Marion County Remembers

Remembering SGT Bernard Emery Toothman (Fairview) May 9, 1916 - December 14, 1944 ---- SGT Bernard Emery Toothman (Service number 15015784) was born in Fairview, WV on May 9, 1916, the son of Sterling and Augusta (Fletcher) Toothman. For a time, their small family lived in Akron, Ohio, where Sterling was a rubberworker at a factory (1920 Census). On August 18, 1925, Sterling, now a gas worker died at Cooks Hospital in Fairmont, WV at age 31. His cause of death was peritonitis and a perforated ulcer (WV Death Certificate). Augusta was left to raise Bernard and his younger brother, Elmer, by herself in Fairview. In 1935, she married A.V. Owens at the Church of Christ in Fairview. Bernard attended Fairview High School, graduating in the mid-1930s. Military Service: On October 16, 1940, Bernard registered for the draft in Morgantown, WV. At the time, he was working for Montgomery Ward and living at 407 Stewart Street. He was 5'7" and 160 lbs with gray eyes, black hair, and ruddy s...

Remembering PVT Robert Clyde Gump (Fairmont) February 26, 1926 - December 10, 1945 ---- PVT Robert Clyde Gump (Service Number 13042582) was born in Fairmont, WV on February 26, 1926, the son of Edward and Ruby (Daniels) Gump.  Unfortunately, Ruby died of "acute nephritis" (WV Death Certificate) on January 27, 1928 at age 38, just three days after the birth of Robert's younger brother, William ( The Waynesburg Republican)  and two weeks after the death of her mother-in-law. She left behind five sons- John (12), Corbly (10), Edward Jr. (9), Robert (1), and William (3 days old). The 1930 Census found their family living at 517 Maryland Avenue in Fairmont, while Edward worked as a brush salesman.  That was short lived, however, and by 1940, thirteen-year-old Robert was a ward of the state, living at the Kappa Sigma Pi Camp in the Laurel Park area of Harrison County.  Robert attended Washington Irving High School before dropping out to enlist in the Army. Meanwhile, Rober...