ENTRY

Members of the Virginia State Corporation Commission

SUMMARY

The Virginia State Corporation Commission was created by the Constitution of 1902. Its responsibilities include issuing charters of incorporation, policing financial industries such as banking and insurance, regulating rates that common carriers charge for freight and passengers, and enforcing the laws that govern rates charged by such public utilities as electric and telephone companies. Because the commission promulgates regulations, operates regulatory agencies, and hears appeals on some kinds of administrative matters, it exercises legislative, executive, and judicial functions and has sometimes been referred to as the fourth branch of state government. The commission consists of three members who serve six-year terms, one term expiring every second year. The governor appointed members from to 1903 to 1919; voters elected members from 1919 to 1928; and the General Assembly named members after 1928. If a vacancy occurs when the assembly is not in session, the governor appoints a new member. The first commissioners took office on March 1, 1903.

Contributor: The Hornbook of Virginia History
    • Berkley Dickenson Adams (1875–1945), from Charlotte County, June 12, 1919–January 31, 1928.
    • Harvey Black Apperson (1890–1948), from Salem, January 31, 1944–October 5, 1947.
    • Junie Leroy Bradshaw (1930–2004), from Richmond, March 10, 1972–January 31, 1985.
    • Ralph Tunnicliff Catterall (1897–1978), from Richmond, April 28, 1949–January 31, 1973.
    • Mark Curtis Christie (1953– ), from Richmond, February 1, 2004–January 4, 2021. Resigned.
    • Beverley Tucker Crump (1854–1930), from Richmond, March 1, 1903–June 1, 1907. Resigned.
    • Jesse William Dillon (1904–1972), from Richmond, July 16, 1957–January 28, 1972. Resigned.
    • James Constantine Dimitri (1950– ), from Richmond, September 3, 2008–February 28, 2018.
    • Lewis McCarthy Downs (1901–1956), from Richmond, December 16, 1944–April 18, 1949.
    • Louis Spencer Epes (1882–1935), from Nottoway County, November 16, 1925–November 16, 1929.
    • Henry Fairfax (1850–1916), from Loudoun County, March 1, 1903–October 1, 1905.
    • William Meade Fletcher (1870–1943), from Rappahannock County, February 1, 1928–December 19, 1943. Died.
    • Alexander John Forward (1876–1958), from Richmond, February 1, 1918–December 5, 1923 (except for service as deputy U.S. commissioner for Balkan Relief, November 12, 1918–July 1, 1919).
    • Christopher Browne Garnett (1875–1955), from Richmond, November 17, 1916–October 28, 1918. Resigned.
    • Thomas Perkins Harwood Jr. (1929–2009), from Richmond, February 20, 1973–February 20, 1992.
    • Henry Lester Hooker Sr. (1885–1988), from Patrick County, November 25, 1924–January 31, 1972.
    • Jehmal T. Hudson (1971– ), from Arlington County, July 6, 2020– .
    • Judith Williams Jagdmann (1958– ), from Henrico County, February 1, 2006– .
    • William Marshall King (1901–1957), from Fredericksburg, October 7, 1947–June 24, 1957. Died.
    • Elizabeth Bermingham Lacy (1945– ), from Henrico County, April 1, 1985–December 31, 1988.
    • Silas Lucien Lupton (1856–1920), from Frederick County, October 28, 1918–June 1, 1919.
    • Clinton Miller (1939– ), from Shenandoah County, February 15, 1996–January 31, 2006.
    • Hullihen Williams Moore (1942– ), from Richmond, February 26, 1992–January 31, 2004.
    • Theodore Virgil Morrison Jr. (1935– ), from Newport News, February 15, 1989–December 31, 2007.
    • Angela L. Navarro (1984– ), from Charlottesville, January 5, 2021–March 10, 2022.
    • Robert Opie Norris Jr. (1880–1960), from Lancaster County, August 30, 1944–November 20, 1944.
    • Thomas William Ozlin (1884–1944), from Lunenburg County, April 17, 1933–July 14, 1944. Died.
    • George Campbell Peery (1873–1952), from Tazewell County, November 29, 1929–April 17, 1933.
    • Robert Riddick Prentis (1855–1931), from Suffolk, June 1, 1907–November 17, 1916.
    • William Francis Rhea (1858–1931), from Bristol, February 28, 1908–November 15, 1925.
    • Preston Caperton Shannon (1925– ), from Chesterfield County, March 10, 1972–January 31, 1996.
    • Oscar Lane Shewmake (1882–1963), from Williamsburg, December 16, 1923–November 24, 1924.
    • Henry Carter Stuart (1855–1933), from Russell County, March 1, 1903–February 28, 1908.
    • Patricia Lee West (1961– ), from Virginia Beach, March 4, 2019–January 31, 2020.
    • Joseph Edward Willard (1865–1924), from Richmond, October 1, 1905–February 18, 1910.
    • Robert Edwin Williams (1878–1948), from Buchanan County, November 12, 1918–July 1, 1919. Temporary appointment in absence of Alexander John Forward.
    • John Richard Wingfield (1845–1931), from Albemarle County, February 18, 1910–January 31, 1918.
    RELATED CONTENT
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    FURTHER READING
    • Salmon, Emily J. and Edward D. C. Campbell Jr., eds. The Hornbook of Virginia History: A Ready-Reference Guide to the Old Dominion’s People, Places, and Past. Fourth Edition. Richmond, Virginia: The Library of Virginia, 1994.
    CITE THIS ENTRY
    APA Citation:
    The Hornbook of Virginia History. Members of the Virginia State Corporation Commission. (2020, December 07). In Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/members-of-the-virginia-state-corporation-commission.
    MLA Citation:
    The Hornbook of Virginia History. "Members of the Virginia State Corporation Commission" Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, (07 Dec. 2020). Web. 31 May. 2023
    Last updated: 2022, December 06
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