U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Cunningham, Daniel W. (1850-1942) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Men of West Virginia, Volume II Biographical Publishing Company George Richmond, Pres.: C. R. Arnold, Sec'y and Treas. Chicago, Illinois, 1903 Pages 491-493 D. W. CUNNINGHAM, a prominent citizen of Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia, who has efficiently served in the position of United States deputy marshal for a period of 14 years, is a native of West Virginia, and was born in Jackson County. His father, Joel Cunningham, who after being an officer in Jackson County for 20 years, organized Company E, 8th Regiment, West Virginia State troops, in 1861, and died in the service, January 7, 1862. He was a man of indomitable will, great personal courage and was seldom unsuccessful in his undertakings. The mother of our subject, Mary Cunningham, belonged to one of the old Virginia families of prominence. Her father was one of the organizers of his (Jackson) county; he was a justice of the peace for 21 years and was made sheriff of the county under an old law by virtue of his office as justice. Eleven children were born to our subject's parents. One of these was Nathan Cunningham, who entered the army in boyhood and served two years in the Civil War; returning to the scenes of his childhood, he resumed peaceful occupations. A few years later he was appointed deputy United States marshal, on account of his fearless and courageous character. For doing his duty well, he was foully assassinated in 1887 by a band of criminals, known by West Virginians as the Kuklux Klan. They were all outlaws who had terrorized Kentucky, Tennessee, the western portion of Virginia and the southern part of West Virginia. Marshal Cunningham by his bravery had seriously crippled the band in its work of murder, incest and violations of the law, and for this cause it added still another crime, resulting in the death of Nathan Cunningham. He is still well recalled in his community. D. W. Cunningham is the subject of this brief and inadequate sketch, as a comprehensive one would fill a volume. He grew to manhood in Jackson County, and was educated in the private schools of his locaHty. He engaged in teaching for 14 years, retiring from that profession to accept a position as a special deputy United States marshal. Soon after, he was made a deputy under President Harrison and was re-appointed by the late President McKinley. The life of an officer in this service is necessarily one of adventure and thrilling interest. Especially is it so in the case of Mr. Cunningham, whose fearlessness and bravery are well known all over the State; while he has so many friends he cannot number them, his name is enough to strike terror to the class whose machinations it is his business to destroy. The criminal records in the Department of Justice at Washington, D. C, show the great mass of work accomplished during the past 14 years by this competent and reliable officer. For three years he was stationed in McDowell County along the Norfolk & Western Railway. Prior to this, the locality had been infested with outlaws who committed every crime in the calendar. Mr. Cunningham has the reputation of being a man who has never flinched in the path of duty. He has been vilified and maligned, but only by those in sympathy with desperadoes. Among the notorious gangs who have been forced to surrender by Mr. Cunningham were the Hatfields and the Mullen gang. The father of the latter operated illicit distilleries for more than 30 years and in defense of his lawless business killed a number of officers. The names of the Skenns, Counts, Kisners, Hammonds, Fields, Harpers, Vances, Hatfields and many others long were a terror in the West Virginia mountains. They are all kindred, having continually intermarried, and while banded together in their nefarious operations carry on united vendettas against the lovers of law and order. Probably Mr. Cunningham has had to fight the most ungovernable of this class of criminals in the United States, but he has done it under the law, openly and fearlessly, and deserves the high opinion in which he is held. A man of iron nerve, he treads his dangerous path each day in the pursuit of duty, and it is through his efforts that travelers and tourists may now safely visit the wilds of this beautiful State. Personally, Mr. Cunningham is a man of commanding presence and is of scholarly attainments. Withal he is modest in speaking of his notable achievements and although ready to give information in his pleasant conversational way, one can only hear from other lips of the greatest dangers he has faced and the sum of what he has accomplished. In 1893 Mr. Cunningham married Beulah C. Greenleaf, who is a descendant of a prominent old Jackson County family. Three children have been born to this marriage, namely: Pearl, Clarence and William. Fraternally Mr. Cunningham is an Odd Fellow. ------------------------------------------------------------------- From Death Certificate, Kanawha County, WV #3182 FULL-NAME: Daniel W. Cunningham BIRTH-DATE: January 16, 1850 BIRTH-PLACE: Roane Co., W.Va. DEATH-DATE: February 5, 1942 (at age 92y-0m-19d) DEATH-PLACE: 1410 Cunningham Drive, Charleston, Kanawha County, WV USUAL-RESIDENCE: 1410 Cunningham Dr., Charleston, Kanawha County, WV MARITAL-STATUS: Married (Beulah Greenleaf) OCCUPATION: Police Officer Retired FATHER: Joel Cunningham (born in Virginia) MOTHER: Mary Casto (born in Virginia) CAUSE-OF-DEATH: Chronic Nephritis / Intestinal obstruction INFORMANT: Mrs. Pearl Munson (of Charleston, W.Va.) BURIAL: Spring Hill Cemetery, Charleston, W.Va. Tombstones in Spring Hill Cemetery, Charleston, Kanawha County, WV D. W. Cunnngham (Jan. 16, 1850 -- Feb. 5, 1942) Beulah C. Cunningham (Nov. 22, 1871 -- Jan. 27, 1958) ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Kanawha County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/kanawha/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------