John Witcher

{{Short description|American politician (1839–1906)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = John Seashoal Witcher | image = Gen. John S. Witcher - NARA - 527399 (cropped).jpg | state = West Virginia | district = 3rd | term = March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871 | preceded = Daniel Polsley | succeeded = Frank Hereford | office2 = 3rd Secretary of State of West Virginia | term_start2 = 1867 | term_end2 = 1869 | governor2 = William E. Stevenson | preceded2 = Granville D. Hall | succeeded2 = James M. Pipes | birth_date = {{birth date|1839|07|15|mf=y}} | birth_place = Cabell County, Virginia, United States<br />(now West Virginia) | death_date = {{death date and age|1906|7|8|1839|7|15|mf=y}} | death_place = Salt Lake City, Utah, United States | spouse = Mahaley Witcher | profession = Politician, Soldier | party = Republican

| allegiance = {{flag|United States of America|name=United States}} | branch = {{ubl | Union Army | United States Army }} | service_years = {{ubl | 1861–1865 | 1880–1899 }} | unit = 3rd West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment | commands = | battles = American Civil War | rank = {{ubl | Lieutenant Colonel | Brevet Brigadier General }} | awards = }}

'''John Seashoal Witcher''' (July 15, 1839 – July 8, 1906) was an American farmer, politician and soldier from Cabell County, West Virginia (then in Virginia), who helped found the new Union state during the American Civil War and served one term in Congress representing West Virginia's 3rd congressional district as a Republican. After losing his re-election in 1870 he resumed his federal and U.S. Army career. In addition to serving as lieutenant colonel and brevet colonel of the 3rd West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry, Witcher also served a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and as the 3rd Secretary of State of West Virginia. On March 18, 1867, President Andrew Johnson nominated Witcher for appointment to the brevet grade of brigadier general, to rank from March 13, 1865; and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 28, 1867.<ref name=Eicher577>Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-3641-1}}. pp. 577, 767.</ref> He is sometimes confused with his first cousin, Confederate Col. Vincent A. "Clawhammer" Witcher, a lawyer who lived in nearby Wayne County and who commanded the 34th Virginia Cavalry Battalion.<ref>Davis, William and James I. Robertson (eds.), ''Virginia at War, 1863'', Univ. Press of Kentucky, 2009, pg. 58 {{ISBN|978-0813125107}}</ref><ref>''Mountaineers of the Blue and Gray, The Civil War and West Virginia'', George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War, Shepherd Univ., 2008, CD-Rom</ref>

==Early and family life== Born in Cabell County, Virginia (now West Virginia) to farmer Jeremiah Witcher and his wife Polly, John Witcher was his family's only son, having an elder sister Emily (b. 1838) and younger sisters America (b. 1844) and Valeria (b. 1846). The family also included his paternal grandmother Sarah until some time before 1860.<ref>1850 U.S. Federal Census for District 10, Cabell County, Virginia family 461, p. 64 of 142</ref><ref>1860 U.S. Federal Census for Cabell County, Virginia family 951, p. 125 of 175</ref> John attended the local private schools as a child, as well as helped on the family farm.

He married Mahaley F. Witcher, four years his junior, and they had a daughter Valera in 1862 and sons William V Witcher (b. 1863), P. Sheridan Witcher (b. 1865) and John T. Witcher (b. 1867).<ref>1870 U.S. Federal census for Guyandotte, Cabell County, West Virginia), family no. 228 p. 32 of 53</ref>

==Career== John Witcher, who listed himself as a farmer on the 1860 census (when the household also included a 25 year old day laborer), was elected clerk of the circuit court of Cabell County in 1861.

On December 13, 1862, Witcher enlisted in the Union Army as a first lieutenant in the 3rd West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment.<ref name=Eicher577/> He was promoted to captain on September 8, 1863, major on May 23, 1864, and lieutenant colonel on May 6, 1865, before being honorably mustered out on June 30, 1865.<ref name=Eicher577/>

After the war's end, Cabell County voters elected Witcher to represent them in the West Virginia House of Delegates. He also served as West Virginia's 3rd Secretary of State. On March 18, 1867, President Andrew Johnson nominated Witcher for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general, to rank from March 13, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 28, 1867.<ref>Eicher, p. 767</ref>

Witcher was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1865, was Secretary of State of West Virginia from 1867 to 1869 and was elected a Republican to the United States House of Representatives in 1868, serving from 1869 to 1871. After being unsuccessful for reelection in 1870, he was appointed collector of internal revenue for the third district of West Virginia by President Ulysses S. Grant, serving from 1871 to 1876. Witcher served as United States pension agent in Washington, D.C. from 1878 to 1880 and was major and paymaster of the United States Army from 1880 until his retirement in 1899.<ref name="Eicher 577">Eicher 577</ref> He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on the retired list on April 23, 1904.<ref name="Eicher 577"/>

==Death and legacy== He moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1891 where he died on July 8, 1906.<ref name="Eicher 577"/> He is interred in Arlington National Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/Cgd3aXRjaGVyEgRqb2hu/ | website = ANC Explorer | accessdate = February 7, 2023 | title = Burial detail: Witcher, John S }}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|American Civil War|Biography}} *List of American Civil War brevet generals (Union)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|John Witcher}} {{CongBio|W000656}} Retrieved on 2008-10-18

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | before=Granville D. Hall | title=Secretary of State of West Virginia | years=1867 – 1869 | after=James M. Pipes}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=West Virginia | district=3 | before=Daniel Polsley | after=Frank Hereford | years=March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871 }} {{s-end}} {{Secretaries of State West Virginia}} {{WestVirginiaUSRepresentatives}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witcher, John}} Category:1839 births Category:1906 deaths Category:Military personnel from Cabell County, West Virginia Category:County clerks in Virginia Category:Republican Party members of the West Virginia House of Delegates Category:Politicians from Salt Lake City Category:People of West Virginia in the American Civil War Category:Secretaries of state of West Virginia Category:Union army officers Category:United States Army officers Category:United States Army paymasters Category:Republican Party United States representatives from West Virginia Category:19th-century United States representatives Category:19th-century members of the West Virginia Legislature