Biographical Sketches of Members of Congress, Members of the Legislature, 
West Virigina, 1917

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Biographical Sketches of Members of Congress, Members of the Legislature, 
West Virigina, 1917

Source:
West Virginia Legislative Hand Book and Manual and Official Register, 1917,
Compiled and Edited by John T. Harris, Clerk of the Senate, 
The Tribune Printing Co., Charleston, West Va.
pgs. 719 - 752

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

pg. 719

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
United States Senators.

NATHAN GOFF (Republican), of Clarksburg, was born at Clarksburg, Va.
(now W. Va.), February 9, 1843; was educated at the Northwestern Virginia
Academy, Georgetown College, and the University of the City of New York;

was admitted to the bar in 1865; in 1867 was elected a member of the West Vir-
ginia Legislature; in 1868 was appointed United States attorney for the dis-
trict of West Virginia, to which position he was reappointed in 1872, 1876, and
1880; resigned the district attornyship in January, 1881, when he was appointed
Secretary of the Navy by President Hayes; in March, 1881, President Garfield
appointed him district attorney for West Virginia, which position he again re-
signed in July, 1882; enlisted in the Union Army in June, 1861, in the Third
Regiment Virginia Volunteer Infantry; served as lieutenant and adjutant of
Company G, and as major of the Fourth Virginia Volunteer Cavalry; was Re-
publican candidate for Congress in 1870 and 1874 in the first West Virginia dis-
trict; was candidate of the Republican Party for governor of West Virginia in
1876, and was defeated by Hon. H. M. Mathews; was elected to the Forty-
eighth, Forty-ninth, and Fiftieth Congresses; in 1888 was elected governor on
face of the returns, but the legislature, which was Democratic, seated his op-
ponent; was appointed United States circuit judge in 1892 for the fourth judicial
circuit, including the States of West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, North Caro-
lina, and South Carolina, and was married in 1867 to Miss Laura E. Despard, of
Clarksburg, and has two sons; was elected United States Senator by the legis-
lature February 21, 1913. His term of service will expire March 3, 1919. Com-
mittee assignments Sixty-fifth Congress: Banking and Currency, Claims,
Conservation of National Resources, Expenditures in the Department of Labor,
Immigration, Interoceanic Canals, Pensions, Philippines, Railroads, and Uni-
versity of the United States.

HOWARD SUTHERLAND (Republican), of Elkins, was born September. 8,
1865, near Kirkwood, St. Louis County, Mo.; attended the public schools of
St. Louis County and city; was graduated with A. B. degree from Westminster
College, Fulton, Mo., class of 1889; edited a Republican newspaper at Fulton
immediately after graduation; went to Washington in March, 1890, as clerk,
at $1,000, in Census Office; being promoted through intervening grades, became
chief of population division in February, 1891; also studied law at Columbian
University; resigned, and in March, 1893, moved to West Virginia; is married,
and is in the timber and coal lands business. He is a member of a number of
fraternal and benevolent societies; was State senator of West Virginia 1908-
1912; was chairman of West Virginia good roads commission, which framed the
first laws for permanent improvement of West Virginia roads; vice president
West Virginia Board of Trade; director Davis Trust Co.; president board of
trustees Davis and Elkins Presbyterian College; was elected to the Sixty-third
Congress, and re-elected to the Sixty-fourth Congress; was elected to the United
States Senate November 7, 1916, receiving 144,243 votes, to 138,585 for W. E.
Chilton, Democrat, and 4,881 for G. A. Gneiser, Socialist, for six-year term ending
March 3, 1923.  Committee assignments Sixty-fifth Congress: Additional
Accommodations for the Library of Congress, Census, Geological Survey, In-
dustrial Expositions, Investigate Trespassers upon Indian Lands, Military
Affairs, Mines and Mining, Public Buildings and Grounds.

pg. 720

Representatives.          

FIRST DISTRICT.—COUNTIES: Brooke, Hancock, Marion, Marshall, Ohio, Taylor, and Wetzel
(7 counties.) Population (1910), 194,726.

M. M. NEELY (Democrat), of Fairnont, was bom on November 9, 1874, at
Grove, Doddridge County, W. Va., parents, Alfred Neely and Mary (Morris)
Neely; served in the West Virginia Volunteer Infantry through the Spanish-
American War; was graduated from the academic and law departments of West
Virginia University; was admitted to the Marion County bar in 1902, and since
that time has been continuously engaged in the practice of the law at Fainnont;
was married October 21, 1903, to Miss Alberta Claire Ramage, of Fairmont;
they have two sons, Alfred R. Neely and John Champ Neely, and one daughter,
Corinne Neely; was mayor of Fairmont 1908-1910; clerk of the House of Dele-
gates of West Virginia 1911-1913; was elected to the Sixty-third Congress October
14, 1913, to fill the unexpired term of Hon. John W. Davis, who was appointed
Solicitor General of the United States, and was re-elected to the Sixty-fourth and
Sixty-fifth Congress. Assigned to the Judiciary Committee in the latter body.

SECOND DISTRICT.—COUNTIES: Barbour, Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson
Mineral, Monongalia, Morgan, Pendleton, Preston, Randolph, and Tucker (13 counties.)
Population (1910), 211,690.

GEORGE M. BOWERS (Republican), of Martinsburg, W. Va., was born
September 13, 1863, at Gerrardstown, W. Va., in the heart of the, Shenandoah
Valley. Was a member of the West Virginia Legislature at the age of 28; a
candidate for auditor of the State in 1888; census superintendent in 1890; treas-
urer World's Fair managers in ,1893; appointed by President McKinley Com-
missioner of Fisheries in February, 1898, and reappointed by President Roose-
velt and President Taft; resigned April 16, 1913. Elected at a special election
held in the second congressional district of West Virginia on May 9, 1916, to fill
the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. William G. Brown. Was nominated
on June 6, 1916, by a majority of nearly 10,000 votes, and re-elected November, 7
1916, to the Sixty-fifth Congress. Assigned to the Merchant Marine and Fish-
eries Committee in the latter body.

THIRD DISTRICT.—COUNTIES: Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison, Lewis,
Nicholas, Ritchie, Upshur, and Webster (11 counties). Population (1910), 197,110.

STUART F. REED (Republican), of Clarksburg, was born and reared on a
farm in Barbour County, W.Va. He obtained money to attend college by saving
his earnings as a farm hand and country-school teacher. A brief summary of
Mr. Reed's career appearing in the last edition of "Who's Who in America"
shows that he was editor Clarksburg Telegram eight years; elected president
West Virginia Editorial Association three terms; elected State senator, serving
four years; was chairman senate committee on education; regent West Virginia
University; originator of School of Commerce and founder of the Athenaeum
(college journal) of the university; member West Virginia Republican State
committee; vice president National League of Republican Clubs; member
national literary bureau of Republican national executive committee; member
World's Literary Congress (Chicago); vice president National Republican
Editorial Association (Washington, D. C., 1904); declined appointment consul
general, Buenos Aires, 1905; president board trustees Broaddus Classical and
Scientific Institute 1901-1908; eminent commander Knights Templar 1908;
member International Tax Conference, Louisville, Ky., 1909; president State
Y. M. 0. A. convention 1910; elected secretary of state of West Virginia two
consecutive terms, 1909-1917; vice president West Virginia Semi-Centennial
Commission 1913; elected president Association of American Secretaries of
State, Cincinnati, 1915; received diploma (Fairmont State Normal) and degrees
LL. B. (West Virginia University), and Ph. D. (Salem College); married Miss
Bonnie Belle Smith, of Clarksburg; is a Shriner, Elk, and Modern Woodman of
America; Baptist; was elected to the Sixty-fifth Congress by a majority of 680,
receiving 23,442 votes, to 22,762 for F. N. Alderson, Democrat.


pg. 721

FOURTH DISTRICT.—COUNTIES: Cabell, Jackson, Mason, Pleasants, Putnam, Roane, Tyler,
Wirt, and Wood (9 counties). Population (1910), 202,123.

HARRY C. WOODYARD (Republican), of Spencer, W. Va.; bom November
13, 1867, at Spencer, W. Va., served four years as State senator from the fourth
senatorial district of West Virginia; was elected as Representative in Congress
from the fourth congressional district in 1902, and served in the Fifty-eighth
Fifty-ninth, Sixtieth, and Sixty-first Congresses; was elected November 7,
1916, to fill the unexpired term of Judge Hunter H. Moss, jr., in the Sixty-fourth
Congress, and also as a member of the Sixty-fifth Congress.

FIFTH DISTRICT.—COUNTIES: Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Summers,
Wayne, and Wyoming (9 counties). Population (1910), 206,573.

EDWARD COOPER (Republican), of Bramwell, W. Vs., was bom at Trever-
ton, Pa., February 26, 1873, and moved to West Virginia in 1875, in which State
he has since lived; was educated at Washington and Lee University, Lexington,
Va., taking the degree of B. L. in 1894; engaged in the practice of law for three
years, and at the death of his father abandoned the law and engaged actively in
the development of coal property in the State of West Virginia; has occupied
every position in coal mine; was married in 1895 to Miss Frances Douglass
Smith, of Lexington, Va., and has one son, Edward, Jr., and daughter, Frances
Douglass; was elected to the Sixty-fourth Congress, and re-elected to the Sixty-
fifth Congress, receiving 25,627 votes, to 23,857 cast for his opponent on the
Democratic ticket, G. R. C. Wiles, of WiUiamson, W. Va. The State of West
Virginia was redistricted by the legislature of 1915, the new fifth district having
now 9 counties, as against 12 in the old fifth district.

SIXTH DISTRICT.—COUNTIES: Boone, Fayette, Greenbrier, Eanawha, Pocahontas, and Raleigh
(6 counties). Population (1910), 208,897.

ADAM BROWN LITTLEPAGE (Democrat), of Charleston, was born April
14, 1859, near Charleston, Kanawha County, W. Va. Was married on April 8,
1884, to Miss Eva Collett, of Newport, Ind. He is a lawyer by profession; was
elected to the State Senate of West Virginia in 1906, serving four years. In 1910
he was elected to the Sixty-second Congress, defeating the Hon. Joseph Holt
Gaines, Republican; was elected to the Sixty-fourth Congress, defeating Hon.
S. B. Avis, Republican, and re-elected to the Sixty-fifth Congress, defeating Dr.
M. V. Godbey. Assigned to Naval Affairs Committee in the latter body.
Members of the State Senate.

