Sands Hunt Witherspoon (1859-1926)

From the Maine legislative composite photo of 1905.

  Continuing on our theme of unusually named Maine legislators, we journey to Knox County and Sands Hunt Witherspoon, an obscure resident of North Haven who served a term in the house of representatives early in the 20th century. The last of 10 children, Sands Hunt Witherspoon was born in Rockport on June 1, 1859, the son of  James (1807-1888) and Hannah Greenlaw Witherspoon (1817-1881). Early in his life, Witherspoon removed with his family to North Haven, and his early education was likely obtained there.

   There is a dearth of resources concerning Witherspoon's early life and employment, except notice of his being a fruit grower in Pulpit Harbor, Maine in the early 1890s. In 1904 he announced his candidacy for the Maine House of Representatives and won election that fall. Taking his seat at the start of the 1905-06 session, Witherspoon served a single term and sat on the County Estimates and Towns committees.

  Little else could be found on Witherspoon's life following his term. In 1908 he is recorded as the owner of a grocery and general store in Pulpit Harbor, as well as being a photographer. He died on November 10, 1926, in North Haven and was interred in the Witherspoon family plot at the Fuller Cemetery in that town.

Ashland Trenton Patrick (1859-1952)

From the Lexington Leader, September 7, 1941.

   Kentucky earns its second article on the site for 2020 with Ashland Trenton Patrick, an attorney and circuit court judge who, appropriately enough, shares his first name with a Kentucky city (Ashland in Boyd County.) A lifelong Kentucky resident, Patrick had previously served as a county school superintendent, circuit court commissioner, and for four years was county attorney for Magoffin County. The son of John W. and Abigail (Salyers) Patrick, Ashland Trenton Patrick was born in what is now Magoffin County on June 2, 1859.

  A student at Kentucky's Georgetown College, Patrick also attended Ohio Wesleyan University. Following his graduation, he followed a teaching career for three years and also read law under Judge John Cooper. Patrick was admitted to the bar in the early 1880s and by 1883 had established himself in practice. In either 1881 or 1882 (dates vary) Ashland Patrick married Amanda Louise "Lulie" Howes (1860-1942), to who he was wed for six decades. The couple's long union produced four children, Lenore Patrick Adams (1882-1969), Hortense Patrick Elam (1884-1967), Henry B. (birthdate unknown), and Effie Patrick Milby (1902-1991).

  Ashland T. Patrick began his career in public service in 1885 when he was elected as Magoffin County superintendent of schools. He served in that capacity for a year and in 1886 was appointed as a U.S. circuit court commissioner for Kentucky, a post he held until 1896. This period saw Patrick as the partner of his father-in-law, attorney William Wiley Howse in Salyersville, a firm that continued until the latter's death in 1900. 

   In 1897 Patrick entered into the race for Commonwealth's Attorney but was defeated. In 1901 the citizens of Magoffin County elected him as their county attorney, where he served a four-year term. He returned to his law practice after his term concluded and in 1915 was elected as Circuit Court judge for Kentucky's 31st judicial district, defeating incumbent Democrat D.W. Gardner. In the following year, Patrick removed to Prestonsburg, and in 1919 was designated by Governor Augustus O. Stanley as a special judge for the Letcher County circuit, due to the illness of Judge John Butler. 

  Patrick won the Republican renomination for judge in October 1921, following the contested August primary instigated by his opponent, C.B. Wheeler. Despite his successful bid for renomination, Patrick was defeated that November by Democrat W.W. Williams, by a 4,000-plus vote majority. Several years following his defeat he returned to politics when he announced his candidacy for state senator from Kentucky's 13th district. He was defeated in the August Republican primary by Alex L. Allen, who polled 3,616 votes to Patrick's 2,119.

From the Park City Daily News, August 8, 1931.

From the Lexington Leader, July 26, 1932.

  Several months following his senatorial dreams being dashed, Ashland Patrick set his sights on a higher office: U.S. Congressman. Announcing his bid in July 1932, Patrick was one of fourteen candidates vying for the Republican nomination from an at-large congressional district. In the days leading up to the August election Patrick's character and judicial service were profiled in the Louisville Courier-Journal, which wrote:

"He served on the bench for six years with credit to himself and honor to people of the district. He is a good speaker and belongs to a prominent and Republican family in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, who have always fought faithfully for the party in all of its battles. His party can depend on him."

  On primary election day, Ashland Patrick polled 17,728 votes but was one of several candidates who lost out at the ballot box. In 1939 Patrick established the annual Patrick reunion of Kentucky, and in 1941 was honored at this family reunion with an oil painting of himself. Designated as the Patrick family's "Grand Old Man", Patrick celebrated his 90th birthday in 1949 and died at the General Hospital in Prestonsburg on September 9, 1952. He had been preceded in death by his wife in 1942, and both were interred at the Gardner Cemetery in Salyersville, Kentucky.

From the Lexington Leader, September 9, 1952.

Leviticus Tilton Richmond (1859-1922)

Portrait from the Melrose Bell, May 30, 1918.

   There were few men more prominent in late 19th and early 20th century Monroe County, Iowa than Leviticus Tilton Richmond, a citizen long distinguished in the civic affairs and political life of that area. A lifelong Iowan, Richmond and his wonderfully odd name would go on to serve as Monroe County sheriff, Mayor of Albia (the Monroe County seat), and was a candidate for both district court judge and U.S. Representative from Iowa. Further political honors were accorded to him in 1920 when he was named as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

   One of ten children born to Samuel and Sarah (Bell) Richmond, Leviticus Tilton "Tilt" Richmond's birth occurred in Cedar Township, Iowa on June 11, 1859. Natives of Kentucky, Samuel and Sarah Richmond had migrated to Monroe County, Iowa fifteen years prior to their son's birth, and resided on a farm. "Tilt" Richmond's formative years were spent hard at work on his family's farm, which he would later recount during his run for judge. He attended the district school during the winter months and went on to study at the Central University at Pella from 1877-1880. During this time Richmond taught school in Monroe County, and in 1880 entered into teaching at the Knoxville Academy. Leviticus T. Richmond married in November 1885 to Elizabeth W. "Lizzie" Malone (1859-1940), with whom he had three children: Frances Richmond Bickert (1887-1987), William Tilton (born 1890) and Byron E. (1895-1923). 

   In 1882 Richmond turned his attention to reading law, and following a period of study in the office of W. A. Nichole was admitted to practice in 1883. Richmond removed permanently to Albia shortly thereafter and soon launched his law practice. While mainly engaged in private practice, Richmond had a longstanding legal connection to the Wapello Coal Company, serving as its attorney beginning in 1888.

   In the years following his resettlement in Albia, the name of L.T. Richmond grew to be one of the most prominent in the vicinity. Aside from his practice Richmond would rise high in the civic affairs of the city, serving as vice president and cashier of the First National Bank of Albia, cashier of the Farmer's and Miners Savings Bank, was an executive board member of the Albia Businessmen's Association, and served as president of the Albia Interurban Railway Co. Richmond was also named to the board of trustees of the Knoxville Industrial School for the Blind in 1892, holding his seat well into the 1900s.

   "Tilt" Richmond first entered the political life of Monroe County in 1884 when he was named as Deputy Sheriff for the county. In the following year, he was elected Sheriff and served in that capacity until 1888. He would later become a member of the Albia city council and also served a five-month period as Mayor, his dates of service being unknown at this time. Acknowledged as one of Monroe County's leading Democrats at the turn of the 19th century, Richmond continued to raise his political profile in July 1902, being chosen as chairman of the 6th District Democratic Congressional Convention held at Oskaloosa.

  In July 1910 L.T. Richmond announced that he'd be a Democratic candidate for district court judge for Iowa's 2nd judicial district. During that election season, he took to the stump, making a number of addresses through the district, relating his being in"favor of cutting down court expenses and favored a non-partisan judiciary." Richmond's candidacy was also given a substantial write-up in the Chariton Leader in September 1910, in which he was described as 

"A big, warm hearted man, firm in his convictions of right, true to his obligations and opposes men without incurring their ill will, because, while he is courteous, yet he is resolute, and never temporizes."

   As one of eight candidates (both Democrat and Republican) vying for the judgeship, Richmond faced an uphill battle. On election day 1910 he polled a respectable 11,641 votes but still placed below winning candidates Dan Anderson, Frank Eichelberger, C.W. Vermillion, and F.M. Hunter. Richmond also failed to carry his home county of Monroe, losing to fellow Albia resident Dan M. Anderson by a vote of 2,017 to 2,338.

Richmond as he appeared in the September 15, 1910 Chariton Leader.

   In early 1918 L.T. Richmond was induced to reenter politics, being urged by local Democrats to enter the primary race for U.S. Representative from Iowa's 6th district. In May of that year, Richmond's candidacy was highlighted in a large campaign notice in the Kellogg, Iowa Enterprise. As one of three Democratic candidates hoping to win the June 3rd primary, Richmond outlined his platform of "pure Americanism" during wartime and noted that he had been mentioned as a congressional candidate on several previous occasions. In this notice Richmond hoped to be of aid to the American war effort in Congress, stating:

"When war was declared against Germany last April I resolved that from that moment I would do anything in my power to support our Government and stand back of our splendid army of young heroes, who are now so patriotically fighting our battles for the perpetuation of Democracy.....I have decided to ask the Democratic voters of the 6th district to favor me with the nomination for Congress, and if so favored, the platform on which I will stand for election will be one of pure Americanism, and the most vigorous prosecution of the War until Prussian militarism is forever crushed and the peace which comes will be a guaranteed and forever lasting peace, which will behold democracy triumphant over her foes."

From the Kellogg Enterprise, May 24, 1918.

From the Melrose Bell, May 23, 1918.

   Also vying for the Democratic nomination were Patrick Leeny (then serving as Albia's mayor) and Buell McCash (1888-1978), a soldier then stationed at Camp Dodge. McCash, a newcomer to the race, had had his name put forward by a group of friends shortly before the primary occurred. Despite polling 1,719 votes on June 3rd, Richmond placed second, losing out to McCash, who received 2,213 votes. McCash went on to lose the general election that November to two-term incumbent Republican Christian W. Ramseyer (1875-1943), who triumphed by over 4,000 votes.

   Two years after his congressional run L.T. Richmond was selected as part of the Iowa delegation to the 1920 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco which nominated Ohio Governor James M. Cox for the presidency. Richmond continued to reside in Albia until shortly before his death. In November 1922 he traveled to Chicago to undergo an operation for "gland trouble" in his throat but didn't survive the procedure, dying at the Presbyterian Hospital in that city on November 21. His Cook County death certificate denotes his full first name of "Leviticus" and he was later returned to Iowa for burial at the St. Mary's Cemetery in Albia. One should note that Richmond's gravestone records his name as "L. Tiltson Richmond", presumably an error on the part of the engraver. 

   Leviticus Tilton Richmond was survived by his wife Lizzie and all of his children. Frances Richmond Bickert, Leviticus' eldest child, would go on to become a prominent Democrat in Iowa, serving as vice chairman of the Monroe County Central Democratic Committee for forty-eight years. She would also serve as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1940 and 1952. Bickert died shortly before her 100th birthday in October 1987. 

Richmond's obituary from the Albia Union and Republican, November 23, 1922. 

Iullus Greenleaf Denny (1859-1925)

Judge I.G. Denny, portrait from the Nov. 30, 1941 Butte, Montana Standard.

    The inaugural posting for 2015 takes us out west to Montana and "I.G." Denny of the city of Butte. After discovering that his rather hard-to-find initials stood for "Iullus Greenleaf", I immediately set to work trying to locate a picture of the man. After what seemed like hours of searching a 1941 edition of the Butte, Montana Standard yielded the above portrait of Mr. Denny, looking quite intense and grumpy! Facial expression notwithstanding, "I.G." Denny (as most sources refer to him) was a prominent lawyer and political figure in Montana during the early years of the 20th century, serving as Missoula County prosecuting attorney. Shortly before his passing in 1925, Denny served one term in the Montana House of Representatives and in 1924 was an unsuccessful aspirant for Governor of Montana.

