From "History of Wheeling City and Ohio County, West Virginia and  
Representative Citizens," by Hon. Gibson Lamb Cranmer, 1902. 
 
Typed by E. J. Heinemann 
 
p. 673 
 
JOHN H. ARTHUR.  A life into which has been crowded much of worthy  
accomplishment, and one which is entitled to emulation on the part of  
those who would exalt citizenship, is that of John H. Arthur, weigher  
at the city scales on the corner of Seventeenth and McCulloch streets,  
whose portrait is herewith shown.  A native of County Cornwall,  
England, Mr. Arthur is descended from an honest and rugged ancestry,  
and was born September 5, 1829.  His parents, William and Mary Arthur,  
were also natives of England, and died at the age of eighty and seventy  
years, respectively.  The father was a farmer in County Cornwall, and  
was supervisor of the parish roads.  In the little hedge-surrounded,  
ivy-decorated cemetery, in England, attached to the Established church  
of their parish, are the graves of these honored parents, together with  
that of their daughter, Elizabeth, who was the mother of seven  
children. 
     Of the children born to William and Mary Arthur, besides Elizabeth,  
---John H. being the second and only surviving child,--William, the  
eldest, came to America in 1848, and engaged business until the  
breaking out of the Civil War. Inflamed with patriotism he enlisted in  
1861 in Company C, 22nd Reg. Ill. Vol. Inf., and served with courage  
not surpassed by any of the country's native-born sons.  He  
participated in the battles of Island No. 10, Fort Donelson, Shiloh,  
and many others of equal importance, and met the death of a heroic  
soldier, December 31, 1862, at the battle of Red Mound, Tennessee.   At  
that time he was fighting under General Thomas, and after being fatally  
wounded and left on the field, his body was secured and buried by the  
Union forces. 
     The boyhood of John H. Arthur was devoid of much of the cheer which
we are wont to associate with youth, for, at the early age of eight years,  
it became his duty to assist in the support of the family.  It is his  
pride that up to the present time he has never called a halt upon the  
industry begun while a lad, for ceaseless energy and conscientious  
devotion to all tasks set before him have characterized his entire  
life.  With his brother, William, he came to America in 1848, and  
arrived in Wheeling September 10th of the same year.  He at once  
embarked in coal mining and continued thus until forced by an accident  
to seek other channels of activity.  His foot was caught in the falling  
roof of a mine, and at first it was supposed that amputation of that  
member would be sufficient for healing purposes.  Acute inflammation,  
however, set in, and at the end of three weeks of intense suffering in  
the part of the patient, it was deemed necessary to amputate the leg  
below the knee.  Thus handicapped, Mr. Arthur waited until time made it  
possible for him to work again, and as a congenial effort to gain a  
livelihood, he started a little grocery store in Marshall county.  This  
was continued until 1863, when he disposed of his store and moved to  
Wheeling.  Here he again became interested in coal mining, and went to  
Manchester, where he ran a mine for three years.  He was afterward  
weigher for the mine about five years.  A later venture was the  
purchase of a horse and cart with which he worked on the street until  
1881, at which time he was elected lockup-keeper, and held that office  
for ten years.  For the following four years, he served as watchman at  
the work house, and obtained his present position in May, 1900. 
     September 15, 1851, Mr. Arthur married Bridget Farley, a native of  
County Cavan, Ireland, who, in February, 1901, was sixty-nine years of  
age.  Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur, six of whom  
are living, namely: Mary; William; John; Elizabeth; Margaret; and  
James.  Mary, who is now Mrs. James Lawther, has four children living,  
namely: James; Elizabeth; Catherine; and Margaret.  William, who  
married Minnie Younkers for his second wife, has had six children,  
namely: John; Maria; Helen; Lee; Mary; and one who died in infancy.  By  
his former marriage with Alice Murphy, who died about 1891, he has four  
children, viz: Martha; Margaret; Grace; and Alice, deceased.  John, who  
is a molder by occupation, is exceedingly popular in Wheeling, because  
of his courtesy, geniality, and all around good fellowship.  Elizabeth  
and Margaret are at home, and James married Mary McClain, but has no  
children.  The deceased children are: Julia, who died at the age of  
twenty-five years; Thomas, who lived to be twenty-four years of age and  
Joseph, who died when one and a half years old.  The Arthur family are  
devout members of the Roman Catholic church.  Mr. Arthur is widely  
known in Wheeling, and is esteemed for his unblemished personal  
integrity, his financial honesty and for his large-hearted humanitarian  
sympathy.