History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 108

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > West Virginia > History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3 > Part 108

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).

Orion H. Gall was born near Arden in Philippi Distric August 1, 1893, but subsequently his parents moved from Laurel Creek to Bill's Creek in Barker District, wher he spent the greater part of his early life. He had th opportunities of the public schools, but his education an training have been primarily a matter of practical ex perience. At the age of eighteen he began teaching i the country, and was one of Barbour County's educator for four years. He left the schoolroom to go into th service of the First National Bank of Belington as bookkeeper, and kept up this work steadily until he le: after Christmas in 1917 to join the colors.

Mr. Gall enlisted at Pittsburgh, and from there W: sent to Camp Joseph E. Johnston near Jacksonville, Florid where he was first assigned to Receiving Company No. 3 then to Clerical Company No. 2, and in May, 1918, wa assigned to Supply Company No. 314. With this last name company he sailed from Newport News on the transpo Martha Washington, was landed at Brest June 19, 1918, ar during the remainder of the period of hostilities was : Gievres in the General Intermediate Supply Depot. T] company remained on duty there until June, 1919, whe Mr. Gall was transferred to the Quartermaster's Detac ment, which put the camp in condition to turn over to t. French Government. This transfer was completed Augu 21, and then he and his comrades left for Brest and sail on transport Aeolus, August 26, reaching Brooklyn on Se tember 5, was in Camp Merritt until September 11, al then moved to Camp Dix, where he received his honoral discharge September 13, 1919. On the 19th of the sar month he arrived home, after an absence of nearly two yea Mr. Gall was a private until June, 1919, when he was ma sergeant and was discharged with that rank.

For a time after returning home he was bookkeeper f the Kane & Keyser Hardware Company of Belington, b on April 1, 1920, took up his work as cashier of the Fi National Bank. He is also one of the bank's directo The First National Bank of Belington was chartered 1903, with a capital of $40,000.00. It has capital a surplus of $50,000.00, deposits of upwards of $300,000. and total resources of over $400,000.00. The preside is B. B. Rohrbough, J. E. Keyser is vice president, and t assistant cashier is W. W. Thomas.

Mr. Gall, is a democrat, casting his first president ballot for Woodrow Wilson. He is secretary of the Bu ness Men's Club of Belington, and is affiliated with 1 Masonic Order. He is unmarried.

Grange Barkey

325

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

FLOYD TETER, banker and business man of Belington, is a native of Barbour County, and some important history pertinent to this section of the state as well as to the family is involved in an account of his forefathers.

The name Teter is a corruption of "Dietrich," the pure German spelling of the name. The Dietrichs were in the Valley of Virginia at the close of the American Revolution and are said to have settled from Pennsylvania. From the Valley of Virginia, branches of the family moved westward, one going into Pendleton County in what is now West Vir- ginia. In Barbour County the family were pioneers. Teter's Creek was named as early as 1783, and four years later George Teter acquired title to land here, evidence of which is found in the Virginia land books.

However, the first permanent settler of old Randolph County on the west bank of Tygart Valley River and in what is now the County of Barbour, was Jacob Teter, great-grandfather of Floyd Teter. It was about 1800 that he came to Barbour County from Pendleton County. He was a son of Philip Teter, whose other children were Joseph, Isaac, James, Nancy and, perhaps, Mary. There is record of a Mary "Tidricks" who was married in Randolph County to Enoch Osborn in 1803, and in 1811 Solomon Yeager mar- ried Mary, a daughter of Jacob Teter.

The great-grandfather Jacob Teter settled on the west side of the Tygart Valley River at what is now the town- site of Belington. When he came here from Pendleton County he was accompanied by a boy, and also carried a gun, and they were followed by his dog. He and the boy built a little cabin not far from the river bank. This historic log building was still standing in 1890. The well

