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MONONGALIA COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA
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Submitted to the West Virginia Biographies Project by:
PJSTON@aol.com
December 14, 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 193
Robert D. Hennen, of Morgantown, Monongalia County, has achieved high
standing in his profession, that of civil engineer, is actively identified
with important industrial and capitalistic interests, and is a scion of one
of the old and honored families of this section of West Virginia. He was
born at Morgantown, August 17, 1883, and is a son of the late Frederick A.
and Ella E. (Coil) Hennen. The father was born at Morgantown, February 26,
1844, a son of Robert P. and Elizabeth (Wilkins) Hennen. Robert P. Hennen
was born in the State of Pennsylvania, where his father, Matthew Hennen,
settled upon immigration to America from his native County Down, Ireland.
Robert P. Hennen later came to Morgantown, in what is now West Virginia, and
here engaged in the work of his trade, that of cabinetmaker, in which
connection he became one of the pioneer undertakers of this place. He served
as a member of the borough council during the '60s, and here his death
occurred in 1873. His wife was born in New Jersey and her death occurred in
1871.
Frederick A. Hennen learned the trade of cabinetmaker under the direction of
his father, and at Morgantown he followed his trade and engaged in the
undertaking business, the enterprise later being amplified to include the
furniture business, in which he continued until about 1912, when he retired.
He was one of the honored and influential citizens of Morgantown, served
about twelve years as a member of the City Council and was one of the most
loyal and progressive citizens of his native city and county. His marriage
to Miss Ella E. Coil was solemnized in 1882, and the gracious ties were
severed by the death of Mrs. Hennen in 1910. He survived her by more than a
decade and his death occurred June 5, 1921, both having been earnest members
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and he having been affiliated with
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Robert D. Hennen gained his preliminary education in the public schools of
Morgantown, and in 1908 he was graduated in the celebrated Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in the City of Boston. He received from this
institution the degree of Bachelor of Science, and in 1912 the same degree
and also that of Civil Engineer were conferred upon him by the University of
West Virginia, in which he had taken effective post-graduate work. In 1908
he was appointed civil engineer of Monongalia County by the County Court, and
he served in this position four years, within which he did much important
work for the county. From 1912 to 1914 he was engineer in chief in the
construction of the Morgantown & Wheeling Railroad, and in the latter year he
organized the Monongahela Valley Engineering Company of Morgantown, of which
he continued the executive head until he disposed of his interests in the
corporation in 1920. Mr. Hennen was one of the organizers of the Moore-Tex
Oil Company of Morgantown, of which he is vice president, and he was likewise
one of the organizers of the Knob Coal Company, of his interest in which he
later disposed.
Mr.. Hennen is affiliated with Morgantown Lodge No. 411 Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks, and is a valued and progressive member of the local
Rotary Club and the Morgantown Chamber of Commerce. He is a member also of
the Morgantown Country Club, is treasurer of the Alumni Association of the
University of West Virginia, a trustee of the Phi Kappa Psi college
fraternity, and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal
Church in their home city.
Mr. Hennen married Miss Louise Reiner, daughter of Thomas P. and Emma
(Porter) Reiner, of Dunbar, Pennsylvania, and she is a popular factor in the
representative social activities of Morgantown.
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