History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 39

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At the age of twenty-five he married Emma Susan Shaffer, who was born at Martinsburg, daughter of Jacob

Viciam 2. March

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and Isabelle (Burnett) Shaffer. Her grandfather, John Shaffer, was born in 1795 and was a son of Peter Shaffer, a Pennsylvania soldier in the American Revolution. John Shaffer was an early settler of Martinsburg, and a wagon manufacturer whose place of business was at the corner of West King and South Raleigh streets. He married Sally Curtis. The father of Mrs. Snyder was the first superin- tendent of the Martinsburg Water Works, and continued in that official capacity for forty years. The maternal grand- parents of Mrs. Snyder were Archibald and Eve Burnett.

Mr. and Mrs. Snyder, who are members of the First Meth- odist Episcopal Church, reared five children. Edith May, the oldest, is the wife of A. D. Darby and has two children, named Ruth May and Albert D., Jr. Roland Shaffer, the oldest son, entered the United States service in the World war, was first stationed at Kelly Field, near San Antonio, Texas, and was at Chanute Field, near Champaign, Illinois, until the close of the war. The third child is Hattie Webb. The fourth, Mary Isabella, is the wife of Roy Harrison and has two children, Isabella and Margaret. William Stanley, the younger son, also is an ex-service man, and was stationed at Camp Lee until the elose of the war. lle attended Washington and Lee University and West Virginia Uni- versity, and is now a clerk in the office of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at Cumberland, Maryland.

CHARLES S. TRUMP. Prominent among the younger generation of legists at the Berkeley County bar is found Charles Samuel Trump, who has already displayed profes- . sional ability of a high order and has made rapid strides in his calling. Mr. Trump is a veteran of the World war, in which he suffered wounds, and is an energetic, forceful and capable representative of the kind of citizenship which in recent years has brought West Virginia prominently to the forefront in various avenues of endeavor.

Mr. Trump was born at Martinsburg, West Virginia, January 18, 1891, and is a son of Rev. Charles Trump, a native of Carroll County, Maryland, born in 1855. The grandfather of Mr. Trump was George Trump, born in 1807, in Carroll County, Maryland, being a son of Frederick Trump, also a native of Carroll County, whose father was Von Johannes Trump, who was born in Holland in 1736 and came to America during Colonial days, settling in Maryland and fighting with the Colonial forces during the War of the Revolution. He died in 1815, while his wife, Catherine Schloegel, who was born in Holland in 1738, died in 1823. Frederick Trump was a merchant in Carroll County, Mary- land, and spent his entire life there. He married Elizabeth Krantz, who was born in the same county and died in 1888, aged seventy years. Cornelius Trump, a great-unele of Charles S. Trump, was a soldier in the Union army during the war between the states, and was captured and for a time confined in Libby Prison.

Rev. Charles Trump took an academie course at the West- ern Maryland College, Westminster, Maryland, and after graduation therefrom entered the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, being graduated from the theo- logical department of that institution. At that time he located at Harpers Ferry, as pastor of the Lutheran Church there, and in addition to his ministerial duties engaged in teaching school. After two years Reverend Trump removed to Centerville, Pennsylvania, where he was pastor of the old stone church of the Lutheran faith located there, and in 1888 resigned that pastorate to accept a call to St. Jolin's Lutheran Church at Martinsburg. Here he labored faith- fully and effectively until his greatly-mourned death in October, 1919. He married Eva Schick, who was born at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and she survives him as a resi- dent of Baltimore, Maryland. She reared five children: Harold, Mary B., S. Elizabeth, Charles Samuel and Frank M. Mr. Trump's maternal great-grandfather was John Lawrence Schick, Sr., who died in 1834. He married Susan Holtzworth, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in November, 1819. He was born in Duerscheim, Germany, January 22, 1793, and came from there to America, September 20, 1818, and settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His son, John Lawrence Schick, the maternal grandfather of Mr. Trump, married Sarah Welty. He was born December 25, 1822. When he

was a young child his parents moved to Gettysburg, Penn- sylvania, where he died in 1913, aged ninety-one years. He was a strong Unionist, and while he never served in the war he gave liberally to the cause. He served many years as treasurer of the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Associa- tion.

