History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 35

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George Spiker, father of Jacob, was born on George's Creek, near Frostburg, Maryland, about 1512, grew up as a farmer and when a young man settled in l'ennsylvanin, and from that time until his death, about 18-9, lived on the farm he first purchased in the Brandonville locality. He was a democrat and a member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church. lle married in Preston County Nancy De Berry. Her father, Archibald DeBerry, of French ancestry, was the first to establish a home in the Brandonville lo- eality. Naney DeBerry, who died before her husband, was the mother of the following children: Jonathan, who was in the State Militia at the time of the Civil war and spent his active life at Brandonville; Jonas, also a member of the State Militia, was a farmer and a resident of the liazel- ton locality of Preston County; Hester Ann, who died un- married; Jacob; Mary Catherine, who died unmarried; Sarah Ellen, who became the wife of Wesley Ringer and lives at Morgan Glade in Preston County; Henry, of Morgantown; George E., who occupies the old homestead of his father at Brandonville; and Emma, wife of John Ringer, living in the Morgan Glade community.

Jacob Spiker grew up on the farm where he was born, and his advantages were confined to the subscription school maintained a few months each year in his locality. He first earned a living by work as a farm hand at wages of $16 a month, that being the highest price then paid for farm labor. Ile continued working out until he was twenty-four. He returned to the home locality and with his brother bought 100 acres for $\00. He subsequently bought a second farm in the same locality, and lived there until about 1895. After selling his land near Brandenville Mr. Spiker bought a farm in Valley District, ocar Mason town, and it was on that farm that he livedl and Inbore l until he relinquished the burdens of agriculture. He sold his farm in 1908, and since then has lived in Ma. nt wo He was one of the original stockholders of the Bank of Masontown and is now a member of its Board of Dir tors.

Mr. Spiker first voted for president for Horatio Seymour in 1868, and supported every succeeding national ticket cx cept when Bryan was a candidate. lle has been mayor of Masontown, a commissioner of elections for his di tri t, and has been one of the election officials for more t an quarter of a century.

Mr. and Mrs. Spiker are Baptists in religi us fa th, bat a number of years ago they helped buill the Dunkard

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Church near Brandonville, and they also contributed to the erection of the Methodist house of worship in Masontown.

At Brandonville, October 14, 1880, Mr. Spiker married Elizabeth A. Herring. She was horn near Masontown, June 29, 1853, daughter of Joseph and Eleanor (Jeffers) Her- ring. Her grandfather, George Herring, came from Bed- ford County, Pennsylvania, to Preston County about the opening of the War of 1812, and established his home in Pleasant District of what was then Monongalia County. Late in life he moved to Valley District, where he died. He married a member of the. Sell family of Preston County, and she died about 1880. They had a large family, and several of them reached extreme age: Daniel, who died when about ninety-five; Sarah, who was the wife of Zarr Kelley and died when past ninety-five; Henry, a farmer, who died at the age of seventy-five; Elizabeth, who was the wife of Amos Moyers and died when about forty years of age; George W., who lived beyond the age of three score and ten; Samuel, who died exceptionally early, at the age of forty-five, of typhoid fever; and Susan, who was the wife of Joseph DeBerry and died when about ninety.

Joseph Herring, father of Mrs. Spiker, was born in Maryland in 1822, and died on his farm in the Valley District of Preston County at the age of fifty-six. He was a democrat and a Baptist. He married Eleanor Jeffers, whose father, Joseph Jeffers, came from old Virginia to Preston County. Eleanor Herring died in 1862, mother of the following children: Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Spiker; Mary J., Mrs. A. J. Feather, living near Bowling Green, Missouri; Melissa, wife of O. C. Carroll, of Kingwood District; George Allen, a Preston County business man; Alcinda, who was the wife of J. M. Strahin and died in Pike County, Missouri; and Elma, wife of H. D. Carroll, of Masontown. Joseph Herring's second wife was Phoebe Spurgeon, and the four children of that union are: Jesse Wilbur of Mason- town; Kim, who died at Morgantown; Belle, Mrs. J. J. Fields, of Valley District; and Priscilla, Mrs. U. G. Watson, of Masontown.

