West Virginia and its people, Volume II, Part 70

Author: Miller, Thomas Condit, 1848-; Maxwell, Hu, joint author
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 866

USA > West Virginia > West Virginia and its people, Volume II > Part 70

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reaped well deserved honors. In 1863 he was president of the Ohio Teachers' Association, in 1868 of the National Superintendents' Associa- tion, and of the National Educational Association in 1872; also of the National Council of Education, in 1884 and 1885. He was the mover, in 1866, in a paper read before the National Superintendents' Associa- tion in Washington for the formation of a national bureau of education, and he framed the bill which created it. In the study of educational work and in lecturing, Dr. White traveled extensively ; he was lecturing at Asbury Park, New Jersey, when he was taken with his last sickness. In the Presbyterian church he was for nearly fifty years a ruling elder, and for many years he was president of the board of trustees of Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati. He was an earnest church worker, and sometimes lectured on moral and religious subjects, these lectures being, like his educational works, of unusual excellence.

Dr. Emerson Elbridge White married, at Hudson, Ohio, July 26, 1853, Mary Ann, daughter of Henry Wells and Clarissa (Church) Sabin, who was born at Strongsville, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, October 15, 1827, died July 19, 1901. The Sabin family is of Huguenot origin; the line is as follows: (I) William, died in 1687; went from France to England, settled at Rehoboth, Massachusetts, in 1643. (II) Benjamin, died in 1725; moved to Pomfret, Connecticut. (III) Benjamin, died in 1750. (IV) Elisha, born in 1705, died in 1760; moved to Dudley, Massachu- setts. (V) Elisha, born in 1733, died in 1798; revolutionary soldier ; settled at Rockingham, Vermont. (VI) Levi, born in 1764, died in 1808; physician. (VII) Henry Wells, born April 12, 1795, died March 3, 1871 ; settled at Strongsville, Ohio, died at Hudson, Ohio. Children of Dr. Emerson Elbridge and Mary Ann (Sabin) White were five in num- ber, of whom two now survive, Albert Blakeslee and William Emerson. (IX) Albert Blakeslee, son of Dr. Emerson Elbridge and Mary Ann (Sabin) White, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, September 22, 1856. At the age of fourteen he acted as private secretary to his father, then pub- lishing at Columbus the Ohio Educational Monthly and the National Teacher, and thus he gained his first knowledge of the art of journalism. He was graduated from Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio, as valedic- torian of the large class of 1878. After his graduation he entered jour- nalism, becoming a one-third owner of the Daily Journal, of Lafayette, Indiana. For three years Mr. White was managing editor of that paper. But the climate of that part of the country seriously disagreed with his health, forcing him to seek residence in a section better suited to him. On this account, in December, 1881, he purchased the State Journal, of Parkersburg, West Virginia, and this city has been the place of his abode from that time. Earlier in that year he had received from Mari- etta College the degree of Master of Arts. The State Journal was a weekly paper, printed on a hand press. It was greatly improved by Mr. White. In July, 1883, Mr. S. B. Baker entered into association with him, and they then began to publish a daily edition, which became one of the most successful and influential papers in West Virginia, and as a Republican paper accomplished great things for the party, at that time the minority party in this state. Viewed simply as a newspaper, it opened a new era to the people of Parkersburg. Mr. White has been president of the West Virginia Press Association, and has ably filled other offices in this organization. At the meeting of the National Edi- torial Association in Denver, Colorado, in 1887, he was elected presi- dent, and he presided at the meeting held at San Antonio, Texas, in No- vember, 1888. He has not, however, been engaged in journalism since June, 1899, when he sold his interest in the State Journal. The twenty-

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one years during which he was engaged in newspaper work formed a period of marked success.

Mr. White's entrance into public life came with his appointment to the office of collector of internal revenue for the district of West Vir- ginia, which appointment was received from President Harrison, and took effect in June, 1889. He served under this appointment for four years, and he was appointed for another term of four years in the same office, from June, 1897, by appointment of President Mckinley. In July, 1900, he was unanimously nominated by the Republican party for the office of governor of West Virginia, and this nomination was followed by his election, with the largest majority ever given to any candidate for the governorship of this state, approximately twenty thousand. During his term of office, which extended from March 4, 1901, to March 4, 1905. Governor White stood for soundly progressive policies, but his name is especially associated with the tax laws of West Virginia, which were revolutionized in his administration. By laws passed in Au- gust, 1904, at a special session of the legislature, and amended and per- fected at the ensuing regular session, in January, 1905, the office of state tax commissioner was created, and the state's present system of tax laws was established. When Governor White retired from his office, the great work of "tax reform" was thoroughly imbedded in the statutes of West Virginia, and the working of these new laws has vindicated his judgment and energy in securing their enactment. They have now been in force for nine years, and have given to West Virginia the lowest aver- age tax rates of any state in the Union. Other states have copied these . laws in their own legislation. From March, 1907. to December, 1908, Mr. White served as state tax commissioner. Mr. White has always been active in politics, and has served on county, congressional, and state committees ; for some years he was secretary of the Republican state committee. As a campaign speaker he is both interesting and con- vincing.

Except during the period in which he held office of state tax com- missioner, Mr. White has been actively engaged in business since his re- tirement from the governorship. He assisted in founding and establish- ing the Southern States Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Charles- ton, West Virginia, and of this company he is still first vice-president. In his home city he is president of the Parkersburg Chair Company, and he is president and cashier of the Parkersburg Banking and Trust Company. He is vice-president of the Parkersburg Ice & Coal Com- pany, and vice-president and treasurer of the Ohio Valley Bending Com- pany, which also is a Parkersburg corporation. Mr. White is president of the Briary Mountain Coal Company and is director in a number of other important companies and banks. While he is not a man of wealth, he is an excellent business man. In his whole career, as business man, as journalist, and as public man, Mr. White has led a very active life; he has an exceptional capacity for work, is a man of executive ability, and has acquired wide experience. He has been prominent in those movements which have to do with social betterment and civic improve- ment. Mr. White is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Parkersburg.

He married, at Marietta, Ohio, October 2, 1879, Agnes, daughter of William Skinner and Catharine ( Clark) Ward, of Marietta, Ohio. The Ward family is one of the leading pioneer families of the Ohio valley, and in its line of descent from the immigrant stands General Artemas Ward, the famous leader in the early days of the revolutionary war. The line from the immigrant is: (I) William Ward, died in 1687; freeman at Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1643. (II) Captain William

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Ward, died in 1697. (III ) Colonel Nahum Ward, born about 1684, died in 1754; one of the King's council. ( IV) Artemas Ward, the general. (V) Thomas Waiter Ward, born in 1735, died about 1812; high sheriff of Worcester county, Massachusetts. ( VI) Nahum Ward, came to Marietta, Ohio, in 1811. (VII) William Skinner Ward. Mrs. White is a member of the Colonial Dames and of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Children of Mr. and Mrs. White: 1. Katharine Vaughan, married, February 16, 1905, William H. Wolfe ; three children. 2. Ethel Sabin, married, April 27, 1910, Harry Otis Hiteshew. 3. Grace Rolston, twin of Ethel Sabin, unmarried. 4 Ward Emerson, unmarried. 5. Al- bert Blakeslee, unmarried.

(IX) William Emerson, son of Dr. Emerson Elbridge and Mary Ann ( Sabin) White, was born at Columbus, Ohio, November 6, 1862. His education was begun in the public schools of his native city, and he entered Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana, when his father became president of that institution. He was graduated from Purdue in 1881 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. For the next three years he taught school in Indiana: the last two years of these three he was sup- erintendent of the schools at Albion, Indiana. At the age of twenty-one he received a life certificate to teach in the schools of Indiana. In 1884 Mr. White entered the law department of Cincinnati University, and at the same time became a student in the law office of Champion & Williams. in Cincinnati, Ohio. Graduating in 1886 from this college, he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and was one of the six speakers chosen out of a class of one hundred and five for the exercises of the com- mencement. In the autumn of the same year he went to Winfield, Kan- sas, and there for about seven years he was engaged in the practice of law. For a time he was a member of the firm of Crow & White, at Winfield, afterward of Fink & White. In February, 1893, Mr. White came to Parkersburg. West Virginia, at the solicitation of his brother, Albert Blakeslee White, and here he has lived since that time, having thus been a resident of this city now for twenty years. For several years he continued the practice of his profession, being a partner of William Nis- wonger Miller, now a justice of the supreme court of West Virginia. In July, 1897, he was appointed chief deputy collector of internal revenue for the district of West Virginia, and he has held this office continuously from that time: for about a year in all, at different times, he has acted as collector. Owing to his official duties, Mr. White gradually retired from the practice of the law. In political life he is a Republican, and he formerly took an active part as a speaker in many campaigns. He has never held an elective office, though he has been a candidate for pros- ecuting attorney of Wood county. West Virginia, and for judge of the circuit court. The office of chief deputy collector has been placed under the regulations of the civil service laws, and since that time Mr. White has not actively participated in politics. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church at Parkersburg.

William Emerson White married (first) at Lafayette, Indiana, Sep- tember 22, 1887, Jessie Florence, daughter of Langdon S. and Caroline Thompson, who died at Parkersburg, January 14, 1896. Her father was then a professor in Purdue University, but is now a teacher of drawing in the public schools of Jersey City, New Jersey. Mr. White married (second) at Parkersburg, April 27, 1899. Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel and Mary (Ogden) Gould. Children, both by first marriage : 1. Eleanor Louise, born July 21, 1890 ; graduate of Wilson College, in the class of 1909: now a teacher of modern languages in the high school at Parkers- burg. 2. Langdon Thompson, born June 7, 1894: a student at Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio.

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The history of a country is best studied by comparing REYNOLDS the lives of those men who have achieved records in the discharge of the duties of the public offices to which they have been called. By the results they achieve in filling these responsible positions they aid materially in developing the country to its fullest extent. Among the men who have attained a reputation along these lines in the state of Virginia, now West Virginia, is Judge Francis Marion Reynolds, of Keyser, Mineral county.

Judge Reynolds' grandfather, Cornelius Reynolds, emigrated from Loudoun county, Virginia, and was a pioneer settler near Pruntytown then in Harrison county. Pruntytown later became the county seat of Taylor county after the latter was established from a part of Harrison county. When his grandfather moved to that section it was practically a wilderness and he had to clear the spot where he erected his first home. Judge Reynolds' grandmother's maiden name was Mary Ehart. They had two sons, the elder named William, who moved about the year 1856 to the state of Missouri. Judge Reynolds' father's name was Cornelius Ehart Reynolds. His mother's maiden name was Phoebe Ellen Smith and she was the daughter of a minister.

Judge Reynolds was born September 18, 1843, on the old homestead near the house first built by his grandfather. This house where he was born was located on the Northwestern Turnpike leading from Winches- ter, Virginia, to Parkersburg on the Ohio river, and was at that time one of the main thoroughfares leading toward the west. After remaining on the farm with his father until 1862, and in the meantime attending during the winter months such schools as were then in that vicinity, he became a student at the old Monongalia Academy in Morgantown in the fall of 1862 and continued there until the summer of 1864, when he commenced the study of law in the office of Judge Edward C. Bunker at Morgantown, and was admitted to the bar in 1865. He commenced the practice of his profession at New Creek then Hampshire county, now Mineral county, West Virginia, although he resided for a short time at Romney, the county seat of Hampshire county before the county of Mineral was established. He was married to Belle R. Hennen, oldest daughter of Washington and Justina Hennen, at Morgantown, October, 1866. He has three sons and one daughter still living.

His political support was given to the Republican party from the time he cast his first vote, which was for Abraham Lincoln as president in 1864. His ability as a lawyer was very soon made apparent and he was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney for Mineral county and served two terms of four years each. He also was, at the same time he was first elected prosecuting attorney of Mineral county, elected prosecuting attorney of Grant county and continued to hold the latter office for three consecutive terms of four years each and was after -! wards assistant to his law partner, L. J. Forman, as prosecuting at- torney for three terms of four years each. He also served three terms as a member of the legislature of West Virginia, 1895-96, 1901-02 and 1903-04, including the extra session of July, 1904, when the new tax system for West Virginia was adopted. During all of these terms he served at each session as chairman of the finance committee and was a member of the judiciary committee and also other committees. He was chosen Republican nominee for congress to represent the second district of West Virginia in 1884, having William L. Wilson as his op- ponent. In 1896 he was chosen as a delegate at large to the Republican convention, which met at St. Louis, and served on the committee on platform, and was one of a few members who at that time voted to put in the platform an unqualified declaration in favor of the single gold

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J. J. Snodgrass

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standard, which was soon afterwards adopted by congress. In 1890 he was the nominee of the Republican state convention for judge of the supreme court of appeals against Daniel B. Lucas. He was chosen mayor of the town of Keyser and filled this office very acceptably. He was also chosen as a member of the common council of the town, and a member of the board of education, in which positions his services were in demand. He was appointed a member of the board of regents for the Deaf and Blind Schools at Romney, and was elected president of that board in 1897, and continued in that position until he was elected judge of the sixteenth judicial circuit at the election of 1904, which cir- cuit is composed of the counties of Mineral, Grant and Tucker, and he was again re-elected in 1912 to serve a second term of eight years and continues in that service at the present time.

Among the financial institutions and other business corporations with which Judge Reynolds is connected was the Keyser Bank, of which he was elected president in 1887, and continued to hold that position until that bank was succeeded by the First National Bank of Keyser, and he was then elected president of the latter and still continues to hold that position. He has been president of the Keyser Electric Light Company ever since it commenced business in 1894, also director in the Piedmont Grocery Company, Potomac Milling & Ice Company and the Siever Hardware Company.

He keeps in close touch with religious matters and became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1871 and has been an official mem- ber of the church ever since. He was also chosen superintendent of the Sunday school the same year and has been re-elected to that posi- tion ever since, holding the office for forty-two years.

SNODGRASS This family is of Scottish origin. A family of the same name is found in Ritchie county, West Virginia, but does not seem to be closely connected with the present family.

(I) William Snodgrass, the founder of this family, left Scotland early in 1700, during one of the Scottish feuds, and finally came to the American colonies, settling on what is now Back Creek, Berkeley county, Virginia. He was a farmer, in religion a Presbyterian. He is buried in the churchyard of Mount Zion Church, Hedgesville, Virginia. He mar- ried Catharine Patterson. Children, several, the third son being Robert, of whom further.

(II) Robert, son of William and Catharine (Patterson) Snodgrass, married, March 31, 1762, Susannah Rawlings. Among their children, the seventh was William, of whom further.

(III) William (2), son of Robert and Susannah (Rawlings) Snod- grass, was born in 1775, died in 1835. He married Nancy Fryatt. She was a descendant of Archbishop Tillotson, of Canterbury, England. Her parents were wealthy in England, and brought with them to America much silver plate and other valuables, beside fine horses and household goods. They owned a large estate in Berkeley county, and were buried in their own family burying ground. Some of their library is in posses- sion of various descendants, and among these works are many volumes of sermons of Archbishop Tillotson. They were members of the Church of England. Among the children of William and Nancy (Fryatt) Snod- grass, the second was John Fryatt, of whom further.

(IV) John Fryatt, son of William (2) and Nancy (Fryatt) Snod- grass, was born March 4, 1802, in Berkeley county, Virginia, died at Parkersburg, Wood county, Virginia, June 5, 1854. He was of a bril-

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liant mind, a fine student, and received a liberal education at college. He moved to Parkersburg and there began the practice of law. In the history of his time he was prominent in business, social and political life, noted for his skill as a lawyer, and also figured conspicuously in the affairs of the nation. The house now used as the Blennerhassett Club House at Parkersburg was erected by him, and there he lived; it was one of the finest homes in the west, noted for its hospitality, and many social affairs were held under its roof. Every summer he drove his own coach to the White Sulphur Springs, where also he and his family were always prominent in the social life. In 1850 he was a delegate to the state con- stitutional convention held at Richmond. The Baltimore & Ohio rail- road had not then been built. He was drawn in his own coach by way of Staunton, having relays of horses at convenient points. To the thirty- third congress he was elected as a representative as a Democrat. The Democratic party nominated him for governor of Virginia, and he had just received this nomination at the time of his death, which occurred at his home at Parkersburg. He was always ready to lend money to those in need and to assist those who asked his help. Interest paid with a load of wood or in potatoes satisfied him. He married ( first) in 1837, Louisa Kinnaird. She was a noted southern beauty, and was descended from the Kinnairds of the Scottish nobility. He married (second) Virginia Quarrier. Children of John Fryatt Snodgrass : 1. John William, mar- ried Eunice Hall. 2. Kinnaird, of whom further. 3. Lucy, married G. K. Storm, the celebrated portrait painter. 4. Mary Louisa, married George H. Murphy, a prominent attorney of Baltimore. 5. Sara Vir- ginia, married Edward Wilcox.

(V) Kinnaird, son of John Fryatt and Louisa ( Kinnaird) Snod- grass, was born at Parkersburg, May 30, 1838, died at Parkersburg, February II, 1907. He received a thorough and liberal education, and graduated with honor from St. James College at the age of nineteen. On June 11, 1859, he was admitted to the bar of Parkersburg. In 1862 he retired to his farm at Williamstown, Wood county, West Virginia, where he resided until 1878; in that year he returned to Parkersburg. He lived an honorable, upright, useful life, exemplary in all respects. His intellect was bright, yet pure; his disposition warm and genial; his character firm and resolute. Devoted to his family and true to his friends, straightforward in all his dealings, ever ready to assist others, he won the love and commanded the respect of all who knew him, and his friends were legion. Although he could never be classed as an office seeker, he held many positions of responsibility, and in these he served the public ably and satisfactorily, so that his life is an important part of the history of Wood county. Under the West Virginia constitution of 1863, he served as a member of the board of supervisors. From Janu- ary I, 1877, to January 1, 1881, he presided as judge of the county court, which then had jurisdiction of law and chancery cases and administered the fiscal affairs of the county also. He served as commissioner of the circuit court from September 4, 1879, until he resigned November 27, 1887 ; from July 1, 1887, to July 1, 1889, he was recorder or judge of the police court. He was deputy clerk of the county court from June 23, 1890, to January 12. 1904: and from October 8, 1883, until his death, he was commissioner of accounts. Whatever Judge Snodgrass did was always well done.

He married, at Marietta, Ohio, October 24, 1865, Sarah R. Bukey, who died January 17, 1907. She was a woman of lovely charm. Chil- dren : 1. William, superintendent of the Waters-Pierce Oil Company, at Tampico, Mexico ; married Selina Bakewell Martin, of a New Mar- tinsville, West Virginia, family. 2. George Lewis, well known in social

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and club life. He is a member of the fire insurance firm of Burwell & Snodgrass. 3. Kinnaird, an enterprising young business man of Park- ersburg, and a member of the firm of Shattuck & Jackson, wholesale grocers of Parkersburg: in this firm he holds the offices of secretary and assistant manager. 4. Virginia Quarrier, married John A. Luttrell. 5. Nannie. 6. Lucy. 7. Juliet.

SNODGRASS Ezekiel C. Snodgrass, the first member of this family about whom we have definite information, was a law- yer, and practiced his profession many years in Mar- ion, Wetzel, and other neighboring counties of northwestern Virginia. He married Lavinia Arnett. Children: Ellery B., of whom further : Colum- bus A., a lawyer ; William G., a lawyer ; Robert E. L., a lawyer : Charles R., a merchant ; Thomas J. J., a merchant : Clarence H. : Victoria ; Helen ; Minnie ; Cora.

(II) Ellery B., son of Ezekiel C. and Lavinia (Arnett) Snodgrass, was born at Mannington, Marion county, Virginia, October 30, 1852, died February 15, 1907. Coming to New Martinsville, Wetzel county, West Virginia, he here practiced law thirty-five years. He was a mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. At one time he was mayor of New Martinsville, and for a number of years he was president of the board of education. He married Mary Belle, daughter of John and Mary Barrick. Children: Glen, of whom further; Virginia F., married A. C. Chapman ; Margaret C.

(III) Glen, son of Ellery B. and Mary Belle ( Barrick) Snodgrass, was born at New Martinsville, October 6, 1881. His education was begun in the public schools. Desiring to follow the profession of his father and grandfather, he studied in the law department of the Uni- versity of West Virginia, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1902. Until the death of his father he practiced with him at New Mar- tinsville : since his death he has practiced alone at the same place. Mr. Snodgrass has been editor of the Wetsel Democrat since May 25, 1908. From 1905 to 1911 he was recorder of New Martinsville, and in 1912 was elected prosecuting attorney of Wetzel county. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

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West Virginia and its people, Volume II, Part 70

Author: Miller, Thomas Condit, 1848-; Maxwell, Hu, joint author Publication date: 1913 Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 866

Author: Miller, Thomas Condit, 1848-; Maxwell, Hu, joint author
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 866