History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 57

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C. Harrison Smith attended the public schools of York County, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Marshall College, Huntington, West Virginia, as a member of the class of 1897. This was supplemented by a business course at the same institution in 1898, following which he secured em- ployment as bookkeeper and stenographer with the Emmons- Hawkins Hardware Company of Huntington, a concern with which he was identified until 1902. At that time his father died, and Mr. Smith resigned his position to take charge of the elder man's business, which he conducted at Mor- gantown until 1914, when he came to Huntington and en- gaged in the same line. He has a very extensive business as a building contractor, and among the large contracts which he has handled successfully may be mentioned two business blocks for Dr. I. C. White on Main Street, Mor- gantown; the Lutheran Church at Charleroi, Pennsylvania;

the college building for the Colored Institute near Charles- ton, West Virginia; the Children's Home at Athens, Ohio; the Simms School, Huntington; the dormitory building for the Huntington State Hospital; the South Junior High School, Huntington, one of the finest school houses in the state, completed in 1922, and many other business buildings and private residences not only at Huntington, but in other cities in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania. His offices are situated at No. 608 Robson-Pritchard Build- ing, Huntington. Mr. Smith owns a modern home at No. 631 Eleventh Avenue, where his many friends always find a sincere and hearty welcome. He is a republican and takes a good citizen's interest in politics, as well as in civic affairs. His fraternal affiliation is with Reese Camp No. 66, Woodmen of the World, Huntington, and with his family ho belongs to the First Presbyterian Church of Huntington.

On December 26, 1906, Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Helen B. Smith, of Charleston, a graduate of the West Virginia State University, Morgantown, and a daughter of Charles B. and Mary (McConihay) Smith. Mrs. Smith's mother resides with her daughter and son-in-law. Charles B. Smith, now deceased, was formerly a prominent attorney of Charleston, and at one time served as prose- cuting attorney of Kanawha County, West Virginia. Two children have come to the union of Mr. and Mrs. C. Harri- son Smith: Helen Virginia, who was born May 7, 1909; and C. Harrison, Jr., born July 31, 1912.

CHARLES CLIFFORD HARROLD. To administer capably the affairs of large enterprises requires sound judgment, execu- tive ability and a capacity for earnest work. Especially is this true when the interests of others are involved, for in such a case the individual so circumstanced has to con- sider their rights as well as the general welfare and the exigencies of certain conditions. Among the most impor- tant phases of business life is that which deals with cred- its, and the responsibilities devolving upon the secretary- treasurer of the Huntington Association of Credit Men are therefore numerous and significant. This office is held by Charles Clifford Harrold, who has passed his entire career at Huntington, where he has gained advancement through the possession of the qualities noted above.

Mr. Harrold was born at Huntington, May 31, 1883, and is a son of Charles B. and Georgia Lee (Mccullough) Har- rold, and a member of a family which originated in Eng- land and was founded in Virginia during Colonial days. James Madison Harrold, the paternal grandfather of Charles C. Harrold, was born in 1821 in Virginia, and was a pioneer in what are now Kanawha and Mason counties, West Virginia, where he was engaged in business as a salt manufacturer. During the war between the states he served in the Quartermaster's Department of the Confederate Army. In or about 1887 he retired from business activities and took up his residence at Huntington, where he became a well-known and highly respected citizen and served for some time as a member of the board of education. Iu politics he was a democrat. Mr. Harrold died in 1897. He married Jane Turner, who was born in North Carolina and died at Huntington.

Charles B. Harrold was born in Kanawha County, Vir- ginia (now West Virginia), April 5, 1855, and was reared there and in Mason County, where he received a public school education. He accompanied his parents to Cabell County and attended Marshall College, from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1872, and then en- gaged in the grocery business at Huntington, in which he has continued to the present. He now resides at No. 1118 Tenth Street. Mr. Harrold is a democrat in politics. He has always shown an interest in education and was formerly secretary of the board of regents of Marshall College for a number of years. He belongs to Johnson Memorial Metli- odist Episcopal Church, South, of Huntington, and frater- nizes with the Masons. Mr. Harrold married Miss Georgia Lee McCullough, who was born February 3, 1861, at Hunt- ington, and died here July 21, 1921. They became the parents of five children, of whom two died young, the sur-

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vivors being: Charles Clifford; Frank L., a resident of Huntington; and Grace Christine, the wife of George T. Sigler, a locomotive. engineer residing at Huntington.

Charles Clifford Harrold attended the public schools of Huntington, this being subsequently supplemented by a commercial course at Marshall Business College. In the meantime, at the age of fourteen years, he began work with D. E. Abbott & Company, in the albumen printing de- partment, where he remained six years. On June 1, 1904, he engaged in the grocery business with W. B. Wilson and others under the corporate name of the W. B. Wilson Com- pany, with which he was identified for two years, and then accepted a position with the Adams Express Company, with which he was identified for a short time. Mr. Harrold next became night baggage agent for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company, a position which he held from November 21, 1906, until August 14, 1907, when he went into the Chesapeake & Ohio shops as general foreman's clerk. On October 20, 1907, he was promoted to general timekeeper of the shops, and remained in that capacity until January 1, 1912, when he was again promoted, becoming accountant for the store departments, covering territory known as the Western General Division. On October 17, 1917, he was made storekeeper for the West Virginia General Division, with headquarters at Huntington. Mr. Harrold left the Chesapeake & Ohio, September 16, 1919, to become assistant manager of the Tri-States Credit and Adjustment Bureau, and February 21, 1921, was elected secretary and treasurer of the Huntington Association of Credit Men, an office to which he was re-elected February 20, 1922. The Tri- States Credit and Adjustment Bureau and the Huntington Association of Credit Men are affiliated interests. He is generally recognized as one of the best informed and most capable credit men in this part of the state.

Mr. Harrold is a democrat. He belongs to the Johnson Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Hunting- ton, and sings in the church choir. During the World war he assumed the responsibility of keeping war material and supplies moving for general railroad repairs, and nineteen hours a day was not unusual for him to work in this con- nection. In addition he found time to assist in all the drives, and was a liberal contributor to all movements. He is the owner of a modern residence at No. 937 Eleventh Avenue, Huntington, and has other real estate in the city and a one-third interest in the grocery store situated at No. 1001 Sixteenth Street.

On June 26, 1907, Mr. Harrold married Miss Iva C. Mc- Caffrey, daughter of William S. and Jeannette (Smith) McCaffrey, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. McCaff- rey fought as a Union soldier during the war between the states. Three children have come to Mr. and Mrs. Harrold: Jeannette Lee, born April 25, 1909; Darwin Abbott, born April 17, 1912; and Charles Clifford, Jr., born March 6, 1919.

JOHN F. RATCLIFF is vice president of the corporation of Hagen, Ratcliff & Company, which conducts in the City of Huntington one of the important wholesale grocery estah- lishments of West Virginia. He was born at Glen Hayes, Wayne County, this state, November 27, 1867, a son of William Ratcliff, whose father, Daniel Ratcliff, was one of the sterling pioneer settlers in that county, where he estab- lished his home about 1796. William Rateliff was born on the site of the present town of Glen Hayes, on May 19, 1802, and he passed his entire life in his native county, his death having occurred at Glen Hayes in 1885. He became one of the extensive agriculturists and stock-growers of Wayne County, and prior to the Civil war had owned a large number of slaves. He was a democrat, served many years as local magistrate, and also gave effective service as pres- ident of the County Court. He was a leader in the local councils of the democratic party, and was elected to the Virginia Legislature in 1860. He represented his county in the Second Wheeling Convention, which convened June 11, 1861, He also represented his county in the Provisional Legislature which met at Wheeling on July 1, 1861. Both he and his wife were earnest members of the Baptist Church. His first wife, whose maiden name was Nancy Garred,

was born near the present Town of Clifford, Kentucky, and died at the old home at Glen Hayes. They became the parents of two sons and eight daughters, all of whom are now deceased. For his second wife William Ratcliff wed- ded. Rachel Vinson, who was born in 1831 and who passed her entire life in Wayne County, where she died in 1912, the subject of this review being the only child of this union.

