I got to thinking about Virginia’s political faces recently -- in particular, the clean-shaven look of the Commonwealth’s statehouse residents. I remembered seeing images of former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder sporting a mustache at various times in his career. The question was, had he ever worn one as governor? He assures us via e-mail that he had not.

Virginia has had 79 post-colonial governors since Patrick Henry took office in 1776. Of that number, 14, most in the late 19th and early 20th century, wore mustaches, beards or both, according to Governors of Virginia by Roslyn and Edwin C. Luther III.

The first hirsute Governor technically wasn’t even a Virginian. He was Francis Harrison Pierpont (1865-1868) who was governor of the “restored government” -- what is now West Virginia -- during the Civil War. (Western Virginians did not support the 1861 Order of Secession and separated from the Confederacy in 1863.) There were two governors in Virginia for awhile. Now think about that for a minute! Two governors at once! The bearded politician then governed the Commonwealth immediately following the war.

The last Virginia governor to display facial hair was Loudoun County’s Westmoreland Davis (1918 – 1922). His official portrait sports a dignified mustache. Davis was known as an independent-minded Democrat credited with introducing a new budget system and organizing a new highway department to accommodate increasing automobile use.

Between those two, there were all types of facial decoration. Those bearing only mustaches included Gilbert Carlton Walker (1870-1874), the Commonwealth’s first Republican governor, and the only one for another 100 years; Philip Watkins McKinney (1890-1894), who was plagued by the problem of state debt during his tenure; Charles Triplett O’Ferrall (1894-1898), credited with eliminating much of the “carpetbagger influence” in Virginia; Claude Augustus Swanson (1906-1910), a progressive governor who later served as Secretary of the Navy under Franklin D. Roosevelt; and Henry Carter Stuart (1914-1918), who spent his term mobilizing the Commonwealth’s resources for World War I.

Those with both mustaches and beards include Henry Horatio Wells (1868-1869), an unpopular governor because he served during the post-Civil War occupation by the Union forces; James Lawson Kemper (1874-1878), a Confederate Army hero; Frederick William Mackey Holliday (1878-1882), one of the first to address the Virginia post-Civil War debt issue; William Evelyn Cameron (1882-1886), whose administration supported the abolishment of the “whipping post” form of punishment; Fitzhugh Lee (1886-1890), another Confederate hero and one of the most popular governors up to his time, attracting business and investment to the state; James Hoge Tyler (1898-1902), who was elected by the largest margin for a candidate up to that time; and William Hodges Mann (1910-1914), a supporter of temperance and public education, responsible for a bill to build 450 high schools in the state.

So do these mustachioed and/or bearded gentlemen have anything in common? For those listed above, it may simply be a matter of fashion. Small moustaches and sideburns began to appear as a part of men’s fashion between 1815-1840. Over the next 25 years, full beards and styled chin beards without a mustache, as well as “spade” beards with or without mustaches, were in style.  By 1890, the clean-shaven look returned, but there were still those with small mustaches waxed and turned up at the ends or older individuals wearing “walrus” mustaches. Our governors continued the hirsute trend well into the new century.

One study, evaluating beard fashions from 1871 – 1971 in Britain, suggests that historical eras where facial hair is popular are related to demographic trends in which there are more marriageable men than women. (“Mustache Fashion CoVaries With a Good Marriage Market for Women,” Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 24, no. 4, Winter 2001).  Whether that would be the case in post-Civil War Virginia remains to be seen. Another study suggests that facial hair is easier to grow in warmer climates. That could account for hair-growth in Virginia’s temperate weather.

Mustaches and beards disappeared from the scene for more than 50 years in the 20^th century. When they reappeared in the 1970s, they became associated with a relaxation of fashion dictates.  Along with washed jeans and mini-skirts came mustache and beard freedom. While modern Virginia’s politicos may steer away from facial hair while in office, think of those 20^th century figures who did have facial hair, such as Albert Einstein, Mahatma Ghandi, Albert Schweitzer and Martin Luther King, Jr. Our bewhiskered governors may be in good company!

So the answer to this column’s question takes on the “why did the chicken cross …” tone: Former Governor Wilder exercised his freedom by shaving his moustache off.

My next column digs the dirt on Virginia’s roads; specifically, a reader asks: How many miles of dirt roads are there in the Commonwealth? Place your bets.