GOODYKOONTZ, WELLS, President of the Senate.  (Republican.)
Address: Williamson, West Va. Was born in Pulaski, Virginia,. June 3, 1872;
educated at Oxford Academy, Floyd, Virginia, and at Washington and Lee
University, Lexington, Virginia; is a member of the well known law firm of
Goodykoontz & Scherr; received his professional education at Washington and
Lee; was a member of the House of Delegates of West Virginia in 1911; elected
to the Senate from the Sixth District in 1914; in 1915 was chairman of the com-
mittee on Finance and a member of nearly all the other important committees;
was re-elected to the Senate in 1916, and at the organization in 1917 was chosen
President of that body and filled the position with dignity, fairness and marked
ability. Mr. Goodykoontz is President of the National Bank of Commerce, of
Williamson, is interested in coal production, and has done much to direct the
attention of capitalists to the great natural wealth of the county of Mingo.

pg. 722 

ARNOLD, GOHEN CLARKE.  (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Buckhannon. Born in Buckhannon, Upshur county,
January 5, 1885; educated in the common schools, at West
Virginia Conference Seminary and West Virginia Uni-
versity, receiving the degree of A. B.; is a practicing attor-
ney; graduated from West Virginia University law school
with the degree of LL. B.; elected to the Senate from the
Thirteenth District in 1916; is a hold-over senator; in
1917 had committee assignments as follows: Joint Com-
mittee on the part of the Senate on Enrolled Bills (Chair-
man); Judiciary, Claims and Grievances, Forestry and
Conservation, Counties and Municipal Corporations, Pro-
hibition and Temperance, Labor,lRoads and Navigation.

BECKWITH,  FRANK.    (Democrat.)   Address:
Charles Town. Born in Middleway, Jefferson county,
July 26, 1848; educated in the country schools and in
New York; a lawyer by profession, receiving his legal
training in Charles Town; member of House of Delegates
in 1881 and 1887; appointed Judge Thirteenth Circuit by
Governor Wilson to fill the unexpired term of Charles
James Faulkner; elected to the State Senate from the Fif-
teenth District in 1914; in 1917 served on the following
Senate standing committees: Judiciary, Education, Banks
and Corporations, Penitentiary, Federal Relations, Insur-
ance, Labor, To Examine the Clerk's Office, Prohibition
and Temperance.

BILLINGS, SAMUEL OLEN.  (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Parsons, West Va. Born at Camptown, Pa; edu-
cated in the schools of Bradford county and at the Ohio
Business University; came to West Virginia and located
in Tucker county; served one term as county surveyor and
two terms as county clerk; elected to the State Senate
from the Fourteenth District in 1914; in 1917 served on
standing committees as follows: Claims and Grievances
(Chairman); Public Printing (Chairman); Roads and
Navigation, Public Buildings and Humane Institutions,
Railroads, Militia, Federal Relations, Mines and Mining,
Medicine and Sanita tion, Labor, Forestry and Conservation,

BURGESS, WALTER F.  (Republican.) Address:
Reader, West Va. Born at Fanlight, Wetzel county, April
29, 1877; reared on a farm near Reader; educated in the
public schools; is an oil driller and contractor, and has
been closely connected with the oil developmend [sic]in Wetzel
county; was elected to the Senate from the Second Dis-
trict in 1916; is a hold-over Senator; in 1917 was Chair-
man of the committee on Roads and Navigation, and a
member of the committees on Privileges and Elections,
Education, Banks and Corporations, Public Buildings
and Humane Institutions, Claims and Grievances, Pro-
hibition and Temperance.


pg. 723

CARTER, WILLIAM H. (Republican.) Address Mid-
dlebourne, West Va. Born January 29,1879, at Centerville,
Upshur county; educated in the public schools and at
West Virginia Conference Seminary, Buckhannon; a
lawyer by profession, receiving his legal education at the
state University; served one term as clerk of the county
court of Tyler county; elected to the State Senate in 1914,
from the Second District; in 1917 his committee assign-
ments were as follows Penitentiary (Chairman); Labor
(Chairman); Judiciary, Education, Counties and Munici-
pal Corporations, Railroads, Forfeited and Unappro-
priated Lands, Passed and Enrolled Bills.

COALTER, CARL C. (Republican.) Address: Hin-
ton West Va. Elected to the State Senate in 1912 as one
of the representatives from the Seventh District; re-elected
in 1916; is a hold-over Senator. Born in Monroe county,
West Va. September 25, 1879; received his education in the
public schools; has been engaged in the milling business at
Hinton for nineteen years; is General Manager and Treas-
urer of the Hinton Milling Company; has never held any
public office except that of senator; in 1917 he was assigned
to and served on the following standing committees of the Sen-
ate: Railroads (Ch'n); Privileges and Elections, Counties
and Municipal Corporations, Insurance, Mines and Mining,
Prohibition and Temperance, Forestry and Conservation.

COBUN, SANFORD LEE. (Republican.) Address:
Masontown, West Va.  Born September 11, 1860, in
Masontown, Preston county; educated in the free and
county select schools; occupation, merchant; President of
the Bank of Masontown; has served as Councilman and
Mayor of his native town; elected to the House of Dele-
gates in 1910; re-elected in 1912; elected to the Senate
from the Fourteenth District in 1916; is a hold-over Sena-
tor; in 1917 served on standing committees as follows:
Banks and Corporations (Chairman); Finance, Public
Buildings and Humane Institutions, Federal Relations, Im-
migration and Agriculture, Mines and Mining, Prohibition
and Temperance, Forestry and Conservation.

DODSON, RAYMOND.   (Republican.)   Address:
Spence, West Va. One of the members of the Senate from
the Fourth District, having been elected in 1916; is a hold-
over Senator; received his education in the public schools
and at West Virginia University, where he took law course;
is a practicing attorney at Spencer; was assigned to and
served on the following Senate standing committees in the
sessions of 1917: Public Buildings and Humane Insistu-
tions (Chairman); Militia (Chairman); Banks and Cor-
porations, Federal Relations, Immigration and Agriculture,
Labor, Forfeited and Unappropriated Lands, Virginia
Debt.

pg. 724

DUTY, MICHAEL KERN. (Republican.) Address:
Pennsboro, West Va. Born in a cabin on Hickory Run,
Tyier county, West Virginia; educated in the common
schools, the State Normal School at Fairmont, and the Uni-
versity of Arkansas; studied law at the latter institution
and from it holds the degree of LL. B.; has served as Mayor
of Pennsboro, County Superintendent of Schools and mem-
ber of the House of Delegates; elected to the Senate from
the Third District in 1916; is a hold-over Senator; com-
mittee assignments in 1917: Education (Chairman);
Judiciary, Roads and Navigation, Federal Relations,
Labor, Claims and Grievances, Rules, Forestry and Con-
servation, Forfeited and Unappropriated Lands.

FOX, FRED LEE.  (Democrat.) Address: Sutton,
West Va. Was born in Braxton county, West Virginia,
October 24, 1876; received his education in the common
schools of Braxton county and at the West Virginia Uni-
versity; by profession is an attorney at law, holding the
degree of L. L. B. from the University; was elected to the
State Senate in 1912 from the Tenth District; re-elected in
1916; is a hold-over Senator; in the sessions of 1915 and
1917 he was active and prominent as Democratic floor
leader; committee assignments in 1917: Judiciary, Coun-
ties and Municipal Corporations, Militia, Insurance,
Claims and Grievances, Public Printing, Rules and the
Virginia Debt.

FRAZIER, JULIUS EDGAR. (Democrat.) Address:
Buffalo, West Va. Was born December 25, 1865, in the
county of Putnam; received his education in the schools-
of Point Pleasant; is a fanner and traveling salesman by
occupation; served a term as Sheriff of Putnam county;
was elected to the State Senate in November, 1916; is
a hold-over Senator; his committee assignments in the
sessions of 1917 were as follows: Privileges and Elections,
Counties and Municipal Corporations, Public Build-
ings and Humane Institutions, Railroads, Immigration.
and Agriculture, Medicine and Sanitation, and Forestry
and Conservation.

GODBEY, MARTIN VAN BUREN. (Republican.)
Born in Raleigh county, December 19,1879; educated in the
public schools, at Marshall College and at Grant Univer-
sity; a physician and surgeon; received the degree of M. D.
from Maryland Medical College; elected to the House of
Delegates from Boone county in 1908; a member of the State
Board of Health 1909-13; elected to the State Senate in 1914,
from the Eighth District; in 1917 had the following commit-
tee assignments: Forestry and Conservation (Chairman);
To Examine the Clerk's Office (Chairman);  Railroads, Insur-
ance, Mines and Mining, Medicine and Sanitation, Public
Printing, Rules, Virginia Debt. Appointed Chief Medical Ex-
aminer of the Workmen's Compensation Fund, May 1,1917.

pg. 725

GREGORY, ROBERT LIVINGSTONE. (Republican.)
Address: Parkersburg, West Va. Born in Henry county,
Virginia, February 26, 1874, the son of a North Carolina
soldier of the Union; reared on a farm; educated at Ox-
ford, North Carolina, and the University of Virginia,
studying law at the latter institution; located subsequently
in Tyler county, this State; city attorney of Sistersville
four years; member of the House of Delegates in 1903-4;
elected to the Senate from the Third District in 1914;
committee assignments in 1917: Judiciary (Chairman);
Privileges and Elections, Roads and Navigation, Banks and
Corporations, Immigration and Agriculture, Medicine and
Sanitation, Labor, Public Library and the Virginia Debt.

GRIBBLE, WALLACE B. (Republican.) Address:
West Union, West Va. Was born at Oxford, Doddridge
county; educated in the common and high schools; is an
attorney by profession; took a special course in law at
West Virginia University; has served as Clerk of the Cir-
cuit Court and also as Sheriff of Doddridge county; was
elected to the State Senate from the Twelfth District at the
November election, 1916; is a hold-over Senator; standing
committee assignments in the sessions of 1917: Immigra-
tion and Agriculture (Chairman); Finance, Counties and
Municipal Corporations, Penitentiary, Militia, Insurance,
Medicine and Sanitation, To Examine the Clerk's Office.

HAWLEY, WILLIAM PUTNAM. (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Bluefield, West Va. Born July 22, 1868, in Raleigh
county; educated in the common schools and at the State
Normal School at Athens; occupation, merchant, banker,
manager of a telephone company, and farmer; served as
Superintendent of Schools and Sheriff of Mercer county;
also, as Chief of Police of Bluefield, and member of City
Council for ten years; member of House of Delegates in
1909-11-13; elected to the Senate from the Seventh Dis-
trict in 1914; assigned to committees as follows in 1917:
Finance (Chairman); Banks and Corporations, Penitentiary,
Medicine and Sanitation, Claims and Grievances, Public
Printing, Public Library, Virginia Debt.

