History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 4

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > West Virginia > History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3 > Part 4

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

A. C. BLAIR, M. D. Member of one of the old and prom- inent families of Ritchie County, son of a distinguished lawyer, A. C. Blair early in his career chose the medical profession as his calling and for thirty years has practiced with notable success in the county, his home being at Harris- ville.

Doctor Blair was born July 27, 1863, son of R. S. and Rachel (Core) Blair. His father was born near Parkersburg, West Virginia, in Wood County, February 21, 1835, son of David and Elizabeth (Beeson) Blair. David Blair was born in Blair County, Pennsylvania, in 1794, and was an early settler in Wood County, West Virginia. In 1817 he married Elizabeth Beeson, of a prominent family of Union- town, Pennsylvania. David Blair was cashier of the First State Bank of Parkersburg. He died at Portsmouth, Ohio, of cholera, in April, 1835. The late Robert S. Blair was left an orphan when about four weeks old, was reared by his aunt, Ann Gardener, acquired a common school education, was apprenticed to learn the saddler's trade and subsequently received an appointment to the Virginia Military Institute, from which he graduated. On returning to Harrisville he studied law in the office of Cyrus Hall, and for a long period of years he was known as one of the ablest lawyers of the Ritchie County bar, in which he is succeeded by his son, R. S. Blair, Jr. The father served as prosecuting attorney of Ritchie County, being elected on the democratic ticket. He was an active member of the Methodist Church. His wife, Rachel Core, was born in Tyler County, West Virginia, August 29, 1842. They had four children: Dr. A. C. Blair; Robert S., Jr .; Miss Elizabeth C .; and Harry C., who saw service in the World's war and is now practicing medicine at Reeder, Wetzel County.

Dr. A. C. Blair grew up at Harrisville and attended school there and the Bethel Military Academy in Virginia. After returning home he took up the study of medicine, and in 1891 graduated M. D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore. Doctor Blair has devoted thirty years to the work of his profession and has every reason to be satisfied with his reputation as a professional man and as a quiet and influential citizen of Harrisville.

December 21, 1903, Doctor Blair married Miss Vernie E. Curtis. They have four children: Corena R., born October 30, 1904, a student in high school; Robert J., born November 4, 1906; Luln M., born April 9, 1908; and Nannie A., born August 28, 1910. The family are members of the Methodist Church and Doctor Blair is a democrat. He owns a fine home on Main Street in Harrisville and also has a farm of ninety-four acres.

Mrs. Blair was born in Randolph County, West Virginia, April 29, 1880, daughter of Milton J. Curtis, who was born in Randolph County October 22, 1838. Her mother was Mary Williams, who was born in Highland County, Virginia, September 30, 1843, daughter of Mary (Rowe) Williams. Thomas Curtis, father of Milton J., was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and was an early settler in Randolph County, West Virginia, where he became a merchant.

ROBERT S. BLAIR. The name Blair has been one of the most prominent in the bar of Ritchie County for over half a century. The present legal representative of the name, Robert S. Blair, Jr., has practiced there for thirty years or more, and has maintained the high reputation accorded to his honored father.

Mr. Blair was born in Harrisville November 19, 1865, son of R. S. and Rachel C. (Core) Blair. His mother was a daughter of George A. Core. R. S. Blair, Sr., was born at Parkersburg February 24, 1835, son of David and Elizabeth (Beeson) Blair. David Blair's father came from Ireland. Elizabeth Beeson was a daughter of Jacob Beeson and a granddaughter of the pioneer settler at Beesontown, now Uniontown, Pennsylvania. R. S. Blair, Sr., was left an orphan at the age of three weeks, and was reared by his grandmother Beeson and his aunt, Ann Gardener. At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to learn the saddler's trade, and subsequently General Jackson secured him an appoint- . ment to the Virginia Military Institute, where he remained four years. He graduated under Stonewall Jackson. After leaving there he came to Harrisville, clerked in a store, and while in the office of Judge Cyrus Hall studied law and was admitted to the bar. For many years thereafter he had an extensive practice in all the State, Federal and other courts. He died January 21, 1892. He was a democrat all his life. R. S. Blair, Sr., and wife had four children: Dr. A. C. Blair, born July 27, 1863, in practice at Ellenboro, Ritchie County; Robert S., Jr., born November 19, 1865; Catherine E., born November 21, 1867; and Dr. H. C. Blair, born June ! 22, 1886, now at Reeder, West Virginia.

Robert S. Blair, Jr., grew up at Harrisville, attended the public schools there, Bethel Military Academy in Virginia, the University of West Virginia, and graduated in law from the University of Virginia and was admitted to the bar at Charlottesville. For a time he was with the legal depart- ment of the Crescent Iron Works of Virginia, and then joined his father as a partner about six months before his father's death. During the past thirty years Mr. Blair has carried on an extensive practice in all the courts of his section of the state. He has satisfied his ambitions within the strict limits of his profession, but has also at different times been active in the democratic party and in 1916 was the democratic nominee for the State Senate, being defeated by only thirty- one votes in a district normally republican by 1,500.

In December, 1896, Mr. Blair married Mary E. Wolfe. They have one daughter, Mary R., born January 22, 1916.

DANIEL CARSON LOUCHERY, M. D. To the credit of Dr. Daniel Carson Louchery of Clarksburg is a record of forty-two years of active practice as a physician and surgeon, and an earlier record of a prominent educator.

Doctor Louchery and Doctor Fleming Howell, now of Oakland, Maryland, are the only survivors of the original organizers of the Harrison County Medical Society, about 1887 or 1888. Other men prominent in the early history of the said society were Dr. A. L. Hupp, Dr. D. P. Morgan, Doctor Hill of Bridgeport, Dr. William Late and Dr. A. O. Flowers, who was the first doctor admitted after the society was organized.

Daniel Carson Louchery was born on a farm near Fair- mont, West Virginia, June 2, 1845, only son and child of Daniel and Rhoda (Miller) Louchery. Daniel Louchery

fra J. Stifel

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

was born in Pennsylvania, March 29, 1816, and died June 27, 1845. His father, James Louchery, was a native of Mary- land, and was the son of a Revolutionary soldier. The name Louchery was originally "Loughrey", of Scotch Presbyterian stock. Rhoda Miller, the mother of Doctor Louchery, was born in Marion County, West Virginia, May 31, 1824, and died September 4, 1866. She was the daughter of David and Nancy (McGee) Miller, also of Scotch ancestry. Right after the death of her first husband she was married to John Riley, and by that union had four children.

Daniel Carson Louchery grew up with his mother on a farm, and had poverty to contend with in his youth and his advantages were largely of his own seeking. He attended the subscription schools at Boothsville, West Virginia and one year at Doctor White's Academy at Fairmont. In 1864 he enlisted in the Union Army, serving until the close. He was mustered out June 10, 1865. After the war he con- tinued his education until he was qualified for teaching. On December 25, 1866, he married Mary Catherine Lynch. He married only a few months after the death of his mother. Mrs. Louchery was born in Harrison County November 4, 1849, daughter of John P. and Zipporah (Farris) Lynch. Mr. and Mrs. Louchery attended school together for two years after their marriage, and for one year she was his pupil while he was teaching. Doctor Louchery completed his literary education in Southwestern Normal School at Leb- anon, Ohio, and for one term had attended the West Virginia Agricultural College and was also a student in Ohio Univer- sity at Athens. Partly in the intervals of his own student life he did his effective work as a teacher for twelve years. The last five years of that period he was superintendent of city schools at Clarksburg. During 1870-71 he was county superintendent of schools of Harrison County.

Doctor Louchery acquired his medical education in the University School of Medicine of Maryland at Baltimore, where he graduated March 6, 1880. For twenty-two years he was engaged in the practice of medicine at Salem, West Virginia, and since 1901 has been located at Clarksburg. For many years his practice has been in special lines, par- ticularly eye and ear diseases, and in preparation for his specialty he attended many clinics and post graduate courses in New York and Philadelphia. He was a student in the Manhattan Eye and Ear Infirmary at New York, also attended the Polyclinic, The New York Eye and Ear In- firmary, New York Post Graduate Hospital and the Phila- delphia Polyclinic. Doctor Louchery is a member of the West Virginia State Medical Society, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and a member of the American Medical Association. He is a republican and a member of the Methodist Church, and has been a lay delegate to the West Virginia Conference.

Doctor and Mrs. Louchery had four children: Mrs. Zeppa L. Clark; Edna E., wife of Doctor Ogden; Charles W., a prominent Clarksburg attorney whose career is sepa- rately noted in this publication; and Lucy Virginia, who died at the age of sixteen.

CHARLES W. LOUCHERY. The Harrison County bar is made up of men of recognized ability in the law, some already long experienced and eminent, and others who, although not old in the profession, have many times demonstrated their possession of the qualities and unmistakable talent that are part of the equipment of every successful lawyer. One of the latter class, who has a substantial record and extensive practice, is Charles William Louchery, a representative citi- zen as well as prominent attorney of the City of Clarksburg.

Mr. Louchery was born at Salem in Harrison County, West Virginia, March 9, 1888, and is a son of Dr. Daniel Carson and Mary Catherine (Lynch) Louchery. Doctor Louchery was born in Marion County, West Virginia, June 2, 1845, his father, Daniel Louchery, was born in either Greene or Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and his father, James William Carson Louchery, at that time spelled Lough- rey, was the son of a Revolutionary soldier. The great- grandfather of Charles W. Louchery was born in Maryland, and in early manhood settled in Western Pennsylvania, then moved to what at the present time is Marion County, West Virginia. For generations the Louchery family has

been known and held in high regard throughout this section of country.

Daniel Louchery, the grandfather, removed with his family to Harrison County before his marriage. Daniel Carson Louchery for some years after the close of the war between the states, in which he served as a soldier in the Union Army, taught school and later became superintendent of the schools of the City of Clarksburg and county super- intendent of schools for Harrison County. In the mean- while he had studied medicine in the School of Medicine in the University of Maryland, and after qualifying as a physician, practiced at Salem for some years and then came to Clarkaburg, where he is still engaged in active practice. He married Mary Catherine Lynch, who was born in Har- rison County, a daughter of John Perry Lynch and a grand- daughter of Hiram Lynch, all of Harrison County. Doctor and Mrs. Louchery have had four children: Zeppa, Lucy, Edna and Charles William, Lucy being deceased. Mrs. Louchery is intelligently interested, like her husband, in public affairs, and both are identified politically with the republican party, and both are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Charles W. Louchery had public school advantages at Clarksburg, then entered the West Virginia Wesleyan Col- lege and was graduated from the seminary department in 1907. Three years later he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the West Virginia University at Morgantown, and from the same university the degree of LL. B. in 1911. His preparation for the law went still further, and in 1913 he received the degree of LL. B. from the University of Wisconsin, at Madison, and following this he entered upon the practice of law at Clarksburg. Well grounded in every branch of the law, he has successfully handled a number of important cases before the courts and is retained as counsellor by business concerns that have learned the wisdom of at all times having at command the sound judgment and trained legal faculties of an able and honorable attorney.

Mr. Louchery married May 24, 1917, Misa Mildred Belle Lamberd, who is a daughter of Charles E. and Belle (Johnson) Lamberd, well known residents of Clarksburg. Mr. and Mrs. Louchery have one aon, Daniel Lamberd Louchery. They have a wide social circle, and Mr. Louchery belongs to the fraternal order of Elks. An earnest citizen consistently concerned in the welfare of his city, county, state and country, he is not slow to recognize the claims made on his time, attention and means, but politically has never consented to allow his republican friends to present his name for public office.

WILLIAM F. STIFEL. To know aught of the history, civic and industrial, of the City of Wheeling, West Virginia, implies high recognition of what the name of Stifel has here signified in connection with normal development and progress. He whose name introduces this paragraph is president of J. L. Stifel & Sons, which concern here con- ducts an extensive manufacturing enterprise as printers of cotton goods-a business that was founded by his father in 1835 and that is one of the most important industries of the city at the present time. He is president also of the Wheeling Fire Insurance Company, the only fire insurance corporation in West Virginia.

J. Louis Stifel, father of William F., was born and reared in Wurtemberg, Germany, where he learned the trade of calico printing, and where he became manager of a large manufactory in this line. He came to the United States in 1833, and in 1835 became one of the pioneer manufacturers at Wheeling, then little more than a vil- lage in the western part of Virginia. In 1837, at Steuben- ville, Ohio, ha wedded Barbara Becht, a native of Darm- stadt, Germany. On coming to Wheeling Mr. Stifel estab- lished a small calico-printing shop at the corner of Main and Ninth streets, and six years later he purchased the property at this location. There he erected and equipped a larger plant, and with the passing years the industry has constantly expanded in scope and importance. The sons, Louis C. and William F., were thoroughly trained in all de- partments of the business, in which they became partners after the close of the Civil war. The honored father retired

