By William “Skip” Deegans
Shown in this 1891 photograph of West Virginia University first football team is former Lewisburg resident Dr. Gory Hogg who was the team’s fullback (upper row, fourth from left). The WVU team played only one game their first season and was defeated by Washington & Jefferson College 72-0 (fortunately attendance was only 250). Years later when asked about the loss, Dr. Hogg said his team didn’t know a football from a pumpkin.
Dr. Hogg became a physician who practiced in Fayette County. He was a State Senator, Democratic National Committeeman, and made an unsuccessful gubernatorial run. He retired from being a physician and bought 12 acres of land on the eastern edge of Lewisburg in 1929 where he and his wife, Caroline, built Homeland, one of the grandest homes in the county. Dr. Hogg became a coal operator and was president of Greenbrier Valley Bank. He started golf at the late age of 48, played four or five times a week, and served as president of the West Virginia Golf Association. Descendant of several patriots, Mrs. Hogg was active in the Daughters of the American Revolution and served as the state regent of that organization.
A widower, Dr. Hogg died at 89 at Homeland in 1963. Childless, he left his estate to three great nieces, a faithful servant, and West Virginia University.
Photo courtesy of the West Virginia University Regional History Center.
Sources: Hinton Daily News, Beckley Post-Herald, The Charleston Daily Mail, www.ancestry.com.
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