Biography of David D. Ashworth DAVID D. ASHWORTH, who participated in some of the actual fighting in France as a lieutenant of infantry, has been a member of the West Virginia bar for half a dozen years, compiled a record of good service in the educational field, and is the present prosecuting attorney of Raleigh County, with home at Beckley. He was born at Ghent in that county, May 10, 1889, son of Charles V. and Ida (Lilly) Ashworth. His paternal grandfather, Armistead A. Ashworth, was a minister of a Primitive Baptist Church, and had charge of many congre- gations in Virginia and West Virginia and was widely known in church circles. He lived to be ninety-four years of age. Charles V. Ashworth, who was born in Grant County, Virginia, in 1854, moved to West Virginia in 1877, and was a farmer and teacher, conducting a number of rural schools in Raleigh County. In 1908 he moved to Mansfield, Missouri, where he is now living, and his later years have been given to the service of a Primitive Bap- tist Church as a minister. He has also served as a justice of the peace in Mansfield. He had two brothers who were Confederate soldiers. Ida Lilly, first wife of Charles V. Ashworth, was born in Raleigh County in 1857, and died in 1893. The second wife of Charles V. Ashworth was Esta, daughter of George Broyles, of Monroe County. By the first marriage there were six sons and four daughters, David D. being the eighth child. The oldest, Dr. R. A. Ashworth, is physician at the State Penitentiary at Moundsville, West Virginia. Ezra is in the lumber business and a farmer in Raleigh County. John enlisted in the Regular Army at the age of eighteen, has risen from the ranks to captain of infantry and is now located at Topeka, Kansas. L. L. Ashworth has the Ford agency at Pocahontas, Virginia. Joseph is a mine superintendent at Shady in Raleigh County. Of the daughters, Maude, who died in 1906, at the age of twenty-six, was the wife of H. W. Hicks, of Marion, Virginia. Lilly B. is the wife of T. S. McKinney, and they live on the Ashworth homestead. Alice, who died in 1913, at the age of twenty-five, was the wife of Dan Griffith. Charlotte is the wife of George McKinney. Charles Ash- worth by his second marriage has one daughter, Lula. David D. Ashworth received his first instruction in the grade school of Ghent. Later he attended the Beckley In- stitute, graduated in 1913 from the Concord State Normal School, and during 1913-15 was a student of law at West Virginia University. He was admitted to the bar No- vember 9, 1915. In the meantime and afterward he pur- sued a successful career as a teacher and school man. He taught ten terms of school. During 1909-10 he was super- intendent of the Sandy River District in McDowell County. He was also principal of the Eccles High School. In 1919- 20 he was superintendent of the Town District of Raleigh County. At that time the Beckley High School was in course of construction, and it was finished under his super- vision and is one of the finest schools in the state. Between terms of school Mr. Ashworth clerked in stores, and one summer was clerk in the Raleigh County Bank. He also served as deputy sheriff under W. L. Foster. Offering his services as a volunteer, Mr. Ashworth in Au- gust, 1917, entered the Second Officers' Training Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, and was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry. For some months he was on duty as an instructor in Camp Dodge, Iowa, and August 14, 1918, went overseas, reaching France September 3. He was at the front lines and part of the time on the battle front from October 3 until the signing of the armistice November 11. He was in the Meuse-Argonne district, and was promoted to first lieutenant soon after going to France. He was once slightly wounded, and had the unusual experience of having two canteens shot from his shoulder, and his com- rades spoke of him as the man who could not keep a can- teen. After the armistice he went with the Army of Occu- pation to Weitersburg, near Coblenz, where he remained until May 3, 1919. He received his honorable discharge from active duty June 8, 1919, but still retains a commis- sion as a first lieutenant in the Reserve Corps. Mr. Ashworth was elected prosecuting attorney of Raleigh County in the fall of 1920, and entered the office January 1, 1921. He has given a splendid account of him- self in this splendid office. He is a member of the cham- ber of commerce at Beckley, is a Master Mason and Knight of Pythias, and in politics is a republican. He is a mem- ber of the Missionary Baptist Church, and Mrs. Ashworth is a Lutheran. On June 25, 1919, he married Miss Martha Kellman, of Des Moines, Iowa. She is a graduate of Drake University of Des Moines. They have one daughter, Harriet Ruth. Source: The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 118 Submitted by Valerie F. Crook **************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. ****************************************************************