USA > West Virginia > West Virginia and its people, Volume II > Part 24
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(II) Dr. Bennett Clay Vinson, son of William Vinson, was born in Gallatin, Tennessee. He was educated in St. Louis, studying for the medical profession. After practicing for a few years in that city he came, during the war, to Milton, West Virginia, which he made his home for the remainder of his life. For a quarter of a century he was one of the best known physicians of Cabell county, and also took a leading part in local politics, serving one term in the state legislature as representative of his county, having been elected on the Democratic ticket. Dr. Vinson married Mary Frances, daughter of Captain William Simmons, who came as a boy from Baltimore to Guyandotte, and was a leading cabinet maker and bridge-builder of Cabell county. The family have now in their possession specimens of his superior workmanship. His son, Colo- nel Simmons, was well known throughout the county. Children born to Dr. and Mrs. Vinson : I. Grace Clara, wife of W. O. Walton, of Hunt- ington. 2. William Sampson, of whom further. 3. Frances V., wife of W. T. Cooley, of Salt Lake City, Utah. 4. Bennett Clay, Jr. 5, 6 and 7. Charles C., Lulu Maud and James A., are deceased. Dr. Vinson died August 2, 1888, at the comparatively early age of forty-nine years, and his widow, now seventy-two years old, and in the enjoyment of vigorous health, resides with her son, William Sampson Vinson, in his beautiful home on Fifth avenue.
(III) William Sampson, son of Dr. Bennett Clay and Mary Frances ( Simmons) Vinson, was born February 16, 1870, in Milton, Cabell county, West Virginia. He received his preparatory education in the local schools, afterward studying at Marshall College and Dunsmore College, Staunton, Virginia. Mr. Vinson began his business career as a clerk in Boggess' drug- store, in Huntington, remaining over five years and acquiring that thorough knowledge of all branches of his chosen calling which has constituted the foundation of his success. In 1898 Mr. Vinson went into business for him- self, on the same site on Ninth street which he has ever since continuously occupied. His establishment is known as the Fountain Drug Store and Mr. Vinson from the beginning has been the sole proprietor. His suc- cess, as his long record testifies, has consisted not in material profit alone, but in the building up of an enviable reputation for integrity and fair dealing. Mr. Vinson is a stockholder in a number of business organiza- tions of this city, including the Sand & Gravel Company. He is also much interested in real estate, being part owner of the elegant Vinson- Walton Building, and of a large amount of other business property. He was one of the organizers of the West Virginia State Pharmaceutical As- sociation, serving for a number of years as its treasurer, and during 1911 holding the office of president. He is a Democrat in politics, affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is a member of
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the Baptist church. To the traditions of professional and political dis- tinction which, in Cabell county, are associated with the name of Vinson, William Sampson Vinson has added the reputation of an able and hon- orable business man.
WALTON The progenitor of this family in America was William Walton, an English jeweler and diamond setter, who was born in 1832, and came over from England in the year 1865, with his wife and four eldest children. They settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Mr. Walton followed his trade and ultimately en- gaged in business for himself, becoming so successful that he was able to retire some ten years prior to his death. He was one of Pittsburgh's most prominent and influential citizens, becoming a fire commissioner and very active in the fire department of that city. He died in September, 1898, at the age of sixty-six years, while on a visit to his son, W. O. Walton, in Huntington, West Virginia. Mr. Walton married Martha Allen, also born in England, and now living in her eighty-second year, at the family residence in Pittsburgh. Mr. and Mrs. Walton were the par- ents of six children, the two youngest having been born in Pittsburgh after the family had removed to this country. These children are as follows: I. Francis Henry, married Josephine McMasters ; four children : Thomas McMasters, Francis Richmond, David, Elsie. 2. Mary, married Luther L. Smith, of Chicago, Illinois; four children: Benjamin, Richard, Mark, Elizabeth. 3. William O., of whom further. 4. Nellie, married Marshall L. Jenkins, deceased ; she is living in Pittsburgh and has three children ; Marguerite, Edith, Walton. 5. Martha, married George K. Anderson : two children: Marguerite and Helen. 6. John, who died in Mexico; he was at one time deputy sheriff of Cabell county, West Virginia.
(II) William O., son of William and Martha (Allen) Walton, was born in England, February 15, 1858. He came to America with his par- ents when he was seven years of age, and resided in Pittsburgh. His education was received at the old seventeenth ward school house in that city, and at the Westminster College. After completing his studies at the college he became connected with the Lyons Lumber Company, of Huntington, West Virginia, later associating himself with the firm of Lawrence, Johnson & Company, of Philadelphia, who were lumber and timber operators; he remained with them for eighteen years. In 1900 he began operating in timber and coal lands, not only in West Virginia. but in adjoining states, and has become so successful that it now requires all of his time to look after his various interests. He has become con- nected with many of the varied industries of Huntington and owns a con- siderable amount of real estate, erecting in the year 1904 the office build- ing known as the Walton Building on Ninth street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues. Mr. Walton is a member of the Republican party, and in the year 1896 was a candidate for sheriff of Cabell county ; he was elected for a term of four years, being the first Republican sheriff ever elected in that county. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, Knights Templar, and a Shriner, and is also a member of Blue Lodge. No. 390, McCandleless, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Walton married, May 22, 1883. Clara Grace Vinson, a native of Lincoln township, Benton county. Missouri, daughter of Dr. Bennett Clay Vinson, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Walton have eight children, as follows: Mary Martha : Grace Maud, mar- ried J. Coleman Alderson : William Bennett ; Ethel Vinson, married Tunis Dils, of Charleston, West Virginia, has one child, Grace Walton Dils ; Lawrence Johnson ; Daniel Porter : Vinson Oliver : William O., Jr. All of the children were born in Cabell county, West Virginia.
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As one of the originators of commission government in POLLOCK practical form in the city of Huntington, and a mem- ber of the original "Big Four." now in tenure, Lester A. Pollock is today commissioner in charge of street and wharves. He is a man of striking personality, eager, energetic, full of life, and appearing much younger than his actual count of years. In his services to the city of Huntington he stands pre-eminently in the public esteem.
Mr. Pollock was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. December. 1870, and of the forty odd years which thuis stand to his account one would hardly give him credit for more than twenty-five upon the first impression. After having received his education in the public schools of Cincinnati, he im- mediately entered business life in the employ of one of the large whole- sale shoe stores of that city, and has made his own way in the world ever since. His ability was manifest at once : he was started out on the road with a trunk full of samples and told to make good. which he did, and continued to do straight along for the following eight years. After that he went to Pittsburgh where he entered the steel and iron business. ex- hibiting the same aptitude there that had helped him in the shoe business. When he had mastered the details of the new business. he removed to Huntington, West Virginia, where he erected the plant of the West Vir- ginia Rail Mill, one of the largest independent concerns of the kind in the United States, in which he still holds a place on the board of directorship : this is in steady operation here today. employing a large force of men.
He became recognized as a thoroughly progressive business man and prominent in Huntington politics, being a thorough and out-spoken mem- ber of the Republican party. It was while he was one of the executive heads of the West Virginia Rail Company that he first entered municipal politics, and three years ago he findertook the task of securing a commis- sionership, proving eminently successful not only in the attainment of the office, but in the wisdom with which he has administered its duties. He has exhibited no partisanship, but has demanded an impartial distribution of public offices, and has shown himself to be fair-minded and progressive in civic affairs in the best sense of the words. He is a strong believer in public improvements, and has advocated the excellent plans of paving and sewer improvements which have been put into effect by the commis- sion. He has also given his aid to the cause of regulating public ser- vice corporations, and to the developing of a better understanding be- tween them and the city.
During the period he served on the board of commissioners, the ex- penses of the department of health and the poor had been cut in half, though he has never failed to help the absolutely needy, and improve- ments and the expenditures in streets and wharves have proven the same. His method of picking out really worthy cases is unique; when one of the apparently poor applies for help, the applicant is offered a good posi- tion at the West Virginia Rail Mill, paying well but requiring hard work. In this way the fraudulent seekers of public benefactions are eliminated, as only about one-half of one per cent. report for duty. Mr. Pollock ad- heres to the principles of his political party with the same tenacity that marks his adherence to business of every kind in which he engages ; be- fore his appointment to the commissionership he had been made chair- man of the Republican county executive committee. He has proved him- self in every way an able public official, a good citizen, and a loyal friend. Mr. Pollock is a member of Huntington Lodge, No. 113, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. also United Commercial Travellers. Roval Arcanum, Independent Order of Red Men and Ancient Order of United Workmen.
Virgil Torri
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Mr. Pollock married, March 12, 1905, Rosa B. Eiseman; one child, Anyce. Mr. Pollock and wife are members of the Jewish Congregation of Huntington, and he is one of the trustees of the Temple.
In the death of Virgil A. Lewis, which occurred at his home
LEWIS in Mason City on December 5, 1912, West Virginia lost one of her most useful citizens, and a most prominent liter- ary character. Besides his work as an author, he had filled many posi- tions of honor and trust, and for the last seven years had rendered most efficient service to the state, and in fact to the entire upper Ohio Valley as state historian and archivist of West Virginia. As thus intimated, his work was not limited to his own state, because he kept in active touch with all the material and historical development of the territory known as the Trans-Alleghany region.
Born in Mason county, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1848, his early opportunities for securing an education were limited. That was before there was a regular system of free schools, and even the pri- vate schools were limited and not very numerous. However, young Lewis, eager for gaining knowledge, attended such schools as he could reach in his own community, and when but a lad crossed the river daily to school in Ohio for quite a length of time, sometimes amidst the dan- ger of drift and floating ice. At an early age he found employment in a printing office and became quite proficient in this line of work, but he said that the inspiration he received to become an editor and author was an incentive for all his future efforts. Even in more mature manhood he was denied the privilege of a full college education, but he applied himself so faithfully and diligently to every task he undertook, that it may be said that he was an educated man in the true sense of the term.
Having determined to pursue a literary career, it was very natural that the ambitious young man should become a teacher, and he entered upon this work when only seventeen years of age, meanwhile continuing his historical investigations and gathering material for what has since become recognized as the standard school history of West Virginia. In 1892 he founded the Southern Historical Magazine at Charleston, and from 1893-1897 was the editor and publisher of the West Virginia School Jour- nal, this being the period during which time he served as state superin- tendent of schools of West Virginia, having been elected to that position for the full term of four years in the fall of 1892. While occupying this important educational position, Mr. Lewis labored earnestly for the im- provement of the schools of the state, and decided advancement was made under his administration. He issued a Manual containing a course of study for the public schools, which became the basis for the present ex- cellent course outlined by the state board of education. As one of the five elective officers of the state at that time, he was a member of the board of public works, and represented the board in many important in- terests, once at a great industrial congress at Asheville, North Carolina. He was also a member and secretary of the West Virginia Commission to the Jamestown Exposition in 1907.
Although regularly admitted to the bar. Mr. Lewis never gave much attention to the practice of law, preferring what was to him the more pleasant fields of literary endeavor, and historical investigation. In 1890 he organized the West Virginia Historical and Antiquarian Society, and he was a member of the Southern Education Association, the National Geographic Society, the Ohio Valley and the Mississippi historical socie- ties, the National Historical Society, and other historical and educational organizations of this character.
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Recognizing the value of books as educational tools to be used in the school room, Mr. Lewis devoted a good deal of time to the writing of volumes which contain much valuable historical material which otherwise might have been lost, and which have found a place not only in the li- braries of our own state, but on the shelves of historical societies all over the country. In 1889 he issued a "History of West Virginia"; in 1891, the "Life and Times of Anne Bailey, the Pioneer Heroine of the Great Kanawha Valley"; in 1896 a graded course of study for the country and village schools; in 1903 the story of the Louisiana Purchase ; in 1904. "Early Educators of West Virginia"; in 1905, "Civil Government of West Virginia"; and in 1909, "History of the Battle of Point Pleasant," and other pamphlets and sketches of great historic value, many of them being addresses delivered on notable occasions in various parts of the state. Mr. Lewis was a popular institute instructor, and when among a body of teachers always emphasized the necessity of the study of local history as the foundation of one's historic knowledge.
