History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 23

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Raymond M Davis

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

8 energies to securing a school in which to put his ac- virements to practical test. He walked three miles to the p of a hill for conference with one of the school trustees ho was working in a clearing. Upon making application this trustee the latter, after a careful survey of the ap- icant, said, "Boy, you should be in school instead of trying teach." Thereafter Mr. Davis rode on horseback through 1 parts of his native county in search of a school, but his outh caused him to be unsuccessful in his quest, with the re- lt that he abandoned his pedagogic ambition and entered e employ of the Eureka Pipe Line Company in Ritchie ounty. He continued three years in the employ of this com- iny at nominal wages, and in the meantime learned from an erator at the company's headquarters the rudiments of legraphy. Until he had attained to his legal majority r. Davis sent his wages to his parents, and at the age of wenty-one years he entered the Mountain State Business ollege at Parkersburg, and he paid his own way while arsuing his studies in this institution eight months. There- ter he passed about three months in the railroad office ; Pennsboro, after which he went to New Martinsville, etzel County, where for a short time he held the position : telegraph operator at the station of the Baltimore & hio Railroad. He next engaged in the hotel business at ennsboro, on borrowed capital, and two years later he ld the hotel business at a good profit, marking this suc- ssful issue by marrying and going with his bride to alifornia. There he passed two years as a street-car con- actor in the City of Los Angeles, and in 1907 he and his ife returned to West Virginia and established their resi- ence at Reedsville, where he became station agent and legraph operator for the M. & K. Railroad, at a salary : $35 a month. In January, 1908, he was transferred to Ibright, at increased salary, and there he continued his rvices until 1911, when he was promoted train dispatcher id relief agent at Morgantown, in which city he has nce maintained his home. Here he was promoted agent, perator and dispatcher at the Sabraton yards of the M. K. Railroad, and in 1917 he was advanced to the posi- on of train dispatcher. This office he resigned July 15, 918, and permanently retired from railroad service. In le meanwhile he had invested his savings in the timber usiness in Braxton County, and after a period of three ears he sold his interests in this line at a good profit. 1 January, 1918, Mr. Davis and Ernest H. Gilbert, who ad long been associated in railroad service and who had ained considerable knowledge of the coal industry through andling large shipments from the mines, organized the avis Coal Company, a partnership concern, and they have nce continued as successful coal operators and brokers. n 1919-20 they purchased eight different mines in the [organtown District, the same having an approximate utput capacity of 4,000 tons daily, and under normal con- itions the annual brokerage business of the firm involves le handling of 1,000,000 tons of coal. Messrs. Davis and ilbert have won success entirely through their own ability nd efforts and have made for themselves secure vantage- round as reliable, progressive and substantial young husi- ess men.

Mr. Davis married Miss Fannie Wilson, who was born t Pennsboro, Ritchie County, a daughter of Sherman V. nd Alice (Broadwater) Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have wo children: Alice Irene, born April 6, 1908, and Mary Margaret, born June 30, 1913.

CHARLES M. GATES, the executive head of the Gates Building & Construction Company, with headquarters at Villiamson, Mingo County, is one of the alert and progres- ive men who are playing a prominent part in the civic and material advancement of this section of the state, his asso- iate in the business being his brother, Darwin R., of whom ndividual mention is made in a sketch immediately follow- ng this.

Charles M. Gates was born at Scottdale, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1870, and is a son of William Michael and Barbara (Willson) Gates, hoth likewise natives of the old Keystone State, where the father was long and actively dentified with coal mining. William M. Gates served as a

gallant soldier of the Union during the Civil war, he having been a private in the Two Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which was a part of the Fifth Army Corps. He took part in many engagements, including the historie battles of Antietam and Gettysburg. After the war he was engaged in burning charcoal for use in iron furnaces, and in 1872 he became a coal miner in Pennsylvania, a vocation which he followed during the rest of his active career. After the death of his first wife he married Emma B. Holt.

Charles M. Gates attended the public schools of Pennsyl- vania about three years, and was but nine years old when he became a trapper in a coal mine. With the passing years he made consecutive advancement, became a skilled miner, served as mine foreman, later became mine superintendent and finally became general manager of the Crystal Black Coal Company of Mingo County, West Virginia. In 1917 he established his residence at Williamson and engaged in the real estate business, in connection with which he spe- cialized in the handling of coal mines and other coal prop- erties, besides handling improved and vacant city realty. In connection with this enterprise he found it expedient to do much building in order to sell properties to advantage, and in September, 1921, he became associated with his brother Darwin R. in the organization of the Gates Build- ing & Construction Company, of which he is president. The company, with the best of facilities and management, is developing a large and substantial business in building and general construction work in Mingo and adjoining counties. In the furtherance of the business Mr. Gates is preparing to establish headquarters in the City of Huntington, though he will continue his residence at Williamson. He is a pro- gressive and able business man and a sterling citizen who has achieved marked success, the while he has always com- manded unqualified popular esteem. He has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite of the Masonic fraternity, in which he is also a member of the Mystic Shrine, and he is affiliated also with the Elks and is a member of the Kiwanis and Coal City clubs of Williamson. He and his wife are members of the Baptist Church.

In 1896, in Pennsylvania, Mr. Gates wedded Miss Agnes Glenn, and her death occurred in December, 1916. The children of this union are: Clark Ray, Austin J. W., Katherine A., Thomas D., Pee Jay, Bertha L. and Edith Clark. Clark R. and Thomas D. are engaged in the cattle business at Montrose, Colorado.

On the 21st of May, 1920, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Gates and Mrs. Lucille Gilbert (Cox) Fitzgibbons, a widow with one son, Henry, who now bears the name of Henry Fitzgibbons Gates. Mrs. Gates was born and reared in Kentucky and is a daughter of J. P. and Catherine Cox, of Henderson, that state.

DARWIN R. GATES, who is associated with his brother Charles M. as one of the principals in the Gates Building & Construction Company at Williamson, Mingo County, was born in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, March 3, 1890, and is a son of William M. and Emma B. (Holt) Gates, adequate record concerning the family being given in the preceding sketch of the brother, Charles M. Gates.

The early education of Darwin R. Gates included that of the high school, but he was compelled to leave school at the age of sixteen years, owing to the death of his father. He was reared in his native county, and there he gained his early experience in coal mining. After acting as mule- driver in the mines for one year he served two years as weighing boss, and he then came to West Virginia and entered the employ of the United States Coal Corporation, a subsidiary of the United States Steel Company. He was employed one year as assistant mine foreman at Gary, Mc- Dowell County, and six years as mine foreman, and in 1917 he was made mine superintendent for the Wigarb Mining Company at Goodman, where he remained until 1921, when he engaged in the automobile business at Williamson. Four months later he sold his interest in this enterprise and be- came associated with his brother in the real estate, building and general construction business, as noted in the preceding outline of the career of his brother. Mr. Gates is affiliated

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

with both York and Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity, and also with the Mystic Shrine, is a member of the Kiwanis Club at Williamson, and he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist Church.

June 3, 1914, at Indiana, Pennsylvania, Mr. Gates wedded Miss Della Jennie Hess, daughter of Frank and Sarah (Wheeler) Hess, both natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Gates have two children, Leona Wahneta and Della Eleanor.

NEWELL KELLOGG PRATT, superintendent of the Big Sandy Colliery of the Solvay Collieries Company at Big Sandy, McDowell County, has been in the employ of this industrial corporation since 1907, save for a period of some- what more than a year, during which he was in service with the Young Men's Christian Association in France in the World war.

Mr. Pratt claims the old Empire State as the place of his nativity, his birthi having occurred at Delphi Falls, New York, on the 27th of December, 1882. He is a son of Frank F. and Rose (Holbrook) Pratt. Frank F. Pratt has heen associated with farm industry throughout his entire active career, and resides with one of his sons on the fine old homestead farm near Cazenovia, Madison County, New York, he being sixty-five years of age at the time of this writing, in the winter of 1921-2. His wife died in 1913, at the age of fifty-five years. Of the two children the subject of this review is the younger, the older son, Ashley, having the active management of the old home farm. The Pratt family was one of prominence and influence in Madison County, New York. from the Colonial period, prior to the War of the Revolution, in which representatives of the name served as patriot soldiers, one having held the rank of lieutenant.

Newell K. Pratt attended a private school in the City of Syracuse, New York, and thereafter continued his studies in a seminary at Cazenovia until he had attained to his legal majority. Thereafter he was associated for one year in the work and management of the home farm, and he then took a position in the receiving teller's department of the Irving National Bank, New York City. He thus remained in the national metropolis until 1907, when he came to West Virginia and became script clerk at Marytown for the Solvay Collieries Company. Six months later he was trans- ferred to the Big Sandy Colliery and advanced to the posi- tion of chief clerk. Later he returned to Marytown, and served as chief clerk to J. C. Rawn, general manager of the company, and of this position he continned the incumbent until 1917, when he was assigned to the purchasing depart- ment at Huntington. In 1918 he went to France as secre- tary of the Young Men's Christian Association, and was assigned to the position of accountant and financial secre- tary of the Vannes Area. He remained in France some- what more than a year, and in the mcanwhile the armistice brought the war to a close. Upon his return he became chief clerk to the general superintendent of the Edgewater Coal Company, subsidiary company of the Solvay organization, at Hellier, Kentucky, and in August, 1920, returned to the Big Sandy Colliery, where he served as assistant superin- tendent until the 1st of the following December, when he was promoted to his present office, that of superintendent. He is affiliated with the lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Welch, the county seat, and with the chapter of Royal Arch Masons at Northfork. He is a republican in political allegiance, and is a member of the Presbyterian Church, in the faith of which he was reared.

LORELLE VERNON REED, deputy collector of internal reve- nue at Charleston, and division chief of that division, is one of the old-time newspaper men of the state, and for a quarter of a century was identified with the editorial man- agement of the Preston Republican, removing from Terra Alta to Charleston following his appointment in the internal revenue service.

Mr. Reed was born at Lebanon, Laclede County, Missouri, May 25, 1867. His father is a minister of the Church of the Disciples, and has served as pastor of many churches of that denomination. L. V. Reed finished his education in

the Christian College at Ash Grove, Missouri, and first came to West Virginia in 1894. His headquarters were af Wheeling, and for a year or so he had been associated as & salesman with the S. J. Clarke Publishing Company and the Goodspeed Publishing Company of Chicago. He repre sented these publishing houses in Missouri, Iowa, Wiscon sin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Chicago. He is a Presbyterian and a Mason.

In 1896 Mr. Reed removed to Terra Alta and became editor of the Preston Republican. In 1899 he bought the paper, and continued it as owner and editor from 1899 t 1921.

Mr. Reed was not a stranger to Charleston when he moved his home here, since he has held several official position involving duty at the state capitol. For several years h was secretary of the State Board of Control, with office a Charleston, and he also served as clerk to the finance com mittee of the House of Delegates. He was appointe deputy collector of internal revenue in October, 1921, an shortly afterward he moved his family from Terra Alta t Charleston. His jurisdiction comprises the counties o Kanawha, Boone, Putnam, Raleigh, Greenbrier, Clay, Mor roe, Fayette, Pocahontas and Summers.

The Reed family has been well represented in the publi life of West Virginia for several years. Mrs. Reed had prominent part in the republican state campaign of 192 and is one of the most influential workers among the newl enfranchised element of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Reed hav three interesting children. Virginia is the wife of G. F Silcott, of Columbus, Ohio. The only son, O. Edward Reed is a graduate of Columbia University, and now has charg of the publicity department of the Mergenthaler Linotyp Company at New York City. Miss Dolly Gray Reed is student in the University of Ohio at Columbus.

GEORGE S. GOCHENOUR, M. D. That important service humanity which can only be rendered by the capable an conscientions physician and surgeon has been the work which Dr. George S. Gochenour has devoted his time an ability in Hardy County for over thirty years. The scer of his activities of a professional nature is not far distar from the locality of his birth and the region in which h family has played an influential role for over a century.

Doctor Gochenour was born at Maurertown, Shenandoa County, Virginia, Angust 2. 1857. His grandfather, Jon than Gochenour, spent his life as a farmer at Maurertow where he is buried. He married a sister of Elder Georg Shaver, and their children were Isaac, George, Sallie, A nie and Eliza. George spent his life at Tom's Brook Shenandoah County; Sallie married Henry Bater. remove to Ohio during the Civil war, and spent her life there Annie married Samuel Maphis, and both lived in Shena doah County until their deaths; Eliza married Craft Beydler, of Shenandoah County, and during the war the moved to Jerico, Missouri, where she died recently, the la survivor of this generation of the family.

Isaac Gochenour, father of Doctor Gochenour, was al a native of Shenandoah County, and spent his life there a farmer. As a member of the Church of the Brethren was conscientiously opposed to war, and when the Confe erate authorities began taking members of the church in the army by force he left his home and went to Pennsy vania, remaining there until the close of hostilities. F returned home just two days before the surrender of Ge eral Lee's army and was immediately arrested by Confe erate authorities, who started him to Richmond, but } neighbors and friends, with whom he had spent his life, j terposed and raised $1.000 in cash, which they paid to lease him, the penalty for failure to serve in the Southe Army. Isaac Gochenour always lived as a private citize but was very active in the work of the church, being lead of the church music and a splendid singer. He died 1871, when only forty-two years of age.

He was survived many years by his widow, who died 1894. Her maiden name was Eliza Riednour. Her gran father was a native of Germany, and while serving as officer in the German army he met at some point on the coa of Scotland the young lady who subsequently became 1

Dr. G. S. Sochenous,

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

wife. They came to America, settled in Shenandoah County, where he followed farming, and lived there until his death. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was a man of powerful build and splendid physique, being a giant in stature. At one time three of his young great-grandsons, including Doctor Gochenour, were playing with his trousers and had no difficulty in inserting their bodies within the generous girth of that garment. The wife of this old. time settler of Shenandoah County survived him many years, and she never wore glasses and when in advanced years she plied a cambric needle with the ease and dexterity of a woman in middle life.

The father of Eliza Riednour was Dr. Henry Riednour, a noted tooth extractor. He also remained loyal to the Union, and some of the neighbors and friends laid in wait for him with loaded guns and pistols, but he escaped their am- bush, went to Illinois, joined a Union regiment and was in service until the close of the war. His command came through his Virginia home region several times, and he visited his family. so that he was not altogether removed from them. After the war he returned and spent the rest of his life in Shenandoah County, where he was born in 1802 and died abont 1887. Eliza was the oldest child of Doctor Riednour. The home in which she reared her chil- dren was one put together with nails made by a blacksmith, one of the homes built during the days of the Indians on the Virginia frontier. Her children were: Fannie, who be- came the wife of Elder B. W. Neff. of Mount Jackson, Virginia : H. H .. who for sixteen vears was a freight con- ductor on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and was killed just after the settlement of a strike on that road; John J. on the old homestead at Maurertown; and George Shaver, the Moorefield physician.

Dr. George S. Gochenour spent his early life in the rural community where he was born, attended the country schools, and his duties were with the farm until past his majority. He had spent much of the time with his grandfather, Doc- tor Riednour, and this probably influenced him in the choice of medicine as his profession. When ready for college he went to Baltimore and entered the old Baltimore Medical College. receiving his first diploma there in 1889. Later. when that institution was merged with the University of Maryland, the school issued him a new diploma. For the last vear while he was a student he was assistant resident physician of the Maryland General Hospital. and after graduating he hecame resident physician to fill the unex- pired term of the regular physician. He also did some general practice while in Baltimore, and left that city, with the promise of success and considerable distinction before him, in order to keep the higher altitude and a climate more beneficial to him in West Virginia. In 1889 he located at Mathias in Hardy County, and remained there until 1898, when he moved to the county seat, Moorefield, where he has now enjoyed an extensive private practice for nearly a quarter of a century.

During the World war Doctor Gochenour was commis- sioned by the Government a member of the Volunteer Med- ical Service Corps, authorized by the Council of Defense. He was later sworn in as assistant physician of the draft hoard. and only awaited the vacancy in the office made by the inability of the regular annointee to serve. For sev- eral years he has been city health officer and is a member of the County and State Medical Societies, and for years has been vice president of the Hardy County Bank. Doctor Gochenour was a member of the council at Moorefield for a number of years, has always voted as a democrat, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, is master of Moorefield Lodge No. 29, A. F. and A. M .. and is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner.

