History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 55

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IIISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

of Morgantown, West Virginia, and her death occurred eleven months later. November 25, 1862, recorded his mar- riage to Anna Nicholson, who was born near Geneva, Greene County, Pennsylvania, and whose death occurred at the old Brown homestead, August 13, 1902. She was a daughter of Thomas and Mary A. Nicholson, and a great-granddaughter of Commodore James Nicholson, who served as a captain in the Revolutionary war and as the first commodore of the American navy. The commodore's daughter Hannah be- came the wife of Albert Gallatin, the celebrated American scholar and statesman. The father of Commodore Nicholson was a native of Berwick-on-Tweed, Scotland, and immi- grated to New Baltimore, Maryland, where he received a grant of land which became known as Nicholson Manor.

Cassius Clay Brown was reared on the old home farm and supplemented his public school discipline by attending the University of West Virginia. He left the university in his junior year, thereafter taught school for some time, and for thirteen years he owned and operated the historic old Brown's Mills, erected by his grandfather. He sold the mill property after recovering from a long illness, during much of which he was confined in a hospital, and he then took an executive position in the Dunkard Valley Bank at Blacks- ville, Monongalia County. While thus engaged he was appointed to a position in the office of the state tax com- mission at Charleston, where he remained two years, after which he returned to the bank at Blacksville. In 1912 he became cashier of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Morgantown, a position of which he has since continued the efficient and popular incumbent.

Mr. Brown is a stanch republican, and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is affiliated with Morgantown Lodge No. 4, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Blacksville Lodge No. 8, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Athens Lodge, Knights of Pythias; Morgantown Lodge No. 411, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and with the Junior Order United American Mechanics.

September 16, 1893, recorded the marriage of Mr. Brown with Miss Elizabeth A. Scott, who was born at Blacksville, this county, a daughter of William F. and Belle (Grimm) Scott. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have two children: Helen Scott is the wife of John Lowe, of Morgantown, and Arthur W. holds a clerical position in the Farmers and Merchants Bank, of which his father is cashier.

ALLEN REED PRICE, senior member of the firm of A. R. Price & Company, dry goods merchants at Morgantown, Monongalia County, has secure standing as one of the representative business men and citizens of his native county and its capital city. He was born on the old Price home- stead at Uffington, Clinton District, this county, January 12, 1860, and is a son of the late John C. Price, whose father, Michael Price, was the pioneer representative of the family in this county. Michael Price came over the mountains from Maryland when he was a young man, and his first residence in Monongalia County was near the site of the University of West Virginia at Morgantown. In this county was solem- nized his marriage with Susannah Burke, a member of a sterling pioneer family of this section of the state. Mr. Price died in Morgantown in 1837. His children, all now deceased, were George, Peter, Cornelius, John C., James and Sally.

John C. Price was born at Morgantown in 1813, and after the death of his father he and his two brothers and their widowed mother removed to the farm in Clinton District. Later he purchased the interests of the other heirs and be- came sole owner of the farm, to the management of which he gave his attention until his death in 1892. His wife, whose maiden name was Catharine Reed, was born in Bar- bour County in 1828, a daughter of Peter and Ruth (Llewellyn) Reed, early settlers in that county, and she survived her husband by about three years, her death oc- curring in 1895. Of the children the first born was Susan Louisa, who became the wife of Charles H. Holland, of Clinton District, this county, and whose death occurred in 1919; John C., Jr., was next in order of birth; and Allen R., of this sketch, is the youngest of the children.

Allen R. Price was reared on the home farm and sup- plemented his public school discipline by attending the Uni- versity of West Virginia. While still on the farm he took charge of a general store at Uffington, a village in the im- mediate neighborhood, he and his brother John C. having been associated in the ownership of the business. In 1903 the two brothers engaged in the furniture business at Morgantown, under the title of the Price Furniture Com- pany. In 1905 they sold this business, and in the same year Allen R. Price engaged independently in the dry goods business on Walnut Street. In 1910 he purchased the dry goods business of Ridgeway & Company on High Street, and on the 1st of January, 1920, he organized the firm of A. R. Price & Company, in which he took in as partners his son Ira J. and daughter Goldie M., the establishment of the firm being well equipped and the business being one of major importance in the mercantile activities of Morgan- town. The firm receives a large and representative support- ing patronage and the enterprise is one of most substantial order. Mr. Price is (1921) a member of the Board of Equalization of Monongalia County, and he is a loyal men- ber of the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is an active member of the First Baptist Church.

