West Virginia Statewide Files  WV-Footsteps Mailing List
WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest				Volume 99 : Issue 40

Today's Topics:
  #1 BIO: Charles T. HEDGES, Hancock Co   [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
  #2 BIO: Harvey Hansford MORRIS, Kanaw   [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
  #3 BIO: W. B. GOLDEN, Upshur Co. WV     [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
  #4 BIO: Andy Wirt BERRY, Preston Co.    [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
  #5 BIO: Earl McCONNAUGHY, Mingo Count   [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
  #6 BIO: Charles W. ATKINSON, McDowell   [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]

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______________________________X-Message: #1
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 06:34:33 -0400
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990924063433.007f0a10@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: Charles T. HEDGES, Hancock Co. WV
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 274-275
Hancock County

CHARLES T. HEDGES is a native of Lumberport, and his
chief business experiences have been acquired in that thriv-
ing little city of Harrison County. He was formerly a
merchant but is now in the real estate and coal business.

He was born at Lumberport. April 6, 1890, son of Henry
Clay and Alice (Robinson) Hedges, the latter now de-
ceased. In the family were six sons and one daughter.
Henry Clay Hedges, son of Charles and Nancy G. Hedges,
was born on a farm at Worthington, West Virginia, July
30, 1844, had a rural training and common school educa-
tion, and on leaving the farm went to work' as clerk at
Clarksburg and subsequently entered merchandising on his
own account at Lumberport. He was in business there
for a number of years and later engaged in the real estate
business. He still has interests at Lumberport, but spends
only his summers there, his winter home being at Orlando,
Florida.

Charles T. Hedges was reared at Lumberport, attended
the public schools and completed a business course at
Buckhannon. Some five or six years of his early life were
spent in the West, as far as the Pacific Coast, and he had
a variety of experiences and employment. On returning
to Lumberport in 1911 he engaged in business as a member
of the general mercantile firm of Hedges and Oyster Com-
pany. He sold out to his partner in 1919, and since then
has concentrated his attention on the coal and real estate
business.

Mr. Hedges is a Master Mason, an Elk and an Odd Fel-
low. He married Miss Mary Lamar, of Kingwood. She is
a trained nurse by profession. They have one daughter,
Elizabeth Ann.

______________________________X-Message: #2
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 06:42:47 -0400
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990924064247.007f0550@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: Harvey Hansford MORRIS, Kanawha Co. WV
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 271-272
Kanawha County

HARVEY HANSFORD MORRIS, who maintains his residence
and business headquarters in the City of Huntington and
who is prominently concerned with coal-mining operations
in his native state, is of distinguished American ancestry
on both the paternal and maternal sides. His paternal grand-
father, Fenton Mercer Morris, was born at Crown Hill,
Kanawha County, Virginia (now West Virginia), in the
year 1815, and his death occurred at Boomer, Fayette
County, in June, 1892.  He was extensively engaged in
farm enterprise and also was a leading figure in the timber
industry, he having resided for varying intervals in
Kanawha, Nicholas and Fayette counties. His wife, whose
maiden name was Rebecca Lloyd, died in Nicholas County.
William Morris, father of Fenton M., was born in one of the
eastern counties of Virginia and was a resident of Kanawha
Falls, Fayette County, at the time of his death. He served
as sheriff of Kanawha County, was a farmer and timber
operator and was for a time a resident of Peters Creek,
Nicholas County. He first married Sarah Hansford, and
after her death contracted a second marriage, the family
name of his second wife having been Chapman. His father,
Joshua Morris, a native of Virginia, was one of the pioneer
settlers in what is now Cabell County, West Virginia, and
he developed a large landed estate, and was one of the
progressive pioneer exponents of farm industry in Cabell
and Kanawha counties. He had served in the early Indian
wars and was also a patriot soldier in the War of the
Revolution. In Orange County, Virginia, was solemnized
his marriage to Frances Simms. He was a son of William
Morris, who was born in England, in 1722, and who first
located at Philadelphia after coming to America. In 1744
he initiated operations as a farmer or planter in Culpeper
County, Virginia, and there occurred his marriage to Eliza-
beth Stepp. In 1773 he came with his family to what is
now Kanawha County, West Virginia, and located at the
mouth of Kelly's Creek, near the present Village of Cedar
Grove. He was the first permanent white settler in that
county, and his was the first will probated in Kanawha
County. He had the spirit of a hardy adventurer and true
pioneer, and as a farmer and hunter he was a prominent
figure in the early development of what is now West Vir-
ginia. He had given gallant service as a soldier in the
Revolution, became guardian of Kelly's Post in Kanawha
County, and at that point lie died and was laid to rest. He
reared a family of eight sons and two daughters. His son
William gained fame as "Major Billy" Morris, gallant
commander of patriot forces in the War of the Revolution.
Major Morris married Catherine Carroll, a descendant of
Lord Carroll, the Maryland colonist.

Albert Gallatin Hansford, maternal grandfather of Har-
vey H. Morris, of Huntington, was born at Crown Hill,
Kanawha County, and there his death occurred shortly
before the inception of the Civil war, he having been a
merchant, having conducted a cooper shop and having been
a shipper of coal and salt. His wife, whose maiden name
was Nancy Harriman, was born in the present Cabell
County, West Virginia, in 1818, and died at East Bank,
Kanawha County, in 1904. Albert 0. Hansford was a son
of Maj. John Hansford, who was born in Eastern Virginia,
and who was a pioneer in Kanawha County, where he be-
came a farmer and was the first to ship produce from the
Kanawha Valley, he having served as a major in the War
of the Revolution and his remains being interred in a
pioneer cemetery at Crown Hill, Kanawha County. He mar-
ried Jane Morris, a daughter of Maj. "Billy" Morris, men-
tioned above. Mrs. Fenton (Morris) Brown, sister of him
whose name initiates this review, is, in 1922, organizing at
Pratt, on the Kanawha River, a chapter of the Society of
the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the same
will be chartered as William Morris Chapter.

Harvey Hansford Morris was born at Coalburg, Kanawha
County, West Virginia, April 11, 1873, and is a son of
Chapman and Sallie Summerfield (Hansford) Morris, the
former of whom was born in Nicholas County, in 1847, and
the latter at what is now East Bank, Kanawha County, in
the same year.  Chapman Morris died at Coalburg in
October, 1873, and his widow survived him by forty years,
she having been a resident of Richmond, Virginia, at the
time of her death, June 15, 1913. Chapman Morris was
reared in Nicholas County and was a young man at the
time of his removal to Kanawha County, where his mar-
riage occurred and where he passed the remainder of his
life, he having been associated with coal mining in that
section and also with the construction of the Chesapeake
& Ohio Railroad through that county. He was a democrat,
a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he
and his wife were zealous members of the Baptist Church.
Of the children, the elder is Fenton, who in 1892 became
the wife of William S. Brown, he having been a leading
lawyer and prominent politician and having died at Tornado,
Lincoln County, in June, 1912. Mrs. Brown now resides
at Atlanta, Georgia, an enthusiastic member of the Daugh-
ters of the American Revolution.  The younger of the
two surviving children is he whose name introduces this
article.

Harvey H. Morris attended the public schools in Kanawha
and Fayette counties, and at the age of sixteen years he
began an apprenticeship to the trade of telegraphy. As
a skilled operator he was long employed by the Chesapeake
& Ohio Railroad Company, in the service of which he con-
tinued twenty-six years. He advanced through the various
grades of promotion, train dispatcher, train master, assist-
ant superintendent, and, finally, a superintendent of division,
in which office he succeeded C. P. Snow at Huntington,
January 1, 1911. He continued his service at Huntington
until November 15th of the following year, when he was
transferred to Richmond, Virginia, where he served in the
same capacity until September 1, 1913, when he became
superintendent at Ashland, Kentucky. In February of the
following year he was transferred to Clifton Forge, Vir-
ginia, where he remained until the 1st of the following
October, when he returned to Huntington. Here he con-
tinued his effective service as superintendent until December
1, 1915, when he resigned, after a record of long and
greatly appreciated service of most effective order.

In December, 1915, Mr. Morris engaged actively in the
coal business as an operator, and he is president of the
West Virginia Standard Coal Company of Huntington; the
Kentucky Elkhorn By-Products Coal Company of Dorton,
Kentucky; the Mary Elizabeth Coal Company of McGraws,
West Virginia; and is a stockholder in the Southern States
Coal Company and the Huntington By-products Coal Com-
pany. His office headquarters are in suite 518-20-22 Lewis
Arcade Building at Huntington.

Mr. Morris retains the ancestral political faith and is a
stalwart democrat. He and his wife are members of the
First Presbyterian Church of Huntington, he is an active
member of the Huntington Chamber of Commerce, and holds
membership in the Guyandotte Club, the Guyan Country
Club and the Kiwanis Club, all of Huntington. His Ma-
sonic affiliations are here briefly noted: Huntington Lodge
No. 53, A. F. and A. M.; Huntington Chapter No. 6, R. A.
M.; Huntington Commandery No. 9, Knights Templars;
Beni-Kedem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Charleston; West
Virginia Consistory No. 1, at Wheeling, in which he has
received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite.

September 7, 1892, recorded the marriage of Mr. Morris
and Miss Anna Bell Davis, of Kanawha County, and her
death occurred January 25, 1920. Mrs. Morris is survived
by one child, Julia Summerfield, who is now the wife of
Lieut. Robert Francis Carter, an officer in the United
States Army, a graduate of West Point, and now stationed
at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Lieutenant Carter has charge
of the training of students for entrance into the United
States Military Academy at West Point, and in the World
war period he was in active service with the American
Expeditionary Forces in France.

On the 16th of March, 1920, in New York City, Mr.
Morris wedded Mrs. Mary Elizabeth (Van Weinkin) Snyder,
daughter of John Van Weinkin, who is engaged in the real
estate business in St. Louis, Missouri.

______________________________X-Message: #3
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 06:43:38 -0400
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990924064338.007f3740@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: W. B. GOLDEN, Upshur Co. WV
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 267-268
Upshur County

W. B. GOLDEN. A position of public trust is necessarily
indicative of the man who fills it. When the duties of an
office demanding a keen intellect, a never-failing diplomacy
and a strong moral courage, are, year after year, dis-
charged so satisfactorily that the public vote confirms
them successively on the same person, we may be imme-
diately assured that the individual who occupies the office
is possessed of the proper abilities. In this connection
mention is to be made of W. B. Golden, who was elected
to the office of superintendent of schools of Braxton
County in 1910, served four years and was elected again
in 1918 and is now serving his second term.

Mr. Golden was born in Upshur County, West Virginia
February 19, 1874, a son of A. B. and Celina (McCauley)
Golden, both natives of the same locality and both prod-
ucts of the farm and of the country schools. Prior to
her marriage Mrs. Golden had taught in the free schools
of her native county for several years. After their mar-
riage Mr. Golden turned his attention to farming, and
settled on a small farm near Rock Cave, but in 1884
disposed of his interests in that locality and moved to a
farm near Flatwoods, Braxton County, where they lived
until the death of Mr. Golden, which occurred September
3, 1900, after which Mrs. Golden disposed of the farm
and now resides at Walkersville, Lewis County, with her
youngest son. They were faithful members of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church. Mr. Golden was a member of the
Improved Order of Rd Men, and his political faith was
as a democrat.

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Golden were as
follows:  W. B., of this review; Charles O, who is en-
gaged in farming in the State of Colorado; Eva, who is
the wife of M. H. Crawford, of Weston, West Virginia;
J. L., who is engaged in farming and the lumber business
at Rock Cave, this state; A. H., of Burnsville, Braxton
County; T. R, who is engaged in operating a farm in
Oklahoma; Oscar, who while working for the Government
as a trained nurse in the Philippine Islands, contracted
tuberculosis, from which he died; and Clyde, who resides
at home with his mother.

