History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 135

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ULYSSES G. YOUNG has the prestige accruing from thirty years of able practice as a lawyer in Upshur County, and n that time he has carried many of the responsibilities of leadership in his home county and community. He is also a banker.

Mr. Young, who is senior member of the law firm of Young & MeWhorter at Buckhannon, was born in Har- ison County, West Virginia, January 22, 1865, son of Joseph A. and Mary V. (Griffith) Young, the former a ative of Monroe County, West Virginia, and the latter of Augusta County, Virginia. Joseph A. Young after his mar- 'iage settled on a farm in Harrison County, and was one of the hard working and substantial citizens of that sec- ion. He and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church and he was a republican. There were eight chil- Iren: Maggie, wife of B. H. Paugh; Ida M., wife of Burget Swisher; Esther, deceased; Ulysses G .; Mary V., wife of M. R. Creslip; E. L., of Barhour County; Kate 3., wife of C. E. Creslip; and W. H. Young, a farmer in Jpshur County.

Ulysses G. Young, while growing up on the farm, had formulated plans for a professional career. His common school education he supplemented in the National Normal Jniversity at Lebanon, Ohio, from which he graduated with the degree Bachelor of Science and the law degree LL. B. He then returned to Buckhannon, took the exam- nation before three judges and was admitted to the West Virginia bar, and since then has been steadily engaged n a general civil and criminal practice in the courts of his district. Mr. Young is vice president of the Traders National Bank of Buckhannon and also its attorney. Among other interests he and a brother own a thousand teres in Barbour County.

Mr. Young was elected a member of the State Senate n 1894, and represented his district in the sessions of .895 and 1897. He is one of the trustees of the Wesleyan College at Buckhannon and is treasurer of the permanent rust fund of the Methodist Conference. He is a past hancellor of the Knights of Pythias and a member of the Masonic Order, and belongs to the Official Board of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

On July 11, 1893, Mr. Young married Lillie C. Pifer. he graduated from the Buckhannon Academy and spent ne year in the Boston Conservatory of Music. Mr. and Ars. Young have four children: Mary E., who is a grad- ate of Goucher College of Baltimore with the A. B. de- ree, is the wife of W. S. Jacob; Marjorie C., who grad- ated A. B. from Wesleyan College at Buckhannon; Ulysses +., Jr., who is a student in Wesleyan College; and Rich- rd W., in high school.

HARRY E. WEBB, of Huntington, is one of the efficient nd popular executives of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, is official position being that of superintendent of the Huntington and the Logan divisions.

Mr. Webb was born in Kanawha County, this state, not ar distant from the City of Charleston, and the date of his ativity was November 17, 1881. His father, Benjamin H. Tebb, was born in the Virginia County that is now Gilmer ounty, West Virginia, in the year 1847, and died in the ity of Charleston, October 27, 1921. Benjamin H. Webb as reared in Gilmer County, aud there continued his resi- ence until the early '70s, when he removed to a farm near harleston and became one of the leading members of le bar of that city. As an able lawyer he built up a rge and important practice, he was a loyal advocate and ipporter of the cause of the democratic party, served sev- ·al terms as justice of the peace, was a soldier in the onfederate service during the last year of the Civil war, as affiliated with the United Confederate Veterans and the dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and was an earnest ember of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as is so his widow, who still resides at Charleston. Mrs. Webb,

whose maiden name was Almira V. Barbour, was born in Franklin County, Virginia, in 1857, a daughter of Capt. William C. Barbour, a member of the Thirty-fourth Volun- teer Infantry, Company C, Wise's Brigade, Lee's army. He was killed in action a few days before Lee's surrender. Of their children the eldest was Della, who became the wife of John H. Thompson and who died near Charleston at the age of twenty-five years, Mr. Thompson beng now a resident of the City of Chicago; Arian is the wife of Charles W. Brown, train dispatcher for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Harry E., of this sketch, was next in order of birth; Naomi is the widow of Mark O. Jarrett, who died in Kansas, in 1918, and she now resides with her widowed mother in Charleston; Kathryn is the wife of Allen T. Peyton, a contractor and builder at Charleston; Mary is the wife of Cabell Pearse, mine superintendent for the Carbon Fuel Company, with resi- dence at Jochin, West Virginia; Louise is the wife of E. C. Hanna, auditor and treasurer for the Carbon Fuel Company at Carbon, Kanawha County.