In 1884 Mr. Price wedded Josephine, daughter of Silas Powell, of Clinton District, this county, and she died in the following year, their one child, Miss Ruth, being at the paternal home. In 1888 Mr. Price married Miss Nancy Ellen Coombs, daughter of Joseph G. Coombs, of Grant District, this county, and the eldest child of this union is Xa, who is the wife of Benjamin F. McGinnis, of Penns- boro, Richie County, their children being Frederick, Ben- jamin Allen, Virginia Ellen and Mary Louise. Goldie M. re- mains at the parental home and is an active member of the firm of A. R. Price & Company, as previously noted. Ira Joseph likewise a member of his father's firm, was born De- cember 22, 1891, received the advantages of the Morgantown schools, including the high school, and thereafter did effec- tive field work as a civil engineer. In 1915 he entered his father's store, and his association with the business continued until June 6, 1918, when he entered the nation's military service in connection with the World war. He entered service in the quartermaster's department at Camp Joseph E. John- ston in Florida, later was transferred to Camp Merritt, and two weeks thereafter he sailed with his command, an inde- pendent unit, for France, where he was stationed at Giervis at the time of the signing of the armistice and until he embarked for the home voyage, he having been mustered out as quartermaster's sergeant at Camp Dix, after having left France, on the 29th of June, 1919. He resumed his active association with his father's business, and January 1, 1920, was admitted to partnership, as already noted in this con- text. He, like his father, is a member of Monongalia Lodge No. 10, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, besides which he is affiliated with the American Legion and with Morgan- town Lodge No. 411, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Ottela Beatrice is the wife of Russell K. Bottom, of Morgantown, and they have one child, Russell K., Jr. Mabel Wilma remains at the parental home and is, in 1921, a student in the State University.

WILLIAM BURKHART SCHERR, M. D., is engaged in the general practice of his profession at Morgantown, Monon- galia County, and he is one of the representative physicians and surgeons of the younger generation in this section of his native state, besides which he has the distinction of having served in the Medical Corps of the United States navy in the World war period.

The family record of Doctor Scherr is one of interesting order. Joseph Scherr was born and reared in Switzerland and there became colonel in the Swiss army. The family had long been one of wealth and influence in the fair little republic of Switzerland, where representatives of the name had been prominently identified with the tanning industry for many generations. In his native land Joseph Scherr married Gertrude Arnold, a daughter of National Represen- tative Edward Arnold, and in 1857 he came with his family to the United States. He purchased a large tract of land

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n Minnesota, and it is interesting to record that much of he City of St. Paul is today established on that tract. Mr. scherr settled on this land as a pioneer, but owing to the everity of the Minnesota winters he finally sold the prop- rty and removed with his family to Carver, Minnesota, in which city he built a brewery which was destroyed by fire. Mr. Seherr then came to West Virginia, where he estab- ished retail stores at Germania and Maysville, Grant County, and Eglon, Preston County, West Virginia. His leep despondency after the death of his wife caused him to urn his business over to his sons and to return to Switzer- and, where, amid the scenes and associations of his youth, le passed the remainder of his life.

Julius Scherr, son of Joseph and Gertrude (Arnold) Scherr, was born in Switzerland, February 28, 1849, and was a lad of eight years at the time of the family immigration :o the United States. As a youth he became associated with his father's business, and ultimately took charge of the gen- :ral store at Eglon in Preston County, and also of a woolen nill at Oakland, Maryland. Later he established a store at Thomas, West Virginia, and this he eventually placed in charge of his son, Julius, Jr. Still later he placed his sons Henry L. and Edwin G. in charge of a store at Horseshoe Run, Preston County. After the death of Julius, Jr., the business at Thomas was discontinued, and still later the other stores were closed out.

