USA > West Virginia > Men of West Virginia Volume I > Part 25
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At the age of 14 years John Water- house became a clerk for Hobbs, Brock- unier & Company, and remained with that firm for 13 years. In 1869 he en- gaged in the wholesale grocery business with Joseph Speidel, with whom he con- tinued for 20 years, withdrawing in 1889 to form a partnership with his brother, Stephen Waterhouse. Their place of business was opened April I, 1889, and they have since enjoyed a large and ever-increasing patronage. Mr. Waterhouse has served as a mem- ber of the second branch of the City Council of Wheeling from the Eighth Ward for a number of years.
Mr. Waterhouse was joined in mat- rimony with Ellen Shields, a daughter of Michael Shields, in Wheeling, No- vember 24, 1864. Of the eight chil- dren born to them, seven are now liv- ing. Politically, Mr. Waterhouse is a member of the Democratic party. So- cially, he is a member of the B. P. O. E. and Knights of Columbus.
CHARLES H. HENNING, clerk of the Circuit and Criminal courts, is one of the well known citizens of Wheeling, Ohio County, West Vir- ginia. He was born in Wheeling in 1873, and is a son of Henry Henning.
Henry Henning settled in Wheel-
ing in 1868, coming from Hesse-Darm- stadt, Germany. He is now engaged with John S. Naylor & Company at Wheeling. He married a Miss Grimm, a native of Wheeling, and their chil- dren are as follows: Charles H., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Edward Bachman, of Wheeling ; Mrs. Elbut, of Boston; and Edward, who is at home.
Charles H. Henning, the subject of this sketch, was reared and educated in Wheeling, where he attended the pub- lic schools. He began his business ca- reer as a messenger boy for the West- ern Union Telegraph Company. He then engaged as a clerk in Bachman's store. He also worked for this com- pany as traveling salesman. He was elected clerk of the first branch of the City Council in 1895, and served about two years, when he was elected to his present position. A. J. Wilson is his assistant.
On April 3, 1895, Mr. Henning married Sophia Weidebusch, and they have one daughter, Margaret. Their home is at No. 105 14th street. Mrs. Henning is a daughter of August Weid- ebusch. Politically, Mr. Henning is a strong Republican. Fraternally, he is a member of the K. of P .; B. P. O. E .; Jr. O. U. A. M. ; and A. O. U. W. In religious views he is a Lutheran.
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CHARLES E. HADDOX.
CHARLES E. HADDOX, war- den of the West Virginia Penitentiary at Moundsville, was born in Ritchie County, West Virginia, in 1864, and is a son of Harrison B. and Elizabeth A. (Lowe) Haddox.
Harrison B. Haddox was born in Ritchie County, Virginia, now West Virginia, of German-Irish stock, and died in 1877, at the age of 32 years. His business was that of a merchant. In politics he was a Democrat, and in fraternal life, a Mason. The mother of our subject was born in Rocking- ham county, Virginia, and died in 1887 at the age of 41 years, leaving a fam- ily of five children, as follows : Charles E., Inez, Clifton M., Harlan H., and
Mord. L., one daughter, Ida, having died in infancy.
Charles E. Haddox received a lib- eral education in Ritchie County and at the age of 20 years was elected a mem- ber of the county Board of Examiners for teachers, and in the next year was made superintendent of schools of Ritchie County, in which position he served four years. Under the adminis- tration of President Harrison and later of President Mckinley he served as postmaster of Cairo. From 1889 he engaged in the mercantile business at Cairo until 1901, at which time he re- signed his government position and disposed of his business there in order to accept the office of warden of the West Virginia Penitentiary under ap- pointment of Governor White. For IO years he was president of the Grant District Board of Education; from 1898 to the present time, he has been president of the Bank of Cairo; he is a stockholder in the People's Bank of Harrisville, the Farmers' & Merchants' Bank of Parkersburg, and the First National Bank of Moundsville; vice- president of the Oakland Pressed Brick Company of Zanesville, Ohio, and a director of the West Virginia Western Telephone Company of Park- ersburg. In addition Mr. Haddox owns large real estate holdings at
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Cairo and continues to be deeply in- terested in all that concerns his home town.
In his last annual message, Gov- ernor White had the following compli- mentary words to say of Warden Had- dox: "The new warden of the Pen- itentiary, Charles E. Haddox, of Cairo, entered upon his duties May 1, 1901, and I take pleasure in saying that his administration has been not only one of the most humane, but in all respects one of the most efficient and business like that any institution in the State has ever had. The discipline and moral condition of the institution are excellent. The educational, literary and religious features have been strengthened and have produced most excellent results. The prisoners have been fed at less cost than ever before and better fed at the same time."
