USA > West Virginia > Prominent men of West Virginia: biographical sketches, the growth and advancement of the state, a compendium of returns of every election, a record of every state officer; > Part 60
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subject of this sketch, who, whether as employe or employer, has never measured his devotion to the interests entrusted to his charge by the amount of salary, or by the ease and comfort of his personal convenience.
Mr. Frew is pre-eminently a self-made and a self-educated man, and yet few men in business can write a better letter, more pointed and terse, or one spelled more correctly and expressed more gram- matically. This results from a naturally correct eye and ear, as well as from the training of his occupation as a compositor and proof reader. He has always had the correct and observing eye of an artist in his business, and no master-printer anywhere ex- cels him as a judge of good work, whether executed in plain black or in any variety of colors.
As a man for an exigency, whether by fire or flood, or by rea- son of a strike, or any other unlooked for event, Mr. Frew never fails to come to the front. There are men who are at their best under stress of circumstances, and he is one of them. General Grant gives this in his book as one of the distinguishing traits of General Sherman. He never once in the war disappointed his expectations. He was always on time just where and when he was expected. This is the genius of a real commander, and we have commanders in peace as well as in war, and in small spheres as well as large ones. Mr. Frew has always filled a sphere ot this modest sort, after the faithful and efficient manner of " Old Tecumseh" in war. He never lets down while the emergency exists or the battle is on. He is a "stayer" in all his under- takings. With this much by way of general introductory com- ment in regard to Mr. Frew's position before the public, we pro- ceed to give the following biographical epitome of his career from boyhood up to the present time :
John Frew, son of Alexander Frew, (who, though not wealthy, was a well-to-do citizen of his day,) and Esther Scott Frew, was born October 17, 1835, near the town of Antrim, county An- trim, Ireland. His parents came with their family to America in 1838, and shortly after their arrival, located at Steubenville, Ohio. John worked the larger portion of two years in a cotton mill, and attended the public and private schools during the sum- mer seasons. The greater part of his education, which, in many respects, is a thorough one, was obtained in the printing office- one of the best schools open to men of good minds and indus-
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trious habits. He began the printing business, in 1848, with Wilson & Harper, of the Steubenville Journal, and served his apprenticeship in the Herald office at Steubenville, under the veteran editor and publisher, W. R. Allison. He came to Vir- ginia in 1852, and established himself as a printer in Wheeling, working for a few months in the office of The Argus, which was published by John Dunham. His next employment was one year in the Times office, a newspaper published by E. R. Bartleson. In August, 1853, he began work at $5 a week in the Intelligencer job office. At that time Messrs. Swearingen & Taylor were publishers and proprietors of the Intelligencer. He worked nearly three years in that position, and in April, 1856, was promoted to the position of foreman of the job department of the establish- ment, at a greatly increased salary. He remained in charge of the job office through the proprietorship of J. H. Pendleton & Co., Beatty & Co., and Campbell & McDermot, until January, 1866, when he became one of the proprietors of the Intelligencer, under the firm name of Campbell, Frew & Co. At that time he was made business manager of the establishment, and has con- tinued, without interruption, in that responsible position to the present day.
Mr. Frew, during his connection with the Daily Intelligencer, has witnessed the wonderful, yet steady and solid growth of that newspaper. Although for many years it has been one of the well established and leading journals of the Ohio Valley, the plant has gone on growing, and the influence of the paper has constantly widened, until it has reached the value and rank of a metropol- itan newspaper. It has all of the modern appliances; issues daily, semi-weekly, and weekly editions; has an extensive book and job department and bindery, and turns out anything and everything from a label to a perfectly bound book. To Mr. Frew's good judgment and practical knowledge of every department of the business, the paper's wonderful success is, in a large measure, due. When necessary to do so, he can go into any department of the establishment and turn his hand to anything necessary to be done. The writer has seen him, during a strike, or when some of the mechanical men were sick, working at the case, making up forms, running the presses, and reading proof almost at one and the same time. No wonder a printing establishment proves a financial success with such a business manager as this.
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Mr. Frew, although an intense Republican, has no taste for the ins and outs of political life. He never sought public position. He was several times, however, draughted into the service of his party, and acted as a member of Council from the Seventh ward in 1865 and '66; was elected Public Printer in 1866, and was twice re-elected, continuing in office until the change of admin- istration in March, 1871; and was an active member of the Board of Commissioners of Ohio county from 1876 to 1880. In 1880 he was a candidate for the Legislature from Ohio county, but was defeated along with the balance of the ticket. In January, 1881, he was the candidate of his party for Mayor of Wheeling, and was defeated by a strict party vote. He was an Elector-at-Large for West Virginia on the Republican ticket in 1884, and in 1888 he was a Delegate-at-Large to the National Republican Conven- tion that nominated Benjamin Harrison for President of the United States. His friends presented his name for Postmaster of Wheeling under the Harrison administration, but he withdrew of his own accord before action was taken thereon.
Mr. Frew has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Mary E. Pearce, of Steubenville, Ohio, whom he married May 4, 1858. She died January 7, 1872, leaving two daughters, Mary, who is unmarried, and Ida, who is the wife of James K. Hall. He married Mrs. Mary B. Glass, also of Steubenville, July 20, 1876.
Mr. Frew is near six feet tall, and is erect and finely propor- tioned. His countenance is open and kindly, yet commanding and dignified. To his subordinates he is always approachable and sympathetic; and while requiring of them their best efforts, he is ever ready to instruct, aid and counsel. He is the embodi- ment of honor and reliability in all his dealings, and for years has been connected with many of the leading industries of Wheeling.
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CAPT. E. W. S. MOORE.
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EDWIN W. S. MOORE.
DWIN W. S. MOORE is a tall, portly man, with a broad, high forehead, heavy mustache, large, intelligent eyes, fluent in speech, a well rounded body, and withal a genial, in- telligent, energetic, agreeable gentleman. He was born at Fairmont, Virginia, September 17, 1845. His parents were John J. and Eglantine Moore, of Fairfax county, Virginia. They were among the earliest settlers of Middletown, after- wards named Fairmont, Marion county. Edwin attended the schools of East Virginia and of his native town for a number of years, and had special training under the direction of Professor W. R. White, D. D., a teacher of rare attainments, who subse- quently served six years as State Superintendent of Public Schools of West Virginia. At the age of seventeen he left school, and learned the trade of printer, which he followed with great earnestness for several years. Before he reached his ma- jority he began the study of law with the Hon. E. B. Hall, who was at that time Attorney General of the State. He went to Wheeling and continued his legal studies in the office of the distinguished attorneys, Stanton & Allison, and was admitted to practice, December 18, 1867.
Mr. Moore possesses superior clerical and business qualifica- tions, which, with his splendid penmanship, attracted the atten- tion of business men, while he was a very young man, and was the means of securing him ready employment. During the latter part of the civil war he was Deputy Clerk of the Circuit and Deputy Recorder of Marion county, which positions he filled with great acceptability. After his admission to the Bar, in October, 1868, he was, as a Republican, elected Prosecuting Attorney of his native county,-defeating the Hon. A. Brooks Fleming by a handsome majority ; in which office he served the statutory term of two years. He proved himself to be an energetic and successful prosecutor. In 1866 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the State Senate, and was reappointed to the same position in 1867 and '68. In the extra session of 1868, Mr. Moore was elected Secretary of the State Senate to fill the unexpired term of Hon. Ellery R. Hall, deceased, and was re- elected in 1869, '70 and '71, and until the Democrats came into power in the Government of the State. During all this time Mr. Moore was engaged in the active practice of his profession, except when the Legislature was in session.
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In May, 1878, he was appointed an Examiner of Patents in .the Patent Office at Washington, and in April, 1879, he became an Examiner of Pensions in the Pension Office. He remained in this position until January, 1881, when he was made Private If ag Secretary for General Nathan Goff, Secretary of the Navy, and 1cc subsequently filled the same position under Secretary Hunt. In o f an nd gre f de January, 1882, he resigned his position in the Navy Department, and accepted the responsible place of Private Secretary of the President of the West Virginia Central Railroad Company, with headquarters at Washington. In April, 1883, he was appointed General Manager of the Coal Department of the com- pany, with headquarters at Baltimore, which position he still holds. November 19, 1884, he was elected Secretary of the company, and November 8, 1886, he was made its Treasurer, and has since held both offices, which he has filled with entire satisfaction to the stockholders and officers of the company.
February 23, 1885, Mr. Moore was united in marriage with Miss Katharine W., daughter of Mrs. Mary E. Lee, widow of Captain Wellington S. Lee, who was killed in Tennessee, while serving in an Illinois regiment, during the late war. One child Eglantine Lee Moore, was born to them June 13, 1888.
During the early part of the late war, Mr. Moore, like most of the patriotic boys at that time, felt called upon to volunteer in the army of the United States. Accordingly he ran away from home, and was examined for the service. Being quite young, and in delicate health, his father objected to his enlist- ment, and caused him to return home. His only military ser- vice therefore during the war was as Orderly Sergeant of the Fairmont company of State Militia in the "Jones Raid" in that portion of the State during the early period of the rebellion. Soon after the raid referred to, he was commissioned a Lieuten- ant in the Militia. In 1876 he was elected and served as Cap- tain of the Davis Light Guards, a well drilled and thoroughly equipped company of State troops.
Although required to reside in Baltimore, in the discharge of his duties as Secretary and Treasurer of the West Virginia Cen- tral Railroad Company, Captain Moore loves the hills and vales of his native State, West Virginia, and is deeply interested in her prosperity.
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RICHARD E. FAST.
T HE subject of this sketch has gained for himself distinction above the average for one of his years. Just past 30 years of age, he has been elected Mayor of Morgantown three times in uccession ; was chosen five years ago by the voters of his county o fill the office of Clerk of the Circuit Court; during the last campaign was a candidate for Elector on the Republican ticket ; und since 1886 he has been a member of the Republican Con- gressional Committee for the Second District. He is an example of what thrift and energy make possible for those who are bur- lened with adversity, and whose early life gives no promise of more than ordinary things, except by self-exertion and ardent ambition. His early life found him without monetary aid to cultivate the strong mind that was his only inheritance, and when quite young he learned that intellectual culture is a safe stepping-stone to greater things.
October 31, 1858, in Marion county, West Virginia, Richard E. Fast made his advent into this world. He is a son of Richard Fast and his second wife, Letha Jacobs. His father, for many years a Justice of the Peace, remained a firm friend of the Union at the breaking out of the Civil War, and with Hon. Fontain Smith as his colleague, represented Marion county in the Legis- lature under the restored government of Virginia. In the fall of 1864 the father removed with his family to one of his farms near Smithtown, Monongalia county, where, in April, 1865, he died. The son, being of slight build and delicate constitution, was early put to school by his mother and given those advantages of education which her means would allow. He was a diligent student, and was in a few years master of the branches prescribed in the public schools, and became a teacher in the public schools at the age of 17. He taught for a few years, and with but two exceptions, received the highest grades of certificates on exam- inations. In 1880 he began a special course of study at the West Virginia University, preparatory to the study of the law. In 1886 he was graduated from the law department of this Uni- versity, and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In a short time after graduation he was granted license to practice in the courts of West Virginia. In the active practice of his pro- fession, however, he has never engaged, for the reason that at the time of securing his license, he held the position of Clerk of
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A.LITTLE
RICHARD E. FAST.
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the Circuit Court, and has remained the incumbent of that office since. Most of this time he has been and still is a Commissioner in Chancery, where he has distinguished himself by the fairness, accuracy and systematic arrangement of his work.
In the fall of 1882 he was made a Deputy in the County Clerk's office, and served in that capacity until January 1, 1885, when he qualified as Clerk of the Circuit Court, to which office he had been elected by several hundred majority at the election held in October preceding. In politics he has taken an active part, being an ardent and aggressive Republican, and has done effective work in several campaigns. As Mayor of Morgantown he lends his aid to the policy which makes the most improve- ment from a given income. He is a cautious but firm executive officer. His municipal administration has been the cause of much commendation. The town has improved; streets have been graded, sidewalks systematically put down, natural gas for fuel and lights introduced, the water works established.
In December, 1883 he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of William N. Stewart. In January, 1889, his wife died, leaving one child, Richard Raymond, a little past three years old. He now lives in a neat residence on Willey street, in Morgantown, and is noted for his hospitality to his friends.
GEORGE CROW.
N their old Homestead farm near Angerona, Jackson county, of this State, one of our oldest and most respected citizens is still living, with the wife of his youth, at the age of 85. We allude to George Crow, whose portrait accompanying this sketch would hardly indicate a man so nearly a centennar- ian. He was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, March 27, 1804. His father moved to Monroe county, Ohio, March, 1812, where George grew to manhood, married in 1828 and lived there, with the exception of one year in Illinois, until 1847. During that residence in Ohio, he held several important offices of trust, including Postmaster and Justice of the Peace, and was also engaged in farming and stock dealing.
In March, 1847, he removed to his present farm in Jackson county, Virginia, and continued to deal in stock in connection with his agricultural pursuits. In the fall of 1851 he was
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A.LITTLE
HON. GEORGE CROW.
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elected to represent Jackson county in the Virginia Legislature of 1852, was re-elected and served two sessions. In that body he was on the committee to examine the First Auditor's office, and on that to investigate the Treasurer's accounts. He also introduced several internal improvement bills, which were sub- sequently passed and became laws.
When the new State of West Virginia was created, he was elected to again represent Jackson county in the Legislature of 1872-3, in which body he was placed on the Judiciary Commit- tee. It will be remembered that this Legislature, as well as that of the old State in 1852-3, met immediately after the adoption by the people of a new constitution, and, consequently, in each the labors of legislators were greatly increased, in all of which Mr. Crow took a conspicuous part.
George Crow is a strong believer in the fact that Providence rules the affairs of men, and especially believes that he has been watched over and cared for by kind Providence all along his nearly century life. He is the father of seven children, all grown, prosperous and honored, and all happily married. He can say, what hardly another as aged a man can relate, there has never been a death in his family. He has not grown old, but age has crept on him, and now, in his decrepitude, with a mind unimpaired, he has sat down in the easy chair he has earned to permit his son George to manage his farm and grazing interests. He is a type of the better men our fathers were.
JOSEPH S. MILLER.
T HE selection by President Cleveland in 1885 of the then State Auditor of West Virginia to be Commissioner of In- ternal Revenue for the United States, was gratifying to not only the political friends of the appointee, but to every citizen who had any pride in his State or joy in the successful ambition of her prominent men. He had then attained a wide reputation as one of the ablest Auditors ever in charge of State finances, and in his faithful management of the National sources of revenue and collections therefrom he added to his already excellent rep- utation.
He was born near Barboursville, Cabell county, Virginia, in 1848. His father, William Miller, was a prominent farmer, and 57
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A.LITTLE.
HON. D. M. HARR.
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the son spent the hours of early boyhood in ordinary farm work, with an occasional school term in winter. He was educated at Beach Grove Academy, Kentucky; is a lawyer by study and admission to the Bar, but never practiced. At the age of twen- ty-one he made entry into public life as the elected clerk of the Circuit Court of Cabell county. In 1872 he was elected clerk of the County Court, his term beginning January 1, 1873. In that year and the next he was a member of the town council of Barboursville, the county seat.
He was named by the Democratic party and elected in 1876 to the Auditor's portfolio of the State for four years, from March 4, 1877; and when, in 1880, his term had nearly expired, he was re-nominated, and no one in his party was found to op- pose him. He was elected and held office until March 4, 1885, and, without interval of a day, accepted the tendered Commis- sionership of National Internal Revenue, and located in Wash- ington City for four years. His administration of the responsible trust, almost equal in dignity and patronage to a Cabinet office, was universally acceptable, and upon his retirement by resigna- tion with the advent of the Harrison regime, many were the handsome tributes of confidence bestowed upon him by subor- dinates, confreres and friends of opposing politics.
He was a prominent candidate for Governor before the nomi- nating State Convention of his party in 1884, but withdrew. He is a man of great popularity in his native State.
DAVID MORGAN HARR.
IN the recent contest before the joint session of the Legisla- I
ture to elect a United States Senator the few recognized labor members held the balance of power over parties, and their votes gave interest to the occasion. One of these, David M. Harr, was the delegate from Marion, whose face is seen in the accom- panying portrait. He was born, December 17, 1856, at Fair- mont, Virginia, a farmers boy ; attended winter schools until 1867. Afterwards taught school, then became a miner and still follows the occupation. His father, Zimori Harr is a native of Marion county. His grandmother Morgan was a sister of the great Indian fighter. In 1885 he wedded Mary Scott Patton, a descendant of Mary Omen Scott, on her mother's
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side. He was nominated to the House of Delegates in 1889 by the Union Labor party, and endorsed by the Democrats, and elected by 124 majority. He is on the committee of Mines and Mining, chairman of Penitentiary and Contingent Expenses, and Grievances.
AARON LYON PURINTON.
R ESULTS in life are usually obtained by simple means and the use of ordinary qualities. Every day life, with its cares, duties and necessities, affords ample opportunities for acquiring knowledge and experience of the greatest practical value; and, ordinarily speaking, the road to human welfare is along the common highway of steadfast well-doing. This is unquestion- ably true, if we confine ourselves to what is generally regarded as " success " in life ; but it is not necessarily true if restricted to the theory of morals, the realm of philosophy, or the high plane of general or exalted scholarship. Men may be great philoso- phers, great thinkers, great scholars, and at the same time be regarded, in a worldly sense, as failures. The world is often wrong in classifying a man as wise simply because he may have achieved success, or rather what it calls success. He alone is wise, he alone is great, who is great in wisdom, culture, knowl- edge, character. Yet withal, we cannot deny the truthfulness of the old Latin proverb which says, "Opportunity has hair in front, behind she is bald; if you seize her by the forelock you may hold her, but if suffered to escape, not Jupiter himself can catch her again." The rule is therefore a good one that he who works most wins most ; and as all know that kites rise against, and not with the wind, hence it cannot be claimed that one can pos- sibly work his passage anywhere in a dead calm. Cervantes well said that " every one is the son of his own work." There can therefore be no denial of the fact that work wins. The sub- ject of this sketch from childhood has been a student. A born teacher, he began in early life to equip himself for that most learned of all the learned professions. At thirty-six, and by no means yet at his best, he is a ripe scholar and a successful edu- cator. He has combined scholarship with success, and West Virginia is therefore justly proud of the record he has made.
Professor A. L. Purinton was born at Smithfield, Pennsylva-
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nia, and was brought by his parents to West Virginia, when but five weeks old. He was prepared for college at George's Creek Academy, in his native town, and was subsequently graduated A. B. from the West Virginia University in June, 1875. From 1875 to '77 he taught the Natural Sciences in West Nottingham Academy, one of the oldest and most famous schools in Mary- land. From 1877 to '79 he taught the same branches in Mar- shall College, the West Virginia State Normal School at Hunt- ington. In 1879 he became City Superintendent of Public Schools at Parkersburg, West Virginia, and continued in that position for nine years, making Chemistry and History his special line of study. In 1888, without solicitation upon his part, he was elected Professor of Chemistry in Wake Forest College, North Carolina ; and in 1889 he was elected to the chair of Chemistry in the University of Nashville, one of the really high grade colleges of the South. He has charge of the large and excellent laboratory of this University and of the Peabody Normal College, and has classes numbering one hundred and fifty students and upwards.
To consummate skill in imparting instruction, he joins that peculiar deftness of hand in dealing with and making apparatus for experimental work so necessary to the successful chemist. He is noted, in his school work for thoroughness, the power to incite his pupils to active work, inspiring them with his own boundless enthusiasm, and the good moral influence that he al- ways exerts. Gifted with a good memory and a felicity and power of expression peculiar to but few, and possessed of rare tact and good, sound common sense, it is no wonder that one thus equipped should prove other than a successful teacher.
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