History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 7

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At the age of twenty-five years Mr. Chamberlin was united in marriage with Miss Maude C. Earmon, who was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, a daughter of New- ton and Corinne (Sheets) Earmon, the latter likewise a native of Rockingham County. Her father, Strother Sheets, was born in that county, March 10, 1821, and his wife whose maiden name was Frances Shirley, was born in Augusta County, Virginia, July 9, 1822, of Colonial an- cestry. Mrs. Chamberlin passed to the life eternal on the 17th of November, 1917, and is survived by two daughters, Minnie G. and Carrie E.

HERBERT E. HANNIS, who was a lieutenant of field artil- lery during the great war, was born and reared in Martins- burg, and completed a liberal education in the law before the war, and when he left the service he returned home to practice and shortly afterward was elected prosecuting at- torney of Berkeley County.

The Hannis family is descended from Andrew Hannis, a native of Scotland, who came to America in Colonial times and established his home in Philadelphia. He was buried in Christ Churchyard in that city. The name Hannis has been a prominent one in Philadelphia in all subsequent generations. The grandfather of the Martinsburg lawyer was Henry Stites Hannis, a native of Philadelphia. He owned and operated the Hannis Distillery in Philadelphia. He married a Miss Poole, of English descent.

Herbert E. Hannis, Sr., a native of Philadelphia, where he was reared and educated, at the age of eighteen moved to Martinsburg, where his father had acquired the Naden- bousch Distillery, and he took an active part in its manage- ment until his death in 1906. Herbert E. Hannis, Sr., mar- ried Susan Gardner, a native of Berkeley County and resi- dent of Martinsburg. She represents the old Gardner and

Showers families of Berkeley County, her father having been John Gardner.

Lieutenant Hannis was one of eight children, was educated under private tutors, and took both literary and law courses in Washington and Lee University. He re- ceived his degrees A. B. and LL. B. from that university, and supplemented liis law course in Columbia University at New York.

Mr. Hannis in August, 1917, entered the United States service, was trained at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indian- apolis, was commissioned first lieutenant of field artillery, and was on duty for a time at Camp Funston in Kansas, at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, and from Camp Dix, New Jersey, went overseas and was with his command in all its activities in France until March, 1919. He then returned to the United States, was at Camp Upton on Long Island for a brief time, and was then assigned special work at Washington, D. C. In July, 1920, he resigned and received his honorable discharge, and returned home to find that his friends had nominated him as republican candidate for prosecuting attorney of Berkeley County. In November of that year he was elected to office, and now devotes all his time to its duties.

Mr. Hanuis is one of the very popular public officials of Berkeley County. He is a member of several bar associa- tions, the American Legion Post, and is affiliated with Martinsburg Lodge No. 778, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and Washington Lodge No. 1, Knights of Pythias.

ERNEST L. LUTTRELL. A lawyer of exceptional ability and well matured powers and experience, Mr. Luttrell has been a member of the Berkeley County bar, and while he has had official responsibilities during the greater part of the time since his admission he has also built up an exten- sive general practice. His offices are in the Shenandoah Bank Building at Martinsburg.

Mr. Luttrell was born on a farm thirteen miles northwest of Winchester, in Frederick County, Virginia. His father, Charles W. Luttrell, was born near Collinsville, in the same county, on December 3, 1855. The grandfather was Lewis Luttrell, a native of the same county, and the great-grand- father was John Luttrell, also a native and life-long resident of Frederick County, where his ancestors settled when they came from England in Colonial times. Lewis Luttrell grew up on the farm, inherited a portion of the old homestead, but subsequently sold it and farmed as a renter. He died at the age of sixty-nine. The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Dick, a native of Frederick County and daughter of Richard Dick, a farmer and woodsman of that section.

Charles W. Luttrell was reared on a farm. His ambition led him to make the most of his advantages in the local schools, and at the age of twenty-one he began teaching and was a factor in local educational circles for five years. From Frederick County he moved to Berkeley County, was clerk in a general store at Glengary and later at Ganotown, and in 1906 bought property at Nollville, where he was in the mercantile business until January, 1921. At that date he sold out and is now retired at Martinsburg. He served as postmaster at De Haven in Frederick County, and was assistant postmaster at Glengarry and postmaster at Gano- town, both these appointments coming during Grover Cleve- land's administration. In 1881 Charles W. Luttrell married Julia P. De Haven, a native of Frederick County. Her father, James De Haven, owned and operated a flour mill on Green Spring Creek in Frederick County. Charles W. Luttrell and wife had two children, Elston M. and Ernest L. The parents are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the father has been on the official board of the church. Charles W. Luttrell is very conspicuous for his religious work, to which he has devoted much of his time and means. He is sincerely interested in every movement for the betterment of his fellow man.

Ernest L. Luttrell received a rural education during his early years, later attended Shepherd College, and from there entered West Virginia University, where he took a brief academic course and then continued in the law school until graduation in 1910. Mr. Luttrell has done all his practice

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

as a lawyer at Martinsburg. In that city he became asso- eiated with A. B. Noll, and served four years as assistant district attorney under Mr. Noll and later four years under District Attorney W. W. Downey. Mr. Luttrell in 1919 formed a partnership with Decatur Rogers, and this firm is recognized as one of the strongest in Berkeley County.

In 1912 Mr. Luttrell married Ida Lillian Rice, who was born in Jefferson County, daughter of William M. Rice, a farmer near Shepherdstown. Mr. and Mrs. Luttrell had two children, Edna Marie and Ernest Glenville. Mr. Luttrell is affiliated with Equality Lodge No. 44, A. F. and A. M., with the thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Masons, is a member of Washington Lodge No. 1, Knights of Pythias, and the D. O. K. K. branch of that order, and is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose and the Patriotic Sons of America.

CHARLES G. SMITH was in the railroad service, later in the public utility business, but is best known in the City of Martinsburg, his home, as a merchant, being proprietor of one of the larger mercantile concerns there.

He was born at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, a son of Joseph Cheston Smith and grandson of David and Maria (Spangler) Smith. His family connections have been in Maryland and West Virginia since pioneer times. The family history is an interesting one, including a number of prominent characters, and it is told in more complete detail in the individual sketch of Harry Fenton Smith, a cousin of Charles G., and also a resident of Berkeley County.

Joseph Cheston Smith, father of the Martinsburg mer- chant, was reared and educated at Frederick, Maryland. As a young man he came to Virginia, and during the war be- tween the states was in the United States service, in the Quartermaster's Department. After the war he returned to his father's farm, on which Anteitem Station is now located, farmed there for a few years and in 1871 located at Mar- tinsburg, where he was in the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, and continued in that service for about forty years. He died at Harpers Ferry in 1916. His wife was Louisa Spangler, a native of Harpers Ferry. Her father, Emannel Spangler, was born in Scotland and one of three brothers to come to America. His brother John settled at Martinsburg. Emanuel Spangler was an expert mechanic. Prior to the beginning of the Civil war he was an employe at the Government Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, making locks for guns. After the arsenal was burned he was transferred to the arsenal in Bridesburg, a suburb of Philadelphia. At the close of the Civil war he returned to Harpers Ferry and lived there until his death. Emanuel Spangler married Elizabeth Russell, a native of England. Her brother was at one time prominently associated with Oberlin College at Oberlin, Ohio.

Charles G. Smith was the oldest of three children. His brother Harry S. became an electrical engineer, and in that capacity went to South Africa, where he died. The only daughter, Emma Brent, married Rev. John Sneidikar.

C. G. Smith was educated in Martinsburg, and at the age of sixteen entered the employ of the Cumberland Valley Railroad Company as a messenger boy and as an apprentice to learn telegraphy. During this period his salary was $6 a month. After a year he was made joint city ticket agent and manager of the telegraph office, and was in the service of the railroad for a period of ten years. After resigning he assisted in organizing the Edison Electric Illuminating Company, and was manager of that important public utility for five years. When he retired he bought a mercantile business formerly conducted by his father-in-law, consisting of a stock of general merchandise on North Queen Street. He had been in the business only a short time when he ex- panded his enterprise by purchasing the commissary of the Standard Stone and Lime Company's Quarry and also the commissary of the Crawford Woolen Company and another general store on South Queen Street. To this growing and flourishing business he has given strict attention and has made an unqualified success as a merchant. He is also a director in the old National Bank and chairman of its executive committee, also a director of the Berkeley Woolen Company of Martinsburg, West Virginia.

