William Henry West | |
---|---|
11th Ohio Attorney General | |
In office January 8, 1866 – January 10, 1870 |
|
Preceded by | Chauncey N. Olds |
Succeeded by | Francis Bates Pond |
Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court | |
In office February 9, 1872 – February 25, 1873 |
|
Preceded by | Josiah Scott |
Succeeded by | Walter F. Stone |
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from the Logan County district |
|
In office January 4, 1858 – January 1, 1860 |
|
Preceded by | Samuel M. Allen |
Succeeded by | James W. Hamilton |
In office January 6, 1862 – January 3, 1864 |
|
Preceded by | James W. Hamilton |
Succeeded by | Charles W. B. Allison |
Member of the Ohio Senate from the 13th district |
|
In office January 4, 1864 – December 31, 1865 |
|
Preceded by | John Hood |
Succeeded by | P. B. Cole |
Personal details | |
Born |
Washington County, Pennsylvania |
February 9, 1824
Died | March 14, 1911 Bellefontaine, Ohio |
(aged 87)
Resting place | Bellefontaine City Cemetery |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Williams Clara Riddle Gorton |
Children | four |
Alma mater | Jefferson College |
Signature |
William Henry West (February 9, 1824 – March 14, 1911) was a Republican Party politician in the U.S. state of Ohio who served as Ohio Attorney General from 1866 to 1868, and a member of the Ohio Supreme Court from February 1872 to 1873. His failing eyesight and powerful oration led to the title Blind Man Eloquent.
William H. West was born in Millsborough, Washington County, Pennsylvania. He was born on the anniversary of William Henry Harrison's birthday, and was named in his honor. In 1830, his parents settled on a farm in Knox County, Ohio, near Mount Vernon. In 1840 he entered the Martinsburg, Ohio Academy. He taught and studied until entering Jefferson College in Pennsylvania in 1844. He graduated second in his class of 58 in 1846.
West taught school in Kentucky until 1848, when he accepted a tutorship at Jefferson College, and then a year later an adjunct professorship at Hampden–Sydney College. In 1850 he became a law student of William Lawrence at Bellefontaine, Ohio. After admission to the bar, West was law partner of Lawrence from July 1851 to February, 1854. In 1852, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Logan County, Ohio, where he lived at Bellefontaine the rest of his life. He was an important force in the formation of the Republican Party in Ohio, and a prominent speaker at the Anti-Nebraska Party convention in Columbus in 1854. He was elected to represent his county in the Ohio House of Representatives for the 53rd General Assembly, 1858–1859, declined nomination in 1859, and was elected to the 55th General Assembly, 1862-1863. West was a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln.