his home state nd formed a connection with the West Virginia Mercantile Company at Kingwood. This company subsequently sent im to Bretz, where he has been store manager ever since. The West Virginia Mercantile Company sold its interests to he Bethlehem Steel Company, and the Service Stores Cor- oration is now a subsidiary of the Bethlehem Steel Com- any. Mr. Stemple's work as manager was unaffected by he change in ownership. He was appointed postmaster of Bretz, August 18, 1916, succeeding Postmaster H. B. Jaek- Da.

Mr. Stemple has usually voted as a republican, thongh host of the Stemples have been democrats. He and Mrs. 'temple are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. At Cumberland, Maryland, February 22, 1907, he married Miss Daisy A. Horatter, a native of Preston County. Many of the Hovatter family lived around Fairmont, and her par- nts, A. J. and Helen (Pell) Hovatter, now live near Manown. Mrs. Stemple completed her education in the sum- ner normal at Terra Alta, and taught for several years before ber marriage, teaching in the towns of Austen and Newburg and in the villlage schools of Bretz. Mr. and Mrs. Stemple have two children, Ethel Muriel and Max Lloyd.

JOHN THRUSTON THORNTON, M. D., one of the representa- ive physicians and surgeons engaged in practice in the City of Wheeling, hears the full patronymic of his grandfather. Col. John Thruston Thornton, who was born in Prince Ed- ward County, Virginia, who became colonel of a gallant Vir- ginia regiment in the Confederate service in the Civil war and who was killed while leading his command in the battle of Antietam. Colonel Thornton had been a distinguished member of the Virginia bar and was engaged in the prac- tice of his profession at Farmville, Prince Edward County, at the time when he went forth in defense of the Confederate cause. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Carter Baskerville, was a resident of Prince Edward County at the time of her death, both the Thornton and Baskerville fam- ilies having been founded in Virginia in the early colonial era, and the lineage of both tracing to stanch English origia.

Dr. Jobn T. Thornton was born in the City of Richmond, Virginia, October 21, 1875, and is a son of Dr. William Mynn Thornton and Eleanor Rosalie (Harrison) Thornton, whose marriage was aolemnized in New York City, December 22, 1874. Professor William M. Thornton was born in Cumberland County, Virginia, October 28, 1851. In 1868 he received from Hampden-Sidney College the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in 1870 be was graduated in the his-

toric old University of Virginia at Charlottesville. Hle re ceived from Hampden-Sidney College the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. After his marriage he held the chair of Greek in Davidaon College, North Carolina, until 1875, since which year he has been professor of applied mathematics in the University of Virginia, besides which ha is now the denn of the department of engineering in that institution. Ile was a United States commissioner to the International Ex position beld in Paris, France, in 1900, and in 1904 was a member of the jury of awards in civil engineering nt the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. He is a stal. wart democrat, and is a zealons member of the Presbyterinn Church. Ilis wife, who was born in Virginin, in 1519, and whose death occurred in 1920, waa a member of the Episco pal Chureb. Of the children, Doctor Thoraton of this review is the eldest; Eliza Carter, who now resides In the t'ity of Boston, is the widow of Charles R. Thurman, who was an electrical engineer and a farmer nnd who died at University, Virginia; Eleanor Rosalie was graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of Musie in the City of Baltimore, thereafter continued her musical studies in Berlin, Germany, and as a talented pianist she is engaged in teaching music in the thty of Boston, Massachusetts; Janet, the next younger daughter, is engaged in social-service work in New York City; Witham Mynn, Jr., now professor of chemistry in Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, received from Hampden Sidney College the degree of Bachelor of Arts, from the University of Virginia the degree of Master of Arts, and from Yale University the degree of Doctor of Philosophy; Charles Edward received from the University of Virginia the degree of Civil Engineer, has been successful in the work of his profession but has indulged the wanderlust without moderation, be having been in Honduras at the time of his last communication with other members of the family.

