USA > West Virginia > Men of West Virginia Volume I > Part 9
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In politics Mr. Dovener is a Re- publican, a stalwart of the stalwarts. He has championed the principles of
the party in all parts of the State, and no one has accomplished more for the success of the Republican cause than Mr. Dovener. He represented Ohio County in the Legislature in 1883, and in 1894 he was elected to represent the First Congressional District of West Virginia in Congress, and is now serv- ing his fourth term. As a member of the river and harbor committee he has made himself famous. No member of Congress from this State has accom- plished so much for the improvement of our water courses as this brilliant and gifted man. In the Fifty-fourth and in the Fifty-fifth Congresses, un- aided and alone, he secured appropri- ations of $7,000,000 for the perma- nent improvement of the rivers in which West Virginia is directly in- terested. Through his energy, in- fluence and perseverance, improvements on the Ohio River between Pittsburg and Marietta, which will cost the sum total of $10,200,000, have been entered upon by the general government to carry out that which was originated in the mind of Mr. Dovener,-the im- provement of our water courses, where- by navigation may be kept up all the year round, and our commerce may be carried and distributed to the Southern markets, whereby West Virginia will receive a lasting and permanent benefit.
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DANIEL BOARDMAN PURINTON, PH. D., LL. D.
DANIEL BOARDMAN PURIN- TON, PH. D., LI .. D., one of the best known educators of the State of West Virginia, is president of the State Uni- versity at Morgantown. He was born in Preston County, Virginia, now West Virginia, February 15, 1850, and is a son of Rev. Jesse M. and Nancy Alden (Lyon) Purinton.
Rev. Jesse M. Purinton, D. D., was born in Colerain, Massachusetts, Au- gust 12, 1809, and his wife, Nancy Alden Lyon, was born July 12, 1815. After marriage they moved from their native State to Western New York, and later to that portion of Virginia which is now included in the State of West Virginia. As a minister of the
Gospel he labored long and faithfully, beloved by all men who knew him, and was called to his Heavenly rest, July 17, 1869. He is survived by Mrs. Pur- inton, who makes her home with the subject of this sketch, who alone sur- vives of five children.
D. B. Purinton received his ele- mentary education in the common schools and then attended George Creek Academy in Pennsylvania. He later entered West Virginia Universi- ty and was graduated from the class- ical department in 1873, having the honor of representing his class as vale- dictorian. He then began teaching in the preparatory department of his alma mater, and subsequently filled the following chairs in that institution : logic, mathematics and vice-president, and metaphysics. In 1889 he accepted the appointment as president of Den- ison University, located at Granville, Ohio, and continued there until July, 1901. He then returned to the Uni- versity of West Virginia, where he has since served as president. The effi- ciency of his administration and the high regard in which he is held are re- vealed in the following extract from an article which appeared in the press :
"President Purinton's administra- tion is a splendid success. He came back to West Virginia having the con-
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fidence of everybody, and everything he has done has shown him to be worthy of that confidence. He is a man of great scholarship, broad sym- pathies, large experience and admira- ble tact. Moreover he believes in West Virginia and her institutions."
In July, 1876, Dr. Purinton was joined in marriage with Florence A. Lyon, eldest daughter of Prof. F. S. Lyon of the State University, and la- ter president of Broaddus College of Clarksburg, West Virginia. Four children were born to bless this union, namely: Edward Earle, editor of the Naturopath, a health journal of New York City; Mary Lyon, a graduate of the Conservatory of Music of Denison University; John Alden, a senior in West Virginia University ; and Helen, who is nine years of age. Religiously, the members of the family are Baptists, and for ten years our subject served as president of the State Baptist Asso- ciation of West Virginia. In political belief he is a stanch Republican, and has served as mayor of Morgantown. He has also been a director of the Bank of Monongahela Valley.
Dr. Purinton is the author of a work on Christian Theism, which was published in 1889 by Putnam Sons, New York and London,-a revised edition was published in 1899.
HON. ANDREW EDMISTON.
HON. ANDREW EDMISTON, of Weston, Lewis County, comes from a noble line of ancestors. He is a lineal descendant of Sir David Edmiston, a cup-bearer of James I of Scotland ; also of Sir James Edmiston, standard-bearer of the royal colors in the battle of Sher- iff Moor. His more immediate ances- tors played an important part in the Revolutionary War, and were distin- guished for their patriotism and brav- ery.
