USA > West Virginia > West Virginia and its people, Volume II > Part 32
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 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93
(III) George M., son of Daniel and Elizabeth ( Pratt) Weekley, was born in Tyler county. West Virginia, December 26, 1863. He was educated in the public schools and in the Classical School Academy at Buckhannon, West Virginia, being graduated from this institution in 1884. In the fall of the same year he went to Kansas and there he taught school for eighteen months. A short stay in Nebraska followed, and from that state Mr. Weekley went to Montana, where he remained for six years on a cattle ranch. Then he returned to his native state. and for two vears he had the charge of his father's farm. Having sold this farm. he came to Pennsboro, Ritchie county. West Virginia, and organized the Pennsboro Grocery Company, the first wholesale grocery firm at Penns- boro. He was manager of their business for four years, but in 1905 the store was destroyed by fire. For about one year Mr. Weekley then had
218
WEST VIRGINIA
charge of the Pennsboro Mill & Feed Company. In 1905 he accepted the position of assistant cashier in the Citizens' National Bank, at Pennsboro, and in IgII he was advanced to the position of cashier. He married, July 8. 1902, Myrtle, daughter of Beniah and Sophronia (Cunningham ) Depue. Child, Paul K., born May 2, 1903.
WILSON This very common name, found in all parts of the coun- try, is not the exclusive possession of a single family, but is the common surname of many quite distinct families. Among those bearing this name in the United States many have won distinction in religious, civil, and military affairs. The present family is of the Scotch-Irish stock.
(I) William Wilson, the founder of this family, was born in Ire- land, November 10, 1722, and died in Shenandoah county, Virginia, June 12, 1801. He was the son of Davis Wilson, and grandson of David Davis Wilson, of Scotland. About 1755 he came to America and settled in Shenandoah county, Virginia. He married Elizabeth Blackburn, born in Ireland, February 2, 1725, died in Shenandoah county, Virginia, Sep- tember 2, 1806. Children : 1. Benjamin, born November 30, 1747, died January 2, 1828 : he was a man of great prominence, soldier of the revolu- tion, member of the Virginia legislature, delegate to the convention which ratified the constitution of the United States: married ( first) Septem- ber 4. 1770, Anne Ruddel, ( second ) December 15. 1795. Phebe David- son : was the father of thirty children. 2. Archibald, born June 13, 1749. 3. David, born September 8. 1751. 4. William, born February 8. 1754. 5. John, of whom further. 6. Moses, born May 1, 1758, died in 1760. 7. Aloses, born April 8, 1761. 8. James, born July 25, 1763. 9. Solomon, born July 2, 1766. 10. Elizabeth, twin of Solomon. II. Margaret, born April 7, 1768.
(II) John, son of William and Elizabeth ( Blackburn) Wilson, was born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, April 12, 1756, died at Beverly, Randolph county. Virginia. He was the oldest of the children born in America. At the age of eighteen he was engaged in a desperate Indian fight at Wheeling, in which he was severely wounded. His home was at Beverly, where he served for more than thirty years as clerk of the county court. He married Mary Wathin. Children: I. Archibald, of whom further. 2. John, married Charlotte Dotson. 3. Dorcas, married Augustus Modisette. 4. Blackburn. 5. Temperance, married Moses Thompson. 6. Mary, married G. W. Shinn.
