This is mnoGoSearch's cache of http://files.usgwarchives.net/wv/wv-footsteps/1999/v99-50.txt. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared during last crawling. The current page could have changed in the meantime.

Last modified: Sun, 29 Jun 2008, 13:17:09 EDT    Size: 29910
West Virginia Statewide Files  WV-Footsteps Mailing List
WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest				Volume 99 : Issue 50

Today's Topics:
  #1 BIO: Wilbur F. SHIRKEY, M.D., Kana   [SSpradling@aol.com]
  #2 BIO: Gustav B. CAPITO, M.D., Kanaw   [SSpradling@aol.com]
  #3 BIO: Hon. William Mercer Owens DAW   [SSpradling@aol.com]
  #4 BIO: John R. WALKER, M.D., Kanawha   [SSpradling@aol.com]
  #5 BIO: Buckner CLAY, Kanawha County    [SSpradling@aol.com]
  #6 BIO: James M. THACKER, Kanawha Cou   [SSpradling@aol.com]

Administrivia:
To unsubscribe from WV-FOOTSTEPS-D, send a message to

        WV-FOOTSTEPS-D-request@rootsweb.com

that contains in the body of the message the command

        unsubscribe

and no other text.  No subject line is necessary, but if your software
requires one, just use unsubscribe in the subject, too.

To contact the WV-FOOTSTEPS-D list administrator, send mail to
WV-FOOTSTEPS-admin@rootsweb.com.

______________________________X-Message: #1
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 02:54:08 EDT
From: SSpradling@aol.com
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-ID: <d15f67e3.251f1d10@aol.com>
Subject: BIO:  Wilbur F. SHIRKEY, M.D.,  Kanawha County
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and Representative
Citizens
W.S. Laidley
Richmond Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, ILL.
1911
p. 427

WILBUR F. SHIRKEY, M.D., physician and surgeon at Malden, W. Va., where he is
an honored member of his profession, belongs to one of the old families of
Kanawha County, it having been established early by his grandfather, David
Shirkey, who came from old Virginia. The parents of Dr. Skirkey were John G.
and Martha (Matheny) Shirkey.  His great grand-father came from Ireland about
1790 and settled in Virginia.  He spelled his name "Sharkey."  The name was
changed to Shirkey by his grandfather. The father of Dr. Shirkey was born
near Sissonville, Kanawha County, in 1832, and he died on his farm on the Elk
River, in Elk District, in 1887.  He was a farmer and also a school teacher.
He married Martha Matheny, who was reared at Pinch, in Elk District, and
still survives. They had five children, namely: Wilbur F.; David W., who is
an attorney at law; Sherrian, who is manager of a company store in this
section; Margaret, who died at the age of eight years; and Susan.
Wilbur F. Shirkey was a child when the family moved to the farm in Elk
District and there his boyhood was spent.  He attended the public schools and
also had advantages at Carbondale Academy, and attended medical lectures at
the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Baltimore, Md., beginning his
practiceat Jarrett Ford and later returning to the medical college to
graduate with the class of 1894.  Subse-quently he took a post graduate
course at the New York Polyclinic, and a second one at the Chicago Post
Graduate College, at Chicago, Ill.  In 1890 Dr. Shirkey came to Malden, where
he has ever since been established, and here, through professional ability
and sterling traits of character, he has won his way to success in his
profession and to the esteem of his fellow citizens. He keeps fully abreast
with the times and is a member of the Kanawha County Medical Society, the
West Virginia State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association.
Dr. Shirkey was married April 14, 1881, to Miss Sarah Woody, a daughter of
Flem-ing Woody, and they have five children:
Ethel, who is accomplished in music, which she teaches; Wilma, who has turned
her talents in the direction of teaching; Sidney, who is a mining engineer;
and Wilbur F. and Sarah, twins, who are still in school. In his political
sentiments Dr. Shirkey is a Re-publican and is active in party councils,
be-ing a member of the County Republican Committee.  He is identified
fraternally with the Red Men at MaIden and to the Ma-sons, belonging to Blue
Lodge No.27, at MaIden and to the higher branches at Charleston, being a
"Shnner."


