William Gustavus Conley (January 8, 1866October 21, 1940) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the

Attorney General of West Virginia Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

(1908–1913) and 18th

governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

(1929 to 1933).

Early and family life

He was born near Kingwood to Major William Conley and Mary Courtney Freeburn. He taught in the local public schools from 1886 to 1891. In 1892, he married Bertie Ison Martin."West Virginia's First Ladies," West Virginia Division of Culture and History, June 2007. In 1893 he graduated 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 ...

with a degree in law.

Career

After admission to the West Virginia bar, Conley began a law practice in

Parsons, West Virginia Parsons is the county seat and largest city in Tucker County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,322 at the 2020 census. The mayor of Parsons is Dorothy Judy and the city administrator is Jason Myers. The city is also governed by ...

. While there he served as

Tucker County Tucker County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,762, making it West Virginia's fourth-least populous county. Its county seat is Parsons. The county was created in 1856 from a part of ...

prosecuting attorney, and later as the mayor of Parsons. He also founded and was the editor of the ''Parsons Advocate''

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

. He also served as mayor of Kingwood from 1906 to 1908. In 1908, Governor William Dawson appointed Conley to the post of state

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 ...

. After being elected to the same office in 1908 by defeating Democrat

Eskridge Morton Eskridge may refer to: People *Charles Eskridge (disambiguation), multiple people *Chauncey Eskridge (1917–1988), American lawyer and judge *Durell Eskridge (born 1991), American football player *D'Wayne Eskridge (born 1997), American football p ...

, Conley continued in that role under Governor William Glasscock. In 1911, he argued before 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 ...

in the case of ''

Virginia v. West Virginia ''Virginia v. West Virginia'', 78 U.S. (11 Wall.) 39 (1871), is a 6-3 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States that held that if a governor has discretion in the conduct of the election, the legislature is bound by his action and cannot un ...

'', which involved Virginia's pre-Civil War debt and West Virginia's share of it. He was also involved in ''

Maryland v. West Virginia ''Maryland v. West Virginia'', 217 U.S. 1 (1910), is a 9-to-0 ruling by the United States Supreme Court which held that the boundary between the American states of Maryland and West Virginia is the south bank of the North Branch Potomac River. Th ...

'', which involved the border between Maryland and West Virginia. In 1912, Conley ran for Congress as a Republican but lost by 14 votes. Over the next 12 years he was a lawyer in Charleston. In 1924, he was appointed to the State Board of Education. He served there until his resignation on March 1, 1929. He was elected as governor of West Virginia in November 1928 with the slogan of "Conley Commands Confidence" and was inaugurated on March 4, 1929. His time as governor was marked by the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. His time as governor, limited by the state constitution at the time to one term, ended on March 4, 1933. He remained in Charleston and organized the law firm of Conley, Thompson, and Neff.

References

External links

Biography of William G. Conley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conley, William Gustavus 1866 births 1940 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers Methodists from West Virginia County prosecuting attorneys in West Virginia Editors of West Virginia newspapers Republican Party governors of West Virginia Mayors of places in West Virginia Politicians from Charleston, West Virginia People from Kingwood, West Virginia People from Parsons, West Virginia West Virginia Attorneys General West Virginia lawyers West Virginia University alumni West Virginia University College of Law alumni Lawyers from Charleston, West Virginia 20th-century American politicians