History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 8

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DRURY D. MORAN. One of the ablest, most successful and most forceful lawyers engaged in the practice of civil law in Wyoming County is Drury D. Moran, of Mullens. Quiet, determined and industrious, and at the same time a brilliant and original speaker, he possesses a convincing directness which makes him a remarkable advocate and a strong citizen. He has likewise been prominent in public life, as well as in business, and at present is at the head of several leading enterprises of Pineville and Mullens.

Mr. Moran was born on Pinnacle Creek, within five miles of the present site of Mullens, January 27, 1880, and is a son of Stephen H. and Hortense (Evans) Moran. Stephen H. Moran was born in Floyd County, Virginia, in 1855, and was seventeen years of age when he went to Raleigh County, West Virginia. When eighteen years old he went to Pin- nacle Creek, was married at that time, and settled down to a life which was devoted to agricultural pursuits and con- tracting in timber. He became an extensive landholder, had one of the best farms in his region, and was known as the most extensive farmer in the upper end of the county. He handled large lumber contracts, buying and selling timber, and cleared the right-of-way through Wyoming County for the Virginian Railroad and for the Winding Gulf branch of that line. Mr. Moran was a democrat in politics. He was a man of the strictest integrity and a faithful member of the Primitive Baptist Church, in the faith of which he died in August, 1918. He was not old enough to see serv- ice in the war between the states, but two of his brothers fought as Confederate soldiers in that struggle and met death on the battlefield. Mrs. Moran survives her husband and resides on the old home place. Their children were as

follows: Eli, who is carrying on operations on the ol home farm; Drury D., of this review; John, who is a mir foreman at the Alph Pocahontas Mine; Meda, the wife c Bailey Mills, a miner at Beckley; Hulda, who died at th age of thirty-six years, as the wife of Thomas Shrewsberry of Wyoming County; Vina, the wife of Joseph Wood, Wyoming County farmer; Martha, the wife of Wetsel Al derson, a miner; Mazy, the wife of Everett Green, an en ploye of the Virginian Railroad; and Ida, the wife of Perr Spence, of Wyoming County.

Drury D. Moran received his early education in the Wy oming County schools, following which he taught schor for three years. In 1901 he joined Company M, Twenty ninth United States Infantry, studied and taught math matics at Fort Sheridan, and in 1902 was sent to the Phi ippine Islands, where he was an instructor in mathematic He received his honorable discharge at sea, while on h return to the United States, and on his return to West Vi ginia became a clerk in a grocery store at Mullens, fo lowing which he opened the first soft drink factory at th place. During the Taft administration he served as pos master at Mullens, and then commenced the study of lav He was a student at the State University from 1913 to 1911 and in February, 1916, was admitted to the bar. He ha since been engaged in a constantly growing practice, mal ing a specialty of civil cases. His business connections al prominent and important, and he is president of the Wyon ing County Bank at Pineville, vice president of the Wyon ing Ice and Bottling Company at Mullens, and president () the Wyoming Theatre Company at Mullens.

Soon after his return from the State University, Mr. M. ran became chairman of the Republican County Executiv Committee of Wyoming County, and in the fall of 1918 wa elected to serve in the West Virginia House of Delegate where he was chairman of the military committee and member of the following committees: Judiciary, election and privileges, private corporations and joint stock con panies, roads and internal navigation, claims and grie ances and mines and mining. In the recent election he wa the nominee of his party for the Circuit judgeship, bı the democratic vote in Mingo County caused his defeat. M Moran is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fe lows, and he and Mrs. Moran belong to the Baptist Chure Early in the World war he was admitted to the Plattsbur Officers Training Camp, but while there was stricken will appendicitis, which incapacitated him for service.

On October 7, 1905, Mr. Moran was united in marriag with Miss Mattie L. Williams, a daughter of A. R. William a well-known and successful agriculturist of Wyomir. County.

STUART G. ALDHIZER is one of the younger bankers the state, is cashier of the First National Bank of Kimba and his associates and friends regard him as one of the cor ing men in the financial affairs of his native state.

