Barbour County West Virginia Biographies
John T. Gainer
John T. Gainer, cashier of the Clay County Bank and
one of the most prominent financiers and esteemed citizens of Clay Court House,
West Virginia, was born May 31, 1871. in Auburn.
Ritchie County, West Virginia. He is a son of
Albert and Susan A. (Loudon) Gainer, the former of whom was born in January,
1848. and the latter on January 2, 1849. Our subject's mother was a daughter of
Thomas Loudon, who removed from Virginia and
settled in Upshur County, West Virginia. She was
born in Gilman County and there was
married to Albert Gainer. The father of the subject of this sketch is a son of
John Gainer and a grandson of Bryan Gain
er, of Irish ancestry, who
removed from Barbour County to what is now Lewis
County, West Virginia. Since 1879 Albert Gainer has
been a traveling salesman.
John T. Gainer was
educated in the common schools and was reared on his father's farm. From the age
of 17 to 19 years he was engaged in clerical work in a general store, and then
entered the Calhoun County Bank at Grantsville as
assistant cashier, where he continued until August 20, 1902, when he accepted
his present position. The Clay County Bank was
organized June 4, 1002, with C. S. Pearcy as its first cashier, our subject
succeeding him. Since taking charge, the capital stock has been increased to
$50,000, and the institution ranks high with others of its kind with respect to
its stability and to the safety and value of its
investments.
Mr. Gainer was married July 28, 1805,
to Minnie A. Jeffries. His second marriage was to Belle Ball, on August 18,
1901. One daughter, Madeline, has been born to this union.
Mr. Gainer is one
of the leading Republicans of his county, in fact
has been conspicuous in party affairs ever since he reached his majority. In
Calhoun County he
served on the Republican Executive Committee and has been elected from that
county a delegate to many conventions. His interest
is, however, only that of an intelligent and public spirited citizen. His
business is banking, and few are more thoroughly conversant with its
requirements than he, and he has never been willing to accept public office. His
fraternal relations are with Eureka Lodge No. 40. A. F. & A. M., of
Grantsville, Calhoun County; Jerusalem Chapter, No.
3, R. A. M., of Parkersburg; and Calvary Commandery, No. 3, K. T., also of
Parkersburg.
In addition to the saddlery and harness
business proper, he carries a large line of shoe findings and shoemaker's
supplies. The public in general knows that he sells his goods at the right
prices. The splendid success of nearly 20 years has fully demonstrated this. Mr.
Popp enjoys a large mail-order business, and all orders intrusted in his care
are highly appreciated and always attended to with great promptness and to the
satisfaction of the customer.
[Men of West
Virginia by Biographical Publishing Company - Transcribed by Therman
Kellar]
O’Brien, William Smith
(1862—1948)
O’BRIEN, William Smith, a Representative from West Virginia; born in Audra, near Philippi, Barbour County, Va., (now West Virginia), January 8, 1862; attended the common schools, the Weston (W.Va.) Academy, and the University of West Virginia at Morgantown; worked on farms, in brick yards, and on public works; also taught school and was engaged as an editor; was graduated from the law school of the West Virginia University at Morgantown in 1891; was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Buckhannon, Upshur County, W.Va., in 1892; served as a captain in the West Virginia National Guard in 1894 and 1895; served as judge of the twelfth judicial circuit of West Virginia 1913-1919; elected as a Democrat to the Seventieth Congress (March 4, 1927-March 3, 1929); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1928 to the Seventy-first Congress; resumed the practice of law; elected secretary of state of West Virginia in 1932, 1936, 1940, and again in 1944, in which capacity he served until his death in Buckhannon, W.Va., on August 10, 1948; interment in Heavner Cemetery.
[Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present -- Contributed by Anna Newell]
King Family
The ancestry of this family, which is Irish, is given elsewhere in this work.
Patrick M. King, son of Owen and Bridget (Mongan) King, was born in Ireland in
the year 1834, died about the year 1903. He came to this country, became a
farmer in Randolph and Barbour counties, owning two hundred acres of land. He
was a Democrat in politics. In 1861 he was married in Harrison county to Anna, daughter of Miles and Mary King; their
children were: Matthew, Mary A., Patrick F., Michael H., of whom further; Delia,
Owen W., Catherine, Martin J., John T. Delia and Catherine both became
teachers.
Michael H. King, son of Patrick M. and
Anna (King) King, was born about 1873 in Valley district of Barbour county, near the junction of Barbour, Randolph and Upshur
counties, the Middlefork river separating the farm on which he was born and
reared from Upshur county, and a part of the farm
extending into Randolph county. His nearest
postoffice at that time was Kingsville. About 1891 his parents removed to that
portion of the farm lying in Randolph county, and
here his mother, one brother and one sister still
reside.
Mr. King received a common school education
in the public schools of Barbour county; after
attending the Buckhannon high school for a year, and a summer normal school for
one term, he became a school teacher, with a first grade certificate, at the age
of nineteen. He taught school for two years, and then became employed on the
construction of the Camden system of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad up the
Buckhannon river between Buckhannon and Pickens. Later he was engaged in the
same work in the counties of Braxton and Webster, beginning as a timekeeper and
commissary clerk for T. J. Steers & Company; and being later promoted to the
position of bookkeeper and paymaster for Contractor P. Dougher. He was engaged
in this work for about three years, at the end of which time, after having saved
a small amount of money, he again took up the matter of his education and spent
three years in what was then the Methodist
Episcopal Seminary, now West Virginia Wesleyan
College, at Buckhannon, West Virginia. At the end
of that period, having exhausted his finances, he went to Washington, D. C..
where for the next four years he worked during the day and attended school at
night. He was graduated in 1897 from the Georgetown University Law School with
the degree of Bachelor of Laws, being vicepresident of the class which was
composed of one hundred and one members; and in 1898 was graduated from the
National University with the degree of Master of Laws, in a class of forty
members, of which he was the treasurer. He was admitted to practice before the
supreme court of the District of Columbia, December 13, 1899. Shortly afterward
he located in Elkins, Randolph county, West Virginia,
where he has since followed his profession. In 1907 he was appointed by
Judge Alston G. Dayton, of the United States court, as a referee in bankruptcy,
which position he has continued to hold to the present
time.
During the last ten years he has been
especially active in the politics of the country, both in state and district,
and in every campaign has been well to the front in the battle for Republican
supremacy. He was nominated for the office of prosecuting attorney by his party,
and twice for the legislature, and though in the Democratic county of Randolph a Republican has little chance to win,
in each campaign he made an excellent showing and greatly reduced the Democratic
majority. He has become a man well known and highly esteemed in the community
where his life has been passed, and his dealings in both public and private life
are characterized by integrity, ability and courage. He was a candidate for the
nomination for the office of secretary of state before the Republican state-wide
primary, held June 4, 1912, a1.a while he made a most excellent showing,
especially in the northern section of the state where he was best known, yet by
reason of the extremely heavy vote polled by his opponent in the southern
section of the state and especially in what is known as the "Black Belt," he was
defeated for the nomination and his opponent, Hon. Stuart F. Reed, nominated to
succeed himself. After his defeat and when the Republican state committee was
organized for the fight in the general election, Mr. King tendered the committee
his services, and under its direction he devoted about seven weeks to the
campaign, speaking in the interest of his party very generally throughout the
whole state.
In the year 1904 Mr. King married Mary
J. Cousin, of Baltimore, by whom he has had three children: Thomas Carroll, who
died in infancy; Charles Gordon, born in November, 1906; Margaret Annette, born
in July, 1908.
[West Virginia and its people, Volume 3 By Thomas Condit Miller, Hu Maxwell -
Transcribed by Therman Kellar]
Maxwell
Family
Few families of Scotland have won
greater renown or figured more prominently in national annals than that of
Maxwell; and yet there is every reason to believe that in its origin the race is
Saxon rather than Celtic, the ancestor being Maccus, son of Anlaf, King of
Northumberland in the middle of the tenth century. On the downfall of the Saxon
monarchy and the accession of William of Normandy, in 1066, many of the
prominent Saxons fled across the border into Scotland with Edgar Atheling the
heir of the old Saxon royal house. In the new home they were protected and
favored, and under Wallace and the Bruces, the Maxwells greatly distinguished
themselves. The earldoms of Farnham, Dirletoun and Nithsdale (all now dormant
through attainder or failure of issue) as well as numerous baronies and
lordships have been theirs. Loyal to the Stuart kings in prosperity or defeat,
one of the family, Thomas Maxwell served in King James' army in the Irish revolt
of 1691, and remained in Ireland, settling in Tyrone. A descendant of his, John
Maxwell, came to New Jersey and located in Warren county, in 1747. He was the
father of Brigadier-General William Maxwell, of
revolutionary fame, and tradition further says that the West Virginia Maxwells
sprang from the same source. Documentary verification of this belief has not
been obtainable, but there is no reason to question it.
(I) The
earliest direct ancestor known was Thomas Maxwell, of Pennsylvania, who married,
about 1785, Jane, born in Pennsylvania, July 17, 1767, daughter of Alexander and
Mary (Smith) Lewis. Thomas was, perhaps, son of Robert and Elizabeth Maxwell, of
Chester county, who died about 1792. Thomas Maxwell died in 1796 while on a
preliminary trip to West Virginia, preparatory to removing his family thither.
The particulars of his death were never known. Three years later his widow with
her six children removed to the present Harrison county and later to Lewis
county, where she died, October 20, 1835. Their children were: 1. Abner, of whom
further. 2. Levi, born July 25, 1788; resided near Weston; died November 13,
1884, leaving six children. 3. Lewis, born 1790; a surveyor and the most
extensive landholder in the region; a man of no small prominence in his day;
serving in congress as a Whig, 1827-33; died near Weston, 1865, having been
twice married but leaving no children. 4. Robert, born February 19, 1791; lived
in Ohio and in Harrison county, Virginia, where he died February 5, 1849; was
three times married, having ten children, all by first wife. 5. Amy, born August
27, 1799; married John Peck, of Ohio, and died in that state, May 23, 1847. 6.
Mary, married (first) John Swisher, (second)
Hawley.
(II)
Abner, eldest child of Thomas and Jane (Lewis) Maxwell, was born in
Pennsylvania, 1785. He was captain of a Harrison county company in the war of
1812; resided for a time in Clarksburg, but his last years were spent near West
Union, Doddridge county, West Virginia, where he died in 1864. He married
(first) Susan Davidson, and (second) Judith Modisette. There were five children
by the first wife, and seven by the second: Marshall, born 1811; Franklin, of
whom further; Mary, 1816, wife of A. W. Flucky; Levi, 1819; William, 1821;
Frances Jane, died 1904, wife of Archibald Lowther, of Goose Creek; Lewis, born
1831, a resident of Pullman and Glenville; Charles, of Summers; Amy M., who
became Mrs. Asa Coplin; Abner M.; James; Robert, of Doddridge
county.
(III)
Franklin, second son of Abner and Susan (Davidson) Maxwell, was born in 1813.
His life was spent in Doddridge county, West Virginia. Much of the landed estate
of his uncle, Hon. Lewis Maxwell, fell to his share. It is said he helped many a
poor man to a home by permitting him to live on his land and giving him almost
his own time in paying, provided he was honest and industrious. He had no
patience with dishonesty or laziness. He died at his home near West Union, July
4, 1894. He married Frances Reynolds, in 1840, and to them were born ten
children: Leman; Lewis; Porter; Rector; William Brent; Harriet P., wife of G. W.
Brown; Mary Martha, born 1855, died 1860; Franklin Post, born 1857, died 1880;
Frances Jane, became Mrs. B. C. Bland; Susan Alice, born 1861, died
1883.
(IV)
William Brent, son of Franklin and Frances Jane (Runnels) Maxwell, was born in
Doddridge county, Virginia, now West Virginia, April 27, 1850. He attended the
common schools of Pruntytown. Originally his business was stock farming, and he
still owns a farm in Harrison and Doddridge counties. Mr. Maxwell organized the
Traders' Bank at Buchanan in 1892, but sold out the following year, organizing
the West Union Bank at West Union, Doddridge county, of which he is still
president. He has also been president of the Union National Bank of Clarksburg
since its organization. He is connected with the American National Bank of
Richmond, Virginia; is stockholder in the Exchange Bank of Weston and the
Parkersburg National Bank. In politics Mr. Maxwell is a Democrat. He was justice
of the peace in Doddridge county. He married (first) in 1884, Emma B. Williams,
a native of Harrison county; (second) in 1895, Lillie Jarvis, daughter of Lemuel
Davidson Jarvis, at one time sheriff of Harrison county. Children, first two by
first wife: Susan Alice, Claude, Ruth Frances, Franklin J., William B., Martha
L.
(IV)
Porter, son of Franklin (q. v.) and Frances MAXWELL (Reynolds) Maxwell, was born
in Doddridge county, Virginia, April 4, 1843. He now resides on the old Maxwell
homestead in Harrison county, West Virginia, his post office being Lost Creek,
his farm being on the county line. He is an active, aggressive Democrat. He
married Virginia Columbia Post, born near Buckhannon, Upshur county, Virginia;
died April 2, 1904, aged forty-eight years. Children: 1. Franklin P., born 1869;
lives at Buckhannon, a farmer. 2. Isaac H., born 1871 ; lives at Lost Creek, a
farmer. 3. Lee, of whom further. 4. Hattie, born in 1876, wife of Hugh Jarvis.
5. Carrie V., born 1878, wife of Judge Haymond Maxwell, of Clarksburg. 6. Clay,
born 1880; lives on the old Colonel A. W. Woodford farm, near Weston, Lewis
county, a farmer by occupation. 7. Emma, born 1883; unmarried, at home with her
father. 8. Blanche, born 1889, at home. The grandfather, Isaac Post, lived near
Buckhannon on a farm, and died about 1905, aged eighty-one
years.
(V)
Lee, son of Porter and Virginia C. (Post) Maxwell, was born November 15, 1873,
in Harrison county, West Virginia, on the old Maxwell homestead, on Buckhannon
Pike, where the father still resides, in the evening of life. Lee received a
good education at the common schools, at Buckhannon Seminary and at the academy.
He aided his father on the farm until twenty-five years of age, when he went for
himself, but still assists his father. His own place is three and a half miles
from Clarksburg, to the southwest. He is a stockholder in the Clarksburg Fair
Association. He votes the Democratic ticket and was elected to the office of
county commissioner, November 8, 1910, and is still in office. The family are
members of the Methodist Protestant church, and he is an intelligent citizen of
his county. He married, at Peel Tree, Barbour county, West Virginia, February 9,
1899, Bopeep Katherine Smith, born at Peel Tree, October 4, 1879, daughter of
Dr. Isaac Smith, now practicing at Peel Tree. Her mother was Lucy (Keyser)
Smith, born at Bridgeport. Dr. Smith was born at Harrisonburg, Virginia. Two
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell: Columbia May, February 8, 1901;
Porter Smith, September 9, 1906.
[Source: GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL OF THE Upper Monongahela Valley, WV Vol. III; By James Morton Callahan; Edited by Bernard L. Butcher; Publ. 1912; Transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack]
J. Truman Nixon spent part of his early youth in
the State of
In the meantime he had become
actively associated with the coal, oil and gas business. In 1891 and 1892 he was
connected with the
During 1905 he was employed by the
Virginias Railway Company (Standard Interest) in
Mr. Nixon organized the Tulsa
Engineering and Supply Company. He is one of the vice presidents of the
Merchants and Planters Bank of Tulsa, a stockholder in the National Bank of
Commerce, a stockholder in the Guarantee Abstract & Title Company, sole
owner of the Indian records, an abstract business dealing exclusively with work
and records of the Department of the Interior which is the only successful
office of the kind conducted within the range of our knowledge, furnishing
abstracts of all departmental leases and enrollment and allotment records, his
business dealing particularly with oil and gas.
Mr. Nixon has studied and has a
comprehensive knowledge of the law but never cared for practice before the bar,
choosing to act in the capacity of councilor, which coupled with his experience
and knowledge of men and affairs, makes him a very strong
man.
Mr. Nixon is affiliated with the
Tulsa Lodge No. 71, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; with Tulsa Chapter No. 52,
Royal Arch Masons; with Tulsa Commandery No. 22, Knights Templars; with Trinity
Council No. 20, Royal and Select Masters; Akdar Temple of the Nobles of the
Mystic Shrine; and Tulsa Chapter No. 133 Eastern Star. He is also a Knight of
Pythias and became a charter member of Black Diamond Lodge No. 72 at
Politically his party affiliations
are republican but independent of the party whip and he is a man who has many
staunch friends in every walk of life.
Mr. Nixon was married August 18,
1892, to Florence B. Jolliffe. Mrs. Nixon was born near Uniontown,
[Source: A standard history of
Rightmire
Family
This family
has been known to have been residents of Virginia since the latter years of the
eighteenth century, and possibly one generation before that
date.
(I) James Rightmire, was brought up
if not born in Barbour County, Virginia. Among his children was a son named
Alpheus, of whom further.
(II) Alpheus Rightmire, son of
James Rightmire, was a native of Taylor County, Virginia, born in 1821. He
followed farming for his occupation, and was sturdy and successful in his
undertakings in life, being an excellent citizen and prosperous. He married and
had children, including a son called Adolphus, of whom
further.
(III) Adolphus Rightmire, son of
Alpheus Rightmire, was born in Taylor County, Virginia, near the city of
Grafton, March 16, 1851. He was educated at the public schools and at the West
Virginia College, near Flemington. For five years he taught school winters and
went to school at other periods. He engaged in the growing and shipping of
cattle for five years. In 1884 he embarked in the mercantile business at
Grafton. In 1893 he organized the first wholesale grocery company in Grafton,
Pennsylvania. Two years later he sold out this business, and in 1899 removed to
Morgantown, where he engaged in the real estate and lumber business, being a
large owner in realty and other valuable property. Since 1895 ne has been
engaged in the oil industry, owning five wells in Greene County, Pennsylvania.
Politically Mr. Rightmire is a Jeffersonian Democrat. He belongs to the Elks
order. He married, in September, 1877, Augusta, daughter of J. H. Barnes, of
Taylor County, West Virginia. Children: Byron W., of whom further; Ina, Edna,
Beulah. Mrs. Rightmire died in May, 1889.
(IV) Byron W. Rightmire, son of
Adolphus and Augusta (Barnes) Rightmire, was born in Taylor County, West
Virginia, March 31, 1880. He secured a good education at the public school and
later entered the West Virginia University. After leaving the University he had
charge of the water, gas and electricity in Morgantown. He then went to Oklahoma
and engaged in the grocery business, also handled large quantities of meats.
From that he shifted to the real estate business, and after two years located in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he took up real estate work. Upon his return to
Morgantown he engaged in lumber and builder's supplies, under the firm name of
Rightmire & Shriver. Their factory was burned and Mr. Rightmire, with his
father, rebuilt the plant, where the business is now carried on. Mr. Rightmire
purchased thirty-five acres of land, formed a stock company, known as Lockview
Land and Water Company, of which his father was president and he acting
secretary and treasurer. He then bought a large tract of land under the firm
name of Rightmire, Rohsbough & Thornhill, called the West Morgantown First
Addition. With all of these various business operations, Mr. Rightmire has
accumulated considerable property. He belongs to the Elks order. In December,
1909, he married Nellie, daughter of Henry Baker.
[Source: GENEALOGICAL AND
BIOGRAPHICAL OF THE Upper Monongahela Valley, WV Vol. III; By James Morton
Callahan; Edited by Bernard L. Butcher; Publ. 1912; Pgs.
959-960;
Transcribed by Andrea Stawski
Pack]
Smith Family
Strickler
Family
This family is descended from
Swiss stock. It is said that four brothers came to Pennsylvania and settled in
different parts of the state.
(I) Abraham Strickler,
the founder of this family came from one of the German cantons in Switzerland.
He settled at Chester, Pennsylvania, and in 1728 removed to the Susquehanna
river. One of his sons, John, went to the valley of Virginia about 1731, and bought lands on the Massanutton
and on South river; he was a Mennonite
preacher.
(II) ________________, probably
son of Abraham Strickler, settled about 1750, in what is now Page county, Virginia. He had a son: Joseph, of whom
further.
(III) Joseph, son of Strickler, died in
1856. He was president of the Page county court,
assessor and clerk. Child: Isaac Harrison, of whom
further.
(IV) Isaac Harrison, son of Joseph
Strickler, was born Julv 27, 1816, in Shenandoah, now Page county, and died November 6, 1885.' He was a merchant at
Philippi, Barbour county, West Virginia, where, in
1843, as a member of the firm of Almon & Strickler, he opened the first
store in that place in a stable; afterward a brick store was built. He was the
first postmaster at Philippi, and held this position seventeen years. For a
while, he kept store at Buckingham Court House, Buckingham county, Virginia. In 1865 he returned to Philippi and
opened a store with G. E. Jarvis, whom he afterward bought out and continued
this business until his death. He was a Confederate soldier during the civil
war. He was an Odd Fellow and Good Templar, a Democrat in politics and a Baptist
in religion. He married at Philippi, September 30, 1850, Margaret ].,
daughter of Rev. Solomon and Elizabeth (Rightmire)
Jarvis. Children: Rev. Robert Mann, married Laura R. Spitler;
Joseph Thomas, died
young; Arthur DeWitt, of whom further; Mary Alice, Sarah Belle, died young; Anna
Elizabeth, Catherine Crim, Etta Jane and Clara
Antonia.
(V) Arthur DeWitt, son of Isaac
Harrison and Margaret J. (Jarvis) Strickler, was born at Philippi, December 26,
1855. He attended for several years the Barbour county
schools. He was a clerk in his father's store until 1879, when he was
appointed deputy-clerk of the circuit and county
courts of Barbour county, which position he
held till 1891. Then he was appointed clerk in state auditor's office by Colonel
Isaac V. Johnson; he held this position throughout Colonel Johnson's term as
auditor, and for nearly a year under his successor, about five years in all.
Leaving Charleston, he accepted the position of
teller in the Elkins National Bank, Elkins, Randolph county, West Virginia. Two years later he resigned to
accept the cashiership of The Tucker County Bank,
at Parsons; this was in 1901, about a year after the organization of this bank,
and Mr. Strickler has held this position continuously from that time. He is a
thoroughly practical business man and regarded as one of the most conservative
bank cashiers in the county. The bank has been
built up under his charge to be a strong institution with resources of over two
hundred thousand dollars. The capital is twenty-five thousand dollars, the
undivided profits and surplus are twenty-eight thousand five hundred dollars.
Mr. Strickler is a Mason, being past master of Bigelow Lodge No. 52, at
Philippi; first master of Pythagoras Lodge No. 128, at Parsons, and in 1900 he
was elected grand master of the Grand Lodge of West
Virginia. He is also a member of Copestone Chapter No. 12, Royal Arch
Masons, at Grafton. He was made a Knight Templar in 1882 in Crusade No. 6 of
Fairmont; when he went to Charleston he transferred his membership to Kanawha
Lodge No. 4, and then dimitted and joined DeMolay No. 11, at Grafton. He was a
charter member of Pilgrim Commandery No. 21, at Elkins, and is now a member
thereof. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, in which he is past
chancellor. In politics he is a Democrat. In Philippi he was a member of the
city council and was city recorder; he was also commissioner of chancery of the
circuit court of Barbour county. He is a member of
the Baptist church. He married, at Philippi, February 20, 1884, Kate Rosalie,
daughter of William and Catherine (Proudfoot) McClaskey. She is a lover of
music, having studied at Adrian, Michigan, and her ability in music is highly
prized in church circles and by friends. She is a member of the Baptist church.
Child: Robert Parvin, born April 11, 1885, graduated from the University of
West Virginia in 1907, with the degree of Bachelor
of Arts, and was appointed Rhodes scholar at Oxford, England; there he studied
for three years and earned high honors. In September, 1911, he was appointed professor of languages at Davis and Elkins
College, Elkins, West Virginia. He is a member of
the West Virginia University Alumni Association,
the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, and Pythagoras Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, No. 128, at Parsons. He married, at
Morgantown, West Virginia, June 27, 1912, Mary
Gertrude, daughter of R. S. and Malissa (Gleen) LaRue.
[West Virginia and
Its People, Volume 3 by Thomas Condit
Miller and Hu Maxwell - Transcribed by Therman
Kellar]
Tallman
Family
In the veins of
this family flows the blood of the old pioneer and hero, Daniel Boone of Kentucky; Boone
Tallman having married
Mary Logan, a sister of the late James H. Logan of Randolph county, and become the father of Robert L. Tallman, who
was a farmer and surveyor of Barbour county, West
Virginia. The latter married Harriet L. Blake, daughter of Herod and
Elizabeth Blake, of which union there were born Floyd Ellis Tallman and four
other children.
Floyd Ellis Tallman, son of Robert L. and
Harriet (Blake) Tallman, residents of Barbour county, West
Virginia, was born March 9, 1882, in Barbour county, West Virginia. He spent his early years on the
farm, during which time he attended the rural schools until the year 1900, when
he became a teacher in the public schools of his native county, and during the years 1900-1905 he was a teacher
in the rural schools of Barbour county and a
student of Wesleyan College at Buckhannon, West Virginia,
from which institution he graduated in the year 1905. In the fall of 1905
he entered the College of Law of the West Virginia
University, where he continued for the
school year of 1905-1906. In September, 1906, he was married to Bess Lillian
Talbott, daughter of George E. and Ellen E. Talbott of Barbour county; and during the winter of 1906-7 taught in the
public schools of Barbour county. In the fall of
1907 Mr. and Mrs. Tallman moved to Elkins, Randolph county, where they have since resided. Mr. Tallman held
the position of principal of the Grammar School of the city of Elkins for the
years 1907-8 and 1908-9, returning to the West Virginia
University in the fall of 1909, where he again resumed his law studies,
completing his course in the spring of 1910. He was admitted to practice law in
Randolph county in November, 1910, and soon
thereafter entered into partnership with the Hon. J. F. Strader under the firm
name of Strader & Tallman. and has remained in the active practice of his
profession since. In August, 1911, he was appointed commissioner in chancery of
the circuit court of Randolph county, a position
which he still holds, and in 1912 he was elected as a member of the Elkins city
council from the second ward, having been the candidate of the two leading
parties. He is also a member of the Republican
party.
Mr. Tallman is a member of Delta Chapter of the Phi Sigma
Kappa college fraternity at Morgantown, West Virginia,
a member of Elkins Chapter, Royal Arcanum, and a member of the Masonic
Blue Lodge and Chapter at Elkins, West Virginia.
His wife, Bess Lillian (Talbott) Tallman, graduated from Wesleyan College
at Buckhannon in the year 1904 in the literary and elocution courses, and is
very active in the Methodist Episcopal church and its societies. Mr. and Mrs.
Tallman have two daughters, Lucille and Mary Louise. Their home is at 220
Boundary avenue.
[West Virginia and
its people, Volume 3 by Thomas Condit
Miller and Hu Maxwell - Transcribed by Therman
Kellar]
Valentine
Family
The word Valentine means powerful or robust, being
derived from a common Latin word. The name was used by the ancient Romans. St. Valentine was a martyr in
A. D. 270, and one Pope has borne this name. In more recent times, the most
famous personage of this name was the monk and chemist, Basil Valentin, in the
sixteenth century. The name is found in France, Spain, Germany, Holland, and
elsewhere in southern and central Europe, as a surname. It is also frequent as a
Christian name. In the United States, the name is not common, yet is widely
diffused, found in nearly if not quite every state. There are three principal
families, associated especially with New England, Long Island, and New York.
They are not of common origin, unless a single ancestor may have existed in the
middle ages. Virginia has had a sculptor named
Valentine.
(I) Andrew Valentine, the first member of this family
about whom we have definite information, was born in Barbour county, West Virginia. He and his wife are both deceased.
He was a farmer, and in the civil war he served in the Confederate army under
General Imboden, as a lieutenant. He was a prominent Democrat. His wife was
Rachel Digman, also a native of Barbour county.
Child: A. Jay, of whom further.
(II) A. Jay, son of Andrew and Rachel (Digman)
Valentine, was born in Barbour county, March 8,
1866. He attended the public schools, after which he taught school for several
years and then read law in the office of Captain A. C. Bowman, at Valley
Furnace, Barbour county, West Virginia. His legal
studies were completed under the instruction of W. B. Maxwell, then of St.
George. Tucker county, West Virginia (now of
Elkins, Randolph county). In 1887 he was admitted
to the bar, and opened an office at St. George, then the county seat of Tucker county.
When the county seat was removed to Parsons,
Mr. Valentine came thither, and has there enjoyed a lucrative practice. He is
local counsel for the Western Maryland Railway Company, general counsel for the
Dry Fork Railway Company, local counsel for the Parsons Pulp and Lumber Company,
the J. K. Mosser Tanning Company, the Otter Creek Boom and Lumber Company, the
Davis Coal and Coke Company, and does other corporation work. He is
vice-president and counsel of the Tucker County
Bank. Mr. Valentine is a member of the State Bar Association, and has
been president of the Tucker County Bar
Association. His fraternal order is the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he
has been through its chairs. In politics he is a Republican, but not active; he
has been frequently mentioned for a judgeship.
The Parsons Pulp and Lumber
Company, of which he is counsel, is one of the flourishing industrial
institutions of Parsons. It was first organized in 1900, by R. F. Whitmer of
Philadelphia and others, as The Parsons Pulp and Paper Company. In 1909 it was
rcchartcred under the present name, with R. F. Whitmer, president; D. G. Wilson,
secretary and treasurer, and W. T. Robinson, superintendent and general manager.
The capital is three million dollars. The pulp output is fifteen hundred tons
per month; silk board and tag paper are manufactured, three thousand tons per
month. The lumber mills are at Laneville, Horton. and Dobbin, West Virginia. The pulp mill, paper mill and power plant,
of twenty-eight hundred horse-power, foundry, etc., are at Parsons, and occupy
one hundred thousand square feet of space, besides which there are several acres
of yards. At Parsons, one hundred and fifty men are employed. The Tucker County Bank, of which Mr. Valentine
is now vice-president, was organized in 1900, and
opened the
fourth of June, in that year, with the following officers: M. C. Feather,
president; O. Jay Fleming, cashier; Riley Harper, vicepresident. Mr. Feather was
succeeded by F. S. Landstreet, and he by Riley Harper, who is now president. A.
DeW. Strickler succeeded Mr. Fleming as cashier, August 1, 1901, and still
continues in that office. The capital is twenty-five thousand dollars; surplus
and undivided profits amount to twenty-seven thousand five hundred dollars, and
the resources to over two hundred thousand dollars.
Mr. Valentine
married Lummie, daughter of Samuel I. Kalar, of Tucker county. Mrs. Valentine is devoted to her family and home.
Children: Zillah, a student at Broadus College; Arthur, attending the high
school at Parsons; Mark Twain; Paul.
[West Virginia and
its people, Volume 3 by Thomas Condit
Miller and Hu Maxwell - Transcribed by Therman
Kellar]
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