Nicholas County, West Virginia Biography of Lanty H. WALKER 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. 313-314 LANTY H. WALKER. No more genial, better informed or diplomatic class of men can be found than those identified with the sales departments of the larger mercantile houses and department stores, for the nature of their work de- mands the possession of these attributes in order that they may succeed. Outside of the big cities the manager of the department store is supposed to have a wide acquaintance and to be familiar with the opinions and tastes of his cus- tomers, likewise a good salesman. Salesmanship is an art, involving an intimate knowledge of psychology, and a man's status as being an expert salesman carries the implication of a wide-spread popularity, a cleverly trained mind and a more than adequate equipment in other directions. In none of these attributes is Lanty H. Walker found lacking, and it is because of their possession, as much as anything else, that he is making a creditable success of the enterprise of which he is manager at Burnsville, the Walker Department Store. Mr. Walker was born in Nicholas County, West Virginia, October 21, 1888, and is a son of L. O. and May L. (Eads) Walker. L. O. Walker was born at Tipton, Nicholas County, October 3, 1845, and was reared in his native county on a farm, securing his educational training in the district schools of the rural communities. On reaching manhood he met and married May L. Eads, who was born in Roanoke County, Virginia, October 4, 1860, and was brought as a child by her parents to Nicholas County, West Virginia, where she attended the public schools. Following their mar- riage Mr. and Mrs. Walker settled on a farm, and for some time devoted their whole attention thereto. Later they started a small store, handling only the more common neces- sities, and this soon grew to be quite an enterprise, neces- sitating much more attention. In 1900 Mr. Walker decided upon a more aspiring venture and moved his stock of goods to Summersville, where he carried on a successful mer- cantile business until selling out and going to Gad, West Virginia, where he likewise carried on an enterprise of this nature. In 1913 he made another change, this time coming to settle permanently at Burnsville, where he remained in business until his death in 1919. At the start of his career Mr. Walker was only a son of the soil, without any spe- cialized training for business pursuits, but possessing the inherent ability so necessary to the man who would succeed in the marts of commerce and trade. He was likewise a man of the strictest integrity and had the confidence, well- merited, of those associated with him in any enterprise. He was a democrat in politics, but did not seek public favor or preferment as a holder of public office. His religious affilia- tion was with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to which also belongs Mrs. Walker, who survives him as a resident of Burnsville. They were the parents of nine chil- dren, of whom seven are living in 1922, as follows: Ora, the wife of A. E. Legg; Ollie, the wife of C. L. Evans; Laura, the wife of Dr. E. J. Summers; Bertha, the wife of E. V. Summers; Lanty H., of this record; Mamie, the wife of W. Lambert; and Pearl, the wife of Hugh Mearns. Lanty H. Walker was born on a farm, but much of his boyhood was passed in the environment of small towns, where he secured his education in the public schools. From the start his business training was along commercial and mercantile lines, for when he was but a youth he entered his father's store and learned the business in all its details. At Burnsville he was associated with his father in the Walker Department Store until the elder man's death, since which time he has been managing the business for his mother. Mr. Walker is a man of energy and of ideas, and is conducting the establishment along the same policy of straightforward dealing and honest representation that gained it a reputa- tion under his father's management. He is a democrat in politics, but has not found time to enter political matters, although a public-spirited citizen of civic pride who assists good movements which promise municipal advancement. Fraternally he is a popular member of Burnsville Lodge No. 87, A. P. and A. M., and his religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.