History of the American Negro: West Virginia Edition

Gurnett E. Ferguson

310 history american negro of old, leaving their nets to follow the Master, he laid down his tools to take up the Bible, and went to Morgan College, Baltimore, for two years more of literary work. He was licensed in 1915 and that same year joined the Conference at Wilkesbarre, Penn., under Bishop C. T. Shaffer.After completing his work at Morgan College he studied theol­ ogy at Wilberforce, finishing in 1917. Some measure of his standing may be had from the fact that he was given as a first appointment the Bethel Station at Parkersburg, which he served for two years, remodeled the church and the parson­ age. He went from there to Bluefield where he labored for two years and three months, when he was temporarily transferred to the Ohio Conference and stationed, for the balance of the conference year, at Chillecothe, Ohio. In the fall of 1921, he was sent to his present work at St. Paul, Charleston, which is making progress under his leadership. On May 1, 1921, Mr. Thompson was married to Miss Amanda Tanner of Brookport, Ill., daughter of O. J. and Sarah Tanner. Mrs. Thompson was educated at Wilberforce University, Xenia, Ohio, and was, before her marriage, an accomplished teacher. Mr. Thompson himself taught while in Parkersburg. While in school he was more or less active in athletics, especially foot ball. Next after the Bible his favorite reading consists of history and biography. His observation leads him to the conclusion that the primary need of the race is education of the right sort. Gurnett E. Ferguson Business has its pioneers as well as other fields of endeavor, and it sometimes requires as much courage and originality to succeed in the realm of business pioneering as it does to blaze new trails in the wilderness or to sail uncharted seas. One of these business pioneers of the race in West Virginia is Capt. Gurnett Edinburg Ferguson, proprietor of the Ferguson Hotel of Charleston. Capt. Ferguson is a ferguson hotel, charleston, w. va owned by g. e. ferguson 312 history american negro native of Edgewater, W. Va. His father, Daniel Ferguson, was a farmer and truck gardener, and he was the son of Daniel and Julia Bagley. Capt. Ferguson’s mother was Miss Sarah Elizabeth Eddens, daughter of Lucy and Peter Eddens. As a boy, young Ferguson laid the foundation of his education in the public schools of Charleston. From the public and high schools he passed to the West Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, graduat­ ing in 1922. When he was able to secure teachers license, he began teaching in the rural schools of the state. As his work in this field be­ came known, his services were in demand so that his last work as a teacher was at Huntington, whose schools are known to be among the best in the state. While in school he was active in college games and at Huntington had charge of school athletics. With the outbreak of the war he volunteered and went to the offi­ cers training camp at Des Moines. He was commissioned Captain and sent to Camp Grant, where he trained Company M., 365th Infantry. When his command went over, Capt. Ferguson remained in America to defend some colored soldiers who were involved in a grave charge, and his conduct of the case won for him the commendation of Gen. Martin. Later he went to France on a transport carrying 1,700 men, and being the ranking officer on board was in command of the troops. He was the only Colored officer who commanded a transport. It is as a business man, however, that Capt. Ferguson is best known. When discharged from the service, he returned to Charleston and resumed his business and real estate operations. A man of good busi­ ness judgment and an excellent judge of values, he had already won confidence in financial circles. Observing the rising tide of prosperity and the consequent ten­ dency to travel on the part of the people, he conceived the idea of developing in the heart of Charleston a modern hotel. His plans took into consideration not only facilities for the transient, but grouped around that central idea, the moving picture, the café, the pool room, the barber shop and the convention hall—in fact, all those places and west virginia edition 313 occasions at which the people “most do congregate.” Accordingly, a...