SAMUEL SPERRY VINSON AND FAMILY Source: Wallace, George Selden. Cabell County Annals and Families. Garrett and Massie, Publisher, Richmond, Virginia, 1935. Pages 505-508. One of the most picturesque of all the pioneers of this region was the late Samuel Sperry Vinson, whose wife, "Aunt Polly," was known, as he was, far and wide in Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. Sam Vinson was a man of reckless courage, a dominant man, generous to a fault, and so widespread were his interests, and such were the claims on his hospitality, that it was a saying that "at times Aunt Polly Vinson fed more people than they fed at the Florentine Hotel," which was the leading hostelry of its day. No one was ever turned away hungry from the door of their homestead. When the Civil War broke out, Sam Vinson cast his lot with the Confederate States. He had a grey uniform made with yellow stripes up and down the seams of his pants, and having donned the same, proceeded to have himself ferried across the Big Sandy River from the Kentucky to the Virginia side of the river. Slapping the seams of his trousers with his broad palm, he remarked to the ferryman, who was his kinsman, but a man of pronounced Northern sympathies: "The next time you see these, you can shoot at them!" He had enlisted in June, 1861, in the Confederate Army, 8th Virginia Cavalry, where he commanded a company, with the rank of first lieutenant. He served until March, 1865, when he was captured by guerrillas and taken to Lexington, Kentucky. Having given his oath not to take up arms, he reached home just before the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. He suffered two wounds during the four years he served with the Stars and Bars, and one of the most intesting events in his career as a soldier occurred in what is now Fayette County. The Federal forces had their headquarters at Gauley Bridge, and there was a scout named Lamb who operated in Fayette and adjoining counties. He was a fine looking man, and a very efficient scout. He rode with his carbine in his right hand--cocked-- with its butt resting on his thigh. The country people called him the Pet Lamb, and, of course, he was hated by the Southern folks. One gloomy winter afternoon Sam Vinson came along accompanied by a single companion, and learned that the Pet Lamb was in the neighborhood, and Vinson started after him. Vinson learned that the Pet Lamb had gone to the home of Fenton Morris not far from Boomer Creek, and he went straight there. Mr. Morris tried to dissuade Vinson from attacking Lamb, for fear that the Federal forces might burn his home, but Vinson was not to be dissuaded and went into the house and found that Lamb and another soldier had retired to the upstairs. He asked that he be shown the room, but this was refused. A boy in the family indicated with his hand which room they were in. Vinson's companion did not want to go any further. Thereupon Vinson took a candle in one hand, and his pistol in the other, and ascended the stairs, and knowcked on the door of Lamb's room, and demanded admittance which was refused. Vinson then kicked the door down, and both of the men on the inside attempted to shoot him, but for some reason their guns failed to fire, and he shot and killed them both. Sam Vinson was born in Lawrence County, Kentucky, on April 14, 1833, on the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy, but moved to Wayne County when he was two years old, and except for a period of eight or nine years spent in Lawrence County, Kentucky, he lived in Wayne County until his death, June 19, 1904. At the peak of his affairs, Sam Vinson owned over 10,000 acres of land on or near the Ohio and Big Sandy rivers in West Virginia and Kentucky. He was intense in his friendships and his hates though withal a devoutly religious man, and generous to a fault. He was one of the founders of the Christian Church in Wayne County in 1882. The Vinson family is necessarily identified with the history of Huntington and Cabell County. Their old home place, near Kellogg, just across the Cabell-Wayne line, was long one of the show places of the Valley. His sons, Taylor and Lindsay Vinson, played a prominent part in the affairs of Huntington, as did his daughter(s), Mrs. Belle Vinson Hughes (and Mary Vinson Clark). It is no exaggeration to say that Sam Vinson was typical of the early American pioneer stock such as has made this a great nation. Robust, handsome in appearance, dashing in manner, utterly unafraid, he exercised a great influence in the history of this locality throughout his unusually active life. He was the son of James and Rhoda Sperry Vinson (of Stephen Marcum and Rhoda Sperry Vinson, according to the 1880 Wayne Annotated Census, published by Wayne County Genealogical and Historical Society). He married Mary Damron, a daughter of Samuel and Vashti (Jarrell) Damron. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Vinson were as follows: Tennesse, b. June 4, 1852; Zachary Taylor, December 22 1857, died January 30, 1929; Josephine, February 10, 1862; William, January 1, 1866; Ida Belle, July 30, 1868, who married Congressman James A. Hughes; Lynn Boyd, September 25, 1871; Lindsay T., August 28, 1874, long a prominent physician in Huntington; and Mary, February 16, 1878, who married Donald Clark. Taylor Vinson, one of the sons of Sam Vinson, was long a prominent attorney in West Virginia, and as well a powerful figure in finance, politics, and civic affairs. He had many of the qualities of his father, and after he began the practice of law he represented his father in a number of law suits, but said that his father was the most difficult client that he ever had for the reason that he insisted on managing his own cases. Taylor Vinson was educated in the common schools of Wayne County, was graduated from Bethany College in 1878, attended the law school at the University of Virginia, and the Boston University Law School. He was admitted to practice in 1886, and a short time afterwards located in Huntington, where he became a partner with the late Judge Thomas H. Harvey in the firm of Harvey, Vinson and McDonald. Judge Harvey went on the bench, and in 1892 the firm became Vinson, Thompson and McDonald, and a year later Mr. McDonald died. Taylor Vinson, as he was called, had a part in, and made a substantial sum of money in the building of the Huntington and Big Sandy Railroad, now a part of the Baltimore and Ohio system. He was a loyal and devoted son, and when business reverses overtook his father in the panic of 1893-94, Taylor put his entire fortune at his father's disposal with the result that it was wiped out. Then came the campaign of 1896, and Sam Vinson, his father, remained regular and supported the Bryan ticket. Taylor was a Gold Democrat. He and his father had several debates to the amusement and delight of their friends and relatives. A short time after this, Taylor was stricken with an illness and remained in bed for several years. His fortune was gone, and he was unable to practice law. He was not one bit discouraged, but laid on his bed, read, and enjoyed his friends. His health returned at the turn of the century, and he immediately brought about the sale of a boundary of coal land in Logan County to the Island Creek group, and out of the commission he was able to pay off his old debts. He shared these commissions with some associate, who had assisted him in the deal, and from that time he dealt in coal land and became comfortably well off. He was a good lawyer, a most plausible advocate, and was a powerful figure in State affairs. He married on June 19, 1901, at Richmond, Virginia, Mary Chafin, daughter of Richard and Sarah Harvie Chafin, and who is a descendant from Colonel John Harvie, member of the Virginia Convention, 1775, and who served as a colonel during the Revolutionary War. To this union was born on February 7, 1904, a son Taylor Vinson, Junior, who after being educated at Bethany College and the Universit of Virginia, was admitted to the bar in 1930, and is now associated with the law firm of Vinson, Thompson, Meek, and Scherr. Taylor Vinson, Junior, married Betty Jane Nelson, daughter of C. P. Nelson, and to them has been born a son, who is named for his grandfather, Z. Taylor Vinson. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- USGenWeb Project NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express written permission from the author, or the submitter and from the listed USGenWeb Project archivist.