John Robert Vinson, Sr. had family roots in Trigg County, Kentucky and later became a prominent citizen of the county, but he was born in Arkansas on December 5, 1871.
His grandfather, Thomas Allison Vinson was born in Stewart County, Tennessee and married Emeline Thomas of Trigg County in 1845. John Robert’s father, Henry Cullen Vinson was born in 1847. Unfortunately Emeline died in 1852 at the young age of 24. Thomas Allison subsequently married Alpha Gemima Sholar on March 30, 1853. After the Civil War, he moved his family to Arkansas. His son, Henry Cullen Vinson who had married Mary Catherine Sumner of Trigg County joined his father in Arkansas and it was there that John Robert was born on December 5, 1871 in the town of Austin, Arkansas located in Lonoke County. His brother Jesse Monroe Vinson was also born in Arkansas. His two older siblings, Alfred Thomas Vinson and Alice Lula Vinson had been born in Kentucky, as later his youngest sibling Clyde Herman Vinson was born in Kentucky.
When John Robert was seven years old, his parents returned to Trigg County in a covered wagon. He became a graduate of the University of Kentucky. He lived in the Warrenton Community and taught school for several years.
On November 10, 1898, he married Willie Armstrong and they had one daughter, Nora Lucille Vinson who was born in 1899. After Willie died in 1902 at the age of 25, John Robert married his second wife, Gertrude Wilson on December 12, 1905. John Robert and Gertrude moved to Cadiz and they became the parents of two children, Henry Richard Vinson born in 1906 and John Robert “Jack” Vinson, Jr. who was born in 1912.
John Robert was associated with the Cadiz Bank and Trust Company for 30 years. He served most of that time as a cashier and was acting president at the time the bank closed in 1932 in the middle of the Great Depression. He had also operated an insurance agency in Cadiz which was established in 1906.
Mr. Vinson was a prominent leader of the Cadiz city government for 28 years. He served as a member of the City Council for eight years and then was elected mayor of Cadiz for which he served for two decades.
After his wife died in 1953, he made his home with his son, John Robert, Jr. and his family. On December 31, 1962, John Robert died at the age of 91. He was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz, Kentucky with his wife, Gertrude.
LINEAGE:
(John Robert Vinson, Sr. was the son of Henry Cullen and Mary Catherine Sumner Vinson, grandson of Thomas Allison and Emeline Thomas Vinson and great-grandson of Cullen and Elizabeth Futrell Thomas. Cullen Thomas was the first child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)
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