History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 34

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JOHN S. DANA. Among the men prominently identified with the mercantile and financial interests of Charleston, as well as with the social life of the city, few have gained a higher reputation for ability and keenness of discernment than John S. Dana, vice president of the wholesale dry goods concern 'of Abney-Barnes Company. Mr. Dana is also not unknown to public life, and in each avenne of activity is accounted a constructive and helpful citizen.

Mr. Dana was born near Charleston, June 28, 1879, a son of J. E. and Maria A. (Swift) Dana, natives of New York. His father, who fought as a Union soldier during the Civil

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war, came here immediately after receiving his honorable discharge to investigate the coal fields. He started the Campbell's Creek Coal Company, of which he ran the oper- ating end, while his brother, S. F. Dana, had charge of the office at Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Dana continued in charge of the operations of this company for a period of forty years, and then retired to his comfortable home at Charles- ton, of which city he was appointed postmaster, a position in which he served four years. He is now living in his home at Palm Beach, Florida. Mrs. Dana, to whom he was mar- ried at Richfield Springs, New York, died in 1914.

John S. Dana attended the public schools of Charleston, and after doing some preparatory work pursued a course at Princeton University, from which he graduated with the class of 1903, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In that year he returned to Charleston, where he joined the Ahney-Barnes Company, wholesale dry goods merchants, of which he is now vice president. This company is now the largest concern of its kind in the Kanawha Valley, and has always adhered to the same line. It started as a small retail store some time after the close of the Civil war, but has been gradually developed into an enterprise which has a place among the city's leading concerns. It has sixty-five employes and twenty road salesmen, in addition to house salesmen, and during the nineteen years that Mr. Dana has been with the company he has seen its sales increase 600 per cent. The present officers are: W. O. Abney, presi- dent; E. A. Barnes, treasurer; and John S. Dana, vice president. Mr. Dana was also one of the original organ- izers of the Union Trust Company, which opened its doors for business May 5, 1913. The officials of this concern, of which Mr. Dana is a director, are: William O. Abney, president; A. B. Koontz, vice president; Charles Ward, vice president; H. P. Brightwell, cashier; and directors, Roman Pickens, J. S. Dana, E. L. Boggs, James A. Holley and H. M. Bertolet. This institution is one of the strongest in West Virginia and owns one of the finest bank and office buildings in the state. Mr. Dana is also a partner in the brokerage firm of Hardy-Dana Company, members of the New York Stock Exchange. He is a stanch republican in his political views and for several years has been one of the constructive and working members of the city council, in which body he is serving as chairman of the finance com- mittee. He has been a constant supporter of worthy civic movements, and his name is found regularly on the list of worthy charities.

Mr. Dana was united in marriage at Charleston with Miss Cynthia Abney, born in this city, a daughter of F. W. Abney, one of the founders of the firm of Abney-Barnes Company. To this union there have been born four children, namely : Francis, Arnold, Adelaide and John S.

REV. E. M. HICKEY gave thirty years of earnest and con- secrated service in the Catholic parish of St. Xavier's Church at Parkersburg, and brought to bear in his sacred office a most glowing and buoyant personality, the finest of intellectuality, the deepest human sympathy and tolerance, and the full measure of consecrated devotion to the aiding and uplifting of his fellow men. Father Hickey and his work meant much in Parkersburg, and in offering in this publication a tribute to his memory it is deemed but con- sistent to quote liberally, but with slight paraphrase, from the appreciative estimate that appeared in the Parkersburg Sentinel of October 12, 1909, the day of the death of the loved priest and citizen.

"No death in Parkersburg in recent years has caused such universal sorrow and regret in this community as that of Rev. Father E. M. Hickey. Father Hickey's life and services in Parkersburg are known to all. For thirty years he has labored in the vineyard of the parish of Parkers- burg, and there have been fruitful results. He was highly oducated, the master of many languages, a deep thinker, eloquent and flowery, and broad-minded and liberal. He was beloved by the members of his church and was es- teemed and respected by everyone, of whatever creed and of whatever condition of life, as there were no class dis- tinctions in his friendships, but a kindly salutation and a pleasant word were on his lips for everyone.

"Father Hickey was in the seventy-second year of age. He was a rative of Catskill, New York, where he w born August 12, 1837, and it was there he spent his esrl years and received his preliminary education, which w acquired in the parochial school. Later, after he had cided to enter the priesthood, he took a full course at ; Mary's Seminary in the City of Baltimore, Maryland, amo his classmates having been the late Cardinal Gibbons, lo one of the most distinguished dignitaries of the church the Western Continent, the two having always remain close friends. After concluding his course at St. Mary Father Hickey went to Rome, where he spent several yea in study.

