History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 55

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In 1909 Mr. Dangerfield came to Charleston with the Glasscock administration, as chief clerk in the state treas- urer's office under Mr. E. L. Long. After filling this posi- tion with credit for four years he embarked in the business college work. Having experienced both the practical and theoretical side of business, Mr. Dangerfield is particularly well qualified for training young people along business lines. He has been both an employer and an employe, and there- fore readily appreciates the delicate duties involved upon him from time to time in connection with the training of bookkeepers and steuographers and the placing of them with the right employer at the right place and at the right time.

Mr. Stotts and Mr. Dangerfield have broad ideas as to the possibilities of the City of Charleston and the future growth of the Charleston Business College. They have pledged their "bottom dollar" that the Charleston Business College is destined as a great leader in commercial training, and judging from the growth of this institution and the excellent standing it has among the business men of Charles- ton and Southern West Virginia no prediction would appear to be too flattering. Mr. Stotts is a members of Kiwanis Club of Charleston and Mr. Dangerfield is a member of the Rotary Club.

LUCIAN EMROW POTEET is a native of West Virginia, was educated for the law and practiced his profession for about

ten years, but since then has been a prominent figure in real estate business and real estate development at Charles- ton. He is president of Poteet & Woodroe, Incorporated.

He and his partner have been associated in the real estate business for a number of years, but in October, 1921, they incorporated under the above title and the corporation is an instrument through which they carry out a broad and well considered program of civic and building develop- ment, particularly designed to supply the home building and housing facilities which Charleston so much needs. Besides performing a general brokerage business the company has taken up the laying out and development of subdivisions, and maintains a well organized building department. Dur- ing the past dozen years Charleston has grown from a city of 12,000 to over 75,000, with a proportionate wide range of increasing valuations for property frontage. The addi- tion of new industries has proceeded faster than housing development, and no organization has entered the field to supply this evident need under more auspicious circum- stances than Poteet & Woodroe, Incorporated.

Mr. Poteet was born on a farm in Fayette County, West Virginia, in 1878, son of John and Frances (Painter) Poteet. His father was a soldier in the Confederate army throughout the war, and the Potects have been represented in all the American wars beginning with the Revolution. The Poteet family is of French Huguenot origin, and the first of the family to come to America identified themselves with the French Huguenot colony at Charleston, South Caro- lina. A number of the descendants are still living in South and North Carolina. Mr. L. E. Poteet is related to two distinguished educators who, however, spelled their name Poteat, E. M. Poteat, a former president of Furman Univer- sity and an eminent leader in the Baptist Church, and W. L. Poteat, president of Wake Forest College, North Caro- lina.

Lucian E. Poteet grew up on a farm. To secure as good an education as possible is traditional in the Poteet family, and he studied under Professor W. G. Brown and Professor Bernard H. White at Oak Hill Academy, attended Barbours- ville College in this state, and then entered the University of West Virginia, where he took both the academic and law courses, graduating from the law school in 1899. Mr. Poteet practiced law successfully for eight years in Fayetteville and Fayette County. On retiring from practice he estab- lished his home in Charleston in 1908, and since then has been in the real estate business, at first in the firm of Poteet & Woodroe and now as president of Poteet & Woodroe, Incorporated.

In civie and state affairs Mr. Poteet's special hobby is good roads. A magnificent improvement of the highways in and around Charleston has been effected since he came to the city, and he has been active in furthering all those enterprises. He is chairman of the good roads committee of the Chamber of Commerce, and is on the board of direc- tors of that institution. He is also a member of Midland Trail Association. Mr. Poteet married Miss Pearle E. Blake, of Charleston. Before her marriage she was one of the popular teachers in the city schools.

FRANK J. MALONE. Efficiency is the keynote of some men's success. Prosperity and honors do not come to them through outside influence or the forcible pressure of monied backing, but because of their own innate capability and knowledge of the affairs they are called upon to administer. There has been no easy road for these men to travel. Each step forward has been made by an appreciable effort, but with them there have been few backward tracings. One of the men of Huntington who has thus achieved success is Frank J. Malone, now well known as a coal operator of Huntington, who is secretary-treasurer of the Malone-Elk- horn Coal Company of Beaver Creek, Kentucky, and of the Logan Thin Vein Coal Company of Logan, West Virginia.

Mr. Malone was born at Huntington, West Virginia, October 22, 1891, and is a son of Patrick H. and Sallie M. (Johnson) Malone. His paternal grandfather was a native of Ireland, whence he immigrated to the United States in young manhood and settled at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where he resided for several years. Later he lived at

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Richmond, Virginia, and Charleston, West Virginia, and as a pioneer of the early days located at Marmet, West Vir- ginia, where he was the stone contractor on the bridge work for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company in the New River District. He died at Marmet prior to the birth of his grandson. His wife, Allie Malone, who was born in Ireland in 1818, died at Glen Jean, West Virginia, at the home of her son, in 1914.

Patrick H. Malone, now a resident of Huntington, was born February 22, 1858, at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and was reared and educated at Richmond, Virginia, and Charleston, West Virginia. When still a young man lie accompanied the family to Marmet, West Virginia, where he was married, and where he resided for a time while employed as a locomotive engineer by the Chesapeake & Oliio Railway Company. Later for a time he lived at Charleston, and then came to Huntington, still continuing to be cm- ployed by the same line. When he left the Chesapeake & Ohio it was to join the Norfolk & Western Railway, and for a time he lived at Dingess, West Virginia, but in 1897 returned to Huntington, and in addition to working as an engineer also engaged in business as a stone-cutter and con- tractor, having been trained along that line by his father when a youth. In 1903 he gave up railroading and became superintendent of mines for the New River Company of MacDonald, West Virginia, although residing at Stuart, West Virginia. In 1904 he moved to Glen Jean, this state, where he held the position of deputy sheriff of Fayette County for four years. On January 1, 1909, he became jus- tice of the peace, an office which he held until December 31, 1912, and was then appointed state prohibition agent of Fay- ette County, occupying that position until 1916. Mr. Malone then took a vacation of about two years, and in 1918 re- turned to Huntington and became a traveling salesman for the Keystone Lubricating Company of Philadelphia, cover- ing the Norfolk & Western, the Guyan Valley and the Ken- tucky fields. On January 1, 1920, he entered the field as a coal operator, and at the present time is president of the Malone-Elkhorn Coal Company, with mines at Beaver Creek, Kentucky. He resides in a pleasant and attractive home at No. 625 Sixth Avenue, Huntington. Mr. Malone married Miss Sallie M. Johnson, who was born at Covington, Vir- ginia, and to them there have been born the following children: Annie, the wife of Philip A. Taggart, of Mount Hope, West Virginia, a freight conductor for the Chesa- peake & Ohio Railway Company; Rosa, who is unmarried, resides with her parents; James W., who during the World war was in the locomotive engineers' branch of the service for one year at Carter, Illinois, and is now cashier for a wholesale commission house at Washington, D. C., married Juanita Masoncup, of Staunton, Virginia; Patrick O., wlio saw sixteen months of overseas service during the World war, going over with the Nineteenth Division, A. E. F., with the rank of lieutenant while in France, and in Germany was a member of the Motor Transport Corps, Army of Occupa- tion, now a resident of Hinton, West Virginia, and a locomotive engineer for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway ; Frank J., of this review; Eddie, superintendent of mines for the Whipple Collieries Company, of Whipple, West Vir- ginia, who married Pansy Rogers, of Winona, this state; Alice, who is unmarried and resides with her parents; Wil- liam A., manager of a commissary for the miners at Beaver Creek, Kentucky; Kathleen, a graduate of the Huntington High School and of a normal school course at Marshall College, Huntington, and now a popular and efficient teacher in the public schools of Huntington; John, a student at Fishburne Military Academy, Waynesboro, Virginia, who resides with his parents; and Nellie, a student in the Hunt- ington Junior High School.

Frank J. Malone received his early education in the public schools of Fayette County, West Virginia, following which he pursued a course at the Dunsmore Business College, Staunton, Virginia, and was graduated therefrom in 1910. He then entered the employ of the New River Company of MacDonald, West Virginia, where he was a clerk until Sep- tember, 1910, and at that time became associated with his father, who was serving as justice of the peace and with whom he remained for a period of three years. Mr. Malone

was then appointed by the late Judge S. D. Littlepage as auditor at Charleston for the liquidation of 2-cent railroad fares, and held that position until May 5, 1914, when he became assistant sales agent for the New River District for the Chesapeake & Ohio Coal and Coke Company of New York City, retaining that post until 1917.