Dr. John T. Thornton gained the major part of his carlier education in private schools at Charlottesville, Virginia, nnd thereafter was a student in the University of Virginia until he had nearly completed the work of his senior year in the literary department. He taught one year in the public schools of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and one year in the Louisiana Industrial Institute nt Ruston, and he next con- tinued his studies two years in the medical department of the University of Virginia. Ile then entered the Medical College of Virginia in his native City of Richmond, and in this institution he was gradunted in 1902, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Thereafter he gained valuable clinical experience hy serving as interne in the Old Dominion Hospital in that city until February, 1903, and by similar service in the Polyelinic Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsyl vania, where he remained two years. In the meanwhile, in the summer of 1902, he was a student in Harvard University. After leaving Philadelphia Doetor Thornton gave eighteen months of effective service ns superintendent of the Roanoke IIospital, at Roanoke, Virginia, and since 1906 he has been established in the successful general practico of his profes. sion in the City of Wheeling, where he is giving special attention to pediatrics, his offices being at 409-10 in the Wheeling Bank & Trust Company Building. Doctor Thorn- ton served three years as president of the Board of IIealth of Ohio County, is an active member of the Ohio County Medieal Society, the West Virginia State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association, the while he is affili- ated with Carroll Council No. 504, Knights of Columbus, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon college fraternity, and the University Club of Wheeling. The doctor is a democrat in political allegiance, and be and his wife are communicants of the Catholic Church. In the World war period he was a vigorous supporter of patriotic service in his home city and county, was a member of the Board of Medical Examiners for Ohio County, and gave much of his time to the work of this board and to other war activities.

In 1905, in the City of New York, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Thornton and Miss Ilelen Agnes Thom son, daughter of the late George Thomson. of Trenton, Ner Jersey. Doctor and Mrs. Thornton have three children : Eleanor Rosalie, born September 4, 1909; John Thruston, Jr., born in March, 1912; and Helen, born October 26, 1915.

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

JOHN EDWARD OFFNER, M. D., a successful physician and surgeon engaged in practice at Fairmont, Marion County, was horn at Piedmont, Mineral County, this state, April 15, 1878, a son of Isaac Henry and Mary Jane (Kalbaugh) Offner. The father was born July 11, 1844, at Romney, Randolph County, Virginia (now West Vir- giuia), and is a son of Reuben and Matilda Jane (Cum- mins) Offner. Reuben Offner was born at Woodstock, Virginia, in 1804, and died at Romney in 1889, he having been a shoemaker by trade, a democrat in politics and a member of the Methodist Church. Isaac H. Offner gave many years of effective service as a school teacher, and he was a valiant soldier in the Confederate service in the Civil war as a member of the Thirty-third Virginia Regiment, in the brigade of Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson. Mr. Offner is now one of the venerable and honored citi- zens of Mineral County. His wife is a daughter of Alex- ander Kalbaugh, who was of German ancestry and whose wife was of Irish ancestry, he having been a Union soldier in the Civil war.

Doctor Offner gained his early education in the schools of his native county, and thereafter he followed various vocations of mechanical order, he having been employed on public works, on railroads, in machine shops and in a paper pulp mill, besides which he was for a time a mem- ber of a civil engineering corps with the Dry Fork Rail- .road. In consonance with his ambition he finally entered the Maryland Medical College in the City of Baltimore, in which he was graduated in 1904, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He has since taken post-graduate surgical work in the University of Pennsylvania and in clinics in the City of Baltimore. At the time of the Spanish-American war he served eighteen months in the hospital corps of the United States Army. When the nation hecame involved in the World war Doctor Offner applied for and was recommended by the governor of West Virginia for a commission in the Medical Corps of the United States Army. He received a commission as lieutenant, instead of major, for which latter he had been recommended, and he refused to accept the minor commission. He then tendered his services to the navy, in which he was commissioned a first lieutenant of the Medical Corps, but he was not called into active service until after the signing of the historic armistice, when he declined to enter such service. The doctor now holds the rank of assistant surgeon general on the staff of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He is a member of the Marion County and West Virginia State Medical societies, the Southern Medical Association, the American Medical Association and the Baltimore & Ohio Railway Surgeons Association. Doctor Offner is a staunch democrat, and he was the first member of his party elected to represent the strong republican First Ward of Fairmont as a mem- ber of the City Council, of which he continued a member four years.