The children of Jacob Spiker and wife were: Claude Carl, mentioned below; Ivy May, born October 15, 1885, and died at the age of twelve years; Wilbur Orr, born July 24, 1887, died November 27, 1914, having been a school teacher and later a linotype operator; Elma Etta, horn February 25, 1890, wife of Ralph Erhard, of Thomas, West Virginia, and mother of two children, Ralph, Jr., and Anna Martha; and Joseph Delmer, born November 28, 1891, and died October 4, 1910.

Claude C. Spiker, oldest child of Jacob Spiker, is one of West Virginia's most prominent educators. He grad- uated from the West Liberty State Normal School, took his A. B. and A. M. degrees from the state university, and after teaching for a time went abroad to study French and Spanish. After his return he became a member of the faculty of the University of Delaware, and during the war was in Y. M. C. A. work in Europe for a year. On his return he resumed teaching for one year as instructor in romance languages at Franklin, Indiana, and then returned to his alma mater at Morgantown, where he is instructor in romance languages. Claude C. Spiker married Miss Mabel MeMillen, who was born in Preston County and reared in Masontown, being a daughter of A. F. McMillen. Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Spiker have a son, Robert Claude.

ROBERT EDWARD LEE ALLEN. No matter how peace- fully inclined and law-abiding a community may be, causes of litigation will arise and legal authority must be con- sulted, and at Morgantown, West Virginia, a name and personality that stands for able and honorable profes- sional service is that of Robert Edward Lee Allen, a prom- inent member of the Monongalia County bar. Mr. Allen has always maintained his professional home in this coun- ty, where he has important real estate interests, and to some extent is interested in politics.

Robert Edward Lee Allen was born at Lima, Tyler County, West Virginia, November 28, 1865, a son of Os- burn and Jane (Langfitte) Allen, with a long line of sturdy American ancestors behind them. Osburn Allen

was born in 1826 in that part of Harrison County that is now included in Doddridge County, West Virginia, and died at Lima, West Virginia, in November, 1909. He was a son of Joshua Allen, and a grandson of Barnes Allen, who was the original settler of the family in Harri- son County, to which section he had come from Vermont, a member of the same family was Gen. Ethan Allen, commander of the "Green Mountain Boys" in the Revo- lutionary war. Osburn Allen married Jane Langfitte, who was born in 1826, at Pughtown, near what is now New Cumberland, Hancock County, West Virginia, and died in 1899. Her parents were John and Martha Langfitte, na- tives of Hancock County.

It is to be regretted, in the interests of accurate his- torical work, that many pioneer families of this and other sections have permitted the loss of their early records, and Mr. Allen may be congratulated that he has had pre- served to him interesting family data illustrating condi- tions of life on the frontier in early days that will be equally interesting to the general reader. These records have to do with the times when the Indians were a com- mon and constant menace to the settler, who often was but illy prepared for the attacks of the savages. On one occasion William Langfitte, the great-grandfather of Mr. Allen on the maternal side, was returning from the nearest grist mill, some distance from his home, in company with two other settlers. Mr. Langfitte was rid- ing a horse and carrying the bags of flour, but his neigh- bors were on foot. A party of savages attacked them, killing the men on foot and scalping them, and then turned on Mr. Langfitte and wounded him seven times before he let the bags of grist fall to the ground and escaped hy giving free rein to his horse. This attack occurred at a point where now stands the Pitt Hotel in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Barnes Allen, the paternal great-grandfather, also had thrilling experiences. At one time, when the family home was a cabin on West Fork River near Clarksburg, he started out to round up his wandering cattle, after see- ing that his wife and two children were shut up in the cabin. Just as Mrs. Allen had succeeded in barring the front door of the cabin a party of Indians attempted to enter, and when they found that impossible applied a torch to the building and while they were so fiendishly engaged Mrs. Allen and her children managed to escape through a back entrance, fled into the woods and climbed a tree, the branches of which concealed them effectively. When Mr. Allen returned he saw the savages leaving with his cabin home in flames, and as he frantically investigated and found no trace of his family he believed them to have been incinerated. Overcome by grief he scarcely knew what next to do, when, all at once he heard a bird call that was familiar, it being in the nature of a secret code between himself and wife, and after some cautious search- ing he located the tree in the branches of which his family was secreted. All together they hastened to the nearest fort and remained under protection with the families of other settlers until a condition of comparative safety in that region again prevailed. In the enjoyment of the comforts and blessings of modern times it is well, per- haps, to sometimes look backward and remember the debt that civilization owes to the pioneers.

