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BARBOUR COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA
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Submitted to the West Virginia Biographies Project by:
Valerie & Tommy Crook
vfcrook@earthlink.net
July 23, 2000
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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. 575-576
Barbour
RAYMOND W. JOHNSON, of Philippi, has a genius for
business. That is demonstrated in the remarkable success
he has made from a start from nothing to an independent
fortune when in years he is just about where most men are
getting fairly settled into their vocations. He educated
himself commercially as experience demanded knowledge,
planned his career and worked to the plan.
He is a native of Barbour County, and a representative
of one of the older families here. His great-grandfather,
the first of the name in Barbour County, came from Ire-
land and was one of the eleven brothers who settled in dif-
ferent portions of West Virginia, one locating in Harrison
County, another at Cove in Taylor County, one near Mor-
gantown and some in the Valley of Virginia. The grand-
father of the Philippi business man was John G. Johnson,
who was born in Glade District of Barbour County and
spent all his life there. His was a career of usefulness and
good citizenship. He owned a farm and also owned and
operated a water mill at the head of Teters Creek on Mill
Run. In connection with the grist milling machinery he
installed carting machines, the only ones in this region.
The old grist mill is still being operated, but the carting
machinery has long since disappeared. John G. Johnson
was a staunch democrat and Methodist. He married Kate
Parsons, daughter of Job Parsons. The town of Parsons
was named in honor of this family. Their children were:
Richard M.; Levi, who is one of the old farmer residents of
Glade District, where he was born; Robert F., who lives
on the old homestead and runs the mill there; William
Worth, who moved to the State of Idaho and died there;
Eliza, who married Jacob V. Wilmoth and spent her life
in Barbour County; Caroline, who died at the old family
home, the wife of Arthur Hudkins; Emily, who married
George Skidmore and lived and died near Elkins; and Lu-
cinda, who was the wife of James Elliott and died in Bar-
bour County.
Richard M. Johnson, father of Raymond W. Johnson, was
born in Glade District May 10, 1840, and devoted his career
to farming and the manufacture of lumber. He acquired a
fair education, was a very ardent democrat, but never went
into public life. He is a member of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church, South, and with his wife resides at Parsons,
Tucker County, West Virginia. His wife was Nancy
Gainer, a native of Barbour County, born November 14,
1841, a daughter of Samuel P. Gainer. She is a member
of the same church as her husband. Their children were:
Orvilla D., who died unmarried; Orlando, associated with
his brother Raymond at Philippi; James, a farmer in Glade
District; William Worth, a garage man at Buckhannon;
Troy, a farmer in Randolph County; Johnny G., who died
unmarried; and Raymond W.
Raymond W. Johnson was born in Glade District May
15, 1887. He was a farmer's son and lived on the farm un-
til he was sixteen. When he left home he had only the edu-
cation supplied by the country schools. .For three years he
worked in the lumber woods. He had been accustomed to
hard labor from early youth, and the strenuous work of
the field and the woods was the school in which his destiny
was shaped. He drove team and sawed timber, and after
leaving the woods he engaged in the livery and dray busi-
ness at Parsons. This was the enterprise which supplied
him with the capital he brought to Philippi in 1910 and
turned to account in the livery business. Five years later
he sold out in response to the demands of the farm and en-
gaged in the garage business. With N. S. Parks as a
partner he built at the entrance of the old historic bridge
of the city a brick garage 50x150 feet, with a two story
front. For the first two years he had the local agency for
the Chevrolet car, and since then has been the authorized
Ford agent for this locality. This business is known as the
City Garage, of which he is active manager.
His business interests have been accumulating rapidly
in recent years. In 1920 he resumed the lumber business
as a manufacturer. He operates his mill on Laurel Moun-
tain and ships the product in the rough. He still continues
his farming operations in Glade District and has another
farm in New Interest District of Randolph County. At
times he has bought and sold real estate and has improved
much property in Philippi.
On June 4, 1907, at Cambridge, on the Eastern Shore of
Maryland, Mr. Johnson married Cedocia May. Her father,
Salathiel May, married Miss Arbellon Wolf, both natives of
Preston County, West Virginia. Mrs. Johnson, who was
born October 26, 1884, had the following brothers and sis-
ters: Miss Isis May; Lenora, wife of Albert Harper;
Cyrus, who lives on the Eastern Shore; Ella, wife of Clay
Scott and a resident of Philippi; Mrs. Anice Hoddonott, of
Cambridge, Maryland; Percy May; and Lloyd, who died in
infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two sons, Johnny
Lester, born September 19, 1908, and James Vance, born
June 17, 1912.
Mr. Johnson is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and
Modern Woodmen of America. While his ancestors were all
democrats, he has been a republican since casting his first
ballot for president.
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