In 1887, Mr. Haddox married Ella Carrell, who was born in Ritchie Coun- ty and is a daughter of Sandford B. and Mary Carrell, and two children have been born to this union,-Harry B., and Homer C. Mr. and Mrs. Had- dox are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Haddox is fraternally connected with the Odd Fellows. In politics he is identified with the Re- publican party, and was for 14 years a member of the Ritchie County Re-
publican Committee, and is at present one of the 14 members of the State Central Republican Committee.
WILLIAM TECUMSEH SIDELL.
WILLIAM TECUMSEH SI- DELL, a citizen of New Martinsville, Wetzel County, West Virginia, whose connection with the Wetzel County bar has reflected credit both upon him- self and his community, was born in Switzerland township, Monroe Coun- ty, Ohio, February 20, 1865. He is a son of Francis and Ann Tingley ( Perry) Sidell, the former of whom was born in Loudoun County, Vir- ginia, in 1819, and died in Wetzel County, West Virginia, in 1889, aged
19
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70 years. The mother was born in St. Clairsville, Ohio, November 15, 1820, and resides with our subject. For more than 40 years she has been a member of the Christian Church. The maternal grandmother was the only child of a British officer, named Llew- ellyn, who was severely wounded in the Revolutionary War, and finally returned to England, where he died of his injuries.
Francis Sidell, the elder, the grand- father of the subject of this sketch, when a mere lad ran away from his home in Alexandria, Virginia, and "shipped" aboard a vessel bound for the West Indies, and followed the life of a sailor in various capacities for the next seven years. In the War of 1812 he served under Gen. Arm- stead T. Mason, of Virginia. His wife was Catharine Moffett, a member of the well known Moffett family of Northern Virginia. They removed with their family,-including the father of our subject,-to Belmont County, Ohio, about 1830.
In 1861 our subject's father en- listed in the Ohio National Guards, and after some service in that capacity, including the pursuit of the famous Morgan raiders, was mustered into the regular service, from which he was honorably discharged in 1866. In
1870 he removed with his entire family to Wetzel County, West Virginia, where he followed farming, and was always regarded as one of the solid reliable men of his community. For 30 years he was an elder in the Chris- tian Church, and was especially inter- ested in everything pertaining to edu- cational and religious progress. Seven children were born to Francis and Anne T. Sidell, namely: Mary, who died in infancy ; John W., who at the age of 19 enlisted in Company F, 52d Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., commanded by Col. Dan McCook (one of the famous "fighting McCooks"), and commonly called "McCook's Avengers," and died in a hospital at Bowling Green, Ken- tucky, in December, 1863, having re- ceived a wound at the battle of Perry- ville, Kentucky, which, together with exposure, and lack of proper care, re- sulted fatally ; Perry A., the first grad- late of the West Virginia State Nor- mal School from Wetzel County, who, after teaching several years, took up the study of the law, and is now a prominent lawyer of Dallas, Texas; Jasper D., who has for some years been in the employ of the South Penn (Standard) Oil Company; Lon, who lives at New Martinsville, West Vir- ginia, and is largely interested in oil production, and other similar enter-
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prises; Amos G., living at Wileyville, West Virginia, who also is interested in oil production ; and William Tecum- seh, our subject. The eighth member of the family is Miss Ida May Sidell, an adopted daughter of Mr. Sidell's mother and whose home is with him. She has graduated at the Magnolia High School, and is a young lady of education and refinement.
Mr. Sidell, of this sketch, was edu- cated in the schools of West Virginia, and engaged in teaching for five years, leaving this profession in 1889 in order to prepare for another. For two years he read law in the office of W. S. Wiley, was admitted to the bar in 1891, and began practice with his old preceptor, remaining with Mr. Wiley for three years. Since that time he has conducted a very satisfactory prac- tice alone, and has also been for sev- eral years one of the prominent politi- cal factors of his county. During 1893-95 he was the very efficient coun- ty superintendent of free schools, and while still holding that office was elected mayor of New Martinsville, and was honored by a re-election in 1896, being elected on a non-partisan ticket.
On August 1, 1900, Mr. Sidell was united in marriage with Carrie Bur- lingame, who was born in New
Martinsville, West Virginia. June 24, 1880, and is a daughter of Thomas M. and Amanda Burlingame. Mrs. Sidell is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, South, and one of the leading members of. the Southern Church choir. Mr. Sidell is fraternal- ly associated with the Masons, Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias. He is a man who stands very high in his community, possessing fine attain- ments, a man of exemplary life and enjoys the sincere regard of all.
HEDLEY VICKERS MENEER, M. D.
HEDLEY VICKERS McNEER, M. D., whose home and office is at Bramwell, Mercer County, West Vir- ginia, has been practicing his profession
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in the Flat-Top coal field for more than 16 years, and ranks foremost among the medical men of the community. He was born in Monroe County, West Virginia, April 8, 1863, and is a son of Hon. Richard T. and Amanda J. ( Pence) McNeer.
Hon. Richard T. McNeer was born in that portion of Virginia which is now included in the State of West Virginia, and came of one of the oldest and most respected families in the State. He was born April 16, 1825, and after a long and active career passed to the world beyond in 1891. He was a man of prominence and served in the Legis- lature from Monroe County in 1879- 80, later occupying the office of sheriff of that county. His father also was a Virginian, of Scotch descent. Richard T. McNeer was united in marriage with Amanda J. Pence, who was born in Monroe County. Virginia, September 6, 1830, and died in 1879. Her father, Henry Pence, was a son of Moses Fence, who moved to Virginia from Pennsylvania at an early day. Henry Pence was born in Bath County, Vir- ginia, in ISoo, and married a Miss Stodghill, who was born in Virginia, now West Virginia, in 1808, and died June 26, 1880. Our subject's great- grandmother Stodghill, whose name was Elizabeth Graham before her mar-
riage, was at one time stolen by the In- dians. Richard T. McNeer and his worthy wife were parents of the follow- ing children : Henry P., who died in Monroe County in 1890, was a Repub- lican in politics and was commissioned deputy collector of internal revenue a short time before his death; Robert E. L., who died in 1899, aged 30 years, was a graduate of the law department of the University of Georgia, and practiced law in Monroe County ; Ellen V. is the wife of John P. Shanklin, residing near Hunter's Springs in Monroe County ; Virginia C. is the wife of Dr. C. W. Spangler, a prominent physician in the coal fields of Maybeury, West Virginia ; Harriet M. is the wife of Theodore De- laney of Peterson, Monroe County ; Florence May first married G. A. Flour- ney of Louisiana, and after his death married Z. M. Jennings of Redhouse, Virginia ; Hedley Vickers, our subject ; 1 .. C., a farmer living on the home farm in Monroe County; and Richard L., a graduate of the University of Louisiana, who is a practicing physician of Balti- more, Maryland, and is a professor in the Maryland Medical College of that city.
Hedley Vickers McNeer was reared in Monroe County until he was 16 years of age, and then attended the University of Virginia. His training for the medi-
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cal profession was acquired in New York City, graduating in 1886 from the Bellevue Hospital Medical College (now a part of New York University ). He entered upon the practice of his pro- fession at Bramwell, Mercer County, West Virginia, and was for a time asso- ciated with Drs. McGuffin and Kirk, which partnership was dissolved in 1898. Dr. McNeer has enjoyed a very fine practice, having charge in various parts of the Flat-Top coal field, and has as assistants Dr. C. W. Vick at Crane Creek, and Drs. F. E. Smith and Sher- wood Dix at Bramwell. He has erected a very comfortable home at Bramwell, in which his office is located. He has kept up with the rapid progress made in medical science, and frequently has taken post-graduate courses in Johns Hopkins Hospital at Baltimore.
Dr. McNeer was united in marriage with Nannie M. Gaver, who was born May 8, 1868, and is a daughter of Rev. H. A. Gaver, a minister of the Method- ist Episcopal Church, South. To this union has been born one daughter, Bessie V., aged nine years. Frater- nally, our subject is a member of the West Virginia Medical Association and the American Medical Association, Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 10, K. T., Beni-Kedem Shrine, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Charleston and West Virginia Con-
sistory; and Knights of Pythias at Bramwell. Religiously. he and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
HON. C. N. EDGINGTON.
HON. C. N. EDGINGTON, mem- ber of the West Virginia House of Dele- gates from Kanawha County, 1902, and one of its most able legislators, is a resident of Charleston. He was born September 13, 1851, in Manchester, Adams County, Ohio, and is a son of Peter W. and Sarah ( Montgomery) Edgington.
The Edgington family was founded in Virginia neur Wheeling, having come from the northern part of Eng-
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land. Four members,-Abel, our sub- ject's grandfather, Isaac, Joseph and George,-removed from Virginia to Adams County, Ohio. Abel had three sons,-Peter W., Jeremiah and Ezekiel. In 1816 he moved to Indiana, and there died.
