History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 212

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > West Virginia > History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2 > Part 212

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).

Mr. Foster was born on New River Mountain in Sun mers County, August 29, 1864, son of James E. and Mary W. (Allen) Foster, both natives of Monroe County. ITis father died at the age of seventy in 1902, and his mother, at the age of seventy-one in 1898. James E. Foster was a lifelong farmer and widely known as a dealer in livestock, which he bought and collected in this section of the state and drove to market. He was a republican and a Baptist. Oliver Lee Foster is the youngest in a family of six sons and six daughters. He has three living brothers: J. D. Foster, a retired farmer at Columbus, Ohio; J. A. Foster, a farmer on Little Wolf Creek; and P. M. Foster, a farmer at Forrest ITill.

Oliver Lee Foster acquired a free school education. When he was thirteen years of age he joined his older brother, J. D. Foster, then fifteen, in the practical management and work of their father's farm and business. His father had become a cripple, and the management of the farm and the support of the household depended upon these young men. From this rugged apprenticeship O. L. Foster found his business vocation and farming and stock raising have heen his main pursuits ever since. He takes special delight in the raising of good livestock.

Mr. Foster in his home locality has been mueh interested in local politics and local improvements. Some years ago he was drafted as a candidate for member of the School Board, being defeated by only four votes in the Forrest Ilill Distriet. In 1912 he was put on the republican ticket for county commissioner, being defeated by one hundred and twenty votes. Summers is one of the strongest demo- cratic counties in the state. In the campaign of 1920 he was elected sheriff by a lead of three hundred votes.

On January 4, 1883, Mr. Foster married Etta Frances Turner, daughter of S. P. Turner, of Forrest Hill. To their marriage have been born eight children, five sons and three daughters. Sheriff Foster is a member of the Board of Stewards in the Methodist Church, and for years was re- cording steward of hia church at Forrest Hill.

THE JARRETT FAMILY. In every community there are certain families deserving of particular consideration, aome- times because of the prominence of their members, and again on account of the length of time during which the name has been associated with local history. The Jarrett

...

644

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

family is one of those of Greenbrier County which can claim distinction on both counte, for it is one of the oldest in this section, and those bearing the name have been more than ordinarily active along numerous lines.

James Jarrett I came to Greenbrier County in what is now West Virginia, but was then included in Virginia, in the latter part of the eighteenth century. His first wife be- longed to the Griffith family, and his second one was a Vinson. He was the father of eighteen sons and four daughters born to these two marriages. An extensive land- owner and slaveholder, he was a man of large wealth, and the Jarretts of Southeastern West Virginia are descended from him.

One of his sons, James II, married Ruth Gwinn, and they had twelve children, and one of them was James III, who married Elizabeth Hickman, and after her death, Ann Boyd, and for his third wife, Julia Ann Ellis. The children .of James II were: Samuel, Joseph, Andrew, Ira, Jacob, James III, Belle, Rose, Margaret, Ruth and Delia. The children born to James III were: Margaret Victoria, who married H. H. George, Thompson, Hickman, Floyd, James Henry, Mark and Ira. James II also became a large land- owner, and it appears to be a family practice to invest heavily in real estate. He was a magistrate for a time, and by virtue of this was also county sheriff, ex-officio, but instead of serving as such he turned his office over to his son, James III.

James III was born April 25, 1815, and died January 4, 1884. He probably was the largest landowner among the Jarretts. After the close of the war of the '60s he moved to Monroe County, and was elected to represent it in the State Legislature when the capital was at Wheeling, and discharged the obligations pertaining thereto with dignified capability, as he had those of sheriff of Greenbrier County with effective courage. He was a man of strong mind and unusual intellectual attainments, a shrewd trader, equal to his surroundings in all respects, and by reason of his in- tegrity commanded universal respect. He had exemplary habits, and did not use liquor or tobacco in any form. His effort in life seemed to be to educate his children, to give them a start in life, and to bring them up to the dignity of American citizenship.