HOGG, DR. GORY. (Democrat.) Address: Harvey,
West Va. Born at Point Pleasant, Mason county, June 29,
1873; educated in the public schools and at West Virginia
University; attended the College of Physicians and Sur-
geons, Baltimore, graduating in 1895 with the degree of
Doctor of Medicine; shortly thereafter located at Harvey,
Fayette county, where he has since been practicing; elected
to the Senate from the Ninth District in 1912; in the ses-
sions of 1917 served on the following standing committees
of the Senate: Finance, Penitentiary, Federal Relations,
Mines and Mining, Medicine and Sanitation, To Examine.

pg. 726

HOUGH, ELMER. (Republican.) Address: Wells-
burg, West Va. Born in Westmoreland county, Pennsyl-
vania, January 15, 1866; educated in the common schools
and at California, (Pa.,) Normal and Ada University, Ohio;
is a civil engineer by profession and is also engaged in the
coal business; has served as President of the following or-
ganizations: Wellsburg Board of Trade, Wellsburg Board
of Education and the West Virginia S. A. A.; elected to the
Senate from the First District in 1916; is a hold-over Sena-
tor; committee assignments in 1917: Mines and Mining
(Chairman), Forfeited and Unappropriated Lands (Chair-
man); Privileges and Elections, Education, Roads and
Navigation, Penitentiary, Militia, Public Library.

KUMP, GARNETT KERR. (Democrat.) Address:
Romney, West Va. Born December 9, 1875; educated in
the common schools and at West Virginia University; a
lawyer by profession, receiving his legal education at the
University; was a member of the House of Delegates in
1905; elected to the Senate in 1912, from the Fifteenth Dis-
trict; re-elected in 1916; is a hold-over Senator; has been
the patron of important measures looking to the improve-
ment of the school? and roads of the State; committee as-
signments, 1917: Judiciary, Public Buildings and Humane
Institutions, Railroads, Federal Relations, Immigration and
Agriculture, Medicine and Sanitation, Forfeited and Unappro-
priated Lands, Prohibition and Temperance, Public Printing.

LOWE, SCOTT C. (Democrat.) Address: Fairmont,
West Va. Born in Marion county September 22, 1875;
educated in the public schools and at the West Virginia Uni-
versity from which he graduated in 1900, receiving the de-
grees of A. B. and L. L. B.; since 1900 has been engaged in
practicing law at Fairmont; was Prosecuting Attorney of
Marion county 1905-09; elected to the Senate in 1914 from
the Eleventh District; in the sessions of 1917 served on
committees of the Senate as follows: Finance, Coun-
ties and Municipal Corporations, Roads and Navigation,
Penitentiary, Militia, Forfeited and Unappropriated Lands,
To Examine the Clerk's Office, Virginia Debt.

LUTHER, JOHN WESLEY. (Republican.) Address:
Welch, West Va. Born July 26, 1874, at Shoals, Wayne
county; educated in the public schools; occupation, under
taker and embalmer; occupational education received in a
College of Anatomy and Sanitary Science; served several years
as Supervisor of the Spencer Hospital and two terms as
Councilman in the city of Welch; elected to the Senate from
Sixth District in 1916; is a hold-over Senator; served on
standing committees in 1917, as follows: Privileges and Elec-
tions, (Chairman); Federal Relations (Chairman); Finance,
Public Buildings and Humane Institutions, Penitentiary,
Immigration and Agriculture, Mines and Mining, Public
Printing, To Examine the Clerk's Office.

pg. 727

McABOY, WILLIAM PRESLEY. (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Huntington, West Va. Born at Rutland, Ohio, Sep-
tember 12, 1858; educated in the public schools and at Rio
Grande, Ohio; spent most active part of his life on farm and
teaching school in Putnam and Cabell counties; elected
Sheriff of Putnam county in 1900; is now cashier of the Twen-
tieth Street Bank, Huntington; elected to Senate from the
Fifth District in 1914; served on the following committees in
sessions of 1917: Prohibition and Temperance (Chairman);
Public Library (Chairman); Privileges and Elections,
Finance, Counties and Municipal Corporations, Banks and
Corporations, Insurance, Forfeited and Unappropriated
Lands, Public Printing, Rules, Virginia Debt.

MILLER, WARREN. (Republican.) Address: Rip-
ley, West Va. Born in Meigs county, Ohio; educated in
public schools and Ohio University; located at Ripley,
Jackson county, studied law; Prosecuting Attorney 1881-9;
Delegate-at-Large Republican National convention 1884;
member House of Delegates 1891; elected to Congress 1894
and 1896; appointed Judge of Circuit Court 1900; elected
in 1902; appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court 1903;
member House of Delegates 1911; elected to Senate 1914;
served on the following committees in 1917: Virginia Debt,
(Chairman); Judiciary, Militia, Federal Relations, Immigra-
tion and Agriculture, Forfeited and Unappropriated Lands,
Public Printing, To Examine the Clerk's Office.

MONTGOMERY,   ARCHIBALD  ROGER,   JR.
(Democrat.) Address: Clothier, West Va. Born in Rad-
nor township, Delaware county, Pennsylvania; educated in
public schools and University of Pennsylvania, from which
latter institution he received the degree of Bachelor of
Science in Civil Engineering; besides following his profession
he is also engaged in the coal business; was elected to the
Senate from Eighth District in 1916; a hold-over Senator;
committee assignments in the sessions of 1917: Privileges
and Elections, Finance, Banks and Corporations, Railroads,
Mines and Mining, Claims and Grievances, Public Library,
Passed and Enrolled Bills.

MORTON, ESKRIDGE H. (Democrat.) Address:
Webster Springs. Elected to Senate in 1914 from the Tenth
District. Born in Webster county June 18, 1866; educated
in common schools and the state University, where he studied
law; County Superintendent Webster county 1889-91;
Prosecuting Attorneyl893-7; AssistantProsecutingAttomey
Nicholas county 1887-1901; Sergeant-at-Arms House of
Delegates 1903-4; Democratic nominee for Attorney General
1908; delegate Democratic National Convention, Baltimore,
1912; committee assignments, 1917: Judiciary, Education,
Roads and Navigation, Insurance, Claims and Griev-
ances; Forfeited and Unappropriated Lands, Public
Printing, Forestry and Conservation, Virginia Debt.

pg. 728

PARRISH, ROY EARL. (Republican.) Born Novem-
ber 24, 1868, at Wallace, Harrison county; educated in pub-
lic schools and West Virginia Wesleyan College and West
Virginia University; attorney by profession; studied law at
the University; member House of Delegates 1913; chairman
Republican Executive Committee Harrison county; elected
to the Senate in 1914 from the Twelfth District; committee
assignments 1917: Insurance (Chairman); Judiciary, Educa-
tion, Railroads, Militia, Public Library, Passed Bills, Virginia
Debt. Absent with leave from extra session of 1917, having
entered the officers' military training camp at Fort Benja-
min Harrison, Indiana; is now Second Lieutenant U. S.
Reserves, stationed at Chillicothe, Ohio.

SINSEL, DR. CHARLES ARTHUR. (Republican.)
Address: Grafton, West Va. Born in Pruntytown, June 5,
1864; primary education received in public schools; subse-
quently attended West Virginia University and Dennison
University, Granville, Ohio; a physician and surgeon; profes-
sional education received at University of Maryland, Balti-
more; served asPresidentofBoardof Education and Commis-
sioner of Public Schools, Graf ton; member Houseof Delegates
1915; elected to Senate, 1916from Eleventh District; isahold-
over Senator; committee assignments 1917: Medicine and
Sanitation (Chairman); Railroads, Prohibition and Temper-
ance, Education, Public Buildings and Humane Institu-
tions, Penitentiary, To Examine the Clerk's Office.

TALBOTT, RICHARD EDWARD. (Democrat.) Ad-
dress: Philippi, West Va. Born on a farm near Philippi,
Barbour county, Feb. 21, 1869; received his earlier educa-
tion in public schools and the University; graduated from
the law department of that institution, receiving degree of
L. L. B.; Clerk of the Circuit Court Barbour county 1897-
1903; served as member of the town council, Philippi, Mayor,
and President of the Board of Education; now engaged in
the banking business; elected to Senate, 1914 from Thir-
teenth District; committee assignments 1917: Privileges
and Elections, Finance, Education, Banks and Corpora-
tions, Labor, Public Library, Prohibition and Temperance.

ROSENBLOOM, BENJAMIN LOUIS. (Republican.)
Address: Wheeling, West Va. Elected to the Senate from
the First District in 1914. Born at Braddock, Pa., June 3,
1880; educated in the common schools, the Western Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania and West Virginia University,
studying law at the latter institution; practices in the city of
Wheeling; is Vice President of the Ohio County Bar Asso-
ciation and Vice President of the University Club; in session
of 1917 was assigned to and served on the following
committees:   Counties and Municipal Corporations,
(Ch'n); Judiciary, Finance, Insurance, Labor, Claims and
Grievances, Public Library, To Examine the Clerk's Office.

pg. 729

VENCILL, HENRY G, (Democrat.) Address: Dixie,
West Va. Born March 12, 1862, in Russell county, Vir-
ginia; was educated in the common schools of Elliott
county, Kentucky; is engaged in farming, stock raising and
the lumber business; was elected to the Senate in Novem-
ber, 1916, from the Ninth Senatorial District; is a hold-over
Senator; during the sessions of 1917 he served on the follow-
ing standing committees of the Senate: Roads and Naviga-
tion, Public Buildings and Humane Institutions, Militia,
Mines and Mining, Immigration and Agriculture, Passed
and Enrolled Bills, Public Library.

Members of the House of Delegates.

THURMOND, JOSEPH SAMUEL (Democrat). Speaker of the House of
Delegates. Address: Alderson, West Va. Was bom May 9, 1855, and reared
on a farm in Fayette county, West Virginia. He received his early education in
the common schools of that county, and later at Shelton College, Saint Albans,
under the tutorage of Dr. P. B. Reynolds. Numbered among his schoolmates
are Dr. George B. Foster, of the University of Chicago; Hon. James H. Stewart,
present Commissioner of Agriculture of this State; Senator William E. and Hon.
Joseph Chilton, and Rev. John McCutcheon, former Baptist pastor of Morgan-
town, West Virginia. Leaving school he taught in the public schools of Fayette
county for several years. He was a member of the Board of Examiners. After-
wards he engaged in the practice of civil engineering and farming, and still later
in coal mining and banking. Mr. Thurmond was the first Mayor of Thurmond
and was continued in that office for seven years, or until he moved to Greenbrier
county in 1910. He was elected to the West Virginia Legislature as a delegate
from Greenbrier county in 1914; re-elected in 1916 and in 1917 was made Speaker
of the House of Delegates. His home is at Alderson, Greenbrier county, where
he owns and successfully manages a farm. Mr. Thurmond has always been an
uncompromising Democrat.

