Person:George Springston (1)

The following Notes provided by Jackson Arnold Springston: 1915 Graduated Spencer High School,Spencer, WV 1913-14 Worked in Texas on a ranch and in oil fields 1916 Worked for Firestone Rubber Co, Akron, OH 1917 Cpl, 37th Inf. Div, Mexican Border & World War I 1925-39 Co M, 150th Inf, WVA National Guard 1929 Mayor, Spencer, W.VA School Teacher 1927-1939 1939 Purchased Dry Cleaning shop 1943 Guard at Prunty Town, WV, State Reform School for Boys 1944-1959 Guard at U. S. Post Office, Washington, D.C. SS #235-32-4078 23 Dec 1972 Death Cert #19041 Charles Co., MD 27 Dec 1972 buried Trinity Memorial Cem., Waldorf, MD

Upon his return from service in WW I, Gray and a Stalnaker cousin opened a grocery store. Neither were good business men and in the depression of 1920, they lost it. Gray then went into the newly formed State Police of West Virginia which was commanded by Col. Jackson Arnold. He was serving in the state police at the time of the birth of his second son, who was named "Jackson Arnold" out of respect for his superior and to provide happiness to his mother whose grandmother and great-grandmother had these surnames.

Gray attended Normal School at Spencer High School in 1925-6 and started teaching one-room schools in Fall of 1926. He taught in many different schools in the county. He was well liked in the communities where he taught, but the county school board would move him to schools with problems. He was a large man and did not need to use corporal punishment to maintain order. In 1940 he formed an Infantry Company in Spencer as part of the State Guard of West Virginia. The National Guard company, which he formerly commanded, was called to active duty. The State Guard was formed to provide for domestic tranquility in accordance with the West Virginia Constitution.

Gray's life was not his work; it was his love of writing poetry, hunting, fishing, and politics. One book of his poetry was published. Another, unpublished is in the possession of his children.

1.   Springston, Jackson A., Rootsweb chart of Jackson A. Springston: Ancestors of Jack Marie Adams Springston wc.r.