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BRAXTON COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA
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Submitted to the West Virginia Biographies Project by:
Valerie & Tommy Crook
vfcrook@trellis.net
November 8, 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. 299-300
Braxton
J. H. HUTCHISON. Prominent among the officials of
Braxton County, one who has won and held the confidence
of the people by reason of long, capable and faithful dis-
charge of public responsibilities is J. H. Hutchison, occupy-
ing the office of sheriff. For a long period of years he was
engaged in educational work, a field in which he became well
acquainted with his fellow-citizens in various parts of the
county, and during his entire career has been known as a
straightforward and courageous executive in each of his
several positions of authority.
Born in Braxton County, February 13, 1884, Mr. Hutchi-
son is a son of William and Esther C. (Jones) Hutchison.
His great-great-grandfather was Jacob Hutchison, who, on
June 27, 1797, married Hannah MacMillan, and they had
four children: John, born May 4, 1798; William, born
May 6, 1800; Jacob, born May 22, 1802; and Joseph, born
July 23, 1804. William Hutchison, of this family, great-
grandfather of Sheriff Hutchison, married Jane MacMillan,
and they had seven children: Nathan, Hannah, Joseph,
Felix, Virginia, Miles M. and Ann. Of these Felix, the
grandfather of Sheriff Hntchison, married Ann E. Kincely,
and they had the following children: William, Henderson
B., John R., Elizabeth J., Ellis Lee, Nancy P., Clark and
Winfield S.
William Hutchison, father of Sheriff Hutchison, was born
in Braxton County, September 12, 1853, and was reared on a
farm, his education being acquired in the country schools.
He married in this county Esther C. Jones, who was born in
Highland County, Virginia, April 15, 1854, and was about
twenty years of age when she came to Braxton County.
Following their marriage they settled on a farm near Flat-
woods, West Virginia, where Mr. Hutchison was engaged
in agricultural operations for twenty-two years. He then
retired from active pursuits and lived quietly until his
death, which occurred March 27, 1920. In polities he was a
republican, and his religious faith was that of the Methodist
Protestant Church. Mrs. Hutchison, who survives her hus-
band and resides on the old home farm with one of her sons,
belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. She and
her husband were the parents of four children: O. C., an
agriculturist carrying on operations in Braxton County;
Willis Lee, who died June 16, 1910; J. H., of this notice;
and W. F., a farmer, who is married and lives on the old
home place, which he operates for his mother.
J. H. Hutchison was reared on the old home farm near
Flatwoods, and received good educational advantages in the
public school and the normal school at Glennville. After
teaching in the public schools for eighteen terms he was
elected and served four years as county superintendent of
the Braxton County free schools, then becoming the repub-
lican candidate for sheriff, an office to which he was elected
by a good majority and in which he is still serving. His
record is a splendid one, and under his administration the
law has been strictly enforced and has been given the re-
spect which is its due. His deputies at this time are G. S.
Hamrick, office deputy; and W. M. Toulim, field deputy.
On December 25, 1906, Mr. Hutchison married Blanche
Mearns, who was born near Rock Cove, Upshur County,
West Virginia, and educated in the common schools. To
this union there have been born four children: Bernard M.,
who is attending high school; and William M., Velena M.
and James Hollis, pupils of the graded school. Mrs.
Hutchison is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church
and her husband of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Fraternally he is affiliated with Corley Lodge No. 38, K. P.;
and Bulltown Lodge No. 283, I. O. O. F. Mr. Hutchison
is a man of considerable means, being the owner of a farm
of 350 acres and one of the directors in the Bank of Sutton,
West Virginia, in the county seat of Braxton County, where
he resides in a comfortable and attractive home, surrounded
by all conveniences and the center of a group of admiring
friends.
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