William E. Chilton

William E. Chilton

William Edwin Chilton (born March 17, 1856 in Coalsmouth , Kanawha County , Virginia , †  November 7, 1939 in Charleston , West Virginia ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who represented the state of West Virginia in the US Senate .

William Chilton was born in the part of Virginia that split from the rest of the state during the Civil War and remained with the Union as West Virginia . His place of birth Coalsmouth changed names several times in the course of this development and was finally called St. Albans. There Chilton attended public and private schools as well as Shelton College , where he also graduated. He subsequently worked as a teacher, studied law , was admitted to the bar in 1880 and began practicing law in Charleston in 1882. He also worked in the newspaper business and in 1883 was prosecutor for Kanawha County.

In 1892 Chilton took over the chairmanship of the Democratic Executive Committee in West Virginia; from 1893 to 1897 he served as Secretary of State . In 1910, he was finally elected to the US Senate, which he served from March 4, 1911 to March 4, 1917. There he was chairman of the census committee and a member of the judiciary committee . In 1916 he stood for re-election, but was defeated by Republican Howard Sutherland . The election result was contested but held.

In 1924 and 1934, Chilton applied unsuccessfully to return to the Senate. He did not take on any other political offices and went to his business activities in Charleston, where he died in 1939.

Web links

• William E. Chilton in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• William E. Chilton in the database of Find a Grave (English)