Pleasants County, West Virginia Biography of ROBERT LANDON PEMBERTON 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. 464 ROBERT LANDON PEMBERTON was born in Pennington, Lancashire, England, March 9, 1860, the son of Robert and Abigail B. (Landon) Pemberton. His grandfather was Joseph Pemberton and his great-grandfather, John Ball Pemberton. In the spring of 1863 Robert Pember- ton, at the age of fifty, came to America, locating near Philadelphia, and enlisted in Company I of the Pennsyl- vania Volunteers to repel the invasion of the state by the Confederates under Lee. In the fall of the same year he was joined by his wife and children-two daughters and the son, Robert. In 1865 the family removed to Alleghany; in 1870, to Wellsburg, West Virginia; and in 1873, to New Martins- ville, in the same state. In the last named town the boy, Robert L., began learning the trade of printer in the office of the Labor Vindicator, edited and published by Daniel Long. It was the first paper printed in Wetzel County. This was in the year 1875, and his connection with the paper afforded him opportunity to publish verses and other articles of his own composition. In 1877 the Labor Vindicator ceased, and in that fall he went to St. Marys as printer of The Watchword, the first paper published in Pleasants County, Rev. F. M. Yates being owner and editor. This paper suspending, he taught the country school at Mount Olive, below St. Marys, the following winter, having passed an examina- tion which entitled him to a first-class certificate. For several years after this he was employed in print- ing establishments at various places. On November 24, 1886, he married Margaret C., daughter of Robert Alex- ander and Annie Carroll Gallaher, and to them were born two children, Margaret and Robert, the latter dying in infancy. Mr. Pemberton taught one term as assistant principal of the New Martinsville High School and six years was prin- cipal of the St. Marys School. In 1890 he was employed by the Census Bureau in Washington and New York, re- signing in 1891, when he read law and was admitted to the bar. In 1894 he was elected superintendent of schools for Pleasants County, serving four years. In 1910 he was elected a member of the House of Delegates, in which he was appointed chairman of the committee on printing, of the committee of executive buildings, and was a mem- ber of several other committees. In 1902 he became part owner of the St. Marys Oracle, and in 1911 became sole owner, improving the plant by installing new presses and linotype machines. He has contributed short stories and occassionally verse to eastern newspapers and magazines. For several years he conducted a column of verse and prose under the head of "Random Remarks" in the Oracle, and has published two volumes of verse, one entitled "Random Rhymes" and the other "Songs in Merry Mood." In the last five years he has written several serial stories. During twenty- five years he has been trustee and senior warden of the Episcopal Church of St. Marys. He is a member of the West Virginia Press Association, and also a member of the American Press Humorists.