Thompson Hickman Jarrett, son of James III, was born June 25, 1851, in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. He graduated from Roanoke College, Virginia, in 1877, and for some montbs thereafter followed the occupation of school- teaching at Henrietta, Texas, but then returned and bought the Andrew Hamilton place near Blue Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County. Here he has since resided, being en- gaged in farming and cattle raising. Ever since the Alderson National Bank was organized in 1909 he has served as its president. Prior to that he had become identified with the Bank of Alderson, of which he was president, which, in 1902, became the First National Bank of Alderson, and served the latter as president until 1909. llis father was a republican, but he is a democrat, and he was elected to the State Legislature on his party ticket in 1895. re-elected in 1899, and again in 1901. In 1909 he was elected sheriff of Greenbrier County, and served as such for four years. It is a somewhat remarkable fact that both he and his father served as sheriff of Greenbrier County and in the State Assembly, and he, too, is an ex- tensive landowner, holding a larger amount of acreage than any other man in Greenbrier County.

On October 5, 1877, Thompson Hickman Jarrett married Georgie Bussell Morgan, and they have the following chil- dreu: James H. IV, who is mentioned below; Leake, who is Mrs. D. W. Watts; Vivian, who is Mrs. John Malcom Wood; Nellie Gordon, who married Dr. D. R. Nikell; and Pauline, who is Mrs. J. W. Huff. Of these children James HI. Jarrett, IV, married Lelia McClung, and they have eight children: Winnifred, James Hickman, V. Mary, Floyd, Stuart, Georgia, Samuel and Joseph Wing.

Mark Jarrett, another son of James III, was born in 1855, and possessed a brilliant mind and achieved high honors. At Roanoke College, where he was educated, he ranked high in oratory, and it was sald of him that he stood second only to his father in intellectual attainments among the Jarretts.

Becoming a lawyer, he maintained an office at Lewisburgraie and later at Hinton, West Virginia, and was recognized ahpost an attorney of unusual ability. He married Lula Garst i Doc 1883, moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1886, and died the in October, 1888, passing away in the prime of life an lent. the full power of his capabilities.

The only survivor of the children of Mark Jarrett is Mar be L. Jarrett, of Alderson. He was born at Portland, Oregon mai September 4, 1886, and was there reared. He completed h 919 scholastic training at the University of Virginia, from whic he was graduated with honors in 1907, and with the degre me of Bachelor of Arts. For two years thereafter he was fort law student there, and was admitted to the bar in 1908, an immediately thereafter opened his office at Lewisburg, bu. he maintains his residence at Alderson. In 1912 M: Jarrett was elected prosecuting attorney of Green Count and served very acceptably as such for two years.

On September 7, 1907, Mark L. Jarrett married Mis Katherine Hill, of Tama, Iowa, and they have one son, Joh Franklin.

From the above brief record of the Jarrett family it i not difficult to determine the reason for classifying it a distinguished. Its members have in each case cited, prove: themselves worthy of the approval and emulation of thei associates; they have built up large estates and capably B managed them ; their contributions to the professions hav been noteworthy, and as public officials they have been B fearless, upright and dependable. In private life they have been equally trustworthy, and the name has become a synonym for integrity and highest ideals.

J. T. FERRELL, M. D. The master spirit of the town of New Haven in Mason County is Doctor Ferrell, who besides his busy practice as a physician and surgeon is president of the bank and president of nearly all the important institu- tions that give significance to this community, while his in' terests also extend to the adjacent town of Hartford.

Doctor Ferrell was born in Roane County April 9, 1886; and at the age of thirty-five he has all the attendant energy of youth and with the mature experience of a man of affairs. He is of Irish ancestry, the Ferrells having come from Ireland to Virginia in Colonial times. His grandfather, William Ferrell, was born in Roane County in 1823, spent his active life there as a farmer, and when well advanced in years moved to Jackson County, where he continued farm- ing until his death in 1893. He was a Confederate soldier in the Civil war, going in at the beginning, and fighting at Gettysburg and in other campaigns. He married Re- becca Hammond, who was born in Jackson County in 1829, and died there in 1897. Joshua Ferrell, father of Dr. Ferrell, has spent nearly all his life in Roane County, where he was born February 22, 1861. He is still active in busi- ness as a farmer at Higby. Joshua Ferrell is a democrat, a very active member of the United Brethren Church in his community, and is affiliated with the Odd Fellows. He married Senith Audelia Casto, who was born in Jackson County April 6, 1864. Virginia Josephine, the oldest of their children, is the wife of Holley L. Rhodes, a farmer at Vicars in Roane County. Dr. J. T. Ferrell is the second in age. William P. is a farmer at Belgrove in Jackson County. Della May is the wife of Garland Kiser, a farmer at Fletcher in Jackson County. John Wesley lives with his brother Doctor Ferrell and is an employe in the porcelain plant of New Haven. Maggie Florence lives at home and is a teacher in the public schools at Higby.

