Burder Bunyon Bowman (1860-1951)

Portrait from the 1908-09 Virginia House of Delegates composite.

    An obscure resident of Shenandoah County, Virginia, Burder Bunyon Bowman lived to the age of 91 and, despite that longevity, has scant information available on his life and political career. A lifelong resident of the Old Dominion State, Bowman was a farmer who was elected to three consecutive terms in the Virginia House of Delegates and later achieved further political distinction by being a two time Republican National Convention delegate and a Presidential Elector for Virginia. The son of Joseph and Sarah Ann (Johnson) Bowman, Burder Bunyon Bowman was born in Edinburg, Virginia on February 27, 1860. 

   Born and raised on his family's farm in Edinburg, Bowman studied at schools local to Edinburg, including "a subscription school, then one of the early one-room free schools", before graduating from the Edinburg High School. After completing his schooling Bowman followed the career of a gentleman farmer, raising on his family's farm "wheat, corn, hay, and livestock" and by the mid-1920s owned a farm that comprised two-hundred and fifty acres "along the north branch of the Shenandoah River." 

  In August 1905 Burder Bowman was a delegate to the Shenandoah County Republican Convention at Edinburg and was nominated for the state house of delegates by his fellow Republicans. He would win the election that November and after taking his seat at the start of the 1906-08 session was named to the committees on Agriculture and Mining, Militia and Police, and Privileges and Elections. Bowman won his second house term in November 1907 and during the 1908-10 session was a member of the same committees listed above.

   As a candidate for a third term in November 1909, Bowman's two previous terms of service were acknowledged by the Richmond Journal as having been marked by a "close application to duty". However, the opinion of Bowman was not shared by Shenandoah County Democrats, who excoriated him in several articles printed in the Shenandoah County Herald's October 29, 1909 edition. Aside from printing a large blank space devoted to Bowman's accomplishments during his two previous terms in the house, the Herald further slandered Bowman by describing him as a tool of the state Republican machine and denoted his service as having been "ornamental", rather than useful, stating: 

"Mr. Bowman has been called on to show one single thing he has done for the people of Shenandoah County during his four years in the legislature. He has even been asked to write one single act, in the blank record which appeared in the County papers. But, alas, up to this time that record is as blank as the day it was put there. Mr. Bowman thus admitting he has done nothing. Why then should he be returned to the Legislature?"

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 6, 1908.

  Despite being pilloried by state Democrats, Burder B. Bowman won his third term in the statehouse in November 1909 and beginning in January 1910 again served on the committees on Militia and Police, and Privileges and Elections. Several months into his term, the Richmond Journal lauded Bowman's time in state government, giving an exact opposite characterization of what the Shenandoah Herald had made of his service. In this summation of his career (which was later reprinted in the Herald), Bowman was remarked as having been:

"A progressive public spirited citizen and one whose standing in the community is of the highest. Both at home and in the legislative halls he has earned the respect of all because of his straightforward, upright manner of doing business."

   After leaving the legislature Bowman continued to be politically active, being an alternate delegate from Virginia to the 1916 Republican National Convention and in 1924 was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland that nominated Calvin Coolidge for the Presidency. Four years later he served as a Republican presidential elector for Virginia, casting his ballot for Herbert Hoover. Bowman was also an unsuccessful Republican candidate for State Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration in 1917.
  In addition to his political doings, Burder Bowman was a former president of the Farmer's Bank of Edinburg, serving in that post between 1919 and 1924. A lifelong bachelor, Bowman died at the age of 91 on April 27, 1951, in his home city of Edinburg. He was interred next to his older sister Sarah (1848-1924) in a plot at the Old Edinburg Cemetery.

From the 1910-11 Virginia House of Delegates composite.

Anak Thomas Atwater (1872-1949)

Portrait from the History of the American Negro and His Institutions, Georgia edition, 1917.

  A leading black newspaper publisher during the early 20th century, Anak Thomas Atwater was the founder of the Rome Enterprise, the first black newspaper to be published in that city. A teacher and principal prior to his time in the publishing field, Atwater was also active in Republican circles in Floyd County, being the secretary of the county Republican executive committee and was a six-time delegate to the Republican National Convention from Georgia. A son of D.C. Atwater and the former Amanda Ragland, Anak Thomas Atwater was born in Upson County, Georgia on August 21, 1872. 

  Sharing a first name with a biblical figure whose name is shared with the Anakim, a race of giants who inhabited Canaan, young Anak T. Atwater traveled with his itinerant minister father during his formative years, and following a period of work and accumulating income enrolled at the Atlanta University in 1891. His time here extended until 1898, during which time he "completed the grammar and college preparatory courses", as well as other classes. After the completion of his studies, Atwater relocated to Danville, New York to take a teaching course, but remained here only briefly, returning to Georgia in 1899.

  Following his return to Georgia Atwater continued his burgeoning career in education, taking the position of principal of the East Rome Industrial School. His stewardship of that school later saw the erection of a "large two story school building", a feat accomplished "without one dollar from any public fund." He remained in that post until 1904 when he decided to enter into newspaper publishing, establishing the Rome Enterprise, acknowledged as the first African-American newspaper in the city. Atwater would run the paper out of a publishing office at his home, and when not delivering his papers directly, was aided by older children in the neighborhood, who delivered them for him. Anak T. Atwater married in June 1906 to Callie Bryant (born 1883) and following her death in 1927 he remarried to Ada A. Smith. Atwater would have at least one son, Horace, born in 1930.

Anak T. Atwater, from the "Sons of Allen", 1903.

  By 1919 the Rome Enterprise had a circulation of over 2,000 readers, and in addition to his newspaper Atwater made substantial inroads into other aspects of Rome, Georgia life, dabbling in insurance and real estate, and in 1910 held the post of census enumerator for the city's first and sixth wards. Remarked as one of Rome's leading black Republicans, Atwater served as the secretary of the Floyd County Republican Committee and in 1912 first served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, supporting Theodore Roosevelt. Following his service at that convention, Atwater would be named as an alternate delegate from Georgia to five further Republican National Conventions, those being the 1916 and 1920 conventions in Chicago, 1924 (held in Cleveland), 1932 (held in Chicago) and 1948 (held in Philadelphia.)

  A longstanding member of the African Methodist Episcopal church, Anak Atwater was for many years a Sunday school superintendent and in 1904 and 1908 was a representative from the North Georgia Conference to the Methodist General Conferences in Chicago and Norfolk, Virginia. Anak T. Atwater died in Rome on December 22, 1949, aged 77 and was survived by his wife Ada, who died in Detroit in 1956. Both were interred at the Myrtle Hill Cemetery in that city.

Cadmus Ambrose Tope (1863-1940)

Portrait from the Carrollton Free Press Standard, January 4, 1940.

   A Carrollton, Ohio-based hardware merchant for over forty years, Cadmus Ambrose Tope had fleeting involvement in political life in 1908 and 1916 when he was selected as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention held in Chicago. A lifelong Ohio resident, Cadmus Ambrose "Cady" Tope was born in Harrison County on June 8, 1863, being the son of Hiram and Mary Anne Shultz Tope. He moved to Carroll County at an early age and would attend both the "public schools at Perrysville" and the Harlem Springs College, a Methodist Episcopal Church seminary. 

  For ten years Cadmus Tope taught public school in Carroll County and later was elected to two terms as Carroll County Recorder. Tope married on New Year's Day 1885 to Ella Beamer (1859-1938), their union producing two daughters, Mary Ethel (1887-1964) and Sarah Leona (1892-1969). In 1894 he made his first foray into the hardware trade, establishing a store in Dellroy, Ohio. Two years later he moved his business to Carrollton, subsequently partnering in the hardware firm of Campbell, Tope, and Beamer.

   Tope continued to be involved in the hardware business in Carrollton for the remainder of his life, becoming the sole owner of the aforementioned business in 1918. Tope is noted by the History of Carroll and Harrison Counties as running a:

"Prosperous business....supplied with a complete stock of heavy and shelf hardware, and the various accessories that go to make up the modern hardware store."

  In addition to hardware sales, Cadmus Tope was a prominent figure in the Carroll County Agricultural Society, serving as its secretary for two decades. Tope is also noted as having been a show horse judge, visiting (in addition to Ohio) Indiana and Illinois to judge horses at county fairs. A longstanding member of the Republican Party, Tope was named as an alternate delegate to the 1908 Republican National Convention held in Chicago that nominated William Howard Taft for the Presidency. In 1916 Tope again served as an alternate delegate to the RNC, this time seeing Charles Evans Hughes put up as the party's standard-bearer.
  In the years following his service as a delegate, Tope continued to experience success in the hardware business, being elected as President of the Ohio Hardware Association for a one-year term in 1923. He would also be affiliated with the Hardware Mutual Insurance Company of Coshocton and the Carrollton Methodist Church. Cadmus Tope died in Carrollton on New Year's Day 1940, having been ill for over a year. He was interred alongside his wife Ella at the Grandview Cemetery in Carrollton, coincidentally enough the same resting place of Union Corwin DeFord, a former Carrollton mayor and judge profiled here back in June 2012.

Cadmus and Ella Tope, portrait courtesy of Find-A-Grave.

Core Serena Ireland (1874-1943)

Portrait from the Urbana Daily Times Citizen, February 17, 1908.

   The following profile takes a brief look at the life of a man named Core--one Core Serena Ireland to be precise, and despite a truly strange first and middle name, Ireland gained a reputation as one of Urbana, Ohio's favorite sons, being at various times a banker, city council member, Champaign County sheriff and Sergeant-at-Arms of the Ohio Senate. Ireland rightly earns a place here on the site due to his being a three-time delegate from Ohio to the Republican National Conventions of 1916, 1932, and 1936.

  Born and raised in Champaign County, Ohio,  Core Serena Ireland's birth occurred in the town of Terre Haute on September 24, 1874, the son of James and Margaret Davis Ireland. As one of thirteen children, Ireland attended schools local to the town of Mad River and upon reaching the age of seventeen took on a teaching position in his native county, subsequently teaching at various county schools over a period of nine years. He married in November 1895 to Dessie E. Weaver (1876-1959), with whom he would have one son, Ralph Howard (1908-1977).

   Core Ireland made his first move into county politics in 1901 when he was named as the deputy treasurer for Champaign County, holding office until 1905. In November of the preceding year, he was elected as Sheriff of Champaign County with 4, 235 votes. He was re-elected sheriff in 1906 and during the 1908 election year served as the chairman of the Champaign County Republican Executive Committee. Ireland continued his ascent in public office in 1909 when he was chosen as the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Ohio Senate for the 1909-1911 term. 

   In 1916 Core Ireland was selected as part of the Ohio delegation to that year's Republican National Convention being held in Chicago that nominated Charles Evans Hughes for the Presidency. Ireland would later serve as an Ohio delegate on two further occasions, attending the Republican National Conventions of 1932 (held in Chicago) and 1936 (held in Cleveland).

   Attentive to political and civic affairs in his native city of Urbana, Core Ireland served as a city councilman from Urbana's third ward during the mid-1910s and also was a member of the board of directors of the People's Savings and Loan Company. Ireland would later hold the post of cashier of the Champaign National Bank beginning in 1927, and in 1940 succeeded to the presidency of that bank. He served in this capacity until his death at age 68 on August 12, 1943, "after an illness of several years." Memorialized as one of Champaign County's leading Republicans over a four-decade career in public life, Ireland was further remarked as having been

"Intensly loyal to his supporters and those he sought to aid, his political opinions were sought by political leaders throughout the state and although he never held any high political post, he was known to all Ohio politicians and his word carried considerable of weight with the Republican State Central Committee."

  Core S. Ireland was survived by both his wife and son, and all three were later interred at the Oak Dale Cemetery in Urbana.

From the Urban Daily Citizen, August 19, 1943.

Musker Louis Heavrin (1859-1944)

    A man of distinction in Ohio County, Kentucky, Musker Louis Heavrin rose to become a prominent attorney in Ohio County, a Republican candidate for Congress and was a two-time delegate to the Republican National Convention, amongst other accomplishments. Born in Ohio County on June 12, 1859, Musker L. Heavrin was the son of Francis Marion and Atelia Felix Heavrin. Described as being "born and reared on the farm", Heavrin attended public schools local to his home county and later began a teaching career, in addition to attending Hartford College. He began studying law at the University of Louisville's School of Law and is recorded by the Hartford Republican as "graduating with high honors" from that institution in the mid-1880s.

  After his graduation, Heavrin returned to Hartford and opened a law practice. Within a few years of embarking on his  profession Heavrin acquired a reputation as a lawyer of "sound judgment, tact and ability", and this sterling character assessment "soon placed him at the head of the bar in Western Kentucky." He married in September 1888 to Ms. Mary Mollie Cox (1868-1925). The couple was married for over thirty years until her passing in February 1925, and it is recorded that the couple remained childless.

   Heavrin began his pursuit of public office in 1896, running successfully for Ohio County Attorney. He served in that capacity until 1901, and two years previous had been touted as a prospective Republican nominee for Attorney General of Kentucky. This possible candidacy warranted a large write-up on his life in the Hartford Republican. The Republican notes that Heavrin was a "lifelong Republican and a leading factor in the politics of this section. He has fought the battles for the success of the party on which depends the future of the country." The boom for his candidacy had largely died out by June 1899, with the Hartford Republican noting that discussion of his candidacy was "notably absent" from the Ohio County Republican convention that year.

An article mentioning Heavrin's possible Attorney General nomination in 1899.

   While Heavrin's candidacy for Attorney General remains rather mysterious, he did venture into politics once again in 1900, serving as one of Kentucky's delegates to that year's Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. A small passage bearing Heavrin's name and home district of Hartford was featured in the Official Proceedings of the Convention and is shown below. Heavrin later became an RNC delegate for a second time, going to the 1916 Republican National Convention in Chicago that nominated Charles Evans Hughes for the Presidency.

   In 1906 Heavrin mounted a campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives, running as a Republican candidate against Democratic state senator Ben Johnson (1858-1950). When the results were tallied that November Heavrin came up short in the vote count, losing to Johnson by a vote of 15, 128 to 9, 819. Ben Johnson would go on to serve ten terms in Congress (1907-1927) representing Heavrin's home county of Ohio for twenty years. A result from that year's election appeared in the Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year Book for 1907 and is posted below.

  After his unsuccessful campaign for Congress, Heavrin was named the Postmaster of Hartford, Kentucky in 1907. He served in this post until 1912 and later returned to his earlier career as an attorney. In 1918 Heavrin again threw his hat in the political ring, becoming a candidate for the Kentucky State Court of Appeals, and a large portrait mentioning his candidacy is shown below. Heavrin would lose that contest to incumbent judge Werner E. Settle, who polled nearly 3,000 more votes.

  M.L. Heavrin's life after 1918 is almost totally unknown, although Kentucky newspaper notices on him give mention that he continued in the practice of law. He died of apoplexy in Owensboro, Kentucky on February 8, 1944, in his 85th year. Heavrin was later interred at the Rosehill Elmwood Cemetery in Owensboro alongside his wife Mary.

                                        From the November 1, 1918 edition of the Hartford Republican.