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JOHN N. SHACKLEFORD 
 
 GLENVILLE, WEST VIRGINIA 
 
 Late a Member of the Senate from the Tenth Senatorial District 
 
REUBEN PERRY SHINN 
 
 RIPLEY, WEST VIRGINIA 
 
 Late a Member of the Senate from the Fourth Senatorial District 
 
JOHN N. SHACKLEFORD 
 
 (Late a Senator from the Tenth Senatorial District) 
 
 REUBEN PERRY SHINN 
 
 (Late a Senator from the Fourth Senatorial District) 
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE SENATE OF 
 WEST VIRGINIA, APRIL 23, 1923 
 
 Charleston, 1923 
 
JARBETT printing 
 
 COMPANY 
 
 CHARLESTON 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 Proceedings in the Senate. 5 
 
 Prayer by Chaplain S. P. Crummett. 6 
 
 Memorial Addresses by: 
 
 Mr. John M. Baker, of the Fourth Senatorial District. 7 
 
 Mr. John Kee, of the Seventh Senatorial District. 10 
 
 Mr. George W. Bowers, of the Eleventh Senatorial District..., 12 
 
 Mr. Harry H. Darnall, of the Fifth Senatorial District. 13 
 
 Mr. R. F. Kidd, of the Tenth Senatorial District. 14 
 
 Mr. Charles G. Coffman, of the Twelfth Senatorial District.... 17 
 
 Mr. Clyde B. Johnson, of the Eighth Senatorial District. 19 
 
 Mr. T. P. Hill, of the Second Senatorial District. 21 
 
 Mr. John S. Darst, of Kanawha County. 23 
 
 599073 
 
SENATE OF WEST VIRGINIA 
 
 Charleston, April 23, 1923. 
 
 The hour of 2:30 o’clock, P. m., having arrived, the time heretofore fixed 
 for appropriate memorial exercises in honor of Senator J. N. Shackleford 
 and Senator R. P. Shinn, 
 
 Mr. Kidd presiding, 
 
 Mr. Baker offered the following: 
 
 Resolved, That the business of the Senate be suspendcJ in order that an opportunity may be given members 
 and ex-members of this Senate to pay tribute to tnc memories of Senator J. N. Shackleford and Senator R. P 
 Shtnn, late members of this body, as a special mark of respect to the deceased and in recognition of their distin¬ 
 guished public careers. Be it further 
 
 Resolved, That a complete copy of the resolutions and addresses made on this occasion be furnished to the 
 families of the deceased. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Baker the rules were suspended and the resolution was 
 taken up for immediate consideration, read by the Clerk, and adopted. 
 
 Thereupon the Senate convened in special session for memorial exercises, 
 in accordance with the resolution, and the following proceedings were had: 
 
 [5] 
 
LIemorial Addresses 
 
 PRAYER 
 
 Chaplain S. P. Crummett 
 
 Our Heavenly Father, we gather this beautiful afternoon in this place for 
 service and duty, but in the midst of the activities and work of this session 
 we are called upon to pause for a time to consider, think, speak and act with 
 reference to the services of two of the comrades of this body, two fellow servants 
 and fellow laborers together for the advancement of the interests of the State 
 and of all that pertains thereto. While we bow submissively to this dispen¬ 
 sation of Thy providence, we recognize our weaknesses and our shortsighted¬ 
 ness. We cannot see far, and we know not what is coming, or when it is com¬ 
 ing, or how, nor how soon some of us may likewise pass on and leave our places 
 for some one else to fill. So, Heavenly Father, we pray that there may come 
 to each of us a thoughtfulness and consideration with reference to these cer¬ 
 tainties that are before each and all of us, and to which we shall all come; 
 that whether it come soon or late, sudden or by long lingering illness, we may 
 be ready to pass out into the larger and richer and better life. 
 
 We pray Thy blessing. Father, upon the bereft homes of these Senators 
 who have passed on. Do Thou grant to so comfort and console them in their 
 hours of loneliness, in their hours of sadness and their times of helplessness 
 when the helpers have gone, that they may look to Thee for guidance and 
 help. Thou hast promised not only to be a father to the fatherless, but a 
 husband to the widow. 
 
 We pray now Thy blessing upon this session and all that shall enter into it, 
 whether of devotion or business, and may the spirit of God abide with us all 
 in the pardoning of our sins, and the guiding of each of us to the largest and 
 richest and best life. We ask it all with the forgiveness of our sins in the name 
 of Christ, the Redeemer. Amen. 
 
 [6] 
 
 Southern Pamphlets 
 Rare Book Collection 
 UNC-Chapel Hill 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 Address of Mr. John M. Baker, of Roane County, 
 
 Senator from the Fourth Senatorial District 
 
 Mr. President: Since the sessions of the Legislature of 1921 the Grim 
 Reaper has visited this body and taken therefrom two of its members. It 
 was not my pleasure to know the first one to go. Other gentlemen will speak 
 of his life, character and worthy deeds. I shall speak only of my fallen col¬ 
 league. In his death this body lost a conscientious, energetic, straight-think¬ 
 ing, clear-seeing and courageous member. In the sudden taking of Senator 
 R. P. Shinn from us by the hand of Death, the State lost a valuable legislator 
 and his associates a wise counsellor. 
 
 As evidence of the high esteem in which he was held, he was twice elected 
 to the office of sheriff of his native county of Jackson; later was a presidential 
 elector and lastly a member of this body. Numerous other instances might 
 be cited to show the confidence and esteem in which he was held by his fellow 
 men, but I content myself with mentioning these. 
 
 While all the members of this body feel the loss of Senator Shinn and will 
 long, perhaps always, remember him and cherish that memory; yet I feel 
 that I may take the liberty of saying that the loss is greater to those of us 
 who enjoyed that intimate association with him that some of us were privileged 
 to enjoy. To those to whom he was simply “Doug” Shinn, their sympathetic 
 friend and companion, the loss is even greater. And to the immediate members 
 of his family the loss is beyond our comprehension. My intimate association 
 with him began nearly twenty years ago and continued uninterruptedly 
 until his death. Shortly after the beginning of such association he and I 
 entered a campaign for public office, and soon after the close thereof entered 
 upon the discharge of the duties of our respective offices, and for four years 
 were closely associated with each other. And whatever measure of success 
 I may claim for myself as a public official at that time, I am fully conscious 
 of the fact that he very largely contributed thereto by the fact that he per¬ 
 formed well his duties as sheriff of his native county. 
 
 Senator Shinn was peculiarly one of the common people and believed in 
 and trusted them. He loved mankind. He believed in and trusted humanity 
 until he was forced to make exceptions due to the betrayal of such trust. 
 He was endowed by nature with a forceful personality and the courage of 
 his convictions. He possessed great energy and unusual business ability. 
 He had breadth of vision. He became and remained for many years prior 
 to his death a leader of men and a moulder of public opinion, and, without 
 injustice to others, accumulated more property than it is the common lot of 
 man to accumulate under conditions similar to those which surrounded him. 
 
 The greatest tributes of respect which have been and will be shown him, 
 have and will come from the countless numbers who have gratefully enjoyed 
 the generous hospitality of his home, received help in financial straits, and 
 
 [7] 
 
i\lEMORiAL Addresses 
 
 been the recipients of his gifts in time of need. Hundreds have reason for 
 feeling grateful to him and for shedding the tears they have shed over his 
 newly made grave. The home of “Doug” Shinn was open alike to all. His 
 liberality was not withheld from those who did not believe as he did. When 
 a church was to be built he did not ask what doctrines were to be promulgated 
 therein. It was sufficient to enlist his help when he knew that the principles 
 of Christianity were to be thereby given to mankind. He not only gave 
 help and dispensed hospitality as one living “by the side of the road,” but 
 he went into the highways as well on the same mission. 
 
 Upon memory's canvas will long remain this picture indelibly stamped 
 thereon by the life and character of Senator Shinn. He first opened his eyes 
 upon this world on the 20th day of July, 1860, in the midst of and perhaps at 
 the peak of the sectional strife that culminated in that great internecine 
 conflict in which the armies of the Blue and Gray surged back and forth 
 over the battle grounds now famous as monuments to that gigantic struggle. 
 And we may well imagine, if not actually assert, that at his birth he caught 
 some of the then prevalent feeling of devotion to duty, courage of one’s con¬ 
 victions, visions of the future of this country and loyalty to a cause. 
 
 In his childhood dreams he heard the tramping of armed men, and there 
 was brought to his ears upon the wings of the breeze the clash of weapons, 
 the shouting of the victors, the lamentations of the vanquished, the weeping 
 of women, the sorrowing of children and the prayers of the comforter. Are 
 not we then w^arranted in saying that all of these things left their impress 
 upon the life of him to whom we pay this mark of respect ? We know that he 
 was born amid rather primitive conditions and that his life was a struggle 
 from the beginning until his form lay silent and motionless forever. We know 
 that he spent his life in combat with nature; in fighting for the objects of his 
 desire, and in helpfulness. When sorrow overtook his neighbors, he lent a 
 helping hand, bowed his head in recognition of the will of God and sought to 
 comfort the sorrowing. Into the various contests of life he threw himself 
 with all of his strength and asked no favors except fair play. He attained 
 his ends so far as possible;* and with all he was unresentful in defeat, and 
 when victory came was grateful to those who helped to make it possible. 
 
 As we follow the details of this picture we see him espousing the causes he 
 believed in and standing by them to the last. There prominently stands out 
 his sturdy, rugged honesty, and his uncomprising adherence to the right as 
 he saw it. No less conspicuous is his loyalty to his friends and his confidence 
 and trust in humanity. We see him seemingly possessed of his usual strength 
 and vigor, urging action on the legislation which he thought best for his native 
 and beloved State, and while so engaged, he is stricken with a fatal malady. 
 Next we see him in lovable, skillful hands where by their aid he is fighting 
 with all his strength to stay off the inevitable and final earthly end of man. 
 With unbelievable swiftness the end came, and we mourn his loss. And, 
 paraphrasing the language of another, I stand today among the hundreds who 
 loved him and the thousands who lament his death. 
 
 [8] 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 To you, my colleague, I commend your spirit to the One which gave it, 
 and reluctantly consign your body to the earth from whence it came. In 
 doing so, I do not however efface from my mind the memory of you and your 
 kindly deeds performed while with us. I shall remember you in the vigor and 
 strength of your manhood, and amid the flowers which surrounded you for 
 the last time in your home with those who knew you best and loved you 
 most, and may your spirit hover over them and comfort them in their sorrow. 
 
 [9] 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 Address of Mr. John Kee, of Mercer County, 
 
 Seventh Senatorial District 
 
 Mr. President: I feel some hesitancy in adding my tribute to the beautiful 
 one paid to the Senator by his colleague, or saying anything in reference to 
 the memory of John N. Shackleford. What I might say cannot detract 
 from nor add to their past, which they so well and nobly wrought for them¬ 
 selves. Yet, knowing them as I did, knowing both of them in their lifetime, 
 I cannot refrain from placing one tribute, like a forget-me-not, upon the 
 altar of their remembrance in testimony of the goodness and virtues of those 
 men whom we have known and whom we have lost. 
 
 I shall speak of them rather as personal friends of mine, and not so much 
 as to their public life and their public efforts during their lifetime. 
 
 I was born and raised in the little country town that was the home of Senator 
 John N. Shackleford. I knew him from my early boyhood up until the 
 (day of his death. I knew him when he was surrounded by his friends and 
 by those who loved and cared for him, and who admired his sterling qualities. 
 I knew him in his home life, and I knew him in his public life, and he stood 
 head and shoulders with the most stalwart men of our country. He stood 
 first in the love of those by whom he was surrounded. His home life was 
 ideal. His public life was characterized by that honestness and directness 
 of purpose that was known to characterize the life of John N. Shackleford 
 from the time he reached manhood until death called him. 
 
 While I knew Senator Shinn for only a few brief weeks, yet during that time 
 he so impressed upon me his personality that I was able to call him a friend. 
 I was impressed from the time I met Senator Shinn with his rugged person¬ 
 ality, with his innate honesty, with his sterling qualities, with his ability, 
 with his absolute justness and fairness. In this Senate I have never seen 
 him influenced by the dictates of political expediency. It seemed that at 
 all times his vote and his efforts were for the public good and for public right¬ 
 eousness. He represented not only the people of his district, but he repre¬ 
 sented the people of the entire State. 
 
 The State of West Virginia suffered a great loss when these two men were 
 called to go down into the valley of the shadow of death. It has sometimes 
 occurred to us how wonderful and how strange death is, and how strange are 
 the rules of Providence. We wonder at it and we cannot understand. Some¬ 
 times it seems that the worthy are taken, and the unworthy are left. We 
 cannot understand why Divine Providence should take from us men of this 
 character in the prime of life. We go through life drifting and groping like 
 a little child in the darkness, reaching out our hands, however, for the One 
 above to guide us and direct us, hoping that the acts of the God who rules 
 over us are all for the best, and that some day we will be led into the light. 
 But above the darkness of the tomb, above all the shadows that fall upon 
 us, there gleams forever the rainbow of the eternal home, and that is our 
 knowledge of the immortality of the soul. It is not merely a hope. It is an 
 absolute fact. 
 
 [10] 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 Only a few months ago we saw the beautiful carpet of green out in our 
 fields turn to dead brown; we saw the flowers fade and die and their fragrance 
 depart; we saw the leaves turn red and then to brown, and drop upon the 
 cold, damp earth, as though the living things of nature were dead. But now 
 under the influence of the bright sunshine, those dead things of nature burst 
 forth into beautiful foliage, into wonderful bloom, and into flowers bright 
 and sweet as the poet’s song. 
 
 It is thus with friends. We mourn today for those to whom we pay tribute. 
 They have but passed away for a little while, and sometime we shall meet 
 them again. 
 
 I sometimes think that death is not the sombre thing that we dream of at 
 times. I believe when the time comes that we shall go down, that we will not 
 find anything to be dreaded, but we will find the wonderful valley along which 
 will flow the River of Life, and down that valley will stretch a wondrous way, 
 bordered by trees through which the sunlight will make beautiful patterns 
 below in the valley where the roses and jessamine lend their fragrant perfume, 
 and we will be met by those we have loved and lost, and who will take us by 
 the hand and lead us into the land of perpetual peace. 
 
 When we consider the lives of these men, we know that when they were 
 called, out of the shadow soft and low came the voice of the Master who said, 
 “What have you done in this day I gave to you,” that each of them answered 
 “My best.” 
 
 We can say of these two who have gone into the shadows, as of the noblest 
 Roman of them all, 
 
 “His life so gentle and the elements in him were so mixed that nature might 
 stand up and say to all the world, here was a man.” 
 
 # 
 
 [11] 
 
JMemorial Addresses 
 
 Address of Mr. George W. Bowers, of Marion County, 
 Eleventh Senatorial District 
 
 Mr. President, and Members of the Senate of West Virginia: We 
 are called to pay the last sad tribute of respect to the memory of one who 
 has been called from our ranks, and to us all must come the solemn reminder 
 of the frailty of human life. 
 
 I cannot permit this opportunity to pass without adding my humble and 
 heartfelt tribute to the memory of my friend, the late Senator from the Fourth 
 District. And, indeed, he was my friend, as I was his. 
 
 Coming to the Senate together in 1921, we soon found we were in accord 
 on many matters of public interest, and the acquaintance then formed ripened 
 into a friendship that continued until his death. 
 
 Can those of us among the eighteen Senators remaining who were present 
 at the meeting when Senator ShHiNN was taken ill, ever forget how, without 
 warning, the Grim Reaper entered our midst and placed his icy finger on the 
 one who seemed most unlikely to be called ? How almost in the twinkling of 
 an eye his sturdy form was prostrated ? 
 
 Senator Shinn was a man of strong and positive convictions; a man of keen 
 insight into human affairs. True it is he was not always in agreement with 
 all the members of this body, but there never was a criticism of Senator Shinn 
 when he took his stand on any question, because, my friends, everyone here 
 recognized that he chose the right as he saw it, and stood by his convictions 
 like the stalwart man he was. 
 
 To the people of his district his untimely taking off comes as a shock of 
 personal bereavement. He loved his district and its people, and they, by 
 their votes, had on more than one occasion demonstrated their confidence 
 in him. He w'as indeed a faithful servant of his people. 
 
 Missed by his acquaintances, deeply lamented by his friends, his association 
 with us here will ever be among our most cherished memories. 
 
 Every life ends an unfinished voyage. Our last port of call is never reached. 
 However great our accomplishments, the journey ends with the most coveted 
 ports far away on the distant horizon. And so it was with Senator Shinn. 
 His life journey, as he had planned it, was not complete. Apparently in 
 vigorous health and but little past the three score mark, he might well plan 
 for an active career for a long period ahead. But it was not to be. God in 
 His infinite plan called him from his earthly labors to a better and fairer 
 world beyond. 
 
 The world is the better for Reuben Perry Shinn having lived in it. 
 
 Farewell to you, our friend. We miss your kindly face, your friendly solici¬ 
 tude, your never-failing loyalty to the cause of right. 
 
 “The bravest lives are those to duty wed. 
 Whose deeds, both great and small. 
 
 Are close-knit strands of an unbroken thread 
 Where love ennobles all. 
 
 The world may sound no trumpet, ring no bells; 
 The book of life the shining record tells.” 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 Address of Mr. Harry H. Darnall, of Cabell County, 
 
 Fifth Senatorial District 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Senate: A few months ago I 
 saw nature wrapped in the shroud of winter, and slip into seemingly an endless 
 sleep. I few days ago I saw her breath again in the valleys and on these 
 surrounding hills from beneath a coverlet of beautiful green, and where the 
 rivers skirted the edge of the blanket it w^as fringed with the white and blue 
 violets, the first messengers of spring. 
 
 Our Creator was only causing the scenery of life to be shifted and was 
 arranging for another play. A few days ago I saw a man in the full strength 
 of years performing his part as a member of this body. An unbidden messenger 
 came and with a gentle touch upon the shoulder she summoned him to answer 
 the Creator’s call. 
 
 He left us and went away. 
 
 I looked today down the pathway of life to the end of the stretch where 
 the footsteps of mortality cease their travels and across the space I saw two 
 travelers who have finished the journey, one welcoming the other. I find them 
 the colleagues who have gone before. 
 
 To some of us they seem to be so hopelessly far away that some have called 
 it the “Land of Out-of-Reach.” Do you think them out of reach ? No. By 
 my own dead I deny your out-of-reach. Be comforted; its not too far to die. 
 By their well-remembered smiles and welcoming speech they wait for us today 
 thousands of miles this side of out-of-reach. 
 
 [13] 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 Address of Mr. R. F. Kidd, of Gilmer County, 
 Tenth Senatorial District 
 
 (Mr. Baker, Presiding.) 
 
 Mr. President: So much has been said, and so well said, that I might 
 be content to drop a tear upon the bier of these two deceased friends. But 
 it is meet that we lay aside our duties for the moment, forgetting our passions, 
 our political prejudices, and join together in paying tribute to the memory of 
 our departed brothers. 
 
 To me, the sweetest thing in life is to watch the rose of friendship grow and 
 bloom across party walls, and shed its beauty and its sweetness alike upon 
 Republicans and Democrats. Today we forget that we are anything but 
 West Virginians and Americans. It was such men as those to whom we pay 
 tribute this evening that have builded up our State and our government, 
 and we look out this evening over our fair country, extending from where 
 God’s perpetual bow of peace glorifies Niagara’s cliff, to our southern sea-girt 
 lines where divine blessings make it seem an Eden of beauty and perfection; 
 from Plymouth Rock, where the eastern song of the sea begins her morning’s 
 music, to the far-away Pacific, where the very tides murmur an evening 
 benediction upon our beloved land as they roll out beneath the setting sun, 
 and we ask whence it all came. Did it drop down from the heavens above ? 
 Or, upward spring from the soft greensward ? And the answer comes that 
 it was builded by those who endured hardship and toil and the shedding of 
 blood. 
 
 And so it is to such men as we mourn this evening who have borne their 
 part in the upbuilding of these. 
 
 One of them was my life-long friend and predecessor in office. The other 
 I had known for some years. 
 
 I remember the kindness of Senator Shinn. Years ago, when I was much 
 younger than I am now, sent by my party over into his county to try to con¬ 
 vert it, he took me by the hand and said, “Young man, you will have a hard 
 job, but I am your friend while you are here.” And he treated me so kindly 
 and so sweetly that he won my love. He was my friend in this Senate, and 
 just before he left me at the elevator to go down to hold a conference with his 
 party conferees, he said to me that his heart was fixed upon certain measures 
 that he wanted brought upon the floor of the Senate, and if he could not get 
 it done, he asked if I would assist him here in getting those bills out, and the 
 last thing he said was, “I will not be swayed by any man’s lash. I intend to 
 represent my people.” And as I gave him the promise of help, I left him at 
 the elevator, and by the time I got to my hotel I received a telephone message 
 that the fatal dart had struck him down. 
 
 I remember him because he was a rugged, honest man. Both of these Sena¬ 
 tors were rugged, honest men who loved their State and their people. They 
 were in many respects alike, and they are gone. 
 
 It has been well said, 
 
 “When a good man dies, far beyond our ken, 
 
 The light he leaves behind, falls upon the paths of men.” 
 
 [14] 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 If that be true, the light that they have thrown across our pathway will 
 lead us through devious ways of government and in our country’s making. 
 
 These men left their impress and their influence. We all have some influence 
 somewhere. When a man dies, he leaves an influence for good or bad. It 
 has been said, 
 
 “No stream from its source flows seaward, however lonely its course, but some land is gladdened thereby; 
 no star ever rose and set without casting its influence somewhere; no life can be pure in its purpose and strong in 
 its strife, and all life not be sweeter and purer and better thereby.” 
 
 If this is true,—and who will deny it ?—these two eminent Senators have 
 made the world better by their living. 
 
 Senator Shackleford was born on the 18th of February, 1860, in Upshur 
 County. He departed this life on his birthday—on the 18th day of February, 
 1922. 
 
 Long before the civil war there came across from the Albemarle region of 
 Virginia, a colony of people who settled in the county of Upshur. Next, 
 down from the New England States came another colony and settled in that 
 county. Those two strains of people carved out beautiful homes, builded 
 schoolhouses and churches, and erected a civilization in that county that 
 has not been surpassed in any county in the United States. From that strain 
 came my friend, Senator Shackleford. 
 
 In our boyhood days I worked with him on the farm; I went to school 
 with him; I taught him and with him. He came to my county, and we have 
 been in business together; we have lived on adjoining lots for years, and I 
 have known him well. .He lived four-square to all the world. Honest in all 
 of his dealings and in all of his transactions, he ever looked to the good and 
 the welfare of the people. 
 
 In his last sickness, I had been away from home, and when I got home late 
 at night, he sent for me. I went to his room. He was suft'ering very severely, 
 but he said, “By Spring I will be well. I have an unfinished work in the 
 Senate of West Virginia. I want to know if you will stand for a member of 
 the House of Delegates so you can come down and join with me and accom¬ 
 plish these things.” I saw then that the icy hand of Death was creeping on 
 him. Later when I went back and saw him, he said, “Tell me all about these 
 things. I want to hear you talk, but it pains me to talk.” 
 
 He met death as he had met life. To show you the characteristics of the man: 
 He joined the Baptist church after the death of his wife, and he was to be 
 baptized on a Sunday. He found that he could not reach home in time to be 
 at the church, and he sent his minister this telegram: “Am detained. Meet 
 me at the bar.” That was the bar at the river. So he was baptized there in 
 the limpid waters of that stream, on a beautiful autumnal day. And let us 
 hope that when his soul went out, he met at the bar on the other side, those 
 who had loved and cherished him in life. 
 
 As he said, he had an unfinished work. And that will be the result of all 
 of us, because there has been an age-long strife between right and wrong. It 
 has been beautifully said: 
 
 [ 15 ] 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 “Right forever on the scaffold, 
 
 Wrong forever on the throne; 
 
 Blit that scaffold sways the future, 
 
 And in the dim behind, 
 iStandeth God within the shadow. 
 
 Keeping watch above His own.” 
 
 He said that we will have better things. And that will be true. 1 am an 
 optimist. I believe today is better than yesterday, and tomorrow will be 
 better than today. I believe that by reason of such lives as these, the world 
 is better. I believe already 
 
 “There is a fount about to flow; there is a light about to glow. 
 Midnight darkness is changing into morning’s gray. 
 
 Men of thought and men of action, clear the way.” 
 
 [ 16 ] 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 Address of Mr. Charles G. Coffman, of Harrison County, 
 
 Twelfth Senatorial District 
 
 Mr. President: Senator Reuben Perry Shinn, while not {Demiitted 
 to attain an unusual old age, was privileged to live a very full life. Born and 
 reared on a farm in a great grazing and agricultural county, as a boy and 
 young man he lived in the open and communed with nature until he developed 
 the splendid physique that blessed him through life. Here, like most of our 
 country’s splendid men, he breathed pure and invigorating air, drank from 
 the clear and sparkling waters of our mountain streams, learned the rules of 
 honor, characteristic of the Virginia yeoman, and formed that splendid Chris¬ 
 tian character which lived with him to the end. Nature having blessed him 
 with physical endurance, placed into his soul zeal, energy and ambition, he 
 was destined to be a leader of his fellowman. 
 
 Unlike many young men of this age, he remained true to his early environ¬ 
 ment—the farm. While he was successful in numerous walks of life and was 
 to a considerable extent cosmopolitan in his business endeavors, yet my 
 association with him led me to believe that his greatest admiration was for 
 the farm. He loved to see the golden grains of the field wafted by nature’s 
 balmy breezes, while the rays of the rising sun kissed away the morning dew 
 drops. The broad meadows through which wended the crystal mountain 
 stream and the large acreage of blue grass upon which hundreds of cattle fed, 
 seemed to bring out his greatest business enthusiasm. As a stockman, Senator 
 Shinn probably had few superiors in this great commonwealth. To see pure¬ 
 bred cattle grazing upon the green fields of blue grass sod stretching over 
 mountains, hills and valleys brought forth to him a wonderful admiration. 
 However, he did not confine his business activities to stock raising alone, 
 for he was interested in one of the largest retail mercantile establishments 
 in this State, and was a most careful and successful banker. 
 
 Being a man of ability, honor and character, Senator Shinn was chosen by 
 his fellow citizens to be their political leader. He was singly honored and 
 entrusted as few men are honored and entrusted. Early in life he was ap¬ 
 pointed deputy sherifi‘ and while in that capacity so ingratiated himself as 
 an official, that he was soon elected to the responsible office of high sheriff 
 of his county. Being a Republican in politics, when his party needed a county 
 chairman to lead it to victory, it looked to and chose “Doug” Shinn. But 
 his party would not let him stop there, for soon thereafter he was made a 
 member of the Congressional Committee, and in 1916 when he had become 
 one of his party’s State leaders, he was chosen and elected a Presidential 
 Elector and cast his vote for that great jurist and statesman, Charles Evan 
 Hughes. Having been so true to every trust bestowed upon him, the people 
 of his senatorial district in 1920, by a large majority, elected him to the State 
 Senate. 
 
 Here it was, as a member of this body and of the judiciary committee, we 
 learned to know him, love him, admire and adore him, and came to realize his 
 splendid and unerring judgment, his love for the right and for mankind, and 
 
 [ 17 ] 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 his true and even Christian character. He was a most valuable member to 
 this body and all committees upon which he served. 
 
 It might be consoling to his home friends and relatives to know that the 
 end came most peacefully—with no suffering—becoming unconscious in 
 possibly three minutes from the time he was stricken. Sitting by his side 
 when the Great God of Mercy knocked at his door, it became my privilege 
 to give first assistance; unconscious of suffering he came into the world, 
 unconscious of suffering he went out of the world. 
 
 Senator John N. Shackleford, with whom I did not have the pleasure 
 of serving in this branch of the Legislature, represented an adjoining district 
 to my own. That he was a man of character, ability and honor, and true to 
 every trust imposed upon him, was verified by his popularity among his 
 constituents and by the respect and esteem of all those who knew him. Born 
 and brought up in the interior of the State where mountains rear their lofty 
 peaks, where pure and delicious waters fiow, where mountains, streams, birds 
 and roaming animals give lessons of everlasting freedom. Senator Shackleford 
 received his first impressions of life. Such environments laid the foundation 
 of his pure character, his honesty and integrity and his love of freedom. 
 
 The departure of Senators Shinn and Shackleford was a distinct loss 
 to their State, their respective districts, counties and communities, but their 
 impressions live. Then, in the language of a great teacher, “0! death where 
 is thy sting, O! grave where is thy victory.” 
 
 [ 18 ] 
 
Memorl\l Addresses 
 
 Address of Mr. Clyde B. Johnson, of Kanawha County, 
 
 Eighth Senatorial District 
 
 Mr. President: It seems that little is left to say in honor and kindly 
 remembrance of the two members of the Senate whom death has taken from 
 this body. It so happened that I knew them both better than it is usually 
 given to a man to know two men; not whose deaths are being recalled, but 
 whose lives and achievements are being commemorated at the same time. 
 
 I remember when, as almost a boy, I began to take interest in things political, 
 when, in the old so-called “Shoestring” Fourth Congressional District, I 
 began to make the acquaintance of young men of my own political party 
 who came from the counties that composed that district. And my recollection 
 goes back to those days when, coming down with the delegation from Gilmer 
 county, adding life and sparkle to it, was a young man that you could always 
 look to for leadership—to put life into a convention, and to tell you the truth. 
 That was John N. Shackleford, who was afterwards chosen by the people 
 of his district to represent them in this body. 
 
 He was a man of great natural power. When, as we were reminded by the 
 distinguished Senator from Gilmer (Mr. Kidd), we recall the fact that he 
 had his birth and beginning of life back in the old county of Upshur, where 
 there mingled some of the finest strains of American blood to help to carve 
 out a civilization surpassed by none, we cannot be surprised at the success 
 that he achieved. 
 
 He was a man of fine personality and fine character. I remember well some 
 twelve or fifteen years ago when the malady that finally carried him away 
 first laid its hand upon him, and I went to see him as he languished in St. 
 Luke’s Hospital, in Parkersburg, how bright and cheerful he was. That was 
 at the time when he lost, as the result of that illness, one of his limbs, but 
 there was never a complaint. When I dropped in to see him—which was 
 quite often while he was there confined—it was always life and snap and 
 cheer and encouragement. 
 
 While not being permitted to serve with him as a member of this body, I 
 had the pleasure of living in the same city where he served the State as a 
 member of this Senate, and I am deeply impressed, as we consider his life 
 and services this afternoon, with the fact that he was a useful Senator; he 
 was a conscientious, industrious, able representative of his district, and when 
 he passed from public service, his loss was a serious one to the State and to 
 his district. 
 
 Mr. President, the death of Senator Shinn brought to me also a very real 
 sense of personal loss. My acquaintance with him dates back to my young 
 manhood, and covers a quarter of a century. The fact that our paths diverged 
 politically did not interfere with our close personal friendship, and I always 
 had the greatest respect for his sterling honesty, and for those rugged qualities 
 of manhood which made him a leader of men. When Senator Shinn reached 
 a conclusion on any question, you might not agree with it, but you were 
 compelled to respect it as the opinion of an honest man. Always deliberate 
 and careful in decision, when he once took a position he was as firm as adamant. 
 
 [ 19 ] 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 But with all of his firmness and strength of character he had the heart of a 
 child in its kindness and affection for others. This side of the Senator from 
 Jackson came to be appreciated by us w’ho served with him in this body, 
 where the real qualities of head and heart quickly develop. 
 
 A more industrious and useful member has not occupied a seat in this Senate 
 since I have known its membership. His district, and the entire State, have 
 sustained a severe loss. And we can scarcely believe that he is gone. I find 
 myself looking across to his chair, and listening for his vote on the roll-call. 
 
 Death touched Reuben Perry Shinn in the hour of his greatest success— 
 his largest usefulness—and in the full strength of his manhood. But who 
 can say that he would not have chosen to have it so ? To go painlessly, and 
 almost in the flash of an eye from apparent rugged health, and from the arena 
 of active life, to that perfect rest, which after all is God’s greatest gift ? With 
 the exception of my friend, the Senator from Taylor, who attended him pro¬ 
 fessionally, I was the last member of the Senate to see him alive. When I 
 learned that he had been stricken I hurried to his bedside. I knew he was 
 dying, passing unconsciously and without pain, to the solution of life’s greatest 
 mystery—death. No long illness, no pain, no conscious loss of strength and 
 powers—just a single step from a full life to a fuller life. While I could not 
 restrain the tears, yet I thought, what a beautiful death to die, and my silent 
 prayer was that my end might be like his. 
 
 Our friend has but “wrapped the drapery of his couch about him and laid 
 down to pleasant dreams.” 
 
 [20J 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 Address of Mr. T. P. Hill, of Tyler County, 
 
 Second Senatorial District 
 
 Mr. President, Fellow Senators and Friends: We meet this after¬ 
 noon to do honor to one of our fellow members who has answered the last 
 roll call, and has left in our chamber saddened hearts and a vacant chair. 
 
 In the discharge of duty to his people and State the summons came to Senator 
 Shinn, and as he fell into the arms of his colleagues, with but a few brief 
 words, the call was answered, the book was closed, life’s work was done. 
 
 Born on a farm in the interior of Mason county, this State, he was reared 
 amidst those surroundings conducive to the development of true character 
 and manhood. The story of his life is the story of a plain, honest, manly 
 citizen, believing with all the strength of his mighty soul in the institutions 
 of his county and State. He had sublime faith in his people. He walked 
 with them and among them. He recognized the importance and power of 
 public sentiment, and was guided by it. “My people want this,” or “My 
 people are opposed to that,’* were expressions used by him, familiar to us all. 
 
 While he had only a limited education, he had graduated in the college of 
 experience, and had learned to know and to appreciate the importance of 
 our public institutions. And while he was a friend to all our schools, I venture 
 the assertion that the less fortunate boys and girls, located in the more remote 
 and poorer districts of our State, had no truer friend or more liberal supporter 
 than Senator Shinn. 
 
 He accommodated, trusted, and befriended his people, and they, in turn, 
 had confidence in him, and honored him as very few men have been honored. 
 He had twice been nominated and elected Sheriff of his county. He had been 
 chosen as Presidential Elector from his congressional district, and at the 
 time of his death he was serving his district as State Senator. The fact that 
 he had been so loyally supported by his people, shows the implicit confidence 
 they had in his ability and integrity. 
 
 As a business man he was a success, and was said to be the heaviest tax¬ 
 payer in Jackson county. He was a successful farmer and stockman. As 
 president of his bank, he labored for the success of his institution. 
 
 In all these places the influence of his guiding hand will most assuredly 
 be missed, but nowhere shall sadness and sorrow fall so heavily as in the 
 home from which a devoted husband and loving father has so suddenly been 
 taken. 
 
 His death came as a shock to us all. I take it that I can safely judge the 
 feelings of sorrow and sadness of my fellow senators, by those of myself, and 
 I can most truly assure you that in his demise I feel keenly the great loss of 
 a personal friend; but, with it, I feel that I am a better man, and a more 
 careful representative of the people because of my acquaintance and exper¬ 
 ience with Senator Shinn. 
 
 We were told by former Speaker of the House of Delegates, Luther W'olfe, 
 that because of his wide business relations, the sudden death of Senator Shinn 
 would probably bring direct inconvenience to at least one thousand people in 
 Jackson county. 
 
 [ 21 ] 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 Judge O’Brien said that he not only helped others, but that he had the 
 faculty of showing others how to help themselves. 
 
 His warm personal friend and business associate, Captain Walker, said 
 that he was ever a faithful and untiring worker in all his corporate or company 
 affairs, without even the thought of pay or compensation for his services, 
 except those derived as a result of the success of the business, and shared equally 
 by all concerned. 
 
 As a member of the committee named by the President of the Senate to 
 accompany the remains of Senator Shinn to his late home in Ripley, and to 
 carry to his friends and relatives your message of sorrow and condolence, I 
 beg to say that we met a saddened community and a heart-broken family, 
 and in this message today I trust we may bring back to you a touch of their 
 grief and sadness. 
 
 And as we again recall his sudden death, and by the power of imagination 
 we see that newly made grave in the cemetery at Fairplain, let us ask ourselves 
 these questions, “0 death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ?” 
 
 And then through the vision of the poet let us see the beauty of these lines, 
 and from them secure comfort and consolation: 
 
 “There is no death! The stars go down 
 To rise upon some fairer shore; 
 
 And bright in heaven’s jeweled crown 
 They rise for evermore. 
 
 There is no death! The dust we tread 
 Shall change beneath the summer showers 
 To golden grain or mellowed fruit 
 Or rainbow tinted flowers. 
 
 The granite rocks disorganize, 
 
 .\nd feed the hungry moss they bear; 
 
 The forest leaves drink daily life 
 From out the viewless air. 
 
 There is no death! The leaves may fall, 
 And flowers may fade and pass away; 
 They only wait through wintry hours 
 The coming of the May. 
 
 ‘There is no death! An angel form 
 Walked in our hall with silent tread; 
 
 He bore our most-loved friend away, 
 
 .\nd then, we called him ‘dead. ’ 
 
 .\nd ever near us, though unseen, 
 
 The dear immortal spirits tread; 
 
 For all the boundless universe 
 Is life—there are no dead.” 
 
 [ 22 ] 
 
Memorial Addresses 
 
 Address of Mr. John S. Darst, of Kanawha County, 
 
 Mr. President: If I may be permitted to do so, I should like to pay a 
 brief tribute to a life-long friend whom I loved because of his courage and 
 loyalty. Thirty years ago, when I attended for the first time a Republican 
 convention in Jackson county, my attention was attracted by a young man of 
 strong physique and wonderful energy, and whose personality I felt would 
 wield a mighty influence in his community. Later, when I was a candidate 
 for member of the House of Delegates and visited the people of Jackson 
 county, “Doug” Shinn not only extended a cordial welcome, but entertained 
 me at his home, which was then some ten miles back of Ripley. It was Sunday, 
 and during the day there were many callers. I wondered at the great number 
 of people who came to see him, and mentioned it to him, and he said, “This 
 is a pioneer country; these people are poor, and they are settling in the back 
 part of Jackson county, and they come to me with many of their wants.” 
 What impressed me at the time was the willingness of “Doug” Shinn to hear 
 the story of the man who seemed to be down and out and with scarcely enough 
 clothes to make a respectable appearance. But Mr. Shinn listened to him, 
 and I later learned that there were hundreds and hundreds of people in that 
 county who had been helped by Senator Shinn. He not only loaned them 
 money, but, being a businessman, he helped them in a business way and 
 taught them to help themselves. 
 
 In all his dealings Senator Shinn was absolutely dependable. I knew him 
 in business as well as in political affairs, and I feel that I have lost a great 
 personal friend. I know that Jackson county has lost one of its best citizens, 
 and his many friends mourn his death. 
 
 (President Shaffer presiding.) 
 
 As a further mark of respect to the two deceased Senators in commemoration 
 of whose lives the special services were held, on motion of Mr. Johnson, the 
 Senate adjourned until April 24, 1923. 
 
 [ 23 ] 
 
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