"Father Hickey was ordained to the priesthood on ( tober 5, 1860, in the cathedral at Newark, New Jersey, a had he lived one more year he would have celebrated t fiftieth anniversary of his ordination. During the Ci war he served as chaplain of a New Jersey regiment, a at the close of the war he returned to New Jersey, whe he was stationed for some time thereafter. He was a me ber of the faculty of the Catholic college at Orange, th state, and his lectures in this institution attracted wi attention. They were deep and logical and were mast pieces of beautiful phrasing and diction.

"In 1878 Father Hickey was transferred to Newbery West Virginia, and this small parish was enriched by } presence. In November, 1880, he was transferred to t Parkersburg Parish, where he succeeded Rev. Father H. Park, who had presided over the destinies of this pari for a period of nearly thirty years and who was know all over the state. For nearly thirty years Father Hick has labored earnestly and zealously for the spiritual w fare of his large flock, and has spent much of his time a efforts in advancing the work of the church. Broad-minde charitable and with a loving nature, Father Hickey had good word for everyone. In his makeup there was utt absence of bigotry and prejudice, and thus he won frien and admirers wherever he moved, regardless of denomin tional religious lines. He frequently took part in civ gatherings, and was always heard with pleasure and prof Father Hickey was survived by a brother and two sister Charles Hickey, of Newark, New Jersey; Mrs. Mary Crc ton, of New York City; and Mrs. Sophia Norton, who h: been his constant home companion for years."

In all that represents the higher ethics of human li and all that represents the finest conceptions of spirituali and Christian faith as expressed in service, Father Hick stood forth as a noble and commanding figure, and his nar and memory shall long be revered in the city and pari in which he long lived and labored to goodly ends.

· CREED O. NEWLON is one of Grafton's veteran busine men. He has been in the city and its business life mo than forty years. His individual activities serve to emph size the record of a family that for four or five generatio has borne its share of business, civic, political and milita duty in old Virginia and West Virginia. The family h tory, though it can be told only briefly, is a record of mo than ordinary experience and achievement.

The record may properly start with the great-grandfath of the Grafton business man. His name was William Ne lon. In 1799 he moved with his family from Lancast County, Pennsylvania, to Fauquier County, Virginia. 1 married a Miss Martin, probably a native of Lancast County. They had six children: James, whose record f lows; Elijah, who died near Bentonsport, Iowa; Willia who died in Loudoun County, Virginia; John, who nev married and died in Loudoun County; Tamer, who pro ably never married; and Debbie, who married Mr. Cart and spent her life in Loudoun County.

James Newlon, representing the next generation, w born at Shepherdstown, Maryland, August 14, 1782. ( March 1, 1807, in Fauquier County, Virginia, he marri Jane Adams, and for a number of years they lived ne Culpeper Court House. In 1824 they came to West V: ginia, locating in what was then Harrison County, nc Taylor County, and near Pruntytown. After his & Charles went to Webster to take charge of a mill and stor

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James Newlon purchased his son's home in Pruntytown, and they lived there the rest of their days. He died March 29, 1867. His wife was born in Fauquier County in Feb- ruary, 1791, and died February 12, 1882.

Charles Washington Newlon, son of James and father of Creed O., was born near Culpeper Court House, Vir- ginia, in 1816, and was about eight years of age when the family came to the frontier community of Pruntytown and to the farm on Fairmont Pike. Charles W. Newlon ac- quired a limited education and as a youth learned the tailor trade. By self study he educated himself far beyond the point to which his school advantages took him, and he exer- cised the qualities of a fine mind by acquiring wide infor- mation on many subjects and developed great fluency as a public speaker. He became prominent in politics and public affairs. He was the second clerk of Taylor County, and he held the offices of Circuit and County Court clerk. About 1856 he was elected to the Virginia Senate, being chosen on the democratic ticket, and remained a member of the Virginia government through a portion of the war. He was opposed to secession, but when Virginia went out of the Union he declared himself a loyal citizen like Gen- eral Lee and other strong men of the town. One service he performed during the war was securing the exchange of Maj. Nathan Goff, a Union officer held by the Confed- erates as a hostage for Major Armsey of the Southern army, and that possibly saved the lives of both of these officers. After the war he seems to have retired from politics for some years. Later he was elected mayor of Grafton, and in 1876 was chosen to the West Virginia Senate. He re- mained loyal to the democratic party after the war, and in spite of this handicap he defeated the republican nominee and served one term in the Senate of the new state. He really possessed the qualifications of a safe leader in poli- tics and affairs. About the close of his term in the Sen- ate he gave up his business as a merchant at Grafton and moved his family to Buckhannon, where he helped organ- ize the Buckhannon Bank and was its cashier until his death in February, 1889. Before the Civil war and while a resident of Taylor County he joined, in the spring of 1859, David Elliott and G. H. A. Kunst in the co-partner- ship of Elliott, Newlon and Company. This firm erected a four-story flouring mill and sawmill in Webster, and with the management and conduct of this and his mercantile business Charles W. Newlon was connected until the out- break of the war.

Charles W. Newlon was a church worker, probably never missed a church service, and he and F. M. Durbin and John W. Hull promoted and organized the First Methodist Protestant Church in Grafton. He was licensed to preach, hut probably never officiated in this capacity with the excep- tion in the absence of the pastor. He was never at a loss to make a good speech, and had a large vocabulary and a very fine diction. He joined the church when about six- teen years of age, and probably as a consequence of his devotion to church he never became a member of any fraternity.

Charles W. Newlon married Christina Margaret Earl. The home of the Earl family was Randolph County, Vir- ginia, at Beverly, where her father, Archibald Earl, was an extensive landowner and farmer and justice of the peace. Archibald Earl was born at Winchester in the Valley of Virginia. and was a strong Southern man over the issues of the Civil war. He married a Miss Buckey, of Beverly. Christina Margaret was one of eleven children, the others being: John, Elias, Jefferson, Archibald, Creed. Mrs. Lu- cinda Leonard, Mrs. Anzina Crawford, Mrs. Sallie Ann Harper, Mrs. Maria Ward and Mrs. Elizabeth Barlow. Mrs. Charles W. Newlon died at Buckhannon two years after the death of her husband, at the age of seventy-three. Her children were: Doctor Granville A., who practiced his pro- fession in the vicinity of Buckhannon, where he died; Doc- tor Charles W., Jr., who died at Grafton; Jefferson Earl, who was a merchant and died at Buckhannon; Creed Owens; James Lee, who died at Grafton while a Baltimore and Ohio Railway conductor; and Ida, who resides at Parkersburg, wife of Charles W. McCormick.

It now remains to take up the individual record of Mr.

Creed O. Newlon. He was born at Pruntytown, Taylor County, February 17, 1851. He was about ten years of age when the Civil war broke out. At that time his parents followed the Southern army from Fetterman south, and though but a child he witnessed with them the first battles of the Civil war fought in West Virginia, these battles be- ing at Philippi and Rich Mountain. He received his first schooling in his native community, and during the war attended the Rock Bridge Academy, Brownsburg, Virginia. The close of the war found the family living at Rock Bridge Baths on North River. Soon afterward his father returned to Western Virginia, to take possession of what remained of his property, and after disposing of his interests he gathered his family together and took them to Texas. The trip southwest was made by railroad to Parkersburg, by boat to New Orleans, thence by another boat up Red River to Jefferson. Texas. While in New Orleans his father pur- chased a Wheeling made wagon and at Jefferson, Texas, bought a pair of horses and harness and drove two hun- dred miles west into Texas to Fort Worth. He remained there about a year, and in the meantime became convinced that he was in a country too wild for permanent habita- tion, and accordingly traded his team and some other prop- erty for land in Randolph County, West Virginia. The party with whom he made the trade conveyed the family as far as Millican, then the terminus of a railway, and from there they traveled by train to Houston, by steanı- boat down Buffalo Bayou to Galveston, and thence by boat over the Gulf to the mouth of the Mississippi River and up that river two hundred and ten miles to New Orleans. Here another boat received the family of eight Newlons, and they came up the Mississippi and Ohio through Cin- cinnati, where they transferred to another boat bound for Parkersburg. Leaving the river, they traveled by train to Grafton, having been absent only a year, but having had experiences of travel and change that would hardly be for- gotten by a boy of fourteen or fifteen years. From Graf- ton the family went on to Volga, Barbour County, by wagon, remained at old Burnersville a year and then returned to Grafton.

