History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 92

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Mr. Showacre is a democrat. He is serving as recorder the City of Lumberport. He is a member of the Pres- terian Church. In 1909 he married Miss Genevieve ernsworth. They have one son, William Miller Showacre.

WILLIAM O. HUNDLEY. In the person of William O. undley the oil and gas interests of Cabell County have a pable and energetic representative of the younger genera- on at Huntington. While he is a recent acquisition of ese lines of business, he has already indicated that his reer therein will be an unqualified success, and as secre-

tary and treasurer of the Big Ben Petroleum Company he occupies a recognized position among the active men in these branches of industry.

Mr. Hundley was born February 12, 1890, in Fayette County, West Virginia, and is a son of Henry T. and Jane L. (Honaker) Hundley. His grandfather, Lieu Hundley, was born in 1834, at Salem, Virginia, and as a young man became a pioneer of Fayette County, where he spent the remainder of hig active career as a successful agriculturist. He died at Scarboro, West Virginia, in 1892. Henry T. Hundley was born in 1858, in Fayette County, Virginia (now West Virginia), and was educated in the rural schools and brought up to the vocation of farming, which he has followed throughout his life. He has always lived in Fayette County, where he is the owner of one of the best kept farms in that section of the state, and now makes his home at, Fayetteville, where he is respected and esteemed as a substantial and successful man and public-spirited citizen. He is a democrat in politics, and his religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of which he is a very active supporter. Mr. Hundley married Miss Jane L. Honaker, who was born in 1860, near Charles- ton, Kanawha County, West Virginia (then Virginia), and to this union there were born children as follows: Dosha, who is unmarried and makes her home with her parents; Lieu Zingle, a general merchant of Fayetteville; Henry C., also a merchant of Fayetteville and a veteran of the World war, in which for ten months he served as a sergeant in the engineering corps and was stationed at Camp Humphreys, near Washington, D. C .; William O., of this review; Lillie D., the wife of Lemon A. Skaggs, of Huntington, who for the past seven years has been a clerk in the shops of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway; Minnie May, of Huntington, a teacher in the public schools; Rosa, a student in the high school at Huntington; Ada and Anna, who are attending the graded school at Fayetteville; and French, employed by the Bachman Coal Company at Bachman, Fayette County.

William O. Hundley was educated in the rural schools of Fayette County and reared on his father's farm, where he remained until twenty years of age. At that time he left agricultural pursuits to embark in the automobile business at Fayetteville. During the next ten years he continued in the same line, and despite his youth and his limited capital at the outset of his career he achieved a remarkable success. In the meantime, in 1916, during the border trouble with Mexico, Mr. Hundley served for a year in the United States Army as chief mechanic, first under General Folk and later under General Pershing, having charge of a motor train of thirty-three trucks. In 1921 he disposed of his automobile business at Fayetteville, although he still retains the owner- ship of a public garage building at that place, and came to Huntington, where he turned his attention to the oil pro- ducing industry. He assisted in organizing the Big Ben Petroleum Company, an oil producing company which has proven a very successful venture. The property now being operated, consisting of 372 acres, is located in Warren County, Kentucky, and has fifteen producing wells. The concern is incorporated under the laws of the State of West Virginia, and the officers are: S. H. Honaker, Hunt- ington, president; T. H. Laing, Huntington, vice president, and William O. Hundley, secretary and treasurer. The offices are situated at Rooms 203 and 204 Lewis-Samson Building.

Mr. Hundley has always been a stanch democrat, and while a resident of Fayetteville served as a member of the city council for two years. He is a member of Lafayette Lodge No. 57, Fayetteville, in which he has numerone friends and also has several civic and social connections. Mr. Hundley is the owner of a modern residence at 825 Twenty-fifth Street, Huntington, a comfortable and attractive home located in one of the preferred residential districts of the city, in addition to which he owns other real estate at Huntington.

On April 1. 1917, Mr. Hundley was united in marriage at Charleston. West Virginia, with Miss Elsie Bias, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James B. Bias, of 1615 Tenth Avenue, Huntington, Mr. Bias being an employe of the Chesapeake

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& Ohio Railway Company. Mrs. Hundley ie a graduate of the Huntington High School and a woman of many graces and accomplishments. To Mr. and Mrs. Hundley there have been born two children: William O., Jr., born February 25, 1918; and Leonard Ray, born May 8, 1920.