W. B. Golden was reared on a farm, but cared little
for agricultural pursuits, and when fifteen years of age
taught his first country school. He continued to follow
this vocation, in the meantime adding much to his store
of information by reading and home study courses.

He has been elected two terms of four years each to the
office of county superintendent of schools of his county.
In the superintendency, Mr. Golden has done much to
elevate the standards of the free schools of his county and
place them on a higher plane. He has made himself a
general favorite with teachers, pupils and parents, and
much of his success has been due to the fact that he knows
the needs of his county and is working with all the energy
at his command for the general betterment. So well has
he done his work as superintendent that he is regarded
as one of the best in the state and can no doubt be elected
again with little opposition.

On May 26, 1899, Mr. Golden married Miss Estella M.
Morrison, who was born in Braxton County and educated
in the public schools of her county. To this union were
born five children:  Marvin L., a graduate of the high
school at Sutton and has since had two and one-half years
at the State University; Mary Marie, a graduate of the
Sntton High School and teaches in the graded school at
Flatwoods; Audrey, a student at the Flatwoods High
School; Opal and Edith, who are attending the graded
school at Flatwoods.

The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, in which Mr. Golden is superintendent of
the Sunday school. He is a member of the Improved Order
of Red Men, in which order he belongs to the State Great
Council, and in politics is a democrat.

______________________________X-Message: #4
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 06:43:45 -0400
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990924064345.007f16b0@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: Andy Wirt BERRY, Preston Co. WV
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 266-267
Preston County

ANDY WIRT BERRY. Some men are not content with their
home communities, but leave for parts unknown to pursue
there a fortune which oftentimes eludes them, but there
are others, probably more sensible, who, remaining where
they are known and where they are acquainted with the
people and customs, earn their money and make their invest-
ments locally. Centering their holdings and interests, they
are able to acquire means and exert a strong influence along
constructive lines. Such is the case of Andy Wirt Berry,
one of the large landowners of Braxton County, a merchant
and banker of Flatwoods, and one of the city's most repre-
sentative men and public-spirited citizens.

The birth of Mr. Berry took place on a farm near Flat-
woods, which he now owns, November 25, 1876, and he is a
son of William H. and Irene Caroline (Denison) Berry.
William H. Berry was born in Braxton County, October 16,
1834, and still survives. His wife, Irene Caroline (Denison)
Berry, was born near Janelew, Lewis County, West Virginia,
a daughter of Gabriel Denison, and a niece of ''Stonewall''
Jackson. They were reared and educated in the rural dis-
tricts, and Mr. Berry taught school when young. When
the Flatwoods Baptist Church was organized in October,
1889, Mrs. Berry was one of its charter members, and Mr.
Berry also belongs to this church. He is a democrat. For
many years in addition to his farming activities he was a
heavy buyer and shipper of stock, and contributed sub-
stantially to the early development of Braxton County. Of
the seven children born to these parents four survive,
namely: J. G. Berry, who is a contractor in the oil fields
of Oklahoma; Andy Wirt, whose name heads this review;
Martha E., who is the wife of W. F. Duffield; and Ada, who
is the wife of Claude C. Davis.

Growing up on the farm, Andy Wirt Berry attended the
common schools, and when only seventeen years of age began
teaching school. He spent a couple of years at this work,
and then went into his brother's store as a clerk. In 1899
he established himself in business at Flatwoods, and has
been handling staves, lumber and coal ever since. He is also
interested in oil, gas and coal, and owns a number of farms
in Braxton County, as well as stock in the Bank of Sutton
and in many other local enterprises.

In 1901 Mr. Berry married Miss May Fisher, who was
the daughter of Hon. B. F. Fisher, of Braxton County.
She died in 1902, and he subsequently married Miss Anna
Zinn, of Troy, West Virginia. Mr. Berry has six children,
namely: Irene, Elizabeth, A. W., Jr., May Nell, Robert
Zinn, and Richard Waitman.

He is a member of the Flatwoods Baptist Church, which
he is now serving as clerk. A Mason, he belongs to Sutton
Lodge No. 21, A. F. and A. M., of which he has been master
for eight years; Sutton Chapter, Sutton Commandery, K.
T., and the Mystic Shrine of Charleston, West Virginia.
He completed the eighteen degrees of the Scottish Rite at
Clarksburg, West Virginia, and will complete the Scottish
Bite up to the thirty-second degree at Wheeling, West Vir-
ginia, in the very near future. In politics he is a democrat.
He also takes a very active part in county and state politics.
In everything he has undertaken Mr. Berry has been suc-
cessful, but he has made it a point to look into a matter
very carefully before taking action, and to see to his inter-
ests personally. He is very proud of his home community
and is anxious to secure for it a proper amount of improve-
ments, but at the same time he is not willing to sanction
an unwise expenditure of the taxpayers' money. Such men
as Mr. Berry are a valuable asset to any neighborhood, and
he may properly be regarded as one of the best representa-
tives of the substantial American business man of his time
and locality.

______________________________X-Message: #5
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 06:43:51 -0400
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990924064351.007f1450@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: Earl McCONNAUGHY, Mingo County, WV
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 264-265
Mingo County

EARL MCCONNAUGHY has effectively upheld the prestige
of the family name in connection with the coal-mining
industry, and is one of its vital and progressive exponents
in the Kentucky and West Virginia fields. He was the
organizer and is secretary, treasurer and general manager
of the P. M. C. Coal Company, which derives its title from
the surname initials of its three promoters, Messrs. Palmer,
McConnaughy and Countremen.  The coal lands of the
company comprise 600 acres on Hatfield Bend of the Tug
River in Pike County, with a steel bridge across the river to
afford connection with the company's tipple in West Vir-
ginia. The residence and executive headquarters of Mr. Mc-
Connaughy are maintained at Sprigg, Mingo County, West
Virginia. He had the supervision of the opening of the
mine of this company and the erection and equipping of the
producing plant, operations at the mine having been
initiated in August, 1918, and the company having de-
veloped a large export trade.

Mr. McConnaughy was born at Bridgeport, Ohio, June
19, 1877, a son of Howell and Sophia (Heneke) McCon-
naughy, both likewise natives of that place, where the
mother died in February, 1911, aged fifty-nine years, and
where the death of the father occurred in the following
October, when he was sixty-two years of age. Howell Mc-
Connaughy was actively concerned with coal mining during
his entire business career, and operated mines in the Eastern
Ohio District. Of the family of three sons and one daugh-
ter the eldest son, Albert C., was president of the Buffalo
Eagle Coal Company, operating in the Logan field of West
Virginia, and also secretary and treasurer of the Guyan
Coal Company, his death having occurred in 1920. Fred is
district agent of the New York Life Insurance Company,
with headquarters at Lead, South Dakota. The only daugh-
ter is Mrs. Charles Adams, of Dayton, Ohio.

The early education of Earl McConnaughy was acquired
in the schools of his native place. He was eighteen years
old when he left the Bridgeport High School and initiated
his association with the practical affairs of business. He
became night superintendent of the Aetna Standard Mill,
and four years later, at the age of twenty-two years, he
became assistant superintendent for the Republic Iron &
Steel Company at Toledo, Ohio. A year later he accepted
the position of superintendent for the Henderson Coal Com-
pany, operating in Ohio, and in this connection he main-
tained his headquarters in his native city of Bridgeport for
ten years. He tlien came to the Logan coal fields in West
Virginia, and for two years was engaged in the buying of
coal lands. He then became manager of the Alma Thacker
Fuel Company in Kentucky, not far distant from Matewan,,
West Virginia, and his next decisive movement was the
organizing of the P. M. C. Coal Company, of which he has
since continued secretary, treasurer and general manager.
He was in the last draft, at the time of the World war,
but received from Government authorities instruction to
bend his energies to the production of coal, an economic
service of as much value as could be that which he might
render in the army or navy. He spurred his energies to the
maximum production of fuel, and thus effectively followed
the instructions which had been given. Mr. McConnaughy's
basic Masonic affiliation is with the Blue Lodge at William-
son, and in the Scottish Rite he has received the thirty-
second degree, besides which he is a member of the Lodge
of Elks at Martins Ferry, Ohio. He was reared in the faith
of the Methodist Church, and his wife holds membership in
the Presbyterian Church.

On April 5, 1900, Mr. McConnaughy married Miss Lucy
Hill, daughter of Thomas Hill, of Bridgeport, Ohio. They
have no children.

______________________________X-Message: #6
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 06:43:56 -0400
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990924064356.007f3da0@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: Charles W. ATKINSON, McDowell Co. WV
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 264
McDowell County

CHARLES W. ATKINSON is the efficient general superin-
tendent of the Jenkinjones group of mines (Nos. 5, 6, 7 and
8) operated by the Pocahontas Fuel Company, in the vicin-
ity of the Village of Jenkinjones, McDowell County.

Mr. Atkinson was born in Montgomery County, Virginia,
March 3, 1870, and is a son of James G. and Mary Eliza-
beth (Cunningham) Atkinson, both natives of Bedford
County, Virginia, where the former was born April 12,
1842, and the latter, September 7, 1844. The parents now
reside at Alleghany Springs, Montgomery County, Virginia,
and all of their five children are living. James G. Atkinson
was a valiant soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war,
took part in many battles, including those of Chattanooga,
Lockout Mountain and Princeton, and his command was
with the forces of General Johnston on the retreat to the
seaboard and at the final surrender in North Carolina.
Mr. Atkinson has been a successful farmer, and has been
engaged also in work as a carpenter and builder. He was
for twelve years a resident of McDowell County, West
Virginia, where he built houses at various mines and also
did other construction work. At Northfork, this county,
he served as justice of the peace. He now owns and resides
upon his well improved farm in Montgomery County, Vir-
ginia, and both he and his wife are in the best of health.
They are active members of the Missionary Baptist Church,
and he is a republican and a member of the United Con-
federate Veterans. Edwin Thomas, eldest of the children,
is a farmer near the home of his parents; Charles W., of
this review, was next in order of birth; Lillie is the wife
of B. F. Barnes, of Floyd County, Virginia; Lulu Maude
is the widow of John W. Doss, who, as a contractor, built
hundreds of mine houses, and she resides at Alta Vista,
Virginia; Frank M. resides at Graham, that state.

Charles W. Atkinson gained his youthful education in the
schools of his native county, and he was twenty-one years
of age when he came to McDowell County, West Virginia,
and initiated his association with coal mining. He worked
with pick and shovel in the loading of coal at Simmons
Creek, and four months later went to the Upland Mine of
the Crozier Coal Company, where he won promotion to the
position of head trackman. After four years he became the
company's slate foreman at Northfolk, and his effective serv-
ice led to consecutive advancement, both at Northfolk and
Arlington. He was assistant mine foreman three years,
then became mine foreman at Greenbrier, and finally was
made general foreman in charge of the Cherokee Mine. At
Switchback, as general foreman, he had charge of five mines,
and thereafter he was in service one year at Northfolk and
later at Shamokin and Lick Branch. For two years he was
general superintendent of the Rolfe collieries of the Poca-
hontas Fuel Company, and in 1912 he assumed his present
responsible position as general superintendent at Jenkin-
jones. The railroad extension to this point had not been
made at that time and the opening of the mines, including
the general construction work, were effected under his super-
vision, so that he is consistently to be termed a pioneer in
this now important coal field. He has been closely identified
with general development and progress in the community,
and has served as a member of the school board of Adkins
District. He is a republican, is affiliated with the Masonic
fraternity and the Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mr.
Atkinson is more than six feet in height, strong in mind and
body, and a fine representative of the productive workers
of the world.

On July 3, 1896, Mr. Atkinson married May Flanner,
daughter of J. K. Flanner, of Elkhorn, this state, to which
he came from Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Atkinson have
four sons and three daughters.