George Wesley Atkinson (June 29, 1845 – April 4, 1925) was a cavalryman, lawyer, politician, judge and scholar who became the tenth

governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

after running as the candidate of the Republican Party. He also served in the West Virginia House of Delegates, as well as in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from West Virginia and ended his career of public service as a

United States federal judge In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. S ...

of the Court of Claims.

Early life and education

Born on June 29, 1845, in Charleston, Virginia (now

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

), to the former Miriam Radar of Nicholas County and her husband, Col. James Atkinson, a farmer and Kanawha County deputy sheriff. George, the second-born and named for his paternal grandfather, would have seven sisters. Atkinson attended public school in Charleston. During the Civil War, Atkinson enlisted and mustered out as a private in Company F of the 1st West Virginia cavalry. After the war, in addition to becoming superintendent of the Kanawha County public schools, losing his father and marrying (as discussed below), Atkinson attended

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (abbrevriated OWU) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Ohio Valley, Centra ...

and received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1870. He continued his studies and received an

Artium Magister A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in 1873 from the same institution. He also took graduate level courses from

Mount Union College The University of Mount Union is a private liberal arts university in Alliance, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until 2019. It had an enrollment of 2,100 students as of 2023. Histo ...

, a Methodist-affiliated institution founded in 1845 in

Alliance, Ohio Alliance is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States. The population was 21,672 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It was established in 1854 by the merger of three smaller communities and was a manufacturing and railroad hub in t ...

, which would award him a PhD "pro merito" in 1887. In 1871 he moved to either

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, or

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, for legal studies, ultimately receiving a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1874 from

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the old ...

. He later attended lectures on law at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He first married Ellen Eagan, with whom he had five children; their firstborn, Howard Atkinson, rose to become a major in the United States Army. In 1897, the widower married Myra Horner Davis Camden, the widow of Judge Gideon D. Camden.

Career

Atkinson Charleston board of education, 1869-'71, and assistant county superintendent of public schools, 1868-'70. became the assistant superintendent of public schools for Kanawha County, serving from 1868 to 1870. For part of this period, Atkinson also collected tolls for the Kanawha River Board (1869 to 1871). He was also the postmaster for Kanawha Courthouse (now Charleston) from 1871 to 1877. Shortly after graduating from Howard's law school, Atkinson was admitted to the West Virginia bar, beginning a private practice in Charleston from 1875 to 1877. In the final year (1876), he was elected to the

West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature in West Virginia. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular se ...

."George W. Atkinson" in Johnson, Rossiter, ed.. Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. vol. 1 Boston, MA, USA: The Biographical Society (1904) available on ancestry.com Atkinson moved to Wheeling in 1877, and edited the ''Wheeling Standard'' from 1877 to 1878. Atkinson then received his next federal job, as revenue agent for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (now the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

) of the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

in Wheeling from 1879 to 1881. He then became the

United States Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the United States federal judi ...

for the District of West Virginia from 1881 to 1885.

Congressional service

Atkinson ran for Congress as a Republican to represent

West Virginia's 1st congressional district West Virginia's 1st congressional district is currently located in the southern half of the state and includes Charleston, West Virginia, Charleston, Huntington, West Virginia, Huntington, Bluefield, West Virginia, Bluefield, Beckley, West Vir ...

. Although he appeared to lose, he successfully contested the election of

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

John O. Pendleton John Overton Pendleton (July 4, 1851 – December 24, 1916) was a U.S. Representative from West Virginia. Biography Pendleton was born in Wellsburg, West Virginia (then part of Virginia), the son of Confederate veteran Joseph H. Pendleton and Mar ...

to the

of the

51st United States Congress The 51st United States Congress, referred to by some critics as the Billion Dollar Congress, was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Rep ...

, so served approximately the final year of the term, from February 26, 1890, to March 3, 1891. Atkinson did not run for reelection in 1890.

Newspaperman

Following his departure from Congress, Atkinson returned to his legal practice from 1891 to 1896 as well as the newspaper business. He became editor of the ''West Virginia Journal'' in Wheeling during the same period.

Governor

Atkinson upset Democrat Cornelius C. Watts to become the 10th

Governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

, serving from 1897 to 1901. Democrats had ruled the state for 26 years, but West Virginia faced a fiscal crisis. Atkinson worked against corruption in politics and professional lobbying. He also negotiated with Republican party leader and U.S. Senator Stephen B. Elkins, who eventually agreed to a tax increase. However, concessions split the party's reform wing. Nonetheless, Atkinson worked for an eight-hour workday, to prohibit employing children under 14 years of age, improved working conditions for women, and safety regulations in manufacturing and mining. In addition to speaking out against racist

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...

legislation being adopted by neighboring states which disenfranchised most blacks and poor whites, Atkinson championed high-quality public education, a permanent road system, and open and equal immigration. After Atkinson's gubernatorial term ended, President Roosevelt named him (and the Senate confirmed him as) the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Southern District of West Virginia, a position he held from 1901 to 1905.

Federal judge

President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

on April 15, 1905, gave Atkinson received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the President of the United States, president of a Officer of the United States, federal official when the United States Senate, U.S. Senate is in Recess (motion), recess. Under the ...

, to a seat on the Court of Claims (later the

United States Court of Claims The Court of Claims was a federal court that heard claims against the United States government. It was established in 1855, renamed in 1948 to the United States Court of Claims (), and abolished in 1982. Then, its jurisdiction was assumed by the n ...

) vacated by Judge Lawrence Weldon. Roosevelt formally nominated Atkinson for the post on December 5, 1905. Confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on January 16, 1906, Atkinson received his commission the same day. He resigned on April 16, 1916, months before his 71st birthday.

Final years and publications

Atkinson returned to Charleston and continued to write, as well as remained active in the Republican Party. In 1918 he supported the candidacy of T. Gillis Nutter, an African-American attorney from Charleston, for the state legislature." Men of the Month: Two Negro Legislators," ''The Crisis,'' vol. 17, no. 3, whole no. 99 (Jan. 1919), pg. 123. Nutter also won re-election, and was nearly the only black to occupy statewide office in the South. Atkinson wrote 11 books of poetry and non-fiction, including ''History of Kanawha County'' (1876), ''West Virginia Pulpit'' (1878)''After the Moonshiners'' (1881), ''Revenue Digest'' (1880); ''A.B.C. of the Tariff''(1882); ''Don't, or Negative Chips from Blocks of Living Truths'' (1886); ''Psychology Simplified'' (1887), ''Prominent Men of West Virginia'' (1890), poems (1899) and ''Bench and Bar of West Virginia'' (1919).

Death, honors and legacy

Atkinson died on April 4, 1925, in Charleston. He was interred in Charleston's historic Spring Hill Cemetery. Atkinson received several

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

s, including an

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

from U.S. Grant University, an LL.D. from the

University of Nashville University of Nashville was a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It was established in 1806 as Cumberland College. It existed as a distinct entity until 1909; operating at various times a medical school, a four-year military college, a ...

in 1890, and a D.C.L. from

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

in 1897.

Gallery

Image:Public addresses, etc., of Geo. W. Atkinson, governor of West Virginia, during his term of office (1901) (14596713437).jpg, George W. Atkinson (1901) Image:Atkinson Grave Apr 09.JPG, Grave of Gov George W. Atkinson, April 2009 Image:George W. Atkinson.gif, Atkinson as an older man

References

Sources

* *
George W. Atkinson
at ''National Governors Association''

at West Virginia Archives and History

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, George W. 1845 births 1925 deaths Law enforcement officials from West Virginia West Virginia postmasters Burials at Spring Hill Cemetery (Charleston, West Virginia) Republican Party governors of West Virginia Howard University alumni Judges of the United States Court of Claims Ohio Wesleyan University alumni People of West Virginia in the American Civil War Politicians from Charleston, West Virginia United States attorneys for the Southern District of West Virginia 19th-century United States Marshals United States Article I federal judges appointed by Theodore Roosevelt Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia Lawyers from Charleston, West Virginia 19th-century West Virginia politicians 20th-century West Virginia politicians 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives