USA > West Virginia > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of West Virginia. Including reference articles on the industrial resources of the state, etc., etc. > Part 24
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night-school. In 1875 the family moved to Fairmont, Marion County, where he was em- ployed in the book-printing establishment of O. S. Mckinney. In February, 1877, he pur- chased a half interest in the Fairmont Index, and in 1882 became sole proprietor of the paper. Under Mr. Ohley's editorial management the Index took a leading place among the weekly journals of the State, and in the campaign of 1884 was particularly influential in shaping the policy of the Democratic party through its vig- orous defence of what was named the "Jackson Assessment Order" and its opposition to uncon- stitutional exemptions of personal property of certain kinds from taxation. Mr. Ohley's expo- sition of these principles-which are Jeffersonian through and through-won him the loyal re- spect of all true Democrats and established the Index as a banner paper in the cause of popular rights. In 1885 Governor Wilson complimented Mr. Ohley by appointing him a Regent of the State Normal Schools (six in number) for the term of four years, and at the organization of the Board he was elected Secretary, a position for which he was admirably equipped. As in previous campaigns, the Fairmont Index in 1888 did effective work in directing political senti- ment throughout the State, and its young editor was personally active in the State Democratic Convention of that year in bringing about the nomination for Governor of his friend and fellow- citizen, Judge A. B. Fleming, with whom he had for several years been in close personal and political relations. Mr. Ohley also took an active part with the Democratic State Com- mittee during the gubernatorial contest. Upon the inauguration of Governor Fleming, Mr. Ohley was tendered the office of Secretary of State by the Governor, which he immediately accepted as a high honor, and began its duties April 21, 1890. His term will expire on March 4, 1893, with the gubernatorial term, or when his successor is appointed and qualified. The office is one of the most important in the State government, both in an administrative and fiduciary sense. He is largely identified with the Governor, whose decrees are transmitted through his office and with his countersign and official seal. He also keeps the record of all executive proceedings and State papers. Ow- ing to the favorable laws of West Virginia re-
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lating to corporations and stock companies, the Secretary of State has an unusually large busi- ness to look after in the granting of charters and deciding upon the legality and propriety of the purposes for which they are issued, the increase or reduction of capital stock, dissolutions, etc. It may be stated that during the year the num- ber of charters granted by the Secretary of State will aggregate over 750, with an author- ized capitalization of over $250,000,000. Except upon their property actually owned and held within the State, corporations are subject only to an annual license tax of $10 if doing business and holding their principal office within the State, and $50 if principal office or place of bus- iness is without the State; there is no tax on capital stock, as such. The policy of the State seems to be, and wisely, directed to the devel- opment of her vast natural resources, and as this can only be accomplished under present conditions by combined capital, no unneces- sary limitations or restrictions are interposed by the statutes to the organization of corpora- tions, or needless exactions placed upon them, although strict attention is given in the admin- istration of the laws that no undesirable fran- chises are allowed or the privileges of the charter abused. Another important and re- sponsible function of the Secretary of State's office is the Superintendency of Public Printing -all work for the State being ordered, esti- mated, and certified for payment by him, and all paper and stationery supplies, books and papers purchased and distributed to the several depart- ments and institutions are obtained through his office and upon his order. He has also the dis- tribution and sale of the Journals and Acts of the Legislature, Supreme Court Reports, and other published documents. He is also by vir- tue of his office ex-officio Secretary of the Board of Public Works, and as such keeps the journal of the Board's proceedings. The Code says:
" The Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, State Superintendent of Free Schools, and State Librarian, shall each give bond, with good se- curity, to be approved by the Governor. The bond of the Secretary of State shall be in the penalty of ten thousand dollars; that of the Audi- tor in twenty thousand dollars; of the Treasurer in twenty-five thousand dollars; of the State Superintendent of Free Schools in three thou- sand dollars; and of the State Librarian in five
thousand dollars. The bond of the Secretary of State shall be filed in the office of the Auditor, and the other bonds mentioned in this section in the office of the Secretary of State."
The bond of the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Appeals, not less than three nor more than ten thousand dollars, shall also be filed with the Secretary of State. The term in the penalty of is old, and first appears in the early laws of Virginia, from which it has been copied into all recent legislation of the two States relating to securities required of public officials. Mr. Ohley disposed of a half interest in his newspaper and discontinued editorial work thereon upon ac- cepting his present office, but expects to resume his chosen profession upon the expiration of his term, unless he should be called to other public duties, which is not at all unlikely. Mr. Ohley is singularly well qualified for the position of Secretary of State, being in fact an expert in all the departments of his administration. As a knight of the "art preservative" he needs no ad- vice about public printing, and as a newspaper man of tact, ability, and force, his knowledge of men and measures is of a high order. His staff of assistants and clerks is well selected and reflects credit upon the department. Per- sonally speaking, Mr. Ohley is of youthful ap- pearance and of genial manners. He takes pleasure in athletic exercise and cultivates physical health. He is thoughtful and prudent, and when once engaged in an undertaking carries it through to successful results. In other words, he is a man who knows his mind and has great self-reliance and continuity of purpose, which qualities have won him the re- spect and support of a large personal and politi- cal following. Mr. Ohley is unmarried, and dur- ing his active business career has acquired some considerable property. He is one of the self- made young men of our time whose success is well-deserved and whose example and charac- ter are eminently worthy of emulation.
BENJAMIN S. MORGAN.
HON. BENJAMIN STEPHEN MORGAN, State Superintendent of Free Schools of West Virginia, was born near Rivesville, Marion County, Va., on March 11, 1854. He is the lineal descendant of David Morgan, one of the early
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pioneers of that State, who with his brother founded a settlement on the site of the present town of Morgantown, W. Va., wherein is located the State University. He is the second son of Smallwood G. Morgan, farmer. His early edu- cation was obtained in the common schools, which he attended up to his sixteenth year, when as a "means to an end" he exchanged the rôle of pupil for that of teacher. In the spring of 1873 he migrated westward and obtained a position in the High School at Elm Spring, Ark., which he retained for about one year. Returning in 1874, he entered the State Uni- versity of West Virginia, and was graduated therefrom in the classical and military courses in 1878. The educational interests of Morgan- town needing at this time careful and intelligent direction, the duty was intrusted to Mr. Morgan, who in that year was elected Principal of the Public School, which position he held and the functions of which he discharged with great credit to himself and benefit to the community until May, 1881, when he resigned to accept the more important office of County Superintendent of Free Schools for Monongalia County. Hav- ing in the mean time studied law in the State University, he was in 1882 admitted to the bar, and in the following year was graduated from the Law School of the University. He was re-elected for a second term as County Superintendent of Schools in 1883, which posi- tion he retained until 1885, when he retired from that office to enter upon the duties of 'State Superintendent of Free Schools, to which he was nominated on the Democratic ticket in 1884, and elected, leading the entire State ticket at the fall election in that year. In estimating the character of the service rendered to the State by Mr. Morgan in his official capacity, it is proper that some idea should be formed as to the obligations imposed by the incumbency of the position. The State Superintendent of Free Schools in West Virginia has charge of the ap- portionment of the State school fund, and among his duties are the preparation and dis- tribution of school blanks, the organization of teachers' institutes, the collection of school sta- tistics, and the general supervision of the free schools within the lines marked out by the gen- eral free-school law. The zealous and efficient discharge of these duties by Mr. Morgan is
