John Robert "Jack" Vinson
John Robert “Jack” Vinson, Jr. was born on May 20, 1912 in Trigg County, Kentucky. He was the youngest of the two sons born to John Robert Vinson and Gertrude Wilson Vinson. His father was a native of Lonoke County, Arkansas and was a banker and insurance salesman as well as Mayor of Cadiz, Kentucky. His mother was a native of Trigg County and was an active participant in civic and social affairs of her home city. Jack was a descendant of Cullen Thomas.
Jack's brother was Henry Richard "Peck" Vinson, born in 1906 and married Geneva Robin Broadbent. Jack also had one half-sister from his father’s first marriage to Willie Armstrong. She was Nora Lucille Vinson, born in 1899 and married Joseph Jonathan Futrell.
Jack attended school in Cadiz in his earlier years and then went on to graduate from the Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, Tennessee. He attended Murray State College and the University of Kentucky.
On May 30, 1941, Jack married Doris Davis Peal in a ceremony at the First Methodist Church in Hopkinsville. Doris was born August 11. 1919 in Trigg County. She was the daughter of Hilson Perry Peal and Hattie Ella Gray Peal who were residents of Christian County at the time of the marriage. After their marriage, Jack and Doris lived on his farm north of Cadiz. Jack also worked as a rural mail carrier for the Cadiz Post Office.
In October of 1942, Jack enlisted in the U.S. Army and enrolled in the Officers Candidate School at Camp Hood, Texas. He graduated as a second lieutenant and was stationed at Camp Hood. He was injured while on duty and spent six months in a military hospital. As a result of his injuries, he was honorably discharged from the army in May of 1944.
Following his military service, Jack returned to Cadiz and returned to his job at the Cadiz Post Office where he worked for 35 years before retiring in 1972. In addition to working with the postal service, Jack farmed and raised and showed Missouri trotting horses. , In 1959, Jack served as president of the Kentucky Association of Fairs and Horse Shows. He was also president of the Kentucky Fox Trotting Horseman's Association, and other neighboring horseman's associations.
He was also instrumental in the construction of the West Kentucky Livestock and Exposition Center located on the Murray State University Agricultural Farm. The facility is the only indoor horse show arena west of Louisville and became a tremendous asset to the people in Western Kentucky. It was completed after his death and he was one of four persons honored at the Center’s dedication in 1976.
Jack and Doris were the parents of three children, John Robert Vinson III, born in 1942 and married Margie Ellen Rogers; Anna Louise Vinson, born in 1944 and married Joe Howard West and later married Jeffery Ross Wamser; and Carolyn Sue Vinson, born in 1947 and married David Leonard Bradley III and later married John Theodore Holm.
Jack died on May 9, 1975 at the Pennyrile Fairgrounds in Hopkinsville of an apparent heart attack. He was 62 years old. He was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz. Doris died on February 25, 2007 at the Christian Health Center in Hopkinsville at the age of 87. She was buried in the East End Cemetery next to her husband.
Doris Peal Vinson
The Vinson Family Tombstone
Jack's tombstone
Doris' tombstone
LINEAGE: (John Robert “Jack” Vinson, Jr. was the son of John Robert and Gertrude Wilson Vinson and grandson of Henry Cullen and Mary Catherine Sumner Vinson. Henry was the first child of Thomas Allison and Emeline Thomas Vinson. Emeline was the fifth child of Cullen and Elizabeth Futrell Thomas. Cullen was the first child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)
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