In 1906 Mr. Smith built the substantial residence now occupied by his family on South Queen Street. At the age of twenty-four he married Miss Minnie Belle Bowers, a na- tive of Martinsburg and daughter of John A. and Lucy (Orem) Bowers. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have one son, Charles Granville, Jr., and their only daughter died in infancy. They are members of the Trinity Episcopal Church, of which he is a vestryman. He is affiliated with Robert White Lodge No. 67, A. F. and A. M., has been an official in the lodge for thirteen years, and is a member of Washington Lodge No. 1, Knights of Pythias, and of Martinsburg Lodge No. 778, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of the Martinsburg Rotary Club.

HON. JOSEPH HENRY MCDERMOTT. The builders of em- pires have their counterparts in the men who establislı, organize and develop vast commercial and industrial enter- prises that make communities centers of thriving trade and carry their names to various other parts of the world. Such men must possess many qualities. Their insight into business conditions must be keen and far-reaching, their knowledge of men profound, and their ability to grasp opportunities, unlimited. Without commercial and industrial interests no community progresses, for such enterprises are the very life of a city. The investment and attraction of capital, the employment of labor, and the consequent opening of new avenues of endeavor to meet newly-created demands, all infuse blood into the veins of a section and endow it with renewed vigor and strength. Morgantown is an excellent example of the above statement, and one of the men who has been largely responsible for the desirable condition of affairs now existing in this thriving community is the IIon. Joseph Henry MeDermott, a leading operator in the oil and gas industries, and a man whose connection with pol- ities has made his name nationally known.

Mr. McDermott was born near Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, July 28, 1871, a son of Thomas and Samantha (Johnson) McDermott. Thomas MeDermott was born in Canada, a son of John and Mary (Kennedy) Mc- Dermott, the former a native of Roscommon and the lat- ter of Sligo County, Ireland. His father was a pioneer lumberman of Ontario, having a residence on Georgian Bay in that province, where John and Mary McDermott passed the remainder of their lives.

Thomas McDermott came to the United States for the purpose of becoming a Union soldier during the war be- tween the states, and enlisted at Buffalo, New York, in 1865. Before he got to the front, however, hostilities had ceased, and after he had received his honorable discharge he engaged in the lumber business near Meadville, Penn- sylvania, making staves which he shipped to Titusville, Pennsylvania, where they were converted into oil barrels. In 1876 he entered into contract work in the Bradford (Pennsylvania) oil fields for ten years, and was afterwards engaged in contracting in Butler County, Pennsylvania, aud at Pittsburgh and Little Washington, that state, and then came to Mount Morris, West Virginia, whence he came to Morgantown in 1889. Going from Morgantown to Fair- mont in his later years, he died at the latter city in 1911, after some years of retirement. His widow, who still makes her home at Fairmont, West Virginia, was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Samuel and Nancy (Laughlin) Johnson, she being a member of the old and prominent Laughlin family of Pennsylvania.

Joseph Henry McDermott attended the public schools of his native community, and at the age of fifteen years joined his father in the latter's business, continuing with him in all of his operations until the elder man's retirement, when the son assumed the responsibility of the entire operations. At the present time, however, he confines his gas and oil operations to the Monongalia County fields, with other in- terests in California. He is president and owner of the J. H. McDermott Company, president of the Moore Tex Oil Company, president of the New York and California Oil Company and president of the Armor Cord Rubber Company of Morgantown, operating in California, and holds financial interests in other companies.

In the domain of politics and public affairs Mr. McDer-

Joseph H. MED Enwott -

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

ott is one of the leaders of the republican party of West irginia and of the nation. In 1904 he was elected to the Test Virginia Senate, serving in the sessions of 1905, 1906, 907 and 1908, and was president of that body in 1907. He as a Taft presidential elector in 1908, receiving seventy- ven votes more than any other man on the entire repub- can ticket, either state or national. He was elected a ember of the Republican National Committee for West irginia in 1918, and re-elected in 1920, and continues a smber of that organization. He has been active in state olitics since the time of United States Senators Nathan . Scott and Stephen Elkins, and managed the campaign : United States Senator David Elkins when the latter was rving in France.