Mr. Aldhizer was born at Broadway, Virginia, Octob 1, 1894, of an old Virginia family and of Welsh and Iri. ancestry. His parents, George S. and Alice A. (Moor Aldhizer, were both natives of Virginia. His father was 0) of the early settlers of Broadway, made his start in t? drug business, but eventually that became a side line his varied enterprises as banker and manufacturer. He b came president of the bank at Broadway, and operated flour and feed milling establishment. For a number years he was a member of the council, but never accept the office of mayor. He was a deacon in the Baptist Chur and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Stuart G. Aldhizer had a common and high school educ tion at Broadway, graduating from high school in 191 His higher education was acquired in the Richmond Co lege, a Baptist institution, now the University of Ric mond, where he finished his course in 1915, but did n graduate, owing to the death of his older brother. In th year he became bookkeeper for the McDowell Nation! Bank at Welch, West Virginia, and subsequently was pr moted to teller.

He left his duties with the bank to enlist on Decemb 15, 1917, joining the Aviation Corps at Kelly Field

maran

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

Texas, and remained there in the ground school of instruc- tion for eight months. He was then transferred to the Field Artillery at Camp Taylor, Kentucky, was in training eleven weeks, and on November 28, 1918, after the signing of the armistice, he accepted his discharge instead of a lieu- tenant's commission. Returning to Welch, he resumed his duties as teller in the bank, and seventeen months later came to Kimball as cashier of the First National Bank. He is also one of the directors of the bank, and his personal popularity is an important factor in the prosperity of the institution.

Mr. Aldhizer is a member of the Baptist Church, is a Royal Arch and Knight Templar Mason and Shriner and exemplifies a thorough progressiveness in all community af- fairs.

WILLIAM BARRICK. A finer example of the West Vir- ginia mountaineer type, of perfect physical manhood, with a physical and moral courage that has never been daunted, resourceful, skillful, at all times adequate for his per- formance and duties, it would be difficult to conceive than that illustrated by William Barrick, manager of the Tide- water Coal & Coke Company of Vivian.

Mr. Barrick has lived in and around mines, and has done the practical work of the miner and the mining official since he was a boy. He was born in Mineral County, West Vir- ginia, September 25, 1874, son of George G. and Nannie W. (Matthews) Barrick, the former a native of West Vir- ginia and the latter of Richmond, Virginia. George G. Barrick was likewise a coal miner and one of the first in West Virginia, becoming associated with the Davis Coal & Coke Company. William Barrick acquired a common school education in Mineral County. At the age of fifteen he went to work with his father around the mines, and did a varied routine of duties, cleaning up around the track, car oiler, and in other capacities until he was made a regular miner. Then came advancement through all the grades of promotion in and around a coal mine, and he is master of practically every detail of mining technique. By 1897 he was mine foreman for the Thomas Mine in Tucker County and of the Davis Coal and Coke Company, serving in this capacity four years. Subsequently he was foreman for the Oakland Coal & Coke Company in Preston County. His next work was at Weaver, where he was foreman of the No. 1 Mine of the Maryland Smokeless Coal & Coke Com- pany, and on being promoted to general mine foreman had six mines under his direction. When the Davis Coal & Coke Companies bought these properties he remained with the corporation as superintendent of mines. On leaving Weaver Mr. Barrick accepted an invitation to take charge of some coal operations at Raton, New Mexico, and on returning East spent about four years at Lowmoor, Virginia, and then joined the Berwind White Coal & Mining Company, the largest operators in West Virginia, as superintendent of operations. He was with this concern nine years, and in that time he opened and developed five coal properties in addition to those being operated when he joined the com- pany. Since 1918 Mr. Barrick has been located at Vivian in McDowell County as superintendent of mines for the Houston Colliery Corporation and the King and Tidewater Coal & Coke Companies. Mr. Barrick, his associates say, is the only real native born West Virginian who has reached his high responsibilities in the coal industry as a result of his own unaided efforts. He has with him his two sons, and they resemble him in many particulars.

Mr. Barrick stands six feet one inch high, weighs about 200 pounds, and his carriage and appearance reveal him the perfect athlete he is. As a boy he was a great hunter, a perfect shot with the rifle, and his owns sons have emu- lated his skill in these directions.

