History of Wheeling City and Ohio Co. WV - Chapters XIV-XV



CHAPTER XIV. EDUCATION 
EARLY TEACHERS--SOME OF THE EARLY SCHOOLS--LANCASTERIAN ACADEMY--NOAH 
LINSLY--THE LANCASTERIAN SYSTEM--THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM UNDER THE OLD 
REGIME. 

The early settlers of Ohio county and the city of Wheeling were impressed 
with the importance of a practical and useful education and especially was 
this the case with that portion of the population known as the 
Scotch­Irish, many of whom had settled in Ohio county and its vicinity. 
The first school established in Ohio county, and indeed in the whole 
region of Western Virginia, was one located in the vicinity of West 
Liberty in the neighborhood of the year 1800, and was taught by the 
grand­father of the late Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, the distinguished 
politician and statesman who supplemented his mental with manual 
accomplishments, being in the habit of engaging in his leisure hours in 
the laudable task of mending and cobbling the defective shoes of his 
neighbors in which he was as successful as he was at school teaching, for 
he is said to have been an adept cobbler, and to have turned many an 
honest penny in that occupation. But this was not unusual among the 
teachers of that early day who were prone to eke out a scanty living by 
engaging at such employment as might contribute to their support. 
Therefore in the intervals of keeping school, they manufactured the boots 
and shoes of their patrons. Their learning as a rule was limited, 
generally extending in arithmetic as far as the "rule of three," and in 
orthography to the spelling of words in three syllables. They had great 
faith in the use of the rod and applied it assiduously, not alone to 
enforce obedience, but also as a means to sharpen the intellect, and these 
coercive measures won for them a distinct notoriety. 

The school-houses were architecturally of the most primitive character, 
being built of un­hewn logs, and containing sometimes one, and sometimes 
two windows, but oftener one, with glazed or greased paper for panes of 
glass, with a clapboard roof, a door of the same material, with a wooden 
latch and swung on wooden hinges, and the school room was furnished with 
rough seats manufactured from split logs, which were destitute of any 
support for the back, thus compelling the pupils to sit upright. The boys 
and girls would gather at these seats of learning from miles around, with 
their dog-eared, dirty "Dilworth," and their blotted and illegible copy 
books, these latter often made of coarse brown paper, but which were as 
much appreciated as if made of the finest letter paper. 

But in the course of a few years a great improvement was manifested. The 
teachers were more competent and were not compelled to depend on manual 
efforts to secure a reasonable support, and an advance was made in the 
curriculum of studies, and little by little better and more comfortable 
school-houses were erected, which were provided with letter 
accommodations. In a few years schools and academies multiplied, and the 
attention of the people gradually began to be directed to their value and 
importance. They were not, however, fostered by the state to any extent, 
but were supported by private means and influence. 


SOME OF THE EARLY SCHOOLS

In the years 1817 and 1818, a gentleman named Remington conducted a school 
in North Wheeling at the southwest corner of Main and Ninth streets on the 
site of the Goshorn property, which was then occupied by a building partly 
of logs and partly frame, the lower story of which was below the level of 
the street, and which was occupied as a boat store. The school-room was in 
the second story of the building, and was reached from below by a flight 
of steps on the outside of the building It was furnished with double doors 
above and below. How long this school. was continued we are unable to 
state, as there is no data in existence by which we can determine. 

The next school of importance was that of which Rev. Wallace was the 
principal, and which was located on Market street. This gentleman was a 
fine scholar and one who thoroughly understood his business. Some of our 
older citizens doubtless remember his earnest character, and genial and 
attractive manners. 

About the same time a school was carries on by a Mr. McKay, who was 
familiarly known as "Father McKay." His school was located near the head 
of the present Chapline street. He was a man of venerable appearance, 
gentle in disposition and was beloved not only by his pupils but by the 
general community. 

Another school was conducted for a time by a gentleman of the name of 
Channing and was located on the present Eoff street near to the old jail 
property. 

One of the ablest and most competent instructors this community ever had 
was Professor Hildreth, who was a relative of the late S. P. Hildreth, the 
historian, and the father of the late Dr. E. A. Hildreth, and whose wife 
was Sarah Zane, a daughter of Jonathan Zane. His "Academy," as it was 
styled, was located on the present Eoff street, a few doors south of the 
present Twelfth street. He was a stern and inflexible disciplinarian, a 
thorough teacher and a successful educator. He was, too, a person of fine 
literary taste and discrimination and was the author of a work on language 
which was entitled the "City of Words." 


LANCASTERIAN ACADEMY

The first educational institution of importance started in Wheeling was 
the Lancasterian Academy, through the munificence of Noah Linsly, which 
was erected on Fourth street and was located between where the present 
Fourth Street Methodist Episcopal church now stands and the First 
Presbyterian church. I was commenced in the year 1818, but was no finished 
for some time after it was commenced It was here that the system of object 
teaching was first practiced in this section of the country. The young 
idea, which under the ordinary method of learning letters from a book is 
frequently very slow in the development of its capacity found no 
difficulty under the new In rapidly acquiring the desired knowledge. 
Besides the manner of teaching was such as corresponded with the free and 
easy disposition of the young. Great boxes filled with sand were ranged 
around the class-room and above them were hung the letters of the alphabet 
in conspicuous prominence and of a large size. Monitors were chosen from 
the larger and more advanced pupils to superintend the younger while 
engaged in their duties. The little ones kneeling before these boxes of 
sand would go vigorously to work and take their first lessons in making 
their letters. The ludicrous mistakes made by the unpracticed were easily 
effaced in the yielding sand, where the effort was renewed until success 
crowned their efforts. There are some here today on whose brows Time in 
his flight has left the impress of his visitation who loved in their early 
years to make their letters in the yielding sand which was placed in the 
school-room of that old academy, and who keep green in their memories the 
names of Dake, John S. Truax and Scott, and others who at times were 
principals of this worthy institution. 

Another institution, of which the Lancasterian Academy was the germ, is 
the present Linsly Institute, whose generous founder was this same Noah 
Linsly. 

The Lancasterian Academy was incorporated by an Act of Assembly passed 
October 10, 1814. On the 25th day of May, 1815, a meeting of the trustees 
was held at which the following persons were present, viz: Daniel Smith, 
John Good, Noah Zane, Samuel Sprigg, George Knox, Joseph Caldwell, James 
H. Rolf, Josiah Updegraff and William Chapline, Jr., trustees. 

At this meeting William Chapline, Jr., was appointed secretary; Noah Zane 
was elected I president: and Thomas Woods was elected treasurer, the last 
named of whom gave a bond in the penalty of $1,000 for the faithful 
performance of the duties of his office. At the same meeting the president 
was instructed to sell "The tract of land on which Ignatius Gadd now 
lives, devised by Noah Linsly, Esq., deceased, for the use of the 
Lancasterian Academy, with authority to enter into such contracts as may 
be necessary to effect the sale." At another meeting of the trustees, a 
committee was appointed consisting of Samuel Sprigg, Josiah Updegraff and 
James H. Rolf, to report at the following meeting of the trustees a plan 
for the building of the academy and the sale of the farm so devised as 
aforesaid. At a meeting of the trustees held March 23, 1816, the president 
reported that he had effected a sale of the tract of land, hereinbefore 
mentioned, to Samuel Sprig, for the sum of $6,000, $1,000 of which was 
paid in cash and the residue in annual payments of $1,000 each. At this 
meeting a plan for the academy was submitted by the committee appointed 
for that purpose, which, with seine slight modifications, was adopted and 
commissioners, to-wit: Noah Zane and Joseph Caldwell, were appointed to 
contract for erecting the building and superintending the same. 

But at a meeting subsequently held on the 2nd day of May, 1816, another 
plan than the former one which bad been adopted was substituted for this 
last. 

On the 26th of March, 1818, at a meeting of the trustees, Alexander 
Caldwell was elected president to fill the vacancy occasioned by the 
resignation of Noah Zane at the meeting held May 2, 1816. At this meeting 
of March 26th, Archibald Woods, Samuel Sprigg, Maj. John Good and Joseph 
Caldwell were appointed a committee to select suitable ground for the 
erection of the buildings of the Lancasterian Academy, and also to 
ascertain the price at which it could be obtained and report. At the same 
tune a committee was appointed consisting of Alexander Caldwell and Peter 
Yarnall to solicit subscriptions for the erection of the building. 

On the 4th of April, 1818, the plan of the building as suggested by the 
committee was altered, making its length to be 66 feet and its width 32 
feet, the lower story of which was to be in one room and the upper story 
to be divided into two rooms; and Joseph Caldwell and Peter Yarnall were 
appointed a committee to draft a particular plan of the said building, 
confining themselves to the above plan, and that they endeavor to procure 
the assistance of John McLure in performing the above duty and that they 
report the plan adopted by them at the next meeting of the board. The 
committee on plan reported on the 9th clay of April, 1818, a plan styled 
"Plan No. 5," which was approved and adopted, James Hersey was elected 
president June 3, 1819, to fill the place of Alexander Caldwell, resigned. 

The building was erected in the year 1820 on two lots of ground donated by 
Noah Zane for this purpose and which were located on Fourth (now Chapline) 
street, and between Twelfth and Fourteenth streets on the west side of 
Chapline street. The south room of the second story was occupied by one 
Robison for a classical school for a brief period, but the first regular 
teacher was John S. Truax, who operated the school from the year 1822 to 
1827, when Daniel Deady became the principal on the 23rd day of April of 
the same year named. He was followed by Alexander Magee as principal, and 
this last by Thomas J. Rees. 

But we do not purpose to follow further the proceedings of the trustees 
and the change; which have occurred in the control of the institution 
except to remark that under the efficient board of trustees it is in a 
flourishing condition and is a source of much influence in the community 
by whom it is regarded with much pride. The building is now located on 
Eoff street, having been some years since removed from its original site 
on Fourth to the one now occupied by it, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth 
streets. In 1863 the present building was occupied as the Capitol of the 
new State of West Virginia and it was in it that the first Legislature of 
the new state for a time held its sessions. 

The public, as we understand the provisions of Linsly's will, are 
indirectly, if not directly, the real beneficiaries under the same of the 
fund therein provided, but the public have been left in comparative 
ignorance so far as its character and disposition is concerned. We append 
hereto a brief record of the character and life of this friend and 
benefactor of Wheeling, a man whose name and memory has been kept green 
through the lapse of years in the noble monument erected by his 
munificence to the cause of education in our midst, which has proven to be 
a boon to our fellow citizens and will be, we trust, for all coming time 
to the youth of this community. 


NOAH LINSLY. 

In Mount Wood Cemetery, Wheeling, West Virginia, stands a plain marble 
shaft bearing the inscription: 

"NOAH LINSLY 
A native of Connecticut
The founder of the Lancasterian Academy
The friend of youth and the benefactor of Mankind." 

There are so few materials from which to obtain information, that even a 
slight sketch of Mr. Linsly's life seems almost impossible, and yet it is 
right and proper that some effort be made to preserve the name and memory 
of a man, who, coming a stranger into our midst, displayed such generosity 
toward our city. 

Noah Linsly was born in Branford, Connecticut, February 9, 1772. His 
family was of English descent, his earliest ancestor in this country, John 
Linsly, having emigrated from the vicinity of London and settled in New 
Haven in 1644. Noah Linsly was the third son of Josiah Linsly, but we have 
no additional knowledge of his family other than that Mr. Jared Linsly, of 
New York, was his nephew. Mr. Linsly graduated at Yale College in 1791, 
was tutor in-that institution in 1794-95 and afterward studied law at the 
Litchfield Law School, under Tapping Reeve. After completing tits studies 
he removed to Western Virginia and settled at Morgantown in 1797-98, where 
he remained two years, and then removed to Wheeling, where he passed the 
remainder of his life. He is described as a man of flue presence, six feet 
in height, with florid complexion and auburn hair, which he wore in a 
queue, he was extremely particular in his dress and very dignified in 
manner. In politics he was an old Federalist; in religion of Presbyterian 
lineage, though we have no means of knowing his private feelings and 
opinions upon the subject. He never married, and his personal, friends are 
all gone, but his life speaks for him more eloquently than could tongue or 
pen. He died at his residence in Wheeling, of hemorrhage of the lungs, 
after a very brief illness, March 25, 1814. Two letters, addressed to his 
brothers, William and Josiah, are interesting as a candid expression of 
his first impressions of the West. In the first, addressed to William, and 
dated Morgantown, June 27, 1798, after some discussion of purely personal 
matters, he says: "I began business here some time in January. My success 
thus far has been as good as I could reasonably expect, but money here, as 
well as everywhere else in America, is extremely scarce and fees come in 
very slowly. In answer to your inquiries, I will state that Morgantown is 
the county town of Monongalia, situated on the Monongahela River, about 
nine miles from the Pennsylvania line, 215 from Alexandria and about 300 
from Philadelphia. The Monongahela is a main branch of the Ohio, uniting 
with the Allegheny at Pittsburg. In summer it is generally low, but in the 
spring and autumn, and occasionally at other times, it is high enough to 
carry boats of any size. I have known it 30 feet deep upon a shoal 
opposite Morgantown. Boats go from this place to Kentucky very frequently, 
and now and then one goes to New Orleans, near the mouth of the 
Mississippi. Our winter here is almost as long as in New England, hut much 
milder; we have but little snow and what falls scarcely ever lies for any 
considerable time. The climate is very healthy; the land is much of it 
good, but very hilly, better adapted to grass and the raising of stock 
than for any other purpose. Beef may very well be driven front this 
country to Alexandria and Baltimore, but flour must go down the river to 
New Orleans. I am happy to hear of your health and prospects. Give my 
compliments to Mrs. Linsly and love to the brethren. 

"Yours affectionately,
"NOAH LINSLY. 

"P. S. If you address me in any other manner than in your last letter, you 
can give me the old-fashioned title of Esquire, which seems to be given to 
lawyers in every part of the Union. However, it is not a farthing's 
consequence anyway. My health is at present pretty good; my headache has 
about left me."

The next letter is dated Morgantown, August 16, 1799, more than a year 
later; it reads: "Dear Brother: It is with great pleasure that I 
acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated July _. My business here, 
considering the change of times, is as good as I can expect. I suppose 
that at least six or eight hundred must he clue me, but mostly in small 
debts, and if I should happen to die the greater part of it might be lost. 
The country is perfectly healthy. The society in this place is tolerably 
good and my situation is, on the whole, very agreeable. The disputes 
respecting land will, for many a day, afford a harvest for honest lawyers 
in this district, and such I mean to he. In short, though money is scarce 
and the country poor and distressed at present, I do not despair of making 
a handsome property in the course of eight or ten years. Respecting 
politics, I am not noisy, but in the present situation of things I am 
firmly attached to the present measures of government [times of John 
Adams]. It was impossible for an independent nation any longer to endure 
the unexampled depredations, injuries and insults which have been heaped 
upon us by the French; and sooner than see my country reduced to the 
wretched condition of Holland. Switzerland, Italy and other countries 
which have been doomed to fall under the French revolutionary scourge, I 
will sacrifice my little all and offer myself as a voluntary sacrifice to 
the independence and liberty of my country. A monarchy and all that 
belongs to it I abhor as much as any man breathing. I have no fear that 
anything of that kind will take place in America. So long as the people 
remain virtuous and well informed it is impossible. I expect, if God 
spares my life, to see you the winter after nest. I am happy to hear you 
are well and happy. G, I fear, has ruined himself, but I cannot help it. 
The others of my brothers are near you, and you must be a father to there 
as you have been to me. I still remain single and probably shall, at least 
there is no probability of my being married for years to come. My 
constitution is not strong, but I am much more healthy than during the 
last two years I lived in Connecticut. If you should ever think of moving 
from Connecticut I would endeavor to bring you to this country. However, 
the state of society in most parts of the country is such that I do not 
wish to see you here with your family, unless you could be placed in very 
independent circumstances, for schools, religious instruction, the decency 
of manners, etc., are not to be found among the generality of the people 
of this county. For I myself, I can say that if I am prosperous I shall 
probably return one clay to my native country, unless I should get the 
political itch and try to embark on the stormy sea of political life [Mr. 
Linsly was defeated for Congress in 1813 by a fete votes]. However, in 
every community I find some good people, and have generally in every place 
I have lived been fortunate enough to gain their esteem and friendship, 
and in every community can make tolerably well contented. Write to me 
frequently. 

"I am your affectionate brother, "NOAH LINSLY." Mr. Linsly's will, which 
is on record in the Wheeling Court House, contains several clauses which 
strikingly display the prominent features of character, generosity and 
unflinching integrity. He certainly succeeded in being what he said to his 
brother he hoped to be, "An honest lawyer." 

After legacies to relatives and friends, he says: "I give to my trusty 
friend, George Miller, in consideration of his friendly attention to me in 
my sickness, my riding horse, saddle, bridle, martingale and spurs." 

Another bequest is $3,000 to Yale College, this sum his nephew, Jared 
Linsly, increased, and it constitutes the Noah and Jared Linsly fund, 
devoted to Yale library. 

The next clause is in regard to a claim, which some years before had been 
put into his hands for collection. The circumstances are minutely 
detailed, and then he adds, "As in the transaction of this business I may 
have granted indulgences to the injury of my client, I do hereby request 
Samuel Sprigg, Esq., to collect on the judgment aforesaid as much of the 
said debt as is practicable, and if the amount thereof cannot be obtained 
on execution of otherwise from the said C., I do request Samuel Sprigg to 
collect as much of the said claim as is practicable and my executors to 
pay Naylor, the client, the full amount of his claim." 

The following clause concerns Wheeling as a city so closely that it is 
given in full: "I devise to Samuel Sprigg and Noah Zane or the survivors 
of them or their executors, my farm in the county of Ohio and state of 
Virginia, whereon Ignatius Gadd now lives, also my farm whereon Abel 
Notten now lives, together with all my stock and farming utensils thereon, 
in trust for the use, benefit and advantage of the Lancasterian school, to 
be established in the town of Wheeling, as herein after mentioned. In 
order to carry into effect my intentions for the establishment of a 
Lancasterian school in the town of Wheeling, as aforesaid, it is my 
request that Samuel Sprigg and Noah Zane, Esqs., do make application of 
trustees for such institution, and upon such act being passed that all the 
funds herein given and devised for the use thereof shall be conveyed and 
given over by said Samuel Sprigg and Noah Zane to such trustees as may be 
appointed by or under the provisions of such act, to be held by them and 
their successors forever, for the benefit of the institution. 

"And in the meantime if no such act can be obtained it is my will that all 
the funds herein given and devised for the benefit of such school be held 
by the said Samuel Sprigg and Noah Zane in trust as aforesaid for the use 
of such Lancasterian school (and only such) as may be established in the 
town of Wheeling, until such principles as they or the survivors of them 
may approve, and the said Samuel Sprigg and Noah Zane are hereby 
authorized and empowered to sell the farm on which Ignatius Gadd or any 
part of it they or the survivors may think necessary for the purpose of 
erecting buildings for said school. After the payment of my debts and 
legacies herein given, all the balance of money from my estate, real or 
personal, not otherwise disposed of, I allow to be held by Samuel Sprigg 
and Noah Zane, in trust for the benefit and use of the Lancasterian 
school, to be established in the town of Wheeling, as before mentioned." 

The Lancaster system is a thing of the past, superseded by the free school 
system, yet its most prominent features (object teaching and the 
employment of pupil teachers) are today in force among skillful educators. 
Mr. Linsly's bequest was the first money ever spent for free instruction 
upon slave territory, and preceded the public schools by many years. 
Immediately after his death the trustees named in the will applied to the 
Legislature for a charter for the Lancasterian Academy. It was granted in 
the fall of the same year, 1814. The farm was sold and a lot, 66 by 264 
feet, purchased. This embraced all the ground between Market and Chapline 
streets in the line of Alley 11. The school building was brick, 33x66 
feet, and two stories high. The proceedings of the trustees are recorded 
in the minutes of the meetings. They are a curious picture of the changes 
which time has wrought in school keeping, as in all things else beneath 
the sun. The house finished, a contract was made with a teacher for $100 
per quarter from the fund, together with the tuition of the paying pupils 
(which was fixed at ale dollar per quarter), he being required to instruct 
such charity pupils as the board saw fit to direct. After a time the 
teacher's salary was increased to $130 per quarter. The position seems to 
have been very unpopular, as every year records a change. There is mention 
of assistance from what was known as the "Literary Fund." a government 
provision for the benefit of schools, which has long been discontinued. 
After a while repairs became necessary, and finally there is a record of 
directions given to a committee to sell the old building. The materials 
brought $130. At once a new location was selected, it being to their 
advantage to sell the first site for residences and remove to a more quiet 
part of the city. The present building corner of Eoff and Fifteenth 
streets, is large enough to accommodate a school of vastly greater 
pretensions than has ever yet been gathered within its walls, and is kept 
in go good repair. The following notes have been kindly furnished by Col. 
H. B. Hubbard, who is, as far as can he ascertained, the oldest surviving 
pupil of the "Academy" in our city. They are very entertaining and give a 
graphic picture of the school as conducted in 1814 and onward. 


