Junius Blair Fishburn

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Genealogy of Junius Blair Fishburn

This genealogical account was constructed from the family information contained in the biography below. No relationships or life facts have been added from outside sources.

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Junius Blair Fishburn was born September 27, 1865, in Boone Mill, Virginia, a son of James Addison Fishburn and Mary Louise Boone Fishburn. The biography traces his paternal ancestry to John Goode, who migrated from the Barbadoes to Virginia in 1620, and identifies his maternal great-great-grandfather as Jacob Boone, founder of Boone Mill. It also states that he descended from the pioneer John Jacob Fishburn and identifies T. T. Fishburn as his uncle.

On September 5, 1893, Junius Blair Fishburn married Grace T. Parker of Cleveland, Tennessee. They had one son and two daughters: Junius Parker Fishburn; Mary Evelyn Fishburn, who married George Scott Shackelford Jr.; and (Ernest) Louise Fishburn, later Mrs. Louise F. Fowlkes. Junius Blair Fishburn resided at 714 Thirteenth Street, Southwest, in Roanoke.

Family outline

• Junius Blair Fishburn
  • Father: James Addison Fishburn
  • Mother: Mary Louise (Boone) Fishburn
  • Wife: Grace T. Parker
  • Children:
    1. Junius Parker Fishburn
    2. Mary Evelyn Fishburn, wife of George Scott Shackelford Jr.
    3. (Ernest) Louise Fishburn, later Mrs. Louise F. Fowlkes

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Source

This biography appeared in History of the Shenandoah Valley: Family and Personal Records, Volume III (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1952), pages 22-23.

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Verbatim biography

The following is a faithful transcription of the original biography. OCR errors have been corrected against the printed page images, but the original wording, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and factual claims have not been rewritten.

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JUNIUS BLAIR FISHBURN—For over sixty years, Junius Blair Fishburn has identified himself prominently with banking in Roanoke and Western Virginia, first with the old National Exchange Bank of Roanoke, and later, in the capacities of vice-president and chairman of the board of directors, with the First National Exchange Bank of Roanoke. His successful career as banker, however, is not indicative of the entire scope of Mr. Fishburn’s endeavors, for he is a leader in the publishing field, and vice-president of the Times-World Corporation.

Mr. Fishburn was born in Boone Mill, Virginia, September 27, 1865, son of James Addison and Mary Louise (Boone) Fishburn. His paternal ancestry traces back to 1620, when John Goode migrated from the Barbadoes to Virginia; and his maternal great-great-grandfather, Jacob Boone, founded the town of Boone Mill in Franklin County, Virginia. He is descended also from the pioneer John Jacob Fishburn.

Mr. Fishburn received his preliminary education in local elementary schools, and attended high school at Danville, Kentucky, and Roanoke, Virginia. His career in banking began when, on May 7, 1889, he became the first cashier elected to that office at the National Exchange Bank of Roanoke. Mr. Fishburn continued to serve that banking institution until the time of its reorganization as the First National Exchange Bank of Roanoke, in which bank also he continued to advance to top executive posts. Mr. Fishburn’s uncle, T. T. Fishburn, was the prime mover in organizing the National Exchange Bank. A successful Roanoke merchant, he had gone to the West Coast to inquire into the possibilities of forming a bank there; but realized a greater need in Roanoke. He then wrote to his young nephew concerning that town’s better prospects, and encouraged him to complete sale of stock for a new bank there. C. Francis Cocke, who was to become president of the First National Exchange Bank, tells of the widespread confidence which the two Fishburns enjoyed in those early years. When Junius Blair Fishburn was elected cashier of the newly-formed bank, at the age of twenty-three, he was entering a new field; and later confessed to Mr. Cocke that “the only knowledge he had of banking was that he knew how to calculate the interest on a $1000 note for four months at six per cent.” Readily identified among his resources, however, were “a keen mind, plenty of energy and a determination to succeed”, and his understanding of the intricacies of banking did not remain stationary. He became a director of the bank in 1894, and during this period it enjoyed a considerable prosperity. From January 8, 1901, he served as vice-president, continuing also as cashier, and holding both offices until April 4, 1905. On that date Mr. Fishburn assumed the presidency of the National Exchange Bank, which he continued to head until 1919. On January 13, 1920, he became chairman of the board of directors, serving in that office until the merger of the bank, which took place in 1926. He was director for more than thirty years—from January 9, 1894 until December 31, 1925. At the time he assumed the office of president, the total assets of the bank were $1,292,504, and at the time of his resignation from that office, they stood at $10,890,402, both figures marking a vast growth from the $50,000 of capital stock with which the bank began operations.

The First National Exchange Bank of Roanoke was formed by the consolidation of the First National Bank of Roanoke and the National Exchange Bank of Roanoke, and began operations as one bank on January 1, 1926. It operates under the charter of the old First National Bank of Roanoke, because that was the older of the two banks. At the time of consolidation, the National Exchange Bank had capital assets of half a million dollars, and total assets of $14,247,218. The new bank opened its doors with total assets of $22,311,823; in January, 1951, the total assets were over $75,000,000.

Mr. Fishburn’s new office in the First National Exchange Bank of Roanoke was that of chairman of the executive committee, which he held from January 1, 1926, to April 19, 1949 ; and he was vice-president from the same date until January 10, 1939. He has been a director since January 12, 1926, and holds to the present time the position of chairman of the board of directors, to which he was elected on November 5, 1935.

On May 8, 1949, a banquet was given in honor of Junius Blair Fishburn, in observation of the sixtieth anniversary of his services to the bank. Bankers of southeastern Virginia and southern West Virginia gathered to do honor to one of the leaders among them. C. Francis Cocke, president of the First National Exchange Bank, said of Mr. Fishburn, “This bank stands today as a living monument to his wise counsel, his good judgment, his indefatigable energy, his vision for the future and his belief that the city of Roanoke is a good place to live in and will continue to grow and prosper.”

Mr. Fishburn early identified himself with other important and constructive aspects of Roanoke life. From 1900 to 1903, he was president of the Roanoke Railway and Electric Company, and also in 1900 became president of the Roanoke Coal and Coke Company. He was elected vice-president of the Hazard Coal Corporation in 1916, and served in that capacity for over a quarter of a century. In addition to being a director of the First National Exchange Bank of Roanoke, Mr. Fishburn has for some years served as a director of the Times-World Corporation; and now, as vice-president of this newspaper publishing concern, he takes a prominent place among Shenandoah Valley’s publishing executives.

He has been a public benefactor of his state and locality, in the donation, in 1933, of five thousand acres of land to the state; and, in 1934, the state of Virginia established Fairy Stone State Park. He has donated in all, to the city of Roanoke, six parks, one of these being given jointly with his son.

On April 28, 1941, Mr. Fishburn was given an award by the Council of the City of Roanoke for the donation of lands for use as parks. Mr. Fishburn has also interested himself in the cause of education. He was a trustee of Hollins College, in Virginia; and in 1937 he received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award of the College of William and Mary for outstanding service rendered to the cause of education and to the state. Washington and Lee University conferred upon Mr. Fishburn, in 1941, the honorary degree of Doctor of Commercial Science.

On January 2, 1951, Mr. Fishburn donated to Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 2,543.92 acres of coal land, valued at sixty thousand dollars and comprised of thirty-four different tracts, most of them on the west end of Price’s Mountain.

Likewise an ardent church worker, Mr. Fishburn was for many years a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was elected a delegate representing the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at the Fifth Ecumenical Methodist Conference held in London, England, in 1921, and was a member of its executive committee.

Mr. Fishburn enjoys an impressive number of organizational affiliations, particularly in learned societies. He is a life member of the Virginia Historical Society, the National Geographic Society and of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the New England Historical Society, and the Wisconsin Historical Society. He is a member of the English-Speaking Union, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and is also a member of the Shenandoah Club. Mr. Fishburn is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. As recreation he enjoys traveling, and has a special interest in his native state and life-long place of residence, Virginia.

On September 5, 1893, Junius Blair Fishburn married Grace T. Parker of Cleveland, Tennessee, and they became the parents of a son and two daughters: 1. Junius Parker. 2. Mary Evelyn, who married George Scott Shackelford, Jr. 3. (Ernest) Louise, who is now Mrs. Louise F. Fowlkes. Mr. Fishburn resides at 714 Thirteenth Street, South-west, in Roanoke.

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