David Lane Elder (1 February 1887–5 January 1966), mayor of Hopewell, was born in Randolph County, North Carolina, and was the son of William Neese Elder, a farmer and later a general store merchant, and Caroline E. Osburn Elder. He attended Trinity College (later Duke University) and studied medicine at the University of North Carolina from 1909 to 1911. After joining his younger brother at the Medical College of Virginia, Elder received an M.D. in 1913. He completed an internship at a Richmond hospital and began practicing medicine in Powhatan County. On 16 February 1921 in Henry County, Elder married Elizabeth Garrett Shumate. They had one daughter and two sons, the elder of whom died as a child.

At the outbreak of World War I, the E. I. DuPont de Nemours Company began producing guncotton at its factory at City Point, in Prince George County. As a result of its expanding operations, the population around City Point ballooned from several hundred late in 1914 to more than 28,000 by the end of 1915. A settlement of makeshift housing, soon called Hopewell, sprang up at the edge of the company's property. Recognizing opportunity in a town severely underserved by physicians, Elder decided to move there in 1915. He thrived by investing in real estate, developing a medical practice, and opening a drugstore. With his brother and other area physicians, Elder helped establish Hopewell Hospital, a twenty-one-bed facility that moved to a larger building in 1920 and was incorporated the following year, with Elder as secretary and treasurer. When the city began leasing the hospital's facilities later in that decade, Elder stepped down from active management. He sat on the board of directors of its successor, the John Randolph Hospital Association, chartered in 1939.

In 1916 the General Assembly incorporated the city of Hopewell and provided it with a provisional government, including a mayor and council appointed by the governor. Elder served as city coroner at least until 1919 and in September 1920 began a four-year term as Hopewell's first popularly elected mayor. In 1924 residents voted to adopt a city-manager form of government in which five council members elected to four-year terms chose the mayor from their own ranks. The city manager assumed control of most aspects of the city's operations, while the mayor's revised duties consisted primarily of presiding over city council meetings. Elder won election to the city council in 1924 and reelection until he retired thirty years later. Under the city-manager system he served as mayor from 1924 to 1930, 1932 to 1944, and 1948 to 1954.

Perennially referred to as the "Father of Hopewell," Elder earned the title largely through his role in helping to revitalize the city after DuPont closed its factory at the end of World War I. Hopewell's population dropped precipitously and had dipped below 1,400 by 1920. In the war's aftermath, Elder headed a group of local businessmen organized to entice industries back into the city. Their efforts paid off, and soon twenty-four new companies had opened facilities in Hopewell. The growth of the industrial sector created an expansion of the city limits, as well as changes to its infrastructure. As mayor in 1923, Elder oversaw Hopewell's annexation of a substantial part of Prince George County that included City Point, Highland Park, and several DuPont villages as well as a number of industrial plants engaged in the production of artificial silk, paper pulp, chinaware, steel, and other items. The annexation brought the city $15 million in taxable property and factories. Partially spurred by this increased industrial activity, Hopewell in 1928 completed the construction of a bridge across the Appomattox River to allow a faster route to Richmond. By 1930 Elder's efforts had helped restore Hopewell's economy, and the city's population had rebounded to more than 11,000. Although labor disputes in 1934 led to a shutdown of a rayon plant, which cost Hopewell about 2,000 jobs, new textile industries were established in the area during the 1940s. In March 1953 Elder boasted that major industries in the city represented an investment of machinery and tools worth $13.7 million.

Elder was unequivocal in his assertion of political dominance in Hopewell and bragged that he was unbeatable. He attributed both his effectiveness as an administrator and his longevity as a politician to fiscal responsibility. His political career owed as much to hardball tactics as conservative spending, however. Upon arriving in Hopewell in 1915, Elder had become the local surgeon for the Norfolk and Western Railroad Company, a position that gave him access to the largely foreign-born workforce as well as considerable leverage in dealing with recalcitrant voters. He later served in a similar capacity with several other companies, further bolstering his influence among Hopewell's working class. With the support of the city's immigrants, Elder was able to build a powerful political machine. He helped circumvent the legal distribution of power in Hopewell by leading a city council that regularly usurped the city manager's authority.

From 1917 until 1965 Elder chaired the Hopewell Democratic Committee; he also served on the district Democratic committee. In 1933 he won election at large to a state convention that met on 25 October to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution repealing Prohibition. Twenty years later Elder lost a primary bid for a seat in the House of Delegates representing Hopewell and the counties of Prince George and Surry. He served as president of the League of Virginia Municipalities (later the Virginia Municipal League) for the 1941–1942 term.

Elder retired from private medical practice in 1953 and did not seek reelection to the council in 1954, although he continued to advise members of Hopewell's city government. In 1958 the John Randolph Hospital faculty named him a lifetime honorary staff member. He spent many of his later years engaged in running Elder Dairy, a favorite project. David Lane Elder died at his home on 5 January 1966 and was buried in Appomattox Cemetery.

Sources Consulted:
Biographies in Commonwealth 8 (Dec. 1941): 16 (portrait), and Richard Lee Morton, comp., Virginia Lives: The Old Dominion Who's Who (1964), 298; Marriage Register, Henry Co., Bureau of Vital Statistics, Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Health, Record Group 36, Library of Virginia; information provided by son George S. Elder (2009); Petersburg Evening Progress, 9 June 1920; Petersburg Progress-Index, 2 Aug. 1924, 1 Apr. 1954; Hopewell News, 8 Sept. 1932, 24 Aug. 1954, 27 June 1991; Richmond News Leader, 17 Mar. 1953; Richmond Times-Dispatch, 31 Aug. 1954; obituaries in Hopewell News and Richmond Times-Dispatch, both 6 Jan. 1966.

Written for the Dictionary of Virginia Biography by Jacques Vest.

How to cite this page:
Jacques Vest,"David Lane Elder (1887–1966)," Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Library of Virginia (1998– ), published 2015 (http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.asp?b=Elder_David_Lane, accessed [today's date]).

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