Alexander W . Monroe Alexander W . Monroe ( December 29 , 1817 – March 16 , 1905 ) was a prominent Virginia ( later West Virginia ) schoolteacher , farmer , lawyer , surveyor , politician , newspaper editor and publisher , and an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . Monroe served as a member of the Virginia General Assembly ( 1850 – 1851 and 1862 – 1865 ) and West Virginia House of Delegates ( 1875 – 1877 and 1879 – 1883 ) representing Hampshire County . Monroe served as Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates during the 1875 – 1877 legislative session . Monroe also represented Hampshire County in the West Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1872 . Early life and family relations . Alexander W . Monroe was born on December 29 , 1817 in Hampshire County , Virginia ( now West Virginia ) and was the son of Robert and Elizabeth Monroe . Monroe ' s parents were of Scottish descent . Monroe ' s great uncle , Dr . John Monroe , was an early physician and Baptist minister in Hampshire County . Monroe ' s brother , Robert W . Monroe , was appointed by United States President Grover Cleveland as an Indian agent in Idaho . At the age of 18 , Monroe and his siblings were orphaned and Monroe took responsibility for the rearing and education of his four younger brothers and two sisters . To accomplish this feat , Monroe taught school during the winter months , and worked the family ' s farm during the growing season . Early professions and political career . Monroe began his career in public service as the county surveyor for Hampshire County . Monroe read law in Romney , Virginia ( now West Virginia ) under prominent local attorney , Alfred P . White . While studying law , Monroe was elected to represent Hampshire County in the Virginia House of Delegates alongside William P . Stump between 1850 and 1851 . Monroe served in the Virginia House of Delegates during the 1851 reform of the Constitution of Virginia . He later served again between 1862 and 1865 while serving in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . Monroe served in the Virginia General Assembly during each legislative session during wartime , and would return to military duties following session adjournments . Monroe was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1858 at the age of 41 and engaged in a lucrative law practice in Romney . The following year , Monroe was elected the Commonwealth ' s Attorney for Hampshire County . Monroe and Job N . Cookus purchased " The Virginia Argus and Hampshire Advertiser " newspaper in Romney and continued serving as its editors and publishers until its closure by the Union Army in August 1861 , after which , the newspaper was not revived . During their joint ownership , the offices for " The Virginia Argus and Hampshire Advertiser " were located in an old stone building that formerly housed the Romney Academy behind the Hampshire County Courthouse . Military career . Following the outbreak of the American Civil War in July 1861 , Monroe commanded the 114th Regiment of the Virginia militia in the Confederate States Army with the rank of colonel . Aged 43 , Monroe was the oldest colonel , by his commission , serving in the Virginia militia . On October 26 , 1861 , the 18th Virginia Cavalry , under Monroe ' s command , took part in a skirmish against a unit within the left column formation of Union Army troops under the command of Brigadier General Benjamin Franklin Kelley . The skirmish took place at present - day Blues Beach where a wire bridge carried the Moorefield and North Branch Turnpike across the South Branch Potomac River at the Lower Hanging Rocks . Monroe also led 300 soldiers of the 114th Regiment in the Battle of Blue ' s Gap on January 7 , 1862 . He remained the commanding officer of the 114th Regiment until its disbandment by the Congress of the Confederate States in April 1862 . Following the passage of the Conscription Bill by the Confederate States Congress , Monroe volunteered and raised a battalion of cavalry , known as the 18th Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment . He was elected major of the 18th Virginia Cavalry shortly after its creation . Monroe was later in command of the rear guard during the withdrawal of Confederate forces under the command of General Robert E . Lee from the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 . In this capacity , Monroe successfully protected the - long wagon train . Monroe fought for the Confederate Army throughout the duration of the war , until 1865 . Later political career . Following the American Civil War and his parole by Union authorities , Monroe resumed his practice of law in Romney and in 1872 , he represented Hampshire County at the West Virginia Constitutional Convention . In 1875 , Monroe returned to politics when he was elected as a Democrat to represent Hampshire County in the West Virginia House of Delegates for one two - year term . It was during this legislative session that Monroe served as Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates . Monroe again served as a member of the House of Delegates representing Hampshire County from 1879 to 1883 . Monroe served upon the Revisory Committee to amend West Virginia House of Delegates statutes in 1881 . Monroe was the first delegate to represent Hampshire County in both the Virginia General Assembly and the West Virginia Legislature . On February 23 , 1871 , the West Virginia Legislature passed an act incorporating the South Branch Railway Company , responsible for the construction and operation of a branch line connecting Romney with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad main line at Green Spring . Monroe was named by the legislature as one of the commissioner s of the South Branch Railway Company , charged with the responsibility of signing up investors to purchase capital stock in the company . Later life and death . During his later years , Monroe resided on his farm in the Barnes Mill community of Hampshire County . Monroe succumbed to heart failure and died on March 16 , 1905 at his home near Romney . Monroe was survived by his second wife Margaret and their four children . Monroe is interred with his wife Margaret at Indian Mound Cemetery in Romney , West Virginia . Marriage and children . In 1852 , Monroe married his first wife , Sarah A . French , daughter of John and Eleanor French . Monroe and his wife Sarah had one son : Following Sarah ' s death , Monroe married ( November 21 , 1866 ) his second wife , Margaret E . Pugh , daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Pugh . Monroe and his second wife Margaret had children , of which one son and three daughters survived to adulthood .