1.
108th Virginia General Assembly
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The 108th Virginia General Assembly was the meeting of the legislative branch of the Virginia state government from 1914 to 1916, after the 1913 state elections. It convened in Richmond for two sessions, resignations and new members are discussed in the Changes in membership section, below. April 8,1914, John M. Hart resigns to accept appointment as Collector of Internal Revenue for the Western District of Virginia, replaced by William L. Andrews at start of extra session. April 13,1914, Richard C. L. Moncure resigns to accept appointment as Collector of Internal Revenue for the Eastern District of Virginia, oConor Goolrick at start of extra session. June 25,1914, Samuel T. Montague resigned to become postmaster of Portsmouth, corbitt at start of extra session. December 19,1914, Edward Echols dies, replaced by William H. Landes at start of extra session
2.
Virginia State Capitol
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The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U. S. state of Virginia. It houses the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, the Virginia General Assembly, the Capitol was conceived of by Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clérisseau in France. Although it was completed in 1788 and is 228 years old as of 2016, in the early 20th century, two wings were added, leading to its present appearance. In 1960, it was designated a National Historic Landmark, during the American Colonial period, Virginias first capital was Jamestown, where the first legislative body, the Virginia House of Burgesses, met in 1619. The new government used four state houses at different times at Jamestown due to fires, the first Representative Legislative Assembly convened on July 30,1619 at the Jamestown Church which served as the first Capitol. With the decision to relocate the government inland to Williamsburg in 1699, nearby was the grand Governors Palace. It burned in 1747 and was replaced in 1753, the Capitol at Williamsburg served until the American Revolutionary War began, when Governor Thomas Jefferson urged that the capital be relocated to Richmond. The building was last used as a capitol on December 24,1779, when it convened in Richmond on May 1,1780, the legislature met in a makeshift building near Shockoe Bottom. By 1788, the Old Capitol where the Virginia Ratifying Convention met was at the New Academy by the Chevalier Quesnay, plans were begun for a new building to serve a new state, the Commonwealth of Virginia. The site selected for a new, permanent building was on Shockoe Hill, Thomas Jefferson is credited with the overall design of the new Capitol, together with French architect Charles-Louis Clérisseau. The design was modeled after the Maison Carrée at Nîmes in southern France, the only other state to accurately copy an ancient model is the Vermont State House, which based its portico on the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens. Jefferson had Clérisseau substitute the Ionic order over the more ornate Corinthian column designs of the prototype in France, at the suggestion of Clérisseau, it used a variant of the Ionic order designed by Italian student of Andrea Palladio, Vincenzo Scamozzi. The cornerstone was laid on August 18,1785, with Governor Patrick Henry in attendance, in 1786, a set of architectural drawings and a plaster model were sent from France to Virginia, where it was executed by Samuel Dobie. It was sufficiently completed for the General Assembly to meet there in October 1792 and it is one of only twelve Capitols in the United States without an external dome. The building also served as the Capitol of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, the first Flag of the United States to fly over the capitol since secession was hoisted by Lieutenant Johnston L. de Peyster. U. S. President Abraham Lincoln toured the Capitol during his visit to Richmond about a week before his assassination in Washington, from April 6 until April 10,1865 Lynchburg served as the Capital of Virginia. Under Gov. William Smith, the executive and legislative branches of the moved to Lynchburg for the few days between the fall of Richmond and the fall of the Confederacy. After the end of the American Civil War, during the Reconstruction period, Virginia was under military rule for almost five years, before the proceedings could begin, the gallery gave way and fell to the courtroom floor
3.
Virginia
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Virginia is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, as well as in the historic Southeast. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, the capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond, Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The Commonwealths estimated population as of 2014 is over 8.3 million, the areas history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan. In 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony, slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant role in the colonys early politics and plantation economy. Although the Commonwealth was under one-party rule for nearly a century following Reconstruction, the Virginia General Assembly is the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World. The state government was ranked most effective by the Pew Center on the States in both 2005 and 2008 and it is unique in how it treats cities and counties equally, manages local roads, and prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. Virginias economy changed from agricultural to industrial during the 1960s and 1970s. Virginia has an area of 42,774.2 square miles, including 3,180.13 square miles of water. Virginias boundary with Maryland and Washington, D. C. extends to the mark of the south shore of the Potomac River. The southern border is defined as the 36° 30′ parallel north, the border with Tennessee was not settled until 1893, when their dispute was brought to the U. S. Supreme Court. The Chesapeake Bay separates the portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginias Eastern Shore. The bay was formed from the river valleys of the Susquehanna River. Many of Virginias rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James, the Tidewater is a coastal plain between the Atlantic coast and the fall line. It includes the Eastern Shore and major estuaries of Chesapeake Bay, the Piedmont is a series of sedimentary and igneous rock-based foothills east of the mountains which were formed in the Mesozoic era. The region, known for its clay soil, includes the Southwest Mountains around Charlottesville. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a province of the Appalachian Mountains with the highest points in the state. The Ridge and Valley region is west of the mountains and includes the Great Appalachian Valley, the region is carbonate rock based and includes Massanutten Mountain. The Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland Mountains are in the southwest corner of Virginia, in this region, rivers flow northwest, with a dendritic drainage system, into the Ohio River basin
4.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
5.
Senate of Virginia
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The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 Senators representing a number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, the Lieutenant Governor presides daily over the Virginia Senate. In the Lieutenant Governors absence, the President pro Tempore presides, the Senate is equal with the House of Delegates, the lower chamber of the legislature, except that taxation bills must originate in the House, similar to the federal U. S. Congress. Members of the Virginia Senate are elected every four years by the voters of the 40 senatorial districts on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November, the last election took place in November 2015. There are no limits for Senators. In the 2007 Virginia state elections, the Democratic Party reclaimed the majority in the Senate for the first time since 1995, the Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time in history after a January 1998 special election. The 2011 elections resulted in a 20–20 split between the parties, but as the tie breaker was Republican Lt, Governor Bill Bolling, the Republicans effectively regained control. The Democratic majority would prove short-lived, however, as Senator Phil Puckett resigned, effective June 8, the Republicans solidified their majority following a Special Election win on August 19,2014, which increased their total number of seats to 21. The Senate of Virginia was created by the 1776 Constitution of Virginia, along with the House of Delegates, the Senate comprised a new bicameral legislature designed to replace the colonial Virginia House of Burgesses, which formally dissolved on the sixth of May,1776. Pursuant to the original Virginia Constitution, the Senate was only permitted to file amendments, accordingly, the Senate had far less power than the House, until the revised Virginia constitution of 1851 allowed the Senate to propose new laws. The annual salary for senators is $18,000 per year, to qualify for office, senators must be at least 21 years of age at the time of the election, residents of the district they represent, and qualified to vote for General Assembly legislators. The regular session of the General Assembly is 60 days long during even numbered years and 30 days long during odd numbered years, the Senate of Virginia has 10 Standing Committees and a Committee on Rules. The Senate of Virginia has its own coat of arms designed and granted by the College of Arms in England, the coat of arms also makes up the official seal of the Virginia Senate. It bears no resemblance to the Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia and this is not to be confused with the Seal of the London Company, for other than both devices displaying a quartered shield, there is little resemblance between them. The Senates arms have a shield in the center which is divided into four sections by a red cross, in each quarter are smaller shields representing the arms of four countries that contributed settlers to Virginias most early waves of European immigration. An ivory gavel emblazoned on the arm of the red cross represents the Senate as a law making body. The cardinal and dogwood depicted are Virginias official state bird and tree, the ribbon contains the Latin motto of the Senate, Floreat Senatus Virginiae, which means May the Senate of Virginia flourish
6.
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
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The Lieutenant Governor is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Lieutenant Governor is elected every four years along with the Governor, the office is currently held by Democrat Ralph Northam. The governor and lieutenant governor are elected separately and thus may be of different political parties, the lieutenant governors office is located in the Oliver Hill Building on Capitol Square in Richmond, Virginia. Unlike the governor, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia can run for re-election, since the late 1920s, the lieutenant governor has been one of only three positions that competes in a statewide election in Virginia. Since the governor cannot succeed himself, whoever is elected lieutenant governor is almost always considered a candidate for governor. This is especially the case if the lieutenant governor and the attorney general come from different parties, the office of Lieutenant Governor is of colonial origin and can be traced to the Virginia Council of London. The Council was appointed by the King, and in turn, virginia’s first Constitution, adopted in 1776, provided a Council of State from which a President was annually selected from its members. The President acted as Lieutenant Governor in the case of the death, inability, the Virginia Constitution of 1851 abolished the Governor’s Council of State and provided for the popular election of the Lieutenant Governor. Shelton Farrar Leake, from Albemarle County, was the first elected Lieutenant Governor, constitutionally, the Lieutenant Governor is president of the Senate of Virginia, as is the case with many other lieutenant governors in the United States. Unlike most of his counterparts, however, the lieutenant governor presides over the chamber. Parties No party/Conservative Democratic Whig Republican As of January 2017, six former U. S. lieutenant governors of Virginia were alive, the oldest being Douglas Wilder. The most recent death of a former U. S. lieutenant governor of Virginia was that of Richard J. Davis and he is also the most recently serving U. S. lieutenant governor of Virginia to die. Lieutenant Governor of Virginias website List of past Lieutenant Governors
7.
James Taylor Ellyson
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James Taylor Ellyson was a U. S. political figure from the Commonwealth of Virginia who served in a number of state political positions. Born in Richmond, Virginia, Ellyson enlisted to fight for the Confederacy in 1863 and he attended Columbian College and Richmond College for one term each before attending and graduating from the University of Virginia with a degree in law. Ellyson began his career as a member of the Richmond City Council. In his long career, he went on to serve in the Senate of Virginia, as mayor of Richmond. To date, he is the only Lieutenant Governor of the commonwealth who served for three terms, Ellyson was also a trustee of Richmond College from 1891–1919, and president of the Board from 1908 through 1919. Ellyson left office in 1918 and died just over a year later and he is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. James Taylor Ellyson at The Virginia Elections and State Elected Officials Database Project, 1776-2007 James Taylor Ellyson at Find a Grave Museum of the Confederacy
8.
Edward Echols
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Edward Echols was a U. S. political figure from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Echols held office as the 18th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 1898 to 1902, edward Echols was born in Monroe County. There is some confusion over his birth year, but he is listed in the 1850 census as being one year old in September 1850 and he and his family moved to Staunton, Virginia, after the Civil War. He also served for six years in the Virginia House of Delegates and his father, John Echols, was a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Echols served as the National Valley Banks third president from 1905 to 1915 and his house at Staunton, known as Oakdene, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982
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