USA > West Virginia > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of West Virginia. Including reference articles on the industrial resources of the state, etc., etc. > Part 35
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51
Mrs. Caperton, widow of the late A. T. Caper- ton, United States Senator from West Virginia, in a letter to a friend written soon after Dr. Creigh's death, says :
"Dr. Creigh was not only a most intimate and valued friend of my husband but of his whole family. If I am not mistaken I was one of his first patients after he commenced the practice of his profession. His skill and attention dur- ing a long and dangerous illness often afforded us the opportunity of expressing our value of him as a physician and friend. At a later pe- riod, when Mr. Caperton was near losing his life by the accidental discharge of a gun, for months he attended him with the most unremitting faith- fulness and kindness, showing his skill as a sur- geon. He continued to be our family physician until he entered upon his political career, and during those years we had ample opportunity of knowing him well. I can heartily indorse all that has been said and published of him and add my testimony to that of all who knew him that no better or more guileless man ever lived. His sudden death was a great shock to us, but we feel assured that he has gone to receive the re- ward of the just and pure in heart. His loss is irreparable, both to his friends and the commu- nity in which he so long resided."
In the first issue of the Greenbrier Independent after intelligence of Dr. Creigh's sudden death had reached Lewisburg, the following editorial appeared :
" The sad intelligence of the death of Dr. Creigh reached this place early Wednesday morning, casting a deep gloom over the entire community. Dr. Creigh was universally loved and respected and his loss will be sadly felt throughout this entire section. We do not be- lieve that he had an enemy in the world, was kind and generous to a fault, and all classes loved and admired him. His position cannot be easily filled. We copy below from the Mountain Her- ald the only particulars we have received in re- gard to this sad event."
The Herald said :
" It is with profound sorrow that we announce the death of this distinguished physician and
1
Menk & Spalte
193
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
most excellent man. The sad event occurred suddenly on Wednesday morning at two o'clock at the residence of Mr. C. L. Thompson, where he had been called to see a sick niece. Dr. Creigh was widely known and much beloved, having represented his district and county in both branches of the Legislature and filled other offices of honor and trust in the State. To his large circle of relations and friends we extend our deepest sympathy."
Dr. Creigh was for many years the medical adviser of Judges Allen, Daniel, Baldwin, and Moncure, of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, during its summer session in Lewis- burg. Indeed, he was the personal friend both of the court and bar and had their confidence as a physician. On one occasion Dr. Wood, one of the Professors of the Medical University of Penn- sylvania, at Philadelphia, was at the Salt Sul- phur Springs, Monroe County, Va., with his family seeking rest and recreation. Soon after his arrival at that resort he became seriously ill. Dr. Mouter, a fellow-professor of the same school, was called in to see Dr. Wood. Not being familiar with the peculiar diseases of that region he was unwilling to trust himself with the treatment of his friend, but inquired of the proprietor for the best physician in that region. Dr. Creigh was at once recommended and sent for, and under the blessing of a kind Providence brought this learned and able man through a protracted illness. In after years Dr. Wood re- membered this attention of Dr. Creigh and made substantial proof of his gratitude in handsome presents of valuable medical works, and a superb case of surgical instruments. During Dr. Creigh's first marriage he lived in Lewisburg. After his second marriage he removed to his father's old home two miles south of Lewisburg, where his parents had spent the evening of their lives. In these homes he dispensed a most gen- erous hospitality, and the poor and needy were never turned away empty from his door. Dr. Creigh was a model physician and a true friend. He will ever be held in remembrance as an honor to Greenbrier County. The foregoing sketch of Dr. Creigh is from the pen of a lifelong con- temporary. They were natives of the same place and of about the same age; grew up and played together as children, and in youth, man- hood, and old age were inseparable companions and steadfast friends.
MARK L. SPOTTS.
