Randolph County, West Virginia Biography of HERMAN GUY KUMP 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. 534 Randolph HERMAN GUY KUMP. The practice of the law has been the field in which Herman Guy Kump has made a dis- tinguished career at the city of Elkins. He is one of the prominent younger men at the West Virginia bar, was an officer in the War Department during the World war, is the present mayor of Elkins, and is a member of an old and prominent family in the eastern section of the state. He was born at Capon Springs, Hampshire County, Octo- ber 31, 1877. His great-grandfather. Henry Kump, was a native of Pennsylvania of Holland-Dutch ancestry, served as a Virginia soldier in some of the early Colonial wars and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. And was a pioneer settler in Hampshire County. His son, Jacob Kump, was born in Hampshire County and married Julia Milslagle. Benjamin Franklin Kump, father of the Elkins lawyer, was born in Hampshire County in 1841, served as a confederate soldier in Company K of the Eighteenth Virginia Cavalry, was a life-long democrat in politics and lived in close com- munion with the Presbyterian Church. He died in 1915, having spent his active years on the farm. He married Frances Rudolph, who was born in Hampshire County in 1841, the same year as her husband, and is still living. Her parents, Sylvester and Nancy (Clatter) Rudolph, were also natives of Hampshire County. Nancy Clutter's mother was a Miss Dewing, of a prominent Virginia family of Revolutionary stock. The four children of Benjamin F. Kump and wife were: Garnett Kerr Kump, a lawyer and state senator, a leader in educational and good roads legis- lation, a resident of Romney; Herman Guy; Volnnta, Mrs. E. V. Miller, of Petersburg, West Virginia; and Otelia, deceased wife of John Philip Harness. Herman Guy Kump spent his early life on the farm in Hampshire County, attended the common schools there, and subsequently entered the University of Virginia, where he completed his law course and graduated LL. B. in 1905. Mr. Kump has been in active practice at Elkins since graduation, and had made a successful record as a lawyer before he entered polities. He was elected as democratic candidate in 1908 prosecuting attorney of Randolph County. He was again elected to the same office in 1912. Mr. Kump was elected mayor of Elkins for a term of two years in March, 1921, and as mayor he has given that city a tho- roughly progressive, business-like and economical admin- istration of its affairs. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. Is a past president of the Rotary Club, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Elks, is a member of the American Legion, and attends the Presbyterian Church. He volunteered for service in the World war in June, 1918, and received a commission as captain and was assigned to duty with the Ordnance Department at Washington, con- tinuing there until after the signing of the armistice. Mr. Kump married in 1907 Miss Edna Scott, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Scott, of Elkins. They have a family of six children, as follows: Cyrus Scott, Frances Irvine, Margaret Rudolph, Elizabeth Logan, Mary Gamble and Benjamin Franklin.