   Denny's story begins with his birth on May 19, 1859, in Bethel, Polk County, Oregon, being one of seven children born to Aaron (1823-1903) and Almyra King Denny (1826-1892), who had migrated to the Oregon territory from Indiana. As mentioned earlier, nearly every available source on Denny's life records him by his initials, except his biography in 1913's A History of the Montana Vol. 3, which denotes his first and middle names as "Iullus Greenleaf." His first name also has a slight variation in spelling, being given as "Iulius".

    As the son of pioneer settlers in the Oregon territory, I.G. Denny was "reared to the sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm" and commenced his education in the village school of Bethel, Oregon. After unsuccessfully applying for enrollment at West Point Denny enrolled at the University of Oregon, where he studied for one year. He would leave that school to begin the study of law in the offices of Daly and Butler, where he remained for about a year. Denny decided upon a career in law during this time and earned his law degree from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon in the class of 1888.

    Soon after graduating, Denny was admitted to the Oregon bar but within a short period decided to remove to Montana. He first settled in Ravalli County but later moved to Missoula, where he would enter "vigorously upon the practice of his profession." In the succeeding years, Denny would gain a "substantial and lucrative practice" in his new hometown and in 1889 made his first attempt to gain public office, being the Democratic candidate for Missoula County prosecuting attorney. He would be defeated for that office by Republican Frederick Webster by just two hundred votes. 

   Denny made another run for Missoula County prosecuting attorney at the next election and was successful. He would serve two more terms as county attorney (1899-1901 and 1901-1903) and was also headhunted by Montana Democrats to be a potential nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives from his district. Denny had married in February 1892 to Beatrice Reynolds, to whom he was wed until her death in 1906. Two sons were born to them, Robert M. (born 1892) and Thomas R. (born 1894). 

   Sometime after his time as Missoula County attorney Denny relocated to Butte, Montana,. where he continued to practice law. Sources of the time also give note to the "I.G. Denny Law School" located in Butte. Sadly further information regarding this school remains at a minimum, although it receives prominent mention in a November 30, 1941 article on Denny featured in the Butte, Montana Standard. The Standard notes that he:

"Established what was believed to be the only private law school in the northwest, from which many Butte young men graduated and later were admitted to practice by the Supreme Court. His school was in his law offices on the Silver Bow block. Most of the classes were at night due to the fact that most of his pupils were employed during the day."

From the Montana American, May 15, 1925.

   Despite the scant information available on the I.G. Denny Law School, it is known that it produced one notable graduate from its ranks, Dimitre A. Batchoff (1888-1968), who served as U.S. Marshal for the District of Montana from 1949-1953.

   Late in his life, Denny won election as one of Silver Bow County's representatives to the Montana General Assembly, serving in the session of 1923-24. He is recorded by the Big Timber Pioneer as having been one of the legislators to introduce a bill providing for the "appropriation of $15,000 for the construction of a tannery at the state penitentiary at Deer Lodge."

   In the 1924 election year, I.G. Denny threw his hat in the ring in the race for Governor of Montana. As one of five candidates vying for the Democratic nomination during the primary season, Denny faced an uphill battle, and on primary election day placed fourth, garnering 6, 340 votes. The winner of the Democratic primary, John Edward Erickson (1863-1946), would go on to defeat Republican incumbent Joseph Dixon in November and began the first of three terms as Governor, later serving a short stint as U.S. Senator from 1933-34.
   Following his unsuccessful bid for Governor Denny continued to practice law in Butte, and in early May 1925 became afflicted with appendicitis, which in turn necessitated an operation. Denny died shortly after undergoing the operation on May 16, 1925, at age 67. He had been preceded in death by his wife Beatrice and following his passing he was interred alongside her at the St. Patrick's Cemetery in Butte (note the misspelled first name on Denny's Find-A-Grave page!)

From the Baker Sentinel May 29, 1925.

Clesson Selwyne Kinney (1859-1913)

 

From The Irrigation Age, Volume 17, published in 1902.

    A distinguished figure in Utah legal circles during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Clesson Selwyne Kinney also served one term in the Utah State House of Representatives, representing the county of Salt Lake beginning in 1905. Both before and after his time on the political stage Kinney maintained an avowed interest in a rather unusual non-political subject, irrigation and water rights. Viewed by many of his contemporaries as a true scholar on the history of irrigation in both ancient and modern times, Kinney authored many irrigation-related articles in agricultural periodicals of his time and is honored today as the newest biography to be added to the site.

    Born and raised in Ohio, Clesson Selwyne Kinney's birth occurred in the town of East Townsend on December 5, 1859, a son of Edwin and Elizabeth Godden Kinney. His education began in the Huron County school system and as a young adult studied at both the Dennison University and Oberlin Colleges. After spending a four year period (1877-1881) in the employ of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad Company he enrolled at the University of Michigan and graduated in the class of 1887, having earned his bachelor of arts degree. Following his graduation Kinney spent several months teaching mathematics

at a high school in Leavenworth, Kansas and later decided upon a career in law, being admitted to the Kansas bar in 1888. He married in Chicago, Illinois in December of 1889 to Antoinette Brown (ca. 1862-1946), with whom he would have one son, Selwyne Perez Kinney (1890-1976), later to become notable as an engineer and inventor. 

   Removing to Salt Lake City, Utah soon after his marriage, Kinney established a law office in that city and over the succeeding decades would devote himself not only to the practice of law, but to the "law of irrigation and water rights." Kinney became interested in the study of irrigation shortly after settling in the arid climate of Utah, and after years of study developed a reputation as one of the nation's foremost experts on water rights and irrigation properties. 

    Not content to just specialize in water rights as an attorney, Kinney also authored a four-volume masterwork on irrigation and water management, "Kinney on Irrigation and Water Rights", first published in 1894. Kinney's work gained him wide praise and it became "a standard, and is cited as an authority in all the courts of the West, and also the U.S. Supreme Circuit and district courts." He also authored numerous articles related to this subject for the Irrigation Age illustrated journal between 1896 and 1912, and in 1903 completed "Kinney's Digest of the Utah Reports" an extensive index for the twenty-six volume law reports of the Utah State Supreme Court. Active in the Utah State Bar Association for many years, Kinney served as the Secretary of that organization beginning in 1894.

  Kinney took no part in politics until November of 1904 when he was elected as a Republican to the Utah State House of Representatives. Taking office in January of 1905, Kinney served as the chairman of three house committees during his one term, those being the Judiciary, the St. Louis Purchase Exposition Commission, and the Committee on Rules. 

From the Irrigation Age, Volume IX, published 1896.

   After the conclusion of his term in 1907 Kinney returned to his law practice and continued to write, beginning work on the second edition of "Kinney on Water Rights and Irrigation" which was eventually published in late 1912. His later years were marked by his memberships in the Knights Templars and Shriners lodges, while also serving as Masonic Grand Master. In October of 1912, Kinney was a featured speaker at the National Irrigation Congress, where he would give his last public address. 

   Burdened by years of overwork writing and revising his manuscripts, Kinney left Utah in December 1912 out of concern for his health, vacationing in Honolulu, Hawaii. He spent the first two months of 1913 here and on February 17th died at age 53, being felled by illness at a dinner that was being given in his honor at the home of a local judge in Honolulu. After being cremated, Kinney's ashes were brought home to Salt Lake City by his wife Antoinette, and following her death in 1946 was buried along with her husband at the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in that city.

From the Salt Lake Tribune, February 19, 1913.

Jacobus Johannes Bennink Johnsonius (1859-1930)

Portrait from the Biennial Report of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, 1911-12.

  This interestingly named man is Jacobus Johannes Bennink-Johnsonius, a native of Holland who found his business and political fortunes in his adopted state of Tennessee. Little could be found online in regards to this oddly named man other than the following information, which came to light via the discovery of the 1923 work Tennessee, the Volunteer State, Volume 4.
   J.J.B. Johnsonius was born at the Hague, Holland on March 29, 1859, and immigrated to the United States in 1878. His early years in America were spent prospecting out west, and he eventually settled in the New Era, Michigan area. He married Ms. Cornelia Veltman (1864-1927) in July 1881, with whom he had seven children: Minnie (1882-1953),  Ralph Alexander (1884-1962), Fannie (1886-1953), Louisa Dora (1888-?),  Charles Stuart (1892-1955),  Alexander L. (1894-1959) and Hobson Merrimac Johnsonius (1898-1968).
  In 1885 J.J.B. Johnsonius migrated south, eventually settling in Paris, Tennessee. Within a few years, he had firmly established his name in his new home state, operating a general insurance business, with which he "won a notable measure of success in the insurance field and has long been numbered among the prosperous and influential citizens of Paris."
   Johnsonius first became active in politics in 1900, when he won election to the Tennessee State House of Representatives. Here he ably represented Henry County for two years and in 1910 won re-election to this body, where he was "a strong advocate of prohibition." In 1913 Johnsonius continued his political ascent when he was named to the position of assistant immigration commissioner of Tennessee. His three-year term in the office was marked by Tennessee, the Volunteer State as one of distinction, with Johnsonius helping to "bring in the first Belgian immigrants, numbering thirty-seven, from Ellis Island."
   At the outset of American involvement in WWI, Johnsonius became Henry County's Red Cross chairman, serving throughout that war. In addition to his civic and political pursuits, Johnsonius was also a prominent member of several fraternal organizations in Tennessee, including service as the Grand Commander of the Golden Cross from 1917-1920 and was also a Knight Templar Mason, serving as a Right Eminent Past Grand Commander in 1928.  
  Later a resident of Atlanta, Georgia, J.J.B. Johnsonius resided there only a year, dying at age seventy on April 3, 1930, at his home. He was subsequently interred next to his wife at the Maplewood Cemetery in his hometown of Paris, Tennessee. 

From the Tennessee Legislative composite photo of 1911.

From the Chattanooga Daily Times, April 4, 1930.

Stogdell Stokes Staples (1859-1949)

From Portraits and Biographies of Members of the Pennsylvania Legislature, 1895.

   An obscure 19th Pennsylvania legislator, Stogdell Stokes Staples further distinguished himself in the business sector of Luzerne County. He was born in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania on March 7, 1859, the son of Richard S. (1818-1893, a Pennsylvania state representative from 1872-73) and Mary (Thompson) Staples (1828-1900). Young Stogdell studied in both public and private schools, attending a seminary in Claverack, New York, and later attended the Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, Pennsylvania.
   While still a young man, Staples is recorded as helping his father publish the Monroe Democrat in 1878, and after a year in publishing moved to Trenton, New Jersey. Once settled, Staples found employment at the Trenton China Works, and would later serve as the Superintendent of that company for four years. In the mid-1880s he returned to Pennsylvania, and in 1885 purchased the Luzerne Ochre Manufacturing Company. A portrait and biographical souvenir of the Pennsylvania legislature (published in 1895) notes that Staples was "given immediate management" of the plant, and he later became president of this business, as well as holding "a half interest in its enterprise". This business is also noted as "furnishing material to four-fifths of the oil-cloth manufacturers in the country."
  Staples married in March 1886 to Stroudsburg native Hattie Raubenald, and it is unknown at the time of this writing if any children were born to them. While his business exploits are of note, Staples also began seeking local political office, eventually winning election as Burgess of White Haven, Pennsylvania for two terms. He would later be named as Postmaster of the Borough of Moosehead and was still the incumbent in this post at the time of his election to the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives.
   Staples was elected as a Democrat to the Pennsylvania legislature in November 1894, defeating Republican candidate Ellsworth L. Riley by only fifty-two votes! Two other candidates (representing both the Prohibition and People's parties) also ran for this seat, and the blurb featuring those election results has been posted below.

