History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 197

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HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

Richmond, Virginia. In the meantime he had become erested in land and cattle deals, and after coming to derson applied himself to this line of activity, in which has established a recognized position for himself. He now the owner of 2,000 acres of land in different parts Greenbrier and Monroe counties, one of his farms being old Renick property on which is yet standing a stone use built when the country was first invaded by paleface tlement. It is of massive. construction, a very thick or opening into the interior reinforced by a huge padlock d key, it requiring two turns of the latter to spring the k. Evidently this house was built as a refuge during reatened Indian invasions and in all probability served purpose well in repelling the attacks of the hostile ages.

Doctor Nash is a democrat and has taken an active erest in local affairs. He was elected to represent Monroe unty in the State Legislature of 1913, the last session ich elected a United States senator, and had a good record r constructive work. He is a Presbyterian in religious lief and fraternally a Royal Arch Mason. In 1893 ctor Nash married Mary F. Mann, whose grandfather, illiam T. Mann, was one of the early pioneers of this gion and the owner of much of the New River lands. ey have had four sons: James Frank, Charles P., Edwin inn and Ralph Alexander. Of these, Charles P. has had remarkable career. He was a student at the Virginia ilitary Institute when the United States entered the orld war, and was to have graduated in June, 1917, with class, but with six captains of his school was selected r a lieutenancy in the United States Marine Corps, in ay, and he and the others were permitted to graduate fore the regular time. Young Nash went overseas to ance as a member of the Marine Corps and for a time 'ved as a marine, but was then detached and assigned the aviation section of the marine service as a pilot of Ninety-third Aero Squadron. He secured his flying ining under the French and developed rapidly into a illed and fearless pilot. In the great St. Mihiel drive lie s some fifteen miles over the enemy 's lines, endeavoring to mb an enemy aerdrome, when he was shot down and ice wounded, his left arm being blown off with an ex- osive bullet. Although so horribly wounded he managed make a successful landing and after capture by tlie Ger- ans was treated in a German hospital and eventually re- vered. He was held a prisoner by the enemy until the gning of the armistice, when he rejoined his comrades, is returned among the early troops to the United States, February, 1919, and was retired with the rank of ptain.

W. SHAD PECK, has been for the past ten years the ogressive and successful local agent for the Ford auto- biles at Hinton, the judicial center of Summers County, d here, in 1918, he erected his modern garage, with an tractive sales and display room and well equipped repair partment, this building occupying the site of the home which Mr. Peck was born, the date of his nativity having en June 1, 1892. He is a son of Dewitt Harry and nma (Morefield) Peck, who still maintain their residence this place, the father being sixty-two and the mother ty-eight years of age at the time of this writing, in e spring of 1922. The Peck family name has been long d worthily identified with the history of this part of est Virginia, and the late Dr. Shannon Peck, brother Dewitt H., built the first water and electric-light plants Hinton. Dewitt H. Peck was formerly, and for a long riod of years, in service as an engineer on the Chesapeake Ohio Railroad, and he is now living virtually retired.

The public schools of Hinton afforded W. Shad Peck s youthful education, and at the age of eighteen years here engaged in business, as a dealer in electrical sup- ies. He owned the first bicycle in Hinton, later the first otorcycle in the town, and finally the second automobile d the first and only aeroplane. His progressiveness bas en shown not only in this line but also in his business tivities, the scope and importance of which now mark him one of the substantial and representative young busi-

ness men of his native city and county. Four of his brothers were in the nation's service in connection with the World war: Dr. Robert S., of Hinton, was a member of the medical corps of the United States Army; Leo M. was in the motor-transport service, as a member of Company B, One Hundred and Sixteenth Supply Train; Dr. Clemmer M. was in the dental corps; and Oliver L. received his military training at Morgantown, this state.

Mr. Peck circulated the subscription list through the medium of which was purchased and paid for the first fire-department truck at Hinton, and he served as chief of the fire department for some time. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, is one of the vital members of the local Rotary Club and he is a member of the Presby- terian Church, while his wife belongs to the Baptist Church.

In 1915 Mr. Peck wedded Miss Lucile Settle, whose father was one of the leading members of the bar of Fayette County, where he had given service as prosecuting attorney. Mr. and Mrs. Peck have a fine little son, Billy Shad.

ROBERT KINSTREY. During the past ten years Charles- ton has been one of the most rapidly growing cities in the country, increasing several fold in population and spread- ing out over an unprecedented area, with new streets, trans- portation lines, and the inclusion of industrial and resi- dential subdivisions. All of this means building and con- struction, and one of the leading men supplying the tech- nical and constructive facilities in this program has been Robert Kinstrey, president of the Mason Contractors Asso- ciation of Charleston.

Mr. Kinstrey was born at Richmond, Virginia, son of Robert Kinstrey, a native of the Old Dominion. His mother was a daughter of Robert Blount, the contractor who built the first sewer system at Richmond.

Robert Kinstrey was educated in Richmond, learned the brick layer's trade there, and after becoming a journey- man he remained there fifteen years. In all that time he held just two positions, one as superintendent of construc- tion for W. L. Ragland & Company, and the other as superintendent for C. S. Oliver, these being two of the most prominent building contractors in the city. Mr. Kinstrey's work has always been in building construction, and in that field he has mastered all the technique and has shown great ability in assembling men and facilities required for success in prompt and thorough fulfillment of contracts.

When he left Richmond he sought a place where he could go into business independently as a general con- struction contractor, and in 1914 located at Charleston. Since coming here some of the large contracts he has handled has included the C. U. Young flats, the Sarver flats, the Cassidy flats, the Haywood Building, Black residence on Quarrier Street, and a number of other brick residences, including his own handsome home at 506 Grant Street. He was also awarded the contract and built the Junior High School Building in Charleston, one of the most mod- ern and complete structures of its kind in the state. Dur- ing the war period he did much construction work for the Government at South Charleston.

Mr. Kinstrey was one of the organizers of the Mason Contractors Association of Charleston, of which he is presi- dent. He has been twice married. He is a member of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce and the order of Elks.

JOSEPH V. BELL. Joseph V. Bell of Keyser was for more than a third of a century clerk of the county and circuit courts of Mineral County, also an early member of the legislature, and has the record of having served Mineral County in a public capacity longer than any other man.

He was born near Bunker Hill in Berkeley County, April 10, 1844. His father John Bell was born in Jefferson County, in 1818, spent his life on the farm, and died in the city of Washington in 1893. He was a member of the Masonic Order, was a wbig in early life, and a strong opponent of secession. He married Elizabeth Roberts, who was born in Berkeley County in 1822, daughter of

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Jonathan and Margaret (Ward) Roberts. She died in 1888, the mother of three children: Maggie, who married Edward J. Beverstock and died in Washington City; Joseph Vance; and Rachel R., who married David H. Rhodes and lives at the old Lee residence at Arlington Virginia.

Joseph V. Bell acquired a rather meager education owing to the outbreak of the Civil war. Soon after war began he was put to work in a drug store in Washington, learned the profession of pharmacy in several stores, and was at Washington when the Grand Review of the Union troops was held at the close of the war. Soon afterward he established himself in business at Piedmont, but two years later he sold out and became assistant assessor of internal revenue for Mineral and Grant Counties. After about two years in this work he resigned and engaged in general merchandising at Piedmont until his business was destroyed in a fire on January 1, 1876. In 1879 he became a member of the legislature. He served in the regular session of 1879-81 and in the extra session of 1882. He helped elect Senator Camden for the United States Senate. About 1881 he became clerk and paymaster of the West Virginia Central and Pittsburgh Railway.

Upon the death of Colonel Head he was appointed County and Circuit Clerk of Mineral County on January 15, 1884. He filled the duties of both offices until January 1919, when he resigned as County Clerk, but continued as Circuit Clerk until failing eyesight and deafness com- pelled him to give up that office also in October, 1919, when he had nearly completed thirty-six years of continuous administration.

Mr. Bell has always been a staunch democrat supporting Mr. Tilden in 1876. His personal popularity and the efficiency of his work brought him reelection on the strength of republican votes, since Mineral County became a republican stronghold long before he left public office.

At Martinsburg, February 26, 1867, he married Virginia Wolff, who was born in Berkeley County in 1842, daughter of John M. Wolff. She died in May 1881, mother of the following children: Lillie Virginia, who died unmarried at Keyser in 1908; John Edwin, who completed his education in Vanderbilt University at Nashville, was in the employ of the Davis Coal and Coke Company, was with the party sent to the Philippines to diainter and prepare and bring home our soldier dead, and subsequently was with the firm Rogers, Brown and Company in Chicago until his health failed and he died in 1903 at Keyser unmarried; Katie, wife of Ernest P. Babb of Keyser; and Myra, wife of A. A. Jordan of Keyser.

Mr. Bell is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and is a Royal Arch and Knight Templar Mason and represented his Lodge in Grand Lodge for some years.

FRANK H. BABB, has been a resident of Keyser over twenty years. His chief business has been real estate and insurance, but he is also a banker, and he served three terms as mayor of Keyser. He represents a family that has been in this section of West Virginia for more than a century.

It was his great-grandfather probably who came from Germany and established the family in Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Peter Babb, was the founder of the family in West Virginia, coming from Luzerne County about 1818. Some of the land owned by the Babbs in that state had been exchanged for land in Western Virginia. The family crossed through Maryland to reach their new home in what is now Grant County. The old homestead thus acquired and developed during succeeding years was main- tained by the Bahbs until 1919, when Obed Babb, a son of Peter, retired and moved into Keyser, where he has since lived retired. Peter Babb died at the age of fifty- one. His experiences were almost entirely those of the somewhat isolated country community in which he lived, and his time and labor were devoted to his farm. He is buried on the land he owned, the Cherry Lane Stock Farm in Grant County, near the post office of Martin. Peter Babb married Phoebe Scott, who died before him. Their children were: James, who during the Civil war, while attempting

to recover some sheep stolen from him, was shot and killed by the thief; Milton, who spent his mature life in Champaign County, Illinois, and who is survived by two sons, one a prominent lawyer in Idaho and the other a banker at Champaign; Catherine, who married Okey Johnson, a farmer and stockman of Grant County, where they spent their lives; Jane, who died in Keyser when nearly ninety years of age, wife of Henry Suit, a cattle man of Grant County; Daniel William, who for many years was asso- ciated with his brother Ohed in farming and stock raising and who died in Grant County, where his widow still re- sides; Obed; and Sallie B., who married Thomas E. Cars- kadon, a great leader in the prohibition party and then candidate on that ticket for the presidency, both he and his wife being now deceased.

Obed Babb, father of Frank H., was born December 21, 1833, and for more than eighty years his home was in the immediate vicinity of his birthplace. He was a youth at a time when subscription schools were the only provision made for the education of children, and he at- tended a private school near Moorefield. For many years he was associated with his brother Daniel W. in farming and also in the livestock business. They were drovers to the Baltimore Market, and they handled stock on a large scale, cattle, horses and mules. Ohed Babb continued to keep in close touch with this business until he was past eighty- seven, and there is probably no man of his years who can surpass him as a judge of live stock. He proved his title to a leading citizen of his locality, where he was active in community affairs. He was prominent in the Methodist Episcopal Church, was an original republican, voting for John C. Fremont in 1856, but has never responded to any of the invitations to become a candidate for office.

Obed Babb married Miss Mary Hennen, of Morgantown, daughter of George and Justina (Shay) Hennen. She was born in Monongalia County in September, 1846. All her life has been devoted to her home and children and thej moral and church interests of her community. Her chil- dren are: Doctor Walter M., of Keyser; Ernest Peter, a resident of Keyser and officially associated with the West Virginia State Agricultural Department; Frank Hennen; Justina, wife of J. W. Sherr, of Cincinnati, Ohio; and Mahel, who married Clarence H. Vosler and died in Grant County, leaving one son.

Frank H. Babb was born at the old home June 24, 1875. His activities were centered in that locality until he was thirty-six years of age. He attended the common schools and spent two years in an elective course at West Virginia University. On returning home from the university he be- came associated with his father in the business of handling live stock. After five years he retired and moved to Keyser to take up an entirely different line of business.

On moving to Keyser in 1901 he engaged in the real estate and insurance business. Mr. Babb promoted Lillard's Addi- tion to Keyser, laid off and sold the Reynolds Addition and also the F. H. Babh's Fort Hill Addition. He has one of the standard fire insurance agencies in this section of the state, representing several of the old line companies, and also handles surety bonds and other forms of general insurance. Mr. Babb was one of the original stock- holders in the Peoples Bank of Keyser, was soon elected a director, and he became its president as successor to Thomas B. Davis, one of the prominent men of this region, and a brother of the late Henry G. Davis of Elkins.

Mr. Babb has been a republican, casting his first presi- dential vote for William Mckinley. He was assistant clerk of the Senate in 1901, but has not been active in partisan politics. He was elected mayor of Keyser in 1912 and re-elected in 1913. During his second term he took the lead in getting the Legislature to give Keyser a new charter providing for a commission form of government, and as mayor of the old regime he installed this new gov- ernment and was elected the first commission mayor. At the end of his third term he retired.

Mr. Babb married Miss Gertrude Scherr at Charleston, April 9, 1902. At that time her father, Arnold C. Scherr, was filling the office of state auditor, an office he held from 1901 to 1909. Mrs. Babb was born in Grant County, Feb-

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uary 16, 1878, and was liberally educated, attending the llegany County Academy in Cumberland, Maryland, and tter Briarly Hall near Poolsville, Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. abb have two children, Mary Catherine, a student in the otomac State School, and Arnold, attending the Keyser high School.

During the World war Mr. Babb was president of the ed Cross of Mineral County, organizing many chapters nd branches and devoting much of his time to the work f that organization. He was also a leader in the various iberty Loan campaigns, and kept the interests of the overnment paramount throughout that critical period.

JAMES SLOAN KUYKENDALL. Member of one of the Idest families of Hampshire County, James Sloan Kuyken- all has earned creditable distinction as a lawyer of the omney bar, and in his profession and as a private citizen a type of man whose work and influence are always asso- iated with the general good.

He was born in the Springfield District of Hampshire ounty, December 9, 1878. His grandfather, James Kuyken- all, was also a native of Hampshire County, spent his ctive career as a farmer, and was accidentally killed at outh Branch on the Baltimore and Ohio Railway. He married Hannah Blue, and their children were: Fannie, ho married Isaac Taylor; Susan, who was the wife of Tilliam Guthrie; Michael, who married Sallie Johnson; ames, who married Ida MeGlathery; Isaac, whose wife was ucy Davis; Thomas, who married Catherine McGill; and Tilliam.

William Kuykendall was born in Springfield District of ampshire County in August, 1851, and his business efforts ere confined to the farm, but he became well known in the ublic affairs of the county, serving two terms as a member £ the County Court, and for one term was president of the ourt. He was a democrat, served as a deacon in the omney Presbyterian Church, and died at the age of forty- ght years. William Kuykendall married Hannah P. Sloan, ho died in 1919, at the age of sixty-nine. Her father was ames Sloan, a farmer on Patterson's Creek of Welton district, Mineral County, and the Sloan family were early ettled in that region, the founder being the father of James loan, who came from Scotland. The children of William uykendall and wife were James Sloan; Michael Blue, who ied while operating the old homestead farm, and left four hildren by his marriage were Edith P. Pancake; Richard loan, a farmer on the South Branch of the Potomac, who harried Virginia Pancake, and they have five children. James Sloan Kuykendall for the first twenty years of is life lived on the farm and shared in its activities and uties. He attended the country schools, pursued his igher education in Hampden-Sidney College in Virginia, Iso in Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Vir- inia, and took his law course in Cumberland University t Lebanon, Tennessee, where he graduated. He received his iploma from Cumberland in 1901, and after a similar ourse in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill e was examined before the Supreme Court and licensed o practice in the North Carolina courts. His first ex- erience as a practicing lawyer was gained at Greenboro, North Carolina, but after a little more than a year came o West Virginia, and soon established his office and ermanent home at Romney. His first case before the Iampshire County Circuit Court was the defense of one filler charged with petit larceny, and for whom he ecured an acquittal, a verdict that did much just at that ime to encourage the young attorney. Throughout the teadily growing volume of his criminal practice Mr. Kuykendall has adhered to his rule to take part only on he side of the defense, and he has a merited reputation or skill and ability in that particular field. He has been ttorney for the defense in three murder cases, State vs Tetrick, State vs Averell and State vs Gardner. He secured n acquittal in the first two, and in the third case his lient received a sentence of prison for life. Mr. Kuyken- all is the present city attorney of Romney, has served hree terms as mayor, and for ten years has been president

of the Board of Education, taking a deep interest in the success of schools and public education in general.

He is a democrat in politics, casting his first presi- dential vote for William J. Bryan in 1900. He has been chairman of the Executive Committee of the Second Con- gressional District once, three times was chairman of the County Central Committee, and was a delegate to the State Convention at Parkersburg which nominated Gov- ernor Cornwell for governor. He is a delegate and chair- man of the Congressional Convention that nominated Junior Brown for Congress, and promoted the cause of that states- man in several subsequent elections.

At Romney, April 5, 1905, Mr. Kuykendall married Miss Bertha Williams, who was born in Virginia in August, 1882, daughter of Rev. James P. and Mary S. Williams. At the time of their marriage her father was presiding elder of the Moorfield District of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He was a confederate veteran, serving in General Moseby's command during the war. Reverend Mr. Williams and wife had four children: Mary, wife of Rev. C. M. Hesser, of Washington, D. C .; Mrs. Kuykendall; Marvin Williams, of Wisconsin; and Alma, wife of M. T. Strider, an undertaker at Charles Town, West Virginia. Three child- ren constitute the family of Mr. and Mrs. Kuykendall; Alma Elizabeth, born January 6, 1906; James Sloan, Jr., born December 11, 1907; and Mary Ray, born January 15, 1909.

During the World war Mr. Kuykendall was a member of the Legal Advisory Board of Hampshire County, and assisted in making out several hundred questionnaires for the prospective soldiers of the county, and also took part in the Liberty Loan drives and cried some Red Cross sales. His family are Presbyterians, and for five years he was superintendent of the Sunday School.

JACOB WARWICK. Probably the foremost character among the early pioneers of Pocahontas County was Jacob Warwick. His father was a native of Great Britain, an engineer and surveyor, and in Colonial times was employed in surveying and locating land grants in Pocahontas County. It is not definitely known just when he located here, but his period of residence covered many years. He married Elizabeth Dunlap, and they finally returned to England and died there.

Jacob Warwick's life record is clearer. He married Mary Vance, and for a time lived at Dunmore, West Vir- ginia, where all his children were born. He also lived at other places in Pocahontas County at Clover Lick, on Jackson River, and at Bath. His home at Clover Lick was on the direct route of emigration from the East to what were then outposts of civilization, Ohio and Kentucky, and his place was utilized as a stopping and resting point on the way. The Warwick home became famous and widely known, and mention is made of it in every early history.

Jacob Warwick was eminently a brave and just man, and lived at peace with his pioneer neighbors, but he had many fierce encounters with the Indians. His knowledge of the mountain regions far and near was remarkable, and he frequently aided government surveyors in their work. He took part in the expedition to Point Pleasant under Gen. Andrew Lewis, in the march from Lewisburg, a distance of 160 miles, requiring nineteen days. In the sanguinary con- flict with the Indians that followed Jacob Warwick bore a valiant part.

Mary Vance Warwick, wife of Jacob Warwick, was in every way calculated to aid him in efforts to build a home in the wilderness. She was a devout Presbyterian, and spent her life in charities and good works, and she organized the first Sunday School in Pocahontas County. She died in 1823, aged eighty years, and is buried at Clover Lick. Jacob Warwick died in 1826, aged eighty-two years, a man of wealth for that time. His descendants are scattered throughout West Virginia, where they have held conspicuous positions in various lines of endeavor.

J. G. ROGERS as a contractor, builder and architect, has been one of the really constructive business men of Charles-

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ton for a number of years, and is also well known in that community as a citizen.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 197

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