West Virginia Statewide Files WV-Footsteps Mailing List
WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 22
Today's Topics:
#1 BIO: Edmund L. HENSLEY, Cabell Co. [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
#2 BIO: Absalom L. CARTER, Brooke Co. [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
#3 BIO: George CAMPBELL, Hancock Co. [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
#4 BIO: Walter Louis FERGUSON, Cabell [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
#5 BIO: Charles B. YOUNG, Kanawha Co. [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
#6 BIO: Robert R. HOBBS, Hancock Co. [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
#7 HIST: The Merchants and Miners Ban [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
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______________________________X-Message: #1
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 13:13:17 -0400
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990919131317.00e06050@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: Edmund L. HENSLEY, Cabell Co. WV
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 246-247
Cabell County
EDMUND L. HENSLEY. Among the labors to which men
devote their activities there are none which have a more
important bearing upon the business and financial welfare
of any community than those of the business educator. The
community which may boast of able and energetic workers
in this field seldom want for enterprise and civic zeal. In
his connection mention is made of Edmund L. Hensley, pro-
prietor of the West Virginia Business College of Hunting-
ton, a man of broad, varied and thorough experience, who
has developed an institution that is accounted one of the
leaders of its kind in the state.
Mr. Hensley was born in Bath County, Kentucky, July 31,
1881, a son of Edmund C. Hensley. His great-grandfather,
Samuel, came from near Jamestown, Virginia, and took up a
claim at or near the present site of Catlettsburg, Kentucky,
prior to or about the time of the Revolutionary war, in
which community was born the grandfather of Edmund L.
Hensley, Richardson Hensley, in 1821. He became a pioneer
near Holbrook, Kentucky, where he was engaged in farming
all his life, and in his death, which occurred in 1888, his
locality lost one of its enterprising agriculturists and de-
pendable citizens.
Edmund C. Hensley was born December 14, 1848, at Hol-
brook, Kentucky, and was reared and educated in that
community, but as a young man went to Bath County,
where he was married and where he carried on agricultural
pursuits for many years. In 1904 he retired from active
pursuits and settled at the home of his son, with whom
he now lives. He is a democrat in politics and a, member
of the Christian Church, of which he is a strong supporter.
Mr. Hensley married Miss Lydia Hall, who was born in
Bath County, Kentucky, in 1853, and died in that county
in 1893. Of their two children, Edmund L. and Elbert, the
latter is a graduate of Bethany (West Virginia) College,
and is now a minister of the Christian Church at Sparta,
Kentucky.
Edmund L. Hensley received his education in the public
schools of Salt Lick, Bath County, Kentucky, where he was
graduated from the high school with the class of 1899, and
for a number of years taught in the rural districts of that
county. In 1904 he left the educator's profession tempo-
rarily, accepting employment with the Cherry River Boom
and Lumber Company of Richwood, Nicholas County, West
Virginia, but in 1909 again became an instructor, when he
went to Clarksburg, West Virginia, and taught in the
West Virginia Business College until 1911. In that year
he removed to Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, and became prin-
cipal of the commercial department of the high school, a
position which he retained for one year, and January 1,
1913, came to Huntington as instructor in the West Virginia
Business College. During the summer of the same. year he
became proprietor of this institution by purchase, and since
has built up this college to one of the leaders of its kind in
the state. It has more than a state-wide reputation, as
its pupils are attracted not only from all over West Vir-
ginia, but from Ohio, Kentucky and other states as well.
The college occupies the entire third floor of the Miller
Building and is complete in every department. Mr. Hensley
is independent in polities, and a member of the Christian
Church, in which he officiates as a deacon. He holds mem-
bership in the Huntington Chamber of Commerce and the
Huntington Business Men's Association, and is active in
civic affairs. His comfortable home is located at 1110
Eleventh Avenue, in a desirable residence district of the
city.
In 1911, in Braxton County, West Virginia, Mr. Hensley
married Miss Bessie Riffle, who was born in Braxton County,
and is a normal school graduate. She was a school teacher
prior to her marriage to Mr. Hensley, and is now his assist-
ant in the college. Two children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Hensley: Edmund, born November 1, 1912; and
Eluda, born May 13, 1914, both attending the Huntington
schools.
______________________________X-Message: #2
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 13:14:17 -0400
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990919131417.00e00570@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: Absalom L. CARTER, Brooke Co. WV
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 247-248
Brooke County
ABSALOM L. CARTER. Prominent among the representa-
tives of the agricultural industry of Brooke County is
Absalom L. Carter, a member of an old and honored family,
who now resides two miles from Follansbee, on the Elders-
ville Road. Mr. Carter has followed farming and stock
breeding all his life, at various times has been identified
with other lines of endeavor, and his career has been a
successful and gratifying one, both from the viewpoint of
material gain and from that of securing the good will and
esteem of those with whom he has been associated.
Mr. Carter was born on the old Carter homestead, the
present home of his brother, E. C. Carter, about two miles
east of his present home, November 8, 1857, a son of
Samuel and Michal (Wells) Carter. Michal Wells was
born June 1, 1816, and died in January, 1892. She was
a daughter of Absalom Wells, a son of Charles Wells, who
ia said to have had twenty children, the twentieth having
been named Twenty. Twenty Wells died at the age of
sixteen years and was buried at Sistersville, West Vir-
ginia. The life of Absalom Wells was spent mainly in
Brooke County. His wife was Helen Owings, of Ellicott's
Mills, near Baltimore, Maryland, where she was born in
1771 and married in 1798. She was so delicate that her
physician said she could not live to reach the "Far West,"
but she not only did that but lived to rear a large family
and to attain the remarkable age of ninety-seven years.
Samuel Carter was born August 8, 1817, in Brooke
County, West Virginia. He died October 26, 1898, and
was buried in St. Johns Cemetery. He was a son of
Joseph Carter, who lived on Pot Rock Run, Brooke County,
a native of Winchester, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. He
was a plasterer by vocation, reached old age, and was buried
at Franklin, Brooke County. His father, also named
Joseph, was buried at Cadich Chapel, while his mother was
laid to rest at West Liberty. The children of the younger
Joseph Carter were: Lewis, a farmer and plasterer and a
great worker in the Baptist Church, in which he was a
deacon, who lived on a nearby farm and reached the age
of seventy-five years; Joseph, who went to Kansas City,
Missouri, and there died; Samuel; John, who went to La-
Orange, Indiana, and there spent the remainder of his
life; and Hilary and Cephas, twins, the former of whom
went to Montezuma, Iowa, and there died, while the latter
lived on a farm near Fowlerstown, West Virginia.
The Carter family was founded in America prior to the
Revolutionary war by two English brothers of the name,
who settled in the Colony of Virginia, where the old Carter
house is still standing. Colonel Carter, an officer of Gen-
eral Washington's army, was home on a furlough, so runs
the story, when an English officer, with a detachment of
men, learning of his presence, decided to capture him. In
the meantime word had been taken to General Washington
of his officer's predicament, and he hurriedly sent a squad
of patriot soldiers. Colonel Carter, defending himself and
his home from the enemy, fought a duel with the British
officer on the stairway, on the bannisters of which can
still be found the hacking of the swords. It is related that
the timely arrival of the patriot troops turned the tables
and that the English officer and his men had to submit to
capture. After his marriage to Michal Wells, January
21, 1844, the most of Samuel Carter's life was spent on
the old home farm, and he accumulated some 190 acres,
including the present farm of E. C. Carter. He belonged
at Cross Creek to the United Presbyterian Church, or
"tent," the latter name being used because the early serv-
ices were held under a canvas cover. Mrs. Carter, like all
the members of her family, was a Primitive Baptist, and
attended the old Cross Creek Baptist Church at Hunter's
Mill. They were the parents of four children to grow to
maturity: Pauline, who passed her life as a maiden with
her parents and died August 18, 1872; Mary, who also
remained unmarried and died at the home of her parents
December 4, 1879; Eli C., who is carrying on operations
on the old home farm; and Absalom L.
Absalom L. Carter passed his boyhood amid agricultural
surroundings on the old home place, obtaining his educa-
tion in the common schools. On October 4, 1884, he was
united in marriage with Miss Jane R. Walker, a sister of
James M. Walker, mentioned elsewhere in this work. Mrs.
Carter was born on the old Walker homestead, adjoining
the old Carter place, October 26, 1859, and resided on
that property until the time of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs.