Peter W. Edgington, our subject's father, who was born in Indiana in 1820, resides with his son in Charles- ton. Our subject's mother was born in 1821. Her father, who was of Irish descent, died of cholera at Manchester, Ohio, in 1849. Her mother was a Rounsevel. Our subject is the eldest of five sons and three daughters, name- ly : C. N., Carey, Paris, Edmund S., John K., deceased, Emma, Ida and Margaret.
Mr. Edgington spent his youth until the age of 14 years in Adams County and then went to Manchester Island, in the Ohio River, and from there to a farm in Kentucky off the island, where he continued his common school educa- tion for three sessions of school. In 1872 he went to Maysville, Kentucky, having commenced to learn the brick- laying trade in 1866. In 1875 he went to Vanceburg, Kentucky, and married Eliza Crawford. In 1879 he went to Aberdeen, Ohio. following his trade continuously from 1872. He returned to Vanceburg but in 1892 located at
Charleston, West Virginia, where he has since resided. He is a self-made man and has had many adversities with which to contend, and but few men in Charleston are more thoroughly re- spected and few members exert more influence in the House of Delegates.
Until 1880 Mr. Edgington was identified with the Democratic party, voting in that year for General Han- cock. The change in his views came on the tariff question, and as he has always been a sound money man, he could not tolerate the cheap money and tariff for revenue only planks of Democracy. He had watched the public career of Presi- dent Mckinley and found in him a man he could trust and through him a party he could support. He has always been an ardent supporter of the rights of la- bor and is doing valiant service in the house in its behalf. He is a frequent speaker and is one of the most popular as well as efficient members of that august body. His natural ability, com- bined with sterling traits of character, have enabled him to overcome poverty and limited education and take his place with the leading men of the day.
Mr. Edgington was married in 1875 to Eliza Crawford, daughter of David and Charry Crawford, and she died in 1891, at Vanceburg, Kentucky. His children are: Bruce C., a brick-layer
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at Charleston : Nelson, a page in Con- gress ; Ralph, at home; Flora, wife of Virgil Hindman, of Charleston, West Virginia ; and Agnes, who resides with her uncle at Maysville. The family belong to the Methodist Church and our subject gives the same his liberal sup- port. He is a member of the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, Charter Oak Lodge, No. 137, at Aberdeen, Ohio; Knights of Pythias ; president of Brick Layers Union at Charleston; and is noble grand in the Daughters of Re- bekalı connected with the Odd Fellows.
SAMUEL WOOD SHRADER.
SAMUEL WOOD SHRADER, president of the Irondale Valley Coal Company, and vice-president of the
Monongahela Bituminous Coal Com- pany, one of the leading citizens of Grafton, Taylor County, West Vir- ginia, was born April 25, 1876, in Elizabeth, Allegheny County, Pennsyl- vania, and is a son of William and Eliza Jane ( Byers) Shrader.
William Shrader was also born in Elizabeth, Allegheny County, and was a son of William Shrader, who was a German pioneer settler of that county. The latter lost his father and mother on the sca, en route to the United States, and the boy was sold for his passage as was the custom at the seaports at that time. William Shrader (2) was a coal operator and a member of the well known firm of Wood, Shrader & Com- pany and now lives retired, aged 63 years. In politics he is identified with the Republican party. Fraternally he is a Mason. The mother of our sub- ject, now residing at her home in Eliza- beth, at the age of 58 years, is a daugh- ter of Henry and Mary Jane Byers, and was born at Grapeville, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Like her hus- band, she is a member of the Presbyter- ian Church. The children born to William Shrader and wife were: John, a capitalist at Chester, West Virginia ; Frank, engaged in the cattle business in the West ; Alice Mrs. John B. Edmond- son). of Glassport, Pennsylvania ; Fred-
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erick W., decease:1; Bertha B. (Mrs. Bert W. McClure), of Beaver Falls; and Samuel Wood, of this sketch.
Samuel Wood Shrader completed the common school course, and finished his commercial education at Duff's Business College, immediately after go- ing into the coal business as an operator, in which he has successfully continued ever since. The two great companies with which he is so prominently iden- tified control the output of a large ex- tent of country and own 9,000 acres of coal land in Barbour, Upshur, Preston and Taylor counties, West Virginia. Their offices are located at Grafton.
In 1898 Mr. Shrader married Eliza- beth E. Miller, who was born at Mc- Keesport, Pennsylvania, in 1878, and is a daughter of Henry J. and Elizabeth M. ( Ditmer ) Miller. Two children were born to this union,-Elizabeth Virginia, and Samuel Gramm, deceased. Both Mr. and Mrs. Shrader are mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he supports the Republican party. His business interests are large and in the responsible positions, which he has been called upon to fill, he has displayed a wisdom and ability which testify to his thorough understanding of the demands of the trade, the condi- tions of labor and the trend of the times.
