WesBanco Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

December 18, 1842: Senator Nathan B. Scott Born

Businessman and U.S. Senator Nathan B. Scott was born in Ohio on December 18, 1842. From a meager start as a boy working in a general store, he eventually would become one of the four richest men in West Virginia.

After serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, Scott became a glass manufacturer in Bellaire, Ohio. He quickly amassed a fortune in business and banking. He then moved to nearby Wheeling, where he accumulated even more wealth as president of the Central Glass Company. He also made hefty sums of money in the coal industry and founded Dollar Savings and Trust, which is now WesBanco.

Shortly after moving to Wheeling, Scott began to dabble in Republican politics. He swiftly moved up the political ladder—from Wheeling City Council, to West Virginia State Senate, and finally, to the United States Senate, where he served for 12 years. After leaving the Senate in 1911, he retired from politics and lived out the rest of his life as a banker in Washington, D.C. Nathan B. Scott died in Washington in 1924 at the age of 81.

November 12, 1844: Wheeling Businessman Henry Schmulbach Born

Henry Schmulbach was born in Germany on November 12, 1844. When he was a child, he and his family immigrated to Wheeling. By the time he was a young adult, Schmulbach had become one of the city’s most successful businessmen, selling retail groceries and wholesale liquor.

In 1881, he purchased Wheeling’s Nail City Brewery. The next year, he changed its name to Schmulbach Brewing and increased the plant’s annual output to 200,000 barrels of beer. Schmulbach was one of many German immigrants who turned Wheeling into an important brewing center in the late 1800s.

He was a bit of a business Renaissance man. He served as president of the Wheeling Bridge Company and the German Bank, which is now WesBanco. He also built a popular amusement park in South Wheeling to boost the number of customers for his streetcar company. His inclined railway could carry as many as 1,200 passengers an hour up a steep hill to Mozart Park. And in 1904, he started construction on the state’s first high-rise office building.

Henry Schmulbach died in Wheeling in 1915 at the age of 70.

WesBanco Says Data Taken From ATM

WesBanco says fraudulent activity following a security breach at an ATM in Ohio appears to be isolated.

WesBanco says a device was used to capture data from transactions at an ATM at the Ohio Valley Plaza in St. Clairsville, Ohio, from July 25 through Aug. 3.

The Wheeling-based bank said Monday in a statement that the breach didn’t affect customer data or branch and alternate channel transactions.

Debit cards have been reissued to a limited number of customers.

Local authorities and WesBanco are investigating the incident.

Nov. 12 1844 Wheeling Businessman Henry Schmulbach Born

When Henry Schmulbach was a child, he and his family immigrated to Wheeling from Germany. By the time he was a young adult, Schmulbach had become one of the city’s most successful businessmen, selling retail groceries and wholesale liquor. Schmulbach was one of many German immigrants who turned Wheeling into an important brewing center in the late 1800s.