Tag: Trustees

Bio – Townsend, Rev. Frank Summer

Rev. Frank Summer Townsend was born April 19, 1857 at East Greenwich, Rhode Island. He was the son of William and Susan (Capron) Townsend. In 1876 he graduated from east Greenwich Academy, the seminary of the New England Southern Conference.

After teaching school for several years and studying law for a short time, he was licensed to preach in 1879. Soon after he entered Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut where he graduated in June 1885. In addition to his A.B. degree, he received his A.M. degree in 1888 and D.D. in 1921. He also received the degree of D.D. from West Virginia Wesleyan in 1915.

In 1885, he married Hattie Alice Sage, who died in 1934.

In 1885, he was admitted on trial to the New York East Conference. He served that Conference for twelve years. In 1897, he transferred to the West Virginia Conference. Churches served were Parkersburg First Church, Buckhannon First Church, Huntington First Church, New Martinsville, Wheeling Zane Street, Kingwood and Ronceverte District Superintendent from 1910 to 1915. From1922 to 1928, he was Secretary of the Conference Claimants Permanent Fund. For many years Dr. Townsend was a trustee of West Virginia Wesleyan College and much other educational work. He was the founder of the Pittsburgh Area Summer School of Theology and served as its Dean from 1922 to 1924. He represented the Conference at the General Conference in 1916.

Rev. Townsend died march 25, 1939 in Morgantown. His funeral service was held in the first Methodist church, Buckhannon. He was survived by two children, Grace Elizabeth (Mrs. Forrest W. Stempe) and Arthur Sage.

(West Virginia Conference, ME, Journal 1939)

Bio – Arbuthnot, Rev. Samuel K.

Rev. Samuel K. Arbuthnot was born June 21, 1864 in Wheeling, W.Va. He was the son of Samuel and Jane McCracken Arbuthnot, both of whom were of Scotch-Irish descent. He married Mary G. Calvert of Monongalia County. They had two daughters.

He received his early education in the public schools of Wheeling, then became an apprentice printer with the “Wheeling intelligencer” and became a school teacher. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University where he was a classmate of Bishop Edwin H. Hughes in 1889. He then entered the theological seminary of Boston University, graduating with the degree of S.T.B. in 1892. While in the seminary he was a student pastor at Yarmouth, located on Cape Cod, Mass.

Upon his return to West Virginia, he was appointed pastor at Weston, then to St. Paul’s church, Oakland, Md., then to First Church, Huntington. While there he was appointed by Gov. G.W. Atkinson chaplin of the first Regiment, West Virginia Infantry, United State Volunteers and served the entire period of the Spanish-American War. Upon his return, he was appointed secretary of the Twentieth Century Thank Offering Commission. He served efficiently until the fall of 1901 when he was appointed to Goff Memorial (later First Church of Clarksburg). There he supervised the building of that great church. He was superintendent of the Wheeling District from 1907 to 1912, when he went to First church, Parkersburg for four years. He was made secretaryof the West Virginia Conference Claimants Permanent Fund where he served for six years. At the Annual Conference of 1922, he was assigned to Sutton and in 1926 to McMechen, coming back to the district of which he had once been superintendent. He was apparently in the best of health when he was suddenly taken ill.

Doctor Arbuthnot was a member of the General Conference of 1908, and in 1921 was a member of the Ecumenical Conference of World Methodism which met in London, England. He was honored with the degree of doctor of divinity by his alma mater, Ohio Wesleyan University and also by Mt. Union College. For many years he was a trustee of Ohio Wesleyan and of West Virginia Wesleyan College from its beginning. For years he was a trustee of the Anti-Saloon League and only a short time before his death met with the State Board as one of its counselors.

He died March 10, 1928 at the Ohio Valley General Hospital in wheeling. He was susvived by two daughers, Mary Jane Farion and Virginia Eleanor Hanz and a brother and a sister. His wife died only a few weeks after his death.

[West Virginia Conference Journal, ME, 1928]

Note: My records had him as a trustee from 1906-1928, and I will check to see about the discrepancy from this entry from the 1928 Journal. (PLM)

Bio – Jenkins, Mary Edna

Murmurmontis 1951

Born: March 5, 1881

Died: November 10, 1973 (Petroleum, Preston County, WV)

Education

  • West Virginia Conference Seminary 1902

Where they Lived: Petroleum, WV

Years Served on Board of Trustees: 1943-1956

Special Positions: Trustee Emeritus 1957-1973

Committees:

  • Alumni Relations 1947-1954
  • Buildings and Grounds 1950-1956; As Trustee Emeritus 1957; 1959-1960
  • History and Archives 1942-1947
  • Library 1954-1956
  • Public Relations 1942-1947

Notes:E

  • Generous benefactor to campus and students alike
    • Edna Jenkins Home Economics Cottage (1942)
    • Moeller Organ (1949)
    • Steinway Concert Grand Piano (1950)
    • Many scholarships through the years to help give student opportunities, especially to the Dorothy Lee Scholarchip.
    • New Home Economics Cottage on College Avenue (1977)
  • Jenkins Hall named in her honor
  • Alumni Award, 1950

Sources:

Those 60 Acres More Or Less

Those “sixty acres, more or less”

So said Dr. Kenneth Plummer in his book, A History of West Virginia Wesleyan College 1890-1965.   The founders of the college had some questions to answer and one of those was where to locate the school.  So, what did Dr. Plummer mean by “sixty acres”? And what was the land like before the college was built?

It starts with one of the pioneer families of Buckhannon, the Carpers. 

The Family

Abraham Carper (Kerber), born in Reading, PA in 1763, was the son of a German immigrant. Arriving in the area about 1800, he built the earliest known dwelling within what is now the city limits of Buckhannon, well before the town was surveyed and platted in 1815. He settled on the very land behind where the L. L. Loar and Family Memorial Music Building and the Paul G. Benedum Halls are located, building a log house for his growing family.  The property was described as a thick forest and he would have to clear the woods to build on it.

Much of what is known about this family comes from The History of Upshur County, West Virginia; This book was written by W. B. Cutright in 1907, but the photo on the title page is actually the Honorable William Currence Carper, Daniel’s older brother, who was a lawyer, state senator, and judge. This is an indication of the great esteem in which the family was held.

Church Ties

The family was very religious, and built an early Methodist meeting place on the corner of College Avenue and Kanawha Street.  An illustration survives for us today. It was called the Carper Church since the family constructed and maintained it. In 1834, Abraham Carper sold this property to the Methodists, signing over the deed to the trustees of what is now First United Methodist Church (George Carper, John Dean, Isaac Dix, Henry Reger, Philip Reger, Benjamin Rohrbough, and John W. Westfall).

The Land

Passed down from Abraham to his son, a portion of the land was eventually sold by Daniel and his wife to another influential man in the region, Levi Leonard, and his wife Elizabeth.  Below is part of the deed signed over to them by Daniel and Sarah in 1865.

Methodists Seek A Location For A School

As early as 1874, the Methodists in West Virginia were feeling the necessity of building a school in West Virginia. At their meeting in 1874, the report of the Committee on Education indicated that there were many reasons for this. They did what many groups do, they formed a committee to “receive, consider, and if the way be entirely clear, act on a proposition or propositions such as above suggested, and report to this Conference at its next session”. You can read their full report here. There was much discussion, progress, frustration, and there were many meetings and reports for well over a decade. You can follow along with some of this by reading the reports from 1875, 1877, 1878, 1879, and 1880. The meeting in 1886 was held in Morgantown, and the report stated that:

Your committee deem it imperative on them to place prominently before you the subject of a Conference Seminary. For Years the Committee on Education has kept this enterprise in view, but all action hitherto has been tentative. The time has come when this Conference ought to take definitive steps toward this work.

By 1887, the committee had become a Board of Trustees, and work began in earnest. First of all, a site for the school must be chosen. Although many other locations were considered, Buckhannon was the choice for locating the school. The trustees took out an option to purchase 60 acres from Daniel Carper and his son, Wilbur Fisk, on July 15, 1887. After much discussion, the trustees decided not to purchase this land after all, and let the option expire on August 1, 1887 because they would have had to build a bridge across the Buckhannon River. This added too much expense.

