USA > West Virginia > Men of West Virginia Volume II > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
perintendent. In 1884 he was made re- gent of the State Normal schools, and served through two appointments. In 1881 he was elected prosecuting at- torney of Summers County and served through four terms .- 16 years. He also served several years as fish com- missioner. He has been very prom- inent in the Democratic party, was nominated for State Auditor on the Democratic ticket in 1900, was chair- man of the Democratic State Execu- tive Committee in the campaign of 1900 and is the present chairman and was a delegate to the Democratic Na- tional Convention, held in Chicago in 1896, which nominated W. J. Bryan. For a space of 14 years he served as chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee of the Third Congressional District of West Virginia. In 1892 he was chosen as the Democratic candi- date for Congress from the Third Con- gressional District, and in the election following reduced the normal Repub- lican majority about 3,000 votes.
Mr. Miller is a Mason of high de- gree, and is also a member of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Improved Order of Red Men and Ancient Order of United Workmen. He has long been identified with the National Guards of West Virginia and was the organizer
529
MEN OF WEST VIRGINIA
of the Hinton Light Infantry Guards, of which he served as captain until Au- gust 15, 1889, when he was made lieu- tenant-colonel. This honorable rank he resigned on account of press of pri- vate business. He is held in high es- teem in Hinton and is regarded as one of the ablest lawyers in his section of the State.
HON. WILLIAM GRAY BARNHART.
HON. WILLIAM GRAY BARN- HART, member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, from Red House Shoals, Putnam County, a lawyer by profession and one of the ablest young legislators of the State, was born April 15, 1880, near Buffalo, Putnam Coun-
ty, and is a son of Lewis and Isabel Barnhart, and grandson of Stephen and Perthana Barnhart.
The Barnhart family is of German extraction, the pioneers settling in New Jersey in the early history of that settlenient and their descendants going thence westward to Lancaster, Wash- ington and Greene counties, Pennsyl- vania, and to Ohio and Illinois.
Lewis Barnhart was born April 23, 1850, in Greene County, Pennsylvania. His mother died when he was seven years of age. He resided with his grandparents, going to school, doing chores, etc., during the Civil War period, and then returned to his father in Marshall County, West Virginia, and removed from there to Putnam County. He was ambitious and man- aged, by further study during intervals of farm work, to secure a good, com- mon-school education, and at the age of 25 years held a State teacher's cer- tificate, and at the age of 27 years was admitted to the bar. He was elected county superintendent of free schools soon after. Mr. Barnhart has for many years devoted himself to the law and to the sale of real estate. In pol- itics he is a Democrat and has taken an active part in politics. The mother of our subject was born in 1852 in Mar- shall County, Virginia, now West Vir-
530
MEN OF WEST VIRGINIA
ginia, and is a daughter of William I. and Eliza A. Hartley. In 1870 she was united in marriage with Lewis Barnhart. She is a devout member of the Christian Church. In addition to being a successful attorney, Lewis Barnhart is also a civil engineer and has had completed a fine map of Put- nam County, which he surveyed, on which are located the district outlines, the villages, roads, streams, and the industries of the county. He is fra- ternally connected with Wilkes Lodge, No. 60, Knights of Pythias, at Win- field.
Hon. William G. Barnhart was ed- ucated in the common schools, and be- gan teaching at the age of 17 years, at the same time beginning the reading of the law with his father. After a short course in the law department at the West Virginia University, he was admitted to the bar, and located at Winfield, the county seat of Putnam County. In the spring of 1902 he was nominated by the Democratic party for the House of Delegates, and was elected, in a Republican district of 460 plurality, by a majority of 360 over Hon. James H. Collins, one of the best known Republicans in the district, who had already served two terms in the Legislature.
Mr. Barnhart is a clear and forci-
ble speaker, a thinker of unusual abil- ity and an active member of the House. His rapid rise in his profession and in public esteem are but indications of still higher honors awaiting him in the fu- ture.
TIMOTHY LAWRENCE BARBER, A. M., M. D.
TIMOTHY LAWRENCE BAR- BER, A. M., M. D., a prominent physician and surgeon of Charleston, West Virginia, was born in Plymouth, Indiana, October 4, 1853. He is a son of Daniel and Ann (Hulverson) Bar- ber, the former of English descent, the latter, a native of Norway.
The Barber family is an old one and was founded in America by an an-
53!