Robert E. L. Allen was reared on his father's farm and in boyhood attended the free schools in the neigh- borhood. Afterward he spent three years at the Fair- mont Normal School and one year in Peabody College, Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated with the degree of A. B., in the class of 1894, from the University of West Virginia, and with the class of 1895 with his degree of LL. B. Prior to this and afterward he taught school for a time, but in 1905 was admitted to the Monongalia County bar, and with the exception of abont four years, between 1917 and 1921, when he served as deputy col- lector of internal revenue, he has been in active practice in this county. On October 1, 1921, he was appointed by the City Council as city magistrate or police judge, a position he is capably filling in the faithful discharge of

RELAllen

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his duties. Ever since the organization of the county he has been a member of the Monongalia County Bar Association.

On January 19, 1893, Mr. Allen married Miss Catherine V. Protzman, who was born in Monongalia County and is a daughter of the late Col. William I. and Ann (Gantz) Protzman. They have four children: R. Ethan Allen, Anna J., Mary Rosamond and Mildred Rebecca. R. Ethaa Allen was born at. Morgantown, West Virginia, June 22, 1897, and now resides with his family at Los Angeles, California, having married Miss Catherine Virginia Scett, of Charleston, West Virginia. lle was graduated from the University of West Virginia with his S. A. E. degree ia 1920, and taught agricultural engineering in the uni- versity from then until January 1, 1921, when he accepted his present important post of geological engineer for the Pacific Coast Oil Company. Anna J. Allen, the eldest daughter, was born in Monongalia County, August 18, 1900, and is a member of the senior (1922) class, West Virginia University. Mary Rosamond Allen was born Jan- nary 28, 1905, was graduated from the Morgantown High School in 1921, and is a student in the university. Mildred Rebecca, the youngest of the family, born at Morgan- town, Mareb 29, 1907, and is a student in the City lligh School. Mr. Allen and his family are members of the Baptist Church, and all are factors in the city's pleasant social life. Mr. Allen has recently sold his two farms in Monongalia County, but still owns a valuable farm situ- ated in Tyler County, and in a business way is interested in both city and county realty. He is one of the county's representative business and professional men.

SIDNEY M. BERNARD is the progressive secretary and gen- eral manager of the Huff, Andrew & Thomas Wholesale Grocery Company at Bluefield. Mercer County, and his civic loyalty is on a parity with the business ability that has here conserved his advancement and success.

Mr. Bernard was born at Union Hall, Virginia, on the 4th of February, 1874, and is a son of William Penn Bernard and Virginia Ann (Newhill) Bernard, both likewise natives of the historic Old Dominion State, where the re- spective families were early founded. William P. Bernard long held prestige as a representative farmer in Virginia. where he specialized in the raising of leaf tobacco, and where he was influential in community affairs of public erder. Both he and his wife were zealous members of the Methedist Episcopal Church, South, in which he served many years as a steward.

The public schools of his native place afforded Sidney M. Bernard his early education, which was supplemented by his attending the high school at Stuart, Virginia, until 1892. In that year he became billing clerk in the wholesale grocery establishment of the Huff, Andrew & Thomas Wholesale Grocery Company at Bluefield, West Virginia, and by effec- tive service he worked up through the various departments until he became secretary and manager of the company, of which dual office he has continued the vigorous and efficient incumbent to the present time. Mr. Bernard is one of the vital and progressive members of the Bluefield Chamber of Commerce, is a democrat in politics, and is affiliated with both the York and Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity. He and his wife are zealous members of the local Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and he is a trus- tee of the M. and H. College, which is maintained under the general auspices of this religious denomination.

In 1904 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bernard and Miss Nannie Coleman MeCullock, daughter of John R. and Cornelia (Basham) McCullock, both natives of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Bernard have three children: Sidney M., Jr., Virginia Cornelia and Margaret Frances.