(III) Archibald, son of John and Mary (Wathin) Wilson, was born in Randolph county, Virginia, near Beverly, in 1801, died in Ritchie county, West Virginia, in 1866. In 1828 he came from Harrison county, Virginia (now Taylor county, West Virginia), and settled in Ritchie county near Oxford: ten years later he moved to the Edmund Taylor farm, at the mouth of Lynn Camp, on the north fork of Hughes river, and there he lived the remainder of his days. He was a man of marked ability, and one of the prominent citizens and leaders of his time. For a time he taught school, and he was the first county surveyor of Ritchie county. When the new state was formed and its first constitutional con- vention was held, he was among its members, and it was he who first sug- gested that the counties be divided into districts for educational pur- poses ; he was the author of a resolution to this end, and a provision of this character, though perhaps not that suggested by him, was made a part of the constitution of the state. He was interested in the erection of the United Brethren church at Pennsboro, Ritchie county, and both he and his wife are buried in its cemetery, He married Elizabeth, daugh-
219
WEST VIRGINIA
ter of Barton Hudkins, of Simpson's Creek, Taylor county. Virginia, who was born about 1809, died in 1892. Children: I. H. N., deceased. 2. A. B., deceased. 3. John Marshall, born September 16, 1827; mar- ried Rebecca Clayton ; twelve children, all of whom lived to manhood and womanhood. 4. Barton H., deceased. 5. Leroy P., of whom further. 6. Temperance, married T. W. Ireland. 7. Josephine, married Jesse Ham- mond. 8. W. S. 9. Eveline, married Smith Bee. 10. Love, married Alexander Prunty. II. Elizabeth, deceased ; married C. M. Collins. 12. Bazil H.
(IV) Leroy P., son of Archibald and Elizabeth (Hudkins) Wilson, was born near Oxford, Ritchie county, Virginia, September 18, 1834, died at Pennsboro, January 15, 1905. For a number of years after his marriage he resided on a farm on the Lorama railroad, but he afterward made his home at Pennsboro. His business interests were quite varied and in these he was successful, being one of the leading business men of his county. One of his chief characteristics was honesty. and he was a man of many friends. Beside being a farmer, he dealt in cattle and was also a clothing merchant. The first bank organized in the county had Mr. Wilson for its president, and at the time of his death he was vice- president of the First National Bank at Pennsboro. He was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons. the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Improved Order of Red Men. In political life he was prominent, as a Democrat. He married, in Febru- ary, 1862, Virginia S., daughter of John and Zilpha Rinehart, of Boyd, Maryland. Children: 1. Archie J. 2. Minnie. married S. M. Hoff. 3. James Boyd, of whom further. 4. Agnes. 5. John Marshall. 6. Ben- jamin F. 7. Lee. 8. Okey J., physician, practicing in Oklahoma. 9. Anna, married Hall Hamilton. 10. Zilpha Boppell, graduate and Doctor of Philosophy of the Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. II. Susan, married A. L. Davis. One other child, predeceased the father.
(\') Dr. James Boyd Wilson, son of Leroy P. and Virginia S. ( Rine- hart) Wilson, was born in Ritchie county, West Virginia, near Penns- boro, February II. 1866. After receiving a public school education, he spent two years in the medical department of Maryland College, but he finished his medical course at the University of Louisville, from which he received, March 13, 1893. the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He came to Pennsboro. April 3 of the same year, and has practiced continuously at this place. His medical and surgical practice is now large. For twelve years he was surgeon for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. He is examiner for several insurance companies, including the New York Life and the Northwestern. Dr. Wilson is a member of the Ritchie County Medical Society, of the West Virginia Medical Society, and of the American Medical Association. In 1896 he was medical examiner for pensions. Beside his medical activity, although he has not gone actively otherwise into business, he is a director of the First National Bank at Pennsboro. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. the Knights Templar, the Knights of Pythias, and the Eastern Star, in which he was for three years master of Harmony Lodge. Dr. Wilson married (first) October 26, 1893, Alice M., daughter of Melville and Cornelia Sherwood, of Baltimore, Maryland, who died October 24. 1908. Children : Melville Sherwood, born August 13, 1898; Ernest Leroy, Jan- uary 17, 1907. Dr. Wilson married (second) February 24. 1913, Mrs. Olive Bond.
