USA > West Virginia > Men of West Virginia Volume I > Part 34
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Mr. Gregg was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and at the age of 10 years accompanied his parents to West Virginia. He was educated in the public schools and the West Vir- ginia University, leaving the latter at the age of 21, in his junior year. Few young men have occupied so many places of responsibility and none has filled them with more credit to himself or his fellow citizens. For five terms
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he served the city as recorder ; for four terms he was deputy clerk of the Circuit Court, and the affairs of the office dur- ing this time were admirably adminis- tered. Since that time he has filled his present position-during his term of service the work of his department has been superior in every way.
Mr. Gregg has been active in poli- tics, although he has been free from offensive partisanship,-in fact he has a host of personal friends in both parties. He is now chairman of the Re- publican County Executive Committee and has just been elected clerk of the . County Court. Personally he is one of the most popular men in the county and has received most flattering evidences of the esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens.
F. F. FARIS, a prominent archi- tect of Wheeling, West Virginia, who commands a large business, has been in the profession in Wheeling longer than any other architect at present in that city, having associated himself with the well known architect, E. W. Wells, directly after leaving school. Most of the prominent buildings and residences in the city he has been per- sonally interested in and designed.
Mr. Faris is not only an artist in
his work, but the construction and prac- tical part is shown by some of the diffi- cult work which he has constructed. De- signing and constructing are Mr. Faris' strong points, and from the amount of business he commands shows that they are appreciated.
He was born at St. Clairsville, Ohio, August 15, 1870, and is a son of J. A. Faris, the artist. Mr. Faris was united in marriage January 7, 1897, to Nellie Egerter, daughter of A. C. and Adelaide Egerter.
O. E. DARNALL.
O. E. DARNALL, who has been brought prominently to public attention through the able manner in which he has discharged the duties of superin- tendent of the West Virginia Reform School located at Pruntytown, West
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Virginia, is considered one of the young stalwarts of the Republican party in West Virginia.
The interesting career of Mr. Dar- nall was begun in Upshur County, West Virginia, May 23, 1870, being a son of Col. M. A. and Jane ( McDowell) Darnall. His parents were both na- tives of Virginia. Colonel Darnall devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits and died in 1882, at the age of 55 years. Mrs. Darnall is still living at the age of 69 years, and makes her home on French Creek in Upshur County.
Mr. Darnali received a preliminary education in the common schools of Upshur County. after which he took an advanced course in the West Virginia Normal and Classical Academy, later attending the Methodist Episcopal Con- ference Seminary at Buckhannon, one of the best known institutions of learn- ing in the State. For several years prior to leaving college, he taught school during his vacations. During the winter of 1899, he was appointed clerk in the State Senate, and the following summer, without application on his part, was appointed confidental clerk by the State Treasurer, M. A. Kendall.
Soon after Governor White as- sumed his duties as chief executive,
Mr. Darnall was selected by him to represent his administration as superin- tendent of the West Virginia Reform School and, upon his endorsement and recommendation, Mr. Darnall was unanimously elected superintendent by the board of directors at their May (1901) meeting, which position he has since filled in an eminently satisfactory manner. During his incumbency many innovations have been created, which have elevated the standing of the insti- tution until it is now classed as one of the best regulated of the State's public institutions and one of the leading re- formatories of the country. There are some 320 inmates of the school and each Sabbath the boys appear in mili- tary uniforms for inspection. Mr. Darnall takes an active part in county, State and national politics, and is un- swerving in his support of Repub- can principles.
On December 25, 1900, Mr. Dar- nall formed a matrimonial alliance with Rebecca Barbee, a daughter of Dr. A. R. Barbee of Point Pleasant, secretary of the State Board of Health, and a niece of United States Marshal John K. Thompson of Charleston. Relig- iously Mr. Darnall is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Mrs. Darnall is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
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J. T. CARTER
1. T. CARTER, a prominent mem- ber of the West Virginia bar, residing in West Union, Doddridge County, was born in 1860, in Virginia, now West Virginia. Early in life he en- gaged in teaching school in his native State, and afterwards moved to Indi- ana, where he followed the same pro- fession for several years. In the mean- time, he studied law and after graduat- ing at Danville, Indiana, engaged in practice in that State until his return to West Virginia in 1892, since which year he has continued his practice and has also taken an active part in poli- tics.
