Lewis County, West Virginia    Biography of Porter ARNOLD

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Submitted by Valerie Crook, <vfcrook@earthlink.net>, July 1999
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The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., 
Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 181


PORTER ARNOLD, president of the Bank of Weston, at
Weston, judicial center of Lewis County, was born in
this attractive little city on the 25th of October, 1866,
and is a son of George J. and Anna (Swick) Arnold.
The former was born in Virginia, in 1817, and was reared
and educated in what is now Lewis County, West Vir-
ginia, where his father became a pioneer farmer and
substantial and honored citizen. George J. Arnold received
the advantages of the common schools, and his early expe-
riences were those of the farm, his wife, who was born in
this county, in 1837, having likewise been reared on a
farm. As a young man George J. Arnold studied law and
gained admission to the bar.  He and his wife estab-
lished their home at Weston, and here he continued in
the practice of his profession until he retired and returned
to his farm, where he passed the remainder of his life. He
became a representative member of the bar of Lewis
County, and was a man of marked business ability also.
He was one of the largest landowners of Lewis County
at the time of his death. Both he and his wife were earnest
communicants of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and
he was a leader in the local councils of the democratic
party. He served one term in the State Legislature, and
was also nominated for county judge, but was defeated
Of the eight children five are living, the subject of this
sketch being the eldest of the number: Genevieve is the
wife of Dr. T. J. W. Brown, of Washington, District of
Columbia; Maude, a graduate of the college at Winchester,
Virginia, is the wife of E. A. Gillen; Jackson, who was
graduated in law, is now at the head of the state police
of West Virginia; and Flora, the widow of Lee Gowell,
resides at Sutton, Braxton County.

After completing his studies in the public schools Por-
ter Arnold entered Rockhill College, near Baltimore, Mary-
land, and after leaving this institution he had charge of
his father's farm until the. time of his marriage, February 
14, 1900, to Miss Bernice Alkire, who is a graduate of
Luthersville College. After his marriage Mr. Arnold not
only continued his association with farm enterprise and
the buying and shipping of live stock, but also engaged in
the mercantile business at Weston, where he is still iden-
tified with this line of business.  He served for a long
period as a director of the National Exchange Bank, and
in 1908 he became one of the organizers of the Bank of
Weston, of which he has since served consecutively as
the president, George W. Wilson being vice president and
W. A. Edwards, the cashier, the directorate including these
officers and also Charles M. Snaith, Lot Hall, Frank Mertz
and Riley Gugg. Mr. Arnold is the owner of a fine landed
estate of 1025 acres in Lewis County. He is a stanch
democrat, and was at one time his party's candidate for
county sheriff.  He is affiliated with the local lodge of
Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife are communicants
of the Protestant Episcopal Church. They have five chil-
dren: Eugenia, Margaret, Elizabeth, John P. and Samuel
J.  Eugenia is a graduate of the exclusive school of
Stewart's Hall, Virginia, and Margaret is a graduate of
the Weston High School. The family home is a center of
gracious hospitality and is the stage of much of the repre-
sentative social life of the community.