Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 3.djvu/19

 GOVERNORS OF THE STATE— 1861-1915

Mrs. James Hoge, at their home, "Belle Hampton," in Pulaski county, Virginia. When he was ten years old, his grand- mother died, and his grandfather, stricken with paralysis, made him an assistant in his business affairs. To the age of fifteen he was instructed by private tutors and by his grandfather. After the death of Gen. Hoge, in 1861, he joined his father in Caroline county, and was sent to the school of Frank- lin Minor in Albemarle county. When Vir- ginia seceded, he enlisted as a private in the Confederate army, and served through- out the war with characteristic courage and fidelity. After the surrender, he returned to Pulaski county, and took up farm work, but soon became interested in public-affairs, and wrote frequently for the press urging manufacturing and mining development. In 1877 he was elected to the state senate, and proved himself a most efficient legislator. He urged the reduction of state taxes from fifty to forty cents. As a member of the commission which settled the state debt, his influence was potent in effecting a saving of interest. He was a member of the board of public buildings at Blacksburg and Mar- ion, and the labors of that body received special commendation by the governor. He v/as made rector of the Virginia Agricul- tural and Mechanical College (now Virginia Polytechnic Institute), but resigned to en- ter upon his duties as lieutenant-governor, to v.^hich office he was elected in 1889. ^^ w^-'' a member of the commission to examine into the disputed Virginia-Maryland boun- dary line, and was elected chairman of the joint committee of the two states. He gave earnest attention to the resources of the state, and in public addresses and letters to the press, he urged displays at the various

fairs and expositions. In 1897, by acclama- tion he was made the Democratic candidate for governor, and was elected by a majority of more than 52,000 votes. During his term of ofilice he greatly contributed to the pros- perity of the state. By careful economy, the state debt was reduced by more than a jnillion dollars, nor was this done at the exj^ense of any public concern. Besides meeting the additional expense incident to an extra legislative session and a constitu- tional convention, the public school fund was increased by $21,000, and the literary fund by $68,000, while more than $800,000 remained in the public treasury, and the constitutional convention further reduced the tax rate from forty to thirty cents. He re- commended a labor bureau, and the con- ditional pardon system, and these were es- tablished ; the agricultural department was placed upon a sound practical basis ; and all the state institutions received liberal and sympathetic support. During his term also the Virginia-Tennessee boundary dispute was settled.

In 1892 he was a delegate to the Pan- Presbyterian Alliance at Toronto, Canada ; and in 1896 went to Scotland as a represen- tative of the Southern General Assembly at the Alliance meeting in Glasgow. He was a member of the board of trustees of Hamp- d en-Sidney College, of the Union Theologi- cal Board, and of the board of the Synodi- cal Orphans' Home at Lynchburg. Since retiring from the governorship he has re- sided at East Radford, Virginia, where he has been active in various business enter- prises. He was married, in 1868, to Miss Sue Montgomery Hammet. Gov. Tyler is descended from Richard Tyler, who settled in Essex county in the latter part of the