History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 138

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Mr. Kimble is a republican, cast his first presidential vote for James G. Blaine at Bayard, and for years was a consistent admirer of Colonel Roosevelt and supported him as a progressive candidate in 1912.

He still retains some important business interests st Bayard, having some holdings in the lumber business there, is a partner in the Barrett Hardware and Furniture Com- pany and one of the first stockholders of the Bayard Na- tional Bank and one of its directors. He is a past noble grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, past master of Bayard Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and a member of the D. O. K. K. The family are Presbyterians.

On February 14, 1892, Sheriff Kimble married Miss Sarah E. Bartley, who was born in Deer Park, Maryland, in 1868, daughter of John F. and Sadie E. (Thrasher) Bart- ley. Her father was born in Virginia, served as a Confed- erate soldier in the war, and was a farmer. The children of Sheriff and Mrs. Kimble are: Beulah, who married J. B. Blocher, of Pierce, West Virginia, and has one child, Billie Blocher; Twila, a graduate of the Keyser High School and now connected with the Bayard Hardware and Furniture Company; and Juanita, a student at Dayton, Virginia.

HON. WILLIAM W. BRANNON, a representative member of the bar of Lewis County, has been engaged in the active practice of his profession at Weston, the county seat, for more than forty years. He was born at Winchester, Vir- ginia, November 1, 1853, a son of Seward J. and Mary

(Carper) Brannon, both likewise natives of that localit the father having been born in 1823, at Winchester, ar his death having occurred in 1859. Seward J. Brannc became one of the prosperous farmers near Wincheste and there remained until his death, his widow having su vived him a score of years and her death having occurre in 1887. Both were zealous members of the Bapti Church. Of the eight children only two are now living- William W., of this review, and John Robert, a farm near Middletown, Virginia.

William W. Brannon was reared on the home farm ar gained his early education in subscription schools. On tl 7th of February, 1872, he came to Weston, West Virgini and found employment in a brick yard, at a wage of $1.5 a day. He was thus engaged about three years, and the meanwhile his ambition led him to take up the stud of law, under the preceptorship of his uncles, who were : that time prominent members of the local bar. He mac rapid advancement in his technical studies and was a mitted to the bar in 1879. He opened an office and co tinued in individual practice two years, since which tin he has had various associates in his large and representati law business. He has served as special judge, as notar public and as city attorney. In 1886 he was elected may. of Weston, and was reelected for the four succeedir terms, and upon the expiration of his term, in 1890, 1 was elected representative of the Fourth District-Lew and Webster counties-in the State Legislature. He ga' his full term of characteristically effective service and d not appear as a candidate for re-election. While in th Legislature he was a member of five important committe of the House of Representatives. In 1899 Mr. Brann was appointed by Governor Atkinson attorney for tl State Board of Pardons, on which he served five year during a portion of which time he was president of t} board. He was later appointed by the governor of We Virginia a commissioner on uniform state laws, and a though he resigned this place he has never been formal released. He is a stalwart in the camp of the democrat party, has taken lively interest in all that concerns tl: civic and material welfare of his home city, county al state, and has long controlled a large and important la business, which has involved his appearance in many litig tions of major- order. Mr. Brannon owns an interest 2,000 acres of land in Webster County and is intereste also in oil and gas production in this section of the stat He is past chancellor of the local lodge of Knights « Pythias, has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge of tl order in the state, and has served as a deputy grand cha cellor besides having been a member of the Grand Trib nal of the fraternity. His wife is a communicant of t] Protestant Episcopal Church.

Mr. Brannon is now senior member of the leading la firm of Brannon, Stathers & Stathers, with offices both Weston and Clarksburg. In 1904 he was elected pregide: of the West Virginia Bar Association for one year, 81 he is likewise a member of the American Bar Associatic and of the World's Congress of Jurists and Lawyers.

Mr. Brannon wedded, on the 14th of February, 188 Miss Addie Alkire, of Hackers Creek, Lewis County, ar they have two daughters: Bertie is the wife of John Davis, a lumberman; and Miss Hattie remains at the pa ental home.

HANNON REED has been successfully identified with far enterprise and coal operations in his native state, and now one of the substantial and popular citizens of Martin burg, Berkeley County.

