History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 19

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George William MeCauley spent his boyhood in general work around the home place, in the mill and at the store. Fishing and frog-hunting constituted a part of his boyhood iliversions, and his first educational training was gained in the four-month schools of his period, that being the length of the winter term. By the time he was seventeen years of age he had gained sufficient education to teach, acquired a certificate, and obtained a school in the country, near Me- Cauley. During 1887 and 1888 he attended the Shenandoah Normal College, Virginia, in the meantime continuing to teach for six years in the counties of Hardy, Hampshire and Grant, as the possessor of a No. 1 certificate. He taught his last term in Grant and Hampshire counties, teaching a four-month term in each in the same year, and aban- doned the schoolroom as a teacher in 1891.

At that time Mr. MeCauley secured a position as mana- ger of the Alliance Store at Rio, Hampshire County, and there continued for three years. During this time he con- ceived the idea of studying law and began reading Black- stone. In June, 1894, he gave up his position at the store, and in the fall of the same year went to Morgantown, where he took a course in law at West Virginia University, taking a two-year course in one and graduating as a mem- her of the class of June, 1895. During his college days Mr. McCauley was a member of the Parthenon Literary Society, and participated in the debates and literary work of the weekly programs of the society. Returning to his home at McCauley he spent two or three months, but in

August, 1895, came to Moorefield to engage in the practice of his profession. At that time the young lawyer was with- out a library, funds or any other asset save his right to prac- tice, his knowledge of the law and his keen determination to win. It was then that he found a generous friend in the old lawyer of the town, Mr. Carr, who fathered him and allowed him to share his office with him for a time. It was thus he passed through the probationary stage, get- ting into practice slowly but surely, and finally gaining a reputation as a pleader that secured him publie confidence. He was urged to become a candidate for the office of prose- cuting attorney in 1896, against one of the old lawyers of the county and the then incumbent of the office. He yielded to the urging and won the election, succeeding Benjamin Dailey, and subsequently held the office for three terms, or twelve years, after which he declined to be a candidate. The condition of society during that time seems to have been healthful as far as crime was concerned, and there was no difficulty in convicting those who broke the liquor laws. Only two murders were committed during the period, and both slayers were sent to the penitentiary.

Retiring from the office of prosecuting attorney, Mr. Me- Cauley resumed the private practice of law, but, it seemed, was not destined to keep out of public office, for in 1911 he was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates and served under Speaker Wetzel in a democratic House. He was made chairman of the committee on federal relations and a member of the judiciary committee. Among his la- bors during that term was the introduction of a bill pro- viding for a tax on oil and gas, which he succeeded in passing through the House, although it failed of passage in the Senate. He was re-elected for the terms of 1913-15, during which both Houses were republican, and Mr. Me- Cauley took part on the floor of the House in the legislative matters proposed. He was a member of the judiciary com- mittee. In 1917 he declined to be a candidate, but, at the request of Governor Cornwell, ran for another term in 1919 and served in the House that winter. He felt that he had acquired all the honors possible as a member of that body after being given the nomination for the speakership by his party and being made minority leader of the House, and would not seek the place again voluntarily, but was urged so strongly that he finally consented and was elected in 1920, being made the minority leader of the democratic party in the House in 1921. He was in the minority all through his legislation service and could do no more than speak on the floor of the House and in the committee rooms. Mr. MeCauley was a modest officer of the Democratic Na- tional Convention at Baltimore and witnessed the bringing about of the nomination of President Wilson. Convention work at home has not been followed up closely by him as a delegate, although he helped to nominate Judge Brown for Congress and saw him elected to that body from the Second District.

Mr. McCauley continues to be engaged in the practice of his profession and is attorney for the Baltimore & Ohio Railway Company, the Winchester & Western Rail- road Company, the South Fork Lumber Company, the Win- chester Lumber Corporation and Moore, Keppel & Company, large lumber concerns of Hardy County, and the South Branch National Bank, of which he is vice president and a member of the board of directors. During the World war he was a member of the Hardy County Draft Board. In 1897 Mr. McCauley united with the Southern Presby- terian Church at Moorefield, and after serving several years as a deacon was advanced to an eldership in the church, which he still retains. He has represented the Moorefield congregation in Winchester Presbytery several times, aud was its commissioner in the General Assembly at Atlanta, Georgia, in 1913, and that at Durant, Oklahoma, in 1918.

On March 23, 1898, Mr. McCauley married at Washington, D. C., Miss Eleanor Clements, of the national capital, who was born and reared at Georgetown, D. C., and was edu- cated in the Catholic convent at Frederick City, Maryland. She was a daughter of William Delesdernier and Eleanor (O'Donnoghue) Clements. For a number of years prior to her death, which occurred December 8, 1920, Mrs. Mc- Cauley was unable to take part in community affairs as car-

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

ried on by the ladies of Moorefield because of physical dis- ability, but remained loyal to the Catholic Church, the faith of her parents. Mr. and Mrs. McCauley had one son: William Delesdernier, born July 3, 1900, who is a student of law at West Virginia University, in which he was for- merly an S. A. T. C. student.

WALTER LEE JOHNSTON, M. D., is established in the suc- cessful general practice of his profession in the thriving industrial City of McDowell, in the county of the same name. In addition to his specifically private practice as a physician and surgeon he is retained as official physician of the Roanoke Coal & Coke Company, the Arlington Coal & Coke Company, the Gilliam Coal Company and the Indian Ridge Coal & Coke Company. His practice is now of such broad scope that he has Doctor Steel as his assistant, and where patients require hospital service he has recourse to the Miners' State Hospital No. 1 at Welch, the Bluefield Sani- tarium and St. Luke's Hospital at Bluefield. The doctor shows a fine sense of stewardship in his profession and maintains affiliation with the McDowell County Medical Society, the West Virginia State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.

Doctor Johnston was born at Princeton, Mercer County, West Virginia, April 27, 1872, and is a son of James Ed- ward and Ellen Elizabeth (Wall) Johnston, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter in what is now West Virginia. James E. Johnston, a farmer by vocation, served as a loyal soldier of the Confederacy during the Civil war. He was a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of which his wife likewise was a devoted member. The lineage of the Johnston family traces back to Scotch and Irish sources, and its first American repre- sentatives settled in Virginia in the Colonial period of our national history.

The public schools of his native county afforded Doctor Johnston his early education, and he was a lad of sixteen years at the time of his father's death. After completing his studies in the Princeton schools he was a student in the State Normal School at Athens until 1888, and for three years thereafter he was a clerk in a general store at Oak- vale. He carefully conserved his earnings and utilized his savings in defraying the expenses of his professional educa- tion. He entered the College of Medicine of the University of Virginia, this department being in the City of Richmond, and there he was graduated as a member of the class of 1899 and with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He has made McDowell the central stage of his professional service from the time of his graduation, and has gained high stand- ing as an able and resourceful physician and surgeon and as a broad-minded and progressive citizen.

December 26, 1901, recorded the marriage of Doctor Johnston and Miss Nellie F. Keating, daughter of John J. and Ann (Canfield) Keating, both natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Keating reside at Eckman, West Virginia, and he is successfully engaged in the wholesale grocery business. Doctor and Mrs. Johnston are communicants of the Catholic Church and in politics he is a stanch democrat. The only child, Walter Broughton Johnston, is, in 1922, a student in the high school at North Fork.

HARRY A. HENTHORN is secretary for Morris Watts and shipping agent for the Pocahontas Coal Sales Company in the coal business, with headquarters at Gilliam, McDowell County, and is one of the vital and popular young men here concerned with business enterprise.

Mr. Henthorn was born at Toronto, Jefferson County, Ohio, March 25, 1893, and is a son of Jesse and Mary (Allen) Henthorn, both likewise natives of the old Buckeye State, where the father has long been successfully engaged in road and bridge construction work as a contractor.

After attending the public schools of Monroe County, Ohio, Harry A. Henthorn continued his studies in a normal school in the same county. For three years thereafter he was a successful teacher in the schools of Monroe County, and he then came to Wheeling, West Virginia, and entered the Elliott Commercial College, in which he completed a thorough course, which included stenography, typewriting

and general commercial instruction, besides which he took a secretarial course, his graduation having occurred in 1914. After leaving this institution he became pay-roll clerk for the Glenalum Coal Company at Glenalum, Mingo County, and three months later became secretary to Mr. Watts at Eckman, McDowell County, where he remained five years, since which time he has held his present responsible position at Gilliam, this county.

The political allegiance of Mr. Henthorn is given to the democratic party, he is affiliated with the Masonic frater- nity, and he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist Church.

December 21, 1915, in Monroe County, Ohio, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Henthorn and Miss Eska Ekle- berry, daughter of Albert Ekleberry, a substantial citizen of that county. The two children of this union are Harry A., Jr., and Beatrice Pearl.

JOSEPH C. LAWSON, M. D., is one of the veteran and honored representatives of his profession in Ritchie County, where for nearly forty years he has been engaged in active general practice at Auburn, with a parallel record of able and effective stewardship in his profession and as a citizen. The Doctor was born in Harrison County, Virginia, May 11, 1852, about a decade prior to the time when his native county became a part of the new state of West Virginia. He is a son of Theophilus and Elizabeth (Bailey) Lawson, the former of whom was born in Harrison County, January 15, 1823, and the latter in Taylor County, September 16, 1830. Theophilus Lawson was a son of Elias and Mary (Teter) Lawson, who were born in the eastern part of Virginia and who migrated in an early day to what is now Harrison County, West Virginia, where they settled on a pioneer farm near Bridgeport. On this old homestead Theophilus Lawson passed the period of his boyhood and early youth, and he continued as one of the substantial exponents of farm enter- prise during his entire active career, both he and his wife having continued to reside in Harrison County until their deaths and both having been earnest members of the Metho- dist Protestant Church. Mr. Lawson was a strong Union sympathizer in the Civil war period, and was one of the early members of the republican party in his community. Of the eight children all but one attained to maturity, and of the number four are living, in 1921, Dr. Lawson of this sketch being the eldest of this number; Rachel is the wife of Jacob Marple; E. W. is a substantial capitalist and banker at Kansas City, Missouri; and Mary B. is the wife of Arthur A. Cather, of Clarksburg, West Virginia. Dr. Silas B., Ida A., Kittie and John B. are deceased.

Dr. Joseph C. Lawson was reared on the old home farm and his youthful ambition led him to carry his early studies far beyond the curriculum of the local schools, as he gave his attention to the study of Latin, higher mathematics and other branches. In preparation for his chosen profession he en- tered the historic old Jefferson Medical College in the City of Philadelphia, and after receiving therefrom his degree of Doctor of Medicine he was engaged in practice at Bridge- port, Harrison County, near the old home, until 1884, when he established his permanent residence at Auburn, Ritchie County, which has been the central stage of his earnest and able professional labors during the long intervening period. He is one of the oldest and most revered members of the Ritchie County Medical Society and is also a member of the West Virginia State Medical Society. The Doctor is a stock- holder in the Auburn Exchange Bank, is a trustee of the local Methodist Protestant Church, is a past master of the lodge of Free and Accepted Masons at Auburn, past chancellor of the local lo ge of the Knights of Pythias, and is affiliated also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His political allegiance is given to the republican party.

June 14, 1887, recorded the marriage of Dr. Lawson and Miss Araminta Bush, who was born in Gilmer County but reared in Ritchie County. Of the six children of Doctor and Mrs. Lawson one died in infancy; Willie graduated from Broaddus Institute and is now the wife of Rev. L. E. Oldaker, a clergyman of the Methodist Protestant Church; Adrian H. was afforded the advantages of the State Normal School at Glenville, and he represented his native state as a gallant young soldier in the World war, in which connection he was

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

in active service in France for one year; Leon K., a graduate of the State Normal School at Glenville, is, in 1921, a student in the University of West Virginia; Kathleen, who likewise attended the normal school at Glenville and also Fairmont State Normal School; and Carleton is a graduate of the Morgantown, West Virginia, High School.

HENRY J. STRALEY, cashier of the Auburn Exchange Bank in the village of Auburn, Ritchie County, was born in Lewis County, this state, on the 19th of May, 1872, and is a son of L. H. and Martha M. (Langford) Straley, both likewise natives of that county, the father having been born at Janelew, January 24, 1846, and the mother at Weston, the county seat, February 28, 1853. The parents were reared on farms in their native county, received the advantages of the common schools, and their marriage was solemnized January 1, 1871. Thereafter they resided on a farm on Free- mans Creek, Lewis County, until 1890, when they sold the farm and removed to a farm on Cove Creek, that county. In 1911 they sold this place and removed to Harrison County, Ohio, where the father passed the remainder of his life, his death having occurred October 22, 1921, and where the widowed mother still maintains her home. L. H. Straley was a man of sterling character, achieved success in connec- tion with farm industry, was a staunch democrat and was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. His religious faith was that of the Baptist church, of which his widow likewise is an earnest member. They became the parents of nine children, all of whom survive the honored father, and of the number the subject of this sketch is the eldest. The second son is F. Sylvester; Tilden L. resides at Adena, Ohio, and is a carpenter by trade and vocation; James C., who is super- intendent of the public schools of Madelia, Minnesota, is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and also of the Kansas State Normal School at Emporia; Walter K. is in the oil fields of California; John M., now a resident of Colum- bus, Ohio, served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army at the time of the World war; Jessie is the wife of Rev. J. A. Young, pastor of the Baptist Church at St. Marys, West Virginia; Guy, who graduated from the high school at Scio, Ohio, is now a prosperous farmer; and Willa is the wife of J. E. Eminger, of Clendenin, Kanawha County, West Virginia.

Henry J. Straley was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and remained at the parental home until he attained to his legal majority. In the meanwhile he had profited fully by the advantages of the public schools, and at intervals he continued his effective service as a teacher for fourteen years. In the meanwhile he was actively identified with farm enterprise, to which he continued to give his attention until April, 1918, when he assumed his present position, that of cashier of the Auburn Exchange Bank, the other two executive officers being J. T. Hall, president, and J. L. Rymer, vice president. Besides these officers the directorate of the bank includes also J. E. Legett, Chester Williams, F. H. Gray, A. N. Watson, John R. Powell, James Reed, M. S. Gaston. The capital stock of the institution is $25,000. Mr. Straley gives his political allegiance to the democratic party, he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church, he is a past chancellor of Auburn Lodge No. 47, Knights of Pythias, and is affiliated also with Harmony Lodge No. 59, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

September 29, 1897, recorded the marriage of Mr. Straley and Miss Ida J. Goff, who was born in Ritchie County, May 30, 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Straley have six children: Vera, Velma, Willa, Hazel, Harry and Heber. The eldest daughter is a graduate of the Mountain State Business College in the City of Parkersburg.

WILLIAM H. DAVIS. Sometimes the greatest prosperity of a populous city depends upon specific industries for which its lo- cation may particularly favor it, manufacturing building up one section, shipping another, the cultivation of the vine or the growing of fruits another, or mining contributing to still another, all of these attracting wealth and bringing inde- pendence. One of the leading factors in bringing prosperity to the City of Morgantown has been the location here of the tin plate plant of the United States Steel Corporation, of which plant William H. Davis is the efficient and energetic

manager. Mr. Davis is likewise prominently identified with the financial interests of the city, being president of the Commercial Bank of Morgantown, and as a citizen has evidenced his public spirit in his support of movements which have attracted the attention and interest of citizens of enlightened and progressive views.

Mr. Davis is a native of Wales, and was born December 18, 1864, his parents being the late William R. and Sarah (Crates) Davis, both natives of the same country, where the mother died. William R. Davis was a coal miner by vocation, and in his native land was a foreman and super- intendent of mines. In 1864 he came to the United States, and after coming to this country spent the most of his life in the West, being the owner of a farm near Osage City, Kansas. He died at the home of his son William at Elwood, Indiana, at the age of seventy-eight years.

The educational advantages of William H. Davis were somewhat limited in his youth, as he was called upon to go to work when he was only fourteen years of age in the tin plate mills of Wales. This experience was of the utmost value to him, as he learned the business from the bottom up, and mastered all the details of each stage of the man- ufacture of this product as he won advancement from po- sition to position. In 1892, following the passage of the McKinley Tariff Bill, Mr. Davis came to the United States and went to work in the tin plate mill of Reed and Leeds at Elwood, Indiana, the first independent plant in the coun- try. After spending a few years as a roller he was made foreman, and several years later, when the mill was taken over by the United States Steel Corporation, was made superintendent of the corporation's Gas City (Indiana) plant. Later he was transferred to the Cleveland, Ohio, plant, and made manager, and subsequently went to the Farrell, Pennsylvania, plant, in the same capacity. In May, 1917, he was made manager of the Morgantown plant, a position which he still retains. All of these plants be- long to the United States Steel Corporation. Mr. Davis is one of the best informed men in his line in the country, and is an executive of ability and forceful personality.

In 1917 Mr. Davis was one of the organizers of the Commercial Bank at Morgantown, and was a member of its first Board of Directors, which, at its first meeting, elected him to the presidency of the institution, a position which he has retained to the present. He has directed the affairs of the bank in a thoroughly capable manner, com- bining conservatism with progressive tactics in a way that has contributed materially to the bank's prosperity. He is a member of Morgantown Lodge No. 4, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; is a thirty-second degree Mason, and a member of Osiris Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Wheeling, West Virginia; and like- wise holds membership in the Elks Lodge at Sharon, Penn- sylvania, and the Masonic and Country Clubs of Morgan- town. He is a Presbyterian in religion, and in politics gives his allegiance to the republican party.

On December 25, 1893, Mr. Davis married Miss Alice Williams, daughter of John Williams, of Elwood, Indiana, and they have three children: Inez, Wilton H. and Mary Alice.

HON. MICHAEL K. DUTY, lawyer and business man of Pennsboro, has by his varied public service become one of the best known citizens of West Virginia. He has been in both Houses of the Legislature, has been mayor of Pennsboro, and was at one time county superintendent of schools of Ritchie County.

Michael K. Duty was born on a farm io Tyler County, West Virginia, December 8, 1855, son of A. W. and Hannah E. (Jones) Duty, also natives of Tyler County. They were reared on farms in that county, and the father was a com- petent teacher and later a very successful business man, con- ducting a store at Centerville for many years. A. W. Duty was a Union soldier, being sergeant major in the 14th West Virginia Infantry. While in the war he was captured and spent six and a half months in Andersonville Prison. For thirty years he held the post of magistrate in his home county, was an active republican and a member of the United Brethren Church. A. W. Duty and wife had six children, five of whom

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

are now living. Michael K .; J. W. Duty, an oil worker in Harrison County and who has held the office of magistrate; Ellen J., wife of Joseph Geesey, living in Ohio; E. T. Duty in the oil business at Highland, Ritchie County; and D. D. Duty, postmaster of Wellsville, Ohio.

Michael K. Duty spent his early life at Centerville, West Virginia, attended the common and high schools there and later the State Normal School at Fairmont. Then followed a number of years of experience as teacher and school adminis- trator, and for twelve years he was principal of the public school at Pennsboro and served one term as county super- intendent of schools. Mr. Duty graduated in law from the University of Arkansas, and as a lawyer he has practiced in several counties of West Virginia and is still active in his pro- fession. He is owner of the line of railroad between Penns- horo and Pullman. He is a stockholder in the Citizens National Bank and has a large amount of property interests including town real estate and farm lands.

Mr. Duty was elected and served five terms as mayor of Pennsboro. In 1912 he was elected a member of the House of Delegates, serving in the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Legislatures. In 1916 he was elected to represent the Third District in the State Senate, and was an active member in the Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth Legislatures. In the session of 1919 he was chairman of the Virginia debt committee, and was member of the important committees on judiciary, rail- road, prohibition and temperance and others.

In Masonry Mr. Duty is well known over the state through his two terms as grand lecturer of the West Virginia Grand Lodge. He is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and he is a past master of Harmony Lodge No. 59, A. F. and A. M., and member of Odell S. Long Chapter No. 25, R. A. M. In December, 1897, Senator Duty married Miss Lora Crumrine. They reared one child in their home, Delsie Woostle, now the wife of Clyde Maxwell.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 19

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