Mr. McDermott is a member of the DuQuesne Club, of ittsburgh; the Edgewater Country Club, of Charleston, 'est Virginia; and the Country Club, of Morgantown. He so holds membership in Union Lodge No. 4, Free and Ac- pted Masons, of Morgantown, and has received all the grees up to the thirty-second, including the Scottish and ork Rites and Knights Templars in West Virginia. He is member of the Mystic Shrine and one of the few living arter members of the Scottish Rite in this state.

Mr. McDermott served as quartermaster general with e rank of captain on Governor Atkinson's staff at a me when the staff was a part of the National Guard. ollowing Governor Atkinson's term as governor, Mr. Mc- ermott was made a member of the brigade staff, with the ink of captain, and Governor Dawson appointed him one : five captains to serve as the governor's military ad- sory board.

Mr. McDermott married Miss Louise Jane McLane, the aughter of Dr. Charles H. McLane, a well-known physician id surgeon of Morgantown, and to this union there have en born two children: Jane and Joseph H., Jr.

HARRY BANK. As a man of affairs or as a patriotic tizen no one is better or more favorably known in Mc- owell County than Harry Bank, a department store owner he went into business there on an exceedingly modest scale id has kept that business growing and prospering in "oportion to the general development of this locality.

Mr. Bank was born in Russia, April 15, 1872, of Jewish rents, Kamper and Sarah Bank. He acquired his educa- on in old country schools, but did not know a word of nglish when he came to the United States at the age of venteen. For three years he lived in Baltimore, and in at city he laid the foundation for his Americanism. While atting in his days working and learning the methods of an merican store, he spent hours at night studying to equip mself with a knowledge of English. Then, about 1891, .r. Bank came to Kimball and made an unpretentious start ; a general merchant. Being cautious, very reliable in all s dealings, he has built up a department store that handles I the merchandise required in this community. Because : his high standing as a man of affairs and his thorough asiness integrity Mr. Bank has been widely sought as an Ivisor and co-operator in movements affecting the welfare E his section. He was appointed a member of the Gov- 'ner's staff. Among other extensive interests in this gion he is a director of the First National Bank of imhall and a large stockholder in the Safly Pocahontas oal Company.

In 1895, at Baltimore, Mr. Bank married Miss Ida Michel- on. They have four children, Sadie, Bernard, Marie and tta. Sadie is the wife of Jack Leibman, of Welch.

Mr. Bank is a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner and a ember of the Elks. Everyone in this part of McDowell ounty respects the ability and relies implicitly upon Mr. ank's high character and good judgment. He is a man he has come up through struggles, and few men with the dvantages of birth and education in America have gone irther along the highway to real substantial success than is Kimball merchant.

JOHN H. BANE, cashier of the Clark National Bank at forth Fork, McDowell County, took up business very early

in his life, has had a wide and varied experience, and for nearly twenty years has been connected with banking.

Mr. Bane was born at Bell Springs, Pulaski County, Virginia, May 26, 1877, and is of old Virginia stock of English and Scotch descent. His parents, John H. and Elizabeth E. (Lloyd) Bane, were both born in Virginia, his father being a substantial farmer in that state. For many years he was a deacon in the Baptist Church. John H. Bane acquired a common school education, and was not privileged to attend school after he was fourteen. Follow- ing that he worked on the farm, clerked in a general store at Bell Springs, and divided his time between the store and the farm until he was about twenty. During the next two years he did clerical work in the general offices of the Nor- folk & Western Railroad at Roanoke, and from there came to West Virginia and established himself in the retail grocery business at Welch. After about two years he disposed of the store and, returning to Virginia, engaged in the general mercantile business at Christianburg. At the end of the third year he gave up his store to accept the position of assistant cashier in the First National Bank of Christianburg. He was with that institution four years, and there laid the foundation of his training as a banker. He was next cashier of the First National Bank of Pineville, West Virginia, two years, and in 1914 came to the Clark National Bank at North Fork as cashier. He is also a di- rector of the bank. During the war he was a leader in promoting the success of all the loan drives and also the drives for the Red Cross and Salvation Army in his com- munity.