Mr. Reed was born in the Village of Romines Mills, Ha rison County, West Virginia, and on a pioneer farm the same county his father, Fielding Reed, was born Febr ary 19, 1832, a son of Minor Reed, supposedly a native Virginia and for many years numbered among the prospe ous farmers of Harrison County. Late in life he remov to Ohio, where he continued to reside until his death, h wife, whose family name was White, having died in Ha rison County, West Virginia.

Fielding Reed was reared on the old home farm, and aft his marriage he resided for some time at Romines Mill

N. M. Brannow,

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next engaged in farm enterprise in that county, and r purchased a farm in Lewis County, where he remained it five years, at the expiration of which he returned Harrison County and purchased a farm on Elk Creek. re he continued his successful activities as an agricul- st and stock-grower for many years and there he died at venerable age of eighty-two years, as one of the hon- I native sons of the county. He became extensively aged also in the buying and shipping of live stnek, h he consigned to the markets in Philadelphia and imore. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Debar, born in Upshur County, a daughter of William and cy (Reed) Debar, the latter of whom was a daughter Stephen Reed, a Virginia farmer. Mrs. Sarah (Debar) 1 died when comparatively a young woman and left · small children: Hannon, Nancy, Lincoln and Ida, cy became the wife of William Miles and is now de- ed: and Ida married Stephen Stewart. For his second Fielding Reed married Mary Boyer, who died January 922, at Clarksburg, West Virginia. Of this union were four children: Florence, Watt, Minnie and Mary. 'ence is the wife of Robert Stewart; Minnie is the wife Holden Stewart; and Mary is the wife of John Cum- gs.

annon Reed gained his early education in the rural ols, and early acquired valuable business experience. the age of twenty-one years he became associated with a ner in the operating of a coal mine, and later he was aged in farming in Barbour County, where he remained vear. He then returned to Harrison County, where he inned his active alliance with prodnetive farm industry 1 1908, since which year he and his wife have maintained r home at Martinsburg, where he has been identified various lines of business. He purchased a tract of [ on the hill overlooking the city and surrounding coun- leveled the tract effectively and there erected the ern house in which he and his wife now reside.

ovember 19, 1884, recorded the marriage of Mr. Reed Josephine Miles, who was born on a farm five miles heast of Buckhannon, Upshur County, a daughter of 1 J. Miles, who was born in England. John J. Miles' her William and sister Priscilla likewise came to the ed States, and Priscilla married a man named Williams, making settlement in Ohio; William settled in Upslınr ity, West Virginia. In this county John J. Miles pur- ed a farm, and he not only became one of the successful culturists of Upshur County but also actively identified the mining of coal. He died in that county, aged nty-seven years. He married Mary Miller, who was in Virginia, a daughter of Joseph Miller, who was a enter and farmer, his farm having been on Beverly , about three miles distant from Buckhannon. Joseph er had five sons, Jacob, John, Joseph, Jr., James and ge, and of the number all except Jacob became Union ers in the Civil war, George having been killed in battle all of the others having long survived the war and ing received pensions from the Government. Mrs. Mary ler) Miles died at the age of sixty years, she having ne the mother of seven children: Susan, Priscilla, phine, Philip, John. Sarah and Charles. Susan became wife of Sherman Shreeves; Priscilla married Lafayette :phall, who also served in the Civil war. In conclusion ven brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Reed; Dorsey Miles Reed is in the employ of the ed States Government. Tressic May is the wife of S. Fisher. Russell Fielding Reed entered the military ce of the United States in April, 1918, and at Camp Virginia, was assigned to the Three Hundred and sateenth Regiment of the United States Army, with th, on the 25th of May of that year, he sailed for Ice and proceeded with his command to the front lines. gained a full share of the arduous and hazardous ex- ence on the stage of conflict in the great World war, che was both wounded and gassed, he having been in a stal in France at the time when the armistice was nd and brought the war to a close. Russell F. Reed wed his honorable discharge after his return home, and

to his enduring honor will stand his record of service in the greatest war in the annals of history.

KENT TYLER ROYAL, M. D., a member of the staff of Welch Hospital No. 1, maintained by the State of West Virginia at Welch, judicial center of MeDowell County. is one of the representative young physicians and surgeons of this vital little industrial city.

Doctor Royal was born at Harvard, Massachusetts, October 25, 1891, and is a son of Dr. Herbert D. and Alma (Eaton) Royal, the former a native of Maine and the latter of Massachusetts, one of her ancestors having been Governor Bradford, the first chief executive of the Massa chusetts colony. Doctor Royal traces his lineage to Eng- lish origin on both the paternal and maternal sides, and is a scion of stanch Colonial stock in New England, that cradle of much of our national history. Dr. Herbert D. Royal is a leading physician and representative citizen of Harvard, Massachusetts, where he is serving as a member of the Board of Education and is otherwise prominent in community affairs.

In the public schools of his native town Dr. Kent T. Royal continued his studies until his graduation from the high school, and in 1911 he graduated from Worcester Academy. In 1915 he graduated from Colby University, Waterville, Maine, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Science, and in preparation for his chosen pro- fession he then entered the medical department of Harvard University, in which he was graduated in 1919, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. While a student in the medical school the doctor became a private in the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States Army, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and served as medical examiner for the Students' Army Training Corps at Harvard University. After his graduation Doctor Royal came to West Virginia and entered professional service at Sheltering Arms Hos- pital, at Hansford, where he remained from March, 1919, to October 15, 1921, when he removed to Welch and assumed his present position at Welch Hospital, where he specializes in surgery. Ile is giving as much attention as possible to private practice also, and is an enthusiast in the work of his exacting profession. He is affiliated with the American Medical Association, the Southern Medical Association, the West Virginia State Medical Society, and the MeDowell County Medical Society, as well as the Delta Epsilon medical fraternity of Harvard University.

In 1920, at New Albany, Pennsylvania, Doctor Royal wedded Miss Jane Benjamine, daughter of A. H. and Ann (Van Dyke) Benjamine, and the one child of this union is a winsome little daughter, Belle Ann. Doctor and Mrs. Royal are members of the Congregational Church.

THE POINT PLEASANT NATIONAL BANK affords valnable business and civic facilities in the thriving little City of Point Pleasant, the judicial center of Mason County, and is one of the substantial and well-ordered financial institu- tions of this section of West Virginia. The bank was organized in 1901, mainly through the promotive activities of James Vapehard, who became the first president and who retained this office five years, his resignation having then been given on account of his seriously impaired health, he was succeeded by J. O. Shinn, who has since con- tinued as president of the institution. The bank opened its doors for business in the spring of 1902, and its original capital stock of $25,000 has since been increased to $30,000. J. Friedman became vice president of the bank at the time of its incorporation, and thus served until his death in 1920, when he was succeeded by Rankin Wiley, the present in- eumbent. W. L. McCoy, the first cashier, died in April. 1902, shortly after assuming his executive duties, and he was succeeded by the assistant cashier, James W. Windon, who has since continued the efficient cashier, and of whom specific mention is made in the sketch immediately following this review. A. L. Neale succeeded Mr. Windon in the office of assistant cashier, and continued his service in this capacity until June, 1921, when he was succeeded by the present ineumbent, H. L. Johnson. Mr. Neale continues, in

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1922, one of the directors of the bank, and in addition to the president and vice president the present directorate includes also Dr. H. A. Barbee and W. H. Vaught. The stock of the bank is all held locally, and the institution thus is throughly representative of the general interests of this community and county. The two-story bank building was erected in 1907, and is a substantial and modern brick structure, the upper floor being rented for offices. The deposits of the bank now aggregate $300,000 and the surplus fund is $10,000. Regular dividends have been paid, and none of the stock of the institution is now on the market.

JAMES W. WINDON, cashier of the Point Pleasant Na- tional Bank, at the county seat of Mason County, has been an active executive of this institution from the time of its incorporation, as indicated in the foregoing record con- cerning the bank. He was born at Pleasant Flats, this county, in the year 1860, and is a son of John W. Windon, whose father, Joseph Windon, was a young man when he came from one of the more eastern counties of Virginia, in company with the father of James Copehart, and became one of the early settlers in Mason County. Here Joseph Windon married Miss Susan Mitchell, and they established their home on a large farm on Pleasant Flats, in the Ohio River bottoms, eight miles north of Point Pleasant, where he developed a fine property and became a successful agri- culturist and stock-grower, a portion of the old homestead being still in the possession of the Windon family and the old home place being owned by the son James. Joseph Windon died at the age of seventy-five years, and his wife likewise attained to advanced age, both having been active members of the Presbyterian Church.