In the meantime Creed O. Newlon had picked up con- siderable knowledge of mechanical trade, did work as a carpenter, was a merchant for a brief time at Grafton, and then took up the plumbing business and performed the first public plumbing job in the city. He now ranks as the oldest plumber of Grafton. For over nineteen years he was manager of the Grafton Gas and Electric Light Con- pany. He then resumed business for himself, operating a foundry and machine shop, and in connection doing business in electrical and plumbing goods. He continued the ma- chine shop until 1919. and he is still active in business on Latrobe Street. handling plumbing supplies and mining and machine supplies.

Mr. Newlon was chairman of the Water Commission that installed the first water system of Grafton, and he was formerly a member of the School Board. He has rather avoided politics beyond voting as a democrat, and he claims to have profited from his father's long experience in pub- lic affairs to the extent of steering clear of political burdens.

October 29, 1873, at Grafton, Mr. Newlon married Miss Katie B. Barbee, a native of Grafton and daughter of Joseph and Jackalina (Smith) Barhee. Mrs. Newlon died in August. 1898. She was the mother of six children: Owen E., a plumber at Marietta, Ohio; Floyd A., master mechanic of the Texas and Pacific Railway at Big Springs, Texas; Ethel N., of Columbus, Ohio, widow of T. Frank Cotton; Bertha K., wife of Allen T. Hodges, of Elkins, West Vir- ginia; Ella-May, wife of Everette McDaniel. of Columbus, Ohio; and Albert Joseph. a machinist of Marietta, Ohio.

The soldier representative of the family in the great war is Owen E. Newlon, who volunteered in April, 1917, giving up a high salaried position and declaring that he was volun- teering for the emergency of the war, and at the termina- tion of which he wished to be discharged so as to re-enter civil life. He was assigned to Battery C of the Seventy- sixth Field Artillery of the Third Division, was trained at Fort Ethan Allen, Burlington, Vermont, and at Camp

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Shelby, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, went overseas from New York and was on the front line at the Battle of Chatean Thierry and until the close, being never absent from his post of duty an hour. He was cited at Mousay, France, for distinguished service, was promoted to sergeant of his company, and the morning following the signing of the armistice he and his regiment started with the Army of Occupation for the Rhine. The people of Coblenz declared that the Seventv-sixth Field Artillery was the finest hody of men they had ever seen. When he went into the service Owen Newlon knew personally the one hundred ninety-eight men of his hattery, and when the war ended there were only thirty-five of his old acquaintances left in the active personnel.

October 1. 1901, Mr. Creed Newlon married Miss Katie B. Miller, of New Hope. Kentucky, where she was born, daughter of William B. and Mollie Miller. She is the old- est of a family of five daughters and one son. Her father was a farmer and is now deceased, and her widowed mother occunies the old home farm with her unmarried son and two unmarried daughters. William B., Jr .. and Misses Sallie and Florence Miller. The married daughters besides Mrs. Newlon are Mrs. Sudie Peterson and Mrs. Lula May.

Mr. Creed Newlon has become affiliated with all hranches of Masonry, being active in the Roval Arch Chapter, the Knights Templars Commandery and the Mystic Shrine, and has served as secretary of his lodge for twenty-two years. He is a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, and is a Grand Lodge representative and deputy grand chancellor of that order. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

WILLIAM PEARL MCCUE represents the younger generation of one of the old land holding families of West Virginia. and while he has kept in close touch with land and agriculture, his associations for a number of years have been those of an energetic business leader and man of affairs at Morgan- town. Mr. MeCue is in the insurance and real estate busi- ness and is general manager of the Hope Realty Company of Morgantown.

His birth occurred on the old McCue homestead in Nicholas County. West Virginia, December 25. 1883. His parents were Kyle B. and Martha (Whitman) McCue. His grandparents were John and Mary (Burr) MeCue. The McCues were north Irish Scotch people who. on coming to America, settled in old Virginia. Kyle B. MeCue was born in Nicholas County in 1853, and is still active in business affairs, being known throughout that section of the state as one of the largest land owners and stock men. He has about 2,000 acres of land in Nicholas County and has made a successful business of stock raising. He has been honored with a number of local offices, including membership in the County Court and school director.

