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BARBOUR COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA
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Submitted to the West Virginia Biographies Project by:
Valerie & Tommy Crook
vfcrook@trellis.net
November 10, 1999
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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 estab-
lished 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 in-
stead 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 num-
ber 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 domes-
tie 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.
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