NEWTON VAN WILSON, one of the experienced and suc- cessful practitioners at the bar of Gassaway, is serving the city as its attorney, and is rendering his community an efficient service both in a public and private capacity. He was born at Glendon, Braxton County, September 30, 1872, a son of William M. and Phoebe (Frame) Wilson. William M. Wilson was born at Ireland, Lewis County, West Virginia, January 4, 1826, while his wife was born in Clay County, West Virginia, and she died in 1875. Both were reared to farm life, and their educational train- ing was restricted to that afforded by the local schools. They were married in Clay County, and settled in that county, which they later left, going to Texas. After four years spent in the latter state they returned to West Vir- ginia and located in Braxton County, where both rounded out their useful lives, having been farming people. They were consistent members of the Missionary Baptist Church. In his political convictions he was a democrat. Of their seven children four are still living, namely: Virginia, who is the wife of J. W. Jackson; Glarvina, who is the wife of John Q. Harris, of Canfield, West Virginia; Rob- ert L., who is a resident of Centralia; and Newton Van, whose name heads this review.

Reared on his father's farm, Newton Van Wilson first attended the common schools, later a high school, from which he was graduated, and he then matriculated in the law department of the University of West Virginia, and was graduated therefrom with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar of his native state in 1897, and then settled permanently at Gassaway, where he has built up a large and very important practice. At one time he was justice of the peace, he has served on the Board of Education, and is now city attorney. Having faith in Gassaway, he has shown an interest in local con- eerns, and is a stockholder of the Farmers and Mechanics Bank of Gassaway.

Mr. Wilson married first Bettie A. Duffield, who died, leaving four children, namely: Mertie C., Leonore, Goldie and Garland. In 1920 Mr. Wilson married Miss Ettie Cor- ley. There are no children of this marriage. Mrs. Wil- son belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Fraternally Mr. Wilson belongs to Gassaway Lodge, I. O. O. F., of which he is a past grand, the Grand Lodge and Encampment of that order, and is a past chief potentate of the Encampment; and he is also a member of Frame- town Lodge No. 196, K. of P., of which he is a past chan- eellor; and of Gassaway Lodge No. 1558, L. O O. M. In politics he is a republican, and has been elected to the several offices on his party ticket. Skilled as an attorney, capable as a man, and public-spirited as a citizen, Newton Van Wilson is representative of the best element of his profession and state, and reflecte dignity and honor upon everything with which he is connected.

CLARENCE L. PERKINS. From the beginning of the postal service the representative men of each community have been chosen to fill the important office of postmaster. As so much responsibility reposes in them it is necessary for them to be men of strict honesty, reliability and solidity, as well as to be possessed of a capacity for careful work. At Gassaway, West Virginia, the post office is in charge of Clarence L. Perkins, who possesses all the qualifications noted above, and who is discharging the duties of the office in a capable and expeditious manner.

Mr. Perkins was born April 9, 1882, in Nicholas County, West Virginia, a son of H. C. and Mary (Nutter) Perkins, the former a native of Greenbrier County, Virginia, and the latter of Nicholas County, West Virginia. H. C. Per- kins received a common school education, and as a youth located in Nicholas County, where he became a teacher in the free schools. When the war between the etates came on he enlisted in the Confederate service and established a

brave and honorable record during the course of th struggle, at the close of which he returned to Nichola County, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. H became one of the prosperous community farmers an was highly respected by all with whom he came in cor tact. A man of high principles, he was a faithful membe of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to which als belonged his worthy wife. He was a democrat in politic and on several occasions was called to public office, serving as county assessor and deputy sheriff of Nicholas County By his second wife he became the father of four children S. B., who is engaged in farming in Nicholas County; Rev C. C., presiding elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church South, for the Parkersburg District; C. G., who is en gaged in merchandising at Gassaway; and Clarence L of this review.

Clarence L. Perkins was reared ou the home farm i Nicholas County, in which community he received his earl education in the rural schools. Later he enjoyed the ad vantages of attendance at the Summersville Normal School and after his graduation therefrom became a teacher i the free schools of his native county, a vocation which h followed for several years. Not caring for the educator' profession, Mr. Perkins then turned his attention to busi ness, his experience in this connection being gained as clerk in the general store conducted by the Curtin Lumbe Company at Curtin, West Virginia. In 1905 he came t Gassaway, where he embarked in the general merchandis business, in which he has continued to the present time with constantly increasing success. He is now the hea of a prosperous business, which has been developed alon legitimate lines and which has the confidence of the commt nity, being noted for its honest representation and straight forward dealing. In 1916 Mr. Perkins was appointed post master of Gassaway, a position which he has continued t fill with capability, courtesy and commendable expediency His public record also includes one term as mayor of Gassa way and three terms as recorder, in both of which office he sustained his record for superior ability and conscier tious performance of duty.

On September 12, 1906, Mr. Perkins was united in mai riage with Miss Bessie Criss, who was born in Braxto County, West Virginia, and received a public school edt cation. They have no children. Mrs. Perkins is a membe of the Christian Church, and Mr. Perkins, of the Methodis Episcopal Church, South. As a fraternalist he is affiliate with Gassaway Lodge No. 133, A. F. and A. M., Sutto Chapter, R. A. M .; Sutton Commandery, K. T .; and Ben Kedem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Charleston. He like wise holds membership in the Independent Order of Od Fellows, in which he is a past noble grand.

JAMES HOOD HORNOR is a veteran of the Spanish-Amer ican war, and prior to that and since has been an unusuall active and enterprising factor in the business life of Han rison County. His home is at Lumberport, and nearl all the years of his life have been passed at or near tha village.

He is a son of James D. and Elizabeth Florence (Hood Hornor. A brief record of his father's career appears o other pages. James H. Hornor was born at Lumberpor May 13, 1872. As a boy there he attended public school and later finished his education at the Northwest Academ at Clarksburg. His early experiences after leaving schor, were as a merchant at Lumberport and then at Clark burg. He had the rather unusual experience of servin as assistant postmaster both at Clarksburg and at Fairmon

Later he returned to Lumberport and was in the flourin mill business. He left his post in that industry at the be ginning of the Spanish-American war in 1898 to voluntee his services. He became second lieutenant in Compan E, of the First West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, and war with his regiment in camp duty until the close of hostilitie He then resumed his connections with the flouring mi business at Shinnston, and a few years later sold out an organized the Hornor Hardware Company at Lumberpor This was a business continued under his personal directio, for five years. He sold out in 1910, and since then ha

Fred Tropf

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had charge of the Lumberport Gas Company, of which he is treasurer and manager. Mr. Hornor is also a stock- holder and director in several other business corporations.

In 1905 he married Miss Minnie K. Lowe, daughter of Benjamin F. and Sarah M. (Higinbotham) Lowe, of Shinn- ston. Mr. Hornor is a democrat, and is a Royal Arch and thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner.

JOHN WASHINGTON FORTNEY, a former member of the House of Delegates from Harrison County, has been promi- nently identified with the business and agricultural affairs of the Lumberport vicinity for a number of years, and on April 5, 1922 he was appointed postmaster of the Lum- berport office, beginning his duties on April 15.

He was born on a farm in Eagle District of Harrison County, July 2, 1865, son of Joshua D. and Mary J. (Gifford) Fortney. The Fortneys were a very early family in Harrison County, moving there from Preston County. His paternal grandparents were Jacob D. and Mary (Shreve) Fortney, the former also a native of West Virginia. Mr. Fortney's parents were born and reared and spent all their lives in Harrison County. Jacob Fortney, who was a farmer, enlisted in the Union army in 1861, and served eighteen months in Captain Moffett's company, until hon- prably discharged on account of ill health. Mary J. Gifford vas a daughter of John and Malinda (Harbert) Gifford.

John Washington Fortney was one of eleven children. He grew up on the farm, and finished the eighth grade in the public schools at Lumberport. He engaged in farm- ng. and about 1906 became a merchant and meat dealer n Meadowbrook and later at Lumberport. This business he sold in 1916, and then returned to the farm. In Sep- ember, 1921, he again entered commercial affairs at Lum- perport, as a merchant dealing in dry goods, groceries, lats, caps and shoes.

