Cabell County West Virginia Biographies

Brown, Judge James Henry
     One of the distinguished lawyers, statesmen and jurists of Virginia, before the State was divided, is the subject of this brief biographical sketch. He is of English ancestry, and was the son of Benjamin Brown, a native of Virginia; was born in Cabell County, Virginia, December 20, 1818. His mother was a native of North Carolina, and was the daughter of Major Nathaniel Scales. He was educated at Marietta College, Ohio, and Augusta College, Kentucky, and from the latter well known institution he graduated in the class of 1840. In person he was tall (a little more than six feet) and was always, even in later life, as erect as an Indian. He was also sinewy and active. Up almost to the period of his last illness his step was as elastic as a man of forty, or even less.
     He read law under the direction of John Laidley, a prominent attorney of Cabell County, and in 1842, after two years of careful study of legal text books, he was admitted to membership of the Cabell County Bar, and promptly began the practice of his chosen profession. He was a natural orator, and it was not long until he took a leading rank as a superior advocate, and a forceful and effective trial lawyer. Desirous of a wider field of operations and better opportunities for development of his talents, he located at Charleston, Kanawha County, in 1848, where he spent the major portion of his life in the ardent practice of his profession. He was always regarded as a man of the highest sense of honor and probity; was thoroughly reliable in all his statements and dealings; was a hard student, and was a careful and honorable counselor. It is no wonder, therefore, that his clientele soon grew to large proportions. His practice was in both State and National courts, and covered all the branches of the law, and extended into all of the surrounding counties. He was universally regarded as an all around, able and successful lawyer.
     Judge Brown, though a Democrat, took an active stand for the Union in 1860 and '61, and was one of the leaders in the formation of the new Commonwealth of West Virginia; was a member of all the conventions looking to the building of the State; was elected a member of the Legislature of the Restored Government of Virginia, May 23, 1861, from Kanawha County, amid the turmoil of a divided county, and addressed many meetings when his hearers were armed for personal protection. He was an eloquent stump speaker and a fearless defender of his political faith. He became an ardent Republican and was a member of the Convention that framed the first Constitution of the State of West Virginia. In the winter of 1861 and '62 he was elected and commissioned Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit of Virginia. While acting in this capacity the records of his courts in several of the counties of his circuit, as fast as they were made, were captured and destroyed, and on several occasions he narrowly escaped the repeated efforts that were made to capture the Court. It is claimed, and we believe correctly, that no appeal from any of his decisions was ever taken to a higher court. As a judge he was courteous, firm and fearless.
     May 28, 1863, he was elected an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the new State of West Virginia. On this court he exhibited the same firm and wise qualities as revealed by him on the bench of the nisi prius court. He served with great acceptability until the close of his term. He was by nature and education fitted for the law. He carried to a high degree the power of convincing statement. His opinions are models of good English. His supreme desire was to be just, and nothing could swerve him from doing right, as he was able to see the right. When he retired from the bench he returned to active practice, and kept it up until a short time before his death, which occurred at his home in Charleston, October 28, 1900.
     Judge Brown was twice a candidate for Congress, but his Congressional District, being strongly Democratic at that time, he was both times defeated, but he ran ahead of his ticket on both occasions. In 1882 he was elected a member of the Legislature of West Virginia, and took an active part in shaping the legislation of that session.
     In 1844 he married Miss Louise Beuhring and reared a large family. One of his sons — James F. Brown — is one of the ablest lawyers of the entire State. Judge Brown was an ardent member of the Presbyterian Church, and for about half a century was a ruling elder of that denomination. However, in matters of religion, he favored the largest liberty of conscience. He at all times had the implicit confidence of all people who knew him, and he was for a-half century one of the best known men of the Great Kanawha Valley.
     Judge Brown late in life, and many years after the death of his first wife, married the widow of the late Fayette A. Lovell, who was in life a member of the Kanawha County Bar, and she survived him several years. They had no effspring. She too passed into the "Great Beyond " a few years subsequent to his demise.
[Bench and Bar of West Virginia by George Wesley Atkinson, 1919 - Transcribed by AFOFG]

Copen, Clarence E.
C. E. Copen, son of William A. and Alice Copen, was born in Wirt County, West Virginia, December 8, 1877, and was educated in the public schools and at the West Virginia University at Morgantown. After leaving the University he became a public school teacher for a few years, in which profession he was a pronounced success. During this period he decided to become a lawyer, and began the systematic reading of legal textbooks, which he kept up until 1904, when he was equipped to pass the rigid examination required by the West Virginia statute, and was, in that year, admitted to practice as a member of the Wirt County Bar, where he carried on a lucrative business in his native and adjoining counties. Being desirous to widen his field of labor, he moved to Huntington in Cabell County, where he became a member of the firm of Doolittle, Copen & Davis, which firm was dissolved by the death of Judge Doolittle. At this time, and for a few years past, he maintains an office at Winfield, Putnam County, where he spends a limited portion of his time each month. His present firm at Huntington is Copen & Darnell.
For the first few years his practice was mainly on the criminal side of the courts, because he was gifted as a public speaker, and, therefore, was a strong and successful advocate, especially before juries; but in later years he has given the most of his time and energies to civil practice, which he finds much more profitable and far more satisfactory. As a side issue he was connected with the publication of a weekly newspaper, which gave him an experience and knowledge that was very helpful to him as a trial lawyer, and added to his influence both as a lawyer and a citizen. He, however, did not allow this, in any way, to interfere with his business as a lawyer, as his practice steadily grew larger as the years passed by.
He was two years (1905 and 1906) Prosecuting Attorney of his native county, and, having had an extensive experience in criminal practice, he made an enviable record as a prosecutor of violators of the penal statutes of the State. This experience proved to be bf large value to him in broadening his grasp of the fundamental principles of the law, thus fitting him for a wider field of usefulness in his chosen profession.
Mr. Copen is a Republican in his political convictions, but he has never been an extremist, nor has he ever allowed politics to interfere with his professional business. His one set purpose has been to make good as a lawyer, which he has succeeded in doing.
He is a member of the Baptist Church, and always takes the moral side of all questions that come before the people. He is also an active member of the Knights of Pythias, an institution which stands for good morals and good citizenship. September 24, 1898, he was united in marriage with Miss Rosa M. Mason. As a result of this union they have four children, all boys. Their home is at Huntington, the seat of justice of Cabell County, where they have many friends.
Mr. Copen's practice is of a general character, and extends into all the courts of West Virginia, both State and Federal. He handles his cases well, and is measurably successful. He is agreeable and courteous, and has a large following of friends both in and outside of his profession.
[Bench and bar of West Virginia edited by George Wesley Atkinson, 1919 – Transcribed by AFOFG]

Ferguson, Judge James H.
     The subject of this brief memoir was born in Montgomery County, Virginia, April 14, 1817; was entirely self-educated, and was self-made. He possessed a massive intellect, and was almost a giant in stature. By application and industry he became one of the great lawyers, jurists and legislators, the State of Virginia ever produced. He showed greatness in everything he undertook. He was learned in the law and towered above most men in knowledge as well as in physical stature. He left his impress upon the times in which he lived, and was recognized by the people who knew him personally as a man who possessed the elements of true greatness. He was regarded, not only as an erudite lawyer; but as a law-maker, in which, he had but few equals, and probably no superiors. He was admitted to the Bar in 1840, and settled in Logan County, now West Virginia, and in a very short period of time, became the leading lawyer of that entire section. In politics he was a Whig. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Logan County, which office he held and ably filled until 1848, when he was elected to the Virginia Legislature from the counties of Logan and Boone, and was re-elected to the same office each year until 1851. In 1850, he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of Virginia of 1850 and 51, while he was a member of the Legislature of the State, and was one of the leaders of both bodies. He was formidable in all of the debates on all of the important questions that arose. He opposed everything that pointed toward dissolution of the Union, and opposed the pernicious doctrine of secession from the commencement to the close of the Civil War.
