USA > West Virginia > Myers' history of West Virginia (1915) Volume II > Part 9
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The school faculty is as follows:
STEPHENSON SEMINARY (Presbyterian )-Mrs. C. N. Campbell, principal ; Laura W. Campbell. A.B., co-princi- pal, Mathematics and French; Helen Martin, A.B., Latin, English and German ; Janet Young, History, Elocution and Gymnasium ; Lena Payne, Science; Mamie Rider, Primary Department ; Marguerite Schriefer, Music, Voice, Piano and Harmony ; Pattie Willes, Art, and Mary Sheerer, Stenography.
Enrollment, Fall Term 1913, 60.
HIGH SCHOOL-Wright Denny, superintendent ; John MeGavock, Jr., Lallie E. Craighill, and Mary E. Campbell, assistants.
GRADES-Bee La Boyteaux, James Polk Gammon, Nan- nie E. Young, Fannie Lee Brown, Mary T. Howell. Mrs. L. R.
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Milbourne, Lizzie Kercheval, Bettie J. Beller, Katie Leslie and Lillian O. Stump.
EAGLE AVENUE ( Colored) Philip Jackson, principal : L. L. Page, E. L. Braxton and Elizabeth W. G. Moore, teachers.
School Term 1913-14, 9 months. Total enrollment, 527.
ELIZABETH, the county seat of Wirt, is located on the Kanawha River, thirty-two miles from Parkersburg. William Beauchamp was its first settler, having located and erected his cabin here in 1799, followed not long afterward by Ezekiel McFarland and Charles Rockhold. Four years later Mr. Beauchamp erected a grist mill, and from this circum- stance the place was named Beauchamp's Mills. In 1817 the name was changed to Elizabeth, in honor of Elizabeth Wood- yard, wife of David Beauchamp.
Burning Springs, a short distance above Elizabeth, was, perhaps, the scene of the first oil and gas development within the State, though oil was discovered on Flint Run, in Ritchie County, in 1844, by George S. Lemon, while drilling for salt. In 1860 oil and gas were found at Burning Springs, and it is said that the excitement caused by this discovery transformed the small village of a dozen or so inhabitants to a city of 6.000 people within a period of six months. But. after a lapse of seven years, the gas supply became exhausted, and gradually the population dwindled down to that of a small village.
Wirt County was formed January 19, 1848, from parts .f Wood and Jackson Counties. On April 4th of that year the first circuit court was held at the house of . Alfred Beauchamp. Judge David McComas presiding, and the following attorneys were admitted to practice law in this county: John G. Stringer, Jacob B. Blair, Peter G. Van Winkle, Arthur T. Boreman, John J. Jackson, Clermont E. Thaw. John E. Hays. John O. Lockhart, John F. Snodgrass and James M. Stephen- son. Several of this number afterward were classed among the most prominent characters of the State.
The population of Elizabeth in 1890 was 710; in 1900, 657 ; and in 1910. 674, a decrease in population of 36 in twenty years.
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Churches.
Presbyterian, Rev. E. A. Black, pastor.
Baptist, Rev. J. S. Young, pastor.
M. E. Church South, Rev. C. T. Barton, pastor.
M. E. Church, Rev. J. M. Sutton, pastor.
Newspapers.
Wirt County Journal, J. F. Haverty, editor.
Elizabeth Messenger, H. H. Holmes, editor.
Kanawha News, S. II. Mitchell, editor.
Banks.
Wirt County Bank, G. T. Trout, President ; G. W. Rob- erts, Cashier, and Paul Roberts, Assistant Cashier; Joseph Gray, W. P. McClung, S. W. Cain and H. C. Griffin, Directors.
Town Officials.
S. H. Mitchell, Mayor ; George Huffman, Sergeant ; Wal- ter Huffman, Clerk; Dr. J. M. Carney, C. E. Summers and P. L. Meredith, Councilmen.
The Kanawha and The Raleigh are the principal hotels. The town has twelve stores and shops, and Bodger Brothers run the only manufacturing establishment. Gas supplies the town with heat and light .. As yet the streets are not paved.
