USA > West Virginia > Prominent men of West Virginia: biographical sketches, the growth and advancement of the state, a compendium of returns of every election, a record of every state officer; > Part 27
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In 1867 he was elected Secretary of State and served two years, when he was elected to the Forty-first Congress from the Third Congressional District of West Virginia, defeating Hon. Charles P. T. Moore, the Democratic candidate. General Witcher was re-nominated by his party for the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses, but was in each case defeated by his Democratic oppo- nent, Hon. Frank Hereford. After his first defeat and at the expiration of his term in Congress, General Witcher was ap- pointed by President Grant, Collector of Internal Revenue for the Third Revenue District of the State. In this office he served for five years, when the office lapsed, because of the consolida- tion of the district with the First. His administration was crowned with the gratifying notice from the accounting officers of the Treasury, that his accounts were found to be all correct and were allowed. During his tenure of the office he was ap- pointed by the State to represent it in refunding the State's in- terest in the Covington and Ohio railroad. At a meeting held soon after in Richmond, Virginia, the road was transferred to its present owners, and its name merged in that of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, with which it was consolidated. General Witcher was elected a director of the new consolidation and took an active part in transferring the State's interests to the present management, that has opened up this great National highway.
In 1878, President Hayes appointed him United States Mar- shal for the Territory of Idaho. On visiting the Territory and observing the situation, he declined the office, though strongly urged to hold it, by the most prominent and responsible citi- zens of the Territory. He was then appointed United States Pension Agent for the district, comprising the District of Columbia, the States of Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey ; the Soldiers' Homes, and all pensioners residing abroad; with office in Washington City. The heavy responsibilities of this office requiring adequate security, the new agent had to meet
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the demand of the Department for a bond in the penalty of half a million dollars, secured by unincumbered real estate. Although this was, under the circumstances, an enormous amount, and the people of his section of West Virginia are generally poor, his friends, irrespective of party, came to his assistance and promptly staked their hard-earned fortunes of a lifetime, upon his integrity. This wonderful confidence was not misplaced.
The rolls of the agency carried 20,000 names of pensioners, residing in every State of the Union, and on every continent of the globe, to be paid quarterly. Notwithstanding the annual disbursements involved touch three millions of dollars, war- ranted by seventy odd thousand vouchers, General Witcher's administration brought no unsatisfied complaints from pen- sioners, or animadversion from the Government, or censure from the press. This is wonderful, considering the embarrass- ments attending the course of such claims. The papers were often executed by incompetent and inexperienced officers, must pass the scrutiny of exacting officials, and must be legally and technically correct to " pass muster." Confusion and mistakes may arise from changes of residence, erroneous or incorrect postoffice addresses and fraudulent interference. Nevertheless, General Witcher's indefatigable attention and care carried im- munity from the results of such difficulties.
After serving in this position over two years, his health, which had been materially impaired and undermined by exposure and hardships endured during the war of the Rebellion, gave way to that extent that he was admonished that he must give up a place that was otherwise congenial and remunerative, or pre- pare for the worst. Upon making the situation known to his old and steadfast friend, President Hayes, between whom and himself for the past twenty years there had been, and still exists a warm friendship, the President at once and of his own accord, without one line or word of recommendation from any one, sent to the Senate General Witcher's name as Paymaster with the rank of Major in the United States Army. The National Republican, published in Washington, D. C., in notic- ing the change, said :
" The National Republican has already announced the resigna- tion of General John S. Witcher as United States Pension 27
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Agent at Washington, and his appointment by the President as Paymaster in the United States Army. This change has been sought by General Witcher from sanitary considerations alone. He has held the position of pension agent at this point for over two years, and has devoted himself to the discharge of its duties with an assiduity of purpose and labor that has over- taxed his constitution and undermined his health. It was this consideration alone that prompted him to surrender this posi- tion for another that will afford him more out-door activity, which he confidently hopes may re-invigorate his system and restore his health. No officer of the Government has applied himself more constantly to his duties than has General Witcher to the pension office during the entire period of his official rela- tion. In season and out of season he has been at his desk caring for the entire detail of the business. Each pensioner, aggregating some twenty thousand, has been promptly and cheerfully paid, a task which involves much care and personal attention.
"Those conversant with the business of the pension office bear testimony to the fidelity and correctness with which a large sum of money has been disbursed and the satisfactory manner in which the varied duties have been discharged. He leaves this position to enter upon his new field of usefulness, bearing with him the universal respect of all who have any knowledge of his official character and are at all conversant with his industrious, methodical and correct habits in perform- ing the duties and discharging the responsibilities of the import- ant trust he is about to vacate."
After taking the oath of office and filing the required bond as Paymaster, he was ordered by the War Department to re- port in person to the Commanding General, Military Division of the Pacific, for duty, and upon his reporting he was by that officer ordered to report to the General commanding the De- partment of Arizona, and was assigned to duty with station at Tucson, Arizona Territory, where in connection with his duties as Paymaster, he had a good opportunity to study the Indian problem. The Apache Indians were on the war-path the greater part of the time of his service in that Territory, neces- sarily made his service hazardous in the extreme, as he had to travel through the heart of the San Carlos Indian Reservation
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to reach some of the extreme forts and temporary camps on the Mexican border, which he was ordered to pay. In making these trips it was a common occurrence to come upon the life- less and mangled remains of some soldier, prospector or ranch- man who had fallen a victim to the murderous and blood- thirsty Apaches. Shortly after one of their most barbarous and destructive raids that was ever made on the frontier, General O. B. Wilcox, then commanding the Department of Arizona, ap- pointed General Witcher, President of a Board of Officers, and a full company of cavalry was placed subject to his command and the Board was ordered to visit such sections of the Territory recently raided by the Indians as they might think best, and report, among other things, the number of people murdered, the number and kind and value of stock killed and driven off during the Indian hostilities, occasioned by the outbreak from the San Carlos Indian Reservation; also the whereabouts of the Indians, their movements, route traveled and such details as might be of service to guard the country in the future. The order was promptly and satisfactorily executed, and the report shows that during one raid, forty-two men were killed and many wounded, besides much valuable property was burned, stock killed, driven off, etc. This report was forwarded through the General of the Army to the Hon. Secretary of War, and a copy furnished to the Hon. Secretary of the Interior. This brief reference to his services on the frontier shows that although only a short time in the regulary army, by his soldierly and gentlemanly deportment he had won. the confidence and respect of his superior officers.
After serving two years in the Department of Arizona with station at Tucson, he was ordered by the War Department to report to the Commanding General, Department of California, and was ordered to take station at the city of San Francisco, California, where he remained for five years. His office in the Department of California was no sinecure, as his duties necessi- tated his visiting, alternately, Northern and Southern California and the State of Nevada. In order to reach certain forts he had to travel the greater part of the distance by the old-time stage coach; and during his five years services in the Department of California he traveled some 15,336 miles by rail, and over 7,000 miles by stage coach. A good portion of this travel by
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stage being through a sage-brush and desert country. Often in winter the mercury was down to twenty-five degrees below zero, and in summer the heat was intense and the alkali dust stifling. In addition to this duty, General Witcher has paid his share of the troops stationed at forts around the harbors of San Francisco, San Diego and Humboldt, California. He was ordered from the Pacific Coast to Newport Barracks, Kentucky, where he is now stationed.
General Witcher is still in the prime of life, courteous, oblig- ing, gentlemanly-an officer of the days of yore, and bids fair in his present administration, as in all his trusts of the past, to come out with the indorsement of his Government and his countrymen generally, " Well done, good and faithful servant !"
JAMES G. BLAIR.
HIS minister, teacher, editor aud author-with collegiate degrees of M. D., M. A., D. D., and LL. D .- whose name in West Virginia is most prominently associated with the Nor- mal School of Fairmont, as its Principal, was born in Marcellus, New York, in 1816, and died December 23, 1878. His ancestors were Methodists, and he lived and advocated that faith. In 1839 he entered the junior class of Wesleyn University, Connec- ticut, from which he graduated in 1841. In September, 1843, he was assigned, under the Cincinnati Conference, to the White Oak Circuit, with twenty-two appointments. In 1844, he was ordained Deacon and stationed at Greenfield, and in 1846 or- dained Elder ; and in 1852 made Vice President and Professor of Natual Sciences in the State University, at Athens, where he labored with great popularity twelve years. The next six years he spent in educational and editorial work in Ohio and West Vir- ginia. In 1865-6 he was main editor and part owner of the Gazette, at Parkersburg, during eight months of which the writer of this was assistant and co-proprietor. In 1870 he was appointed Principal of the State Normal in Marion. Here, through lectures, by well directed talent and activity, and the publication and editing of the Educational Monthly Magazine, he built up the largest and highest graded Normal School in West Virginia.