Dr. J. T. Ferrell was educated in the rural schools and normal schools, taught seven terms in his native county and adjoining counties, and in 1907 graduated in the commercial course from Kentucky University at Lexington. Subsequent- ly he spent a year in medical studies at Louisville, and from 1910 to 1913 pursued his course in the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery, where he graduated M. D. At the same time he received a diploma from the Northern Illinois College of Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat. Returning to his native state, Doctor Ferrell practiced at Walton for one year, at Clendenin in Kanawha County one year, and since the fall of 1916 has been established at New Haven, where large demands are made upon his ability as a

645

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

hysleian and surgeon. He is specializing in nosa and aroat.

Doctor Ferrell In November, 1919, organized the Mason "ounty Bank of New Haven, and haa alnce been ita presi- ent. It was opened for business January 20, 1920, and as capital stock of $25,000 and deposits of $100,000 The vice president la Hugo Juhling, of Hartford, and the ashier, Harry L. Dyer, Doctor Ferrell also organized in 919 and is president of the West Virginia Porcelain Com- any of New Haven, an important and distinctive industry. The company operates on a capital of $50,000,00, employs 'orty people, and manufactures large quantities of electrical porcelain, a product that is shipped all over the United States and Canada.

Doctor Ferrell is also vice president of the West Vir- ginia Orchard Company, owns a coal mine, and is president of the West Point Coal Company at Hartford, is a director in the New Haven Flour Mill and owns the Star Theater Building in New Haven. He baa other property there, in- cluding his residence and office on Pike Street.

Doctor Ferrell is a democrat, a member of the Baptist Church, and is affiliated with Higley Lodge No. 143, F. and A. M., at Highy, with Point Pleasant Chapter No. 7, R. A. M., and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Banner Lodge No. 22, Knights of Pythias, nt Hartford, Clendenin Camp No. 14287, Modern Woodmen of America. He was a member of every committee to raise the quota and perform the service needed by the Government in his locality at the time of the World war.

In October, 1909, at Charleston, Doctor Ferrell married Miss Lonise Kerr, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David D. Kerr, Her father was a teacher and died at Ripley. Her mother now owns and conducts the Hassler Hotel at Ripley.

OSCAR P. VINES, cashier of the Citizens National Bank at Hinton, judicial center of Summers County, was born in Mercer County, West Virginia, October 17. 1880, and is a aon of John W. and Elizabeth (Ellison) Vines, both like- wise natives of what is now the State of West Virginia, the father having been born in Monroe County, in 1848, and the birth of the mother baving occurred in 1856, she being now a resident of Princeton. Mercer County, where the death of her husband occurred in 1909.

John W. Vines was reared in his native county, and in 1870 he established his residence in Mercer County, where he became a prosperous farmer, besides conducting a general country store at Barn. Thereafter he was for twenty-five years a leading merchant at Princeton, the county seat, and he waa one of the honored and representative citizens of Mercer County at the time of his death. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party, and he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as is also his widow. His father, Silas S. Vines, was one of the early settlers in Monroe County, whither he came from Augusta County, Virginia. He established his residence near Sinks Grove, Monroe County, and being a tailor by trade, he was called upon to make uniforms for Confederate soldiers in the Civil war. beaidea serving as a soldier in that confliet. Oscar P. Vines, of this review, is the eldest in a family of six children; Daisy remains with her widowed mother at Princeton; Cora is the wife of C. A. Brown, of Chicago, Illinois; Hallie is the wife of W. E. Rice, of Minden, West Virginia; Charles L. is in the employ of a coal-mining company in Fayette County ; and Abney holds a position in the Virginian Bank of Commerce at Princeton.

Oscar P. Vines received the advantages of the public schools at Princeton, the Concord Normal School and the Capital City Commercial College at Charleston, in which last named institution he was graduated in 1900. As a boy he had clerked in his father'a store, and after leaving the business college be served two years as bookkeeper in the office of the Noyes-Thomason Company at Charleston. Dur- ing the ensuing two years he was employed in the Bank of Raleigh, at Beckley, Raleigh County, his next position being with the National Bank of Summers at Hinton. Later he was prime mover in the organization of the First National Bank of Peterstown, Monroe County, and after serving five years as cashier of this institution he returned, in 1916, to

Hinton, where be haa since continued the efficient cashler of the Citizens National Bank.

