History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 99

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Mr. Stevens served for three years as deputy sheriff of Barbour County under Sheriff E. R. Dyer. He is a repub- lican, and is affiliated with the Lodge and Encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Rebekahs, is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the D. O. K. K. and the Maccabees.

At Philippi November 14, 1902, he married Miss Daisy Mann, who was born in Barbour County, in November, 1875, daughter of John C. and Sallie (Johnson) Mann. The other children of her parents were Willie. O. J., J. Rush, Basil and Mrs. Annie Stomp. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have two sons, Edgar and Hayward Kemper. The latter is a student in Broaddus College.

HARRY F. BRITTINGHAM is a veteran in the service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and since 1914 has taken care of the company's business at Philippi as agent. Except for , two years he has been with this railroad in West Virginia since 1902. i

He was born at Pocomoke City, Maryland, August 12, 1881. The family is of English origin, and his first Ameri- can ancestor settled on the eastern shore of Maryland. His grandfather, Capt. William F. Brittingham, was a boat captain on Chesapeake Bay and a native of Maryland. He and two of his brothers were Union soldiers in the Civil war. By his marriage to Mary Daugherty he had eleven children, and his sons were Edward, who spent his life in Philadel- phia; Harry, a resident of Jersey City, and George R.

George R. Brittingham, father of the Philippi railroad man, was born at Pocomoke City, was reared and educated there, and for many years was engaged in the barber sup- ply business, his home being now in Baltimore. He mar- ried Laura B. Melvin, daughter of Josiah Melvin, of Wor- cester County, Maryland, and they had uine children, the seven survivors being Harry F .; George W., claim agent of the New York Central Railroad at Toledo, Ohio; Ray- mond M., yard master for the New York, New Haven and Hartford at Waterbury, Connectient; Maurice, a hardware merchant at Baltimore; Russell, associated in business with his brother Maurice; Clarence and Lillian V., high school students at Baltimore.

Harry F. Brittingham was reared at Pocomoke City, where he attended the public schools, and subsequently took a business course in Bryant and Stratton's College at Wil- mington, Delaware. Soon after completing this course he entered the service of the Norfolk and Western Railway Company as rate clerk at Bramwell, West Virginia, and was in that service five years. Then, in 1902, he be- came chief clerk in the freight office of the Baltimore and Ohio at Clarksburg, and was transferred from there to Grafton as car distributor. In 1907 he left the rail- road to become an instructor in the commercial depart- ment of Wesleyan College at Buckhannon, where he remained two years. Then returning to railroad work, he was appointed agent at Wilsouburg, and from there came to Philippi in 1914 as successor of J. L. Ernest, who removed to Belington. Mr. Brittingham has popular- ized himself and the railroad by his efficient work at Phil- ippi, and is deeply interested in community affairs. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club, and during the World war was a member of some of the relief committees. He is a past chancellor of Philippi Lodge No. 61, Knights of Pythias, and sat in the Grand Lodge at Parkersburg in 1918. He is also a Maccabee and is a member of the Offi- cial Board of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In Mercer County, West Virginia, November 22, 1909, Mr. Brittingham married Effie May Honaker, daughter of Rev. John H. and Sarah (Belcher) Honaker. Her father is a retired Methodist minister of Mont Calnı, West Vir- ginia, and both he and his wife were born in this state, and their children are: Dr. George Honaker, of Chicago; Wil- liam B., a retired coal operator of Huntington; Jasper, a merchant at Mont Calm, West Virginia; Mrs. Alice Neal, of Mercer County; Mrs. Sallie Necessary, of Huntington ; and Mrs. Brittingham. Mr. and Mrs. Brittingham have one son, Clayton W., born December 22, 1911. Mr. Britting- ham and wife recently completed an attractive new home at Philippi, a two story cement block house conveniently situated to the Baltimore and Ohio Station.

MONZELL M. HOFF, M. D. From the time he came home . with his medical diploma and began practice in his native County of Barbour Doctor Hoff has been permitted no extended vacation or interruption to his serious duties as a professional man and citizen. He came into his profes- sion well qualified and equipped from a technical stand- point, and he has also had the invaluable asset of being a "good mixer," with a praiseworthy ambition to work with and assist his fellow citizens in carrying forward the pro- gram of general improvement.