School Faculty.
C. H. Snodgrass, principal high school and eighth grade; assistants, Mabel Roberts, Maude Rogers, Laura Feree, May Rogers and Bonna Snyder.
ELKINS, RANDOLPH COUNTY.
Elkins, the present county seat of Randolph County, was established in 1889, the year of the completion of the West
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Virginia Central & Pittsburgh Raitway to that point, ex-Sena- tor Henry G. Davis and the late Senator Stephen B. Elkins being its founders. At the time of the completion of the rail- road the present site of Elkins was used for farming pur- poses, there being only a country store and blacksmith shop, and for many years the place had been designated as Leads- ville. During the civil war the site of the town was well known by the presence there of the old "round barn," which had been used by bands of Confederate soldiers as a stopping place when traveling to and fro between Fairmont and Vir- ginia. The picture of the Round Barn is from a photograph taken a few years ago.
The town was incorporated in February, 1890, and in April the first town election was held, Dr. J. C. Irons being chosen mayor : James S. Posten, city recorder ; and Dr. A. M. Fredlock. W. H. Ilead, D. P. Harper, Emri Hunt and M. M. Smith, council.
Although Elkins has been in existence only about twenty- four years, she had in 1910 a population of 5,260, which has since increased to over 6,000.
On February 7, 1901. the legislature passed the charter of the present City of Elkins, consolidating the towns of Elkins and South Elkins with five wards. The city owns its own water system, which is valued at about $150,000, and is among the finest in the State. The fire department is up-to-date. The West Virginia Gas Company furnishes the city with an abundance of gas at reasonable rates, offering special induce- ments to manufacturing enterprises.
Among the industries already located here, all of which are prosperous and growing, are the car and machine shops of the West Virginia Central & Pittsburgh Railway Company. employing about 250 men, and the capacity is gradually in- creasing as the demands require; the Elkins Machine and Foundry Company, employing about 20 men ; the Elkins Tan- ning Company, employing about 100 men ; the Elkins Pail and Lumber Company, 75 men : the Elkins Fixture and Refrigera- tor Company. 50 men : the Elkins Planing Mill, Dalton's Boiler Works, the Elkins Handle Factory, and others.
The Trust Company of West Virginia, the Elkins Na-
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tional Bank and the People's National Bank afford the city excellent banking facilities.
The Davis and Elkins College is a progressive, up-to-date institution, founded by the men whose names it bears. This, in connection with the graded schools, affords most excellent educational facilities.
Through the efforts of Howard Sutherland, now a mem- ber of Congress, the Board of Trade of Elkins was organized in 1903, Capt. W. H. Cobb being selected president; Arthur Lee, first vice president ; J. H. Fout, second vice president ; Howard Sutherland, secretary ; H. G. Johnson, recording sec- retary, and N. G. Keim, treasurer.
The first church at Leadsville-now Elkins-was erected by the Presbyterians in 1858, and was known as the "Old White Church." Owing to its being occupied by Federal troops, no religious services were held in the building during the civil war.
The first Ml. E. church in the vicinity of Elkins was erected in 1851, Rev. Thomas B. Curtis being its first pastor.
Today the following religious denominations have church buildings in Elkins: Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church, First M. E. Church, M. P. Church, First Baptist Church, Episcopal Church, Christian Church and St. Brenden's Catho- lic Church.
Some of the finest homes in West Virginia are to be found at Elkins, among which are Halliehurst, the residence of the late Senator Elkins; Graceland, the home of ex-Senator H. G. Davis: the residence of Hon. C. H. Scott and the summer home of Hon. R. C. Kerens.
The Odd Fellows' Home, erected at Elkins in 1910, is a fine structure, as are also the county court house, the opera house, the public school buildings, the Davis Memorial Hos- . pital, the financial institutions and many business houses.
The Randolph, The Star and The Gassaway are popular hotels in the city.
