Obituary: Charles N. Hancher
Jewelry Store Owner
OBITUARY
— Wheeling Intelligencer, Monday, November 26th, 1945
Obsequies at Residence for Chas. Hancher
Obsequies will be held this afternoon at 2 o'clock at Belle Fern Farm, the late residence in Cecil Place, for Charles N. Hancher, president of the Charles N. Hancher company, Jewelers, and prominent West Virginia sportsman, who died early Saturday morning at his home.
The Rev W. Carroll Thorn, rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, of which congregation Mr. Hancher was a member, will conduct the service. Interment is to be made in Greenwood cemetery.
Pallbearers will include Douglas Sehon, Ernest K. Hoge, Julian McF. Sweeney, Tom B. Foulk, W. H. Pfarr, Clark Hamilton, Clark Baum and Dr. L. N. Harris.
Mr. Hancher was 81. In ill health for several years, he succumbed to pneumonia.
Began As Apprentice
Mr. Hancher began his association with the jewelry company which later bore his name, as an apprentice jeweler, when a youth.
Born in Marshall county W. Va., a son of the late Dr. Archibald P. Hancher and Angelina Bovard Hancher, his parents came to Wheeling to reside when he was a child and he had since made Wheeling his home. In 1880, upon the completion of his education, he entered the employ of the L. G. Dillon Co., as an apprentice. His advancement was rapid and he later became financially interested in the firm, becoming an associate of Dillon's in 1897 in the operation of Dillon, Hancher & Co. Ten years later he assumed complete control of the business and the company has since been operated as the Charles N. Hancher Co.
As a diamond merchant, Mr. Hancher frequently visited the large diamond markets of the world and had traveled extensively in Europe in the interest of his jewelry business.
Owner of Thoroughbreds
Owner of a string of thoroughbred horses, Mr. Hancher had been interested in the breeding of hackney and saddle horses at his Belle Fern stables for many years. Many champion horses represented the Belle Fern stables at important shows in all parts of the country over a twenty-five year period. Acknowledged as an expert on thoroughbreds, Mr. Hancher had served as a judge at the larger American horse shows.
Mr. Rancher's interest in horses stemmed from his youth, when he rode one of the thoroughbreds from his father's stable in the Inaugural race at the opening of the Fair Grounds in 1880. In later years he was prominently identified with the former West Virginia State Fair Association and the old West Virginia Turf Club. Mr. Hancher was a charter member, and the oldest member of Wheeling Lodge No. 28, B. P. O. E. He was also a member of the Fort Henry Club.
A son, Harold Rancher, died as a youth. Surviving are his wife, Katherine White Farrell Hancher, and one sister, Mrs. Granville D. Hall Of Glencoe, Ill.
© Ogden Newspapers; reproduced with permission.
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