JOHN A. MICHAEL. In the history of the settlement and development of West Virginia one of the old and honored family names is that of Michael, the members of which family have distinguished themselves in various ways, in business, farming, the professions and good citizenship. A worthy representative of the younger business generation who bears this name is John A. Michael, manager of the Petersburg branch of the Piedmont Wholesale Grocery

Company. While listed among the more recent gainers of suecessful commercial rank, he is well qualified for the poi tion which he holds, the responsibilities of which he in discharging in a thoroughly capable manner

Mr. Michael was born at Davis, Tucker County, Went Vir ginia, March 10, 1891, and is a son of John Adam and Cornelia (Keller) Michael. His father was born nenr Westernport, Maryland, and as a young man adopted the vocation of cagineer, which he followed throughoot tily life Ile was located at various times in numerous comman the in Maryland and West Virginia, and his last work was done for the Western Maryland Company. He was a man of progressive spirit and enterprise, and would doubtless have achieved a marked success in life had he been spared, but death called him when he was only thirty eight years of nge, in 1897, when his son was but six years old. Mr. Michnel was a democrat in politics, but never sought pubhe office or cared for active participation in political affairs. He was trusted by his employers and respected by his assoc ates, and by all was known as a man of honor and integrity. He married Miss Cornelia Keller, & daughter of Adam Keller. who, like the Michaels, was of German descent. For many years Mr. Keller was a locomotive engineer on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, but is now retired from active lahor and a resident of Keyser, West Virginia. During the Civil war he fought gallantly as a soldier of West Virginia Infantry in the Union army. Joha Adam and Cornelin ( Keller ) Michael were the parents of the following children: Lille, the wife of Charles Kight, of Piedmont, West Virginia; John Adam, of this review; and Walter, the rover of the family, who is now a resident of Nebraska.

Joha Adam Michael, the younger, had not yet renched six years of age when the family was deprived of the father's support, and his widowed mother moved to the home of her father at Keyser, West Virginia. There the publie schools gave him a somewhat limited eduentional training, as he was only eleven years of age when he gave up his studies in order to start upon an independent career and to contribute to his owa support. His first employment was as an office boy in the service of the Piedmont Grocery Company at Piedmont, whither his mother had moved from Keyser. He proved enterprising, faithful and capable, and won the attention of his employers, who promoted him to the position of being in charge of one of the floors of the establishment. Subsequently he was made shipping clerk, and when he was but seventeen years of age he was given further responsibilities, remarkable for one of his youth, when he was made a traveling representative on the road for his coneern. He followed the road as a salesman for & period of eight years, being retained as the relief man for the house, covering the territories of all the regular sales men during their vacations or when they were absent through sickness or any other cause. In this position, as in all the others which he had held, he "made good " in every particular, and when the opportunity presented itself his hard and faithful work was rewarded by his appoint ment, in 1916, as manager of the Petersburg branch of the company, to succeed Mr. Carlson, who had been called else where. This branch was established at Petersburg with the coming of the railroad and has been built up into a large and successful establishment. Under Mr. Michael's ener getie management it has inereased its score and is now accounted a necessary commercial adjunct to a large terri tory in Grant and adjoining counties. Mr. Michael has given his time and attention to the work at hand, and no community matter other than the public interest during the World war has been allowed to take his interest frem business affairs. However, he possesses a good . tien 's publie spirit, and lends his moral and financial support to those movements which promise to be beneficial to te com munity at large. Ile came to manhood without adheren .. to any political faith, and is inclined to act indepen city in easting his ballot, but in national affair- general'y v te for the democratic candidates. His religious affil at en im with the Methodist Episcopal Church.

At Barton, Maryland, June 2s. 19 9, Mr. M heel was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Kallaugh Foye a daughter of Fraak and Lyde Kallaugh Foye, th families being also of German descent and from the Alle

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gany Mountain region of Maryland, where both are well and favorably known. Mr. Foye spent some years in mining coal in Maryland, but during recent years has been an employe of the Willard Storage Battery Company at Cleve- land, where he and Mrs. Foye now make their home. They have been the parents of the following children: John,

whose death occurred at Blaine, West Virginia; Gertrude, who is the wife of Harry Seaber, of Westernport, Mary- land; Benjamin, a resident of Albright, West Virginia; Ethel, who is the wife of Watson Ross, of Westernport, Maryland; Ella, who is the wife of Oscar Dunn, of Cleve- land, Ohio; Elizabeth Kalbaugh, now Mrs. John A. Michael, who was born at Barton, Maryland, November 25, 1892; Persis, who is the wife of Curry Reedy, a resident of Cleveland; Ruth, who is married and resides in Cleveland ; and Ensley, who resides at the home of his parents in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Michael are the parents of three ehil- dren: Louise, Edwin and John Adam, Jr. The family home is a pleasant one, and is always kept open to the numerous friends of Mr. and Mrs. Michael, both of whom are greatly popular at Petersburg.

