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 63
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He wedded Martha T., daughter of Fielding McClung, of near Summersville, Nicholas county, June 15, 1871. In 1884 he was elected Senator from the counties of Kanawha, Clay, Nicholas, Webster and Braxton. He was returned by the same constituency to serve from January, 1889, to December 31, 1892. In this hard-contested campaign he won over the Dem- ocratic candidate by a flattering majority of 795, running 550 votes ahead of the National Republican ticket. In the session of 1889 he is upon the committees of Privileges and Elections, Banks and Corporations, Railroads, Immigration and Agricul- ture, and chairman of that upon Public Library. His official life has been honest, active, manly, open and commendable. Among the measures advocated by him in the Legislature are : to increase levy for school purposes from ten to twenty cents, laws to encourage the development of our natural resources, to promote the laborer's interests. He is opposed to any re- sponsibility being assumed by West Virginia in the payment of the Virginia debt.
He received the approbation of his entire constituency in his efforts to relieve the lumbermen of his district from the impo- sition of the Elk River Boom Company, which held the exclu- sive control of the river, and compelled the lumbermen of the entire stream to float their logs to Charleston to be manufac-
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tured. This chartered institution had prevented the develop- ment of the Elk Valley region in the way of railroad construc- tion, from the fact that no boom could be erected for the stop- page of logs above Charleston. By his efforts, persistent and well directed, he succeeded in passing a bill through both houses which repealed the Elk River Boom Company's charter, so far as it related to his native county, and thereby secured the building of a boom at the town of Sutton, which was immedi- ately followed by the construction of a railroad from Weston to that point, and eventually to the State capital.
CHARLES HENRY McCLUNG.
HARLES H. McCLUNG, whose engraving fronts this sketch, is the son of Colonel Allen McClung, and was born in the blue grass county of Greenbrier, Virginia, April 30, 1841. His mother was a daughter of Joseph Remley. He worked on a farm till the age of twenty-one, when he volunteered into the Confederate army; served as private in the Nineteenth Virginia Cavalry, under Col. William L. Jackson, until after the battle of Gettysburg, when he was commissioned as Captain of a com- pany, and afterwards promoted to Adjutant of the regiment; was taken prisoner of war and was in Camp Chase when the conflict closed. Returning across the Ohio, entirely destitute of property, not even possessing a change of clothing, and com- paratively uneducated, he took up the battle of self-support. He located in Fayette county, West Virginia, and managed hands upon the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad during its con- struction. Then he engaged in merchandizing. In July, 1877, he was appointed Sheriff to fill the vacancy caused by the res- ignation of J. H. Miller, Jr. At the next general election he was chosen to the office, and upon settlement with the county, at the expiration of his term, paid over the next day all indebt- edness. Served also as deputy under Wm. H. Tyree. He was nominated upon the Democratic ticket in 1884 for House of Delegates, but the county being Republican he was defeated. In January, 1888, he married Mrs. Rebecca Vaughan, of Wash- ington county, Virginia, formerly Miss Farnster, of Greenbrier county, an accomplished and beautiful lady, descended from one of the best families of the State. He is engaged in mer- cantile life at Meadow View, Washington county, Virginia.
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A. LITTLE PHILA.
CHARLES H. M'CLUNG.
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LEWIS ALEXANDER MARTIN.
To EWIS A. MARTIN was born in the county of Kanawha, at Malden, Virginia, December 29, 1838. His father, Tip- ton, was born in 1809 and died in 1861, and was the son of Jo- seph Martin, a Revolutionary soldier, who was a native of Nel- son county, Virginia. His mother, who still lives, was born in 1812, in Albermarle county, Virginia, a daughter of Richmond Walton, and after their marriage lived in Staunton.
Lewis was educated in the subscription school of George Taylor, and pursued law studies at home as opportunity offered, till the war. In 1861 he was a member of the Home Guards organized by Gen. Lewis Ruffner, and also assisted in recruiting the Seventh West Virginia Cavalry, and was with them in the winter of 1861-2, at Buffalo, Putnam county. Then he was senior Major of the 153d Virginia militia, which was called into active service in the Kanawha Valley. He was on the Light- burn retreat in 1862, then the militia disbanded, and he enlisted in the Seventh West Virginia Cavalry and served therein till mustered out August 1, 1865.
He pursued his law studies after the war, and in 1868 was admitted to the Bar of Lincoln county, and was appointed by the court, at the opening of its first session in the new county just created, Prosecuting Attorney, which office he filled one year, until the next general election.
In the fall of 1868 he was elected to the Legislature from the county of Kanawha. He was on several important committees, among them that of Privileges and Elections, which had com- plicated and perplexing cases to determine. In that session the bill was passed locating the capital the first time at Charleston, and in its passage he used all his tact and talent. In the year 1870 he was re-elected to the session of 1871. Judge C. W. Smith was the Republican nominee; but before the election he resigned, to accept the Judgeship of the Cabell district, and Mr. Martin was substituted on the ticket. Notwithstanding this disadvantage, he regained the county to his party, which the year before had been carried by the opposition. In that session of the Legislature he opposed ardently the passage of the bill for a constitutional convention.
He has been twice married. First, to Anna B. Ferguson, daughter of Hon. James H. Ferguson, by whom there were two
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daughters and a son; second, in the spring of 1881, he wedded Ida M. Spurr, by which union there are two children.
He has held important positions in the Grand Army of the Republic, having been Commander of the Post at Charleston, and late Aid-de-camp on the staff of National Commander, John P. Rea, and is now Junior Vice Department Commander of the Department of West Virginia.
Major Martin is a man of tact and talent. He is an able ad- vocate and has a paying practice as an attorney. For many years he has been a devoted member of the M. E. Church, and has taken a leading part in Temperance and Sunday School work. His residence stands about a half mile west of the city of Charleston.
CHARLES JAMES GODFREY RAWLING.
APT. C. J. G. RAWLING was born at Washington, D. C., November 26, 1830. In 1833 his parents moved to Orange county, Virginia; thence to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1834, and to Wheeling, Virginia, in 1835, where he has ever since re- sided. His education was principally received at Linsly Insti- tute, Wheeling. His first business experience was as a clerk for Sweeney & Bell, in their large glass and queensware importing establishment. His next venture was as a clerk in a drug store, and he became a proficient druggist. In the fall of 1861 he en- listed in company I, First Virginia Infantry, and on account of a wound received in 1862, was discharged from the regiment in 1863. He was then attached to the Quartermaster Department of the army, in which service he remained until the close of hostilities. In the fall of 1865, with Dr. T. H. Logan as a partner, he opened a drug store on Twelfth street in Wheeling. In 1867 he purchased his partner's interest in their store, and opened a store on the corner of Market and Sixteenth streets. He was that year appointed postmaster of Wheeling, and re- mained in that responsible position, rendering faithful service, for twelve consecutive years. At present Captain Rawling is President of the Wheeling Hinge Company, also of the Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and is a member of the First Branch of the City Council.
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CLARENCE HOWARD HAVERMALE,
NE of the prominent members of the West Virginia Press Association, and a West Virginia editor from boyhood, is Mr. C. H. Havermale, the subject of this sketch, of whom we give the accompanying engraving. He was an infant in this State, when the State itself was in its infancy. He was born in Hampshire county, West Vir- ginia, July 3, 1867, and has always re- mained in it. At the age of eighteen he began newspaper work as editor and pro- prietor, and has continued in the profes- sion. He has been prominently connected with the politics of his county and State throughout his career, in the Democratic ranks. His newspaper, the News, at Berkeley Springs, is recognized as a potent factor in his party work: but, better still, is accepted as an enterprising advocate for the general interests of his county and section.
HIRAM LEWIS.
HEN secession strove to tear Virginia from the Union and attach it to the confederacy, Hiram Lewis left his farm and joined the Federal army, November 5, 1862, in Com- pany K, Eighth W. Va. Infantry, under Capt. Elias Powell. He was made Sergeant the following winter and Quarter- master Sergeant soon after; Second Lieutenant in Company L, same regiment, February 5, 1865, and was honorably dis- charged at Charleston, West Virginia, August 1, 1865. He was Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue under Gen. I. H. Duval, 1879 to 1885. Since the war his principal occupation has been farming and milling in Clay county, W. Va. In 1875 Mr. Lewis was Land Assessor for Clay county, this State, and was Deputy Marshal for Clay county. He took the census of 1870 of Clay county. Lieutenant Lewis is the son of Charles and Edith Lewis, who emigrated to Kanawha county in 1853. He was born in Monroe county, Virginia, September 24, 1836, and was the Republican candidate for State Treasurer in 1888. He is a man of unblemished character, and is perhaps the most promi- nent man in the county in which he resides.
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FIL UT TLE.
HIRAM LEWIS.
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ROBERT C. McCLAUGHERTY.
R OBERT C. McCLAUGHERTY, who was elected by a plurality of 2,731 votes over John A. Douglass, to preside over the Court in the Ninth Circuit for the term of eight years from the 1st of January, 1889, was born in Mercer county, Vir- ginia, April 7, 1850. The struggle of early and even later years were many and such as are incident to the life of a poor boy. Without money or influential friends, with but few educational advantages, but a sincere desire and determination to succeed, if honest persistence could bring success, he began self-support and mental culture. He taught school when quite young, began law studies at the age of twenty, and was admitted to the Bar June 19, 1871. He was Prosecuting Attorney of Mercer county for four years from January 1, 1877, having been elected with- out opposition. He continued to practice law successfully until his promotion from Bar to Bench. His circuit embraces the counties of McDowell, Mercer, Raleigh, Wyoming, and Boone. He wears the judicial ermine with becoming dignity, and is discharging the duties of his high office in a satisfactory manner.
JACOB EDGAR BOYER.
J. EDGAR BOYER was born in Monongalia county, Virginia, February 9, 1832, reared on the farm, brought with his father's family to Tyler county in 1836, went to the common schools of the day, afterwards three years at Northwestern Acad- emy, Clarksburg; two years at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania ; then studied law and was admitted to practice in 1855. He had always supported the Democratic ticket, his last vote therein being for Douglas in 1860. But foreseeing the in- evitable consequences of rebellion, he voted for Lincoln in 1864, having espoused fervedly the Union cause, and favored the erec- tion of the new State of West Virginia. From 1860 to 1863 he published the Virginia Plaindealer, a journal devoted to those issues. In 1863 he was elected the first Secretary of State, and after serving his term was President of the Board of Supervisors two terms, and then Free School Superintendent for Tyler county six years. In 1861 he married Miss Landora Fitz-Allen Swann, who died in 1876. He is now practicing law in Camp- bell county, Kentucky.
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SAMUEL HUNTER AUSTIN.
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R. S. H. AUSTIN was born March 18, 1840, in Augusta county, Virginia, and is the son of Dr. A. M. Austin. His mother was Mary L., daughter of Samuel Hunter. In 1843 they moved to West Milford, Harrison county. Samuel had the ad- vantages of the old Virginia system of schools ; entered the Vir- ginia Military Institute at Lexington in 1856 for two years, then studied medicine under his father at the Winchester Medical College. During the first two years of the war he was First Lieutenant in the Twenty-second Virginia Infantry, then till the war closed was Acting Assistant Surgeon in the Twentieth Virginia Cavalry under Wm. L. Jackson. He attended med- ical lectures in the College of Virginia at Richmond, and grad- uated therefrom in March, 1866, and returned to Lewisburg, Greenbrier county, West Virginia, where he still practices med- icine. He has served as President of the Board of Education for the school district, and for four years as Chairman of the Democratic County Executive Committee. He wedded Mary C., daughter of Col. Joel McPherson, of Greenbrier county, by whom he has had seven children.
WILLIAM C. MCCONAUGHEY.
T 0 HE above-named graduate of Washington-Jefferson Col- lege, Pennsylvania, in the class of 1883, was born in Cam- eron, Marshall county, February 14, 1861. He entered this oldest institution of learning west of the Allegheny mountains in September, 1879. After graduation he located in Wirt county, West Virginia, at Burning Springs, and engaged in merchandising and timber dealing. In 1884 he was elected, upon the Democratic ticket, as a member of the House of Del- egates for the session of 1885, serving upon the Committees of Taxation and Finance, Corporations and Joint Stock Compa- nies, Printing, Arts and General Improvements, Mines and Min- ing, and the Joint Committee on Enrolled Bills. By his party he was made Chairman of the County Executive Committee of Wirt in the campaign of 1888. Still within the years of one generation, he has the promise and hope of a useful future career.
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ADAM E. AULTZ, M. D.
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ADAM EZRA!AULTZ.
T O the ever memorable session of the Legislature of 1889 came a number of members, young in years, but with vig- orous intellect and promising in their future. Among these, and with no superior in energy or prospective usefulness, is the delegate from Kanawha whose portrait fronts opposite. He was born March 23, 1861 at Pocataligo, in Union district. His father, Henry Fry Aultz, was one of the best-known and most highly esteemed citizens native to the county. He was Deputy Sheriff under several administrations of the office, and Deputy United States Marshal under several very efficient Chiefs. In all of these official positions, which connect so closely with the people and the execution of the laws, he was faithful without en- dangering popularity, and generous as well as just in the path of rectitude and duty. At the outbreak of the war he adhered to the Union, and was made Lieutenant Colonel of Militia by the Governor of the restored government of Virginia, in which position he rendered efficient service in organizing a force for the protection of the Valley. At the time of his death, August 16, 1884, he was a prominent candidate for the Sheriffalty itself. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his home a welcome resort for ministers of the Gospel. With this example of true manhood before him, though with no surplus of fortune's favors, the subject of this sketch, the oldest son, took up the responsibilities of the care of others, his mother, brother and sisters, and began carving out his own destiny. With a fair common school education, he entered Marshall College at Hunt- ington, where he graduated June 4, 1880. Next he taught school, and in leisure hours studied medicine. March 4, 1883, he graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Bal- timore, Md. For five years he successfully practiced medicine among the people of his locality, then took a course of lectures in Bellevue Hospital, Medical College of New York, and grad- uated therein March 14, 1888. In 1887 was President of the Board of Education of Union district. Has been Director or Trustee of Schools for years, always active for every measure which seemed to promote education. He is a Republican, in favor of Progress and Protection, and during the campaign of 1888 he was a member of the County Executive Committee, and President of the Republican Club of his locality. To the ex-
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isting Legislature he was elected upon a ticket which in its average majority astonished the Democratic managers beyond all measure. He is upon the Committees of Military Affairs, Roads and Internal Navigation, and Claims and Grievances.
Since the adjournment of the Legislature he took a thorough course of study in medicine at the Polytechnic Institute of New York, and recently located at Richmond, Kentucky, for the practice of his profession.
FRANKLIN BURT.
C APT. FRANK BURT was born in New Boston, Berkshire county, Massachusetts. He was educated in Southern New York, at the Susquehanna Seminary and Windsor Academy. In 1861 he was engaged with his father in the general mer- chandise and tanning business. Living in a " Copperhead " dis- trict, in the face of great opposition, he recruited a company for the war, of which he was elected Captain, and at a public meet- ing his friends presented him with the necessary officer's accou- trements. This company belonged to the Eighty-ninth New York regiment, and throughout the war was in active service.
At the battle of Fredericksburg he led a " forlorn hope" across the Rappahannock, in small boats, in the face of the enemy's fire, capturing one hundred and thirty-seven men with a force of less than one hundred for which gallantry he has a personal let- ter from Gen. Burnside, signitying his intention to petition Con- gress for a gold medal for Capt. Burt and his men. Lieut. A. C. Burt, his brother, was killed before Richmond in 1864, while charging a line of earthworks.
Captain Burt became a citizen of West Virginia in 1866, and established the firm of F. H. Burt & Son, in Mannington, one of the largest tanning, farming and merchandising firms in the State. By their success they have built up around them a small town. He never was a candidate for political office, and never engaged actively in politics until he became identified with the Prohibition party in 1884, in which he is a leading, active organ- izer and worker. He was a St. John's Elector in 1884. He is now a member of the National and State Committee of that party. He was chairman of the first Prohibition State Conven- tion ever held in West Virginia, and was also the Congressional
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nominee from the Second district on the same ticket. He has held several positions of honor and trust in local affairs; is Grand Master of the Grand Lodge A. F. & A. Masons of West Virginia ; is a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church, and a lifelong Sunday School worker, having been Superintendent of the Presbyterian school at Mannington during the past fifteen years.
By nature he is progressive and earnestly interested in what- ever tends to the mental and moral improvement of the people.
He married Miss May Merchant, of Southern New York, a lady of rare culture and refinement. They have a pleasant home and an interesting family.
