Elisha Boyd Faulkner (1841-1917)

He was born at “Boydville,” Virginia, and was educated at Winchester Academy, Georgetown College, and the University of Virginia. He attended lectures on constitutional law in Paris while his father was U.S. Minister to France. In 1861, he volunteered with the Confederate Army and joined the artillery, appointed to the staff of Governor Letcher of Virginia. Promoted to Captain, he was captured at the Battle of Piedmont (1864) and imprisoned on Johnson’s Island for a year. After his release, he was wounded at the first Battle of Manassas, but continued to fight throughout the war. Returning to Virginia, because of the “test oath,” he lived in Kentucky from 1867 to 1872.

He returned to his native Martinsburg in 1872 and was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1876, and to the State Senate in 1878. He declined Presidency of the Senate, and was appointed a member of the Revising Committee. He was defeated for the nomination of Governor at the Democratic State Convention in 1884, and declined President Cleveland's offers to serve as Consul-General and Agent at Cairo, and as U.S. Minister to Persia (Iran).  Appointed Judge of the 13th Judicial District of West Virginia, he was re-elected for three terms, serving for 21-years. He was survived by one of two daughters, Mary Buckner Faulkner, active with the First Baptist Church of Martinsburg.