THE LANCASTERIAN SYSTEM

It has been suggested to the writer, who learned his A B C's while 
teaching them in the old Lancasterian Academy, that a description of the 
peculiar method of teaching as well as the cruelties inflicted in the way 
of punishments by the masters would be of interest to the present 
generation, and stir up memories in the minds of graybeards which to some 
would not he unpleasant, though to others the cruel punishments to which 
they were subjected will bring a flush of anger to the face, followed by 
an eager "Thank God" that the days of such heartlessness have passed away 
forever. Leaving the history of the school for another occasion, we will 
endeavor to describe the manner in which it was conducted as we see it now 
in memory. Though fifty years and more have thrown their shadows over many 
of the minor points, yet the salient ones remain fresh and distinct as 
when we sprang from the door with a whoop on the dismissal at noon or 
evening of the school. The room was large, being 32 x 66 feet, with good 
height of walls, nearly one-half of which was made up of windows. An aisle 
six feet wide skirted the walls, excepting at a platform midway on the 
eastern side, on which was the seat of as great a tyrant as ever disgraced 
God's green earth. In front of this platform was a cross aisle extending 
to the main entrance opposite. The benches and desks were arranged 
parallel to the shorter way of the room, and extended from aisle to aisle 
without any intermediate passages, the benches being filled from the ends. 
At close intervals, blackboards six feet square were placed along the 
walls, in front of which semicircles were struck with chalk on the floor 
for the class to toe when called inn to read or recite. The reading 
lessons, which were all from the Old Testament Scriptures were printed and 
posted on boards 14 x 18 inches in size, each board at its upper end 
having a hole with a string on it by which to suspend it to a nail in the 
blackboard. Each class had a commandant, styled a monitor, whose lousiness 
it was to keep order in the class and instruct it. On one end of each desk 
was a "telegraph" with signals. These telegraphs were rods one and a half 
inches in thickness and six feet long surmounted by a painted hexagonal 
block, the roots turning freely in the holes in the desk in which they 
were inserted. On the platform on either side of the master's were the 
monitors desks. One was occupied by the monitor of order; the other by the 
monitor of reading. These monitors were selected from; among the older 
scholars, and each was furnished with a whistle. In addition to these two, 
each class was provided with a monitor, who acted as a signal operative 
for two stations, and took his cue from the one on the platform. At the 
sound of the whistle each class monitor turned his signal to correspond to 
the one shown on the platform and governed himself accordingly. If the 
signal was for reading each monitor formed his class toeing the chalk 
mark, and the monitor within the circle facing the class. At a signal from 
the whistle each class monitor wheeled and took a pointer or long wooden 
rod and placed its end on the first word in the lesson. At a second signal 
the head boy or girl of the class commenced to read aloud, and as every 
class was reacting a different lesson it took pretty good lungs to mask 
the noise made by the adjacent classes so as to enable the monitors to 
hear their own readers. 

At the end of the room and forming the first row of benches were the sand-
boxes. These were shallow and of convenient width, containing enough sand 
to form a layer one­fourth of an inch thick over their upper surfaces. In 
front of these, above the heads of the scholars, in the next row of 
benches, and supported on posts, were boards on which were painted the 
alphabet in large and small characters, also the numerals, which the 
beginners copied, making the characters in sand with their fingers. All 
studying was done at will, bit mostly aloud, and to the uninitiated would 
have been a perfect Babel, but each soon learned to heed none but his own 
voice, and prosecute his studies as well as if no others had been studying 
aloud around him. The peculiar feature was the advanced scholars acting as 
teachers, the master teaching only those advanced scholars not engaged as 
monitors. Nothing was taught but reading, writing and arithmetic. 

The instruments of punishment were not necessarily connected with the plan 
of teaching, bit belonged to the times rather than to the system, they 
consisted of the cowhide, ferrule, cat, and rattan, with the sustaining of 
weights in the hands, amts extended, standing on One foot and one hand 
holding up the other foot with the other hand at the same time, etc. 

Eighty years have passed, each bringing its share of improvement. Times 
change, but character remains unaltered. Mr. Linsly gave an impetus to 
education in this state, which we can plainly recognize in our present 
status. Young and immature in many respects, our school system compares 
favorably with those of far older states. Our citizens are exponents of 
the system. Wheeling has a reputation for high integrity and for 
straightforward business dealing, of which she may justly be proud. And to 
Mr. Linsly, as much, if not I more, than to any one man, must he 
accredited the shaping of this character. It is not a vain toast that Mr. 
Linsly was "the benefactor of mankind." Could prophetic vision have been 
granted him, he might justly have said, and we can say for him, "Si 
quoeris monumentum, circumspice." 


THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM UNDER THE OLD REGIME

It was not until the year 1846 that the state of Virginia passed an Act 
for the establishment of a district public school system, the preliminary 
steps to securing which are set forth in the following letter addressed to 
the writer by James H. McMechen, an able and distinguished educator in his 
day, as well as a gentleman of erudition and learning. We give the letter 
verbatim et literatim: 

"WHEELING, October 1, 1876.
"Hon. Gibson L. Cranmer: 

"Dear Sir: At your request you are hereby furnished with a brief account 
of the origin and progress of our public school system in Western 
Virginia. 

"In the spring of 1840, as near as the writer can recollect, he was 
teaching a Female Seminary in Clarksburg, Virginia. He invited Rev. 
Charles Wheeler, then president of Rector College, Pruntytown, to address 
his pupils, and the citizens of Clarksburg on the subject of education, 
which he accordingly did. While Mr. Wheeler was speaking he made some 
allusion to a system of public schools as something greatly to he desired 
in the State of Virginia, and suggested the propriety of calling a 
convention of the citizens of North Western Virginia to meet at Clarksburg 
for the purpose of deliberating on the subject. At the close of the 
address and at the suggestion of Waldo P. Goff, Esq., who was acting as 
chairman, the writer offered a resolution to the desired effect, which was 
adopted. 

"To carry out the purpose of this resolution the chairman appointed the 
following committee, viz.: James H. McMechen, Gideon D. Camden, William A. 
Harrison, James McCauley, and on motion the name of Waldo P. Goff was 
added to the committee. 

"Within a few days after this meeting the committee issued a circular 
calling a convention to meet at Clarksburg on the eighth day of September 
following, that being the time of holding the fall term of the United 
States Court. After a few weeks this circular was cordially responded to 
in a letter from the city of Wheeling signed by Drs. Thomas Townsend, 
Calvin Ruter and Ezekiel Hildreth. The committee embodied this letter in a 
strong appeal to the citizens of Virginia, which was favorably noticed by 
some of the most prominent papers in the state, but treated with coolness 
by the majority. When the time fair the meeting of the convention arrived 
it was found that some sixty or seventy delegates were present from the 
different counties in Western Virginia, many of whom were men of 
prominence and high respectability. Hon. George H. Lee was elected 
chairman, and Luther Haymond and James H. McMechen, secretaries. The 
delegation from Wheeling consisted of Zachariah Jacob, Redick McKee, Rev. 
William Armstrong, Hon, George W. Thompson, Dr. Thomas Townsend, Ezekiel 
Hildreth and C. Ruter. 

"During the sitting of the convention very interesting papers were read, 
one prepared in print by Rev, Alexander Campbell, of Bethany, and another 
by Hon, George W. Thompson, of Wheeling. After much animated discussion a 
resolution was passed, calling a convention to meet at Lewisburg the same 
fall, and delegates were appointed to attend the same. The Clarksburg 
convention then adjourned sine die, and the Lewisburg convention met 
according to appointment. The latter convention adopted a resolution 
calling for a state convention to meet at Richmond the following winter 
during the session of the Legislature. The state convention met 
accordingly and adopted a resolution requesting the Legislature to pass a 
law providing for a general system of popular education. Such a law was 
passed either by that or the succeeding Legislature. This law provided 
that it should be left optional with the several counties of the state to 
adopt the same or not as a majority vote of the citizens might determine. 
Three counties, Ohio, Marshall and Kanawha, adopted it; but the opposition 
in the two latter counties was so strong that the law was never carried 
into effect. Ohio county, however, after considerable opposition carried 
the school system thus provided for into operation in the year 1849. 

"The schools in the city of Wheeling were organized and worked separately 
from the other schools of the county. The city was divided into five 
school districts, and the schools were called "Ward Schools," each ward 
having one commissioner and three trustees elected by the respective 
citizens annually. These five constituted a board of commissioners. 
Michael Sweeney, Morgan Nelson, Thomas Johnston, Jr., Alexander Hadden and 
Henry Echols were the first commissioners elected, and by them Morgan 
Nelson was chosen president of the board. The schools of the city, if the 
memory of the writer serves him right, were organized in point of time in 
the following order: Third Ward, A. J. Hale, principal; Fourth Ward, James 
McKelley, principal; First Ward, David Wallace, principal; Fifth Ward, 
James H. McMechen, principal; Second Ward, R. S. Arthur, principal. The 
whole tune the writer served as principal of the Fifth Ward School under 
the old and new laws, was about twenty years. 

"The above named were successfully operated under the old law until the 
new law went into effect about the year 1806. Full and correct information 
as to the history of the schools under the new law may he obtained from 
the reports of the state superintendents and the records of the different 
boards of education. 

"Before closing this statement, the writer may be allowed to say that 
during the presidency of Morgan Nelson with a wise forethought lots were 
purchased with a view of erecting thereon at some future day a Central 
High School building, but since the new law went into effect those lots 
have been sold by the board of education and the proceeds applied to the 
building of district school houses. The wisdom of such a course, to say 
the least, has been considered very questionable. If we can imagine a 
human body perambulating the streets without a head, then may we conceive 
of a system of public schools realizing a very high degree of prosperity 
without a Central High School. 

"Our schools under the old law were worked without a city superintendency. 
In this respect they were considered defective, and in this also the 
present school law is considered superior to the old; and if the gentlemen 
who may hereafter fill the board of education will only consent to let 
well enough alone and address themselves to the proper work of elevating 
the character of the schools, they will at least guard against the mistake 
of doing much harm and more effectually promote the best interests of the 
community. 

"Yours Truly,
"JAS. H. MCMECHEN." 

I have thought that as a matter of history, as well as of interest, it 
might be a matter of importance to incorporate in this connection an 
article written by the author for the West Virginia School Journal in 
March, 1882: 

Arbitrary governments are based upon the will of an individual; limited 
monarchies upon the wisdom and sagacity of their rulers; but republican 
governments upon the virtue and intelligence of the people. Hence the 
expansive power and influence of these latter are commensurate with the 
general diffusion of knowledge among the masses. Sooner or later the 
recognition of this truth forces itself upon the representatives of this 
latter and demands that they shall take such necessary steps as will 
accomplish its success. It was under the influence of such a pressure, 
aroused by the urgent needs of her population, that the Legislature of the 
State of Virginia on the fifth day of March in the year 1846 passed an Act 
for the establishment of a district public school system, which, among 
other things, provided that where one-third of the qualified voters of any 
county, oho at the preceding election had voted for delegates to the 
General Assembly, should petition the county court that it was the duty of 
the court to certify the same to the commissioners of election for the 
county, when, at the succeeding election the commissioners were required 
to open a register for the votes of the electors qualified to vote for 
delegates. In this register two columns were required to be kept, one in 
favor of the establishment of district schools, and the other for those 
opposed to it. 

It was provided that where two-thirds of the legal voters are in favor of 
adopting the district system, certain regulations for the introduction and 
maintenance of the system should be established, among which were the 
division of the county into school districts, regulating their size, the 
alteration of districts, dividing the county into precincts, in each of 
which a school commissioner was to be elected, fixing the time of election 
and the notice to be given of the same. 

The school commissioners were made a body corporate and their powers and 
general duties were defined. The curriculum consisted of reading, writing, 
arithmetic and (where practicable) English grammar, geography, history 
(especially of the State of Virginia and of the United States), the 
elements of physical science, and such other and higher branches as the 
school commissioners might direct; and all white children, male and 
female, resident within the respective districts, were entitled to receive 
tuition free of charge. 

Every district was to be under the charge of three trustees, to be 
appointed annually, two by the qualified voters of the district at the 
annual election of school commissioners, and one by the board of school 
commissioners at the first meeting after the election. The duties of these 
trustees consisted in the purchasing of a site, erecting suitable school 
houses, furnishing the school with proper fixtures, books, apparatus and 
fuel, with power to appoint and remove a teacher for good cause. 

Teachers were required to keep registers, containing the names and ages of 
the pupils, the names of parents and guardians, dates of entrance and 
leaving the school, and daily attendance, together with the dates of the 
visits of the several commissioners and of either or all of the trustees 
of the school. At the end of the term this register was to be delivered by 
the teacher to the clerk of the board of school commissioners. The penalty 
for failure was one-fourth the compensation of the teacher. 

The expenses of school houses and their furniture were to be defrayed by 
the inhabitants of each county, by a uniform rate of increased taxation 
upon the then existing subjects of the revenue tax, and the county levy to 
be ascertained and assessed by the board of school commissioners, which 
was to be collected by the sheriff in the same manner as other public 
taxes under his official bond, which was to be paid on the order of the 
school trustees. 

This was styled in the Act the general system, which also included another 
called by way of contradistinction the special system. But it is 
unnecessary for us to say anything in reference to the latter, other than 
to make mention of it, as the former or general system was the one adopted 
by the voters of this city and county, under which in the spring of 1847 
steps were taken to put its provisions into operation in the city of 
Wheeling. 

Accordingly sites were purchased for the erection of five school houses. A 
decided opposition was manifested upon the part of a respectable minority 
of the citizens of the community, composed principally and indeed almost 
wholly of those financially able, which nominally planted itself upon the 
ground of increased taxation which must naturally result from the 
establishment of a general system of education. If the prejudices of some 
of these against the general and public character of the schools could 
have been successfully met, they would have found no difficulty, in all 
probability in giving the new system their approval. The prejudices of 
others led them to base their opposition to it on the pretense that it was 
"a Yankeeism," and therefore un-Virginian. They enforced their respective 
views by the fallacious argument that it was unfair as well as unjust that 
they should be taxed for the education of the children of others who were 
too poor or too straitened in their circumstances to confer this boon on 
their offspring, and that it was an invidious distinction which 
discriminated in favor of a large class at the expense of a few. 

But this spirit of selfish opposition did not prevail, yet it lingered in 
the community for a long period after the successful establishment of the 
schools, and while it ceased to be demonstrated, yet its latent influence 
was felt upon all opportune occasions. In the present it has entirely 
ceased, and we doubt if among those surviving, if any such there are who 
then opposed the system, one could be found who now would acknowledge it. 

Under the Act of 1846 Ohio, Marshall and Kanawha counties were the only 
ones which adopted it out of the number of counties in the commonwealth, 
but this was all they did, and they went no further, except in the case of 
Ohio county, which not only adopted it, but put the law into operation and 
organized under it. 

Hence the first public school system introduced into the Southern States 
was that inaugurated in. the county of Ohio, Virginia, and the first 
public school established in the South was the Third Ward public school in 
the city of Wheeling. Shades of Berkeley! What an innovation! 

On the 7th day of April, A. D. 1848, the trustees of free schools for the 
Third ward of the city of Wheeling, Messrs. James E. Wharton (now 
deceased). W. J. Bates and E. A. Hildreth, advertised for sealed proposals 
until the 15th of the same month for erecting a school house at the corner 
of Union and Fifth streets, which was to be 30 x 40 feet in the clear, two 
stories high, nine feet in the clear each, with about one-fourth of the 
lower story to be of stone, and the balance of brick, with 13-inch walls, 
with a passage across one end of each story. Ten windows were to be below 
and the like number above. Each room was to have 40 fixed seats and desks, 
each of which was to accommodate two pupils, and the same was to be 
completed by the 1st of July, A. D. 1848. 

It was, however, some months later before it was finally completed, 
unavoidable causes having delayed it, but it was sufficiently so for the 
establishment of two schools - a male and female department which were 
opened for the reception of pupils and all children in the Third ward 
between the ages of six and sixteen years of age on the first Monday in 
October, 1848. The school was conducted under the superintendence of A. J. 
Haile, Esq., as principal, assisted by his wife. The whole number of 
children, male and female, who were enrolled during the quarter ending 
December 22, 1848, was 226; remaining at the close of the quarter, 214. 
The average daily attendance in the male department was 118; in the female 
department, 68, making a total daily attendance of 186. 

The public schools of the First, Fourth and Fifth wards of the city were 
opened for the reception of pupils during the spring of the year 1849. The 
construction of the school house for the Second ward was delayed by reason 
of certain legal difficulties involving the title to the ground, and it 
was not commenced until some time in the spring of the year 1849. 

The order in which the respective schools were opened was as they are 
herein named. The principal of the Fourth Ward school was a gentleman by 
the name of McKelly, who came here from Pittsburg to take charge of it, at 
the same time that A. J. Haile did the principalship of the Third Ward 
school, who was also from the same city, both gentlemen being skillful 
educators. McKelly died while principal of the Fourth Ward school. The 
principal of the Fifth Ward school was James H. McMechen, Esq., a 
gentleman of fine scholarly attainments, and the principal of the First 
Ward school was David Wallace. The Second Ward school, which, as we have 
already stated, was not opened until some time after the other ward 
schools, was conducted by Rev. Arthur as principal. The board of 
commissioners was composed of the following gentlemen, viz.: For the First 
ward, Michael Sweeney; Second ward, Morgan Nelson; Third ward, Thomas 
Johnston; Fourth ward, Alexander Hadden; Fifth ward, Henry Echols. The 
president of the board was Morgan Nelson, Esq. 

And in this connection we gladly embrace the opportunity to name a few 
among those who were the most prominent as the original movers in behalf 
of the establishment of a system of public education in the State of 
Virginia, and particularly so in this city and county. None of these now 
remain among the living, but they have left behind them names and memories 
redolent with the fragrance of good deeds. 

We would specially mention among these worthies Hon. George W. Thompson, 
whose scholarly attainments and ripe experience must ever be a source of 
pride to his fellow citizens. James H. McMechen, whom we have already 
named in another connection of similar character, was a gentleman of fine 
abilities and superior culture. Ezekiel Hildreth, the father of the late 
Dr. E. A. Hildreth and S. P. Hildreth, a man of deep research, love of 
knowledge and profound erudition. Dr. Townsend, a popular and well-beloved 
physician, was a man of warm impulses and generous promptings. Last but 
not least was James E. Wharton editor and man of public spirit and 
enterprise, who labored for the good of his fel1ow men in the spirit of 
disinterested zeal and energy which was unflagging. 

There were others less prominent, though not less earnest, who if space 
and time permitted, might be named with no less justice than these. As 
will have been perceived, the Act of 1846 was optional in its character, 
so far as the adoption of it by the counties was concerned, hence to 
remedy this and with a view of making the public school system obligatory 
on all the counties, the Legislature passed the Act of 1852, which 
provided for districting all the counties of the state, appointing 
commissioners, fixing their duties and compensation and giving to the 
county courts the power of rearranging the districts, etc. 

Under the operation of this last act Virginia took a long stride in 
advance, and the incubus of ignorance, which, like a nightmare, had so 
long rested upon her otherwise fair fame and paralyzed her energies, was 
in a degree removed, and like a giant awaking from a troubled sleep she 
snapped in twain the cords by which she had been bound, and planting her 
feet upon her prone energy gave a new and eloquent significance to her 
state motto Sic Semper Tyrannis. 

But we have already occupied too much space with this interesting subject, 
and will close the subject with an extract from the Deuteronomy of 
American History, the farewell address of the Father of his country: 

"Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the 
general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a 
government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public 
opinion should be enlightened." 



CHAPTER XV. BENCH AND BAR
THE OLD WHEELING COURT HOUSE--SOME OF THE EARLY MEMBERS OF THE BAR--THE 
SECOND COURT HOUSE--PROMINENT ATTORNEYS--THE BENCH--THE PRESENT COURT 
HOUSE--PHILIP DODDRIDGE. 

We have already referred to the original Court House erected in Wheeling, 
and which was located on the present Tenth street between Main and Market 
streets, and we now present some brief facts in addition to those already 
mentioned. It was a small building about 30 feet square and set quite low 
on the ground, having a four-sided roof, with a sort of chicken coop 
belfry on the top of it. There were a few small windows, which were 
gracefully hung with dust and cobwebs, giving the rough seats and floor a 
still harder appearance than they would have presented at the best. This 
was the Wheeling Court House. Kentucky and Virginia travelers mistook it 
for the Virginia Hotel smoke-house, as it nearly adjoined that hostelry, 
and they thought they would be sure to get good home-made ham there, and 
so turned their steps to that hotel. 


SOME OF THE EARLY MEMBERS OF THE BAR

It may well be supposed that the surroundings were not calculated to 
refine and improve the bar, or call forth the most delicate style of 
eloquence. Yet there were among the early members of the bar in Wheeling 
some good and strong men. Noah Linsly was an able and prominent member of 
the bar at this time. 

Samuel Fitzhugh, who had been admitted to the bar in New York State, came 
to Wheeling shortly afterward and practiced his profession in that old 
smoke-house. He was well educated, a genial companion, full of wit and 
anecdote, and a fair competitor of Tappan, Hammond, Goodenough and Wright, 
who often came over from Ohio to fire up the smoke-house with their 
speeches. He was a lover of nature in all her varied moods, and was in the 
habit frequently of turning aside from the dull routine of his profession 
and spending a large portion of his time in the forest. Clad in hunting 
shirt and moccasins, solitary and alone, he would penetrate the deepest 
recesses of the woods and absent himself for days at a time in tracing the 
haunt of the deer and the lair of the bear or the hiding place of the wild 
turkey, and would generally return well ladened with the spoils of the 
chase or the smaller game which at that time abounded in the solitudes of 
nature. He returned to his old home in New York after several years' 
practice, but left a fund of anecdote behind him that was current for many 
years. 

Samuel Sprigg. In addition to what we have already stated concerning this 
gentleman, we will be pardoned for making some further remarks. He was not 
only a prominent member of the bar, but stood at its head. He never 
studied or paid much attention to his practice. He preferred his sheep 
farm and he had a good one. He never studied language, the principles of 
law, decisions, or cases further than to ascertain their most simple 
points, but he had an intuitive perception of right, as he understood it, 
which made him powerful either before a jury or a mixed audience. He was 
rough in manner as well as in language and dress; but he had a large, kind 
heart, and pure thought, and when he addressed an audience he made himself 
felt. Few knew him well enough to know that like many of the old 
slaveholders you must meet him square up when he attempted to brow-beat 
you, and abuse him right soundly before you could be a friend of his. Then 
he was a warm friend so long as he respected your motives and actions. To 
the masses he loved to dictate, and sometimes to tyrannize over them. He 
was prosecuting attorney for many years and sometimes engaged in important 
suits outside. 

Morgan Nelson was one of the early members of the bar in Wheeling. He came 
at an early day from New England, where he was reared and graduated in a 
law school. He was a kind-hearted man and strictly conscientious in all 
his dealings, and a hard student of all his cases in all their bearings: 
He was more of a counsellor than advocate and stated his cases to court 
and jury plainly and well. He was a public-spirited man, engaging 
earnestly in all measures which he considered beneficial to the city. Few 
men ever passed through a long life with more friends and fewer enemies 
than he did. 

Frank Campbell was the son of Rankin Campbell, an eminent lawyer of 
Washington, Pennsylvania. He had a very clear legal mind and a humorous 
and quaint way of giving vent to no little wit, which made him a favorite 
with his associates. He never attained a fair practice, but neglected it 
and early in life fell a prey to his besetting propensity; but to the last 
his legal opinions were considered the most clear and satisfactory of any 
member of the bar in the city. 

Zachariah Jacob was older than Campbell and commenced practice before him 
at an early day. He did not possess great talents. His manner was not 
pleasing; but he was a laborious and persevering person and studied his 
cases as closely as he had the power to do, which gave him considerable 
success. He entered into politics as a Whig, and occupied some political 
positions, but was too much of the old slaveholding school believer in the 
rights of the few at the expense of the many to be popular. 

Moses C. Good was another of the old school lawyers, a native of the 
county, a gentleman of considerable study and good ability, social and 
genial, humorous rather than witty, highly honorable and a remarkably 
pleasant and affable companion. His manner and address to the court was 
more graceful and neat than that of any one at the early bar. He was very 
popular, and represented the district one or two terms in the State 
Senate. He as well as Mr. Jacob enjoyed a long life and the Major never 
felt old. 

William McConnell was another attorney of the old school and also a native 
of the county. He was considered a fair lawyer, though his practice was 
never large. He represented the county faithfully and well in the 
Legislature for several years. 

Alexander Wilson was another of the prominent members of the bar in his 
day. He was born and educated in Washington, Pennsylvania, but had all the 
Southern feeling and some of the frailties. He was well learned in the 
law, quick in his perceptions, genial in his character and of quick wit 
rather than of general conversational power. Cynical of females, he never 
married. He was a fair advocate and popular with courts and juries. He 
expressed the common Southern dislike of "Yankees" on all occasions. There 
is one anecdote of him, which illustrates him and them pretty well. About 
1846 he went to Boston on business and was detained some weeks. After his 
return a gentleman came into his office and almost the first words Mr. 
Wilson uttered were, "I wanted to see you to ask you what sort of fellows 
those Yankees of yours are?" "Why," replied the gentleman, "did they not 
treat you well?" "Yes, I was never more hospitably entertained, and all I 
met were perfect gentlemen; a little more formal than we are, but I liked 
it. I was down at Lynn taking depositions and when returning, as I 
supposed, on handing my ticket to the conductor for Boston he told me I 
was going the other way. Asking what I should do, he told me I would have 
to go on to Salem, wait four hours and come in on the return train. 
Arriving there, I was looking around from the steps of the hotel when a 
man came up and asked me if I would like to go to the museum. He was 
drunk; however, he looked and talked like too much of a gentleman to be 
the runner for a museum; but I thought these Yankees will do anything for 
a few cents, and to pass away the time went with him. Coming to the door 
of a splendid building, I asked what was to pay. 'Nothing, walk in.' He 
went with me and for two mortal hours explained to me the thousands of 
curiosities from all parts of the world, with their uses, histories, with 
all of which he was perfectly familiar. I never spent two hours more 
profitably and pleasantly. I thought it would be a tall bill; but did not 
care, as it was worth it. We walked to the hotel, and there I again asked 
what was to pay. "Nothing." said I, "Stranger, you have done me a very 
great favor, one I shall never forget; but will you please do me another?" 
"Certainly, sir, if I can." Will you please tell me what you did all this 
for?" He seemed much amused, but replied, "Many years ago Salem was the 
most important commercial port in the country, our ships were on every 
sea, and officers and sailors brought curiosities from every land. Our 
fathers concluded to erect and endow a museum, collect all these things 
and make it forever free for the entertainment of strangers. I saw you was 
a stranger; I was at leisure, and it afforded me pleasure to take you to 
it." "Well," said the gentleman, "what did you say to that?""Why," he 
replied, scratching his head, "I told him we did not do that way down in 
Virginia." After that when he was abusing the Yankees, the gentleman said 
I could shut him up by asking him if he had ever been in Salem. 

Judge Fry was one of the most impartial judges that ever held that 
position. He was appointed for life as all judges at that day were, but 
when the constitution was changed making judges elective he was not 
elected, and was not a candidate. He subsequently entered into partnership 
with his son-in-law, the late judge Paull. He was a good counsellor, but 
no advocate. 

McMahon, an Irishman, practiced in the old smoke-house for a year or two. 
This individual had many cases, but the most important was the defense of 
a man arrested for stealing. It was as good as a first rate show to hear 
the late William Shriver imitate McMahon's (as he was called) speech on 
the night when a supper complimentary was given to the Hon. Thomas Corwin 
at Austin Pease's eating house. There are some persons now living who saw 
Mr. Corwin laugh on that occasion, cheeks rustling up like a balloon. 
McMahon left Wheeling and went to Webster, Ohio, and it is related by some 
who saw him there on 1840, engaged on naturalizing Germans, telling them 
on swearing to support the government and that they were to vote for 
Martin Van Buren.

Moses W. Chapline as a lawyer was coo1 and dispassionate and his style of 
address before a jury was argumentative. 

Daniel Lamb was born on Connellsville, Pennsylvania, on the 23d day of 
January, 1810, and came to Wheeling with his parents when quite a small 
boy. At the age of twenty he had been made city clerk and a year later 
secretary of the Fire & Marine Insurance Company then just organized. 
Three years later he became secretary and treasurer of the Wheeling 
Savings Institution. He studied law with Morgan Nelson, and in 1837 was 
admitted to the bar and associated himself with Charles W. Russell. 
Russell was a Democrat and Lamb was a Whig. The law at that time was not a 
lucrative profession and in 1848 Mr. Lamb gave up the practice, and became 
cashier of the Northwestern Bank, which position he held until the opening 
of the war of the Rebellion. He was sought out by those who needed his 
help in the public crisis, and busy as he was on his responsible post, he 
gave his help without stint. Whether by nature or through training, or 
both, his mind was peculiarly logical and legal in its operation. He was 
judicial and dispassionate on temper. He was in all things, speaking or 
writing, the plain, sincere, unpretending yet wonderfully wise and able 
counselor. At the time of his death he was the Nestor of the bar and its 
ablest member, "None knew him but to love him, none named him but to 
praise." 

Charles W. Russell was born in Tyler county, Virginia, July 19, 1818. 
After receiving a common-school education he came to Wheeling, and entered 
Linsly Institute as a pupil, and later finished his education at Jefferson 
College, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He studied law in the office of 
Zachariah Jacob, Esq., of Wheeling and practiced his profession in this 
city. He was a brilliant man, as well as one of solid parts and extensive 
learning. Until the breaking out of the war in 1861 he was a most 
successful practitioner, when he went south and served several terms in 
the Virginia Legislature, and was also a member of the House of 
Representatives in both the Provisional and Permanent Congress of the 
Confederacy. He was a person of fine appearance and physically and 
mentally was a man of superior mould. He married a daughter of the late 
Henry Moore, Esq. Both he and his wife are now deceased. He died in 
Baltimore November 22, 1867, where he had located himself in the practice 
of the law a year or two preceding his death. 

Edward H. Fitzhugh was at one time a partner of Daniel Lamb and later a 
partner of Charles W. Russell. He was a lawyer of fine ability and 
possessed a mind of great legal acumen. He was born in Caroline county, 
Virginia, at or near Zion in that county, about the year 1816. He died on 
Thursday June 26, 1890. At the time of his death he was judge of the 
Chancery Court of Richmond, Virginia. He left Wheeling at the breaking out 
of the Rebellion and went to Richmond, casting his fortune with the 
Southern Confederacy. He was a staunch Presbyterian and held the office of 
ruling elder in the First Presbyterian church of this city at the date he 
went south. He was a fine counsellor, but no advocate. 


THE SECOND COURT HOUSE 

On the 17th day of March, 1836, the General Assembly of Virginia passed an 
Act authorizing the selection of a site for the Court House and other 
public buildings for the county of Ohio. Under the provisions of the Act 
Zachariah Jacob, David Agnew and Robert C. Woods were appointed 
commissioners by the county court to borrow $20,000 on the credit of the 
county, $8,000 of which was to be without any limitation as to the time of 
credit for the same, to enable the commissioners to pay for the grounds 
taken and condemned for the public buildings. 

The four commissioners named in the first section of the Act of the 
General Assembly, made their report to the following effect: Upon careful 
consideration of the present reduced territory of the county, of the 
facility of traveling to and from every portion of it, of the present and 
prospective comparative population and business of the city and county, 
and of various other circumstances presented to their view, they had no 
difficulty in determining that the greatest good of the greatest number 
could only be obtained, and substantial justice between contending 
interests promoted by a location of the seat of justice within the city of 
Wheeling. 

The commissioners selected two lots of land in Wheeling at the southeast 
corner of Monroe and Fourth streets, known as "lots numbered (1) one and 
(2) two in square (15) fifteen." The lot numbered (1), one, immediately 
upon said corner, was owned by Andrew Halstead and William B. Hubbard, the 
first named owning the whole except 45 feet fronting on Monroe street and 
running 60 feet in depth, which was owned by the last named. Lot numbered 
(2), two, immediately adjoining was owned by Zachariah Jacob. The 
commissioners fixed a value on the said lots. The valuation fixed upon his 
lot was assented to by Mr. Jacob, which was $3,000. 

Messrs. Halstead and Hubbard refused to accept the valuation set upon 
their lot. Condemnation proceedings were instituted when the value of 
Halstead's portion of the lot was fixed at $3,600 and that portion owned 
by Hubbard at $1,400. 

The ceremony of laying the corner-stone of the new building took place on 
the 10th day of April, 1839, under the superintendence of Ohio Lodge, No. 
1, A. F. & A. M. There was an imposing procession on the occasion, which 
for numbers and appearance was exceedingly creditable and was viewed by 
the spectators with great interest and pleasure. It was formed on Main 
street at eleven o'clock A. M. under the escort of the Wheeling Riflemen, 
a military company which was the crack military organization of the city, 
followed by a band of music. Behind the band came the members of the lodge 
of Masons clothed in full regalia bearing the appropriate insignia of the 
order. The lodge was followed by the members of the county and superior 
courts, the bar, the members of the city council and the officials of the 
city, and the procession was closed by a large number of citizens on foot. 
Proceeding down Main street until they reached Monroe (now Twelfth) 
street, they proceeded up the last named street to the proposed site of 
the Court House at the corner of Monroe and Fourth (now Twelfth and 
Chapline) streets, where it came to a halt. 

After the offering of a prayer Dr. J. W. Clemens was introduced to the 
assembled audience as the orator of the occasion. His is address was 
brief, but pertinent and eloquent. At its conclusion the corner-stone of 
the edifice deposited in its place with appropriate ceremonies in 
accordance with the Masonic ritual and with due solemnity, a number of 
articles having been deposited at the time, The day was a gala day and 
almost the entire population was so deeply interested on the occasion that 
a general suspension of business took place and the city wore a holiday 
appearance.


PROMINENT ATTORNEYS

Among those who practiced in this second Court House, the most of whom 
have passed away, we name the following: Daniel Lamb, Zachariah Jacob, 
Moses C. Good, Morgan Nelson, James Alexander, George W. Thompson, Charles 
W. Russell, James Paull, Edward H. Fitzhugh, James S. Wheat, Joseph H. 
Pendleton, Governor Stanton. A. A. Allison, William P. Hubbard, John J. 
Jacob, Henry M. Russell, Elbridge G. Cracraft, J. Dallas Ewing, Nathaniel 
Richardson, Joseph J, Woods, George Davenport, B. B. Dovener, Robert H. 
Cochran, Alfred Caldwell, Sr., George B. Caldwell, Alfred Caldwell, Jr., 
Aquila B. Caldwell and Daniel Peck, besides others whose names do not 
readily occur to the writer. 


THE BENCH

Has been occupied at all times by jurists of acknowledged ability and 
impartial minds. The first judge who sat upon the bench of the circuit 
superior court was Hugh Nelson, who served from April, 1809, until the 
fall of the year 1811, but little, however, concerning him can now be 
learned, but tradition gives him conspicuous prominence as a careful and 
able jurist. 

Judge Daniel Smith was the successor of Hugh Nelson, having been appointed 
to the position in the year 1811 by the Legislature. For a portion if not 
for the whole time that he occupied the bench, he was a resident of 
Harrison county. The judicial district at this time was composed of the 
counties of Harrison, Ohio, Brooke, Wood and Monongalia. Judge Smith 
served the district with great acceptability from the time of his 
appointment to the fall of the year 1830, and next to judge Fry, his 
successor, served longer than any one who has since occupied the bench. 
His long term of service is a sufficient guarantee of the faithfulness 
with which he performed the duties of his arduous position. He is 
remembered as an upright man and judge. 

The longest term of service upon the bench of this circuit was that of 
judge Joseph L. Fry. He was appointed in the year 1831 and first presided 
at the January term of that year. He served for twenty-one consecutive 
years, or until the constitution of 1852 provided that the election of 
judges should be by popular vote instead of by appointment by the 
Legislature. He became a candidate before the people, having Hon. George 
W. Thompson as his opponent. This latter was a person of superior social 
qualities, and in every sense a popular politician who mixed freely with 
the people, while the former, who was of a retiring disposition mixed but 
little with the people, and was austere, aristocratic and dignified in his 
bearing and manners. The result was the election of Mr. Thompson, and the 
consequent retirement of judge Fry from the Bench. After his retirement 
from the bench he practiced for a time in Wheeling, but during the Civil 
war he moved to Lewisburg, West Virginia, where he died. He originally 
came to Wheeling from Charleston, Virginia at which place prior to his 
appointment he had been engaged in the practice of his profession. On the 
bench he was always sedate and dignified. He was fair in his treatment of 
the members of the bar, but he was not popular. He was thoroughly versed 
in the law and it is doubtful whether a more capable judge or profounder 
lawyer ever sat upon the bench of the Wheeling circuit. 

Judge George W. Thompson, who sat upon the bench as the successor of Judge 
Fry, was a native of Ohio and received his early education at Jefferson 
College, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in the year 1824. He then 
studied law under the late William B. Hubbard, a prominent and successful 
attorney of St. Clairsville, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in 1826, 
when he went to Richmond, Virginia to improve his studies in his 
profession. He returned to St. Clairsville in the year 1828 and practiced 
there until the year 1837, when he came to Wheeling and engaged in the 
practice of his profession, continuing therein until his election to 
Congress from this district in 1851. He was appointed as a member of a 
joint commission, with William Green and Hon. William C. Reives, of 
Virginia, on the part of that state, and Hons. Thomas Ewing, John Brough 
and James Collins on the part of Ohio to settle the jurisdiction of the 
Ohio River between the two states which had given rise to a controversy of 
long standing between the states of Virginia and Ohio. He was appointed 
United States district attorney for the western district of Virginia by 
James K. Polk, which office he held until he was elected to the office of 
judge of the Twentieth judicial circuit. During his term in Congress he 
introduced a bill and secured its passage in opposition to a decree of the 
United States supreme court for the abatement and removal of the Wheeling 
suspension bridge. This was a most important achievement, and probably it 
was one of the finest constitutional distinctions ever made between 
legislative and judicial powers, as it in effect set aside a judicial 
decree of that court, by an Act of Congress, and secured a precedent for 
all future legislation on bridging navigable streams in the United States. 
In 1860 he was re-elected to the judgeship of the circuit court by a 
majority of two to one over his opponent, Ralph Berkshire. He held his 
office until July, 1861, when his removal was effected in consequence of 
his refusal to take the oath of office to support what we cannot but 
believe he conscientiously concluded to be the unconstitutional actions of 
those who inaugurated the present state of West Virginia. In addition to 
his distinguished services on the bench and in Congress he was the author 
of several works of literary merit. He left much unpublished manuscript at 
the time of his decease. 

Judge Ralph L. Berkshire, of Monongalia county, Virginia, was a gentleman 
who presided over the circuit court in Wheeling from the fall term of 1861 
until the sluing of 1863. He was a gentleman of fine legal attainments, 
After his retirement from the bench of the circuit court he was promoted 
to a place on the court of appeals of the state, After his retirement as 
one of the judges of the court of appeals he resumed the practice of his 
profession in his home county of Monongalia. 

Judge E. H. Caldwell succeeded judge Berkshire in the year 1863 under the 
new state regime of that year. He was a descendant of the old Caldwell 
family, whose members have always been prominent in the states of Virginia 
and West Virginia, and a son of Alexander Caldwell, a prominent attorney 
in the early years of the last century. He was a native of Brooke county 
in this state. After obtaining the rudiments of an education he was sent 
by his father to take a special course in one of the New England colleges. 
After leaving college he came to Wheeling and married Ellen McMechen and 
located in Moundsville in the practice of his profession. At the time of 
the organization of Marshall county he was appointed commonwealth's 
attorney, and subsequently was elected clerk of the court, which position 
he resigned to accept a place on the bench. He served in the latter 
capacity until his death, which occurred in 1869. On the bench he was just 
and impartial and while not an extensively read lawyer he was considered a 
successful judge, and what he lacked in legal attainments he made up in 
good sense and sound judgment. 

Hon. Thayer Melvin was born in Hancock county, West Virginia, and was 
admitted to the practice of the law in the said county in 1853, some time 
before reaching his majority. He was elected prosecuting attorney of his 
county in 1855, and re-elected during several terms. While serving in this 
capacity he resigned, and reproved to Wheeling and became the junior 
member of the law firm of Pendleton & Melvin, attending regularly the 
tenets of court in his native county. In 1861, in response to the call of 
his country, he exchanged the law book for the musket and entered the 
volunteer army as a private, serving until the close of the war, the 
greater portion of the time as adjutant general of the department of West 
Virginia, commanded by different general officers, viz.: Kelley, Siegel, 
Hunter, Crook and Emory. He was also on the staff of General Sheridan in 
the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1864. In 1866 he resumed the practice of 
the law at Wellsburg, Brooke county, West Virginia, and during the same 
year was nominated and elected attorney general of the state, to which 
office he was reelected in 1868. Before the expiration of his second term 
as attorney general he resigned this office and was appointed judge of the 
First Judicial District of West Virginia to fill the vacancy occasioned by 
the death of judge Caldwell. He was twice re-elected and served for a 
period of twelve years. After his retirement from the bench he engaged 
actively in the practice of the law in the courts of this and other 
counties as a member of the firm of Ewing, Melvin & Riley. While a member 
of this firm he was unanimously recommended by the members of the bar in 
the circuit as a proper person to fill the unexpired term of judge Paull, 
deceased, which position he now occupies. Whether on or off the bench, he 
is always the suave, genial and agreeable gentleman and is admired as such 
by everyone. To all positions he has filled he has brought a well trained 
mind. He is safe and cautious in practice; on the bench he is painstaking, 
and his decisions are reached only after being well weighed. He is 
regarded as an able and erudite lawyer, an honest and impartial judge. 

George E. Boyd has served on both the county and circuit bench. He came to 
Wheeling from Ohio, his native state, when but ten years of age. His 
elementary education was obtained in the public schools and Linsly 
Institute of Wheeling, which was supplemented by the completion of a 
classical course at Washington College, Pennsylvania. After a thorough 
course of reading he entered the Cincinnati Law School, where he received 
his degree in 1860. He rose rapidly in his profession and in 1870 he was 
elected to the office of judge of the Ohio county court, which position he 
held until the abolition of that court. In 1880, although his party (the 
Democratic) was largely in the minority, he was elected judge of the First 
Judicial Circuit of West Virginia. His term expired January 1, 1889. His 
service on the bench has been entirely creditable to him and has added to 
the laurels won by him as an attorney. Of the highest integrity, with a 
clear grasp of the principles he is called upon to apply, and with an 
abiding sense of the righteousness of even-handed justice, he earned a 
reputation as a judge who has rendered more than ordinary service to the 
state. His opinions were given without hesitation, and his decisions were 
clear and pointed. The records of the supreme court shone that his 
decisions were seldom reversed. 

Ex-Governor John J. Jacob was for seven years judge of the First Judicial 
Circuit. He was a descendant of an old Maryland family, whose members were 
prominent in the Indian wars and that of the Revolution. After receiving 
an academic education he entered Dickinson College, Pennsylvania, from 
which institution he graduated in 1849. For eight years he filled the 
chair of political economy in the University of Missouri, and began the 
practice of his profession in Columbia, Missouri, but in 1864 he returned 
to his native county, Hampshire, West Virginia. The field of politics was 
at the time inviting to the young lawyer, and he was honored by his county 
by an election to the House of Delegates. His reputation as a lawyer of 
ability early gave him prominence in his legislative career, and long 
before the session closed he had shown himself the peer of the ablest 
statesmen in the body. In 1870 he was elected governor of West Virginia by 
the Democratic party, and was re-elected under the constitution of 1872. 
As a lawyer and a judge he deserves to be classed among the ablest members 
of the bar or of those who sat upon the bench. He was a careful, wise and 
safe counsellor an advocate earnest, convincing and effective a judge of 
the strictest integrity. He was well grounded in the elementary principles 
of the law and was wonderfully familiar with the rules of practice. His 
conclusions were reached after exhaustive research of the authorities 
bearing on the cause. 

Joseph R. Paull, a member of the Wheeling bar, was nominated in 1888 by 
the Republican party for judge of the First judicial district of West 
Virginia, and was elected. He was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, 
December 9, 1848. His collegiate education was obtained at Washington and 
Jefferson College, where he attended for two years, and at Lafayette 
College, at which latter institution he graduated in 1871. Selecting the 
profession of the law as his vocation, he began the study of it with 
Daniel Kane of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and a year later he entered the 
Columbia Law College, where he pursued his studies for one year, and in 
September, 1875, he was admitted to the bar, and on the 15th of December 
following he removed to Wheeling and was admitted to the bar of this city. 
In the practice of his profession in this city he met with fair success 
and both as a professional man and as a citizen gained the esteem of the 
community. He was a close student, a man of strict integrity, and by his 
dignified bearing and gentlemanly demeanor won the confidence of his 
constituents. 

Hon. John A. Campbell, one of the associate judges of the First Judicial 
Circuit, was elected to the bench in 1888. His practice as an attorney had 
been confined to the courts of the upper counties of the circuit in which 
he had gained an enviable reputation as an advocate of considerable force 
and eloquence. He was studious and his mind was rather of a philosophical 
turn. He was an acceptable judge and had the confidence of the bar. 

The two associate judges at the present are Hon. H. C. Hervey and Hon. 
Thayer Melvin. 

Hon. Robert H. Cochran was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of 
Ohio in 1860, and first located in the practice of his profession at 
Martin's Ferry, Belmont county, Ohio, of which county he was elected 
prosecuting attorney. After the expiration of his term of office as such, 
he removed to Wheeling in 1869, and associated himself in practice with 
Hon. Daniel Peck. His knowledge of railroad law soon made for him a 
reputation which secured him an appointment as general counsel of the 
Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad Company. In 1873 he associated himself as a 
partner with Hon. William P. Hubbard in the practice of the law, which was 
terminated by his election to the bench of the county court. He served 
four years in this capacity and refused a reelection. Upon his retirement 
from the bench, the bar adopted the following flattering testimonials 
which speak in unmistakable terms of his character and efficiency as a 
judge and citizen: 

"Whereas it is desirous on the part of the members of the court to 
indicate to the Hon. R. H. Cochran, on his retiring from the bench, the 
esteem and respect in which he is held by us. 

"Resolved by the members of the bar of this county that the many virtues 
which adorn the character of Hon. R. H. Cochran, and which have shown 
conspicuously in his character as judge of the County Court during the 
four years last past, have established for him the character of an able 
and upright judge, a courteous and accomplished gentleman and a sincere 
friend. 

"Resolved, That on his retirement the bench loses one of its brightest 
ornaments and most honored examples of impartiality, firmness and all that 
goes to make up the perfect character of a just judge." 

Alexander Caldwell was for many years on the bench of the District Federal 
Court. He was a native of New Jersey, in which state he was born in the 
year 1774. He came to Virginia at an early age and studied law in the 
office of Philip Doddridge in Wellsburg. He was admitted to the practice 
of law in Wheeling in 1816, and for eight years was kept busy by his 
practice. On October 8, 1825, he was appointed judge of the Western 
District of Virginia, and his commission bears the signature of John 
Quincy Adams. Judge Caldwell served with much credit and success until his 
death, which occurred April 1, 1839. 

James Paull was one of the prominent members of the old Wheeling bar and 
enjoyed a wide-spread reputation as a profound jurist and able public man. 
He was the only resident attorney ever elected to the Supreme Court bench 
of the state. He was born in Belmont county, Ohio, in the year 1818, and 
was the son of George and Elizabeth Paull. He was thoroughly educated in 
his childhood and youth. After completing his preparatory studies at Cross 
Creek, Pennsylvania, he entered Washington College in that state, from 
which he graduated in June, 1835. He then came to Wheeling and commenced 
the study of his profession in the office of Zachariah Jacob, Esq., and 
finished his legal studies in the law department of the University of 
Virginia. Nearly the whole of his career as a lawyer and public man was 
spent in Wheeling where he was esteemed as an estimable citizen. In 1872 
he was elected a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals, of West 
Virginia, which he filled with honor and credit, performing his laborious 
duties with such industry and application that it resulted in fatally 
impairing his health. His decisions rank with the permanent and valuable 
contributions to the law of the state. He represented Ohio county during 
two terms in the State Legislature at Richmond, Virginia, before the 
division of the state. He was a Presbyterian and a member of the session 
of the First Presbyterian church of Wheeling. He died May 11, 1875. 

Moses C. Good was the first judge of the Municipal Court, and Held that 
office for nearly eight years. He began the practice of law in Wheeling in 
1826. In 1846 he served as mayor of the city for one year and refused to 
receive any pay for his services. He was elected judge of the Municipal 
Court, in May, 1865. His death occurred in 1873. 

Gibson L. Cranmer, the successor of judge Good on the bench of the 
Municipal Court, is a native of the Buckeye State and read law in the 
office of his cousin, the late Daniel Lamb, Esq. He was a member of the 
Legislature of Virginia during the years 1855-56. In 1873, on the death of 
Judge Good, he was elected judge of the Municipal Court of Wheeling, to 
which he was twice elected, holding the office for the term of eight 
years. 

George W. Jeffers, a native of Wheeling, was the last judge of this court. 
He was admitted to the practice of law when quite young. He received from 
the citizens of Wheeling many evidences of the esteem in which he was held 
by them. He was for a number of years attorney for the city, and in 1871 
was elected mayor, in which office he served the public with great 
acceptability. He was elected judge of the Municipal Court, in 1881, and 
remained upon the bench until the court was abolished in the year 1889 by 
Act of the Legislature. He has since deceased.


THE PRESENT COURT HOUSE 

Occupies the north wing of the building originally built for the occupancy 
of the state as a capitol building, but upon the removal of the capital to 
the city of Charleston it reverted to the city, and has been and is now 
utilized by both county and city for their respective purposes, the 
northern portion of the same being used by the county and the southern 
portion by the city. There are two circuit court rooms, respectively 
designated as Part 1 and Part 2, in each of which a circuit judge 
presides. It is situated on the corner of Sixteenth and Chapline streets, 
and is an attractive specimen of architecture. It was erected in 1876 at a 
cost of $120,000. The court rooms are well adapted for their purpose, 
being light, airy and cheerful looking, as well as commodious, and are 
neat though plainly furnished. On the second floor also are the jury 
rooms, which are comfortable and pleasant, being well ventilated. On the 
third floor the law library belonging to the county is located and is 
intended for the use of the judges of the court and the attorneys, but is 
not exclusively confined to them, as an one can, who so desire, have the 
privilege of it. 


PHILIP DODDRIDGE

It is not overstepping the line to classify the subject of this sketch 
amongst the old time Washington county, Pennsylvania, lawyers. He was not, 
it is true, an inhabitant of the county seat, but he was reared within the 
county limits, and for a number of years practiced lane in the county 
courts. A conspicuous figure he was alongside of James Ross, Parker 
Campbell Henry Baldwin, John Kennedy, et al., who together fought hard 
legal battles over land titles in the olden time. That is a subject 
somewhat unfamiliar to our modern lawyers, but then of vast importance and 
great intricacy, arising from the ill-constructed land laws of Virginia 
and Pennsylvania, under which unappropriated lands were seated and 
patented, and likewise from the unskillful manner of locating and 
surveying them. These difficulties moreover were augmented by the 
conflicting territorial claims of those states, causing rival warrants and 
surveys upon the same locations. The fruitful litigation engendered by 
these troubles led Doddridge, Baldwin, Kennedy and other foreign lawyers 
of distinction, to frequent our courts and enter the list with Ross, 
Campbell and others of our own bar. 

It is not the writer's purpose to portray in detail the life of Philip 
Doddridge, if he possessed the ability or had the command of the needful 
information. After the lapse of half a century, it would be a difficult 
task for anyone to write a satisfactory biography of this great man, 
although he is eminently worthy of posthumous regard. It has been well 
remarked of great lawyers and advocates, that their learning, eloquence 
and intellectual achievements, exerted in the judicial forum, have left no 
memorial, but naked verdicts of juries and formal decrees of courts, which 
are silent as to the forensic power and ability which secured them. Philip 
Doddridge, however, was not only a great lawyer, but a distinguished 
statesman, and although, strictly speaking, no biography of him has been 
written, a circumstance which his law student and friend, Hon. W. T. 
Willey, late United States Senator for West Virginia, laments, yet he 
himself has seen to it that his preceptor's memory shall not be permitted 
to die out. In his admirable sketch of Mr. Doddridge, delivered before the 
West Virginia Historical Society, in 1875, the copious extracts made from 
his speeches in the Virginia House of Delegates, in her Constitutional 
Convention, and in the Congress of the United States, will impress the 
reader with a sense of the superiority of Mr. Doddridge's intellectual 
powers, and enable him to comprehend the exalted estimate put on his 
ability as a lawyer and sagacity as a statesman, by such men as Chief 
Justice Marshall, Judge Story, Daniel Webster, President Madison and 
others of like eminence. The purpose of this sketch is simply to furnish a 
few particulars of the early life; some anecdotes relating to practice at 
our bar and other circumstances, touching a man, remarkable in his clay, 
and in a certain sense, belonging to us. 

Philip Doddridge was of English descent. At an early period not 
chronicled, but long prior to the Revolution, the Doddridge family left 
England and settled in the colony of New Jersey, but afterward transferred 
themselves to Maryland, where John Doddridge, the father of Philip, was 
born, in 1745. He married and removed to Bedford county, Pennsylvania, 
where his distinguished son was born, in 1772. In the following year, 
1773, John Doddridge, with his wife and two children, Joseph (author of 
"Doddridge's Notes on the Settlement and Indian Wars of the Western Parts 
of Virginia and Pennsylvania, etc.") and Philip, then an infant, removed, 
as it was then supposed, to Western Virginia, and settled on land situated 
about two or three miles westward of West Middletown, Washington county. 
Afterward, when Mason & Dixon's line came to be extended and the western 
boundary line between Virginia and Pennsylvania definitely established, 
John Doddridge's possessions fell within the territory of Washington 
county, Pennsylvania. Here young Philip was brought up and worked on his 
father's farm until his seventeenth year. John Doddridge was a man of 
intelligence and religious principles. Shortly after identifying himself 
with the settlers in Washington county. He erected a house for public 
worship, designed also for educational purposes. which was called 
Doddridge's Chapel and is said to be still standing, in a dilapidated 
condition. Owing to the unsettled state of the country and Indian 
disturbances schools were rare, and it is probable his sons were dependent 
on himself for their early education. His granddaughter, Narcissa, in her 
memoir of her father, Rev. Dr. Joseph Doddridge, says, that her father and 
"his brother Philip had from childhood been associated in efforts to 
acquire knowledge and were both laboring by day in the field or forest and 
at night poring over books at the family hearth-stone." At the age of 
seventeen he was put under the charge of a gentleman named Johnson, who 
seems to have maintained a classical school at Wellsburg, Brooke county, 
Virginia. Here young Doddridge soon displayed remarkable aptitude for 
study; his proficiency in Latin was something extraordinary. Dr. S. P. 
Hildreth, in the "American Pioneer," says of him: "His vigorous mind drank 
in knowledge with the rapidity of thought, as a dry sponge absorbs water. 
It soon became a habit with him to exercise his memory in changing the 
conversation around him into the idiom of his studies; and following his 
father in his evening and morning devotions, he soon learned to render his 
prayers into very good Latin, and to converse with his teacher fluently." 

His close application to study enfeebled his health so that it became 
necessary, for awile, to suspend his studies. Being still in his minority, 
he was allowed to take a river trip on a flat­boat to New Orleans then, 
with the adjacent territory, under the dominion of Spain. Senator Willey 
gives this account of it: "Young Doddridge, not yet arrived at his 
majority, curious to see something of the world, made an engagement with 
the proprietors of one of these boats to accompany them, partly in the 
character of a common laborer, and partly as supercargo, rendering such 
services, in consideration of his passage and support during the voyage. 
Whilst the boat had stopped at Natchez, where the Spanish governor then 
resided, the youthful traveler availed himself of the delay, to stroll 
about the town, occasionally to gratify his curiosity. During one of these 
rambles he met the governor. Finding that neither of them understood the 
vernacular of the other, Doddridge addressed his excellency in the Latin 
language, and was responded to in the same tongue. Surprised that one so 
young and withal so coarsely clad could converse in a dead language, the 
governor prolonged the interview, his surprise being continually augmented 
by the sprightliness, intelligence and general information of the uncouth 
lad. The result was an invitation to dine at the executive mansion and 
other flattering attentions." 

John Doddridge died in April, 1791; his son, Joseph, who was several years 
older than his brother Philip, having as executor settled up his father's 
estate, took his brother with him to Jefferson Academy, Canonsburg. Joseph 
remained there for several years preparing for the ministry. How long 
Philip stayed is not known; he returned home upon quitting the academy and 
provided himself with a few elementary books, such as "Blackstone's 
Commentaries," "Bacon's Abridgement," "Coke upon Littleton," and depending 
on his own researches began the study of law and for several years 
perseveringly pursued the course he had marked out for himself. He settled 
permanently in Wellsburg, about 1796, and ever afterwards made it his 
residence. His rise at the bar was rapid; his reputation soon extended 
beyond Brooke county and embraced most of the counties of Western 
Virginia. As Mr. Willey expresses it, "The clear, rapid and comprehensive 
mind of Mr. Doddridge was peculiarly fitted to grapple with the difficult 
questions" arising from the complicated and confused land system. 

After his practice became so enlarged and particularly after his great 
abilities were turned to other spheres of labor, his attendance on our 
courts became less frequent and finally ceased. Many stories of him were 
current when the writer was a student at law. His pupil, Mr. Willey, 
narrated one, the same in substance as I have heard from the lips of my 
own preceptor, William Baird, differing only in some of the details. At a 
certain time in our criminal court three men were indicted for a high 
crime. The commonwealth employed one of them as a witness against the 
other two. Ross, Campbell and Doddridge were retained as their attorneys. 
For some reason, the defendants were awarded separate trials: on the first 
trial the testimony of the accomplice was positive and explicit, and being 
slightly corroborated, all the skill and eloquence of Ross and Campbell 
failed to convince the jury of the innocence of the defendant. Campbell 
insisted that Doddridge should stake the lead and make the speech in the 
next trial, and so it was arranged. Doddridge succeeded in putting the 
second jury in a good humor by using all his arts in persuasion, invoking 
their independent action and urging the dangerous character of the 
testimony, where it lacked strong corroboration. He inveighed strongly 
against the meanness of a witness, who, whilst admitting his own guilt, 
seeks to shuffle the crime on the shoulders of another, under the promise 
of pardon to himself. He then proceeded to tell the following story: In 
the old Virginia times, it was the custom for the lawyers to follow the 
judges round the circuit from town to town: and on Sundays to go to church 
in procession, with the senior member at their head. On one occasion, in a 
small Virginia town, Gabriel Jones, an old school Virginia gentleman, 
headed such a procession (here Doddridge described him to the jury, as 
"arrayed in a cocked hat, frilled shirt bosom and wristbands, powdered 
hair, blue coat, white vest and cravat, silk stockings, and silver knee 
and shoe buckles"). When the procession reached the church, the preacher 
who was to occupy the pulpit of the town that day and who was an eccentric 
personage, had commenced his discourse and was inveighing against worldly 
vanity and fashion. Gabriel Jones, at the head of the procession of 
lawyers, put his cocked hat under his arm and reverently walked up the 
aisle. The preacher's eye lighted upon him and pointing his long finger at 
him, he exclaimed: "Ah! you old sinner with your cocked hat under your 
arm; your hair not white enough but you must powder it, you come into the 
house of God, after His services have commenced. I will appear as a 
witness against you in the day of judgment!" Jones stood still till the 
preacher paused, then looking him calmly in the face, said, "I have no 
doubt you will, for after a practice of forty years in the courts of 
Virginia I have always found that the grandest rascal turns state's 
evidence." The jury, impressed by Doddridge's wit and eloquence, acquitted 
the second defendant to the amazement of the commonwealth. Before relating 
what occurred afterwards, it may be well to state that the old time 
lawyers were much given to conviviality; particularly at the close of the 
term. There ensued then a brief period when, like boys out of school, they 
gave themselves up to joviality, beyond what would be allowable nowadays. 
The times were different; it was life on the borders of civilization. 
These seasons of revelry, however, were short in duration and did not 
disqualify them frown business. Falstaff was thrust aside when serious 
things were to be considered. It was related to the writer that Doddridge, 
as was his custom, broke away from his associates when he had partaken of 
the revels, and mounting his horse, pursued his journey along the 
Wellsburg road till he reached the well-known Davis Tavern, six or seven 
miles from Washington; here he stopped, and putting away his horse, went 
into the house and obtained from the woman in charge a blanket, which he 
folded round him and lay down on the floor. Shortly afterward several men 
came in, one of whom had been to court, and the conversation turned on the 
strange trial at Washington. The speaker told of the conviction of one 
defendant upon the clear evidence of the accomplice, and of the general 
expectation that the other would share the like fate. Doddridge pulled the 
blanket over his head and enjoyed the dialogue that followed. "But how 
could such a thing be? ­ one couldn't be guilty and the other innocent, if 
the accomplice told the truth. How did it happen?" "Well, our big lawyers, 
Ross and Campbell, couldn't do anything with the jury in the first case, 
but in the second a big fellow like a bullfrog got up and spoke for the 
other fellow and as it seemed to me just led the jury by the nose; 'tis a 
puzzle to me, too, how one rascal could be guilty and tother innocent, but 
law's a queer thing." Doddridge lay quite still till they went away, then 
betaking himself to his horse, he rode on. But this was not the end of the 
day's adventures; on arriving at West Middletown, Doddridge learned of an 
Irish wake to take place that night near the state line, and on leaving 
the town, he rode thither. On arriving, he tied his horse to the fence and 
went in; at first he was not very well received; the assembled company, 
however, were in a merry mood, and he soon made himself agreeable. The 
whiskey was freely circulating, and after a time Doddridge was called on 
for a story. He said in reply, that there lived on the top of one of the 
river hills an old heathen that wouldn't give a penny to priest or 
preacher. On a certain day a preacher, against the advice of his friends, 
paid him a spiritual visit, but could make nothing out of him. At last, he 
said to him, "I will ask you a question out of the catechism. Who made 
you?" "How should I know," said he. "Don't you know," said the preacher, 
"that God made you?" "Did he," said he. "Don't you know," said the 
preacher, "that God made all things?" "Did he," said he, "Did he make all 
the wild Irish up here on the hills?" "Why certainly he did." "Well, thin, 
he'll repint that the longest day he lives." The story was not well 
received and Doddridge found it necessary to beat a hasty retreat and take 
to horse. When he drew up the bridle rein at his own door, in Wellsburg, 
the revel doubtless was over and sobriety and dignity of demeanor resumed 
their sway. 

For nearly twenty years Mr. Doddridge labored with herculean assiduity in 
his profession; he was retained in important cases, in the Court of 
Appeals, at Richmond, Virginia, and in the Supreme Court of the United 
States, and his reputation as a great lawyer and eloquent debater became 
national. From 1815 to 1828 he was repeatedly elected a member of the 
Virginia House of Delegates; in 1829 he was chosen to represent five of 
the counties of Western Virginia in the State Convention to amend the 
Constitution and took a prominent part in its deliberations, along with 
Chief Justice Marshall, James Madison and James Monroe, both ex-presidents 
of the United States; John Randolph, Benjamin Watkins Leigh and many other 
distinguished men. In 1829 he was elected to Congress from the Wheeling 
district, and re-elected without opposition. His congressional career, 
though of comparatively short duration, was quite a brilliant one and 
gained for him the friendship and admiration of the most noted men of the 
day. In November, 1832, Mr. Doddridge went to Washington City, some weeks 
in advance of the assembling of Congress, to meet with a committee on the 
District of Columbia. He was taken suddenly ill and died the 19th of 
November, and was buried in the Congressional cemetery. Upon the meeting 
of Congress, appropriate honors were done to his memory. 

A curious circumstance is related of him which happened ten years prior to 
his death. In 1822 he was engaged in business in the Supreme Court of the 
United States when he was suddenly seized with some disease which entirely 
suspended the powers of life. In the "Life and Letters" of Judge Story, a 
singular account of the case is given by the judge in a letter to his 
wife: "The physicians," he writes, "declared him dead, and the persons in 
the house proceeded to lay out the corpse. During all this time, he says, 
he was perfectly in his senses, hearing all that was said, but was totally 
unable to move a muscle, or to make the slightest exertion. While these 
things were going on, his wife thought she perceived a slight motion in 
one leg, the knee being drawn up. She supposed it an involuntary muscular 
motion and on placing the limb down, it was again slightly moved; she was 
struck by the circumstance, raised his head upon the pillow, rubbed him 
with brandy and soon perceived a slight indication of returning life. He 
slowly revived, and is here now arguing cases. He says that the motion of 
his knees was voluntary; aware of his situation and all its horrors, he 
was just able to make the slightest motion, and every time any one came 
near the bed, renewed it, until the motion was observed. This story is 
marvelous; but the gentleman has told it himself to one of the judges, and 
the story has been confirmed by other gentlemen well knowing the facts." 
Fearing a recurrence of so perilous a mistake, Mr. Doddridge instructed 
his family and friends never to bury him, however apparent his death might 
be, until every precaution had been exhausted to ascertain that he was 
certainly dead. He related the foregoing circumstances to his attending 
physician during his last illness. Governor Johnston, who visited Mr. 
Doddridge a day or two before he died, in a letter referring to judge 
Story's published account of his former illness, says: "Warned by this 
occurrence, Mr. Doddridge charged his friends not to bury him too hastily 
when his death should occur. I stated this to the physician who attended 
him, during his sojourn in Washington, who replied that Mr. Doddridge had 
made the same statement to him and others. The several physicians present 
said there was no doubt of his death at this time; yet to satisfy his 
absent family and friends the large crowd assembled to attend his funeral, 
amongst whom were the President, heads of departments, &c., dispersed and 
reassembled on the following day, when the burial took place." The civic 
authorities of Washington, many of the public functionaries of the United 
States government, and John Quincy Adams, ex-President, were present at 
the funeral obsequies. Thus died and was honored a self educated man, of 
whom Daniel Webster, in the year after his death, standing before his 
portrait, in his own house, at Wellsburg, having turned aside from his 
western tour expressly to pay his respects to his widow, said: "He was the 
only man I ever feared to meet in debate." 

Of Mr. Doddridge's descendants, the writer has but limited knowledge. A 
daughter became the wife of Benjamin Ramsey, Esq., who studied law and 
settled at Portsmouth, Ohio. After the death of his wife, he returned, 
with his infant daughter to the old homestead where he was born, in 
Franklin township, Washington county, a few miles from Washington. Here he 
lived and died many years ago, and here his daughter was raised by her 
paternal aunts and was married to a well known citizen of the community, 
William B. McKennan, Esq. She is now living with her family on the old 
Ramsay farm. Mrs. Ada D. McKennan and her children are the only 
descendants of Philip Doddridge of whom any account can now be given.