THOMAS O'J. WILSON grew up at Bluefield, entered busi- ness here soon after leaving school, and for several years has condueted one of the leading real estate organizations in this section of the state.

Mr. Wilson was born at Radford, Virginia, February 1, 1890, and his ancestors for several generations have lived in Virginia. His grandfather Wilson served in the Hospital Corps of the Confederate army during the Civil war. Thomas J. Wilson has for a number of years been in the Motive Power Department of the Norfolk & Western Rail- way, having charge of a coaling station. Thomas O'J. Wilson was a small boy when his parents located at Blue- field, where he attended the common schools and in 1909 graduated from the Bluefield Normal School and Business College. After leaving school until 1914 he was associated with the Hale Land Company at Bluefield, and in the latter year removed to Roanoke, Virginia, and for a year acted as sales manager for the Columbia Trust Company. On returning to Bluefield he organized the Easley & Wilson Real Estate Company, and as secretary and general man- ager has constituted this a real and indispensable service to the entire commercial community. The company does a large business as brokers and general sales agents for Blue- field properties and real estate throughout Mercer County. Mr. Wilson knows values in real estate, and his painstaking work has entitled him to the confidence so liberally bestowed upon his organization.

In 1911, at Bluefield, Mr. Wilson married Miss Jeanne Blandford, daughter of David and Sarah Blandford, natives of Virginia. They have one daughter, Betty Jeanne Wilson. Mr. Wilson is a member of the Baptist Church, is a Royal Arch and Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, a member of the Elks, the Bluefield Country Club, and belongs to the Bluefield Rotary Club and is chairman of boys' work.

GEORGE STEWART STRADER has been a resident of Blue- field for thirty years, and in that time has been a merchant, banker and coal operator, and is one of the executive offi- cials in several of the mining corporations whose head- quarters are in this important commercial city of Southern West Virginia.

Mr. Strader is a native of old Virginia and a great- grandson of Adam Strader, who was born in Pennsylvania abont 1770 and in 1800 transferred his residence to an old plantation district of North Carolina, Alamance County, where he lived out his life and reared a family of five sons and five daughters. John Strader, grandfather of the Blue- field business man, was born in Alamanee County in 1804, and in 1844 moved with his family to Giles County, Vir- ginia. He died in 1877. His wife was Catherine Harvey. Josiah Strader, father of George S. Strader, was born in North Carolina in 1830, and was fourteen years of age when the family moved to Giles County. In 1853, a yonth eager for adventure and excitement, he crossed the western plains with a wagon train and spent three years looking for gold along the Columbia River in Oregon. He returned to

Giles County in 1856, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and resumed farming. At the outbreak of the Civil war he became a private soldier in the Quartermaster's Depart- ment of Gen. Jubal Early's Division. With the end of the war he returned to his home farm and lived in Giles County until his death in 1905. In 1857 he married Barbara C. Johnson, daughter of John Johnson, of Giles County. They became the parents of ten children: John A., farmer and real estate dealer at Ottumwa, Iowa; Dr. Harvey W., a physician at Sacramento, California; S. J., a farmer in Giles County ; Mrs. H. L. Phlegar, of Giles County; Rev. Tyler D., of the Holston Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church; Mrs. H. B. Shelton, of Giles County ; George Stewart; Mrs. L. J. Johnston, of Bluefield; William E., a merchant of Sacramento, California; and Mrs. Fred Scott of Giles County.

George S. Strader was born near Pearisburg, Virginia, March 2, 1870, and was reared on his father's farm. 1fej attended the grade schools and high school in his native county, and his commercial training was acquired as clerk in a general store. At the age of twenty he opened a store of his own at Graham, Virginia, but a year later came to Bluefield, West Virginia. Here he became a factor in the commercial affairs of a town just getting into a place of promise through the railroad and industrial development here. For several years he continued merchandising, and then beeame interested in real estate and banking. Since 1899 Mr. Strader has had his eapital and enterprise en- gaged in the mining and shipping of coal.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 35

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