at the site is still marked by a depression near the Beling- ton West Side school building. Mr. Teter acquired a large tract of land, including all the present West Side of Beling- ton. After his home was built he was joined by his family. When he started back to Pendleton County to bring on his family the Tygart Valley River was high and he built a raft to cross it. On the raft he put the boy, together with his dog and gun and a seant supply of food, and, tying one end of a withe to the craft, he put the other end between his teeth and, swimming across, pulled the raft and landed the cargo safely on the opposite shore. Jacob Teter was a sturdy frontiersman who cleared much of his land from the virgin forest. Abundant prosperity attended his labors. He erected a comfortable house on his farm, planted an orchard, and from some apple and cherry trees of this orchard his great-grandson has eaten fruit, though all of the trees have now disappeared. As one of the first settlers he built and operated the first grist mill, and at that mill continued to serve the second and third generations. He was also active in founding the first Methodist Church. Evidence of his deep piety is found in the story that the only method by which some boys were able to capture a prized melon in his fine melon patch was to wait until he was engaged in prayer. He has told the boys that if they could steal that special melon without his detecting them they were welcome to it. He founded a strong race of people, having been twice married. Among his sons were Jacob, Joseph and Isaac, and among his daughters were Mrs. Mary Yeager, Mrs. Stonestreet and Mrs. Patrick McCann.

His son Jacob, grandfather of Floyd Teter, was born in the pioneer log cabin mentioned above. His older brother, Joseph, was born in Pendleton County May 8, 1796. Jacob Teter became one of the substantial farmers of Barbour County, his farm being half a mile further up the Tygart Valley than the old home. In his generation he was as vigorous and efficient as his father, and his life was ordered on a high plane of integrity and honor. He died at the age of seventy-six. His wife was Mary Coberly. The oldest of their children was Jesse Teter. Oliver was a Union soldier, a pioneer in road improvement in Barbour County, and died in that county. James was a Union soldier, a successful farmer and at the time of his death lived in Oklahoma. Abel was also in the ranks of Union soldiers, and died on his farm in his native county. Peyton was killed by a falling tree when a young man. Margaret became the wife of Charles Groves. Eliza was the wife of

Major Felonhouse; Elizabeth married Josiah Wilson, Del- phia died in young womanhood. All the son-in-laws were Union soldiers, so that the patriotic and military record of the family is exceptional.

Jesse Teter, father of Floyd, was born May 14, 1823, and his entire life was passed in the vicinity of his birthplace. He attended the subscription schools and was a successful teacher for a time. His chief business was farming and cattle raising, but he also performed a constructive service in the clearing of land and making his section of the county more available for general improvement. He served thirty-seven consecutive years as justice of the peace, and in the Civil war period was active and influential in the recruit- ing of troops for the Union. He was a leader in public and political affairs, and he and his wife were devoted members of the Concord Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a lib- eral contributor in the erection of the church building, and served as class leader and teacher in the Sunday School. His death occurred September 14, 1901, and that of his widow on the 12th of March, 1912. In 1849 he married Miss Elizabeth Phillips, whose father, Thomas Phillips, a cabinet maker by trade, was a pioneer settler in Randolph County and later in Barbour County. Of the children of Jesse and Elizabeth Teter the first horn was William Worth, who was a farmer merchant and civil engineer in Barbour County at the time of his death; Thomas B. was a farmer and live-stock dealer in this county at the time of his death, February 12, 1917, and under the administration of Presi- dent Cleveland he served as Government Indian agent at Pocatello, Idaho; Ida who is dead was the wife of Dr. M. M. Hoff, a leading physician at Philippi, Barbour County; Floyd is the youngest son; and Miss Mertie E. remains on the old home farm, just southwest of Belington.

Floyd Teter was born October 7, 1857, and is indebted to the public schools of his native county for his early education. He continued to assist in the work and manage- ment of the old home farm until his marriage. For some twenty years thereafter he was associated with the lumber- ing operations conducted by Charles G. Blachley, for whom he purchased timber on an extensive scale, besides conduct- ing an independent business enterprise. Afterward for several years he actively engaged in the buying and selling of West Virginia coal lands. He erected one of the first brick buildings at Belington, where he also built and sold other buildings, and thus contributed much to the material advancement of the little city. He was one of the organizers of the Citizens Bank, the first established in Belington, and became a director of the institution. Since its conversion into the Citizens National Bank he has continued a director of the latter, and is now vice president. His civic loyalty was distinctly shown in his two terms of service as a mem- ber of the City Council, but he has no liking for public office or political activity. He is a staunch supporter of the cause of the republican party, is affiliated with the Loyal Order of Moose, and he and his wife are active mem- hers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. On December 18, 1884, Mr. Teter married Miss Dollie Hinkle, who was born in Randolph County, this state, January, 17, 1867, a daughter of Bernard L. and Albina (Mouse) Hinkle. The town of Elkins is situated on the old farm of Mr. Hinkle, who died there. His widow is now a resident of Belington. Mrs. Teter was their only child. Charles Edward, eldest of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Teter, resides at Beling- ton, where he is an automobile machinist. He married Delia Curry, who died, survived by one child, Delia Ruth. Jessie, who graduated from the Belington High School, is a talented pianist, is a popular factor in the social life of the community and remains at the parental home. Bernard L., a graduate of the local high school, is assistant cashier of the Citizens National Bank of Belington.

ERNEST A. BARTE was born and reared in Barbour County, and has here proved a versatile and constructive force in the furtherance of industrial and business enterprises of important order, his status being that of one of the progressive and representative citizens of his native county.

Mr. Barte was born on his father's farm in Barker District, this county, July 12, 1873, and is a son of Henry

326

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

and Mary (Vierheller) Barte, the former of whom was born in Hanover, Germany, of French Huguenot ancestry, and the latter of whom was born in Monroe County, Ohio, she having been the posthumous daughter of Philip Vierheller, who came to the United States from Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and whose death occurred within a short time after he had estabalished his home in Monroe County, Ohio. The widow of Mr. Vierheller subsequently became the wife of Christian Eberhart, and she passed the closing period of her life at Belington, West Virginia, where she died at the age of ninety-three years, six months and sixteen days -in May, 1899, her son-in-law, Henry Barte, having died in the preceding month. Mrs. Barte survived her husband by more than twenty years and passed to the life eternal in October, 1921, at the age of seventy-four years. Eliz- abeth, eldest of the children, became the wife of William T. Right and was a resident of Belington at the time of her death; Caroline, the wife of Edward Smith, died in Randolph County, this state, Emma is the wife of Tazewell Digman, a farmer near Belington; Ernest August is the immediate subject of this sketch; Lenora is the wife of Edward Whitescarver, who is identified with the West Vir- ginia Industrial School for Boys; Clara, who is Mrs. Robert Mccutcheon, resides at the old home of her mother in Belington; William Henry is with the Kane & Keyser Hardware Company of this place; and Savanna is the wife of Clyde Nestor, a dairyman at Elkins, Randolph County.

Henry Barte, whose father was a farmer and weaver in Germany, was a young man when he left his native land and came to the United States, and he was a cooper in the City of Baltimore, Maryland, at the outbreak of the Civil war. Thence he made his way to Wheeling, West Virginia, in search of work at his trade, and here he entered the Union service by enlisting in Company A, First West Virginia Light Artillery, he having been made a corporal and his service having continued three years and six months. Ex- posure and other hardships he endured while in the army left their effect upon him for the remainder of his life. He was mustered out at Wheeling at the close of the war, and in after years he was actively affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic until the time of his death. His political allegiance was given to the republican party, and he served many years as a member of the School Board of his district. After the war he became one of the suc- cessful exponents of farm enterprise in Barker District, Barbour County, and here he and his wife passed the re- mainder of their lives, secure in the high regard of all who knew them. Their marriage was solemnized at Wheel- ing shortly after the close of the war.

Ernest A. Barte was reared on the home farm and at- teuded the rural school of the neighborhood. At the age of nineteen years he found employment at a planing mill and sawmill plant at Belington, and later he learned the blacksmith trade, and here conducted a shop for some time. Thereafter he was employed in the lumber woods and in connection with the operation of sawmills in both West Virginia and Maryland, besides which he gained experience as a railroad section-hand. After his marriage he engaged actively in farm enterprise near Belington, and here he has since continued his successful association with agri- cultural and live-stock industry, he being the owner of the fine old homestead farm formerly owned by his father-in- law. He has supplied beef to the local markets and has shipped at times to the Baltimore market, besides having purchased cattle in the Cincinnati market. In addition to his progressive farm activities Mr. Barte was associated with L. L. Bennett in establishing at Belington the handle factory which now represents one of the substantial in- dustries of this little city. He was secretary and treas- urer of the company operating this factory until he sold his interest in the business. He is a director of the Citizens National Bank and a stockholder of the First National Bank of Belington. He is treasurer of the Dayton Construction Company, which is doing effective service in the construction of improved roads of the best modern type and which has a number of important contracts for the year 1922, including those for the construction of eight miles of road in Barbour and Randolph counties.