In 1900 Julius Scherr, Sr., was elected a representative in the Lower House of the West Virginia Legislature, and thereafter he held for four years the position of chief clerk in the office of the auditor general of the state. He then became an inspector of the State Tax Commission, of which office he has since continued the incumbent. The family home was established at Morgantown, Monongalia County, in 1910. At Washington, District of Columbia, Julius Scherr, Sr., married Emelia Sievers, who was born in that city, a daughter of Henry and Barbara (Ossinger) Sievers, both natives of Germany, whence they came to America as young folk, their marriage having been solemnized at Balti- more, Maryland. Mr. Sievers was a cabinet maker, and after having been engaged in business in the City of Wash- ington for many years he came to Eglon, West Virginia, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. Of the children of Julius and Emelia Scherr the eldest was Julius, Jr., who is deceased; Dr. Arnold A. was graduated from the State Normal School at Preston, thereafter at- tended the University of West Virginia, and in 1903 was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the City of Baltimore, he being now engaged in the practice of his profession at Keyser, West Virginia; Gertrude is the wife of J. C. Renniger, a lawyer at Oakland, Maryland; Henry L. is one of the proprietors of the Scherr Book Store at Morgantown; Edwin G., a traveling salesman, resides in Washington, District of Columbia; Milton C. is identified with the Scherr Book Store at Morgantown; Miss Alma B. remains at the parental home; Ethel died in childhood; and Dr. William B., immediate subject of this sketch, is the youngest of the number.

Dr. William B. Seherr was born at Eglon, Preston County, this state, September 27, 1893, and his early education was gained in the public schools of that place and the cities of Charleston and Morgantown, in the latter of which he was graduated from the high school as a member of the class of 1914. Thereafter he took a two years' pre-medieal course in the University of West Virginia, and December 15, 1917, he entered the nation's service as hospital apprentice. He was assigned to duty on the transport "Susquehanna, " and October 26, 1918, he left shipboard and was assigned to duty as student instructor in charge of the medical division navy unit at Cincinnati, Ohio. On the 21st of the following December he was assigned to inactive duty as pharmacist's mate, and he now holds the rank of junior lieutenant in the United States Medical Reserve Corpa.

After receiving his honorable discharge Doctor Scherr entered the medical department of the University of Cin- cinnati, from which institution he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1920. Thereafter he served as resi- dent physician in the City Hospital at Akron, Ohio, where he gained valuable clinical experience, and on the 1st of

August, 1921, he established himself In private practice at Morgantown, where he is making a record of effective and successful service. The doctor is a member of the American Medical Association, the West Virginin State Medical So- ciety and the Monongalin County Melical Society. Hle 19 affiliated with the American Legion and with the Delta Sigma, the Kappa Alpha and the Alpha Kappa Kapja college fraternities.

Doetor Scherr married, December 14, 1921, Miss Beulah A. Davis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Earl C. Davis, of Marietta, Ohio, one of the pioneer families of the Ohio Valley. Mrs. Scherr is a graduate of the nursing and health department, Cincinnati University, she having graduated the same day as her husband.

ROY HUOH JARVIS. Morgantown, West Virginia, could scarcely help being a live, progressive city when its leading young business men are of the type of Roy Hugh Jarvis, abstractor and examiner of titles, who occupies the entire field in this profession here. He has completely identified himself with Morgantown interests since coming here, has met with a hearty welcome and has made a mnnly, winning personality felt in business, society, fraternal life and poli tics.

Roy Hugh Jarvis was born at Jarvisville, Harrison County, West Virginia, March 31, 1890, and is a son of William and Susan (Brown) Jarvis, old families of Harri- son County. This branch of the Jarvis family was estab lished in what is now West Virginia by Jesse Jarvis, who was born in Maryland, a descendant of William Jarvis, who came to America from England with Lord Baltimore's colony. Jesse Jarvis was nineteen years old when he settled at Clarksburg, and for a number of years served as clerk of the courts of Harrison County and then established him- self on a farm at what is now known as Jarvisville, West Virginia, named in his honor. His son. Waringer Jarvis. spent his entire life in Harrison County, and his old saw and flour mill still stands near Jarvisville, where he owned an excellent farm. He was a soldier in the war between the states. He married Elizabeth Rector, also of Harrison County, and five of their ten children are living.

William Jarvis, son of Waringer and father of Roy Hugh Jarvis, was born on the old Jarvis homestead in llarrison County March 15, 1864, and still resides there, engaged in farming and stock breeding. He married Susan Brown, who was born in Harrison County, November 6. 1866. a daughter of Waldo and Elizabeth (Morris) Brown, un old Virginia family. The father of Mrs. William Jarvis, Wablo Brown, still survives, having passed his ninetieth birthday.