His initial Masonic affiliation was with Fairfax Lodge No. 96, at Davis, this state, and from the same he was demitted to become a charter member of Pythagoras Lodge No. 128 at Parsons, West Virginia. From the latter he was demitted to assist in instituting Acacia Lodge No. 157 at Fairmont, of which he continues a member. He is also affiliated with the R. A. M. at Keyser, West Vir- ginia, with the Commandery of Knights Templar at Grafton, and with Osiris Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Wheeling. He is a member of Fairmont Lodge No. 294 B. P. O. E., and of the Knights of Pythias. The doctor is an active member of the Fairmont Chamber Commerce, and of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

At Okland, Maryland, July 8, 1901, Doctor Offner wedded Effie Blanche Taylor, who was horn at Kerns, Randolph County, West Virginia, July 1, 1880, a daughter of Hayes H. Taylor, who was a soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war. Doctor and Mrs. Offner have two chil- dren: Mildred Ruth, born March 23, 1902, and Edward Taylor, born May 18, 1903.

JOHN THOMAS SIMMS, counsel and executive assistant to the state tax commissioner of West Virginia, is the legal

representative of the state in practically all matters i volving the Tax Department. It is a large responsibili capably performed, and the duties have occupied the tir and abilities of Judge Simms for over six years. He is former judge of the Criminal Court of Fayette County a. has been a West Virginia lawyer nearly twenty years.

Judge Simms was born at Ansted, Fayette County, We Virginia, May 10, 1875, son of Robert Clark and Sar Catharine (Jones) Simins. His paternal ancestors we Scotch and settled in old Virginia prior to the Revolutic ary war. One ancestor, Edward Simms, was a soldier the Revolution. The mother of Sarah Catharine Jones w a Miss Daniel, a cousin of the late John W. Daniel of V ginia.

John Thomas Simms grew up on a farm, attended t local public schools, and through and in the intervals his vocation as a teacher acquired his higher educatic involving association as a student with the Summersvi Normal School, the Fayetteville Academy and the U1 versity of West Virginia. He was connected with t Fayetteville Academy both as teacher and pupil. Jud Simms graduated in law from the State University in Jur 1903, and at once began practice at Fayetteville. His j quiring mind, his great energy and the integrity whi he put at the disposal of his clients won quickly for him high reputation as a lawyer.

In the fall of 1910 he was elected judge of the Crimin Court of Fayette County, and served on the bench fo years. It should be a matter of justifiable pride to Jud Simms as a lawyer that throughout the period of his i cumbency as judge of the Criminal Court he was never 1 versed by the Supreme Court. There is no chronicle West Virginia of any other judge having such a reco who sat for a full term.

At the close of his term on the bench in January, 191 Judge Simms came to Charleston as special counsel for t State Tax Commission, the full title of his office ben counsel and executive assistant to the state tax commissione In this capacity he has rendered legal services of an i portance that only those in close touch with the Tax D partment appreciate. Representing the Tax Departme he has practiced in all the courts of the state and in tl Supreme Court of the United States. The problems he h to meet and solve are frequently exacting and require high degree of sagacity and legal acumen and in mai cases he presents the cause of the state against some . the ablest and keenest corporation lawyers. In general, ] looks after the interpretation of the tax statutes of tl state, also the appeals of public works on matters taxation, and many of these problems involve the gre. industrial corporations and highly capitalized public utili concerns. Until the national prohibition law went in effect, and during the state prohibition law of West Vi ginia, Judge Simms had as part of his duties the vigoro prosecution of violations of that law. In the course these duties he formulated and brought into practice tl first legal or statutory definition of the moonshine sti a definition that became a part of the state's prohibitic statutes.