Instead, they accepted an offer from Levi Leonard to purchase 43 acres for the price of $5,551.86. The required $300 down payment was assumed by trustee J.W. Reger, and there was a resolution included “to pay to Wilbur F. Carper any moneys he has heretofore paid out in having his option of land surveyed and platted.”

Thus the Seminary was born.  But the twist: Daniel Carper had sold this property as part of three parcels of land to Levi and Elizabeth Leonard.  So ultimately, the Carpers saw their land used after all as the place where the college grew and became “our home among the hills.”

But What About The Carpers?

The Carper family did not all stay in the area. They began moving out to other towns in other states and many did not see the school grow from a small Seminary to a full accredited college called West Virginia Wesleyan.  One notable exception to this is Daniel’s granddaughter, Grace Tamblyn.

A 1913 graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan, Grace was active in many organizations. Her obituary in the Sundial News (March 1980) tells much about her story – before, during, and after her days at the college – as well as the connection between the family, the church, the community, and the college.

“Memorial services were held Feb. 5, 1980 in First United Methodist Church in Buckhannon for Mrs. Grace Tamblyn Cox, 90, who died January 28, 1980 in The Hermitage, Alexandria, VA where she had been a resident for several years. The Rev. Mr. Harry P. Light (1952) officiated. The widow of Dr. Oliver C. Cox, a Washington, D.C. surgeon who preceded her in death in 1968, Mrs. Cox was a member of a pioneer Upshur County family. Her father, the Rev. Mr. Silas D. Tamblyn was a Methodist minister in Buckhannon, and her family has long been associated with the local church, Wesleyan College, and the Buckhannon community. She graduated with a bachelor of literature degree in music magna cum laude. She is survived by a niece, Mrs. June Tamblyn Leskuski (1943) of St. Petersburg, Fla., a nephew, and two grand nephews”.

It is a shame that there is no plaque or monument to any of the Carpers.  They had helped found the town of Buckhannon, and their property ended up being the beautiful campus that we love. 

The history of the town, and the people who founded it, is tied into the history of Wesleyan.  Buckhannon’s townspeople have been active participants in helping to make the dreams of a quality education for the young people of the area (such as Grace Tamblyn) to come true. Likewise, the college is active in civic life and provides enriching opportunities to all who live in the town, and maintains a strong relationship with the people.  

The Carpers could be thanked for offering to sell us this land, as the Leonards could be, but they are not around.  The graves of some of them are in the Heavener Cemetery east of town, having been moved there from the simple family cemetery that exists on South Florida Street. Yet, the fenced in area is still there, and ironically it is owned and maintained by the college.  Perhaps that is our final thank you to the family that played a role in our being located on this land.

Still, some memory of them lingers on. Maybe the next time you are walking near the L. L. Loar and Family Music Hall or Paul G. Benedum Hall, you might give them a nod. 

Written by Guest Blogger Jim Watson (1979)

Edited by Paula McGrew (1978)

Special thanks to Amy Tenney and the Upshur County Historical Society.  Their help was crucial in finding the details and in helping Jim satisfy his insatiable curiosity through many hours of searching through records at the Upshur County Courthouse.

Bio – Lenna Lowe Yost

Lenna Lowe Yost
Trustee 1927-42

Born: January 25, 1878 (Basnettville, Marion County, WV)

Died: May 5, 1972 (Washington, DC)

Education:

  • 1896-97 West Virginia Conference Seminary (Literary, Art, Music)
  • 1929       West Virginia Wesleyan College (Doctor of Humanities) — the first woman to be so honored. 