220
WEST VIRGINIA
HILL This name is borne by many families in all parts of the United States. Richard, the first of this family of whom we have definite information, died about 1842. He is commonly believed to have come from North Carolina, soon after the revolutionary armies were disbanded. to the Greenbrier valley, Virginia. As a scout and vigilant defender of the forts he was one of the most distinguished of the pioneers of what is now Pocahontas county, West Virginia. From the Indians he had many narrow and remarkable escapes. He settled on Hill's creek and entered a large body of land. He married Nancy, daughter of John and Martha ( Davis) McNeel. Children: Elizabeth, married John Bruffey : Martha, married George Gillilan ; Margaret, mar- ried Samuel Gillilan : Thomas, married Anne Cackley, was once asses- sor of the county, and had two sons: George and Richard Valentine, both Confederate soldiers, the former serving in Captain McNeel's cav- alry ; John, married Elizabeth Poage: Abraham, married Sallie Burr ; Isaac, married Jennie Edmiston : William, married Ann Ray: Joel, of whom further : George, married ( first) Martha Edmiston, (second ) Re- becca Cruikshanks.
(II) Joel, son of Richard and Nancy ( McNeel) Hill, was born in Pocahontas county in 1807. He married Rebecca Livesay, of Green- brier county, Virginia. Children: Mary Frances, married Sherman H. Clark: Ann Eliza. married Oscar Groves: Martha, married Mansfield Groves : Melinda, married Levi Gay: Caroline, married D. A. Peck : Lucy, married William Curry: Allen Austin, was in the Confederate army, in Missouri, and was killed by sharpshooters; Richard Washing- ton, of whom further.
( III) Richard Washington, son of Joel and Rebecca ( Livesay ) Hill, was born in Pocahontas county, April 12, 1845. He lived formerly on the homestead, but is now living retired, with his wife, in Albemarle county, Virginia. He has been a farmer and stockman. He has also been active in politics and is a Democrat. In 1896 he was elected sheriff of Pocahontas county and served in that capacity for four years. He mar- ried Margaret Watts, of Greenbrier county. Children : Frank Raymond, of whom further: Joel Forrest, born January 28, 1876: Glenna Rachel, now Mrs. W. D. Pence, born December 28. 1879: Anthony Bunger, born July 1. 1884: and David Hendrix, born December 20. 1890.
(IV) Frank Raymond, son of Richard Washington and Margaret (Watts) Hill, was born in Pocahontas county, October 20, 1873. He graduated in 1898 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, from Randolph- Macon College. During his college course, he was active in the Wash- ington Literary Society and he represented Randolph-Macon College in the intercollegiate oratorical contest of 1897. In 1900 he graduated in law from the University of Virginia and was admitted to the West Vir- ginia bar on November 9. in that year. He has practiced in state and fed- eral courts, and is regarded as one of the best young lawyers in the state and as an excellent public prosecutor. He is a member of the Pocahontas County Bar Association and of the State Bar Association. In Masonry, he has held all the chairs in Pocahontas Blue Lodge ; and he is a member of the Chapter, Commandery. Temple and Shrine, at Charleston, West Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Hill are both active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. South, she being a member of the Ladies' Aid and other societies. In 1906 he was elected on the Democratic ticket, prose- cuting attorney of Pocahontas county, to fill an unexpired term : in 1908 he was re-elected for a full term ; and now ( 1912) he is a candidate for another election to this office. He has regularly attended state, district, and other conventions of the Democratic party, and is influential in its councils. He served as deputy sheriff under his father.
221
WEST VIRGINIA
Mr. Hill married Delia, daughter of A. M. and Lydia (McNeel ) Edgar. Her father was born where Ronceverte, West Virginia, now stands. He was in "Stonewall" Jackson's brigade, and was captain of Company E, Twenty-seventh Virginia Infantry, Confederate army; at Cold Harbor he was taken prisoner. He is now a Pocahontas county stockman. Children of Frank Raymond and Delia ( Edgar ) Hill : Glenna Elizabeth, born March 3, 1902, Margaret Lydia, born October 15, 1904: Francis Edgar, born July 3, 1906; Rebecca Watts, born October 25, 1908, and Martha Washington, born February 24. 1912.
