Governors of West Virginia

1. Arthur Ingram Borema Daniel Duane Tompkins Farnsworth William Erskine Stevenson John Jeremiah Jacob Henry Mason Mathews Jacob Beeson Jackson Emanuel Willis Wilson Aretas Brooks Fleming William Alexander MacCorkle George Wesley Atkinson Albert Blakeslee White William Mercer Owens Dawson William Ellsworth Glasscock Henry Drury Hatfield John Jacob Cornwell Ephraim Franklin Morgan Howard Mason Gore William Gustavus Conley Herman Guy Kump Homer Adams Holt Matthew Mansfield Neely Clarence Watson Meadows Okey Leonidas Patteson William Casey Marland Cecil Harland Underwood William Wallace Barron Hulett Carlson Smith Arch Alfred Moore, Jr John Davison Rockefeller IV Arch Alfred Moore, Jr William Gaston Caperton III Cecil Harland Underwood Robert Ellsworth Wise, Jr Joseph Manchin III 2005-

Arthur Ingram Boreman July 24, April 19, 1896 (R) Wood County Elected governor in 1863, 1864, & 1866 Boreman was elected West Virginia's first governor in Boreman contributed effectively to the government of the new state, supporting legislation which instituted the West Virginia Code, Board of Public Works, and the public school system. During the Civil War, he organized state militia units to combat Confederate guerrillas in the southern part of the state.

Daniel Duane Tompkins Farnsworth December 23, December 5, 1892 (R) Upshur County Appointed to serve from February 26, March 4, 1869 On February 26, 1869, Arthur I. Boreman resigned as governor to join the United States Senate. Farnsworth, as state senate president, succeeded him, serving a seven-day term.

William Erskine Stevenson March 18, November 29, 1883 (R) Wood County Elected governor in 1868 As governor, Stevenson successfully advocated for the right of Confederate veterans to vote. Ironically, most Confederates were Democrats, leading to Stevenson's defeat for re-election in 1870.

John Jeremiah Jacob December 9, November 24, 1893 (D) Hampshire County Elected governor in 1870 (two- year term) and in 1872 (four-year term) Jacob supported the elimination of all remaining legislation that discriminated against former Confederates.

Henry Mason Mathews March 29, April 28, 1884 (D) Greenbrier County Elected governor in 1876 As governor, Mathews dealt with economic problems associated with the national depression. In July 1877, four months into his term, Mathews sent the state militia to Martinsburg, Berkeley County, where Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers had been stopping trains to protest wage cuts.

Jacob Beeson Jackson April 6, December 11, 1893 (D) Wood County Elected governor in 1880 As governor, Jackson advocated improved education, re- writing the West Virginia Code, and tax reform.

Emanuel Willis Wilson August 11, May 28, 1905 (D) Kanawha County Elected governor in 1884 As governor, Wilson continued his opposition to monopolies and dealt with the issue of political corruption. He failed to secure legislation forbidding the pollution of streams. Wilson gained national attention by refusing to extradite members of the Hatfield family to Kentucky during the Hatfield- McCoy feud.

Aretas Brooks Fleming October 15, October 13, 1923 (D) Marion County Elected in 1888, assumed office Feb. 6, 1890 Fleming served only a three-year term, , due to a dispute over the results of the 1888 election. The legislature finally selected Fleming in January Bitter over the results, Republicans blocked most of Fleming's initiatives.

William Alexander MacCorkle May 7, September 24, 1930 (D) Kanawha County Elected governor in 1892 As governor, MacCorkle advocated increased funding for state institutions and improved transportation. Through an advertising program, he actively promoted the state's natural resources to attract industry. MacCorkle opposed the growing labor movement among coal miners and dispatched the state militia to break a strike.

George Wesley Atkinson June 29, April 4, 1925 (R) Ohio County Elected governor in 1896 Despite the fact Atkinson was the first Republican governor in twenty-six years, his policies were similar to those of his Democratic predecessors. He advocated the growth of industry, improved transportation, funding for state institutions, and establishment of free public libraries. He was also the first governor to promote legislation to improve child welfare and labor conditions.

Albert Blakeslee White September 22, July 3, 1941 (R) Wood County Elected governor in 1900 As governor, White focused on revising the constitution and the tax code. He favored placing more of the burden of taxes on corporations. Despite opposition from industry, the legislature enacted a series of tax reforms during a special session in July 1904.

William Mercer Owens Dawson May 21, March 12, 1916 (R) Preston County Elected governor in 1904 During Dawson's term, the legislature increased the powers and duties of the state tax commissioner and gave the governor the right to remove tax assessors for refusal to comply with new tax laws. In 1909, state educational, charitable, penal, and correctional institutions were reorganized under a board of control.

William Ellsworth Glasscock December 13, April 12, 1925 (R) Monongalia County Elected governor in 1908 The last year of his term was marred by a violent coal strike in the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek area of Kanawha County. On three separate occasions, Glasscock declared martial law and sent in troops. He refused to release Mary Harris "Mother" Jones.

Henry Drury Hatfield September 15, October 23, 1962 (R) McDowell County Elected governor in 1912 As governor, Hatfield's first act was to dictate a settlement to the coal miners on strike in the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek area of Kanawha County.

John Jacob Cornwell July 11, September 8, 1953 (D) Hampshire County Elected governor in 1916 One month after Cornwell took office, the United States entered World War I. Due in part to the governor's efforts, West Virginia had one of the highest percentages of volunteers of any state.

Ephraim Franklin Morgan January 16, January 15, 1950 (R) Marion County Elected governor in 1920 At the time Morgan became governor, a virtual state of war existed between union coal miners and coal operators. The United Mine Workers union was protesting for the right to organize miners in the southwestern part of the state. In late summer 1921, the governor called upon President Warren G. Harding to dispatch federal troops to end an armed miners' march in Boone and Logan counties. After the conflict ended, Morgan used National Guard troops to discourage miners from again taking up arms.

Howard Mason Gore October 12, June 20, 1947 (R) Harrison County Elected governor in 1924 As governor, Gore improved the state's agricultural programs and acted on requests from rural areas for reforms in handling state funds. Through a bipartisan commission, he was able to disperse more tax money to counties and municipalities. In addition, his support of road construction earned Gore the nickname, "road building governor." In 1927, fire destroyed the temporary "pasteboard capitol," built after the old capitol burned in 1921.

William Gustavus Conley January 8, October 21, 1940 (R) Kanawha County Elected governor in 1928 During the Conley administration, the legislature established a public unemployment bureau, library commission, bridge commission, water commission, athletic commission, and raised taxes to pay for the main building of the new state capitol.

Herman Guy Kump October 31, February 14, 1962 (D) Randolph County Elected governor in 1932 Kump became governor at the height of the Great Depression, inheriting a state treasury deficit of $4 million. The legislature spent a record 240 days in session in 1933, developing a new tax program.

Homer Adams Holt March 1, January 16, 1975 (D) Fayette County Elected governor in 1936 As governor, Holt instituted a program to improve the facilities of state institutions. He drew criticism for his attacks on school lobbyists and the labor movement, resulting in a split within the Democratic party.

Matthew Mansfield Neely November 9, January 18, 1958 (D) Marion County Elected governor in 1940 Neely's candidacy was the result of a split within the Democratic party. With the support of labor, he backed improvements in unemployment compensation and the establishment of a human rights commission.

Clarence Watson Meadows February 11, September 12, 1961 (D) Raleigh County Elected governor in 1944 More than any of his predecessors, Meadows used radio to convey his message to the people. He helped mediate a number of labor disputes. Meadows reorganized the state's Board of Education, Conservation Commission, Industrial Publicity Commission, and West Virginia University's Board of Governors.

Okey Leonidas Patteson September 14, July 3, 1989 (D) Fayette County Elected governor in 1948 As governor, one of Patteson's most important and controversial decisions was to locate the state School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Nursing in Morgantown. During his term, the legislature created the position of state Tax Commissioner and authorized cities to levy sales taxes. In 1952, Patteson organized the state Turnpike Commission to oversee the construction of the West Virginia Turnpike.

William Casey Marland March 26, November 26, 1965 (D) Wyoming County Elected governor in 1952 Three days after becoming governor, Marland proposed a severance tax on extractive industries, most notably coal. The legislature, heavily backed by the coal industry, blocked this tax and others which would have benefitted schools and roads. Marland advocated the desegregation of schools, expansion of the state parks and other recreational facilities, improved unemployment and workers' compensation laws, and an industrial development program. After his term as governor he moved to Chicago to work for a coal company. Several years later, he was discovered driving a taxi cab following a battle with alcoholism.

Cecil Harland Underwood (R) Tyler County Elected governor in 1956 In 1957, he became the youngest governor in the history of the state and the first Republican governor in twenty-four years. In his first term as governor, Underwood worked to improve roads and assist those impoverished by rapid technological changes, particularly the mechanization of the coal industry.

William Wallace Barron December 8, (D) Randolph County Elected governor in 1960 In Barron's first year as governor, the legislature created the Public Employees Retirement System, the Department of Natural Resources, the Air Pollution Control Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the Industrial Development Authority, and the Department of Commerce. In 1971, he was indicted on jury tampering charges associated with the 1968 trial. He was sentenced to prison, fined, and stripped of his law license.

Hulett Carlson Smith October 21, (D) Raleigh County Elected governor in 1964 During Smith's term, the legislature enacted measures to control air and stream pollution and protect human rights, as well as passing some of the state's first strip mining legislation. In his first year as governor, Smith signed into law a bill repealing the death penalty.

Arch Alfred Moore, Jr. April 16, (R) Marshall County Elected governor in 1968, 1972, & 1984 With the passage of the Governor's Succession Amendment in 1970, Moore became the first governor to succeed himself since The 1968 Modern Budget Amendment also gave him more budgetary powers than any previous governor. Moore presided over the establishment of the Department of Highways and the construction of modern interstate systems, begun during the administration of Governor Cecil Underwood. The Board of Regents was created to manage all state colleges and universities. Other accomplishments of his first term included designation of "black lung" as a coal mining disease and the development of public kindergartens

Arch Alfred Moore, Jr. On February 26, 1972, an earthen dam broke on Buffalo Creek, unleashing 135 million gallons of water, near the community of Man, Logan County. The resulting flood killed 125 people and 4,000 lost their homes and possessions. Governor Moore negotiated a $1 million settlement, while the state eventually paid the federal government $9.5 million in clean-up costs and interest. During Moore's second term, new state medical schools were established in Lewisburg and at Marshall University in Huntington. One of his pet projects was the West Virginia Science and Culture Center on the State Capitol Complex. In 1975, Moore and his campaign manager were indicted for extortion, the first seated governor to be officially charged with a crime. Both were found not guilty. In 1990, Moore was found guilty of mail fraud. He served over two years in federal prison and paid a settlement to the state.

John Davison Rockefeller, IV June 18, (D) Kanawha County Elected governor in 1976 & 1980 As governor, Rockefeller promoted the state's energy resources and chaired the President's Commission on Coal. He cut the size of state government and dealt with the issues of inflation, fuel shortages, a lengthy coal strike, floods, and the effects of two severe winters. In 1984, Rockefeller was elected to the United States Senate.

Arch Alfred Moore, Jr. April 16, (R) Marshall County Elected governor in 1968, 1972, & 1984 At the beginning of Moore's third term, West Virginia had the highest unemployment rate in the nation due to a recession in the coal industry. Moore expanded corporate tax credits to attract businesses to the state. In addition, the legislature reduced the amount coal companies were required to pay into workers' compensation.

William Gaston Caperton III February 21, (D) Kanawha County Elected governor in 1988 & 1992 As governor, Caperton reorganized state government to reduce a large debt incurred during the 1980s. To combat this public debt, he secured legislation to raise taxes and supported a constitutional amendment to adopt a state lottery. Caperton advocated placing computers in all schools.

Cecil Harland Underwood (R) Cabell County Elected governor in 1996 In 1996, Underwood defeated Democrat Charlotte Pritt to become the state's oldest governor, forty years after being the state's youngest executive. In a 2000 bid for re- election, he was defeated by Bob Wise.

WISE, Robert Ellsworth, Jr., Governor of West Virginia, a Representative from West Virginia; born in Washington, D.C., January 6, 1948; B.A., Duke University, Durham, N.C., 1970; J.D., Tulane University School of Law, New Orleans, La., 1975; admitted to the West Virginia bar in 1975 and commenced practice in Charleston; member, State senate, ; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety- eighth and to the eight succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1983-January 3, 2001); was not a candidate for reelection to the United States House of Representatives in 2000; Governor of West Virginia,

Joseph "Joe" Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) [2] is an American politician who has been Governor of West Virginia since January 17, He won the November 2010 U.S. Senate election in West Virginia and will leave office as Governor to take his seat in the Senate. He is a member of the Democratic Party and a member of a Democratic political family in his home state. [2]AmericanGovernor of West VirginiaNovember 2010 U.S. Senate election in West VirginiaDemocratic Partypolitical family

Earl Ray Tomblin is West Virginia’s 35th governor. He was born March 15, 1952, in Logan County. He received his undergraduate degree from West Virginia University, an M.B.A. from Marshall University and attended the University of Charleston. A self-employed businessman and former school teacher, Governor Tomblin was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1974 at the age of 22 and held that position until he was elected to the West Virginia Senate in Governor Tomblin is the longest serving Senate President, a position he has held since his election in He was named the state’s first Lieutenant Governor in He has dedicated his professional career to public service for the betterment of West Virginia. He started acting as Governor in November 2010, when Governor Manchin resigned the position to fill the unexpired term of U. S. Senator Robert C. Byrd. Earl Ray Tomblin

Compiled by the West Virginia State Archives