The Davis Memorial Hospital is a standing monument to the memory of its founder. Mrs. H. G. Davis, being a "tangi- ble and beautiful expression of an altruistic Christian charac- ter, who was ever alert to relieve the sufferings and ameliorate
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the condition of the sick and unfortunate," as was feelingby expressed by a friend shortly after her demise. It is doubtful that there is another town of equal size in West Virginia whose buildings, as a whole, excel those of Elkins in archi- tectural beauty, and it is equally certain no town of its size surpasses it in business and manufacturing enterprises. It is the "cross roads" point of railroads running north, south, cast and west, and her transportation facilities are unlimited. This. in connection with an almost inexhaustible supply of mineral and timber wealth that border its many diverging lines, in- sures for Elkins a prosperous future.
Faculty of Elkins High and Graded Schools.
Otis G. Wilson, superintendent, and Della MacFarland, supervisor.
HIGH SCHOOL- C. W. Jackson, principal ; Minna M. Keyser, Lois E. Frazee, Inez B. Dickerson, Emily J. Wilmoth, Minnie M. Andrews and Nellie M. Ross, teachers.
THIRD WARD SCHOOL-Minnie C. Riegner, princi- pal; Minerva Lawson, Mabel Cunningham, Ethel Switzer, Margaret Bird, Gillette LaBarre, Winifred Fenton, Louise Sigler, Pearl McCaffry, Irene Foley and Inez McNeill. teachers.
FIRST WARD SCHOOL-C. W. Jackson, principal ; Gertrude Keister, Mona Phillips. Phyllis Frashure and Eliza- beth Taylor, teachers.
CENTRAL BUILDING-Mrs. C. H. Hamill, Frankie Garber, Verna Jefferson and Verna Rouchey, teachers.
SCOTT BUILDING-Katie Maxwell, Grace Miller, Willa A. Leonard and Valery Freeman, teachers.
RIVERSIDE-Eva Steele and Florence Licklider, teach- ers.
HARPER ADDITION-Inez Gross (all grades). COLORED SCHOOL-C. V. Harris, teacher. Term. 9 months. Total enrollment, 1,350.
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HON. S. B. ELKINS
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FAIRMONT, MARION COUNTY.
Middletown- now Fairmont was established and laid out in 1819, on the farm of Boaz Fleming. It was built on a hill overlooking the Monongahela River. It has been said that when the early citizens of that community were looking about for a town site the place on which Fairmont now stands was selected because it "was considered by them the roughest and poorest and least adapted to farming purposes and having little idea that the new town would ever be more than a small hamlet." It was called Middletown from the circumstance of its being midway between Clarksburg and Morgantown, and served as a stopping place for travelers going to and fro be- tween those two points. "At that time," says Dunnington's History of Marion County. "much of Middletown was a laurel thicket. the only house being a log cabin occupied by Mir. Fleming which stood near the corner of Jefferson street and Decatur alley. The first house built after the laying off of the town was by Mr. Samuel Jackson, father of Oliver and James R. Jackson. The first child born in Middletown was E. M. Conaway."
Marion County was formed in 1842. Middletown was made the county seat, and shortly afterwards the name was changed to Fairmont.
Concerning the first county court, Dunnington says : "On the 4th of April following (1843) the first county court was held at the house of William Kerr, which stood on the corner of Main and Jefferson streets. John S. Barnes, Sr., Thomas S. Haymond, Thomas Watson and William Swearingen, jus- tices of the peace. composed the court. John Nuzum, William J. Willey. Mathew L. Fleming, Isaac Means, Leonard Lamb, George Dawson. Leander S. Laidley, Elias Blackshire, David Cunningham, Abraham Hess. John S. Chisler, Absalom Knotts, Benjamin J. Brice. Albert Morgan, David Musgrave, Hillery Boggess, William T. Morgan. John Clayton, Thomas Rhea, William Cochran, John S. Smith. John Musgrave, William B. Snodgrass, William Bradley, Thomas A. Little. Jesse Sturm, John S. Barnes, Sr., and Henry Boggess were the justices of the peace in the county.
