History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 22

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HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

(Lovin) Whitehead, both likewise natives of Nelson County. Dr. Kinkaid Whitehead was little more than a boy when he entered the Confederate service in the Civil war, as a member of a Virginia regiment. He was wounded in the right arm, and as a result was captured and held a prisoner at Point Lookout until the close of the war, he having been eighteen years of age when he entered the army. After the war he studied dentistry, and he long held prestige and honor as one of the leading dentists in Nelson County, Virginia.

Richard S. Whitehead attended the public schools of his native county until he was fourteen years old, when he be- gan work for himself, he having depended upon his own resources since that early age. He came to Switchback, West Virginia, and entered the service of the Pocahontas Fuel Company. He was door boy or trapper at the mine, was oiler, track man, driver, miner, mine foreman, and finally, by loyal and efficient service, won promotion to his present responsible position with this industrial corporation. After remaining five years in the employ of the Pocahontas Fuel Company Mr. Whitehead was for eight years in the employ of the Pulaski Iron Company. He then returned to Switchback and resumed his connection with the Pocahontas Fuel Company. He has worked his way from the bottom, has gained thorough knowledge of all details of coal mining and is an efficient and valued executive, besides having the confidence and good will of the employes working under his supervision. He is a democrat, and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

At Graham, Virginia, in 1897, Mr. Whitehead wedded Miss Hattie Wimmer, who was born and reared in Tazewell County, that state, a daughter of Isaac and Martha Wim- mer. Mr. and Mrs. Whitehead have a fine family of eight children, namely: Raymond Clyde, Oliver Francis, Rosa C., Madeline, Jack, Ruth, Ethel and Thomas. Raymond, Oliver and Rosa are married, the home of Raymond being at Blue- field and his vocation being that of a miner.

JAIRUS COLLINS is a resident and business man of Bram- well, Mercer County. His interests have been centered in this section for nearly thirty years. He came here with a widely diversified experience in the coal and iron industry, and for many years he has been one of the prominent coal operators and is treasurer and active director of the Poca- hontas Operators Association, chosen on account of his efficiency in handling all matters affecting the operators in this field.

Mr. Collins was born in Clayton, Alabama, December 14, 1859, son of Hartwell and Louisa (Williams) Collins, na- tives of Alabama and of English ancestry. The maternal grandfather was Buckner Williams. Hartwell Collins al- ways regarded Alabama as his home state, but before the Civil war he was in the wholesale hardware business in New York City. When Alabama seceded he sold out and returned and joined the Confederate army, and was all through the war as quartermaster of the Twenty-ninth Alabama Regi- ment. He then returned to New York and resumed busi- ness, where be continued until the "Black Friday" of 1873 inangurated the country-wide panic. He then re- turned to Alabama. He was a prominent Mason.

Jairus Collins had his early education interfered with on account of the war and the financial panic noted above. He attended subscription and private schools at Clayton and Midway, Alabama, and began contributing to his own main- tenance at the age of twelve. Beginning at fifteen, he served three years as clerk in the office of the registrar in chancery. At eighteen he became bookkeeper for S. Waxel- baum and Brother at Macon, Georgia, being with that firm four years. Shortly after he reached his majority Mr. Collins became auditor for the Tennessee Coal & Iron Com- pany at Ensley, Alabama, and his work has been in that same general line now for forty years. After four years with the Tennessee company he was for five years auditor for the Ensley Coal, Iron & Railway Company at Sheffield, Alabama. In 1893 he came to the West Virginia coal fields, serving as auditor three years of the Collins Colliery Company of Glen Jean, and then removed his headquarters

to Bramwell as general manager for the Greenbrier Coal Coke Company of McDowell and the Louisville Coal & Cok Company of Goodwill. He is still an active official in thes corporations, being treasurer, and is financially interested in other corporations. He was one of the organizers of th Pocahontas Operators Association, with headquarters a Bluefield, and has been the active representative of thes operators in handling several strikes in the Pocahonta fields.

Mr. Collins is a democrat, and at one time was candidat for the State Senate on that ticket. He is treasurer, vestry man and junior warden of the Episcopal Church at Bram well, is a life member of Bluefield Lodge No. 269, Benevo lent and Protective Order of Elks, and a member of th Bluefield Country Club.

