Sturgiss was born in
Poland, Ohio in
Mahoning County and attended country schools. In 1859, he moved to
Morgantown, Virginia (now
West Virginia). He attended and then taught at Monongalia Academy in Morgantown. He was admitted to
the bar in 1863 and entered practice at Morgantown. During the
Civil War he served as a clerk under Maj. James V. Boughner, paymaster of United States Volunteers. After the war, he became
superintendent of free schools for
Monongalia County and served in that capacity from 1865 to 1869. From 1870 to 1872, Sturgiss was a member of the
West Virginia House of Delegates. He then served as
prosecuting attorney from 1872 to 1880. He became Republican nominee for
Governor in
1880 but lost to
Jacob B. Jackson. Subsequently, he was appointed by President
Benjamin Harrison as
United States Attorney for the district of West Virginia in 1889 and served four years. He was the first president of the State board of trade and of the State association for the promotion of good roads. In 1906, Sturgiss was elected as a Republican to the Sixtieth and then to the Sixty-first Congress (March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1911). His candidacy for re-election in 1910 to the
Sixty-second Congress was unsuccessful. He then became a trustee of
American University in
Washington, D.C. He was instrumental in the construction of the Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad. He served on the bench as a judge of the
circuit court from 1912 to 1920. In 1919, while he was serving on the Circuit Court of
Monongalia County,
impeachment proceedings were initiated against Sturgiss. The Judiciary Committee of the
West Virginia House of Delegates found that he was guilty of
corruption, but the full West Virginia House of Delegates voted against impeachment, with the question of impeachment being voted on 28–55. Sturgiss practiced law at Morgantown until his death on February 26, 1925, and was buried at Oak Grove Cemetery. ==See also==