The rural schools of Kanawha County afforded Harry E. Webb his early education, and in 1900 he graduated from the Capital City Commercial College at Charleston. For two years thereafter he held a clerical position with the Kanawha & Michigan Railroad, and he next was engaged in clerical work, for eight months, for the Cardiff Coal Company at Oakley, Kanawha County. On the 10th of June, 1904, he initiated his clerical service in the Hunting- ton offices of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, and on the 1st of November, 1914, he was advanced to the position of train master of the Clifton Forge division, with head- quarters at Clifton Forge, Virginia, where he remained until November 1, 1916, when he was transferred to Logan, West Virginia, as train master for the Logan coal district. May 1, 1917, marked his promotion to the position of superin- tendent of the Logan division, and since March 1, 1919, he has been superintendent of the Huntington and Logan divisions, with headquarters in the City of Huntington. He is a stockholder in the Junior Oil & Gas Company, the Huntington Development & Gas Company and also the Scrantoneed Container Corporation of Huntington. He is a member of the American Association of Railway Superin- tendents and is a democrat in politics. In addition to his modern home property at 805 Lincoln Place, Mr. Webb is the owner of other realty in Huntington, and also at Logan.

At Griffithsville, West Virginia, August 25, 1915, occurred the marriage of Mr. Webb and Miss Harriet W. MeClung, daughter of James and Mary (Rosson) McClung, the father having been a retired employe of the Adams Express Com- pany at the time of his death, in the City of Huntington, where his widow still resides. Mrs. Webb graduated from the Huntington High School and thereafter attended the University of West Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Webb have three children: Harry E., Jr., born December 9, 1916; Mollie Rosson, born September 26, 1918; and Barbour Hays, born October 2, 1920.

PERRY C. DUNAWAY, who is successfully engaged in the furniture and undertaking business at Charles Town, Jef. ferson County, was born at Stewardsville, Greene County, Virginia, and he is a scion of a family that was founded in the historic Old Dominion State in the early Colonial days, when John and James Dunaway, brothers, came from England and settled in Virginia. Raleigh Dunaway, Sr., grandfather of him whose name introduces this paragraph, was born and reared in Rappahannock County, Virginia, and there became the owner of an extensive landed estate, besides which he inherited a number of slaves, he having never bought or sold slaves, however. In connection with the Civil war he met with heavy financial reverses, in which he lost the most of his real estate and other property, and he removed with his family to Rockingham County, Vir- ginia, where he passed the remainder of his life.

Raleigh Dunaway, Jr., father of the subject of this sketch, was reared on the home farm, or plantation, and as a youth he found employment in a general store at Elkton. At the age of twenty-one years he settled on a farm near Stanards- ville, Greene County, Virginia, and there he continued his

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activities as an agriculturist until 1892, when he engaged in the general merchandise business at Leetown, Jefferson County, West Virginia. In 1917 he sold his stock and busi- ness, and he has since lived retired. His wife, whose maiden name was Fannie Lou Kennedy, was born and reared in Greene County, Virginia, as was also her father, Chester Kennedy, who entered the Confederate Army at the incep- tion of the Civil war and who died while in service, at the age of thirty-five years, his widow, whose family name was Mayers, having survived him by many years. Raleigh and Fannie Lou (Kennedy) Dunaway became the parents of the following children: Daisy Fritts; Lulu Pearl, who be- came the wife of Robert W. Clendening and who died in April, 1918; Raleigh W., who is engaged in the grocery business at Charles Town; Virginia, who is the wife of W. R. Licklider; Jessie; Perry C., who is the immediate subject of this review; and Judson and Homer.

Perry C. Dunaway gained his early education in the pub- lic schools, and was a lad of fourteen years when he began to assist in his father's store. In 1906 he entered the serv- ice of Moulton Brothers, engaged in the wholesale drygoods and notions business in the City of Baltimore, Maryland, and for ten years he was a successful traveling salesman for this representative concern. For two years thereafter he was employed in the Westinghouse undertaking estab- lishment in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in the meanwhile he attended the J. Henry Zong School of Em- balming, in which he was graduated in 1911. In 1912 he went to Mercer, Pennsylvania, where he was employed in an undertaking establishment for a time, and he then passed two years in business at Point Pleasant, West Virginia. He then, in 1915, established his present furniture and un- dertaking business at Charles Town, where his success has been the direct result of effective service and fair and hon- orable dealings. In the Masonic fraternity Mr. Dunaway is affiliated with Malta Lodge No. 80, A. F. and A. M., and Jefferson Chapter, R. A. M., besides which he holds mem- hership in Blue Ridge Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. He and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian Church in their home city.

