Reese Blizzard was the son of James Burton Blizzard and Elizabeth Gill. He was born at Mount Nebo in Nicholas County on Oct. 17, 1863.

Reese Blizzard lived in Nicholas County until he was thirteen, and thereafter made his home with his parents in Gilmer County, then coming to Calhoun after attending Glenville Normal School.

He taught school, worked on a farm, clerked in a store, was assistant in the circuit clerk's office and carried mail. He read law at Glenville with the firm of Linn & Withers, and was admitted to the bar in 1886.

He married Lillian "Lillie" Stump, daughter of Albert H. (Dick) and Drucilla Ball Stump, operators of the Stump Hotel on Main Street, Grantsville.
Reese and Lillie had 4 children: Reese, Jr, Roy C., Pearl & Ethel. Lillie died January 20, 1896.

Reese began practicing law at Grantsville and was soon recognized as a man of "superior powers" in the law and his practice extended over Central West Virginia.

He was elected circuit judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit in 1896, covering Gilmer, Calhoun, Roane, Jackson and Clay, serving only four years of his eight-year term, resigning midway to go to Parkersburg.

In September of 1897, Reese married Fannie Holland in Wood County, West Virginia. They had three children together; Paul Holland, Pansy L. and Fannie.

Judge Reese Blizzard of Wood County may be best known for calling Mother Jones "The most dangerous woman in America". Mary Harris "Mother" Jones appeared in federal court at Parkersburg in 1902, charged with ignoring an injunction banning meetings by striking miners.

Blizzard said,"She comes into a state where peace and prosperity reign. She crooks her finger and 20,000 men lay down their tools." Mother Jones died in 1930, saying "I'm no lady, I'm a hell raiser."

Judge Blizzard is also famous for sentencing the last man to a public hanging in West Virginia. Blizzard sentenced John F. Morgan to death after he murdered Chloe Greene and two of her three children in Jackson County in 1897. Morgan was the last man to be hanged in public in WV, his execution drawing over 5,000 spectators.

Blizzard was elected judge of the Sixth judicial district in 1896. He was appointed United States district attorney in 1900 by President McKinley and was later appointed United States district attorney for the northern West Virginia district by President Theodore Roosevelt.

A lifelong Republican, he was also editor of a Parkersburg newspaper and had numerous other business interests.

Reese Blizzard was the son of James Burton Blizzard and Elizabeth Gill. He was born at Mount Nebo in Nicholas County on Oct. 17, 1863.

Reese Blizzard lived in Nicholas County until he was thirteen, and thereafter made his home with his parents in Gilmer County, then coming to Calhoun after attending Glenville Normal School.

He taught school, worked on a farm, clerked in a store, was assistant in the circuit clerk's office and carried mail. He read law at Glenville with the firm of Linn & Withers, and was admitted to the bar in 1886.

He married Lillian "Lillie" Stump, daughter of Albert H. (Dick) and Drucilla Ball Stump, operators of the Stump Hotel on Main Street, Grantsville.
Reese and Lillie had 4 children: Reese, Jr, Roy C., Pearl & Ethel. Lillie died January 20, 1896.

Reese began practicing law at Grantsville and was soon recognized as a man of "superior powers" in the law and his practice extended over Central West Virginia.

He was elected circuit judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit in 1896, covering Gilmer, Calhoun, Roane, Jackson and Clay, serving only four years of his eight-year term, resigning midway to go to Parkersburg.

In September of 1897, Reese married Fannie Holland in Wood County, West Virginia. They had three children together; Paul Holland, Pansy L. and Fannie.

Judge Reese Blizzard of Wood County may be best known for calling Mother Jones "The most dangerous woman in America". Mary Harris "Mother" Jones appeared in federal court at Parkersburg in 1902, charged with ignoring an injunction banning meetings by striking miners.

Blizzard said,"She comes into a state where peace and prosperity reign. She crooks her finger and 20,000 men lay down their tools." Mother Jones died in 1930, saying "I'm no lady, I'm a hell raiser."

Judge Blizzard is also famous for sentencing the last man to a public hanging in West Virginia. Blizzard sentenced John F. Morgan to death after he murdered Chloe Greene and two of her three children in Jackson County in 1897. Morgan was the last man to be hanged in public in WV, his execution drawing over 5,000 spectators.

Blizzard was elected judge of the Sixth judicial district in 1896. He was appointed United States district attorney in 1900 by President McKinley and was later appointed United States district attorney for the northern West Virginia district by President Theodore Roosevelt.

A lifelong Republican, he was also editor of a Parkersburg newspaper and had numerous other business interests.