In 1896, at Thomas, West Virginia, Mr. Barrick mar- ried Mary Frances Conner, daughter of John and Minerva Conner. Her father was a farmer and carpenter. The six children of Mr. and Mrs. Barrick are William R., George M., Willard Virginia, Joseph Benjamin, Travis Earl and Frances Adelaide, while another daughter, Ruth, died at the age of ten months. William married Miss Ellen Straughan, of Bluefield, daughter of James A. Straughan, superintend-

ent of coal mines at Hellier, Kentucky. William Barrick was a member of the Students Army Training Corps at Morgantown during the World war, and had orders for over- seas duty when the armistice was signed. The son George attended the Greenbrier Military Institute aud took a min- ing course at West Virginia University and was given a first class certificate as mine foreman and mine rescue and first aid. The son Joseph is a student in the Virginia School of Technology. Travis is attending Emery and Henry College of Virginia. The family are members of the Baptist Church and Mr. Barrick is a Royal Arch Mason and Odd Fellow. Mr. Barrick is the sort of man to at- tract attention and admiration everywhere, but particularly when he is observed at his post of duty. A brief acquaint- ance reveals the fact that he is one of the best educated men in this section of the state. This is largely due to the habit of reading which he derived as a boy from his mother, who was a school teacher and who influenced his choice of good books. Mr. Barrick's main hobby is baseball, and wherever he has had his duties in mining circles he has or- ganized and maintained a ball club, and some of the teams with which he played and managed established a fine rec- ord in the different coal mining sections of West Virginia.

WILLIAM A. CREAGER learned banking in Cincinnati, and for a number of years has been associated with the First National Bank of North Fork, McDowell County. He is cashier of this institution, one of the largest and strongest in the county, with total resources of over $1,000,000. It has a capital of $100,000, and its surplus and undivided profits account nearly equals the capital.

Mr. Creager was born at Loveland, Ohio, March 22, 1873, son of Leamon and Mary Kelly (Alcoke) Creager, natives of Ohio. Through his father he is of Pennsylvanian German ancestry, while his mother was of old Virginia stock of English descent. Leamon Creager served in the Home Guards of Ohio during the Civil war, spent his active life as a farmer, and was never in politics to any extent.

William A. Creager acquired a common and high school education at Loveland. For several years he worked on a farm, clerked in stores, and on account of failing health went West, to Oregon. He was in Oregon when the Span- ish-American war broke out, and he then joined the Sec- ond Oregon Regiment of Volunteers, with which command he went to Manila and for eleven months was in that city doing hospital work as acting eteward.

Mr. Creager in 1907 entered the employ of the Fifth Na- tional Bank of Cincinnati in the transit department, and was with that institution for five years. With this thor- ough metropolitan experience in banking he came to North Fork, West Virginia, in 1912 as clerk and bookkeeper for the First National Bank. He was soon promoted to as- sistant cashier, and since March, 1916, has been cashier. He is an able banker, a conservative business man, and is re- garded as one of the ablest citizens of his community.

September 1, 1921, at Tazewell, Virginia, Mr. Creager married Miss Jane A. Thompson, whose father is a promi- nent dentist of that place.

WILKIN B. STEVENS, M. D. Considered either as a busi- ness man or professional man there are few individuals in McDowell County who have a broader and heavier program of responsibilities than Doctor Stevens, whose home is at Eckman. Doctor Stevens came into this locality a number of years ago as assistant to H. D. Hatfield, then chief sur- geon of Miners Hospital No. 1 at Welch. When Doctor Hatfield became governor of the State of West Virginia Doctor Stevens remained as his logical and well qualified successor, and he has since taken on numerous other duties. He is practically the official and unofficial head of all the medical and welfare activities of a large group of mining corporations, and is undoubtedly one of the most popular men with all classes in this section of the state.

Doctor Stevens was born at Milltown, Alabama, May 14, 1877, and his early life was in an environment where he was practically compelled to put forth his best efforts in order to secure preparation for the career he had chosen. His parents, Joseph H. and Martha Jane (Blackburn)

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

Stevens, were natives of Alabama, the former of English and the latter of German ancestry. Joseph H. Stevens was a farmer and cotton gin proprietor, and the latter indus- try was the chief support of his family. He was a very active member of the Christian Church. Wilkin B. Stevens acquired a common school education in Milltown, also at- tended the academy which took the place of a high school there. He was twelve years of age when his father died, and that threw upon his shoulders much of the work per- formed by his father, all of which he did in addition to going to school. He did all the bookkeeping for the cotton gin. By the time he was twenty-one he had finished a course in the Milltown Academy, and the following year he operated the cotton gin. Ont of his savings he entered, in 1899, the Maryland Medical College at Baltimore, and was graduated M. D. in 1904. The following eighteen months he was assistant to Doctor Gundry in the Relay Sanitarium near Baltimore.

From there he came to Bramwell, West Virginia, to take up mining practice as assistant to Dr. W. R. Whitman in 1905. This work was in connection with the Booth Bowen Coal & Coke Company, Caswell Creek Coal & Coke Company, Buckeye Coal & Coke Company. On April 1, 1909, Doctor Stevens became assistant to Dr. H. D. Hatfield at Kimball. Doctor Hatfield was elected governor in 1912, and Doctor Stevens succeeded him in charge of all the work of the Pulaski Iron Company, Empire Coal & Coke Con- pany, Bottom Creek Coal & Coke Company, Tidewater Coal & Coke Company, Kink Coal Company, Cirrus Coal & Coke Company. In addition to this he has since been delegated the medical work of the Houston Coal & Coke Company, Keystone Coal & Coke Company, the Carswell operation of the Houston Colliery Company. He is now at the head of a well organized medical and surgical staff, with five assist- ants, and he has personal supervision of the medical work for all the various properties. He not only has charge of the practical work but the medical supplies for all the va- rious companies.

Doctor Stevens is a director of the First National Bank of Keystone and is president of the First National Bank of Kimball. He was one of the organizers and the first president of the latter bank. He is a Scottish Rite Ma- son and Shriner, an Elk and a member of the Baptist Church.

In Philadelphia in 1909 Doctor Stevens married Miss Ro- setta Barlow Davidson, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Hockinson) Davidson. Her parents were born in Penn- sylvania. Doctor and Mrs. Stevens have three children, Joseph Blackburn, Richard Wilkin and Ethel Jane.

HON. GEORGE A. HEROLD, of Cowen, is in 1922 representa- tive of Webster County in the House of Delegates of the West Virginia Legislature, and is one of the substantial business men and influential citizens of this section of the state, besides which his is the distinction of being a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of that part of Vir- ginia that now constitutes the commonwealth of West Vir- ginia, the new state having not been formed until about a decade after his birth, which occurred on a farm in Nicho- las County, August 23, 1855. Mr. Herold is a son of An- derson C. and Talitha (McClung) Herold, the former of whom was born in Pocahontas County, in December, 1825, and the latter of whom likewise was born in what is now West Virginia, the year of her nativity having been 1827. After their marriage the parents established their residence on a pioneer farm in Nicholas County, on Muddlety Creek, and there the father developed one of the best farm prop- erties in the county, his substantial financial success having been furthered by raising and dealing in live stock. He was one of the honored and representative citizens of Nich- olas County at the time of his death, in March, 1914, and his widow passed away in 1921, when in her ninety-third year, both having been most zealous members and liberal supporters of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and Mr. Herold having been unwavering in his support of the cause of the democratic party. Of their six children the eldest is Lanty W., who is a prominent farmer in Nicholas County and who has served as a member of the County

Court; John M. likewise is a representative farmer of that county, as is also Henry W., who has achieved marked suc- cess in the raising of live stock of superior types and who has served as sheriff of his native county; George A., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Fielding D. re- mains on the old homestead and is a successful agricultur- ist and stock-grower; and Charles F. is a substantial mer- chant and farmer at Muddlety in Nicholas County.

George A. Herold was reared on the old homestead farm, and that he made good use of his early educational advan- tages is shown in the fact that for ten years he was a sue- cessful and popular teacher in the free and the select schools of his native county. For six years he was engaged in the general merchandise business at Hookersville, Nicholas County, as a member of the firm of Herold Brothers, and he then erected a store building at Herold, Braxton County, where he developed a prosperous mercantile enterprise, be- sides buying and shipping live stock and continuing his ae- tive association with farm industry. In the early '90s Mr. Herold disposed of his mercantile interests and removed to Webster County, where he has continued in the general merchandise business, besides which he is the owner of a valuable landed estate of 3,000 acres, located in Webster, Braxton and Nicholas counties. He was for ten years president of the First National Bank at Webster Springs, the county seat, and gave six years of loyal and progressive service as a member of the County Court. He has been an active factor in the councils and campaign work of the dem- ocratic party, and as a candidate on the party ticket he was elected representative of the county in the Lower House of the State Legislature in the fall of 1920, his work in this connection having been marked by characteristic loyalty and by earnest promotion of wise legislation of constructive order. While a member of that law-making body he intro- duced the eugenics bill, health certificate before marriage, which carried in the House fifty-eight for, and twenty against. The Senate made a slight amendment and voted solidly for it with the exception of one vote. The commit- tee on rules kept it off the special calendar before the lower body could concur with the Senate on the amendment until the Legislature closed, thereby defeating his bill. He is ex- ceptionally proud of having introduced that bill. Mr. Her- old and his wife are most zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to whose support he has been a lih- eral contributor, having given a donation of $1,000 to the Centenary Fund, and $2,000 to the Educational Fund. He has been specially prominent in Sunday school work for fully thirty years, during the major part of which period he has served as superintendent of the Sunday school.

Mr. Herold chose as his wife Miss Lillie Viola Hill, daugh- ter of the late John Hill, of Nicholas County, and of the nine children of this union three are deceased: Rose P. is the wife of James N. Berthy, Jr .; Walter H. was the next in order of birth and resides in Webster County; Mamie R. is the wife of Joseph MeQueen; Ernest H. is married, and he and his wife maintain their home at Cowen; and Mary Louise and Ruth Virginia remain at the parental home.

HARRY E. FLESHER, through almost half the life of the institution has- been superintendent of the West Virginia Industrial School for Boys at Pruntytown. He began teaching when a boy.

The history of the school is sketched by Dr. Callahan else- where in this publication. However, it may be stated here that it was established by legislative act of 1889, and located at Pruntytown, Taylor County donating for the purpose, buildings and property that had formerly been used for the old county seat. The name Reform School was changed to the present title in 1913. The school was opened July 1, 1890, and the successive superintendents have been C. C. Showalter, David Shaw, J. C. Gluck, O. E. Darnall, and D. S. Hammond, who was succeeded in 1907 by Mr. Flesher, whose service covers a period of fifteen years. In recent years the state has pursued a more intelligent and liberal policy toward such institutions. Since Mr. Flesher became super- intendent the farm area has been increased from that of 170 acres to two thousand, and the population of the school has almost doubled, it being now about four hundred. There

Geo. a. Herold

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HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA

is a ten-month school, with graded courses of study, conducted by trained woman teachers. An appropriation of $100,000 has been made available for a new central school building to be erected in 1923, and the construction of a superintendent's home makes available additional facilities for the boys. Farming is the primary industrial occupation of the school, but opportunities are being increased for mechanical training. There is no competition with free labor, except as it may come in the manufacture of material for state use. Nearly every- thing required by the boys is made in the school, including shoes, clothing, flour, plumbing, plastering and painting.

Harry E. Flesher was born near the village of Ellenboro, Ritchie County, March 28, 1872, and represents one of the very old families of the state. His great-great-grandfather. Henry Flesher, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and for his services located a grant of eight hundred acres of land in Lewis County. After settling there he was shot by Indians, but recovered. He was buried within what is now the city limits of Weston. He had numerous sons and daughters, the descent coming down through his son Adam and his grandson Isaac. Crayton Flesher, a son of Isaac and father of Superin- tendent Flesher, was one of four brothers who fought on the Union side in the Civil war, the others being Adam, Porter and Hamden. All survived except Hamden, who was killed in a battle in Pocahontas County, and his body now rests in the National Cemetery at Grafton. Crayton and his younger brother, Adam, as youths walked from Janelew to Parkers- burg, where the former apprenticed himself as a carpenter and the latter as a saddler and harness-maker. They were journeymen at their trades when the Civil war came on. After the war Crayton Flesher was a farmer, merchant and building contractor in Ritchie County, and died in 1879. He married Harriet R. Taylor, daughter of J. T. Taylor, of Pleasants County, and she is still living at Williamstown. Her six sons were: Clinton W., an attorney at Gassaway, West Virginia; Harry E .; Thornton E., a farmer near Marietta Ohio; Forest F., in the oil fields of Louisiana; Okey J., con- nected with the automobile industry at Jackson, Michigan; and Crayton O., who was drowned when a young man.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 8

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