James Sloan Kuykendall

James Sloan Kuykendall was born on December 9, 1878, in the Springfield Magisterial District of Hampshire County, West Virginia.[1][2][3] He was the eldest child and son of William Kuykendall and his wife Hannah Pierce Sloan Kuykendall.[1][4][5] Kuykendall's family was of Dutch descent and was one of the oldest families residing in Hampshire County.[4][6] He was probably named for his maternal grandfather, James Sloan.[5][6] Kuykendall had two younger brothers and one younger sister: Michael Blue Kuykendall, Richard Sloan Kuykendall, and Nellie Frank Kuykendall.[5][6] For the first 20 years of his life, Kuykendall resided on his family's farm, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits.[6]

Kuykendall received his primary education in Hampshire County's rural public schools.[3][4][6] He commenced his higher education studies at Hampden–Sydney College in Hampden Sydney, Virginia, and later attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.[3][6] Kuykendall subsequently engaged in the study of jurisprudence at the Cumberland School of Law of Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, from which he received a diploma in 1901.[6] He then completed a similar course in law at the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.[3][6] Following this course at the University of North Carolina, Kuykendall passed his bar examination before the North Carolina Supreme Court and was admitted to the bar in North Carolina in September 1903.[6][7]

Following his admission to the North Carolina bar, Kuykendall commenced practicing law in Greensboro, where he practiced for a little over a year before returning to West Virginia.[6] He established his law practice in Romney and made his permanent residence there.[4][6] Kuykendall argued his first case before the Hampshire County Circuit Court in defense of a Mr. Miller, who had been charged with petit larceny.[6] Kuykendall secured the acquittal of his client, which further encouraged the young lawyer.[6] Following this case, he continued to perform as a criminal defense lawyer.[6] According to historian James Morton Callahan, Kuykendall "adhered to his rule to take part only on the side of the defense, and he has a merited reputation or skill and ability in that particular field."[6] By 1923, he had been a defense attorney in three murder cases: State v. Hetrick, State v. Averell, and State v. Gardner.[6] Kuykendall secured acquittals for his clients in State v. Hetrick and State v. Averell, but in State v. Gardner, his client was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.[6]

As an attorney for the Hampshire Southern Railroad Company in 1907, Kuykendall worked to acquire the right-of-way for the 38-mile (61 km) rail line through the South Branch Potomac River valley between the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) South Branch line at Romney and Petersburg.[8]

According to The Census of the Peach Crop of 1907 in West Virginia published by the West Virginia Department of Agriculture, Kuykendall was engaged in the management of a commercial peach orchard near Romney known as Sherman Orchard.[24] In 1907, Kuykendall's orchard produced Carman, Champion, Elberta, Salways, Bilyeu, and Heath Cling peach varieties, totaling 5,800 baskets in all.[24] Kuykendall was still operating a peach orchard in 1920.[25]

Kuykendall suffered a stroke in late 1927.[26] On 10 February 1928, he suffered a stroke and paralysis in a courtroom of the Winchester courthouse after the delivery of his closing argument in a circuit court criminal case.[26][27][28] Kuykendall died at Winchester Memorial Hospital on the morning of 12 February.[27] On 14 February, Kuykendall's funeral service was held at his Romney residence and it was officiated by the Reverend H. B. Wheeler, presiding elder of the Moorefield District of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.[27][28] He was interred at Indian Mound Cemetery.[27][28][29] Kuykendall was survived by his wife Bertha, his three children, and his brother, Richard Sloan Kuykendall.[28] Kuykendall's wife Bertha died on March 4, 1962, and was interred beside him at Indian Mound Cemetery.[29]

Kuykendall was married in Hampshire County on April 5, 1905, to Bertha Ray Williams (November 10, 1883 – March 4, 1962), born in Fairfax County, Virginia, and the daughter of Reverend James P. Williams and his wife Mary S. Williams.[2][29][30] Williams's father was the presiding elder of the Moorefield District of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.[6] Kuykendall and his wife Bertha had three children together including two daughters and one son:[6][28]

• Alma Elizabeth Kuykendall Sheehan (January 14, 1906 – December 6, 1970), married on June 31, 1928, to William Terrell Sheehan (December 5, 1902 – June 16, 1957)[27][31]
• James Sloan Kuykendall, Jr. (December 11, 1906 – February 17, 1995), married Emily Light (June 29, 1911 – June 19, 1982)[32][33][34]
• Mary Ray Kuykendall Armstrong (January 5, 1909 – May 15, 1996), married Robert W. Armstrong (April 11, 1905 – June 16, 1958)[35]

While Kuykendall's wife belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, he was raised as a Presbyterian, and for five years he was superintendent of the Presbyterian Church's Sunday school.[6]

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