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

from active connection with the business in 1878, and he was one of the venerable citizens and honored pioneer business men of Wheeling at the time of his death, in 1882. The two sons continued to be associated in the control of the business until Louis C. met a tragic death in a street- car accident in 1899. In his calico-printing and indigo work the father at first conducted all operations by hand, and at the time of his retirement in 1878, his calico- printing plant was the largest establishment of its kind in the Central States. Mr. Stifel was a strong Union man in the period of the Civil war, and was a member of the convention whose action brought out about the separation of the present State of West Virginia from Virginia, inci- dental to that war. He was a man of prominence and influence in Wheeling, liberal and public-spirited, and served as a member of the Board of County Commissioners. He was one of the organizers and original directors of the National Savings Bank of Wheeling, which later was consolidated with the Wheeling Savings Bank, and he served a number of years as president of the institution. He was concerned in the organization of the Benwood Iron Works, now a part of the Wheeling Steel Corporation's holdings, and he continued a stockholder in the same until his death, besides which he was a director of the Belmont Bridge Com- pany and a stockholder in the company that gave to Wheel- ing improved railroad facilities. Mr. Stifel never returned to Germany, was a most loyal and appreciative American citizen, and he brought his father to this country after the death of the mother, the venerable father having passed the remainder of his life at Wheeling. Mr. Stifel and his wife were earnest members of the Evangelical Protestant Church, and he was one of the founders of the church of this de- nomination in Wheeling, besides being one of the most liberal contributors to the erection of the original church edifice, which is now the Presbyterian Memorial Mission, on Eighteenth Street, the fine modern edifice of the church itself being at the corner of Twenty-second and Chaplins streets. Mrs. Stifel passed to the life eternal in the year 1875. Of the children the eldest was Louis C., of whose death mention has already been made; William F., of this review, was the second son; Amelia became the wife of Frederick Linke and died at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Matilda, the wife of Louis Demmler, likewise died in that city; Charles F., formerly engaged in the tanning business at Pittsburgh, is now living retired in that city; George E. is a merchant at Wheeling; Dr. Albert F., who was grad- uated in a leading medical institution in Germany, was one of the most able and popular physicians and surgeons in the City of Wheeling at the time of his death, when but thirty-eight years of age, and his two sons likewise are physicians of ability, Richard being engaged in practice at Cleveland, Ohio, and John at Toledo, that state.

The original firm title of J. L. Stifel & Sons is retained in the continuing of the industrial enterprise founded by J. L. Stifel, and Edward and Henry Stifel, sons of the late Louis C., as well as Arthur, son of William F. Stifel, are now interested principals in the industry. Edward Stifel went to Germany and gained practical experience in the same factory with which his grandfather had been con- nected as a youth. Henry also attended school and gained business experience likewise in Germany. Arthur Stifel was graduated in Cornell University and also in a textile school in the City of Philadelphia.

William F. Stifel has been a resident of Wheeling from the time of his birth, and in all the relations of life has well upheld the prestige of the family name. He has been connected with the business founded by his father since he was a lad of sixteen years, and the concern now gives employment to 200 persons, while the average shipments of bleached fabrics and dyed prints are several car-loads daily, the output being sold to jobbers and clothing manu- facturers. The present modern plant was erected in 1899,

and is one of the most important industrial institutions in the city and state. Mr. Stifel is one of the original stock- holders and directors and the present president of the Wheel- ing Fire Insurance Company, specifically mentioned on other pages, and he is a director of the Wheeling Steel Corpora- tion, the Wheeling & Belmont Bridge Company, the Superior Coal Company, the Wheeling Sanitary Manufac-

turing Company, and the Fostoria Glass Company, Mounds- ville, West Virginia. He was reared a democrat, but in his young manhood was strongly opposed to the secession movement that culminated in the Civil war. He has been one of the liberal and progressive citizens of his native city and has done all in his power to further its civic and material advancement and prosperity. He was born in a house that stood on the site of his present beautiful home, and the date of his nativity was August 12, 1840.

As a young man Mr. Stifel wedded Miss Emma Schan- dein, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and her death occurred thirty-two years later, in 1908. She is survived by two children, Arthur and Flora, the latter being the widow of P. K. Witmer, of Des Moines, Iowa. In 1912 Mr. Stifel married Miss Etta McFadden, a sister of Richard McFad- den, of Moundsville, this state, in whose personal sketch, on other pages, is given record concerning the family.