John W. Windon was reared on the old home farm and received the advantages of the local schools of the period. For a time he owned and operated a flour mill in Jackson County, and after selling this property he returned to Mason County and engaged in farm enterprise near Flat Rock, on Oldtown Creek, his operations having been of extensive order and he having been one of the representa- tive farmers and influential and honored citizens of his native county at the time of his death, when seventy years of age. His first wife, whose maiden name was Mary Hogg, died when a young woman, and he later wedded Miss Jane Clendenin, who proved a devoted foster-mother to the three children of the former marriage, she having had no children of her own and having preceded her husband to the life eternal. Thomas, eldest of the children, owns and resides on the old homestead farm of the Hogg family, the same having been inherited by his maternal uncle, John T. Hogg; James W., of this review, was the second in order of birth; and Fannie is the wife of John Kincaid, a farmer near Hickory Chapel, Mason County.

On the old home farm James W. Windon passed the period of his childhood and early youth, and his educa- tional advantages were those of the schools of his native county. For several years he was a salesman in a whole- sale grocery establishment at Parkersburg, and thereafter he held a position in the office of the Burns Lumber Com- pany at Sadie, Braxton County. this company having had mills on the present site of Nitro, on the Big Kanawha River, this Town of Nitro having been developed by the United States Government in connection with its activities in the great World war. In 1895 Mr. Windon came to Point Pleasant and entered the employ of S. L. Parsons, manufacturer of and dealer in lumber and railroad timber, his services having included inspecting as well as office work. Later he was employed in the offices of the Equity Milling Company at Point Pleasant, and he next went to Cincinnati, Ohio, in the employ of the T. J. Hall Company, coal operators and dealers. He was a valued office employe in this connection until he returned to his native county, where he accepted the post of assistant cashier of the Point Pleasant National Bank at the time of its organiza- tion, in 1901, and where he soon afterward was made cashier, as noted in the preceding article. He has been secretary of the Progressive Building & Loan Association since 1905, the year which marked its organization, and this association has erected many buildings and otherwise

contributed much to the civic and material advancement Point Pleasant. In addition to these interests Mr. Wind. also conducts a successful general insurance agency Point Pleasant. He has served as secretary of the loc Board of Education and as a member of the board of tri tees of the battle monument at Point Pleasant, marki the site of a battle that occurred in 1774. He is affiliat with the Masonic fraternity, and he and bis wife are pop lar factors in the representative social activities of the home community. Mr. Windon married Miss Ida L. B. knap, of Cincinnati, Ohio, no children having been born this union.

DAVID E. THOENEN. While its history as a village ru back into pioneer times, Sistersville came into prominen as a commercial center following the opening of the field in that district about thirty years ago. The oil boc was at its height when David E. Thoenen added his pre ence to this community. He has been prominently inte ested in oil operations in this and other fields, but f twenty years has given chiefly of his time and effort banking.

Mr. Thoenen was born at Hannibal, Ohio, August 1870. He is of Swiss ancestry, and the record of t Thoenens in that little republic runs back, according to family Bible, printed in 1727 and in the possession of relative, to the year 1599. The great-grandfather of Dav Thoenen was a Swiss physician, Jacob Thoenen, by nan who served as a surgeon in the Swiss army, and was o of the contingents gathered together in the great army Napoleon I. He participated in the ill-fated Russian ca: paign, and while on the retreat from Moscow he lost 1 life. The grandfather of David E. Thoenen was Dav Thoenen, who was born in Switzerland in 1799, and ma ried in that country Mary Boren, who was born in 180 They came to the United States in 1828, settling at Han bal, Ohio, where David was a shoemaker and farmer. ] died at Hannibal in 1887 and his wife in 1894.

John F. Thoenen, father of the Sisterville banker, spe all his life at Hannibal, where he was born in 1835 a died in 1916. He owned and operated a large farm the and was a citizen of most substantial character, implicit trusted in business and civic affairs. For thirty-three yea he was treasurer of the German Farmers Mutual Fire ] surance Company, held a number of local political offic and was a leader in the democratic party. He was a wo eran Union soldier, serving four years in the Twent fifth Ohio Infantry. He was a sergeant, and all throu. the war he kept a diary of his experiences, a book no carefully preserved by his son David E. Among the mo important battles in which he was engaged were those McDowell, second Bull Run, Chancellorsville, Antieta' Gettysburg and Winchester. He was a member of the Ge man Evangelical Church. John F. Thoenen married Cat erine Luikart, who was born in Wuertemberg, Germar in 1841, and the following year was brought by her pa ents, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Lnikart, to America. Jac Luikart was born in 1804, and on coming to the Unit States in 1842 settled on a farm near Hannibal, Oh where he died in 1874. Catherine Thoenen spent all h life from infancy at Hannibal, where she died in 19] She was the mother of five children: Adaline, wife Julius Fraley, a farmer at Hannibal; David E .; Am who died at Columbus, Ohio, aged thirty-seven, where b husband, Henry Isaly, is a merchant; Rosa, at Hannib. widow of A. H. Walter, a school teacher; and Ida, wife Robert Yausey, a merchant at Akron, Ohio.

David E. Thoenen spent his early life at Hannibal, : tended the public schools there, and then taught run schools. He completed his education in Delaware, Oh in 1894, and in 1895 removed to Sistersville. Here f three years he had charge of a lumber yard, and then I came personally interested in the oil field and is still active oil operator, under the firm name of Tuel Thoenen.

Mr. Thoenen in 1902 helped organize the People's N tional Bank of Sistersville, which was opened for busine

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January, 1903, and in which Mr. Thoenen has been a ctor from the beginning. In 1909 he was made assist- cashier and later promoted to cashier, and is now the ng head of the institution. Mr. Thoenen served as or of Sistersville one term. He is a democrat, is or warden of the Episcopal Church and is a past master Phoenix Lodge No. 73, A. F. and A. M., a past high st of Sistersville Chapter No. 27, R. A. M., past com- der of Mountain State Commandery No. 14, K. T., a ty-second degree Mason and a member of West Virginia sistory No. 1 at Wheeling, and is a past potentate of lesis Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Parkersburg. He ngs to the Kiwanis Club and Country Club at Sisters-

1 1901, at Sistersville, Mr. Thoenen married Miss Mar- ite Russell, daughter of Joshua and Sarah (Sweeney) sell, now deceased. It should be recalled when speak- of her father, Joshua Russell, that it was on his farm Polecat No. 1 oil well was drilled in 1890, that being opener of the Sistersville oil field. Mr. Russell besides ning owned and operated a lumber and planing mill at ersville. Mr. and Mrs. Thoenen have three children: [ Russell, born June 22, 1902, now a student in Swarth- e College in Pennsylvania; Grace Virginia, born April 904, attending Martha Washington Seminary in Wash- ou, D. C., and Engene David, born March 23, 1910.

AMES S. CRAIG. It is difficult to give any one interest ctivity the first place of importance in the career of late James S. Craig of Nicholas County. He was one hose rare men who apparently with equal facility handle s and responsibilities in widely separated fields. His rd altogether is one that accounts for the honor gener- assigned him of having been one of the foremost res in the development and the public affairs of Nicholas aty.

e was in the sixth generation of the Craig family in erica, founded in 1721 by William Craig, who came from land with his wife, Jean, and their sons, Robert, James John, landing on the Delaware River and settling in nsylvania. The son Robert moved to Virginia in 1740, ing near Staunton. His son Robert, of the third genera- , was a Virginia soldier in the War of the Revolution, ing as a member of Capt. John Given's company from ch 15, 1777, to March 15, 1782. He was in a number attles and campaigns and was at the siege of Yorktown, ng the war. In 1795 this old Revolutionary veteran hased land in the Greenbrier Valley of what is now t Virginia, and lived there until his death in 1804.

is only son to reach maturity also bore the name of ert, and in 1837 he established his home in Nicholas ity. His son John James was the father of the late es S. Craig. John James Craig had a long and active as a farmer and citizen in Muddlety Valley of Nicholas ity, where he died April 19, 1912, at the age of ninety- years and five months.

imes S. Craig was born at his father's farm in Mud- 7 Valley in 1842. He acquired an education above the age for the use of his time. He attended school in t Virginia and also in Ohio, and was a teacher of pen- ship in Ohio when the Civil war began. A Union man ympathy, he soon enlisted in Company E of the One dred and Forty-first Ohio Infantry, and was in active ice, chiefly in the commissary department, until mustered September 3, 1864. His honorable discharge bore the ature of President Lincoln. October 16, 1865, James 'raig began a public service at Summersville that con- ed there almost without interruption until his death. that date he was made county recorder of Nicholas ity and also elected clerk of the Circuit Court and clerk he county board of supervisors. October 1, 1872, was missioned postmaster of Summersville, and was in ge of the postoffice at the county seat for eighteen 8. His service as commissioner of the Circuit Court red a period of nearly thirty-five years, until February 908. For eight years he was commissioner of school s for Nicholas County, and for about fifteen years was .man of the Republican Executive Committee.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 138

Author: Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

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