AKINS, IRA ALVIN. (Democrat.) Address: Fair-
mont, West Va. A member of the House of Delegates from
Marion county; elected in 1914; re-elected in 1916. Born
August 2, 1874, at Circleville, Pa.; attended the common
schools and spent one year in high school; came from
a line of Scotch-Irish ancestry who settled in Western Penn-
sylvania; became a resident of West Va. in 1896; occupation
railroad conductor; has been connected with the Baltimore &
Ohio and the Ohio River railroads twenty-two years; has rep-
resented railroad employees in wage adjustments and other
ways; committee assignments 1917: Humane Institutions
and Public Buildings (Chairman; Medicine and Sanitation,
Railroads, Claimsand Grievances, ExecutiveOffices, Library.

pg. 730

ALLEY, J. FRIEND. (Democrat.) Address: Pine
Grove, West Va. Born March 17, 1891, at Pine Grove,
Wetzel county; educated in the common schools, and at the
Elliott Commercial School, Wheeling; is now cashier of the
Bank of Pine Grove; was elected to the House of Delegates
as one of the members from Wetzel county in November,
1916, and during the regular session and the extraordinary
sessions of 1917 served on the following standing commit-
tees of that body: Agriculture, Education, Prohibition and
Temperance, Private Corporations and Joint Stock
Companies, Counties, Districts and Municipal Cor-
porations.

ARNOLD, EUGENE HILL. (Democrat.) Address:
Elkins, West Va. Born in San Diego, Cal., June 6, 1890;
educated in public schools, Davis and Elkins College and
West Virginia University, where he took law course; before
studying law was a newspaper reporter in Washington; lo-
cated at Elkins to practice law in 1914; served two terms as
Mayor of Elkins, two termsas member of the Second Congres-
sional District Democratic Executive Committee; elected
to House from Randolph Co., in 1916; committee assign-
ments 1917: Federal Relations (Chairman); Judiciary, Vir-
ginia Debt, Education, Game and Fish, Penitentiary, Mili-
tary Affairs; second extra session. Chairman Committee on
Enrolled Bills, on part of House.

BASSEL, JAMES.  (Democrat.) Address: Weston,
West Va. Born March 26,1842, in Harrison county; elemen-
tary education received in country schools and at his home;
later attended Monongalia Academy, Morgantown; entered
United States Military Academy, West Point, June 5, 1863;
graduated June 17,1867, class receiving their diplomas from
the hands of General Sherman; commissioned Second Lieu-
tenant Second United States Artillery; resigned November,
1870; served as Lieutenant Colonel in the Egyptian Army;
made tour of world 1873-5; elected to House from Lewis in
1916; committee assignments 1917: Military Affairs (Chair-
man); Federal Relations, Humane Institutions and Public
Buildings, Prohibition and Temperance.

BAXTER, ARTHUR J.   (Democrat.)   Address:
Huntington, West Va. Born in Buffalo, N. Y., August 11,
1870; educated in the public and high schools; served three
years as Captain of "D" Company, Buffalo City Guards;
came to West Virginia in 1902; is an attorney; also a pav-
ing and railroad contractor; has resided in Huntington over
twelve years; elected to House of Delegates as one of the
members from Cabell county in 1916; during the sessions of
1917 served on the following standing committees: Forestry
and Conservation (Chairman); Roads and Internal Navi-
gation, Mines and Mining, Medicine and Sanitation, For-
feited and Unappropriated Lands, Rules.

pg. 731

BLAND, ROBERT.- (Democrat.) Address: Logan,
West Va. Born on a farm in Doddridge county; received
his earlier education in public schools and later attended
West Virginia University; a practicing attorney, receiving
his legal training in the law school of the University; served
four years as Mayor of the city of Logan and eight years as
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney of Logan county; elected to
the House of Delegates in 1914; re-elected in 1916; assigned
to the following standing committees in 1917: Mines and
Mining (Chairman); Judiciary, Labor, Forfeited and Un-
appropriated Lands, Virginia Debt.

BOUCHELLE, FRED JULIAN. (Democrat.) Ad-
dress: Charleston, West Va. Born April 2, 1883, in
Thomasville, Georgia; educated in the home schools and at
Atlanta, later attended Washington and Lee University,
Lexington, Va., from which institution he graduated with
the degree of L. L. B.; for a number of years has been a
practicing attorney in the city of Charleston; elected to the
House of Delegates in November, 1916, as one of the mem-
bers from Kanawha county, and had the following assign-
ments on standing committees of the House in 1917:
Counties, District and Municipal Corporations (Chairman);
Elections and Privileges, Judiciary, Forestry and Conserva-
tion, Virginia Debt.

BRAY, ALBERT BERTRAM CALFEE. (Democrat.)
Address: Ronceverte, West Va. Born in Princeton, Mer-
cer county, West Virginia, April 2, 1865; educated in com-
mon schools—subsequent training "in the school of hard
knocks and practical experience;" served on the City
Council of Ronceverte, and as President of the Board of Edu-
carion; is Cashier of the First National Bank of Ronce-
verte; elected to the House from Greenbrier county in
November, 1916; to the standing committees of 1917 was
assigned as follows: Taxation and Finance (ranking mem-
ber); Private Corporations and Joint Stock Companies,
Railroads, Forfeited and Unappropriated Lands, Forestry
and Conservation.

BURDETT, JAMES SIDNEY. (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Grafton, West Va. Born August 26,1893, in Taylor
county; educated in the public schools of Grafton, subse-
quently attending the West Virginia University; took the
law course at that institution and is now actively engaged
in practicing his profession; was elected to the House of
Delegates from Taylor county in November, 1916; during
the regular and extra sessions of 1917, he was assigned to
and served on the following standing committees of the
House: Elections and Privileges, Judiciary, Corporations
and Joint Stock Companies, Rules, Forfeited and Unap-
propriated Lands.

pg. 732

BURR, MILTON W. (Democrat.) Address: Bardane,
West Va. Born near what is now New Bardane, in 1863,
where he is still living; received his education under a pri-
vate teacher; is a farmer and fruit grower by occupation;
was elected to the House of Delegates from Jefferson county
in 1914, and re-elected in November, 1916; during the
regular and extra sessions of 1917 was assigned to and
served on the following standing committees of that body:
Immigration and Agriculture (Chairman); Taxation and
Finance, State Boundaries, Roads and Internal Naviga-
tion, Forestry and Conservation.

BYRNES, G. W. (Republican.) Address: Mounds-
ville, West Va. Born in Marshall county, Virginia (now
West Virginia), September 5, 1855; received his education
in the public schools of that county; occupation, broker;
served a number of terms on the town council of Cameron,
and has always taken an active interest in public affairs;
was chosen as one of the members of the House of Delegates
ifrom Marshall county in November, 1916, and in the ses-
sions of 1917 served on the following standing committees:
Roads and Internal Navigation, Game and Fish, Forestry
and Conservation, Federal Relations.

CABELL, CHARLES. (Democrat.) Address: Alum
Creek, West Va. Born in Madison, Boone county, April
3 1862; received his education in the local schools; sub-
sequently removed to Lincoln county; is a farmer and mer-
chant by occupation; at present is engaged in merchandis-
ing at Alum Creek, Kanawha county; was elected to the
House of Delegates in November, 1916, as a representative
from the county of Lincoln, and during the regular and
extraordinary sessions of the Legislature of 1917 was as-
signed to and served on standing committees of the
House as follows: Railroads, Game and Fish, State
Boundaries.

CARDER, WILLIAM WARFIELD.   (Democrat.)
Address: Green Spring, West Va. Born in Oldtown, Al-
leghany county, Maryland, February 26, 1863; parents
moved to Green Spring about 1877 where he was educated
in public schools and under private tutors; occupation, far-
mer, merchant and all-'round business man; a stockholder
in the Second National Bank of Cumberland and stock-
holder and director in the Cumberland Milling Company
and the Cumberland Dry Goods and Notion Company;
elected to the House from Hampshire county 1916; com-
mittee assignments in the sessions of 1917: Claims and
Grievances, Humane Institutions and Public Buildings,
Immigration and Agriculture, Labor, Game and Fish.

pg. 733

CASTO, KENNA.  (Republican.) Address: Staats
Mills, West Va. Born January 9, 1891, at Belgrove, Jack-
son county; received his education in the rural schools;
is a teacher by profession; a farmer by occupation; has
taught in the public schools for ten years; was first prin-
cipal of the Beech Grove Public School, of Belgrove; in
November, 1916, was elected as one of the representatives
from Jackson county to the lower House, and in the regular
and special sessions of the Legislature following, served
as a member of the committee on Executive Offices,
the committee on Library and the committee on the
Penitentiary.

CHIPLEY, JOHN DIXON. (Democrat.) Address:
Moorefield, West Va. Born in Moorefield, June 4, 1866;
elementary education received in the free schools, and subse-
quently spent one year in college; occupation, fanning and
mercantile milling; has been Surveyor and Sheriff of his
county; also, Vice President of the Hardy County Bank,
the Hardy County Milling Company, and President of the
Branch Mountain Orchard Company and the South Branch
Telephone Company; elected to the House of Delegates 1916;
committee assignments in the sessions of 1917: Claims and
Grievances(Chairman);ImmigrationandAgriculture, Coun-
ties, Districts and Municipal Corporations, State Boundaries.

CLAY, WILLIAM NATHAN. (Democrat.) Address:
Barboursville. Was born in Wayne county, West Virginia,
April 3, 1865, and received his education in the public
schools of that county; farmer by occupation; elected Jus-
tice of the Peace of Barboursville District in the years 1904,
1908 and 1912; elected as one of the representatives from
Cabell county in the House of Delegates in 1916; in the
sessions of 1917 was assigned to and served on standing
committees, as follows: Elections and Privileges, Insur-
ance, Humane Institutions and Public Buildings, Edu-
cation, Executive Offices and Library.

CONNER, JOHN LEWIS.   (Democrat.) Address:
Huntington, West Va. One of the members of the House
from Cabell county. Born in Milton; educated in the com-
mon and high schools and Marshall College; conductor on
the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and Chairman and Gen-
eral Secretary of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen on
the Chesapeake & Ohio system; served as delegate to the
Grand Lodge of that brotherhood at San Francisco in 1913,
and at Detroit in 1916; in the legislative sessions of 1917
had committee assignments as follows: Railroads, Medi-
cine and Sanitation, Prohibition and Temperance, Arts,
Science and General Improvements, Claims and Grievances.
the Clerk's.ffice [sic], Forestry and Conservation, Virginia Debt.

pg. 734

COTRILL, E. E. (Democrat.) Address: Sand Fork,
West Va. Delegate from Gilmer county. Born June 6,
1866 and educated in the public schools of that county;
occupation, farming and timbering; never held any public
office until he was elected in 1916 to represent his county
in the Legislature. During the regular and extraordinary
sessions of 1917 he was assigned to and served on the House
standing committees on Taxation and Finance, Education,
Labor, Humane Institutions and Public Buildings, Game
and Fish, Roads and Internal Navigation. He also served
on the sub-committee apponted [sic] to draft the "Good
Roads Bill."

CURRY, WILLIAM DEXTER. (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Point Pleasant, West Va. Born at West Columbia,
Mason county, March 23, 1872; educated in the public
schools of Point Pleasant and at Walnut Hill, Illinois;
by occupation is a master and pilot of river steamers;
was a member of the Point Pleasant School Board 1898-
1900; elected as one of the representatives from Mason
county to the Legislature in 1914; re-elected in 1916;
committee assignments in the House in 1917: Mines
and Mining, Labor, Game and Fish; during the last
week of the regular session was one of the committee
appointed to make up the special calendar.

DAVIS, JOSEPH WILBUR. (Democrat.) Address:
Macdonald, West Va. Born in Pamplin, Appomattox
county, Virginia; received his education in the public
schools and at Massey Business College, Richmond; was
a farmer by occupation until 1900; came to West Vir-
ginia in December of that year and has since been engaged
in the mercantile business in Fayette county; was elected
as one of the representatives from that county to the
Legislature in 1916; during the sessions of 1917 served on
the House committees on Penitentiary, Insurance, Mines
and Mining, Private Corporations and Joint Stock Com-
panies, Humane Institutions and Public Buildings.

DIXON,PAYTON ALBERT. (Republican.) Address:
Bayard, West Va. Born in Elk Garden, Mineral county,
West Virginia, June 25, 1869; educated in public schools;
occupation, farmer, breeder of fine Aberdeen cattle, stock
dealer and interested in the mercantile business; served as
Justice of the Peace in Mineral county, was twice elected
and served as President of the Board of Education of Union
District, Grant county; in 1916, was chosen as representa-
tive from Grant county in the Legislature, and in the
sessions of 1917 was assigned to and served on the House
standing committees on Prohibition and Temperance,
and Federal Relations.

pg. 735

EMSLEY, JOHN EDWARD.   (Republican.)  Ad-
dress: West Liberty, West Va. One of the representatives
from Ohio county. Born January 29, 1881, in Marshall
county; educated in the public schools and at West Liberty
State Normal School; is a prosperous farmer and dairy-
man and a breeder of fine cattle; has served as President
of the Board of Education of Liberty District, Ohio
county; elected to the House of Delegates in November
1916, and in the sessions of 1917 served on the following
standing committees of that body: Roads znd [sic] Inter-
nal Navigation, Claims and Grievances and State Boun-
daries.

FERGUS0N, R. B. (Republican) Address: Blue-
field, West Va.  Born in Carter county, Tennessee,
August 6, 1872; educated in the public schools; occupation,
locomotive engineer on the Norfolk & Western Rail-
way; has served eight years in the Bluefield city council
and is still a member of that body; has been a member
of the Board of Education of Beaver Pond District four
years and still serving in that connection; elected to
the Legislature in 1916 as one of the delegates from
Mercer county; committee assignments in 1917: Edu-
cation, Counties, Districts and Municipal Corporations,
Claims and Grievances, Labor.

FERGUSON, WILLIAM KIMBALL.  (Democrat)
Address: Fort Gay, West Va. Was born in Wayne county
West Virginia, May 14, 1874, and educated in the com-
mon and select schools of that county; by profession
a teacher; a fanner by occupation; has held the office of
Justice of the Peace, and was elected to the Legislature
in November, 1916, as one of the delegates from Wayne
county; in the sessions of 1917 served on House stand-
ing committees on Education, Prohibition and Temper-
ance, Counties, Districts and Municipal Corporations
Humane Institutions and Public Buildings, State Boun-
daries.

FLEMING, ARCH K.   (Republican.)   Address:
Folsom, West Va. Delegate from Doddridge county.
Born at Center Point, in that county, May 31, 1892;
received his elementary education in the common schools
and afterwards took special courses at the State Normal
School, at Fairmont, and the West Virginia Business
College, at Salem; a teacher by profession; was chosen
to represent Doddridge county in the Legislature at the
November election, 1916, and in the sessions of 1917 served
on House standing committees on Prohibition and Tem-
perance, Education, Virginia Debt, Medicine and Sanita-
tion, Counties. Districts and Municipal Corporations.

pg. 736 

GLOVER, WILLIAM HENRY. (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Terra Alta. Born in Preston county, May 17, 1846,
near Cranberry Summit (now Terra Alta). educated in
country and public schools; served in the Union army,
1864-5; located at Cranberry Summit when the war closed
and engaged in mercantile business; member of the House
of Delegates in 1885, 1895, 1897 and 1913; postmaster at
Terra Alta 1899-1904; served several terms as Mayor; is a
banker and officially connected with the Terra Alta and
Englehart Woolen mills; re-elected to the Legislature in
1916; committee assignments, 1917: Judiciary, Pri-
vate Corporations and JointStock Companies, Virginia Debt.

GRAVES, WILLIAM G.  .(Democrat.)  Address:
Gilboa, West Va. Representative in the House from the
county of Nicholas. Born March 25,1845, in Orange coun-
ty, Virginia; received his education in free schools and the
civil war; a farmer and stock dealer; served as Sheriff
of Nicholas county for a term of six years; elected to the
Legislature in November, 1916, and in the sessions of 1917
served on the following standing committees of the House:
Private Corporations and Joint Stock Companies, Claims
and Grievances, Printing and Contingent Expenses,
Forestry and Conservation, Arts, Science and General
Improvements.

HAGERMAN, HARVEY. (Republican.) Address:
Dan, West Va. One of the representatives in the House
of Delegates from McDowell.   Born in that county
September 15, 1871; received his education in the public
schools; is a manufacturer of and dealer in lumber; elected
Assessor for the second assessment district of McDowell
county in 1896; in 1903 was chosen as one of the delegates
to the Legislature; re-elected in 1905; was again elected
in 1916, and in the sessions of 1917 served on House stand-
ing committees on Federal Relations, Forfeited, De-
linquent and Unappropriated Lands.

HALL, SEPTIMIUS. (Democrat.) Address: New Mar-
tinsville, West Va. One of the delegates from Wetzel.
Born in Ritchie county February 14,1847; educated in the
common schools and the New Martinsville high school; is
one of five surviving members of the Constitutional Con-
tion of 1872; served one term in the Senate and numer-
ous terms in House; oldest delegate in point of continuous
service; the present legislature passed a concurrent resolution
in which his long and faithful services were recognized and
highly commended; committee assignments 1917: Virginia
Debt (Chairman); Elections and Privileges, Taxation and
Finance, Insurance, Rules, Forfeited and Unappropriated
Lands, Executive Offices and Library.

pg. 737

HARDMAN, PAUL.  (Democrat.) Address: Hall-
burg, West Va. Delegate from Clay county. Born at
Hardman Bend, Calhoun county, February 22, 1886; re-
ceived his elementary education in the common schools
and later attended Marshll College, at Huntington; is a
farmer, lumberman and livestock man; never held pub-
lic office until he was elected to represent Clay county in
the present Legislature; his committee assignments during
sessions of 1917 were as follows: Immigration and Agricul-
ture, Executive Offices and Library, Printing and Contin-
gent Expenses, Military Affairs, Arts, Science and Gen-
eral Improvements.

HARPER, EBENEZER HOWARD. (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Keystone, West Va. One of the delegates from Mc-
Dowell. Born in Tazewell county, Virginia, August 4,
1864; educated in free schools and V. N. C. I. of Va.: law-
yer and farmer; graduated at Howard University, Washing-
ton, and received the degree of L. L. B.; appointed by Gov-
ernor White in 1904 on the Board of Regents of the West
Virginia Colored Institute; re appointed by Governor Daw-
son; elected committeeman-at-large by the Republicans in
1912; in the legislative session of 1917 was assigned to
House committees on State Boundaries, Forfeited and Un-
appropriated Lands, Claims and Grievances.

HARRISON, SAMUEL ROBERTSON. (Republican.)
Address: Clarksburg, West Va. Born in that city; edu-
cated in common schools, the Clarksburg high school and
the West Virginia University; took the law course in the lat-
ter institution and has since been practicing his profession
at Clarksburg; also Assistant Clerk of the United States
District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia;
Clerk of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate in 1915;
elected to House as a Delegate from Harrison coun-
ty in 1916; committee assignments in 1917: Judiciary,
Roads and Internal Navigation, Military Affairs.

HARVEY, L. T. (Democrat.) Address: Frametown,
West Va. Born in Doddridge county in 1875; educated in
free schools and the Glenville Normal; taught school for
years in Gilmer county; moved to Braxton county in 1906,
where he purchased a farm; aside from being a farmer he is
also a minister; served on the Board of Education of Birch
District, Braxton county; elected in 1916 as one of the dele-
gates from Braxton county; committee assignments in
1917: Prohibition and Temperance (Chairman); Educa-
tion, Penitentiary, Game and Fish, Labor, Arts, Science
and General Improvements.

pg. 738 

HAYMOND, FRANK C. (Democrat.) Address: Fair-
mont. Born in that city April 13, 1887; graduated at Fair-
mont State Normal School, 1906; in the fall of 1906 entered
Harvard University; in 1910 received the degree of A. B.
from Harvard College; a practicing attorney; received his
legal education at Harvard Law School; in 1916 elected as one
of the delegates from Marion county; committee assign-
ments in 1917: Private Corporations and Joint Stock Com-
panis [sic] (Chairman); Judiciary, Elections and Privileges,
Mines and Mining, Arts, Science and General Improve-
ments, Rules, Forfeited and Unappropriated Lands. He
also served on the Special Committee on the Virginia Debt.

HEABERLIN, CHARLES L. (Republican.) Address:
Beckley, West Va. Born in Hancock county, Tennessee,
February 12, 1883. Shortly afterward his father moved to
Wise county, Virginia. The son was educated there in the
free schools and in the high school at Wise, the county seat;
now engaged in general insurance and is Vice President and
General Manager of the Home Insurance Agency at Beck-
ley; has been a citizen of West Virginia since 1900; worked
several years in coal mines; was elected as one of the dele-
gates from Raleigh in 1916; committee assignments, 1917:
Taxation and Finance, Insurance, Forestry and Con-
servation.

HENSHAW, HARRY PRESTON. (Democrat.) Ad-
dress: Bunker Hill, West Va. Born in that village; edu-
cated in public schools of Berkeley county, at Shenandoah
Academy, Winchester, Va., and the West Virginia Uni-
versity; a prominent and successful farmer and fruit
grower in a section noted for its fine farm products and
fruits; elected in 1917 as one of the delegates from Berkeley
county; committee assignments 1917: Arts, Science and
General Improvements (Chairman); Federal Relations,
Education, Counties, Districts and Municipal Corpora-
tions, Private Corporations and Joint Stock Companies,
Humane Institutions and Public Buildings, Immigration
and Agriculture, Medicine and Sanitation.

HERSMAN, ALEXANDER MORRISON. (Republi-
can.) Address: Spencer, West Va. One of the representa-
tives from Roane. Born in that county August 22, 1858;
educated in public schools of Spencer and Burnsville, Brax-
ton county, where he lived for three years; returned from
there to Roane where he has engaged in farming and stock
raising, near Spencer; served eight years on the district
school board; was never a candidate for a political office
until 1914, when he was elected to the Legislature; re-
elected in 1916; in the sessions of 1917 served on the House
standing committees on Elections and Privileges, Printing
and Contingent Expenses, Immigration and Agriculture.


pg. 739

HICKMAN FRANCIS RODNEY. (Republican ) Ad-
dress: Middlebourne West Va. Representative from Ty-
ler county. Born at Middlebourne January 11 1870 and
received his education there in the public schools; now en-
gaged in the banking business; in past years served as
Deputy Clerk of the County Court and Deputy Clerk of the
Circuit Court of Tyler county; was connected with the
Bank of Middlebourne as Assistant Cashier and Cashier for
fourteen years; elected to the House of Delegates in 1916,
and in the sessions following served on the committees on
Prohibition and Temperance, Private Corporations and
Joint Stock Companies and Virginia Debt.

HILLEARY JOHN B.   (Republican.)  Address:
Buckhannon West Va. Born in 1880; educated in the
public schools and at Wesleyan College; is a practical
printer and an experienced editor who received his occu-
pational and professional training in the newspaper offices
at Buckhannon; has served as Secretary and Treasurer of
the Republican Executive Committee of Upshur county;
elected in 1916 to represent that county in the House of
Delegates and in the session of 1917 was assigned to and
served on the committees on Military Affairs and Printing
and Contingent Expenses.

HINER GRANVILLE ARMSTRONG. (Democrat.)
Address: Franklin West Va. Born in Pendleton county,
Virginia (now W. Va.) Jan. 27 1855; education received in
common schools, Bridgewater high school and Oakland
Academy Virginia; occupation fanning and teaching in
public and graded schools; taught twenty-six terms; served
as County Supt. of Schools and two terms as Commissioner
of the County Court of Pendleton county; elected to House
of Delegates 1914 without opposition; re-elected in 1916;
sessions of 1917 served on the committees on Education
Private Corporations and Joint Stock Companies, Printing
and Contingent Expenses Immigration and Agriculture
Arts Science and General Improvements.

HONAKER WILLIAM B.  (Republican.) One of
the delegates from the county of Mercer; lives at Matoaka.
Born February 11 1870; educated in common, private and
summer normal schools; engaged in teaching in Raleigh
and Mercer counties from 1888 to 1899; was County Super-
intendent of Schools of Mercer county from 1895 to 1899;
moved to McDowell county in 1902 and engaged in the
coal business there until 1908 when he returned to Mercer;


pg. 740 

HUGHES, EVERETT.    (Republican.)    Address:
Sandyville, West Va. Born in Mason county, May 1,
1895; was educated in the public schools; is a teacher by
profession; was appointed principal of the Sandyville
school when but nineteen years of age; has always taken a
great interest in educational work and the development of
the free school system of the State; was elected in 1916 as
one of the delegates from Jackson county, and in the ses-
sions of 1917 served on standing committees as follows:
Private Corporations and Joint Stock Companies, Claims
and Grievances, Humane Institutions and Public Build-
ings.

HUNTER, CARL HANSON.   (Republican.)  Ad-
dress: Moundsville. One of the representatives from
Marshall county. Was born in Moundsville September
10, 1874, and educated there in the public schools; is
engaged in the banking business and is actively interested
in public affairs and the material development of his home
city and county; was elected to the House of Delegates in
November, 1916, and served on the committees on Mines
and Mining, Private Corporations and Joint Stock Com-
panies, Penitentiary, Railroads and the Virginia Debt,
during the sessions of 1917.

JOHN, WILLIAM SCOTT. (Republican.) Address:
Morgantown, West Va. One of the representatives from
Monongalia county. Born in that county January 10,
1878; educated in the public schools and the University,
receiving from the latter the degrees of A. B. and L. L. B.;
is a lawyer by profession; also interested in coal produc-
tion and agriculture; instructor in the University law
school 1904; law clerk for Supreme Court of Appeals
1905-7; elected to the Legislature in 1916; was minority
floor leader in the sessions of 1917; served on the following
committees: Judiciary, Railroads, Elections and Privi-
leges, Engrossed Bills and the Virginia Debt

JOHNSON, LOUIS ARTHUR.   (Democrat.)  Ad-
dress: Clarksburg, West Va. One of the representatives
from Harrison county. Born in Roanoke county, Vir-
ginia; educated in the public schools and in the University
of Virginia, receiving from that institution the degree of
B. L.; a lawyer by profession. Before entering upon
active practice, he served as assistant instructor in the
University of Virginia; elected to the legislature in 1916;
in the sessions of 1917 was made chairman of the Judiciary
committee, serving, also, on the following committees:
Virginia Debt, Elections and Privileges, Game and Fish,
Forfeited and Unappropriated Lands, Forestry and Con-
servation and Printing and Contingent Expenses.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

pg. 741

JONES, LUTHER RAYMOND. (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Bald Knob, West Va. Representative from Boone
county. Born at Sheridan, Lincoln county. West Virginia
June 18, 1892; was educated in the public schools the
Fairmont State Normal and the Lebanon (Ohio) Univer-
sity; a teacher by profession. Mr. Jones has done much
to introduce advanced methods. Before becoming a
teacher, he had a varied experience as a fanner miner
and sailor. Elected to the House of Delegates in 1916;
in the session of 1917 he served on the following com-
mittees: Humane Institutions and Public Buildings
Arts, Sciences and General Improvement.              

KOONTZ, LUTHER VAUGHN. (Democrat.) Ad-
dress: Clendenin, West Va. Born at Kesler's Cross
Lanes, Nicholas county; educated in the public schools;
is now extensively engaged in banking and in the oil
and gas business. Since the entrance of the United States
into the war with Germany, he has devoted much time to
Red Cross work and has been a liberal contributor. At
present he is interested in arousing the people to the
necessity of purchasing Liberty Bonds. Elected to the
legislature from Kanawha county in 1916, in the 1917
sessions he served as chairman of the committee on
Executive Offices and Buildings, and on the following
committees: Railroads, Rules and Penitentiary.

LESTER, KENNA.  (Democrat.) Address: Pink,
West Va. Born in Wirt county. West Virginia, March
24, 1889; educated in the district and select schools;
is now engaged in farming, in which business he is re-
garded as authority insofar as scientific and advanced
methods are concerned. Mr. Lester was elected to the
legislature from Calhoun county in 1916, and in the
sessions of 1917 was assigned to and served on the fol-
lowing standing committees of the House: Education
Counties, Districts and Municipal Corporations, Game
and Fish, Insurance, Roads and Internal Navigation.

MAHAN, THOMAS JONES. (Republican.) Address:
Follansbee, West Va. Representative from Brooke county.
Born in Brooke county, Virginia (that part now being
Hancock county, West Virginia), in 1846; educated in
the common schools and at Mount Union College, Alliance,
Ohio; extensively engaged in the real estate business; has
served as a member and President of the Board of Educa-
tion of Crow Creek District of Brooke county, and as
Mayor of Follansbee; elected to the legislature in 1916,
he served in the 1917 sessions on the following commit-
tees: Immigration and Agriculture, Humane Institutions
and Public Buildings and Prohibition.

pg. 742 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

MASSAU, CHARLES JACOB. (Democrat.) Address:
Montgomery, West Va. Born in Wheeling, Ohio county,
September 23, 1874; educated in the public schools, with
occupational training on the Chesapeake & Ohio Rail-
way, by which company he is at present employed as a
locomotive engineer. He was only four years old when his
parents came to Fayette county; at the age of twelve he
entered the mines and worked there until 1906, when he
entered the railroad service. Elected to the legislature
in 1916; in the 1917 session, served on the following com-
mittees: Labor (Chairman), Federal Relations, Military
Affairs, Arts, Science and General Improvements, Medi-
cine and Sanitation.

MOORE, JOHN.   (Republican.)  Address: Bridge-
port, West Va. One of the represensataives [sic] from Harrison
county. Born in Bridgeport, Harrison county, and edu-
cated in the public schools. At present is actively engaged
in farming; is also extensively interested in the hotel
business; served eight years as postmaster at Bridgeport;
was elected to the House of Delegates in 1916, and served
in the 1917 sessions, being a member of the following
standing committees: Federal Relations, Labor, Humane
Institutions and Public Buildings, Immigration and
Agriculture.

MOORE, SAMUEL NEWTON. (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Keyser, West Va. Representative from the county
of Mineral. Born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, July
10, 1863; educated in the common schools; resides in
the town of Keyser and is President and Manager of the
Potomac Milling & Feed Company; has served three
terms as a member of the Council of Keyser and is now
serving his second term as a member of the Board of
Review and Equalization of Mineral county; elected to
the House of Delegates in 1914; re-elected in 1916;
served during the 1917 sessions on the following com-
mittees: Insurance, Arts, Science and General Improve-
ments and Penitentiary.

MULLENS, ANDREW JACKSON.  (Republican)
Address: Mullens, West Va. Delegate from the county
of Wyoming; resides at Mullens. Born in Tazewell
county, Virginia, in 1857; educated in the common 
schools of Pike county, Kentucky; located subsequently in
McDowell county; was deputy sheriff there in 1892;
removed to Wyoming in 1896; purchased and improved
a tract of land through which the Virginian Railroad now
runs; has served two terms as Justice of the Peace and
two terms as Mayor of Mullens; elected to the Legis-
lature in 1914; re-elected in 1916 and served in the 1917
sessions on the following committees: Forfeited and
Unappropriated Lands, Executive Officers, Library and
State Boundaries.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES             
pg. 743

MURRAY, ELI ORVAL.   (Democrat.)  Address:
Mannington, West Va. One of the delegates from Marion
county. Born February 28, 1882, in Mannington Dis-
trict, Marion county; received his earlier education in a
country school and later attended the Fairmont State
Normal; occupation, farmer, lumber dealer, oil producer
and raiser of pure bred Short Horn cattle; is President of
the Clayton Oil Company; elected to the House of Dele-
gates as one of the representatives from Marion county
in 1912 and served in the session of 1913; re-elected in
1914; re-elected again in 1916; committee assignments in
1917: Taxation and Finance, Forfeited and Unappro-
priated Lands, Forestry and Conservation, Mines and
Mining, Immigration and Agriculture.

McBEE, PERRY C. (Republican.) Address: Mor-
gantown, West Va. One of the representatives from
Monongalia county. Born in Monongalia county; edu-
cated in the public schools and in the West Virginia
University, graduating from that institution in 1896 with
the degree of Bachelor of Science; also took one year's
course in the University of California; engaged from 1897
until 1914 either as principal or superintendent of schools;
is at present engaged in farming. Mr. McBee was elected
to the legislature in 1916, serving on the committees on
Game and Fish, and Education, in the sessions of 1917.

MacDONALD, ANGUS W. (Democrat.) Address:
Charleston, West Va. One of the members from Kanawha
county. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, May 2, 1877;
educated in the public schools, the West Virginia Uni-
versity and the University of Louisville, receiving the
degree of L. L. B.; engaged in the active practice of law,
being a member of the firm of Brown, Jackson & Knight;
President of the Provident Life & Casualty Company, of
Charleston. Mr. MacDonald was elected to the Legis-
lature in 1916, and in the 1917 sessions served on the
following committees: Railroads (Chairman); Forfeited
and Unappropriated Lands, Mines and Mining and the
Judiciary.

OTTO, WILLIAM THOMAS.  (Republican.)  Ad-
dress: Wheeling, West Va. One of the representatives
from the county of Ohio. Born in that city August 28,
1850; educated in the public schools; from 1878 to 1913—
a period of thirty-five years—was Superintendent of the
North Wheeling Glass Works; has now retired; was a
member of the Board of Public Works of Wheeling;
served twenty years in the first branch of the city council
and two years in the second branch; was elected to the
House of Delegates in 1914; re-elected in 1916; com-
mittee assignments in 1917: Counties, Districts and
Municipal Corporations, Medicine and Sanitation, Arts,
Science and General Improvements.

pg. 744

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

PARKS, JOHN NADENBOUSCH. (Democrat.) Ad-
dress: Martinsburg, West Va. One of the members of
the House of Delegates from Berkeley county. Born in
Martinsburg, West Virginia; educated in the public
schools, the West Virginia University, Virginia Military
Institute and the University of Virginia; since leaving
school has been engaged in a general line of business, and
has occupied the position of cashier; elected to the legis-
lature in 1916, and served in the 1917 sessions, being
chairman of the committee on Roads and Internal Navi-
gation. He was also a member of the following com-
mittees: Taxation and Finance, Prohibition and Tem-
perance, Labor, and Executive Offices and Library

PATRICK, JOHN. (Democrat.) Address: Charles-
ton, West Va. One of the representatives from Kanawha
county. Born in Jackson, Kentucky, September 10, 1872;
educated in the public schools, the University of Ken-
tucky and the Louisville (Kentucky) Law School; served
as County Attorney for Breathitt county, Kentucky;
was Captain in the Fourth Kentucky Volunteers during
the Spanish-American war; at present engaged in the
insurance business, being general agent for the Penn
Mutual Life Insurance Company; was elected to the
legislature in 1916 and in the 1917 sessions served on the
following committees: Insurance (Chairman); State
Boundaries, Labor and Executive Offices and Library.

PAYNE, OSCAR FLOYD. (Democrat.) Address:
Charleston, West Va. Member of the House of Delegates
from Kanawha county.  Born in Palmyra, Fluvanna
county, Virginia, October 20, 1873; educated in the com-
mon schools; since coming to Kanawha county has been
intimately associated with its general development, having
large real estate, insurance and banking connections; is
also deeply interested in religious work, being President
of the Union Mission Settlement, of Charleston; elected
to the Legislature in 1916; during the 1917 sessions
served on the following committees: Temperance and
Prohibition, Roads and Internal Navigation, Arts, Science
and General Improvements and Printing and Contingent
Expenses.

POLING, CLYDE. (Republican.) Address: Berry-
burg, West Va. Member of the House of Delegates from
Barbour county. Born in that county April 13, 1891;
educated in the public and subscription schools, and at the
Fairmont State Normal; has devoted practically his
entire time to educational work, his present profession
being that of Principal of Schools. Along with this work,
however, he has given much attention to the cause of
temperance. He was elected to the Legislature in 1916,
and during the 1917 sessions was a member of the following
committees: Education and Prohibition and Temperance.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

pg. 745

PORTER, JACOB NESSLY. (Republican.) Address-
Newell, West Va. Representative from Hancock county.
Born at New Cumberland, August 28, 1885; educated in
the public schools and at Wellsville, Ohio; his ancestors
settled at what is now Arroyo, Hancock county, in 1785,
and they and succeeding generations were intimately
associated with the progress and development of the
county. Mr. Porter is now extensively engaged in the
manufacture of paving and fire brick, and also gives con-
siderable attention to fruit growing and stock raising;
elected to the House of Delegates in 1914, succeeding his
father, re-elected in 1916; committee assignments 1917:
Taxation and Finance, Insurance, Election and Privileges
and Labor.

PRICE, ANDREW W. (Democrat.) Address: Blun-
don, West Va. One of the members of the House of
Delegates from Kanawha county. Born at Blundon
Kanawha county January. 23 1891; educated in the
public schools of Kanawha county and in the commercial
colleges at Charleston; is at present engaged in school
teaching, devoting however a portion of his time to the
study of law. Mr. Price was elected a member of the
House of Delegates in 1916 and during the 1917 sessions
received and filled the following committee assignments:
Military Affairs, Medicine and Sanitation and Claims
and Grievances.

PRICE, W. D. (Democrat.) Address: Parkersburg,
West Va. One of the members of the House from Wood
county. Born in Wetzel county, West Virginia, Septem-
ber 15, 1877; educated in the public schools and the Fair-
mont State Normal; at present is engaged in the mercan-
tile business and at farming; did much in committee to
perfect the present prohibition law; elected to the Legis-
lature in 1916; during the 1917 sessions was assigned to
the following committees: Penitentiary (Chairman),
Prohibition and Temperance, Private Corporations and
Joint Stock Companies, Roads and Internal Navigation,
Claims and Grievances, Humane Institutions and Public
Buildings.

RADER, LEE. (Democrat.) Address: Sutton, West
Va. Member of the House from Braxton county. Born
January 7, 1874, near Summersville, Nicholas county;
educated in the public schools and in the Summersville
Normal School; occupation, traveling salesman; is deeply
interested in and has done much to promote the cause of
good roads; also, to enhance the general commercial
interests of the State; elected to the House of Delegates
in 1916; during the 1917 sessions he received and filled
the following committee assignments: Federal Relations,
Military Affairs, State Boundaries, Roads and Internal
Navigation, Executive Offices and Library.

pg. 746 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

RENSHAW, WILLIAM CARTER WICKHAM.
(Democrat.)  Address: Huntington, West Va. Born
November 19, 1882, at Teneriffe, Canary Islands, was
educated at the University of Virginia and received from
that institution the degrees of B. A. and M. A.; is a
practicing attorney; received his professional education
at the University of Virginia and the University of West
Virginia; was elected in 1916 as one of the delegates from
Cabell county; in 1917 was made chairman of the com-
mittee on Taxation and Finance and filled the position
in an able and satisfactory manner; served also on the
Judiciary, Labor, Elections and Privileges, and Mines
and Mining committees.

RIDDLEBERGER, A. A.  (Democrat.) Address:
Hinton, West Va. Member of the House of Delegates
from Summers county. Born at Patterson's Creek, Bote-
tourt county, Virginia, April 19, 1865; educated in the
common schools and the Alleghany County (Virginia)
high school; occupation, railway conductor; served three
terms as councilman in the city of Hinton; elected to the
Legislature in 1916 and during the 1917 sessions received
and filled the following committee assignments: State
Boundaries (Chairman); Railroads, Medicine and Sani-
tation, Forestry and Conservation, Counties, Districts
and Municipal Corporations and the Virginia Debt.

SARVER, GEORGE THOMAS. (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Ernest, West Va. One of the representatives
from Roane county. Born in that county September 21,
1870; educated in the public, private and summer normal
schools; was engaged in teaching in Roane county from
1891 until 1914, at which time he took up the occupation
of farming and stock raising; served as President of
Board of Education of his home district; was elected to
the House of Delegates in 1916 and during the 1917
sessions served on the following committees: Military
Affairs, Arts, Sciences and General Improvements and
State Boundaries.

SKAGGS, GEORGE HENRY. (Democrat.) Address:
Marvel, West Va.  One of the representatives from
Fayette county.  Born at Marvel, Fayette county;
educated in the public schools; is a miner by occupation,
and has done much for the betterment of general conditions
surrounding the mining industry, especially as regards
social and educational features; was postmaster at
Marvel from July 1912 until 1915; elected to the House
of Delegates in 1916; during the 1917 session received
the following committee assignments: Military Affairs,
Claims and Grievances, Forestry and Conservation,
Mines and Mining, and State Boundaries.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES              
pg. 747

SHAW, LEROY.   (Republican.) Address: King-
wood, West Va. Born January 5, 1844, in Preston county,
Virginia (now West Virginia); educated in the sub-
scription schools of that day; occupation, farmer and
stockman; during the civil war was a private in the
Seventh West Virginia Infantry; severely wounded at
Antietam; discharged as a corporal; later served as
Commissary Sergeant Fourth Cavalry, and still later as
First Sergeant Sixth Cavalry; finally brevetted Second
Lieutenant; has been Sheriff and County Commissioner
and filled many other positions of honor and trust; elected
to the. House from Preston county in 1916; committee
assignments in 1917: Taxation and Finance, Immigra-
tion and Agriculture, Printing and Contingent Expenses,
Forestry and Conservation.

SMITH, GILBERT D. (Democrat.) Address: St.
Marys, West Va. Member of the House of Delegates
from Pleasants county. Born in Tyler county, Virginia
(now West Virginia), September 3, 1855; educated in
the common and academic schools; Prosecuting Attorney
of Tyler county 1885-1886; Prosecuting Attorney of
Pleasants county from January 1, 1909, to January 1,
1913; Presidential Elector-at-Large for Wilson and
Marshall, 1912; a lawyer by profession; elected to the
Legislature in 1916 and during the 1917 session received
and filled the following committee assignments: Judiciary,
Private Corporations and Joint Stock Companies and the
Penitentiary.

SOMERS, WILLIAM HENRY. (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Berkeley Springs, West Va.  Member of the
House of Delegates from Morgan county.  Born at
Frederick, Maryland, July 20, 1860; educated in the
free schools of Indiana; is a banker and orchardist; has
served as President of the Board of Education and as
Postmaster at Berkeley Springs; President of the Bank
of Morgan county; is identified with the general business
interests of Morgan county; was elected to the House of
Delegates in 1916 and during the 1917 session he received
and filled the following committee assignments: Immigra-
tion and Agriculture, Railroads and Labor.

STRATON, JOSEPH BUTCHER. (Democrat.) Ad-
dress: Williamson, West Va. Member of the House of
Delegates from Mingo county. Born September 10, 1888,
at Myrtle, Logan (now Mingo), county; educated in the
public schools, the Alderson (West Va.) Academy, Ohio
Military Institute, Cincinnati, University of Virginia
and the West Virginia University; is a lawyer by pro-
fession; was elected to the Legislature in 1916 and during
the 1917 sessions served on the following standing com-
mittees: Elections and Privileges (Chairman); Judiciary,
Counties, Districts and Municipal Corporations, Forefeited
and Unappropriated Lands, Mines and Mining, and
Insurance.

pg. 748 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

STURM, GEORGE W.   (Republican.)   Address:
West Milford, West Va. One of the members of the
House of Delegates from Harrison county. Born March
10, 1861, in Marion county; educated in the public
schools; taught in the schools of Marion county for ten
years; moved to West Milford, Harrison county in 1904;
member of the town council of West Milford; farmer,
merchant and extensive fruit grower; elected to the
Legislature in 1916 and during the sessions of 1917 was
assigned to the following committees: Printing and
Contingent Expenses, State Boundaries, Medicine and
Sanitation.

