USA > West Virginia > West Virginia and its people, Volume II > Part 87
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Mr. Shaw is also president of the Barboursville Board of Trade, which he organized over a year ago, and which is composed of over one hundred leading business men of the town and county. It has been doing great service in the matter of advancing the interests of the community. He put this organization behind a big celebration which was held in Bar- boursville, June Ist to 6th this year, (1913), in commemoration of the
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hundredth anniversary of the town and county, the fiftieth of the state, the twenty-fifth of Morris Harvey College, and the tenth of Barbours- ville's rebirth and rejuvenation, which was attended by many thousands of people from all parts of the country, and has been pronounced the most successful affair of the kind ever held in the state.
Mr. Shaw is a Democrat, and has filled many important offices n the organization of his party in recent campaigns. His church is the Methodist Episcopal, South. He has not married. He enjoys a wide acquaintance throughout the state, and few men of his age are better Known within its confines.
BRYANT This family is of ancient descent, dating back to Sir Guy de Briant, who was prominent in the time of Edward III, and whose descendants had a seat in Castle Hereford, Wales. The arms of the English family are: Three piles meeting near the base of the escutcheon, color azure. This name is variously spelled Briant and Bryant, but the persons bearing the name trace their descent to a common ancestor. The family is especially prominent in America, being one of the first to settle in this country. The first of this name to settle in Massachusetts was John Bryant, who was in Scituate as early as 1689. The progenitor of the family in West Virginia was Elias Briant, who settled in Nelson county, Virginia. Soon after the revolutionary war his sons located in various sections of the country.
(I) R. M. Bryant, a descendant of Elias Briant, was born in Nicholas county, West Virginia. He attended the schools of his native county, and at an early age began the life of a farmer. He has been engaged in farming for many years in Nicholas county, where he owns a fine estate of four hundred acres. He makes a specialty of stock raising. He mar- ried Mary A., daughter of Lawrence Stanard, a prosperous farmer in Nicholas county. He was killed on the railroad, in his seventy-ninth year.
(II) Charles Ernest, son of R. M. and Mary A. (Stanard) Bryant, was born in Summersville, Nicholas county, West Virginia, August 21, 1879. He was educated in the public schools of his native county, and at an early age learned the carpenter's trade. He enlisted in 1902 in the Twenty-eighth United States Infantry, and was later transferred to the Twenty-fifth Company, Coast Artillery. He was stationed at Manila, later at Fort Miley, California. He was mustered out of service in Jan- uary, 1905, and in a few months returned to his native town, where he worked for a time at the carpenter's trade. In 1906 he graduated from the Cincinnati College of Embalming, and in 1907 began the undertaking and embalming business in Richwood, West Virginia. In 1909 he removed to Logan, where he was employed in the same line of business with the Guyan Furniture Company until October, 1911. He was then employed by the Logan Mercantile Company. In November, 1912, he entered the undertaking business for himself in Logan. While residing in Richwood, West Virginia, in 1908 and 1909, he served as town assessor and tax col- lector. During the time he served as an officer in that town he gained great prominence for his bravery in making an arrest. While making this arrest, an outsider interferred and shot Mr. Bryant, breaking his right arm. Mr. Bryant with his left hand shot his assailant through the head, causing his death in two hours. He was exonerated by the public, and highly commended in thus ending the career of one of the worst citizens of the city. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge of Summersville. He was married, November 24, 1910, to Alice Hinchman, of Logan county, daughter of George R. Hinchman.
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Charles C. Schmidt, late mayor of the city of Wheeling, SCHMIDT maintained his home in Wheeling since boyhood, and no further evidence of his accomplishment and of his high standing in the esteem of the community could he asked than is offered in his having been chosen as chief executive of the municipal government of the fair metropolis of West Virginia, where he served three terms in this office. To have thus been retained so long a period as mayor of the city shows that his administration of municipal affairs was efficient, progres- sive and acceptable, and none took a deeper interest in the furtherance of measures and enterprises tending to advance the material and civic pros- perity of the city. Mayor Schmidt gave to his official duties, the strength, loyalty and broad-minded policies of a resolute, independent and sterling character, and no citizen enjoyed a fuller measure of popular confidence and approbation. Mayor Schmidt died suddenly August 24th, 1912. The whole city was cast in the deepest gloom, and the citizens felt that they had not only lost an able and honest official, but a true and benevolent friend, one whose many deeds of kindness and help given during his life did not fully materialize until his death. He died at the zenith of his career, and has left a heritage that will remain forever.
Charles C. Schmidt was born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, on the 7th day of January, 1853, and here he gained his early educational dis- cipline in the public schools. He was a son of the late Captain Charles C. and Millie (Dittes) Schmidt, hoth of whom were born at Wurtemburg, Germany. The father devoted the major part of his active career to the shoe business, and both he and his wife passed the closing years of their lives in Washington, Pennsylvania, secure in the high esteem of all who knew them. The future mayor of Wheeling was a lad of sixteen years at the time of establishing his home in this city, in 1869, and in the same year he became an employee of Anton Reymann, with whom he continued to be actively associated during the long intervening years within which he became a partner in the brewing business that was es- tahlished many years ago by his honored friend and associate. He gained success and precedence through his own well directed endeavors, and was an influential factor in public affairs in his home city. He was a member of the directorate of the National Bank of West Virginia and also that of the Central Glass Works, besides which he was a director of each the West Virginia State Fair Association, the Altenheim Home for the Aged, the Associated Board of Charities in Wheeling, and the local Elks. Club.
In politics Mayor Schmidt was ever found enrolled as a stalwart sup- porter of the cause of the Democratic party, and his special eligibility for positions of public trust did not long lack objective appreciation. He served as president of the board of public works for two terms of four years each, and he represented the Fourth Ward in the first branch of the city council for twelve consecutive years. In 1904 he was first elected mayor of Wheeling, and his record in this office was admirable in every way. The popular estimate placed upon his administration was shown in the fact that he was elected three consecutive terms, two terms of two- years each, and one term of four years, and the people of the city well realized that its affairs were well placed in the loyal and effective care of its chief executive.
Mayor Schmidt was affiliated with the local organizations of the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the National Union, the Order of Unity, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks. He was specially active in the af- fairs of this last named fraternity, in which he was elected as grand trus- tee of the Grand Lodge, in the city of Philadelphia, in 1907, for a term of
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three years, at the expiration of which, at the convention held in Detroit, Michigan, in 1910, he was re-elected for the long term of five years He served eight years as exalted ruler of Wheeling lodge, No. 28, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks. A man of democratic and genial per- sonality, staunch in his loyalty and ever considerate of the opinions of others, Mayor Schmidt had a circle of friends that was essentially coin- cident with that of his acquaintances.
On the 7th of June, 1878, at the home of the bride's parents on West Main street in the city of Wheeling, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Schmidt to Miss Minnie Dauber, who was here born and reared and who is a daughter of the late George J. Danber. The three children of this union are: Nellie, who is now the wife of James M. Collins, of Wheel- ing. He is now engaged in the manufacturing of electrical supplies in Wheeling. Frank L., who is engaged in the drug business in this city. He attended the University of Virginia four years and then entered the College of Pharmacy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he graduated, after which he engaged in the drug business at the corner of Market and Fourteenth streets, Wheeling. He married Miss Sarah McLure, daugh- ter of H. W. McLure, a representative citizen and business man of Wheeling. Carl O. attended the first (Linsly ) institute. Wheeling, later the Washington and Jefferson College at Washington, Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of the University of Virginia, class of 1912. He was ad- mitted to the bar in July, 1911, at the age of twenty years.
BRUMFIELD William Mayer Brumfield, of Huntington, president of the Brumfield Shoe Company, is a true type of the progressive business man, and also a scion of good old southern stock, thus furnishing a triumphant refutation of the oft- repeated assertion that progressiveness is a characteristic distinctively northern.
(I) Rev. James Brumfield, grandfather of William Mayer Brumfield, was born at Marion Court House, Virginia, and was a minister of the Baptist church. In politics he was an old-line Whig. He died in 1882, having attained to the venerable age of ninety-six.
(II) James Dudley, son of Rev. James Brumfield, was born in Rich- mond, Virginia, and was a manufacturer of coffins and general burial supplies. At the age of fifteen he joined the Confederate army, enlisting in a North Carolina cavalry regiment and serving throughout the entire four years. He married Rachel -, born in Dallas, North Carolina, and they were the parents of the following children: William Mayer, mentioned below; Buena Vista, born June 20, 1869; Rachel, died at the age of fifteen years; Annie, now the wife of William Wild, of Philadel- phia. The mother of these children died when the eldest was but five years old. Mr. Brumfield has retired from business and is living at Char- lotte, North Carolina.
(III) William Mayer, son of James Dudley and Rachel Brumfield, was born August 18, 1867, at Charlotte, North Carolina. He received his education in the public schools of his native place. After leaving school he worked on a farm until the age of sixteen, when he went to Greenville, South Carolina, and became a clerk in the shoe store of the firm of Morgan Brothers. After remaining with them four years he proceeded to Atlanta, Georgia, and went on the road as a shoe salesman for M. C. & J. F. Kiser & Company, with whom he remained another four years. At the end of that time he went to Richmond, Virginia, where he became a travelling salesman for Roberts & Hoge, wholesale shoe dealers, retaining the position two years, and then going to Cincinnati, where for
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five years he was assistant manager of the shoe department of the firm of Mabley & Carew. His next removal was to Charles Town, West Vir- ginia, where for three years he held the position of manager of the May Shoe Company. On November 12, 1906, Mr. Brumfield came to Hunt- ington and organized the Brumfield Shoe Company, his brother, Buena Vista Brumfield, being the other member of the firm. Their place of business has from the first been situated on Fourth avenue, and the enter- prise has from the very beginning been attended by marked success. Mr. Brumfield has been throughout his life, thus far, a man of action and enterprise, and these qualities, combined with sound judgment, have laid the foundation of his present prosperity. In politics Mr. Brumfield is an Independent, holding himself aloof from partisanship. He affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the U. C. T., and is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Brumfield married (first) February 20, 1896, at Louisville, Ken- tucky, Helen M. Engle, born at Altoona, Pennsylvania, died March 18, 1907. Of this marriage there were no children. Mr. Brumfield married (second) July 16, 1911, Mrs. Maud Jones, born at Guyandotte, daughter of John and Emma A. Mather. Mr. Mather died in 1903, and Mrs. Mather, now seventy years old, is living at Guyandotte. Mrs. Brumfield has two children by her former marriage: Richard; Teresa, now the wife of Thomas Smith, of Huntington.
RUSSELL The Russell family from which Horatio Wilmer Russell is descended came originally from Chester county, Penn- sylvania. Alexander Russell, grandfather of Horatio Wilmer Russell, was born in Lower Oxford township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, April 15, 1780. His occupation was that of farming, and he was a Presbyterian in his religious beliefs. He married, March 25, 1817, Hannah Dickey, who was born March 25, 1798, and died February 14, 1883. Their children were: John, James, Jackson, Andrew, Isabella Jane ; and William Crosby, of whom further.
(II) William Crosby, son of Alexander and Hannah (Dickey) Rus- sell, was born in Lower Oxford township, Chester county, Pennsylvania. He like his father followed the occupation of farming. He was a Dem- ocrat in his political views, and in his religious belief a Presbyterian. He married, September 4, 1866, Jennie, daughter of Horatio Allison and Mary Ann (Boyer ) Bunting. Horatio Allison Bunting was born April 21, 1814, and died March 26, 1891, and his wife was born September 10, 1818, and died June 16, 1903. Jennie (Bunting) Russell was born in the same township as her husband, William Crosby Russell, June 22, 1849, and they were married September 4, 1866. Their children: Alva C., born Decem- ber 2, 1867; Horatio Wilmer, of whom further; Norman Leslie, born November 18, 1881. William Crosby Russell died May, 1903, and Jennie (Bunting ) Russell, his wife March 4, 1912.
(III) Horatio Wilmer, son of William Crosby and Jennie ( Bunting) Russell, was born July 21, 1878, in Lower Oxford township, Chester county, Pennsylvania. His education was that of the district school until the fall of 1892, when he left the country school to go to the Oxford high school, Oxford, Pennsylvania, which he entered as senior, graduating in June, 1893. He then attended the Oxford Academy for two years, and then entered the sophmore class of Lincoln University, in the fall of 1895, graduating from this institution in June, 1898, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Deciding to take up the profession of law as his life work, he now entered the Dickinson College School of Law, at Carlisle, Penn-
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sylvania, in the fall of 1898, and in June, 1900, graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws.
Mr. Russell was admitted to the bar of Cumberland county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1900, but never practiced there, and in March, 1901, came to Parkersburg, West Virginia, and was admitted to practice in that city. He has built up here an influential and extensive practice, a partnership having been formed in 1911 with Charles A. Kreps, and the firm going under the style of Kreps & Russell. Mr. Russell is in his political faith a Republican, but he has never desired or sought public office. He is a member of the Presbyterian church. He belongs to the Masonic bodies, the Elks, the Odd Fellows, and the Royal Arcanum. He is also a mem- ber of the Parkersburg Country Club.
Mr. Russell married, September 16, 1903, Carrye A., daughter of Orlando and Flora V. ( Baker) Stevenson. (See Stevenson Line). Or- lando Stevenson was secretary to his father during his term of office as governor of West Virginia. He was by occupation a merchant, and was also an expert bookkeeper. The children of Horatio Wilmer and Carrye A. (Stevenson ) Russell are: Carrye A., and Sarah H.
(The Stevenson Line).
The Stevenson family which has given a governor to the state of West Virginia is of Scotch-Irish origin, and has been for a long time settled in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania.
(I) William Erskine Stevenson was born in Warren, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, March 18, 1820, and was the eldest of a family of nine children. In 1829 he removed to Pittsburgh and was apprenticed to the cabinet-maker's trade, which he thoroughly mastered, as indeed he did everything that he attempted, and he was soon reputed to be one of the best and most skillful workmen in that city. He was a member of all the local debating clubs, and his talents therein displayed first drew to him public attention. In 1856 he was elected to the legislature and took part in that memorable session which resulted in the election of Simon Cameron to the senate of the United States, at a time when the Demo- crats had a majority of one on joint ballot. Before the expiration of his legislative term, in the spring of 1857, he removed to Valley Mills, Wood county, Virginia, where he purchased a small but beautiful farm, and there resided until 1880, when for convenience in business affairs he moved into Parkersburg.
During his residence in Pittsburgh he took an active and prominent part in the politics of the city and state, and was frequently made the recipient of honors by his party. He was also prominent in working cir- cles there, zealously defending the interests of the workingmen, and at the same time exerting his influence in behalf of moderation and good order. During his entire career, on the stump, in the halls of legislation, and as a journalist, the workingman never had a more faithful friend or an abler or more eloquent advocate. When honors had come to him he did not forget his former associations, and would frequently refer to his early life and the struggles that surrounded it. Whether in the shop, on the farm, or in the executive chair, Governor Stevenson was a worker, and possessed a nature so constituted that the glittering honors of the entire world could not cause him to falsify any act, record, or vocation of his past career.
Soon after he located in this state, the stirring scenes that preceded the war began. His temperament would not permit him to remain an idle spectator, and he took an active and prominent part in the politics of the state. At that time distrust and suspicion hovered over every home. Union men hardly knew who were friends and who were not. But about
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Governor Stevenson there was no uncertainty ; his voice sounded for the Union in no ambiguous tone. At that time every northern man was treated with suspicion ; the editor of the New York Tribune had just been indicted in Clarksburg, and subscribers of that paper were obliged to go stealthily across the Ohio river to receive their papers, and had to con- ceal them even from their own neighbors to prevent being indicted. About this time the charge was made against the governor that he was circulating an incendiary document, "Helper's Impending Crisis," a copy of which he had in his library and had loaned to neighbors by request. The charge was brought to the attention of the grand jury and he was indicted in the county court at Parkersburg. The excitement was intense. His life was threatened, and he was advised to leave the state until the excitement had abated. But the governor did not know fear. His only question was "Is it right?" He promptly went to Parkersburg, accom- panied by a large crowd of his neighbors, many of whom were opposed to him politically, but were prompted by the ties of strong friendship, and demanded a trial. Amid the confusion that attended such excite- ments the trial was postponed, and it remains postponed to this day. In the canvass of 1860, upon the question of secession, the governor took an active part, speaking in Wood and surrounding counties, and laboring with untiring zeal for the Union cause. There are three men whose elo- quence and ceaseless labors contributed largely to the vote which that sec- tion of the State gave against secession: Governors Stevenson and Bore- man, and the late John Jay Jackson, all of whom are now dead.
In the formation of the new state he took an active and conspicuous part, being a member of the convention of November 26, 1861. to frame a constitution for the then proposed state. This body, sitting under the shadow of Virginia's historic name and by her restored existence, held its sessions within the echo of war's din and the clash of not distant arms. Delegate Stevenson, by his excellent sense and sagacious judg- ment contributed materially to the success of the convention and after- wards to the ratification of the constitution by the people. He was next elected a member of the state senate, serving therein from July, 1863. to the close of 1868. During the last three years of his legislative term he was president of the senate. In 1868 he was elected governor of the state for the term beginning March 4, 1869, and occupied that position upon the first removal of the capital to Charleston, serving half his term in Wheeling and half in Charleston. He was renominated in 1870, but was defeated in the election by the Hon. John J. Jacob. He was the third and last Republican governor of the state, being preceded by Governors Boreman and Farnsworth. In June, 1871, he became associated with O. G. Scofield in the publication of the State Journal, at Parkersburg, and continued in that connection until its sale in January, 1882. He was made receiver of the West Virginia Oil and Oil Land Company in 1881, and held the position until twelve days before his death, discharging his duties with marked fidelity and ability.
In the local politics of his county the governor was always sought after, and spent his time in some representative position, called by his fellow citizens and generally much against his wishes. He took an ac- tive part in political affairs and was considered one of the most effective and eloquent political speakers in the state. He was always in demand abroad as well as at home, and frequently declined well paid invitations from Maine, Connecticut. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and other states, in the interest of his own state, which he loved with a patriotism sincere. unselfish and devoted. The prominent characteristics of Governor Stev- enson were a strong will, unerring judgment, a large fund of humor, keen knowledge of human nature, rigid devotion to that which he believed to
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be right, and an integrity of character that riches dared not attempt to bribe and power could not corrupt. In all our intercourse with men we have never met with a character more beautiful in simplicity and gentle- ness and more thoroughly honest than his. It can be said of him, what can be included in the obituary of few persons, that no living person can bring against him the charge of a dishonest business transaction in his whole career. Byron's panegyric upon Sheridan, with a slight variation, is applicable here :
"Nature formed but one such man, And broke the die,-in moulding Stevenson."
In the hot political excitements of those days, Governor Stevenson was frequently charged with being a partisan, but this was unjust, as the ordinary acceptation of the term partisan was hardly applicable to one whose nature knew no such thing as hate. His was a singularly well-bal- anced mind, and his great personal dignity of character as well as his kindness of heart caused him to hold in respect the worth and dignity of other men, from whose opinions he differed and also brought about a consideration for the worth of the opinions themselves. His scholarship was wide and profound, though the result of laborious, thorough, and systematic reading rather than of extensive academic training. So wide indeed was his range that he was equally at home in the scientific princi- ples of farming, in those of law and government, or in those of literature and art. As a writer he was forcible, truthful, systematic, humorous, sure of his points, and he never wandered from his theme. His fund of hu- mor was large, and he seldom made a speech whose appeal was not made stronger by that peculiarly human touch. Governor Stevenson was not a member of any evangelical church, but the religious element in his nature was strong and fervent. He was reared in the Calvinistic faith, his par- ents being members of the old Scotch Covenanters. He had an encour- aging word and an open purse for all denominations, and was an unyielding advocate of the chief tenets of Christianity. He was a Sunday School worker all his life, and for twenty years was superintendent of the Sab- bath school in his neighborhood, supporting it with faithful services and liberal donations. No taint or whisper of scandal ever was raised against his private life, and he possessed the love, esteem and confidence of all who knew him. Though his last days were ones of great suffering. a cancerous affection having developed, yet he met that also with the cour- age and dignity that had characterized his whole conduct of life. He ordered the arrangements for his funeral obsequies with the same me- thodical system he had always used for everything, and nine days before his death commissioned a personal friend to read at his funeral a careful prepared statement of his religious convictions. In the simplicity of his character, the sincerity of his purposes. the kindliness of his impulses and in his unflinching integrity and fearlessness, there was a deep similarity with the immortal Lincoln. Through the door of suffering and discipline, beyond the reach of praise or censure, both have gone from mortal duty and left as the heritage to their fellow men, sincere respect, honored memories, and examples worthy of imitation to the end of time.
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