History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 66

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In 1869 he married Miss Emma R. Meredith, who died in 1902. In 1907 he married Miss Eva L. Samples. There were two sons by his first marriage: Clarence W., of Cleveland, Ohio; and I. Wade, a former Circuit and Crimi- nal Conrt clerk of Harrison County and now clerk of the United States District Court at Elkins. The one child of his second marriage is a son, Lyle C. Coffman.

Mr. Coffman started life without capital but with a fixed determination to succeed. Success has been measured not only in material accumulations, but in the esteem paid him as a good citizen and a reputation for honor and pro- hity in all the relations of life.

GEORGE R. SEAMONDS, in his second term as Circuit Court clerk at Huntington, was formerly a railroad man and man- nfacturer in that city, and represents one of the very old and prominent families of Cabell County.

His grandfather, William R. Seamonds, was born in Cabell County in 1812, spent his life there as a farmer, and died on land that is now a part of the City of Huntington.

Laramondo

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His death occurred in 1889. He married Nancy Harsh- barger, a native of Cabell County, who also died at the old home in Huntington. Their son, William H. Seamonds, was born near Barboursville, Cabell County, June 21, 1840, was reared and married in the county, and spent his life there as a more than ordinarily successful farmer. In 1914 he retired to Huntington to spend his last days in comfort, and died there February 22, 1919. As a young man he was a captain at the muster days at Barboursville, and was a member of the Home Guards during the Civil war. He served on the board of education and as road surveyor of Barboursville District, was a democrat and affiliated with the Baptist Church. William H. Seamonds married Sarah J. Lusher, who was born in Barboursville District June 20, 1842, and is now living at Huntington. She is the mother of the following children: Randolph Moss, an employe of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company at Huntington; Mary M., of Huntington, widow of James G. Hatfield, a building contractor and road builder; Susie L., of Hunting- ton, widow of Benjamin F. Goolsby, a shop employe of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company; Lena, wife of Will- iam H. Tinsley, a Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad man at Huntington; William, who died at the age of nineteen years; George R .; Maggie, wife of J. Alvin Burdette, a locomotive engineer with the Chesapeake & Ohio at Hunt- ington; Andrew J., also a locomotive engineer at Hunting- ton; and Kate Gem, wife of W. Alonzo Toney, a railroad conductor living at Huntington.

George R. Seamonds was born at Barboursville, Cabell County, February 17, 1873. He was educated in rural schools, and graduated in 1893 from Morris-Harvey College at Barboursville. The following fifteen years Mr. Sea- monds spent in the clerical department of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad at Huntington. From 1908 to 1914 he was secretary of the Jarvis Machine & Supply Company of that city, and in November, 1914, was first elected Circuit Court clerk for the term of six years. In November, 1920, he was re-elected, and his present term in the Court House at Huntington expires in 1927. Mr. Seamonds has been one of the busy men of his community for nearly thirty years, and has become widely known for his ability, his thorough- ness and his integrity

He is a democrat, a member of the Baptist Church, and fraternally is affiliated with Huntington Lodge No. 53, F. and A. M., Huntington Lodge No. 313, B. P. O. E., Mod- ern Woodmen of America, Ancient Order of United Work- men, and Cabell Council No. 196, Junior Order United American Mechanics. He is owner of some valuable real estate in Huntington, including his own eight room brick house at 919 Ninth Street, and an adjoining dwelling sim- ilar in size and appointments at 917 on the same street. During the war Mr. Seamonds went to the full extent of his means and influence to support the Government in all the drives.

He married at Huntington in 1905 Miss Cora Lee Jarvis, daughter of Joseph C. and Alice N. (Pippin) Jarvis, resi- dents of Huntington. Her father, now retired, was for many years owner and operator of a machine shop. Mrs. Seamonds, who died June 17, 1921, is survived by one daugh- ter, Alma Louise, born October 4, 1906.

ISAAC SCOTT KENNEDY. To Isaac Scott Kennedy has been granted the fulfillment of all that is signified in a long life of useful service to humanity. He has practiced medicine for nearly half a century, and for thirty-five years his home has been at Salem in Harrison County.

He was born on a farm on Lost Creek in Harrison County, September 3, 1842, son of William and Elmira (Reed) Kennedy. His father was a farmer and one of the fine characters in his community. He was known as a peacemaker, and settled many difficulties among his neigh- bors by his influence and advice. He was a true friend and devoted to his family. In youth he joined the Seventh Day Baptist Church and lived a consistent Christian life. His wife was a life-long member of the same church. Of their children Doctor Kennedy is the only survivor, and the others were: Catherine, Zurah, Ruth, Margaret, Emily, Loman and Austin.

