Today in Wheeling History: February 11--Aquilla B. Caldwell, first and fifth attorney general of West Virginia, is born at Caldwell's Run near Wheeling (1814).
Aquilla Bolton Caldwell was born February 11, 1814, on Caldwell's Run in rural Ohio County, just outside Wheeling, into a prominent frontier family whose roots in the area dated to 1770. His grandfather, James Caldwell, came from Maryland and settled in the region, becoming the first president of the Merchants and Mechanics Bank. Aquilla's father, Joseph Caldwell, continued the family's civic prominence, and their old stone homestead at the head of Twenty-ninth Street still stood a century later.
Caldwell received an exceptional education for the era, earning degrees from Harvard University (A.B.) and Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania (LL.B.). He practiced law extensively in Mississippi and throughout the South before returning to Wheeling in 1856. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the staunch Unionist took a leading role in West Virginia's statehood movement. On the fourth Thursday in May 1863, he was elected the first attorney general under Governor Boreman's administration, serving until March 3, 1865. After resuming private practice, he was appointed the state's fifth attorney general in July 1869 when Thayer Melvin resigned, serving until January 1, 1871. He also served as prosecuting attorney of Ohio County.
Caldwell died suddenly on June 18, 1893, at age seventy-nine at his son-in-law L. R. Moise's residence on Wheeling Island, suffering an apoplectic stroke. He was survived by Matilda Newman of Carroll Parish, Louisiana, children Mrs. L. R. Moise, Mrs. A. B. Carter, Miss Belle Caldwell, and Will B. Caldwell, as well as siblings Alexander T. Caldwell, Henry C. Caldwell, Dr. S. B. Caldwell, Mrs. Caroline M. Wilson, and Mrs. Mary Merritt.
To learn more: Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/2tpja4s5), Alchetron (https://tinyurl.com/ycxbbw3t), Wikiwand (https://tinyurl.com/24hcktw3), Find a Grave (https://tinyurl.com/4j8d93d3), Wheeling Daily Register (https://tinyurl.com/yc5hrwjw), Wheeling Daily Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/2ftt3wsd)
Photo credits: Find a Grave, Wheeling Daily Register, Wheeling Daily Intelligencer
Aquilla Bolton Caldwell was born February 11, 1814, on Caldwell's Run in rural Ohio County, just outside Wheeling, into a prominent frontier family whose roots in the area dated to 1770. His grandfather, James Caldwell, came from Maryland and settled in the region, becoming the first president of the Merchants and Mechanics Bank. Aquilla's father, Joseph Caldwell, continued the family's civic prominence, and their old stone homestead at the head of Twenty-ninth Street still stood a century later.
Caldwell received an exceptional education for the era, earning degrees from Harvard University (A.B.) and Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania (LL.B.). He practiced law extensively in Mississippi and throughout the South before returning to Wheeling in 1856. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the staunch Unionist took a leading role in West Virginia's statehood movement. On the fourth Thursday in May 1863, he was elected the first attorney general under Governor Boreman's administration, serving until March 3, 1865. After resuming private practice, he was appointed the state's fifth attorney general in July 1869 when Thayer Melvin resigned, serving until January 1, 1871. He also served as prosecuting attorney of Ohio County.
Caldwell died suddenly on June 18, 1893, at age seventy-nine at his son-in-law L. R. Moise's residence on Wheeling Island, suffering an apoplectic stroke. He was survived by Matilda Newman of Carroll Parish, Louisiana, children Mrs. L. R. Moise, Mrs. A. B. Carter, Miss Belle Caldwell, and Will B. Caldwell, as well as siblings Alexander T. Caldwell, Henry C. Caldwell, Dr. S. B. Caldwell, Mrs. Caroline M. Wilson, and Mrs. Mary Merritt.
To learn more: Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/2tpja4s5), Alchetron (https://tinyurl.com/ycxbbw3t), Wikiwand (https://tinyurl.com/24hcktw3), Find a Grave (https://tinyurl.com/4j8d93d3), Wheeling Daily Register (https://tinyurl.com/yc5hrwjw), Wheeling Daily Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/2ftt3wsd)
Photo credits: Find a Grave, Wheeling Daily Register, Wheeling Daily Intelligencer
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