Arthur Inghram Boreman
First Governor of West Virginia, 1863-1869
U. S. Senator, West Virginia, 1869-1875
Born: July 24, 1823, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.
Died: April 19, 1896, Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia
- Moved to Virginia with his parents, who settled in Middlebourne, Tyler County, Virginia, 1827
- Moved with his parents to Moundsville, Marshall County, Virginia, 1840.
- Attended the public schools.
- Studied law, was admitted to the bar , May 1843.
- Commenced law practice in Parkersburg, Wood County, Virginia, 1843.
- Member of the Virginia House of Delegates, 1855-1860.
- Also served in the House of Delegates at the extra-session of the Legislature, 1861, taking an active part against the secession movement.
- Presided over the convention of supporters of the Union of the northwestern counties of Virginia held at Wheeling, June 19, 1861, to form the new State of West Virginia.
- Elected Judge of the Circuit Court, Nineteenth Circuit of Virginia, October 1861, and held the office until 1863.
- Unanimously elected the first Governor of West Virginia in 1863.
- Twice re-elected, serving from June 20, 1863 - February 26, 1869, when he resigned to accept the nomination as U. S. Senator.
- Elected from West Virginia as a Republican to the U. S. Senate, serving from March 4, 1869 - March 3, 1875.
- Was not a candidate for re-election, 1874.
- Resumed his law practice in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
- Elected Judge of the Circuit Court for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of West Virginia, 1888, serving until his death in 1896.
Buried: Odd Fellows Cemetery, Parkersburg, West Virginia.
(Source: U.S. Congress. House. Biographical Directory Of The American Congress 1774-1949, 85th Cong., 2nd sess., H. Doc. 607 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950), pp. 759-2057.)