History of the American Negro: West Virginia Edition

Henry H. Winters

274 history american negro worship, Rock Slope about the same time, and Cleft for four years. In 1916 he came to West Virginia and accepted the call of the Coal Street Baptist Church of Logan which has greatly prospered under his leadership .A modern brick house of worship has been completed at a cost of more than five thousand dollars, and the congregation has been built up in numbers and influence. In politics Mr. Williams is a Republican and among the secret orders, he holds membership in the Pythians. Next after the Bible his favorite reading is biography. In March 1905, Mr. Williams married Miss Annie Parker of Columbus, Ga. She bore him one child, Nathan Williams. Mrs. Williams was called to her reward in April 1918. Mr. Williams has observed and studied conditions among his people in the rural districts and in the cities, on the farm and at industrial centers, and he believes that the greatest need of the race today can be summed up in the single word “Education.” Henry H. Winters In this day of crass commercialism when so many things are keyed to the sign of the dollar, it is refreshing to find a man like Prof. Henry Hunter Winters, who in the face of difficulties, dared to aspire to a place of large usefulness, and who achieved it because he was willing to serve. This spirit of service to the race in particular and to mankind in general has perhaps been the compelling motive of his life. He is a native of Rippon, W. Va., where he was born on March 10, 1860, only a year before the outbreak of the titanic struggle which was to bring freedom to him and to his people. His father, John Winters , was a gardener. The mother of our subject, Anna Russ was the daughter of Henry and Lucinda Russ. The grandmother reared Henry Winters and he acknowledges with humble gratitude that his success in life was due to the fact that she aroused in him a desire for an educa- henry hunter winters 276 history american negro tion. Deprived of the assistance and guidance of a father, he had from the beginning to struggle in the face of difficulties which would have defeated a less courageous soul. One thing in his favor was the fact that he was never afraid to work. Sometimes his food was insufficient and his clothes were scanty, but he persisted and won in the end. He laid the foundation of his education in the public schools, from which he passed to Storer College, graduating in 1880. He was assistant pupil teacher in that institution. In 1881 he began teaching in the public schools of Maryland, and for forty years has been actively engaged in educational work. His first school was in Frederick County, Md., where he taught one year. In 1882 he took charge of the public school at Summit Point, Jefferson County, W. Va., over which he presided for twenty years, and resigned to become teacher of agriculture at Storer College at Harpers Ferry. He has held this position for eighteen years. Prof. Winters has lived to enjoy that most enduring satisfaction of the teacher, which is to see his students grow up and themselves become teachers and useful citizens. In 1884 Prof. Winters was appointed one of the instructors in Jefferson County for teachers and has done a great deal of institute work. In politics he is a Republican. He belongs to the Baptist Church, in which he is a deacon and assistant superintendent of the Sunday School, and for thirty years has been clerk of the Free Baptist Quarterly Conference. Among the secret and benevolent orders, he belongs to the Masons and the True Reformers. He was for four years Grand Master of the Masons in West Virginia. He is of the opinion that the progress of the race may be promoted “by being self supporting and respecting the dignity of labor.” On February 22, 1892, Prof. Winters married Miss Elizabeth Cornelius Lincoln, daughter of Harvey A. and Mary Ellen Lincoln, of Wadesville, Va. She was educated at Storer College. They have four children: Eva Ellen, (Mrs. McCray) formerly a teacher; Florida Anna Elizabeth, also a successful teacher; Henry Hunter, Jr.; and Lincoln Hall Winters. john dabney woodfork 278 history american negro Prof. Winters’s...