Judge Simms is a member of the State and America Bar Associations. is a republican, and is a thirty-secor degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, and a member ( the Knights of Pythias. He and his family are Presb; terians.

December 28, 1903, lie married Miss Eugenia A. Alderso daughter of Hon. John D. Alderson, of Nicholas Count who at one time represented his district in Congress. Tl family of Judge Simms comprises four sons, John Alderso Philip. Frederick Eugene and Edward Broadus. The oldes John Alderson Simms, has the record of being the younge: graduate in the history of the Charleston High School. B finished his eighth grade work at the age of ten and a ha years and graduated from high school just four years late He is now a student in the Virginia Military Institute & Lexington, Virginia.

A. BLISS MCCRUM. Though just entering his forties, A Bliss McCrum has earned and for a number of years hs

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

enjoyed a place of conspicuous honor among the attorneya of West Virginia, and baa alao a record of usefulness ia hublie affairs. He earned his early reputation as a lawyer it Kingwood, but for several years has been a resident of Charleston, and among other duties is executive secretary of the Public Utilities Association of West Virginia.

Mr. MeCrum was born at Aurora in Preston County, February 17, 1880, son of Lloyd L. and Emma (Shaffer) MeCrum, now deceased. His father was of Scoteb-Irish ancestry and a native of Preston County. Ile died in Grant 'ounty in 1895, while the mother passed away in 1882. Both the Shaffer and MeCrum families were pioneer settlers on the old Northwestern Turnpike.

A. Bliss MeCrum received a common school education in Preston and Grant counties, and was also a student in the grammar schools and the Central High School of Washing- on, D. C., where his father resided for a time. He took poth tho academie and law courses in West Virginia Uni- ersity, and by hard, concentrated effort was able to gradu- ite with degrees from both departments in 190].

He had only recently turned bis majority, and with his aw diploma he located at Kingwood, where he became asso- iated with the veteran and distinguished attorney P. ... `rogan in the firm of Crogan & MeCrum. While establish- og himself in the law he was also indueed to enter polities, nd in 1906 was elected to represent Preston County in the Iouse of Delegates, and re-elected in 1908, aerving four ears. During the second session he was chairman of the nanee committee. In 1912 Mr. MeCrum was elected state enator from the Fourteenth Senatorial Distriet, comprising he counties of Preston, Grant, Hardy, Mineral and Tueker. During his second session in the Senate he resigned to ae- ept appointment as member of the State Board of Control, eginning bis duties in June, 1915, at which time he removed rom Kingwood to Charleston. He was on the State Board f Control two years, filling the unexpired term of Governor Dawson, one of his closest friends.

Mr. McCrum in 1918 volunteered bis services during the ar with Germany. He was made a second lieutenant at amp Joseph E. Johnston, afterward promoted to first entenant, and was put in command of Company B, Three fundred and Fifty-third Labor Battalion. in service at amp Greene, Charlotte, North Carolina. He received his onorable discharge December 26, 1918.

Soon after leaving the army Mr. MeCrum resumed private ww practice at Charleston, specializing in corporation law ad utility rate eases. He is counsel for a number of well nown publie service and industrial corporations, including le Western Maryland Railway Company.

His position as executive seeretary of the Publie Utilities ssociation of West Virginia is one of broad and interest- ig responsibilities. This organization embraces the electrie ilway, eleetrie light, heat and power companies, water ompanies and independent telephone companies of the ate, corporations representing investments running into illions of dollars and providing many of the essential ublie utilities. The chief objeet of this organization, and ne in which his qualifications as a lawyer enables Mr. leCrum to further, is to bring about better understanding { the serious problems involved in the management, opera- on and financing of publie utility corporations and also roviding that mutual relationship of understanding and pod will that involves better service to the public and a enefit to all coneerned. Outside of bis professional work he la been largely interested in Charleston real estate, having veloped and built up aeveral well known additiona to the ty. In 1920 Senator MeCrum was elected secretary of the epublican State Committee, and along with Chairman "hite shared the honora of condueting the successful eam- lign of 1920.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 18

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