MARK L. SPOTTS, a well-known citizen of Greenbrier County, was born the 31st day of May, 1812, in Lewisburg, then Virginia, now West Virginia. This little town has had many advantages. It was the place where the Court of Appeals held its sessions from 1831 to 1861. It is nine miles from the Greenbrier White Sul- phur, so celebrated as a summer resort. It has been visited by some of the most noted men of our country. And it has not been unmindful of its advantages, for it has as few rude people in it, in proportion to the population, as any town in the land. It was in this town that Mr. Spotts was educated, in company with George W. Tay- lor, James McElhenney, Thomas Mathews, Dr. Thomas Creigh, and William S. Plummer, who rose to great eminence as a divine. Rev. John McElhenney, D.D., John Spotts, and others were his preceptors. In December, 1829, Mr. Spotts commenced to write in the clerk's office of John A. North, Clerk of the Chancery Court of Lew- isburg. Mr. North being an accomplished clerk, it was not long until Mr. Spotts had acquired such proficiency as to be called on to assist Mr. John Mathews, the Clerk of the County Court of Greenbrier. In 1834, he was appointed deputy for R. W. Moore, Clerk of the United State Dis- trict Court at Lewisburg. Before a year had elapsed he was appointed by the County Court of Greenbrier Commissioner of the Revenue. This he filled until the office became elective, and then he was elected, holding the position for twenty consecutive years. He was a mer- chant in Lewisburg from the year 1849 to 1857. From 1857 to 1859 he was clerk of the Covington and Ohio Railroad Company, under the imme- diate supervision of that accomplished gentle- man, Charles B. Fisk. He was Deputy Sheriff from 1860 to 1862. From January, 1869, to Jan- uary, 1873, he was the deputy of George H. Lewis, and did the business of Recorder of Green- brier County. In August, 1872, he was elected Clerk of the County Court of Greenbrier County, for the term of six years from the ensuing Jan- uary. In 1878, he was again elected County Clerk. At the expiration of this last-mentioned term in 1884, no amount of persuasion could in- duce Mr. Spotts to be a candidate for another term of the clerkship. He consented to stay in
194
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
the office with the new Clerk until he should become familiar with the duties of the office and the books and papers which filled its shelves. And this he did. There was reason for the re- tirement of Mr. Spotts. He had the Clerk's office in perfect order. He was the only man alive who could put his hand on any and every paper in the office, and it was time another was being trained. Mr. Spotts, by a long life of labor and care, had accumulated a good estate, and his age required that he should cease the treadmill life of a clerk. He is now enjoying his ease with dignity. In 1858, he was elected an Elder of the Lewisburg Presbyterian church at the same time with the late Governor Samuel Price, Thomas Mathews, David S. Creigh, and Judge John W. McPherson, upon the occasion of Dr. McElhenney's semi-centennial as pastor of said church, and Rev. Dr. W. S. Plummer assisted in the ordination. He is yet a Ruling Elder, hon- ored by all the church. Indeed, at the centen- nial celebration of the organization of the Lew- isburg church, in 1883, Mr. Spotts was chosen as the fit man to prepare and deliver the address. This he did to the acceptance of the church. In every instance in which Mr. Spotts held office he either resigned or refused to be a candidate again. He walked orderly, he conversed dis- cretely ; he gave liberally ; he was always firm; he never overbore; he has a well-rounded char- acter; he is a true Virginian. What greater praise can be bestowed? He could not have been less than he is with his advantages. Liv- ing so near the White Sulphur Springs, he im- proved the opportunity of meeting with many of the first and best men of his country. Think of those with whom he has had converse: Revs. John McElhenney, D.D., James Brown, D.D., W. S. Plummer, D.D., Lyman Beecher, D.D., Dr. Vandyke, Dr. Moore; also, the men of note in civil life : first Judge Brown, Major Sheffey, General Baldwin, General Blackburn, Judge Taylor, George W. Taylor, James Withrow, Sr., the Calwells, first and second Governors Floyd, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, Van Buren, Gen. William Henry Harrison, Chapman Johnson, Gen. Walter Jones, W. C. Rives, Governor Mc- Dowell, Andrew Stevenson, Capt. Charles Ar- buckle, Charles A. Stuart, Ballard Preston, George W. Summers, and Governor Mathews. With many of these he had close converse. Mr.