The public schools of Glen Hayes afforded John F. Rat- cliff his early education, and he continued his association with the activities of his father's farm until he was twenty years of age. Thereafter he was employed five years as clerk in a store at Louisa, Kentucky, and he then engaged in the wholesale grocery business at that place, where he re- mained until 1901, when he came to Huntington, West Vir- ginia, and purchased H. C. Harvey's interest in the whole- sale grocery business of Harvey, Hagen & Company, the title of the concern being then changed to its present form, Hagen, Rateliff & Company, and the business being now one of the largest of its kind in the state. H. B. Hagen is pres- ident of the company, John F. Ratcliff is vice president, W. O. Wiatt is treasurer, and D. S. Sayre is secretary. The well equipped offices and warehouses of the company are in a substantial building at 1018-20 Third Avenue. Mr. Rateliff is also vice president of the Community Savings & Loan Company, one of the representative financial insti- tutions of Huntington. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party, and he is actively identified with the Huntington Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, the Guyandot Club, of which he is president, and the Busi- ness Men's Club. His Masonic affiliations are as here noted: Huntington Lodge No. 53, A. F. and A. M .; Hunt- ington Chapter No. 6, R. A. M .; Huntington Commandery No. 9, Knights Templars; and West Virginia Consistory No. 1, Scottish Rite, at Wheeling, in which he has received the thirty-second degree.

Mr. Ratcliff was one of the vigorous workers in support of the various patriotic activities in his home city and county during the World war period, and gave much time to promoting the Government bond and Red Cross drives.

In 1892 Mr. Ratcliff wedded Miss Mary B. Burchett, daughter of Maj. Drewry James Burchett, who served as a major in the Union Army in the Civil war, and who is now engaged in the banking business at Mount Sterling, Kentucky, his wife being deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Ratcliff have two children. Anna is the wife of Luther T. Long, who is junior member of the firm of J. H. Long & Son. publishers of the Huntington Advertiser. John D. is (1922) a student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the City of Boston.

FRANK NIXON MANN. In that growing list of industries that distinguish Huntington among the busy cities of the state, one of the important ones, due to volume of the busi ness and wide distribution of products, is the Huntingtor Sash, Door & Trim Company, of which Frank Nixon Man is president and general manager. Mr. Mann has been ¿ lumber manufacturer and planing mill operator for many years, and came to Huntington from the eastern part o: the state.

He was born in Greenbrier County, July 19, 1861. Bacl in Colonial times three brothers left Scotland and came t. America, one locating in Pennsylvania, another in Mary land, while the direct ancestor of the Huntington manufac turer established his home in Gloucester County, Virginia where he intermarried with the Page family. The grand father of Frank Nixon Mann was Billie Thomas Mann, wh was born in Bath County, Virginia, in 1784, was reare there, was married in Monroe County, West Virginia, an was one of the early farmers established in the Fort Sprin neighborhood. At one time he owned a third of all th land in Fayette County. This land later turned out to b exceedingly valuable on account of its coal deposits. H died at Fort Spring in 1876. His wife was Miss Alexar der, a native of Virginia.

James Mann, their son, was born in Greenbrier Count near Fort Spring, in 1832, and when a young man he led that vicinity and spent three years as a farmer in Edge

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County, Illinois. About a year after his marriage there he returned to Greenbrier County, and conducted his extensive operations as a farmer, but about 1878 moved into Alder- son, and supervised his farm from that point until his death, which occurred at Alderson, Monroe County, in Jan- uary, 1910. He was a democrat, served three terms as a magistrate, and was for many years an elder in the Pres- byterian Church. James Mann married Elizabeth Nixon, who was born at Springfield, Illinois, March 11, 1838, and is now eighty-four years of age, a resident of Alderson. Frank Nixon is the oldest of her three children. Her daughter May E. is the wife of Dr. Charles P. Nash, a re- tired physician and surgeon at Alderson. Bessie A. died at Alderson at the age of twenty-five, and her husband, Mr. Lide, is now a merchant in Birmingham, Alabama.

Frank Nixon Mann acquired a rural school training in Greenbrier County, took his preparatory course in a pri- vate school in the same county, and then entered Hampden Sidney College in Prince Edward County, Virginia. He re- mained there until in his senior year, when he left, in 1884, to take up active business. For about thirty years Mr. Mann was a lumber manufacturer and farmer living at Alderson. His planing mill there burned in 1911, and in 1912 he moved to Huntington and established the Hunting- ton Sash Door and Trim Company, building the plant at Nineteenth and Second Avenue. He is principal owner and president and general manager of the company, which is the West Virginia corporation. Others associated with him in the official personnel are: J. W. Lawton, vice president, and F. L. Faust, secretary and treasurer. This is a large industry with complete machinery equipment for the man- ufacture of all planing and mill work products including stair, porch work, window frames, store fixtures, mouldings and interior trim. The output commands a large sale all over West Virginia and is shipped even to Ohio and Michi gan points.

Mr. Mann is a democrat, is an elder in the First Presby- terian Church of Huntington, and since moving to that city has acquired some interests in real estate, including his home at 1621 Fifth Avenue. In September, 1892, at Alder- son, West Virginia, he married Miss Nancy B. Murray. daughter of Rev. Patrick Murray, who married a Miss Graves. Both her parents are now deceased. Her father was a minister of the Baptist Church. Mrs. Mann is a graduate of the Woman's Western College of Hamilton, Ohio. Without children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Mann reared two adopted children. The first, Nancy, is now the wife of Garland B. Johnson, a resident of Lynchburg, Vir ginia, and general sales manager of the Lynchburg Pipe and Foundry Company. The second is Elsworth F., now a stu- dent in the Military Academy at Augusta, Virginia.

GEORGE W. BOCK, a broker and dealer in flour, feed, hay and grain at Weston, is a native of Marion County. He started to make his fortune when a boy, and has achieved a definite and satisfactory progress through the years, all of which accounts for the high standing and esteem paid him as a citizen.

Mr. Bock was born in Marion County, West Virginia, July 20, 1865, son of Jackson and Lyda (Pyles) Bock, natives of the same county. His father, who is still living, was born in 1830. Both parents were reared on farms, had common school educations, and after their marriage settled on a farm in Marion County, where Jackson Bock continued his active responsibilities until he retired. Both have been faithful and earnest members of the Christian Church, and in politics the father is a democrat. Of the nine children born to their marriage three are still living: George W .; Mrs. Lena Basnett, of Worthington, West Virginia; and Charles S., a miner at Worthington.

George W. Bock grew up on a farm and acquired a com- mon school education. He went out for himself at fifteen and gradually his experience led him into the lumber busi- ness, and for some years he conducted a lumber plant as manager and proprietor. In 1914 he engaged in his present business as a broker in flour, feed, hay and grain at Wes- ton. He is also a stockholder in the Benson Oil Company. In February, 1891, Mr. Bock married Mintie Skinner,

a native of Lewis County. They have four children: Wal- ter R., who is a graduate of the Port Clinton High School and is now chief chemist in the great paint works of Sher- win-Williams Company of Cleveland; George L., a graduate of the Weston High School, has charge of the meter depart- ment of the West Virginia Central Gas Company ; Virginia, also a high school graduate, is the wife of Harry S. Vander- vort, Jr., of Weston; and Frank R. is a graduate of the Weston High School and is now the business partner of his father in the brokerage trade. The family are mem- bers of the Christian Church. Mr. Bock is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has filled the office of noble grand three times. He has been a working member of the democratic party for many years, and was his party's nominee for the State Senate to represent the Twelfth Senatorial District.

WALTER H. WARREN, who was with the hospital service in France during the World war, is a well known business man of Weston, member of the real estate firm of Lively & Warren. He has been engaged in the real estate busi- ness ever since he left school except for the time he spent with the colors.

Mr. Warren was born in Lewis County, July 27, 1886, son of Allan A. and Mary M. (Harrison) Warren. His mother was born at Weston, June 2, 1856. His father was born at St. Louis, Missouri, October 2, 1851, but was reared in Richmond, Virginia, where he attended school. As a young man he located at Weston and was in the hardware business for thirty years, but since retiring from merchan- dising has been in the fire insurance business as head of the firm, A. A. Warren & Son. His wife was reared at Weston. attended the public schools there and is a graduate of an Episcopal School at Winchester, Virginia. They are members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. As a democrat he served on the City Council for twenty years. A. A. Warren and wife had six children: Edward H., purchasing agent with the Midwest Oil & Refining Company at Casper, Wyoming ; Allan A., Jr., deceased; Elise, a high school graduate and wife of Cecil L. Orr, of Weston; Jeanette, a graduate nurse who was on duty for six months during the World war; Gertrude, a graduate of high school and wife of Eugene Grant, of Weston.

Walter H. Warren grew up at Weston, and after com- pleting a high school education entered the insurance and real estate business, and in many transactions has proved his notably good judgment and has made a most gratify- ing success in his chosen field.

Mr. Warren is a member of Weston Lodge No. 10. A. F. and A. M., Bigelow Chapter No. 4, R. A. M., and Weston Lodge No. 43, Knights of Pythias, of which he is a past chancellor. He is unmarried. He takes an active interest in the democratic party of the county. When he joined the Medical Corps during the war he was given his training at Chickamauga Park, Georgia, and Camp Taylor, Louisville, and embarked for overseas with Base Hospital No. 119. He left October 31, 1918, and landed in France November 10, 1918, the day before the armistice was signed. He was stationed in the largest hospital in France, at Savenay, eight miles from St. Nazarre, and was on duty there for eight months. He returned to the United States June 27. 1919, and received his honorable discharge at Camp Sher- man, Ohio, July 26, 1919.

JOHN WARD EAKIN is secretary and treasurer of the Eakin Lumber Company of Weston, an important corpora- tion whose executive officers are chiefly members of the Eakin family and whose field of operation extends over a considerable area of Webster and Nicholas counties.

Mr. Eakin was born in Lewis County, West Virginia, July 22, 1888, son of J. and Victoria (Ward) Eakin. His father was born near Mount Morris, Pennsylvania, and his mother in Lewis County, West Virginia. J. Eakin was a hoy when his parents moved to West Virginia, and soon after leaving public school he became interested in the lum- ber industry and is still active therein. He now makes his home at the mills of the Eakin Lumber Company. For many

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years the family home was in Weston, where his wife died in 1917. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. J. Eakin is a democrat. He is the father of seven children: Peter E., who is a graduate of Wesleyan Col- lege at Buckhannon and is president and manager of the Eakin Lumber Company; Ceph, who attended public school and business college, is vice president of the company; Maude, a high school graduate is the wife of John A. Fisher; Pearl is the wife of O. E. Hunkle; Edna is the wife of G. C. Hammon; Leah is the wife of R. C. Blair; and John Ward is the youngest.

John Ward Eakin grew up in Lewis County, acquired a public school education, attended Wesleyan College and Business School and practically all his business energies have been bestowed upon the lumber industry. The Eakin Lumber Company is incorporated with Peter E. Eakin, president; Ceph Eakin, vice president; John Ward Eakin, secretary and treasurer; while the other directors are O. E. Hinkle, F. B. Mathews, W. A. Jackson and S. P. Bishop. The company owns and operates as an adjunct to its lum- bering operations the Erbacon & Summerville Railroad.

May 13, 1913, Mr. Eakin married Nelle Craig, who is a graduate of the Weston High School and attended a busi- ness college at Marion, Ohio. They have four children: Joe, born in 1914; Frances, born in 1915; Mildred, born in 1917; and J. W., Jr., born in 1920. Mrs. Eakin is a mem- ber of the Catholic Church. He is an affiliated member of the Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen of America, belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and is a democrat.

HENRY BREWSTER has been a factor in the natural gas industry of West Virginia for the past twenty years, and is district foreman at Weston for the Hope Natural Gas Company.

Mr. Brewster was born in Athens County, Ohio, Novem- ber 10, 1863, son of Sherman and Nancy (MeLaughlin) Brewster, his father a native of Massachusetts and his mother of Athens, Ohio. Sherman Brewster was a member of the distinguished Colonial family of Brewster, a direct descendant of Elder William Brewster, one of the most distinguished of the passengers on the Mayflower. Sherman Brewster was reared and educated in Massachusetts, became a teacher there, and after he removed to Ohio combined teaching with farming until his death, at the age of forty- eight. He and his wife were active members of the Chris- tian Church. He died in 1904. They had five children: Alice, wife of G. B. Dye; Edward, now retired at Columbus, Ohio; Ellen, wife of F. M. Tipton, of Des Moines, Iowa; Henry; and Cyrus, a farmer at Torch in Athens County.

llenry Brewster lived on his father's farm in Ohio, attended the public schools, and had one year of study in Ohio University at Athens. Following his college course he did farm work, and on October 10, 1890, at the age of twenty-seven, he married Mary McCain, a native of Ohio. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Brewster lived on a farm in Ohio and in 1900 he removed with his family to Mounds- ville, West Virginia, and has since been connected with the oil and gas industry. From a worker in the field he be- came a district foreman, and for several years past has been a resident of Weston.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 57

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