universally conceded, and the healthy growth and development of the system since his as- sumption of the State Superintendency are cited in support of this generally accepted opin- ion. A few facts and figures culled from the last biennial report of the State Superintendent are well calculated to give strength to the claim that his administration of the office has yielded good and abundant fruit. In the matter of the increase in number of school buildings, the total number under all methods of construction in occupation at the date of issue of the biennial school report of 1892 was 5,004, as against 4, 150 in 1885, when Mr. Morgan took office, showing an increase of 854 school buildings, the total value of school property being $2,746,234. The average daily attendance of pupils showed a corresponding increase, having grown from 102,- 904 pupils in 1885 to 128,044 in 1892, while the augmented roll of teachers showed in 1892 an advance in numbers over that in 1885 of 936, out of a total of 5,747 now on the active list. The State Superintendent is ex-officio Presi- dent of the Board of Regents of the State Nor- mal Schools. During Mr. Morgan's administra- tion he has given especial attention to the advancement of this important part of the edu- cational system of the State. The increased enrolment of students reaching almost fifty per cent, the increased appropriations, and the greatly improved financial condition of the six schools and their general prosperity, all attest the efficient and faithful performance of this part of his official duties. An important factor in the work of improving the educational system of the State has been the West Virginia School Journal, a monthly journal founded by Mr. Morgan's predecessor, Superintendent Bernard L. Butcher, the publication of which, however, had been suspended in 1884, but revived by Mr. Morgan in January, 1885. This publication under his editorial supervision was made useful in the cause of education as a medium of com- municating his practical ideas to teachers and fostering among them a spirit of harmonious co-operation in the work of public instruction, particularly in establishing and maintaining a complete connection between all of the educa- tional institutions in the State, viz., the public, the graded, the normal schools, and the State University, in all of which its objects have been
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
successfully accomplished. Mr. Morgan is the author of the first graded course of study for the district schools of the State, and the many im- provements on existing practice recommended in his reports are abundant evidence of the amount of thought and consideration he is giv- ing to the interests confided to his judgment and ability. Mr. Morgan was married on February 27, 1889, to Annie, daughter of the late John Thoburn, of Wheeling, Ohio County, W. Va.
WILLIAM T. THOMPSON.
HON. WILLIAM T. THOMPSON, State Treasurer of West Virginia for the two terms of March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1893, was born at Hur- ricane Bridge, Putnam County, Va., on Febru- ary 17, 1845. He is the son of R. N. B. and Julia A. Thompson. His ancestors came from Augusta County, Va. His father was a member of the General Assembly of Virginia in the House of Delegates of 1856 and 1858. Of a well- known Virginia family, the subject of this sketch, like hosts of others imbued with the spirit of devotion to the Old Dominion, shared his portions with them when the war broke out, and, though but a stripling, enlisted in the Con- federate army as a member of Capt. A. R. Barbee's Border Rifles, and was engaged at the battle of Skeery-the first fight in the Kanawha Valley under the general command of ex-Gov- ernor Wise. Young Thompson continued in the service during the campaign in the valley of Virginia under General Jubal A. Early; also in the winter campaign around Knoxville, Tenn., under General Longstreet. After the war in 1865 he was paroled by the late Major William Gramm, at Charleston, W. Va. He then sup- plemented the schooling of his boyhood by at- tending Wytheville College, Va., and graduated therefrom in 1867. Deciding upon the law as his profession, he learned the rudiments of prac- tice in the office of Judge James W. Hoge, of Putnam County, and was admitted to practise and settled at Barboursville, Cabell County, in 1870. In 1876 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney and again in 1880, serving eight years consecutively. His ability and popularity led to his nomination for State Treasurer by the Democratic State Convention at Wheeling in
1884, and gave such satisfaction in this respon- sible and important office that he was tendered a renomination in 1888, and elected for another term of four years under Governor Fleming's administration. Mr. Thompson's record is an enviable one, and the Gazette of Charleston, August 30, 1891, editorially reviewing the pros- pects and policy of a third term for State offi- cers, said, after referring to Mr. Thompson's declaration in which he "explicitly, unquali- fiedly, and absolutely declined to stand again, and did so, over and over again, before a word had been said anywhere or by anybody against the third-term principle. . . . We refer to Hon. Wm. T. Thompson, who as State Treasurer has administered the affairs of that office to the entire satisfaction of everybody." In 1878 Mr. Thompson married Lolo L., daughter of William Briggs, Sr., of Greenup, Ky., who died in 1882, leaving a daughter. In 1888 he married his second wife, Nannie S., daughter of Judge W. H. Hagan, of Huntington, W. Va. The Treasurer of West Virginia is required to give a $25,000 bond-the largest of any State official.
ROBERT S. CARR.
