West Virginia University - Monticola Yearbook (Morgantown, WV)

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MONTicoiA( = F:?rN ft IS) ( abU of (Tontents. DEDICATION ... 2 IN MEMORIAM 8 FEATURES 9 GRADUATE STUDENTS 22 SENIORS .. 26 PHARMACY 74 JUNIORS 78 ACTIVITIES .; 132 FRATERNITIES 1 4 ] ORGANIZATIONS 228 ATHLETICS 329 MILITARY 357 ADVERTISING 365 3

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Xife of IFames S. CaKln. which has passed from Lakin name, being now James S. received W. Va., and Ohio Wes named institution he n- James Sansome Lakin, President of the State Board of Control, which has charge of the financial and business affairs of the West Virginia University was born at Mounds- ville, W. Va., the son of the Rev. Calvin H. and Catherine Finney Lakin. He .s a direct descendant of Abraham Lakin. (born 1713, died 1796), who received from King George of England title deeds tor a tract of land m Frederick County, Maryland, father to son through many generations and is still in the the homestead of William Gerry Lakin. h;s education in Fairmont State Normal School, at Fairmont, eyan University, at Delaware. Ohio. While attending the last et a young lady student named Lura Olivia Lakin, daughter of George W Lakin of Columbus, Ohio who became his wife on November 14, 1889. To them three children have been born, James Offut, Marion Elizabeth and Florence Catherine. For a number of years Mr. Lakin was engaged in the mercantile and timber busi- ness wih headquarters at Terra Alta, W. Va. He was president of the First National Bank of Terra Alta and a Director of the Terra Alta Bank. His interest and activity in poht.cs and public affairs have been of the most ardent nature. He was for several terms a member of the Republican Executive Committee of Preston County. In 1912 he was Chairman of the Republican State Committee, and in 1920 he was elected a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago and represented West Vir- ginia there as a member of the Big Four ' Delegation. In 1900 he was appointed by Governor Albert B. White as a Director of the West Virginia Asylum at Huntington, W. Va., and was reappointed in 1904 by Governor W. M. O. Dawson. In 1905 he was a candidate on the Republican Ticket for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District of West Virginia, to succeed Hon. A. G. Dayton who had been appointed to a Federal Judgeship, but was defeated by a very narrow margin by Col. Thomas B. Dav.s of Keyser. W. Va. His service as a member of the Board of Directors of the West Virginia Asylum and his other business qualifications led Governor W. E. Glasscock to appoint him in 1909 as one of the three members of the newly created State Board of Control, which was to have charge of the business and financial affairs of all State Educational Institutions and the complete control and management of ail of West Virginia ' s Penal, Charitable and Correctional Institutions. He has been a mem- ber of that Board ever since, having been reappointed in July 1921 by Governor E. F. Morgan for his third consecutive term. When the Board first organized on July 1, 1909, he was elected President and has served in that executive capacity continuously excepting the four years of Governor John J. Cornwell ' s administration. In addition to these duties, he was appointed by Go-vernor Cornwell as a member of the State Mental Hygiene Commission. Mr. Lakin is identified with the activities of the First M. E. Church of Charleston. He is a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Knight Templar, a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, a member of Charleston Lodge B. P. O. Elks, and of the Knights of Pythias and the Edgewood Country Club. Immediately after the Spanish American War, Mr. Lakin was authorized along with Dr. Buckner Fairfax Scott by Governor George Wesley Atkinson to organize Company M. of the First West Virginia Infantry, National Guards. e - v S

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