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Zebulen Musgrave was appointed crier of the court, and the following attorneys were permitted to practice in court : Gideon Camden, William C. Haymond, Burton Despard, Chas. A. Harper, James M. Jackson, John J. Moore, George H. Lec, Waitman T. Willey, Moses A. Harper and Eusebius Lowman. The court adjourned to meet in the M. E. Church (afterward razed about 1879), where future sessions of the court were held until the court house was built. Thomas L. Boggess was elected the first clerk of the county court. William C. Haymond was the first prosecuting attorney and Benjamin J. Brice the first sheriff of the county.
The jail was a one-story log house, fashioned after an Indian fort, and was situated on Washington street, where the residence of Wm. E. Hough was afterwards built. F. H. Pier- point, attorney, qualified at the May term of court, and Dan- iel M. Thompson was awarded the contract for building the court house for the sum of $3,150.75, which were the principal items of business transacted at that term. The court house was considered a fine building when it was completed. Later on-about 1877-improvements were added at a cost of about $8,000, but since that time the old court house has given away to a new and up-to-date stone structures, whose architectural beauty is perhaps unsurpassed by any building of the kind in the State.
Thomas S. Haymond and John S. Clayton were the first representatives of the county in the House of Delegates and William G. Willey in the Senate. Monongalia, Preston, Ran- dolph and Marion composed the senatorial district, Mr. Wil- ley, the senator, being a resident of Marion County.
It is related of Mr. Willey that on one occasion he at- tended the Legislature at Richmond dressed in blue linsey breeches and brown linsey hunting shirt.
Palatine, which is now a part of Fairmont, was established in 1838. It was located upon land purchased from Wm. Hay- mond and John S. Barnes, who had jointly purchased it from Daniel and John Paulsley, the sons of Jacob Paulsley, who had moved upon the land in 1793.
The completion of the B. & O. Railroad to Fairmont, June 23, 1852, was an important epoch in the history of the town,
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and the occasion was duly celebrated, the President and direc- tors of the company, together with a large number of gentle- men from Baltimore, Cumberland, Wheeling, Martinsburg, etc., and a large number of Marion County citizens being present.
During the same year the suspension bridge across the Monongahela River, connecting Fairmont and Palatine, was completed at a cost of about $30.000.
The first church organization in what is now Marion County took place in the year 1815. in a barn on the farm of Asa Hall, near Barnesville, under the direction of a Presby- terian minister. Seven years later the same organization erected a frame church on Jefferson street. Fairmont, oppo- site the old Mountain City House. Then followed a Methodist Protestant church on Quincy street in 1834. and the M. E. church on Main street, and now nearly all the principal church denominations are represented in Fairmont.
The first steamboat to ascend the Monongahela River as far as Fairmont was the "Globe", on February II, 1850. At various times since that date and previous to the building of the dam and locks, the Globe, the Thomas P. Ray and other small boats occasionally reached Fairmont, but their arrivals were dependent upon temporary rises in the river, and no pre- tense of a schedule could be maintained, as long periods of low water stage prevented the boats from making more than a few trips in a season.
Banks.
The First National Bank of Fairmont, organized October, 1853. The Mountain City Bank began business August 1st, 1874. The Farmers Bank of Fairmont opened in 1875.
In January, 1914, the following banking institutions were in operation in Fairmont : National Bank of Fairmont, First National Bank, Peoples National Bank. Home Savings Bank, Citizens Dollar Savings Bank, and Trust Company Bank.
In addition to the Fairmont Normal and Fairmont High School and the Union Business College, there are nine public schools in Fairmont, one being exclusively for Catholics and another for colored students.
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Following is the school faculty of Fairmont High and Graded Schools for term 1913-14:
HIGH SCHOOL-Joseph Risier, superintendent ; Emma J. Oderbolz, Laura E. Briggs, Ensel Hawkins, Hazel Frey and L. C. Minor, supervisors ; Perry C. McBee, principal, and Paul R. Morrow, assistant ; T. C. Moore, Virginia Vockrodt, Mary L. Oldham, Wilhelmina D. Cockayne, Viola A. Wolfe, MI. Mae Neptune, Dora L. Newman, Eva M. Fling, Harriet C. Steele, Merlin J. Kilbury, Bessie J. Reed, Eleanor Cowen, John M. Toothman, Edith M. Dean, Caroline Brand, and Isa M1. Neel, teachers.
