Blackburn B. Dovener on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Blackburn Barrett Dovener (April 20, 1842 – May 9, 1914) was a Republican 
He married Margaret Lynch, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When she was quite young her parents moved to Wheeling, Virginia, now West Virginia, and here she grew to beautiful young womanhood. Her father was a Union man in those days when it cost something in Virginia to be a Union man, as also was her husband. At the commencement of the Civil War, when only nineteen years old age, Dovener raised a company of loyal Virginians, and served in the Union Army during the entire war. It was when he came to Wheeling to be mustered in that he first met Miss Lynch, then a beautiful young girl of seventeen. They corresponded until the close of the war, when they were married. Their younger son, Robert, died in his twenty-second year. Their elder son, William, was a talented lawyer, like his father.
He served as member of the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1883 and 1884. His candidacy for election to the Fifty-second Congress was unsuccessful. In 1894, he won election as a Republican to the Fifty-fourth and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1895 - March 3, 1907). His candidacy for renomination was unsuccessful, and he returned to his legal practice in Wheeling. He retired to
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
from West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
who served as a United States representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
. Dovener was born in Tays Valley, Virginia, in Cabell County
Cabell County is located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 94,350, making it West Virginia's fourth most-populous county. Its county seat is Huntington. The county was organized in 1809 and named for ...
(now in West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
) on April 20, 1842. He served as a member of the 54th, 55th, 56th, 57th, 58th and 59th United States Congress
The 59th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1905, t ...
es. He died in 1914.
Dovener taught school from 1858 to 1861. When he was nineteen, he raised a company and served as captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of Company A, 15th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 15th West Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Service
The 15th West Virginia Infantry Regiment was organized at Wheeling in western Virginia between August and Oct ...
. He became captain of an Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
in 1867. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
in 1873 and entered practice in Wheeling, West Virginia. He gained some fame there as counsel to murder defendant Taylor Strauder, taking the case ( Strauder v. West Virginia) all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, winning an important legal victory for the civil rights of freedmen.
He married Margaret Lynch, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When she was quite young her parents moved to Wheeling, Virginia, now West Virginia, and here she grew to beautiful young womanhood. Her father was a Union man in those days when it cost something in Virginia to be a Union man, as also was her husband. At the commencement of the Civil War, when only nineteen years old age, Dovener raised a company of loyal Virginians, and served in the Union Army during the entire war. It was when he came to Wheeling to be mustered in that he first met Miss Lynch, then a beautiful young girl of seventeen. They corresponded until the close of the war, when they were married. Their younger son, Robert, died in his twenty-second year. Their elder son, William, was a talented lawyer, like his father.
He served as member of the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1883 and 1884. His candidacy for election to the Fifty-second Congress was unsuccessful. In 1894, he won election as a Republican to the Fifty-fourth and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1895 - March 3, 1907). His candidacy for renomination was unsuccessful, and he returned to his legal practice in Wheeling. He retired to Glen Echo, Maryland
Glen Echo is a town in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, that was chartered in 1904. The population was 255 at the 2010 census.
History
Glen Echo derives its name from the name of the lots developed by Edward, and Edwin Baltzley,
*
*
* ...
, until his death on May 9, 1914. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...
.
See also
* United States congressional delegations from West VirginiaReferences
Retrieved on 2008-02-09External links
* 1842 births 1914 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers Military personnel from West Virginia Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Republican Party members of the West Virginia House of Delegates People from Cabell County, West Virginia People from Glen Echo, Maryland Politicians from Wheeling, West Virginia People of West Virginia in the American Civil War Union Army officers West Virginia lawyers Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia 19th-century American politicians Lawyers from Wheeling, West Virginia {{US-Congress-stub