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 73
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His open face and easy manner betoken sincerity of purpose, and win him the confidence and esteem of many, and his ser- mons, carefully prepared, exhibit a culture and Christian devo- tion equal to the standard of any metropolitan pulpit East or West.
JESSE HAMILTON CATHER.
ROM near Winchester, Virginia, in the year 1800, came to Harrison, now Taylor county, John Cather, who was of Scotch-Irish descent, and represented a large constituency in
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the General Assembly of the old State several terms. Jesse H., his son, was born at Flemington, January 12, 1821, and died August 4, 1880. In 1842 he married Nancy Bailey. He served his county as Justice of the Peace, Assessor, and President of the County Court; was a member of the House of Delegates in 1864-5, and served as State Senator from 1869 to 1873, in the latter session being named by personal friends for the position of United States Senator. His son Howard still resides at Flemington, Taylor county. Senator Cather was respected by all who knew him for his many kind acts and charitable dispo- sition.
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ALVARO F. GIBBENS, A.M.
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ALVARO F. GIBBENS,
NE of the editors of the "Prominent Men of West Vir- ginia," invited into its pages by the original projectors of the volume, is, remotely, of English-Irish and German ances- try. His father, Jefferson Gibbens, was born upon a farm in Wood county, and his mother Hannah Gibbens, nee Butcher, was native to Randolph, Virginia, in both of which counties there still dwell many relatives. Alvaro, the eldest son, was born in Parkersburg, March 1, 1837. Till the age of 13 he at- tended the select schools of that city, and among them the excellent one of Professor John C. Nash, of whose kindness and ability as a Preceptor, he entertains grateful remembrance. When only able, in height, to reach over the counter's edge, he entered his father's store, as sweep and errand boy, then clerk, book-keeper, assistant manager and confidant. For four years he was thus in business tuition, the best schooling he ever had. Then for six months, in connection with half duties in the store, he studied, preparatory to a classical course, with Rev. Jacob Winters, Presbyterian minister. In September 1855 he matriculated at Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, graduating therefrom in June 1860. That year he was Vale- dictorian of the Philo Literary Society, at Commencement. During the Senior year, he studied and recited with the class in Law, to the President, and years afterwards, when in clerical position, continued his legal readings, but never was examined for practice at the bar.
He taught the President's classes of La Grange Baptist Col- lege, Missouri, in 1861; was in the Post Office, as clerk, in Parkersburg, during 1862; in the United States Assessor's office, and serving as Chancery Commissioner of Wood Circuit Court in 1863 and 1864; and in the General Land Office of the United States at Washington in 1865. In this year he received from his Alma Mater the degree of A.M. In 1866 resigned, to become, along with Dr. J. G. Blair, one of the editors and pro- prietors of the Parkersburg Gazette, then a leading Republican paper. Was United States Internal Revenue deputy collector, under General Kelley in 1868-'70. Resigning this position, in September 1870, he removed to Charleston, Kanawha county, and became a partner in the West Virginia Journal, the oldest and most influential paper in that section of the State, and from 1871 until October 1875 was managing editor thereof.
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In May, 29, 1873, he wedded Bessie, daughter of Andrew and Katharine (Nagle) Eagan, who died February 23, 1890.
January 1, 1877, he was by General Grant commissioned Postmaster at Charleston, which responsible position he held until July 1, 1881. He began the publication of the State Tri- bune, September 17, 1881, a Republican paper, whose manage- ment he conducted for four years, and then sold to a stock company who still publish it, as the main exponent of that party at the Capital. In January 1885 he was again commis- sioned for four years as Postmaster, and continued in the office till suspended, October 10, of that year, by the order of a Democratic Administration.
In 1870 he was a prominent candidate before the Republican State Convention for nomination as Auditor, and withdrew ín favor of a soldier. He is an organizer in politics, and has been a member of the Republican State Central Committee during two Presidential campaigns. In that of 1888 he was President of Kanawha County League of Tariff Clubs, a member of the Executive Committee of the State League of Protective Clubs, representing the Third Congressional District, in this, as he still does in the State Executive Committee.
For the past 30 years he has been a contributor of poems and other literary articles for the leading magazines, reading by in- vitation in 1866 a poetical recitation on Fraternity, before the Theta Delta Chi of Carlile, Pennsylvania. Has frequently been chosen Poet of the State Press Association, and at their meet- ing in 1883 delivered the annual poem. He was chosen Lau- reate, and delivered the Reunion ode at the Quarter-Centennial of his class, in 1885, at Washington and Jefferson College, the Alumni Association being presided over by its President, Gen. Jas. A. Beaver. He was then also selected to serve again in 1895. He is a Knight Templar Mason, and a Ruling Elder and Trustee in Kanawha Presbyterian Church. In 1870 and 1871 he was Corresponding Member from West Virginia of the In- ternational Executive Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association, causing the convening of the first State Associa- tion in and for West Virginia at Clarksburg. He is a journal- ist by choice and an editor by occupation. His portrait and poem-selections appear in the "Poets of America," published at Chicago, in 1890.
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GEO. W. ATKINSON, PH.D., LL.D.
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GEORGE WESLEY ATKINSON.
G. W. ATKINSON is a native of Kanawha county, Virginia, and is now (1890), in the forty-fifth year of his age. He is an alumnus of the Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, having graduated in the class of 1870. He received the degrees of B.A. and M.A. in cursu from said University, also in 1876 he received the degree of Master of Arts, pro merito, from Indiana Asbury University, now Depauw University, Greencastle, In- diana. He took a post graduate course in Philosophy and English Literature at Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio, and received the degree of Ph.D. pro merito. U. S. Grant University, Chattanooga, Tenn., and the University of Nashville each con- ferred upon him the degree of LL.D., in 1890. He is a Trustee of his Alma Mater, also of Mount Union, and Scio Colleges, Ohio, and the Female College at Wheeling, West Virginia. He studied law two years, while engaged teaching school in Kanawha county; attended lectures on Law in Columbian University, graduated LL.B. from Howard University, and was admitted to the Bar in 1875; was appointed by Governor William E. Stevenson, in 1869, Collector of Tolls of the Kanawha River Board, under control of the State, and held said office for the full term of two years; was Postmaster at Charleston, Kanawha county, from March 1871 to January 1877; resigned to accept the position of Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue; was appointed Internal Revenue Agent of the United States Treasury, June 1, 1877, and resigned Septem- ber 1, 1877, to accept the position of editor-in-chief of the Wheeling Evening Standard; resigned his editorial position July 1, 1878, and was re-appointed Revenue Agent; resigned May 1, 1881, to accept the position of United States Marshal for the District of West Virginia, in which position he served the full term of four years. He has successfully practiced law in Wheeling since his retirement from U. S. Marshal's office, in May 1885; was elected, as a Republican, to the Fifty-first Con- gress from-the First District of West Virginia in November 1888. The certificate of election was given by the Governor to his competitor. He made a contest before the Congress of the United States and was seated upon the merits of his case. He was nine years one of the, editors and proprietors of the West Virginia Journal, a weekly newspaper published at
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Charleston, the capitol of the State. He is the author of five books, entitled, " History of Kanawha," " After the Moon- shiners," "Revenue Digest," "The West Virginia Pulpit," " Don't," and is one of the authors of "Prominent Men of West Virginia." He is also the author of a thirty page pam- phlet entitled " A B C of the Tariff," that reached a circula- tion of over 50,000 copies. He is an active member of the M. E. Church, and was twice a Lay Delegate to the General Con- ference of that denomination-in 1876 and 1888; is a Free Mason of high rank, having received the thirty-third degree, and filled all of the responsible offices in subordinate and Grand Lodges, including Grand Master and Grand Secretary, which latter office he now holds. For the past six years he has writ- ten the Reports on Foreign Correspondence for the Grand Lodge. This report covers anywhere from 150 to 250 printed pages each year. To accomplish this work successfully requires a vast amount of Masonic knowledge and unusual familiarity with its workings. In college he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta Society. He was appointed a member of the Repub- lican State Executive Committee in 1876, and was Chairman of said Committee four years, from 1880 to 1884, and Secretary for four years, which position he now holds; was Chairman of Kanawha County Republican Executive Committee eight years; Chairman of the Third District Executive Com- mittee ten years, and Chairman of the First District Exec- utive Committee four years. He is also a member of the Ex- ecutive Committee of the West Virginia Club League, and in the campaign of 1888 was State Organizer of Clubs. He is at present a member of the National Republican Executive Com- mittee. His experience in politics is extensive and varied, and his reputation as an organizer extends beyond the limits of West Virginia. In 1876 Mr. Atkinson was one of the three Republican candidates from Kanawha county for a seat in the Legislature of the State, but along with all the other candidates of his party, that year, was defeated. He has delivered ad- dresses in all parts of the State on Sunday School and Temper- ance work, and has likewise delivered popular lectures on liter- ary themes at many towns and cities in and out of West Vir- ginia. For years his services have been in demand for annual addresses at College and University Commencements.
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He is six feet tall and weighs 180 pounds. His father, Col. James Atkinson, a prominent business man of the Great Kana- wha Valley, died in 1866. His mother, a sweet-spirited old lady of 77 years, resides at Charleston, Kanawha county. His has been a busy life. But few men of his age have performed an equal amount of labor. His powers of endurance are remark- able. Although past forty-four years of age, he says he does not know from experience what it is to be physically tired. He mar- ried Miss Ellen Eagan, of Charleston, December 8, 1868, which proved to be a most happy union. Five children were the result of their marriage. For the past thirteen years their home has been in Wheeling. Mr. Atkinson is a good lawyer and a platform speaker of high grade. No man in all West Virginia is better known-indeed, it is said that he knows almost everybody in his State.
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