On July 10, 1918, at Richmond, Virginia, Mr. Malone enlisted in the United States Army, and shortly thereafter was sent to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where he was as- signed to the Tank Corps. He embarked for overseas Oc- tober 6, 1918, arriving in England fifteen days later and in France, October 28. He was sent to Northern France with the Three Hundred and Eightieth Tank Corps Replacement Company at Longeau, France, but was transferred to the Three Hundred and First Brigade, Company A, Three Hun- dred and Twenty-ninth Battalion. Mr. Malone, who was advanced to the rank of sergeant, returned to the United States with a splendid record March 13, 1919, and was honorably discharged at Camp Meade, Maryland, April 9, 1919. At that time he returned to Huntington and was pay-roll auditor for all the mines of W. E. Deegans coal interests, but resigned February 1, 1920, to become a coal operator. He is now secretary-treasurer and a director in the Malone-Elkhorn Coal Company of Beaver Creek, Ken- tucky, and in the Logan Thin Vein Coal Company of Logan, West Virginia. He likewise is a partner in the Beaver Creek Mercantile Company, a leading general store at Beaver Creek. His Huntington offices are situated in the Deegans-Noonan Building, 112212 Fourth Avenue. Mr. Malone is a stockholder and director in the Floyd County Bank at Allen, Kentucky, and the Bank of Glen Jean, West Virginia. Fraternally he is affiliated with MacDonald Lodge No. 103, A. F. and A. M .; Sewell Valley Chapter No. 24, R. A. M., Thurman, West Virginia; Mount Hope Commandery No. 22, K. T., of Mount Hope, West Virginia; and Beni-Kedem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Charleston. He is unmarried.

DAVID HALL COURTNEY, M. D. No better lesson relative to the value of honorable effort intelligently directed can be given than that offered by the review of the life and ac- complishments of a man who has risen to a position of prestige through his own initiative and who in so doing has taken with him many others who, through their association with him, have been able to achieve much more than would have been possible had they been forced to depend upon themselves. It matters little along what channel the stream of such a man's life flows, for he will succeed no matter how it may be directed. Some men of this character in- stinctively turn toward one or another of the learned pro- fessions, others develop into public men, while still others, and they are in the majority, devote themselves to the de- velopment of commercial and industrial enterprises and be- come the heads of large concerns that provide honest labor to large numbers and place and keep in circulation immense sums of money. Morgantown has a notable example of the last-named class in Dr. David Hall Courtney, who, starting his career as a physician, has become one of the leading men of his part of West Virginia in- the development of the state's natural resources.

Doctor Courtney is in the fourth generation of his fam- ily in Monongalia County, his great-grandfather having im- migrated to America from Ireland and settled in this county in pioneer days. William Courtney, the younger, son of the pioneer William, was fourteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to this country. For a time the family stopped in New Jersey, but then journeyed over the mountains into Monongalia County, at that time in old Virginia. Amos S. Courtney, son of William Courtney, the younger, was born in Cass District, Monongalia County May 1, 1823, and died January 1, 1879, after many year: spent in successful agricultural operations. He married Sarah Jane Hall, who was born near Taylortown, Green County, Pennsylvania, in 1824, and died in 1902. She wa: a daughter of David Hall, a member of an old Green, County (Pennsylvania) family.

David Hall Courtney attended the public schools of Cas: District, and subsequently enrolled as a student at the

DACourtney

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University of West Virginia, from which he was grad- uated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1882. His medical studies were prosecuted at Jefferson Medical Col- lege, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine as a member of the graduating class of 1886. Later he took post-graduate work in Philadelphia, in 1893. He entered the practice of medicine at Mount Morris, Greene County, Pennsylvania, in 1886, and made rapid strides in his profession, but while so engaged became interested in the oil industry. lu this direction he began to develop abilities heretofore

uot suspected, and his interests soon became so large that he abandoned the profession of medicine in order to give his entire attention to his business affairs. He purchased large tracts of oil land in Pennsylvania, and as a member of the firm of Courtney, Lowrey and MeDermott began drilling for oil and gas. He is now president of the Ran- dall Gas Company of Morgantown, and in 1913 was one of the purchasers of the Seneca Gas Company. He is a director and one of the owners of the Union Traction Company of Morgantown; was formerly president and is now treasurer of the Economy Tumbler Company of Mor- gantown; is one of the owners of the Sesamine Coal Com- pany; half owner of the coal that is operated by the Con- sumers' Fuel Company; and a director of the Bank of the Monongahela Valley and of the Bank of the Monon- gahela Building Company. Doctor Courtney has always been interested in civic and public affairs, and has dis- charged his duties fully in the matter of good citizenship and conscientious public service. In 1910 he was chosen by his fellow-citizens in Monongalia County to represent them in the West Virginia Legislature, Lower House, and as a member of that body worked faithfully in behalf of his community, his constituents and his state. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Morgantown. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar Mason and a member of Union Lodge No. 4, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and of Morgantowu Commandery, and socially he holds membership in the Morgantown Country Club and the Kiwanis Club.

Doctor Courtney was united in marriage with Miss Liz- zie Hite, daughter of Isaac and Catherine (Hennen) Hite, of Morgantown, and to this union there have been born five children: Grace M., who married O. H. Davis, of Charleston, West Virginia; Catherine, who married Capt. Philip E. Brown, United States Army; and Frances, David H., Jr., and Joseph H., who reside with their parents.

HENRY T. DIEHL. To the upbuilding of so enterprising a city as Huntington large enterprises have contributed, and for their development and solidity men of clear intellect, steady purpose and personal integrity have been demanded. Not always have their names been heralded, but nevertheless it has been their ability and influence that have composed one of the vital elements controlling policies and making for business prosperity. Among the institu- tions which occupy a very conspicuous position in the com- mercial life of Huntington is the department store of the McMahon-Diehl Company. The member of the firm con- trolling this big business venture is Henry T. Diehl, and very general is the recognition of his business sagacity, re- sourcefulness, foresight and wise judgment.

Mr. Diehl was born at Huntington, West Virginia, De- cember 11, 1885, a son of Albert L. and Sophia (Gebhardt) Diehl. His grandfather, Louis Diehl, was born in 1808, in Germany, and as a young man immigrated to the United States and first settled at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, where he was married. In 1858 he came to what is now Cabell County, West Virginia, where he became a pioneer farmer, and in 1872 became an early resident of Huntington, where ne engaged in extensive mercantile operations. He took an active and constructive part in the development of the east part of Huntington, and was a man who was universally held in high esteem. A stanch republican, he was active in ivic affairs, and when he died, in 1891, Huntington lost one who had done much for its welfare and progress. Mr. Diehl's wife, Rosa, was also born in Germany, in 1829, and was a young girl when brought to the United States by her

parents, who settled in Pennsylvania, where she met and married Mr. Diehl. She died at Huntington iu 1909, having been the mother of two daughters and four sons. Two . children still survive: Albert L .; and Robert, who is a merchant of Dayton, Kentucky.

Albert L. Diehl was born at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, June 21, 1852, and was about six years of age when brought by his parents to what is now Cabell County, West Virginia, where he was reared, educated and married. In 1872 he came to Huntington and found employment in a minor capacity with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company, with which line he has been identified for a half a century, being now foreman of the truck department. He is one of his company's most trusted employes and a man of sound principles and enlightened views. In politics he is a re- publicau, and his religious connection is with the First Presbyterian Church, of which he is an active supporter aud regular attendant. Fraternally he belongs to Hunting- ton Lodge No. 64, I. O. O. F. Mr. Diehl married Miss Sophia Gebhardt, who was born in 1864, in Cabell County, and to this union there were born the following children : Ruby M., who is unmarried and resides with her parents; Henry T., of this notice; Edward H., of Huntington, one of the owners and operators of the firm of Carter & Turner, bicycle, motor cycle and sporting goods dealers of this city; Irvin R., of Huntington, an electrician at the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway shops, Huntington; William M., head book- keeper at the Huntington National Bank; and Vincent M., assistant secretary of the McMahon-Diehl Company, Hunt- ington.

Henry T. Diehl attended the public schools of Huntington and then enrolled as a student at Marshall College, but did not complete the full course, dropping his studies in 1902, while in his junior year, to accept a position with the whole- sale grocery firm of Blake, Van Bibber & Company of Hunt- ington. After spending two years with this firm as a clerk he entered the First National Bank, where during six years he rose from draft clerk to the post of teller. Resigning in 1910, he entered the employ of the Licking River Lumber Company of Huntington, and spent one year as auditor at this city and one year in the same capacity at South Bend, Indiana. Mr. Diehl's next connection was with what is now the Croft-Standard Company, wholesale dry goods mer- chants of Huntington, with which he remained as assistant treasurer until 1915, when he joined J. R. McMahon in founding the McMahon-Diehl Company. In February, 1922, Mr. McMahon, who was president of the organization from its incorporation, died of pneumonia at New York City, and in March, 1922, Mr. Diehl was chosen as president. This company started operation on the corner of Eighth Avenue and Twentieth Street, and in 1916 opened at 1017-19 Third Avenue. The Eighth Avenue store was sold in 1921 and at the same time a Tenth Street entrance was added to the Third Avenue store. Preparations are now under way to install this store in the new I. O. O. F. Building, work on which will be started at Huntington in March, 1924. This business has become one of the leaders in its line in the Tri-State region, and in the capacity of president Mr. Diehl has contributed materially to its success through his splendid business talents, energy and progressiveness. .

In politics Mr. Diehl is a republican, although he has not sought public office or preferment at the hands of his party. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Huntington, Huntington Lodge No. 313 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Guyan Country Club of Huntington, and is a member of the board of directors of the Huntington Chamber of Commerce. He is the owner of a modern residence at No. 1250 Fifth Avenue, a com- fortable and attractive home.

On June 21, 1916, Mr. Diehl married at Morganfield, Kentucky, Miss Polly Richards, daughter of Phil and Eva (Cox) Richards, the latter of whom is a resident of Morgan- field, where the former, now deceased, was an extensive farmer, being one of the largest landholders in Union County. Mr. Diehl is a graduate of the Morganfield High School and attended Oxford (Ohio) College two years. Mr. and Mrs. Diehl have two children: Ruth, born April 17, 1917; and Polly, born May 8, 1921.

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'HARRY EDWARD CRAGG. Association with certain lines of established endeavor gives individuals familiarity with de- tails and renders them potent factors in the upbuilding and development of special branches. Such desirable conditions are seldom reached by any royal road to fortune, but along the highway of constant industry and persistent endeavor. Native ability counts for much, but unless combined with an appreciation of the value of experience and willingness to labor it counts for little in the long run. The prominence which has been reached by Harry Edward Cragg, secretary of the Fidelity Insurance Agency of Huntington, in his special field of endeavor is due in large part to the posses- sion of qualities which have fitted him peculiarly for his vocation, but can also be attributed to the fact that industry has always played a large part in his career.

Mr. Cragg was born at Charleston, West Virginia, August 7, 1892, and is a son of Harry Edward and Nannie Eliza- beth (Fullerton) Cragg. His grandfather, Edward Cragg, was born in 1834, in England, and was about nineteen years of age when he immigrated to the United States and set- tled as a pioneer business man at Charleston, where he at- tained success as a meat packer. He was a democrat in politics and a consistent member of the Episcopal Church. His death occurred at Charleston in 1902, when he was sixty-eight years of age. Harry Edward Cragg, the elder, was born at Charleston, in 1860, and was reared, educated and married in that city, where he embarked upon a success- ful career. During the short span of his life he won pros- perity and position, and his future seemed a bright one, when he was taken with ill health. In an endeavor to re- cuperate he went to Florida, but died in that state in 1894, when but thirty-four years of age. He was a democrat in politics and a devout member of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Cragg married Nannie Elizabeth Fullerton, who was born in 1872, in Liverpool, England, and who survives him as a resident of Charleston, West Virginia. Her father was William Fullerton, a native of England, who came in young manhood to the United States and was educated in the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Maryland, following which he returned to England and was married. He then again came to the United States and settled at Charleston, where he became a distinguished physician and surgeon and was engaged in practice until his death. He also served for two terms as United States pension exam- iner for the State of West Virginia. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cragg: Harry Edward, of this review; and Edna, who died in infancy.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 55

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