SHARP This name, also often spelled Sharpe, is a common name in
the United States and not confined to any particular section. (I) John Sharp, the first member of this family about whom we have definite information, was a native of Maryland, but had settled in Virginia before the revolutionary war. Much later, after a residence of some years in Rockingham county. Virginia, he removed to Pocahontas county, reaching Frost in 1802, and settled at that place. He was owner of extensive landed possessions. Both he and his wife were earnest supporters of religion. He married Margaret Blaine, who lived near Rawley Springs ; she was a relative of John S. Blaine, a pioneer Presbyterian minister. Children: Margaret, married Henry Dilley : Anna, married Daniel McCollam ; Isabella, married Alexander Rider ; Elizabeth, married Rev. James Wanless : Rosa, married Rev. William J. Ryder : Mary, married William Hartman ; John, married Rebecca Moore ; Robert, died young : Daniel, married Margaret Palmer ; James, married Margaret Wanless : William, of whom further : Joseph, married Elizabeth Lightner.
(II) William, son of John and Margaret ( Blaine) Sharp, lived near Frost. He married Margaret Nesbitt, of Rockbridge county. Virginia. Children : Mary Paulina, married Stephen Wanless ; Eliza Jane, married David Hannah: John, of whom further.
(III) John (2), son of William and Margaret ( Nesbitt) Sharp, also lived near Frost. He married Elizabeth Slaven Wade, of Highland county. During the civil war, she supported the children, paid off mort- gages on the land and came through the conflict out of debt. Children : Charles Osborne Wade, of whom further ; William Alexander Gilmer. married Nancy Elizabeth Arbogast ; John Benjamin Franklin, married Mary Alice Gibson : Aaron Uriah Bradford, died at the age of seven : Matilda Ursula, died at the age of sixteen months : Margaret Ann, died at the age of sixteen years : Martha Ellen, married Abram Sharp: Mari- etta Emmaretta Virginia, married Thomas R. Kellison.
(IV) Charles Osborne Wade, son of John (2) and Elizabeth Slaven (Wade) Sharp, was born at Frost, about 1845, and died June 29, 1892. Enlisting at the age of seventeen, in Company I, Third West Virginia Cavalry, he served to the end of the civil war. For four years he was deputy-sheriff of Pocahontas county, under J. F. Wanless. He was an .extensive farmer and stockman and always an active Republican. He married Mary Amanda Grimes, who survives him and is living on the Sharp homestead. Children : I. Hannibal Hamlin, deceased. 2. Charles Hanson, was formerly engaged in railroad work in the west and was later superintendent of steam shovels in the Culebra Cut, Panama, Canal Zone. He died in August, 1007, at Culebra, Panama, Canal Zone. 3. David Franklin, is a railroad engineer and lives at Wichita, Kansas. 4. George Winters, of whom further. 5. Summers Hedrick, twin brother of George Winters, horn June 20, 1880. He graduated from Marshall College in 1907, studied law in the University of Michigan and was ad-
222
WEST VIRGINIA
mitted to practice in the courts of this state in 1910. He is now prosecut- ing attorney of Pocahontas county. He is a Mason, Knight of Pythias, and a member of Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He married Grace Stewart of Tulsa, Oklahoma. 6. Austin John, remains with his mother on the old homestead. He married Icy Shrader : children: Styrl and Roscoe. 7. Trudie Montgomery, married B. B. Williams, who is at this time county superintendent of schools. 8. Icy Amanda, married Hevener Dilley. 9. Esta Madora, is a stenographer and resides at Buck- hannon, West Virginia.
(V) George Winters, son of Charles Osborne Wade and Mary Amanda (Grimes) Sharp, was born June 20, 1880. He attended school at Concord Normal and graduated from Marshall College in 1907. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias. In Masonry he has held the chair of worshipful master of Marlinton Lodge, No. 127, and is a mem- ber of Beni-Kedem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Charleston, West Virginia. He was elected clerk of the circuit court of Pocahontas county in 1908, which position he holds at this time. He married, August 17. 1909, Beatrice, daughter of L. C. and Mary (Wilson) Groves, of Summersville, West Virginia. No children.
MORRIS This name is found in various parts of the United States and has been borne by several persons of distinction in various walks of life. The present family, it will be noted, produced soldiers of credit in the civil war.
(I) Ephram Morris, the first member of this family about whom we have definite information, moved from Maryland into Western Pennsyl- vania. He was by trade a tailor. He married -- Roseberry. Children : John. a captain in the Union army in the civil war; Matthias, Asia, Thomas, a colonel in the Union army, killed at Snicker's Ferry; Martha, Sarah, Catharine, Phoebe. James F., of whom further.
(II) James F., son of Ephram and - (Roseberry) Morris, was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, in 1840, and has resided ever since in Greene county, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer and one of the repre- sentative men of his community. His church was the Christian. He married Maria, daughter of Samuel D. Bayard, who died January 26, Thomas, a colonel in the Union army, killed at Snicker's Ferry ; Martha, George Lloyd. of whom further.
(III) George Lloyd, son of James F. and Maria (Bayard) Morris, was born at Holbrook, in Green county, Pennsylvania. July 3, 1870. His education was received in the public schools, including the state normal school at Edinburg. Erie county, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1880. Thereupon he engaged in mercantile business at Rodgersville. Pennsylvania, in which he continued for five years. Selling this business, he became, for six years, a traveling salesman. In the fall of 1900 he came to Middlebourne, Tyler county, West Virginia, and accepted a po- sition as cashier of the First National Bank, which position he still holds. In 1902 he was made and still is, one of the directors of the same bank .. He was also among the promoters of the Middlebourne Water Company. and is a stockholder therein ; also, he is first vice-president of the board of trade at Middlebourne. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Morris is a member of the Christian church. He married (first) in February, 1897. Laura Mason, who died in 1907: he married ( second) in 1909, Martha, daughter of E. J. and Emily Clark.
223
WEST VIRGINIA
The progenitors of this family in West Virginia came THOMPSON originally from Culpeper county, Virginia, in the year 1815, when Philip R. Thompson settled at the home- stead which is now St. Albans ; he owned large tracks of land and lived there until his death at the age of seventy-five years. He built the house in which he resided, and in which his children and grandchildren were born. He became a prominent man in the Democratic party, serving for eight years as member of congress from Culpeper county, prior to his moving to Kanawha county. Mr. Thompson was twice married, having issue by both wives. His first marriage was to a Miss Davenport, by whom he had several children : his second marriage was to Sarah Eliza- beth Slaughter, of Culpeper county, daughter of Robert Slaughter, of the Grange. There were five sons and four daughters by this marriage, of whom the sons were: Robert A., Francis, Dr. John, Benjamin S., of whom further, and William Henry.
(II) Benjamin S., son of Philip R. and Sarah E. ( Slaughter) Thomp- son, was born at Coalsmouth, Kanawha county, Virginia, now St. Albans, March 26, 1818. He was a graduate of William and Mary College where he studied law, and up to the time of the civil war lived on the farm where he was born. At the outbreak of the war he joined the Con- federate army, first as captain A. Q. M. of the Thirty-sixth Regiment Vir- ginia Infantry, later assigned to Barton's brigade of Stephenson's divi- sion, and became quartermaster with rank of major, continuing until the close of hostilities. After the war he moved to Flemingsburg. Kentucky. and entered mercantile business in which he remained until about the year 1880, when he removed to Hinton, West Virginia, and for eight years was postmaster of the town. He came to Huntington in 1897, re- tiring from active business, and continuing a resident of this city until his death, December 29, 1907. He was a member of the Democratic party. He married Elizabeth Lewis, born in Mason county, Virginia, October 19, 1819, died in Huntington, July 21, 1907, daughter of Andrew and Margaret (Lynn) Lewis, and granddaughter of Colonel Charles Lewis, who was killed at the battle of Point Pleasant. Virginia. October 10. 1774. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson had six children: Cameron Lewis, of whom further; Margaret Lynn, married Dr. John Harvey, late professor of languages at the West Virginia University : John S., died unmarried : Fannie Lewis, died unmarried : Elizabeth, died young; William Rootes. of whom further.