SULLIVAN, VICTOR E.  (Republican.) Address:
Raleigh, West Va. Born at Powellsville, Scioto county,
Ohio, August 15, 1854; educated in the public schools of
Scioto and Gallia counties; has been a resident of West
Virginia fourteen years, locating first in Fayette county
and later in Raleigh; is a mining superintendent, receiv-
ing his occupational experience in Ohio and West Virginia;
has been Chairman of the Republican Committee of
Raleigh county for five years; elected to the House in
1914; re-elected in 1916; in 1917 had the following com-
mittee assignments: Prohibition and Temperance, Coun-
ties, Districts and Municipal Corporations and Printing
and Contingent Expenses.

SWEENEY, JOHN D. (Democrat.) Address: Wil-
liamstown, West Va. Born February 9, 1860, at Alma,
Tyler county; educated in the public schools and at the
West Virginia University, graduating in the class of 1885,
with degrees of B. S. and M. S.; eight years a member of
State Board of Examiners for teachers; assistant prin-
cipal and for six years principal of Concord State Normal;
state senator 1887-1891; engaged now in the oil business;
elected to the House from Wood county in 1916; com-
mittee assignments, 1917: Education (Chairman); Claims
and Grievances, Printing and Contingent Expenses,
Counties, Districts and Municipal Corporations.

SWOPE, JOSEPH BUELL. (Republican.) Address:
Welch, West Va. Born on Wolf Creek, Monroe county,
West Virginia, July 1, 1887; educated in the public
schools, the Hinton high school, Capital City Commercial
college, Charleston, and the Valpariaso (Indiana) Uni-
versity; at present is engaged in the newspaper business,
in which work he has had a varied and interesting ex-
perience; elected to the Legislature in 1916 as one of the
representatives from McDowell county; during the ses-
sions of 1917 he received the following committee assign-
ments: Claims and Grievances, Forfeited and Unap-
propriated Lands and State Boundaries.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

pg. 749

SYMNS, CLARENCE (Democrat.) Address: Peters-
town, West Va. Member from Monroe county. Born
August 10, 1878, at Linside, Monroe county; educated
in the public schools, the Lee Military Academy, the
West Virginia University and the University of Tennessee;
member of the State Board of Agriculture, 1901; member
of the Legislature 1910 and served in the regular and
special sessions of 1911; occupation, farmer and stock-
man; elected to the House in 1916, and served during the
1917 sessions on the following committees: Counties,
Districts and Municipal Corporations, Insurance, Labor,
Roads and Internal Navigation, Executive Offices and
Library.

TALBOTT, WATEMAN TURNER.   (Democrat.)
Address: Webster Springs, West Va. Born near Philippi,
Barbour county; educated in the public schools, at Fair-
mont Normal and West Virginia University; took the
law course at the latter institution and received the degree
of L. L. B.; since then has been engaged in active practice;
has served as Mayor of Webster Springs; was elected to
the House of Delegates in 1899, again in 1909, again in
1914, and was re-elected in 1916; served on committees
as follows in 1917: Forfeited and Unappropriated Lands
(Chairman); Elections and Privileges, Judiciary, Pro-
hibition and Temperance, Rules, Forestry and Con-
servation.

TAYLOR, JAMES ALFRED. (Democrat.) Address:
Fayetteville, West Va. Born in Lawrence county, Ohio,
September 25, 1878; educated in the public schools,
occupation, newspaper editor and printer; has devoted
practically his entire life to the newspaper business,
principally in Ohio and West Virginia; married and resides
at Fayetteville, West Virginia; elected to the Legislature
of 1916, as one of the representatives from Fayette county;
during the 1917 sessions had the following committee
assignments: Printing and Contingent Expenses (Chair-
man); Medicine and Sanitation, Arts, Sciences and
General Improvements and Military Affairs.

TAYLOR, COLUMBUS W. (Republican.) Address:
Hurricane, West Va. A member of the House of Dele-
gates from Putnam county. Born near Hurricane, Decem-
ber 25, 1855; educated in the public schools; was the first
town sergeant of Hurricane, holding the position for a
number of years; later was appointed Mayor, holding that
position for a considerable length of time; at present is
engaged in the mercantile business and at farming; was
elected to the Legislature in 1916, and during the sessions
of 1917 was assigned to and served on the following
committees: Elections and Privileges, Executive Offices
and Library, and Insurance.

pg. 750

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

TERRILL, FRANK WATKINS. (Democrat.) Ad-
dress: Wayne, West Va. Born August 4, 1857, at Orange,
Virginia; educated in the public schools of Virginia;
occupation, telegraph operator; member of the town
council of Wayne and Justice of the Peace. Mr. Terrill
is not without legislative experience, having served in the
sessions of 1911 and 1913; was again elected in 1916 as
one of the members from Wayne county and served
through the regular and special sessions of 1917, having
the following committee assignments: Taxation and
Finance, Railroads, Penitentiary and Federal Relations.

TWYMAN, BENJAMIN RYMER.   (Republican.)
Address: Cairo, West Va. Born in Tyler county March
15, 1860; educated in the public schools and the Fairmont
State Normal; was President of the Board of Education
of his home district and Postmaster at Cairo from 1901
until 1910; is at present engaged in farming and the
mercantile business, but is chiefly interested in scientific
farming; was elected to the Legislature from Ritchie
county in 1916; during the sessions of 1917 had the
following committee assignments: Counties, Districts
and Municipal Corporations, Insurance, Military Affairs.

WALDRON, ROBERT FLOYD. (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Welch, West Va. One of the members from
McDowell county.   Born at Welch, West Virginia,
February 21, 1892; educated in the public schools and
in the Concord State Normal, at Athens; since leaving
school has been successfully engaged in several lines of
business, but at present is making a specialty of pharma-
ceutical work at Welch; was elected a member of the
House of Delegates in 1916; in 1917 served on the fol-
lowing standing committee: State Boundaries, Arts,
Science and General Improvements. Executive Offices
and Library.

WEIR, JAMES WESTON.  (Democrat.) Present Address: Charleston,
West Va. Was elected as one of the members of the House from Randolph county
in 1914, and served in the session of 1915; was re-elected in 1916, and at the
regular session of 1917 was made Chairman on the part of the House of the
Committee on Passed and Enrolled Bills. He also served on the committees on
Taxation and Finance, Medicine and Sanitation, Railroads, Printing and Con-
tingent Expenses and the Penitentiary. At the opening of the Extraordinary
Session on May 14, 1914, Mr. Weir resigned as a member of the House, having
accepted the position of Private Secretary to Governor John J. Cornwell.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

pg. 751

WEISS, HARRY A. (Republican.) Address: Wheel-
ing, West Va. One of the delegates from Ohio county.
Born in the town of Benwood, Marshall county, April 23
1884; attended the public schools of Wheeling until he
was fourteen years old, when he was compelled to re-
linquish the opportunities for obtaining a further educa-
tion and go to work in the mills. Mr. Weiss is a sheet iron
rougher by occupation and resides in the city of Wheeling.
He was elected to the House of Delegates in 1912; re-
elected in 1914; re-elected in 1916; committee assign-
ments 1917: Labor, Executive Offices and Library,
Penitentiary.

WELLS, P. FOSTER. (Democrat.) Address: New
England, West Va. One of the members of the Legisla-
ture from Wood county. Born at Belleville, Virginia (now
West Virginia), August 21, 1847; educated in the com-
mon schools and in the National Normal University, of
Lebanon, Ohio; has been a constable, justice of the peace
and county surveyor; is at present engaged in fanning and
surveying; was elected as a member of the House of
Delegates in 1916; in 1917 served on the following com-
mittees: Immigration and Agriculture, Humane Institu-
tions, Federal Relations.

WERNER, HARRY RUPERT. (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Thomas, West Va. Member of the Legislature
from Tucker county. Born March 10, 1881, at Eglon,
Preston county; educated in the public schools and in
Cincinnati, Ohio, medical schools, taking courses in the
Eclectic Medical College and post graduate work at the
Polyclinic Hospital and College for Graduates in Medicine
member of city council for two terms; President of City
Board of Health for ten years, and member of County
Board of Health; elected to the Legislature in 1916;
in 1917 served on the committees on Medicine and Sani-
tation (Chairman); Mines and Mining, Private Cor-
porations and Joint Stock Companies, Penitentiary.

WHITAKER, N. PRICE.  (Republican.) Address:
Wheeling, West Va. Born in Cecil county, Maryland;
educated in the public schools of Lawrenceville, N. J.,
and at Cornell University. Since coming to West Virginia,
Mr. Whitaker has been largely identified with the steel
manufacturing business and has met with marked success.
He is also prominently connected with other business
enterprises. He was elected as one of the members of the
House of Delegates from Ohio county in 1916; during the
1917 sessions had the following committee assignments:
Taxation and Finance, Railroads, Forestry and Conser-
vation.

pg. 752 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

WILSON, PAT M.  (Democrat.) Address: Beech
Hill, West Va. One of the members of the Legislature
from Mason county. Born in Kanawha county March 17,
1879; educated in the public schools; is at present en-
gaged in farming, being one of the most practical farmers
in the state, as regards the application of improved farm-
ing methods; served as chairman of the Democratic
Executive Committee of Mason county; elected as a
member of the House of Delegates in 1916; in 1917 had
the following committee assignments: Game and Fish
(Chairman); Immigration and Agriculture, Mines and
Mining, Roads, and the Penitentiary.

WYSONG, A. F. (Republican.) Address: Princeton,
West Va. One of the members of the Legislature from
Mercer county. Born January 13, 1881, at Newport,
Virginia; educated in the public schools of Giles county,
Virginia, and in the schools of Dayton, Ohio; received his
professional education—that of an architect—at Dayton;
is engaged in general architectural work at Princeton;
elected as a member of the House of Delegates in 1916;
he received the following committee assignments during
the sessions of 1917: Taxation and Finance, Medicine and
Sanitation, Game and Fish.

YEAGER, BROWN McLAUREN. (Democrat.) Ad-
dress: Marlinton, West Va. Delegate from Pocahontas
county. Born October 8, 1848, near Travelers Repose,
Virginia (now West Virginia); educated in the common
free schools of that day, which afforded but limited oppor-
tunities; is a surveyor and dealer in real estate; has held
the office of County Surveyor of Pocahontas County and
has also served as Commissioner of School Lands; elected
to the House of Delegates in 1914; re-elected in 1916;
in 1917 served on committees on Game and Fish, Insur-
ance, Labor, Penitentiary and the Virginia Debt.