WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest				Volume 00 : Issue 58

Today's Topics:
  #1 BIO: JOHN BENJAMIN WYATT, Harrison   [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
  #2 BIO: DANIEL R. WHITTAKER, McDowell   [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
  #3 BIO: PHILIP HAGER, Lincoln County    [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
  #4 BIO: CLARENCE D. HOWARD, Webster C   [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
  #5 BIO: EDGAR B. GIBSON, Logan/Mercer   [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]
  #6 BIO: GEORGE E. SUTHERLAND, Kanawha   [Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@tre]




______________________________X-Message: #1
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 18:03:56 -0500
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.20000318180356.00970660@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: JOHN BENJAMIN WYATT, Harrison 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. 342-343

JOHN BENJAMIN WYATT. Since his admission to the
bar in 1910, John Benjamin Wyatt has performed a useful
and effective service as a lawyer. He is well established
in his profession and in civic affairs at Shinnston, and is
a native of Harrison County.

He was born at the Village of Wyatt in Harrison County,
January 3, 1886, a son of Zechariah White and Florence
Augusta (Fortney) Wyatt, and grandson of Russell and
Sidney Ann (White) Wyatt. Russell Wyatt was a native
of old Virginia, and was of English ancestry. On leaving
Virginia he went to Athens County, Ohio, and while there
enlisted as a Union soldier in the Seventh Ohio Cavalry.
After the war he returned to Greene County, Pennsylvania,
and lived out his life as a farmer there.

Zechariah White Wyatt was born in Greene County,
Pennsylvania, December 25, 1846, was reared in his native
county and as a young man went to Marion County, West
Virginia, where he married Ellen Harvey. She was the
mother of four children. Florence Augusta Fortney was
his second wife. She was born in Harrison County, daugh-
ter of Jacob H. Fortney, a native of Preston County. By
the second marriage there were five children. Zechariah W.
Wyatt was a graduate of the College of Physicians and
Surgeons at Baltimore, and was one of the capable and
hard working physicians of Harrison County for many
years. The little community where he lived and from
which he extended his professional service came to be
known as Wyatt. He also lived at Shinnston, and his
residence was at that place when he died, January 31, 1907.
He was elected and served as a member of the Legislature
in 1898, was a republican, a Baptist, was affiliated with
the Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights
of Pythias, and his name and character commanded the
highest degree of general esteem.

John Benjamin Wyatt has lived at Shinnston since his
father located in that town in 1890. He acquired a com-
mon school education there, spent three years in the lit-
erary department of West Virginia University, and com-
pleted his university law course in 1910.  After being
admitted to the bar Mr. Wyatt practiced three years at
Fairmont, and since then has had his office at Shinnston.

Besides looking after his general practice as a lawyer he
takes an active part in republican politics, was for one
term mayor of Shinnston, and in 1920 was elected to the
House of Delegates. Mr. Wyatt is a Master Mason and
Knight of Pythias and a member of the Methodist Church.

In 1914 he married Miss Jane Westfall, of Fairmont.
They have a son, John Benjamin, Jr.

______________________________X-Message: #2
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 18:04:28 -0500
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.20000318180428.00970d50@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: DANIEL R. WHITTAKER, McDowell 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. 343
McDowell County

DANIEL R. WHITTAKER, store manager and purchasing
agent for the Crozer Coal & Coke Company at Elkhorn, Mc-
Dowell County, is one of the efficient and popular executive
employes of this important industrial corporation. He was
born in Giles County, Virginia, on the 4th of March, 1875,
and is a son of George and Matilda (Shimalt) Whittaker,
both natives of Virginia and representatives of families
there established in an early day. George Whittaker has
long held prestige as one of the successful farmers and mer-
chants of Giles County, and is one of the sterling and
influential citizens of his community.

In 1896 Daniel R. Whittaker graduated from the high
school at Giles, Virginia, and within a short time thereafter
he became a clerk in the McQuail general store at Ennis,
McDowell County, West Virginia. Later he was made man-
ager of this store, and in 1913 ha severed this connection
and took the position of manager of the large and well-
equipped general store of the Crozer Coal & Coke Company.
He has given most effective administration in this position,
and the business has been specially successful under his
vigorous and progressive management.

Mr. Whittaker is a democrat, he and his wife are members
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and he is a
Knight Templar Mason, besides being affiliated with the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

September 17, 1898, recorded the marriage of Mr. Whit-
taker and Miss Elizabeth Saumbers, daughter of Alvin and
Lavelett (Miller) Saumbers, natives of Virginia, in which
state the father became a representative farmer near Paris-
burg. Mr. and Mrs. Whittaker have one son, Julian, who
is married and who is now his father's assistant in the store.
Julian Whittaker was a student in the Virginia Military
Institute at Staunton at the time when the nation became
involved in the World war. He entered the Officers' Train-
ing Camp at Camp Lee, Virginia, and had been stationed
there about five months when the armistice brought the war
to a close.

______________________________X-Message: #3
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 18:05:07 -0500
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.20000318180507.00976bf0@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: PHILIP HAGER, Lincoln 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. 343


PHILIP HAGER, state senator from the Fifth District, and
proprietor of one of the best mercantile establishments in
the county, is one of the leading men of Hamlin, and a
natural leader of men. Quiet and unassuming in manner, he
is so sincere and thoroughgoing that he gains the confidence
of his associates almost without effort, impressing all with
whom he comes into contact as being a very safe man. He
was born February 23, 1872, a son of Philip and Elizabeth
(Dalton) Hager, natives of Boone County, West Virginia,
and Tazwell County, Virginia, respectively. The grand-
father bore the name of John M. Hager, and the father and-
great-grandfather bore the name of Philip. They settled
on an island near the present site of Logantown, cutting the
first timber in that part of West Virginia. The family orig-
inated in Virginia, and was established in this country
prior to the American Revolution.

The father was a Baptist minister for fifty years, and
died February 12, 1917. During his ministry he had
churches at points in Southern Ohio, Eastern Kentucky,
Tennessee and West Virginia. During the war between
the North and the South he served in Company D, Thirty-
sixth Virginia Cavalry, C. S. A., and served for three and
one-half years. He was wounded in battle at Bluntsville,
Tennessee, and lost some of the bone of his leg as a result
of the injury, but recovered the use of that limb. After
leaving the service he resumed his ministerial duties.

Senator Hager attended the common schools of Lincoln
County. He took a course in civil engineering and survey-
ing, at Columbus, Ohio, under a special instructor, and then
followed this work for several years, doing a great deal of
land surveying, and acting as county road engineer for
Lincoln County from 1909 to 1913, inclusive, and during
this period he became interested in the timber and lumber
business. Since 1913 he has been occupied with operating
sawmills and handling lumber in the southern part of Lin-
coln County and in Logan County. In May, 1921, he opened
a mercantile establishment at Hamlin, in which he is doing
a large business. During nearly all of his career he has
been a notary public and at one time was secretary of the
school board for the Harts Creek District of Lincoln County.
In November, 1920, he was elected to the Upper House of
the State Assembly, and is gaining considerable prestige in
this office.

On July 12, 1894, Mr. Hager married in Lincoln County
Sarah A. Ferrell, who died May 10, 1902. She was a
daughter of James P. and Alminie (Toney) Ferrell, farming
people. Senator and Mrs. Hager became the parents of the
following children: Madge M., who married R. L. Adkins,
a contractor and builder of Lincoln County, was appointed
postmistress of Hamlin, and is one of the best officials the
city has ever possessed; Pearl married J. A. Vickers, super-
intendent of the Holden High School of Holden, West Vir-
ginia; and Ida G. and Elizabeth Edna are both at home.
Senator Hager is an earnest member of the Baptist Church.
He is a Chapter and Knight Templar Mason, and also
belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. For
years he has been one of the leading republicans of this
section, and ho was nominated without opposition and
elected by the largest majority ever given a candidate in
the Fifth Senatorial District. His election to office on his
straight party ticket was but a just reward for his efforts
in behalf of his constituents and his energetic actions look-
ing toward the improvement of Lincoln County.

______________________________X-Message: #4
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 18:09:11 -0500
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.20000318180911.0094f870@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: CLARENCE D. HOWARD, Webster 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. 344

CLARENCE D. HOWARD, of Cowen, Webster County, has
been identified with the lumber business since his early
youth, he and his brother, C. T. Howard, being owners of
the Smoot Lumber Company, with main office at Cowen.
The mills are located at Arcola, this county. He is also a
director of the First National Bank of Cowen, and is one
of the progressive and substantial business men and repre-
sentative citizens of the county.

Mr. Howard was born in Preston County, West Virginia,
September 12, 1865, and is a son of Thomas D. and Mary
S. (Holt) Howard, both likewise natives of Preston County,
where the respective families were founded iu the pioneer
days. Thomas D. Howard was educated in the common
schools at Independence, Preston County, and at the time
of the Civil war he showed his loyalty to the Union cause
by enlisting in Company I, Sixth West Virginia Volunteer
Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war.
After the war he engaged in lumbering operations near
Newburg, Preston County, and with this important line of
industrial enterprise he continued his association until his
death, when his two sons succeeded him, both being still
actively identified with the lumber business at the present
time. Mr. Howard's lumbering operations included de-
velopment work in the vicinity of Grafton, Taylor County,
and while a resident of that city he served as its mayor.
He was an ardent advocate and supporter of the principles
of the republican party and wag affiliated with the Grand
Army of the Republic. Of the three children Clarence D.,
of this review, is the eldest; Charles T. likewise is engaged
in the lumber business; and Nellie is the wife of J. B.
Hess, of Cowen.

Clarence D. Howard gained his earlier education in the
schools of Taylor County, and for one year was a student in
Simpson College at Indianola, Iowa. He became actively
associated with the lumber business when he was nineteen
years of age, and his career in this line of enterprise has
been one of continuous success to the present time.

He and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, at Cowen, and he is serving on its official
board. He is affiliated with Glade Lodge No. 205, Knights
of Pythias, at Cowen, and is one of the leaders in the coun-
cils and campaign activities of the republican party in
Webster County. He was an alternate delegate to the Re-
publican National Convention at Chicago when Hon. Charles
E. Hughes, the present national secretary of state, was
nominated for the presidency.

August 12, 1896, recorded the marriage of Mr. Howard
and Miss Audree Ford, of Taylor County, she being a gradu-
ate of the West Virginia Wesleyan College at Buckhannon,
of which school Mr. Howard has been a trustee for a
number of years. Mr. and Mrs. Howard became the parents
of five children: Edna, who since her graduation at the
West Virginia Wesleyan College, her mother's alma mater,
has been a teacher in the Cowen High School; Agnes died
at the age of seventeen years; Helen is, in 1922, a student
in Wesleyan College; Harry F. is attending the Staunton
Military Academy at Staunton, Virginia, and Elsie is at-
tending the public schools of Cowen.

______________________________X-Message: #5
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 18:09:29 -0500
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.20000318180929.0094d2b0@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: EDGAR B. GIBSON, Logan/Mercer 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. 343-344

EDGAR B. GIBSON is a superintendent of the Logan Chilton
Coal Company on the Guyandotte Eiver near Henlawson in
Logan County. Well versed in all the details of mine de-
velopment and operation, he first became a factor in the
mine industry as an electrician and electrical engineer.
Practically all his working experience has been with the
Leckie interests in West Virginia.

Mr. Gibson was born at Cooper in Mercer County, West
Virginia, August 25, 1889, son of William B. and Lou E.
(Butterworth) Gibson, the former a native of Washington
County, Tennessee, and the latter of Campbell County, Vir-
ginia. The mother is still living on the old homestead farm
at Watauga, Tennessee.  William B. Gibson, who died
February 5, 1922, at the age of sixty-four, spent a number
of years in the coal mines of the Tug River District of
West Virginia, chiefly at Elkhorn, where he was in the
service of the Pocahontas Consolidated Fuel Company in all
the varied positions from track layer to superintendent. He
finally left the mines to return to his farm in Washington
County, Tennessee. He was a republican, a Baptist and an
Odd Fellow. All of his five sons at some time were con-
nected with the coal mining industry: A. J., now a farmer
at Princeton in Mercer County, spent twenty years with the
Pocahontas Fuel Company and other mines; C. C. was killed
by accident while with the Tidewater Coal and Coke Com-
pany as hoisting engineer; C. S., a farmer at Princeton,
was formerly associated with the Tidewater Coal Company,
Bottom Creek Coal Company and other mines; and M. P., a
resident of Princeton.

Edgar B. Gibson attended a seminary near his old home
in Washington County, Tennessee. His training in electrical
engineering was gained by a practical course of apprentice-
ship and instruction at the Jeffrey Manufacturing Com-
pany's plant in Columbus, Ohio. He has been an electrical
engineer for twelve years. His first work was in the mines
at Leckie on Tug River in McDowell County as a hoisting
engineer. He spent six years at Leckie, and was chief
electrician when he left there. His next location was at
Aflex in Pike County, Kentucky, on the Tug River, where
for two years he was electrician and assistant superinten-
dent. For three years he was chief electrician at Fireco in
Raleigh County, at the same place during the succeeding
year was superintendent of Leckie Mine No. 3. Then, in
May, 1921, he came to Logan County for the purpose of
opening the Logan Chilton Mine, and all its equipment
was installed under his supervision. He also opened mines
at Aflex and Leckie No. 3.

In 1915 Mr. Gibson married Viola V. Phipps, daughter of
Herbert Phipps, of Sullivan County, Tennessee. Their two
children are Helen and Alma. Mrs. Gibson is a Presby-
terian. He is a democrat, and is affiliated with the Knights
of Pythias and Elks.

______________________________X-Message: #6
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 18:25:03 -0500
From: Valerie & Tommy Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>
To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.20000318182503.00951690@trellis.net>
Subject: BIO: GEORGE E. SUTHERLAND, Kanawha 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. 344


GEORGE E. SUTHERLAND, manager of the Kanawha Land
Company, is a member of a family that has played a con-
spicuous part in the development of Charleston and the
adjacent Kanawha Valley for eighty years. He represents
the first native generation of the family, both his father
and grandfather, each of whom bore the Christian name
James, having been born in Scotland.

James Sutherland, Sr., brought his family to the United
States about 1840 and settled on the Kanawha River, two
miles above Charleston, in Kanawha County. He estab-
lished the first foundry in that region, at what is now
Kanawha City. Its chief product was furnaces and other
machinery, and especial equipment for the salt mines in
that vicinity. Salt mining was then the foremost industry
of the valley. James Sutherland, Jr., who was brought to
America in infancy, after reaching manhood engaged in
similar enterprises.  On one occasion, while drilling for
salt at Big Chimney on the Elk River, he struck oil. This
was one of the first recorded discoveries of oil in West
Virginia.

George E. Sutherland, who was born and reared in
Charleston, acquiring his education in the schools of that
city, has found many practical enterprises in which to
engage his time and talents. For several years past he
has been in the general insurance business as a member of
the firm Gallaher & Sutherland, conducting one of the larg-
est general insurance agencies in the state. He is also
vice president of the Kanawha County Bank and is vice
president and general manager of the Standard Brick &
Supply Company, brick manufacturers and dealers in build-
ing supplies.

The Kanawha Land Company, of which he is secretary
and manager and of which former Governor William A.
MacCorkle is president, has been the corporation through
which the primary impulse was directed for the development
of South Charleston. This development since the beginning
of the World war has resulted in one of the most prosperous
and attractive industrial cities of West Virginia. The lead-
ing institution of South Charleston is the naval armor plant
of the Government.

Mr. Sutherland has been active in the firm of Gallagher
& Sutherland since it was established in 1912, and prior
to that for about ten years was trust officer of the Kanawha
Banking & Trust Company. He is a former director of the
Charleston Chamber of Commerce, served several years as a
member of the city council, and is chairman of the board
of deacons of the First Presbyterian Church. Mr. Suther-
land is married and has four children, named Margaret,
Edwin, William A. and Anne Elizabeth.