Charles S. Trump attended the public schools of Martins- burg, completing his high school course at the East High School, Columbus, Ohio, following which he enrolled as a student at West Virginia University, Morgantown, where he completed an academic course of one year and then en- tered upon a three-year law course. Hle was still at the university when the United States became embroiled in the World war, and in 1917 he enlisted in the United States service, being first stationed at Camp Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, where he was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned first to the Eighty-third Division, from which he was transferred to the Thirty-seventh Division and later to the Seventy-ninth Division, with which he went overseas in December, 1917. Going to the front in France, he par- ticipated in various skirmishes and battles until the severe engagement at Montfaucon, which the Americans captured September 27, 1918, when he was wounded. Hle was at once sent to a base hospital, in which he was still confined when the armistice was signed, and as soon as he had sufficiently recovered was placed in charge of Blois Casual Company No. 311 and returned to the United States. Upon his ar- rival he was assigned to duty at Camp Upton, where he remained until August 13, 1919, and was then honorably discharged. Returning to the university, he resumed h's studies and was graduated in 1920 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Admitted to the bar, he at once com- meneed following his profession at Martinsburg, where he has since built up a large and lucrative practice.

On March 30, 1917, Mr. Trump was united in marriage with Miss Rose Lee LaVelle, who was born at Uniontown, West Virginia, daughter of Thomas M. and Susan LaVelle, and to this union there have been born two children, Belle Lee and Jeanne LaVelle. Mr. and Mrs. Trump belong to St. John's Lutheran Church. He is a member of Washing- ton Lodge No. 1, Knights of Pythias, and the American Legion.

WILSON PORTERFIELD SPEROW. The Sperows were one of the many families that moved down from Pennsylvania and joined in the very early settlement of the Shenandoah Valley in what is now Berkeley County. They were here before the Indians had departed, and shared in the struggles and vicissitudes of making the country habitable. Some five or six generations of the family have lived here and one of the youngest is represented by Wilson Porterfieldl Sperow, a prominent school man living in Martinsburg.

He was born at Bedington in Berkeley County, son of John Wilson Sperow, grandson of George O. Sperow and great grandson of George Sperow, who died on the farm which he owned and occupied in Hedgesville District. He had a family of six sons and two daughters: Brown, George O., Henry V., Cromwell S., James, Peter S., Kate and Sallie. George O. Sperow was born in Hedgesville Distriet, acquired a farm in Falling Water District, and when he finally left the farm he moved to Martinsburg. where he died at the age of seventy-eight. His wife was Mary S. Riner, who was born in Falling Waters District. a daughter of Henry and Polly (Couchman) Riner. She died at the age of sixty-nine, mother of four children : Henry Riner, John Wilson, Anna May and Hester.

John Wilson Sperow is now a resident of Martinsburg. He was born on a farm in Falling Waters District, grew up there and received a rural school education, and at the age of twenty-two bought the home farm and gave his time to its management and cultivation until 1911, when he moved to Martinsburg. Since then he has been a traveling sales- man, though he still owns and manages the farm. He was elected a member of the State Legislature in 1911, and was a member of some of the important committees during his term. He and his wife are members of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at Martinsburg. John Wilson Sperow married Sallie A. Porterfield, who was born on a

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farm in Falling Water District. Her father, Alexander Robinson Porterfield, is now eighty-eight years of age, sturdy and useful in spite of his long life, and is still living on the farm where he was born December 24, 1833. He was a son of William and Polly (Rush) Porterfield, and both the Porterfield and Rush families were early settlers of Berkeley County. Alexander R. Porterfield was an active farmer before the Civil war, and had slaves to operate his plantation. He married Susan B. Small, who was born in Opequan District of Berkeley County, daughter of John and Sallie Small. John Wilson Sperow and wife reared two children, Wilson Porterfield and Dora Vivian. The latter is the wife of Daniel Franklin Dennis and has a daughter, named Margaret Katherine.

Wilson Porterfield Sperow received his first educational advantages in Bedington. He pursued a four-year course in the Shepherd College State Normal, graduating in 1914 with the A. B. degree and in 1916 received the Master of Arts degree. His career as a teacher has been in connection with some of the larger schools of this section. He taught in the Martinsburg High School until he answered the call to the colors in 1918. He was a sergeant and remained at Camp Meade until honorably discharged in December, 1918. On returning home he was an employe of the old National Bank at Martinsburg until the fall of 1919, when he began his duties as principal of the Bunker Hill High School.