Sandy Spradling
SSpradling@AOL.com
State Contact for WV GenExchange
http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm

______________________________X-Message: #2
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 02:59:40 EDT
From: SSpradling@aol.com
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-ID: <8c941ba9.251f1e5c@aol.com>
Subject: BIO:  Gustav B. CAPITO, M.D.,  Kanawha County
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and Representative
Citizens
W.S. Laidley
Richmond Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, ILL.
1911
p. 427-428

GUSTAV B. CAPITO, M.D., of Charleston, W. Va., was born in this city in 1878,
a son of Charles and Sophia (Bentz) Capito. His  paternal grandparents  were
Godfrey and Catharine (Miller) Capito, the former a native of Germany, who in
1856 settled with his family at Mason City, Va., where he was a well known
business man for many years, first as a blacksmith and later being engaged in
the brewing trade.
Charles Capito, who was seven years of age when the family settled in Mason
City, was there reared and partly educated, subsequently being a stud'ent for
six years at Concordia Col-lege, at Fort Wayne, Ind. He then returned home
and engaged in the drug business at Mason City, later becoming a grocer.  In
1872 he came to Charleston, where he has since re-sided. For eleven years he
conducted a fancy grocery and vegetable business here, after which he went
into the wholesale liqu6r business, which he followed until 1905, when he
retired.  Subsequently he became identified with the city's banking
interests, and since September 1, 1910, has been president of the Kanawha
Nationl Bank, of which he is also a director. He has also been officially
connected with the Kanawha Valley Building and Loan Association and other
important enterprises. He is one of the leading business men of the city and
for eleven years has been president of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce.
Charles Capito was married in 1877 to Miss Sophia Bentz and they have four
children-Gustav, Bertha, Henry and Kate.  Henry Capito is also a prominent
business man of Charleston, being superintendent of the Diamond Ice and Coal
Company.
Gustav B. Capito was educated in the public schools of Charleston and at the
Washington-Lee University, where he was graduated in '899 with the degree of
B.A.  Later he entered the medical department of the college and was
graduated M.A., M.D. in the class of 1905.  He also pursued medical studies
in 1904 and 1906 at St. Luke's Hospital, New York City, and later in Berlin,
Germany. Then returning home he began medical practice in his native city and
has already achieved a good professional reputation.  He is interested in
hospital work and is a close student of medical science.  He belongs to the
county, state and national medical associations.  Perhaps few men of his age
could be found better equipped for his profession, and with the excellent
beginning he has already made, it may be confidently expected that his future
will be one of still more honorable achievement.

Sandy Spradling
SSpradling@AOL.com
State Contact for WV GenExchange
http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm

______________________________X-Message: #3
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 03:11:24 EDT
From: SSpradling@aol.com
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-ID: <bf80fe9c.251f211c@aol.com>
Subject: BIO:  Hon. William Mercer Owens DAWSON,  Kanawha County
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and Representative
Citizens
W.S. Laidley
Richmond Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, ILL.
1911
p. 428-432

HON. WILLIAM MERCER OWENS DAWSON, exgovernor of West Virginia, was born at
Bloomington, Md., within a few hundred yards of the Virginia (West Virginia)
line, May 21, 1853, son of Francis Ravenscroft (sometimes written Ravenscra
ft) and Leah (Kight) Dawson.  He is descended on  the paternal  side  from
martial  an-cestors who accompanied Oliver Cromwell to  Ireland  and  fought
to  subdue  the insurrectionary forces in that unhappy island. One of them
came to this ceuntry quite early in the history of the colonies.  At a later
day we find a branch of the family residing in Allegheny county, Maryland,
where John Dawson, our subject's grandfather, was born.  The latter was a
blacksmith by occupation and locally a well known and respected citizen.  He
married a Miss Ravenscroft. who was born and lived and died in Maryland, in
or near Dawson. John Dawson and wife had seven children, most of whom grew to
maturity, married, and reared families of their own.  The members of the
family generally were Methodists in their religious affiliations.  The
youngest son of John Dawson, the Rev. Samuel R. Dawson, was for many years a
well known and popular preacher in the M. E. church, North, and died in 1892
at an advanced age, at Ellenboro, Ritchie county, W. Va.  Another son of
John, Hanson B. Dawson, was clerk of the Circuit Court of Romney, Hampshire
county, W. Va.; he died September 6, 1876.  He married a Mrs. Shabe, widow of
Daniel Shabe and daughter of James Parsons, whose wife was a sister of
General Fairfax.  They had no issue.
Francis Ravenscroft Dawson, father of our subject, was the eldest child of
his parents, and was born near Dawson, Md., in 1809.  He learned his father's
trade of blacksmith, and later became clerk for Samuel Brady, a wealthy man
who owned a large plantation and a number of slaves.  Later Francis R. Dawson
took up the mercantile business at Piedmont, W. Va., and at Bloomington, Md.
He died in July, j88i, at the age of almost eighty years.  He was a class
leader in the M. F. church, and a very hospitable man.  During the Civil War
peribd, his sympathies were with the Union cause.  One of his sons, Frank M.,
was a soldier in the 17th W. Va. Volunteers, enlisting as a private and
serving from 1863 mitil the close of the war.
Francis R. Dawson married, in 1832, Leab Kight, who was born in Virginia in
1811. Her father, John Kight, and her mother, whose maiden name also was
Kight, were both Vir-ginians.  They were active members of the Methodist
church and both attained an advanced age.  The children of Francis R. and
Leah Dawson were Penelope, John H., Nancy C., Mariam, David Shoaf, Frank M.,
and William Mercer Owens.  Of those other than our subject, the record in
brief is as follows: Penelope, who is the widow of E. Clark Jones, but has no
children, resides in Terra Alta, W. Va. John H., who was a well known
steamboat cap tam  on the Ohio river, died at Parkersburg, W.   Va., in 1879.
 He married Miss Jennie Shaffer, who resides at Parkersburg, W. Va. Her only
son, Harry H. Dawson, of Norfolk, Va., died in the fall of 1910. Nancy C.,
widow of George E. Gtithrie, resides with her son, the Rev. Charles E.
Guthrie, pastor of the First M. E. church at Wilkesbarre, Pa.  Other children
of hers are D. S. Guthrie, of Chicago; Wade H., state printer at Charleston,
W. Va., and William V., publisher of "The Methodist," of Baltimore, Md.
Mariam, the fourth child of Francis R. and Leah Dawson, married Joseph
Goodrich, and died leaving several. children.  David Shoaf, the fifth child,
if now living, is probably in South America.  No news has been received from
him for a considerable time.  Frank M., whose military history has been
already referred to, is a machinist, and resides in Toledo, Ohio.  He married
Miss Cole of Grafton, W. Va., and they have sev-eral children.
William M. 0. Dawson, with whose history we are more directly concerned, had
the misfor-tune to lose his mother when he was a child of less than four
years, and he resided successively with his father at Cranberry (now Terra
Alta), Bruceton Mills, and Ice's Ferry.  In 1863 he began to learn the
cooper's trade at Cranberry, where also for a time he attended public school,
subsequently continuing his education in a pri-vate school at Terra Alta.
During this period he also worked for some time as a clerk and taught school.
 In 1873 he became a resident of King,vood, the county seat of Preston
coun-ty, and became editor of "The Preston County Journal," a Republican
newspaper, for which he had previously been a correspondent, as well as for
the "Wheeling Intelligencer."  Two years later he became the owner of the
"Jour-nal" which under his management became a po-tent factor in state
politics. In 1874, though nor seeking the position, he was elected chairman
of the county Republican committee, and was twice re-elected, serving for
thirteen years, at the end-of which time he retired.  In 1880 he was
unanimously nominated as the Republican canidate for state senator from Tenth
district, composed of Monongalia and Preston coun-ties, and was elected.  He
was the youngest member of the body, and- the only Republican member except
his colleague.  At the end of this four-year term, he was again nominated
without opposition, and re-elected to the state senate.  In 1888, at the end
of his second term, he declined to be again considered as a candidate though
he could have been nominated for the third time without opposition. When he
re-tired in i888 the Senate was nearly equally di-vided between the two
political parties.  During his career as senator Mr. Dawson rendered valuable
service as a member of the committee on banks and corporations, on finance,
on the joint committee on finance, on the joint subcommittee on finance to
prepare the appropria-tion bills; on counties and municipal corporations, on
the penitentiary, on mines and mining, on public printing, and was the only
Republican member of a special committee to investi-gate the public printing,
his report being adopted by the Democratic senate. The decided stand he took
for the protection of the school fund is still well remembered and is a
matter of public record.  He also advocated the regulation of railroad
charges on the lines afterwards adopted by the Federal government in the
creation of the interstate commerce commission.  He is also the father of the
first mine inspection law of the state, and he initiated and carried through
much other beneficent legisla-tion.  His name has been since associated with
the "Dawson Corporation Law," enacted by the legislature in 1901, while he
was secretary of state, and which made much needed and benefi-cent
alterations in the corporation laws of the state, adding over a quarter of a
million dollars to its revenues from the tax in corporation charters.
In 1891 Mr. Dawson was unanimously elect-ed chairman of the Republican State
Committee, a position to which he was twice re-elected. When he took charge
West Virginia was Democratic by a majority of 5,000 to 6,000, and had be'en
in complete control of the Democratic party since 1871.  His conduct of the
campaign of 1892 wrought a great change in the political situation and was a
surprise to all the party leaders of the state, and particularly so to the
enemy.  Under his management the Republican party won the great victories in
West Virginia of 1894, 1896, 1898 and 1900.  Since 1896 the state has been
Republican in all branches of the government, having a majority in both
houses of the Legislature.  Mr. Dawson resigned the office of chairman in
1904.
In 1897 he was appointed secretary of state by Governor Atkinson, and was
reappointed to that office in 1901 by Governor White, being the only man who
has served two terms in that important office.  His administration of its
affairs was marked hy personal integrity, efficiency, and devotion to the
public welfare that won for him universal commendation and compelled the
respect even of his political enemies. having the legislature pass the
"Dawson Cor-poration Law," referred to above.
Every one remembers the great political campaign of 1904 in West Virginia.
The all-absorbing issue was "tax reform."  It was hased on the
recommendations of the tax commission of 1901, which made its report to the
legisla-ture of 1903.  The body refused to consider the bills to amend the
tax laws proposed by that commission.  On the question of their
con-sideration Mr. Dawson became a candidate for the Republican nomination
for Governor.  It was a fierce, hot campaign.  Mr. Dawson was nominated; and
the campaign that ensued, resulting in his election, was probably the most
hotly contested in the history of the state. Mr. Dawson served as Governor of
West Virginia from March 4, 1905, to March 4, 1909, and during his
administration he succeeded in hav-ing "tax reform" enacted into laws, now
often referred to as the "Dawson Tax Laws."
As the incumbent of this high office, he again justified his party's choice
and his record as governor is one that will hear close comparison with that
of the ablest of his predecessors. It is sufficiently well known to the
people of the state to need no detailed recapitulation here. Among minor
offices that have been held by Mr. Dawson are those of clerk of the House of
Delegates, in 1895, and mayor of Kingwood.  He is a member of the Masonic
order belonging to Preston lodge, No.90, A. F. & A. M. of Kingwood, and is
past chancellor of Brown lodge, No.32, also of Kingwood.  He is a member of
the Presbyterian church and has been active in Y. M. C. A. work.
Mr. Dawson was married in 1879 to Luda, daughter of John T. Neff, of
Kingwood, W. Va. She died in 1894, leaving a son, Daniel; and in 1899 Mr.
Dawson married Maude, daughter of Jane Brown, of Kingwood, of which union
there is a daughter, Leah Jane, born April 4, 1901, and now attending the
pub-lic schools.  The son Daniel, who was born January 13, 1881, was educated
in the Charleston schools, including the high school, and subsequently
entered the University of West Virginia at Morgantown, where he was graduated
in 1904.  He then took a one year course at Harvard University, and later
graduated from the law school of West Virginia University. He is now engaged
in the practice of law at Huntington, W. Va.  Ex-Governor Dawson is a printer
by trade and a lawyer by profession.  He is now engaged in the practice of
law at Charleston, the capitol of West Virginia.

