I got to thinking about Virginia’s political faces
recently -- in particular, the clean-shaven look of the
Commonwealth’s statehouse residents. I remembered
seeing images of former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder sporting
a mustache at various times in his career. The question
was, had he ever worn one as governor? He assures us via
e-mail that he had not.
Virginia has had 79 post-colonial governors since Patrick
Henry took office in 1776. Of that number, 14, most in
the late 19th and early 20th century, wore mustaches,
beards or both, according to Governors
of Virginia by Roslyn and Edwin C. Luther III.
The first hirsute Governor technically wasn’t even
a Virginian. He was Francis Harrison Pierpont
(1865-1868) who was governor of the “restored government”
-- what is now West Virginia -- during the Civil War.
(Western Virginians did not support the 1861 Order of
Secession and separated from the Confederacy in 1863.)
There were two governors in Virginia for awhile. Now think
about that for a minute! Two governors at once! The bearded
politician then governed the Commonwealth immediately
following the war.
The last Virginia governor to display facial hair was
Loudoun County’s Westmoreland Davis
(1918 – 1922). His official portrait sports a dignified
mustache. Davis was known as an independent-minded Democrat
credited with introducing a new budget system and organizing
a new highway department to accommodate increasing automobile
use.
Between those two, there were all types of facial decoration.
Those bearing only mustaches included Gilbert
Carlton Walker (1870-1874), the Commonwealth’s
first Republican governor, and the only one for another
100 years; Philip Watkins McKinney (1890-1894),
who was plagued by the problem of state debt during his
tenure; Charles Triplett O’Ferrall
(1894-1898), credited with eliminating much of the “carpetbagger
influence” in Virginia; Claude Augustus
Swanson (1906-1910), a progressive governor who
later served as Secretary of the Navy under Franklin D.
Roosevelt; and Henry Carter Stuart (1914-1918),
who spent his term mobilizing the Commonwealth’s
resources for World War I.
Those with both mustaches and beards include Henry
Horatio Wells (1868-1869), an unpopular governor
because he served during the post-Civil War occupation
by the Union forces; James Lawson Kemper
(1874-1878), a Confederate Army hero; Frederick
William Mackey Holliday (1878-1882), one of the
first to address the Virginia post-Civil War debt issue;
William Evelyn Cameron (1882-1886), whose
administration supported the abolishment of the “whipping
post” form of punishment; Fitzhugh Lee
(1886-1890), another Confederate hero and one of the most
popular governors up to his time, attracting business
and investment to the state; James Hoge Tyler
(1898-1902), who was elected by the largest margin for
a candidate up to that time; and William Hodges
Mann (1910-1914), a supporter of temperance and
public education, responsible for a bill to build 450
high schools in the state.
So do these mustachioed and/or bearded gentlemen have
anything in common? For those listed above, it may simply
be a matter of fashion. Small moustaches and sideburns
began to appear as a part of men’s fashion between
1815-1840. Over the next 25 years, full beards and styled
chin beards without a mustache, as well as “spade”
beards with or without mustaches, were in style. By 1890,
the clean-shaven look returned, but there were still those
with small mustaches waxed and turned up at the ends or
older individuals wearing “walrus” mustaches.
Our governors continued the hirsute trend well into the
new century.
One study, evaluating beard fashions from 1871 –
1971 in Britain, suggests that historical eras where facial
hair is popular are related to demographic trends in which
there are more marriageable men than women. (“Mustache
Fashion CoVaries With a Good Marriage Market for Women,”
Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 24, no. 4, Winter 2001).
Whether that would be the case in post-Civil War Virginia
remains to be seen. Another study suggests that facial
hair is easier to grow in warmer climates. That could
account for hair-growth in Virginia’s temperate
weather.
Mustaches and beards disappeared from the scene for more
than 50 years in the 20th century. When they reappeared
in the 1970s, they became associated with a relaxation
of fashion dictates. Along with washed jeans and mini-skirts
came mustache and beard freedom. While modern Virginia’s
politicos may steer away from facial hair while in office,
think of those 20th century figures who did have facial
hair, such as Albert Einstein, Mahatma Ghandi, Albert
Schweitzer and Martin Luther King, Jr. Our bewhiskered
governors may be in good company!
So the answer to this column’s question takes on
the “why did the chicken cross …” tone:
Former Governor Wilder exercised his freedom by shaving
his moustache off.
My next column digs the dirt on Virginia’s roads;
specifically, a reader asks: How many miles of dirt roads
are there in the Commonwealth? Place your bets.
November 17, 2003
Nice & Curious
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Last Modified:
Friday, June 27, 2008
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