| Transcribed by Norma Knotts Shaffer from
an old newspaper clipping from the Grantsville News dated 3/19/1942.
Editor's Note: The following article was written by
Attorney
Louis Reed, by request, for deposit in the corner stone of the new
court
house now under construction. This is a copy given Miss Nettie
Stump
by Mr. Reed, the original having been placed in the corner stone on
February
28, 1942, for future generations to think about:
The article follows:
A Short History of Grantsville, West Virginia
Grantsville is one of the newer West Virginia Municipalities in
point
of time. The first settler, appears to have been one Archibald
Burris
who settled here about 1810, and gave his name to Burrows Run.
He
has left many descendants in Calhoun county. An early settler on
the South Side was John Ball, who built a log cabin near the site of
the
present high school ruins, between 1835 and 1845. This cabin was
torn down in 1919, to make way for the school building. The log
cabin
which is now occupied by the family of Eddie Barnes was built by
Samuel
Barr, a brother-in-law of John Ball, between 1835 and 1845. This
house has the unique distinction of having been in three counties and
two
states without changing its location. As late as the time of the
Civil war the present site of Grantsville, excluding the South Side,
was
a part of the farm of Simon P. Stump.
The founding of Grantsville as a Municipality was the result of a
thirteen
year dispute between the residents of the West Fork and the Little
Kanawha
valley over the location of a county seat. When Calhoun county
was
founded in 1856, the bill passed by the Virginia General Assembly
provided
that the court house should be located either at the mouth of Yellow
Creek
or at the Bigbend of the Little Kanawha River. (just below the
mouth
of Yellow Creek). This arrangement met with violent protest from
the inhabitants of the West Fork country who wanted the court house
located
at Arnoldsburg. For a time court was held both at Arnoldsburg
and
at the home of Collins Betts, four miles below Grantsville.
Then,
a compromise move made Brooksville the county seat, and a frame court
house
was built there by a man named E. McClosky. Again legal
proceedings
were instituted in favor of Arnoldsburg, which resulting favorably,
caused
the construction of a stone-cut basement for a new court house
there.
Part of this basement is still standing.
In the meantime the Civil War had been fought to a
conclusion.
The name of General Ulysses S. Grant loomed large in contemporary
minds,
and the final move in the thirteen year old dispute was the founding
of
a new Municipality on the farm of Simon P. Stump, called Grantsville,
in
honor of the famous General.
The first Municipal officers of Grantsville were: Mayor,
Albert
Huffman Stump, the father of Nettie Stump and Charley Stump, present
day
residents of Grantsville; Reese Blizzard, Recorder. Reece
Blizzard
later became a Circuit Judge, and later still President of The
Commercial
Banking and Trust Company, in Parkersburg, West Virginia. The
town
was not incorporated until 1887.
The court house now building is the fourth to stand on this
site.
The first built in 1869, burned before it was occupied; the second, a
frame
building, was torn down to make room for the third; the third, built
of
red brick, manufactured nearby, was completed in 1880, and stood for
sixty
one years, until it was demolished in the summer of 1941, to make way
for
the present structure. It may be of interest to succeeding
generations
to know that the first three court houses, above referred to, stood on
a knob or eminence somewhat above the foundations of the present
building.
This knoll was leveled in the summer of 1941.
Although Grantsville was the county seat, and as such the only
municipality
in the county from 1869 to 1900, its modern growth began with the
opening
of the Yellow Creek oil field in 1901. The discovery of oil at
Yellow
Creek, and later of natural gas in other parts of Calhoun county,
attracted
outside capital, and oil and gas development is now the chief industry
of Calhoun county and the basis for the growth and prosperity of
Grantsville.
One of the earliest operators was Godfrey L. Cabot of Boston,
Massachusetts,
who formed the company known as Godfrey L. Cabot, Incorporated, which
now
employes a large force of men in the gas fields of the county, and
supplies
natural gas to the inhabitants of Grantsville. State Senator, L.
J. Morris, is the local Superintendent for the Cabot Company.
The Hope Natural Gas Company, with headquarters at Clarksburg, also
employs a large number of men in the gas fields, many of whom reside
in
Grantsville. The local Superintendent at the present time is A.
R.
Wolfe.
Amoung many independent operators are W. H. Bickle, L. P. Bickle,
Z.
N. Connolly, O. C. Howard, K. M. Hunt, P. P. Gunn, L. B. Carroll and
Lyle
S. Ayers. Also Southeastern Gas Company.
Grantsville has a high school, a graded school and a municipal
building
in addition to the Court House and jail now being erected. There
are a number of stores engaged in the mercantile trade, three hotels,
four
restaurants, two cleaning and pressing establishments, one pool room,
one
moving picture theatre, one oil and gas well supply house and one junk
yard in active operation. Amoung the merchants are, The Wiant
and
Barr Store, A. B. Harris, Manager; Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company,
George
Lambiotte, Manager; W. B. Gibson; Amos Gibson; Raymon Boggs and Paul
Barr;
Pearl Kelly; G. L. Strader; W. J. Mathews; Grantsville Drug Company,
J.
B. Smith, Manager; Thompson Drug Company, John Burnell, Manager; P. P.
Gunn; The Calhoun Super-Service, Inc., Ernest Mollohan, Manager;
Stump's
Service Station, Albert Stump, Manager; Bridge Filling Station, Lyle
S.
Ayers, Manager; Mountain Chevrolet Sales, O. H. Copeland, Manager;
McJunkin
Supply Company, W. H. Britt, Manager. The Moving Picture Theatre
is operated by John Cook. The hotels are owned and operated by
Bruce
J. Lowe, Rainbow Hotel; Mrs. Ida Jeffreys, Jeffreys Hotel, and Mrs.
Wesley
Owens, Owens Hotel. The pressing shops are owned by A. A.
Stemple
and Burl Gainer, respectively. The pool room is owned by A. A.
Stemple.
The Junk Company is owned and operated by Isadore Mendelson. R.
J.
Knotts, Jr. owns and operates an automobile repair shop; C. C.
Kingsbury
operates the Ben Franklin Store; Edward Plant is a store manager for
Amos
Gibson; Donald Witt owns and manages The Witt Lumber Company, a
planing
mill; John Dandos manages the Coney Island Lunch; Woodrow Burch
operates
a restaurant on South Side, and Bernard Marshall manages a News Stand.
There are five barbers in Grantsville and three barber shops.
Richard Marshall operates a shop in the Theatre building; Harvey Stout
and Ebenezer Ferrell work togeather in a shop in the Smith building;
Goff
Conley and Howard Brady work togeather in a shop on the Smith
lot.
There are two beauty shops, operated by Evelyn Grudier and Beatrice
Bell.
The Francis Hardware Store is owned and operated by H. T. Francis.
There are three practicing physicians in Grantsville; Dr. S. W.
Riddle,
Dr. J. A. Morford and Dr. C. P. Artz, and one Osteopathic physician,
Dr.
H. C. Toepfer. Also one dentist, Dr. A. G. Gilreath.
There are five practicing attorneys: A. G. Mathews, Bruce Ferrell,
L.
C. Hamilton, Louis Reed and Stanley D'Orazio. Grantsville has
two
churches, the Bethlehem Baptist, with a history running back to 1810,
and
the Methodist Episcopal. Both churches are active, and
contribute
to the social and spiritual life of the community. Rev. Fell
Kennedy
is pastor of the Baptist Church, and Rev. C. C. Perkins is pastor of
the
Methodist Church. A new sect called Jehovah's Witnesses has
lately
caused some apprehension and civil disturbance amoung citizens.
There are two newspapers published weekly: The Calhoun Chronicle,
Democratic,
and the Grantsville News, Republican. R. L. Hamilton is Editor
of
The Calhoun Cronicle, and H. F. Leggett for Woodyard Publications, is
Editor
of the Grantsville News.
The financial system of the county centers about The Calhoun County
Bank, in Grantsville, which now has assets totaling more than One
Million
Dollars. A. Hardman is President, A. G. Mathews is Chairman of
the
Board, F. F. McCoy is Cashier. The Finance Committee on Loans is
composed of; A. Hardman, A. G. Mathews, F. F. McCoy, L. J. Morris and
Tell
McDonald.
The municipality of Grantsville owns its own water system, and has
garbage
disposal facilities. Its officers at the present time are, Mayor
A. G. Burns; Recorder, Ralph Morris; Councilmen, A. B. Harris, Z. N.
Connolly,
C. C. Kingsbury, Herbert Hayhurst and Roy Kemper. Former
Councilmen
still living in Grantsville include Logan McDonald, Tell McDonald,
Lynn
S. Oles, A. E. Weaver, G. L. Strader, I. N. Snider, Ira N. Stump,
Louis
E. Ayers, Beulah Turner Bee, M. S. Peracy, Everett Proudfoot, F. F.
McCoy,
C. A. Witt and others.
Most of the elected county officials live in Grantsville. These
include
Ivan Umstead, Sheriff; P. P. Gunn, Circuit Clerk; R. P. Mollohan,
County
Clerk, and L. J. Wright, Assessor; L. C. Hamilton, Prosecuting
Attorney;
Lewis Smith, Member of the House of Delegates for Calhoun County lives
at Big Bend, W. Va. L. J. Morris, Senator for our present
Senatorial
District in the State Senate, lives here. Members of the County
District
Board of Education are: Leavy Stump, Apple Farm, W. Va.; Doddridge
Bailey,
Minnora, W. Va.; Kenna Lester, Pink, W. Va.; F. F. McCoy, Grantsville,
W. Va. and Everett Cain, Big Bend, W. Va.; Harold Proudfoot, County
Superintendent
of Schools, and M. T. Hamrick is Principal of the High School,
recently
replacing Don McGlothlin. Joseph Haught is principal of the
Grantsville
Graded school Members of the County Court are: W. C. Farrar,
Losie;
Foster Poling, Grantsville; and Fred Robinson, Russett.
The county has a Department of Public Assistance, now located in
one
of the brick buildings on Main Street, under the supervision of Miss
Helen
Gaynor. The County Health Nurse is Miss Margaret Arbuckle; the
County
Agricultural Agent is Harlan Hogue, and the head of the office of Farm
Security Administration is Merle Faulkner. Grantsville is
supplied
with electricity by the West Penn Public Service Corporation, whose
local
Superintendent is F. B. Felker.
The only funeral home in Calhoun county is located at Grantsville,
and
operated by I. N. Stump and sons. Gerald Stump, one of the sons
of
I. N. Stump, is County Coroner. Grantsville's Post Office is
located
in the Albert Jackson building. The Postmaster is W. O. Umstead,
Jr.
Since the foundations of the present court house were laid, the
country
has been plunged into war, and as a result there has been formed in
Calhoun
county what is known as The Calhoun County Civilian Defense Council,
whose
members are the following: Chairman, Louis Reed; Coordinator, Julia W.
Hamilton; Member for Protection, Dudley Lutz; Member for Utilities, F.
B. Felker; Member for Education, Fell Kennedy; Member for Veteran's
Activities,
I. N. Snider; Member for Public Health, Dr. C. P. Artz; Member for
Defense
Bonds and Stamp Sales, W. O. Umstead, Jr.; Member for Information, R.
L.
Hamilton; Publicity Director, H. F. Leggitt; Member for Labor, H. F.
Rothwell;
Member for Agriculture, Harlan Hogue. The Civilian Defense
Council
has appointed the following members of the Rationing Board:
Holly
Nester, Chairman; H. T. Francis and A. R. Wolfe.
The Selective Service Board for Calhoun county is composed of the
following
members: C. C. Kingsbury, Chairman; H. C. Toepfer and Louis Reed; L.
L.
Ferrell is Clerk.
The Master of the local Masonic Lodge is O. C. Hathaway,
Accountant,
employed by W. H. Bickel. Mildred Jarvis heads the Eastern Star.
The American Legion and the Americn Legion Auxiliary are quite
active
in Grantsville. The Legion hall is the center of Social
activities
and also houses the offices of the Selective Service Board. I.
N.
Snider is the present Commander, and Holly Nester is Adjutant.
Lenna
Marshall is president of the Legion Auxiliary.
Among the present and former residents of Grantsville who have
achieved
distinction are: John M. Hamilton, Grantsville lawyer who
represented
the district of which Calhoun county was a part, in the 62nd Congress;
John M. Wolverton, who resides at Richwood, and has served several
terms
in Congress; Albert G. Mathews, Grantsville Lawyer, who was formerly
President
of the State Senate, and State Compensation Commissioner; S. P. Bell,
Spencer
lawyer, former President of the West Virginia Bar Association, who is
listed
in Who's Who in America; and Boyd B. Stutler, who served as Mayor of
Grantsville
at the age of twenty one years, and at present is Managing Editor of
The
American Legion Magazine in New York City.
Two Justices of the Peace have offices in Grantsville, and reside
here
namely, M. A. C. Board and Harry Stevens. M. A. C. Board, former
Sheriff, is now inactive, due to prolonged illness. Constables
are
Columbus Carpenter and C. E. Offutt, former Sheriff. Other
ex-Sheriffs
residing in and near Grantsville, are G. A. Richards, P. P. Gunn and
R.
J. Knotts.
The telephonic communication is maintained by the Bell Telephone
Company
with a line to Spencer, and the Citizens Telephone Company, a local
concern,
of which W. V. Knight is President. The local telephone
operators
are Lillie Barr and Lida Hayhurst. Other business not heretofore
enumerated, are: Hayward Francis, Radio repairman and Coda Morrison,
automobile
repairman. Ora Campbell is Superintendent of the city water
plant,
Dudley Lutz is Town Sergeant, and Lewis Ferrell, Jr. is Superintendent
of streets and alleys.
Dudley Lutz also operates a shoe repair shop.
Grantsville is supplied with milk from three dairies, all of which
have
been given an A-rating by the State Health Department. They are
owned
and operated by Daisy Whipkey, Art Huffman and M. S. Gherke.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows is active in Grantsville, and
so
are the Rebekahs. Orval Hathaway is Noble Grand of
the
Odd Fellows, and Alma Ice, daughter of C. E. Offutt, heads the
Rebekahs.
We have organizations of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, under the
supervision
of Joseph Haught and Miss Opal Hardman respectively The Rotary
Club
which meets weekly at Friday noon, in the basement of the Methodist
Church,
has sponsored a number of civic enterprises, amoung which is the
recent
Red Cross drive for donations. Grantsville over-subscribed its
quota.
Current President of Rotary is Dr. A. G. Gilreath. Another
social
organization is the Youth Forum, sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. C. P. Artz,
of which David Hathaway, a high school junior, is now President.
A number of Federal and State Administrative agencies maintain
offices
in Grantsville, notably the Works Progress Administration, The
National
Youth Administration and the State Road Commission though the latter
has
recently moved to new quarters near Mt. Zion. The Works Progress
Administration maintains a public recreation room in the basement of
The
Calhoun County Bank, where shuffleboard, table tennis, cards and
checkers
may be played, under the supervision of Wilbur Wallbrown. County
Superintendent of W. P. A. is Horace Haught. This court house is
being built by W. P. A. labor under the supervision of P. E. Lewis, an
engineer from Huntington, West Virginia. The National Youth
Administration
is administered locally by I. D. Smith and Mrs. Julia W.
Hamilton.
The County Maintenance Engineer of the State Road Commission is C. A.
Witt.
Ira Hardman, District Engineer for the State Road Commission,
maintains
a home in Grantsville, but his office is now at Parkersburg, W. Va.
While this manuscript was being typed, The Calhoun County High
School
was destroyed by fire. This occurred in the early morning of
February
21st 1942. It is believed that the damage can be repaired and
the
school, rebuilt, but there is no other building large enough to be
converted
into a temporary high school. There are nearly five hundred
students
in the high school, many of whom come from distant parts of the county
by bus.
The author of this brief history is a member of Eureka Lodge No.
40,
and the preparation of material and transcribing the same was ordered
by
the Worshipful Master of the lodge, O. C. Hathaway, for the purpose of
preserving to posterity some small account of the people who lived
here
at the time this court house was built, and their background.
The
author acknowledges his indebtedness to Brother Lenna L. Ball of
Grantsville,
for his invaluable aid in providing material and proof-reading the
manuscript,
and also to Miss Nettie Stump of Grantsville, for furnishing details
of
history not otherwise obtainable. Both Lenna L. Ball and Nettie
Stump
are direct descendants of the John Ball mentioned in the first
paragraph
hereof. The manuscript was dictated by Louis Reed to Miss Lenna
Proudfoot,
Secretary to A. G. Mathews and Louis Reed, who typed the same.
Louis Reed
Grantsville, West Virginia
February 23rd, 1942 |