Sandy Spradling
SSpradling@AOL.com
State Contact for WV GenExchange
http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm

______________________________X-Message: #4
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 03:16:04 EDT
From: SSpradling@aol.com
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-ID: <f4532f3e.251f2234@aol.com>
Subject: BIO:  John R. WALKER, M.D.,  Kanawha County
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and Representative
Citizens
W.S. Laidley
Richmond Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, ILL.
1911
p. 432-433

JOHN R. WALKER, M. D., one of the older members of the medical profession at
Marmet, formerly known as Brownstown, Kanawha County, W. Va., was born in
this county, June 19, 1832, and is a son of Albert G. and Mary (Sims) Walker,
and a grandson of John Walker and John Sims, and a great-grandson of Charles
Hunter.
John Walker was born in England and was a young man when he came to America
and settled in Essex County, Va., where he married Lucy Kock.  Their children
were: Livingston, Jane May, James H., Harriet W., Thomas and Albert G.
Albert G. Walker, father of Dr. Walker, was born in Essex County, Va. He
became a farmer and in 1850 emberked as one of the pioneer merchants at
Brownstown, where he continued in business for many years, finally retiring
and his death took place here when he had almost reached his seventy-sixth
birthday. He married Mary Sims, a daughter of John Sims, who was a farmer
below Charleston. The Sims family as well as the Walkers and Hunters were all
old and prominent people in Virginia. Col. Charles Sims was a member of the
U. S. Congress, from California, being a native of Nicholas County, where the
family at one time was rich and prosperous. William Sims of Nicholas County,
was sheriff, and another William Sims became a judge in Cali-fornia. John
Sims lived to the age of eighty-four years, spending his last days in the
home of Albert G. Walker.  Sixteen children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Walker,
the survivors being John R., Lucy Hill, Mildred Brazee, Mil-lie Rose Grant,
Hattie Scott and Josie Mathews. The mother of Dr. Walker died at Brownstown
when aged eighty-two years.
John R. Walker obtained his early education in an old log schoolhouse with
slab benches and puncheon floor. Later he became a clerk in his father's
store, and while still selling goods, studied his medical books, but before
an oppor-tunity came for him to complete his professional education, the
Civil War broke out and he be-came a soldier, enlisting in i86i in the 8th
Va. Cavalry, Confederate Army, in which he served for three years,
participating during this time in many warm engagements.  He was fortunate
enough to escape capture and wounds and after a short period at home entered
the Eclectic Medical College at Cincinnati, where he was graduated in 1867.
For eight years Dr. Walker then practiced medicine at Logan Court House,
coming then to Brownstown, where he has been a very busy general practitioner
until quite re-cently and has been the oldest practicing physi-cian in
Kanawha County. He still consents to a little office practice, but in the
main passes over his heavier professional responsibilities to younger
shoulders.
Dr. Walker married Mrs. Fanny (Powell) Walker, at. that time a widow.  Her
parents were Charles and Lucinda Powell, who owned several plantations in
Virginia prior to the Civil War. Dr. and Mrs. Walker had two children, Albert
G. and Powell Edward. The former, a railroad man, married Lizzie Lewis and
they have one daughter, Margaret Elizabeth.  The younger son died at the age
of two years and Mrs. Walker passed away on May 23, 1895. Dr. Walker is a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south. Politically he has always
been a Democrat.  When Winifrede was first made a post-office, Mr. William
O'Connor,
who was the owner of the Winifrede Coal Mines there was made postmaster and
Dr. Walker became assistant; and later, for about twenty years served as
postmaster at Browns-town.

Sandy Spradling
SSpradling@AOL.com
State Contact for WV GenExchange
http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm

______________________________X-Message: #5
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 03:26:12 EDT
From: SSpradling@aol.com
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-ID: <63882264.251f2494@aol.com>
Subject: BIO:  Buckner CLAY,  Kanawha County
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and Representative
Citizens
W.S. Laidley
Richmond Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, ILL.
1911
p. 433-434

BUCKNER CLAY, attorney-at-law, and member of the law firm of Price, Smith,
Spilman & Clay, of Charleston, West Virginia, was born in Bourbon County,
Kentucky, December 31, 1877.  His mother, Mary Woodford, was the daughter of
John T. Woodford and Elizabeth Buckner-both descendants of Virginia
ancestors.  Through his father, Ezekiel Field Clay, he is descended from John
Clay, who came to Virginia from Wales in 1613.  From the three sons of John
Clay were descended all the Kentucky Clays, including Henry Clay.
The first of his Clay ancestors to come to Kentucky was General Green Clay, a
soldier in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.  Green Clay settled in
Madison County, Kentucky, near the present town of Richmond. His home has
later become better known as "Whitehall," the home of his son, General
Cassius M. Clay, who first became known as a zealous advocate of the
Abolition of Slavery, having freed his own slaves, of whom he had quite a
number. When but thirty-two years of age his speeches in advocacy of this
cause were published by Horace Greeley.  He was a graduate of Yale College
and studied law; served for several terms in the Kentucky Legislature; was a
soldier in the Mexican War, and was commissioned Major General in the Civil
War; he edited the True American, an anti-slavery paper; and later served as
Minister to Russia under Presidents Lincoln, Johnson and Grant.
Brutus Junius Clay, the grandfather of Buckner Clay, was another son of Green
Clay. He settled in Bourbon County, Kentucky; was a farmer and breeder of
blooded stock, He represented the Ashland Dis-trict, made famous by Henry
Clay, in the 38th Congress. He was twice married. His first wife was Amelia
Field, and his second, her sister, Anne Field.  To his first wife were born
four children, Martha, Christopher Field, Green and Ezekiel Field, and to his
second, Cassius Marcellus, Jr.
Martha married Henry B. Davenport, of Jefferson County, West Virginia.  One
of their sons, Henry B. Davenport, is an attorney-at-law of Clay, West
Virginia.
Christopher Field Clay was a farmer, who lived and died in Bourbon County,
Ken-tucky
Both Green and Cassius were graduates of Yale College. The former served as
sec-retary to his uncle at St. Petersburg, and later as Secretary of Legation
to Minister Marsh in Italy. For many years he owned and cultivated a
plantation in Mississippi, and now resides on his farm at Mexico, Missouri.
Cassius M. Clay, Jr., served for 9everal terms in the Kentucky Legislature
and was President of the last Constitutional Convention of Kentucky. He is
also a farmer, having inherited "Auvergne," the  home place of bis father,
near Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky.  However, he has al-ways devoted much
time to the study of public questions.
Ezekiel Field Clay, the father of the subject of this sketch, was educated at
Bacon College, Harrodsburg, Kentucky; served in the Confederate army first as
Captain and then as Colonel of Cavalry-for the most part under General
Humphrey Marshall. He was twice wounded, and the second time taken prisoner
and imprisoned at Johnson's Island.  Since the war he has devoted his
attention to farming and breeding thoroughbred horses, at his home
"Runny-mede," in Bourbon County, Kentucky.
Buckner Clay is the fourth of six chil-dren; Ezekiel Field, Jr., Woodford,
Brutus J., Buckner, Amelia and Mary Catesby.
Ezekiel Field, Jr., a graduate of Yale College in the Class of 1892, is, like
his ancestors, a farmer in the good old County of Bourbon.
Woodford and Brutus J. Clay were both graduates of Princeton College, the
former in 1893 and the latter in 1896.  The former has devoted his attention
to the breeding and racing of thoroughbred horses -the latter studied law at
the University of Virginia and is now a practicing lawyer of Atlanta, Georgia.
Amelia married Samuel Clay, who is de-scended from a different branch of the
Clay family.  Mary Catesby is unmarried and lives at the home place.
Buckner Clay graduated at Kentucky University in the Class of 1897; farmed
for one year; graduated in law at the Univer-sity of Virginia in 1900;
practiced law at Paris, Kentucky, for about two years; went to Atlanta in
January, 1903, and was later admitted to practice in Georgia; in June, 1903,
he came to Charleston to enter the law office of Flournoy, Price & Smith. In
January, 1907, he became a member of that firm, which became Price, Smith,
Spilman & Clay. He is a Democrat.

Sandy Spradling
SSpradling@AOL.com
State Contact for WV GenExchange
http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm

______________________________X-Message: #6
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 03:33:30 EDT
From: SSpradling@aol.com
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-ID: <e3ac4936.251f264a@aol.com>
Subject: BIO:  James M. THACKER,  Kanawha County
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and Representative
Citizens
W.S. Laidley
Richmond Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, ILL.
1911
p. 434-435

JAMES M. THACKER, whose valuable farm of 208 acres lies in Union District,
Kanawha County, W. Va., one mile east of the dividing line from Putnam
County, has been a resi-dent of the county since he was twelve years of age.
He was born in Putnam County, W. Va., and is a son of Dilla and Jane Thacker.
His parents moved into Kanawha County in 1861and resided here until 1865;,
when they returned to Putnam County, where both died. One of their sons, A.
L. Thacker, was a soldier in the Confederate Army and was taken prisoner by
the Union forces and confined in Lookout military prison but after the end of
the Civil War he returned to Putnam County.
James M. Thacker obtained his education in Putnam County and later attended
school for a time in Kanawha County.  Farming has been his main business all
his life and since his marriage he has resided on his present farm, I75-acres
of which he has brought to a high state of cultivation.  This is the old
Lilly homestead, which has been in the Lilly family for four gen-erations.
Mr. Thacker assisted in the erection of the farm buildings while the property
was still under the control of N. B. Lilly, and since then has built the
present commodious and comfortable residence.
Mr. Thacker married Miss Elizabeth J. Lilly, who was born on this farm in
Union District, Kanawha County, a daughter of N. B. Lilly, and they have
three living children:  Sallie, who is the wife of J. L. Goff; Annie, who is
the wife of W. M. B. Williams, of Union District; and Everett, who is his
father's assistant. He married Cora E. Francis, a daughter of Thomas P.
Francis, of Putnam County. Both Mr. Thacker and his son are Democrats in
politics but neither have ever been willing to accept office. Everett belongs
to Poca Grange, No.312, and is an Odd Fellow, belonging to Putnam Lodge No.85
at Poca, to Buena Vista Encampment, No. 80, and Forest Rose Re-hekah Lodge
No.143, I. 0.0. F. Both fami-lies are members of the Methodist Episcopal
church, south.  Thcy are men of excellent standing and representatives of the
best citizenship of the district.

Sandy Spradling
SSpradling@AOL.com
State Contact for WV GenExchange
http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm