History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 124

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Mr. Walker was the war time mayor of Charleston, serv- ug for about eight months. He was chosen by the council :o fill the unexpired term of Dr. George MaeQueen, who entered the army. Mr. Walker has served as delegate to several democratie conventions, is a member of the Elks Lodge, is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, a Rotarian, a member of the Edgewood Country Club, and helongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, Southi-

In Fayette County he married Miss Stella M. Norris, who lied in the fall of 1917, leaving two daughters: Helen, Mrs. Dick Sterling, of Charleston; and Lucille, Mrs. Phillip Stewart. In 1919, at Charleston, Mr. Walker married Miss Elizabeth Burns.

ANDREW M. DOUGLASS, surveyor, engineer and farmer iving near Cairo, has for a number of years been a man of affairs in Ritchie County, has served both officially and n his private capacity and in every way possible has advanced the best interests and progressive improvement of his section.

Mr. Douglass was born November 17, 1855, son of John ind Elizabeth (Marsh) Douglass. His father, a native of 3cotland, came to the United States at the age of seven

years, and after his marriage settled near the present site of Cairo. He was well educated, gradnated in engineering at Athens, Ohio, and for many years was engaged in pro- fessional work in his home county, serving as county sur- veyor and justice of the peace. He died at the age of seventy-four. He was a member and elder of the United Presbyterian Church, was a republican, and during the Civil war served with the Home Guards. His three chil- dren were: Andrew M .; Lanra, wife of Rev. S. P. Crum- mett, of the Methodist Church; and Emma, wife of D. G. McGregor, of Cairo.

Andrew M. Donglass spent his early life on the farm, attended the common schools, and after graduating in engineering worked with his father, remaining at home until he was twenty-one. During his active career Mr. Douglass served as county engineer four years, was then elected and served eight years as eonnty surveyor, and since 1903 has used his professional skill and also his business ability in the oil and gas industry. He was later appointed and served two years as county engineer, resigning that post, and now divides his time between his professional engage- ments and his farm. For two years Mr. Donglass was a member of the County Court, then resigning. He is viee president and a director of the Bank of Cairo, and sinee abont 1903 has been interested in merchandising at that point. His land ownership comprises about 350 acres. He is a republican in polities.

On July 3, 1879, Mr. Donglass married Jennie Marshall, a native of Ritchie County. They have four children: Ethel, a graduate of high school, wife of Roy Adams; Edwin P., a high school graduate and a graduate of the Ohio Northern University, now in the insurance business at Parkersburg; Ernest C., who after graduating from high school spent one term in the State University in the civil and mechanical engineering department, and is now located at Charleston; and Andrew, in high school at Cairo. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church.

BERT T. GIBSON, of Masontown, is the type of a busy and successful citizen, one working hard in his own affairs, equally interested in the welfare of his community and its institutions, and it would be difficult to find a man more popular throughont Preston County.

This section of Virginia was a new and nutried wilder- ness when Thomas Gibson located north of Pisgah in Preston Connty, where he acquired a large body of land and opened up a farm. His example encouraged many others to settle in that locality, and he lived there to realize some of the fruits of prosperity which his efforts initiated. ITis son, James Gibson, was equally enterpris- ing in developing the rural community where he lived. He married Rebecca Cramer, whose father, Peter Cramer, brought Rebecca and other members of the family from Frederick, Maryland. After his marriage James Gibson settled at Tunnelton, abont 1840, and he and his wife lived there to a good old age. Fourth among their eight chil- dren was the late Milford C. Gibson, who became widely known as a financier and man of affairs. He was reared in the country, and come to manhood with a full knowi- edge of the work required of an ambitious farmer. Before getting settled in any regular occupation he enlisted as a soldier, in July, 1863, in Company B of the Fourth West Virginia Cavalry, and was in the fighting for the Union with his command until honorably discharged in March, 1864. After the war he determined to get a better educa- tion than had been possible in the schools which he at- tended as a boy. He enrolled as a student in the Millsbury Normal School, and after leaving that taught for a year. Then the call of the great West seized him, and in 1867 he followed the tide of migration as far as Henry County, Iowa. Something about the new country did not appeal to him favorably, and in 1868 he returned and resumed his citizenship at Tunnelton, where he entered the lumber busi- ness. In subsequent years he became one of the prominent lumber manufacturers of the state. For a long time he was associated with Charles A. Craig in this business. In

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1875 he also established a store at Tunnelton, and con- tinued as a merchant there until his death on November 22, 1912.

In 1869 Milford C. Gibson married Mary Anna Jackson, who was born in Ohio, and was reared and educated in Indiana. Her father, Alexander Jackson, went to Iowa during the Civil war and settled in Henry County. His former home was West Virginia. Mrs. Milford Gibson is still living in Preston County. She was the mother of four children: Bert Thomas, James C., Bessie, wife of Robert R. Hardesty, of Kingwood; and Joseph V., a King- wood lawyer and business man.

Bert T. Gibson was born at Tunnelton February 5, 1871, and growing up as he did in the home of a successful business man he acquired much knowledge incident to his environment. He acquired his early education in the public schools, and subsequently entered the State University of Morgantown. Of his university career he recalls with especial gratitude the association he was privileged to have with Professor Jack Hare, whose life has influenced a good many hundred young men of the state. Before going to the university Mr. Gibson taught school, continued in educational work afterward, and his deep interest in schools has caused him to accept and occupy a place on the Board of Education of Masontown. For several years he was head of the board.

In practical business lines Mr. Gibson took up the lum- ber industry, being in partnership with John Garner at Trona until their plant was destroyed hy fire two years later. He then joined his father at Tunnelton, where he remained five years, and from there removed to Reedsville and with his brother, James C., engaged in the lumber business at Kanes Creek. The Gibson hrothers became ex- tensive manufacturers of lumber, and converted large areas of timber land in Preston County to milled products. They shipped much of their output to other states. While in the business they furnished the M. & K. Railroad Com- pany with a large amount of their construction material. Mr. Bert Gibson disposed of his interests to H. T. Lin- coln in 1912, and since then his chief interest has been the farm, the old Snider place, which he bought in 1912. The farm, situated just beyond the limits of Masontown, is generally admitted to he the best farm property in Preston County. It has become so largely under the own- ership and administration of Mr. Gibson, who has improved it with one of the generous and attractive country homes of the county, has restored the soil to better than its virgin fertility, and has made it a center for the production of high grade and registered cattle, hogs and poultry. His cattle are the registered Shorthorns, his hogs, the Berk- shires, and his poultry the White Plymouth Rocks. The farm methods on the Gibson farm are those approved and authorized by the Agricultural Department of the state, and the state authorities frequently point it out as an object lesson in successful agriculture.

While this farm provides important work for every day Mr. Gibson has other business connections. He is a mem- her of the firm Gibson Brothers, coal operators in King- wood and vicinity, is a director of the Bank of Mason- town and the Tunnelton Bank. His father was president of the Tunnelton Bank when he died. Mr. Gibson was a leader in the movement for the Valley District High School. He took a great deal of pride in this splendid institution, and when fire destroyed the building he caught the spirit for its restoration and was one of the leaders engaged in securing pledges by public subscription for the building which now graces the hillside in Masontown. This high school was erected not only with the proceeds of the in- surance from the first building but also with $23,000 of individual subscriptions.

Mr. Gibson was reared in the Methodist Church, is one of the trustees of the Church of Masontown and was on the Building Committee when the new church and parson- age were erected, the Gibson Brothers furnishing the lum- ber for the church building.

Mr. Gibson was reared in a democratic home, both his father and grandfather having been of that political faith.

He cast his first vote for Grover Cleveland and for Wi liam L. Wilson for congressman of the Second Distric Mr. Gibson's high standing in the confidence of his cor munity and his personal popularity were perhaps be demonstrated in 1910, when he was elected a member { the Preston County Court, defeating a republican in strong republican district. He was made chairman of tl board, and is the only democrat who ever served as chai man. He continued in office two terms, and then retire voluntarily. Outside of routine work the principal bus ness of the court was the improving of roads and the brid ing of the Cheat River at the mouth of Big Sandy.

On September 6, 1893, in Preston County, Mr. Gibst married Miss Mabel Hartman, sister of H. Foster Har man and L. Bert Hartman, business men of the count and mentioned elsewhere in this publication. Mr. and MI Gibson have the following children: Mabel, wife of Haro Painter, of Kingwood; Ruth L., an employe in the intern revenue service in Washington, District of Columbia Ernest B. and Howard, students in the University of We Virginia; and Susan, attending the Masontown grad school.

CHARLES HENRY THOMAS. Preston County cherishes tl memory of the late Charles Henry Thomas for the wo. and influence he exercised during the vigor of his year and the qualities that distinguished him are continued ai exemplified in his son, Vestus Thomas, a prominent citize of Bruceton Mills.

Charles Henry Thomas was born in Garrett Count Maryland, March 6, 1850. His father, Henry Thomas, f many years lived in Monongalia County, West Virgini and died on his farm east of Morgantown about 1911. E was a first cousin of Andrew Thomas, father of Rev. Jer miah Thomas of Bruceton. Henry Thomas by his ma riage to Eliza Kelly had three sons, Alexander, Frank ar Charles Henry. Charles Henry Thomas was reared in t) vicinity of Friendsville, Maryland, acquired a limited ed cation there and did farm work until he reached h majority.

After his marriage he established his home in Wes moreland County, Pennsylvania, where for several yea he was a coke drawer from the ovens of Westmorelal and Fayette counties. In 1876 he moved to Monongal County, West Virginia, and for four years farmed ju east of Morgantown. He then moved over into Prest County, and lived on a farm in Grant District until t) fall of 1915, when he moved into Bruceton Mills, whe his death occurred April 8, 1916. Charles Henry Thom was a man of great vigor of body, capable of endurir the hardships of manual labor and had the industry ar untiring energy that enabled him to make the best pc sible use of his physical powers. He was also publ spirited, and while he possessed only a limited educatio he read widely and kept himself informed on all practic questions. He was a sincere member and deacon in t' Church of the Brethren, and had an active part in t. erection of the Mountain Grove Church in his rural col munity. He was a republican, and always voted th ticket.

In Westmoreland County in July, 1874, Charles Hen Thomas married Sallie Glover, who is still living at Bruc ton Mills. Her parents were Andrew J. and Jane (Kelle: Glover. Her father was a Union soldier with a West Vi ginia regiment and saw some of the hard fighting of t war, though he was never wounded or captured. Aft the war he established his home near Hazelton in Prest County, lived on a farm there and later moved to Mono galia County, where his wife died and is buried in Zi Cemetery. His daughter Sallie maintained his home un her marriage, and thereafter he lived in different plac until his death in 1909, at the age of seventy-nine. Andre J. Glover had the following children: Mrs. Mary Roc well, of Friendsville, Maryland; Mrs. Sallie Thomas; W liam, of Fayette County, Pennsylvania; Elsworth, of Cha leroi, Pennsylvania; Harriet, wife of Lowrey Warman, Grant District; and Charles, who died, leaving a family.

a. n. Dyou

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Testus Thomas, only son of the late Charles Henry mas, is proprietor of the Home Hotel at Bruceton Is, and for a number of years has been a leader in business, educational and other affairs of that com nity. He was horn in Westmoreland County, Pennsyl- ia, October II, 1875, and most of his early years were nt on a farm. He had some experience in the hard or of the coke fields with his father. The public schools cated him. He started life as a farmer, was married ore he was nineteen, and established his first home in ent District, on a farm adjoining that of his father. possessed tools and stock, and hard work proved the ' that opened the door to a reasonable degree of pros- ity. On leaving the farm Mr. Thomas moved to Bruce- Mills and bought the Home Hotel as the successor of in J. Spiker. HIe and Mrs. Thomas have popularized 3 house for its splendid service to the traveling public. . Thomas is also in business, handling harness, buggies 1 farm machinery, and he had a part in the organiza- n of the Bruceton Bank as a stockholder and contin- isly as a member of the Board of Directors, and for a en years has been one of the discount committee of bank. Mr. Thomas, with several other associates, anized the Bruceton Electric Light Company, of which is president. The plant was installed January 1, 1921, I is now furnishing the modern lighting facilities for town.

Among causes of a public nature probably none enlisted re heartily the enthusiasm and effort of Mr. Thomas n the campaign to establish a district high school. He I the satisfaction to see the movement win by a more n 2 to 1 vote. He is a republican, cast his first presi- itial ballot for William Mckinley in 1896, and was a egate from the county to the Wheeling Republican State nvention. Like his father, he is a member of the urch of the Brethren. While living on the farm he isted in the erection of the Mountain Grove Church, s the principal man on the building committee, and for umber of years was a leader in the work of the Sabbath 1001.