Mr. Vinea is a loyal supporter of the principles of the democratic party, his religious falth ja that of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, hla wife belng a mem- her of the Baptist Church, and he is vice president of the Hinton Chamber of Commerce. In the Maaonic fraternity be has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, and he is affiliated also with the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks and the Knighta of Pythias.

The year 1914 recorded the mariage of Mr. Vines and Miss Mabel Ould, daughter of William T. Ould, of Glenlyn, Virginia, and the one child of this union is a son, Sterling.

Mr. Vines takes deep interest in all that concerns the city and material welfare and advancement of his home city, and here he is serving as a member of the Board of Education.

G. L. TITUS. An enterprise identified with the auto- mobile industry which has been developed to appreciable proportions in recent years is the garage and salesroom of G. L. Titus & Son, sole agents for Studebaker automobiles at Huntington. The head of this firm, G. L. Titus, is one of the successful self-made business men of his city. aa he started his career in a humble position in the Ohio oil fields and has worked his own way to the forefront through the exercise of diligence, intelligence and good manage- ment.

Mr. Titus was born in Elk County, Pennsylvania, July 13. 1861. and is a son of J. L. and Maria (McCracken) Titus. His paternal grandfather, Samuel Titus, was born in 1800. in Scotland, and as a young man, accompanied by his two brothers, immigrated to Oil Creek, Pennsylvania. where he settled in the community now known as Titus- ville, which was named in the brothers' honor. Samuel Titus resided at Titusville for some years but eventually moved to Crawford County, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death in 1895. He was a man of natural business industry and thrift and made a success of his activities. His wife, who hore the maiden name of Marv Titus. belonged to a different familv. early settlers of Pittsburgh. She also died in Crawford County.

J. L. Titus, father of G. L., was born at Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1837. and was reared in his native com- munity where he received a public school education. He was married at Cochranton. Crawford County. following which he spent three years in the lumber business in Elk Countv. Pennsylvania. but finally went to Crawford County and applied himself to the vocation of farming. in which he like his father became quite successful. He died in 1906 in the faith of the Presbyterian Church, of which he had been an active supporter. Politically he was a democrat. and his fraternal affiliation was with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Titus married Maria MeCracken, who was born in 1845, in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, and died in that county in 1909. and they became the parents of the following children : Ella, who married George McElroy, a retired farmer of Crawford County; G. L., of this notice; William, who is a salesman for the Standard Oil Company, nt Franklin. Pennsylvania ; Priscilla, who is the wife of Frank Me- Daniel, a retired farmer of Franklin, Pennsylvania : Charles, a traveling salesman of Cochranton, Pennsyl- vania: Ida, who is the wife of' James A. Bowen, a lense boss in the oil fields: Elizabeth, who is the wife of Allen Oakes, nn agriculturist of Cochranton; and Frank M., a salesman for gas enginea at Bradford, Pennsylvania.

G. L. Titus waa reared on his father'a farm until he reached the age of sixteen years, in the meantime receiv- ing a rural school education, and then went to the Ohio oil fields. By youthful industry and thrift he had acquired a team of his own, and with this as his stock in trade entered business as a teamster, a line which he followed one year. He then became an oil well worker or driller, spending 11% years in this capacity at Lima, Ohio, whenee

646

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

he went to Chattanooga, Tennessee and continued the same line of work for one year. Following this Mr. Titus con- tinued the same line of work at points in Butler County, Pennsylvania, for two years; in Washington County, Penn- sylvania, for a like period, and at McDowell, in the same state, for one year. In 1892 he invaded West Virginia, settling first at Sistersville, where he continued working as an oil well driller for 11/2 years. His next location was Verona, Pennsylvania, where he remained one year, going then to his former place of residence, McDowell, where he passed eight months. Vencie, Pennsylvania, was then his home and the scene of his activities for two years, and in 1896 be returned to Sistersville, West Virginia. About this time he engaged in contracting in the oil fields of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, and con- tinued to be thus occupied until coming to Huntington in 1908, this city having since been bis home and the con- munity in which he has made his success. Mr. Titus con- tinued interested in the contracting and oil well drilling business, in partnership with W. O. Dunham, and they are now running tools in West Virginia and Texas.