The year 1915 recorded the marriage of Mr. Dunaway and Miss Emma Louise Price, who was born at Pomeroy, Ohio, a daughter of David and Elizabeth (Eppcl) Price. Mr. and Mrs. Dunaway have one daughter, Emma Louise.

WILLIAM C. PIFER, one of the substantial business men of Keyser, and ex-mayor of the city, comes of one of the old- established families of the country, the American founder of it having settled in Virginia while it was still a colony of England, and from him have sprung a numerous progeny. Those bearing the name of Pifer are to be found in many states of the Union, and wherever they are located they are numbered among the solid and representative people of their neighborhood. The majority of the Pifers have been farmers, but others have succeeded in business, and a few have adopted teaching as their life work. It is some- what unusual that none of them have entered the ministry, the law or the medical profession.

The birth of William C. Pifer occurred at Stephens City, Frederick County, Virginia, in the neighborhood of Winchester, July 3, 1878, and he is a son of Randolph and Mary Catherine (Cooper) Pifer, both of whom were born in Frederick County, Virginia, and their lives were spent principally on a farm. When war broke out between the North and the South, Randolph Pifer, as did the majority in his community, cast his lot with the Confederacy, and enlisted in Company A, First Virginia Cavalry, was made captain of his company, and served until the very close of the war, being one of the 8,000 soldiers still following General Lee at Appomattox, in April, 1865. He saw much hard fighting, was twice wounded, a musket ball passing through his body just under the heart, but he recovered. With the declaration of peace he tried to accept the results philosophically and to forget the past. In fact he had but little personal feeling against those whom the chances of war had made his enemies, and upon one occasion it is stated that he accepted an invitation from the Federal forces across the Potomac River, at Harper's Ferry, and

took dinner with the "Boys in Blue." With his old com- rades of "the lost cause" he fraternized after the war, and enjoyed the reunions heartily.

With characteristic energy and determination Randolph Pifer became a public servant of Frederick County after the war, and was county assessor for one term and county treasurer for four terms, to which offices he was elected on the democratic ticket. He was of German stock, his father having been John William Pifer, whose father was born in Germany, but left his native land for America in young manhood. John William Pifer married a member of the Richards family. Randolph Pifer was one of six children, the four sons of which were: Randolph, Stanley, Cyrus and Clarence, but Randolph was the only one of them who served in the army. The two daughters were Laura and Harriet, the former of whom married Neal Snapp, and the latter, Josiah Rinker.

Until he was twenty-three years of age William C. Pifer remained on his father's farm, during which time he made" himself useful and secured a country-school education, and for the last two years of the time was engaged in teaching in his home district. Abandoning the educational field, Mr. Pifer went with the wholesale firm of Naylor, Shyrock & Company, of Front Royal, Virginia, as office man and book- keeper for one year, leaving this concern to become a trav- eling salesman for the Birdsell Wagon Company of South Bend, Indiana. He worked out of Kansas City, Missouri. covering territory embracing Kansas, Oklahoma and Indian Territory, but after two years located permanently at Key ser, where he embarked in business.

At the beginning of his connection with West Virginia Mr. Pifer opened for business with a stock of pianos and music merchandise, with a very small captal. At first he traveled with a wagon through this region selling instru ments, and as fast as he sold one, used the money to pur. chase another, and in this way secured enough money to open his store. Beginning thus in a very small way, he has gradually expanded, and now has one of the most mod ern and well-stocked establishments of its kind in this part of the state. As the demand was created he added the Victor talking machine when the phonograph industry way in its infancy, and later the Brunswick Phonograph, and also carries both the Victor and Brunswick records for the: trade.

In 1915 Mr. Pifer was elected as mayor of Keyser to succeed Mayor F. H. Babb, and was twice re-elected, serv ing in all six years. As he was the incumbent of the office during the war period he was kept very busy, and made : record which does him and his community great credit. I was during his administration that the city purchased it modern fire truck. The south side of Keyser was sewered and the water mains extended through that portion. All of the public improvements were paid for by a bond issue, and when Mayor Pifer turned the office over to his suc cessor the latter found affairs in an admirable financia condition. In politics he is a democrat, and has alway been active in party affairs. Fraternally he belongs t Front Royal Lodge, A. F. and A. M.

