Barbour County, West Virginia Biography of Charles W. SHOMO This biography was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 309 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 else- where 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 West- era 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, at- tended 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 les- sons. He finished teaching in the West Junior School. Giv- ing 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.