Occupation: 

  • 1908-18  President of the West Virginia Women’s Temperance Union
  • 1916 she was also the President of the West Virginia State Suffrage Association
  • 1921, Lenna was appointed by President Warren G. Harding to represent the United States at the International Congress Against Alcoholism which was held in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1923, he appointed her to that gathering again, but this time in Copenhagen
  • 1921-33 Was the first woman ever appointed to the West Virginia State Board of Education
  • 1923-32 Lenna Lowe Yost served as a member of the Republican National Committee
  • 1928 Responsible for the Federal Prison for Women being located in Alderson, West Virginia. It opened in 1928.
  • 1930-35 Lenna Lowe Yost was appointed by the Republican National Committee to direct women’s activities throughout the nation

Where they lived: Huntington, WV; Washington, D.C.; Fairview, WV; Grand Rapids, MI

Years Served: 1927-1943

Trustee Committees:

  • Degrees 1934-1937; 1939-1943
  • Grounds and Building 1930-1933
  • Honorary Degrees 1937-1939

Sources:

Related Page: Lenna’s Legacy (Blog Post, Paula McGrew 2020-01-20)

Alumni and Speakers and Trustees, Oh My

Founders Day is coming up on Friday of this week.

It is, to be sure, a time to say thanks to those who planted the college here in Buckhannon in 1890. We thank them by highlighting examples of how their dreams have turned to reality.

Photo by Robbie Skinner, Class of 2011

Alumni

Graduates of WVWC have excelled in all walks of life. They have done heroic things. They are leaders in science, education, government, political realms, music, healthcare, business, sports, and religious eneavors. The education they received here set them on paths that have led them all over the world to make a difference. Each year, we honor some, but for each one that receives this honor there are hundreds who would be deserving recipients.

Alumni Service and Achievement Awards

Young Alumni Service and Achievement Awards

The Extra Mile Award is also offered – sometimes to Alumni (and sometimes to people who we would love to claim!)

 Speakers

In 1933, Bishop Adna W. Leonard (Resident Bishop of the Pittsburgh Area of the Methodist Episcopal Church) spoke at an event that became known as Bishop’s Day. It was a day set aside to celebrate the college and church connections springing from our original Founders. Bishop Leonard and his successor, Bishop James H. Straughn were generally the speakers for that event, and it was held in Atkinson Chapel. Bishop Straughn changed the name of the event in 1941 to be known as Founders Day.

In 1952, the dedication of the New Men’s Residence Hall (which we now know as Fleming Hall) was mentioned in the October, 1952 issue of the West Virginia Wesleyan College Bulletin:

The program marks the observance of Founders Day, a tradition instituted by Bishop Straughn while the resident bishop of the Pittsburgh area and originally known as Bishop’s Day.”

In the 1950s speakers other than bishops were included, and they were a mixture of prominent Methodist leaders, heads of foundations, civil rights leaders, and alumni who had risen to the ranks of leadership in many areas of work. Some were also Trustees of the college.

On Founders Day 1989, the speaker was Carl Rowan. He was a journalist who began his career by covering the Civil Rights Movement in the south as one of the country’s first African-American reporters at a major daily newspaper. Later in his life, he became the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and the Ambassador to Finland. In the year before he retired in 1965, he was the Director of the United States Information Agency.  He spoke on the real value of an education.

Carl Rowan interviewed by Sarah Lowther (Class of 1984) for West Virginia Public Radio

Another speaker that stands out as I look through the list is J. Roy Price. A member of the class of 1923, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree in 1949. At the Founders Day Convocation on October 28, 1955, Dr. Price presented  the Founders Day Address entitled A Charter for a College of Liberal Arts. This charter looks both back and toward the future. A Trustee from 1949-73, you can read more about him here.

These are but a couple of examples, but there have been many powerful Founders Day  speakers challenging us to keep going and to keep growing.

Trustees

Trustees are present at the Founders Day Convocation, and new ones sign the book which has the names of the leaders and decision makers throughout the years. Some, but not all, are also Alumni. Some, but not all, are United Methodists. All have been duly elected by the West Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church…..who started the entire story.

Leaders of church, government, industry, medicine, law, business, and more, the Trustees are those who guide and make decisions and hire presidents. They are people who are dedicated to West Virginia Wesleyan College. Some, but not all, have been Founders Day Speakers.

Alumni and Speakers and Trustees, Oh My.

I hope that the Founders are proud of the school that they planted so long ago.