Doctor Hoff was born in Philippi District, at what is now West Philippi. August 20. 1859. His ancestors came from Germany to Pennsylvania in Colonial times. His grand- father was the first representative of the family in West Virginia, and spent his life as a farmer in Barbour County. He was a republican, performed a good deal of public serv- ice in his district, including membership on the Board of

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Education, and was a devout Baptist. Lamar M. Hoff, father of Doctor Hoff, was a native of Barbour County, born in 1838, had to depend upon his own exertions for his early education, and as a young man he followed the trade of photographer, but eventually became a farmer. He was a loyal Union man and a republican, and was reared a Baptist. Lamar M. Hoff married Melissa E. Crislip, who is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and lives with her son, Doctor Hoff. She was born in Barbour County June 14, 1840, daughter of Samuel and Eleanor (Board) Crislip. The Crislips were of an old Pennsylvania Colonial family. Samuel Crislip was a brother of Abraham Crislip, grandfather of Albert G. Crislip, under whose name will be found a more complete sketch of this interesting family. Lamar M. Hoff had the following children: Clif -. ton M., who died January 20, 1920, in Taylor County, leav- ing a family ; Monzell M .; Louisa, Mrs. Amos Stoalarbarger, of Blue Jacket, Oklahoma. The mother of these children subsequently married Theodore Nutter, and had a daughter by that marriage.

Soon after the birth of Doctor Hoff his parents moved to Union District, and he was five years of age when his father died there. The widow then took her little family into Elk District, to the home of her father, where Monzell remained until he was past sixteen. He worked for his grandfather Crislip on the farm and also did farm labor for other men in that locality. This work gave him the funds to attend school. After leaving the home of liis grandfather he went to Illinois, and spent two or three years as a wage worker, chiefly at farm labor at Carthage and in Hancock Connty. While he was there trouble arose between the fishermen along the Mississippi River and par- ties owning and controlling the land adjacent to the fish- ing grounds. An attempt was made to oust the fishermen, and this led to reprisals by not only the fishermen but by their allies, the roving tramps. Several farm houses and much property were destroyed, and to restore peace and order the state sent militia into the area. Young Hoff had been induced to join the Company of National Guards at Carthage for the benefit to be derived from military drill, and was orderly sergeant of the Carthage Company when it was called to active duty in the area of trouble. After a brief stay the tramps scattered and the fishery trouble gradually suhsided. After returning to West Vir- ginia from Illinois Doctor Hoff continued his education in select schools, and prepared himself for the duties of teacher. He taught school in the country, and for seven years taught the grammar department of the schools at Philippi.

All of this constituted a valuable experience to him as a preparation for the serious duties of life. From his earn- ings as a teacher Doctor Hoff was able to pursue his med- ieal studies. While teaching he frequented the company and office of Doctor Rusmisel of Union District, and he also studied anatomy under Doctor Bosworth of Philippi. For his regular course he entered the University of Maryland at Baltimore, and remained there until he finished his course and gradnated in 1889. He took special work in physical diagnosis and general practice, and also specialized to a certain extent in eye, ear, nose and throat work at Bay- view Hospital. When he returned home to begin practice he kept up his reading, but the demand for his service has been so insistent that he had never been able to get away for post-graduate study. Early in his career he did all the minor surgery that came to his attention, and continued that work until the establishment of local hospitals. He was health officer when the World war came on, and that put him in line for immediate service in connection with the Draft Board. He was associated as examining physician on the Draft Board with Dr. W. Scott Smith of Philippi. At the first call for men from Barbour County the require- ments were so rigid that the county was unable to fill its quota, but in subsequent examinations the Government standards were somewhat relaxed, so that the Draft Board was able to keep the Barbour County quota full.

It was from a sense of public duty that Doctor Hoff accepted appointment as health officer of Barbour County. Ever since he began practice he has been a member of the

Pension Board of the locality. As a consequence he has per- haps passed upon more applications for pensions than any other physician of the region. While acting as examiner for the Draft Board during the war he passed upon the physical qualifications of some thirteen hundred young men.

So far as his professional duties have permitted Doctor Hoff has been alert in responding to the obligations of good citizenship. In politics he is a republican, casting his first presidential vote for General Garfield in 1880. He served as chairman of the Barbour County Republican Central Committee several years, and until recently attended state conventions, being in the convention which nominated Judge Atkinson for governor and also Governor Dawson.