Mr. Pifer married at Keyser Miss Maude May Chrismar a daughter of John W. and Emma (Nixon) Chrisman. Mrs Pifer was born at Keyser, and educated in its public school: Mr. Chrisman came to Keyser from Virginia as an employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, which he i now serving as a conductor. He is one of the old employe of the road, having begun his connection with it as firemar when wood was used for firing purposes. Mr. and Mr: Pifer have the following children: Robert Arnold, Isabe Geraldine, Kenneth, William and Marjorie. Mr. Pifer i an excellent example of the self-reliant man who has rise through his own efforts. There was no powerful influenc or great wealth back of him when he located at Keyser, bu he did possess determination to succeed, a willingness t work and a knowledge of his business, and these qualitie combined with his cheerful service and pleasing manne have firmly established him in the confidence of the publ and won for him a valuable trade. During the time he wa the city's chief executive he made many personal sacrifice especially during the war, and left nothing undone whic

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he thought would advance his community and add to its prestige. That he succeeded the many public improvements and flourishing conditions generally, amply demonstrate.

W. J. MAYS is the present efficient sheriff of Taylor County, was for a number of years in the police and me- chanical service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and has been a resident of Taylor County since he was two years old. He represents one of the pioneer families of West Virginia.

His pioneer ancestor was William Mays, who served with Virginia troops in the Mexican war, and spent his last years in Monongalia County, being buried in the family graveyard near Fannie Furnace in that county. His son, Frederick Mays, was born in Monongalia County, and married Eleanor Snider, a native of Preston County and laughter of John Snider. They had a large family of children, inelnding three sets of twins: Jacob, Lewis S., James M., Mary E., who married George Boylan; Sarah E., who married William LaRue; John N .; Margaret A., who married Jake Ecoff; Sophia D., who married Wesley Hartman; Kate, who married John Smith; Richard C .; and Martha A., who became the wife of William Grimes. John Nelson Mays, father of Sheriff Mays, is a retired farmer at Thornton in Taylor County. He was born n Marion County, February 4, 1843, but grew up near Independence, Preston County, where he acquired a sub- cription school education and a practical knowledge of farming. He has one of the most notable war records of he surviving soldiers of the Union. He was eighteen when in May, 1861, he joined at Morgantown, Company A of the Third Infantry, under Capt. J. J. Thompson und Col. David T. Hughes. After a period of training tt Clarksburg the company was assigned to guard duty in the Parkersburg branch of the Baltimore & Ohio. After ix months the regiment was put on scout duty with the Mountain Department of West Virginia, and after about wo years the regiment was mounted and became the Fifth infantry. While in service in the Valley of Virginia it participated in the battles of McDowell, Cloyd Mountain, Cross Keys, Port Republic and Culpeper, and fourteen lays of fighting along the Rappahanock River. It was on atrol duty in Washington when Lincoln was assassinated ind during the closing scenes of the war, including the }rand Review. In the meantime the regiment had been organized as the Sixth West Virginia Cavalry. After the var the Sixth Regiment was ordered to duty on the west- rn plains, Mr. Mays in the meantime having re-enlisted. They proceeded by rail to Fort Leavenworth, and thence cross the plains to Fort Laramie, Wyoming, to open the nail route closed by Indian hostilities. A year later Mr. Mays was returned to Fort Leavenworth, where he was lischarged in June, 1866. In the first years of his army xperience he was twice taken prisoner, first near Morefield Jap by General Rosser and Green's Confederate command, ind later by the same forces at New Creek, now Keyser, Vest Virginia. Both times he made his escape from his aptors. Later, in Nebraska, he was with a force guard- ng an ox-train carrying Government supplies. One eve- ing he and a comrade were about a mile from camp ooking for game. By some strange premonition he sensed langer, though there were no Indians in sight, and when is companion refused to leave off hunting he rode to the orral. He never saw his fellow hunter again, since he vas hardly in camp when a band of 400 warriors came y, capturing his comrade and stampeding some cattle a another wagon train camped nearby.

