U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Melvin, Thayer (1834-1906) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Men of West Virginia, Volume II Biographical Publishing Company George Richmond, Pres.: C. R. Arnold, Sec'y and Treas. Chicago, Illinois, 1903 Pages 753-755 HON. THAYER MELVIN, of Wheeling, West Virginia, has always belonged to the "Panhandle." He was born and reared in the village of Fairview in that portion of Brooke County, Virginia, which in 1847 became Hancock County. His parents were James and Philenia (Thayer) Melvin, the former a Pennsylvanian, of North of Ireland stock, and the latter a New Englander, whose people came to Virginia while she was young. Judge Melvin was the oldest of five children, and received a fair English education in the common and high schools of the vicinity. At the age of 17 years, he began the study of the law in Fairview, then the county seat, and later, in Lisbon, Ohio. He was licensed and admitted to practice in 1853, at the early age of 18 years. He began his legal career in his native place, and in 1855, while still in his minority, was elected prosecuting attorney of the county. He was elected for full terms in 1856 and 1860, although from 1857 to 1860 he resided in Wheeling, where he was associated with Joseph H. Pendleton, a distinguished lawyer of his day. Shortly after the breaking out of the Civil War, he enlisted from Hancock County in Company F, 1st Reg., West Va. Vol. Inf., and served for several months as orderly sergeant and then as 1st lieutenant. He left his company to accept a Federal commission as assistant adjutant general of volunteers, filling that position until late in 1865. He was then honorably discharged from the army, with brevets for meritorious services in the line of duty. Locating in Wellsburg in 1866, he was in that year again elected prosecuting attorney of Hancock County, and was elected by the Republican party Attorney General of the State. He was again elected two years thereafter, to the latter office, and resigned in June, 1869, to accept a commission as judge of the First Judicial District. A vacancy had resulted from the death of Judge E. H. Caldwell, and the attorneys of the circuit had signified to the Governor their desire for his appointment. Before this, he had again taken up his residence in Wheeling, and under an appointment from the Governor had assisted in completing the codification of the laws of the State. Subsequently, in 1872, he was elected judge of the same district for the full term of eight years. In 1880, he was elected one of the two judges to which the circuit had become entitled. Judge George E. Boyd being the other successful candidate. Resigning in November of the following year, he resumed practice in Wheeling. He became a member of the following firms in their order, — Ewing, Melvin & Riley; Ewing, Melvin & Ewing, and Melvin & Ewing. In September, 1899, immediately after the death of Judge Joseph R. Paull, Judge Melvin was appointed to his old position of judge, — again at the instance of the attorneys of the different counties, — to fill the vacancy thus occasioned. In the succeeding year, an election being in order, he was nominated by both of the prominent political parties, and was continued in office by the people, without opposition or dissent. He is still performing judicial duties, and gratefully acknowledges the flattering and unanticipated compliments bestowed by his brethren of the bar and by the people. Politically, Judge Melvin was, at the beginning, a follower of Henry Clay, but since the war he has acted with the Republican party, at least on national questions. He is not recognized as a partisan, however, and has never figured in the political arena, having always preferred to devote himself exclusively to the profession of his choice. ------------------------------------------------------------------- CERTIFICATE OF DEATH, City of Wheeling, W.Va. FULL-NAME: Thayer Melvin BIRTH-DATE: November 11, 1934 BIRTH-PLACE: Fairview, W.Va. DEATH-DATE: November 9, 1906 AGE-AT-DEATH: 72 years DEATH-PLACE: City Hospital, 5th Ward, Wheeling, Ohio County, WV USUAL-RESIDENCE: Wheeling MARITAL-STATUS: Single OCCUPATION: Judge Circuit Court FATHER: James Melvin (born in Penn.) MOTHER: Philena Thayer (born in Vermont) CAUSE-OF-DEATH: Apoplexy INFORMANT: James T. Melvin (of Fairview, W.Va.) BURIAL: Fairview, W.Va. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Large tombstone in United Methodist Cemetery, Hancock County, WV Thayer Melvin (1834-1906) ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Ohio County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/ohio/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------