ROBERT M. FRENCH

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 365

ROBERT M. FRENCH has earned real distinction in the
financial life of Raleigh County. Throughout his active
manhood he has been in the service of the oldest bank of
the county, the Bank of Raleigh, and is now cashier of
that institution, which ranks among the strongest banks in
this section of the state.

Mr. French was born at Logan, West Virginia, December
17. 1888, son of Millard F. and Ellen (Wilburn) French,
both natives of Virginia. His ancestors were soldiers in the
Revolution, and his grandfather was Henderson French, a
farmer and blacksmith. Millard F. French was a physician,
and practiced a number of years at Logan and later at
Beckley, where he died in 1908. He was an elder in the
Christian Church and a member of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows. The mother is still living at Beckley.

Robert M. French as a boy attended the common schools
at Logan, graduated in 1907 from the State Normal School
at Athens, and also spent two years in West Virginia Uni-
versity at Morgantown. About the close of his university
career Mr. French entered the Bank of Raleigh as book-
keeper.  Two years later he was advanced to assistant
cashier, a post he held six years, and since then has been
cashier, and for eight years has been one of the bank
directors. The Bank of Raleigh was established in 1899,
and its stockholders and directors have included many of
the most substantial men of Raleigh County. During the
World war Mr. French was connected with all the bond
drives in Raleigh County.

At Athens, West Virginia, in 1912, he married Hattie L.
Vermillion, daughter of S. I. and Rhoda (Bird) Vermil-
lion, natives of West Virginia. Her mother is now de-
ceased. Her father is a surviving Confederate veteran who
served with the Virginia Regiment of Cavalry, and among
other battles was at Gettysburg. He followed farming as
his active vocation. Mr. and Mrs. French have two children,
Robert M., Jr., and Elizabeth Ann. The family are mem-
bers of the Christian Church, and he is a Royal Arch
Mason, a Knight of Pythias and a member of the Rotary
Club.