Vestus Thomas and Miss Martha Murray were married bruary 23, 1893, being the first couple married in the v Uniontown Court House in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Thomas 3 born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, September II, '0, daughter of George W. and Martha A. (Dillow) Mur- . Her father was a native of Fayette County and died ir Haydentown in 1904, at the age of fifty-eight. His low is still living among her children, who are: Mrs. ry Smith, of Smithfield, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Thomas; tsy, who was Mrs. Murray, now the wife of William lley, of Grant District, Preston County; Robert, of yette County; Sallie, wife of J. C. Everly, of Grant strict; and George W., of Grant District.

Mrs. Thomas was educated in the schools of Fayette inty. She and Mr. Thomas have lived together for rly thirty years, and they have shared in the work and ies that have been their lot and have been the source their prosperity. They have five surviving children and › three grandchildren. Their children are May, Blanche, irles Arthur, Howard Edward and Nellie Mand. May the wife of Leroy Darby, of Bruceton Mills, and the ther of Eleanor Louise. Blanche is Mrs. Charles Bright, Bruceton Mills, and her children are Kathleen Eleanor ! Dale McClure.

OHN L. COLEBANK. One of the most useful citizens of nongalia County is John L. Colebank, whose home is a h class farm in Union District, seven miles north of rgantown. Mr. Colebank is a teacher as well as a mer, is still active in the pedagogical role, and in teach- , farming and the duties of citizenship he is known thoroughly constructive in his thinking as well as in acts. He appreciates among other things the value of gd roads, has given his influence to secure such improve- mit, and he has taken a part in all the organized agri- einral movements and has tried on his own farm to set rood example of progressive agriculture.

Mr. Colebank was born in Union District of Monon- galia County October 19, 1871. His parents were Thomas J. and Margaret (Stewart) Colebank. His father, who was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in April, 1844, was brought when a boy to West Virginia. Thomas J. Colebank has been a farmer, timber dealer, and in the early days rafted great quantities of logs down the river to Pittsburgh. He grew and fed cattle and sheep on a large scale. It is said that he has served on the Grand Jury more frequently than any other man in the county, and he has always been activo in the republican party and has been a constant attendant and official member of the Eden Methodist Protestant Church.

John L. Colebank attended the common schools, spent three terms in the State University at Morgantown, and has taken correspondence work and attended a number of Teachers Institutes and kept in touch with educational ideas by mingling with his fellow workers and through books and magazines. He began to teach at the age of twenty, and altogether has taught twenty-five terms, giv- ing a part of practically every year to work in the rural schools in his home vicinity. Most of his teaching has been done in the home school district. There are many now in the professions and in business who credit him with some of the inspiration and influence that molded their early lives.

As a farmer Mr. Colebank is a breeder of Shropshire sheep, Berkshire hogs, and always has a large herd of cattle grazing over his 230 acre farm. He acted as census enumerator in 1900, has been deputy assessor, and for six years was on the County Board of Equalization. He has attended as a delegate a number of local republican conventions. Mr. Colebank and family are members of the Eden Methodist Protestant Church. He has been super- intendent of the Sunday School for many years, trustee of the board for years, and teacher in the Sunday School for many years, having attended for years withont missing a Sunday.

At the age of twenty-four Mr. Colebank married Miss Lizzie Shanks, of Clay District, Monongalia County. Their rour children are Elmer Gay, Clande, Ocie and Thomas L.

ALBERT N. LYON, superintendent of the Kanawha & Mich- igan Railroad, with headquarters at Charleston, is a rail- roader with forty years of service to his credit. His early work in the ranks was done chiefly as a telegraph operator. He has been an operating executive with the Kanawha & Michigan for sixteen years.

He began railroading on April 1, 1883, as a messenger boy in the office of the Toledo & Ohio Central at Granville, Ohio. He learned telegraphy, was an operator and railroad agent on that road for several years, and subsequently be- came train dispatcher and chief dispatcher at Bucyrus, Ohio. From these duties he was called to the service of the Kanawha & Michigan Railroad on September I, 1906, as trainmaster at Middleport, Ohio, for the entire road. A few years later he was advanced to superintendent, with office at Charleston, and in 1911 was made general superintendent. During the period of Government control, from July 1, 1917, to March, 1919, he was superintendent, and with the restora- tion of private control the office of general superintendent was abolished and he continues as superintendent. The Kanawha & Michigan is now operated in conjunction with the Toledo & Ohio Central as the controlling management. Since 1916 the Kanawha & West Virginia Railroad has been a part of the Kanawha & Michigan. A considerable exten- sion of mileage has been made since Mr. Lyon became superintendent. The present Kanawha & Michigan em- braces a mileage of 220 miles, 176 being strictly the Kanawha & Michigan. There is an operating force of about 1,200 men and with seventy engines. The general shops are at Hobson, Ohio. This road is one of the great feeders of coal to the main trunk lines of the country. Through its lines it affords outlet for 126 coal mines in the Kanawha coal field. The daily business in normal seasons is about 400 cars of coal.

Mr. Lyon is a member of the Railroad Superintendents'

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Association of America. He was born at Granville, Ohio, and his father was a railroad man, identified with railroad constructions, particularly in the building of the Toledo & Ohio Central. Mr. Lyon is a well known and popular busi- ness man and citizen of Charleston, is a director of the Security Bank of that city and the Empire Savings and Loan Company, and is president of the Victory Cone Com- pany, a concern for the manufacture of ice cream cones. He is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Knight Templar, a Noble of the Mystic Shrine and a member of the Rotary Club of Charleston.

Mr. Lyon's first wife was Minnie Fultz, of Ohio. His second wife was Jessie Gates, of Charleston. His two children are by his first marriage: William, manager of the Victory Cone Company of Charleston; and Marie, wife of R. C. MeKnight, a coal operator at Middleport, Ohio.

WILLIAM HOLLAND WEST, West and Holland are both old family names in West Virginia, and they have been families of most substantial character, contributing to the current of progress during the century or more they have lived on the western slope of the Alleghanies. Wil- liam Holland West has devoted the work of his mature years to farming and the cultivation of good social and civic standards in his home community in the Union Dis- trict of Monongalia County. His home is seven miles north of Morgantown, on the Point Marion Road.

He was born in Clinton District of Monongalia County August 18, 1853, son of Hamilton G. and Elizabeth (Hol- land) West. His grandfather, William West, settled in Taylor County, West Virginia, from Maryland about 1800, and lived in Taylor County until his death, at the age of about sixty. He was a man of influence in his locality, serving as justice of the peace. Hamilton G. West was born in Taylor County in 1826, and in early life became a carpenter. While working in Monongalia County he met Elizabeth Holland, who was born in Clinton District, daugh- ter of Reasein and Johanna (Wilson) Holland. The Holland family goes back to almost the beginning of things in this part of Monongalia County. Capell Holland, father of Reasein, was born in 1733 and died in 1823. On moving to the Clinton District of Monongalia County he settled near the site of Goshen Baptist Church. Reasein Holland was boru in Maryland in 1776, and was four years of age when the family settled in West Virginia. Reasein Hol- land is said to have erected the first mill in Monongalia County, and he died here in 1851. The old Holland home- stead is now owned by William H. West, who inherited a portion of it from his mother. Capell Holland took up this land in a virgin condition, and it is one of the few places that have not been sold out of the direct line of descent. Hamilton G. West lived there after his marriage. His wife, Elizabeth, died there in 1912, at the age of eighty-five, having been born in 1827. Hamiltou G. West, who died in 1883, at the age of fifty-seven, was one of the leading democrats of the county, filled the office of justice of the peace for a number of terms, and was active in convention work. He was a major in the West Virginia Militia during the Civil war. He was a deacon of the Goshen Baptist Church. Of his nine children the seven who survived infancy are noted: William H .; Lancelot, of Fairmont, West Virginia; Johanna, who died in middle life, the wife of Calvin Roby, and moved to Preston County; Esther, Mrs. Clark Price, living on a portion of the old homestead; Sally, Mrs. W. W. Graham, of Uniontown, Pennsylvania; Hamilton, who met an accidental death at the age of twenty; and Hardwick, who was accidentally killed at the age of fifteen.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 124

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