History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 156

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William E. Mohler was educated in Augusta and Rocking- ham counties, and was trained to the lumber business under his father. He started in that line for himself at Alder- son in Monroe County, West Virginia, and in 1882 moved to St. Albans, where he established a milling plant, drawing large quantities of raw material from Boone, Logan and other adjoining counties. In 1882 William E. Mohler witlı his father and brothers built the Mohler Lumber Company's mill at Lock Seven in Kanawha County. This is still the leading industry in that section of the county and the com- pany has main offices at Charleston, Mr. Mohler being president of the company. He still retains his residence at St. Albans, is vice president of the Bank of St. Albans,

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a director in the Kanawha National Bank of Charleston, and is a director in the Virginian Joint Stock Land Bank, the West Virginia Mortgage & Discount Company, the George Washington Life Insurance Company, and the Capital City Supply Company, of Charleston. He is also president of the St. Albans Building Company, and is an extensive real estate owner in and around St. Albans. Wil- liam E. Moller bas served as councilman of his home town, is a republican, and an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He married Jeunie A. Reeves, of Augusta County, who died at St. Albans April 8, 1905. On May 14, 1908, he married Mary E. Alexander.

Daniel N. Mohler, a son of William E. and Jennie A. (Reeves) Mohler, was born at St. Albans in 1892. He was thoroughly educated for a professional career. He attended the Fishburn Military Academy at Wayneshoro, Pennsyl- vania, Washington and Lee University of Virginia, and took his law course in the University of West Virginia, from which he graduated LL. B. in 1915. In the same year he established his office at Charleston and is now a member of the law firm Morton & Mohler, one of the busiest firms in the capital city. The senior member is Mr. R. Kemp Morton.

After America entered the war with Germany, Daniel N. Mohler enlisted as a private in the United States Marines. He was with that famous organization about a year and a half, most of the time at Paris Island, South Carolina, and from the ranks was promoted to second lieutenant. He is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner. Daniel N. Mohler married Miss Barbara Byrne, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. E. R. Byrne, of Charleston.

CARL E. WILLIAMSON is vice president and general man- ager and founder of the Williamson Paint Manufacturing Company of Charleston. This is a corporation and industry whose business has already added to the great volume of commerce in the capital city.

Mr. Williamson is a native of Meigs County, Ohio, but all his business life has been spent in West Virginia. For fifteen years he was representative in this state of the Barrett corporation, manufacturers of roofing and roofing materials. Mr. Williamson covered the state as represent- ative of the Pittsburgh branch of the house. One of the widely known and exceedingly popular traveling men of West Virginia, Carl E. Williamson has for years heen a welcome visitor in the various cities and towns. His long record of honorable dealing with his trade has been of great service to him in establishing and carrying on a manufacturing business of his own.

The Williamson Paint Manufacturing Company opened its plant and hegan the manufacture of paint in September, 1920. From the beginning it has enjoyed a large and suc- cessful business. It specializes in two brands of paint, "Leak Not,"' an ashestos fiber roof paint, and the other "Rust Not," a black metal paint. These paints are manufactured in a well equipped factory on Watts Street and the Kanawha & Michigan Railroad, the raw materials being brought in tank cars, and the plant has a capacity of 4,000 gallons per day. The president of the com- pany is Hon. A. A. Lilly, former attorney-general of West Virginia and one of the state's most prominent citizens.

Mr. Williamson has always taken an active interest in political affairs, and during his residence in Ravens- wood, West Virginia, from which place he removed his home to Charleston in 1920, he served four consecutive terms as a member of the town council. He married Miss Georgia M. Bryan, of Ravenswood, and to them have been born a son and two daughters. Mr. Williamson is a member of the order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias, and of the Presbyterian Church.

BENJAMIN B. WILSON. For a man of his years Benjamin B. Wilson has had an unusual series of responsibilities in the coal mining industry. He comes of a family of miners and coal operators, and has had personal experience in nearly every branch of the industry. He is now superintendent of

the C. J. H. Coal Company at Peach Creek in Logan County. This mine was opened recently, and all its modern equip- ment was installed under his supervision.

Mr. Wilson was born on a farm at Covington in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, December 11, 1884, son of Thomas and Jennet (Clendening) Wilson. His father was born in the North of Ireland, and was two years of age when brought to the United States. The mother was born in Scotland, and was a young girl when her people came here. She is now living, at the age of seventy-eight, at Logan, West Virginia. Thomas Wilson, who died in Pennsylvania in 1894, at the age of sixty-eight, was at that time a resident of Clearfield County. He was a farmer, was a miner and mine superintendent, and inherited that voca- tion from his father before him. Thomas Wilson was a Federal soldier in the famous Bucktail Regiment of Penn- sylvania, and served three years, rising to the rank of lieutenant. He was in several of the Virginia campaigns, and also at the battle of Gettysburg, and was twice wounded. He voted as a republican, was a member of the Presby- terian Church, and was affiliated with the Masonic Order, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias. Thomas Wilson had a family of seventeen children, five of whom are still living: H. T., president of the H. T. Wilson Coal Company, with mines near Logan, and he was a pioneer in the coal industry in this section of the state, being first interested at Dingess in Mingo County. His home is in Cleveland. Ella Wilson is the wife of Andrew Mitchell, a mine foreman for the Wilson Coal Company. Mary is the wife of Arthur Evans; a miner and farmer at Glenrichey, Pennsylvania. Thomas, the youngest of the family, is sales agent for the Wilson Coal Company at Detroit.

Benjamin B. Wilson attended school in Tioga County and also the Mansfield High School. He completed bis educa- tion at the age of seventeen, and at the age of eighteen became a mule driver in a Pennsylvania mine. In 1901 he came to H. T. Wilson's operation known as the Camp Branch Coal Company at Dingess. While there he kept store and was general utility man for three years. He then returned to the mines in Pennsylvania, but a year later reached Logan County, West Virginia, as mine foreman for the Draper Coal Company. He held that position five years, and for two years was mine foreman and six years superintendent for the H. T. Wilson Coal Company. His next work was as superintendent of mines numbered 7, 9. 14 and 15 for the Main Island Creek Coal Company at Omar. He left that work just seven months before opening the C. J. H. Mine. That seven months he spent in the business of writing in- surance for the West Virginia and Kentucky Insurance Company.

In 1910 he married Julia McDonald, daughter of Bryant McDonald, a pioneer family in the Guyandotte Valley. She was born near the mine location of the C. J. H. Coal Com- pany, at the mouth of Peach Creek. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have two children, Thomas and Francis. Mrs. Wilson is a member of the Baptist Church. He is a Master Mason and an Elk.

BOYD B. STUTLER was born July 10, 1889, near Coxs Mills, Gilmer County, West Virginia, the son of Daniel E. and Emily B. Stutler, and was reared to manhood in Grants- ville, Calhoun County, to which point he moved with his parents in 1897.

Mr. Stutler is a practical printer and newspaper man. He acquired his first experience in this profession when he entered the office of the Calhoun Signal at Grantsville in 1900. Later he purchased the Grantsville News, and from July 1, 1907, to September 1, 1917, was editor and manager of that publication. During that period he was mayor of Grantsville, 1911-12, and president of the Board of Educa- tion of Grantsville independent district, 1915-16.

Mr. Stutler entered the army as a private for service in the World war, and was honorably discharged as a sergeant with the successful termination of hostilities. He served with Battery A and Headquarters Company, Three Hundred and Fourteenth Field Artillery, Eightieth Division, from Sep- tember 4, 1917, to June 7, 1919, serving with the American

Justmeinel.

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Expeditionary Forces in France from May 26, 1918, until May 28, 1919, participating in the St. Mihiel and Meuse- Argonne offensives.

Mr. Stutler married Miss Catheolene M. Huffman on No- 'ember 26, 1911, and they have two sons, William Morris, born in 1914, and Warren Harding, born in 1920. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

WILLIAM HORACE MERRILL is vice president and general manager of the West Virginia Sand & Gravel Company of Charleston, and for a number of years has figured as one f the leaders in an industry vitally connected with the onstructive enterprise and solid development of the state. Ir. Merrill was introduced to this industry as worker in a tone quarry at Limeville, Kentucky. Failing health had rought orders from his physician to take up outdoor manual york, and this was the work that he chose or which fur- ished the best opportunity at the time. Mr. Merrill was orn in Greenup County, Kentucky, was reared and educated here, and had taught school for four years before he went o work in the stone quarry. After considerable experience nd learning much of the business he became one of the rganizers and the manager of the Wilson Ballast Company f Limeville, Subsequently he was with the Basic Products Company of Peebles, Ohio.

Mr. Merrill came to West Virginia in 1913, and at Hunt- ngton was associated with the Wilson Sand & Supply Com- any. In 1917 he and business associates took the contract or furnishing all the sand and gravel used in the construc- ion of the great Government munitions plant at Nitro. 'his was the contract which brought him to Charleston, ad in carrying out that contract he was engaged in an ssential war service. In the meantime, becoming impressed ith the solid and substantial character of Charlestou and onvinced of its continued growth and development, Mr. Merrill chose to remain in the city, and he organized and ecame president of the West Virginia Sand & Gravel Com- any, which in March, 1919, took over the business and be- ame the successor of the Gates Sand & Gravel Company.

The West Virginia Sand & Gravel Company under Mr. Terrill's energetic management has achieved a noteworthy nd conspicuous success. The business has grown with un- recedented rapidity, much beyond estimates originally made by Mr. Merrill for the extension. The company has he utmost facilities and resources for supplying the sand nd gravel used in all sorts of concrete construction, and Il branches of paving and municipal or public works. The ain plant on the Elk River, at the foot of Glenn Street, as every piece of machinery and equipment for economical ad expeditious handling of material. The company has bout $200,000 worth of river equipment alone, including w boats, barges, dredges and pumping machinery. A reat tonnage manufactured by the company goes to distant oints both by river and rail facilities. For local delivery in harleston there is a motor truck equipment. The consistent nd continued growth of building in Charleston has figured urgely in the unusual prosperity and expansion of the usiness. Mr. Merrill is a member of the Charleston hamber of Commerce, and is a member of the Kiwanis lub, president of the Ohio Valley Sand & Gravel Associa- on, and is also a thoroughly publie spirited citizen.

Mr. Merrill was married to Miss Susan V. Biggs, of ravenstein Place, Kentucky, in 1905. He has one daugh- r, Mariana Merrill, aged eight years.

O. J. MORRISON. The individual who fouuds and develops n immense business enterprise must of necessity possess ualities and characteristics of an unusual nature. Com- ined with the mind to plan must be the ability to execute nd the foresight to grasp opportunities conditions produce. ontemporary history gives the names and records of a num- er of men who have worked out worth while successes rough the possession of just such an equipment, but erhaps there is no more striking case of what a man may complish than the career of O. J. Morrison, proprietor the O. J. Morrison Department Store Company of Charles-

ton, with branch houses in various other communities of West Virginia.

Mr. Morrison was born on a farm near Ripley, Jackson County, West Virginia, March 10, 1869, and is a son of Mr. and Mrs. G. P. Morrison, honorable agricultural people of that community. He received a country school educa- tion and was reared to farming, but did not take kindly to the pursuits of the soil and accordingly turned his at- tention to teaching school. This vocation held him only two years, for the commercial instinct was strong in him and he finally bought a small stock of goods and a horse aud wagon and began peddling his wares over the hills of Jackson County, exchanging groceries and calico with the farmers for their produce He was honorable in his deal- ings and honest in his representation, soon gained the im- plicit confidence of his customers and eventually accum- ulated sufficient capital with which to establish a modest store at Kenna, a little village located on the Charleston- Parkersburg Turnpike. The possession of this store, small though it was, gave Mr. Morrison added incentive, and he worked all the more faithfully and industriously, with the result that soon his business outgrew his establishment, and he moved to Ripley, the county seat of Jackson County, where he really began the first of the string of stores that have made his name a household word in this part of the state. It was while at Ripley that Mr. Morrison coined the motto: "Make a dollar worth a dollar," and this he has used consistently ever since. The Ripley store now consists of two stories and a basement, 40 by 125 feet, and is under the management of J. E. Keenan. Later Mr. Morrison founded another store, at Spencer, where he now has an establishment of two stories and a basement, 40 by 150 feet, under the management of W. B. Reed. Later a busi- ness was also established at Clendenin. In 1910 Mr. Mor- rison decided to invade Charleston, where the people soon recognized the fact that he was doing a large business be- cause of the fairness of his dealing and the quality of his goods, together with the astonishingly low prices at which they were offered. In 1914 he established a store at Hunt- ington, where he now has one of the biggest retail houses of the city, four stories and basement, 45 by 200 feet, under the management of I. C. Prickett. In 1919 another store was taken over, at Clarksburg, where he now has a structure of two stories and basement, 50 by 190 feet, man- aged by E. G. Morrison.

Mr. Morrison's Charleston store was visited by a dis- astrous fire October 29, 1920, when thousands of dollars worth of merchandise was destroyed and the building was wrecked. There were those who predicted that Mr. Mor- rison's mercantile career in this city at least was at an end, but a few days later work was commenced in dis- mantling the old Burlew Opera House, on Capitol Street, iu the place of which was erected a modern structure five stories and basement, 65 by 165 feet, this now being under Mr. Morrison's personal supervision. In all the stores there is represented an outlay of $800,000 capital. There are 300 employes, and the annual gross sales approximate $2,000,000. Mr. Morrison entered upon his career with little or nothing save his self-confidence, his ambition and his willingness to work hard and economize. Nothing was too difficult for him, no labor too exhausting, and when he earned a little money he put it back into his business. In this way he has lived to see that business grow to propor- tions which utterly exceeded his fondest dreams of earlier days, and the end is not yet. He has several other busi- ness connections, and is a director in the Charleston Build- ing and Loan Association. His religious connection is with the United Brethren Church, but he is not interested in fraternal matters.

In 1895 Mr. Morrison was united in marriage with Miss Cora A. Harpold, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. W. Har- pold, farming people of Jackson County, West Virginia, and they have five children: Freda, Fay, Johnson O., Carl H. and Charles W.

JOHN BRITTON, chief of the Charleston Police Depart- ment, is a marked proof of the value and necessity of long practical training for the higher officials of the city

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government. He has won advancement to the head of his department because of his courage as an officer and his ex- ecutive talents, and his courteous and pleasing personality. Chief Britton was born at Warren, Pennsylvania, in 1883, and is a son of Alfred and Sarah E. (Freeman) Britton.

Alfred Britton was born in Quebec, Canada, and as a youth learned the painting trade, which he followed prin- cipally in furniture factories as foreman of inside paint- ing. For some years he was employed in furniture fac- tories at Grand Rapids, Michigan, but in 1895 came to Charleston to assume the management of the Ohio Valley Furniture Company's factory, owned by George Fullerton, of Gallipolis, Ohio, at that time the leading industry of the city, with from 300 to 400 employes. After managing this enterprise for seventeen years Mr. Britton retired and lived quietly until his death in May, 1918, when he was seventy- one years of age. His first wife, Sarah Freeman, died when her son John was but three years of age, and Mr. Britton later married Mary E. Edwards, of Pennsylvania, who sur- vives him, as a resident of Charleston.

John Britton secured a public school education and as a young man learned the trade of inside painting with his father, under whom he worked in various factories. Event- ually he purchased the Great Southern Hotel, on Kanawha Street, in 1912, and conducted it for two years, when he be- eame president of the Kanawha Taxicab Company, operating a line of ten taxis. He remained in this capacity, and then, under Mayor Breece, because assistant street commis- sioner. Later he was a plain clothes man on the police force, subsequently became a patrolman under Chief A. I. Me- Cown, and was later promoted captain of police, a capa- city in which he served during the remainder of the ad- ministration. When he left the force temporarily he be- came chief for the Rollins Chemical Company of South Charleston, with twenty-four men under his supervision, Jur- ing the war period. Leaving this concern, he went to Nitro, about ten miles from Charleston, on the Kanawha River, where the United States Government was operating an am- munition plant, and under Major Baer, in charge of the organization of the police department at that place, was made a lieutenant on the force, which consisted of ahout 400 men. He was later transferred to Cabin Creek, where he acted as captain until the signing of the armistice, and then went back to the Rollins Chemical Company as chief. In May, 1919, when Grant P. Hall became mayor of Charles- ton, he was called back to this city as captain of police, and continued in that capacity until February, 1920, when he hecame chief of the Nitro Police Department, with a force of eighty-men. On August 27, 1921, he was recalled to Charleston to hecome chief of the police department, which has sixty officers and thirty patrolmen. Chief. Britton has placed the department on a well-trained, efficient basis, and has been tireless in his efforts to preserve law and order. He has continually strengthened his reputation as a fine disciplinarian, and upon the occasion of unusual disturbance of the public peace and in the unraveling of several noto- rions erime problems his coolness and bravery and his skill as a detective have stood him in good stead. A man of splendid physique, he possesses also a pleasing personality that commands respect and holds warm friendships.

Chief Britton married Lillie B. Canterbury, and they have two sons: Basil and Giles Polly.

WILLIAM E. WRIGHT. There are, unquestionably, in- dividuals of natural force found in every prosperous city who, by reason of their inherent ability, by the use of their brains and the soundness of their judgment, attain dis- tinction and acquire authority. They are men who in- dustriously work for an end, and in helping them- selves add to the sum of comfort and happiness for all about them. These resourceful men are the depend- ence of the whole social fabric, for their efforts not only bring into being the substantial industries that support commerce, but conduet them along the safe and sane chan- nels which assure publie prosperity and general content- ment. In the class referred to is found William E. Wright, of Charleston, president of the Indian Run Coal Company and of the Indian Run Collieries Company.

Mr. Wright was born March 23, 1878, at Fayetteville. West Virginia, where he received a public school education and when little more than a lad commenced his experience with coal concerns. He was first employed by the Winifrede Coal Company, and later by the Kanawha and Hocking Coal and Coke Company, and then became identified with the organization of the Indian Run Coal Company, a sell ing organization, and the Indian Run Collieries Company with mines on Armstrong Creek, Fayette County, producing the best high-grade steam and gas coal. This company has five different tipples working on 7,600 acres of land, its production being 750,000 tons annually. The company is now about two years old, having taken over this property from the Black Betsey Coal Company, which had operated on Armstrong Creek for twenty years, and the Elkhorn- Piney Coal Company, located on the same creek. The Indiar Run Coal Company and the Indian Run Collieries Company were organized by Mr. Wright aud S. G. Smith, who are the principal owners, the latter being the treasurer of both com. panies, with F. O. Harris, of Cannelton, West Virginia, act. ing as general manager. The capital is $1,000,000. For twelve years the Indian Run Coal Company has handled the output of various Kanawha and New River coal com. panies, as also that of the Indian Run Collieries Company. The entire output thus handled amounts to approximately 2,500,000 tons annually. The Armstrong Creek coal is the best by-product coal in the United States, and the Pow. wellton seam is found only on Armstrong and Paint creeks and on Morris Creek.

Mr. Wright has maintained his office at Charleston foi the past twelve years, and enjoys an excellent reputation among business men of his city. He has various other in. terests and is a stockholder in a number of banks and other concerns, and as a citizen is notably public-spirited, being. a friend and supporter of all movements which promise to advance the public welfare. In polities he is a republican. and his religious connection is with the First Methodist; Episcopal Church. He likewise is affiliated with several fraternal orders and is a member of the Rotary Chih

In 1905 Mr. Wright was united in marriage with Miss Flossie M. Henley, of St. Albans, West Virginia, daughter of the late Capt. C. W. Henley, of that place, a well-known and highly respected citizen of his community. Four chil- dren have been born to this union: Charles Ermen, Paul HIenley, William E. and Frances Josephine, the first two of whom are attending the Charleston High School.

JOHN W. LEE, president of the John Lee Shoe Company. is one of Charleston's most successful business men. His success is the culmination of years of experience and effort from a humble beginning. His work has brought him the confidence and esteem of associates who are themselves among Charleston's most substantial citizens, and he is a factor in several going concerns besides the shoe con- pany.

Mr. Lee went to work when a boy as a bundle carrier with the firm of Rand & Gosharn. In 1896 he went with the May Shoe Company as a salesman, was subsequently advanced to buyer, and was with that company fifteen years. Then, in company with R. L. Walker and W. B. Geary, he started the Diamond Shoe Store, which subsequently was incorporated and became the Diamond Shoe & Garment Company. In March, 1919, having disposed of his interest in this, Mr. Lee resumed an active connection with the shoe business, and in February, 1920, incorporated the John Lee Shoe Company, of which he is president and general manager. He has had a good business from the start, and in three years time his trade has increased to a volume of $250,000. He does an exclusive retail business, and an important feature of it is the mail order department. He keeps twelve employes, has recently opened a hargain base- ment and has one of the choicest locations for his store in the city. The company contracts for all its stock direct with the manufacturers, and all footwear is sold under the name and guarantee of the John Lee Shoe Company.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 156

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