History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 205

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Doctor Argabrite belongs to one of the old and honored families of Southeastern West Virginia, the early ancestor f which was Jacob Argabrite, who was born in 1760, n Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and removed from that ommunity to Rockingham County, Virginia. In May, 1778, le volunteered for six months' service in the Virginia Militia under Captain Craven, and served at the forts in ryggart's Valley. Later be reenlisted and served under General McIntosh, and in the fall of 1780 again enlisted, or twelve months, in Captain Sullivan's Company, seeing ervice in the Carolinas and being in the battle of Cow- ›ens. Still later he rendered further patriotic service in , rifle company commanded by Captain Coker, and was

present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. After the winning of American independence he came to what is now Monroe County, West Virginia, and later moved to Green- brier County, where he passed the remainder of his life on Muddy Creek.

Col. John Argabrite, a son of Jacob Argabrite, was born February 17, 1797, and died December 10, 1884. His wife was Mary, daughter of Jacob Hockman. Colonel Argabrite was a Union man during the Civil war, and was eligible to be a member of the Board of Supervisors from the Blue Sulphur District. He was a man of unusual ability and prominence, and served with credit in various official positions. His title of Colonel came from having served in the Virginia Militia. The children of Col. John and Mary (Hockman) Argabrite were as follows: Jacob H., born March 20, 1821, died November 30, 1899, unmarried, was in the Confederate Army during the war between the states and saw active service; Susan, born February 8, 1824, married James Johnson and died May 21, 1906; James H., born in 1836, died in 1838; Julia A. C., born August 31, 1838, married Joseph H. Bunger, and became the mother of five danghters; James Madison, of whom more later; Salome B., born January 23, 1842, married Harrison H. Gwinn; Fletcher D., born December 21, 1844, died April 23, 1862; Alice M., born March 2, 1847, married Andrew Jarrett, a grandson of James Jarrett, and died June 23, 1917; and Drnilla, who died in infancy.

James Madison Argabrite, a son of Colonel John and grandson of Jacob Argabrite, was born May 17, 1840, and in 1922 is still living on the farm on which he was born, bale and hearty, honored and respected, past eighty-two years of age. He attended Allegheny College, and February 1, 1864, became a member of Company K, Fourteenth Vir- ginia Cavalry, of the Confederate Army. On May 6 of the same year he was captured by the enemy at Meadow Bluff, Virginia, and for nine months was a prisoner at Camp Chase, this practically concluding his military career. On November 14, 1867, he married Annie C. Anderson, daughter of Alexander H. Anderson, and a member of one of the pioneer families of Greenbrier County. The chil- dren born to this union were as follows: Io, born October 5, 1869: John Alexander, born September 13, 1875, died February 12, 1902; Mary Catherine, born August 23, 1877 ; R. B., born June 17, 1881, died February 25, 1903; and Otho Paul.

Otho Paul Argabrite was born May 13, 1884, and is directly descended from Jacob, the Revolutionary soldier, Col. John and James Madison Argabrite. He had his early training on the home farm, graduated from Alleghany Collegiate Institute, and this he supplemented by attend- ance at the academic department of the University of Vir- ginia. Having decided upon a career as a physician and surgeon, he then enrolled as a student in the medical de- partment of the University of Maryland, at Baltimore, from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1907, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In August of the same year he located at Alderson, which has since been his home. Here he has built up one of the best practices enjoyed by any physician and surgeon in the state outside of the large cities. He holds to high ideals in his profession and is constantly seeking to broaden his knowledge that his labors may be more effective, and with discriminating intelligence selects the best methods for the treatment of individual cases, the soundness of his judg- ment being manifest in the excellent results which follow his labors. He belongs to the various organizations of his calling, and is a Methodist in religious faith and a democrat politically. While the greater part of his time is given to the duties of his profession, he occasionally finds leisure to indulge his favorite recreations of hunting and fishing.

On October 15, 1907, Doctor Argabrite married Miss Mary Johnson Feamster, who died January 4, 1910, the mother of two daughters: Mary Catherine and Lula Vir- gina, the latter of whom died in infancy. The present wife of Doctor Argabrite was Miss Cella Motteshead, of Charleston, West Virginia, whom he married November 6, 1911.

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THOMAS H. DENNIS, for a half a century an active member of the Greenbrier County bar and one of the Con- federate veterans in the state, was born in Charlotte County, Virginia, February 20, 1846, representing a family that has been in Charlotte County for many generations. He is a son of William H. and Ann (Morton) Dennis, and grand- son of John and Margaret (Elliott) Dennis. Col. William Dennis owned and operated a large plantation on the Staunton River in Charlotte County, and lived in the same neighborhood that had been the home of John Randolph of Roanoke and Patrick Henry. He served many years in the Virginia State Legislature and in the Senate, aud at one time was president of the Senate. Six of his sons took up arms in behalf of the Confederate cause. One of them was Robert F. Dennis, who for a long period of years practiced law in Greenbrier and surrounding counties. He located in Greenbrier County in 1848, and was one of the leaders in the democratic party. He raised the first com- pany of men from Greenbrier County for the Confederate army, known as the Greenbrier Rifles, became its captain, and later was captured and spent the last months of the war as prisoner at Camp Chase. He served as prosecuting attorney of Greenbrier, Pocahoutas and Fayette counties, for eight years was state senator, and was chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate. His name was fre- quently mentioned in connection with nominations for gov- ernor, Congress and the United States Senate.

Thomas H. Dennis spent his early life on the home plantation in Charlotte County. In January, 1864, when he was not quite eighteen years of age, he entered the Con- federate Army, and saw service in several Virginia battles before the close of the war. He was a member of the Light Squadron of the Fourteenth Virginia Cavalry, Com- pany B, made up mostly of Charlotte County men. Mr. Dennis is now brigadier general of the First Brigade of the United Confederate Veterans, West Virginia Division, and for many years has been active in the organizations of old soldiers.

After the war he graduated, in 1868, from Washington College, now Washington and Lee University, graduated from the law school in the University of Virginia in 1873, and since then has had his home at Lewisburg, where for many years he was associated with his brother Robert in law practice. For thirty-five years he was editor of the Greenbrier Independent, and made that paper a source of power in the community, and his editorials were widely copied. In 1884 he was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates, and in 1885 was chosen speaker of the House. He served again in the House in 1909, and in the early years of his law practice he was for six years super- intendent of schools of Greenbrier County. He served a term as mayor of Lewisburg some years ago, and in January, 1922, was again honored for election to that office. He is a director of the Bank of Lewisburg and is a Presbyterian.

Colonel Dennis married, December 24, 1884, Miss Jennie Johnston, daughter of Andrew H. Johnston, of Union, Monroe County.

FRANK WELLS CLARK, mayor of New Martinsville, is a native of that city, of a family that acquired substantial landed interests here many years ago, and for his part Mr. Clark has practiced law in Wetzel County for a quarter of a century and is one of the most successful business lawyers in this section of the state.

He was born at New Martinsville November 30, 1868. His great-grandfather was Hezekiah Clark and his grand- father was Ebenezer Clark, who was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1798. He scttled in Wetzel County about 1836, spent his active life as a farmer and owned a large amount of landed property seven miles east of Martinsville, where he died in 1878. His wife was Harrict Anderson, who also died in Wetzel County.

Josephus Clark, father of the New Martinsville lawyer, was born in Marshall County, West Virginia, March 12, 1835, but from infancy lived in Wetzel County. During the Civil war he was sheriff of Wetzel County, Virginia, and when West Virginia was created a new state he con-

tinued to serve in that office for two terms. In 1866 he established a general store at New Martinsville, was successful in business, also handled real estate, both town and country property, and owned a number of farms. After leaving the office of sheriff he served as president of the Wetzel County Court. Josephus Clark was a dem- ocrat, a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and was a member of the Masonic fraternity. Though his home was at New Martinsville, he died at Wheeling, June 12, 1905. His wife was Lina R. Cox, who was born at New Martinsville, November 17, 1848, and is still living in that city. Frank Wells is the oldest of her five children. Josephus B. was formerly cashier of the New Martinsville Bank, a position he resigned to become assistant treasurer and head bookkeeper of the Winer Oil Company of Sistersville. Minnie is the wife of George P. Umstead, president and manager of the Monroe-Wetzel Dairy Company at New Martinsville. Frien E. is head of the department of chemistry at the Uni- versity of West Virginia at Morgantown. Ella C. is the wife of Cecil B. Highland, of New Martinsville, who con- ducts a prosperous real estate business at Clarksburg, and is a leader in politics as a republican.

Frank Wells Clark attended the public schools of New Martinsville, and in the fall of 1886 entered West Vir- ginia University, where he was graduated A. B. in June 1890, and in 1891 received the LL. B. degree. He was a charter member of the Phi Kappa Psi college fraternity at Morgantown. The two years following Mr. Clark was in the mercantile business at New Martinsville, and in 1893 entered Harvard University Law School, where he completed the course and received the LL. B. degree ir 1896. Since that date he has practiced as a member of the New Martinsville bar. Mr. Clark has been a business man as well as a lawyer, and has been associated with the founding and management of several prominent in stitutions. One of these is the New Martinsville Glass Manufacturing Company, of which he has been president for twenty years. He has been a director since 1905 and since January, 1921, president of the New Martinsville Grocery Company, a wholesale concern. He was also one of the organizers and is a stockholder in the New Martins; ville Bank. Mr. Clark is administrator for his father's estate, comprising large parcels of real estate in New Martinsville and vicinity. His home is one of the best modern residences of the city, on Maple Avenue. Mr Clark is unmarried. He is a republican. He was elected mayor in January, 1921, for a term of three years, and this is the second time he has served as mayor. He is al active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and in 1905 he succeeded his father as superintendent of the Sunday school, his father having held that office for thirty-five years. Mr. Clark is deeply interested in Ma sonry, was for six consecutive years master of Wetze Lodge, No. 39, F. and A. M., was grand master of the Grand Lodge of the state for the year ending in November 1910, was deputy grand lecturer seven years, and then grand lecturer two years. He is affiliated with West Virginia Consistory No. 1 of the Scottish Rite at Wheeling Osiris Temple of the Mystic Shrine, Wheeling Chapter No. 1, R. A. M., and Wheeling Commandery, No. 1, K. T New Martinsville has one of the best Masonic Temples fo: a town of its size in the state. This distinction is in no small measure due to the energetic efforts of Mr. Clark who started the movement and secured the financial sup port and interested himself directly in the building o: the Temple. He was until recently president of the Wetze Lodge Masonic Association, which owns the Temple, being succeeded in that office by his brother Josephus B. Mr Clark is a member of the Kiwanis Club of New Martinsville and the Wetzel County Bar Association. During the wa: he was a member of the Legal Advisory Board of Wetze County, and as a speaker and otherwise took an active part in the various local campaigns.

SCOTT C. LOWE, who retired from the bench of the Crim inal Court of Marion County on the 1st of January, 1921 has gained place as one of the leading members of the ba

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¿ his native county and as one of its progressive and iblic-spirited citizens. He was born on the old home- ead farm of the Lowe family in Grant District, Marion ounty, and the date of his nativity was September 22, 1875. e is a son of the late Robert aud Ruhama (Dunham) owe, and a lineal descendant of Robert Lowe (I), who was orn in England, January 23, 1765, and who came thence to merica and first settled in Maryland. In 1808 this an- stor removed to Virginia and established his residence in iat part of Harrison County which is now included in arion County, West Virginia. He married Elizabeth wearingen on April 17, 1791, and their son Cephas, grand- tther of Judge Lowe of this review, was reared in this unty, where, as a young man, he married Eleanor, daugh- r of Thomas and Ann (Moore) Hughes, of the State of ew Jersey, and granddaughter of Thomas Hughes, Sr., who as a native of Wales, whence he went to Scotland, from hich latter country he came to America long before the evolutionary war, and with his father's family, settled on le present site of Rahway, Union County, New Jersey, here his son Thomas was born in 1768.

Elizabeth Swearingen, wife of Robert Lowe (I), was born ear Hagerstown, Maryland, May 29, 1765 or 1766, and ied January 6, 1848. She was a daughter of Charles and usannah (Stull) Swearingen. Charles, born in about 1735, ecame lieutenant-colonel in the Revolutionary war. He was son of Van Swearingen, who was born in Somerset County, faryland, in about 1692, and married Elizabeth Walker. an took up land in Washington County, Maryland, after- ard found to be covered by a prior grant (Ringgold's [anor). Having made improvements on the land and so ailing in his title, he leased the land for life and that f his two sons, and it was thus held for eighty-nine years. e lived to be 109 years of age, having lived in three cen- iries. He was one of four sons of Thomas Swearingen ho was born about 1665, and lived in Somerset County, [aryland, until his death in 1710. Thomas was a son of arret Van Swearingen, who was born in Beemsterdam, [olland, in 1636. Garret was a younger son of a family elonging to the nobility, and received a liberal education. or the Dutch West Indies Company he was in charge of le ship, Prince Maurice, which carried emigrants and sup- lies, sailing from the port of Amsterdam, December 21, 656, and arriving at Fort Casmir on the Delaware, April 1, 1657. Fort Casmir, afterward called New Castle, was ne home of Garret until about 1665, and he here held many ositions of trust and honor. He was married at that place 1 1659 to Barbarah DeBarrette, a native of Vallenciennes, rance. New Castle was surrendered to the British in 1664, nder Sir Robert Carr, and after the surrender it is said farret renounced all allegiance to the Dutch authorities.

Robert Lowe, son of Cephas, was born in what is now aylor County, West Virginia. In middle life he pur- based what was known as Knotts farm, on Booth's Creek, frant District, Marion County, and there he passed the re- lainder of his life, his death having occurred in June, 1905, n a railroad accident at Watson Station, Marion County. Ie was a successful farmer, was prominent as a buyer and hipper of live stock, and became the owner of valuable real state in different parts of Marion County. He was a Itizen of influence and served as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1875-76. He and his wife vere earnest members of the Boothsville Baptist Church. Irs. Lowe, whose death occurred June 3, 1903, likewise vas born in Taylor County, and she was a daughter of ames Dunham, whose father, Mordecai Dunham, was the ioneer representative of the family in what is now West Virginia.

Judge Lowe was reared on the home farm, and after ttending the public schools he continued his studies by ntering Salem College, at Salem, Harrison County, in which he prepared for matriculation in the University of West Virginia. In the latter institution he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in its law depart- nent he was graduated as a member of the class of 1900, his eception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws being virtually oincident with his admission to the bar of his native state. Ie immediately initiated the practice of his profession by

opening an office in the City of Fairmont, and he served as assistant prosecuting attorney of his native county under Charles Powell. In 1904 he was elected prosecuting attor- ney, and of this office he continued the efficient incumbent until January 1, 1909. In 1914 Judge Lowe was elected to the State Senate, as representative of the Eleventh Sena- torial District, comprising Marion, Monongalia and Taylor counties, and his characteristically loyal and effective service in the Senate continued until January 1, 1919. In that year he received appointment, through Governor Cornwell, to the bench of the newly created Criminal Court of Marion County, his commission bearing date of April 24, 1919. As the first incumbent on this bench he continued his able administration until January 1, 1921. He is one of the lead- ing members of the Fairmont bar, commands the high re- gard of his professional confreres, and the official positions to which he has been elected indicate fully his hold upon popular confidence and esteem. The judge maintains active membership in the Marion County Bar Association and the West Virginia Bar Association, is affiliated with the Phi Kappa Phi college fraternity, and his Masonic affiliations are here noted: Fairmont Lodge No. 9, A. F. and A. M .; Orient Chapter No. 9, R. A. M .; Crusade Commandery No. 6, Knights Templar; and Osiris Temple of the Mystic Shrine. In May, 1922, he was elected grand commander of the West Virginia Grand Commandery of Knights Tem- plar. Judge Lowe is president of the Local Council of Boy Scouts, and takes lively interest in the work of this organization.

September 17, 1907, recorded the marriage of Judge Lowe and Miss Edna Earl, daughter of Harry and Ida B. (Shiff- lette) Wertz, of Huntington. Mrs. Lowe graduated from Marshall College, at Huntington, and as a member of the class of 1903 received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the State University at Morgantown. Judge and Mrs. Lowe have two children: Scott C., Jr., who was born July 7, 1909, and Robert Wertz, who was born September 4, 1911.

JAMES EDWARD ALLEN, A. B. When the history of this generation and the one preceding it are read by posterity certain salient facts will impress thinking men and women. They will realize that this early part of the twentieth cen- tury produced men whose lives were productive of results that not only went toward shaping the destinies of asso- ciates and the contemporary history of their own communi- ties, but that they were of necessity forceful factors in determining the future of those to come after them. This applies particularly to the field of education, in which one of West Virginia's well-known leaders is James Edward Allen, A. B., president of Davis and Elkins College at Elkins.

Professor Allen was born at Hebron, Dinwiddie County, Virginia, June 13, 1876, a son of Dr. Peter Woodward and Fannie Blunt (Scott) Allen. His grandfather, Dr. Edward Henry Allen, practiced medicine in Dinwiddie County for a period of sixty years, became a leading member of his profession, and died in 1889, at the ripe old age of eighty- four years. He was a native of Amelia County, Virginia, but in young manhood went to Dinwiddie County, that state, where his son, Dr. Peter W., was born in 1840. Dr. Peter W. Allen resided on a farm in his native county, but en- gaged in the practice of medicine for forty years, his patients residing all over the countryside. During the war between the states he served four years in the Army of the Confederacy, and after the close of that struggle he at- tended Hampden-Sidney College and later graduated in medicine from the Medical College of Virginia, Richmond. He died in 1906, at the age of sixty-six years. He was a democrat in politics, but not a politician, and his religious faith was that of the Presbyterian Church. Doctor Allen married Fannie Blunt Scott, who was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, her father, Anderson Scott, having been a prominent planter of Nottoway County, Virginia, for many years. She survives him and is an active and helpful member of the Presbyterian Church. Of their children five grew to maturity: May W .; Rev. Frank Maury, a Presby- terian minister; Lottie; James Edward, of this review; and Lillah Dudley, Mrs. Muhaux Raine.

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James Edward Allen was reared on the home farm, and after attending the public schools pursued a course at Hampden-Sidney College, from which he was graduated in 1898. In that year he began teaching in the rural schools of Campbell County, Virginia, and in 1900 and 1901 served as principal of the public schools of Phoebus, Virginia. From 1901 to 1903 he was vice president of the high school at Newport News, that state, and teacher of Latin, and during the summer of 1903 did supplementary work in Latin at the University of Virginia. He was a student at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, from 1903 to 1905, and while there acted as an instructor in Latin at Notre Dame College for Girls. During 1905 and 1906 he was again located at Newport News, this time as principal of the high school, and in the latter year first came to Elkins as professor of Latin and German in Davis and Elkins Col- lege. Here he remained until 1909, when he accepted the principalship of the grammar schools of Richmond, Vir- ginia, but in July, 1910, returned to Davis and Elkins Col- lege as president, a position which he has since retained. Professor Allen has been very successful in his life work. He has the scholarly touch, the capacity for clear and exact thinking and the faculty of forceful expression. He counts as great factors in his work continued industry and the exercise of good judgment, the kindly feeling for all with whom the relations of life bring him into contact, and the lending of his influence to make both his students and com- munity types of good citizenship.

Professor Allen is a member of the West Virginia Edu- cational Association. the National Educational Association, the American Philological Association, the American Geo- graphical Society and other learned bodies. He is president of the Rotary Club of Elkins and represented the club in the Rotary International Los Angeles Convention, in June, 1922. He is possessed of no small literary talent, and has con- tributed interesting and authentie articles to various periodi- cals, particularly on educational topics. In 1910 Professor Allen was united in marriage with Miss Susan H. Garrott, of Frederick, Maryland, and to this union there have been born six children.

GEORGE WADDELL. This and the following article concern primarily the careers and achievements of two brothers, associated together as miners and operators since boyhood, proprietors and executives of the Waddell Coal & Coke Company of Philippi. They are George and Alexander G. Waddell. The articles also contain some interesting and highly important testimony on the subject of industrial relations that prevail in one of the rare and fortunate enter- prises where "capital" and "labor" are kept in personal touch and on a plane of mutual understanding and fairness.

George Waddell, the older of the two brothers, is a native of Scotland, horn at Glasgow September 13, 1879. His parents, George and Elizabeth (Shanks) Waddell, brought him to the United States when he was eighteen years of age. His mother was a daughter of Richard Shanks, a contractor and builder in Glasgow. George Wad- dell, Sr., and his wife were also natives of Glasgow, and when they started for America they landed in New York, went on to Pittsburgh, and in that city the father became an employe of the John Mclaughlin Steel Works, having a contract to make ear couplings. He remained with them two years, then engaged in mining about Pittsburgh for a time, and subsequently was at Madera in Clearfield County. He was a practical miner, a business he had learned in the old country. For a short time he was in Cambria County, and was a foreman in different mines. His last work was done for the Hagarty Brothers in Clear- field County, and he died shortly after retiring, at Myers- dale, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1907, at the age of sixty- eight. His widow survived until April 19, 1914, when she was sixty-six. These Scotch parents had a large family of children, a brief record of whom is as follows: Richard, superintendent of Waddell Brothers mine at Philippi; John, who was in the service of the Conamaugh Smokeless Coal and Coke Company, one of the most up-to-date coal com- panies in Pennsylvania, and was killed in an explosion while superintendent of their plant; Elizabeth, whose hus-

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 205

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