Mr. Fortney has been one of the active republicans of his county. He served several terms in the council of Lumberport, and in 1918 was clected to the House of Delegates and served one term with credit. In the session of 1919 he was a member of the committee on railroads and military affairs. Mr. Fortney is a Baptist and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

In 1888 he married Miss Minerva J. Bates, daughter of Notley S. Bates of Harrison County. Mr. and Mrs. Fortney became the parents of thirteen children, ten of whom are living.

FRID TROPF. The fundamental cause of many of the ndustrial disputes and disturbances of recent years has een due to the separation of financial ownership from he responsible direct management. A contrasted case, In which disputes have been conspicuous by their ab- sence, is furnished by the Tropf Coal Company of Mor- rantown, of which Mr. Fred Tropf is the manager. Mr Tropf came up from the ranks as a working miner, qualified himself for the responsibilities of mine ownership on the score of actual efficiency, and today he works at the mines with his men, knows their viewpoint as well as his own, and conducts the business as a smooth running frictionless organization.

Mr. Tropf was born in Brooklyn, New York, October 23, 1870. In 1880, when he was a boy of ten, he went to the "Connellsville coal and coke region of Pennsylvania. With imited school advantages he started to work with a dump wheelbarrow and a small fork handling coke, and for sev- ral years he earned his living by labor in mines, car shops ind other industries. Not satisfied always to work for others. he put himself in the ranks of independent operators near Scottdale, Pennsylvania, where he began working an abandoned mine and did it so systematically and efficiently is to lay the foundation of his success there. He has been a coal operator ever since.

In October, 1916, he secured his present mine, which had been opened by Alexander Tait. This coal property ies under about 200 acres bordering the Monongahela River, three miles below Morgantown. There are four veins of coal in this territory, the Pittsburg being the most valuable. Above the Pittsburg lie at a distance of some sixty feet Vol. III-33

apart two other veins. The Tropf Coal Company confines its operations to the Pittsburg vein, where eight foot mine props are used. At the beginning Mr. Tropf loaded only one car per day, while now he has the facilities for the prompt loading of from fifteen to twenty-two cars. He em- ploys 165 men and the average production is 950 tons daily. A few other local men are associated with him, but he is the leading spirit and principal owner of the Tropf Coal Company, and personally superintends every detail of pro- duction. His mine has a reputation for fair dealing with its men. Differences almost universally are settled without calling upon officials of the unions. In only one instance, and that concerning a minor matter, was an outside union official appealed to. Mr. Tropf deservedly has won hosts of warm friends, is a man of liberal views, and plays a sub- stantial part in the affairs of Monongalia County.

He married Miss Margaret McGoogin, of Scottdale, Penn- sylvania. They have one daughter, Anna Mary, now a stu- dent in the high school at Morgantown.

LAMAR CECIL OYSTER, M. D. A busy physician with an extensive country practice in Harrison County for twenty years, Doctor Oyster eventually discovered a taste and talent for commercial lines that brought him into the ranks of merchants. To mention that he is proprietor of "The Big Little Town Store" is sufficient to identify him with West Virginia's most successful country merchants.

Doctor Oyster since he was three years of age has lived in Harrison County, near Lumberport. The accident of birth makes him a native of Kansas. He was born at Paola in that state December 14, 1873, son of John H. and Elizabeth (Denham) Oyster. His father was a native of Washington, D. C. The grandfather, David W. Oyster, went out to Kansas about 1859, and was a participant in the great free state struggle there. The mother of Doctor Oyster was born near Lumberport, August 17, 1848, one of the six children of John B. and Elizabeth (Smith) Denham, and granddaughter of David B. and Elizabeth (Robinson) Denham, and her maternal grandfather was James Smith of the Simpson Creek vicinity of Harrison County. Mrs. Oyster was born and reared on her father's farm about a mile south of Lumberport. She is a Metho- dist. Doctor Oyster has never married, and he and his mother have always lived together, he being her only child. They have been very much devoted to each other all the years.

Doctor Oyster was educated in public schools of Lumber- port, in the Fairmont State Normal, and for four years was a teacher. In 1901 he graduated from the Baltimore Medical College, and for upwards of twenty years he prac- ticed medicine at Lumberport and vicinity.