ALBERT WORTH REYNOLDS.
ALBERT WORTH REYN- OLDS, a prominent attorney not only well known in Mercer County, but also all through the Virginias, ivas born in 1856, in Craig County, Vir- ginia, and is a son of S. T. and Ara- minta ( Walker) Reynolds. The form- er is a son of Major Reynolds of the United States Army, and now resides in Mercer County, at the age of 77 years. He served in the Civil War and moved to Mercer County at its close, engaging in farming and mer- chandising. In politics he is a Repub- lican.
The mother of our subject was a descendant of the old Preston family of Virginia. She is deceased and is
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survived by six children : Albert
chief engineer of the Coal River Rail- Worth, of this sketch; N. L., now
road, with headquarters at St. Albans, West Virginia: E. E., a farmer of Mercer County; Mrs. Cooper, of Ok-
lahoma : Mrs. Burton, of Mercer .
County ; and Ada, who lives at home.
Albert W. Reynolds completed the
common school course and then took
a special one at the State Normal School at Athens, which he finished in 1878. He then prepared for the legal profession and after passing an ex-
Holt, Joseph Smith and Evermont amination before Judges Homer A.
Ward, the latter being judge of the old Ninth Judicial Circuit, in Novem- ber, 1879, he was admitted to the bar and took up his practice at Princeton. For some years he was in partnership with the late Capt. James D. Johnston, of Pearisburg, Virginia. In 1882 Mr. Reynolds became connected with the
Norfolk & Western Railway and is now local attorney for the road and does business in both directions along the line. His other important corpor- tion connections are with the Poca- hontas Coal & Coke Company, having been retained as general attorney by that company since its organization ; he is also counsel for the First National Bank of Bluefield ; the Bluefield Water-
Works and Improvement Company ; the Pocahontas Collieries Company : the Winonah Coal & Coke Company ; the Smokeless Coal & Coke Company ; and is a general practitioner in the various courts through-the State. Mr.
Reynolds is a self-made man and his
present eminent position has been gained through his own able efforts. His fine new office building, which he has but lately erected, is one of the most substantial structures in Prince- ton.
In 1888 Mr. Reynolds married Rhoda Haynes, daughter of Col. Will- iam D. Haynes, of Bristol, Tennessec. Colonel Haynes was long attorney for the East Tennessee, Virginia & Geor- gia Railroad, and at the time of his death, some years since, was president of the Bristol, Elizabethton & North Carolina Railroad Company, now the Virginia Southwestern Railroad Com- pany. One uncle of Mrs. Reynolds, Hon. Landon C. Haynes, was a mem- ber of Congress several terms and was a member of the Confederate Senate, and an aunt was the mother of ex- Governor Taylor, of Tennessee. The families are all prominent in Tennes- see. Six children have been born to Mr. Reynolds and wife. The family is connected with the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South. Although a
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Democratic in principle, Mr. Reynolds has never taken an active part in poli- tics, devoting his attention more par- ticularly to the practice of his profes- sion, in which he has been unusually successful. He has appeared as coun- sel in many of the most important cases in the State and Federal courts of Vir- ginia and West Virginia, being im- portant because of the precedents es- tablished by them as well as on account of the large amount of capital in- volved.
HON. JOHN W. COOKE.
HON. JOHN W. COOKE, mem- ber of the West Virginia House of Delegates, from Jesse, Wyoming County, one of the prominent, substan-
tial and well educated young members, was born June 29, 1873, at Jesse, where he owns farming lands and is interested in coal and mineral enterprises. He is a son of Green M. and Margaret (Cooke) Cooke, the latter of whom is a daughter of David Cooke, a distant relative of the family. Green M. Cooke was born August 3, 1830, and was a son of James Cooke, both of them being born in Wyoming County, the birth- place of Green M. Cooke being on the same farm our subject now occupies. The mother was born February 19, 1830, and both she and her father were also born in Wyoming County. The Cooke family is of English descent and was founded in Wyoming County, West Virginia, then Montgomery County, Virginia, in the 18th century. His great-grandfather and great-grand- mother were kidnaped in London, England, about 1750 and brought to what is now Virginia and sold to a wealthy planter for a period to pay the cost of their passages. When they had served out the time with him, they were married and settled temporarily in the Valley of the Shenandoah. From the start to the close of the Revolution, he took an active part in behalf of the Colo- nies, he fought under several of the worthy generals of that memorable struggle.
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