Upshur County, West Virginia Biography of VERNON LEE BENNETT 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. 413 VERNON LEE BENNETT is a veteran business man of Rock Cave, Upshur County, where for nearly forty years he has conducted a jewelry store. Mr. Bennett was born in Lewis County, West Virginia, May 6, 1861, son of James M. and Jemima S. (Wilson) Bennett. His father, a native of Lewis County and a tanner by trade, was a first cousin to Judge George Ben- nett and Lewis Bennett. Vernon Lee Bennett grew up on a farm at Glady Fork, received a common school educa- tion, and found his interests and activities centered in the home farm until he was twenty-two years of age. On April 15, 1884, Mr. Bennett began business at Rock Cave by opening a small stock of jewelry merchandise. He has been in business ever since, making his store respon- sive to the new ideas and developments of the community, is owner of a prosperous business, also has 100 acres of land in Lewis County, and derives a valuable income from a seven-acre peach orchard. His material prosperity is only a merited reward of so many years of work and management, and at the same time he enjoys the complete respect and confidence of his old friends and associates here. December 11, 1890, Mr. Bennett married Delia V. Boggs, a sister of Robert C. Boggs, the hotel proprietor at Rock Cave. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett are members of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, South, in which Mr. Bennett is a trustee, steward and a member of the Official Board. He is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Junior Order United American Mechanics, and votes as a democrat, but has had no desire at any time to hold office.