Ohio County, West Virginia    Biography of Fred J. FOX

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Submitted by Suzie Crump <suzie@goodnet.com>, March 2000
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The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume II,
Pgs. 256-257

FRED J. FOX from an early age has been on intimate terms with work as a
means of advancing himself and broadening his usefulness as a factor in the
affairs of men.  His work eventually led him into banking, and for thirty
years he has been a figure of increasing influence in the financial affairs
of the Wheeling District, where he is secretary and cashier of the Security
Trust Company.

Mr. Fox was born at Bridgeport, Ohio, November 27, 2867.  His father, Jacob
Fox, was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, in 1830, and as a young man came to
the United States and located at Wheeling.  He learned the baker’s trade
under the master of that art, Joseph Bayha, and while he followed the
occupation in Wheeling on his removal to Bridgeport about 1855 and after his
marriage he entered the service of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad
Company, and was continuously with that road as checker for thirty-five
years.  He finally retired in 1890, and died at Bridgeport in 1893.  He was
independent in politics, a devout Lutheran, and was affiliated with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  Jacob Fox married Christina Schweitzer,
who was born in Wuertemburg in 1834 and died at Bridgeport in May 1908.  She
was the mother of seven children: Elizabeth, wife of Louis R. Cook, a mail
clerk living at Bridgeport; William, head of the shipping department of the
Jefferson Glass Works and a resident of Bridgeport; Rachel, wife of William
Koehnline, a retired ice and coal dealer at Bridgeport; Fred J.; Henry,
cashier of the Dollar Savings Bank of Bridgeport; Mary, wife of Sam
Greenland, general manager of the traction system of Fort Wayne, Indiana;
and J. Edward, a real estate and insurance man at Bridgeport.

Fred J. Fox attended the public schools of Bridgeport, and even while in
school was turning his ingenuity in the direction of earning money to
support himself and to pay his expenses while in school.  He also attended
Frazier’s Business College at Wheeling.  His early positions gave him a
varied knowledge of business, and in 1891, at the age of twenty-four, he
entered the service of the Dollar Savings Bank at Bridgeport, and was teller
in that institution until 1897.  He was afterward cashier of the Germania
Half Dollar Savings Bank.

The year 1903 marks the beginning of Mr. Fox’s long and useful service with
the Security Trust Company of Wheeling.  He became cashier in that year, and
since 1916 has also filled the office of secretary.  The Security Trust
Company was organized in 1903, with J. N. Vance as president.  Its present
officers are: W. E. Stone, president; M. J. McFadden, vice president; A. L.
Meyer, vice president; Fred J. Fox, secretary-cashier; H. S. Marin,
assistance cashier; and E. B. Bowie, trust officer.  The list of directors
include the following well-known Wheeling men:  James H. Beans, Alfred
Caldwell, John L. Dickey, William Ellingham, James W. Ewing, F. F. Faris, L.
W. Franzheim, J. G. Hoffman, Jr., John Hoffman, third, William Lipphardt,
George W. Lutz, W. O. McCluskey, M. J. McFadden, H. W. McLure, A. L. Meyer,
H. S. Sands, L. E. Sands, George E, Stifel, W. E. Stone, H. E. Vance.

Mr. Fox became cashier of this company before there were any deposits.
Today the deposits aggregate $2,750,000, with capital stock of $300,000 and
surplus and profits of $350,000.  The great resources of the company place
is as one of the strongest financial institutions in the Upper Ohio Valley,
and men in a position to know, including his associates, say that this
satisfactory condition is due more to Mr. Fox’s personal ability and
character than to any other one factor.  The Security Trust Company is now
housed in one of the handsomest building along Market Street, at 11453
Market Street.  This structure, erected in 1917, is of granite, brick and
terra cotta, and besides being the quarters for the Trust Company it also
accommodates the large music store of C. A. House & Company.  The company
conducts a foreign department in the basement and also a real estate and
insurance department and there are other modern facilities and equipment for
keeping g accounts and safeguarding funds, including safety deposit boxes.
Ordinarily there are about twenty-two employes in the bank.

While with the welfare and growth of this institution Mr. Fox has found his
time and talents fully engaged, he has associated himself so far as possible
with worthy movements in his community.  He is a member and elder of the
First Presbyterian Church at Wheeling, and for two consecutive terms was
township treasurer of East Township in Belmont County, Ohio, though as a
rule he has avoided politics and public offices.  He is a republican, Mr.
Fox is treasurer of the Wheeling Chamber of Commerce, a director of the Old
Ladies Home at Wheeling, director of the Home of Aged and Friendless Women,
director of the Union Mission, secretary, treasurer and director of the
Market Auditorium Company, and director of the Associated Charities.  During
the war was a Four Minute Speaker and did all he could to further the local
campaigns, particularly those for the raising of funds.  He is affiliated
with Belmont Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Bridgeport, and the
Fort Henry Club of Wheeling.  His residence is at 1087 Fourteenth Street in
Wheeling.

In 1893, at Wheeling, Mr. Fox married Miss Mary Ziegler.  She died at
Bridgeport in 1899, and is survived by two children. Wilbur, her son, born
February 1896, was for sixteen months in the army during the war, enlisting
from Bellaire, Ohio, and most of the time was stationed at San Francisco.
He is now employed in the foreign department of the Security Trusty Company.
The daughter, Helena, is the wife of Mervin Stonecipher, and they live with
Mr. And Mrs. Fox.  Stonecipher being employed in the traffic department of
the Wheeling Steel Corporation.

In 1903, at Martin’s Ferry, Ohio, Mr. Fox married Miss Amanda Jordan,
daughter of Benjamin F. and Margaret (Finney) Jordan, who live near
Bridgeport.  Her father was a farmer for many rears but is now a rural mail
carrier.  Mr. and Mrs. Fox have three children: Edward Jordan, born in March
1908; Henry Nelson, born in June 1912; and Irvin Franklin, born in June 1912
, the last two being twins.