July 5, 1896: Cartoonist Kendall Vintroux Born

Cartoonist Kendall Vintroux was born at Fraziers Bottom in Putnam County on July 5, 1896. When his father became ill, Vintroux dropped out of high school to help run the family’s farm.

His career as a cartoonist began when he submitted a humorous drawing to the Charleston Gazette about the town of Poca’s first paved road, which was only eight feet wide.

Vintroux officially joined the Gazette staff in 1922, when he was 25. By the 1930s, he’d started lampooning famous politicians like Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt. Another favorite topic was the Dog Wagon, a popular Charleston diner.

In his later years, Vintroux shared cartooning responsibilities at the Gazette with James Dent, who went on to establish his own name in the cartoon world. Vintroux retired in 1968 after spending 46 years at the paper. In retirement, he got to see his cartoons displayed as part of art exhibits at Morris Harvey College. The University of Charleston, as the school is now known, still owns many of his original drawings.

Kendall Vintroux died in Charleston in 1973 at age 77.