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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 194
David Chadwick Reay, who is engaged in the practice of his profession in his
native city of Morgantown, as one of the representative members of the bar of
Monongalia County, is a scion of the fourth generation of the Reay family in
America and of the third generation in what is now the State of West
Virginia. John Otho Reay, son of Capt. John Otho Reay, of the Royal English
Navy, came to America in 1795, and first settled in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, whence he later removed to Baltimore, Maryland. From the
latter city he thereafter removed to Hardy County, Virginia. He was twice
married, his second wife having been Elizabeth, a daughter of Capt. John
Neville and granddaughter of Gen. Joseph Neville, of Virginia, and of the
marriage were born two sons and two daughters, of whom the son, George M.,
was the grandfather of him whose name introduces this review.
George M. Reay was born in Hardy County, Virginia, in 1813, and when he was
four years of age his widowed mother became the wife of David Gilmore. Soon
afterward the family came to what is now Tucker County, West Virginia, and in
1833 George M. Reay established his residence at Morgantown, where he
continued actively in business until 1870. Here he served as justice of the
peace from 1841 to 1859, and within this period served also as captain of
militia. December 24, 1840, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Maple,
of Greene county, Pennsylvania, and their son, Thomas P., became the father
of David C. Reay of this sketch.
Thomas Presley Reay was born at Morgantown, August 30, 1841, received good
educational advantages, as gauged by the standards of the locality and
period, and he prepared himself for the legal profession. However, he turned
his attention from the law and engaged in the coal and oil business, in which
he had active part in the development of these productive industries in this
section of the state. He served as general deputy collector of internal
revenue for the Eleventh Revenue Division, comprising West Virginia,
Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and the District of Columbia,
and this office he resigned in 1895, since which time he has continued his
residence at Morgantown and given his supervision to his varied capitalistic
and business interests. His wife, Sarah Virginia, a daughter of Dr.
Marmaduke Dent, died on the 17th of October, 1920, and her memory is revered
by all who came within the sphere of her gracious influence.
David Chadwick Reay, son of Thomas P. and Sarah Virginia Reay, was born at
Morgantown on the 21st of November, 1870, and the local schools afforded him
his preliminary education. In 1895 he was graduated from the law department
of the University of West Virginia, and his reception of the degree of
Bachelor of Laws was followed in the same year by his admission to the bar of
his native state. In 1896 he was appointed deputy clerk of the Supreme Court
of West Virginia, and he continued his service in this capacity until 1902,
when he resigned to enter the practice of his profession at Morgantown. Here
he was associated in practice with Charles A. Goodwin, under the firm name of
Goodwin & Reay, until 1918, when President Wilson appointed him auditor of
the treasury for the Department of the Interior at Washington. In this
office he gave a most effective and creditable administration, and in
October, 1919, he resigned his Government post for the purpose of resuming
the practice of his profession, but it was not until October, 1920, that his
resignation was accepted and he returned to Morgantown, where he has
continued in the practice of law, with a representative clientage. Aside
from his law business Mr. Reay has substantial interests in coal mining and
oil production, and to these he finds it expedient to give the major part of
his time and attention. He is a member of the West Virginia State Bar
Association and the Monongalia Bar Association, is affiliated with the Phi
Sigma Kappa college fraternity, is a staunch democrat, holds membership in
the Morgantown Country Club, and he and his wife are active members of the
First Presbyterian Church in their home city. He is a loyal and progressive
member of the Morgantown Chamber of Commerce.
July 2, 1900, recorded the marriage of Mr. Reay and Miss Margaret Katheine
Krieger, daughter of Frederick and Margaret (Kirschner) Krieger, of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The names and respective dates of birth of the
children of Mr. and Mrs. Reay are here recorded: Margaret Virginia, January
19, 1902; Virginia Dent, October 5, 1904; and David Neville, April 11, 1919.
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