George W. Atkinson

(Redirected from George Wesley Atkinson )

For other people named George Atkinson, see George Atkinson (disambiguation) .

George Wesley Atkinson (June 29, 1845 – April 4, 1925) was a United States cavalryman, lawyer, politician, judge and scholar who became the tenth governor of West Virginia after running as the candidate of the Republican Party . He also served in the West Virginia House of Delegates , as well as in the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia and ended his career of public service as a United States federal judge of the Court of Claims .

Contents

• 1 Early life and education

• 2 Career

  • 2.1 Congressional service

  • 2.2 Newspaperman

  • 2.3 Governor

  • 2.4 Federal judge

  • 2.5 Final years and publications

• 3 Death, honors and legacy

• 4 Gallery

• 5 References

• 6 Sources

• 7 External links

Early life and education

(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_W._Atkinson&action=edit&section=1 "Edit section: Early life and education")

Born on June 29, 1845, in Charleston , Virginia (now West Virginia ), to the former Miriam Radar of Nicholas County and her husband, Col. James Atkinson, a farmer and Kanawha County deputy sheriff. George, the second-born and named for his paternal grandfather, would have seven sisters.

Atkinson attended public school in Charleston.

During the Civil War, Atkinson enlisted and mustered out as a private in Company F of the 1st West Virginia cavalry. After the war, in addition to becoming superintendent of the Kanawha County public schools, losing his father and marrying (as discussed below), Atkinson attended Ohio Wesleyan University and received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1870. He continued his studies and received an Artium Magister degree in 1873 from the same institution. He also took graduate level courses from Mount Union College , a Methodist-affiliated institution founded in 1845 in Alliance, Ohio , which would award him a PhD "pro merito" in 1887. In 1871 he moved to either Nashville, Tennessee , or Washington, D.C. , for legal studies, ultimately receiving a Bachelor of Laws in 1874 from Howard University School of Law . He later attended lectures on law at Columbia University .

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

Career

(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_W._Atkinson&action=edit&section=2 "Edit section: Career")

Atkinson Charleston board of education, 1869-'71, and assistant county superintendent of public schools, 1868-'70. became the assistant superintendent of public schools for Kanawha County, serving from 1868 to 1870. For part of this period, Atkinson also collected tolls for the Kanawha River Board (1869 to 1871). He was also the postmaster for Kanawha Courthouse (now Charleston) from 1871 to 1877.

Shortly after graduating from Howard's law school, Atkinson was admitted to the West Virginia bar, beginning a private practice in Charleston from 1875 to 1877. In the final year (1876), he was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates . Atkinson moved to Wheeling in 1877, and edited the Wheeling Standard from 1877 to 1878. Atkinson then received his next federal job, as revenue agent for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (now the Internal Revenue Service ) of the United States Department of the Treasury in Wheeling from 1879 to 1881. He then became the United States Marshal for the District of West Virginia from 1881 to 1885.

Congressional service

(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_W._Atkinson&action=edit&section=3 "Edit section: Congressional service")

Atkinson ran for Congress as a Republican to represent West Virginia's 1st congressional district . Although he appeared to lose, he successfully contested the election of United States Representative John O. Pendleton to the United States House of Representatives of the 51st United States Congress , so served approximately the final year of the term, from February 26, 1890, to March 3, 1891. Atki

…