Albert Huffman "Dick" Stump

A. H., known as Dick Stump, was Grantsville's first mayor and the owner of a hotel which eventually became a boarding house.

Bio by: Rosa Nutt, added Oct 31, 2012 to Find A Grave Memorial# 99940221

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=99940221

"Son of John Stump and Mahalla Huffman Stump was born 1843. He married Druzilla Ball on April 11, 1865. In 1883, A. H. (Dick) Stump, Grantsville's first mayor, and his wife, Druscilla [aka Druzilla] Ball Stump, built a house a block from the courthouse on what was to become Main Street. The Stumps turned their home into a hotel and in 1897 (See ad left in the Calhoun Signal 1899), constructed a two story, 10-12 room addition on the back, giving the hotel an "L" shaped look.

The expansion was necessitated by an increase in population and economic activity in Grantsville that began at the end of the 19th Century. Timbering, oil and gas exploration, the Cabot carbon black factory (largest in the world at the time) and a booming riverboat building industry made Grantsville a commercial hub in the Little Kanawha Valley.

Following the deaths of Dick and Druscilla, Miss Nettie Stump, their daughter, operated the hotel for several years. However, in 1919, Miss Nettie closed the hotel and it reverted to a private residence. During the Depression, the addition was detached from the home, moved to the back of the lot, and turned to face Mill Street, where it began a new life as a boarding house. This structure was dismantled in the late 1950s. He lived to be 64 years old and died of heart failure."

Children of Albert H. Stump and Druscilla Ball are: Ester Stump. [aka Esther Austin] Lillie Stump, b. 1867. [aka Lillian P Blizzard] Charles Stump, b. 1869. Nettie Stump, b. April 1876 (?). [different DOB Oct. 20, 1872 on her Find a Grave memorial]