Upshur County, West Virginia Biography of W. B. GOLDEN This file was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the sketch subject. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 267-268 Upshur County W. B. GOLDEN. A position of public trust is necessarily indicative of the man who fills it. When the duties of an office demanding a keen intellect, a never-failing diplomacy and a strong moral courage, are, year after year, dis- charged so satisfactorily that the public vote confirms them successively on the same person, we may be imme- diately assured that the individual who occupies the office is possessed of the proper abilities. In this connection mention is to be made of W. B. Golden, who was elected to the office of superintendent of schools of Braxton County in 1910, served four years and was elected again in 1918 and is now serving his second term. Mr. Golden was born in Upshur County, West Virginia February 19, 1874, a son of A. B. and Celina (McCauley) Golden, both natives of the same locality and both prod- ucts of the farm and of the country schools. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Golden had taught in the free schools of her native county for several years. After their mar- riage Mr. Golden turned his attention to farming, and settled on a small farm near Rock Cave, but in 1884 disposed of his interests in that locality and moved to a farm near Flatwoods, Braxton County, where they lived until the death of Mr. Golden, which occurred September 3, 1900, after which Mrs. Golden disposed of the farm and now resides at Walkersville, Lewis County, with her youngest son. They were faithful members of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. Mr. Golden was a member of the Improved Order of Rd Men, and his political faith was as a democrat. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Golden were as follows: W. B., of this review; Charles O, who is en- gaged in farming in the State of Colorado; Eva, who is the wife of M. H. Crawford, of Weston, West Virginia; J. L., who is engaged in farming and the lumber business at Rock Cave, this state; A. H., of Burnsville, Braxton County; T. R, who is engaged in operating a farm in Oklahoma; Oscar, who while working for the Government as a trained nurse in the Philippine Islands, contracted tuberculosis, from which he died; and Clyde, who resides at home with his mother. W. B. Golden was reared on a farm, but cared little for agricultural pursuits, and when fifteen years of age taught his first country school. He continued to follow this vocation, in the meantime adding much to his store of information by reading and home study courses. He has been elected two terms of four years each to the office of county superintendent of schools of his county. In the superintendency, Mr. Golden has done much to elevate the standards of the free schools of his county and place them on a higher plane. He has made himself a general favorite with teachers, pupils and parents, and much of his success has been due to the fact that he knows the needs of his county and is working with all the energy at his command for the general betterment. So well has he done his work as superintendent that he is regarded as one of the best in the state and can no doubt be elected again with little opposition. On May 26, 1899, Mr. Golden married Miss Estella M. Morrison, who was born in Braxton County and educated in the public schools of her county. To this union were born five children: Marvin L., a graduate of the high school at Sutton and has since had two and one-half years at the State University; Mary Marie, a graduate of the Sntton High School and teaches in the graded school at Flatwoods; Audrey, a student at the Flatwoods High School; Opal and Edith, who are attending the graded school at Flatwoods. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in which Mr. Golden is superintendent of the Sunday school. He is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, in which order he belongs to the State Great Council, and in politics is a democrat.