Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1894-04-22

now were then unthought of. The great
/ mills that have made name, fame and
wealth for the place were then far in the
| future. Steamboat navigation was yet lit
! tie more than an experiment, and
transportation on the river was mostly by
| keel boats. One or two diminutive steam
ers, that then stood for the hundreds OF
elegant crafts that now make the Ohio
moving panorama Of business liie were the
objects Of great curiosity, and when they
were expected curious crowds gathered.on
the banks to welcome them. Not 5000
people madeu the population OF Wheeling.
A little cotton factory, capable OF employ
! ing a dozen hands, stood where the
! Baltimore and Ohio depot now is.
A small glass manufacturing estao-
! lishment occupied the present site OF the
Fourth ward school house. A little paper
| mill stood near the river, and with small
wooden shop, completed the sum total OF
! the manufacturing industries Of Wheeling
up to the year 1880. The place then de-
rived its chief Importance from being the
| Western terminus and the shipping point
| for all the goods transported from the
| business houses Of the East by the great
| siX-horSe wagons that then rum
| bled over the National road.
Here they left their burdens to
| be loaded upon keelboats and pushed down
the Ohio river by hand. There was little
wagoning then beyond here. Stages car
ried passengers through to Cincinnati, but
the merchandise stopped here and went
west by water. To look back TO those days
! they seem very far off, when you cast an
eve over the great industries and the busy
! business Of the city, yet this man covers
with his useful years nearly every phase
of its growth, from its foundation 10 the
present moment.
in 1923, and for many years thereafter,
the great forwarding aud commission
houses were all that Wheeling had to boast
or 1t did not grow much from 1870 TO
| 1880. The population increased couple
| of thousand in the ten years, but the chol-
era and the change that steamboats, made
I in river navigation reduced 1t again, so
| that when the year came that made the
threshold of Mr. Lambs life, which set
the mile stone that marks the point where
youth ends and manhood begins, the popu-
latiou was not greater than 5000, and all
the manufactures were silent"
Mr.. Lambs early life in Wheeling was
spent in getting an education with such
teachers as Thadius u. Robinson and
Mr.. Livingston, who then taught the
private school of the place. He worked
| little in his fathers shop, ont learned only
the rudiments Of the saddlers' trade. de
was a quiet, studious boy, that attracted
attention only on account Of his careful
methods ana quiet industry. The old
building, on Main street, between Tenth
and Eleventh, where MIR. Lamb then lived
with his father. and where the leather
business was carried on, still stands.
In 1891 Mr.. Lamb was City Clerk, and
while holding that Office he had already be-
gun TO look towards the profession he was
destined to so long adorn. He soon became
a student in the Office Of Sprigg * Jacob,
and was there when the Fire and Marine
Insurance Company was formed. AT
meeting held az the Beymer House. Feb
ruary is, 1888, NJ. Nelson, the Secretary
OF the Fire and Marine, resigned, and Mr..
Lamb was chosen his successor, at salary
OF $500 PER year, and he held his Office for
ten years. r4s.-ricS september Is,
1913, And VS. succeeded Dy
Richard w. Harding. A REGISTER
reporter last night inspected the old records
OF the Fire and Marine, and MIR. Lambs
beautiful and regular handwriting still
stands as legible IS when II was placed
upon the books, more than fifty years ago.
In 1894, Mr. Lamb was also chosen Sec
rotary and Treasurer Of the wheeling
Savings Institution, and filed the once
for a number Of years. This business
work interrupted Mr.. Lamps study
of the law, anC il was not until
1887. after he had pursued his studies with
Mo ryan Nelson, that he was admitted 70
the bar His first law partnership was
with Charles w. Russell. This partner
ship was continued until 1s4S, when Mr.
Lamb left the firm 70 become cashier Of
the Northwestern Bank. He remained
with this institution until 1868, having
been a prominent landmark in the business
and financial history Of Wheeling for more
than thirty years.
Mr.. Lam0 naturally took prominent
part in the great events marking the out
! break and continuance OF the civil war.
He was one of Governor Pierponts Coun-
Gil, and later had a leading place in the
Constitutional Convention called 10 frame
the fundamental law for the new State.
/ He had frequent conferences with Presi-
dent Lincoln and other men Of national
reputation at that time. When
the first Legislature Of West
Virginia met Mr.. Lamb was
a member, and became Chairman Of the
/ Committee on the Judiciary He remained
in the Legislature until 1867, and in 1875