In 1917 Mr. Titus embarked in another line of activity when he purchased the business of the Three States Auto- mobile Company, at Huntington, changing the name to G. L. Titus & Son, his sou, William Roy Titus, being his partner. The salesroom, repair shop and offices are situated at 930 Third Avenue, Huntington, and the firm are the sole agents for the well-known and popular Studebaker cars, not only at Huntington, but for Lincoln, Mason and Wayne counties, West Virginia, and Rome and Union townships, Ohio. They have built up one of the leading enterprises of its kind in West Virginia. Mr. Titus is well and favorably known in business circles and is re- spected for his absolute integrity and honorable dealing. He is independent in his political allegiance, preferring to use his own judgment to that of party leaders. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is a member of the official board, and also holds membership in the Guyan Country Club of Hunting- ton. Fraternally, he belongs to Huntington Lodge No. 53, F. and A. M., of Huntington; Huntington Chapter No. 6, R. A. M .; Huntington Commandery No. 9, K. T .; Beni-Kedem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Charleston; Huntington Lodge of Perfection No. 4; Huntington Chapter No. 4, Rose Croix; and West Virginia Consistory, thirty- second degree, of Wheeling. His eivie connections include membership in the Huntington Chamber of Commerce, the Retail Business Men's Association and the Kiwanis Club, in the movements of all of which he takes an active and constructive part. Mr. Titus has faith in the future of Huntington and the vicinity and has evidenced this con- fidence by investing a part of his means in real estate, being the owner of a modern and comfortable home at 501 Tenth Avenue, one of the finest in the city, where tie resides; eight dwellings on Guyan and First avenues; and a farm of 320 acres in Lawrence County, Kentucky.

In November, 1893, Mr. Titus married Miss Sarah Bowen, who was born at Woodland, West Virginia, a daughter of William and Sarah (Rulong) Bowen, farming people, both of whom are now deceased. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Titus: William Roy; Mary El, a graduate of the Ward-Belmont Female Seminary, at Nashville, Tennessee, who is now teaching in the public schools of Huntington; Mildred B., who attended Carnegie Institute of Technology, at Pittsburgh, aud is now the wife of Thomas Gracey, a stonecutter of Huntington; and Robert, who died at the age of 412 years. William Roy Titus, who is his father's partner in the firm of G. L. Titus & Son, received a good practical education at Hunt- ington and received his business training under his capable and experienced father. During the World war he enlisted in the United States Army and was in the service for one year, being stationed first at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas,

later at Camp Sherman, Illinois, and finally at Little Silver, New Jersey. He was already on board a vessel bound for France when the armistice was signed and the vessel was recalled. Mr. Titus married Miss Catherine Freice, formerly a resident of Roanoke, Virginia.

T. WILBUR HENNEN was one of those rare men who can keep their energies apace with the broadening spread of their interests. Most men as they grow older have to eliminate the less essential things from their program. He continued active in business, church, fraternal and civic affairs, and death found him while still young and com- pletely engrossed in the affairs of life.

Fairmont was always his home. He was born in that portion of the city onee known as Palatine, February 21, 1878, son of Thomas J. and Mary Sterling Hennen. His mother died only a few years ago. There are two surviv- ing brothers, William S. and Lawrence M. Hennen, both at Fairmont, and a sister Mrs. Eva M. Mestrezat of Morgan- town.

T. Wilbur Hennen acquired a public school education in Fairmont, attended the State Normal School, and as a youth entered the merchant tailoring business, being asso- ciated for several years with George Morrow. He was in business for himself in that line several years but after 1913 his energies were chiefly bestowed on real estate and bank- ing. He organized the Community Savings & Loan Asso- ciation, and under his management it became one of the sound and prosperous financial institutions of the city. Among other tributes one of the most significant is the following: "Wilbur Hennen in business was a banker, and he was really more. When sickness, death or other mis- fortune came to the home of the lowly, he was not only their banker, but their friend. The little loans that he made to the masses alleviated a world of suffering and of sorrow and made for him a following that did not end until his body was placed in the grave."

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 212

Author: Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: