|
This file was submitted by CJ
Towery, E-mail address: <ctowery@weir.net>
The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch.
The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume II,
pages 228-229
CHARLES OLIVER HENRY, M. D., has been engaged in the successful practice
of his profession in Marion County for forty years, and since 1903 has been one of the leading physicians and surgeons in the City of Fairmont.
He was born in this city, then a mere village) on the 3d of December, 1856,
and is a son of Lawrence and Mary Ann (Holmes) Henry, both natives of Scotland. Lawrence Henry was born July 22, 1810, in Ayrshire, and died
at Newburg, West Virginia, March 7, 1887. Upon the death of his father, in 1828, he became virtually the head of the family, he being the eldest
of the children, five sons and three daughters. As a young man he was employed in the coal mines of his native country, and by this means he
aided in the support of the other members of the family. In 1845 he came
to the United States and became identified with coal-mining operations at Mount Savage, Maryland. Later he worked in the old Elkhart coal mines
near Cumberland, that state, and in 1851 he entered the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, by which he was assigned to prospect
for coal in the Hampshire hills of what is now West Virginia. In that year he opened a vein of coal near Piedmont, and March 18, 1852, he became
superintendent of McGuire's Tunnel, in supervising the arching of the same,
for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. In May of the same year he opened
a vein of coal over the Kingwood Tunnel, and this supplied the requisite
coal in connection with the completion of that railroad tunnel. In August,
1852, Mr. Henry opened the Palatine Mines, and in May of the following year he shipped an eight-ton gondola car of coal to Gen. Columbus O'Donnell,
of Baltimore, who was then president of the Baltimore Gas Company. This figures in the history of the coal industry of West Virginia as the first
shipment of coal from this state. During the winter of the same year Mr.
Henry furnished coal for the third and fourth divisions of the Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad, besides making shipments to Baltimore. In 1854 the railroad company sold the Palatine Mines to General O'Donnell, by whom Mr.
Henry was retained as superintendent of the mines. Two years later he took
charge of the Newburg coal properties purchased by General O'Donnell, and
he continued as super-intendent of these mines about thirty years. On the
16th of March, 1860, he was run over by a 1,250-pound coal car, and though
the injury crippled him to a certain degree, he was still able to continue
his active executive service. lie was a man of fine character and of marked
technical ability in connection with coal mining, and his name is written
large in the history of the developing of the great coal industry of West
Virginia. He was one of the founders and served as an elder of the Presbyterian Church at Newburg, and in a fraternal way he was affiliated
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellow's. His marriage to Mary Ann Holmes
was solemnized June 16, 1837, his wife having been born at Irvinn, Scotland,
December 16, 1817, ahd her death having occurred October 9, 1899.
Dr. Charles O. Henry gained his early education in the public schools of
Fairmont, and thereafter was here a student two years in the State Normal
School. He continued his studies three years in the University of West Virginia, and his initial study of medicine was prosecuted under the
preceptorship of Drs. Hugh W. and Luther S. Brock, of Morgantown. In 1882 he graduated from the College of
Physicians and Surgeons in the City of Baltimore, Maryland, and after receiving his degree of Doctor
of Medicine he was for twenty-one years engaged in successful practice at Shinnston, Harrison County. He then, in 1903, established his residence
and professional headquarters in his native city of Fairmont, where he controls a substantial and representative general practice. He served
six years, 1904-10, as health officer of Marion County, and in his home city he is now a member of the medical staff of Cook Hospital. He is one
of the honored members of the Marion County Medical Society, of which he
was president in 1919, and of the West Virginia State Medical Society, of
which he served as president in 1911. He is an active member also of the
American Medical Association. In 1918 Doctor Henry volunteered for service
in the Medical Corps of the United States Army in connection with the World
war, and his service was accepted by the Government. He was one of the six
members of the West Virginia State Committee of Medical Defense, and gave
to the work of the same much of his time. In 1921 he was appointed assistant
superintendent of State Hospital No. 3 at Fairmont, in which position he is
giving characteristically loyal and effective service. The doctor is president
of the Lambert Run Coal Company, and in the Masonic fraternity his affiliations
are with St. John's Lodge No. 24, A. F. and A. M., at Shinnston, and Orient
Chapter No. 9, B. A. M., at Fairmont. He and his wife are active members of
the First Baptist Church of Fairmont, in which he is a deacon.
May 6, 1885, recorded the marriage of Doctor Henry and Miss Virginia Lee Hood,
who was born in Marion County, August 4, 1862, a daughter of William and Hannah
(Coombs) Hood. Mr. Hood was born at Grenada, Pennsylvania, and from West
Virginia went forth as a soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war. He was
captured and for a time held as a prisoner of war. In conclusion is given brief
record concerning the children of Doctor and Mrs. Henry: Edith Holmes, born
July 6, 1886, was afforded the advantages of the State Normal School at Fairmont, and she is now the wife of Milton R. Frantz, of this city, their
two children being Miriam Browning and Virginia Lee. Agnes Lee, the second
daughter, was born August 28, 1887, and after taking a special course in
kindergarten work at Washington, District of Columbia, she became a popular
teacher in the public schools of Fairmont. She became the wife of Edwin V.
Duffy, of Sydney, Australia, and they now reside at Fairmont, their two children being Bertha Virginia and Edwin V., Jr. Ruth O'Donnell, the third
daughter, was born August 16, 1890, graduated from the Fairmont State Normal
School and also attended Randolph-Macon Seminary. She is now the wife of
William E. Brooks, who completed an engineering course at Cornell University
and now reside at Fairmont, West Virginia. Mary Ellen, born January 16, 1894,
graduated from the Fairmont Normal School and is now a successful and popular
teacher in the public schools of Fairmont. Robert McKenzie Henry was born
August 22, 1896, was graduated, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, from
the University of West Virginia, class of 1917, and was a student in the
law department of the university when he entered the Officers Training Corps
at Camp Sherman, Ohio, where he gained commission as first lieutenant. Thereafter he was in service in turn at Camp Lee and Camp Hancock, and
though several times selected for overseas service he was retained on duty
in the drilling of soldiers at Camp Hancock until the signing of the armistice brought the World war to a close. He received his discharge
in December, 1918, and he is now sales agent for the Standard Garage at Fairmont, besides being a stockholder in the Henry Coal Company. Andrew
Luke Henry was born August 6, 1899, attended Bucknell College two years and Columbia University one year, and is now a salesman for the Fairmont
Wall Plaster Company. His wife, Katherine W., is a daughter of T. W. Arnett,
of Fairmont. As all six of his children were graduated from the Fairmont
High School Doctor Henry claims an unparalleled record in this respect for
his family, no other one family having equaled the record in the local high school. |
