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MERCER COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA
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Submitted to the West Virginia Biographies Project by:
PJSTON@aol.com
December 5, 1999
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The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume II
pg 94 +95
Roy T. Wright, general manager of the Pawama and Algonquin mines, vice
president of the Bank of Matoaka and president of the Wright Drug Company,
came into this district in 1902 as a member of the First Engineering Corps
for the Pocahontas Coal & Coke Company, and his initiative and ability have
since advanced him to a leading place in the affairs of this part of Mercer
County.
He was born near Princeton, that county, July 24, 1882, son of E. C. and Mary
S. (Ellis) Wright, the former a native of Wythe County, Virginia, and the
latter of Monroe County, West Virginia. E. C. Wright came to Mercer County
in 1866 with his father, Thomas Wright, who settled on a farm near Princeton
and spent the rest of his life as a farmer and cattle raiser. Thomas Wright
was a veteran of the Confederate army. He was killed by accident while
working in the timber at the age of eighty-four. E. C. Wright followed
farming for many years, but since 1907 has been a resident of Matoaka and is
in business as a funeral director. He is a Methodist, much interested in
Sunday School work, is affiliated with the Masons, Knights of Pythias,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Moose and other societies and is a
democrat. His family consists of two sons and three daughters, the other son
L. A. Wright being in charge of the Wright Drug Company.
Roy T. Wright acquired his early education at Princeton, finishing school at
the age of eighteen, after which he spent a year on the farm. His first
connection with the coal industry was in the service of the Sagamore Coal
Company on Crane Creek, following which he went with the Pocahontas Coal and
Coke Company, and since his first work at Matoaka he has enjoyed increasing
responsibilities, serving as superintendent, manager and engineer, and has
been connected with the Winonah, Hiawatha, and Smokeless companies the
Springton Colliery Company, and since 1918 has been in active charge of the
coal properties above mentioned and has other interests in the coal industry
as well. Besides the Bank of Matoaka and the Wright Drug Company he is
manager of the Matoaka Electric & Power Company, is president of the Mercer
Hardware & Furniture Company, president of the Matoaka Insurance Agency.
Mr. Wright in 1900 married Miss Mary Harriet McClaugherty, who was born at
Princeton, daughter of James McClaugherty. They have three children:
Bernice, a student in the Martha Washington College at Abingdon; Harry and
Agnes, both in high school. The family are Methodists, and Mr. Wright is
affiliated with the Elks and Knights of Pythias, is a Scottish Rite Mason and
a member of the Mercer County Country Club.
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