History of Wheeling City and Ohio Co. WV - Biographries-4



J. E. WRIGHT. The commercial supremacy fostered and maintained by J. E. 
Wright in his capacity of president of the La Belle Iron Works, places 
him, through the wise discharge of an enormous responsibility, among the 
financial leaders of West Virginia. Born in Wheeling, he was reared in his 
native city, and received his educational training at the public schools, 
supplemented by a three-years course at Beaver College. More fortunate 
than many in locating a waiting opportunity, he bcame identified in 1882 
with the enterprise with which he is still connected, and of which his 
father, John Wright, was one of the organizers and most successful 
promoters. Aside from the matter of selection, however, Mr. Wright is 
entitled to vast credit for the development of his business career, his 
invaluable knowledge of the iron industry having been gained in a 
convincing and laborious manner while working his way through the grades 
intervening between the duties of a pay clerk and those of the president 
of one of the most important plants in the United States. 

What was originally the Bailey, Woodward & Company concern, now the La 
Belle Iron Works, has greatly contributed, since its establishment in 
1852, to the upbuilding of Wheeling. The location of the plant here has 
never been changed, but, whereas it was then in the country, it is now in 
the midst of seething city activities. A joint stock company of 22 members 
was responsible for its being, and it was managed by a board of directors 
under the presidency of Solomon H. Woodward. Of the members of the old 
firm, but two survive,--John Wright, who withdrew from active 
participation in its affairs in 1876, and W. R. E. Elliott, who still 
retains an interest in the business, and is living in Steubenville, Ohio. 
In 1875 the present title of the concern was adopted. The puddling mill at 
first furnished employment to about 250 men, and in connection therewith 
was operated a coal bank, that mineral being then the medium of generating 
power. The year 1886 witnessed an important change in the matter of power, 
gas being substituted for the product of the coal bank. This was brought 
originally from the Hickory district, southwest of Washington, 
Pennsylvania. At present gas is obtained from the Cameron district, 30 
miles from Wheeling, the well being the largest ever drilled in this 
country. The first enterprise was a nail factory, and nails are still 
manufactured in large quantities at the Wheeling plant. In fact, this 
particular department controlled the nail output of the country in the 
early "eighties". About 1887 there was established a skelp mill, for the 
purpose of welding bent strips of iron into tubing, and a still later 
departure was the making of tin plate, for which a mill was built in 1895. 
Two years later the tin plate branch was enlarge, and the following year 
it was disposed of entirely. At one time there were 10 tin mills, two 
skelp mills, and 173 nail machines,--for the entire operation of which 750 
men were required. There are now about 300 men in the works at Wheeling. 

To secure better facilities for a contemplated increase of business, the 
firm purchased, in 1899, the property formerly utilized by the old 
Jefferson Iron Works at Steubenville, Ohio, which comprises 75 acres. The 
same year the first buildings for the enlarged enterprise were erected, 
and the office and management were removed to the new quarters May 1, 
1901. At Steubenville will be manufactured the skelp or tubular goods, for 
which a mill was completed in December, 1901, and a blast furnace is also 
in process of construction for the manufacture of pig metal. The raw 
material for that product will be brought from the company's mines in St. 
Louis county, Minnesota; these mines were acquired in 1900, and require 
for their operation 40 miners. The works in the Ohio town already furnish 
work for 1,400 men, and in the near future it is expected there will be 
employment for about 2,500 hands. 

January 1, 1899, Mr. Wright became president and general manager of the 
entire La Belle Iron Works, and removed his family to Steubenville May 1, 
1901. W. E. Beswick is secretary of the concern; W. B. Higgins, assistant 
secretary; and W. H. Travis is general manager of the Wheeling plant. 



JOHNSON CAMDEN McKINLEY, one of the most successful and prominent young 
business men of Wheeling, West Virginia, is of Scotch-English extraction. 
He is a native of Parkersburg, West Virginia, and is a son of John 
Stringer and Amanda (Camden) McKinley, both of whom were natives of 
Virginia. J. S. McKinley went west to Kansas when J. C. was a small boy, 
in search of a more healthful climate. He entered the grain business in 
the West, and was for many years a successful dealer. He was a Democrat in 
politics, was active in political affairs and filled various Kansas 
offices, prior to his death in 1898. He was a grandson of Capt. John 
McKinley, to whom the original site of Wheeling,--283 acres, near the 
mouth of Wheeling Creek,--was granted by patent by the state of Virginia, 
as the bounty lands of a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War. The family 
are connected with the McKinley clan of Scotland. 

The mother of Johnson Camden McKinley is a direct descendant of the 
English Camdens and is a sister of Hon. Johnson N. Camden, who was United 
States senator from West Virginia. She resides in Wheeling, at No. 84 
Fourteenth street, with her son, J. C., and two of his sisters,--having 
reared four children. These daughters, Caroline and Matilda, are Daughters 
of the American Revolution, while their brother is a member of the Sons of 
the American Revolution. One daughter, Virginia, married Daniel Belford, 
and lives at Andover, Kansas. The family are all members of the St. 
Matthew's Protestant Episcopal church. 

While still young Mr. McKinley accompanied his parents to Southern Kansas, 
where he grew to manhood and remained until 1893. Returning to the East, 
he found employment on the Monongahela River Railroad, a coal road, 
operating the Monongah Coal & Coke Company. Later he was made general 
agent and paymaster on the same road, and was employed by that company for 
five years. He severed his connection with the company in 1898, to enter 
the coal business for himself, having obtained at that time the sole 
agency, both wholesale and retail, of the Monongah and Fairmont coal 
companies for Wheeling and vicinity. 

In the summer of the same year he assisted in organizing the Highland Coal 
& Coke Company, which was very prosperous and was later absorbed by the 
Fairmont Coal Company. In December, 1899, he organized the Alexander Coal 
Company, operating also in the Fairmont district and absorbed by the 
Fairmont Coal Company, January 1, 1901. In October, 1900, Mr. McKinley 
organized the Wheeling Steam Coal Company, which operates successfully on 
the Terminal Railroad of the Pennsylvania line in Ohio county. This 
company is operating very successfully near the corporation line of 
Wheeling, and employs about 100 men. Mr. McKinley is president and manager 
of this company at the present time. 

Quite recently Mr. McKinley organized the Crystal Manufactured Ice Company 
of Wheeling, which was incorporated September 20, 1901. This company 
purchased the large ice business of A. M. Hamilton. The main office is 
located at Twenty-seventy and Main streets, with a branch office and ample 
stables at Twenty-nineth and Woods streets. The company gives promise of 
doing an immense business and its success is looked upon as a certainty. 
Mr. McKinley personally takes entire charge of all his varied interests in 
both the coal and ice business. Like his father he follows the leadership 
of the Democratic party. As his career shows, he is a thorough business 
man, awake to present opportunities, and with the unusual degree of push 
and energy that invariably insure success. 



E. B. CARNEY. That the successful bottle man is born and not made is a 
truism emphatically illustrated in the career of E. B. Carney, manager and 
proprietor of the Windsor Hotel at Wheeling. However,while searching for 
the preordained channel of activity to which nature had assigned him, 
there was abundant opportunity for the display of his mettle in various 
directions, and in the early struggle for an independent livelihood Mr. 
Carney was not wanting in either application or thrift. At a comparatively 
early age he renounced for the time being the idea of a higher education,
and, leaving behind the familiar associations of his native town of Mount 
Savage, Maryland, proceeded to Fort Scott, Kansas, where he lived with his 
step-brother, J. W. Heylmun, chief engineer of the Missouri, Kansas & 
Texas Railroad. Mr. Heylmun has since shifter his capable services to 
Kansas City, Missouri, and is there identified with the Belt Line of the 
town. Arriving at Fort Scott, Mr. Carney so improved his chances that in 
time he assisted his brother as level man for the railroad company, his 
work being chiefly between Fort Scott, Jefferson City and Kansas City. 
When about twenty-one years of age he ceased to ally himself with the 
fluctuating fortunes of Kansas, returned to his native state, and engaged 
in the grocery business until 1875 at Cumberland, Maryland. The following 
year began his extended hotel experience, his first charge being the 
management of the Queen City Hotel at Cumberland. Twelve years later he 
came to Wheeling and was manager of the Windsor Hotel two years, and for 
the following two years was connected in a similar capacity with the old 
Monongahela House at Pittsburg. 

In 1891 Mr. Carney returned to Wheeling and leased the Windsor Hotel, an 
hostelry of more than passing interest, and for more than half a century a 
pleasant and comfortable shelter for the temporarily homeless. Under the 
present management the capacity of the time-honored inn has been made to 
conform to the most approved and modern ideas of taste and convenience. 
There are 100 sleeping rooms, and commodious dining and drawing rooms, and 
300 people may be cared for without any special disadvantages. The rates 
are from $2 to $3 a day, and the trade is mostly of the commercial and 
tourist order. Neatness and order prevail, and the excellent viands 
temptingly arrayed before the weary guests attest the near by presence of 
a genius of the range most sympathetically inclined. 

Through his marriage with the daughter of Capt. T. H. Mong, Mr. Carney 
became related to one of the interesting and forceful personalities of 
Wheeling. To Captain Mong belongs the distinction of being the pioneer 
oyster dealer between Baltimore and the Mississippi River, and in the very 
early days he used to ship the succulent bivalve by stage over the 
mountains. After his retirement from this occupation, he became a captain 
on the river, and was also an agent for various boat lines with 
headquarters at Wheeling. To Mr. and Mrs. Carney have been born two 
daughters, Helen and Bessie. In politics Mr. Carney is a Democrat, and in 
religious belief he is a member of the Roman Catholic church. He is one of 
the best known hotel men in the state, and during nearly thirty years of 
faithful devotion to the best interests of the traveling public, he has 
won and kept hosts of friends. Alert, tactful, and with a keen knowledge 
of human nature in all its workings, he is also optimistic and large 
hearted, two traits as fine as they are rare. 



J. G. HOFFMANN & SONS COMPANY, which conduct the only tanning 
establishment in the city of Wheeling, West Virginia, and also controls 
the Gormania tannery at Gormania, West Virginia, is a firm well known 
throughout the United States. The plant is especially adapted to the 
tanning of harness and sole leather, and is one of the largest oak harness 
leather tanneries in the world. Its product is sold throughout the United 
States and it employs a force numbering about 300 men. The officers of the 
company are as follows: John G. Hoffmann, Sr., president; John G. 
Hoffmann, Jr., vice-president; and F. C. Hoffmann, secretary and 
treasurer. 

John G. Hoffmann, Sr., founder of the establishment and president of the 
company, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, came from Baden, Germany, 
in 1844, having learned the trade of a tanner in that country. He landed 
at Philadelphia, where he remained until 1847, and then entered business 
at Wheeling, as a member of the firm of Berger & Hoffmann. He also had one 
brother, Frank H., deceased, who located at Wheeling, and was foreman in 
the business for a time. The firm of Berger & Hoffmann continued until 
1876, the year which marked the inception of the firm of J. G. Hoffmann & 
Sons. The latter existed until 1890, and was then incorporated as J. G. 
Hoffmann & Sons Company, with the same officers as at the present time. 
The Gormania tannery of Gormania, West Virginia, which is under the 
control of this company, is under the direct management of John G. 
Hoffmann, Jr. The old building at Wheeling, which is now being replaced by 
a new one, was built in 1856, and was partly three stories, and partly two 
stories high. The new building which will face on Water street, will be of 
three stories, will have double the capacity of the old one, and will 
cover one block. Under capable management, the business of the firm has 
shown a phenomenal increase, and ranks well up with the best tanneries of 
the country. It is devoted mainly to the preparation of harness and sole 
leather, the raw material being secured through the packing establishments 
of Chicago. The particular brand produced is the well known "Star" oak 
harness leather. Wheeling with its great railroad facilities is a suitable 
location for this great industry. Two traveling representatives are 
employed, who cover the territory between California and Maine. 

In 1864, John G. Hoffmann, Sr., was a member of a company which purchased 
the Benwood Mill, then owned by Kelley & Brothers, which company continued 
until the consolidation of the Benwood, Belmont & Top Mills. He was a 
director in the consolidated company for twenty-eight years, and then 
resigned. He has also been interested in the AEtna-Standard Mill Company, 
of which he was one of the promoters. He was also one of the promoters of 
the Spears Axle Company, organized July 10, 1888, and is now serving as 
its president. This plant, in which his son, John G., Jr., is also 
interested, is located near the tannery and employs a large force of men. 
Mr. Hoffmann is also identified with several other lines of business. He 
has been connected with the National Exchange Bank of Wheeling about forty-
eight years, and has been one of its directors for ten years. His first 
location at Wheeling was on the Island, and there he conducted his tannery 
and resided until 1860, when he built his present residence at No. 2221 
Chapline street. The firm of Berger & Hoffmann, which existed until 1876, 
had a leather store where Stone & Thomas' large department store now 
stands, and also owned two other stores adjacent. Mr. Hoffmann built one 
of the first houses erected on the Island, after it had been laid out in 
lots by Colonel Zane. The great flood of 1852 caused much loss of property 
on the Island. J. G. Hoffmann, Sr., is now past the age of seventy-seven 
years, is hale and hearty, and possessed of the same shrewdness and 
general business ability which characterized his younger days. He has 
served very acceptably as a member of the city council and water board of 
Wheeling, and has been identified with many other projects of vital 
interest to the city. He is also possessed of heavy banking and iron 
interests, and is in very comfortable circumstances in a financial way. 

Mr. Hoffman was united in marriage with Catherine Schlalein, who is living 
at the age of seventy-two years, and they became parents of five sons and 
three daughters, as follows: John G., Jr., who has also served in the city 
council of Wheeling; Matilda (Zoeckler), of Deadwood, Dakota; Ella 
(Mabis), whose husband is manager of the Des Moines Saddlery & Hardware 
Company, of Des Moines, Iowa, a branch of the J. G. Hoffmann & Sons 
Company, which employs 175 hands; Frank C., secretary and treasurer of J. 
G. Hoffmann & Sons Company, who married Miss Stamm, a daughter of Henry 
Stamm, of the Stamm Hotel, of Wheeling, has two daughters, Virginia E. and 
an infant, and resides in the third ward; William E., deceased, who was 
formerly connected with the branch house at Des Moines, and whose widow 
and son reside at Chicago; Peter G., who is with the branch house at Des 
Moines; Joseph R., who is with the company at Wheeling; and Mrs. Rosa 
Truschel, whose husband is in the wholesale paper business at Wheeling. 
Mr. Hoffmann is a stanch adherent of the principles of the Republican 
party. He was formerly a member of secret societies, but has not been for 
the past thirty years. He is a member of the Catholic church. 



C. A. SCHAEFER. A business free from competition, not only because there 
is no similar undertaking in Wheeling, but because of its splendid 
management and diversified utility, is the real estate, steamship, 
consular correspondence, and general tourist and notary enterprise, 
conducted by C. A. Schaefer, under the firm name of C. A. Schaefer & 
Company. A native of the vicinity of Saginaw, Michigan, Mr. Schaefer was 
born in 1846, and is a son of George M. Schaefer, who was born in Bavaria, 
Germany. The elder Schaefer was a farmer during his active life, and a 
part of his prominence in Saginaw county was due to his stanch support of 
the Democratic party, in the interest of which he held many offices of 
responsibility and trust. He died March 13, 1901, at the age of eighty-
four years, but is survived by his widow and several children. At the age 
of seventy-two years, the mother still lives on the old homestead in 
Michigan. 

Decidedly pioneer conditions are suggested by the earliest educational 
training received by C. A. Schaefer, who used to go to schools taught by 
the missionaries among the Indians in Isabella county, Michigan. He later 
entered the college at Fort Wayne, Indiana,, and in 1868 went to the 
university at Erlangen, Bavaria, and remained until the breaking out of 
the Franco-Prussian War, in 1870. After a short sojourn at the home of his 
childhood, near Saginaw, he came to Wheeling in 1871, and has since been 
an integral part of the city's intellectual and material prosperity. He 
spent the year in 1871 in teaching in Zion's school. From 1872 to 1877 he 
was superintendent of the German department in the Wheeling public 
schools, and from 1877 until the present time he has been engaged as above 
describe. From a comparatively small beginning in 1877, the interests to 
which he is now devoted have assumed their present proportions, the 
original location remaining unchanged, save that it was formerly 
diagonally across the street in Schnepf's drug store, on the corner of 
Fourteenth and Market streets. A most complete tourist bureau is by no 
means the least feature of the business, and most complete information is 
furnished regarding matters of interest to travelers in any part of the 
world. Tourists' excursions are planned, the most desirable routes mapped 
out, the approximate cost is given and tickets furnished. The company has 
the agency for all the transatlantic liners, and accommodations may be 
secured both ways for individuals or families. A specialty is made of 
correspondence between consuls located in the various cities of the world, 
principally those residing in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and in 
this connection the collection of inheritances forms no small part. Mr. 
Schaefer is invested with the power of attorney, and a large amount of 
real estate transactions, both in foreign countries and America, passes 
through his hands. He is additionally interested in the Standard Fire 
Insurance Company of Wheeling, of which he is vice-president. 

To an unusual degree Mr. Schaefer has improved his opportunities, and his 
business successes have been supplemented by extended researches in the 
realms of literature, inspired by a keen appreciation of the broad and 
lasting things of life. A master of the German as well as the English 
language, his fine private library contains the best products of the great 
minds of both countries, and his facilities for imparting as well as 
absorbing information are generously placed at the disposal of such as may 
profit by the privilege. It is in the countrymen who claim the nationality 
of his father that he takes most emphatic and kindly interest, and he is 
particularly active in teaching them the history of their adopted country 
and placing them in touch with its enterprise and manifold advantages. He 
is, therefore, one of the truest benefactors of Wheeling, and most loyal 
to her social and material advancement. He is one of the originators of 
the Arion Association, and is one of its directors. He has taken the 
thirty-second degree in Masonry, and is also affiliated with the Scottish 
Rites organizations and the Shriners. politically, Mr. Schaefer is a 
Democrat, with independent inclinations, and during President Cleveland's 
administration served as surveyor of the port of Wheeling for four years. 
He is unmarried, and has for many years lived at No. 44 Fifteenth street. 



NICODEMUS RIESTER, general manager of the plant and furnaces of the 
Wheeling Steel & Iron Company, has reached his present position step by 
step. He has charge of 400 men, and is considered one of the most 
indispensable employees of the company. 

Mr. Riester is a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, and was born in September, 
1831. His parents were John G. and Cordelia (Detting) Riester, also 
natives of Germany. They reared three children namely: Blasisus, one and a 
half years older than the subject hereof, who served in the Civil War 
under Captain Plankey, and died in September, 1901; Nicodemus; and 
Katherine, who has been twice left a widow, and who now makes her home 
with Mr. Riester. John G. Riester and his wife came to this country in 
1831, and located in Wheeling in 1832. Mr. Riester was a soldier in the 
Mexican War, and died in 1849, at the age of forty-five years, from the 
effects of diseases contracted in the army. His widow lived to the 
advanced age of eighty-six years. 

Nicodemus Riester found employment in the glass factories at a very early 
age, and in 1852 became a nail feeder in the iron and steel works. In 
1863, he was promoted to be manager of the nail factory, while Jacob 
Snyder was manager of the puddlers and mill. Besides this position, he 
also had charge of the coal bank, where about 50 men and boys were at 
work. Ten years later he assisted in breaking the first ground for the 
blast furnaces, of which George Wynn first had charge. In the Belmont 
Mills, Martin Mallally is the present chief engineer, having succeeded 
Michael Haley, the first engineer. Mr. Riester is interested in this mill 
and in the Wheeling Steel & Iron Company, of which Mr. Hubbard is 
president. 

Mr. Riester continued as manager of the nail factory until the winter of 
1874-75, and was then promoted to be manager of the plant; three years 
later he succeeded C. P. Perin in the management of the furnaces. He was 
united in marriage with Mary Carney, daughter of John Carney, deceased, 
who was a contractor on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. She was a native of 
Maryland, and is now sixty-five years old. Twelve children blessed the 
union, but four of whom are now living, as follows: N. C., who assists in 
the management of the Belmont Mills; Frank, manager of the Furnace at the 
Top Mill; Susie, the wife of Dr. Carroll, of Wheeling, a dentist; and 
Gertrude, living at home, who is prominent in musical circles as a 
vocalist. The family residence is at No. 2329 Market street, and Mr. 
Riester has been a resident of the sixth ward since 1852. The family 
attend the Catholic church. In politics Mr. Riester is a Democrat, and was 
for many years very active in party campaigns. He served in the militia 
during the Civil War. 



MRS. MARY MILLER, an esteemed resident of Wheeling, West Virginia, and the 
widow of the late August C. Miller, was born in Wheeling, May 20, 1858. 
She is a daughter of August Seabright, deceased. 

August Seabright was a native of Germany, and died at the age of forty-
nine years. He came to the United States when he was a youth, and located 
in Wheeling, where he followed the business of draying. He married 
Caroline Klages, who was born in Germany, and died in Wheeling, aged forty-
nine years. They reared the following children, namely: Albert; Louisa; 
Mary, the subject of this sketch; Lena; and Annie. 

Mary Seabright was united in marriage with August C. Miller, November 4, 
1877. August C. Miller was born in Wheeling in 1850, and is a son of 
August Miller. Mr. Miller attended the public schools of Wheeling, and 
later worked at several of the Wheeling mills, among them being the 
Belmont Mill. After leaving the milling business, he bought a sample room 
and followed that business until the time of his death, which occurred in 
1883. He was a public spirited man, of an honest and upright character, 
and his death was deeply mourned by his many friends in Wheeling. He was a 
member of the I.O.O.F. and the I.O.R.M. 

Mr. and Mrs. Miller were the parents of nine children, namely: Carrie, 
Kennen, Earl, Ross, Edna, Pauline, Gussie, Gertie, and a second Gussie, 
deceased. Mrs. Miller is a woman of many admirable traits of character, 
and is deeply loved by all who know her. She is an active member of the 
German-Evangelical Lutheran church. 

A portrait of August C. Miller accompanies this sketch, being presented on 
a foregoing page. 



HON. CLARKE HAMILTON, JR., member of the board of directors of the State 
Penitentiary at Moundsville, West Virginia, is also secretary and 
treasurer of the Schaefer & Driehorst Company, wholesale dealers in fine 
wines and liquors at No. 1428 Main street, Wheeling, West Virginia. 

Mr. Hamilton first saw the light of day in 1867, and is a native of 
Preston county, West Virginia. When he was but a few months old his 
parents took him with them to Taylor county, and there Mr. Hamilton was 
reared. He obtained his early mental training in the public schools, and 
in 1883-84 took a course in the Normal School at Fairmount, after which he 
entered Duff's Business College, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated 
in 1885 with honor. 

After completing his education, Mr. Hamilton entered the employ of the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company in the freight department at Grafton, 
West Virginia, and remained there until 1887, when he began his public 
career. In 1887, during President Cleveland's administration, he was 
appointed deputy collector of internal revenue for the state of West 
Virginia by Hon. John T. McGraw, and held this office during that 
administration. Mr. Hamilton came to Wheeling in 1888, where he became 
secretary and treasurer of the Schaefer & Driehorst Company, which 
position he still retains. In June, 1901, Mr. Hamilton was appointed by 
Governor White, of West Virginia, a member of the board of directors of 
the State Penitentiary at Moundsville. 

The father of Mr. Hamilton was also a prominent figure in Taylor county 
politics, where he served as president of the board of county 
commissioners. He has been a railroad man most of his life, has been very 
active and is highly regarded. 

Mr. Hamilton's home is at Echo Point. He was united in marriage with a 
daughter of the late Gibson Lamb, and has two children, namely: Gibson 
Lamb and Katherine L. He and his wife are members of the Episcopal church. 
He is a Mason of the thirty-second degree, a Knight Templar, a director in 
the Shrine and affiliates with Osiris Temple. He is also a member of the 
B. P. O. of E. He is spoken of only in the highest terms, and is respected 
by everyone. 



GEORGE E. HOUSE, one of the representative business men of Wheeling, West 
Virginia, is at the head of the largest department store, operating on the 
installment plan, in this city, and has had a wonderfully active and 
successful business career. The name of the firm of which he is the head 
is House & Herrmann, and they carry a most complete line of furniture, 
carpets, stoves, queensware, wall paper, clothing, shoes, hats, bicycles, 
trunks and general house furnishings. They have a very extensive credit 
system and make sales on easy payments, and the assertion of the firm,--
"Your credit is good,"--is familiar to purchasers everywhere in this 
vicinity. Mr. House is a thoroughly practical man, having spent about 
twenty-five years in this business. The parent house of the firm was 
established in Washington, D.C., in 1885, by Messrs. House & Herrmann. 
The business was established in Wheeling in 1888, at No. 1300 Main street, 
and soon became for too great for the meager accommodations there, 
necessitating a removal to the present large building on the corner of 
Fourteenth and Market streets; the volume of business is more than thrice 
its original size. The Pollock Building, which the firm occupies, consists 
of six stories and a basement, and is 66 by 120 feet in dimensions. The 
first floor is devoted to furniture and other goods, such as chinaware, 
sewing machines, lamps and silverware. The show window on Market street is 
60 feet long, and is attended to by an expert window dresser. The firm is 
the most extensive advertiser in the state, having numerous original and 
effective methods. In front of the door, at the northeast corner of the 
building, is a bulletin board, on which are given the main events of each 
day, the firm having private arrangements with leading newspapers for 
items of public interest. The second floor is devoted to clothing, shoes, 
hats, trunks, etc.; and the third floor to wall paper, upholstered 
furniture and carpets,--a sewing room being conducted in connection 
therewith. Power is used to run the machines, thus greatly aiding the 
operators. The fourth floor contains a complete stock of bedroom suites 
and miscellaneous furniture. The fifth and sixth floors are used for 
warehouse purposes and duplicate stock, and the basement for stoves. The 
building is equipped with two electric light plants, the power for which 
is furnished by steam and natural gas is used as fuel. The office of the 
firm and the reception room are located on the first floor. This is the 
pioneer department store operating on the installment plan in the city of 
Wheeling, and it employs about 60 people. The business was incorporated in 
1891, with Mr. House as president and active manager, and George S. Otte, 
secretary. The store is an exceedingly attractive one, and especial 
feature being the number of electric lights and the amount of gold leaf in 
use. Several teams are used in the delivery of the heavier class of goods, 
such as furniture. The company extends the fullest credit to purchasers, 
and allows the, where convenient, to carry their own parcels away from the 
store. It is a very public-spirited corporation, and its action in 
securing $1,780 for the relief of Galveston sufferers, by the publicity of 
the bulletin board at their store, was highly-commended by the citizens of 
Wheeling and was an incentive to to others to do likewise. 

Mr. House was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and first engaged in business 
when fifteen years of age. Ambitious and energetic, success came to him 
wholly through his own efforts. He is now an active member of the board of 
trade and has been among the foremost in the development of Wheeling, 
always subscribing to new and beneficial industries. He erected an 
apartment house at the corner of Ninth and Main streets, and has since 
invested heavily in this class of buildings. He resides, with his wife and 
family, on Twelfth street. 



WILLIAM C. HANDLAN, who for many years has been prominent in the affairs 
of the city of Wheeling and Ohio county, West Virginia, was born in this 
city, April 25, 1823. He has held many important public offices and has 
invariably discharged his duties in such a manner as to gain the 
confidence and respect of his fellow-citizens. 

At the age of nineteen years Mr. Handlan was employed as a clerk in the 
beef and pork inspection house of John Bozant, of New Orleans. He filled 
various clerical positions in this house for seven years, and in 1850 
moved to pike county, Illinois, where he engaged in the mercantile and 
pork packing business in the town of New Canton. In 1852 he went overland 
to California, and returned to Wheeling June 23, 1853. Immediately 
thereafter he formed a partnership with his brothers, John and Augustine, 
and for twelve years managed the Handlan store, carrying on an extensive 
and lucrative business. In 1865 he formed a partnership with Oliver Pryor 
in the wholesale grain and provision business, which was terminated one 
year later by the death of the latter. He then entered into a partnership 
with his brother, John Handlan, and they carried on a very extensive 
provision business until the death of the brother, in 1880. In 1884 Mr. 
Handlan was elected sheriff of Ohio county, and during his incumbency of 
that office he collected and disbursed about $1,000,000. The following 
extract from the Wheeling Intelligencer of September 7, 1889, speaks 
volumes for Mr. Handlan's efficiency. The headline of the article is, "A 
quick and satisfactory settlement."

"Ex-Sheriff Handlan made a final settlement with Clerk Woods, of the board 
of commissioners, yesterday. It was found that the county was indebted to 
him $87.17. The smallness of the amount goes to show that the business of 
the office was carefully conducted. Mr. Handlan has received many deserved 
compliments upon his faithful and efficient administration of affairs, and 
it may be said here that this settlement is more satisfactory, and 
concluded at an earlier date after the expiration of the term, than has 
ever before been made with any occupant of the sheriff's office." 

For a number of years Mr. Handlan was president of the town council of 
South Wheeling, which now constitutes the eighth ward, and was president 
at the time the town was annexed to the city of Wheeling. He was elected 
member of the first branch of the city council at the first election 
thereafter, and served four years. At the expiration of his term he was 
elected to the second branch, of which he was elected president. During 
his chairmanship of the committee on the fire department the paid 
department was created and the fire alarm telegraph was placed in use. To 
him belongs the honor of introducing and carrying through the council the 
ordinance abolishing the iniquitous fee system of the city sergeant. He 
also succeeded in procuring the passage of an act by the legislature 
changing the fee system of the clerk of the police court to that of a 
salary. Few men have accomplished more for the weal of the city than the 
subject of this sketch, and his efforts are duly appreciated by his fellow-
citizens, who regard him as a man of great worth to the community. He is a 
Democrat in politics, and was elector-at-large for West Virginia in 1888. 

In 1850 Mr. Handlan was united in marriage with Rebecca Johnson, who was 
born in Madison county, Ohio, February 25, 1828, and died May 13, 1861, at 
the age of thirty-three years. They had four children, namely: Mary Locke, 
who was born in Pike county, Illinois, January 16, 1851, and is living in 
Washington, D.C.; Augusina R., born in South Wheeling, February 18, 1856, 
who keeps house for her father; Eugenia Baptista, born in South Wheeling, 
April 25, 1858, who married Robert M. Hanover and resides in Washington, 
D.C.; and James Brown, born in South Wheeling, May 2, 1861, who died July 
1, 1861. February 12, 1863, William Handlan married Anna E. Woods, who was 
born in Wheeling, March 14, 1841, and died Decemeber 4, 1884. This union 
was blessed by the birth of the following children: Agnes Jane, who was 
born in South Wheeling, April 9, 1864, and is the wife of John A. Howard, 
an attorney-at-law; Helena Frances, born in South Wheeling, December 13, 
1865, who died May 28, 1888; John B., born March 29, 1868, in South 
Wheeling, who is an attorney-at-law in Wheeling; James T., a druggist, who 
was born in South Wheeling on February 4, 1870; William C., Jr., manager 
of the National Telephone Company, who was born July 8, 1873; Claire and 
Eulalia, twins, born July 1, 1877; and Anna Blanche, born April 17, 1880, 
who married Lucius Hoge, Jr., who is engaged in conducting a department 
store at Fairmont, West Virginia. 



JAMES A. HENRY, ex-member of the police force, and formerly justice of the 
peace, of Wheeling, West Virginia, is now a prominent real estate dealer 
in this city. He was born October 4, 1844, in West Wheeling, West 
Virginia, and is a son of John and Rachel (Anderson) Henry. 

John Henry was born in 1809, of German parentage, in France, near 
Strasburg. In 1830 he emigrated from that country and landed at Baltimore, 
Maryland, on August 1st of that year. He was a shoemaker by trade, and 
followed that occupation until his death, in East Wheeling, on May 6, 
1871. He was united in marriage with Rachel Anderson, a Virginian by 
birth, who first saw the light of day at New Creek, West Virginia, May 21, 
1811. This union was blessed with five children, namely: James A.; David 
A. I., a baker on Chapline street, Wheeling; John L., a patrol drive in 
the Wheeling police department; Mary (Lunan), of Wheeling, whose husband 
is a successful blacksmith; and Theodore J. The mother of these children 
died October 30, 1868. 

James A. Henry was reared in Wheeling, and attended the fourth ward public 
schools, having moved with his father from West Wheeling to East Wheeling 
at the age of six years. After the termination of his school days he 
worked in the rolling mills, brickyards, etc. He then became a member of 
the police force under Conant, Davis and Ripley; he did office work under 
Davis and Ripley and was constable for two years, after which he engaged 
in the real estate business in 1878, buying and selling real estate, 
collecting government claims and attending to pensions. His office was at 
first on Market street, but was afterward changed to the present location 
at No. 1612 Main street, where it has been for the past five years. Mr. 
Henry gives his entire attention to his business, and is assisted in 
office work by his daughter. 

Mr. Henry built the building in which he now has his office, and has been 
so successful in his business that in 1896 he erected the building known 
in Wheeling as the Henry Block. It is composed of stores, a barber shop, a 
restaurant and a dwelling, and the building is 64 by 64 feet in 
dimensions. Mr. Henry also owns property on Main street, East Wheeling, 
and in Martin's Ferry, Ohio. 

The subject of this sketch has been twice married. February 7, 1869, he 
was united with Mary Heck, who bore him five children, three of whom are 
deceased, as is also the mother, who died in 1893. Those living are Nellie 
G., who assists her father; and Hardy D., who is engaged in clerical work 
in New York City. November 1, 1894, Mr. Henry contracted a second 
matrimonial alliance, this time with Mrs. Mary H. Dinger, widow of C. H. 
Dinger, who formerly dealt in hats, wholesale and retail. One child, 
Anderson, who is still at home, blessed this union. 

In politics, Mr. Henry has been a Republican most of his life, but is now 
independent. At the age of seventeen years he enlisted in Company A, 1st 
Reg. Va. Vol. Inf. He saw a large amount of service in Virginia and West 
Virginia, and was held a prisoner for six months at Belle Isle, Richmond, 
and at Libby and Pemberton prisons. He served three years and two months, 
and was mustered out of service November 26, 1864, and returned to 
Wheeling. Mr. Henry is a prominent member of J. W. Holliday Post, No. 12, 
G.A.R. He is liberal in his religious views, but his family favors the M. 
E. church. 



H. L. WHEAT, for some years engaged in the wholesale queensware business, 
is now in the employ of the Pabst Brewing Company, as general manager of 
the Wheeling branch of that company, where all work such as bottling, 
etc., is done. The company carries on a very extensive business here, 
having five teams,--three double and two single,--and employing about 15 
people. Mr. Wheat is not the least active among these, and has much to do 
with the success of the business. He is a son of George K. Wheat and was 
born in Wheeling, where he received his early schooling. 

His later education consisted of a course at the West Virginia University 
at Morgantown. In 1878 he engaged with the Wheeling Steel & Iron Company, 
where he remained until 1881, when he went into business for himself. He 
became a wholesale queensware merchant, an chose for his location the 
place now occupied by the Schreiber & Mabis Company, at No. 1406 Main 
street, and conducted a successful business until 1883 under the firm name 
of H. L. Wheat & Company. He next established his business at St. Paul, 
Minnesota, under the firm name of H. L. Wheat & Company, with a complete 
line of queensware, but eventually returned to Wheeling and took his 
present position with the Pabst Brewing Company. 

Mr. Wheat was united in matrimony, in 1878, with Miss Hervey, a daughter 
of Chambers Hervey, and a granddaughter of William S. Goshorn. They have 
no children. In politics, Mr. Wheat is a Republican, but has never been 
very active in that direction. He is well known and well liked, and is a 
prosperous business man, who takes his place among the foremost citizens 
of Wheeling. 



LAWRENCE E. SANDS, a gentleman well known in the financial circles of 
Wheeling, is cashier of the National Exchange Bank of Wheeling. He was 
born at Fairmont, West Virginia, August 4, 1859, and is a son of J. E. 
Sands, who has been cashier of the First National Bank of Fairmont since 
1856. 

Lawrence E. Sands was reared in Fairmont and received his education in the 
public schools of that town. In 1876 he entered the First National Bank of 
Fairmont as clerk, and in 1880 came to Wheeling. He served in various 
capacities with the National Bank of West Virginia at Wheeling until 1895, 
when he was elected cashier of the Exchange Bank of Wheeling, which on 
January 1, 1899, was converted into the National Exchange Bank of 
Wheeling. Having devoted his entire business career to the banking 
business, he is familiar with it in all its details, and makes an 
excellent official. 



HON. GIBSON LAMB CRANMER, whose name authenticates the journals of the 
important convention that met June 11, 1861, in Wheeling, as its clerk, 
was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, February 20, 1826. His father was Dr. John 
Cranmer, who at the time of his death, during the cholera epidemic of 
1833, was the oldest practicing physician in Cincinnati,--his death 
resulted from overwork during that scourge. 

Judge Cranmer came to Wheeling at the age of seventeen years and began the 
study of law with his relative, Daniel Lamb, Esq. He remained in this city 
for eighteen months and then removed to Springfield, Illinois, where he 
formed a partnership with Antrim Campbell, Esq. He later entered into a 
partnership with James C. Conkling in the law and real estate business. He 
returned to Wheeling in 1850, a few months after his marriage, owing to 
the ill health of his wife. He was a member of the General Assembly of 
Virginia from Ohio county during the session of 1855-1856; was a delegate 
to the preliminary convention that met early in 1861 to consider the 
political situation in West Virginia, and was secretary of the same. He 
was made clerk of the subsequent convention that formally began 
restorative legislation, and was clerk of the House of Delegates under the 
"Restored Government of Virginia." He was president of the Antietam 
National Cemetery Association at the time that burial ground was turned 
over to the national government. He was judge of the Municipal Court of 
Wheeling for eight years, and practices in all the courts of Wheeling. 
Judge Cranmer possesses superior literary taste, and has written a large 
number of historical sketches and other newspaper and magazine articles 
that possess a high degree of merit both for the matter they contain and 
the excellence of their composition. 

May 22, 1849, Judge Cranmer was married to Oella Zane, a daughter of 
Daniel Zane, of Wheeling. Religiously, he is a member and ruling elder of 
the First Presbyterian church. A portrait of Judge Cranmer appears on page 
12 of this volume. 



THOMAS O'BRIEN, JR., the well-known city clerk of Wheeling, West Virginia, 
was born in that city, May 21, 1868, and is a son of Col. Thomas O'Brien, 
whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. 

Thomas O'Brien, Jr., was reared and schooled in Wheeling, and was 
graduated from Frasher's Business College. He clerked in the Baer grocery 
store from 1888 to 1890, after which he entered the employ of Waterhouse 
Brothers, and remained with them until 1892. He then entered the employ of 
P. C. Thompson & Company, soap manufacturers, of Philadelphia, as 
traveling salesman, and continued at this until 1894. Mr. O'Brien then 
returned to Wheeling, and at the municipal election following was elected 
clerk of the first branch of the city council. He continued in this office 
until Mr. Watkins, the city clerk, resigned, May 9, 1899, when the council 
elected Mr. O'Brien to fill Mr. Watkins' place. On January 24, 1901, Mr. 
O'Brien was regularly elected city clerk by the people, and has acceptably 
filled this office up to the present time. He is a man of much executive 
ability, and takes a deep interest in all enterprises which are for the 
good of the city in which he lives. 

Mr. O'Brien married Catherine Walsh, November 15, 1899. She is a native of 
Baltimore. Socially, Mr. O'Brien is a member of the B.P.O.E. lodger, of 
which he was formerly secretary. He is also a member of the Shield of 
Honor, an insurance order. In religious belief, he is a Catholic. Mr. 
O'Brien resides at No. 3 Thirteenth street. 



WILLIAM R. DUDLEY, dealer in agricultural implements in Wheeling, West 
Virginia, is one of the enterprising citizens of that thriving city. He 
was born at Benwood, Marshall county, West Virginia, December 23, 1857, 
and is a son of Joseph and Mary (Thomas) Dudley. 

Joseph Dudley, the father of William R., was born in England, April 7, 
1827, and came to the United States in 1849. He settled in Wheeling, and 
is now a resident of this city, employed at the Riverside Iron Works, 
where he held the office of superintendent many years. His two brothers,--
John and William,--who were employed there, are deceased. In 1854 Joseph 
Dudley married Mary Thomas, who was born in Pottsville, Schuylkill county, 
Pennsylvania, and came with her parents to Wheeling in 1849. Ten children 
were born to this couple, of whom five are now living, namely: Eliza and 
Sarah A., who live with their father; John J., who works at the Riverside 
Iron Works in Steubenville, Ohio; Joseph E., who is secretary of the 
Schrieber & Mabis Company, of Wheeling; and William R., the subject of 
this sketch. Joseph Dudley is an elder and trustee of the Third 
Presbyterian church, having served almost thirty years in that capacity. 

William R. Dudley, whose name opens these lines, moved with his parents to 
Wheeling in 1861, when he was but four years old. He attended the public 
schools of Wheeling, and later took a full course at Frasher's Business 
College. At the age of nineteen years he was engaged at the Riverside Iron 
Works, and followed his trade of a nailer for a period of ten years. He 
then went into business for himself, handling farm implements, buggies, 
wagons, and seeds, with his place of business at the corner of Twentieth 
and Market streets. In 1895 he moved to the large building belonging to 
the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, which is two stories high and has a 
floor space of 10,000 square feet. The business is carried on under the 
name of W. R. Dudley, and Mr. Dudley buys his stock outright and not on 
commission. His store is well stocked and his patronage is large. He is 
successful business man, and is well known in Wheeling and Ohio county. He 
employs three and sometimes four clerks, and often during the busiest 
seasons is obliged to employ more. 

Mr. Dudley was married to Carrie M. Adams, a daughter of the late A. J. 
Adams, who was a merchant tailor and a native of Wheeling. The mother of 
Mrs. Dudley died in 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Dudley have one daughter and three 
sons, namely: Margaret; Howard A., aged eighteen years, who is now with 
Robert Hazlett, civil engineer; Joseph Frank, aged sixteen years, who is 
attending the Wheeling High School; and John Varney, who is twenty months 
old. 

Mr. Dudley was first elected a member of the board of education in the 
fall of 1894, representing the Webster district. He served acceptably for 
six years, and in November, 1900, was elected for another term of six 
years. He has always been a steadfast member of the Republican party. 
Fraternally, he is past master of Nelson Lodge, No. 30, A.F. & A.M. He is 
a member of the Second Presbyterian church and is chairman of its board of 
trustees. Mr. Dudley has a comfortable home at No. 2903 Chapline street, 
Wheeling. 



DR. WILLIAM P. MEGRAIL, who has served as county physician of Ohio county, 
West Virginia, is one of the best-known practitioners of medicine in the 
city of Wheeling. He was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, and has lived in 
Wheeling only since 1891. 

Dr. Megrail was reared and schooled in his native county, and also 
attended Richmond College from 1880 to 1882. He then followed civil 
engineering for nearly five years, when he began the study of medicine 
with Dr. J. W. Kerr, of Richmond. He studied with that gentleman two years 
and then attended the Western Reserve University at Cleveland, Ohio, and 
received the degree of M. D. in 1888. Dr. Megrail then practiced his 
profession at the Green Spring Sanitarium, and during 1889-1890 lectured 
on physiology and hygiene at Green Spring Academy, which is connected with 
the Western Reserve University. He had also taught at Richmond College 
during the summer of 1883. 

Dr. Megrail located in Wheeling in the fall of 1891. He is now serving in 
the capacity of county physician,--this being his seventh year in that 
office. He succeeded Dr. L. D. Wilson, who had for many years filled that 
office most creditably. Ohio county has had but four county physicians, 
namely: Dr. Will Bates, Dr. E. L. Armbrecht, Dr. L. D. Wilson and Dr. 
Megrail. Dr. Megrail also has a large general practice. His knowledge of 
his profession is very thorough, and he has wond the confidence of all his 
fellow-citizens by his genial and courteous manners. 

Dr. Megrail is the only one in a family of six children who lives in 
Wheeling. He was married in Ohio to Hannah Cunningham, whose mother, Mrs. 
Kate D. Cunningham, resides with him. Dr. Megrail and his wife have one 
son,--Emerson, who is eleven years old. They live on the Island, at the 
corner of Zane and South Penn streets. 

Dr. Megrail has taken considerable interest in politics. He has served two 
terms as a member of the second branch of the city council, and in 
January, 1901, was elected a member of the first branch from the seventh 
ward; he is now serving a four-year term in that body. He has always been 
a Republican. Socially, Dr. Megrail is a member of the Knight's of 
Pythias. He is also a member of the Uniform Rank of that order, and served 
as assistant surgeon from 1894 to 1899, when he was promoted to be colonel 
and assistant surgeon general of the West Virginia Brigade. He is a member 
of the Ohio County Medical Society, of which he is serving as vice-
president. He is also a member of the West Virginia State Medical 
Association and the American Medical Association. The family belong to the 
Thomson M. E. church. 



JAMES EDURICK GIFFIN. Photography, as the union of art and science, of 
chiar-oscuro and its fascinating possibilities, augmented by the 
innumerable aids to effect which emanate only from the imagination of 
sincere appreciators of the fine and beautiful, has no more intelligent 
exponent in the United States than J. E. Giffin, of Wheeling. To say that 
a success extending far beyond the borders of West Virginia was in anyway 
foretold by fortunate early circumstances or particularly inspiring 
opportunities, is to eliminate that element of self-accomplishment and 
ability to surmount obstacles which, more than aught else, has been the 
dominant feature in Mr. Giffin's career. He was born in Frederick county, 
Virginia, December 27, 1862, and is a son of Bartholomew and Elizabeth 
(Fletcher) Giffin. 

Throughout Virginia Bartholomew Giffin was known during his active life as 
a model farmer. He was also a constable who for many years conscientiously 
fulfilled his duties as a public servant. As a moral agency in the 
community he was without peer, for his unceasing piety and good works were 
worthy of all emulation. As a member of, and officer in, the Methodist 
Episcopal church, South, he was untiring in promoting the interests of 
that denomination, and his death, which occurred in 1866, removed from his 
accustomed haunts a man of great zeal and unusual largeness of heart. His 
wife, no less ardent in her advocacy of the interests of truth and 
humanity, associated herself early in life with the Baptist church, and in 
this field continued to exert a kindly influence up to the time of her 
death, in February, 1901, at the age of seventy-six years. As the youngest 
in his father's family of seven children, six of whom are still living in 
the Old Dominion state, J. E. Giffin became familiar while very young with 
the limited resources of his parents and with the serious and responsible 
side of life. When only seventeen years old he knew no rest between the 
rising and setting of the sun, and, though fragile, performed such manly 
tasks as cradling in the wheat fields under the hot southern sun. It is 
not surprising that, as the years waned, the horizon seemed shut in, and 
remote from the joy and expectancy of life, and that education played a 
very inconsequential part, except during the temporary leisure of the 
winter months. To the healthy, normal lad the limitations became 
intolerable, and with the advice of Horace Greeley ringing in his ears, he 
departed from the home associations and eventually brought up at 
Springfield, Ohio. For five months he engaged as a farm hand near the 
city, and with the money thus earned took a course at the Springfield 
Commercial College, after which he was employed for two months as 
bookkeeper by the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Having thoroughly 
canvassed the situation, he began to study photography, and so thoroughly 
congenial and successful has been this occupation that no desirable 
substitute has ever presented itself. Twenty-three years of experience in 
any given direction permits of little or much, according to the metal of 
the man, and it is no exaggeration to say that to Mr. Giffin that period 
has furnished opportunity befitting the trained perception of the 
enthusiast, whose every desire was to probe the avenues leading to even 
greater accomplishment. 

A by no mean unimportant factor in the success of Mr. Giffin has been a 
delightful and harmonious home life. Mrs. Giffin was formerly Dora Shultz, 
daughter of Jacob Shultz, of Mainz, Germany, and her parents still live in 
their native land. Two of the daughters also live in Germany, and two are 
residents of Chicago, Illinois. The marriage of Mrs. Giffin occurred 
October 5, 1887, and her four children, Austyne, Juanita, Corinne and 
James Edurick, Jr., are in fair way to realize the expectations founded 
upon their common-sense training and sympathetic surroundings. 

Of Mr. Giffin it may be said that he has attained the highest pinnacle of 
his chosen calling,--a really remarkable showing considering that he 
arrived in Wheeling with naught save good health and spirits and boundless 
ambition. His work is sought throughout the entire South, and as a member 
of the National Photographers' Association he has, on two auspicious 
occasions, carried off the highest honors within the gift of his 
associates. At other state and national conventions he has been equally 
fortunate in winning medals which attested merited appreciation,--his work 
in miniatures and ivory and porcelain, in connection with Tiffany and 
Cohen designs, being particularly worthy of mention. He is a member of the 
American Mechanics and is actively interested in the undertakings of the 
Republican party. His portrait accompanies this sketch. 



J. ELLWOOD HUGHES, one of Wheeling's most prominent and active business 
men, has displayed exceptional ability as president of the Thomas Hughes 
Company, the largest merchant tailoring establishment in West Virginia. 
The firm was incorporated January 6, 1896, the present officers being J. 
Ellwood Hughes, president, and John P. Troll, secretary and treasurer. Mr. 
Hughes practically owns the entire business, and has been identified with 
it since September 7, 1867. The building, 22 by 115 feet in dimensions, 
consists of three stories, and from 40 to 75 people, mostly men, are 
employed. Three traveling men cover the territory in this vicinity, the 
business having greatly branched out; it now extends as far east as 
Cumberland, Maryland, and a considerable distance down the Ohio River. The 
firm carries the most complete stock of goods handled by any similar firm 
in the state. 

The business now carried on by Thomas Hughes Company was established in 
1840 by Thomas Hughes, Jr., who died March 10, 1886, at the age of sixty-
four years. He was born and reared at Wheeling; his father was Thomas 
Hughes, a gunsmith. Thomas Hughes, Sr., was born in Greene county, 
Pennsylvania, and was descended from James Hughes, one of three brothers, 
who came from the North of Ireland about 1760. Two of them located in 
Greene county, Pennsylvania, and one in Loudoun county, Virginia. Thomas 
Hughes, Sr., came to Wheeling when a young man, and besides following his 
trade as a gunsmith was engaged in various lines of business, including 
steamboating and lumbering. He died in 1859, aged about sixty years. He 
married Miss Odenbaugh, and had several children. One of them, Alfred, was 
a prominent physician and at different times was located at Wheeling, 
Richmond and Baltimore. He was at Richmond during the war, in the latter 
years of which he served in the Virginia legislature. He moved to 
Baltimore at the close of the war and died there in 1878. He was a 
prominent physician, and very successful at Wheeling in the treatment of 
cholera. Another, John Hughes, was engaged in the lumber business. Thomas, 
Jr., has been already mentioned as a merchant tailor. Eliza, deceased, was 
a well-known homeopathic physician at Wheeling. 

Thomas Hughes, Jr., was educated at the old academy at Wheeling and 
learned the business of merchant tailoring with Mr. Leach, beginning about 
1837. Upon the death of Mr. Leach, about 1839, he took charge of the 
business and later became sole proprietor. The business was then small; 
the stock at that time did not exceed $800. Since then its volume has 
grown to be over $100,000. The concern was located at the corner of Water 
and Monroe (now Twelfth) streets, and was moved to its present location in 
August, 1878. 

J. Ellwood Hughes, the subject of this biography, was born in Bedford 
county, Pennsylvania, in 1845, and is a son of James Clark Hughes, a 
father by occupation. The latter was born in Juniata county, Pennsylvania, 
February 17, 1817, and died in Bedford (now Fulton) county, in 1892, at 
the age of seventy-six years. He married Elizabeth Steward Burdge, who was 
born in Pennsylvania and died in 1856. She was of Scotch descent, this 
union was blessed by seven children, five of whom grew to maturity, as 
follows: Albert, who is now in the Cape Nome district, Alaska, and is the 
owner of valuable gold claims; John, who died at the age of eighteen 
years; Mrs. David F. Switzer, deceased; Ella, who died at the age of 
twenty-one years; and J. Ellwood. 

J. Ellwood Hughes resided on a farm until he reached the age of sixteen 
years, when he enlisted, in 1861, in a company which was organized in 
Fulton county, Pennsylvania, but was assigned, as Company B, to the 3d 
Reg., Md. Vol. Inf. He served until 1865 as a private and noncommissioned 
officer, and was mustered out at Baltimore, Maryland. He then attended 
school in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, at the town of Rainsburg, for two 
years, after which he came to Wheeling to engage in his present line of 
business. He started as a clerk, salesman and collector, and was advanced 
in salary and position until he was finally given an interest in the 
business, being recognized as largely responsible for its phenomenal 
success. 

Mr. Hughes was united in marriage with Anna B. Williams, who was born in 
Bedford county, Pennsylvania, in 1850, and they have had six children, 
four of whom are living, as follows: J. Ellwood, Jr., who is a salesman 
for John B. Ellison & Sons, of Philadelphia, the largest cloth house in 
the world; Martha J., who is attending Miss Phelps' school at Columbus, 
Ohio, preparatory to entering Wellesley in 1902; John Gray, aged thirteen 
years, who is at home and attends school; and Thomas, aged eleven years, 
who also attends school. Politically, Mr. Hughes is a Democrat, and was at 
one time a member of the first branch of the council from the first ward. 
He has a very fine home, located on the Island. Mr. Hughes was formerly a 
member of the G.A.R. He is a member of Nelson Lodge, No. 30, A.F. & A.M., 
of which he was master for three years; and Cyrene Commandery, No. 7, K. 
T. He is a member of the board of trade. He is a member of the Fourth 
Street Methodist Episcopal church, and is president of its board of 
stewards, which position he has filled for eighteen years. 



W. H. HIGGINS, assistant secretary and treasurer of the Wheeling Steel & 
Iron Company, has filled that office for the past three or four years. He 
was originally employed at the Benwood Iron Works, which were afterward 
consolidated with the Wheeling Steel & Iron Company. He began to work as a 
clerk in the Benwood Iron Works in 1881. 

Mr. Higgins was born at Wheeling, West Virginia, and is a son of T. H. and 
Mary (Holliday) Higgins, and grandson of Bernard and Ann Jane (Rankin) 
Higgins. 

Bernard Higgins was a native of Ohio county, where he was born in May, 
1809. He was engaged in many different lines of business during his life 
of seventy-two years. He was united in marriage with Ann Jane Rankin at 
Wheeling. She was a native of Ireland, and died at the home of her 
daughter in Richmond, Virginia, in 1890, aged seventy-nine years. 

T. H. Higgins was born in Ohio county in 1838, and was reared and schooled 
in Wheeling. When but a boy he became interested in photographing, and 
engaged in 1856, with A. C. Partridge, with whom he remained four years, 
and then commenced business for himself. He was engaged in this business 
until 1898, when he retired, and since the spring of 1900 has occupied a 
position as bookkeeper in the office of White & White, brokers. He was 
joined in marriage with Mary Holliday, a daughter of W. R. and Lydia 
(Wilson) Holliday. Mrs. Lydia Holliday, a descendant of James Wilson, who 
signed the Declaration of Independence, was very prominent during the 
Civil War, and belonged to one of the earliest families of Wheeling, 
having come to this city in 1830 or 1832. She lived to the very advanced 
age of ninety-seven years and was familiarly known during life as "Mother" 
Holliday. W. H. Higgins' mother was born at Wheeling, and she and her 
husband resided, until 1893, in the fifth ward, but at present live on the 
Island. To their union were born three children,--W. H., Mrs. A. L. White 
and Bessie M. In political opinions, Mr. Higgins has always been a 
Republican. Fraternally, he is a member of Virginius Lodge, No. 2, 
I.O.O.F., having joined that lodge over twenty-five years ago; he has 
passed through all the chairs, and has been treasurer since 1876. He and 
his family attend services at the Christian church. 

Mr. Higgins was reared in Wheeling, and obtained his early mental 
instruction in the common schools of the city. He married Emma V. Johnson, 
a daughter of W. D. Johnson, a tinware dealer in Wheeling. He and his wife 
have been blessed with two children,--William and Virginia. The family 
reside at No. 135 South Penn street, on the Island. 

In political opinions, Mr. Higgins is Republican, and has served as a 
member of the city council from the seventh ward. Fraternally, he is a 
member of Wheeling Lodge, No. 23, A.O.U.W., of which he is a past master, 
and of Wheeling Lodge, No. 6474, Modern Woodmen of America. He is also a 
member of the grand lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of West 
Virginia, filling the office of grand receiver, which he has occupied 
since April, 1898. Mr. Higgins is an honest and dutiful citizen, and is 
highly esteemed by his employers and his friends. 



CHARLES A. WOOD, secretary of the W. W. Wood Company, at No. 3301 Chapline 
street, Wheeling, West Virginia, whose portrait is shown on the opposite 
page, is a popular young man and performs his duties as secretary with 
great credit to himself. The W. W. Wood Company was incorporated in 1892; 
the following officers have served since: W. W. Wood, president; C. A. 
Wood, secretary; and J. L. Wood, superintendent. They have a planing mill, 
which is considered the best in Wheeling, and the plant is equipped 
throughout with the newest machinery in the city. The company takes 
contracts, does stone and brick work, as well, and carries on a general 
contracting business. It is patronized largely, not only in the city of 
Wheeling, but also throughout Ohio county, and West Virginia. The city pay-
roll of the concern numbers about 60 men,and besides these, there are 25 
more employees at different places in the state. Lumber is dealt in to a 
great extent, and the work is so satisfactorily handled that Wheeling 
would lose one of her best business establishments in losing the W. W. 
Wood Company. 

Charles A. Wood was born May 22, 1874, at Salem, Harrison county, West 
Virginia, and is a son of James A. and Margaret A. (Pritchard) Wood, both 
natives of Old Virginia. 

James A. Wood is a carpenter and contractor by occupation, and has 
followed that trade all his life. He and his wife reside on Indiana 
street, on the Island. They have had a large family of children, all of 
whom lived to maturity, married, and are worthy residents of their several 
communities; seven live in Ohio county. 

Mr. Wood obtained his mental training in the Wheeling schools, and 
afterward entered upon the duties of his present position. June 5, 1895, 
he was united in marriage with Mary Ritter, a native of Wheeling; she is a 
daughter of Fred and Mary Ritter, the former of whom is deceased, and the 
latter is still a resident of the city. Mr. and Mrs. Ritter had eight 
children, six of whom are still living,--two brother and four sisters. 
Mr. Wood and his wife have three children,--Katherine R., Helen J., and 
Dorothy Pritchard. The family are members of the Second Presbyterian 
church. In politics Mr. Wood takes much interest in the Democratic party. 

For his age, Mr. Wood is one of the active, stirring leaders of the coming 
men of the city. His career proves the possibilities and fine 
opportunities offered the worthy and qualified American boy. He is a 
brother of W. W. Wood, president of the company. Mr. Wood has a 
comfortable residence at Echo Point, nearly three miles from Wheeling. 
Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Ohio Valley Lodge, 
No. 31. 



C. E. MORRIS. Among professional men in Wheeling, Mr. Morris ranks as one 
of the able and conscientious exponents of legal knowledge. He was born on 
a farm in Belmont county, Ohio, in 1869, upon the fertile acres of which 
his father, J. W. Morris, spent many years of his wisely directed and 
industrious existence. Following his preliminary training in the public 
schools of Belmont and Jefferson counties, he came to West Virginia in 
1887 to attend Linsly Institute, from which he was graduated in 1889. The 
student days, marked by rapid progress and ready assimilation of his 
mental acquirements, created a most favorable impression upon students and 
instructors, and resulted in his appointment, through Prof. H. Roemer, of 
Linsly Institute, and J. Sommerville, then a member of the board regents 
of the West Virginia University, to cadetship in the latter named 
institution. After his graduation, in 1891, with the degree of Bachelor of 
Business Law, he turned his attention to the further study of law, and was 
admitted to the bar of West Virginia in the fall of 1891. As a clerk, he 
entered the office of Caldwell & Caldwell, with whom he remained until 
January 1, 1895, after which he engaged in an independent practice. 

June 28, 1898, Mr. Morris enlisted in Company D, 2d Reg., W.Va. Vol. 
Inf., as first lieutenant, and was sent to Charleston, West Virginia, 
where he remained until August 19, 1898. The regiment then moved to Camp 
Meade, at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and there joined the Second Army 
Corps, and proceeded thence to Greenville, South Carolina for winter 
quarters. April 10, 1899, the camp was abandoned upon the mustering out of 
the regiment, which was the last body of volunteers to be mustered out 
which remained in the United States. By way of Tampa and Key West Mr. 
Morris proceeded to Cuba, arriving at Havana April 19, 1899. During his 
sojourn in the devastated islands he gained a practical knowledge of the 
conditions in Matanzas, portions of Pinar del Rio and Habana provinces and 
Havana city. He returned to the United States May 22, 1899, and to 
Wheeling May 30 next following. The practice of law was resumed November 
1, 1899, since which time Mr. Morris has steadily forged his way to the 
front, and has repeatedly demonstrated a particular fitness for his chosen 
profession. Added to a continually increasing knowledge of law, he 
possesses those characteristics which presage a brilliant future. 
Politically, Mr. Morris is a stanch adherent of Republican principles. 



JAMES MURDOCK PARKER, a gentleman prominent in the business circles of 
Wheeling, is one of the proprietor of the Metropole saloon and cafe, and 
has a large and prosperous business. He was born in Wheeling in 1858, and 
is a son of Thomas M. Parker. 

Thomas M. Parker was born and reared in Philadelphia, and came to Wheeling 
when a young man. He clerked in the United States Hotel at the head of 
Water street, and then at the Congress Hall, a cafe and saloon, the only 
one of its kind then in operation at Wheeling. He conducted that 
establishment until about 1862, when he moved to the location where the 
White Front saloon now stands, and conducted the business there until his 
death, in 1865, at the age if fifty-two years, on the day of Lee's 
surrender. He was married in Wheeling to Nancy A. Edwards, who was born at 
Glenn's Run, Ohio. She conducted the business at the White Front for some 
time after her husband's death, and then moved to the Opera House corner, 
and subsequently to other places. She finally located in the Rogers 
Building on Water street, between Eleventh and Twelfth streets, where she 
died in 1885, at the age of sixty-one years. Mr. and Mrs. Parker were 
parents of the following offspring: Mrs. Mary Webb, deceased; Mrs. 
Elizabeth Bond, of Baltimore, Maryland, her husband B. F. Bond, being 
traveling ticket agent east of the Ohio River for the Baltimore & Ohio 
Railroad Company; Esther, deceased; Harriet, wife of W. A. Zimmerman; 
Edward, who died young; John, who also died at an early age; James M., the 
subject of this biographical record; and Alice, wife of C. G. Bradford, a 
railroad man residing on Chapline street, in Wheeling. Mr. and Mrs. W. A. 
Zimmerman, above mentioned, became the parents of seven children, as 
follows: Maud, deceased; Grace; Hattie, deceased; Elizabeth; William, Jr.; 
Alice; and Joseph, deceased. Mr. Zimmerman has conducted a general store 
at No. 1517 Main street for the past ten years. 

James M. Parker was reared in Wheeling and received his educational 
training in Frasher's Business College. At an early age he entered upon a 
business career, his first work being to help his mother. He also handled 
fish and oysters, and ran a huckster's wagon. He was engaged in the saloon 
and cafe business at Cleveland, Ohio, from 1886 to 1889. Then accompanied 
by Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman, he returned to Wheeling and tended bar and 
lunch counter for Joseph Webb, now retired. he remained with him until 
1895, and then embarked in business for himself. He purchased the Parlor 
saloon, which had proved a failure in the hands of several others, put in 
new fixtures and built up a fine trade. This establishment he sold to 
Deveney & Heil, having previously purchased the Metropole, in 1900. It is 
one of the oldest saloon stands in the city, and a general saloon and cafe 
business is done, occupying two floors. He is in partnership with William 
Winder, Jr., and they have a similar place of business in Toledo, Ohio, 
under the management of Mr. Winder. Mr. Parker has the management of the 
local business, and employs four assistants. 

James M. Parker was joined in marriage in West Alexander, Pennsylvania, 
with Annie Och, who was born and reared there, and they have one child, 
Thomas M. The family attend the Presbyterian church. 



S. J. SHIPLEY, one of the first-class business men of the city of 
Wheeling, is engaged in manufacturing and bottling soft drinks, such as 
ginger ale, seltzer-water and other carbonized beverages. In 1896 he 
commenced business in partnership with Mrs. McNeal, but since that time he 
bougth her share of the business, which is now owned by his wife. They are 
handling a first-class trade, although they started with almost nothing. 
Their place of business is at No. 2017 Main street, and they employ two 
people. The local trade occupies their attention at present, but Mr. 
Shipley intends to ship to neighboring towns in the near future. The 
capacity of the company is about 200 cases per week through the winter and 
much more during the hot summer months, when they produce from 400 to 600 
cases weekly. 

Mr. Shipley was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1862, and is a son of 
Martin and Mary (Voltz) Shipley. Martin Shipley was a carriage painter; he 
was reared in Wheeling and married Mary Voltz, who was also born and 
reared in Wheeling. Mr. Shipley, the mother of our subject, is now living, 
at the age of sixty years, but her husband died in 1865. They had two 
sons, S. J.; and E. J. born April 26, 1861, who was engaged in the saloon 
business for some time at the Jerome cafe; he does not, however, follow 
that business at the present time. 

Mr. Shipley was united in marriage with Catherine Gray, who is a native of 
Wheeling having been born on the Island, on Virginia street, near South 
Huron. The reside over their store. Mr. Shipley was reared in the Catholic 
faith and attends St. Joseph's Cathedral. Mr. Shipley is accommodating 
courteous and enterprising, and has the good wishes of all his 
acquaintances. 



CHARLES J. SCHUCK, of the firm of Schuck & Mabon, is not only an able 
lawyer but is secretary of the Home Outfitters Company, one of the largest 
department stores in Wheeling, West Virginia. This company was 
incorporated March 28, 1901, and carries a complete line of house 
furnishings, etc. The building occupied has six stories, and the firm 
employs 15 people, the least number possible, considering the progressive 
and rapidly increasing business carried on. It is located at No. 1407 Main 
street and the officers are as follows: President, F. H. Lange; vice-
president, C. A. Mabon; secretary and treasurer, Charles J. Schuck; 
manager, George G. Christlieb. These gentlemen, with Harry L. Hesse, 
George Horneckle and others, comprise the board of directors. The use the 
cash and credit system to great advantage. 

Charles J. Schuck was born April 22, 1875 and was reared at Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania. He is a son of John A. and Charlotte (Dick) Schuck. The 
father was a prosperous merchant, and still resides in Pittsburg. The 
family consisted of Charles J., who was an only son, and two sisters, 
namely: Emma, now a teacher in the Pittsburg schools, and Bertha, who is 
at present attending the Western University of Pennsylvania. The mother is 
still living. 

Mr. Schuch received his early education in the Pittsburg public schools, 
the high school, and later in Duquesne College. Not yet considering his 
education sufficient, he matriculated in the University of Michigan, where 
he entered the law department and graduated in 1896. He was immediately 
admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Michigan. At this date Mr. 
Schuck proceeded to Wheeling, where he assisted in establishing the 
present firm of Schuck & Mabon, and engaged in the general practice of 
law. He has appeared in quite a number of important criminal cases. He was 
second in the race for prosecuting attorney at the last election, and will 
be a candidate at the next election. He was on the stump during the last 
campaign in the state, in behalf of the Republican party. For a time he 
served as an attorney in the internal revenue office under Hon. Nathan B. 
Scott. He was one of hte attorneys for the defense in the Bowers murder 
case, which resulted in an acquittal; and was engaged in the famous Hissom 
case. 

Socially, Mr. Schuck is a member of the B.P.O.E.; K. of P., Wheeling 
Lodge, No. 114, and also Uniform Rank, and is at present the only grand 
lodge officer located at Wheeling. He also affiliates with the D. O. K. 
K.; A.O.U.W.; and the Wheeling Turners' Society. He is known all over 
Wheeling as a refined, self-possessed gentleman, a valued citizen and an 
able lawyer. At one time, at Hartford City, Mason county, when he 
delivered an eloquent address two hours in length, he was styled the "Boy 
Orator of the Panhandle" of West Virginia. 



EDGAR B. PLANT, M.D., who has been engaged in the practice of medicine 
with much success since 1895, is a member of the city council of Wheeling 
and a well-known resident of the city. He was born in Wheeling, November 
27, 1868, and is a son of John J. Plant. 

John J. Plant was born in Washington, D.C., in 1837, followed the trade 
of a carpenter and cabinetmaker, and is now engaged in contracting. He 
married Harriet E. Bender, who was born in Washington, D.C., in 1841, and 
came to Wheeling in 1865. They had four children, as follows: Fanny; 
William; Edgar B.; and Albert C. Fanny was born in 1863; she married John 
Baker, of Baltimore, now deceased, and is a professional nurse of 
Wheeling. William died in 1880, at the age of fourteen years. Albert C. 
was born in 1875; he will graduate from the dental department of Western 
Reserve College, at Cleveland, in the spring of 1902, and expects to 
locate in practice at Wheeling. 

Edgar B. Plant attended the public schools of the fourth ward in Wheeling, 
and then went into a drug store in the Nail City, in 1884, where he 
remained six months. He next worked for Charles R. Goetze, a druggist, for 
one year. He then traveled in the interest of the silverware house of 
William Rogers for one and a half years, after which he again took up the 
drug business at St. Clairsville, Ohio. He worked in the drug store of J. 
B. Hoge for a year, and in 1888 entered the Pittsburg College of Pharmacy, 
from which he was graduated in 1890. He then became connected with the 
office of Dr. G. T. McCord, at Pittsburg, and read medicine. He 
matriculated in Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, in 1892, and 
received the degree of M. D. in 1895. He immediately thereafter located in 
practice at Wheeling, on July 25, 1895, and commands a lucrative practice, 
making a specialty of surgery. He took a post-graduate course in surgery 
in Johns Hopkins College at Baltimore. He is a member of the Ohio County 
Medical Society, the State Medical Association, the Forbes Anatomical 
League and the American Medical Association. 

In July, 1899, Dr. Plant was united in marriage with Maud T. Heller, who 
was born in Wheeling, February 21, 1877, and is a daughter of Lawrence and 
Adelia (Humes) Heller. Her father was born in Germany, in 1843, and die 
din 1891. Her mother is a native of Wheeling, and is fifty-four years old. 
Dr. Plant is a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics and 
of the Modern Woodmen of America, and is medical examiner for both of 
these orders. The family are members of the Zane Street M. E. church. In 
politics Dr. Plant is a Democrat, and in January, 1901, was elected from 
the fourth ward to the second branch of the city council. He serves on the 
committee on elections, and is chairman of the committees on contracts, 
scales and water works. He is speaker in the second branch on the 
Democratic side. His portrait is presented on a foregoing page. 



HENRY W. FAIR, a well-known contractor of Wheeling, West Virginia, is a 
native of this city, where he was born November 4, 1852. He is a son of 
John H. and Mary C. (Lovejoy) Fair, the former being a native of 
Pennsylvania. 

John H. Fair was born in 1823, and lived until 1885. He was a carpenter by 
trade, and came to Wheeling in 1839. His wife was born in 1825, and her 
death occurred in 1892. Both were members of the Methodist church. Several 
children were born to this couple, namely: Mary F., born in 1849, married 
Asa McCul and lives in Wheeling; Louisa, born in 18__, died in infancy; 
Henry W., the subject of this sketch; Edgar, born in 1853, died in 
infancy; Richard S., born in 1856, who lives in Wheeling; and William A., 
who was born in 185_. 

Henry W. Fair worked at many occupations when a young boy. He learned the 
trade of a carpenter, and has been engaged in the carpentry and 
contracting work for the past thirty-two years. A good example of his 
excellent work is his own handsome home, which he erected two years ago, 
on Thirteenth street. He has erected many modern and substantial buildings 
in Wheeling, and is well known in that vicinity. 

Mr. Fair married Mary E. Jones, April 29, 1876. She is a daughter of John 
and Henrietta (Glen) Jones, and was born at Martin's Ferry, Ohio, in 1858. 
John Jones who was born in Virginia, was killed in battle during the Civil 
War, in front of Atlanta. His wife died in 1864. They left two children, 
namely: Samuel, who is a nail feeder, and lives in Wheeling; and Mary E. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Fair have been born four children, whose names are: Asael 
M., who was born February 13, 1878, lives on the Island, and is in 
partnership with his father, John H., who was born January 22, 1881, and 
lives at home; Henrietta, who was born December 2, 1891; and Mary Ethel, 
who was born May 6, 1895. 

Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Fair are members of the Methodist church. Mr. 
Fair is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Shield of Honor. 
Politically he is a Republican. he was first elected to the second branch 
of the city council, from the third ward, in 1894, and has served in that 
capacity up to the present time. 



THOMAS W. KILLEEN, a prominent member of the second branch of the city 
council of Wheeling, Ohio county, West Virginia, has been a resident of 
this city all his life. He was born in the sixth ward, Wheeling, July 26, 
1854, and is a son of John Killeen. 

John Killeen was born in County Kings, Ireland, and died August 10, 1861, 
at the age of about forty-seven years, in Benwood, West Virginia. He came 
to the United States in 1852, and located in Wheeling, West Virginia. he 
married Bridget Deegan, who was born in County Kings, Ireland, and is now 
living with her son, Thomas W., at the advanced age of eighty-six years. 
She is well preserved, both physically and mentally. They had four 
children, as follows: Thomas W.; James J., who resides on Market street, 
Wheeling; John, a locomotive engineer residing in Wheeling; and Patrick, 
who also makes his home in Wheeling. 

Thomas W. Killeen received his mental training in Wheeling, and in 1873 
attended the parochial school at St. Vincent's College. His first work was 
in a cooper shop, and when a boy he engaged in picking nails in a nail 
factory. Hie worked for a time in Sweeney's brickyard, and then in a glass 
manufacturing house on Twenty-fourth street. He was next employed in the 
boiling department of the Riverside Iron Works until 1884, and later, in 
the same capacity, at the Belmont Nail Works, after which he went on the 
police force of Wheeling under Porter Smith, and served four years. He 
then embarked in the grocery business on McCulloch street, between Twenty-
ninth and Thirtieth streets, and has met with much success in this 
enterprise. He was elected to the second branch of the city council from 
the sixth ward in 1893, was re-elected in 1897, and again in 1901. He has 
actively supported all measures, the objects of which have been the 
benefit and improvement of the city, and bears an honorable record for 
service in the council. 

Mr. Killeen was united in marriage, May 18, 1880, with Elizabeth Rafferty, 
who was born in Wheeling, August 25, 1856, and is a daughter of James and 
Mary (Casey) Rafferty. Her father was born in County Longford, Ireland, 
and her mother, in County Limerick, Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Rafferty had 10 
children, as follows: Elizabeth; William; Mary; Thomas; James; John; 
Catherine; Vincent; Annie, wife of John Fitzgerald, of Wheeling; and 
Agnes, who married Harry Menkemeller, a merchant on Market street, 
Wheeling, and has a son, Harry. Mr. and Mrs. Killeen are parents of eight 
children, namely: William, who was born in Wheeling and died in infancy; 
Mary, born January 18, 1883; Anna, born October 30, 1884; John J., born 
December 21, 1886; Regina, born February 13, 1889; Ignatius, born February 
7, 1891; Francis D., born March 26, 1893; and James, born December 22, 
1895. They are members of St. Mary's Catholic parish church. Fraternally 
Mr. Killeen has been a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians for 
twenty-eight years. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, 
and Knights of Columbus. He belongs to the Retail Grocers' Protective 
Association of Wheeling. Politically, he is a Democrat. 



ROBERT F. HILL, embalmer and undertaker, with place of business at No. 41 
Fifteenth street, Wheeling, West Virginia, was born in Allegheny county, 
Pennsylvania, August 19, 1869. He is a son of William and Agnes (Fleming) 
Hill. 

William Hill was born in Pennsylvania, in 1832. He was a farmer by 
occupation, and served in the Civil War. His wife, Agnes Fleming, was born 
on the same day, month and year, and in the same place he was born. They 
had five children, namely: Jennie, who was born in September, 1867, and is 
living with her brother, Robert, the subject of this sketch; William H., 
who was born March 20, 1875, and is professor of Greek and Laten at Linsly 
Institute; Clyde, who died in infancy; and Charles, who was born July 10, 
1885. Mr. Hill and his wife were members of the United Presbyterian 
church. Mrs. Hill died in October, 1896. Politically Mr. Hill was a 
Republican. 

Robert F. Hill attended the schools of Davenport, Iowa, and later was 
graduated from the United States College of Embalming at New York City. He 
is one of the many well-known business men of Wheeling and is held in high 
esteem by his fellow citizens. Mr. Hill married Bess Pomeroy, a daughter 
of Dudley and Lilian (Olds) Pomeroy. This marriage occurred November 6, 
1901, at "The Little Church Around the Corner," in New York City. Mrs. 
Hill was born in Denver, Colorado, January 10, 1879. Her father is a 
native of Missouri, and her mother was born in Michigan. 

Mr. Hill is a member of the United Presbyterian church, while his wife is 
an Episcopalian. Mr. Hill is a Republican in politics, and was elected to 
the second branch of the city council, in January, 1901. He has held the 
office of president of the council. He belongs to the B.P.O.E. and also to 
the K. of P. 



CARL KRONJAEGER, who has been in the employ of the Wheeling Iron & Nail 
company for the past thirty-four years, has been most faithful to the 
interests of that company, and enjoys the confidence and respect of its 
officers to a marked degree. He was born in Germany, March 7, 1849, and is 
a son of Carl and Fredericka (Denelt) Kronjaeger. 

Carl Kronjaeger, Sr., was born in Germany and died there in 1893, at the 
age of seventy-two years. He married Fredericka Denelt, who was born in 
Germany, and died in 1864, at the age of thirty-six years. They had the 
following children: William and Theodore, deceased; Henry, a barber living 
in Staunton, Virginia; Johanna, wife of Charles A. Geese, a cigarmaker, 
residing in Wheeling; and Carl, the subject of this sketch. 

Carl Kronjaeger, our subject, came to the United States October 6, 1867, 
and located in North Wheeling. He at once went to work as a laborer in the 
nail mills of Atchison, Bell & Company, and continued with them until the 
plant was destroyed by fire in 1871. While waiting for it to be rebuilt, 
he entered the employ of the La Belle Iron Works, but when the new plant 
was completed, he again entered the service of his original employers. The 
name of the firm had been changed, in 1869, to that of the Wheeling Iron & 
Nail Company. He has served in various capacities with this company during 
the past thirty-four years, and since 1878 has been shipping clerk. He has 
a thorough understanding of all the details of his department, and his 
services are highly valued by the company. 

On April 16, 1870, Mr. Kronjaeger was united in marriage with Caroline 
Wolf, who was born in Germany, March 17, 1848, and is a daughter of Jacob 
and Susanna (Suter) Wolf. They became the parents of eight children, as 
follows: Oscar, born October 6, 1871, who is on the police force and lives 
in Wheeling; Louisa, born June 23, 1873, who married Stephen Dawson, a 
brickmaker of Wheeling; Laura, born December 25, 1875, who married George 
Zimmer, who works in the office of the city water board of Wheeling; 
Lillie, a twin of Laura, who lives at home with her parents; Chester R., 
born October 3, 1877, who works in the mill with his father; Frank, born 
April 30, 1879, who also works in the mill of the Wheeling Iron & Nail 
Company; and Carl, born July 25, 1885, and Ferdinand, born February 13, 
1888, who are in school. Religiously the family belongs to St. John's 
German Independent Protestant church. Mr. Kronjaeger is a Democrat in 
politics, and was elected to the second branch of the city council in 
January, 1901, from the first ward, and placed on important committees. He 
is a member of the P. H. C., and formerly belonged to the noted Teutonia 
Singing Society, of which he was one of the presidents. He also belongs to 
the German Pioneer Society. 



WILLIAM C. ETZLER, M.D., is a practicing physician and surgeon of 
Wheeling, West Virginia, and has a very good practice. He received careful 
preparation for the medical profession and has had remarkable success in 
his work in this city. He was born in Kirkwood, Ohio, January 1, 1870, and 
is a son of Martin L. Etzler. 

Martin L. Etzler was born in Ohio in 1841, and is a carpenter by trade, 
and a contractor. He came to Wheeling in 1871, and has followed his trade 
up to the present time. He married Martha Brown, a daughter of William 
Brown, who was born in Belmont county, Ohio, in 1801, and died in 1890. 
Mr. Brown was a farmer, but in his early days followed the Ohio River as a 
raftsman and trader. He was a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. and 
Mrs. Etzler became the parents of five children, as follows: Fred, who was 
born January 17, 1872, and died in 1893; Lola, who died in childhood; 
Frank, who also died young; Nellie Blanche, born March 17, 1878, who 
married James D. Hanes, a traveling salesman for the Joseph Speidel 
Grocery Company of Wheeling, who lives at No. 35 South York street; and 
William C., the subject of this record. Mr. and Mrs. Etzler are members of 
the Thomson M. E. church. 

William C. Etzler attended the public schools of Wheeling, and graduated 
from the Madison School in 1884. He also attended Linsly Institute, and 
then entered the office of Dr. W. J. Bates, where he read medicine. In 
1888 he matriculated in the medical department of the University of 
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and received his degree of M.D., in 1891. 
Immediately thereafter he began a short term as interne at St. Agnes 
Hospital in Philadelphia. He then went to Pittsburg, where he associated 
himself in the practice of medicine with Dr. C. A. Wishart, at the Eliza 
furnaces owned by Jones & Laughlin. While there he also received an 
appointment as visiting physician of the Pittsburg Free Dispensary. He 
came to Wheeling in 1893, and opened an office on Market street, where he 
remained two years. He then moved to his present location on the Island, 
at the corner of York and Indiana streets. 

Dr. Etzler is a member of the K. of P. and B.P.O.E. He belongs to the Ohio 
County Medical Society, of which he was secretary two years; the State 
Medical Association; and the American Medical Association. He is a member 
of the United States board of examining surgeons, and is local examiner 
for the Virginia Life Insurance Company. He has always taken an active 
part in politics, and is a strong supporter of Republican principles. He 
was formerly a member of the Republican executive committee of the city. 



OTTO KALBITZER, one of the organizers of the Cooperative Stove Company, of 
Wheeling, West Virginia, is one of the most prominent business men of 
Wheeling, and is at present the manager of the fitting department for the 
company. 

Mr. Kalbitzer was born in Germany, in 1856, and is a son of Louis and 
Julia (Helmbright) Kalbitzer, both of whom were also natives of Germany. 
Otto was one of a family of five children, namely: Henry, a merchant on 
Market street in Wheeling; David, who lives in Germany; Christian, a 
successful butcher of Wheeling, Carrie, who married Peter Claus, a 
merchant, on the Island; and Otto. Otto's father died in his forty-sixth 
year, and his mother passed away in her fifty-third year. 

Mr. Kalbitzer came from Germany to the United States in 1871, and located 
in Wheeling, immediately after his arrival in this country. When a boy he 
was a stogie (cigar) maker. He afterward worked in Joseph Ball's foundry, 
where they manufactured stove ovens, and remained there seven years. He 
next went to Fisher & Son's foundry, and remained until 1898, when he 
started out for himself. He helped to organize the Cooperative Stove 
Company, of which concern George Seybold is president, and R. V. Green, 
manager. The board of directors is composed of,--Eugene Deiters, John 
Johnson, George Seybold, Otto Kalbitzer, and R. V. Green. When the firm 
was first organized, the capital stock was $2,500, which has since been 
increased to $8,000. The company manufactures the "Valley Star" and 
"Torchlight" cook stoves, and does all kinds of machinery work. It is most 
useful to Wheeling in the line of work it pursues, and its removal would 
be no small loss to the city. 

On May 2, 1879, Mr. Kalbitzer was united in marriage with Hannah Fischer, 
a daughter of August and Hannah Fischer, natives of Germany, who are 
deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Kalbitzer have eight children, as follows: Louis, 
John, Bertha, Emma, Carrie, Nora, Julia and Peter. 

Mr. Kalbitzer is a member of St. Paul's German Independent Evangelical 
Protestant church. In politics he is a Republican, and was elected, in 
1899, to the second branch of the city council from the eighth ward, 
serving with such great satisfaction to his constituents that he was re-
elected in 1901. He belongs to the Mozart Singing Society, and is a member 
of the Ancient Orger of United Workmen, and also affiliates with the 
Improved Order of Red Men. Mr. Kalbitzer attends strictly to business and 
is popular among his friends.