Judge Matthew Edmiston, the dis- tinguished father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Virginia, where he studied law, being admitted to the bar in Pocahontas County about 1835. In 1839 he moved to Lewis County, Virginia, now West Virginia. In the following year he was united in
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marriage to Miss Bland. Of their five sons, four became physicians and one, the subject of this sketch, a lawyer.
Matthew Edmiston was recog- nized as an able lawyer and a man of fine mental attainments, and became very popular throughout the State. He served with distinction in both branches of the Virginia Legislature, and in 1852 was elected to the position of Circuit judge of Virginia. This po- sition he held until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he located in Park- ersburg for the practice of his profes- sion. In 1871 he was elected to the Constitutional Convention but on ac- count of bad health he never qualified for the position; he was appointed to the Supreme bench in 1876. His death occurred in 1887 after some years of retirement.
Andrew Edmiston was educated at the University of Virginia, and grad- uated in law from Washington and Lee University in 1872. He then com- menced practicing in Weston and in the same year was elected prosecuting attorney of Lewis County, in which office he served two terms. In 18So he was elected to the House of Delegates of West Virginia, and attended the regular and special sessions during his term, serving on the judiciary commit- tee and as chairman of the committee
on claims and grievances. In 1891 he was appointed director of the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane at Weston, and in 1893 became president of the board of directors. Under his charge, the building was greatly im- proved and the standard of the institu- tion elevated.
In the fall of 1894 he was again chosen as a representative in the Leg- islature and was the only Democrat elected to any office from Lewis Coun- ty. He was the recognized leader of his party on the floor of the house serving on all of the important com- mittees, and was the author of the measure known as "The Virginia Debb Resolution," which passed both branches without a dissenting vote in the face of fierce opposition. In 1896 Mr. Edmiston was the leader of the Democracy in the memorable Bryan campaign. He was the chairman of State Democratic Executive Commit- tee. In 1900 he was importuned by his friends to enter the race for governor on the Democratic ticket, but, recog- nizing the utter impossibility of over- coming the large majority of the oppo- sition, he declined to do so. The re- sult of the following election, in which Hon. John H. Holt of Huntington went down to disastrous defeat, veri- fied the wisdom of his course.
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Andrew Edmiston is a man of striking and fascinating personality. In politics he is bold and aggressive ; as a lawyer he has few equals, and in his friendships he is steadfast and loyal. In the financial world he has been suc- cessful, being a large property holder in Weston and possessing extensive oil interests. Mr. Edmiston has never married and is "the last scion of a noble race."
A. C. SHAVER.
A. C. SHAVER, president of the Board of County Commissioners of Kanawha County, West Virginia, a distinguished member of the bar and a prominent resident of East Bank, West Virginia, was born in Gallia County.
Ohio, July 21, 1843, and is a son of James and Mary Ann . (Edwards) Shaver.
James Shaver, the father of Mr. Shaver, was born in Gallia County, Ohio, December 27, 1817, and had at- tained the advanced age of 84 years at his death. His wife, Mary Ann Ed- wards, was born in Edinburgh, Scot- land, June 17, 1812, and lived to be 87 years old. Unto this honored cou- ple were born the following children : William E., born February 10, 1841; A. C., the subject of this sketch, born July 21, 1843; Mary J., born May 8. 18.45, who died July 26, 1892; Sus- anna A., born June 18, 1847; James L., born February 20, 1850; and Thomas J., born October 12, 1857. Mr. and Mrs. James Shaver were en- gaged in farming in the State of Ohio throughout the period of their active life.
A. C. Shaver obtained his educa- tion in the common schools in his na- tive locality, also at Cheshire Acad- emy, and spent two terms at Ewington Academy. In 1862, he offered his services to his country during the Civil War, enlisting in Company E, I4Ist Reg .. Ohio Vol. Inf., and re-enlisted in Company C, 194th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf. He served, in all. about two years and participated in many of the serious
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battles of the war. After its close he came to West Virginia, where he en- gaged in teaching school for a short period. and then took charge of a gen- eral store at Coalburg, where he con- tinued for 33 years, during which time there was established at this point a post office, of which our subject was postmaster for 15 years and II months. In 1898, on account of failing health, Mr. Shaver was obliged to abandon mercantile pursuits and in 1899 he was elected to the Board of County Com- missioners of Kanawha County ; he has since continued a member of the board and is now as its president performing most valued service.
Mr. Shaver was married at Coal- burg, Kanawha County, West Vir- ginia, December 2, 1869, to Minna Barker. This union resulted in six children, as follows: Rose, Doro- thy, Minna, Clara, William B., and Ada. All are now living with the ex- ception of Clara, who died June 23, 1876.
Fraternally, Mr. Shaver is well known in Masonic circles all over the State and is a member of Selina Lodge, No. 27, A. F. & A. M., of Malden, West Virginia; Tyrean .Chapter, No. 13, R. A. M .; Kanawha Commandery, No. 4, K. T., of Charleston ; and Beni- Kedem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of
Charleston. He is past commander of George Crook Post, No. 3, G. A. R., at Charleston, West Virginia. He is a member of the First Kanawha Free Baptist Church, at East Bank.
DAVID PORTER MORGAN, M. D.
DAVID PORTER MORGAN, M. D., one of the prominent physicians of the State of West Virginia, located at Clarksburg, Harrison County, has gained esteem both in and outside his profession. He belongs to a distin- guished family of Virginia and West Virginia, and was born February 28, 1844, at Winfield, Marion County, Virginia, now West Virginia, and is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Waldo) Morgan.
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The first member of the Morgan family to locate in this section was Da- vid Morgan, Dr. Morgan's great- grandfather, who accompanied a party of settlers and located near Morgan- town in 1770. In 1779 he and his family lived at Prickett's Fort, as the numerous and hostile Indians made life unsafe without block-house protec- tion. The limits of this sketch do not permit of the recital of the exciting events preserved in the family records, which depict the dangers and depriva- tions of those times and the courage and bravery with which misfortunes were met. A monument which still stands on the bank of the Mononga- hela River was erected to commemo- rate a brave action by this ancestor. He acquired much property and spent his life in the same locality. His son, Morgan Morgan, named in old Welsh ancestral fashion, was born about 1771 but was reared in what is now Marion County. He also accumulated land and engaged in surveying. His death occurred about 1820. His marriage to a member of the Prickett family, of Prickett's Fort, resulted in the birth of a large family, one of whom, Mrs. Mary McClelland, died a few years since, aged 105 years. The others were: James, who was a major in the War of 1812 and later a successful
farmer; David, who died on an Iowa farm in 1867; Jacob, father of Dr. Morgan; Mrs. Drucilla Cochran and Mrs. Elizabeth Martin.
Jacob Morgan was born September 12, 1793, in what is now Marion County, West Virginia, and secured only such education as the times af- forded in his vicinity. At the age of 20 years he married Sarah McDonald and the eight children of this union were: Sarah and Stephen, who died young, and John R., Aaron, Marinda, Stephen H., Evan C. and Jacob. John R. lives in Marion County and Aaron lives in the same county on the old homestead. Marinda became Mrs. Moran and died in Iowa. Stephen H., during the Civil War, was a member of Company B, 3rd Reg., West Vir- ginia Vol. Inf., and participated in the battles of Cross Keys, Port Republic, Cedar Mountain and McDowell, and was killed in the second battle of Bull Run, leaving a family in West Vir- ginia. Evan C. was killed by a play- mate, at the age of 12 years. Jacob served in the Civil War, in Company F, 3rd Reg., West Virginia Vol. Inf., and took part in the same battles as Stephen H. The mother of these chil- dren died in 1842. The second mar- riage of Jacob Morgan was to Eliza- beth Waldo, a daughter of Jedediah
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and Polly ( Pardon) Waldo, of Hoo- sick Falls, New York; she was born June 18, 1806, in Harrison County, Virginia, now West Virginia, and died in 1882. She had been the mother of four children by Jacob Morgan and nine by James C. Martin. The four children of Jacob and Elizabeth ( Wal- do) Morgan were as follows: David Porter, O. F., Emily D. and Julia. O. F. was educated in a Normal School in Ohio, enlisted as a private in the 25th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., for service in the Civil War, at the age of 15 years, and took part in the battles of Fredericks- burg, Chickamauga, Lookout Mount- ain, Cross Keys, Port Republic and others, and was mustered out as a 2nd lieutenant. He is now a successful ed- ucator at Waterville, Minnesota, is married and has four children,- Grace, Waldo, Fred and Emily D. is the wife of T. B. Myers of Winfield, Kansas, and has two chil- dren. Julia is the widow of J. H. Holmes. By a previous marriage to James C. Martin, Mrs. Morgan had nine children, among them the follow- ing: James, of California ; Henry C., who died in California ; William P., of California ; Mrs. Prudence Hoskins, of Calhoun County, West Virginia; and Mrs. Mary Swearingen, a widow, of Marion County.