Carter commenced housekeeping on their present property
December 23, 1884. This is the old Elson farm, patented
in 1785 by one Rich Elson, the grandfather of the last
Elson owner, Mitchell Elson, who sold the place to Samuel
Carter in 1877. Absalom L. Carter has since reduced the
property, which now contains sixty-five acres, a large part
of which was given over to the raising of sheep as long
as that industry was profitable. His coal he sold some
years ago, before the high prices had set in. Mr. Carter
has modern improvements on his property, and his com-
fortable home was erected in 1900.
Mr. and Mrs. Carter are members of the First United
Presbyterian Church at Steubenville, Ohio, located 4 1/2 miles
distant from their home. Mr. Carter is a democrat, and
the Carters .have always been a democratic family. He
has not sought office, but has served as a member of the
board of reviews since the organization of that body. He
served as vice president of the Brooke County Farm Bu-
reau, and was a charter member thereof, and has been a
director in the Pan Handle Mutual Insurance Company,
of which he is now vice president. He was a director
and vice president of the Pan Handle Agricultural Club
of Brooke and Ohio counties, one of the earliest clubs
formed.
Mrs. Carter's mother was Hannah R. McConnell, daugh-
ter of Robert and Jane (Hawke) McConnell, natives of
Ireland who on their arrival in the United States settled
in Jefferson County, Ohio, just outside the City of Steu-
benville. They were charter members of the First United
Presbyterian Church at Steubenville. as were Mrs. Jane R.
Carter and Mrs. Hannah Walker. The last-named was one
of the first subscribers for the United Presbyterian paper
published at Pittsburgh and continued as such throughout
her life. On the occasion of her fiftieth anniversary her
picture wag published in this publication. Mr. and Mrs.
Carter have no children.
______________________________X-Message: #3
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 13:13:48 -0400
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990919131348.00e007d0@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: George CAMPBELL, Hancock Co. WV
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 247
Hancock County
GEORGE CAMPBELL. During a long, useful and active
career George Campbell has applied himself to the vocation
of agriculture with such good results that he is now ac-
counted one of the substantial men of the Holliday's Cove
community of Hancock County. He has brought to his
work industry, energy, careful application of modern
methods and intelligent management of the various depart-
ments of farm work, and has thus developed a property as
attractive as it is valuable. Also, while so doing he has
gained and held the well wishes, esteem and confidence of
his fellow citizens.
Mr. Campbell was born on the farm where he now lives,
June 7, 1851, a son of Robert and Margaret (Purdy)
Campbell, the latter a sister of James Purdy, the father
of James A. Purdy, a sketch of whose career will be found
elsewhere in this work. Robert Campbell was born Sep-
tember 27, 1803, at Furnace Place on King's Creek, Han-
cock County, a son of Alexander Campbell, who should not
be confused with the old minister of that name, being not
even of the same immediate family. Alexander Campbell
was a son of James Campbell, a native of Scotland, who
settled here about 1780, and it is thought that Alexander
was born in this locality. James Campbell bought the old
Tarr Furnace, which was the first west of the mountains,
and at which much of the ammunition and cannons were
manufactured for Commodore Perry on Fort Erie, as well
as ammunition used by General Jackson at the memorable
battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812.
Alexander Campbell married Jane Bell, a neighbor girl,
whose nephew, William Bell, still follows the vocation of
collier in the same community. Following his marriage
Mr. Campbell came to the "Hill," as a certain section
is known, a part of which is included in the present farm
of George Campbell and is located about one mile from
Weirton. His father, James, then died, leaving him 500
acres of land in a tract that had been secured from the
Government when Patrick Henry was governor of Virginia,
and in addition to this Mr. Campbell also owned other
lands, so that he was able to give farms to his five sons.
Later he sold his remaining property and went to Illinois.
His sons were: Alexander, who sold his farm, removed to
Illinois, and died in the West; Archibald, who removed to
Van Buren County, Iowa, where he died; David and Daniel,
twins, the latter of whom also removed to the West and
passed away there; and Robert. David and Robert, the
only sons to remain, received the 500-acre farm with one
sister, Elizabeth, who married a Mr. Casson and lived near
Parkersburg, West Virginia. Polly, another sister, mar-
ried Morris Baker and removed to Hardin County, Ohio,
and a third sister. Patience, remained a maiden and died
in old age at Steubenville, Ohio. David continued to live
on his farm during the remainder of his life, and since his
death the property has been sold.
Robert Campbell, as before noted, secured a part of the
500-acre farm, on which he spent his entire married life,
during which he added 165 acres to the property. This
he gave to his eldest son, John P., who is now living in
Arkansas at the advanced age of ninety-one years. Robert
Campbell died at the age of seventy-eight years. His wife,
Margaret, having died when she was sixty-three years of
age, in his declining years he married Alice Linduff, who
survived him some years, without issue. By his first mar-
riage he had the following children: John P.; Jane, who
married Daniel Stansbury and died in Hancock County;
Cyrus, who became a physician and surgeon and went to
Missouri, where he practiced until his death; William, who
removed to Missouri and died there; Elizabeth, who mar-
ried Ephraim Evans and died on a farm in Washington
County, Pennsylvania; James, who went to New Mexico
as a prospector and miner and died there; Robert A., who
followed carpentry at Chester, West Virginia, until his
death; Julia, of Wellsville, Ohio, the widow of James
Wright; Susanna, who married Francis Ralston and still
resides in the Holliday's Cove neighborhood; George, of
this notice; and Hiram T., a retired agriculturist now liv-
ing at Holliday's Cove.
George Campbell was reared on the old home place,
attending the public schools, and some time after attaining
his majority, in company with his brother, Hiram, he
purchased the old farm. They continued to operate the
property as partners for twelve years and then divided
the land, George securing 150 acres. He sold a part of his
coal when it was worth only one-half or one-third what it
is today, but for the past several years has mined quite
successfully, has received a comfortable income from his
extensive orchards and has been prosperous in his work as a
breeder of Poland China hogs. He has kept his business
on the farm and has found fortune and contentment in his
work. Mr. Campbell is a democrat, as has been the family
for generations with the exception of two brothers. With
his family he belongs to the Presbyterian Church at Holli-
day's Cove.
At the age of twenty-four years Mr. Campbell was united
in marriage with Miss Alice Hammond, daughter of Wil-
liam Hammond, an old-time teacher now living at the
Cove. Mrs. Campbell became her father's housekeeper
when she was fourteen years of age, and continued to act
as such until she was married. Four children have been
born to Mr. and Mrs. Campbell: Charles L., a sketch of
whose career will be found on another page of this work;
Robert Elmer, of Holliday's Cove, formerly a teacher in
the public schools but now a ear inspector on the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad, married Bessie Brice and has three chil-
dren, Robert Brice, Mary Brown and Kenneth; Walter
Hammond, formerly a ear inspector on the Pennsylvania
Railroad and now carrying on operations on a part of
the home farm, married Ila Leonora Gilmore and has four
children, Fred H., Walter B., Pauline Roberta and Vir-
ginia Belle; and Jessie Agnes, the wife of David Dickie
Mercer, of East Liverpool, Ohio, formerly a teacher, as
was she, and later a machinist in the foundry, and now
deceased, and they had two children, Alice M. and Walter.
______________________________X-Message: #4
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 13:16:01 -0400
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990919131601.00d78ec0@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: Walter Louis FERGUSON, Cabell Co. WV
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 249-250
Cabell County
WALTER LOUIS FERGUSON has practiced law at Huntington
for ten years, and in that time has widened his reputation
throughout his district, both as an accomplished lawyer
and as an earnest citizen with the abilities that count for
leadership everywhere.
Mr. Ferguson was born at Huntington September 18,
1879. The Ferguson family came out of Scotland and
settled in Virginia in Colonial times. Mr. Ferguson's great-
great-grandfather, Lewis S. Arthur, was a Revolutionary
soldier. His grandfather, John Ferguson, was an early
settler in West Virginia. He was born in Fluvanna County,
old Virginia, in 1818, was reared in America, and subse-
quently established his home in what is now Putnam County,
on the Kanawha River in West Virginia. His wife, Lucy
Arthur, came to what is now West Virginia in the early
'60s. In addition to operating his farm he owned and con-
ducted a blacksmith, wagon making and repair shop. A
notable incident of his life is that he shoed the horses of
the famous James Brothers just prior to the robbery of the
Huntington Commercial Bank, now known as the Hunting-
ton National Bank. John Ferguson died at Huntington in
1896.
His son, John Henry Ferguson, was born at Red House,
Putnam County, in 1850, but since 1862 has lived at Hunt-
ington. For many years he has been a leading general
contractor of that city. He is a stanch republican and a
member of the Masonic fraternity. John Henry Ferguson,
married Lucy Frances Roberts, a daughter of Absalom
Roberts, an early family of Virginia. She was born in
Cabell County in 1850. A brief record of their children is
as follows: John A., a painting contractor at Huntington;
Sallie Belle, wife of Charles W. McClure, Jr., who for the
past thirty years has been a machinist in the Huntington
Shops of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad; Cola, wife of
Charles Neutzling, connected with the Nicholson-Kendle
Furniture Company of Huntington; Charles Henry, a
general contractor of Huntington; Walter Louis; Emmett
Blaine, a furniture dealer at Huntington; and Clarence
McKinley, a general contractor.
Walter Louis Ferguson as a youth attended the grammar
and high schools of Huntington, and for five years he studied
law in the office of Judge Lewis D. Isbell. Mr. Ferguson
was admitted to the bar in 1911, and at once began his
work as a general practitioner. In his practice he has
handled many important cases in the local, state and federal
courts, and has appeared a number of times in what is
known as the Tri-State District. His offices are in the
Prindle Building on Fourth Avenue.
Mr. Ferguson is a republican, holds a commission as a
notary public, is affiliated with the First Methodist Episco-
pal Church, is a member of the Huntington Council, Junior
Order United American Mechanics, and the Cabell County
Bar Association. He was one of the county leaders in the
various organizations and the patriotic program during the
World war, serving as a member of the Legal Advisory
Board of the county, and giving a large amount of his time
to assisting the recruits in filling out their questionnaires.
On January 1, 1914, at Parkersburg, he married Miss
Ethel Josephine Coen, daughter of Henry C. and Margaret
(Barkwill) Coen, residents of St. Marys, Pleasants County,
where her father is a merchant. Mrs. Ferguson was well
educated in music, being a skilled pianist. Mr. and Mrs.
Ferguson have three children: Walter Louis, Jr., born
November 11, 1914; Henry Coen, who died at the age of
nine months; and Margaret Jane, born November 14, 1918.
______________________________X-Message: #5
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 13:16:31 -0400
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990919131631.00e08ec0@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: Charles B. YOUNG, Kanawha Co. WV
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 250
Kanawha County
CHARLES B. YOUNG, a veteran in the laundry business,
has been identified with laundry management and operation
at Charleston for over twenty years, and is manager of the
Superior Laundry, perhaps the last word in laundry con-
struction, facilities and operation in the State of West Vir-
ginia.
Mr. Young was born at Charleston in 1886. His father,
Peter Young, was a well-known business man in Charleston,
where he entered the grocery business in 1867. Charles
B. Young was reared and educated in Charleston, and for
years he and his brothers owned and operated the American
Laundry, a plant they sold in 1920.
Charles B. Young, a member of the firm Young Broth-
ers, utilized his long experience and study and his widely
diversified knowledge of the laundry industry in construct-
ing and planning the new Superior Laundry, at the corner
of Kanawha and Truslow streets. He had personal charge
of all the details of building this plant, which was com-
pleted and opened for business July 12, 1921.
Without exaggeration this is one of the finest and most
modern laundries in the United States, and represents the
ultimate ideal of laundry practice and operation. The build-
ing is of brick, of good architectural style, and affords floor
space of 14,000 square feet under one roof. A feature de-
serving of special commendation is the lighting and venti-
lation, there being 3,500 square feet of glass in the one
room. All the flooring is concrete, and the interior finish
is plain and sanitary, easily cleaned, and kept constantly
and spotlessly clean. The atmosphere of the place is
wholesome, an ideal place for those who spend their work-
ing days there. The motto of the laundry is "Modern to
the Minute," and Mr. Young is to be congratulated upon
realizing in the construction and operating details this
ideal. A few months after the plant was put in operation
Mr. Young added $3,000 worth of the latest machinery. As
to the capacity of the laundry its rating is 100 shirts per
hour. All the washing, drying, ironing and other machines
are of the latest models. One of the most noteworthy is a
washer of solid brass for perfect sterilization. All the ma-
chines are electrically controlled, the motor driven appara-
tus being so constructed as to afford individual control to
each machine, while all may be controlled together from
one switchboard. The engine and boiler rooms are perfect
in their equipment for the steam heating of water.