Doctor Gochenonr married in Shenandoah County Miss Alice V. Shaver, daughter of Elder Samuel A and Annie (Good) Shaver. She was born March 4, 1860 and died February 11. 1887. the mother of two sons, Ernest and Harry Lee. The latter died in infancy. Ernest Gochenour has made a distinguished record as an educator, is a gradu- ate of Roanoke College and of Princeton University, was formerly teacher of social science in the University at

Porto Rico, later professor of Spanish in Wentworth Mili- tary Academy at Lexington, Missouri, and is now gen- eral superintendent of the Spanish department in the high schools of Birmingham, Alabama.

Doctor Gochenour's second wife was Miss Mollie E. Gar- rett, daughter of Westfall and Eliza (Chrisman) Garrett. She was born in Hardy County where she died in 1912, leaving a son, Garrett Stouffer Gochenour, born June 16, 1895. He is a graduate of Roanoke College and of Colum- bia University of New York, was in the service of the navy during the World war, being discharged April 1, 1922, and is now an efficient engineer in an aluminum plant at Niag- ara Falls.

JOSEPH E. ROBINS, M. D. A resident of Charleston since 1886, Doctor Robins for a quarter of a century performed an invaluable and extensive service as a physician and and surgeon, largely as company physician for coal corpora- tions, directing and attending to the medical care, sanitary safeguards provided for mining towns and districts. Doctor Robins has since retired from the active business of the profession, but is still prominently identified with the coal industry and with financial affairs at Charleston.

He was horn at Elysburg, Northumberland County. Penn- sylvania, in 1861. He represents an old line of solid Eng- lish ancestors. One of his forefathers was a Colonel Robins, on the staff of Cromwell. Prior to the Revolutionary war the Robins family settled in Northumberland County, Penn- sylvania. His great-grandfather, Aaron Robins, was a land owner and merchant in that county, while the grandfather. Dr. Joseph C. Robins, was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and a physician. Three of his sons followed the same profession, though Harvey S. Robins, father of Dr. Joseph E .. was a merchant in Pennsylvania.

Joseph E. Rohins graduated from Jefferson Medical Col- lege in Philadelphia in 1883, and for several years prac- ticed at Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. On coming to Charleston, West Virginia, in 1886, he became surgeon for a number of the coal companies in the New River coal fields. Subsequently he represented several large coal corporations, and during a busy twenty-five years had thousands of miners and their families under his care. Doctor Robins is one of the distinguished men in his profession in the state. For nineteen years he was a member of the State Board of Health and for several years its president. For thirteen years he was a member of the National Guard of West Vir- ginia, and was chief surgeon during the period of martial law, 1912, on Paint and Cabin creeks, serving with the rank of major. He has been retired from medical practice now for several years.

His connection with the coal industry of West Virginia and Kentucky involves large financial interests. He is a stockholder or director in a number of coal companies. He was formerly president of the National City Bank of Charleston, which was merged with the present Charleston National Bank, of which he is vice president. This is the largest National Bank in the state.

During the war with Germany Doctor Robins was a mem- ber and examining surgeon for the Charleston Draft Board. The duties of this office kept him busy for many months, literally day and night. The tremendous volume of work accomplished by the board, and its generally high record of efficiency, were due not only to the individual exertions of the three members but to the extra help employed by them, an employment made possible chiefly through sub- stantial contributions of money on the part of Doctor Rob- ins and his two associates.

The outstanding civic interests of Doctor Robins is his work in behalf of education in Charleston. He has been a member of the Charleston Board of Education since 1915. He was elected president of the hoard in 1919 and reelected in 1921. The half dozen years of his membership have been coincident with a remarkable degree of progress in the material and educational equipment of the Charleston schools. The city now has a magnificent high school and many grade schools, and the board now has a building pro- gram involving the expenditure of more than half a million dollars in 1922 and for two or three years following.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 23

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