Wilson, William A.

“Mr. William A. Wilson (1842-1920) was a native of Wheeling, West Virginia, where he was a lumber dealer, planing mill operator and building contractor. He took over his father’s concern, under the name of W.A. Wilson and Sons, and operated a wholesale and retail business covering five states. For a number of years he was president of the Commercial Bank of Wheeling. Mr. Wilson was a member of the North Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Wheeling.”

Plummer, K.M. (1965) A history of West Virginia Wesleyan College 1890-1965.  [electronic] Retrieved from Internet Archive. Buckhannon, WV: West Virginia Wesleyan College.

PLM 9/1/2019

Poundstone, Mr. A.M.

“Mr. A.M. Poundstone (1835-1921) was a native of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. After graduation from Allegheny College, he taught school at New Lexington, Ohio. He began the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1860. He served in the Federal Army with the rank of captain until his discharge in 1865. He immediately came to Buckhannon, West Virginia, and opened a law office. In 1886 he was elected prosecuting attorney for Upshur County and served in this office for fourteen years. He was a member for two terms, 1872-79, in the West Virginia State Legislature. He was an active member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Buckhannon.”

Plummer, K.M. (1965) A history of West Virginia Wesleyan College 1890-1965.  [electronic] Retrieved from Internet Archive. Buckhannon, WV: West Virginia Wesleyan College.

PLM 9/1/2019

McCormick, Samuel Phillips

“Samuel Phillips McCormick (1841-1889), a native of Washington County, Pennsylvania, attended the Fairmont Academy. He worked for two years as a brick mason before teaching school in Marion and Monongalia counties in West Virginia from 1858 to the outbreak of the Civil War. Beginning July 1861, he served for approximately a year in General Bank’s Division of the Army of the Potomac. He was honorably discharged because of a chronic illness. After studying law under the direction of Judge Ralph L.B. Berkshire at Morgantown, he located at Harrisville, Ritchie County. He moved to West Union in 1865, and the following year he was elected prosecuting attorney. He located at Grafton in 1873, and beginning in 1876 served a four-year term as prosecuting attorney of Taylor County. In 1880 he was elected as a delegate-at-large from West Virginia to the Republican National Convention, and was one of three delegates who created a national sensation by refusing to vote for Senator Roscoe Conkling’s resoluction binding delegates in advance of a nomination to support the party candidates. He served for eight years as a member of the Republican State Executive Committee. In 1885 he was appointed collector of internal revenue for West Virginia by President Chester Arthur.”

Plummer, K.M. (1965) A history of West Virginia Wesleyan College 1890-1965.  [electronic] Retrieved from Internet Archive. Buckhannon, WV: West Virginia Wesleyan College.

PLM 9/1/2019

McWhorter, Honorable Henry C.

“The Honorable Henry C. McWhorter (1836-1913) was born in Marion County, Ohio. At the outbreak of the Civil War he served in the home guards for several months. In September 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Federal Army and rose to the rank of captain. Forced to retire in 1862, he served to the end of the war as chief clerk in the Provost Marshall’s office. Meanwhile, he studied law with his brother, Judge Marcellus McWhorter. He was admitted to the bar in West Virginia in 1866 and began the practice of law in Charleston. He was active in the Republican Party and was elected to the state legislature 1865-68, 1885-87. He was speaker of the House of Delegates in 1868. He served at various times as prosecuting attorney of Kanawha County, and as postmaster and city solicitor of Charleston. In 1896 he was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia and served as presiding judge from 1906-1909. Mr. McWhorter was a member of the Charleston Methodist Church in which he served as Sunday school superintendent and as a member of the Board of Trustees. He was a Universalist in his religious beliefs, and he described himself as a “Universal Methodist.” He was president of the Board of Trustees of Wesleyan from 1897 until his death.”

Find-A-Grave Memorial 123042746

Plummer, K.M. (1965) A history of West Virginia Wesleyan College 1890-1965.  [electronic] Retrieved from Internet Archive. Buckhannon, WV: West Virginia Wesleyan College.

PLM 9/1/2019; photo added 2/1/2020