C. T. BUTLER.
T T HE lecturer of the West Virginia State Grange for eight years bore the above name. He was also prominent in the Temperance movement, as public speaker, and a member and officer of the Sons of Temperance, Good Templars and similar reform organizations. He was born October 7, 1826, on a farm near Shepherdstown, Jefferson county, Virginia, where the water is pure and the air health-inspiring. He was educated in com- mon schools, at Rockville Academy, Montgomery county, and from the University of Virginia. He was a State Senator from November 1, 1876, to November 1, 1880. The law to establish an Agricultural College in Jefferson county was enacted by his special efforts and influence, but proved ineffectual for want of National aid invoked and relied upon.
C. H. CANDY.
. H. CANDY was born February 19, 1848, near Capon Bridge, Hampshire county, Virginia. As Sheriff of Mineral county he was popular, accommodating, and faithful to the interests of the people. He never aspired to elective office outside of the county. He is known by the traveling public best as Railroad and Express Agent for stations on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road between Cumberland, Maryland and Keyser, West Vir- ginia.
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WILLIAM S. DUNBAR.
C APTAIN W. S. DUNBAR was born November 18, 1823, in Fincastle, Botetourt county, Virginia. His father, Wil- liam Dunbar, was a carpenter, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. When William S. was ten or twelve years old the father moved to Giles county, and some two years later they settled in Monroe county, where they remained thirty-one years.
Captain Dunbar married in 1844, and in 1860 he located per- manently in Raleigh county, where he has since continued to reside, with the exception of the war period, from 1861 to 1865. In August, 1861, he recruited a company of volunteers, and went with them to Charleston, Kanawha county, where they were mustered into the United States Army. He was unani- mously elected Captain of the company (Company "H," Eighth West Virginia Infantry). His company was regularly mustered into the regiment, November 20, 1861, and he remained with it until the 23d of the following June, when, on account of ill health he was compelled to quit the service. He then located at Brownstown, Kanawha county, and engaged in mercantile pursuits until after the close of hostilities, when he returned, March 7, 1865, to his farm on Coal river, in Raleigh county.
While in the army Captain Dunbar participated in the battle of Strasburg, June 1, 1862; Harrisonburg, June 6, and Cross Keys, June 8. He was also in several other less important en- gagements. In October, November and December, 1861, he was a regularly detailed commander of a company of scouts sent out through the enemy's country, sometimes as far as a hundred miles, to gather information of the whereabouts and condition of the Confederate forces.
In 1863 Captain Dunbar was elected to the House of Delegates of West Virginia, which met June 23, 1863, in the city of Wheel- ing. This was the first Legislature of the New State. October 22d of the same year he was elected a State Senator from the Ninth district, composed of the counties of Raleigh, Fayette, Monroe, Greenbrier, Pocahontas and Webster, and served two years. He was appointed by Governor Boreman as State Agent, with means at his command and with power to act, to relieve the wants of the families of the Union soldiers of West Virginia. He was also appointed by the Governor, Paymaster of State Troops, and continued in that position two years.
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HON. CHARLES H. KNOTT.
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Captain Dunbar took an active part in opposition to the re- bellion. He was outspoken for the Union and the Stars and Stripes, and was, in consequence of such course, twice arrested by local authorities and imprisoned. This caused him to enter the volunteer service of the army. He connected himself with the Methodist Episcopal church when he was fourteen years old, and is still a member of that organization. He was arrested in 1861 because he was a class leader and an exhorter in that church of well-known abolition tendencies.
The Captain is now well up in years, but maintains the en- ergy and earnestness of purpose peculiar to his early life.
CHARLES HENRY KNOTT.
M UCH of what now constitutes West Virginia was in the early days deplorably poor in school facilities, and the people poorer in purse, so that their sons and daughters had little opportunity to secure the education which more advanced sections could bestow upon their youth. Yet it is a fact that the most of her ablest lawmakers, sprang from those unfavored native families, and have attained honorable distinction. Among these is the member from the Thirteenth district in the Senate of 1889. He was born in Jefferson county, Virginia, May 1, 1841, and received the sparse education afforded by the winter schools of that day, after which he followed boating and farming, and is still so engaged. He was a Confederate soldier from 1861 to 1865, eight months of that time in prison and on parol. He has been a Notary Public since 1876. He was elected to the State Senate, receiving five hundred and forty-three majority, and serves on the Committees of Finance, Education, Federal Relations, Immigration and Agriculture, and Claims and Griev- ances. He introduced the bill "To accept the Federal Appro- priation for Establishing Agricultural Experiment Stations in West Virginia."
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