Spotts was married in the year 1855 to Miss ยท Virginia Wiatt, of Lynchburg, Va., a descend- ant of the old Jordan family of Virginia. Since the foregoing sketch was put in type Mr. Spotts died at his home in Lewisburg, on December 22, 1893. The following notice thereof is from the Greenbrier Independent, December 28, 1893:
" Mr. Spotts had been confined to his bed but a few days with something like grip, but as he had suffered but little his physician could dis- cover no satisfactory cause of death beyond a sudden collapse of the whole system, which old age had deprived of its powers of resistance. His death was painless and he passed away with- out a shudder, at peace with all the world and with his God. Mr. Spotts was born near Wil- liamsburg, in this county, on the 31st day of May, 1812, and was, therefore, at the time of his death, eighty-one years, six months and twenty-one days old. When quite young he moved with his father's family to Lewisburg, and here he resided during his long and useful life. He held various offices of honor and trust in the county-serving the public for many years as Commissioner of Revenue, Sheriff, and Clerk of the County Court. No officer was ever more faithful or efficient in the discharge of his duties, and none ever served the people with more credit to himself or more acceptably to them. Indeed the faithful assiduity, scrupu- lous care, high integrity, and unvarying polite- ness with which he at all times discharged his public duties made Mr. Spotts a model officer and gave him a hold upon the confidence and affections of the people of Greenbrier which we doubt if any other man ever enjoyed in such pre-eminent degree. Though Mr. Spotts never enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education, his was yet a cultivated mind and he was well acquainted with the English classics, his exten- sive reading, aided by a wonderfully retentive memory, supplying, in a large measure, the lack of a college training. Many of the admir- able sketches of his contemporaries written by him have found their way into print. Pure in thought, gentle in manner, upright in deed, conscientious and honorable in all things, Mr. Spotts was one of nature's noblemen, and died honored and respected by all who knew him. He leaves surviving him a widow, one sister, Mrs. Fuller, of Staunton, Va., and a brother, J. C. Spotts, Esq., of Tazewell, Va. The funeral services were conducted from the Presbyterian church Sunday afternoon, Rev. R. L. Telford officiating, after which the body was laid to rest in the family plot in the rear of the old stone church. The religious phase of Mr. Spotts' life and character is well presented in the following resolutions adopted by the Session of the Pres- byterian church, of which he had been so long
195
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
an honored member and Elder: At a meeting of the Session of the Lewisburg Presbyterian church held on the 24th day of December, 1893, the following preamble and resolutions were adopted : 'As the Great Head of the Church in his infinite wisdom, on the 22d inst., called from his work on earth our beloved brother, Mark L. Spotts, the oldest male member of this church; therefore, resolved, Ist, That we acknowledge the sovereignty and bow to the will of our God in this great bereavement, knowing that he doeth all things well, and that whatever is dark and mysterious now will be cleared up here- after. 2d, That we here record our gratitude for the mercy that spared so long to our church our beloved brother in the Eldership; for that zeal in the Master's cause that made him delight in the service of the sanctuary; for the faithful testimony he bore through more than sixty years to the truth and efficacy of the Gospel of our blessed Lord and Saviour; for the rich, ripe wisdom that enabled him to counsel and en- courage us in every season of our church's per- plexity and gloom; for that abiding faith that shed such a lustre over his every-day life, and made radiant his dying chamber; and for the consecrated, pure life and Christian example God's grace enabled him to set us. We feel
that no words can adequately express our sor- row at the death of so pure a character. To us, as a board of Elders, the blow falls with pecu- liar force. We, individually, knew him as a neighbor and friend; but, as Elders, we were bound to him by closer ties as laborers in the same cause. We, therefore, feel a particular grief, and claim the privilege of special mourn- ers. In his death the church of which he had so long been an ornament, and the community in which he lived, have sustained an irreparable loss. 3d, That we tender to the bereaved widow of our brother and to his family our sincere sympathy and, in this the hour of their sore trial, commend them to the grace of that Sa- viour he so long and faithfully served. 4th, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the be- reaved family, published in our county papers and also in the religious papers of our denom- ination, and spread upon the records of our church. 5th, That the officers of this church attend his funeral in a body as pall-bearers.'"
THOMAS H. DENNIS.
HON. THOMAS H. DENNIS, Speaker of the House of Delegates in 1885, and well known as the Editor of the Greenbrier Independent, of Lewisburg, was born in Charlotte County, Va., February 26, 1846. He is the youngest son of the late Col. William H. Dennis, of the same
-
county, who was a leading and representative citizen of Charlotte, a member for a number of years of the Senate of Virginia, and at one time President of that body. His mother, whose maiden name was Ann Morton, belonged to one of the best-known families of eastern Virginia. She traced her descent directly from Susanna Rochet, a French Huguenot, who, with her family, was forced from France during the per- secutions of the Huguenots after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Thomas H. Dennis, the son, attended the schools of his neighborhood until he was eighteen years of age, when he entered the Confederate army and served until the close of the war as a private in the Charlotte Cavalry (Company B), Fourteenth Virginia Regi- ment, McCausland's brigade. He participated in the valley campaign of 1864, under Gen. Jubal A. Early, and in 1865, his regiment having been transferred to General Beall's brigade, was with General Lee's army in its retreat from Rich- mond. After the war he came to Lewisburg, and attended school one session at the old Lewisburg academy, taught by the Rev. Jno. C. Barr and Mr. W. C. Preston. In September, 1866, he entered Washington College at Lexing- ton, Va., as a student and took the academic course two years. In September, 1868, he went to Charleston, W. Va., and taught one session in the Institute, of which the Rev. J. C. Barr then had charge, after which he spent two years in Kansas. Returning to Greenbrier in 1872, he studied law with his brother, Hon. Robert F. Dennis, at Lewisburg, and entered the Law School of the University of Virginia in October of that year, graduating with the degree of B.L. in July, 1873. He then entered upon the prac- tice of his profession, in partnership with his brother, in Greenbrier and the adjoining coun- ties. While practising his profession he served three terms, or six years, as Superintendent of Schools in Greenbrier County. Mr. Dennis, by his untiring diligence and fidelity in the dis- charge of every duty connected with this office, becaine a most efficient and useful superin- tendent of Free Schools, his bland and polite intercourse with the teachers, trustees, and patrons of all these schools made him very pop- ular and clothed him with influence with these several classes, and in any appeal made to him growing out of controversies as to the location
196
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
of school-houses, etc., his judgment and decision were in the main acquiesced in and became final. In the year 1884 he was elected to the House of Delegates of West Virginia, and when that body assembled in the following January he was chosen Speaker of the House, over which body he presided during the session of 1885. It was a very marked compliment that one so young and just at the threshold of his legislative career should have been elected the Speaker of the House of Delegates of West Virginia, but by his industry and study of parliamentary rules he proved himself fully equal to the task and became a very efficient and acceptable presiding officer. From 1880 to 1884 he was a member of the Democratic State Executive Committee. He is a graceful writer and an able editor. Many of the editorials that have appeared in the Independent since he became its editor would reflect credit on a much older and experienced journalist : upon the platform or at the bar he has always acquitted himself well as a public speaker. By birth and education the subject of this sketch is a Presbyterian, a mem- ber and officer of the Old Stone Church in Lewisburg; his lineage on the maternal side, being of the Mortons of Virginia, have in the past furnished many ministers and Ruling Elders for that branch of the Christian Church. He married in December, 1884, Miss Jennie Johnston, of Union, Monroe County, only daugh- ter of Col. A. H. Johnston, Cashier of the Bank of Union. In September, 1887, he took charge as editor and one of the proprietors of the well- known Democratic Journal, the Greenbrier In- dependent, one of the leading newspapers of the State, in which business, together with the prac- tice of the law, he is still engaged. Mr. Dennis is a true type of a Jeffersonian Democrat, al- ways adhering to principle and never pandering to the public taste for the sake of popularity. A courteous, thoughtful gentleman, Mr. Dennis has the love of justice and right to a large de- gree, and his paper, though Democratic in poli- tics, is independent in fact as in name, ever recognizing and supporting the higher principles of government and statesmanship that best conserve the welfare of the masses and without regard to the behests of political henchmen and in opposition to all monopolies and combines of either State or national origin. Mr. Dennis has
taken an active interest in the development of West Virginia and the Old Dominion as well, and has become financially identified with some of the growing towns that are destined to be- come large centres of business and population. Since the Independent was founded in 1866 it has taken first rank among the weeklies of the State, and its reputation for fearless discussion of pub- lic measures and for guarding the rights of the industrial classes is a most enviable one-com- manding the respectful attention of all fair- minded contemporaries in the editorial brother- hood at home and abroad.
STOWELL S. HAZEN.
STOWELL S. HAZEN, Postmaster of Par- kersburg, beginning April 1, 1890, is the second son of Samuel J. and Julia Hazen, and was born September 12, 1842, in Tioga County, N. Y. With his parents he went to Virginia in the spring of 1848; and there and in Ohio, in the country district schools, in winter, received his early education, the time extending over a period of thirteen years, or up to the time of the break- ing out of the Civil War in 1861. On June 24 of that year young Hazen enlisted in Company D of the Twelfth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He saw service with the regiment from that time forward, in all its engagements up to the battle of Antietam, Md., September 16, 1862, when he was severely wounded. As soon as he was able to march he was appointed Second Lieutenant in the First Ohio Heavy Artillery. This was in June, 1863, but the following month he was transferred to the Second Ohio Heavy Artillery, and promoted to be First Lieutenant August 27, 1863, and to a captaincy October 3, 1863. He served in the latter capacity until the close of the war. On February 15, 1866, Captain Hazen was married to Miss Juliet E., daughter of Sam- uel and Marinda Romine, of Lubeck, W. Va., by whom he had three children, Edwin D., Allie S., who died in infancy ; and Isa P. Hazen. The first eleven years of the married life of Captain Hazen and his wife were passed upon a little farm near Parkersburg, W. Va., where he taught school in the winter and worked upon his farm in the summer. But from 1876, he began to take
197
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
an active part in politics, as an ardent Republi- can, and in the following January was appointed Deputy Sheriff of Wood County, which office he continued to hold until November 1, 1889. On February 28, 1890, he was appointed by Presi- dent Harrison, Postmaster at Parkersburg, W. Va., and confirmed by the United States Sen- ate March 4. He took charge of the office April 1, 1890. Captain Hazen was one of the charter members of the Andrew Mather Post, No. 14, Department of West Virginia, Grand Army of the Republic, and was its second Com- mander. In April, 1888, he was elceted Senior Vice Department Commander by acclamation ; and in April, 1889, was elected Department Com- mander by acclamation. Captain Hazen is a worthy veteran of the war, a man popular among his associates, and an official who will no doubt serve a thoroughly acceptable term as Postmas- ter of Parkersburg. The United States court- house and post-office of the city, in one build- ing, was completed in 1877, at a cost of $325,000. The population of Parkersburg is about thirteen thousand, and the city has a post-office delivery, comprising five letter-carriers.
BENJAMIN H. OXLEY.
HON. BENJAMIN HARNEY OXLEY, Adjutant-General of West Virginia during Gov- ernor Fleming's administration, was born in Franklin County, Va., June 19, 1853. He is the son of Jenkins Madison and Elizabeth (Miles) Oxley, and has resided in West Virginia since 1869. The father and mother were natives of Bedford County, Va., and of English and Scotch descent respectively. In 1869 they came to Lincoln County, where the mother died in 1882; the father died in Charleston in October, 1889. Mr. Oxley's early life was truly American and characteristic of the more Northern and Western States particularly. He worked on his father's farm and attended school during the winter months. In 1872 he had advanced in his edu- cation sufficiently to become a teacher in the public schools of his section. While so engaged he studied law and finally passed his examina- tion, and was admitted to practice at Hamlin, Lincoln County, in 1879, where he established
himself in his profession and soon acquired a remunerative practice. In 1885 he was elected to the House of Delegates and served on impor- tant committees. In 1887 he was chosen to represent his Senatorial District in the Legisla- ture, and was a prominent member of that body. During his term in the Senate, the memorable Gubernatorial Contest between Judge Fleming and General Goff was tried by the Legislature, in which he took a deep interest. A self-made inan, he has advanced steadily in public confi- dence, and when Judge Fleming became Gov- ernor he selected Senator Oxley as his Adjutant- General. He was a painstaking and careful official, and nothing in his Department of the State Government escaped his attention and personal direction. He is a man of practical ideas, brainy and agreeable, and a lawyer of conservative judgment. May 16, 1889, General Oxley married Miss Fannie B., daughter of Edward and Helen Burton, of Charleston. Gen- eral Oxley is a member of the West Virginia Bar Association and practises in all the differ- ent courts. He is one of the most popular lead- ers of the Democratic party in West Virginia, and has many warm personal friends in all parts of the State. The Adjutant-General of West Virginia is appointed by the Governor and has an Assistant. He has the brevet rank of a Brigadier-General and is also ex-officio Quarter- master-General. He issues all orders of the Commander-in-Chief and attends all reviews when the Governor reviews the militia. He supervises all pay-rolls and disbursements of military arms or other materials. As Quarter- master-General he has charge of the military supplies, and he makes requisition upon the War Department of the United States for the quota of ordnance and small-arms and military equipments due the State under Acts of Con- gress. The Adjutant-General is also ex-officio State Librarian and has charge of the Library at the seat of Government. The Law Library contains about ten thousand volumes and the Historical Society Library about two thousand volumes. He is also ex-officio Superintendent of Weights and Measures under Chapter 59 of the Code. In all of these offices, and espe- cially in military affairs, he is the right-hand man of the Governor, so to speak, having large discretionary power. The Adjutant-General is
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.