(III) Cameron Lewis, son of Benjamin S. and Elizabeth (Lewis) Thompson, was born at Coalsmouth, now St. Albans, West Virginia. April 22, 1842. His early education was received at home from private tutors : later he attended the academy at Greenbrier county up to the time of the outbreak of the civil war. He then enlisted. April 17. 1861, in the Confederate army, as a private in Company H. of the Twenty-second Virginia Infantry. He served throughout the war, being present at the surrender of his regiment at Appomattox Court House, April 9. 1865, he being then a captain on General Terry's staff. After the war he settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, where for five years he continued to represent a local house in the capacity of commercial traveler. He then removed to Ken- tucky, where until 1872 he engaged in merchandise, returning then to West Virginia and locating at Hinton, where he entered the newspaper business and established and operated the Mountain Herald, now known as the Independent Herald. He continued thus for thirteen years, study- ing law meanwhile. In 1885 he came to Huntington and purchased the Huntington Advertiser, a weekly newspaper, and in 1889 started the Daily Advertiser which he ran for seven years. He was appointed post- master of Huntington by President Cleveland in 1888, to fill out an un-
224
WEST VIRGINIA
completed term of fifteen months. In the year 1893 he went to Charles- ton, West Virginia, and until 1897 was in charge of the insurance de- partment of the state. He then returned to Huntington, engaging in the insurance and real estate business here and continuing with much success ever since. He has at various times had different partners, the firm now being known as Thompson, Thornburg & Watts, and doing a very exten- sive business. In his political convictions Mr. Thompson is an adherent of the Democratic party, and is a member of the board of control of the city, representing the third ward. He is a member of the Confederate Veterans' Association, and is a prominent member and senior warden of the Episcopal church.
He married Elizabeth Frances Weathers, born in Washington county, Kentucky, daughter of Edward Worthington and Susan ( Ferguson) Weathers. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have no children.
(III) Hon. William Rootes Thompson, son of Benjamin S. and Eliz- abeth ( Lewis) Thompson, was born September 14, 1856, at the old home- stead, Coalsmouth, now St. Albans, at the mouth of the Coal river, in Kanawha county, West Virginia. He received his early education in Kentucky, and later attended West Virginia University, taking a course in the law department and graduating in the year 1879. He was the first graduate of the law school at the University. He was admitted to the bar immediately after his graduation ; he removed to Hinton, West Virginia, and commenced the practice of his profession, continuing in that place until 1892. At the first general election following his gradua- tion and removal to Hinton, he was named as prosecuting attorney of Summers county, and he was the first assistant district attorney in West Virginia, having been appointed to serve as such under General C. C. Watts during the first administration of President Cleveland, from 1880 to 1884. In 1888 he was elected a member of the house of delegates from Summers county. He was a member of the legislature during the session of 1891, serving on the judiciary committee, and as chairman of the railroad committee. In the year 1892 Mr. Thompson came to Huntington and entered into the partnership of Vinson, McDonald & Thompson ; a year later George McDonald, the second member of the firm, died. the business being continued under the name of Vinson & Thompson, as at present. The senior member of the firm is Mr. Taylor Vinson, a sketch of whom follows. Mr. Thompson was a delegate to the Democratic national convention at Denver which nominated Bryan in 1908, but has never held office in Cabell county. In 1904 his name was presented to the state convention for governor, but after one of the most remarkable convention battles in the history of the party, the honor fell elsewhere. When last year the matter of choosing Democratic United States senators arose, Mr. Thompson's name was suggested in many parts of the state, although he was at no time a candidate. Believing this to be the year of Democratic victory, however, both in state and nation, he consented to be a candidate for nomination to the governorship of West Virginia in the campaign of 1912, was nominated by acclamation at the Democratic convention held in Huntington, West Virginia, July 16. 1912, but was defeated. Beside his known ability as a lawyer and busi- ness man he is a man of pleasing and impressive personality ; his manner and bearing are distinguished and graceful, and he is at all times cordial and approachable. He is a member of the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, also a member of the Guyandotte Club.
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.