At Belington, West Virginia, September 4, 1890, Doctor Hoff married Ida May Teter, daughter of Colonel Jesse and Elizabeth (Phillips) Teter. The Teters were an early fam- ily in the rural district of Barbour County. Col. Jesse Teter was an officer in the Union Army, was stationed at Grafton and served on the Medical Board with Doctor Ken- nedy. After the war he returned to the farm. He served twenty years as justice of the peace, was active in the repub- lican party, and was one of the most devout men in the performance of his Christian and church duties. His in- fluence was wide and lasting, and altogether he was a noble character. Colonel Teter had three sons and two daughters: Thomas Benton, W. Worth, Floyd, Mrs. Hoff and Myrtle E., the latter of whom still lives on the home farm.

Doctor Hoff had the misfortune to lose by death on Feb- ruary 10, 1921, his good wife and the companion of more than thirty years. She was born in Valley District of Bar- bour County, May 31, 1860, was well educated in select schools and in college at Pittsburgh, and for several years followed the profession of teaching. During her married life she took a deep interest in local organizations for in- creasing the standards of school education and in behalf of every moral and reform movement. She was a very active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and did much to aid Doctor Hoff in preparing the recruits from Barbour County for active war service.

Doctor Hoff joined the Masonic Fraternity in 1884, and several times has been master of Bigelow Lodge No. 52, is past high priest of Philippi Chapter, R. A. M., a member of DeMolay Commandery No. 11, K. T., at Grafton, and Osiris Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Wheeling. He be- came an Odd Fellow in 1888, is a member of both branches, and is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Maccabees.

EPHRAIM WILLIS MCKOWN, a dealer in real estate and timber lands at Spencer, has had an active association with the business and political life of Roane County for over a quarter of a century.

His family is one of the oldest in West Virginia, and it is one that has been represented with truest American citi- zenship in practically every important war of the nation. The remote ancestor was Andrew Mckown, a native of County Antrim, Ireland, who came to America and settled in Pennsylvania with his son, Gilbert Mckown, who was born in County Antrim. They spent their last years at Gerrardstown in what is now West Virginia, where Gilbert MeKown died in 1803. James McKown, representing the third generation of the family, and a son of Gilbert, was born in 1752, and was the great-grandfather of E. W. Me- Kown of Spencer. James Mckown at the time of the Rev- olutionary war was a member of General Washington's staff, and was wounded at the battle of the Brandywine, after- ward drawing a pension for a number of years. He lived in Pennsylvania, and about 1812 settled in Jackson County, West Virginia, where he died in 1850. In the history of Knox County, Ohio, is mentioned the fact that James Mc- Kown, this veteran soldier, was master of ceremonies at an ox roast celebrating the election to the presidency of Will- iam Henry Harrison. Gilbert Mckown, son of James Mc- Kown, was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, in 1787, and enlisted for service in the War of 1812. He moved to Jackson County, West Virginia, ahont 1814, but from 1822 until 1842 lived in Knox County, Ohio. He then re- turned to Jackson County, and in 1856 moved to Spencer.

E. N. Mckown

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He was a miller, and was identified with the early upbuild- ing of Spencer, where he lived until his death in 1864. His wife was Lydia Flesher, who died near Spencer in 1887.

Their son, Norman D. Mckown, was born in Knox County, Ohio, May 4, 1840, but spent his early life in Jackson and Roane counties, West Virginia, was married at Spencer, and has had a very successful career as a farmer. He is still living on his farm a mile east of Spencer and is now eighty- two years of age. He and his brothers once operated their father's mill, a combined grist mill, sawmill and carding factory. The mill was the first establishment of its kind in Spencer. Norman D. Mckown is a republican, a member of the Baptist Church, and has a veteran's record of serv- ice in the Civil war. He enlisted in 1862 in the Ninth West Virginia Infantry, and was in all the engagements of his regiment up to Winchester, where he was severely wounded, and did not recover for active duty for several months. Norman D. Mckown married Rebecca A. Miller, who was born near Spencer and died there in 1893. She was the mother of a large family of children: Luverna L., who died in 1919 in Clay County, where her husband, D. V. Goodwin, is a farmer; Ephraim Willis; Ulysses S., who died near Spencer in 1894; Kearney, a road contractor liv- ing at Reedy in Roane County; Mrs. Emma Douglas, who died near Spencer in 1898; Maggie, wife of John Carpenter, a farmer at Hillsboro, Ohio; Isaac, a farmer in Roane County; Esley S., living with his father near Spencer and operating the home farm; Sarah C., wife of John Raines, a Roane County farmer; Norman D., a stone mason at Spencer; John M., in the produce business at Spencer; Margie, who died when one year old; Rufus, who died at the age of twelve years; and Chester, a farmer near Spen- cer and a veteran of the World war. Norman D. Mckown married for his second wife Matilda (Miller) Smith, who was born near Spencer. His first wife, Rebecca A. Mil- ler, was a widow when he married her. By her marriage to William Green, who was killed while a soldier in the Union Army, she had a son, Charles William, a mechanic now liv- ing in Oregon.

Ephraim Willis Mckown was born near Spencer February 14, 1867, and grew up on his father's farm. He was edu- cated in the rural schools, in normal training courses, and in 1890 graduated from the Mountain State Business Col- lege at Parkersburg. He began teaching rural schools in 1886, and altogether spent ten years in the school rooms. Beginning in 1896 he was in the lumber business at Spen- cer for four years, and since then has conducted some widely extended operations in real estate and the buying and sell- ing of timber tracts. He is individually owner of much property in and around Spencer, including his own resi- dence, a business building on Main Street, five dwelling houses, forty city lots, and a farm of seventy-five acres. He formerly owned and for one year managed the leading hotel at Spencer, which he sold in 1918.

Along with his business affairs Mr. Mckown has played a spirited part in local politics and affairs. He was examiner of teachers for Roane County from 1896 to 1900. In 1898 he was republican candidate for Circuit Court clerk, being defeated by thirty-seven votes, the county at that time be- ing normally democratic. In 1899-1901 he was clerk in the Senate under John T. Harris, and in 1904 was elected to the State Senate, representing the Fourth District, com- prising Roane, Jackson and Mason counties. Mr. Mckown made a splendid record in the Senate during his four-year term, 1905-09. He was appointed chairman of the com- mission to investigate all state institutions, as a result of which an important change was made in the management of such institutions, the board of control being the centralized authority for all state institutions except the schools, which were put under the board of regents. In the Senate he was also chairman of the committee on insurance, at a time when much important legislation was enacted for the regu- lation of life and other insurance companies, these laws standing effective today. Mr. Mckown was mayor of Spencer in 1920, and inaugurated a bond issue to give the city complete sewerage facilities. He is now chairman of the advisory committee to the County Court in the matter of building permanent roads. Mr. Mckown is a Methodist, a member of the Spencer Rotary Club, is president of the

Spencer Board of Trade, and president of the Roane Gro- cery Company, a wholesale business. During the World war he was chairman of the Fourth Liberty Loan drive in the county, and was associated with all the other patriotic campaigns.

At Ernest in Roane County in 1896 Mr. Mckown married Miss Florence F. Sarver, daughter of John A. and Amy (Ferrell) Sarver, her mother still living at Ernest, where her father was a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. McKown had one son, a bright and promising boy who died when almost qualified for the serious responsibilities of life. He was born April 8, 1900, and died November 2, 1918, when a senior in the Spencer High School and preparing to enter the State University the next year. In honor of this son Mr. and Mrs. McKown have donated a scholarship to the Spencer High School for the West Virginia Wesleyan Col- lege at Buckhannon, the scholarship being awarded a mem- ber of the graduating class each year.

J. H. HUTCHISON. Prominent among the officials of Braxton County, one who has won and held the confidence of the people by reason of long, capable and faithful dis- charge of public responsibilities is J. H. Hutchison, occupy- ing the office of sheriff. For a long period of years he was engaged in educational work, a field in which he became well acquainted with his fellow-citizens in various parts of the county, and during his entire career has been known as a straightforward and courageous executive in each of his several positions of authority.

Born in Braxton County, February 13, 1884, Mr. Hutchi- son is a son of William and Esther C. (Jones) Hutchison. His great-great-grandfather was Jacob Hutchison, who, on June 27, 1797, married Hannah MacMillan, and they had four children: John, born May 4, 1798; William, born May 6, 1800; Jacob, born May 22, 1802; and Joseph, born July 23, 1804. William Hutchison, of this family, great- grandfather of Sheriff Hutchison, married Jane MacMillan, and they had seven children: Nathan, Hannah, Joseph, Felix, Virginia, Miles M. and Ann. Of these Felix, the grandfather of Sheriff Hutchison, married Ann E. Kincely, and they had the following children: William, Henderson B., John R., Elizabeth J., Ellis Lee, Nancy F., Clark and Winfield S.

William Hutchison, father of Sheriff Hutchison, was born in Braxton County, September 12, 1853, and was reared on a farm, his education being acquired in the country schools. He married in this county Esther C. Jones, who was born in Highland County, Virginia, April 15, 1854, and was about twenty years of age when she came to Braxton County. Following their marriage they settled on a farm near Flat- woods, West Virginia, where Mr. Hutchison was engaged in agricultural operations for twenty-two years. He then retired from active pursuits and lived quietly until his death, which occurred March 27, 1920. In politics he was a republican, and his religious faith was that of the Methodist Protestant Church. Mrs. Hutchison, who survives her hus- band and resides on the old home farm with one of her sons, belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. She and her husband were the parents of four children: O. C., an agriculturist carrying on operations in Braxton County; Willis Lee, who died June 16, 1910; J. H., of this notice; and W. F., a farmer, who is married and lives on the old home place, which he operates for his mother.

J. H. Hutchison was reared on the old home farm near Flatwoods, and received good educational advantages in the public school and the normal school at Glennville. After teaching in the public schools for eighteen terms he was elected and served four years as county superintendent of the Braxton County free schools, then becoming the repub- lican candidate for sheriff, an office to which he was elected hy a good majority and in which he is still serving. His record is a splendid one, and under his administration the law has been strictly enforced and has been given the re- spect which is its due. His deputies at this time are G. S. Hamrick, office deputy; and W. M. Toulim, field deputy.

On December 25, 1906, Mr. Hutchison married Blanche Mearns, who was born near Rock Cove, Upshur County, West Virginia, and educated in the common schools. To

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this union there have been born four children: Bernard M., who is attending high school; and William M., Velena M. and James Hollis, pupils of the graded school. Mrs. Hutchison is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church and her husband of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Fraternally he is affiliated with Corley Lodge No. 38, K. P .; and Bulltown Lodge No. 283, I. O. O. F. Mr. Hutchison is a man of considerable means, being the owner of a farm of 350 acres and one of the directors in the Bank of Sutton, West Virginia, in the county seat of Braxton County, where he resides in a comfortable and attractive home, surrounded by all conveniences and the center of a group of admiring friends.

WELLINGTON F. MORRISON. A man of large affairs, dis- playing at all times an aptitude for successful management, combined with keen sagacity in investment and marked ability in control of important interests, Wellington F. Morrison has long been known as one of Braxton County 's most prominent business men, whose labors have been of great value in building up the interests of the community in which his home has been made for so many years.

Mr. Morrison was born in Braxton County, Virginia, June 30, 1845, a son of James W. and Naney Logan (Grimes) Morrison. His father was born in Greenbrier County, Vir- ginia, January 10, 1806, and after receiving a public school education moved to Pocahontas County, where he met and married Nancy Logan Grimes, who had been born in the latter county October 24, 1813. At about the time of their marriage, in 1830, they came to what is now Braxton County, West Virginia, and settled on a farm. In addition to carrying on extensive agricultural operations Mr. Mor- rison was a justice of the peace, a member of the old County Court and served as sheriff of the county for four years, being one of the prominent and influential men of his community. Likewise he was a pillar of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which he attended regularly, lived his faith every day, was a class leader, and made his home the home of the visiting preachers. First a whig, he later changed his allegianee to the republican party. Mr. Mor- rison was the father of fourteen children, of whom twelve grew to maturity and six are living at this time: Mary H., the widow of Franklin Beemer; Maria V., the wife of John D. Sutton; Leah T., the widow of Mortimer Rose; Nancy R., the wife of John F. Beemer; John G., of Wichita, Kansas; and Wellington F., of this record.

Wellington F. Morrison was reared on the home farm six miles east of Sutton, and acquired his early educational training in the old-time subscription schools. He was not yet sixteen years of age when the Civil war broke out, and when less than seventeen years old enlisted in the Union army, April 23, 1862. During the first year of his service he was engaged in the guarding of army supply wagons through West Virginia, but in January, 1863, his regiment went to the Tygart Valley, where he received his baptism of fire in the engagement at Droop Mountains. In July of the same year he was again under fire, at Beverly, and in May, 1864, saw plenty of action, when he entered the Valley of Virginia, his subsequent engagements including Leetown and Currance, July, 1864; Harper's Ferry, Snicker's Gap and Winchester, September 19, 1864; Fisher's Hill, Septem- her 22d; Cedar Creek, two engagements, in October and in December, 1864, on to Richmond. Mr. Morrison was in the Eighth Army Corps, commanded by General Crooks, and made up of West Virginians. He remained with his regi- ment until the close of the war, and was mustered out at Wheeling, West Virginia, receiving his honorable discharge May 3, 1865.

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History of West Virginia old and new, Volume 3, Part 99

Author: Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

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