SOURCE
Transcribed from the Barbour County pages at: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~usbios/West_Virginia/Bios/Barbour
Index of Individuals mentioned within:
I. Joseph Shomo
II. George N. Shomo, Died at the age of 56 in Junior, WV, m.
Virginia "Jennie" (Viquesne) (Sister of L.N. & Jules A. Viqnesne) (In 1923, she was 70 yrs)
III. Charles Winslow Shomo, b. 10-13-1873 Junior, WV, m. 5-31-1896
Maud M. Elbon (daughter of S. R. and Mary C. Williams. Born on a farm
in Valley District in April, 1880, the second in a family of four children.
IV. Hazel Beatrice Shomo, born in 1897, and died in October, 1900 (only child)
III. William R. Shomo, a farmer near Junior;
III. Benjamin "Frank" Franklin Shomo, b. 8-9-1877 in Barbour County,WV, m. 1901Icie M. Row, (youngest of the family of two daughters of Jackson and Mary (Fitzgerald) Row)
IV. Cecil Shomo (only child)
III. Cora Shomo, wife of J. C. Bibey, of Junior;
III. Goldie Shomo, who marriedJohn Montgomery and died at Junior, leaving three sons;
IV. George W. Shomo, station agent of the Westera Maryland Railroad Company at Junior;
IV. Eugene Shomo, a coal miner of Junior; and
IV. Carrie Shomo, who died as the wife ofCharles F. Bennett.
(TIDBIT - There were four men named "Charlie Bennett" in Junior -
See- ANTHOLOGY "From Rowtown to Junior; also "Junior, WV"")
II. Charles Shomo
II. John Shomo
II. Ivy Shomo (Daniels), m.
Stephen Daniels
II. Irvin V. Shomo
II. Sarah Shomo
BARBOUR COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA
******************************************************************
Submitted to the West Virginia Biographies Project by:
Valerie & Tommy Crook
vfcrook@trellis.net
November 10, 1999
******************************************************************
The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 309
Barbour
CHARLES W. SHOMO is a business man of sound judgment who has had responsibilities of an executive nature in the community of Junior for a number of years. He was the first president of the only banking institution in the town, and is now its cashier the Merchants and Miners Bank.
He was born on a farm near the little town, October 13, 1873, and is a son of George N. and Virginia (Viquesne) Shomo. His mother was a sister of Jules A. Viqnesne elsewhere mentioned in this work. Other pages likewise refer in some detail to the history of the Shomo family. George N. Shomo died at the age of fifty-six, and his widow still lives at Junior, at the age of seventy. Their children were:
Charles W.,
William R., a farmer near Junior;
Benjamin Frank, of Junior;
Cora, wife of J. C. Bibey, of Junior;
Goldie, who married John Montgomery and died at Junior, leaving three sons;
George W., station agent of the Westera Maryland Railroad Company at Junior;
Eugene, a coal miner of Junior; and
Carrie, who died as the wife of Charles F. Bennett.
Charles Winslow Shomo grew up on the old home farm, gained his elementary education in the public schools, attended summer normals, and prepared for his business career with a course in Elliott's Commercial College at Wheeling. He taught school six terms, and for a time was in charge of the school where he had learned his early lessons. He finished teaching in the West Junior School. Giving up a career as an educator, he turned to business as store manager for the Miller Supply Company at Junior. He was with that firm three years and then became office man for the Gage Coal and Coke Company, a corporation with which he remained from 1911 to 1919.
Mr. Shomo helped promote and organize the Merchants and Miners Bank at Junior. The bank was chartered in 1917 and opened for business March 4, 1918, with Mr. Shomo as the first president, while the other officers were A. W. Windom and A. K. Perry, vice presidents, and H. H. Andrews, cashier, with Robert E. Davis and Howard D. Cox, directors. The president of the bank now is A. K. Perry, vice president, Howard D. Cox and G. Frank Row, and since 1919 Mr. Shomo has assumed the active executive duties of cashier. Other directors are J. W. Miller, B. F. Shomo and W. J. Corley. The bank retains its original capital of $25,000. The total resources at the end of the first year's business was $95,000, and this item has since reached the figure of $260,000. The bank has paid dividends from the beginning, and the deposits at a high mark reached $225,000. It has a surplus of over $7,000.
Mr. Shomo has been a member of the Common Council of Junior, city recorder and for five terms was mayor. He is also very familiar with the municipal history of the town. He is a republican, having cast his first vote for Major McKinley, and has served as district committeeman and delegate to conventions. He is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Junior, a past chancellor and has sat in the Grand Lodge. He is active in the Methodist Episcopal Church and is church treasurer and has served as superintendent of the Sunday school.
May 31, 1896, at Junior, he married Miss Maud M. Elbon, daughter of S. R. and Mary C. (Williams) Elbon. Mrs. Shomo was born on a farm in Valley District in April, 1880, the second in a family of four children. The only child born to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Shomo was a daughter. Hazel Beatrice, born in 1897, and died in October, 1900.
Source: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~usbios/West_Virginia/Bios/Barbour/benshomo.txt
BARBOUR COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA
******************************************************************
Submitted to the West Virginia Biographies Project by:
Valerie & Tommy Crook
vfcrook@trellis.net
November 10, 1999
******************************************************************
The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 306
Barbour
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SHOMO has been the source of a large amount of the business energy and enterprise that have made the town of Junior a good place to live in. He is an interesting example of what an ambitious young man without capital beyond his own earnings and savings can accomplish in the span of a few years.
His family has been in West Virginia from the early history of the state. In Colonial times the Shomos came to America from Germany, and the family was established in West Virginia from the eastern part of the Old Dominion. The grandfather of the Junior business man was Joseph Shomo, probably a native of Barbour County. He was a blacksmith and farmer, and had a shop near Junior on his farm. During the Civil war he was a blacksmith in the service of the Union Army. There have been numerous mechanics in the family, especially blacksmiths and carpenters. George N. Shomo had a limited education, but was a skilled workman and a good citizen. He was a Methodist and a republican. He married Jennie Viquesne, sister of L. N. and Jules A. Viquesne, mentioned elsewhere. His sisters and brothers were Charles, John, Ivy (who became the wife of Stephen Daniels), Irvin V. and Miss Sarah.
Frank Shomo, who is known by that brief name instead of his full Christian name, was born in Barbour County, August 9, 1877, and is a son of George N. Shomo, a native of the same county. He was reared in Barker District, attended the common schools, and expended his early efforts on the farm. On reaching his majority he learned the trade of barber in Junior, and for several years was proprietor of a shop. This was the business that gave him his first capital, and he used it to take up photography, maintaining his art gallery for a number of years, his son finally succeeding him. At different intervals Mr. Shomo also worked in the coal mines around Junior.
He had an ambition to become a coal operator, and finally, with C. W. Sandridge, established the City Grove Coal Company and developed one of the producing mines at Junior. They operated the plant together for some time, and are still interested as owners of the lease and part of the property.
Another direction taken by Mr. Shomo'a enterprise was the moving picture business. In 1912, with Walter Bales, he put on the first show at Junior and unrolled the first reel of pictures in the town. The opening night convinced the firm of the popularity of their venture, and Mr. Shomo has continued in the business ever since. The original plant was destroyed by fire in 1914, but was immediately rebuilt. Mr. Shomo is also associated with the Willys Light Plants Agency, for the sale of domestic light plants. His son has recently taken a course of practical instruction at Toledo, the home of the business, for the installation of these plants. Mr. Shomo was one of the first stockholders and is a director of the Merchants and Miners Bank of Junior. He has served on the Town Council, and in politics is a republican, casting his first vote for McKinley in 1900.
In Barbour County in 1901 Mr. Shomo married Miss Icie M. Row, who was born at what is now the town of Junior, being the youngest of the family of two daughters of Jackson and Mary (Fitzgerald) Row. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Shomo is the son Cecil, who for several years has been an active associate of his father.
Source: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~usbios/West_Virginia/Bios/Barbour/georgeshomo.txt
BARBOUR COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA
******************************************************************
Submitted to the West Virginia Biographies Project by:
Valerie & Tommy Crook
vfcrook@trellis.net
November 10, 1999
******************************************************************
The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 310
Barbour
GEORGE W. SHOMO. In his younger years George W. Shomo had considerable experience as a farmer, barber and coal miner, none of which satisfied him as a permanent occupation. Railroad service proved more attractive. He entered it through the telegraphic branch, and for over fifteen years has been one of the efficient men of the Western Maryland Railroad Company. After several shifts elsewhere he came back to his home town of Junior, where he has been agent for the railroad and at the same time a valued citizen of the community.
Mr. Shomo was born on a farm near Junior, March 15, 1882, and is member of one of the old and well known families of this section of Barbour County. While on the farm he attended local schools, and at the age of eighteen took up the work of the barber's trade in a shop at Junior. He worked at that occupation four years, and then for two years was a miner, digging coal for the Davis Colliery Company at Junior. He left the mines to secure a technical and business education in the Morris School of Telegraphy at Cincinnati, where he finished his course in the Spring of 1906.
With this training he made application for service with the Western Maryland Eailroad, and was first assigned to duty as assistant agent at Hendricks, West Virginia. He remained there two years as assistant agent and a year and one half as operator, and then after a brief service as relief agent at Harding returned to his native town and began his duties as agent April 19, 1911, succeeding S. S. Bailey. It has been his ambition to make his efficiency in behalf of the railroad company a source of effective service to the town and community, and that ambition has been well realized. During the past ten years he has acquired other interests, and was one of the promoters and is a partner in the Big Chief Mine. He served as mayor of Junior in 1913, and had been selected as recorder of the town of Hendricks just before leaving there. He is a charter member and still a stockholder in the Merchants and Miners Bank of Junior.
Mr. Shomo is strong in the faith of the republican party and cast his first presidential vote for Roosevelt in 1904. He is a Knight of Pythias, and for a quarter of a century has been a Methodist, has been teacher in the Sunday school and is superintendent of the home department of the Barbour County Sunday School Association.
May 29, 1902, at Belington, when he was twenty years old, Mr. Shomo married Miss Edna B. Bolton, daughter of Napoleon B. and Louise (Johnson) Bolton. The Boltons are an old family of this section. Mrs. Shomo was born August 8, 1881 on a farm between Philippi and Belington, third in a family of five children. The others were:
Rev. John 0. Bolton, for some years a Methodist minister and now engaged in the centenary work of his church;
Ella Bolton, wife of John Thompson, a farmer near Belington;
Miss Myrtle Bolton, teacher in the public schools of Belington;
and Lula Bolton, wife of Jesse Glenn, of Belington.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Shomo, but all of them died in infancy. Mrs. Shomo was a teacher before her marriage and was active in school work for eight years. She joins with her husband in a deep interest in the church and Sunday School.