As the oldest son Isaac Scott Kennedy began helping his father in the farm work when only a boy, and his early school advantages were supplied by the brief term of school in the old field log schoolhouse. As a young man he was afflicted with catarrhal trouble, and was suc- cessfully treated by Doctor Bossley, a local homeopathic physician. His admiration for this successful treatment led him to express a desire to Doctor Bossley to take up the study of medicine in the homeopathic school, and for two years he pursued his studies under Doctor Bossley, his preceptor, and followed that with a course of lectures in the Hahnemann Medical College at Philadelphia, though he did not graduate. On returning home and upon exami- nation he was granted a certificate to practice by the West Virginia State Board, and be began his professional career at Lost Creek. Harrison County has always been the scene of his professional endeavors, and thirty-five years ago he moved his home to Salem. He has kept abreast with the advances made in his school of medicine, but Doctor Ken- nedy has made a specialty of diseases of women and chil- dren, and has also excelled in the treatment of chronic troubles. Though now eighty years of age he is still look- ing after his practice.

His profession has been the chief source of his income, though like many others who reside in an oil and gas district he has invested in companies exploiting these re- sources, and in his case his investments have brought him gratifying success. He has never been in politics, and while a democrat nominally, he is in fact an independent voter. Doctor Kennedy since the age of sixteen has been a mem- ber of the Seventh Day Baptist Chureb.

At the age of twenty he married Sarah Johnson, who was the mother of five children, Emma, Nora, Dora, Scott W. and Lewis A. His second wife was Mrs. Prudence Dix. There were no children by this union. His third wife was Sarah Smith, and they have two daughters, Mabel and Silva.

WALTON LEE STROTHER, M. D. For nearly thirty years the community of Salem has appreciated the technical abili- ties and the personal character of the two men named Strother, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery here. Walton Lee Strother is the younger of the two brothers, and he joined his older brother in practice here over twenty years ago and they were associated until the death of the older brother.

Walton Lee Strother was born and reared at Wilsonburg in Harrison County, and is a son of John J. and Almira (Fitro) Strother. His grandfather, William Strother, was born in old Virginia in 1807, and was an early settler in Harrison County, where he lived until his death in 1867. He married a Miss Morrison. John J. Strother was born at Wilsonburg in 1839, and his business was farming and stock raising. During the Civil war he was a teamster in the Union army. John J. Strother, who died at his home in Wilsonburg in 1899, married Almira Fitro, daugh- ter of Martin Fitro of Harrison County. Their children were: William M .; Lillie B., who died in infancy; Samuel Edison; John B .; Thomas Edmond and Silas M., both of whom died in infancy; Walton Lee; Jesse F .; David H .; and Ray L.

Walton Lee Strother spent his early life in Wilsonburg, where he attended the public schools, and acquired his literary education in Salem College and West Virginia Wesleyan College of Buckhannon, and pursued his pro- fessional course in the University of Maryland at Balti- more, where he graduated in 1900. Immediately there- after he became associated in practice at Salem with his brother Samuel E. Strother. His brother had located at Salem in 1893, and was also a graduate in medicine from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Walton Lee Strother through long experience and special talent is one of the ablest and most successful physi- cians in Harrison County. He is a member of the County, West Virginia State and American Medical associations, is a Master Mason, a Methodist and a republican,

He married Miss Helen Boughner in 1914.

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OREN FLEMING MORRISON. Soon after completing his education he took up banking as a serious vocation, and has devoted approximately half his lifetime to that busi- ness. He is cashier of the Merchants aud Producers Bank at Salem in Harrison County.

He was born on a farm in the same county October 13, 1884, son of Otto L. and Dora (Pepper) Morrison, also natives of Harrison County. His grandparents were An- drew J. and Susan F. (Roach) Morrison. The former was a native of Fauquier County, Virginia, and on coming to Harrisou County settled on Ten-Mile Creek, three miles south of Salem. He was a cabinet maker by trade. Otto L. Morrison was born in 1859, and is still living on his farm two miles north of Salem, agriculture having consti- tuted his life's pursuit. He is a democrat in politics, affili- ated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his wife in early life united with the Baptist Church. His wife died at the age of forty-eight, the mother of ten children : Arphad Paul, Oren F., Aubra C., Beulah, Beatrice, Marshall J., Tascar B., Blanche, Walter J., and Edwin C.

Oren F. Morrison was reared on a farm, attended rural schools, and finished his education in Salem College and a business College at Parkersburg. At the age of nineteen he became an employe of the First National Bank of Salem, beginning as a messenger. He became assistant cashier, and was with that bank for thirteen years. For a brief time Mr. Morrison was in the life insurance busi- ness, and in 1920 he took up his duties as cashier in the Merchants and Producers Bank of Salem. This bank was established in 1900, with a capital of $50,000, and has enjoyed a steadily increasing business. It has a surplus of $40,000, and owns its substantial home, a two-story brick building. The bank has had only one President, Mr. S. Brodwater.

Mr. Morrison is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, a member of the Baptist Church and a democrat in poli- tics. 1n 1913 he married Miss Mayme (Mary Ann) Bond. They have a daughter, Martha Jane Morrison.

JONATHAN WARNER WEBB, M. D. While he was a teacher for several years Doctor Webb had his ambitious set on a medical career, and he graduated qualified for the work of that profession seventeen years ago, and is one of the accomplished physicians and surgeons of Harrison County. His home is at Salem.

He was boru in Calhoun County, West Virginia, August 6, 1877, son of Nutter and Margaret (Depew) Webb, now living retired at Parkersburg. His paternal grandfather was William Webb and his maternal grandfather, Jona- than Depew, also natives of West Virginia. The Webbs were a strong Union family at the time of the Civil war, and two brothers of Nutter Webb gave up their lives while serving as soldiers. Nutter Webb was a merchant for several years and then engaged in farming. His home was in Calhoun County for forty years or more, after which he retired from the farm, locating at Parkersburg, where he still maintains his home. He has been a stanch republi- can, and he and his wife for many years have been affiliated with the Baptist Church.

Jonathan Warner Webb was one of nine children, and he grew up in Calhoun County, attending public and nor- mal schools there. He taught school for three years, and then entered upon the study of medicine, attending the University of Maryland at Baltimore, where he graduated in 1905. Doctor Wehh practiced for two years at Big Bend in Calhoun County, and then came to Harrison County, being located at Sardis until 1919, since this year his home and office have been in Salem.

Doctor Wehh has taken four post-graduate courses in the Chicago Polyclinic. He is a member of the Harrison County and West Virginia Medical Societies.

Doctor Webb is a republican, a member of the Baptist Church and a Master Mason. In 1901 he married Miss Eliza A. Kidwell, and they are the parents of three sons.

ROLANDUS S. LARUE, of Kingwood, went into the mines as a boy worker, has been foreman, superintendent and for many years one of the leading coal operators of Pres-

ton County. His career has been one of success, and he is connected with families of social and civic prominence.

The LaRues are widely scattered over Kentucky and West Virginia, and some spell the name Larew, but prac- tically all are descended from an original French stock. The ancestor of this branch was a French physician who came to the Carolinas with the Huguenots in 1756, re- moved to Virginia before the Revolutionary war, and reared his family near Winchester. One of his sons was Hiram LaRue, grandfather of the Kingwood coal operator. This Hiram LaRue was born January 29, 1793, near Winchester, Virginia, and was a soldier in the War of 1812, probably in the army under General Scott. He was a weaver by trade and he took in many young apprentices and taught them the art. About 1850 he moved from Winchester and established his home in "The Coves" in Barbour County, West Virginia, where he continued his trade as a weaver until his death, May 23, 1856. He was a whig, and in religious faith was a follower of the Wesleys. His wife was Elizabeth Grimes, of Winchester, and their sons were William, James, John, Hiram and Samuel L., their daugh- ters, Ellen and Sarah.

Hiram LaRue, Jr., was born June 13, 1830. Although he had but the common school education to be obtained in those times, he remained a student throughout his life and was especially devoted to the study of history. He did not take to the weaver's trade, but became a farmer instead. In 1858 he moved with his family from Barbour County to Preston County, and settled in the southern part of the county, near Evansville. During the war he was a member of Colonel Moore's regiment of militia. A crippled hand made him unfit for active duty, and as a guard he and the militia were stationed along railroads. He later bought a farm about a mile west of Evansville, where he passed the remainder of his active life. He died in Independence, Preston County, July 30, 1913, and was laid to rest beside his wife at Evansville. He was a re- publican, although he took no active part in politics, and was a member of the Methodist Church. Hiram LaRue, Jr., married in 1854, Miss Alcinda Hotsinpiller, daughter of John Hotsinpiller, who came from Whitepost Tavern, Virginia, a property he had owned, and moved to West Virginia at the same time as the LaRues. Mrs. Hiram LaRue died in 1887, at the age of fifty-four. They reared the following children: Rolandus Summerfield, Maria, Sarah, Mary, John, Martha, Hiram and William.

Rolandus S. LaRue was born in Barbour County, West Virginia, January 23, 1856, and was two years of age when the family moved to the farm at Evansville. He acquired his education in private and public schools, and when about seventeen changed his farm duties for work in the mines, and mining has been his life work. At an early age he became mine foreman, and has had charge of many mines throughout this section of the state. Under appointment from Governor Dawson he served as state mine inspector, continuing in this office altogether for four years. He then went with the Consolidation Coal Company, being employed by ex-Governor Fleming, and remained with this company eight years. During this period Mr. LaRue, who has always been deeply interested in mining conditions and especially in mine ventilation, contributed several valuable articles to the mining journals of this country. His ar- ticles on steam ventilation attracted particular attention in both foreign and American press. He was the recipient of many letters of commendation and inquiry concerning these articles, among these being letters from representa- tives of the French, Belgian and Russian governments. The system advocated by Mr. LaRue has been adopted by some of the leading coal companies of the country, the Consolidation Coal Company being the first to adopt it.

After severing his connection with the Consolidation Coal Company, Mr. LaRue became an independent operater in the Kingwood locality along with the Gibson Brothers. He is interested in the LaRue By-Products Colliery Com- pany, LaRue Coal Company, and the Lick Run Collieries Company, being general manager of the first two com- panies and a director of the third. He also has financial interests in the undeveloped coal properties of Preston

P.S. La Rue

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County, and is a director and stockholder in the Bank of Kingwood, all these indicating the substantial nature of his business connection with the locality.

Mr. LaRue is a republican, but one of liberal tendencies and has never been the type of man that lends blind obedi- ence to party policies. He has done his political duty chiefly as a voter, though he has attended different county conventions as a delegate and has many friends among the party leaders. He has been an Odd Fellow for forty years and is a past noble grand of the lodge and past chief patriarch of the encampment. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In Preston County, May 5, 1878, Mr. LaRue married Miss Mary Melissa Glenn, a native of the county and a member of a prominent pioneer family. The Glenns were of Scotch descent. The first of the name to come to America, Sander Leendertse (Alexander Lindsay) Glen, a Scotchman in the service of the West India Company, set- tled at Fort Nassau on the Delaware in 1631. He received a grant of land in Delaware and in 1665 obtained a patent for lands in Schenectady, New York. He called this sec- tion of land Scotia, and he resided there until the time of his death, November 13, 1685. The home that he built on this estate is still standing. Later, some of the family came to Maryland and settled in Cecil County. The first to spell the name with two n's was Samuel Glenn, who was born in Cecil County in 1737 and was the great-great- grandfather of Mrs. LaRue. He and his son Jacob and many others of the family were all born in Cecil County. Jacob Glenn married Charlotte Baldwin, who was a direct descendant of Pocahontas. Their son, Elias Bolling, grand- father of Mrs. LaRue, was born December 26, 1801, and married in 1825 ° Rachel Ann Taylor. Elias B. Glenn founded the family in what is now West Virginia, settling near Morgantown, where he was a farmer and horse dealer, taking his stock to Baltimore to market for shipment. In his family were ten children. Among them was Samuel Chambers Glenn, father of Mrs. LaRue. He was born in Monongalia County, September 29, 1831, and spent his active life as a lumber dealer and in railroading. He married Sarah Jane Shaw, October 12, 1854. She died February 5, 1899, while he passed away in August, 1905. The Glenn children were: Mary Melissa, Alberta, Amelia Jane, William M., Rachel Ann, George W., Albert H. and Rosa. Mrs. LaRue was born November 7, 1855. She ac- quired her education in public and private schools and was a successful teacher of the county until the time of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. LaRue have three children: George Barton, Ethel and Mary. The oldest child, George Barton LaRue, a coal operator at Kingwood, was born March 9, 1879. He married Hallie Paugh, June 7, 1899. Their children are Esther, born August 2, 1900, and George William, born April 5, 1902. The second child of Mr. and Mrs. R. S. LaRue, Ethel, was born May 1, 1883. She was married February, 12, 1912, to Joseph Vincent Gib- son, attorney and coal operator of Kingwood. Their chil- dren are: Milford LaRue, born January 7, 1913; Nancy Jackson, born April 26, 1916; Margaret Jane, born June 3, 1919. The third child, Mary, born July 20, 1891, was married, June 27, 1912, to Dr. Robert Parvin Strickler, in- structor in Greek in Johns Hopkins University at Balti- more. Their daughter, Mary Rosalie, was born May 7, 1913.

J. K. PARSONS. Born and reared in old Virginia, where he was a farmer and merchant for several years, J. K. Par- sons since moving to West Virgina has found increasing scope for his abilities in the great coal measures in the southern part of the state. He has developed the Logan- Elkhorn Corporation, owning, operating and selling the product of some of the best bituminous mines in that part of the state. His home is in Huntington, where he also con- ducts a successful insurance business.

Jefferson K. Parsons was born in Lee County, Virginia, December 19, 1882. His father, Henry Z. Parsons, was born in the same county in 1851, spent his entire life there as a farmer, and died in 1913. He was a democrat in politics, and a very devoted member of the Missionary Baptist

Church. His wife was Elizabeth Parsons, though they were not related. She was born in Lee County in 1846. These parents had five children: Albert F., a coal operator living at Huntington; Margaret, wife of John M. Kirk, operator of a coal mine in Lee County; Jefferson K .; Amanda L., whose husband, W. S. Peters, lives in Logan County, and is super- intendent of the J. K. Parsons Coal Mine; and George Z., a merchant in Lee County.

J. K. Parsons spent the first seventeen years of his life on his father's farm, acquired a common school education, and thereafter farmed on his own responsibility in Lee County until he was twenty-five. Then for several years he was a merchant in the same county, and in 1912 he took up the business of coal operation in the West Virginia hills, and for the past decade his activities and energies have been absorbed in this industry. His mines are in Logan County, this state, and Perry County, Kentucky. The mines owned by him have a capacity of 25,000 tons per month, and they comprise the Logan-Elkhorn Coal Corporation. A sales organization for handling the output of these mines is known as the Logan-Elkhorn Fuel Company, which is also owned and operated by Mr. Parsons. His interest in the insurance field is the Co-Operative Insurance Company of Huntington, of which he is the founder and manager. The offices of the Insurance Company and his own personal offices are in the American Bank Building.

Mr. Parsons, who is a democrat in politics, married in Lee County, Virginia, in 1899, Miss Alva Garrett, daughter of George W. and Anna (Newman) Garrett, her mother now living in Logan County. Her father was a farmer and is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Parsons have the following children: Ruby married Harry Pennington, an employe of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company at Huntington; Jack assists in his father's mines in Logan County; Edith, Powell and Blanche are students in the Huntington school; and Marjorie and Jefferson K., Jr., are the youngest of the family.

FRED E. WAY, secretary and general manager of the Kenova Hardwood Flooring Company, has been identified with this concern since 1905, and has also been prominently connected with civic affairs for a number of years, his record both in public and business life having been one of constructive achievements and public-spirited activities. He was born at Wyanet, Bureau County, Illinois, May 3, 1869, a son of Edwin D. and Margaret (Piper) Way.

Edwin D. Way was born July 16, 1837, in Ashtabula County, Ohio, and was twenty years of age when he accom- panied his parents to Henry County, Illinois. Early in the war between the states he enlisted in Company B, Nine- teenth Illinois Infantry, as a private, but after a short service received his honorable discharge because ill health incapacitated him for active duty. During the remainder of the war he was in charge of the Soldiers' Home at Pa- ducab, Kentucky, and at Vicksburg, Mississippi, under the supervision of the United States Sanitary Commission. At the close of the struggle he went to Wyanet, Illinois, where he established a hardware business, and was engaged in that line of trade for fifteen years. Disposing of his inter- ests, he went to Peoria, Illinois, where he was in the grocery business until 1892. He was always a friend of education, and while residing at Wyanet was president of the school board. His health failing, in 1892, Mr. Way went to Cali- fornia, where he died January 3, 1893. He married Miss Margaret Piper, who was born in Indiana County, Penn- sylvania, November 21, 1841, and now survives him at the age of eighty years, being a resident of Chicago, Illinois. Two children were born to them: Fred E. and Verna, the latter the wife of H. R. Mardorf, who started as a mes- senger boy for the C. I. & L. Railroad, Chicago, at the age of fifteen, and is now assistant secretary-treasurer of that route.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 66

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