______________________________X-Message: #6
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 13:17:33 -0400
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990919131733.00e08940@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: Robert R. HOBBS, Hancock Co. WV
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 250
Hancock County
ROBERT R. HOBBS. Included among the men who have
the responsibility for good government in Hancock County
on their shoulders is Robert R. Hobbs, occupying the posi-
tion of clerk of the County Court. Mr. Hobbs is well known
to the people of the county a.a an efficient, energetic and
conscientious official, for he is. now serving his second
six-year term in his present office, and prior to becoming
the incumbent thereof had acted in other public capacities.
He has spent his entire life in the county, where he has
been the architect of his own fortunes.
Mr. Hobbs was born at Fairview, Hancock County,
September 5, 1875, a son of John Wesley and Elizabeth
Jane (Brenneman) Hobbs. The mother of John Wesley
Hobbs was Margaret Ray, a daughter of Joseph Ray, said
to have been a Eevolutionary soldier, who settled on
Brown's Island, six miles below New Cumberland in the
Ohio River, and reached an advanced age, being buried
at Pughtown. The father of John Wesley Hobbs was
Leonard Hobbs, who died at the age of thirty-four years
at Wellsburg. John W. Hobbs was sheriff of Hancock
County during the Civil war period, following which he
became a merchant at Pughtown. In 1881 he was elected
to the State Legislature, when the capital was at Wheel-
ing, and after completing his term of office returned to his
store at Pughtown, in which community he died at the
age of seventy years. Elizabeth Brenneman was a daughter
of Jacob Brenneman, a descendant of the original settler
of the county, Jacob Nessley, whose home was opposite
the mouth of Yellow Creek, Ohio, but over the West
Virginia line. There Elizabeth had been brought at two
years of age and was reared on the farm in the Ohio
Valley. She died at the advanced age of eighty-two
years.
Robert R. Hobbs secured his education at Pughtown,
where he lived until reaching the age of sixteen years,
at that time becoming an employe of a merchant at
Hookstown, Pennsylvania. At the end of three years
he went to Pittsburgh, where he became a clerk for
Joseph Hern & Company, and then ran a store at Chester,
West Virginia, until 1909, when he was elected sheriff of
Hancock County. After spending four years in that
capacity he returned to his mercantile operations at
Chester, and applied himself thereto without interrup-
tion until elected clerk of the County Court for a period
of six years, on the republican ticket. When his term
expired the citizens, in looking back over his record, found
it so satisfactory that he was chosen to succeed himself for
another six-year term, and is still the capable, conscientious
incumbent of that position.
Mr. Hobbs married Miss Effie K. Knowles, of East
Liverpool, Ohio, and to this union there have been born
four children: Robert Knowles, who graduated from the
high school at Chester, West Virginia, in 1922; Ruth Louise,
who is attending high school; and Mildred Elizabeth and
Ralph Brenneman, who are attending the graded schools.
Mr. Hobbs has a number of civic and social connections,
and is accounted one of the progressive men of his com-
munity, where he has numerous friends.
______________________________X-Message: #7
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 13:17:02 -0400
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990919131702.00e08c30@trellis.net>
Subject: HIST: The Merchants and Miners Bank of Welch, McDowell Co. WV
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 250
McDowell County
THE MERCHANTS AND MINERS BANK OF WELCH was or-
ganized in 1920 by Bernard O. Swope, formerly cashier of
the First National Bank. This institution has enjoyed
phenomenal growth, and in spite of competition from two
strong banks has accumulated deposits during the first
year of more than half a million dollars. It has a capital
of $100,000, its surplus is $20,000, and at the present time
plans have been made for the erection of an office build-
ing, the ground floor of which will be used as the bank-
ing room and foreign exchange department of the bank.
The officers are: Bernard O. Swope, president; A. F.
Leckie, vice president; and B. W. Ellis, cashier.
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