Mr. Bane married Miss Mary Myrtle Conner, of Floyd, Virginia, in 1911. Her parents, Rev. David D. and Alice M. (Pugh) Conner, are natives of Virginia and her father is a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. and Mrs. Bane's children are Elizabeth Josephine, John H., Jr., and David E. The family are members of the Baptist Church and Mr. Bane for a number of years has been super- intendent of the Sunday school and a deacon in the church. He is treasurer of the Masonic Lodge and Chapter at North Fork.

LESLIE C. FOWLKES has been a progressive factor in the business affairs of Keystone, McDowell County, for the past ten years, and the greater part of that time has been an executive officer in the First National Bank of Keystone.

Mr. Fowlkes was born September 1, 1888, on a farm near Chatham, Virginia, son of W. A. and Nannie (Yates) Fowlkes, also native Virginians. His father was a success- ful farmer in that locality, and for two years he had charge of all construction and maintenance work on roads and highways in his district. He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Leslie C. Fowlkes grew up in the country, attended common schools there and in Chatham, and completed a regular business course, includ- ing atenography and bookkeeping, in the Piedmont Busi- ness College of Lynchburg, Virginia.

Soon after completing his business college education, in 1912, Mr. Fowlkes came to Keystone, West Virginia, and for the first eighteen months divided his time between book- keeping and stenographic work for Attorney Partlew and the bank. Since then all his time has been taken up by his duties in the bank, where fer one year he was book- keeper and in 1915 appointed assistant cashier. In July, 1917, he was made cashier, and during the period of the World war he had to perform all the detail as well as gen- eral business management in the absence of the employes who went into the service. The First National Bank of Keystone is one of the most prosperous institutions in McDowell County, has a capital of $50,000, surplus and undivided profits of $70,000, and deposits of over $500,000. The president of the bank is D. E. French, of Bluefield.

In 1915, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mr. Fowlkes mar- ried Miss Catherine Rish, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Rish, natives of Pennsylvania. They have two children, Leslie C., Jr., and John William. Mr. Fowlkes is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In Masonry he is affiliated with Algoma Lodge at North Fork, Howard

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

Chapter at North Fork, the Knights Templar Commandery at Bramwell and Beni-Kedem Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Charleston. He is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and in politics is rather independent, though nor- mally he votes the democratic ticket.

MCHENRY TABOR, M. D. The earnest and skillful labors of Dr. McHenry Tabor as a physician and surgeon have been applied to the benefit of the important coal mining communities of McDowell County. He is held in the highest personal as well as professional esteem in the coal mining town of Crumpler, which is located on a branch of the Nor- folk & Western Railway, connecting with the main line at North Fork.

Doctor Tabor was born at Camp Creek, Mercer County, West Virginia, August 15, 1885, and is of Old Virginia ancestry, more remotely of Dutch and Irish origin. His parents were George and Olive (Worrell) Tabor, the former a native of Tazewell and the latter of Carroll, Virginia. His father served in a Virginia regiment under General Wise during the war between the states. After this serv- ice he returned to his farm and later for fifteen years was in the general merchandise business. He was an active member of the Christian Church.

McHenry Tabor attended the common schools in Mercer County, finished his work in the State Normal at Athens in 1905, and took his medical course in the Medical College at Richmond, Virginia, where he graduated in 1910. For six months he was an interne in the City Hospital at Rich- mond, and then began his work in the West Virginia coal fields. For some seven or eight years he handled a very successful general practice at Glenalum, and in 1918 came to Crumpler in charge of the medical work for the Zenith mines of the United Pocahontas Coal Company. During the World war he made two attempts to get into the army service, but the authorities said that he could not possibly do a greater or more patriotic work than he was doing as a mining physician. Doctor Tabor is a member of the County, West Virginia State and American Medical Asso- ciations, is a Royal Arch and Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, and a member of the Episcopal Church.

Tn 1915, at Glenalum, he married Miss Elizabeth L. Mitchell, daughter of Daniel and Fannie (Loving) Mitchell, of Abingdon, Virginia. Her father was a banker and died in March, 1921, at the age of seventy-eight. Mr. and Mrs. Tabor have one daughter, Nancy Overton.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 7

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