Mr. Barte gives his allegiance to the republican party, and he has given effective service as a member of the City Council of Belington, besides having been mayor one term and having given a most vigorous administration. He was reared in the faith of the Lutheran Church, but he and his wife are now active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Belington, of which he is a trustee. Mr. Barte has at all times shown a lively interest in all things touching the welfare of his home city and native county, and he served from 1917 to 1921 as deputy sheriff of the county.

May 6, 1899, recorded the marriage of Mr. Barte and Miss Monta Phares, who was born and reared in Barbour County, her father, the late W. S. Phares, having come to this county from Randolph County and having developed a fine farm adjacent to Belington. Mr. Phares was born in Randolph County, was a scout and guide in the Union service in the Civil war, was captured by the enemy and was for a time held at the infamous old Andersonville Prison. He was a successful farmer and was one of the substantial citizens of Barbour County at the time of his death, when sixty-seven years of age, his wife, whose maiden name was Virginia Pritt, having survived him by several years. On their five children only two attained to maturity : Mrs. Kate Ward, who resides at Belington, and Mrs. Barte. Thelma, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Barte, was horn April 4, 1900, and died October 30, 1918, after a lingering illness.

GEORGE E. CAIN owns and conducts the Belington Garage, a modern and well ordered establishment in the fine little City of Belington, Barbour County, where he is known and valued as a progressive business man and liberal and loyal citizen. He was born in Tyler County, this state, August 28, 1876, and there continued his association with farm industry until he was twenty-three years of age, his educa- tional advantages in the meanwhile having been those of the rural schools and the summer normal schools. He made a record of three years of effective service as a teacher in the rural schools, and at the age of twenty-three years he took the position of bookkeeper for the Kane & Keyser Hardware Company at West Union. As secretary of this company he assisted in the opening of the branch store at Belington in 1901, and here he continued his connection with the company until 1903, when he here engaged in the ice and bottling business, in which he continued until his business plant was destroyed by fire in 1910. In the spring of 1911 he established on the site of his present garage an enterprise in the handling of farm implements and machinery, feed, etc., and this he continued until 1914, since which time he has been one of the leading representatives of the automobile business in this locality. He was local agent for the Ford and Overland automobiles for six years, and still continues representative of the latter and also of the Buick cars, he having dropped the Ford agency in 1919. In the past six years he has sold in Barbour County a greater number of Overland cars than the combined sale of all other make of cars. In 1918 Mr. Cain erected the main building of his present large and modern garage plant, a concrete structure 100 by 120 feet in dimensions, a part of the building being two stories in height and the upper floor being now fitted out as one of the most attractive club rooms in the state. The equipment of the sales rooms and repair shops is of the hest modern type, and the busi- ness constitutes an important feature in the vital activities of Belington.

The political allegiance of Mr. Cain is given to the democratic party, but he has had no desire to enter the arena of so called practical politics. He served two years as city recorder of Belington and is now secretary of the local Chamber of Commerce. He is affiliated with the Masonic Blue Lodge at Belington and the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons at Philippi, the county seat. He and his wife are members of the Christian and Methodist Episcopal Church respectively.

In April, 1904, Mr. Cain wedded Miss Olive Wilson, who was born and reared in Marion County and who is the elder of the two surviving children of W. D. Wilson, her

ЧИСлений

327

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

ster Flossie, being the wife of L. V. Atha, a passenger ain conductor on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, with sidence at Grafton, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Cain have ur children: Wilson and Kathryn are, in 1922, students the Belington High School, Lucile is attending the Junior igh School, and Richard Lee is an infant.

Mr. Cain is a son of Nathan and Elizabeth (Freeman) in, both representatives of old and honored families of est Virginia and both residing on the fine old homestead rm in Tyler County, where they established themselves on after their marriage. Nathan Cain was born in Tyler unty, in 1845, and in what is now West Virginia was so born his father, Lorenzo D. Cain, who was a farmer vocation. The family name of his wife was Hanes, and ey became the parents of eight sons and four daughters. rs. Nathan Cain was born in Doddridge County, a daugh- r of Smith Freeman. George E. Cain, of this review, is e eldest of the family of four children: Emma is the fe of L. B. Strickling, of Wellsburg, Brooke County ; aude is the wife of J. L. Walton, of Clarksburg, this ate; and Orpha is the wife of Ranza Pitts, an oil well iller in Tyler County.

I. WAYMON CALDWELL is general manager of the Yellow ne Lumber Company of Charleston, one of the largest tail organizations in the lumber trade of the state.

The present business originated in the enterprise of Mr. H. O'Neill, who some twenty-five years ago established e Georgia Lumber Company at Bluefield, West Virginia. 3 was a sash and door manufacturer of Rome, Georgia. on afterward the management of the business at Blue- Id was turned over to Walter Perkins, thus enabling Mr. Neill to concentrate his attention more fully upon his unufacturing business, in which he succeeded his father. ien, in 1903, in association with Mr. Perkins, he incor- rated the Yellow Pine Lumber Company. Mr. O'Neill s also responsible for the establishment of the Southern de Lumber Company at Clarksburg, and he was financially erested in the Carolina Pine Lumber Company at Hunt- ton. Each of these enterprises attained an enviable cess. Mr. O'Neill finally withdrew altogether from the siness at Clarksburg, but continues as president of the llow Pine Company. This company has prospered in portion with the growth of the Kanawha Valley in alth, population and industry, and operates a retail yard t can meet practically every demand for standard lum-

For the past three years the business at Charleston has en under the personal supervision of Mr. I. W. Caldwell, o is a veteran employe of the company, and it was his ulty for getting things done and his broad knowledge of lumber business in general that won the recognition re- ting in his appointment as general manager. In this it he has proved his ability to broaden the business and vice of the company.

Mr. Caldwell is a very active and public spirited mem- of the community, is affiliated with the Chamber of mmerce and the Kiwanis Club, and recently was the prime ver in co-operating with other local business men and cit- ns in securing the grounds and financing the organiza- n of the Kanawha Country Club. He is a Mason, an and a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Cald- ] married Clara J. Copham, of Wheeling.

JACOB MCLEAN, a venerable and honored retired farmer iding at Belington, has been a resident of Barbour County ly seventy-five years-since the time of his boyhood. was born in Randolph County, Virginia (now West Vir- ia), June 12, 1838. He is a son of William and Han- . (Weese) McLean, his father having been born and red in the timbered section of the Tygart River Valley Randolph County, and his entire life having been marked close association with farm industry, though in earlier rs he worked more or less at the carpenter's trade. He born about the year 1800, and he was fifty-nine years age at the time of his death, his remains resting in old-time cemetery at Chenoweth, Barbour County, as do › those of his wife, who survived him by about twenty

years and who was a daughter of Jacob Weese. William McLean was a son of Daniel McLean, who was born in the vicinity of Petersburg, Virginia and whose father, a Scots- man, there settled in the early pioneer days. Daniel Mc- Lean died in the early '40s, in the present Randolph County, West Virginia, and his remains rest in the little cemetery about two miles north of Beverly, that county. Of the chil- dren of William McLean the eldest was Aretus, who was one of the substantial farmers of Barbour County at the time of his death; Sarah Ann is the widow of Newton Chenoweth, and, in 1922, still resides on her old home farm near Beling- ton, at the age of ninety-two years; Martha became the wife of Joseph Rohrbough, and they became pioneers in the State of Oregon; Daniel was a resident of Scotland County, Missouri, at the time of his death; Jacob, of this review, was the next in order of birth; Mary and her husband, George Ice, went to Kansas after the Civil war, and her death occurred at Lawrence, that state; Elizabeth, the wife of Zebulon Holland, resides in Upshur County, West Virginia; Susan became the wife of Perry Mason, and they established their home in Scotland County, Missouri; and Minerva, the wife of Francis Finley, still resides in Bar- bour County.

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 3, Part 108

Author: Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: