Lewis County, West Virginia Biography of Harry P. CAMDEN ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , March 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 2-3 HARRY P. CAMDEN. Among the distinguished men of this state Harry P. Camden is entitled to a prominent place. His professional ability and standing give him rank among the foremost lawyers of the state, and his achieve- ments in other lines make him conspicuous among men. Harry P. Camden was born at Weston, West Virginia, September 8, 1858. He is the son of T. B. Camden and Susan Holt Camden, and he owes much to these sturdy parents of good stock. His lineage runs back to the Cam- dens and the Spriggs of Montgomery County, Maryland, on the father's side, and to the Holts and the Wilsons of Pennsylvania on the mother's side, all of whom are of Revolutionary stock. One uncle on the father's side was twice elected United States senator from the State of West Virginia, and another uncle, on the mother's side, was judge of the Supreme Court of West Virginia for many years. The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of this state, and later attended for two years a preparatory school at Norwood on the James River, in the State of Virginia, and from there he went to the Uni- versity of Virginia at Charlottesville. For two years he was a student in the academic department of the University and was graduated in 1878-79 and in 1879-80 in several branches of study. As a member of the class of history and English literature for the year 1879-80 he was awarded the honor of having his graduating essay adjudged the best essay written by the class, and he had as competitors such students as Charles W. Kent, who afterward became pro- fessor of History and English Literature at the University. Mr. Camden's essay was published in the first issue of the University Magazine for the year 1880, and the same issue of the magazine contained complimentary announce- ment of the fact that Thomas Woodrow Wilson had re- ceived the orator's medal and the magazine medal for the same year. In the year 1880 Mr. Camden entered the law class of the University of Virginia, without any previous prepara- tion, and he achieved what has been accomplished by few students under the same conditions, and that was the making of his degree of Bachelor of Law, under Prof. John B. Minor and others, in one scholastic year. After graduating in law he first located in Charleston, West Virginia, where for five or six years he practiced his profession, most of the time in partnership with Gen. C. 0. Watts. He made his mark at the bar, even in that early day. Later, at the instance of his uncle, Senator J. N. Camden, he came to Parkersburg to assist him in taking care of the legal end of the many large enterprises which he was then promoting, and after these were firmly established he entered into partnership in the practice of the law with the late John A. Hutchinson, a leading lawyer of the bar at Parkersburg, and remained with him until his death, at which time he fell heir to the large practice that had been built up by Hutchinson & Camden. In 1896 Mr. Camden was made general counsel of the Ohio River Railroad Company, and for abont nine years and until this road was sold to the B. & 0., he success- fully and satisfactorily guided the legal destiny of this company, and always with conspicuous ability. One promi- nent member of the local bar, who had had experience in the same line of legal work, paid Mr. Camden the compli- ment of saying that he was the best counsel the Ohio River Railroad Company ever had, and it had had some able lawyers for counsel. Mr. Camden is still in active practice and has justly earned the enviable reputation of being one among the leading lawyers, not only of the local bar, but of the state. At the present time he is attorney for the estate of J. N. Camden, deceased, the Union Trust & Deposit Company, the Wood County Bank, the Cairo Oil Company and the Parkersburg-Ohio Bridge Company. Mr. Camden has been active at all times as a public spirited citizen outside of his profession, and has always taken an interest in the welfare and progress of the city in which he lives. For years he was a director of the Parkersburg Board of Commerce and was recognized as one of the most active and most valuable members. He was made chairman, some years ago, of a committee to devise ways and means for constructing a bridge over the Ohio River at Parkersburg, and he evolved and formulated the plan for financing the project, and it is due in great measure to the services, advice and activities of Mr. Camden that Parkersburg now boasts of one of the handsomest bridges over the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati. He is president of the Parkersburg-Ohio Bridge Company, as well as attorney for the company. Mr. Camden married Juliette Graham Blackford in Feb- ruary, 1899, and they have three children, Harry P., Jr., Mary V. and Graham Blackford Camden. He is affiliated with the Episcopal Church, and in politics is of the demo- cratic faith.