In 1896 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Doddridge County, the du-
ties of which office he discharged fear- lessly and lawfully. Mr. Carter then embarked in the newspaper business, purchasing two opposing papers and merging them into one, as the Derrick- Herald and this paper was soon recog- nized as one of the most ably edited journals in West Virginia. Mr. Carter wielded a strong and trenchant pen and his paper became a power in State poli- tics. In 1902 Mr. Carter entered the race for Congress in the new Fourth Congressional District and as an evi- dence of his popularity at home he was permitted to select the delegates from his county.
Mr. Carter has a large and in- creasing practice in West Union, where he makes his home, and in addition is largely interested in coal and oil and owns large tracts of land throughout the State. In 1898 he was married to Mrs. R. A. Baumgart, and a daughter, Winifred, has been born to this union.
Mr. Carter is justly regarded one of the leading men of West Virginia, having gained distinction as a lawyer, editor and orator, while he is equally well versed in the science of medicine. At various times he has consented to deliver lectures on anatomy, physiology and other branches of medical science, and as an orator he holds high rank. Mr. Carter is a man of dignified ap-
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pearance and his every look denotes the scholar and thinker. Although his life has been an unusually busy one, he has found time to devote himself to study and finds much enjoyment in the treasures of his library.
CHARLES E. SHAFER.
CHARLES E. SHAFER, the able editor and proprietor of the Clay County Star, the only Republican jour- nal of the county, was born May 3, 1868, in Jackson County, West Vir- ginia, on a farm near the village of Gay. He is a son of A. J. and Eliza- beth ( Rhodes) Shafer, to whom the following named children were born : Mary C. (Mrs. George W. Litton) ; Sarah A. (Mrs. N. D. Cunningham) ; Charles E .; W. E., a student at Grant University, Tennessee; J. P., an attor-
ney-at-law of Kettle, Roane County ; and H. M., also of Roane County, who is a student in the Marshall Busi- ness College, Huntington, West Vir- ginia.
Our subject's mother, who was born in Jackson County, Virginia, now West Virginia, in 1842, and was mar- ried to A. J. Shafer in 1859, is a daughter of James and Annie (Casto) Rhodes. James Rhodes, who was of Scotch-Irish descent, was born in Rock- bridge County, Virginia, in 1818; he was married in Jackson County, Vir- ginia, now West Virginia, in 1838, to Annie Casto, who was born in Jack- son County in 1817. James Rhodes died in December, 1888, and his wife died in June, 1902.
A. J. Shafer, our subject's father, was born in Kanawha County, Vir- ginia, now West Virginia, in 1840, and is a son of John Shafer, a farmer of that locality. John Shafer was born in Missouri in 1808, and was married in Kanawha County in 1828, to Mary C. Cox, who, was born in Lewis County in 1811 ; both died in Kanawha Coun- ty, West Virginia, on the 21st day of December, 1864.
Charles E. Shafer was educated in the common schools and then entered the ministry. He began in this call- ing when less than 19 years of age.
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From the beginning his success was remarkable. He traveled through parts of West Virginia as an evangelist, often going on foot, and always found a welcome among both rich and poor. During the first five years of his min- istry, about 600 souls were converted to Christ under his work, and numer- ous dead churches were awakened. In 1890 he made a trip to Mississippi to work as an evangelist in the "Sunny South." For 12 months he carried on the work in that State, and then he made a trip through Arkansas, Louis- iana and 'Texas, and preached in each of those States with good results. Mr. Shafer had never been accustomed to preaching outdoors, but he found it im- possible to preach to all who came to hear him in the Southern field without preaching, frequently, in the open air. This brought on a number of attacks of malarial fever. He soon became unable to travel, and was compelled, to a great extent, to quit regular minis- terial work. He became associated with the editorial and publishing de- partments and was attached for a time to the editorial staff of several religious and also of political papers. He estab- lished the Raleigh Herald of Raleigh County, and issued his first number on June 8, 1900. Later he disposed of this journal and took control of the
Clay County Star, which was estab- lished in 1888 as a Republican paper, and has been under his very capable management since December 1, 1902. Mr. Shafer is a man of education and of superior mental endowment.
On September 7, 1892, Mr. Shafer was united in marriage to Gertrude L. Edwards, who is a daughter of G. W. Edwards, of Webster County, Miss- issippi, who descended from an old Welsh family. Joshua Edwards was born in Pembrokeshire, South Wales, in February, 1703 : Abel Edwards was born at the Welsh tract in Delaware, in 1739; Edward Edwards was born near the Welsh Neck, on the Pee Dee River, South Carolina, in 1769; E. D. Edwards was born January 3, 1804; G. W. Edwards, the father of Gertrude L. Edwards, the wife of our subject, was born September 10, 1848. Mrs. D. E. (Hubberd) Edwards, mother of Mrs. Shafer, was born August 9, 1849. An interesting family of four children was born to Mr. and Mrs. Shafer, namely: Charles E., born July 14, 1893: Ebal C., born April 18, 1895; Ulla E., born January 4. 1897; and Edward P., born March 26, 1899, who died November 14, 1901. Mrs. Shafer clied November 24, 1902, and was bur- ied at the cemetery of Clay Court House, West Virginia.
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REV. DAVID WILLIAM RUBLE.
REV. DAVID WILLIAM RU- BLE, chaplain of the West Virginia Penitentiary, at Moundsville, Marshall County, was born near Parkersburg, Wood County, Virginia, now West Virginia, July 31, 1860, and is a son of James A. Ruble, of Rockport, Wood County.
James A. Ruble was a farmer by occupation and was an active member of the Methodist Protestant Church for a great many years. In the year 1862 he enlisted in Company A, 15th Vir- ginia Regiment (afterward designated as the 15th Reg., West Virginia Vol. Inf.), Capt. B. B. Dovener, in which organization he served until the close of the war. There were three children born, of whom one died in infancy. The other two, one of whom is the sub-
ject of this article, and the other, his sister, Mrs. May Davis, still live. Mrs. James A. Ruble, whose maiden name was Mary Elizabeth Cook, was born in Wood County in the early "forties" and was a daughter of D. S. and Julia Cook of that county. She was convert- ed when a child 10 years of age, became a member of the Methodist Epicopal Church, and continued to live a beauti- ful Christian life up to the time of her death, which occurred in 1863.
The subject of this sketch was unit- ed in the bonds of holy matrimony in 1881, with Emma L. Drain, who was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in 1860. She is a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church and has been a very able assistant in the affairs and ministry of her husband, never falter- ing or complaining at the ardous duties and toils incident to the life of the wife of a minister. Their family consists of three children, a daughter and two sons : Mary Elizabeth, Harry N. and Paul R.
Rev. Mr. Ruble's early life was spent on a farm in Wood County with his grandparents, with whom he lived until his 16th year. He received his early education in the Wood County common schools, and later on attended the Wilfing Institute, of Steubenville, Ohio,-he attended this school at night,
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this being necessary on account of his being employed during the day. This was the only advantage in the line of a higher education that he ever enjoyed. He joined the Steubenville District Conference and finished the local course, after which he returned to West Virginia and joined the West Virginia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has served 12 years as a member of this body. He was or- dained a deacon at Weston, West Vir- ginia, by Bishop Foss, and was ordained an elder at Grafton by Bishop Fitzger- ald. He has served most faithfully and well the following charges : Belle- ville, West Virginia, two years; New- ark, Wirt County, West Virginia, two years; Smithville, West Virginia, two years; Moundsville, West Virginia Circuit, five years; Williamstown, West Virginia, seven months, at the ex- piration of which he was appointed to his present position as chaplain of the West Virginia Penitentiary, at Mounds- ville.
In the position he now holds, Rev. Mr. Ruble has charge of all the mails, both incoming and outgoing, also con- trol of the library, which comprises about 4,000 volumes, and all services held in the chapel, visiting the sick in cell or hospital, and conducting a night school for the benefit of the inmates of
the institution, who may be wholly illit- erate or who have had only very meag- er opportunities of securing an educa- tion. When he first took charge, he found a small school of about 30 white and a like number of colored youths at- tending the school exercises alternately every other night. His first step in ad- vancing the interests of the school con- sisted in obtaining a number of colored teachers for the colored scholars, who had previously been taught by the same teachers that had instructed the white school. By doing this, he was enabled to have both schools out each night, teaching one of them in the old library, and the other in the old chapel building. After the completion of the new chapel and library, however, he was enabled to have both classes meet each night in the one room and to increase the num- ber of scholars to over 100 men. This was made possible by the increased size of the new library building, which furnishes ample accommodation for the school and is well lighted, heated and ventilated. He has been success- ful since his incumbency in making it possible for a large number of men to learn to both read and write, which knowledge they would never have ac- quired but for his untiring zeal. In thus instructing them, he has enhanced their opportunities for honest employ-
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ment after leaving the prison and di- minished the chances of their doing wrong in the future. He has performed a grand and glorious work, one that could be accomplished in no other way, to which work he is particularly adapted.