THE WHEELING FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY is one of the old and substantial institutions of West Virginia, dates its inception back more than half a century, has a splendid record of service and is the only fire insurance company in the state. It was incorporated in 1867, as the German Fire Insurance Company, and with a capital of $100,000, operations having been instituted on the 5th of July of that year. Of the original capital all was paid in, and safe and conservative policies have attended the enterprise during the long years of its progressive history. In 1905 the capital of the corporation was increased to $200,000. Its premiums from the time of organization to 1921 ag- gregate $5,830,030; losses paid, $2,857,688; dividends in stock, $90,000; cash dividends, $76,000. The insurance now in force aggregates $46,600.000, and the company is licensed to do business in eighteen different states of the Union. The present handsome and modern building of the company was erected in 1907, and represents a valuation of $85 000.

In the course of its long and successful record the Wheel- ing Fire Insurance Company has had but two presidents. John Oesterling, the first president, continued the incumbent of this office until his death in 1883, when he was succeeded by William F. Stifel, who has since continued the executive head and who is the subject of the personal sketch pre- ceding. Fidelius Riester was secretary of the company more than forty years, and after his death, September 16, 1919, was succeeded by the present incumbent, O. E. Strauch, who entered the service of the company in 1907 in the post- tion of cashier, from which he was advanced in turn to that of assistant secretary and then secretary. William V. Fischer, the present assistant secretary and an insurance man of broad experience, has been associated with the com- pany since 1918.

JACOB FREDERICK STRAIGHT, who maintains his residence and business headquarters in the City of Fairmont, Marion County, is a successful coal operator and dealer in coal lands in this section of the state, and is a scion of the fifth generation of the Straight family in this county, with whose civic and material development and progress members of the Straight family have been identified since the early pioneer days.

Mr. Straight was born at Barrackville, Marion County, January 3, 1877, and is a son of William L. and Mary (Ice) Straight. William L. Straight was born on a farm on Paw Paw Creek, this county, and he was seventy-four years of age at the time of his death in 1913. He was a son of Jacob, who was a son of Peter, the latter having been a son of Jacob Straight, the pioneer, who was killed by the Indians on the Fort Hill farm on Straight's Run, about four miles from the present city of Fairmont. Mary (Ice) Straight was born at Barrackville, and, like her husband, continued a resident of Marion County until her death, she having passed away in 1913, at the age of sixty-seven years. She was a daughter of William Bayles Ice and Dorothy (Straight) Ice, her father having been born on Buffalo Creek, near Barrackville, on the farm taken up by his father, Adam Ice, who was the first white child born west of the Allegany Mountains in what is now West Virginia. He was a son of Abraham Ice, one of the very first settlers in the present Marion County.

Jacob F. Straight acquired bis youthful education in the public schools of Barrackville, and from the age of ten years

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

til he was about twenty years old he resided in the home his paternal uncle, Edgar P. Straight. He continued his lucation by attending the State Normal School at Fairmont veral terms, and thereafter he was graduated in the fountain State Business College at Parkersburg. In 1900 began work as clerk for the Fairmont Coal Company, th which he continued his association until 1909, when : resigned the position to which he had been advanced, at of chief clerk of the billing department. He then rmed an alliance with William E. Watson and, under the tle of the Rosebud Fuel Company, they purchased a coal- ining plant at Rosebud Station on the Short Line Railroad Harrison County. Two years later, in 1911, they pur- lased also the mining property of the Monroe Colliery ompany, adjoining the original property, and the combined itput of the two mines averaged about 600 tons daily. i 1913 Mr. Straight became identified with the organization the Fairmont & Cleveland Coal Company, with mines an ivesville, Marion County, known as the Parker Run Minet e contnued his connection with this corporation until. nuary 1, 1919, when he sold the greater part of his holdings William E. Watson, who is now president of the Fairmont Cleveland Coal Company, the Rosebud Fuel Company's roperty having been sold in 1917 to the J. M. McDonald oal Mining Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Straight as secretary and treasurer of the Fairmont & Cleveland oal Company from its organization until January, 1919, hen he sold his interest therein, as noted above. At the resent time he is giving the major part of his time and atten- on to the buying and selling of coal lands in the Fairmont ad adjoining districts. Since January, 1919, he has been director of the Fairmont Trust Company. His capitalistic :sources when he came to Fairmont did not exceed $1,000, ad he is today rated as one of the substantial and successful usiness men of this city. He still owns all of the land which ame to him as a heritage from his parents. He is a member f the Fairmont Chamber of Commerce, is affiliated with je local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of ilks and the Knights of Pythias of Fairmont, and he and his ife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, outh.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 4

Author: Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: