Notes for: John HINTON, Sr
John was the founder of what is now Hinton, West Virginia. John along with Charles and John Maddy, brothers of John's wife Eleanor, purchased land that was to become the site of the town of Hinton from Mr. Ballangee.
John died on 24 April 1858 in Hinton, Virginia, at age 69. Conflicting evidence states that he died on 4 April 1858 in Hinton, Virginia.
* John was also known as Captain Jack.
HINTON
The county seat of Summers Co., it is situated on the New River, in Greenbrier
District
GGWVa 1904, p. 70. DIUSGS 1912. NDA 1933.
The Blue Book (1936, p. 361) and NDA 1933 (p. 50) state that Hinton was
established in 1873. Callahan (I, 430) explains that ". . . Avis became
convinced that it should be an incorporated town and in 1890 was incorporated
as 'Upper Hinton.'" And Morton (Monroe, p. 505) states that in 1897 the two
towns, Hinton and Upper Hinton, were consolidated as one. This data is not
flawless, however; NDA 1933, p. 50, declares that in 1927 Avis and Bellepoint
became a corporate part of Hinton. In this connection, See Avis.
This is disagreement about the origin of the place name HINTON. The Blue Book
(1936, p. 381) states that it was named for "John (Jack) Hinton, prominent
lawyer of Summers County and husband of Avis Gwinn Hinton, pioneer, who owned
the land upon which the city is now located."
Miller (Summers, pp. 241-42), however, and NDA 1933 (p. 50) say that the n. is
for Evan Hinton, "the father of Summers County." NDA agrees with the Blue Book
in stating that John Hinton owned the site.
Callahan (I, 429) describes the development of Hinton as follows: "In 1871,
when Summers County was formed, there were but two houses within the corporate
limits of the two corporations, Hinton and Avis. One was the old 'Jack' Hinton
residence built of hewed logs near the railroad crossing at the foot of the
hill in Avis; the other, known as the Ballangee residence, was in the center
of the yard near the roundhouse. ... Its [Hinton's] growth began in 1872 with
the arrival of the first train of flat cars carrying material for the
construction of the railway. Within nine months it increased from a single log
hut to a town of 300 inhabitants."