HON. ROBERT S. CARR, President of the State Senate during the gubernatorial contest and well known as an enterprising citizen of Charleston, was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, November 17, 1846; his father's family moved to Kanawha County, Va., in 1855. The father, James Carr, came to America from County Down, Ireland, when he was less than seven years old, and settled in Guernsey County, Ohio, grew up as a poor mechanic (plasterer), and reared a family; necessarily his son Robert had very limited educational advantages; he never went to school an entire year in his life, only to the three-months' winter sessions; but by after application and observation he fitted him- self for the active career of usefulness he has lived. Much of that fitness he credits his wife with helping him to gain-he having married in 1870 an estimable, intelligent lady, Miss Julia E. Wilson, daughter of John Wilson (a nephew of old Andrew Donnelly) and his wife, who was Elizabeth Neal, and was born in the fort at Charleston during the days of Indian warfare.
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
Robert Carr learned the trade of plastering with his father, but has not followed it. In 1861, when seventeen years old, he entered the Con- federate army, served one year, was captured and confined fourteen months in the military prison at Wheeling. After his release he went to the Southwest and steamboated on the Mis- souri and Mississippi Rivers until 1865, when he joined his father at Charleston, and has con- tinued since to reside there. He at first engaged in various pursuits for a livelihood. By and by he drifted again into steamboating, first on the steamer John Kenna. He was also owner of a store in Charleston, which he traded for the steamboat Ella Layman, which boat he still owns and runs. He afterward organized the Ella Layman Towboat Company, of which he was made and still continues President and Superintendent. The company do an immense business in handling coal and coke, besides freight and passenger traffic, own quite a num- ber of steamboats and barges, and have in their enterprise done as much as, if not more than any other organization to develop the vast re- sources of the Kanawha Valley. Without any unusual inclination thereto, but rather because of his deep interest in all that pertained to the better interests of his State and county, Mr. Carr found himself finally actively involved in the political struggles of Kanawha County. He had affiliated with the Democratic party up to 1876; but in the Peter Cooper campaign he be- came a zealous Greenback party advocate, and continues such. He was elected County Com- missioner, a member of the County Court, and to the City Council two terms, in which he served on several of the most important com- mittees. In 1887 he was nominated for the West Virginia Senate by the Greenbackers, indorsed by the Republicans, and was elected by 87 ma- jority in a Democratic district of a former 600 majority; and that, too, against a strong oppo- nent-W. E. Chilton, Esq., law partner of Sena- tor Kenna, a popular and worthy gentleman. Mr. Carr carried his own county in the district by 1,447 votes-at that time the largest major- ity it ever gave, except the vote he received (1,700) for County Court. Every one remembers the memorable struggle in the State Senate for the position of President of that body. Some of its ablest members-among the foremost men
in the State-were candidates for the coveted seat, notwithstanding its laborious duties and responsibilities-especially so during that ses- sion, as the Joint Assembly were called upon, under the Senate President presiding, to elect a United States Senator. After eleven days' balloting and any amount of shrewd party wire manipulating, Captain Carr was elected and presided over that Senate during the session with dignity, marked indiscrimination, rare parliamentary ability, and with unusual satis- faction to the members. Indeed, in the per- formance of its most delicate duties he surprised his most sanguine friends. It was during this session that the remarkable quadrilateral guber- natorial contest took place-remarkable from the fact that the failure of the Legislature to open and declare upon the returns of election who had been elected Governor threw into the conflict at one time four claimants for the office. The incumbent was Gov. E. Willis Wilson, whose term expired March 4, 1889, by the constitutional limit; but he, on the assump- tion that no successor had been declared elected by the Legislature, claimed it became his privi- lege and duty to hold over until such suc- cessor was legally declared Governor. Gen. Nathan Goff, the Republican candidate, Judge A. B. Fleming, the Democratic candidate, each declared himself elected "by the face of the returns" and demanded the office, but Governor Wilson refused to yield the office to either. Robert S. Carr, as President of the Senate, filed a petition in the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, March 14, 1889, averring: That on the 4th of March, 1889, the office of Governor of the State had become and remains vacant, and that under section 16, article 7, of the Con- stitution, it was his right and duty to act as Governor; that at the last election held for Governor Nathan Goff and A. B. Fleming were the two candidates receiving the highest num- ber of votes for that office; that Goff claiming to have received a greater number than Flem- ing, on the 4th of March, 1889, he took the oath of office and demanded possession of the office, but that E. Willis Wilson, a private citizen, found in its possession, refused to admit Goff; that Goff asked the court for a mandamus to compel Wilson to surrender the office to him, but that the Court held that he (Goff) was not entitled to
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
the writ, and that the act of Goff in taking the oath was void. The petition of Senator Carr further stated that either Goff or Fleming was elected, but that both were and continued to be under such disability as prevented their acting; that Fleming failed to qualify, and for that rea- son and others was disabled from entering on the duties of the office; and that Goff, for rea- sons stated in the opinion of the Supreme Court (Goff v. Wilson), is disabled from so doing. Senator Carr had also demanded the office from Wilson, but was likewise refused admission. He alleged, and apparently under the State Constitution, that Wilson had no right to hold the office beyond the constitutional limit of his term, and hence asked the mandamus compelling Wilson to yield the office to him. The Supreme Court took the other view of the law in the case under the Constitution, refused the mandamus, and Wilson continued to act as Governor pend- ing investigation of the contest by the Joint Assembly's Committee. At the adjournment of the Legislature, Captain Carr resumed his usual business with renewed interest and appli- cation. His political career, however, cannot be considered ended; for his exceeding popular- ity, as evinced by the unprecedented majorities given him for the various offices he filled, indi- cates the wishes and intent of the people;that he should give the State the benefit of his rare business and executive abilities. The future of such a man it is difficult to point up to. That a man with comparatively no education at the age of twenty-one, with no capital (other than in- domitable will to plan, courage to attempt, in- dustry to accomplish, and pluck to hold on), and almost a stranger when he landed at Charleston -that a man with such a start should succeed as Robert S. Carr has, is but another evidence of the possibilities in this wonderful young State to every man of energy and integrity. Poverty never conquered him; he conquered poverty ; illiterate at the start, he secured, with no other aid than his wife and close study and observa- tion, a very fair amount of learning, to which he happily added a knowledge of human nature acquired in his rough contact with the world, and a natural ability for quick, prompt, success- ful business ventures, with executive qualities of a high order. These pushed him inevitably to the forefront of the masses; but the chief
factor in his popularity with the people is, doubtless, the fact that he has an Irish heart beating always to the music of the grand brother- hood of man, thus giving him those broad sym- pathies and brotherly impulses that ever lead him to extend a helping hand to his fellows. Quick as any Irishman to resent an insult, he is as slow as chivalry itself to commit one. The height of his ambition, he says, is to help his friends .- From " Prominent Men of West Vir- ginia." Senator Carr, or Captain Carr, as he is best known, well sustains his popularity and is a gentleman of unique social qualities and of peculiar personal magnetism, that render him an agreeable companion and a welcome guest on all occasions throughout the State. He is a man of enterprise and one of the leading spirits in the development of South Charleston and other public improvements. Mr. Carr was also one of the World's Fair Commissioners of the State Board, appointed by Governor Flem- ing.
PATRICK F. DUFFY.
HON. PATRICK FEE DUFFY, Auditor of West Virginia for two terms, was born March 14, 1841, in County Monaghan, Ireland, son of Michael and Margaret Fee Duffy. With his family he came westward and settled down in West Virginia, of which he has been a resident since 1855. Mr. Duffy owed little to fortune. He got only such an education as the common school afforded, but it sufficed as a foundation. On it by habits of industry and application he built up a knowledge, like his character, solid and reliable. His public career commenced in 1875, when he was appointed a Commissioner to reassess lands in Webster County. To this office he was reappointed in 1882. From 1877 to 1881 Mr. Duffy was Sheriff of Webster County, and was also Commissioner of School Lands. He was elected on the Democratic ticket as Auditor of West Virginia for the term 1885- 89, and was elected for a second term, which expires March 4, 1893. When the Civil War broke out Mr. Duffy cherished for the State of his adoption an ardent patriotism, and when she called upon her sons to defend her in 1861 he was prompt to respond. As First Lieutenant
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