409The Pennington family of the Randolph County area is of English ancestry. They came to Virginia before the state was divided in 1865. My grandfather, Vincent B. Pennington was a Circuit Rider, traveling throughout the Dryfork area. He married Phoebe Flannigan who had come to this area with her family from Ireland, during the potato famine there. Vincent and Phoebe had six children, one of which was my father, Vincent Brown (Wick) Pennington, who was born in Harman in 1872. He was married at a young age to Anna Graham. They had eight children. Their names were: Dick, Lester, Frenie, Mable, Mamie, Zenia, Lilly, and Nellie. While still quite young, Wick became a widower, at which time he and the children moved to Ellamore, W.Va., Randolph County. Here he met and married Bertha Kittle. She was of Cherokee Indian descent. They had eight children as follows: June, Mena, Frances, Mary, and Susan. The boys were: Bryan, Mack, and Farren (Bud). All of these children attended Randolph County schools. Mack was in the death march in Corrigdor. He died in a Japanese Prison Camp in 1942. Bryan and Bud also served in WW II. In 1930. Bertha Kittle Pennington died. Being the youngest daughter of the family and only 4 years old at the time, I cannot remember too much about this sad time. I do remember in later years of learning to swim in the Middle-Fork River at Ellamore with my brothers and sisters. The Osboume, Booth, and Goodwin families joined us and we had a wonderful time. Later my father, Wick Pennington retired from the railroad after 30 years of service. We moved to the Half-Way House and lived there until we bought a General Store in Coalton. The Half-Way House is presently owned by Mrs. Dot Lewis. In Coalton, I worked in the store, which was called, "The Pennington General Store," until I married Herbert D. Simmons in 1944. Later the general store together with five houses surrounding it burned to the ground. Many valuable possessions were lost in the this fire, including certificates and photos. My father then moved to Elkins and lived there until his death in 1955. He is buried in the Odd Fellows cemetery in Elkins. After my marriage, my husband was discharged from the Merchant Marines and we moved to Sevema Park, Maryland, where we raised our four children. There were: Terrance W. (1945), Andrea (1947), David A. (1949), and Kathryn (1951). We also have five grandchildren. Namely: Tracy and Erin Simmons, Mark and Matthew Perkins, and David A. Simmons, Jr. They have visited Randolph County on several occasions. My husband died in 1985. Later, I moved to the state of Florida where I remarried. My present husband is William Helms, formerly of Grafton, W.Va.
This was submitted by: Susan Pennington from the book: Randolph County West Virginia Histories-Families 1787-1991 by Don Mills, Inc. and the Randolph County History Book Committee, page 114

1020Children:
• Zenie Pennington • 1896 – 
• Preston Pennington • 1896 –  
• Frona Pennington • 1897 – 
• Mamie Pennington • 1899 – 
• Mabel Pennington • 1902 –   
• Alva L Pennington • 1904 – 
• Lester Pennington • 1904 – 1973
• Nellie Pennington • 1906 – 1908