In the meantime, December 8. 1911, he became a member of Hedges and Oyster Company, general merchandise. In the growing business of this concern he found his time and interest more and more engaged until in 1919 he bought out his partner and has since given his time almost ex- clusively to this store. He carries a stock of general mer- chandise, and only one other store in Harrison County individually owned has a larger stock.

The business has thoroughly justified its name of "The Big Little Town Store." and that title has been widely advertised. Doctor Oyster believes in advertising and the principle that the "more you tell the quicker you sell." Few men are better equipped to conduct an advertising campaign. He knows the community, he knows its needs and its pace, he knows his business, and he has the art of weaving into his advertising many matters of incidental interest so that his business talks are as eagerly read as the news columns of local papers. In the interest of his business he publishes "now and then" a store paper known as "The Oyster." His was the first store in West Virginia to publish such a trade paper, and in fact it was one of the first store papers in the country. While its primary purpose is to put before the public a timely account of the merchandise, "The Oyster" is also a medium of community news and contains many paragraphs of the Doctor's wit and philosophy. His store paper has been widely quoted, and he has written a great deal for other trade papers.

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Doctor Oyster through his business and through his per- sonal interest contributes to the growth and development of his home town. He is a stockholder and director in several corporations, including the Lumberport Bank and the Mound City Glass Company. In politics he is a re- publican, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

JAMES DAVID HORNOR was one of Harrison County's best known citizens. His life was a varied one in its relationship. He was a farmer, merchant and also a public official.

He was born at Lumberport, Harrison County, August 8, 1847, and was a resident of that town throughout his life. He was a son of James Yardley and Mary A. (Rob- inson) Hornor. James Y. Hornor was horn in Fauquier County, Virginia, and was a pioneer settler of Lumher- port. His first wife was Dollie Ferguson, and he had ehil- dren by both marriages.

James D. Hornor carried on an extensive business in Lumberport. He was also well known at the county seat as one of the prominent eounty officials. He served two or three terms as county assessor and in 1884 was elected sheriff, serving one term of four years. He was a demoerat in politics.

James D. Hornor, who died May 13, 1898, married on December 6, 1870, Elizabeth Florenee Hood, daughter of William and Hannah (Pindall) Hood. She was born in Marion County November 11, 1850, and is now past three seore and ten. She is a Methodist. Her children were: James Hood, Vance Leslie, Goff, Haymond, who died in childhood, Mary, wife of Paul S. Hornor, and Florence E., wife of Oliver Napoleon Hill.

VANCE LESLIE HORNOR. For upwards of thirty years Mr. Hornor has devoted his time and energies to the husi- ness field, hut with a diversity of objects that have re- lieved monotony and no doubt contributed to his aggregate success. His life has been spent in Harrison County, where he has been a manufacturer, banker, and in later years one of the leaders in gas production.

He is a son of James D. and Elizabeth Florenee (Hood) Hornor. A brief sketch of his father precedes this. Vance Leslie Hornor was born September 29, 1875, at Lumberport, and had a good common school education as preparation for the serious duties of life. For several years he was in the flouring mill business, first at Shinn- ston and then at Lumberport. When the Lumberport Bank was organized in 1903 he became its first cashier, and he continued the duties of that position for twelve years while the bank was improving its resources and its service as the only bank in that part of Harrison County.

In the meantime, in 1910, he became interested in the real estate and gas business. During the next five years his interests increased to such an extent that he resigned as cashier of the bank to give his entire time to his interests in the gas distriet. He is widely known over the state for his holdings and his operations as a gas producer. He is a member of several other business corporations, and is still a director and vice president of the Lumberport Bank.

Mr. Hornor in 1903 married Georgia Pauline Richardson, of Shinnston. Their three children are Mary Katherine, Eleanor Elizabeth and James Richardson Hornor. Mr. Hornor is a demoerat, a Methodist, and is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the Royal Arch Chapter and the Mystic Shrine and is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Elks.

FLOYD TEMPLETON WILLIS. While he taught sehool for a time, Mr. Willis has kept steadily in pursuit of the aim of his youth, to become a successful banker. He has had a round of experience representing his increasing abili- ties, but the post of duty where he has found his most congenial and useful relations has heen as cashier of the Lumberport Bank in Harrison County.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 92

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