The old Jarvis homestead was the birthplace of Roy Hugh Jarvis, and in that seetion his boyhood schooldays were passed, preparing him for college and in 1912 he was gradu ated from Salem College. During 1912 13 he was n student of law in Washington and lee University, Lexington. Vir ginia. He then embraced a business opportunity and entere l the title department of the Pittsburgh Engineering & Con struction Company and the Kentucky Pipe Line Company. subsidiaries of the Standard Oil Company, then operating in Kentucky. Later Mr. Jarvis was transferred to the Hope Natural Gas Company, also Standard Oil, at Clarksburg. and it was with that company that he came to Morgantown in 1916. In 1917 he embarked in the abstract and title business on his own account. He finds his time pretty well taken up, as he is the only one in the city devoting himself to this line of business, but he has not abandoned his de- termination to finish his law course and a course in history at the West Virginia University. He was one of the e tab- lishers of the Phi Kappa Chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity at the university.

On August 13, 1913, Mr. Jarvis married Miss Frances Saunders, of Hornell, Steuben County, New York, who is a daughter of E. B. and Euphemia ( Black) Saunders. Mrs Jarvis is a graduate of Alfred (New York) University, anl of Salem (West Virginia) College. Mr. anl Mra. Jarvi have four children: Jean Eleanor, born September 19. 1914; Rosemary, born June 20 1916: Roy High, Jr. born September 19, 1918; and Robert Nathan, born Vig ist __ 1921.

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Mr. Jarvis is a member of Salem Lodge No. 84, A. F. and A. M .; Adoniram Chapter, Royal Arch, Clarksburg; Morgantown Commandery No. 18, Knights Templar; Mor- gantown Lodge of Perfection No. 6, S. R .; West Virginia Consistory No. 1, thirty-second degree, and of Osiris Temple, Mystic Shrine, of Wheeling. He belongs also to Morgan- town Lodge No. 411, B. P. O. E., Chamber of Commerce, the Kiwanis Club and the Morgantown Country Club. In his political views a democrat, Mr. Jarvis is serving as secretary of the Monongalia County Democratic Committee, and is a member of the Morgantown Board of Equalization.

HENRY BEDINGER DAVENPORT. Now a resident of Charles- ton, Henry Bedinger Davenport has earned distinction in two professions, civil engineering and law, has been a suc- cessful business man as well, and his activities in the affairs of county and state make him one of the widely and favor- ably known West Virginians.

His family record contains a number of eminent names. His grandfather, Braxton Davenport, spent most of his life in Jefferson County, West Virginia, and for many years was colonel of militia in that county, also a member of the House of Delegates of old Virginia, and held numerous offices of trust and responsibility. One service gave him much historical prominence, that being as presiding magis- trate of the trial at which John Brown was convicted for the Harpers Ferry raid. Col. Braxton Davenport mar- ried Elizabeth Bedinger, a daughter of Maj. Henry Bedinger, of Revolutionary fame and for many years a prominent resident of Berkeley County, West Virginia. Henry B. Davenport, father of the Charleston business man, was born in Jefferson County, West Virginia, was educated in the University of Virginia, and served as a lieutenant in the Stonewall Brigade in the Confederate Army. He died in 1901 and is buried at Charles Town. His epitaph is both a biography and a eulogy, being sim- ply "Soldier of the Stonewall Brigade." He was born September 9, 1831. In 1860 he married Martha Clay, daughter of Brutus J. Clay, of Bourbon County, Kentucky. Brutus Clay was a brother of Gen. Cassius M. Clay, at one time envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Court of Russia. Brutus J. Clay represented the Lexington District of Kentucky in the House of Repre- sentatives at Washington during two terms, 1861 to 1865, though he had been an extensive slave holder.

Son of Henry B. and Martha (Clay) Davenport, Henry Bedinger Davenport was born at Auvergne, near Paris, Kentucky, February 11, 1865, but spent his early life in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. He was edu- cated in the Charles Town Academy, in St. John's College at Annapolis, Maryland, and graduated with the degree Civil Engineer from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, in 1886. He also took a special course in applied mathematics at the University of Virginia, and received his law degree from the University of West Vir- ginia in 1894.

