Barbour County, West Virginia Biography of Garrison J. STALNAKER 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. 328-329 GARRISON J. STALNAKER, of Belington, Barbour County, is a popular representative of one of the old and honored pioneer families of what is now West Virginia—a family that has contributed much to the civic and industrial devel- opment and progress of this favored commonwealth. He was born on a farm near the present village of Gilman, Randolph County, June 11, 1858, and he was a lad about seven years when the family home was established, in the spring of 1865, on a spot that is now within the corporate limits of the City of Belington and near the old home of John Belin, in whose honor the city was named. Granville Stalnaker, father of Garrison J., was born and reared on a farm in Randolph County, and in his home community was solemnized his marriage to Mary, a daughter of Jacob Hilkey, who was born near Patterson and who passed his mature life as a farmer in Randolph County. Granville Stalnaker became one of the substantial farmers of Barbour County, and was fifty-four years of age at the time of his death, his wife having died in 1867, and Garri- son John, of this review, was the only child of this union. The father subsequently contracted a second marriage, with Amanda Phillips, and she likewise preceded him to the life eternal. His father, Garrettson Stalnaker, who passed his entire life in Randolph County, was a son of Isaac Stal- naker, a native of Virginia and of German ancestry, the family having been founded in Virginia in the Colonial days. Garrettson Stalnaker married Rachel Taylor, and their mortal remains rest in a little cemetery near Gilman, Randolph County. They became the parents of six children: Granville, Hyre, Tallman, Alfred, Almira (Mrs. Randolph Phares) and Elizabeth (Mrs. Haymond Summerfield). Al- fred Stalnaker was identified with the Union service in the Civil war. Garrison J. Stalnaker received the advantages of the rural schools and also attended select schools. As a youth he taught two terms of school, and his success gave evi- dence that he had profited by the scholastic advantages that had been his. He thereafter initiated his independent career as a farmer, and after a time he engaged in the operation of a sawmill, he having been for nine years a manufacturer of lumber in Barbour, Randolph and Upshur counties. He finally sold his lumber mill and business and confined his activities to the management of his farm, though his sons now have charge of the productive affairs of the excellent old homestead farm, where they are giving special attention to dairy farming and supply milk to the City of Belington. As a prerequisite in the dairy business a modern silo was erected on the farm, and thereafter was built a dairy barn with cement floor and drain, improved stanchions, adjustable feeding troughs, watering system, and an effective ventilating system. From a modest in- ception this has been developed into one of the best dairy plants in this section of the state. Mr. Stalnaker is a charter stockholder and a director of the Citizens National Bank of Belington. He served four years as justice of the peace, and had the distinction of being the first mayor of Belington, an office to which he was later elected for a second time. He played a large part in organizing and making effective the municipal government of Belington, and in 1900 he was elected a commissioner of the County Court, a position which he retained for the prescribed term of six years. Within this period the new Court House was completed, and he also supported the granting of licenses to saloons, as he and other members of the County Court believed such action would be better than the toleration of all manner of surreptions and often disgraceful sales places for liquor. His attitude in this matter brought to him criticism on the part of the prohibition element, but his conviction as to the question was not changed thereby, but he had no desire for re-election to office. He is a stanch advocate of the cause of the republican party, and his service to the com- munity has included his incumbency of the position of city recorder of Belington and deputy sheriff of the County, under Sheriff A. F. Bennett. He and his wife hold mem- bership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. In May, 1879, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Stal- naker and Miss Mary Magnolia Newlon, who was born at the "bend of the river" near Mount Liberty, Barbour County, in October, 1861, a daughter of Burr P. and Sallie Ann (Lake) Newlon. The Newlon family was established in Taylor County in the early pioneer days. Mrs. Stal- naker is one of a family of ten children, the names being here recorded: Elijah, Adolphus, Benjamin, Charles, Melissa (Mrs. Ira Shockey), Virginia (Mrs. Frank Shockey), Amanda (Mrs. Andrew McCauley), Olive (widow of War- ren Shurtleff), Mary M. (Mrs. Garrison J. Stalnaker), and Martha (Mrs. C. W. Hillyard). Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Stalnaker the eldest was Allman J., who was cashier of the Citizens National Bank of Belington at the time of his death. He married Mannah E. Holbert, who survives him, as does also their one child, Edrie. Porter B., the second son, is one of the principals in the conduct- ing of the Stalnaker dairy farm. He married Rose Harvey, and they have two children, Neil and William. Lenora is the wife of Frederick E. Thompson, of Belington, of whom individual mention is made on other pages. Leoral O. is identified with the family dairy farm. The maiden name of his wife was Opal Williamson, and their two children are Dillon and Wilda. Mary Ila, the youngest of the family of children, died in infancy.