Carlile's career was marked by controversy and seeming inconsistency. In his native Virginia, he was seen as a "radical" for his opposition to secession and support of separate statehood for West Virginia. In the Republican dominated Congress in Washington, however, he was denounced as a southern sympathizer and supporter of slavery. Carlile could be seen in both of these roles, because he simultaneously endorsed the sanctity of the Union and advocated a strict constructionist view of the Constitution that did not allow the central government to trample on states' rights.

LANGSTON, John Mercer, a Representative from Virginia; born in Louisa, Louisa County, Va., December 14, 1829; attended the common schools in Ohio; was graduated from the literary department of Oberlin College in 1849 and from the theological department in 1852; studied law in Elyria, Ohio; was admitted to the bar in 1854 and commenced practice in Oberlin, Ohio; took an active part in recruiting black troops during the Civil War, especially for the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Massachusetts and Fifth Ohio Regiments; member of the council of Oberlin 1865-1867; member of the