Jacob Morgan was a lumberman on the Ohio and Monongahela rivers, and he built a number of the flatboats which were sent loaded to Pittsburg and even to New Orleans. He also was engaged on the Cumberland River and spent some 46 years on the water. Prior to 1840 he engaged in farming and acquired six good farms, but he was financially ruined by a purchaser who secured his land and then escaped payment through the bankruptcy laws of the State. He was also associated with his brother James and others in building a steamboat, the Osage," which was constructed at Morgan's Eddy, now Opekiska, Monongalia County, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The machinery was put into the boat at Brownsville, Pennsylvania. She ran a few trips and was sold to parties in St. Louis, Missouri, who re- sorted to the Bankruptcy Law of 1836 for the canceling of their debts and thus ruined the whole party. Then he operated saw and grist mills at Win- field and continued in this industry until the time of his death, May 25, 1873. Mr. Morgan was an old line Whig in politics, and later a Republican, and was so devoted to the principles of his party and so earnest in his loyalty to his country, that he secured the arrest of a son-in-law, for the use of treasonable
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language. He was a man of sterling worth.
Dr. Morgan passed his boyhood on the old home farm and attended the public schools until the outbreak of the Civil War. Although but a lad of 17, he enlisted in Company B, 2nd Reg., West Virginia Vol. Inf., which, in 1863, was merged into the 5th Reg., West Virginia Vol. Cav., and he par- ticipated in the battles of McDowell, Cross Keys, Port Republic, Cedar Mountain, second battle of Bull Run, Rocky Gap, and an innumerable num- ber of skirmishes. At the second bat- tle of Bull Run he was taken prisoner but was paroled on the field. He served for a time on the Topographical En- gineering Corps and assisted in making many surveys.
After the close of the war, the young man entered an academy at Morgan- town, a place named in honor of his family, and later took a business course at Duff's Commercial College at Pitts- burg, later teaching in the public schools through his State during 1866, 1867 and 1868. During the latter years he entered Starling Medical College, at Columbus. Ohio, where he remained until 1870 and then engaged in practice in Marion County, while continuing his studies, until 1875. Then he entered Jefferson Medical College in Philadel-
phia, where he was graduated in 1876, in the following year locating at Clarks- burg. Dr. Morgan was for seven years pension medical examiner, was a member of the county, State and Amer- ican medical societies, and has held all the offices in the county associations. In 1893 he was president of the West Virginia Medical association and is a member of the State Board of Health. Dr. Morgan was chairman of the Har- rison County Republican Executive Committee from 1884 to 1890, during which time the county was converted from Democracy to be strongly Repub- lican and has thus remained. On ac- count of failing health, the Doctor made a trip to the Azores, on the bark "Kennard" as ship's surgeon and the three-months' voyage benefited him greatly.
Dr. Morgan was united in marriage with Annette Shinn, daughter of Abel and Elizabeth (Gawthrop ) Shinn, Abel Shinn, who died in Harrison County in 1888, was a son of Benjamin Shinn, and was, at the time of his death. post- master of Adamsville. His widow still resides there. To Dr. and Mrs. Mor- gan were born these children: E. Ger- trude, who graduated from Broaddus College in the class of 1890 and is now a student in the Women's College at Baltimore, Maryland; Tully, who died
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at the age of three years; Charles E., now an ensign in the United States Navy, having graduated at Annapolis in the class of 1899; Beulah and Har- old. The religious views of the family make them members of the Baptist Church. Fraternally Dr. Morgan be- longs to Herman Lodge, No. 6, A. F. & A. M .; Adoniram Chapter, No. II, R. A. M .; and Clarksburg Command- ery, No. 13, K. T., and is past com- mander of Custer Post, Grand Army of the Republic.
Dr. Morgan and his wife are among the most highly esteemed residents of Clarksburg.
WILLIAM A. ISETT, president of the Bank of the Ohio Valley and prominently identified with various other enterprises of Wheeling and vi- cinity, was born in Wheeling, Ohio County, December 17, 1838, and is a son of Dr. William A. Isett, for many years a physician and druggist of that city.
Dr. William A. Isett, father of our subject, was born at Carlisle, Pennsyl- vania, in August, 1806, and came to Wheeling as a young man. He en- gaged in the practice of his profession and it was not long before the drug firm of Isett & Clemens was established. This firm continued for several years
until terminated by the death of Dr. Clemens. Dr. Isett then disposed of the store, and was made assistant post- master of Wheeling, an office he held until his death, July 11, 1848. In poli- tics he was a Democrat. He married Susan White, daughter of John White, who was a merchant during the early days of Wheeling and was for a time identified in the fur business with Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania. Mrs. Isett was born at Lan- cester, Fairfield County, Ohio, March 8, 1808, and died May 13, 1866. Four children were the result of this union : Virginia W., deceased; William A., John W., deceased; and Sallie A., who married W. J. Sitler, of Robinson, Crawford County, Illinois, and has a son, William A., who is now studying law and is a young man of much promise.
William A. Isett, the gentleman whose name heads these lines, was edu- cated in the public schools of Wheel- ing. In 1859 he commenced his busi- ness career in the retail grocery bus- iness on Market street in Center Wheel- ing, continuing for two years. He was then bookkeeper for Cushing & Com- pany, paper manufacturers, until 1861, after which he served in a like capacity for George K. Wheat. January I, 1869, the firm of Wheat, Isett & Nay-
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lor was formed and for 10 years con- tinued as wholesale notion dealers, their place of business being on Twelfth street, near the present location of the Bank of the Ohio Valley. In 1879 Mr. Isett sold his interest to John S. Nay- lor, and the business continued as Wheat & Naylor until succeeded by the firm of John S. Naylor & Company. Mr. Isett was one of the original in- corporators of the Wheeling Pottery Company, associated with George K. Wheat, Charles W. Franzheim, Will- iam Kirbach and others, and has been secretary since the organization of the company. He was president of the Ohio Valley Glass Company two years. This company wound up its business in the "seventies." The Riverside Pot- tery Company was organized in 1898 by C. W. Franzheim, J. A. Miller and William A. Isett. Mr. Isett is vice- president and treasurer of the com- pany. In addition to his extensive pot- tery interests, he has been largely iden- tified with the steel and iron interests of the vicinity for some 30 years. He has been connected with the Wheeling Steel & Iron Company since 1892. For the past 26 years he has been president of the Bank of the Ohio Valley, suc- ceeding in that office John K. Botsford, deceased.
Mr. Isett married, May 20, 1879, at
the residence of George K. Wheat, Anna V. Pearce, of Lancaster, Ohio. Her parents died when she was young ; she was reared by relatives and in time located in Wheeling. Religiously, Mr. Isett was reared a Methodist. He erected a fine home in the first ward, on the property formerly owned by Thomas Sweeney, grandfather of A. T. Sweeney, where he now resides.
HON. WELLINGTON VROOMAN.
HON. WELLINGTON VROO- MAN .- One of the leading and repre- sentative citizens of Parkersburg is Hon. Wellington Vrooman, promin- ent alike in financial, political and so- cial circles.
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Mr. Vrooman is of Holland ances- try, a direct descendant of the sturdy and honorable Dutch settlers of the Mohawk Valley, of the State of New York, in 1637, whose thrift and ad- mirable qualities are still noted in their representatives of the present day. Mr. Vrooman was born in 1835, in Montgomery County, New York, a son of Samuel A. and Sallie ( Dillen- bach) Vrooman, both of whom were natives of the Empire State. While he was still a lad, his parents moved to Cumberland, Maryland, and his ed- ucation was secured in the Allegeny County Academy, at Cumberland, and later he accepted a clerkship in the post office in that place, and from there served in the same capacity in a dry goods store.
In 1853, Mr. Vrooman entered the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- road company ; in 1859 he was made agent at Parkersburg, and continue 1 to efficiently fill this position until the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1861 he became a clerk in the Quartermas- ter's Department of the United States Army, but one year later engaged in a wholesale grocery business under the firm name of Woods & Vrooman, which partnershaip was dissolved in 1863. In that year he was commis- sioned paymaster in the United States
Army, an office he filled with fidelity until 1869, in 1865 being breveted lieu- tenant-colonel, for meritorious serv- ices. After relinquishing his position as paymaster, Mr. Vrooman returned to Parkersburg and interested himself in the milling business, in which he was actively engaged until 1873, and in which he is still financially inter- ested.
Mr. Vrooman has been one of the progressive, public-spirited and useful citizens of Parkersburg. Since 1880 he has been one of the directors of the Second National Bank, and since 1896, its careful, conservative president. No less has he been prominent in politics and has faithfully served the city in municipal matters, advocating re- forms and economies in its Council ; he was elected mayor of the city of Park- ersburg in 1901 for the term of two years, but resigned after holding the office a few days. He has also served as one of the members of the State Legislature.
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