1928 - Alderson High School - 1968

Prominent People Of Alderson - Page 2 From The History Of Alderson

Alderson   has   had   its   share   and   many   of   her   sons   and   daughters   have   distinguished   themselves.   These people   deserve   more   recognition   than   a   short   sketch.   However,   their   fame   and   achievements   can   not   be recounted   here.   The   following   people   have   appeared   in   Who’s   Who   in   America,   and   short   biographies   of them have been used. For   three   years,   1926-1929,   Dr.   Judson Allen Tolman,   Ph.D.,   was   President   of Alderson   Junior   College.   He was   a   well   known   educator   before   coming   to   Alderson   and   while   in   Alderson,   the   Junior   College   had   its greatest enrollment. Another   former   Alderson   resident   of   distinction   was   Ira   B.   Bush.   He   was   an   educator   and   had   been Superintendent   of   Schools   in   several   school   systems   before   coming   to Alderson   as   President   of Armstrong College   for   about   three   years   in   the   mid-thirties.   He   was   a   former   member   of   the   West   Virginia   Board   of Education, and had been President of West Virginia Teachers Association. Dr. Bush died in 1935. Another   famous   educator   and   minister   who   will   long   be   remembered   in Alderson   was   Dr.   Walter   S.   Dunlop. He   was   born   in   Ayreshire,   Scotland   in   1878,   came   to   the   United   States   in   1901   and   earned   his   D.   D. degree   in   1929.   Dr.   Dunlop   was   the   pastor   of   Old   Greenbrier   Baptist   Church.   Dr.   Dunlop   was   a   small, distinguished   gentleman   with   a   great   personality.   He   was   an   eloquent   speaker   with   the   rare   ability   of dominating   an   audience.   He   was   a   scholar   who   could   quote   poetry   in   a   forceful   way.   Before   coming   to Alderson   in   1929   he   had   been   pastor   of   churches   in   Pennsylvania   and   Washington.   Dr.   Dunlop   was   the last   President   of   Alderson   Junior   College,   and   the   first   of   Alderson-Broaddus,   from   1932-1936.   He   then reentered   the   ministry   and   later   became   Vice   President   of   American   Baptist   Publications   Society.   He   died in 1941.

Helen   Hironimus   came   to Alderson   as   one   of   the   first   members   of   the   staff   of the   Federal   Industrial   Institution   for   Women,   under   Dr.   Mary   B.   Harris.   She had   an   L.L.B.   degree   from   Washington   College   of   Law.   She   was   Assistant Warden   at   the   local   prison   from   1929-39.   She   became   Warden   in   May   1941. She retired in August 1949. (Click on photo for larger view)

Lewis   Edgar   Johnson,   for   years   one   of Alderson’s   most   prominent   leaders,   was born   in   Monroe   County   in   1860.   From   1909   to   1948   he   was   President   of   the First   National   Bank   which   he   helped   organize.   For   21   years   L.   E.   Johnson   was a Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Another   famous   woman   who   lived   in   Alderson   in   "The   Cedars",   was   Ruth   Bryan   Owen   Rohde.   She   was the   daughter   of   William   Jennings   Bryan,   Former   U.   S.   Secretary   of   State,   and   she   had   a   distinguished career.   During   her   life-time   she   was   a   writer,   lecturer,   Congresswoman,   war nurse,   University   teacher   and   diplomat.   Mrs.   Rohde   was   born   in   Illinois   in   1885 and her father moved the family to Nebraska where Ruth grew up. Her   second   husband,   Major   Reginald   Owen   of   the   British   Army,   became   an invalid.   To   support   the   family   Ruth   Bryan   Owen   became   a   lecturer   and   had great   success   after   World   War   I.   She   taught   public   speaking   at   the   University of   Miami   in   1926-28,   and   ran   successfully   for   Congress   from   Florida   in   1929. She   served   as   a   Congresswoman   until   1933.   President   Franklin   D.   Roosevelt then   appointed   her   as   the   Nation’s   first   woman   diplomat,   Minister   to   Denmark, until   1936   when   she   married   Captain   Borge   Rohde   of   Denmark.   She   resigned as   Minister,   returned   to   the   United   States,   and   again   became   a   lecturer   and writer. (Click on photo for larger view) In   1939,   the   Rohdes   bought   "The   Cedars",   remodeled   and   repaired   it,   and   made   it   an Alderson   landmark. In   June,   1939,   the   Rohdes   had   a   house   warming.   Mrs.   Rohdes   wrote   a   poem   for   the   occasion.   The   first verse   was:   "I   have   crossed   the   oceans   oe’r, And   traveled   with   a   will,   But   always   I   was   longing   for, A   white house   oh   a   hill."   The   Rohdes   lived   at   the   Cedars   for   several   years   and   knew   a   great   many   Alderson people. On July 27, 1954, Ruth Bryan Rohde died of a heart attack in Copenhagen, Denmark.

One   of Alderson’s   most   illustrious   native   sons   was   Eldridge   Campbell.   He   was   born   in Alderson    December    1,    1901,    the    son    of    Dr.    Eldridge    H.    and    Bessie    Spessard Campbell.   Dr.   Campbell   was   a   well   known   physician   and   he   and   Mrs.   Campbell   were members   of   prominent   Monroe   families.   Eldridge   went   to   the   University   of   Virginia,   and while   there,   won   a   Rhodes   Scholarship.   He   went   to   Balliol   College,   Oxford,   on   the scholarship in 1925. (Click on photo for larger view) After   he   returned   to   the   United   States,   he   received   his   M.D.   degree   from   Johns Hopkins   University   in   1927.   He   was   on   the   faculty   of   Albany   Medical   College,   Albany, New    York,    as    a    professor    of    surgery    from    1934-1956.    Eldridge    Campbell    was    a Colonel, Medical Corps, U. S. Army from 1942—46. He   was   Surgeon   General   in   Japan   and   Korea   in   1952.   Eldridge   Campbell,   scholar,   surgeon,   professor, soldier,   was   decorated   and   honored   more   times   than   can   be   listed.   Two   honors   are   indicative   of   his greatness.   He   was   decorated   with   the   Legion   of   Merit,   and   he   was   a   Diplomat   of   the   American   Board   of Surgery. Dr.   Campbell   married   Eleanor   Brown,   the   daughter   of   a   great   Johns   Hopkins   doctor, Thomas   R.   Brown.   He died December 15, 1956. His sister Elizabeth, Mrs. Carl Bivens, lives in Alderson.

Charles David Nash - Alderson’s Own “Thomas Edison” Someone   once   called   Charles   David   Nash   "a   laughing   genius."   That   about   describes   this mechanical   wizard   who   owns   and   operates   Nash   Special   Machine   Company   located   at   the top   of   Palestine   hill.   David   Nash   was   born   in   Alderson   in   1926,   the   son   of   J.   Frank   and Rachel   Tuckwiller   Nash,   the   grandson   of   Dr.   C.   P.   Nash.   He   grew   up   in   Alderson   and   was graduated   from   West   Point   Military   Academy   in   June,   1948,   with   a   B.S.   degree   in   military engineering. In   1953   he   started   to   invent   and   design   special   machines.   These   machines   are   high   speed   folders   of   paper and   tissue   paper   inserts   for   paint   color   cards,   which   are   used   by   paint   manufacturers   such   as   Sherwin- Williams,   Dupont   and   others.   He   has   also   invented,   designed   and   built   machines   to   put   the   glue   on   such color   displays   and   then   apply   "color   chips"   to   the   glue.   Other   machines   Nash   has   built   chicken   giblet wrappers, shirt paper boards, and hosiery inserts. He   has   three   patents   and   about   twelve   "registered"   or   copyrighted   inventions.   Nash   employed   from   four   to seven   men,   all   of   whom   live   nearby,   and   all   are   highly   skilled   craftsmen.   He   had   plans   to   expand   his present   small   plant   to   manufacture   some   of   the   products   his   machines   can   make.   David   Nash   could   design and   build   nearly   any   kind   of   machine   from   an   idea.   Then   he   and   his   craftsmen   could   produce   it   to   operate perfectly. More from the eulogy from the West Point website .