Harrison County, West Virginia Biography of S. ORESTES BOND This file 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. 201-202 S. ORESTES BOND, whose career since early manhood has represented a successful devotion to the cause of educa- tion, is president of Salem College, an institution that has trained several generations of young men and women and is one of the notable schools of West Virginia. The school is conduetpd under the auspices of the Seventh Day Bap- tist Church. The Bond family for a number of genera- tions have been active in this religious faith. Mr. Bond was born on a farm in Upshur County, West Virginia, August 12 1877, and is member of an old Ameri- can family, being a descendant of Samuel Bond, a native of England, who after coming to America married Ann Sharpless and settled in Maryland. Their son. Richard Bond, was born in Maryland, and Levi, a son of Richard, was also born in that state. Brumfield Bond, grandfather of Orestes Bond, was born and reared in Harrison County. West Virginia, where his parents were early settlers. He married Belinda Hoffman, also a native of Harrison County. The parents of Orestes Bond were Levi Davis and Vic- toria (Arnold) Bond. The latter was born in Barbour County, West Virginia, daughter of Moses Arnold, a native of the same county and of old Virginia ancestry. Levi Davis Bond was born in Upshur County, and still lives there, at the venerable age of eighty-two. His active inter- ests were those of a farmer and stockraiser, and he was a pioneer breeder of pure bred stock, especially cattle and sheep. His first wife died, leaving two children, S. Orestes and Emery H. Bond. His second wife was Byrd Queen, and they have a son, Esle Bond, still living with his parents at their old homestead in Upshur County. S. Orestes Bond was about eight years of age when his mother died. He acquired his early education in the rural schools, and at the age of nineteen began teaching in a country district. For several years he alternated between teaching and attending school himself. Mr. Bond is an alumnus of the college over which he now presides. He graduated from Salem in 1904. In 1909 he received his A. B. degree from West Virginia University, and in 1913 he won the Master of Arts degree from Columbia Uni- versity of New York City. In 1914 he did an additional year of graduate study in Columbia University. Mr. Bond had fourteen years of active experience as a teacher of the public schools of West Virginia. For five years he taught in normal schools, one year as acting principal of the Glen- ville State Normal and four years as head of the educa- tional department of Shepherd College State Normal School. Mr. Bond returned to Salem College for the summer of 1919 to conduct a summer course, and a few weeks later, upon the resignation of the President, Dr. C. B. Clark, Mr. Bond was chosen his successor. He has brought a large experience in the educational field to the administration of the splendid old educational institution. He has been a member of the West Virginia State Education Associa- tion since 1906, of the National Education Association since 1912, and of the Society for the Study of Education, since 1913. He was reared and has always been loyal to the religious faith of his parents, the Seventh Day Baptist Church. Mr. Bond in 1904 married Miss Venie Hagerty, of Har- rison County.