KANAWHA COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA - BIOS: Tom H. McRa (published 1923) ******************************************************************* Submitted by Valerie Crook vfcrook@trellis.net September 16, 1999 ******************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 237 Kanawha County TOM H. McRA is one of the youngest business men in the state as the responsible head of a wholesale concern handling a remarkable volume of business over a large section of the state. This is the Kanawha Wholesale Grocery Company, which in the face of the business de- pression following the war has steadily grown and prospered so that every dollar of its capital is working and represents a solid investment. The company was organized July 1, 1919, with a capital of $100,000 and an initial investment of $50,000. The first staff of salesmen comprised four men. The company has rapidly extended its trade in all directions from Charleston, and now has $140,000 invested, and a staff of fourteen employes. The head of this company represents a branch of the Highland Scotch clan, whose name is variously spelled, as McRae, McRea and also McCray. They have been in West Virginia for over 100 years. Farquher McRa came from Edinburgh, Scotland, about 1790, and from Baltimore moved to the Village of Morgantown about 1794. He was a tailor, bringing his goods and outfit across the mountains on horseback. A thrifty business man, he was worth the considerable fortune of $16,000, and he built a hotel which stood until recent years at the site of the present Madera Hotel, near the courthouse in Morgantown. Duncan McRa, son of Farquher, was born in 1786 and died in 1825. He married Rebecca Carter, of Marion County, who was born in 1792 and died in 1848. One of the children of Duncan and Rebecca McRa was Oliver Perry McRa, who was born December 16, 1819, and died December 25, 1897. He was a remarkable man in many ways, and it is said that he could build a house, build a chimney, make any kind of farm implement used at that time, make a pair of shoes or cooper a barrel. He served in the Union army during the Civil war, was frequently a school officer, taught school, as did five of his children, was for over forty years an exhorter in the Methodist Church, was legal adviser for all his section and ministered to the sick, the suffering and the dying without waiting to be called upon. Oliver P. McRa married Jemima Jacobs, who was born March 17, 1819, and died February 19, 1898. They were married in 1844. She was a daughter of Elijah and Mary (Doolittle) Jacobs, pioneers of Monongalia County. The children of Oliver P. McRa were: Edgar, born in 1845, a Civil war veteran and died in 1916; Wait- man, born in 1848 and died in 1873; Elijah, born in 1850, a veteran teacher, justice of the peace, for thirty-three years secretary of the Board of Education of Clinton District in Monongalia County, and he and his sister Virginia still occupy the old homestead in that county; Mrs. Susan Lucretia Phillips, born in 1852, and died in 1903, and one of her sons was in the regular army in the Philippines, and two of her grandsons were in France during the World war; Rev. Thomas R. McRa, born in 1854, for over thirty years an active minister of the Methodist Church in Ohio, and has a son, Richard, also a minister and another son, Donald a teacher; Mary Rebecca, who died in infancy; Sylvester, who also died in childhood; Miss Virginia, living with her brother at the homestead; and Duncan McRa. Duncan McRa, born July 14, 1863, is now a resident of Charleston, and has devoted most of his life to journalism. He was educated for the law, practiced for some years in Preston County, and is the acknowledged historian of that county. He is a graduate of the State University, was a teacher, is the author of several books, is former secretary of the State Republican Committee and for four years was chief clerk in the secretary of state's office during the administration of Governor Dawson. Tom H. McRa is a son of Duncan and Ella (Liston) McRa. He was born in Preston County in 1892, and while attending school he worked in a retail store. For six years he was assistant buyer for the State Board of Control. He then became an office man with the Charleston Grocery Com- pany, and in 1919 organized the Kanawha Wholesale Grocery Company and has been president and general manager during its rapid growth and development. He is a member of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce, of the West Virginia Wholesale Grocers Association and the Na- tional Wholesale Grocers Association. Mr. McRa married April 5, 1921, Mamie L. Loy, of Paw Paw, Hampshire County, West Virginia.