William Casey Marland (March 26, 1918 – November 26, 1965), 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 ...

, was the 24th Governor of West Virginia from 1953 to 1957. He is best known for his early attempts to tax companies that depleted the state's natural resources, especially coal, as well as overseeing implementation of

school desegregation School integration in the United States is the process (also known as desegregation) of ending race-based segregation within American public and private schools. Racial segregation in schools existed throughout most of American history and rema ...

during the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

when other Southern governors opposed it. Near the end of his life, he re-entered the public stage when a reporter found him driving a cab in Chicago. He responded to the negative publicity by making a public statement to the media about his recovery from alcoholism and indicated that his new, relatively humble job helped in that recovery.

Biography

Son of a mining boss, Joseph Wesley and Maude Casey Marland, he was born in

Johnston City, Illinois Johnston City is a city in Williamson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,348 at the 2020 census. This was a center of coal mining in the early 20th century, having a peak of population in the 1920s. The mining jobs attracted man ...

on March 26, 1918. His family moved to the

coal town A coal town, also known as a coal camp or patch, is a type of company town or mining community established by the employer, a mining company, which imports workers to the site to work the mineral find. The company develops it and provides residen ...

of Glen Rogers in

Wyoming County, West Virginia Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

when he was seven. During

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 ...

, he served as a

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

lieutenant in the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, completing four tours. He attended the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

, where he was a star football player, and received a law degree from

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

in 1947. He married

Valerie Allen Marland Valerie Allen Marland (June 16, 1917 – October 22, 1977) was the wife of former governor of West Virginia William C. Marland and served as that state's First Lady 1953–1957. She was born in Lacon, Illinois, and married Marland in 1942. As fir ...

in 1942, and they had four children: William Allen, Susan Lynn, John Wesley, and Casey Dixon. Marland was appointed

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

to Federal Judge Ben Moore, and in August 1948, he was appointed Assistant Attorney General. Upon resignation of former Attorney General Ira J. Partlow December 1, 1949, he was appointed

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. In November 1950, he was elected to the office. He announced his resignation on January 30, 1952 to run for election as governor later that year, his resignation taking effect the next day. He beat former Senator Rush Holt by slightly more than 3% in the 1952 gubernatorial race. As Governor, 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. He ran for the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

special election for Senator. He lost the election to former Senator William Chapman Revercomb. In

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

he ran for the Democratic primary to another special Senate election, losing to Representative

Jennings Randolph Jennings Randolph (March 8, 1902May 8, 1998) was an American politician from West Virginia. A Democrat, he was most notable for his service in the United States House of Representatives from 1933 to 1947 and the United States Senate from 1958 to ...

. After his second Senate loss, Marland worked as an attorney, eventually relocating to the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...

Later years

The pressures on Marland may have contributed to the development of

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

. Accusations that he drank heavily in office or at inappropriate times during the day have been made by Underwood. In the early 1960s, the ex-governor gave up drinking. But it was not his fate to live out his life as a private individual. A few years after his recovery, he was recognized by a ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...

'' reporter, Margery McElheny. Marland confirmed that he had been working as a

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

driver since August 1962, and the ''Daily News'' published the exclusive story on March 12, 1965, with the

wire service A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire, ...

s following up on March 13, 1965. The story received great attention nationally."Ex-Governor of W.Va. Driving Cab in Chicago"
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', March 13, 1965, p5 Knowing that the story was about to break and concerned about damage to his family, he called a press conference and spoke candidly about his alcoholism, how he overcame it, and his reasons for driving a taxi: to hold in check a level of ambition that may have contributed to his drinking. His fortunes dramatically changed for the better. He was soon invited to appear on

Jack Paar Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, author, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of ''The Tonight Show'' from 1957 to 1962. ''Time'' magazine's obituary of Paar repo ...

's television talk show, and was hired to run a West Virginia

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

concern. But shortly thereafter, he was diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

. He died of the disease in his

Barrington, Illinois Barrington is a village in Cook County and Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,722 at the 2020 census. A northwest suburb of Chicago, the area features wetlands, forest preserves, parks, and horse trails in a country-s ...

home, attended by his wife, children, other relatives, and family friends, on November 26, 1965. His widow followed him in death in 1977.

References

Rod Hoylman. "The Hard Road Home: William Casey Marland." West Virginia Division of Culture and History.

External links

''Reconstructing Bill'': 2009 documentary by West Virginia Public Broadcasting
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marland, William C. 1918 births 1965 deaths Democratic Party governors of West Virginia West Virginia Attorneys General United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers University of Alabama alumni Alabama Crimson Tide football players Methodists from West Virginia Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Illinois People from Williamson County, Illinois People from Wyoming County, West Virginia West Virginia University College of Law alumni Military personnel from West Virginia American taxi drivers 20th-century American politicians