USA > West Virginia > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of West Virginia. Including reference articles on the industrial resources of the state, etc., etc. > Part 28
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"Both sexes' virtues were in him combined : He had the vigor of the manliest mind, And all the mildness, too, of womankind; He never knew what envy was nor hate; His soul was fill'd with truth and honesty,
And with another thing besides, quite out of date, - Call'd modesty."
His mother was an earnest, life-long Presby- terian; and for that church, as for all others, her son had the greatest respect and contributed liberally of his means to their support. He never, however, connected himself with any church organization; he did not disturb himself to discriminate between and select from the many creeds and doctrines formulated by man; he did not believe that his Creator, whose good-
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
155
ness is only measured by his greatness, would ever punish a creature for any belief sincerely entertained, or for an honest inability to accept any particular doctrine or dogma. He did not care to inquire what a man believed, but did he believe it? He was content to practise the morality of the New Testament and to do his duty in every relation of life. And when in the fulness of years, with the consciousness of duties performed and a life well spent, in the entire possession of all his faculties and still exempt from the pains and infirmities of old age, the summons came for him to join the great majority, it found him without fear or hesitation, ready and willing to obey; he closed his eyes calmly in that last sleep by which he would pass from the known to the un- known with all the composure of one
"Who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him and lays him down to pleasant dreams."
In the town of Lewisburg, where he was born and where his long and useful life was spent, in the burying-ground at the old stone church, by the side of her who was for well-nigh half a century his faithful companion and helpmate, his last resting-place is marked by a simple marble shaft surmounted by a globe with this legend: "Totus teres atque rotundus"-emble- matic and descriptive of the beautiful symmetry and wonderful balance of his character; and on its eastern face are inscribed the words-
"O tender and true. . O selfless man and stainless gentleman" ---
than which nothing truer could be said of him who lies beneath.
HENRY MASON MATHEWS.
HON. HENRY MASON MATHEWS, fifth Governor and seventh Attorney-General of West Virginia and son of the foregoing, was born in Greenbrier County, Va., on March 29, 1834. After the proper rudimentary education, he was prepared for college at the Lewisburg Academy, which was at the time chiefly under the direction of the Rev. P. M. Custer, a rela- tive of the late General George A. Custer and a Presbyterian divine of considerable eminence.
From this academy young Mathews went to the University of Virginia, where he went through the necessary course of study to receive the B.A. and afterward the M. A. degrees; he subse- quently attended at Lexington, Rockbridge County Va., the celebrated law school of Judge John W. Brockenbrough, from which he gradu- ated. Having passed to the bar, Mr. Mathews opened an office in Lewisburg and began practice in the courts. This was in 1857, and a short time after he was offered the professorship of history, modern languages, and literature in Alleghany College, Blue Sulphur Springs. This chair he accepted, but only under the expressed condi- tion that he should be permitted also to continue his legal practice in the courts. Between this active practice of his profession and his atten- tion to the duties of his professorship four years passed away. In 1861 the disagreement be- tween the North and South culminated and the Civil War broke out between the two sections. Leaving all his professional duties, Mr. Mathews at once offered his services to the Confederate Government and was received into the army as a volunteer. His services proved to be of such importance, and his courage as well as his ability so pre-eminent, that he received rapid promotion and speedily reached the rank of Major of artillery. He was in the Confederate Army four years, and during that time saw active service in many hotly contested engage- ments. When the war closed, he returned to his home in Greenbrier County with the inten- tion of resuming the practice of his profession, but this he found he was unable to do, since it was not possible for him to take the required oath that he "had not aided or abetted the re- bellion." Mr. Mathews was now elected to the West Virginia Senate, and by a very large vote, but his political status still stood in his way and his inability to take the "test oath" disabled him from taking his seat. These proscriptive measures, which had in 1866 been made a part of the State Constitution of West Virginia, were at length repealed, and in 1872 Major Mathews was nominated on the Democratic ticket for the position of Attorney-General for the State, and was elected. He served his full term to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. Mean- while, in the same year in which he was elected Attorney-General, he also served as a member
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
of the Constitutional Convention which framed the new Constitution for the State. In 1876 Major Mathews was the Democratic candidate for Governor of West Virginia and was elected by the largest majority (15,000) ever given to any candidate for that office in the State, before or since that time. Major Mathews was admi- rably equipped for the position of chief executive of the State, not only by his legal knowledge, his experience as a man of the world, and his high scholarship, but by his amiable and cour- teous disposition, which gave him the popularity that is essential to success in such a position. Governor Mathews married, in November, 1857, Miss Lucy Fry, a daughter of Judge Joseph L. Fry, an eminent lawyer of Wheeling. Miss Fry's paternal grandfather was a professor in William and Mary College, the oldest educa- tional institution in the South, and was subse- quently colonel of a regiment of Colonial (Vir- ginia) troops of which General Washington was lieutenant-colonel, and which served under Braddock in the old French and Indian War. In his personal appearance, Governor Mathews was a man to attract attention wherever he ap- peared. He was of medium height, with a fair complexion, dark eyes, slightly bald, and wear- ing a heavy beard. The kindly joyousness of his disposition gave to his countenance a cheer- ful and pleasing expression, which recommended him at once to the stranger, while among his friends and associates he was a general favorite. Governor Mathews was recognized in the pro- fession as a lawyer of remarkable ability, while he was also an eloquent orator in the courts and a fine public speaker anywhere. He died at his home in Lewisburg, April 29, 1884, and his loss, in the prime of his life and his powers, caused the deepest sorrow and regret among his thousands of admiring friends. Governor Mathews left a widow, two daugh- ters, and one son.
MARMADUKE H. DENT.
THE HONORABLE MARMADUKE HER- BERT DENT, of Grafton, Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State of West Virginia, was born in Duke, a hamlet at the mouth of Dent's Run, on the Monongahela
River, in Monongalia County, two miles below Morgantown, the head of river navigation, April 18, 1849. His family is of English lineage, and his American ancestors settled at an early date on the western slope of the Alleghanies and took a conspicuous part in the Revolutionary and Indian wars. His father was Marshall M. Dent, eldest son of Dr. Marmaduke Dent and Sarah (Price) Dent, a sketch of whose life ap- pears elsewhere. His mother, Mary Caroline Dent, from whom he inherits his personal ap- pearance, religious belief, and positiveness of character, was of New England Puritan stock, being the daughter of Dr. D. W. Roberts and Hettie Strong Roberts, of Quincy, Mass. Dr. Roberts was known as the first abolitionist in Monongalia County, and as such was quite a curiosity in a slaveholding community, helped to found the Republican party, and always voted that ticket. He was an accredited dele- gate to the Convention of 1860 that nomi- nated Abraham Lincoln, although at that time the Republican party had no organization in the then State of Virginia and its membership were so few in numbers, despised, and perse- cuted that they dared not let their political faith be known. At the succeeding election Dr. Roberts took one friend, over whom he had an influence, went to the polls at the court- house in Morgantown as soon as open, and cast his vote for the Lincoln electors, of whom he was one, and then hastily retired to escape the persecution of his political enemies, the Whigs and Democrats. After Mr. Lincoln's inaugura- tion, he tendered the post-office at Morgantown to Dr. Roberts, but so bitter was the anti-repub- lican and anti-abolition sentiment in that com- munity that the appointee not only dared not accept the office, but through fear of his life was compelled to issue a circular letter renounc- ing it, by the very people who now pride them- selves on their stanch adherence to the true polit- ical principles of Abraham Lincoln. The early years of the subject of this sketch were passed in Morgantown, where he pursued his studies preparatory to entering the West Virginia State University, established in 1867 by Con- gressional endowment, whence he was graduated in 1870, the sole first graduate of that institu- tion, then entirely under Republican control. His uncle, Francis M. Chalfant, Esq., of Weston,
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Lewis County, W. Va., then a Regent of the University, secured his appointment as a State cadet and furnished him the means to enable him to complete his education. Immediately after graduation he located at Pruntytown, in Taylor County, some twenty-five miles distant from his home, and taught school until 1873, when he entered the Clerk's office as Deputy Clerk of the Circuit and County Courts, under Adolphus Armstrong, Chief Clerk. About the same time he was commissioned by the Gov- ernor a Notary Public and was appointed by the Circuit Court a Master in Chancery, and by the County Court a Commissioner of Accounts, and continued in these offices until his increasing law practice compelled his resignation. He re- mained for two years in the clerk's offices, de- voting his spare time to the study of law. As the result of his exertions he was admitted to the bar in 1875, and opened an office in Grafton, in the same county, for the practice of his pro- fession. In the campaign of 1876 he was the Democratic candidate for Prosecuting Attorney and defeated by only 96 votes, although the county was largely Republican, and he was opposed not only by the Republican nominee, but an independent Democratic candidate, who received 150 votes. Mr. Dent was married on the 11th day of October, 1876, to Miss Mary J. Warder, eldest daughter of Dr. A. S. and Sarah (Irwin) Warder, of Pruntytown, W. Va. In the spring of 1877 he was elected a member of the Town Council and Town Clerk of the town of Grafton, and was also selected Town Attor- ney, which latter position he held until elected to his present position on the judicial bench. In the spring of 1885 he was elected a member and Secretary of the School Board, and served as such until the summer of 1893. In 1884 he was Democratic nominee for the Legislature, and in 1888 for Prosecuting Attorney, but was defeated at the polls by a small majority both times, although receiving many votes outside his party. In 1892 he was selected by the Peo- ple's party as a non-partisan candidate for Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State for the long or twelve-year term. Being a Democrat he afterward received the nomination of his own party and was elected by a majority of 3,500 votes, receiving not only the combined support of the Democratic and People's parties,
but also a scattering Independent and Repub- lican vote throughout the State. His reputation as a lawyer and a public servant has been thor- oughly tested and fully established in the com- munity in which he resides. Religiously Judge Dent is a man of the strictest convictions. Reared under the influence of the old Calvin school of religion, morals, and discipline, he be- longs to the Presbyterian Church and carries with him in his every-day life the resultant ef- fects of his early teaching. While unswerving in his opinions regarding dogma, he is at the same time one of the most kindly-hearted of the Christ- ian workers in the State. He is Superintend ent and a teacher in the Sabbath-school, and a zealous member of the Society of Christian En- deavor, and one of the most exact disciplina- rians in his own life and conduct. He spares nothing from himself that he would put upon another. He has during his practical and active life been a total abstainer from the use of either ardent spirits or tobacco in any form. In his politics he has many friends outside his own party. Not only did the Democratic party give him its hearty support, but the People's party also had such admiration for him and his sym- pathy with the Alliance and its efforts for the betterment of the industrial classes, and the farming community especially, that in addition to nominating him he was given the entire People's party vote. Judge Dent is a firm be- liever in the legal and moral equality of the sexes. His term of office began on the Ist day of January, 1893, and will terminate on the 3Ist day of December, 1904. Blessed with good health and the capacity for hard and dili- gent professional work, he is in every respect grandly equipped for the high place to which he has been so unexpectedly called.
GEORGE C. STURGISS.
HON. GEORGE COOKMAN STURGISS, of Morgantown, United States Attorney for the Dis- trict of West Virginia during President Harri- son's administration, was born in Poland, Mahon- ing County, Ohio, August 16, 1842. His father, Alfred Gallatin Sturgiss, who was a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a gradu- ate of Madison College, Pennsylvania, died in
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the active work of the ministry in October, 1845. His baptismal name was given him in memory of the Rev. George Cookman, a distinguished minister, who, while crossing the Atlantic in 1841, went down in the ill-fated President. From the age of eleven years young Sturgiss was obliged to care for himself. The family consisted of the mother and three sons, of whom he was the second. In the determination to maintain himself George at first worked upon a farm, and later went through various parts of Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania as an itiner- ant furniture varnisher. He finally reached Monongalia County, Va., November 11, 1859, and with his earnings, supplemented by teach- ing, was enabled to attend the academy at Mor- gantown. He completed the course of study at that school with distinction, entered upon the study of law in the office of Hon. W. T. Willey, afterward a Senator from West Vir- ginia, and was admitted to the bar a few weeks after reaching his majority. While teaching he became a member of the editorial staff of the Morgantown Monitor, an independent weekly paper published at Morgantown. Previous to his admission to the bar Mr. Sturgiss was united in marriage with Miss Sabra J., a daugh- ter of Col. Addison S. Vance, of Morgantown. When his studies were completed he immedi- ately opened a law office, and being a diligent student and attentive to business rapidly built up a lucrative practice. In 1864-65 he served as Paymaster's Clerk with Major J. V. Boughner, Paymaster in the United States army. On his return at the close of the war he took a promi- nent part in the management of the schools in his county. In 1864 he was appointed Superin- tendent of Free Schools of the county (to fill the place of Rev. H. W. Biggs, who had been elected first Superintendent, but failed to qualify), and in 1866 was elected for a second term. During his administration he placed the school system in Monongalia County on a firm basis. He threw his whole being into the work, and, notwithstanding considerable opposition, rapid progress was made. Mr. Sturgiss went among the people making public addresses, explaining the new system, answering objec- tions, and pointing out the good that must result from a compliance with the spirit of the new institution. He was present at the town-
ship meetings, and urged the voters there as- sembled to make the necessary levies to build houses and pay teachers; instructed the officers in the discharge of their duties; and, later, visited the schools and held educational meetings at night throughout the county. During the years 1870, 1871, and 1872 he was a member of the House of Delegates of West Virginia, being elected for three successive terms. A young man of high personal character, attentive to his duties, which he discharged with ability, he proved one of the most useful and forceful members of the House. In 1872 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the county, and re- elected in 1876, and served eight consecutive years. Judge Fleming, a Democrat (afterward Governor), publicly pronounced him " one of the ablest and most efficient prosecuting officers of the State." During the closing year of his service, the Republican State Convention, in his absence and without solicitation on his part, nominated him by acclamation as its candidate for Governor of West Virginia. He was de- feated, although he went far ahead of his ticket, and had the satisfaction of making a State repu- tation as a man of rare abilities and as a logical, convincing, and impressive orator. On the 4th of April, 1889, Mr. Sturgiss was appointed by President Harrison to the responsible and trying position of United States Attorney for the District of West Virginia. The office hav- ing been filled for a quarter of a century by men of a high order of legal attainments, made it all the more trying for Mr. Sturgiss in the discharge of the duties of the office. In his official career he soon reached and fully sus- tained the high standing of his predecessors, and proved himself in every respect equal to the requirements of the place, and upon his re- tirement was highly complimented by Hon. Jno. J. Jackson, the veteran Judge of the United States District, for the efficiency, ability, and rare tact with which he had filled the office. Mr. Sturgiss, with ex-Judge Berkshire, with whom he has been associated for a quarter of a century, enjoys a large, lucrative, and responsi- ble law practice, extending to all the higher courts, both State and Federal. He is weil equipped for the work, both in legal learning and in knowledge of affairs and of human na- ture, and is equally felicitous in addressing a
Jump Rucher.
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learned court or a plain jury. While affable and suave in his intercourse with Court and counsel and clients, and slow to take offence, being often quoted as a model in this respect, he is nevertheless firm and unyielding in de- fence of the interests committed to his care, and has been known to quickly resent insult when tendered with deliberation, and never came off second best in such an encounter. He resides at Morgantown, though often spending the summer at Mountain Lake Park, where he has been interested as an active adviser and official for many years. He is an official member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, promoting all its interests by active work and liberal giving. No worthy object has ever appealed to him in vain for financial aid. He is chief owner of the Suspension Bridge, the Victor Elevator and Mills Company, and the electric light plant at his home, and is a stockholder and officer in, or counsel for, most of the corporations in that vicinity having for their object the general welfare of the community, and gives to each his thoughtful consideration. He has taken part in nearly every political contest in the State, speaking in every part of the State and everywhere receiving courteous hearings, and yet is not an aspirant for political honors. He served by appointment from a Democratic Governor as a Director of the Hospital for the Insane, and contributed for many years to the success of the State University as Secretary of the Board of Regents and member of the Exec- utive Committee, though differing politically from the appointing power, showing the confi- dence reposed in his judgment and integrity. As an energetic worker as well as public speaker, whether in the House debating grave questions of State or in rousing the enthusiasm of his friends and neighbors in public gather- ings, he stands at the very front, and no politi- cal campaign is deemed complete without his participation. Such a man and representative citizen is George Cookman Sturgiss, of whom a writer in "Prominent Men of West Virginia" has said: "Tall and of commanding presence, with vigor and grace of motion, with a well- balanced mind and an abundance of practical knowledge, with courage and power of resolute endurance, he is well fitted to occupy a leading position both in his county and State,"
WILLIAM P. RUCKER.
WILLIAM PARKS RUCKER, M.D., a dis- tinguished lawyer, Postmaster of Lewisburg, and well known in the two Virginias as a pub- lic man, was born in Lynchburg, Va., Novem- ber 9, 1831. Dr. Rucker's ancestral history and his personal record are copied herewith from Volume V. of " American Ancestry," published by Joel Munsell's Sons, Albany, N. Y. :
" William Parks Rucker, of Lewisburg, W. Va., born at Lynchburg, Va., November 9, 1831, educated in the Valley Union Seminary, Roanoke County, Va., University of Virginia, and Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pa. After graduating he located and success- fully practised at Covington, Va., until 1862, when he stopped practising and going through the military lines joined General Crook, then Colonel of the Thirty-sixth Ohio Infantry. He was a Unionist although a large slave-owner; was appointed Chief of the Secret Service by General Fremont, commanding the Mountain Department. At the head of seventy-five men burnt the Cow Pasture Bridge on Virginia Cen- tral Railroad, on May 17, 1862, by order of General Fremont; captured July 25, 1862, and remained in rebel dungeon until October 18, 1863; indicted and prosecuted in Circuit Court of Allegheny County, Va., for treason, murder, and bridge-burning, not because of crime but because of efforts to save the Union; was Major of Thirteenth West Virginia Regiment, but de- tailed and served on staff of George Crook and Franz Sigel, generals commanding in West Virginia. Prosecuting Attorney two years in Greenbrier County, also Pocahontas County, W. Va., having been a practising lawyer since 1868. Postmaster of Lewisburg 1889 (married, October 28, 1852, Margaret Ann, daughter of Thomas Hazelwood Scott, son of Captain Wil- liam Scott, an officer of the Revolutionary War and a descendant of the Highlanders of Scot- land, great-granddaughter of Captain William Parks, who was sent by General Washington to drive out the Indians in North Carolina. After they killed him they burned his body. Dr. Rucker is great-grandson of Captain William Parks, he and Mrs. Rucker being third cousins. Andrew, a brother of Captain William Parks, married a niece of General Washington) ; son of Clifton Hedly, of Lynchburg, Va., born in Amherst County, Va., January 31, 1807; died there March 20, 1838; wealthy merchant and tobacconist of Lynchburg, finely educated (married, January 13, 1831, Mary Jane Starke, daughter of Captain James Staples, of Stone Wall, Appomattox County, Va .; descendant through the Braffords, Spottswoods, and Starkes General Starke being her great-uncle and Gov-
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ernor Spottswood her great-granduncle); son of Ambrose, of Amherst County, Va., born there September 2, 1777, died there February 23, 1839, wealthy farmer and Chief Justice of the County Court of Amherst County, Va .; Captain of a company in the War of 1812; descendant of the famous Dutch admiral of the fifteenth century (married, August 1, 1799, Elizabeth, daughter of Captain William Parks and Mary Ann Gaines); son of Ambrose, of Amherst County, Va., born at Norfolk, Va., November 9, 1745, died at Amherst County, December 14, 1806; Colonel in the Revolutionary War (mar- ried, July 4, 1773, Margaret, daughter of Colonel John McDaniel (a Revolutionary officer) and Mary Jane Dawson, whose father was a major in Revolutionary War) ; son of Ruben, of Gooch- land County, Va., born at Norfolk, Va., April 7, 1715, died at Goochland County, February 17, 1783; wealthy farmer and tobacco raiser (mar- ried, May 25, 1750, Mary Clifton Hedly, whose mother was a Miss Garland); son of Ambrose, of Goochland County, Va., born in Holland, March 1, 1679, died in Goochland County, June 19, 1756; six feet six inches in height, weighed three hundred pounds, a giant in strength, landed in the United States when twenty-two years of age, shipwrecked on the voyage, clung to a stick of timber for three days before he was picked up; grandson of the Admiral Michael Adrianzoon de Ruyter; gave his proper name, 'Ruyter,' but it was published 'Rucker,' and it has attached ever since (married, July 21, 1708, Dorcas Sorrel). Sarah Parks, a first cousin of Clifton Hedly Rucker, married Whit- ing Davis, a first cousin of Jefferson Davis, and William Garland Rucker, also a first cousin of Clifton Hedly Rucker, married Mary Lee, first cousin of Robert E. Lee."
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