Arthur I. Boreman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator fromWest Virginia | |
| In office March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1875 | |
| Preceded by | Peter G. Van Winkle |
| Succeeded by | Allen T. Caperton |
| 1stGovernor of West Virginia | |
| In office June 20, 1863 – February 26, 1869 | |
| Preceded by | Francis Harrison Pierpont as Governor of theRestored Government of Virginia |
| Succeeded by | Daniel D. T. Farnsworth |
| Member of theVirginia House of Delegates from theWood County district | |
| In office December 3, 1855 – April 4, 1861 | |
| Preceded by | John Jay Jackson Jr. |
| Succeeded by | n/a |
| Circuit Judge forWood County | |
| In office 1861–1863 | |
| Succeeded by | n/a |
| Circuit Judge forWood County | |
| In office 1888–1896 | |
| Succeeded by | n/a |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Arthur Inghram Boreman (1823-07-24)July 24, 1823 Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | April 19, 1896(1896-04-19) (aged 72) |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Laurane Tanner Bullock Boreman |
| Profession | Politician |
Arthur Ingram Boreman (July 24, 1823 – April 19, 1896) was an American lawyer, politician and judge who helped found theU.S. state ofWest Virginia. Raised inTyler County, West Virginia, he served as the state's firstgovernor, and aUnited States senator, as well as representedWood County in theVirginia House of Delegates, and served as a circuit judge before and after his federal service.[1][2]
Boreman was born inWaynesburg, Pennsylvania, son of Kenner Seaton Boreham and Sarah (Ingram) Boreham. His mother's brother,Arthur B. Ingram, was a member of theVirginia House of Delegates and would later serve in the legislature of theWisconsin Territory. When Arthur was four, his family relocated toMiddlebourne,Tyler County, which was then part ofVirginia, and is today part ofWest Virginia.
On November 30, 1864, he marriedLaurane Tanner Bullock, widow of a Union soldier, with two sons. They would also have two daughters.[3]
Arthur Boreman read law with an elder brother andJames McNeil Stephenson and was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1845. The following year he moved toParkersburg.Wood County voters elected Boreman as one of their representatives in theVirginia House of Delegates. Re-elected several times, he served in that part-time position from 1855 until 1861. Although not an abolitionist, but rather a Unionist, Boreman tried unsuccessfully to prevent Virginia's secession from the Union in April 1861.
On June 4, 1861, a meeting of Wood County Unionists elected Boreman, Dr. John Moss andPeter G. Van Winkle to theSecond Wheeling Convention.[4] Fellow delegates elected him as the convention's President. That convention established theRestored Government of Virginia, which the following year led to establishment of a separate State of West Virginia. His elder brotherWilliam I. Boreman (1816–1892) represented Doddridge and Tyler Counties in that convention, and his youngest brotherJacob S. Boreman (1831–1913) served in the Union Army before moving to Utah and becoming a judge.
In1863, West Virginia voters elected Arthur Boreman as the new state's first governor. He served from 1863 to 1869, winning re-election in1864 and1866 (although Virginia's constitutions had forbidden such successive terms). During his third term, Boreman won election to theU.S. Senate to replacePeter G. Van Winkle, and he served from 1869 to 1875. He helped lead efforts to pass the15th Amendment. WhenDemocrats regained power in West Virginia, Boreman returned to his law practice. He also helped organize recovery efforts after the 1884 Ohio River floods.[5]
In 1888, he was elected the 5th circuit judge and took the bench the following year. He continued to serve until his death seven years later, exhausted after a late trip home fromElizabeth, the Wirt County seat.[6][7]
Boreman died in Parkersburg in 1896, survived by his wife, two stepsons and daughter.[8] After services at his home and at the Methodist Episcopal Church where he had long served as a lay leader, he was buried at the Odd Fellows cemetery in Parkersburg.[9] His brotherJacob Smith Boremon became a Justice of the Utah territory Supreme Court and his nephewHerbert Stephenson Boreman (1897–1982) served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.[10]Boreman, West Virginia is named for the family.
Boreman Hall, adormitory on the campus ofWest Virginia University, is named after him. In addition, Arthur I. Boreman Elementary School is named in his honor in theTyler County town of Middlebourne, and formerly two elementary schools in theKanawha County town ofCross Lanes and the outlying Parkersburg area in Wood County were named in his honor.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| First | Republican nominee forGovernor of West Virginia 1863,1864,1866 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of West Virginia 1863–1869 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 1) from West Virginia 1869–1875 Served alongside:Waitman T. Willey,Henry G. Davis | Succeeded by |
 | ||
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