     In 1864, he became a citizen of Cabell County, and in the Fall of that year he was elected a member of the Legislature of the new State of West Virginia, and was re-elected to the same position every year to and including 1871. In all of these bodies he was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and was the controlling factor in practically all of the legislation that was enacted at those several sessions. In 1868 he was chairman of the Joint Commission on the revision of the West Virginia Code. He did most of the work, and by direction of the Legislature prepared and indexed the Code of 1868 for publication. During the autumn of that year, he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court of Cabell, Boone, Logan, Wayne and Lincoln Counties; and after about two years of pronouncedly able service on the Bench, he resigned, opened a law office in Charleston, and became chief counsel for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, where he remained until his death. He was elected to the Legislature from Kanawha County in 1876. He was able in all branches of the law, but was perhaps strongest in land litigation. There were but few equals to him in all branches of the law pertaining to the adjustment of controverted land titles. Ho was also a specialist in corporation controversies. As a matter of fact, he was an all-around lawyer: and as a law maker, he had no superior in West Virginia.
     He was twice married, and was a devout member of the Baptist Church. He died at his residence in Charleston at the advanced age of 86 years.
     At the close of the Civil War, Judge Ferguson identified himself with the Democratic Party, but never was a pronounced partisan.
[Bench and bar of West Virginia edited by George Wesley Atkinson, 1919 – Transcribed by AFOFG]

Kesterson, George E.
George E. Kesterson, Huntington, WV Among those prominently known in the profession of law at Huntington and equally recognized as leaders in the coal industry is George E. Kesterson. During the twenty-seven years that he had been identified with affairs in this state he has made numerous important connections and entrenched himself firmly in the confidence of his associates. He was born at Belpre, Washington County, Ohio, October 7,1867, and is a son of William Franklin and Melissa (Treadway) Kesterson. The Kesterson family originated in Germany, whence came the great-grandfather of George E. Kesterson, who first located in Baltimore, Maryland, where upon the advent of the War of the Revolution, he joined General Washington's army and fought bravely during the winning of American independence. His son, Willis Kesterson, the grandfather of George E. Kesterson, was born at Waynesboro, Virginia, where he lived practically his whole life, being a well-known and prosperous planter of his community. He maintained the family's military record by fighting with the American troops during the Mexican war. Late in life he was sent to Lubeck, West Virginia, where he died prior to the death of his grandson.
[Source: "The History of West Virginia, Old and New" Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc. Chicago and New York, Volume 11, Page 249 Submitted by Christine Walters]

Love Family Biography
     The surname Love is derived, according to the best authority on British surnames, not from love, but from the word loup (wolf), and appears in the Hundred Rolls, evidently having been a surname from about A. D. 1200. From Loupell is derived Lovell in a similar way. A very ancient Love coat-of-arms is described: Azure a lion rampant argent. Crest: A hand holding an annulet proper. Various other coats-of-arms of the Love family are described by Burke. The principal seats of this family in England are at Basing, Hampshire; Norton and Goadhurst, Hampshire and Oxfordshire; Sevenoaks, county Kent; Kirksted, county Norfolk, and at Agnow, county Northampton.
     The first American immigrant of the name was in Boston in 1635, but he appears to have left soon. It is not known whether he went back to England or not, but there is evidence that he left descendants in Boston. Thomas Love, of Boston, married, September 23, 1752, Hannah Thurston. John Love, of Boston, died in 1714; another John Love died there in 1756, and a Margaret Love in 1759. Wichie Love died in Boston in 1724, and his son, Qilliam Richie, of Ritchie, had a guardian appointed in 1730 and died in 1758. Robert Love, of Boston, died in 1777. Hezekiah Love, of Taunton, was a juror in the county court at Plymouth in 1650, but no descendants are known.
     Before the revolution two of the Boston Love family moved to Mecklenburg county, Virginia. The date is given in some records as 1674. If this date is correct they were probably sons of the first settler, but possibly grandsons. The names are not known, however.
     (II) Charles Love, a descendant of the Boston Love family, was born in Mecklenburg county, Virginia, probably as early as 1750. He married Susan Chiles, of Childs. With his two sons, William and Daniel and three daughters, he removed to Kanawha county, Virginia, now in West Virginia, in 1805. In 1814 he and his two sons removed to Mud River valley, where they settled and lived the remainder of their lives. Children of Charles and Susan Love: Mrs. Rolfe, Mrs. Burton, Mrs. Hampton, Mrs. Shortridge, Charles. Allen. William, mentioned below; Daniel, married Cynthia Anna Chadwick.
     (III) William, son of Charles Love, was born in Mecklenburg county, Virginia. December 30, 1781. He married, June 16. 1803, Susan E. Brame, born in Mecklenburg county, March 2, 1785. Children: 1. Martha A., born May 24, 1804, died May 18. 1845, in Iowa; married, March 19, 1822. Luke W. Billups. 2. Elizabeth L.. born January' 2. 1806; married, November 10. 1825, Martha Ellison. 3. Charles T., born April 26, 1807, died May 18, 1854; married. February 23, 1841, Lucretia Jane Creath. 4. May I., born October 18. 1808. died February 4. 1896, in Illinois; married, March 18, 1828, Albert Eastham. 5. William A., mentioned below. 6. Elisha, born December 22, 1811, died May 9, 1847; married, October 27, 1831, B. W. Maupin. 7. Sophia P., born October 16, 1813, died in Huntingdon, West Virginia, March 9, 1895; married, December 22, 1836, Edmund C. Rece. 8. Lewis L., born July 25, 1815; married, August 9, 1838, Emily Eastham. 9. Allen, born March 17, 1817, died June 3, 1849, unmarried. Three others died in infancy.
     (IV) William A., son of William Love, was born April 28. 1810, in Virginia. He was educated in the common schools, and followed farming all his life in Putnam county, Virginia. He married (first) May 30, 1832, Eliza Morris, who died February 3. 1838, daughter of John Morris; he married (second) August 8. 1839, Margaret Handley; married (third) December 6, 1842, Elizabeth Shelton. Children by first wife: 1. Peter E., mentioned below. 2. John W.. a soldier in the federal army, killed in the civil war. Child by second wife: 3. Margaret, married Charles Shoemaker. Children by third wife: 4. Susan Virginia, married Samuel Moore. 5. Eliza, married John O. Morris. 6. Charles, died in infancy. 7. Daughter, died in infancy. 8. Daughter, died in infancy. 9. Nancy, married Bales Kade. 10. Minnie, married Samuel Moore, he being the husband of her deceased sister, Susan V. 11. Marietta, married P. B. Reynolds.
     (V) Peter E., son of William A. Love, was born in Cabell county, Virginia, now in West Virginia, June 13, 1833. He was a farmer in Cabell county during his active life. Died November 28, 1912, aged seventy-nine years, in Huntington, West Virginia. He married Ann A. Simmons, born near Milton, West Virginia, died December 18, 1910, aged seventy-seven years, daughter of William Simmons. Children, born in Cabell 'county, West Virginia: 1. Charles A., married Edith Bernall. 2. John W., married Kate Jackson. 3. Cornwalsy, married Mamie Dundass. 4. James S., (deceased); married Agnes Sedinger. 5. Thomas L., deceased; married Catherine Heriford. 6. L. Lewis, M. D., married (first) Anna Love; (second) a Miss Underwood. 7. Allen V., married Lillian Tozier. 8. Henry Edward, mentioned below. 9. Mollie E., married W. G. Williams. 10. Annie E., married S. E. Reynolds.
     (VI) Henry Edward, son of Peter E. Love, was born near Barboursville, Cabell county, West Virginia, December 19, 1870. He rereceived his early education in the public schools and afterward attended Barboursville College. After following farming for a number of years, he was for a time a general merchant at Barboursville. In 1902 he came to Hunington and engaged in the livery stable business for about five years. He sold out to devote all his attention to the automobile business and since then he has had a large and flourishing trade. In 1905 he built his present garage, the first in Huntington. He is a dealer in all kinds of automobiles and conducts a general automobile business. He is one of the prominent merchants of the town. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntington. In politics he is a Democrat. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He and his family attend the Baptist church. Mr. Love married, October 23, 1893, Minnie F. McCommas, born near Barboursville, Cabell county, West Virginia, daughter of Jefferson McCommas. Children, born in Cabell county: Paul E., Amelia A., Mildred Bess, Milton H.
[West Virginia and its people, Volume 2 By Thomas Condit Miller and Hu Maxwell, 1913 - Transcribed by Therman Kellar]

Moore, Judge Charles Page Thomas, M.A.
     The Supreme Court Bench has had upon it few, if any, more gifted and popular wearers of the judicial ermine than the one whose kindly eyes face this brief biographical sketch. Since the early days of the State's existence, when party lines were sponged out by the overshadowing issue of National preservation, has any party candidate been more generally indorsed by the people than Judge Moore.
     He was the youngest of three children from the marriage of Thomas Moore and Augusta Delphia Page, both of Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. His parents died when he was young. He was born February 8, 1831, and was adopted by his uncle, George Moore, and was taken to Mason County, on the Ohio River, who gave him a broad and liberal education. He first attended Marshall College, Cabell County, Virginia; then at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, and at Union College, New York, graduating from the latter in July, 1853, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He afterwards took the prescribed law course at the University of Virginia, and in 1856 he was admitted to the Bar of Mason County Circuit Court. In 1858 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of that county, serving in that capacity until the beginning of the Civil War. He vigorously opposed secession, although he was a Democrat in his political affiliations. In 1868 he was a candidate for Congress, but failed of election.
     In 1870 he was elected on the Democratic ticket as one of the judges of the Supremo Court of Appeals of West Virginia for the term of twelve year's, but by the adoption of the State Constitution of 1872 his term was made to expire December 31, 1872. He was nominated for the same office at the following general election, and was overwhelmingly re-elected by the people. In the allotment provided by the Constitution of 1872, he drew the full term of twelve years. In 1881, owing to failing health, and after having rendered most faithful and efficient service for about ten years, he resigned from that high position, and thereafter adopted the more quiet and congenial life of the farm left to him by his uncle near Elwell, Mason County, in the splendid Ohio Valley, where he remained until his death.
     Judge Moore wedded Miss Urilla K., daughter of Jacob A. Kline of Mason County, by whom he had four daughters. He loved the people and they revere his memory. No taint ever rested upon his private or public life. He was one of the most genial and generous of men, and was a man of marked personal appearance.
[Bench and Bar of West Virginia by George Wesley Atkinson, 1919 - Transcribed by AFOFG]

Simmons, Mrs. Agnes Goodridge
Mrs. Agnes Goodridge Simmons.
     From memorial resolutions passed by Camp No. 770, U. C. V., of Los Angeles, Cal, in tribute to Mrs. Agnes Goodridge Simmons, beloved wife of Comrade S. S. Simmons, Commander of the Camp, the following is taken:
     "Mrs. Agnes Goodridge Simmons, daughter of Col. Charles Ruffner, was born at Charleston on Kanawha, W. Va., on March 20, 1851, and died May 5, 1920. She married Sampson Saunders Simmons, of Cabell County, W. Va., in February, 1870, and their golden wedding anniversary was celebrated on February 13, 1920. She was the mother of ten children, four of whom died in infancy. Three daughters and three sons survive her: Mrs. George T. Klipstun, of Alexandria, Va.; Mrs. William P. Mahood and Mrs. John W. Piatt, of Los Angeles, Cal.; Bennett E. Simmons, of Los Angeles, Cal.; Goodridge Kilgore Simmons, of Holtsville, Cal.; C. Ruffner Simmons, of Phcenix, Ariz. The youngest son served in France in the Aero Squadron, A. E. F.
     "Mrs. Simmons united with the Church at about fifteen years of age and all through life was more or less active in the work of the Church, and she was an active worker in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in her West Virginia home town. Her family, a large one, in her native county is among the oldest of the Virginians and devoted its entire strength to the cause of the Confederacy during the War between the States. Her father, too old for military duty at the time, maintained a hospital for the Confederate soldiers near the border of Virginia and became the object of the bitterest persecution by the invading army because of his influence and activities in behalf of the South. Her husband, Sampson S. Simmons, was a member of Company E, 8th Virginia Cavalry, known as the 'Border Rangers,' commanded by the gallant Albert Gallatin Jenkins. The family have made their home in Los Angeles since 1908.
     "Resolved, That the members of this Camp cherish the memory of Mrs. Simmons as that of one who was loyal to the ideals and principles for which we strive, helpful to us in our work, and an ever ready friend to us, one and all."
[Confederate Veteran,Volume 28 by Confederated Southern Memorial Association, 1920 - Transcribed by Therman Kellar]