Henry D. Hatfield
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Henry D. Hatfield | |
---|---|
United States Senator from West Virginia | |
In office March 4, 1929 – January 3, 1935 | |
Preceded by | Matthew M. Neely |
Succeeded by | Rush Holt Sr. |
14th Governor of West Virginia | |
In office March 14, 1913 – March 5, 1917 | |
Preceded by | William E. Glasscock |
Succeeded by | John J. Cornwell |
President of the West Virginia Senate | |
In office January 30, 1911 – January 24, 1913 | |
Governor | William E. Glasscock |
Preceded by | Robert F. Kidd |
Succeeded by | Samuel V. Woods |
Member of the West Virginia Senate | |
In office 1908-1912 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Mingo County, West Virginia, U.S. | September 15, 1875
Died | October 23, 1962 Huntington, West Virginia, U.S. | (aged 87)
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | |
Relatives | Devil Anse Hatfield (uncle) |
Alma mater | University of Louisville (DMD) |
Profession | Politician |
Henry Drury Hatfield (September 15, 1875 – October 23, 1962) was an American Republican politician from Logan County, West Virginia. He served a term as the 14th Governor of the state, in addition to one term in the United States Senate. Hatfield was nephew to Devil Anse Hatfield, leader of the Hatfield clan.
Hatfield was born in Logan County (present-day Mingo County, West Virginia) on September 15, 1875. He graduated from Franklin College in New Athens, Ohio. He later obtained medical degrees from what is now known as the University of Louisville and later from New York University. In 1895, he married South Carolina "Carrie" Bronson.[1]
He was appointed as surgeon for the Norfolk and Western Railway (1895–1913) and surgeon in chief of State Hospital #1 in Welch, West Virginia (1899–1913). He entered local politics first as commissioner of district roads of McDowell County (1900–1905), eventually becoming a member of the State senate (1908–1912), and serving as president of the senate in 1911.
He was elected as Governor of West Virginia in 1912 when the southern coalfields were embroiled in the deadly Paint Creek–Cabin Creek strike. His predecessor, William E. Glasscock, had imposed martial law and imprisoned many striking miners. Hatfield began his term by pardoning Mother Jones and the miners who had been imprisoned by military courts, and then moving to negotiate a compromise to end the strike. He appointed a board of arbitration, and he himself chaired the board. The settlement presented to coal operators by Hatfield and the UMWA was staunchly opposed by local Socialists. In response, Hatfield deployed soldiers to force miners to agree to the compromise and ordered presses at Socialist newspapers in Huntington and Charleston destroyed.[2] Following the expiration of his term in 1917, he entered the United States Army as a major in the Medical Corps, serving as chief of the Surgical Service at Base Hospital No. 36 in Detroit, Michigan.
He was discharged in 1919 and returned to West Virginia. In 1928, he was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican, and served from March 4, 1929, to January 3, 1935. He was defeated in a bid for reelection in 1934.
After leaving the Senate, Hatfield settled in Huntington, West Virginia and established a private medical practice, where he worked until his death in 1962.
References
[edit]External links
[edit]- United States Congress. "Henry D. Hatfield (id: H000342)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- West Virginia & Regional History Center at West Virginia University, Henry Drury Hatfield, Papers and Correspondence
- Biography of Henry D. Hatfield
- Inaugural Address of Henry D. Hatfield
- e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia
- 1875 births
- 1962 deaths
- People from Mingo County, West Virginia
- Methodists from West Virginia
- Republican Party governors of West Virginia
- Politicians from Huntington, West Virginia
- People from Welch, West Virginia
- University of Louisville School of Medicine alumni
- Republican Party United States senators from West Virginia
- Military personnel from West Virginia
- Physicians from West Virginia
- Hatfield family
- American surgeons
- United States Army Medical Corps officers
- United States Army personnel of World War I
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine alumni
- Presidents of the West Virginia Senate
- Republican Party West Virginia state senators
- 20th-century United States senators
- 20th-century members of the West Virginia Legislature