Paxton, James W
was born in 1821 in Virginia. In 1860 he was made president of the Northwestern bank of Virginia, in Wheeling, and converted it later into the present National bank of West Virginia. A handsome public fountain which stands in front of the city building in Wheeling, the gift of Mr. Paxton in 1858, is only one of the many quiet and generous acts which have denoted his public spirit, liberality and interest in the city's welfare. He was a member and was chairman of the committee on finance and taxation and one of the commissioners, appointed by the convention, to present the document for approval by congress and ask for the admission of West Virginia as an independent state into the Union.