In 1902, at Bramwell, he married Miss Blanch Dudley daughter of Andrew J. Dudley. They have two children Jairns. Jr., a student in Washington and Lee Universit at Lexington, Virginia; and Virginia C., attending the Kno. School at Cooperstown, New York.

WALTER R. THURMOND is a son of Joseph S. Thurmon of Alderson, and for the past ten years they have bee associated in the development and operation of some o the important coal properties of Logan County. Th principal operations are on Rum Creek and are conducte by the Argyle Coal Company and the Thurmond Coal Com pany, of which companies Walter R. Thurmond is genera manager and treasurer.

The grandfather of Walter R. Thurmond was Capt. W. D Thurmond, who came from Amherst County, Virginia, t Fayette County, West Virginia, in 1844, and opened up home and farm in the midst of the woods. Captain Thur mond was the actual discoverer of coal in the New Rive field. He uncovered a vein of coal near the surface whil plowing in his garden. Subsequently he acquired quite large acreage of coal land in that vicinity, which is now operated under lease by the Berwind interests. This lan is in the heart of the famous New River coal field. Captai Thurmond held a captain's commission in the Confederat army under General Echols, and was on scouting duty i Virginia and West Virginia. Capt. W. D. Thurmond wa born in 1820 and died at the age of ninety in 1910.

Joseph Samuel Thurmond, long prominent in the politic and the coal industry of West Virginia, was born in Fayett County, May 9, 1855. He grew up on the home farm, at tended the common schools and also Shelton College a Saint Albans when that school was conducted by Dr. P. E Reynolds, who afterwards became president of West Vir ginia University. Joseph S. Thurmond taught for severa years in the public schools of Fayette County, later becam a civil engineer and farmer and still later entered activel the coal mining industry. For years he carried heav responsibilities in the development of the New River field and subsequently in Logan County, being president of th Thurmond Coal Company and the Argyle Coal Company mentioned above. Joseph S. Thurmond is one of the demc cratic leaders of the state, served as the first mayor of th Town of Thurmond, was elected to the House of Delegate from Greenbrier County in 1914, was re-elected in 1916, wa chosen speaker of the House at the following session, an was again elected in 1918.

Joseph S. Thurmond married Betty Rippetoe, daughter o Rev. A. N. Rippetoe of Nicholas County, West Virginia She died in 1900, and of her four sons and two daughter Walter R. is the oldest.

Walter R. Thurmond waa born at the old Thurmon homestead in Fayette County, April 30, 1881. He acquire his early education in the local schools, and in 1898 entere the preparatory department of the University of West Vil graduating Bachelor of Science in 1905. Soon after leavin university Mr. Thurmond became an engineer in the Ne River coal field, and in 1912 he and his father began the: operations in Logan County, and since that date he has ha active charge of the Thurmond Coal Company and th Argyle Coal Company. Mr. Thurmond was president of th Logan Coal Operators Association in 1921, and was recent]

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

re-elected to that post. He is chairman of the Logan County Democratic Committee and a member of the Demo- cratic Executive Committee of the state.

In 1907 he married Innis Dils, daughter of I. A. Dils, of Fayette County. They have two children: Sarah Elizabeth, now in the first year of high school, and Fred Wait, in the sixth grade of the grammar school. Mr. and Mrs. Thurmond are members of the First Baptist Church of Logan and he is clerk of the church.

E. REECE BAKER is one of the representative business men and progressive citizens of Morgantown, Monongalia County, where he is a leading general contractor and is also president of the General Woodworking Company. He is a native son of West Virginia and is a representative of the third generation of the family in Monongalia County. His father, James Clark Baker, was born in the Pierpont settle- ment in Union District, this county, in 1850, and was there reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm. James C. Baker became a prosperous farmer in Grant District, this county, where he remained until 1899, when he removed with his family to Morgantown, the county seat, where he has since continued in successful business as a contractor and builder. His wife, whose maiden name was Cornelia Bell Potter, was born at Laurel Point, Grant District, this county, in 1852, and they have three children: Rex, a carpenter by vocation and a resident of Morgantown; E. Reece, the immediate subject of this sketch; and Rap P., in the employ of the Bell Telephone Company at Morgan- town.

E. Reece Baker was born on the home farm at Laurel Point, Grant District, this county, May 22, 1884, and his initial experience of practical order was in connection with the activities of the farm. He profited by the advantages offered in the public schools of the locality, and in 1903 he left the farm and initiated an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade of one year, in the employ of Elridge Tucker, a contractor at Morgantown. He then went to work for R. A. McCreery as foreman, and remained with him about five years. In his early period of apprenticeship, when he became associated with Mr. Tucker, Mr. Baker received five dollars a week for his services. In 1912 he engaged independently in contracting and building, and his ability and effective service soon gained to him secure standing as one of the leading contractors in this line at Morgantown. Here he has erected many of the finest resi- dences in the city, among them the modern houses of George C. Baker, A. R. Whitehill, David Reger, DellRoy Richards and others. He erected also the Cox & Baker Block on High Street, the public-school building at Maids- ville, this county, and many other structures attest his skill and effective working policies in his prosperous business.

Mr. Baker is affiliated with Morgantown Union Lodge No. 4, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and in the Scottish Rite of Masonry he has received the thirty-second degree, beside holding membership in the Mystic Shrine and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a vital and progressive member of the local Kiwanis Club, and he and his wife hold membership in the First Methodist Episcopal Church.

Mr. Baker wedded Miss Nona Dell Mercer, who was born at Fairmont, this state, a daughter of William O. Mercer, and the three children of this union are: Nellie Myrle, James William and Raymond Guy.

VALENTINE HATFIELD. A leading representative of the coal mining industry in Mingo County is found in the per- son of Valentine Hatfield, a man of extended and varied experience who is looking after the land and timber holdings of the United Thacker Coal Company, and likewise known as a prominent and influential citizen of Burch, also known as Rockhouse. Mr. Hatfield was born in what is now Mingo County, but then Logan County, West Virginia, in April, 1868, a son of Ellison and Sarah Ann (Staten) Hat- field, and a member of an old and honored family of Virginia.

Ellison Hatfield, a native of Virginia, as was his wife, fought valiantly as a private in an infantry regiment of

Virginians during the war between the North and South, his commanding general being Robert E. Lee. With the fall of the Confederacy and the subsequent cessation of hostilities he returned to his home, bearing the marks of six wounds on his body and also with a record for faithful, brave and loyal service, which included his capture by the enemy at the battle of Gettysburg. Leaving his native state after his marriage, he repaired to Logan County, West Virginia, and there continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits during the remainder of his life. He was every active in the work of the Baptist Church and was a man universally respected and esteemed in his community.

Valentine Hatfield attended the common schools of Mingo County, but his education was somewhat curtailed, as he was still a youth when he assumed life's responsibilities on his own account, being but eighteen years of age at the time of his marriage. Adopting the calling of his father, that of an agriculturist, he applied himself assiduously to this line of activity and became the owner of a goodly property. Some years ago he became identified with the United Thacker Coal Company, subsequently acted as their pur- chasing agent in the acquirement of many of the properties of this concern, and for the past fifteen years has been superintending the interests of this concern in this region in regard to the land and timber requirements of the com- pany. This company has extensive holdings in the Pigeon Creek community, where it is known as an important enter- prise, giving employment to large numbers of men.

In November, 1886, in Mingo County, Mr. Hatfield was united in marriage with Miss America Hatfield, who, al- though of the same name and living but eight miles up Pigeon Creek, belonged to another family, a daughter of Madison and Nancy (Ferrell) Hatfield. Mr. Hatfield was an agriculturist and a Confederate veteran of a Virginia regiment. Eight children were born to this union: Madi- son, who died May 4, 1906; Joe, an attorney of Williamson, who married Retta Damron; James Elva, a physician, who married Helda Fola; Matilda, who married Lon Mahon, a general merchant of Rockhouse; E. Couse, who married Pearl Cary; Verdie, who married Thomas Varney, a car- penter of Rugland, West Virginia; Sarah, who married G. U. Curry, a carpenter of Burch; and Edna, who married Charles Osborn, a civil engineer with the United Thacker Coal Company. Mr. Hatfield, while not being a seeker after public honors, has been willing to discharge his respon- sibilities as a citizen, and has served as a justice of the peace and as a member of the Mingo County Court. He has an excellent record as a official, a business man and a citizen, and is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens.

LEE OTIS HILL, M. D., is established in the general prac- tice of his profession at Camden on Gauley, Webster County, and the scope and representative character of his practice clearly denotes the high estimate placed upon him in the community.

Doctor Hill was born in Nicholas County, this state, February 23, 1881, and is a son of John and Rebecca (Rader) Hill, both likewise natives of that county, where they were reared and educated and where their marriage was solemnized. John Hill continued as one of the sub- stantial citizens and representative farmers of Nicholas County until his death, in 1921, and his widow still remains on the old homestead farm. Mr. Hill was a man of sterling character and marked individuality, was a democrat in poli- tics and was an active member of the Baptist Church, as is also his widow. Doctor Hill is one of the four children who survive the honored father; Viola is the wife of George W. Herold, of Cowen, Webster County; Agnes is the wife of Dr. D. P. Kessler, of Weston, Lewis County; and Mintie is the wife of W. E. Gardner, of Cowen.

As a boy Doctor Hill began to assist in the various activities of the home farm, and in the meanwhile he made good use of the advantages offered in the local schools. He later attended normal school at Summersville and Marshall College at Huntington, West Virginia. After completing his literary studies he was soon able to follow along the line of his ambition, as shown in his entering the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the City of

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

Baltimore, Maryland, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1905 and with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The village of Camden on Gauley has continuously been the stage of his successful professional activities, and here he has built up a substantial and repre- sentative practice. He is a member of the Webster County Medical Society, the West Virginia State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. The democratic party receives his loyal allegiance, aud in the Masonic fraternity he is affiliated with Camden Lodge No. 107, A. F. and A. M .; Sutton Chapter No. 29, R. A. M .; and Sutton Commandery No. 16, Knights Templar.

In 1903 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Hill and Miss Jennie S. McCue, who attended Marshall College and had been a successful and popular teacher prior to her marriage. Doctor and Mrs. Hill have two children: George and Robert, the elder son being, in 1922, a student in the high school.

JOHN R. GARRETT. After a career of successful achieve- ment as a representative of farm enterprise in Gilmer County Mr. Garrett is now living retired in the Village of San Fork, this county. His high place in popular esteem is shown by the fact that he has served as sheriff of the county and also as a member of the County Court.

Mr. Garrett was born in Virginia, in October, 1845, and was about four years of age when his parents came to what is now Gilmer County, West Virginia, where they settled on a farm in 1849. The father here passed the remainder of his life, and the mother was a resident of Upshur County at the time of her death. He whose name initiates this review is a son of Isaac and Sarah (Burgess) Garrett, and the respective families were founded in Virginia many generations ago. Stephen Garrett, a member of the family of which John R. is a representative, was a gallant soldier of the patriot forces in the War of the Revolution, and Isaac Garrett was a soldier in the War of 1812. Isaac Garrett and his wife were earnest members of the Baptist Church, and in politics he was a stanch democrat. Of their six children the subject of this sketch is the youngest, and he is now the only one surviving.

John R. Garrett was reared on the pioneer farm in Gilmer County and gained his early education in the old-time subscription schools. He continued a member of the family circle at the parental home until the time of his marriage, in the autumn of 1865, and thercafter he was actively en- gaged in lumbering operations in this section of the state for the long period of twenty-two years, besides which he has been concerned also with farm industry, in connection with which he gained substantial success. In 1898 Mr. Garrett was appointed deputy sheriff of Gilmer County, under Sheriff Jacob Moore, and after serving in this ca- pacity six years there came a consistent recognition of his efficiency, in that in 1904 he was elected sheriff. He gave a vigorous administration and retired from office at the close of the year 1908. In 1912 he was again elected sheriff, and his second term was completed in 1917, since which year he has lived virtually retired. Prior to his first election to the office of sheriff he had served six years as a member of the County Court and six years as a member of the Board of Education at Glenville. Mr. Garrett is a stock- holder in the Kanawha Union Bank at Glenville, and served as a director of the same for two years. He is still the owner of valuable farm property and other real estate in Gilmer County. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and he is an active member of the Baptist Church. The supreme bereavement in his life came when his loved and devoted companion of years was summoned to eternal rest on the 13th of March, 1920.

On the 21st of September, 1865, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Garrett and Miss Drusilla Stout, who was born and reared at Stout's Mills, Gilmer County, and of the seven children of this union five survive the devoted mother : Horace is a farmer and merchant of Gilmer County; John and Homer are successful farmers of this county, as is also Grover, who likewise conducts a general store in the Village of Gilmer, and Lovie is the wife of W. D. Keith, of San Fork, this county.

JOSIAH MELVIN RIPPLE, JR., who is one of the progressive merchants in the City of Martinsburg, Berkeley County, was born at Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, October 11, 1883, and is a son of Josiah Melvin Ripple, Sr., and Virginia (Smeltz) Ripple. The father was born at Marlowe, Berk- eley County, Virginia (now West Virginia), and was a son of William Ripple, who is supposed to have been born in the same county, where the family was founded when this sec- tion of West Virginia represented the western frontier of Virginia. William Ripple was a man of superior education and was for many years a successful teacher in the schools of Berkeley County, he having been a venerable and honored citizen of Marlowe, this county, at the time of his death. Josiah M. Ripple, Sr., gained much of his youthful educa- tion under the effective tutorship of his father, and through apprenticeship he became a skilled workman at the trade of carriage maker. In connection with his trade he was for several years foreman of the Thrush & Stoughs carriage factory at Hagerstown, Maryland. He was successful in his business activities, and from 1904 until his death, in 1910, he lived virtually retired at Martinsburg. His marriage to Miss Virginia Smeltz was solemnized in 1880, and Mrs. Ripple still maintains her home at Martinsburg. She was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, as were also her parents, John and Susanna (Dinkle) Smeltz, the former of whom died at the venerable age of eighty-eight years and the latter of whom passed away at the age of sixty-nine years. Their children were eight in number. John Smeltz, whose father was a successful planter and slave-owner in Rockingham County, Virginia, was there reared and edu- cated, and after the close of the Civil war he came to Berkeley County, West Virginia, where he became a sub- stantial farmer and where lie passed the remainder of his life on his old homestead farm, not far distant from the road leading from Marlowe to Williamsport.

Josiah M. Ripple, Jr., the only child of his parents, gained his preliminary education in rural schools and thereafter attended the public schools and also a business college at Hagerstown, Maryland. Thereafter he made a record of marked success as a traveling salesman for the Hess Car- riage Company, which he represented in the states of Penn- sylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee. After having been thus engaged five years he engaged in the book and stationery business at Martinsburg, and in 1920 he purchased the building in which his well equipped store is now established, on South Queen Street. The Mar- tinsburg Bank formerly occupied a part of the building, and since its removal to other quarters in 1922 Mr. Ripple has utilized the entire ground floor of the building of his substantial and constantly expanding business. He is a director of the Shenandoah Valley Bank & Trust Company, and is one of the loyal and progressive members of the Martinsburg Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Ripple is a re- publican in political allegiance, he and his wife are com- municants of St. John's Lutheran Church in their home city, and he is affiliated with Martinsburg Lodge No. 778, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Washington Lodge No. 1, Knights of Pythias; Aghar Temple No. 226, Dramatic Order Knights of Khorassan; and the local camp of the Woodmen of the World.

In 1910 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ripple and Miss Claudia May Schill, who was born and reared at Mar- tinsburg, a daughter of George W. and Mary Ellen Schill. Mr. and Mrs. Ripple have one son, Melvin Harold.

RAYMOND MOSES DAVIS, coal operator and broker at Morgantown, Monongalia County, is one of the vital and pro- gressive young business men of this city and is a native son of West Virginia. He was born on a farm eighteen miles south of Pennsboro, Ritchie County, January 28, 1882, and is a son of Moses H. and Mary Ellen Davis, who now reside at Pennsboro, the father having been born in Ohio and the mother in West Virginia. On the home farm Raymond M. Davis was reared to adult age, and that he profited fully by the advantages afforded in the public schools is shown by the fact that as a youth of only sixteen years he passed the required examination that gained to him a teacher'e certifi- cate of the second class. The youthful pedagogue then bent

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 22

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