MEN OF WEST VIRGINIA
cestor who came to Plymouth, Massa- chusetts, in 1630, and was one of the first settlers at Windsor, Connecticut. He was prominent in the early Indian wars and many of the family were en- gaged in the Revolutionary War and held conspicuous positions in profes- sional and military life.
The grandfather of Dr. Barber was Timothy Barber, who settled at Syra- cuse, New York, when it was but a crossroads. Later he moved his fam- ily west and settled on the land where Chicago now stands, but finding it a marshy, unpromising field for farm- ing, he removed back into the northern part of Indiana, and settled in Marshall County, where he remained some years and where his children continued to live. He went back to New York State, and not long after lost his life in an accident.
Daniel Barber, the father of Dr. Barber, grew to manhood in Marshall County, Indiana, and became the own- er of a moderate estate. He married a daughter of one of the sturdy Nor- wegian families that settled in the same county, and there reared a family of six children, one of whom, Levi, died there in infancy. Business misfor- tunes deprived him of all his belong- ings in Indiana, and he removed with his family of five children to Dodge
County, Wisconsin, living at Mayville, Horicon and Beaver Dam ( 1864-67). Besides being a farmer in Indiana, he. ran a flouring mill, which trade he fol- lowed in his Wisconsin homes. While residing in Wisconsin, his eldest daughter, Sophia, was married to Will- iam H. Roper, who removed with her to Emmetsburg, Iowa, where she died. With the rest of his family, Daniel Barber went to Petroleum Center, Pennsylvania, to join a brother, Levi Barber, who was engaged in refining oil. After a couple of years' stay there. a disastrous oil fire destroyed the plant and killed his brother. He then took his family back to Plymouth, Indiana, where he lived till his death, in 1871, his wife surviving him but a year.
The only schooling Dr. Barber had was that afforded in the public schools of the various localities in which he lived, until, upon the invitation of a relative at Marietta, Ohio, he was priv- ileged to receive a college education at Marietta College, graduating there in 1877. For the subsequent two or three. years, he taught school and tutored boys for college, using his spare time in the study of medicine. By dint of perseverance and good fortune, he was enabled to secure a scholarship at the- University of Pennsylvania upon com- petitive examination, thus gaining all
532
MEN OF WEST VIRGINIA
the advantages of this foremost medi- cal school of America, with no cost but his living expenses. He graduated in medicine there in 1882, securing the degree of M. D. and about the same time also that of A. M. from his alma mater, Marietta College.
Dr. Barber settled in Charleston, West Virginia, where from a modest beginning he has risen to be one of the foremost physicians of the Capitol City, as well as of the large territory ad- jacent. He has been conspicuously identified with the professional organi- zations and advancements of his city, county and State, being a moving fac- tor in the medical societies,-city, county, State and national. He is now the president and health officer of his city and county boards of health, as well as an organizer of the State Med- ical Association. He is a close student and devoted to his profession and is re- garded as progressive yet conservative. In 1901 he traveled in Europe and vis- ited many of the medical centers and enjoyed the advantages of study in their hospitals and clinics. Since his return he has been engaged in estab- lishing a sanatorium for the private treatment of diseases with electricity, X-rays, massage and baths, having taken a special course at the Illinois
School of Electro-Therapeutics. To this branch of the healing art he ex- pects to devote his future time and en- ergy, to which, if he applies the same energy that characterizes him, the Cap- itol City will one day enjoy a sanator- ium that will do it credit.
In 1882 Dr. Barber married Sarah R. Couch, daughter of James H. Couch, a prominent lawyer of Mason County, West Virginia. She died one year later with her first babe. In 1885, he married Lucy Brown, a daughter of Judge James H. Brown, of Charles- ton, West Virginia, and sister of Hon. J. F. Brown, at present a prominent attorney of that city. Seven children have been born to this union-five boys and two girls-the oldest boy, James Brown Barber, having died in 1901, at the age of 15 years. The Doctor is an elder in the Kanawha Presbyterian Church, a prominent Sabbath-school worker, a member of the different Ma- sonic organizations, one of the local U. S. pension examiners, examiner for a large number of prominent life insur- ance companies, surgeon to the K. & M. Railroad, in general politics an ad- herent of the Republican party, and yet regards the character of the local government as above any party that may aspire to run it.
533
MEN OF WEST VIRGINIA
MILES HENDERSON EPLIN.
MILES HENDERSON EPLIN, whose term of service as county su- perintendent of the schools of Kana- wha County, West Virginia, will be- gin July 1, 1903, is a much esteemed and prominent citizen of Marmet. He was born January 1, 1844, in Giles County, Virginia, and is a son of Christopher and Melinda (Nidy) Ep- lin, both of whom were also born in Virginia. The former died in middle life, but the latter survived until the age of 75 years, passing away in 1885. Christopher Eplin was engaged in ag- ricultural pursuits.
Miles H. Eplin was the young- est of a family of eight chil- dren. His early educational ad-
vantages were limited, in fact it may be stated that he was trained in no school but that of adversity. At the age of 17 he became a soldier in the Civil War, enlisting September 2, 1861, in Company B, 8th Reg., West Virginia Vol. Inf., which later formed a part of the 7th Cavalry Regiment. Although four years of his life were devoted to army service, it was not a wasted season to the young man, whose quick intelligence turned his experi- ences into a means of education.
Upon his return to Kanawha Coun- ty, Mr. Eplin engaged in teaching school, in the meantime following courses of reading and study, and very efficiently filled the office of secretary of the Loudoun district Board of Edu- cation, for a period of 30 years. He was elected in 1893 and served two terms as assessor of the Lower dis- trict, and in the fall of 1902 he was elected to the office of superintendent of the schools of Kanawha County. His life has been devoted to education- al interests and he has acceptably filled local positions and during one term was school commissioner.
In 1866 Mr. Eplin married Sarah J. Brown, who was born in Kanawha County, and is a daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Brown, old and re- spected residents of their community.
534
MEN OF WEST VIRGINIA
Three of Mr. and Mrs. Eplin's fam- ily of nine children still survive, name- ly : Albert W .; Mrs. Julia Harold; and Jesse C. The religious connection of the family is with the Methodist Church. In politics he is a Republi- can. Fraternally he belongs to the Odd Fellows, Red Men, Knights of Pythias and George Crook Post, G. A. R., at Charleston.
J. N. VANCE, who has been prom- inently identified with the iron and steel interests of West Virginia for many years, is a well known resident of Wheeling. He was born and reared in Ohio County, West Virginia, and there have his business activities been cen- tered.
Mr. Vance conducted an iron store in Wheeling until 1861, when the firm .of Dewey, Vance & Company was or- ganized and began the manufacture of merchant bar iron. A plant was erected in the Sixth Ward, near the hill, and another was erected in 1866 near the river. The latter is still standing and was used as a nail factory for some years. The firm began operations in Benwood in 1872, having erected a first-class blast furnace, 18 by 70 feet in dimensions. W. H. Russell retired from the firm in 1865, after four years connection with the business. William
L. Hearne became a member of the firm in 1866. It was operated as a private enterprise until 1875, when the River- side Iron Works were incorporated by J. N. Vance, William L. Hearne, John D. Culbertson, N. Wilkinson and Frank J. Hearne, being chartered under the laws of West Virginia. The officers elected were : J. N. Vance, president ; N. Wilkinson, secretary; and John D. Culbertson, William L. Hearne and N. Wilkinson, directors. The plant was then located at Benwood. The nail factory was operated until 1888 and was afterward abandoned, all interests being concentrated at Benwood as the Riverside Iron Works. Eleven acres were first bought, and now the plant occupies 90 acres, having ample room for railroad tracks and other necessary equipment. A Bessemer steel plant was erected about 1886 and also tube works, which enable them to manufacture all kinds of steel steam, gas and water pipes. As the business grew, the tube works were enlarged until they became one of the largest and finest mills in the country, constituting a distinct plant. A large blast furnace is now being com- pleted. They lost their identity as the Riverside Iron Works in March, 1899, in a sale to the National Tube Company, which in the spring of 1901 became a constituent of the United States Steel
535
MEN OF WEST VIRGINIA
Corporation. At that time the business of the company amounted to $6,000,000 annually, and employed over 2,000 men. About 2,500 men are now em- ployed. When the business was estab- lished about 300 men were employed, and in 1866 not to exceed 500. The capital stock originally was $15,000, and during the first three years of its existence the company leased the old mill, which they then purchased. When sold, the Riverside Iron Works had a capital stock of $3,000,000, which had been increased from the surplus funds after paying quarterly dividends. Dur- ing the past II years the company has operated a blast furnace at Steubenville, Ohio. Mr. Vance became a director in the National Tube Company and con- tintied as such until it became a part of the United States Steel Corporation, when he resigned. Frank J. Hearne is president of the tube department of the United States Steel Corporation, John D. Culbertson, treasurer, and E. L. Wiles, general manager of the River- side department of the same corpora- tion.