William P. McCue lived with his father on the home farm until 1902, when he was nineteen. In the meantime he attended the public schools and was also a student in the West Virginia Wesleyan Seminary, now the Weslevan University at Buckhannon. On Jeaving the farm he attended West Virginia University, and left there to return to Nicholas County and take charge of a 600-acre farm which he had inherited from his grandfather McCue. He remained in charge of this property for a year, and then returned to Morgantown and hecame associated with William E. Price in the furniture business. He had active charge of the firm's interests until 1916, in which year he became local agent for the Northwestern Life Insurance Company and has since built up a splendid business in insurance and also in real estate. He organized the Hope Realty Company, which he now manages. and was also identified with the organization of the Smith-McCue Coal Company. and was one of the organizers and has since been a director of the Union Bank & Trust Company.

Other affiliations that hetoken his wholesome interest in the life and affairs of his home city are: Morgantown Union Lodge No. 4. A. F. and A. M., Morgantown Chapter No. 14, R. A. M., Morgantown Commandery No. 18. K. T., Morgantown Lodge of Perfection No. 6 of the Scottish Rite, West Virginia Consistorv No. 1 and Osiris Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Wheeling; Morgantown Lodge No.

411, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Mononga hela Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows: Kiwanis Club. Chamber of Commerce; and the First Baptist Church

On December 27, 1907, Mr. McCue married Edith Price daughter of William E. and Elizabeth Price. of Morgan town. Her death occurred in Mav. 1909. shortly after the birth of her son, William Price MeCue. who was born Apri 24. 1909. September 25, 1913, Mr. MeChe married Anni Burke, who was born in Greene County. Pennsylvania daughter of Justus South and Esther (Ross) Burke. The three sons of this marriage are: Robert Burke and Richard Burke. twins. horn October 7. 1914, Richard dving at birth and John Burke McCue, born December 19, 1916.

BENJAMIN F. BONE, M. D., who is engaged in the prac tice of his profession in the City of Moundsville Marshal County, has unequivocal prestige as one of the leading phy sicians and surgeons of this section of the state and ha gained specially high reputation as a skilled surgeon. Hi success has been on a parity with his professional ability and his personality has gained to him a host of stancl friends in the county of his adoption. The doctor has iden tified himself most fully with local interests and owns and occupies one of the finest homes in Moundsville.

Doctor Bone was horn at Mount Pleasant. Ohio, October 4. 1875, and is a scion of one of the honored pioneer fami lies of the old Buckeve State. His paternal grandfather came to the United States from Haling Island, England and was a resident of Ohio at the time of his death. ir 1879, when seventy-six years of age. His brother. Rev Henry Bone. was for forty years pastor of the Methodis Church at Martin's Ferry, Ohio. A maternal uncle o: Doctor Bone was Dr. Nathaniel R. Coleman. who served a president of the Ohio State Board of Health and held othe positions of influence in connection with public affairs. The Coleman family was founded in Ohio in the early pionee: period of its history.

After completing the curriculum of the high school Docto: Bone entered the medical department of George Washington University. at Washington, District of Columbia. and after receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine he came to Wes Virginia and engaged in practice at Tunnelton, where he also held the position of railway surgeon. Later he wa engaged in practice at Fairmont until 1908, when he cam to Moundsville, where he had charge of the prison hospital under the administration of Governor Dawson. He confine his attention largely to office and surgical practice, is : valued member of the staff of the Reynolds Memorial Hos pital. and just prior to the signing of the armistice which brought the World war to a close he had been accented fo: service in the Medical Corns of the United States Army At the inception of the movement to send medical unit to the stage of warfare Doctor Bone had tendered his serv ices but at that time there was no requisition for his aid in this capacity.

Doctor Bone is liberal in politics and gives his suppor to men and measures rather than heing constrained hy stric partisan lines. He has received the thirty-second degre in the Scottish Rite of the Masonic fraternity and i: affiliated also with the Mystic Shrine. He is a directo! of the City and County Bank at Moundsville. and in a pro fessional way is actively identified with the Marshall County Medical Society, the West Virginia State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. His chief diver sion is found in annual hunting trins in Northern Michigan on the shores of Lake Superior, where he maintains a cabin as a domicile for use in hunting seasons of deer. He hat several fine trophies of the hunt, including splendid dee! heads. He has also maintained a summer home for the past ten years at Lake Odessa. Michigan, where the family spend the summer, and the fishing is very good. His wife whose maiden name was Myrtle G. Harr is a daughter of the Jate and honored Dr. Wayne Harr. of Fairmont. Wes Virginia. The three children of this union are Margaret who is, in 1921, a student in the University of West Vir ginia. she having been previously graduated in Washington Seminary. at Washington Pennsylvania: Dorothy. like her sister graduated from high school and is now a student ir

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 34

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