SUMMERS COUNTY, (Hinton News) –
*Editor’s Note: Jerry Beasley, President Emeritus and Richard Keith Lilly, Instructor of History, are compiling information on the historical connections between Summers County and Concord University. The information will be presented in four parts, of which this is the first.
The profound connection between Summers County and Concord was evident early in the county’s education system. J. W. Hinkle (1879), a graduate of Concord State Normal School (CSNS), conducted what may have been the first area Teachers’ Institute in 1884 and later became principal of Hinton High School. Other county residents such as George P. Scott (CSNS 1880), James Hurley, A.P. Farley (1881), and J.E. Keadle studied at Concord and made their mark in teaching.
The Hopkins family of Pipestem was perhaps most notable in the late 1800s for the number of sons and daughters who would attend Concord and later teach: William R. Hopkins, Bertha Hopkins, Naomi Hopkins Anderson and Clyde Hopkins, who taught at the Forest Hill Grade School and farmed. Perhaps the longest-tenured teacher in our region, Lewis M. Hopkins taught for an astounding 60 years in the schools of Summers and Mercer counties and served several terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates.
Nannie McCreery (1883) distinguished herself as an early CSNS grad and returned to become one of the first teachers at Hinton High School. Eventually, she joined the Concord faculty and called on her experience to teach future teachers.
Walter Gwinn (1881) of Green Sulphur and Everett Gwinn (1898) of Meadow Creek returned to teach in the county. Although Everett was listed in the 1932 Concord alumni directory as a “farmer,” he was known locally as “Professor” because he taught, but he was generally regarded as the most entrepreneurial resident of Meadow Creek, a booming hamlet at the time. The ”Professor” owned the towns’ water and electric light companies and held controlling stock in the Sewell Bank.
Concord also impacted the medical profession in the county. Initially a barber, Joseph Andrew Fox saved enough money to attend Concord, then medical school in Nashville and returned to Hinton to launch a thriving practice. Robert Neely of Pipestem prepared at Concord for dental school in Cincinnati after which he started a dental practice in Hinton, a professional journey that was emulated by another Pipestem resident, a son of Richard Martin.
Nor was Concord without influence in the legal profession, a vocation that was often preceded by teaching. James H. Miller (1879) was an outstanding student who won prizes for his essays and oratory. After Concord, he taught in the county, studied law with a local attorney, and attended the University of Virginia which prepared him for admission to the bar in 1881. He was county prosecutor for 16 years and elected judge of the 9th Circuit Court. Active in politics, Miller served as chair of the WV Democratic Party. In 1908, he published his history of Summers County, on which much of this article relies. Miller Memorial Methodist Church in Bellepoint is testimony to the influence of Miller and his family.
Frank Lively (1882) practiced law in Hinton, was county prosecutor, state game warden, assistant attorney general, and ultimately a member of the state supreme court. Family members recall that he represented Cabot Gas in the state, service which was compensated partially by an annual gift of a three-piece wool suit that he allegedly wore to summer picnics.
A political altercation that pitted Lively against Col. T. G. Mann (1881) showed that all was not sweetness and light between Concord alums in the area. Charges and countercharges led to the horsewhipping of the Reverend Marshall Higginbotham, editor of Lively’s newspaper “The Blue Pencil,” punishment having been administered by an aggrieved but determined woman.
Farmer and school teacher William H. Sawyers (1891) graduated from Concord and studied law at WVU and Columbia University. Afterward, he gained ownership of Hinton’s “Independent Herald,” which he edited and published. Sawyers was twice elected president of the Greenbrier District board of education and served on the state executive committee of the Democratic Party.
Other Concord grads in the county showed a penchant for writing and publishing. John Jordan (1880) edited “The Mountain Herald.” Joseph M. Meador, whose pen name was “J. Roy Midwinter,” served as county clerk while he achieved national acclaim for his poetry that appeared in newspapers across the country (see Miller’s history for several examples).
Other Concord grads earned distinction during this era in politics. John E. Harvey was county surveyor who, like others, supplemented his income by farming. And, A.G. Meadows was a three-time mayor of Hinton.
Our story would not be complete without mention of the Ewart family. After financial disaster visited the family, they moved to Concord Church (later Athens) so that the children could attend the Normal School. Son Harvey graduated in what Judge Miller called “the famous class of 1879.” His sisters Mary, Ella, and Stella would follow him in quick succession. Harvey would be elected sheriff in 1890, and one sister became a clerk for the C&O and another a teacher at Hinton High School. Harvey, as we shall see, became a critical partner in many of the county’s early development projects.
Although the foregoing accounts of individual achievements are worthy of note, what many of these individuals did together brought more significant and enduring progress to the county.
