From "HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY,"  Vol. I, pages 213-214.
Brant & Fuller, 1890.


HON. W. W. ARNETT

The Hon. W. W. Arnett, the distinguished criminal lawyer of West 
Virginia, was born in Marion county, W. Va., October 26, 1843.  He is 
the son of Ulysses N. Arnett, who was a native of Monongahela county, 
W. Va.  The latter was a member of the Virginia legislature from 1846 
to 1856, and was a member of the constitutional convention in 1872; 
was a member, and president of the state senate immediately following 
the organization of the state in 1872.  This eminent man's death 
occurred in 1880, in his sixty-first year. His wife was Elizabeth 
(Cunningham) Arnett, who was born in Monongahela county, W.Va.  To 
these parents two sons and two daughters were born, one of the 
daughters is now deceased.  The Arnett family is Of French-English 
descent, the family name being French.  The Hon. W. W. Arnett was 
reared in Fairmont, W. Va., and was graduated from Allegheny college 
with the degrees of A. B. and A. M., in the class of 1860.  He began 
the study of law with judge Haymond when but thirteen years of age.  
December 12, 1860, he was admitted to the bar.  In April, 1861, he 
entered the Thirty-first Virginia infantry as a private.  
Subsequently he was appointed lieutenant-colonel, with the command of 
a battalion of seven companies, which afterward formed the principal 
part of the Twenty-fifth regiment of Virginia.  Shortly after he was 
assigned to the command of Col. Talliren's regiment (Twenty-third 
Virginia infantry), consisting of 1,300 men, as lieutenant-colonel.  
The valiant soldier was made colonel of the Twentieth cavalry 
regiment in June, 1863, and served in this distinguished position 
until the close of the war.  Col. Arnett fought in the Second Battle 
of Manassas, was engaged in the defense of Richmond, and also 
participated in the battles of Winchester, Cross Keys, Malvern Hill, 
and many other noted engagements too numerous to mention. After the 
close of the war he returned to Fairmont and began the practice of 
his chosen profession, but was cut off by the Lawyer's Test Oath. In 
the early part of 1866 he went to Shenandoah valley, locating at 
Berryville, the county seat of Clark county, and while there gained 
an enviable reputation as a lawyer.  One of the great cases which 
helped to make him famous as a criminal lawyer was one in which he 
was assistant counsel for a man who had killed a Union soldier, and 
the man was cleared by Col. Arnett's remarkable ability and 
eloquence. Col. Arnett was nominated by acclamation in 1868, for the 
Virginia legislature, and was easily elected.  He was present in the 
state house when it collapsed, causing the death of 170 people.  He 
had been elected to the legislature while in the army but refused to 
serve, preferring to fight, rather than to legislate for his cause.  
In 1872 he went to St. Louis, Mo., and practiced in that city for 
three years, at the expiration of which time he came to Wheeling, W. 
Va.  While in St. Louis Col. Arnett won many notable cases, among 
which was the celebrated case of the State vs. Julia Fort Meyer, who 
was on trial for her life, charged with arson and murder.  His 
removal from Missouri, where he was rapidly rising to the very front 
ranks of the bar, was caused by his desire to be near his aged 
father.  Miss Sallie Stephenson became his wife in the year 1867.  
Four sons have been born to this union.  Mrs. Arnett is the daughter 
of the Hon. Adam Stephenson, who was at one time one of the most 
eminent men of Virginia, having been a member of the Virginia 
constitutional convention of 1850, and for twenty-eight years clerk 
of the circuit and county courts of Highland county.  Col. Arnett has 
ever been actuated by the loftiest motives, both in his private and 
public life.  Despite the honors that have come to him, few men bear 
themselves with more dignity and modesty than he.  A brave soldier, a 
wise statesman, a great lawyer and a Christian gentleman. 


(Linda Fluharty)