Greenbrier County, West Virginia Biography of THE JARRETT FAMILY 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 II, pg. 643-644 Greenbrier THE JARRETT FAMILY. In every community there are certain families deserving of particular consideration, some- times because of the prominence of their members, and again on account of the length of time during which the name has been associated with local history. The Jarrett family is one of those of Greenbrier County which can claim distinction on both counts, for it Is one of the oldest in this section, and those bearing the name have been more than ordinarily active along numerous lines. James Jarrett I came to Greenbrier County in what is now West Virginia, but was then Included in Virginia, in the latter part of the eighteenth century. His first wife be- longed to the Griffith family, and his second one was a Vinson. He was the father of eighteen sons and four daughters born to these two marriages. An extensive land- owner and slaveholder, he was a man of large wealth, and the Jarretts of Southeastern West Virginia are descended from him. One of his sons, James II, married Ruth Gwinn, and they had. twelve children, and one of them was James III, who married Elizabeth Hickman, and after her death, Ann Boyd, and tor his third wife, Julia Ann Ellis. The children of James II were: Samuel, Joseph, Andrew, Ira, Jacob, James III, Belle, Rose, Margaret, Ruth and Delia. The children born to James III were: Margaret Victoria, who married H. H. George, Thompson, Hickman, Floyd, James Henry, Mark and Ira. James II also became a large land- owner, and it appears to be a family practice to invest heavily in real estate. He was a magistrate for a time, and by virtue of this was also county sheriff, ex-officio, but instead of serving as such he turned his office over to his son, James III. James HI was born April 25, 1815, and died January 4, 1884. He probably was the largest landowner among the Jarretts. After the close of the war of the '60s he moved to Monroe County, and was elected to represent it in the State Legislature when the capital was at Wheeling, and discharged the obligations pertaining thereto with dignified capability, as he had those of sheriff of Greenbrier County with effective courage. He was a man of strong mind and unusual intellectual attainments, a shrewd trader, equal to his surroundings in all respects, and by reason of his in- tegrity commanded universal respect. He had exemplary habits, and did not use liquor or tobacco in any form. His effort in life seemed to be to educate his children, to give them a start in life, and to bring them up to the dignity of American citizenship. Thompson Hickman Jarrett, son of James III, was born June 25, 1851, in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. He graduated from Roanoke College, Virginia, in 1877, and for some months thereafter followed the occupation of school- teaching at Henrietta, Texas, but then returned and bought the Andrew Hamilton place near Blue Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County. Here he has since resided, being en- gaged in farming and cattle raising. Ever since the Alderson National Bank was organized in 1909 he has served as its president. Prior to that he had become identified with the Bank of Alderson, of which he was president, which, in 1902, became the First National Bank of Alderson, and served the latter as president until 1909. His father was a republican, but he is a democrat, and he was elected to the State Legislature on his party ticket in 1895, re-elected in 1899, and again in 1901. In 1909 he was elected sheriff of Greenbrier County, and served as such for four years. It is a somewhat remarkable fact that both he and his father served as sheriff of Greenbrier County and in the State Assembly, and he, too, is an ex- tensive landowner, holding a larger amount of acreage than any other man in Greenbrier County. On October 5, 1877, Thompson Hickman Jarrett married Georgie Russell Morgan, and they have the following chil- dren : James H. IV, who is mentioned below; Leake, who is Mrs. D. W. Watts; Vivian, who is Mrs. John Malcom Wood; Nellie Gordon, who married Dr. D. R. Nikell; and Pauline, who is Mrs. J. W. Huff. Of these children James H. Jarrett, IV, married Lelia McClung, and they have eight children: Winnifred, James Hickman, V. Mary, Floyd, Stuart, Georgia, Samuel and Joseph Wing. Mark Jarrett, another son of James III, was born in 1855, find possessed a brilliant mind and achieved high honors. At Roanoke College, where he was educated, he ranked high in oratory, and it was said of him that he stood second only to his father in intellectual attainments among the Jarretts. Becoming a lawyer, he maintained an office at Lewisburg and later at Hinton, West Virginia, and was recognized as an attorney of unusual ability. He married Lula Garst in 1883, moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1886, and died there in October, 1888, passing away in the prime of life and the full power of his capabilities. The only survivor of the children of Mark Jarrett is Mark L. Jarrett, of Alderson. He was born at Portland, Oregon, September 4, 1886, and was there reared. He completed his scholastic training at the University of Virginia, from which he was graduated with honors in 1907, and with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. For two years thereafter he was a law student there, and was admitted to the bar in 1908, and immediately thereafter opened his office at Lewisburg, but he maintains his residence at Alderson. In 1912 Mr. Jarrett was elected prosecuting attorney of Green County, and served very acceptably as such for two years. On September 7, 1907, Mark L. Jarrett married Miss Katherine Hill, of Tama, Iowa, and they have one son, John Franklin. From the above brief record of the Jarrett family it is not difficult to determine the reason for classifying it as distinguished. Its members have in each case cited, proven themselves worthy of the approval and emulation of their associates; they have built up large estates and capably managed them; their contributions to the professions have been noteworthy, and as public officials they have been fearless, upright and dependable. In private life they have been equally trustworthy, and the name has become a synonym for integrity and highest ideals.