   Staples's election to the legislature is recorded as a "great triumph in view of the demoralized condition of the Democratic party" and during his one term in the legislature held a seat on the following committees: Congressional Apportionment, Corporations, Insurance, Iron and Coal, Mines and Mining, Railroads, and Rules. His two-year term was characterized by the earlier mentioned legislative souvenir as one of "close attention to the details of lawmaking, and displayed to advantage his unusual business qualities". Staples would also take a firm stand against a proposal for the establishment of a new county in Pennsylvania called Quay (named after Matthew Quay, then serving in the U.S. Senate), which was later shot down by a house vote of 92 to 82.

Stogdell Staples in old age, from the Wilkes-Barre Record, April 13, 1949.

  After the conclusion of his term in January 1897, Staples would lose a 1900 race for state representative by a wide margin and continued prominence in his region well into his eighties. From 1914-1919 he served as U.S. Postmaster of White Haven, and in 1917 partnered with G. Robert Baetz and Robert Teel to establish the White Haven weekly newspaper. In the mid-1930s Staples was appointed to a vacant seat on the White Haven borough council. Several months prior to his death he suffered a fall at his home in White Haven, and in March 1949 celebrated his 90th birthday. He died a few weeks later on April 12, as a result of the fall he'd suffered. Staples was preceded in death by his wife Hattie in 1946 and both were interred at the Stroudsburg Cemetery.

From the Wilkes-Barre Daily Record, April 13, 1949.

  

A visit with Stogdell Stokes Staples at the Stroudsburg Cemetery

 In a postscript to the seven-year-old article above, I was able to visit and photograph the gravesite of Stogdell S. Staples in Stroudsburg on September 15, 2019. After twenty or so minutes of searching by car and on foot, the Staples plot was found. Buried beneath an unassuming, modest headstone, no mention is given on this stone to Staples's assembly service or business successes. Buried next to him is his wife Hattie, and behind their stones are the oblong gravestones belonging to Staples' parents  Richard and Mary, the former having served a term in the Pennsylvania legislature in the 1870s. And now some photos from the trip!

September 15, 2019.

Matere Eakins Beman (1859-1929)

Portrait from Ohio Legislative History 1909-1912, Vol. I

   The political figure profiled today is Matere Eakins Beman, a little-known native of Gallia County, Ohio who served one term in the Ohio state senate from 1913-1919. A small biography of Mr. Beman is located in the Ohio Legislative History Manual of 1913, where the majority of this article's information was culled from.

   Matere Eakins Beman was born on June 27, 1859, in Thurman, Ohio. He attended schools local to the Gallia County, Ohio area, and married in 1894 to Maggie Thurman. Most of the available sources on Beman mention him as a farmer and stock raiser, with emphasis on his raising of "purebred cattle". He was also involved in banking in his native county for a number of years preceding his legislative service, serving as the president of the First National Bank of Thurman. The Ohio Legislative Manual also gives a note on Beman's public stature in his native town, citing his service as mayor, town councilman, and later as a member of the school board.

   In 1912 Beman was nominated by the citizens of Gallia County for a seat in the Ohio State Senate. He ran as a Republican and was elected to the legislature "by a majority of 1600". After taking his seat in 1913, Beman is noted as giving "most of his attention to bills affecting the farming interests" of his district and state. He served on three committees during his Senate service, including the Committee on Banks and Savings Societies, Fees and Salaries, and Prisons and Prison Reform.

  Beman's Senate tenure lasted but one term, and after leaving the legislature returned to his earlier banking and farming interests. He died in Thurman on November 1, 1929, at age 70 and was buried in the Gallia County Cemetery. A small obituary on Beman memorializes him as "one of the county's wealthiest citizens, and was said to be the largest individual taxpayers in the county." 

From the Lima Morning State and Republican Gazette, November 2, 1929.