Mr. Vance is president of the Na- tional Exchange Bank of Wheeling, and is also at the head of the Vance Shoe Company. The manufacturing plant of the latter concern is located at Pullman, Illinois, and the Chicago end
of the business is in charge of J. C. Riheldaffer. Mr. Vance's son, H. E. Vance, is president of the Vance Shoe Company, and W. F. Shaffer is secre- tary. J. N. Vance has many other in- terests in Wheeling and Chicago and in the State of Alabama. As a business man he is shrewd and far-sighted, and the wonderful success which has attend- ed his career is due solely to his own efforts.
VERNON C. CHAMPE.
VERNON C. CHAMPE, attor- ney-at-law, at Montgomery, Fayette County, West Virginia, was born in Montgomery, January 11, 1879, and is a son of William F. and Annie (Montgomery) Champe.
The Champe family is of French
536
MEN OF WEST VIRGINIA
extraction and settled in Virginia at an early date. The paternal grand- father of our subject, Sewall Champe, was born in Bedford County, Virginia, settled at Charleston, Kanawha Coun- ty, and died there. aged 50 years.
William F. Champe, our subject's father, was born at Charleston, Kana- wha County. He removed to Mont- gomery in 1873, but did not per- manently locate there until 1877. The mother of our subject is a daugh- ter of James Montgomery, who was a pioneer in the district of Fayette Coun- ty. The other members of our subject's parents' family are: Nile ; Emory and Hallie, who are still students.
Vernon C. Champe was reared at Montgomery, and attended the local schools there and an intermediate school at Charleston. Later he went to Greenbrier Military Academy and in 1895 entered the University of West Virginia, where he was graduated in the class of 1898. Mr. Champe read law prior to entering the University and was very thoroughly prepared. In 1900 he began the practice of his pro- fession at Montgomery, in partner- ship with C. W. Osenton, who is now prosecuting attorney of Fayette Coun- ty and an ex-State Senator. Since this time, Mr. Champe has engaged very successfully in practice alone. In 1900
he was appointed a United States com- missioner, by Judge Jackson.
Mr. Champe belongs to Lodge No. 74, A. F. & A. M., at Montgom- ery, and retains his membership with the college fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa. He has been very active in Democratic politics and was elected city attorney in 1902. He is also sec- retary of the Democratic County Com- mittee and in 1902 was assistant to the chairman of that body. He be- longs to the Presbyterian Church.
JAMES A. STROTHER.
JAMES A. STROTHER, mayor of Welch, McDowell County, West Virginia, senior member of the law
537
MEN OF WEST VIRGINIA
firm of Strother, Taylor & Strother, and one of the leading citizens, was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, January 13, 1870.
His father, Hon. John R. Strother, is prominent in State politics, and in early life was an attorney. Later he engaged in farming and is still so oc- cupied, at the age of 65 years. In the early "seventies" he served in the State Legislature, both in the upper and the lower house. The Strother family is an old and honorable one in Virginia, of English descent. The mother of our subject belonged to the Payne family of Madison County, Virginia, and the grandmother to the old Wilhoit fam- ily, early German settlers in the iron regions of Virginia. The sons of Hon. John R. Strother, exclusive of our sub- ject, are: G. F., a lumberman of Welch, West Virginia ; J. H., a mer- chant of Welch, West Virginia; and Philip, of Culpeper County, Virginia, where the daughters, three in number, of the family also reside.
James A. Strother has attained his prominence mainly through his own efforts. His complete knowledge of the law and jurisprudence was gained almost entirely through private read- ing, and he was admitted to the bar in Culpeper County, Virginia, after a
very short course at the University of Virginia. In 1891 he removed to Welch, and for a season was a law partner of W. H. Stokes. In 1901 a partnership was formed by J. A. and D. J. F. Strother and W. L. Taylor, under the firm name of Strother, Tay- lor & Strother. The business is gener- al practice, including a great deal of corporation work. The firm has built commodious office rooms in the vicin- ity of the Norfolk & Western Railway depot and commands a large part of the patronage of the county.
In politics Mr. Strotlier was for- meriy a Democrat, but has latterly been identified with the Republican party. He has served the town in the capacity of mayor for the past seven years, being elected on a non-partisan ticket each year. In 1896 he was a candidate for the State Senate on the Democratic ticket, but was defeated.
In 1894 Mr. Strother was married to a daughter of T. S. Taylor, ex-sher- iff of Giles County, Virginia. They have one daughter, Mary James, three years old. The family attend the Prot- estant Episcopal Church. Fraternally Mr. Strother is a Mason, belonging to the blue lodge at Welch and the chap- ter at Bramwell; and is also an Odd Fellow and an Elk.
y
538
MEN OF WEST VIRGINIA
NEIL JUDSON FORTNEY.
NEIL JUDSON FORTNEY, who is now serving his fifth term as prosecuting attorney of Preston Coun- ty, West Virginia, was born November 22, 1849, near Independence, Preston County, Virginia, now West Virginia. He is a son of David H. Fortney, whose father came to Maryland, from France, and whose mother was of Ger- man ancestry. In 1865 David H. Fortney removed with his family to Indianola, Iowa.
Neil Judson Fortney attended the local schools in his native locality and after the family removed to Iowa he became a student in Simpson Cente- nary College. In 1870 he took an ex- tended tour through the West, in-
creasing his fund of general knowledge, engaging in various callings and fequently correspond-
ing for the press. He returned to Preston County, West Virginia, in 1874 and then entered upon the study of the law ; he was made deputy county clerk, and in 1879 was admitted to the bar, since which time he has become prominent in his profession, valued in political circles and esteemed in the so- cial and domestic life of Kingwood. In 18So, Mr. Fortney was first elected prosecuting attorney, and he entered upon the duties of that responsible po- sition, on January 1, 1881. At the close of his term of four years, he was re-elected by an increased majority and at the expiration of his second term he was elected again to the same office by a still greater majority, and served the full term of four years. He was elected in 1898 to fill the last two years of the unexpired term of his successor, and in 1900 was again elected by a greater majority than at any previous election, and is now serving out the fifth term to which he has been elected, at the end of which he will have served 18 years in all, as noted. His ability and industry, his carefulness, fairness and promptness, have contributed to his success and his capable handling of the important cases brought before
539
MEN OF WEST VIRGINIA
him during his long term of office, has given him a reputation all over the State.
On June 3, 1879, Mr. Fortney was united in marriage with Alice Edna Godwin, the eldest daughter of Capt. Joseph M. Godwin, of Kingwood, West Virginia. In politics, Mr. Fort- ney is a Republican.
HON. ALSTON GORDON DAYTON.
HON. ALSTON GORDON DAY- TON, Member of Congress from the Second Congressional District of West Virginia, and the junior member of the well known law firm of Dayton & Day- ton, with whom is associated Fred- erick D. Blue, at Philippi, Barbour
County, West Virginia, was born in that town October 18, 1857, Barbour County then being a part of the State of Virginia.
Mr. Dayton attended the public schools and entered the West Virginia University as a student, at the age of 16 years, where he was graduated in June, 1878, with his degree of A. B. During his college course he had de- voted time to the study of the law, and he was admitted to the bar on his 21st birthday, and immediately entered into partnership with his father, which part- nership still continues. Two years later he was appointed prosecuting attorney of Upshur County, and soon after re- ceived the Republican nomination for the same office in his home county of Barbour, but, while running consider- ably ahead of his ticket, was defeated by a small majority. In 1884 he again received his party's nomination for the same office, and was elected, being the first Republican to fill the office since the Civil War. In 1888 he was a can- didate for judge of the Circuit Court, but failed of receiving the nomination by two votes. In 1890 his friends pre- sented his name before the Republican convention at Piedmont, as a candidate for Congress from the Second Congres- sional District of West Virginia, which position was then held by Hon. William
540
MEN OF WEST VIRGINIA
L. Wilson, author of the "Wilson Tar- iff Bill." Mr. Wilson was a most formidable antagonist, and the belief was general that only a man from the eastern part of the State could defeat him, so the choice of this convention was Hon. George Harman, a wealthy farmer of Grant County. In 1894, however, Mr. Dayton was the choice of the convention which met at Elkins, to run against Mr. Wilson, who was still in Congress, having defeated Mr. Harman in 1890. Mr. Wilson stood as the victorious champion of a victori- ous party and was confident of success. The campaign was a memorable one, unequaled in the campaigns of the State, but Mr. Dayton showed that he was well equipped to meet the redoubt- able Wilson and no quarter was either given or asked. The discussions were warm, although waged with the courte- sy and fairness for which both states- men are noted. The result was an over- whelming victory for Mr. Dayton, his majority being over 2000. In 1896 hè was re-elected; again in 1898, and in 1900 and 1902. He is now serving his fifth consecutive term.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.