Clarence Wayland Watson

Clarence Wayland Watson
United States Senator from West Virginia
In office February 1, 1911 – March 4, 1913
Preceded by	Davis Elkins
Succeeded by	Nathan Goff, Jr.
Personal details
Born	May 8, 1864(1864-05-08) Fairmont, West Virginia
Died	May 24, 1940(1940-05-24) (aged 76) Cincinnati, Ohio
Political party	Democratic

Clarence Wayland Watson (May 8, 1864 – May 24, 1940) was a coal mining "baron" from West Virginia. Watson organized several coal companies that became the Consolidation Coal and Mining Companies in West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. Watson was president of the company until 1911, then became its chairman. Later in life, he became President of Elk Horn Coal Company and served as trustee of various corporations, railroads, and banks across the United States.

A Democrat, he served as United States Senator from West Virginia from 1911 to 1913 after Stephen B. Elkins died in office. In March 1918, Watson was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the Ordnance Department of the United States Army and served with the American Expeditionary Forces in France until January 1919. In 1918, while overseas, he was once again nominated as a candidate for the U.S. Senate from West Virginia, but lost the election. He lived in Fairmont in Marion County, on his family's homestead, an estate named Fairmont Farms, and also maintained residences in New York City (where Rockefeller Center now stands) and in Baltimore. Watson was married to Minnie Owings Watson of Ellicott City, Maryland, whose portrait hangs in the ballroom of the Governor's Mansion in Charleston. Their show horses (including the well-regarded Lord Baltimore) won numerous awards both in the United States and in Europe. He died in Cincinnati, Ohio, while tending to Elk Horn Coal Company business, and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Fairmont.

United States Senate
Preceded by Davis Elkins	Class 2 Senator from West Virginia 1911–1913	Succeeded by Nathan Goff, Jr.

Persondata
Name	Watson, Clarence Wayland
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
Date of birth	May 8, 1864
Place of birth	Fairmont, West Virginia
Date of death	May 24, 1940
Place of death	Cincinnati, Ohio