U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- McWhorter, John C. (1866-1939) ------------------------------------------------------------------- The History of Upshur County West Virginia From its Earliest Exploration and Settlement to the Present Time by W. B. Cutright Buckhannon, W. Va., July 1, 1907 Pages 515-516 JUDGE J. C. McWHORTER was born of Scotch-Irish stock on the 5th day of July, 1866, in Upshur County, and is the youngest son of Dr. J. M. McWhorter. His mother was the daughter of John W. Marple and died when the subject of this sketch was four years old. He is descended from Revolutionary stock, his great grandfather, Henry McWhorter, the first McWhorter to settle West Virginia, having been a Revolutionary soldier, fighting under Washington at the White Plains and elsewhere. From this old pioneer all the McWhorters in West Virginia are directly descended, three of whom having been, or are, judges in West Virginia, namely: H. C. McWhorter, President of the Supreme Court of Appeals; Joseph M. McWhorter, twice Judge in the Greenbrier Circuit, and J. C. McWhorter, now Judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit of West Virginia. J. C. McWhorter was reared on a farm in Upshur County, where he worked until he was twenty-four years old, when to prepare himself for the legal profession, he became a student in the West Virginia University, graduating from that institution in the highest division of his class in 1894, having completed five years work in four years and winning several prizes in oratory and debate during his college career. He was the first student who, in his freshman year, was ever elected President of the Columbian Literary Society of the State University. He was immediately, after graduation, admitted to the bar, and located for the practice of his profession in Buckhannon, in his native county. He achieved success at the bar from the very start. In 1897 he formed a partnership with Senator U. G. Young, under the firm name of Young & McWhorter, and success of this firm was such that its practice soon extended into various parts of the State. In 1004 he was nominated on the Democratic ticket a candidate for Judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit of West Virginia, consisting of the Counties of Upshur, Webster, Braxton and Nicholas. Although the nominal majority against him was more than a thousand, he was elected by nearly a thousand majority, running ahead of his ticket in every county in the circuit, and carrying his own county of Upshur by over a hundred majority, although at the same time that county gave Theodore Roosevelt about 1,700 majority for President. This official position he still holds, his term of office to expire on the 1st day of January, 1913. He is the first judge ever elected in this state from Upshur County. Having been a teetotaler all his life, he has been vigorous in his enforcement of the liquor laws of the state, and is persistent in his efforts to have all laws enforced. In 1895 he married Elizabeth Alkire, only daughter of Washington and Samantha Post Alkire. She was born and reared on Hacker's Creek, in Lewis County, West Virginia, and educated in the Wesleyan College of West Virginia. To them have been born three children, Nellie, Donald W., and Pauline, all of whom are living, aged respectively, 10, 7, and 3 years. Judge McWhorter is identified with a number of the business and financial enterprises of his county, being a stockholder of the Traders' National Bank of Buckhannon, of which he has also been a director for several years, and is also a stockholder of the Peoples' Bank of West Virginia, Citizens' Trust & Guaranty Company of West Virginia and the Citizens' National Bank of Redlands, California. ------------------------------------------------------------------- From Death Certificate, Upshur County, WV #11137 FULL-NAME: John Camellus McWhorter BIRTH-DATE: July 5, 1866 BIRTH-PLACE: Lewis Co., W.Va. DEATH-DATE: March 25, 1939 DEATH-PLACE: Buckhannon, Upshur County, WV RESIDENCE: Kanawha St., Buckhannon, Upshur County, WV MARITAL-STATUS: Married (Elizabeth Alkire) OCCUPATION: Lawyer FATHER: Dr. John McWhorter (born in Virginia) MOTHER: ____ Marple CAUSE-OF-DEATH: Coronary Occlusion INFORMANT: Mrs. Pauline Bennett BURIAL: Heavner Cemetery ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Upshur County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/upshur/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------