Jefferson County, West Virginia Biography of John James SKINNER This biography was submitted by Sue Schell, 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. 399 BIO: John James Skinner, Jefferson Co., WV John James Skinner, who is now (1922) serving as county surveyor of his native county, maintains his home at Charles Town, Jefferson county, in which place he was born August 11, 1882. His father, Charles G. Skinner, was born on a farm lying on the line between Fauquier and Loudoun counties, Virginia, January 26, 1844, and in the same locality the latter’s father, James Skinner, was born about the year 1813, a son of Gabriel Skinner who was one of the representative pioneer farmers of that district, he having been of Scotch ancestry. His wife, whose maiden name was Betsey Jackson, was a member of the well known Maryland family of that name, and she was ninety years if age at the time of her death. James Skinner was one if the substantial farmers of Loudoun County at the time of his death, when sixty-two years of age. In that county was born his wife, Jane (Turner) Skinner, her father, Charles Turner, having owned and operated a gristmill at Millsville, that county. His wife, whose maiden name was Agnes Gulick, passed her entire life in that county. Their children were six in number: William Jefferson, Mary V., Edgar, Charles G., Fannie and James H. Charles G. Skinner was reared on the home farm and gained his early education in the subscription schools of the locality and period. In 1862 he entered the service of the Confederacy, as a member of Company A, Seventh Virginia Calvary, commanded by General Ashby. On the 23d of May of the same year he was wounded, in the battle at Buckton, Virginia, and his consequent physical disability led to his honorable discharge. About one year later he entered the commissary department of the Confederate Army, and in this connection he continued his loyal service until the close of the Civil war. In the autumn of 1865 Mr. Skinner went to Mississippi, where he was identified with the raising of cotton for a period of one year. He passed the following year in Fauquier County, Virginia, an in the fall of 1867 established his home at Charles Town, West Virginia. Here he was clerk in a hardware store for the ensuing seven years, and during the ensuing two years he was engaged in the merchandise business at Harrisonburg, Virginia. He then removed to his farm, seven miles distant from that place, where he remained until 1900. He then sold the farm and removed to Rectortown, Fauquier County, Virginia, where he served about ten years as magistrate. In 1908 he established his residence at Charles Town, where he has since lived retired. In 1874 he married Lucy M. Locke, who was born at Charles Town in 1841. Her father, William F. Locke, was born in Frederick County, Virginia, and became a leading merchant at Charles Town, besides which he became the owner of large tracts of land in Jefferson County. He served a number of years as magistrate, and was the presiding justice of the County Court. He was about fifty-five years of age at the time of his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Rachel Myers, was born in Pennsylvania. Lucy M. Locke Skinner died in 1907, the mother of two sons. Charles Locke, the elder son, graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, in 1897, and he was a representative physician and surgeon at Charles Town at the time of his death, in 1917. His wife, Edna C., a daughter of James H. and Ellen (Cochran) Skinner, survives him, as do also their three sons and one daughter. John J. Skinner profited by the advantages of the public schools of Charles Town and thereafter took a technical course in the University of Virginia. After leaving this institution he did a large amount of effective work as a chemist and civil engineer for various industrial corporations, and the year 1922 finds him the efficient and popular incumbent of the office of county surveyor of Jefferson County. Mr. Skinner is affiliated with the Blue Lodge and Chapter organizations of York Rite Masonry, and his political allegiance is given to the democratic party. In 1903 Mr. Skinner wedded Miss Elizabeth Jane Skinner, daughter of James H. and Ellen Cochran) Skinner, and the five children of this union are James, John, Ellen, Charles and Elizabeth.