Biography of William W. Wood

WILLIAM W. WOOD, general manager of the Chattaroy
Mining Company's operations at the station called Hatfield,
on the Norfolk & Western Railway's main line in Mercer
County, is another of the men of this locality who has spent
his entire career in the coal mining industry and who has
been the architect of his own fortune. His career has been
an active and at times even a strenuous one, and out of his
experiences, which have been varied, he has brought the con-
clusion that hard work pays and that straightforward
dealing brings the best results.

Mr. Wood was born February 18, 1880, at Roanoke, Vir-
ginia, a son of W. G. and Anna P. (Thrasher) Wood, na-
tives of Virginia On the paternal side he traces his ancestry 
back in Virginia to the year 1697, when the first
Wood of this branch of the family immigrated to the
Colonies from England, and on the maternal side he comes
of good old Holland stock. W. G. Wood, a college graduate

and man of superior intellect and education, follows the
vocation of farming and is likewise prominent in public and
political affairs, in which he has interested himself for many
years. His integrity, honesty and impartiality have been
so well established in the minds of his fellow-citizens that
he is frequently called upon to act as arbiter in disputes,
even when not holding office, and as counsellor and guide
in business and domestic matters.

William W. Wood attended the country public schools and
the National Business College, Roanoke, Virginia, and after
his graduation from the latter, in 1901, started to work
with the Houston interests, and thereafter for twenty years
remained with the same concern at various places where
operations were being carried on. For about six years of
this time he served as superintendent for the Houston inter-
ests at the Maitland shaft, and for about three years was
superintendent at Keystone. When he left this concern,
January 1, 1921, he moved to Bluefleld, the site of his home
at this time, and took charge of the Lowvolatile Consoli-
dated on the New River, remaining in the same capacity
until October 15, 1921. At that time, as Mr. Wood puts it,
he "graduated as superintendent of the closed shop," and
October 16, 1921, became general manager of the Chatta-
roy Mining Company's operations at the station called
Hatfield, on the main line of the Norfolk & Western Sail-
way, where he has remained to the present. Mr. Wood has
operated all through the miners' troubles, and says he has
"never had any strike."

In 1906, at Roanoke, Virginia, Mr. Wood was united in
marriage with Miss Geneva Layman, daughter of William
M. and Nannie (Weeks) Layman, natives of Virginia and
agricultural people. Mr. and Mrs. Wood are the parents of
one child, Anna B., who is attending school. They are
consistent members of the Presbyterian Church, to the
movements of which they subscribe generously. Mr. Wood
is a Mason of high standing, having attained to the Knight
Templar degree and the Mystic Shrine.


From The History of West Virginia, Old and New, page 49

Submitted by Valerie F. Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>

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