Henry M. Mathews
Mathews was identified as a Redeemer, the southern wing of the conservative, pro-business Bourbon faction of the Democratic Party that sought to oust the Radical Republicans who had come to power across the postwar South.His administration faced challenges related to the Long Depression, most notably the outbreak of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, as a labor protest to wage cuts.Soon afterward he accepted the professorship of Language and Literature at Alleghany College, Blue Sulphur Springs, retaining the privilege to practicing law in the courts.In a post-war state dominated by the Republican party, Mathews, a Democrat, was elected to the West Virginia Senate in 1865 but was denied the seat due to the restriction that prohibited former Confederates from holding public office.[2][16] The following year, 1873, he was elected attorney general of the state under Governor John J. Jacobs, succeeding Joseph Sprigg, and served one term in which his popularity within his party rose.[17][2] At the conclusion of his term as attorney general, Mathews defeated Republican Nathan Goff by 15,000 votes in the most one-sided race for governor in state history at that time.The Republican Morgantown Post praised the "broad, manly, and liberal address, which possesses, to our mind, an honesty of purpose, and a freedom from disguise, that is truly refreshing.In July 1877, four months into his term, he was alerted that Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) workers in Martinsburg, West Virginia, had been stopping trains to protest wage cuts.During the campaigning, state Democrats employed a young Booker T. Washington to engage in a speaking tour to consolidate Black opinion in favor of Charleston.Unable to determine the accuracy of these reports, and recognizing that the question had taken on political meaning, Mathews pursued policy intended to suspend a resolution until the specifics had become clear.[34] Mathews' precise views on race and slavery are unclear, though he was a member of several local political conventions that issued statements and resolutions opposing racial equality, both before and after the Civil War.The West Virginia Democrats who followed the Republican founders of the state included Governors Mathews, Jackson, Wilson, Fleming, and MacCorkle.These men were ready to adjust to changing political conditions and to the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the federal Constitution, which conferred freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote and hold office upon former slaves.[38] In 1881, following the ruling of the Strauder v. West Virginia Supreme Court case, Mathews reversed a 1873 state law that prohibited Black citizens from serving on juries.[39] In his closing address to the West Virginia legislature in January 1881, Mathews urged his fellow statesmen to adopt a progressive attitude towards the divisive issues that precipitated the Civil War: It is necessary .to fully realize that institutions under which some of us were reared and which have left an enduring impress on our character, -- which have influenced not only our habits of living, but also our opinions and habits of thought -- are now of the past and no longer factors of existing social or political problems; that while the fundamental principles of our republican institutions are forever true and sufficient for all time, yet they must be adapted to the changed conditions produced by the result of the civil war, an increasing population and an advancing civilization.[40]Fast notes that the "liberal-minded" spirit of Mathews' administration received a setback during the campaign of his predecessor, Jacob B. Jackson, under whom "[t]he old sores of war were torn upon and bled afresh.The resort became a place for many Southerners and Northerners alike to vacation, and the setting for many famous post-war reconciliations, including the White Sulphur Manifesto, which was the only political position issued by Robert E. Lee after the Civil War, that advocated the merging of the two societies.
Governor of West VirginiaJohn J. JacobJacob B. JacksonAttorney General of West VirginiaJoseph SpriggRobert WhiteFrankford, VirginiaWest VirginiaLewisburg, West VirginiaDemocraticLucy Fry MathewsMason MathewsAlexander W. ReynoldsAlexander F. MathewsJoseph William MathewsAlma materUniversity of VirginiaWashington and Lee School of LawPoliticianConfederate States of AmericaConfederate States ArmyU.S. StateConfederatepolitical familyAmerican Civil Warseceded from the United Stateswestern theatermajor of artilleryWest Virginia Senatestate constitutional conventionRedeemerBourbonDemocratic PartyRadical RepublicansLong DepressionGreat Railroad Strike of 1877Martinsburg, West VirginiaRutherford B. HayesThe GreenbrierMathews familyVirginia House of DelegatesScotch-IrishBachelor of ArtsMaster of ArtsBeta Theta PiMasters Thesisfine artsindustrialismLexington Law SchoolJohn W. BrockenbroughBachelor of LawsLanguage and LiteratureAlleghany CollegeBlue Sulphur SpringsWilliam GordonJohn C. Breckinridge1860 presidential campaignAbraham Lincolnsecession in the United StatesVirginia Secession Convention of 1861John LetcherBrigadier GeneralprivateCarter L. StevensonJohn C. PembertonVicksburg CampaignBattle of Champion HillRichmond, VirginiaRobert E. LeeRepublican partyamendedWest Virginia State Constitutionattorney generalJohn J. Jacobspolitical cartoonBourbonismRepublicanNathan GoffBourbon DemocraticcabinetPanic of 1873Baltimore and Ohio RailroadCharles J. FaulknerMarylandPennsylvaniaIllinoisMissouriHawks Nest, West VirginiaCharleston, West VirginiaWheelingCharlestonClarksburgMartinsburgBooker T. Washingtonracial equalityWest Virginia ConstitutionBourbon Democratsfreedmencarpetbaggersscalawagswhite supremacyOtis K. RiceJim Crow lawsStrauder v. West VirginiaOld Stone ChurchWilliam A. MacCorkleNational GuardAtkinson, George WesleyAmerican Book CompanyGoogle BooksWoodward, VannRice, OtisMacCorkle, William A.Rice, Otis K.Find a GraveJohnson N. CamdenAttorneys general of West VirginiaA. B. CaldwellMaxwellMelvinSpriggA. CaldwellRuckerConleyEnglandMeadows