History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 142

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WILLIAM H. GASTON is another of the native sons of West Virginia who has attained to success and influence in connection with commercial enterprise of important or der, as is shown in the fact that he is secretary, treasurer and manager of the Werdenhamer Wholesale Grocery Com. pany at Buckhannon, Upshur County, a concern that con trols a substantial business throughout the territory tributary to this city as a distributing center.

Mr. Gaston was born in the Freeman's Creek District of Lewis County, this state, October 19, 1868, and is a son of Abram and Sarah A. (Morris) Gaston, the former of whom was born in the Duck Creek neighborhood in Harrison County, in February, 1830, and the latter of whom was born in September of the same year near Lost Creek, that county. After their marriage the parents moved to Lewis County and settled in the midst of the forest, where the father reclaimed a farm and improved a valuable place of 281 acres. He was an upright and loyal citizen, a democrat in politics and an active member of the United Brethren Church, as was also his wife. Of their children two died in infancy, Addison and Floyd Adaline Bird died at the age of thirty-one and Dr. L. H. died at the age of forty-three years. Miss Mary resides in the Duck Creek District of Harrison County. Jane is the wife of M. J. Hall, of Freeman's Creek, Lewis County Virginia is the wife of R. H. Hall, of Weston, Lewis County. Miss Ida May resides at Janelew, Lewis County; E. A. is a resident of McConnelsville, Ohio. Adaline is the widow of Lee Mundell. L. B. is cashier of the Peoples Bank at Janelew, Lewis County.

He whose name introduces this review was reared on the home farm, and in addition to receiving the advantages, of the public schools of his native county he attended the West Virginia Conference Academy, the nucleus of the West Virginia Wesleyan College at Buckhannon. There. after he graduated in a business college in the City of Lexington, Kentucky. As a young man he taught nine winter terms of school, for three years he elerked in mer- cantile establishments, and the next five years found him engaged in farm enterprise. In April, 1903, he established his home at Buckhannon, and he has been closely and in- fluentially identified with the upbuilding of the substantial business of the wholesale grocery house of which he is the active manager, this position having been his since 1913. The company is incorporated with a capital stock of $150, 000 and he is its secretary and treasurer also. He is also

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president of the Buckhannon Milling Company, of which Hugh Starcher is vice president and George E. Gaston, the secretary, treasurer and manager. Mr. Gaston and his wife are most zealous members of the Methodist Protestant Church at Buekhannon, he being treasurer, a trustee of its parsonage and teacher of a class of young women iu its Sunday School. His political support is given to the demo- cratie party, and he is one of the progressive business men and representative citizens of Buckhannon.

Iu 1894 Mr. Gaston wedded Miss May Lawson, of Ber- lin, Lewis County, and they have six children: George E., a graduate of high school, and with three years in Wes- leyan College, is now manager of the Buckhannon Milling Company, as noted above; Howard L. is a high school graduate, has attended college three years, and is now at- tending Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, class of 1923; Loreene graduated in the Buckhannon High School and the West Virginia Wesleyan College, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and is also a graduate in the musical department of the same institution; Junior H. is now (1922) attending the Buckhannon High School; and the two younger children of the parental home circle are Law- son, attending the grade school, and Virginia May.

WILLIAM DENNIS MCCLUNG, M. D., who has practiced medicine and surgery a number of years in West Virginia, was in the public health service under the Government at the great war plant at Nitro, and came from there to his present important duties as superintendent of the Spencer State Hospital for the Insane in Roane County.

Doctor McClung was born at Rupert in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, April 17, 1876. The MeClungs are a family that came out of Ireland, seven brothers of the name arriv- ing in New York some time in Colonial days. The father of Doctor McClung was Joseph Edward McClung and the grandfather, Andrew C. McClung. Andrew C. McClung was born at Rupert in Greenbrier County in 1818, and after his marriage moved to Nicholas County, but in 1856 returned to Rupert, where he was prosperously engaged in farming until 1896. In that year he removed to Maywood in Fayette County, and died there in 1912. Though past military age, he furnished a substitute during the Civil war. Andrew C. McClung married Susan Sharp, who was born in Greenbrier County in 1821, and died at Rupert in 1884.

Joseph Edward MeClung was born near Mount Lookout in Nicholas County, July 7, 1848, but from early boyhood his home was at Rupert in Greenbrier County, where his time and abilities were taken up with his extensive farming inter- ests. He was a republican and a very active member of the Baptist Church. He had his home at Rupert, but his death occurred in the Charleston Hospital, March 9, 1921. Joseph E. MeClung married Catherine Haggerty, who was born in Nicholas County in 1847, and is still living at Rupert. She is the mother of three children. Dr. James is a physician and surgeon at Richwood in Nicholas County and is a former member of the State Senate. William Dennis is the second in age. Laura is the wife of Sidney Smith, a farmer at Rupert.

William Dennis MeClung acquired a public school educa- tion at Rupert. As a youth his inclinations were in the di- rection of the law, and for nearly three years he was a student in the law department of the West Virginia Uni- versity at Morgantown. In 1901 he was admitted to prac- tice in Greenbrier and Nicholas counties, and for two years he was busy with this profession at Lewisburg. Then, abandoning the law, he entered the Baltimore College of Physicians and Surgeons, from which he graduated M. D. in 1907. After his graduation Doctor McClung practiced medicine three years in Pocahontas County, and then for eight years was a physician and surgeon at Richwood. Early in the great war he passed an examination and was commissioned for duty in the public health service, and was assigned as assistant surgeon to the Government plant at Nitro, West Virginia, where he remained two years. For eighteen months he was also surgeon for the Charles- ton Industrial Corporation at Nitro. Doctor MeClung re- signed this work to become superintendent of the Spencer

State Hospital in July, 1921. He has had charge of the hospital since September 1, 1921.

He is a republican, and for two terms was mayor of Richwood. He is affiliated with Richwood Lodge No. 122, A. F. and A. M., is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, West Virginia Consistory No. 1 at Wheeling, and a member of Hinton Lodge No. 821, Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks. Doctor MeClung is a director and stockholder in the Citizens Bank of Richwood.

In 1912, at Baltimore, he married Miss Louese Kirby, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter V. Kirby, residents of Ellamore, Randolph County, West Virginia. Her father is a farmer.

FRANK CAMPBELL DUNHAM. One of the valued business men and highly respected citizens of Berkeley Springs, whose energies have resulted in the concentration of an important business at that point and whose name men- tioned in connection with an enterprise is sufficient guaranty of its solidity is Frank Campbell Dunham, office manager for the E. F. Millard Sand Works. During his residence at Berkeley Springs he has impressed his personality upon the people of this thriving community and has been identi- fied with a number of movements which have contributed to the general progress and welfare.

Mr. Dunham was born at Darkesville, Berkeley County, West Virginia, a son of Washington Taylor and Mary Kester (Pine) Dunham. Washington Taylor Dunham was born at Darkesville, and as a young man learned the trade of tailor. This was the period before the day of large factories, and Mr. Dunham's grandfather, Francis Campbell Dunham, established himself in business as a tailor at Darkesville, where the farmers from all over the surrounding country would bring him their homespun cloth, from which he would make the clothes for all the men in the family, including the slaves. Both he and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Henrietta Crout, lived to advanced age and were highly esteemed in their community, where they performed many deeds of kindness.

Washington Taylor Dunham assisted his father in his little shop at Darkesville, but was more inclined toward the shoemaker's trade, to which he served an apprenticeship prior to the invention of modern shoemaking machinery. Shoes were then all hand-made, the soles being attached to the upper by the means of wooden pegs, and all shoes, of course, were made to order. Mr. Dunham was a master of his trade, which he followed for many years, and lived to see shoemaking methods revolutionized and the skill of machinery succeed the skill of the old-time artisan, whose occupation, like Hamlet's, is gone. He is still a resident of Darkesville, where everyone holds him in good will and esteem, as they do also his worthy wife, Mary Kester (Pine) Dunham, who was born near Gerrardstown, Berkeley County, a daughter of John Pine. Mr. and Mrs. Dunham reared five children, namely: Daisy, Claude F., Frank . Campbell, J. Pine and Virginia M.

Frank C. Dunham attended the public schools of Darkes- ville, and upon completing his education began to work in the Crawford Woolen Mills of Martinsburg, remaining in the carding department for a period of nine years. He was then advanced to the post of shipping clerk for the same concern, but after three years resigned to embark in busi- ness on his own account at the Baker Quarry, where he remained in the mercantile trade three years. Coming then to Berkeley Springs, he established a general merchandise store at this place and conducted it successfully for five years, but eventually disposed of his interests therein to accept the post of office manager for the E. F. Millard Sand Works, a position which he still retains. He has con- tinued to contribute materially to the success of this con- cern, and his solid business connections are of such a nature as to materially assist him in the transaction of his every- day affairs.

Mr. Dunham was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Millard, who was born in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Edward F. and Sarah J. (Crook) Millard, a sketch of whose careers appears elsewhere in this volume.

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Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dunham: Everett Millard, Dorothy Virginia, Anna Jane, Frank Taylor and Robert L., of whom Dorothy Virginia died at the age of six years, the others all residing with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Dunham are members of the United Brethren Church, and Mr. Dunham belongs to Rev. George P. Hott's Bible Class. As a fraternalist he holds member- ship in Washington Lodge No. 1, Knights of Pythias, and as a skilled musician is the leader of the Berkeley Springs Brass Band. His acquaintance is wide and his friendships numerous.

EARL V. PARSONS. A lawyer by training and profession, Earl V. Parsous after receiving his honorable discharge from the army found it to his advantage to take up teaching instead of law practice, and for several years he has been a prominent figure in the educational affairs of Logan County. He is now district superintendent of schools at Logan.

Mr. Parsons was born June 13, 1886, in Parchman Valley, Jackson County, West Virginia. His ancestors were among the first settlers in the southwest corner of West Virginia. His parents, Austin L. and Clara E. (Dawkins) Parsons, were both natives of this state. His father was a farmer and cattleman, and one of the leading stock men of his day in this section of the country. Earl V. Parsons ac- quired a common school education in Parchman Valley, and by special study earned a teacher's certificate. For four years he taught school in Jackson County and in other districts in this section of the state. What he was able to earn and save from this work he applied to his higher educa- tion in Valparaiso University in Indiana, where he took both the pedagogical and law courses, graduating in 1915 with the degrees P. B. G. and LL. B. He was superinten- dent of city schools and principal of the high school two years of Matewan, Mingo County. He came to Logan County in 1917 as district superintendent of schools, with the intention to practice law later, but continued as district superintendent of schools until he was called to the colors. He was examined and in July, 1918, went to Camp Meade, where he remained eleven months. He had charge of a ward in the hospital all through the influenza epidemic. Mr. Parsons was discharged in May, 1919, and on returning to Logan he again accepted the position of district superin- tendent of schools of Logan District. This is one of the largest school districts in the state, and 186 teachers are under his supervision. While he is doing some very com- mendable work in the educational affairs of Logan County, Mr. Parsons intends eventually to get back into his regular profession as a lawyer.

On August 24, 1920, he married Miss Hazel Crigler, daughter of William F. and Saralı Crigler, natives of West Virginia. They have one son, William Earl. Mrs. Parsons is a Presbyterian, while Mr. Parsons is a Baptist and is a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner.

REV. WALLACE B. FLEMING, PH. D., president of the West Virginia Wesleyan College at Buckhannon, Upshur County, has a record of splendid achievement both in the ministry of the Methodist Church and in the field of edu- cational service. He was born at Cambridge, Ohio, Novem- ber 22, 1872, and is a son of William A. and Mary (Glenn) Fleming, the former of whom was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1840, and the latter at Sharon, Ohio, in 1841. The father was afforded the advantages of a well ordered academy in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania, and thereafter became a successful teacher in the public schools. He followed the pedagogic pro- fession in the State of Ohio for twenty-five years, and he and his wife now reside at Newark, Licking County, Ohio, where he retired from the office of county recorder in September, 1921, after having served in that office from the year 1917. He is a democrat in political allegiance, and at the time of the administration of Governor James E. Campbell he served as clerk of the State Senate of Ohio. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of their eight children six are living: Ida, a graduate of Muskingum College at

New Concord, Ohio, is now the wife of Prof. Paul Fin- frock, and they reside in the City of Houston, Texas; Miss Ella remains at the parental home; Clara is the wife of Dr. Walter G. Roller, of Lancaster, Ohio; Rev. Wallace B., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Ira David is sales manager for the George P. Ide Company, the great collar manufacturers at Troy, New York; and Wil- liam A. is an interested principal in a glass manufactur- ing company at Utica, Ohio.

Wallace B. Fleming gained his earlier education in the public schools at New Concord, Ohio, and after leaving the high school he there entered Muskingum College, in which he was graduated in 1894, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1897 he graduated from Drew Theological Seminary at Madison, New Jersey, from which institu- tion he received the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. He did post-graduate work at this institution and later in Columbia University, New York City, from which latter he received, in 1914, the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Upon his graduation in the theological seminary Doctor Fleming was duly ordained to the ministry of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church and became a member of the New- ark Conference of the church in the State of New Jersey, where he served as pastor of the Methodist Church at North Paterson from 1897 to 1899. From 1899 to 1904 he held an important pastoral charge at Bayonne, New Jersey, and his next pastorate was at Maplewood, that state, where he remained until 1911. Doctor Fleming then returned to his alma mater, Drew Theological Seminary, where he served as assistant professor of Greek and Hebrew until 1915, when he came to Buckhannon, West Virginia, and assumed the presidency of the West Virginia Wesleyan College, his vigorous administration having involved effec- tive employment of his fine scholarship and also his dis- criminating executive ability, with the result that the work of the institution has been signally advanced under his regime. Doctor Fleming has written much along edu- cational and religious lines, and is the author of a valuable work entitled "The History of Tyre." He is a republican in politics, and is affiliated with the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery of the Masonic fraternity in his home city. He is a liberal and broad-minded citizen who takes loyal interest in community affairs and who is well fortified in his convictions concerning economic and governmental policies.

On April 8, 1897, was solemnized the marriage of Doc- tor Fleming and Miss Bertha G. Baldwin, and they have two children: Paul, who was born April 3, 1898, graduated in West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1920, with the de- gree of Bachelor of Arts, and is now teacher of science in the high school at Montgomery, this state; Bertha Jane, who was born September 29, 1905, has profited by the ad- vantages offered in the academy connected with the West Virginia Wesleyan College, and she remains at the parental home, a popular figure in the social and church life of the community.

HARRY C. LINTON, who maintains his residence and ex- ecutive headquarters in the City of Buckhannon, Upshur County, is superintendent of the Moore-Kappel Company, which is engaged in the manufacturing of lumber on Mid- dle Fork at Midvale, Randolph County, this being one of the important industrial concerns of this section of the state.

Mr. Linton was born in Randolph County, on the 14th of January, 1883, and is a son of John and Mary (Shaw) Linton, the former of whom was born in the State of Pennsylvania, in 1855, and the latter of whom was born in Marion County, West Virginia, in 1859. John Linton has been consecutively identified with farm enterprise from the time of his marriage and is one of the substantial and honored citizens of Randolph County, his political allegiance being given to the republican party and he and his wife being active members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. Of the four children the eldest is Hattie, who is the wife of Mond Davis; Floyd is employed in a factory at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Harry C., of this

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sketch, was the next in order of birth; and Daisy is the widow of Robert Wakefield.

Harry C. Linton gained his youthful education in the public schools and remained on the home farm until he bad attained to his legal majority. He has gained broad and comprehensive knowledge of the lumber industry, and by bis ability and effective service has risen to his pres- ent responsible position in connection therewith. He has applied himself vigorously to business, and thus has had neither time nor desire for political activity or public of- fice, though he accords loyal allegiance to the republican party. His wife is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

On the 11th of September, 1905, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Linton and Miss Dail Koon, who was born in Upshur County, August 25, 1886, a daughter of J. K. P. and Sarah (Grim) Koon. Her father likewise was born in Upshur County, where his education included a course in a business college. He became one of the progressive exponents of agricultural and live-stock enterprise in his native county, where he owned and operated a large farm, and he was a bank stockholder and had other interests that marked him as one of the substantial men of the county. He was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was a stanch republican, and was one of the honored citizens of Upshur County at the time of his death, which occurred in 1906, his widow being still a resident of this county. They became the parents of eight children : Lela, Blaine, Maude, Dail, Goff, Stacy, Cataline and Harry.

Mr. and Mrs. Linton have three children, whose names and respective dates of birth are here recorded: Mabel, November 27, 1912; Pauline, May 6, 1916; and Helen L., December 9, 1919.

During the period of his active and constantly advane- ing business career Mr. Linton has manifested a sense of loyal stewardship in civic affairs, and he takes lively in- terest in all that concerns the well being and progress of his home city and county, the while his fealty to his native state is marked by full appreciation of its mani- fold attractions and advantages. He and his wife have a wide circle of friends and are popular in the social jetivities of their home community.

ALBERT G. RUTHERFORD, M. D., the able and efficient superintendent of Welch Hospital No. 1, in the City of Welch, McDowell County, was appointed to this respon- sible position on the 1st of July, 1921, and is giving in administration that attests to his professional ability and also his executive powers. In that part of Logan County, West Virginia, that later became Mingo County, Doctor Rutherford was born on the 25th of May, 1877, 1 son of Lewis and Arminta (Ferrell) Rutherford, and grandson of Dr. Elliott Rutherford, who was gradu- ited in the Cincinnati (Ohio) Medical College and who for many years was a leading physician and surgeon at Matewan, now in Mingo County, where he died at the venerable age of eighty-five years, a noble and honored citi- zen who had devoted his life to the service of his fellow men. He was born at Guyandotte, Cabell County, Vir- ginia (now West Virginia), where his father, a native of Scotland, settled in the pioneer days. Doctor Rutherford gained more than local reputation in his profession and gave effective service as a member of the State Board of Health, besides which he represented his district in the State Legislature. He was one of the prominent and in- Quential citizens of the Tug River Valley, and served as a surgeon with the Confederate forces in the Civil war. Lewis Rutherford became one of the representative farmers and timber dealers of what is now Mingo County and was also the owner of 2,300 acres of coal land. He owned and operated a sawmill on Sprouse Creek, and sent many rafts of logs down to Tug and Big Sandy rivers. He was a signally vital and discriminating business man and was suc- cessful in his various operations, his home having been five miles west of Matewan. He was a democrat, and both he and his wife were earnest members of the Baptist Church.

He was sixty-one years of age at the time of his death, and his wife passed away at the age of fifty-two years. They became the parents of eight sons, and of the number Doctor Rutherford of this sketch was the second in order of birth. One of the sons, Dr. Lafayette Rutherford, is engaged in the practice of medicine at Sapulpa, Oklahoma, and is president of two or more banking institutions in that state, he being a graduate of the University of Louisville, Ken- tucky. Dr. Grover Rutherford, another of the sons, was graduated in the dental department of the University of Louisville and engaged in the practice of his profession at Muskogee, Oklahoma. He died in Muskogee on October 3, 1919.

Dr. Albert G. Rutherford is indebted to the public schools of his native county for his early education, and in 1897 he was graduated in Marshall College at Huntington. At Matewan he taught the first graded school in Mingo County, and through his successful work as a teacher during a period of four years he earned the funds to defray the expenses of his course in the medical department of the University of Tennessee at Nashville, in which he was grad- uated as a member of the class of 1900. After thus oh- taining his degree of Doctor of Medicine be took a post- graduate course in surgery in the celebrated New York Polyclinic in 1905, and in 1910 he did post-graduate work in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. Since that time he has taken special post-graduate work each successive year, and has availed himself of the ad- vantages of leading medical colleges and hospital clinics in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York City.

In 1900, shortly after his graduation, Doctor Ruther- ford engaged in the general practice of bis profession at Williamson, judicial center of Mingo County, where he re- mained two years. He then removed to Thacker, that county, where he became official physician and surgeon for the Thacker Coal & Coke Company and the Thacker Coal Mining Company, besides serving as local surgeon for the Norfolk & Western Railroad. In these connections he had charge in a professional way of the service at eight or more different coal mines, besides which he served twelve years as health officer of Mingo County and as president of the Board of Health of that county. At the time when he assumed his present office at Welch he was president of the Mingo County Medical Society, and he has been made an honorary member of the McDowell County Medical Society. He is actively identified also with the West Virginia State Medical Society, the Southern Gynecological Society, the American Medical Association and the American Railroad Surgeons Association. In the period of the nation's partici- pation in the World war Doctor Rutherford served as medical examiner of the Draft Board of Mingo County. The Doctor is a director of the Commercial National Bank of Williamson, of which he was one of the organizers. He is a stalwart republican and he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Doctor Rutherford is a past master of O'Brien Lodge No. 101, A. F. and A. M., at Williamson, where he is affiliated also with the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, his chivalrie affiliation being with Ivanhoe Commandery No. 10, Knights Templars, at Bramwell, Mercer County, and his Scottish Rite affiliations being maintained at Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a member of the Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Charles- ton, the Lodge of Elks at Bluefield and Ferrell Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Thacker, of which he is a past noble grand.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 142

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