Notes for: William Buckner Zinn

A grand-nephew, Larry Bartlett, tells this story: "During the Civil War, Buckner had served in Company E of the Sixth West Virginia Regiment. Dad remembered him as a frisky old gentleman who was bearded like a prophet. Buckner was a self-taught dentist and inventor, and he was the first farmer in Ritchie County to have electric lights. He built a water-powered generator on the Hughes River, and offered electrical shocks as a treatment for arthritis. He was also a skilled woodcarver, and he created intricate toys that were powered by a water wheel. Two of Buckner Zinn's sons went west to Wyoming in the early 1900's. One of the boys was an oilman, and the other worked as a big game hunter and guide."