On March 20 1920, Mr. Sperow married Lillian Henrietta Sites, who was born in Pendleton County, West Virginia, daughter of Dr. Johnson McKee and Isabella (Kile) Sites. Her father was a practicing physician in Martinsburg for many years, and is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Sperow are members of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He is affiliated with Equality Lodge No. 44, A. F. and A. M., Lebanon Chapter, R. A. M., Palestine Commandery No. 2, K. T., Washington Lodge No. 1, Knights of Pythias, Azhar Temple No. 226, D. O. K. K. He is past moderator of the Potomac Valley Round Table, a teachers organiza- tion, and is a member of the Rotary Club at Martinsburg.

HON. WILLIAM HEREFORD MCGINNIS has been a prominent practitioner at the Raleigh County bar for more than forty years, and during a large portion of that period has been a leading figure in public life, having served for six years as a member of the State Senate and also having occupied otlier positions. His public service has been of great prac- tical value to his community, and in his home city of Beck- ley, as well as elsewhere, he is accounted a leading and formidable corporation lawyer.

Senator McGinnis was born on Marsh Fork of Coal River, thirty miles northwest of Beckley, Raleigh County, West Virginia, and is a son of Hon. James Hereford and Mary (Williams) McGinnis. James H. McGinnis was born on the Nibert place, on the Guyandotte River, Logan County, this state, in 1827, and died at Beckley in 1907. He was a son of Pyrrhus McGinnis, a native of Frederick County, Virginia, who was a pioneer of Logan County and a mer- chant there for many years. In about 1850 Pyrrhus Me- Ginnis brought his family to Raleigh County and settled on Marsh Fork, where he established a mercantile business, as he did in several other parts of the county. He was a successful merchant and accumulated several thousand acres of land, some of which was located near Beckley. He found time to engage helpfully in school work, and was also a faithful member of the Methodist Church. When seces- sion raised its head Mr. McGinnis, a man of positive views and the courage to voice his opinions, at once took a stand in favor of the Union, and during the war between the states was shot at by a Southern sympathizer at Beckley. Two of his sons, Achilles and T. J., were soldiers in the Seventh West Virginia Cavalry, the former holding the rank of first lieutenant. Mr. McGinnis lived to see his principles vindicated, dying at Beckley in 1874.

James Hereford McGinnis was educated in the common schools, and as a young man became a school teacher, a vo- cation which he followed ten years, during which time he studied law and was admitted to the bar at Barboursville, West Virginia. It was his desire to enter the army at the outbreak of the war between the states, but he was severely

afflicted with rheumatism at the time and thus was prevented from service. Following the war he was one of the few that could take the test oath, and was a partner of Hon. Sam Price of Lewisburg, war governor of West Virginia, who was barred from practice because he could not take the test oath, but who was not excluded from acting as coun- sel. Later Mr. McGinnis practiced law all over West Vir- ginia. A man of great natural ability, fine presence and magnificent oratorical powers, no one could present a case in better manner to a jury, and as a result his practice, general in character but slightly tending toward criminal cases, was large and important. He had an office at Fay- etteville for many years, but Beckley was his home. Mr. MeGinnis was a raconteur of parts, and his stories were much relished by his fellow Masons and others with whom he was wont to gather in a social way. An ardent repub- lican, he served as prosecuting attorney in several counties, and in 1888 was elected to Congress, but was counted out, and before a Congressional contest could be settled Con- gress had adjourned, thus preventing him from acting in the national lower body. Mr. McGinnis married Miss Mary Williams, who was born in 1830 and died in 1917, a daugh- ter of William Williams, who came from North Carolina and settled on Johns Creek in Pike County, Kentucky, where his daughter was born. She was a life-long Meth- odist. The children born to James H. and Mary (Will- iams) MeGinnis were: Virginia, the wife of T. K. Scott, of Beckley; Nancy, who died in young womanhood; Mary, the widow of John F. Davis, residing at Beckley; Sallie, who died at the age of eight years; James H., Jr., who died in childhood; Martha, the wife of W. R. Lilly, an attorney of Logan; J. Douglas, an attorney of Beckley; and William Hereford.