SECOND WARD-O. A. Watson, principal; Jessie Sni- der, Blanche Henry, Marie Boehm, Ivy Hustead, Dena Knight, Bessie Rice, Caroline Barnes, Laura Dunnington, Eva Brand. Florence Jack, Esta Crowl. Elizabeth Conaway, and Mattie Taylor, teachers.
FOURTH WARD- W. E. Buckey, principal; Maude Hull, Virginia Gaskill, Evelyn Prickett, Gertrude Creel. Jennie Harshbarger, Susan Foiren, Agnes Erwin, and Inez Brook- field, teachers.
FIFTH WARD-N. G. Matthew, principal; Minnie Fleming, Florence Hall, Helen Tuttle, Myrtle Mckinney, Helen Fleming, Ethel Hibbs, Ida Orr, Florence Wilfong, and Vinna Boydston, teachers.
UNION SCHOOL-Independent-District T-William A. Hustead, superintendent, and A. W. Martin, teacher.
FIRST WARD-Sara Meredith, Mary D. McCulloh. Pearl Linn Scott, Beulah E. Garner, Pauline Frey, Sadic E. Lloyd, Virginia Barnes, Louise Lloyd, Martha Duncan, Rose Mckinney, and Katherine Donham, teachers.
EAST PARK SCHOOL-Lena G. Parks, Viola McEl- ยท fresh, Blanche Satterfield, and Stella E. Brown, teachers.
STATE STREET SCHOOL-Nelle G. Wilson and Ivy Raye Larew.
VIRGINIA AVENUE-WV. A. Crowl, principal ; Beryl Morgan, Effic Knapp, Margaret Farrell, Nell Manley, Bessie Bower, Mattie Bentel, and Florence Cavender, teachers.
BARNESTOWN-Frank S. White, principal; Maud Snodgrass, Mary Nuzum, Elsie Rees and Kate Curry, teachers.
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JACKSON ADDITION-Eunice Byer, principal, and Norinne Johnson, assistant.
COLORED SCHOOL W. O. Armstrong, principal; Ethel Burkhead, intermediate, and Florence Cobb, primary.
Term of school. 9 months. Total enrollment, 2751.
Newspapers.
The first newspaper issued in Marion County was pub- lished at Fairmont and called the Marion County Pioneer, Lindsey Boggess, editor and proprietor, and afterwards R. Fulton Cooper took charge of it. It was issued about the year 1840.
This was followed by the Baptist Recorder, of which Dr. 1. D. Eyster was publisher and proprietor. Joseph Walker, editor, and Daniel S. Morris, printer. Then came the Demo- cratic Banner, edited and published by Morris, which com- menced publication in March, 1850. One year later A. J. O. Bannon became owner and changed the name of the paper to The True Virginian and Trans-Alleghany Adventure, but later on the last part of the name was dropped. Following a few changes of ownership the paper ceased to exist in 1861. It was a Democratic paper.
In 1853 the Fairmont Republican was issued by J. M. Scrogin and edited by Dr. W. W. Grange, during the follow- ing year. Next the Methodist Protestant Sentinel made its appearance, conducted by Dr. D. B. Darsey, then by Rev. Samuel Young. In 1802 Col. A. F. Ritchie launched upon the sea of journalism the Fairmont National, whose corps of editors comprised J. T. Ben-Gough. J. N. Boyd. and Timothy B. Taylor. Then followed, in 1866, the Vedette. a Republican paper, edited and published by J. N. Boyd and Timothy B. Taylor, in turn, who disposed of the paper to J. Dillon, who changed the name to The West Virginian, and it was after- wards purchased by Henry W. Book and Charles M. Shinn. In 1873 Mr. Shinn assumed entire control of the journal, and in 1875 sold it to A. II. Fleming and Lamar C. Powell. The West Virginian is a Republican paper.
After the suspension of the True Virginian in 1861, the
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Democratic party of Marion County had no paper again until 1870, when the Liberalist was started by Fountain Smith & Son, who in a few weeks disposed of it to J. R. Grove. James Morrow, Jr., then became its editor and Wm. S. Haymond its local editor. The Liberalist lived barely through the Presi- dential campaign in 1872. In February, 1874, Major W. P. Cooper commenced the publication of the Fairmont Index. which has since been the organ of the Marion County Democ- racy. In April, 1876, the fire which destroyed the West Vir- ginia office likewise almost totally destroyed the Index National. The little that was saved from the flames, together with the books of the office and the good will of the business, were purchased by Clarence L. Smith and Geo. A. Dunning- ton, who continued the publication of the sheet, with som: improvements. In 1877 the paper was sold to \'m. A. Ohley and A. J. Dick.
The Fairmont Times and the Fairmont West Virginian (dailies) and Fairmont Free Press (weekly) are the news- papers now being printed at Fairmont.
On September 21st, 22nd and 23rd, 1870, was held the first annual fair of the Marion County Agricultural, Mechan- ical and Mineral Association upon their grounds near Fair- mont.
A memorable event in the history of Fairmont is the big fire on Sunday morning, the 2nd day of April, 1876, which destroyed the principal business portion of Fairmont and ren- dered homeless many families.
In October, 1878, a grand military reunion and sham battle were held on the Marion County Fair Grounds under the auspices of the Davis Guards, at which time the military from Wheeling, Burton and Mannington, and the University Cadets and battery from Morgantown were present and par- ticipated. The writer, then a youth of seventeen years, was one of several thousand spectators present on this interesting occasion, and here saw for the first time a baloon ascension. A young woman did the aeronauticstunt, standing in a basket- shaped contrivance suspended from a huge gas bag which soared skyward until it appeared no larger than a nail keg.
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Then it began to slowly descend and as it neared the earth it shied away down the hillside as if to escape the noisy demon stration of the big crowd below, and finally landed in the mill dam, where the aeronaut was rescued by a man in a skiff.
To-day Fairmont, with a population of about 10,000, is one of the leading industrial cities of West Virginia. It has factories and plants of all kinds, in which lies the great wealth of the city. Plants are located here which none can excel in efficiency or capacity. The Fairmont Window Glass Com- pany. the Owens Bottle Works, the Monongah Glass Com- pany, the Fairmont Mining Machine Company, and the Con- solidated Coal Company are the largest and most important industries of the city.
The Fairmont Mining Machine Company, organized 1905, is capitalized at $500.000.00 and employs 250 people. Exclu- sive of the jobbing business, it has an annual output of about $400,000.
The Monongah Glass Company, organized in 1903, is doing a large business. The Owens Bottling Works is per- haps the largest factory of its kind in the State. having a capacity of 360.000 bottles per day. and employing about 300 men.
In spite of the great disadvantages under which the people of Fairmont are laboring by reason of the rough, hilly surface on which to build, they are bravely pushing ahead and are literally carving out a beautiful city on the mountain side and hill tops overlooking the historic Monongahela, and what may appear a disadvantage in some ways is really a great advan- tage in others. Nature has furnished a natural drainage, which together with the elevated position, makes Fairmont one of the most sanitary and most healthful locations possessed by any city in the State.
Though located in the heart of a great coal field, the city is set apart from the mine openings and thus escapes the smoke and dust incident to mining operations, and there is nothing about the town to indicate their near presence other than the business that accompanies such operations.
Active coal mining operations began at Fairmont about 1870.
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GRAFTON, the county seat of Taylor County, was in- corporated as a town March 15, 1856. It is located on the Tygart's Valley River, about 100 miles from Wheeling and Parkersburg and 294 miles from Baltimore. The place is not favorably situated for the making of a great city, the country being hilly and very steep on the east side of the river where the business part of the town is located. The population in 1890 was 3159 ; in 1900, 5650; in 1910, 7503.
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad shops and round-house are located here and have for many years been the principal industry of the town. On the west side is located the beautiful National Cemetery, where on the 30th of every June thousands of people from miles around gather to do honor to the hun- dreds of soldiers whose remains here make up the Silent City on the beautifully terraced hillside.
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