USA > West Virginia > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of West Virginia. Including reference articles on the industrial resources of the state, etc., etc. > Part 45
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part in every national campaign and his services as a political speaker are in request in a number of States. In January, 1889, General Goff was nominated by the Republican caucus of the West Virginia Legislature for United States Senator, but was defeated by John E. Kenna, the vote standing, Kenna, 46; Goff, 45. In December, 1891, President Harrison appointed him to one of the new United States Circuit Court judge-
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ships-the Fourth-an appointment which gave universal satisfaction to his party and friends. Although the Republicans of West Virginia felt honored by the elevation of their favorite leader to such a position, their pleasure was mingled with regret that the acceptance of the judgeship necessarily involved the retirement of General Goff from active politics, in which he was for so long a popular, brilliant, and successful leader. Judge Goff married Miss Laura Despard, of Clarksburg, in 1867, and has two sons, one of whom was educated in the Law Department at Yale University and the other at Washington, D. C.
JOHN J. KAIN.
RT. REV. JOHN JOSEPH KAIN, D.D., for eighteen years Bishop of Wheeling, now Coadjutor-Archbishop of St. Louis, Mo., and well and widely known as one of the most learned and zealous Prelates of the Roman Catholic Church in this country, was born at Martins- burg, Va., now West Virginia, May 31, 1841. At an early age he was sent to St. Charles Col- lege, near Ellicott City, Md., to make his collegiate studies. Diligent use was made of the advantages here offered, and on the com- pletion of his course in that noted school he passed to the Department of Philosophy and Theology in St. Mary's University, Baltimore, Md. Throughout all the collegiate, philosophi- cal and theological studies he evinced rare tal- ents, and was regarded as one of the most gifted, if not the most gifted student in those large schools. He was ordained Priest, July 2, 1866, and assigned to the missions of Harper's Ferry and Martinsburg, W. Va. Here he labored zealously and effectively for nine years, when, by Apostolic Letters, bearing date February 12, 1875, he was appointed second Bishop of Wheeling. Prior to his leaving Harper's Ferry, his congregation addressed him a farewell letter, saying among other things: "We feel that your inevitable removal from us will entail a loss not easily remedied, for we but echo the general opinion entertained by men of all religious de- nominations in this community when we say that, while your zeal in the cause of heaven has been singularly fruitful in good, your talents
and learning have rendered the services of the Church more than usually attractive, and com- manded the respect of even indifference and un- belief. Our sorrow, however, is more than counterbalanced by the reflection that our loss is the gain of the Church, and that your removal from us only gives a wider field for the exercise of the extraordinary powers with which you are professedly endowed, and which were par- tially lost to religion while you occupied the comparatively obscure position of a missionary priest. ... With these mingled feelings we present you with this expression of our good will, as we pray that your future course may not belie the glorious promises of your youth." The western part of Virginia was made a separate diocese July 23, 1850, and Rt. Rev. Dr. Whelan translated to the new See as its first Bishop. Bishop Whelan died July 7, 1874, and the Diocese was governed from that date to May, 1875, by Very Rev. H. F. Parke, adminis- trator sede vacante. The Diocese comprises the State of West Virginia, except the following counties, which are in the Diocese of Richmond : Pendleton, Grant, Mineral, Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson; also all that portion of the State of Virginia lying west of the counties of Patrick, Franklin and Roanoke; also that portion of Craig County which in 1850 belonged to the County of Montgomery. Rt. Rev. John J. Kain's consecration as the second Bishop of Wheeling took place in the Cathedral in that city on May 23, 1875. The consecration ceremonies, considered one of the most august of the Roman Catholic Church, were alike splen- did and impressive on this occasion, and were participated in by some twenty-four diocesan priests, thirty or more eminent clergy of other dioceses, and Bishops Rosecrans, Domenec, Shanahan, O'Hara, Becker and Gibbons, and Archbishop Bayley, the latter officiating as con- secrator. Bishop Kain's appointment was every- where hailed as an excellent one, and all in a brief time realized the grateful fact that Rome had acted wisely in placing at the helm a man of extraordinary fitness, one thoroughly equipped as a scholar, possessed of an excep- tional order of administrative ability, and a pulpit orator of the highest rank. The eighteen years of his- episcopate more than confirmed these anticipations, and he was universally es-