John N. Mays had three brothers in the Union Army, jacob, Lewis S. and Frederick G. After his discharge it Fort Leavenworth John N. Mays was returned to Wheeling, where he was mustered out, and he soon re- umed the routine of civil life as a farmer in Preston County, and later moved to Taylor County. He has always veen a republican, never active in politics, held a commis- ion for some years as notary public, and is a member f the Methodist Episcopal Church. His first wife was Miss Phoebe Griffith, a native of Preston County and

daughter of Ebenezer Griffith. She died three years after their marriage, as the result of an overdose of morphine administered by a physician. One of her two children died in infancy and the other is W. J. Mays. On March 10, 1875, John N. Mays married Miss Emma Hardinger in Taylor County, where she was born, August 10, 1851, daughter of Moses and Julia N. (Rose) Hardinger, na- tives of Pennsylvania and farmers in Taylor County. Emma was one of a family of five sons and four daugh- ters, and three others are still living. The children of John N. Mays by his second marriage are: Ola, wife of Allen DeMoss, of Thornton; Alonzo, of Detroit, Michigan; Grace, who married Robert Travis, of Thornton; Ira E., of Detroit; Chauncey, of Richmond, Virginia; and Pearl, wife of Edward Haines, of Cumberland, Maryland.

W. J. Mays, son of this old soldier, was born near Evans- ville, Preston County, February 5, 1869, and was less than two years old when his father moved to Taylor County. He acquired a country school education, and at the age of eighteen became a blacksmith apprentice in the shops of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. After four years of apprenticeship he was raised to the regular rank and pay, and remained in the shops of the company for eleven years. Leaving that he conducted a dairy at Grafton five years, and then by appointment from Mayor James Love served two years as chief of police. The Baltimore & Ohio invited him to return to its service as a police of- ficer, and subsequently he was promoted to captain of police for the Mononga division, a post of duty he held two and a half years. During the World war period, when the railroad needed all available mechanical skill, be resumed his former trade in the railroad shops. While there he was persuaded by his friends to stand for nomi- nation for sheriff, received that honor in the primaries of 1920, and in the fall of that year was elected by a majority of 2,144, the majority being larger than all the votes cast in the county for his competitor. He succeeded Sheriff Melvin Newlon in January, 1921.

Sheriff Mays is an active representative of all progres- sive movements in his city and county. He is a republican, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, a Methodist and is affiliated with the Masons, Modern Woodmen and Red Men. In Taylor County, November 30, 1891, he married Miss Margaret A. Knotts, daughter of John K. and Ann (Linn) Knotts. Her father was a Taylor County farmer, and represented one of the prominent family names there. Mrs. Mays, who was born March 23, 1872, was the young- est of eight children, the others being William L., Emery, Robert, Isaac A., Zebulon B., Spencer S. and Miss Mary J. Three of the sons became farmers and two railroad men.

Mr. and Mrs. Mays have an interesting family of five sons and five daughters. Clyde N. is chief clerk of the division of accounts of the Mononga division of the Balti- more & Ohio. Edna Jean is the wife of Charles Payne, deputy sheriff of Taylor County. Abe Warder is deputy sheriff and jailer of Taylor County. Paul Herbert is the sheriff's bookkeeper. Verne K. was recently discharged from the artillery service of the United States Army. Mary M. is a senior in the Grafton High School, and the younger children are Samuel Linn, Margaret M., Virginia and Ruth.

BLAINE ZICKEFOOSE is a prosperous farmer and dairy- man of Upshur County, where his excellent farm of 137 acres is situated three miles west of Buckhannon, the county seat. He was born on the homestead farm of his father in Upshur County, and the date of his nativity was November 1, 1885. He is a son of George W. and Jane (Light) Zickefoose, both likewise natives of this county and representatives of old and honored families of this section of West Virginia. George W. Zickefoose was born in August, 1843, and his wife was born in 1844, her death having occurred in 1893. The father was successfully identified with farm industry in his native county through his entire active carcer, and is still the owner of a farm of 125 acres, the major part of his landed estate having been divided among his children. He is a republican and

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is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as was also his wife. Of their eleven children the follow- ing are living, and of the number the subject of this sketch is the youngest: J. S. Elias and Alvin are prosperous farmers in Upshur County; Eli resides at Hamlock, this county, and is a merchant by vocation; Elliott and Arte- mus are substantial farmers of Upshur County, and the latter also conducts a feed store in the Village of Alton; and Delbert is a merchant at Alton.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 135

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