Charles Hardaway Marks (January 31, 1921 – November 13, 2004) was an American attorney and politician.

Political career

Marks, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

served as a member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

from 1962 to 1991 where he represented the people of the City of Hopewell, and the counties of Prince George,

Charles City Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

, and at times, Surry. As a member of the General Assembly, Mr. Marks initiated the legislation which provided state recognition for eight Virginia Indian tribes and created the Virginia Indian Commission. He served as the commission's first chairman. He was honored by the Standing Bear Award presented to him for his work on behalf of the Virginia Indian community. He was the founding chairman of the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program (VASAP) and he received its Distinguished Service Award in 2000. When he retired from the House of Delegates; he was second in seniority and he chaired the Courts of Justice Committee. He was also a member and past chairman of the Corporations, Insurance and Banking Committee and he served on the Privileges and Elections and the Rules Committees.

Background

Born in Hopewell, Virginia, Marks graduated from Hopewell High School in 1940 and earned a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University; he also attended

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

and

University of Virginia Law School The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

. Marks was a founding partner of the Marks & Harrison law firm and was a member of the Virginia State Bar for 50 years. In 1987, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association. He was also involved in commercial, retail, and residential real estate development; the creation of several finance companies and two local banks which eventually became part of Wachovia; and farming. Marks died in

Prince George, Virginia Prince George is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Prince George County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 2,066. It is in the metro area of Richmond, Virginia. The elevation is at 131 feet ...

after a long illness. Marks was a veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and had served as a captain in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. He was wounded during the

Battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...

, for which he received the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

. He was a longtime member of

Merchant's Hope Church Merchant's Hope was the name of a plantation and church established in the Virginia Colony in the 17th century. It was also the name of an English sailing ship, ''Merchant's Hope'', which plied the Atlantic bringing emigrants to Virginia in the ea ...

in Prince George.

Legacy

In 1998 the

Charles Hardaway Marks Bridges Charles Hardaway Marks Bridges are twin spans which carry State Route 10 (Virginia), State Route 10 across the Appomattox River in Virginia. The bridges are in Chesterfield County, Virginia, Chesterfield County, Prince George County, Virginia, Pr ...

spanning the

Appomattox River The Appomattox River is a tributary of the James River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 in central and eastern Virginia in the United ...

between Hopewell and

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

were named in his honor.Portrait of Marks unveiled at ceremony

References

1921 births 2004 deaths People from Hopewell, Virginia Wake Forest University alumni Duke University alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni Virginia lawyers Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II {{Virginia-delegate-stub