From 1886 until 1893 Mr. Davenport practiced his pro- fession as a civil engineer. During this period he was in the service of the Norfolk & Western Railroad, Cleveland, Akron & Columbus Railroad and was engineer of construc- tion of levees on the Mississippi River in Bolivar County, Mississippi. For two years he held the chair of professor of civil engineering in the University of West Virginia. On graduating in law in 1894 he removed to Clay Court House, county seat of Clay County, West Virginia, where he was active in practice for twenty years. Almost from the first his practice took on a permanent and important char- acter and brought him before the Circuit Courts of the state, the Supreme Court of Appeals and the United States Circuit and District Courts of Charleston. As a lawyer he was employed on one side or another of nearly every im- portant case in the Circuit Court of Clay County during his twenty years' residence there. Through the industrious exercise of his natural and acquired talents in the profes- sions and in business Mr. Davenport accumulated a com- fortable fortune, and while he is retired from law practice he has employed his time for some years in the development

of the oil and gas resources of Clay County, and more re- cently his interests have extended to the Texas oil fields.

In 1904 he was democratic candidate for Congress from the Third Congressional District, his successful republican rival being Joseph H. Gaines. He served several times as mayor of Clay Court House. On January 1, 1916, Mr. Davenport retired from the practice of law to devote him- self to his private business affairs. During the war with Germany he was secretary of the Draft Board for Clay County, and for twenty-three months his time was wholly occupied in the duties of selecting, recruiting and prepar- ing the men from his section for army service. Mr. Daven- port is a Knight Templar, thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner.

He married Alma F. Stephenson, daughter of Thomas Benton Stephenson, on January 22, 1902. They have two sons, Benton Stephenson and Braxton.

GEORGE BOWERS VIEWEG, the efficient and popular assist- aut manager of the Morgantown plant of the Mississippi Glass Company, was born in the City of Wheeling, West Virginia, March 10, 1885. His paternal grandfather, Chris- tian Vieweg, was a native of Germany and was for many years engaged in mercantile business at Wheeling. The maternal grandfather, George Bowers, likewise was a native of Germany and became one of the early representatives of the meat-market business at Wheeling. Christian Vieweg, Jr., father of the subject of this sketch, was born and reared at Wheeling, where he was for many years engaged in the fire insurance business, of which he is now a prominent representative at Morgantown, where he established his resi- dence in 1919. His wife, whose maiden name was Emma Bowers, likewise was born and reared at Wheeling. Their sou George B., of this review, was graduated from the Wheeling High School as a member of the class of 1903, and thereafter held a position in the South Side Bank at Wheel- ing until 1907, when he entered the University of West Vir- ginia, at Morgantown, from which institution he was gradu- ated in 1912, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. After leaving the university he entered the employ of the Phillips Sheet & Tin Plate Com- pany at Weirton, this state, and later was connected with the engineering department of the Pittsburgh Crucible Steel Company at Midland, Pennsylvania. In 1914 he became en- gineer for the Pressed Prism Glass Company, later being made assistant manager of that company's plant at Mor- gantown, and since 1917 has held the executive office of assistant manager of the Morgantown plant of the Missis- sippi Glass Company. He is one of the progressive young business men of Morgantown, is a member of the West Virginia Alpha Chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, is an active member of the local Kiwanis Club, and is treasurer and a member of the board of trustees of the First Presby- terian Church.

November 7, 1914, recorded the marriage of Mr. Vieweg with Miss Alfreda Carney, daughter of Stephen A. and Sarah Ellen Carney, of Charleston, this state. Mrs. Vieweg was born at Littleton, West Virginia, was graduated from the West Virginia Wesleyan College and was a member of the junior class in the University of West Virginia at the time of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Vieweg have a fine little son, George Bowers, Jr., who was born October 15, 1915.

ARTHUR W. BOWLBY. Prominently identified with the business interests of Morgantown and known as a public- spirited citizen of enlightened views and constructive tend- encies is Arthur W. Bowlby, vice president and treasurer of the Central Automobile Corporation. Mr. Bowlby's career was started in the midst of agricultural surroundings, and for a number of years he centered his chief interests in the affairs of the farm. More recently, however, his name has been linked with successful business enterprises, to the pros- perity of which he has contributed abilities of a high order and well-tempered judgment and acumen.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 2, Part 55

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