On October 31, 1886, Mr. Lewis was married to Miss Elizabeth Stone, who with three children, two daughters and a son, survives him. He was interested in the leading fraternal bodies, being a Mason, a Knight Tem- plar, and a member of the Lodge of Perfection of the Scottish Rite, a member of the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows and a past grand chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. He was recently elected to his second term of six years as a member of the board of directors of the Knights of Pythias Orphans' Home, of which body he was chairman.
From the date of the admission of West Virginia into the Union in 1863, there had been accumulating at the capital, first at Wheeling, then at Charleston, a mass of material of great historic value. Some of this had been secured from the Mother State at Richmond, other from dif- ferent parts of the new state, but there was but little classification, and these valuable records were not properly cared for. For a time this ma- terial was under the control of the West Virginia Historical and Anti- quarian Society, and occupied an upper room at the capitol building at Charleston where a good number of volumes of various kinds were col- lected, and also where some of the best of the state's exhibits that were returned from the Centennial at Philadelphia in 1876, from Chicago in 1893, and from St. Louis in 1904, were stored in a somewhat promiscuous manner. Finally it became apparent that if this material were to be pre- served and made usable, some provision must be made for it, and now the historic insight of Virgil A. Lewis manifested itself in a very definite manner. In 1905 he prepared a bill providing for the creation of a De- partment of Archives and History, which should be located on the third floor of the Capitol Annex, which was then nearing completion, and should be in charge of a competent custodian, who was to be known as state historian and archivist. The legislature adopted this measure, and the law went into effect in May, 1905, and not long afterwards the gov- ernor appointed Mr. Lewis to this important position. This appointment was all the more appreciated by Mr. Lewis, and also by the general pub- lic, because his political affiliations differed from those of Governor \Vil- liam M. O. Dawson, who selected him. However, the appointment was approved all over the state, and Mr. Lewis entered upon his duties with the cordial support of all who had any interest in preserving our history, and some of the evidences of our material progress. Although the appro- priation for the installation of the new department was somewhat limited, Mr. Lewis set to work in earnest, and the transformation he made in a short time was indeed remarkable. The books were classified, the ex- hibits properly arranged, portraits and historic paintings were secured and put into position on the walls and elsewhere, and the entire floor,
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with an area of over six thousand square feet, filled with a collection that is very creditable to a state no older than is West Virginia. Here for nearly eight years Mr. Lewis worked early and late, even to the injury to his health, in arranging and systematizing the accumulation of fifty years of historic material. Visitors from other states are amazed at what he accomplished in so short a time, and have congratulated the state upon having an archivist so capable and efficient. His work was truly monu- mental, and this department will stand throughout the years to come as a memorial to one of the most faithful, energetic, and broad-minded citi- zens who ever lived in the commonwealth.
Speaking at the grave of Mr. Lewis, Hon. Stuart F. Reed, Secretary of State, and a lifelong friend of the deceased, said :
"At the bier of our loved ones philosophy falters and the priests and sages of earth are dumb. This would indeed be sad! But I rejoice that another thinker has suggested that above the tomb Hope catches the gleam of a star, and listening Love hears the rustle of a wing. My friend had traversed many of the mutations of time. He was approaching the sacred seventies, bringing with him into this rushing hurly- burly, materialistic age, the rare graces and sweet mannerisms of the old-time gentle- man.
"While his memory will live in the literature enriched by his tireless pen and his name be perpetuated in the volumes that find a resting place in many libraries throughout our land, the most precious will be the memorials enshrined in the hearts of those who knew him-the recollection of his grateful and generous impulses. To do for him the slightest favor and be rewarded with his expression of unreserved gratitude and good will was enough to fill one's soul with an almost inexpressible delight. He is gone-
"'A celestial hand has beckoned him, Another call been given, And glows once more with angel steps The path that reaches Heaven.'"
The Emmons family of this city trace their ancestry
EMMONS back to Major Asa Emmons, a native of Connecticut, born in 1773, dying about 1824. He was engaged to a large extent in the lumber business, also owning several woolen mills and saw mills in New York, where he removed when a young man. He be- came prominently connected with New York politics, and served as major of the state militia. About 1804 he married Eunice Prentice, and they had five children, among whom was Carlton, of whom further.
(II) Carlton, second son of Major Asa and Eunice ( Prentice) Em- mons, was born in Otsego county, New York, in 1806. He spent his life on a farm, dying in possession of a six hundred acre tract of land which his son preserved just as his parents left it, having all work continued upon it during his lifetime. Mr. Emmons acted as town supervisor of Oneonta New York, for a number of years, and was recognized as a most worthy and patriotic citizen. He died in 1880. In 1827 he married Maria Fair- child, who died in 1875. at the age of sixty-seven years. Their children were : Delos White, of whom further : and Roxy A., married J. T. Alden, now deceased.
( III) Delos White, son of Carlton and Maria ( Fairchild) Emmons, was born at Oneonta. Otsego county, New York. December 17. 1828. He left college when he was about nineteen years of age and spent the next several years on his father's farm. When about twenty-two years old he entered mercantile business at Aldenville, Pennsylvania. continuing thus for four years. He subsequently removed to Herkimer county. New York, locating on the site of the present town of Emmonsburg, which was named after him. Here he bought a tannery, which for thirteen years he conducted in connection with other New York parties. In 1870
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he came to West Virginia, and became associated with the late Collis P. Huntington in the building of the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad, acting as construction agent for the western extension of the road from White Sulphur Springs to the Ohio river, and as agent for a syndicate of New York capitalists. He selected the site and was the founder of the pres- ent city of Huntington, buying twenty farms in Cabell county, consisting of about five thousand acres. A year later the capitalists organized them- selves into the Central Land Company of West Virginia, and Mr. Em- mons was elected general superintendent. He retained this position for eighteen years, resigning in 1888. During the period of Mr. Emmons' residence in Huntington, which lasted for the remainder of his life, he was prominently identified with its material prosperity and was deeply interested in its progress and various activities. He was a director in the First National Bank, the Bank of Huntington, the Electric Light & Street Railroad Company, and the Ensign Manufacturing Company. He was president of the Fitzgerald Prepared Plaster Company, and helped to organize the Huntington Illuminating & Fuel Gas Company. He was also one of the first councilmen of his adopted city. Mr. Emmons was very prominent in Masonic circles, and was a thirty-third degree Mason. He was raised to the degree of Master Mason in Little Falls Lodge, No. 181, in Little Falls, New York; and to that of Royal Arch Mason in Guyandotte Chapter, No. 10, Guyandotte, West Virginia. On August 9, 1886, he was created Knight Templar and Knight of Malta, in Hunting- ton Commandery, No. 9, Huntington, West Virginia; and in May 1887, he was elected eminent grand treasurer of the Grand Commandery. His death occurred on April 19, 1905. In 1851, Mr. Emmons married Mary J., daughter of William Stoddard, of West Cornwall, Connecticut. They had five children : Arthur S .; Collis H .; Carlton D., of whom further ; J. Alden, and Elizabeth S.
(IV) Carlton D., son of Delos White and Mary J. (Stoddard) Em- mons, was born at Oneonta, New York, in the year 1858. He came to Huntington in 1870, at the age of thirteen years, and attended what is now Marshall College for four years. He then went to a literary in- stitite in New York state. Upon reaching maturity he entered the office of the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad at Huntington, remaining there for six years. He then purchased an interest in the firm of C. F. Parsons & Son, dealers in hardware, which firm later became known as Parsons & Emmons ; the style was subsequently changed to Emmons & Marr, and still later became known as Emmons, Hawkins & Company. In 1899 the business was finally incorporated under the firm name of the Emmons-Hawkins Hardware Company, doing the same business and at the same offices. Since this time the company has greatly prospered and handles a large and ever increasing trade, all of the members of the firm being progressive and public spirited men. Mr. Emmons is a Democrat in his political opinions, and he and his family are attendants of the Episcopal church. He is a very popular man socially, being a member of the Guyandotte Club, and prominent as a Mason and Shriner, also belong- ing to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Order of Elks.
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