USA > West Virginia > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of West Virginia. Including reference articles on the industrial resources of the state, etc., etc. > Part 18
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of the titles to several tracts of land now consti- tuting the extensive property of the Raymond Coal Company. In connection with this task, he was obliged to study the records of the county in which he afterward made his residence, a fact which speedily brought him into the favor- able acquaintance of the leading citizens. At this time Mr. Hogeman was only twenty years of age, but his remarkable natural gifts made him seem much more mature, and the bright- ness, energy, and ability which he displayed made him at once a general favorite, a position that he ever after retained. The task which had been undertaken by Mr. Hogeman was a deli- cate as well as a laborious one, but he succeeded in completing it to the entire satisfaction of those who had employed him, and this being done he returned to New York. He had gained a reputation for accurate and conscientious work, and as a result he was for several years employed on missions of a similar character and equally important in North Carolina and Mis- souri. Early in the year 1868, however, Mr. Hogeman, having never ceased to retain his original interest in Charleston, returned to that city, bringing with him from New York his li- cense to practise law. On April 2, 1868, he was admitted to the bar in Kanawha County, and from that moment forward to the time of his death he continued to labor hard in his profes- sion, gaining, however, therefrom its richest re- wards in return for his devotion and assiduity. About the year 1870 Mr. Hogeman was employed by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company to assist in procuring for that organization cer- tain rights of way essential to it, and he suc- ceeded in performing this task so much to their satisfaction that the corporation continued to permanently retain his legal services as counsel up to the time of his death. The legal business of this great corporation in the State of West Virginia thus came under Mr. Hogeman's sole care and charge, and was conducted by him in its minutest details thoroughly and with the exercise of the best judgment and legal knowl- edge. Although the opportunity frequently of- fered itself to Mr. Hogeman to achieve political honors, he preferred to devote himself to his professional duties, in which he was sufficiently successful to satisfy his ambition and to which, indeed, he sacrificed his best energies and prob-
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ably his health and his life. Mr. Hogeman was married, October 19, 1871, by the Rev. J. C. Barr, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Charleston, to Miss Anastein Ruffner, daugh- ter of the late James Ruffner, Esq., of Kanawha County, in his time one of its most honored citizens and whose memory is still revered by all who knew him. Four children were born of this marriage, two of whom died before their father. The survivors are a daughter and son, Martha Morton and Andrew Lewis. Mr. Hoge- man was interested in the political campaign of 1872, but solely in behalf of others. He showed, however, a degree of vigilance and effective management on that occasion which displayed his capacity and to which was largely due the success of the cause he had espoused. Mean- while he never sought or accepted any political position or honor, though three governors of the State, Jacob, Mathews, and Jackson, succes- sively conferred upon him the rank and title of aid-de-camp. Mr. Hogeman was not only a brilliant and able lawyer, but courageous and earnest in his advocacy of whatever causes he undertook; faithful to his clients, dealing only with honorable methods; modest in his success and manly in defeat. His style of argument was attractive and impressive, without any at- tempt at rhetoric or metaphor; and whether in the heat of debate or in more deliberate speech, his words were always well advised and admi- rably chosen. Mr. Hogeman was a member of the Episcopal Church, a vestryman, and one of the most zealous and liberal supporters of the church of his choice. He was zealous in the performance of his religious duties; kindly in his behavior toward all men. Indeed, it was said of him that his exemplary demeanor in the walks of private life, his honorable course in the prosecution of the profession to which he devoted himself with untiring zeal, his unflinch- ing fidelity as a friend, and his tender affection for those to whom he stood in a nearer relation won for him an enduring place in the minds and hearts of his countrymen. As an attorney, Colo- nel Hogeman had few equals in West Virginia, while as an esteemed and honored citizen he stood among the first. Colonel Hogeman's ill- ness was sudden, with all the characteristics of acute Bright's disease. He had taken cold in the bedroom of a village inn, and came home on
Saturday "feeling tired" and desiring a bath to prepare him for a journey to Washington by early train Sunday morning. Mrs. Hogeman tried in vain to dissuade him from going, but important railroad affairs were at stake and he took the risk. Upon his return to Charleston on Wednesday the disease had advanced be- yond control. A lethargic state supervened, with intense suffering at times until death came to his relief on Monday evening at nine o'clock. The announcement of Colonel Hoge- man's death being made in court, Judge Guthrie vacated the bench, and a bar meeting was held, in which the judge participated. Upon motion of T. L. Broun, Col. Charles Hedrick was made chairman, and on motion of L. A. Martin, D. C. Gallaher was appointed secretary. Mr. William A. Quarrier then offered the following resolu- tions, which were adopted unanimously :
" Resolved, That the sad announcement of the death of our brother, William H. Hogeman, is received with a deep and painful sense of our bereavement. Resolved, That this bar do attend in a body the funeral of our deceased brother. Resolved, That a committee of four be ap- pointed by the Chair to prepare suitable resolu- tions of respect, to be submitted to a meeting of the bar to be held Friday next, at 3 P.M., at the court-house."