William Hereford McGinnis attended the local schools and as a young man adopted the vocation, temporarily, of school-teaching. After several terms spent in the rural schools in 1879 and 1880 he attended Concord Normal School and then took up his duties as his father's amanu- ensis. While thus engaged he improved the opportunity to study law and was admitted to the bar at Hinton while at- tending court there. For years he was associated with his father in practice, as he was also with Judge John H. Hatcher from 1905 until Judge Hatcher ascended the bench in 1921, or for a period of sixteen years. During the last ten years Senator McGinnis has devoted his attention almost exclusively to court practice, has a large and prominent clientele, and is attorney for many of the corporations, coal companies and railways here. The dean of the Raleigh County bar, he was elected prosecuting attorney in 1892, and served in that office for four years. In 1902 he was elected to the West Virginia Senate, in which body he served six years, and was a member of many of the most important committees. He was one of five democrats in

the Senate and was the nomince of his party for president of the body. Had he occupied that position he would have succeeded the governor in case anything had happened to re- move him from the gubernatorial office. He has been a democrat since the attainment of his majority, and at one time knew "every voter in the county and his dog." He is president of the Raleigh County Bar Association, a di- rector in the Bank of Raleigh, a Methodist in his religious faith, and fraternally is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge at various times. He has witnessed and participated in the entire development of Beckley, as at the time that he commenced the practice of law here the com- munity was a mud-road town, without railroads or other modern conveniences, consisting of a blacksmith shop, post office and court house, scattered around which were the primitive homes of the residents.

In 1891 Mr. MeGinnis was united in marriage with Miss Sallie Holroyd, a daughter of William Holroyd, of Athens, Mercer County, West Virginia, and to this union there have been born four children: James Hereford; William Holroyd; Mary Nan, the wife of W. W. Goldsmith, an at- torney of Beckley; and Sarah E., residing with her parents. James Hereford McGinnis is a graduate of Washington and Lee University, and is now associated with his father in the practice of law at Beckley. On April 15, 1917, he

He Leftwich

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volunteered his services to the United States and trained at the First Officers' Training Camp, where he secured a see- ond lieutenant's commission. He was assigned to duty with the Twelfth Machine Gun Battalion, and was on the battle lines of Chateau Thierry and Argonne Forest and with the Army of Occupation in Germany. During his serviee he was slightly gassed on one occasion, and at Chateau Thierry, for gallantry in action, was promoted first lientenant and received a number of eitations. William Hol- royd McGinnis volunteered in February, 1918, was assigned to the same command as his brother, and advanced from private to sergeant. He was on the battle lines of St. Mi- hiel, Chateau Thierry and Argonne Forest, and received the Distinguished Service Cross for the reseue of two wounded comrades. He was at the Officers' Training Camp at LaMons, France, when the armistice was signed. Mrs. McGinnis is a Methodist, and the children have been reared in the faith of that chureh.

FLEMING C. LEFTWICH, a representative member of the har of the City of Huntington, elaims the Old Dominion State as the place of his nativity and is a scion of a family that was there founded in the Colonial days, the original American representatives having come from England. Col. William Leftwich, great-grandfather of the subject of this review, served as a patriot soldier and officer in the Revoln- tion, in which he was a general of Virginia troops. Jabez Leftwich, grandfather of Fleming C., was born in Bedford County, Virginia, in 1791, and died in Giles County, that state, in 1875. The major part of his life, however, was passed in Montgomery County, Virginia, where he was an extensive planter and slaveholder prior to the Civil war. He well upheld the military and patriotie prestige of the family name by his service as a captain in the War of 1812. and thereafter he ever continued to be known as Captain Leftwich. His wife, whose maiden name was Martha Early and who was a cousin of the distinguished Confederate offieer, Gen. Jubal A. Early, was born in Bedford County, Virginia, in 1795, and died in Giles County, that state, in 1875, the same year in which her husband died.

