William E. Glasscock

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox officeholder William Ellsworth "Willy" Glasscock (December 13, 1862 – April 12, 1925) was an American politician who served as the 13th governor of West Virginia as a Republican from 1909 to 1913.

Biography

William Glasscock was born on a farm near Arnettsville, Virginia, now part of Monongalia County, West Virginia on December 13, 1862.<ref>Tucker, Gary J., Governor William E. Glasscock and Progressive Politics in West Virginia. Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Press, 2008; p. 1.</ref> He was educated in the local public school system and graduated from West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia.<ref name="WVE" /> In 1888, he married Mary Miller.<ref name="wvfl">"West Virginia's First Ladies," West Virginia Division of Culture and History, June 2007.</ref>

Glasscock worked for several years as a teacher, becoming the superintendent of schools in 1887 before leaving education to become the clerk of the county circuit court in 1890.<ref name="WVE" /> He was admitted to the bar in 1903 and began practicing law.<ref name="WVE">Template:Cite web</ref> He worked as an attorney for Senator Stephen B. Elkins. At Elkins' recommendation, Glasscock was appointed as the internal revenue collection for the District of West Virginia in 1905 by President Theodore Roosevelt.<ref name="WVE" />

In 1908, Glasscock resigned from this position to run for governor. He ran as the Republican nominee for Governor of West Virginia in 1908, beating Louis Bennett Sr. by 12,133 votes.<ref name="WVE" /> In his last year as governor, he declared martial law three times, sending troops to quell violent Coal Wars. Glasscock then returned to practicing law.

Glasscock was ill for the last several years of his life, and he spent time in Florida attempting to recuperate during his final weeks.<ref name=Funeral>"Glasscock Funeral Tuesday Afternoon," Hinton Daily News, April 13, 1925, p. 1.</ref> He died at home at Morgantown, West Virginia early in the morning of April 12, 1925, with wire reports attributing his demise to a "general breakdown of health."<ref name=Funeral />

Glasscock was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, with the minister of the local Methodist Episcopal Church officiating.<ref name=Funeral />

External links

• Biography of William E. Glasscock
• Inaugural Address of William E. Glasscock
• The * West Virginia & Regional History Center at West Virginia University has two collections of William E. Glasscock's papers, A&M 6 and A&M 1447