The Chair appointed as such committee Messrs. W. A. Quarrier; E. B. Knight, D. C. Gal- laher, and Wesley Mollohan. Upon motion of Mr. Knight, the bar were requested to meet at his residence, corner of Broad and Washington Streets, on the day of the funeral, at 1 : 30 P. M., and march from there in a body to the late resi- dence of the deceased. Upon the further mo- tion of Mr. Knight, Messrs. Deitrick and Mr. Gallaher were appointed a committee, on the part of the bar, to further arrange for their par- ticipating in the funeral. At an adjourned meeting of the Kanawha bar, held at the court- house, Charleston, January 9, 1885, the commit- tee appointed at the former meeting submitted a memorial and resolutions, which, on motion, were unanimously adopted, thus:
" The committee selected by you to report to this meeting appropriate resolutions upon the death of William H. Hogeman submit the fol- lowing memorial and resolutions: After a short interval the angel of death has again paid his dread visitation among the members of this bar,
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and one of its brightest ornaments has fallen from its circle. Age and infirmity, naturally expectant of its early coming to themselves, were passed by, and one taken to whom a long and use- ful life seemed so surely vouchsafed. To name the elements of his character is to name the best attributes and highest virtues of a good man, a useful, honored citizen, and a brilliant, success- ful lawyer. The effort to adorn his memory with the flowers of rhetoric is not our task. They, like the perfume of the sweet flowers strewn upon his grave by the hands of affec- tion, are but short-lived. Rather be it ours to tell the simple story of his life and the virtues that enriched it, more enduring among men than tablets of brass or memorials of stone. Resolved, That by the death of William H. Hogeman this bar has sustained a loss of a law- yer justly honored, and our community and the State a useful and most praiseworthy citizen. Resolved, That in his fidelity to his trusts of every kind, his unvarying courtesy, his gener- osity, his tireless energy and vigilance, his up- rightness and high sense of honor, we find an example well worthy of our most steadfast emu- lation. Resolved, That while the sense of our loss and grief finds no adequate expression, we tender to his bereaved widow, children, and relatives our deepest sympathy and sorrow. Resolved, That the members of this bar do wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. Resolved, That these resolutions and memorial be presented to the Circuit and United States courts for their action. Resolved, That a copy hereof be sent to the family of the deceased. W. A. QUARRIER, E. B. KNIGHT, D. C. GAL- LAHER, W. MOLLOHAN. Messrs. E. B. Knight, C. E. Dodridge, J. S. Swann, J. H. Ferguson, J. M. Laidley, T. L. Broun, W. A. McCorkle, and W. S. Edwards made short and appropriate addresses. Upon motion of D. C. Gallaher, a committee of one for each court was appointed to communicate the proceedings to the Circuit and United States courts. T. L. Broun and J. H. Ferguson were appointed respectively to present them to the said courts. Upon motion of T. L. Broun, the press of the city was requested to publish the proceedings and resolutions. On mo- tion, adjourned. CHARLES HEDRICK, Chairman ; D. C. GALLAHER, Secretary."
The Southern Churchman of February 26, 1885, contains this tribute from the Rev. A. C. Cobbs, who as rector of St. John's Episcopal Church, Charleston, was well qualified to speak of the merits and character of the deceased advocate :
" Departed this life Monday evening, January 5, 1885, in the forty-first year of his age, after a brief but most excruciating illness, which he bore with heroic Christian patience and forti- tude, William H. Hogeman, Esq., of Charleston,
W. Va. His high intellectual endowments, his cheerful and genial disposition, his cordial man- ner, his liberal spirit, his unostentatious benevo- lence, his untiring energy, and his readiness to co-operate in any feasible plan for the promo- tion of the general good, rendered him unusu- ally popular, especially with those who knew him intimately, and have caused his death to be regarded as a real calamity to others besides his family and friends. His brethren of the le- gal profession, in which he had attained to a very high eminence, have publicly borne most emphatic and complimentary testimony to his legal attainments. The vestry of St. John's Church, of which he was at one time a most effi- cient member and from which the pressure of other engagements and occupations finally compelled him to withdraw, bore similar de- cided testimony to his zeal and interest in behalf of the church. And the very large number of persons, of every age and con- dition in life, who thronged to his funeral, showed how highly he was esteemed and how deeply he was regretted by the community at large. Years ago he became a communicant in the Episcopal Church, and from that time to the day of his death its interests were near and dear to his heart. To his disconsolate widow and sorrowing children, to whom he was deeply and devotedly attached, of whose happiness and comfort he was ever mindful, upon whom he lavished everything which affection could prompt or wealth procure, and from whose home his death took away the very sunlight of their lives, his loss is well-nigh irreparable. The rector and congregation of St. John's Church, Charleston, likewise have special cause for la- menting his death. For while the rector always found in him a warm and sympathizing friend, ever ready to perform an act of personal kind- ness, on the other hand the progress already made in the construction of our much-needed new church edifice was largely, if not mainly, owing to his energy and influence; and his loss to that enterprise will be sorely felt in the fu- ture. But while we mourn we do not repine, because we know and feel that our Father 'do- eth all things well,' and our natural sorrow is tempered and softened by the well-founded be- lief that our loss is his eternal gain."
THOMAS B. SWANN.
THOMAS BELT SWANN, an eminent law- yer of Charleston, W. Va., was born in Pow- hatan County, Va., September 12, 1825. He is of English Cavalier descent, an ancestor, Thomas Swann, having been a colonel in the army of
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Charles I. and fought against Cromwell. After the triumph of the Puritan army and the over- throw of the king, this ancestor with two of his brothers, also in the king's service, fled to Amer- ica and settled in Surry County, Va. From him descended the subject of this sketch. His father was Richard Archer Swann, who farmed an estate on the James River. He was a man of fine education and culture and possessed lit- erary attainments. He married the daughter of Humphrey Belt, a Maryland family related to the Lloyds and Montgomeries. In 1866 a writer for the Philadelphia Telegraph published in a letter from Virginia, under the title " Ramblings in the Old Dominion," the following interesting statement:
" An ancient tombstone on a plantation nearly opposite Jamestown bears the following inscrip- tion : 'Here lies ye body of ye Colonel Thomas Swann, who departed this life ye 4th day of No- vember, 1680.' Immediately above the inscrip- tion is a coat of arms representing a lion and a swan separated by a shield. The stone or slab is broken in two, but the inscription is plain and perfect. Horses and cattle have trampled upon it, but have not considerably defaced it. The name of the deceased gentleman was evidently one of those few 'that were not born to die. An ancient cedar, four and a half feet in diame- ter, stands near the head of the grave. It has been 'belted' and is dead, and all the surround- ing country is green with waving corn. In a few years, perhaps, the same hand that belted that ancient tree may upturn the slab of slate and drive the ploughshare through the grave of the unknown 'Colonel Swann.'
As has been already stated, Colonel Swann was accompanied in his flight from England by his two brothers. One of these settled in Vir- ginia and the other in Massachusetts, and from them came a long line of descendants. Thomas Belt Swann, after having gained in the schools of his neighborhood his preliminary instruction, went to Amelia Academy, Virginia, where he received a liberal education. He graduated with entire satisfaction to all interested in him, and then went to Orange Court-House, where for a time he taught school, as was the custom in those days with all those who were better edu- cated than their neighbors. But while his time was thus engrossed Mr. Swann was preparing for his future, and chance, as it appeared, threw in his way a law book, and in this he became so deeply interested that he at once began to study
law. He was fortunate in having the advice and counsel of attorney William Greene, and with him advanced so rapidly that within sixty days after he began to read Blackstone he re- ceived a license to practise at the bar. He now gave up his teaching and all other engagements and devoted himself assiduously to the profes- sion he had chosen. On March 18, 1849, he joined with his brother John in removing to Charleston, Va., where they have ever since re- sided and where they have continued to carry on a prosperous law business. Prior to the Civil War Mr. Swann was a Whig in politics, and he took a deep interest in the candidacy of General Scott for the Presidency in 1852. The failure of the Whigs in this campaign and the breaking up of the party, which occurred soon after, disgusted Mr. Swann with politics, and he devoted himself thereafter strictly to his pro- fessional duties. In this decision he was guided by the most unquestionable wisdom, as his after success sufficiently proved. He met with the just reward of earnest and faithful work, di- rected by foresight and by perfect adaptation to his profession. At the time of the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 Mr. Swann was a mem- ber of a volunteer company at Charleston which was ordered into camp by Governor Letcher, and thus, although personally a Union man and an outspoken opponent of secession, Mr. Swann was carried into the Southern army without having the opportunity of expressing his own will concerning the matter. Indeed, like thou- sands of others residing in the South who were Union men, when Virginia seceded he could not resist the temptation to " go with his State." The fact was that at that time a great many men were drawn into the Southern army through the alarmist cry that the Government at Wash- ington was becoming centralized, and they were driven to believe, even although it might be against their better judgment, that the only way by which they could avoid such centralization was to sustain the secession movement. Mr. Swann not unnaturally was one of this class and was affected by the situation as were the thou- sands of others of his fellow-citizens; but as a matter of fact he never quite passed into a con- clusion in favor of the secession movement, and this is shown by the fact that some time after the South had become thoroughly involved in
6. L. Putinck
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the rebellion, at the time when the Confederate government at Montgomery passed the law en- forcing conscription, Mr. Swann made the re- mark to Governor Floyd and Colonel D. S. Honshell, of Virginia, that "the South had nothing left to fight for; that all power was cen- tralized on the James, and if we must have cen- tralized power upon this continent it had better be on the Potomac, where we are known to the nations, than on the James, where we are not known." Mr. Swann remained, however, in the Confederate army. For some time he was Cap- tain of a company and afterward rose to be Colonel of a battalion, which position and rank he continued to hold until the end of the war. As soon as the surrender of General Lee oc- curred at Appomattox, Colonel Swann returned to Kanawha County, where he at once re-entered on the practice of his profession. The nature of his political position may be judged from the fact that in 1865, shortly after he reached Charleston, he said : "I have come home to stay. In the past I was a Whig; in future I shall con- nect myself with the political party that repre- sents the greatest liberty to the greatest num- ber." In fact, like most of the old-line Whigs, although later than most of them, Colonel Swann became a member of the Republican party, and such an earnest and faithful worker that he soon grew to be a leader in his section. As an evi- dence of this, it is sufficient to state that he has been a Delegate at Large from West Virginia at every National Republican Convention except two, and has several times been Elector from his State on his party ticket. Meanwhile, though often urged to accept office, he has al- ways positively refused, preferring private life to public position. He has a degree of attach- ment to his home and his law office both not often combined, and it is said of him that when not in court he is nearly always to be found at one or the other of these places. Soon after his return from the war Colonel Swann married Miss Mary Tompkins, daughter of Mrs. Rachel M. Tompkins, who was an aunt of Gen. U. S. Grant. They settled in a pleasant mansion on the banks of the Kanawha River in the city of Charleston, where they have continued to pass their life in domestic comfort and happiness. Some years ago General Grant paid a visit of several days' duration to Colonel Swann and
his wife at their residence at Charleston. Near that time there seemed a reasonable probabil- ity that Colonel Swann would be selected as one of the Associate Justices of the United States Supreme Court. Very strong petitions in his favor were sent in, but President Grant, being certain that the Senate would not confirm the appointment on political grounds, left the va- cancy to his successor, President Hayes, to fill. It is an interesting political fact that at the National Republican Convention at Chicago in 1888, to which Colonel Swann was a delegate, he gave the first vote for William J. Mckinley as President of the United States, which action was followed on the next ballot by a number of other votes, but the conditions of the Conven- tion and the impossibility of Major Mckinley controlling the Ohio delegation rendered this movement futile. Colonel Swann, although (1893) in his sixty-ninth year, is still vigorous and active, physically and mentally. In the conduct of important cases and the care of large estates which fall to the firm he is ably assisted by his brother, who is one of the best reference lawyers at the Charleston bar. Colonel Swann is an indefatigable student. He delights in books, and the scope of his reading is remark- able, so that it is difficult for one who has been even very well educated to mention a book of any importance with which he is not familiar. Being of a religious turn of mind, he is fond of reading theology. He has been a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church for forty-seven years, is a member of the vestry of St. John's Parish in Charleston, and an earnest and faith- ful church worker. Personally he is a broad- minded, honorable, and large-hearted gentle- man.
EDWIN L. BUTTRICK.
COL. EDWIN L. BUTTRICK, of Charles- ton, the subject of this sketch, was born in Bos- ton, Mass., August 5, 1824. He comes of Puri- tan ancestry. William Buttrick, the common ancestor of all of the name in this country. landed in Massachusetts Bay in 1630 and was one of the founders of "Old Concord" in 1635, he with others having purchased of the Indians about 800 acres of land which was for a long
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time owned in common, but upon partition 247 acres were allotted to William Buttrick, and it is a somewhat remarkable fact that a portion of this land still remains in the possession of his lineal descendants, who hold it under its original title. Ephraim Buttrick, the great-grandfather of Colonel Buttrick, died at the age of eighty- two years, and the epitaph upon his tombstone is: " He was followed to his grave by his widow and thirteen well-instructed children." Of these, two scaled the heights of Abraham under Wolfe, and Major John Buttrick, grandfather of Colonel Buttrick, commanded the militia at the battle of Concord North Bridge on the 19th of April, 1775, and there fired the first gun fired by the Americans in the Revolutionary War. Emer- son alludes to him as "the embattled farmer who fired the shot heard round the world." The family of Colonel Buttrick removed to Clinton, N. Y., in 1830, where he prepared for college, and entered Hamilton College in 1838 and grad- uated in the class of 1842. In the spring of 1843, with no experience and only twenty-five dollars, he started for Kentucky "to teach school," and though a boy in years and looking younger than he was, he taught the Helena Academy, in Mason County, very successfully for one year, and then with a college friend made the journey on horseback to Georgia, where he taught the Mount Vernon Academy two terms, and in the summer of 1845 returned to New York and entered the law office of Hon. J. T. Miller, Seneca Falls, and afterward that of Hon. Dyer Tillinghast, of Buffalo. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of New York in 1848. He paid his way while studying law by extra work, and when admitted owed nothing and had nothing; but kind friends loaned him eighty dollars, with which he started West " to grow up with the country." He finally located at Oshkosh, Wis., then a little hamlet of 150 inhabitants and a lawyer for every fifteen of the population, but the country was filling up rapidly. Wisconsin had just been admitted as a State, the immigration was enormous, and there was plenty for a lawyer who was industri- ous and sober to do. He remained at Oshkosh until it grew to a population of over 7,000, when he removed to Milwaukee to take the place of Burr W. Griswold in the firm Randall & Gris- wold, the latter going to New York to become a
member of the law firm of Blatchford, Seward & Griswold. In 1854, Mr. Randall having re- moved to New York, the firm of Butler, Buttrick & Cottrell was formed, with which he did a very successful and lucrative business until the spring of 1863. At the outbreak of the war he was Judge Advocate-General on the staff of Gov. Alexander W. Randall, and took an active part in the raising, organizing, and equipping the first regiments sent out by the State. In Au- gust, 1862, at the solicitation of the prominent citizens of Milwaukee whose sons were in the regiment, he was commissioned Lieutenant- Colonel of the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin Volun- teers and went with the regiment to Kentucky, where it was assigned to the division com- manded by General Sheridan. He remained with the regiment until after the battle of Stone River, when by reason of failing health he re- signed and returned to Milwaukee. Letters which he has from Gen. Alexander McCook, General Sheridan, Colonel Greusel, and all of the commissioned officers of his regiment, bear high testimony to his courage and efficiency as an officer and his courtesy as a man. In the spring of 1864 the Provost Marshal's office for the First District of Wisconsin was entirely re- organized and new officers appointed. Colonel Buttrick was appointed Provost Marshal. While holding this position he was solicited by the Governor to aid in raising the Thirty-ninth Wis- consin, and by working out of office hours he succeeded in raising in Milwaukee and the neigh- boring towns eight companies in two weeks; the Governor furnished the remaining companies. He resigned the office of Provost Marshal and was commissioned Colonel of the regiment. The regiment was ordered to West Tennessee and Colonel Buttrick was assigned to the command of the Fourth Brigade of the District of Mem- phis. Forrest when he made his famous raid on Memphis attacked his lines and captured two batteries of artillery in his command, which, however, were recaptured and turned with tell- ing effect upon Forrest's retreating forces. In September, 1864, he returned to Wisconsin in command of three regiments from that State, to be mustered out of service, after which he re- sumed the practice of his profession. In 1871 he went to West Virginia to spend a few months, but having become interested in land lying
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