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THOMAS CLAIBORNE GREEN.
UDGE JOHN W. GREEN, father of the subject of this sketch, went on the bench of the Court of Appeals of Vir- ginia, October 11, 1822, when his son was two years old, the sub- ject of this sketch having been born at, Fredericksburg, Spott- sylvania county, Virginia, November 5, 1820. He resided with his father in Culpeper county, Virginia, until 1843, when, hav- ing been licensed, the young man began practicing law in Jeffer- son county, Virginia. He remained there one year, having mar- ried a daughter of Col. Angus McDonald, he returned to Jeffer- son county in 1852, where he has continued to reside. In the Rebellion he was a private in the " Baltimore Greys," serving in "Stonewall" Jackson's brigade two years, when he was ap- pointed Chief Collector of the Confederate tax for Virginia, con- tinuing on that duty during the war. While in the army he was elected and served two terms in the Virginia Legislature. In the new State of West Virginia, Governor Jacob appointed him a Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals, which office he continues to fill, having since been twice elected thereto. He is a lawyer of vast erudition.
JAMES LAWRENCE CLARK.
R EV. JAMES L. CLARK, D.D., was born in Baltimore, February 12, 1814; was educated in a classical academy in that city; was licensed as a minister in the M. E. Church in Feb- ruary, 1841, and was admitted into the Pittsburgh Conference in July of that year. At the organization of the West Virginia Conference, in 1848, he fell within its bounds, and is still a mem- ber of it. He is a man of great physical endurance, and has filled acceptably almost every prominent appointment in his Conference. He was always a great student of the Bible, and is regarded a theologian of high standing. He was honored with the degree of D.D. by the Ohio Wesleyan University as a recog- nition of merit. He was twice elected a delegate to the General Conference of his Church.
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JUDGE JOHN MARSHALL HAGANS.
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JOHN MARSHALL HAGANS.
J
UDGE HAGANS' paternal ancestors were from New Eng- land, and his maternal were of Scotch descent. He was, however, born at Brandonville, Preston county, Virginia, Aug- ust 13, 1838. He attended the old Monongalia Academy, where he received a thorough educational training. Under the direc- tion of its Principal (Professor Moore) it was for more than a quar- ter of a century one of the best-known academies in the Old Do- minion. Professor Moore was one of the most versatile men of his day. As a teacher, he may properly and justly be styled the Arnold of Rugby of the Mother State. Four years in his school afforded a course of study not surpassed by many of the most noted colleges of that day. Mr. Hagans, naturally bright and gifted, came from under Principal Moore's hands well up in Eng- lish and classical studies. Being possessed of that peculiar di- versity of talent that seldom fails to win distinction at the Bar, he began the study of the law in the office of Hon. Waitman T. Willey, at that time the leading lawyer of the Morgantown Bar. Remaining under Mr. Willey's tutorage for upwards of a year,. he completed his law studies at Harvard University, and was ad- mitted to the Virginia Bar in 1859, and has successfully prose- cuted his profession since that time.
His first office was that of Prosecuting Attorney of Mononga- lia county, to which he was elected in 1862, and re-elected in 1863-4, and also in 1870. He was appointed by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, in January, 1864, its Re- porter, which position he held until March, 1873, and during which period five volumes of the leading cases decided by that Court were published, known as "Hagans' West Virginia Re- ports." He was Mayor of Morgantown in 1866-7-9. In 1868 he was an Elector for the Second District on the Grant and Col- fax electoral ticket, and in 1872 was a member of the Conven- tion at Charleston that framed the second Constitution of West Virginia. In 1873 Mr. Hagans was elected from the Second District to the Forty-third Congress, and served on the Commit- tee on the District of Columbia. He was chosen a member of the House of Delegates from Monongalia in 1879, and again in 1887, and was considered one of the ablest and most conspicu- ous members of both bodies. In 1880 he was a delegate to the National Republican Convention that nominated James A. Gar-
.
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field for the Presidency ; and in November, 1888, he was elected Judge of the Judicial Circuit, composed of the counties of Mo- nongalia, Marion and Harrison, for the term of eight years. His thorough legal training gives him a commanding position in the Judiciary of the State.
1
Judge Hagans married Miss Sarah B., daughter of ex-Senator W. T. Willey, in May, 1860, and has three children. He pos- sesses literary ability of a high order. His speeches and addresses are characterized as logical in thought, rich in imagery and language, and remarkably close in connection. Some of his best efforts have been pronounced fine specimens of forensic oratory. While he is uncompromising in his views, and tenacious of his opinions, and will maintain them with all the vigor of a cultiva- ted mind, he never loses sight of a proper and just respect for the views and opinions of others. He is deferential in discussion to those that are his seniors, respectful always to those that differ from him, and kind and courteous at all times. His social qual- ities are of a rare order. His cool, calculating mind, coupled with natural, as well as cultivated shrewdness, fit him for suc- cessful leadership of men.
JOHN A. DILLE.
N the quiet of farm life and voluntary legal retirement, within the lights and shadows of the State University at Morgantown, resides the first Judge of the Second Circuit for West Virginia. He is the son of Ezra Dille, and was born in Washington, Penn- sylvania, July 19, 1821. His boyhood tuition was on the farm and in the free schools; his academic education at Greene Acad- emy ; his classic at the noted Washington College, Pennsylvania, which he entered in 1839, where he gained the reputation of an essay writer. In 1843 he removed to Kingwood, Preston county, Virginia, studied law under Congressman William G. Brown, and taught a school in the higher branches, which afterwards developed into Preston Academy. In 1844 he was admitted to the Bar, and the next year became law partner of his former legal instructor.
In 1849 he wedded the eldest daughter of Elisha M. Hagans, who died within three years, leaving one son, Oliver H., who resides on "Evans Homestead," near Morgantown. In that year
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the partnership of Brown & Dille was dissolved, and Mr. Dille connected with him in practice Marcellus B. Hagans, who re- moved to Cincinnati in the spring of 1850, where he has since distinguished himself at the Bar and as Judge of the Superior Court.
In 1853 he married his second wife, eldest daughter of Thomas Brown, of Kingwood, by whom he has two children, Clarence B., who now as law partner, takes the labor of a large practice, and a daughter May, at their beautiful home.
In 1860 he was a Douglas Democrat, in favor of the preserva- tion of the Union, and advocated ably the formation of a new State. He, in part, represented Preston county in the conven- tion of November 26, 1861, to form a constitution for West Vir- ginia. In this he was a member of the Committee on County Organization, and advocated the election of three commissioners -similar to the present provisions-for county government ; was also upon the Judiciary Committee, in the division of labor. When the constitution was ready for discussion before the people he warmly advocated its adoption, and used his influence and efforts at Washington for the admission of the State into the Union. Without opposition, in 1863, he was elected first to preside as judge over the circuit composed of Monongalia, Tay- lor, Tucker and Preston counties; was re-elected and contin- ued on the Bench ten years, retiring January 1, 1873. With a view of securing better educational facilities for his children, in 1864 he changed his residence to Morgantown. He has always taken sincere and deep interest in education, advocated Free Schools by constitutional provision, and an advanced system of higher education for the University and Normal Schools. He is a ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church in Morgantown, conservative in his politics, temperate in principles, and progres- sive as a citizen, fond of agricultural pursuits, and superintends two grazing estates, one in Preston county, known as the Beatty estate, and the other in Monongalia, titled the Coombs farm.
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A.LITTLE.
HON. JOSEPH SPRIGG.
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JOSEPH SPRIGG.