Tubal W. Leftwieh, father of him whose name initiates his sketch, was born in Bedford County, Virginia, in 1838, and died in Madison, Boone County, West Virginia, in 1903. He was reared in Montgomery County, Virginia, and his marriage oeeurred in Giles County, that state, where he con- tinued activities as a farmer and carpenter until 1895. He then came to Madison, West Virginia, where he passed the remainder of his life. He was originally a demoerat and later a republican, and in Giles County he served many years as justiee of the peace. He served as first lieutenant in the Thirty-sixth Virginia Infantry, Confederate, during the entire period of the Civil war, took part in many engage- ments, ineluding the second battle of Manassas and that of Winchester, and was thrice wounded. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In Giles County, Virginia, he married Mary Porterfield, and there her death occurred in 1875. Everett, eldest of the children of this union, who died April 3, 1922, was a leading lawyer at Williamson, West Virginia; Pemberton Lee died at the age of eighteen years; Fleming C., of this sketch, was next in order of birth; Jennie is the wife of Sidney A. Albert, of Pizgah, North Carolina; Charles W., a traveling salesman and a veteran of the Spanish-American war, resides at Madison, West Virginia; May is the wife of Andrew J. Bradley, of Peytona, West Virginia; Miss Mary is a resi- dent of Madison, this state; and William P. is a resident of Nallen, Fayette County.

For his second wife Tubal W. Leftwich married Miss Louisa Snodgrass, who was born in Giles County, Virginia, in 1853, and whose death occurred in 1898. They are sur- vived by four children: Marvin E., of Moundsville, West Virginia; Lela, wife of Gaylord Berry, present postmaster at Madison, this state; Margaret, wife of William A. Clen- dennen, a farmer near Peytona.

Fleming C. Leftwich was born in Giles County, Virginia, April 17, 1866, and there attended rural and seleet schools. He remained on the home farm until he was twenty years old, when he came to Madison, West Virginia. He taught

school three years, and in the meanwhile took up the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1889, and thereafter was engaged in praetiee at Madison until 1910, when he removed to the City of Huntington and assumed charge of the legal departments of the Big Creek Development Com- pany, the Yawkey & Freeman Coal Company and the Pond Fork Coal Company. Of the two corporations last men. tioned he is now secretary, treasurer and legal adviser, and in his general praetiee he has secure prestige as one of the able and sueeessful members of the bar of this section of the state. He is a director of the Huntington Banking & Trust Company, the Madison National Bank, the VanZandt- Leftwich Auto Supply Company of Huntington, and the Miller Casket Company of this city. His professional and business offiees are maintained at 1211 First National Bank Building.

Mr. Leftwich is a stalwart advoeate of the principles of the republican party, and while a resident of Boone County he served as prosecuting attorney from January I, 1897, to January 1, 1901, besides which he was postmaster at Madison under the administration of President Benjamin Harrison. In 1908-9 he represented the Eighth Senatorial District-Boone, Kanawha and Logan counties-in the State Senate. He is a past master of Odell Lodge No. 115, A. F. and A. M., at Madison; is affiliated with Tyrian Chapter, R. A. M., at Charleston, where also he is a member of Kanawha Commandery No. 20, Knights Templars, and Beni- Kedem Temple of the Mystic Shrine, while in the Scottish Rite he has received the thirty-second degree in the Con- sistory at Wheeling. He is a past grand of Boone Lodge No. 170, I. O. O. F., at Madison, and is a member of Huntington Lodge No. 13, B. P. O. E. Mr. Leftwich is a member of the West Virginia Bar Association and in his home eity holds membership in the Guyan Country Club. IIe was active in the furtheranee of loeal patriotie measures in the World war period, and as a member of Draft Board No. 2 gave mueh time to the enrollment of young men for the nation's service.

December 20, 1893, recorded the marriage of Mr. Leftwich and Miss Minnie Stollings, tlaughter of the late Col. Joe E. and Ella (Croft) Stollings, of Madison. Colonel Stollings. with whom Mr. Leftwich was associated in the praetiee of law for a number of years, was a Confederate colonel in the Civil war. Mrs. Leftwich attended the Concord Normal Sehool at Athens, and was a successful teacher in the schools of Boone County prior to her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Left- wieh have but one child, Miss Ruby, who remains at the parental home and is a popular figure in the social life of Huntington. Miss Leftwich received the best of educational advantages, including those of Marshall College, at Hunting- ton, Barboursville College. at Barboursville, this state, and Fairmont Seminary, Washington, D. C.

GEORGE ARTHUR MOHLER. A contributing factor to the business prestige of the City of Beckley and the surround- ing territory is the bottling works of the Raleigh Coea- Cola Company, situated at Mahseott. This important busi- ness enterprise is under the management of George Arthur Mohler, a man of capacity and experience, who is also manager of the plant at Mullens. He has been identified with this line of work ever since entering upon his business career, and his advancement therein has been well merited.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 39

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