ELIEL L. ROBINSON.
ELIEL L. ROBINSON, prose- cuting attorney of Wetzel County, West Virginia, and a very popular, substantial and prominent citizen of New Martinsville, was born in Wetzel County, March 18, 1863.
His father, John J. Robinson, was born in Marshall County, Virginia, now West Virginia, and is a resident
of New Martinsville, retired from act- ive business life. Formerly he was a farmer and in later years a merchant at Endicott, West Virginia. Mr. Rob- inson is a survivor of the Civil War. He enlisted in 1861, in West Virginia, served three years, and now holds membership in the Philip G. Brier Post, G. A. R. For a long period he served as a justice of the peace. In politics he is a Democrat. In religion he is a Methodist. The mother of our subject, whose name before marriage was Amanda Province, was born in Taylor County, Virginia, now West Virginia, 58 years ago. She is a daughter of David and Catharine Province. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson had a family of 13 children born to them, the nine survivors being : James R .; Eliel L .; Martha, the wife of Emory Joliff; Ella, the wife of M. Criss; Lou Emma, the wife of Harry Winer: Sankey, twin of Moody, the latter being deceased; Charles; Bruce and Paris.
Eliel L. Robinson secured his edu- cation in the common schools and the State Normal School at Fairmont and attended the law department of the University of Virginia. He taught school for two terms and assisted his father in his mercantile business for a time. In 1894 he was admitted to the
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bar and in the same year began the practice of his profession. In 1898 he was admitted to the United States Court and in 1900 into the State Su- preme Court. In 1896 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Wetzel County and gave such unqualified satisfaction that he was re-elected in 1900 and con- tinues in the office to the present date. He enjoys a very lucrative practice and is the attorney for several corpora- tions. Mr. Robinson is also interested in. and one of the promoters of, the First National Bank of New Martins- ville, and is much interested in oil pro- ducing. He is public spirited and is at all tinies prepared to further any move- ment looking to the permanent benefit of the community.
In 1884 Mr. Robinson was united in marriage with Mary Anderson, who was born February 6, 1861, in Wetzel County, West Virginia, and is daughter of Louis and Maria Ander- son. A son and a daughter have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Robinson,- John H. and Bessie. Both our sub- ject and his wife are members of the Methodist Church. In politics Mr. Robinson is a Democrat, and has al- ways taken a very active part in poli- tics. He occupies fraternal relations with the Masons, Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows.
NELSON PECK, M. D.
NELSON PECK, M. D., one of the prominent physicians of Harrison County, West Virginia, who, since 1888 has successfully followed his pro- fession in Clarksburg, was born De- cember 5, 1848, near Philippi, Bar- bour County, and is a son of Josiah and Laura Ann ( Masterton) Peck, both of old Virginia stock. The moth- er resides with her daughter, Mrs. S. A. Moore, at Philippi, Barbour Coun- ty, but the father died in 1879, in Doddridge County. They reared a family of eight sons and one daughter, all of whom still survive with the ex- ception of two sons.
Dr. Peck was reared on his father's farm in Barbour county, and attended the local schools. After preparatory
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medical reading, he entered the Uni- versity of Maryland, at Baltimore; he was graduated in 1886, and immediate- ly began to practice in Harrison Coun- ty, West Virginia. Since locating in Clarksburg in 1888, he has engaged in a general practice which has been in every way satisfactory.
On March 25, 1880, Dr. Peck was married to Virginia Genevra Corder, of Barbour County, and they have had five children, of whom one survives, Arthur C .. who is a student at the Waynesboro (Virginia) Military School.
Dr. Peck is the very efficient health officer of Clarksburg and keeps in touch with all the advancing move- ments of medical science, and is a val- ued member of the county, State and American medical societies.
SAMUEL A. TOY, vice-presi- dent and bookkeeper of the Booth- Bowen Company, at Freeman, Mercer County, West Virginia, and one of the town's public spirited and progressive citizens, was born in Cornwall, Wales, Great Britain, in 1864, and is a son of Samuel and Mary Toy, who came to America in 1874 and located near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
Sanmiel Toy was a man of educa-
tion and was so well versed in miner- alogy that he was sent by capitalists in Philadelphia, in the early "eighties," to investigate the Flat-Top coal fields of West Virginia. He followed the busi- ness of oil producing after settling in this country, and was of excellent busi- ness capacity. His death took place in Pennsylvania in 1893. He is survived by his widow, who resides in that State. His political belief made him a stanch Republican.
Samuel A. Toy is one of a family of 10 children,-five sons and five daughters. Several of Mr. Toy's brothers are in business in Pennsyl- vania, and one brother is with the Standard Oil Company.
Mr. Toy was liberally educated. He has mainly followed bookkeeping as an occupation since starting on a business career. In 1887 he removed to the Flat-Top field and accepted a po- sition with the Buckeye Company, but two years later went with the Booth- Bowen Company and has been associ- ated with it ever since, having a pleas- ant home at Freeman. In politics he is an active Republican, although no as- pirant for political honors.
In 1891 Mr. Toy married a daugh- ter of Mrs. Isabel Freeman, widow of the late John Freeman, who was a pio- neer coal operator in the Flat-Top field.
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Three children have been born to them, and the two eldest are among the brightest pupils of the Freeman schools. The religious connection of the family is with the Methodist Church. Both Mr. and Mrs. Toy are socially popular. Mr. Toy is a Mason of high standing, being a member of Ivanhoe Com- mandery, K. T., at Bramwell, and Beni-Kedem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Charleston. He is also a member of the Knights of the Maccabees, of Pennsylvania.
FRENCH W. SMITH, M. D.
FRENCH W. SMITH, M. D., a prominent physician and surgeon of Bluefield, Mercer County, West Vir- ginia, and a grandnephew of Capt. William Smith, who founded and laid out Princeton, the county seat
of Mercer County, was born on the 26th of August, 1860. He is a son of Theodore Smith, also one of the former prominent citizens of the county, and a grandson of Benjamin Smith.
Theodore Smith was by occupation a farmer and at one time served as sheriff of Mercer County. During the Civil War he served as a lieutenant under Capt. Napoleon French, and was captured at Fort Donelson; after his release from the military prison at Johnson's Island, where he was con- fined for a year as a prisoner of war, he joined the 17th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry, in which command he served until the close of the war. He removed to Kansas with his family in 1873, and died there in 1880 at the age of 56 years. His widow, our subject's mother, still lives in Kansas. She is related to several prominent old fami- lies of Giles County, Virginia, few being better known than the Meadows and Frenches. The family of Theo- dore Smith and wife consisted of five sons and three daughters, of which family two, a son and a daughter, are deceased. The surviving members of the family are as follows : Albert B., a grain merchant of Robinson, Kansas ; Judge C. W., of Princeton, Mercer County, West Virginia; Dr. French W., of this sketch; James E. L., a
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farmer of Doniphan County, Kansas ; and two daughters, who are married and reside in Kansas.
Dr. Smith accompanied his parents to Kansas in 1873, and was early in life thrown upon his own resources. After a three-year academic course at Park College, Parkville, Missouri, he began the study of medicine, in 1880, with Drs. Holland and Campbell, at Atchison, Kansas. He . took three years in the graded course and attended two annual sessions at the Ainsworth Medical College at St. Joseph, Mis- souri, and one at the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons, at St. Louis, Mis- souri, and graduated with honors from the latter institution in 1891. In the same year he returned to West Virginia and located at Bluefield. Dr. Smith has built up a large practice. He has been particularly successful in the handling of typhoid fever cases and his success in delicate and difficult surgery has given him a wide reputation which is justified. He is the medical examiner for most of the leading life insurance companies which do business in his section and has served as a member of the local pension examining board since its organization in 1896. He is deeply interested in military affairs and belongs to the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States.
It was largely through his efforts that a militia company was organized and maintained for a long number of years in Bluefield. In 1893-94 he served as lieutenant-surgeon of the 2nd Regi- ment, West Virginia National Guards, and as major-surgeon in 1895-96.
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