H [ON. JOSEPH SPRIGG is a native of Hampshire county, Virginia, born in October, 1835. His father, Joseph Sprigg, was of an old Maryland family; his mother's maiden name was Jane McMahon, daughter of Wm. McMahon, one of the early prominent citizens of Cumberland, Md., and sister of Hon. John V. L. McMahon, the distinguished lawyer of Baltimore, Md., and also a sister of Mrs. C. L. Vallandigham, of Ohio. The maternal grand-mother was a Van Lear, of Maryland; the pa- ternal grand-mother, a Creasap. His father moved to Cumber- land, Md., in 1852, and died there in 1864. Before their removal from the farm, the father provided a private tutor for his son. In Cumberland he enjoyed academic advantages several years. Before completing his studies he was sent to Baltimore to read for his uncle McMahon, a practicing lawyer in that city, who had lost his eyesight. He studied law under his uncle until 1860, when he was admitted to the Bar. The next year the war broke out, and somewhat retarded his practice. In April, 1866, he formed a law partnership with Judge J. W. F. Allen, of Moore- field, Hardy county, West Virginia, and moved there. The firm at once commanded a large practice. And for the past twenty-three years Mr. Sprigg has been on one or the other side of every important civil or criminal case of that county.
Mr. Sprigg assisted in the organization of the Democratic party of West Virginia in 1866, since which time he has been a leader in its conventions. In 1870, without his knowledge or consent, the Democratic convention nominated him for Attor- ney General, and he was elected. During his term it was sub- mitted for his legal opinion whether the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company was subject to taxation in this State. After consideration, he decided affirmatively. The case was carried to the Supreme Court of the United States which sustained his decision. In 1872, in the bitter contest between Camden and Jacob, he sided with the former. He has never been an office- seeker, although frequently called upon to serve the people. He has been Mayor of Moorefield several times. In 1888, sorely against his inclination, and protest before the convention, he was compelled by his party's emergency to accept the nomina- tion for the House of Delegates, and was elected in a hotly con-
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tested campaign. He served in the session of '89 as chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
In February, 1877, he was married to Mary Ellen, daughter of Dr. George Stubblefield, of Cumberland, Md. They have four daughters.
General Sprigg's people are representative men: An uncle presided over the Baltimore Convention that nominated Harri- son; a Kentucky uncle and two Ohio uncles represented their districts several terms in Congress; his brother has been Pros- ecuting Attorney in Ohio for many successive years, and is said to be one of the best Prosecutors in the West. General Sprigg is one of the House members of the Legislative Court to try the Gubernatorial contest still pending.
WILLIAM INGHRAM BOREMAN.
AT the opening of the convention, which met at Wheeling, in June, 1861, to restore to vitality within the Union, the State of Virginia, came from Tyler county, this brother of the first Governor of the resultant new State. He was born on the 28th of June, 1816, in Waynesburg, Greene county, Pennsylvania, whence his father moved in the spring of 1827, to Middlebourne, on the Ohio. He studied law at Parkersburg, Wood county, in the office of his brother-in-law, James M. Stephenson, one of the best land lawyers of Western Virginia. He received his license, 24th April, 1839, and began practice at Middlebourne, where he still resides in an honorable old age. In the spring of 1861, from the counties of Tyler and Doddridge, he was elected to the General Assembly at Richmond, but his decided Union sentiments prevented his acting in that body. By virtue of that election, however, he appeared and served in the Wheeling con- vention to restore the State to connection with the United States. He was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1867, and of the State Senate from 1868 to 1871. No man of his section has been more influential or a safer counsellor than he.
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ELLERY ROBINSON HALL.
€ LLERY R. HALL was born in Marion county, Virginia, February 27, 1834, and died in Fairmont, Sept. 23, 1868. For years previous to his death he had been identified with the public affairs of his people. He was Secretary of the Convention which framed the first Constitution of West Virginia, and, sub- sequently, became Secretary of the Virginia Senate under the reorganized Government. Upon the inauguration of the new State he was made Secretary of the West Virginia Senate, and held the position with great acceptability till the day of his death. In 1864 he was sent as a delegate to the National Con- vention which re-nominated Lincoln, and again, in 1868, was a delegate-at-large to the Convention at Chicago which nominated General Grant. He was an elector-at-large on the ticket which re-elected Lincoln, and Chairman of the Republican State Cen- tral Committee at the time of his death; and in every position was always equal to the place and occasion. He was possessed of fine literary taste, and his talents as a writer were of no mean order. He possessed more than ordinary intelligence and capa- bilities ; a lawyer by profession and practice, self-educated, a gen- ial and companionable associate, faithful alike in friendships and political convictions, being an ardent and inflexible advocate of equal rights for all men. He sustained an unblemished, moral character and died in the Christian faith.
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