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teemed, socially and intellectually, as well as viewed as a Prelate, a most worthy successor to the lamented and revered Bishop Whelan. It has been said that the Sees of Richmond and Wheeling have been peculiarly favored in hav- ing as able and efficient Bishops as any two Sees in the Catholic Church in the United States. Whelan, McGill, Gibbons, Kain and Van de Vyver are certainly names of which any diocese might be justly proud. Perhaps the most important, interesting and gratifying event that transpired during Bishop Kain's residence in Wheeling was the celebration in that city of his "Sacerdotal Silver Jubilee" which took place, with befitting ceremony and great en- thusiasm, on July 2, 1891. The ceremonies, beginning with a Solemn Pontifical Mass, were followed by congratulatory addresses by Rt. Rev. Monsignor Sullivan, V.G., and Rev. Fr. Didacus, O.M.C .; then a grand banquet to the visiting clergy and other addresses; then a trip to Mount de Chantel by the visiting Bishops and most of the clergy; then the evening parade witnessed by a vast concourse of people; then the spirited exercises in Convent Hall, accom- panied with other able and eloquent addresses, and finally the imposing open air demonstra- tions and congratulations, concluding a memo- rable day in the history of Wheeling. In honor of the jubilee the clergy of the diocese made a substantial gift to the Bishop, who also received costly tokens of esteem contributed by almost every Catholic Church and Society in the Dio- cese, besides a large number of individual gifts. Of the many and graphic descriptions contained in the public press at the time of this memora- ble celebration, we have space only for the fol- lowing editorial summary of Bishop Kain's characteristics, from the Wheeling Daily Reg- ister of July 3, 1891 :
" Yesterday was celebrated in fitting manner the Silver Jubilee of Rt. Rev. Bishop John J. Kain of the Diocese of Wheeling. The enthu- siastic out-door demonstration, and the vast audience at the service in the Cathedral, at- tested the respect, esteem, and love the Catho- lics, and indeed all who know Bishop Kain, have for him. For a quarter of a century he has, as a priest of his church, ministered to the spiritual welfare of his fellow men, urging them to better things, not only from the pulpit, but by the ex- ample furnished in his pure Christian life. A man of deep learning and study, his chief per-
sonal characteristic is his peculiarly gentle and kindly nature. Firm in principle as a rock, powerful and eloquent in denunciation of wrong and evil, he is yet gentle at heart as a woman. Possessing such attractive qualities it is not sur- prising that, though a young man when elevated to the Bishopric, he should have been chosen to occupy his present eminence in the Catholic Church. It is doubtful if there is a more popu- lar and generally beloved member of the priest- hood in America. The world is made better by such men as Bishop Kain living in it. He is yet a young man, as Bishops go, and the Cath- olics of his diocese, together with many sincere and warm friends of other denominations, will unite in the fervent hope that he may long be spared to administer his holy office."
The "Sacerdotal Silver Jubilee" was further commemorated by the publication of a hand- some book, compiled by Rt. Rev. John T. Sul- livan, V.G., and presenting, in permanent and attractive form, the principal events, addresses, dedicatory poems, etc., of that memorable oc- casion. Archbishop John J. Kain was trans- lated, June 15, 1893, to the Archiepiscopal See of Oxyrynchia, and appointed, July 6, Coad- jutor cum jure successionis to the Most Rev. Archbishop of St. Louis. In this new field of labor and usefulness there can be no doubt that he will continue the prosecution of his great work in behalf of religion and humanity, and that all his undertakings will be emphasized by the same intelligent zeal and devotion that char- acterized the eighteen years of his successful administration of the Diocese of Wheeling.
JOHN B. TANEY.
JOHN B. TANEY, of Wheeling, Managing Editor of the Register, is a native of Newark, N. J., where he was born in 1841, the eldest son of Hugh and Letitia Taney, who removed to the Ohio Valley in 1850 and two years later located at Wheeling, then in the State of Virginia. He attended the public schools until he took a no- tion to go to sea, which caused him to leave his home a mere lad yet in his teens; and without consulting the wishes of his parents at all he joined the merchant marine as a sailor before the mast, making many voyages to different parts of the world and gradually rising in his favorite calling until he became chief officer of
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a ship. At the breaking out of the Civil War he joined the United States Navy and served in the Atlantic Coast and Gulf blockading squadrons until the close of the war, when he resigned his commission after being assigned to the Brazil squadron. Among other experiences of his dur- ing the war was that of convoying the Ariel, North Star, and other California steamers through the West Indies, after those ships had been overhauled and heavily bonded for the Confederacy by Captain Semmes, of the Ala- bama, who had an adroit way of lowering his smokestack along the southern coast of Cuba and waiting for the rich Panama steamers to come along, when he invariably gave chase and soon captured them, often holding the steamer alongside for a day or two. The "History of the Upper Ohio Valley" has this further refer- ence to Mr. Taney's active and realistic service in the fighting navy :
" During his period of service he participated in a number of engagements, including the bat- tles of Beaufort, Port Royal, Newberne, storm- ing of Fort Fisher on both occasions, the capture of Wilmington, and other minor actions. At the second bombardment of Fort Fisher he com- manded a detachment of men from the man-of- war Tacony, which formed a part of the naval forces that united with the force of General Terry in the bloody hand-to-hand assault upon the enemy's works."
Having satisfied his predilection for the sea and tiring of the service in the navy, Mr. Taney, as before mentioned, resigned his commission and engaged in the newspaper profession, which he has since continued with the exception of a six years' interval when he was Collector of the Port of Wheeling. He resigned that position before the expiration of his term to again resume the more congenial business of an all-around newspaper man. In October, 1864, Mr. Taney bought an interest in the Daily Register and became general manager, with the result of steadily increasing its circulation and influence as the principal Democratic newspaper of West Virginia. A sketch of Mr. Taney, in "Promi- nent Men of West Virginia," has this reference to him as a leading Democratic politician :
"During the campaign of '88, Mr. Taney was chosen delegate at large to the National Demo- cratic Convention, held at St. Louis, that re- nominated President Cleveland. Mr. Taney
received considerable attention from the press throughout the country in August, 1887, during the encampment of the Societies of the Army of West Virginia, Western Pennsylvania, and Eastern Ohio, at Wheeling, in connection with the Cleveland banner incident. It was from the Register building to the opposite side of the street, that the large patriotic banner was sus- pended, upon which, besides a good crayon por- trait of the Chief Executive, were inscribed the words: 'God bless our President, Commander- in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States,' and under which most of the G. A. R. posts refused to march. The excitement at the time was intense, and for several months there- after the Republican papers throughout the country denounced Mr. Taney as a Southern rebel, Northern copperhead, etc., etc."
As a managing editor Mr. Taney is conspicu- ously successful. It may be said in general that the Register and the other Wheeling papers are celebrated for the energetic, copious, and enter- taining manner in which the news of the day- local and distant, home and foreign-is presented to the reading public. The citizen of Wheeling or vicinity or the stranger sojourning is sure of all the news and of no little pleasure in looking over his daily paper; and it may be truly re- marked that in the matter of editorial comments on the misleading, deluded, and altogether be- nighted "contemporary," the Register has a vein of sarcasm and grim humor, always inter- esting, often instructive and never overdone, that puts the reader in a happy frame of mind and in- spires him with an uncontrollable desire to see what the " contemporary" aforesaid can say in reply. This is journalism in its most exciting and entertaining attributes, and, especially dur- ing political campaigns or while important topics are before the public mind, makes such papers as the Register a welcome companion for many a pleasant hour, and a stimulant of the brain that cannot but be conducive to clearer perception and a keener appreciation of the responsibilities and pleasures of citizenship. With the steady growth of the Register came the demand for larger and swifter facilities for supplying the increasing circulation. This was met most effec- tually in the new equipment of a Hoe press-the first of its pattern and named the "Register," in honor of the paper. A complete history of this splendid piece of mechanism and an elabo- rate engraving of it, together with a full account of the progress of the paper, was published in
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the Register of Saturday, July 11, 1891, from which the following is selected :
" To the world at large, a great daily paper is a great mystery. Few people pretend to really know much of the inside workings of a newspaper office, and the few who have such pretensions, generally found their beliefs upon mere apprehensions, speculation, for ideas cur- rent a couple of dozen of years ago, but which · are now regarded as antediluvian in their notion by practical newspaper men. Believing that the public is entitled to know something of the newspaper of to-day, and regarding the Register as an excellent example of the modern daily journal-alive, alert, enterprising, and fully up with the times-this paper this morning pre- sents, as in a mirror, the scenes of a single day in its publication office, and, in connection there- with, gives a sketch of the career of the Register, a detailed explanation of its new perfecting press, and much other information of interest and value, not the least feature of the article being the series of illustrations showing the gradual development of the printing press, from the old hand press of good old Ben Franklin days up to the new press of A.D. 1891. To write the history of the Register during the twenty- eight years of its existence would be to narrate a detailed review of the city of Wheeling and of the County of Ohio, and also, to a very large extent, of the State of West Virginia; for in all those years no matter of public interest has oc- curred but has been chronicled in detail in these columns, and no enterprise of pith or moment, having for its object or effect the improvement or advancement of the people's interests, has been proposed, but has found in this journal a steadfast friend and an earnest champion. Such a history lives in the pages of this paper, and in the appreciative memories of its readers; and this being so, nothing will be here attempted beyond a brief review of the salient points in the Register's career of usefulness. The Regis- ter is the successor of the Wheeling Press, which was in turn founded upon the ruins of a still earlier journalistic venture, the Union. In the spring of 1863, Mr. Lewis Baker, a printer by trade, and a writer whose forceful pen had been wielded for some years in Noble and Guernsey counties, in Ohio, during the eventful years be- tween 1860 and 1863, came to this city, poor in purse, but of indomitable energy. Mr. Baker was quick to see the then existing opening in this city for a Democratic paper, and procuring the idle plant of the Press, as well as a quantity of material from the defunct News, which had suspended some time before, he, on the 9th of July, 1863, issued the first number of the Regis- ter from the building No. 1104 Market Street, W. H. Oxtoby being the local and general writer, aiding Mr. Baker. The paper was newsy and
vigorous from the start and early showed un- mistakable evidences of public appreciation. In February, 1864, Mr. Baker associated with him Mr. O. S. Long, the firm name being Baker & Long, Mr. Oxtoby devoting himself to city news, and the new journal was successfully conducted during those turbulent and trying times until July 9, 1864, when, in return for a criticism upon Major-General David Hunter's memorable Lynchburg raid, the paper was suppressed by General Hunter's command, Messrs. Baker and Long were incarcerated in the Athenæum at Market and Sixteenth Streets, then used as a military prison, and the quarters of the paper were put in charge of a military guard, under whose régime the property was successfully wrecked, the files, books, and publication plant being destroyed, and the premises generally and effectively looted. Early in September, 1864, the proprietors of the Register were released by command of Major-General P. H. Sheridan, and they at once set about resuming the publication of the paper. Their old office was in ruins, but a new and better outfit was procured and the publication resumed. The plant of a Wheeling newspaper, during the war period, would bear about the same relation to the outfit of to-day that the old tallow dip of our grandfathers' era would to an electric light, and the Register's outfit of 1864 was typical of the rest. For ma- chinery there was a sorry specimen of one of the earliest of the cylinder presses, supplied with power by a horizontal boiler, sheltered from the rain under a tumble-down shed in the back yard, the said boiler being approached by the person having it in charge with fear and trembling every time fuel or water was necessary. The engine had a habit of breaking down twice a week, and on such occasions the press was turned with a crank, operated by man power, the artist in this capacity being a Mr. Quinn, long since deceased. The job department boasted of a couple of Washington hand-presses, and a 'quarter' and a 'half medium' jobber, operated by foot-power treadles, while the assort- ment of type and general accessories was cor- respondingly limited and primitive. . . . The form of the Register at that time was that of a small folio, the pages being each made up of six short columns, and the whole amount of reading matter in one issue was often not much more than is to be found on one page of the daily or Sunday Register of 1891. Such, however, was the Register of 1864. The paper and its proprie- tors had some exceedingly lively experiences during that stormy period of war, and more than once it was threatened with mob violence, and its editors and proprietors were often in per- sonal peril. But its chosen course was stead- fastly maintained, and it saw, in time, the over- whelming triumph of its political principles. In 1865 a German paper, the Arbeuter Freund, was
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started, with Mr. Frederick as editor, and in February, 1867, Mr. Long left the paper to enter upon his duties as postmaster, and was suc- ceeded in the editorial chair first by Hon. Henry S. Walker and later by Major Robert Glass. Mr. Long returned to the Register in 1870, and Mr. J. St. J. Clarkson succeeded Mr. Oxtoby as city editor about 1869. By imperceptible de- grees the business of the paper grew, and its circulation and advertising patronage extended, until, early in 1867, it became evident that other and better quarters must be found. The city was growing, business was making its way southward along the streets running parallel to the river, and the proprietors of the Register de- termined to locate at some point on Market Street, south of Twelfth. Quarters were accord- ingly found at what is now No. 1207 Market Street, directly opposite the entrance to the McLure House, and thither the paper was re- moved in the spring of 1867. The office was thoroughly equipped with the best machinery, and there, under the guidance of Mr. Baker, with Mr. Walker as editorial writer, and Mr. Braiden at first and later Mr. J. St. J. Clarkson, as city editor, with Mr. J. B. Taney in the business office, the paper grew and prospered. In 1869 the paper was further improved and popularized by giving special attention to local matters, and then it was that Mr. Clarkson being city editor, Mr. W. H. Taney, now deceased, was made re- porter. The paper was at this time launched upon a new career of usefulness and prosperity. In 1871 the publication of the Sunday News was begun, with Mr. Clarkson as editor, he soon being succeeded in that capacity by Mr. W. H. Taney. The editorial and news room of the News was on the second floor of the building immediately over McLain's drug store, while the news room of the Register was in the third story of the building No. 1207 Market Street, the press room being in the rear of the first floor and the boiler in the cellar. Here the Register and the News flourished side by side until 1872, when the steady growing business made another movement necessary, and this, like the first, was further down town. The three-story building at No. 1233 Market Street was leased by Mr. Baker, enlarged, and fitted up for newspaper purposes, and there, in the spring of that year, the Register was installed, in by far the best quarters it had yet occupied. Here Mr. O. S. Long was still the editorial writer, Mr. Clarkson was succeeded by Mr. W. H. Taney as city editor, and Mr. J. B. Taney was the business manager, Mr. Baker being the chief proprietor. Mr. Long vacated the editor- ship in 1874, and was succeeded by Captain W. G. Waller. Mr. W. S. MacDonald took charge of the books in 1875, and has since re- mained in that position. This office was well equipped, and the Register remained in it for
ten years. This period saw great changes for the better in the paper, its growth being very decided. The writing force was increased, the mechanical plant perfected and augmented, the size of the paper enlarged, and its general ap- pearance much improved, and in the winter of 1879 and the spring of 1880, with Mr. W. P. Willey as editorial writer, W. C. Beans as night editor, H. T. Black as city editor, and W. S. MacDonald in the business office, Mr. J. B. Taney having resigned his position in '78 to discharge the duties of Collector of the city. Here the Register was the leading paper of the city and State, as it ever has been since. The Sunday News had been disposed of long before, and its name changed to the Sunday Leader. In 1880 Mr. Baker was forced to look about for other quarters, by reason of the ever-increasing de- mands of his growing business for more room, and the property at Nos. 1225 and 1227 Market Street, the present location of the paper, was
purchased. An immense four-story building for the mechanical department was erected in the rear of the Market Street building, a great four-cylinder Hoe press, the first press of a greater capacity than the old-time single cylin- der ever brought to the city, was installed in the press-room, and the paper celebrated its removal into its new quarters with a mammoth double number of sixty-four solid columns. The old force was then somewhat scattered, Mr. J. B. Taney being still in other business, while Messrs. Black and Beans had gone to the Sunday Leader. The Register force then consisted of Mr. W. P. Willey, editorial writer; C. S. Howell, city editor; C. F. Cozad, night editor, and Robert B. Woods, reporter. In 1881 Messrs. Black and Beans returned to the paper, the former resum- ing his position as city editor, and the latter acting first as night editor, on the death of Mr. Cozad, later editor of the Sunday Register, and again succeeding as night editor on the death of Mr. H. C. Sterner. The paper continued to grow and prosper. In 1883 Mr. Baker sold out to the West Virginia Printing Company, and a year later Mr. J. B. Taney assumed control of the Register in all its departments, Colonel J. A. Miller being the President of the new company. Mr. P. S. Anshutz, of Philadelphia, became night editor, later succeeding Capt. George H. Moffat, now of the Portland, Ore., Telegraph as chief editorial writer; Mr. W. C. Beans succeeded Mr. H. T. Black as chief editor; W. W. Whit- myer was reporter, and a competent suburban reportorial staff was organized, while Mr. C. H. Taney, late owner and publisher of the Clarks- burg News, took charge of the Charleston branch, which he has since successfully managed in con- nection with his important duties in the busi- ness department of the home office. The Register at once took a decided advance over its former excellent news-getting record, and in all depart-
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