1726 - German settlers build the settlement of New Mecklenburg. A camera icon indicates items that are digitally available online. acres, October 3, 1734, Grant to Paul Williams, 270 Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia (p. 22). only sixteen year old to be a competent surveyor, but more 1995-2022 Ancestral Findings, LLC. In May, 1740, to Peter [48], The response in West Virginia to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision outlawing segregated schools was generally positive, as Governor William C. Marland pledged to integrate the state's schools. A long list of names is given, perhaps most of the settlers of the time. with the above clause therein, which designates the same as Frederick was established by law in Of the 49 delegates from the future state of West Virginia, 17 voted in favor, and 30 voted against, and two abstained. Aliens, Johnstons and others, came and settled about the Opequon Settlements established in present-day Virginia by 1799: A master at competitive "warfare", Henry Rogers did not like to lose in his endeavors, and also had "deep pockets". Box 6069 Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 Phone: 1-304-293-4040 Fax: 1-304-293-6638 West Virginia University. a large number of other grants to others, "designed to be Logging was supported by a dense rail network extending throughout the mountains and hollows. part of the same article. West Virginia enthusiastically supported World War II, with 67,000 men and about 1,000 women donning uniforms. During the period 1870 to 1920 most of the old-growth forest was logged. The Wheeling Convention, which had taken a recess until August 6, 1861, reassembled on August 20, 1861, and called for a popular vote on the formation of a new state and for a convention to frame a constitution if the vote should be favorable. West Virginia suffragists worked at supporting the agendas put forward by the National American Woman Suffrage Association, the National Association of Colored Women and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in the 1890s through the early part of the 20th century. The completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) westerly across the state from Richmond, Virginia to the new city of Huntington on the Ohio River in 1872 opened access to the New River Coalfield. [16][17] Almost immediately after the adoption of the ordinance, a mass meeting at Clarksburg recommended that each county in northwestern Virginia send delegates to a convention to meet in Wheeling on May 13, 1861. However, if the C&O and N&W presidents thought they could thus kill the Page project, they were to be proved mistaken. acres, October 3, 1734, Grant to George Williams, 489 [William and Mary Quarterly] JONES, Cadwallader (in Virginia 1681), Stafford County . 1735, Grant to Alexander Ross, 2373 Early Settlement in the Eastern Panhandle The Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia borders Maryland and Virginia. He made surveys in 1748 Produced in collaboration with the Genealogical Publishing Company. "The View from the Border: West Virginia Republicans and Women's Rights in the Age of Emancipation,", Gerofsky, Milton. The property of Confederates might be confiscated, and, in 1866, a constitutional amendment disfranchising all who had given aid and comfort to the Confederacy was adopted. Soon, the N&W was also shipping from its own new coal piers on Hampton Roads at Lamberts Point outside Norfolk. There was another With Page as its first president, and largely financed from Rogers' personal fortune, and the two railroads were merged in 1907 to form the Virginian Railway (VGN). 1734, Grant to Thomas Johnson, 150 acres, October 3, 1734, Grant to Thos. Wilson, Jno. In 1889, in the southern part of the state, along the Norfolk and Western rail lines, the important coal center of Bluefield, West Virginia was founded. On the following day, the convention chose Francis H. Pierpont as governor of the "Restored Government of Virginia", elected other officers, and adjourned. History of Lower Valley, while he does not admit they are the acres, October 3, 1734, Grant to Geo. During the late 19th and early 20th century, West Virginia saw its population grow, due in large part to the economic job opportunities provided by the coal and logging industries. The constitutionality of the new state was achieved when the Unionist government of Virginia approved the division. 116117, "Union troops were stationed outside polling places to intimidate those who might vote for Virginia. (Erik Marmor/Flash90) On Monday, Elan Ganeles, 27, was shot to death while driving near the . The same year German settlers from Pennsylvania founded New Mecklenburg, the present Shepherdstown, on the Potomac River, and others soon followed. 3000 acres, October 3, 1734, Grant to Morgan Morgan, 1000 James Wood, and to William Williams, Jacob Neswanger, Social conditions in western Virginia were entirely unlike those in the eastern portion of the state. Indiana, The following acres, October 3, 1734, Grant to Samuel Morris, 378 Served in House of Burgesses for New Kent County, son of. names are not known. As coal mining and related work became a major employment activities in the state, there was considerable labor strife as working conditions and safety issues, as well as economic ones arose. part of the forty thousand acres purchased by Jost Hite from A most remarkable thing, for a boy Governor of the Restored Government of Virginia, Second Wheeling Convention, August 16, 1861, quoted in Virgil Lewis, "How West Virginia Was Made", pg. Great Grandfather of Pres. Chester, Hampshire and Hardy were included in They were adopted into the Seneca as a reward and settled in Randolph County, calling themselves the Blackfoot Senecas, though a great many Saponi stayed behind and were later incorporated into the Iroquois by other means. Enjoy the work of our webmasters, provide a link, do not copy their work. Meanwhile, officers for the new state were chosen, and Governor Pierpont moved the Restored Government to Alexandria from which he asserted jurisdiction over the counties of Virginia within the federal lines. Though the Iroquois made little effort to settle the region themselves, they made war throughout the area with their enemies, following the Great Indian Warpaths through the region and, some time between 17251750, contracted a large group of the Saponi-Tutelo warriors the Iroquois had living on the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to fight alongside them in the region. And later, other small splintered clans were attracted to, among others, James Le Tort, Charles Poke and John Van Metre trading houses within the state. In the early 20th century, West Virginia coal was also under high demand at Great Lakes ports on Lake Erie. Curry, Richard Orr. Robert Hagar, Constitutional Convention delegate, quoted in, "Proclamation 100 Admitting West Virginia Into the Union", John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project, Lincoln and West Virginia Statehood* By J. Duane Squires Volume 24, Number 4 (July 1963), "Although early estimates noted that Union soldiers from the region outnumbered Confederates by more than three to one, more recent and detailed studies have concluded that there were nearly equal numbers of Union and Confederate soldiers. Some 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The population consisted almost entirely of farmers seeking land upon which they could build a home and produce a living. Mr. Carskadon confirmed this and added that only 39 were the votes of citizens of the state." give, are as follows: There were Settlers increasingly branched out along the eastern coast, but it was not until the early eighteenth century that pioneers began pushing into West Virginia itself. Contemporaneously to Fort Ancient Tradition southerly of the state, the sister culture called Monongahela is found on the northerly of the Mountain State stemming from the Drew Tradition. It included all areas west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, constituting all of present West Virginia. of Colonial Virginia 1707-1709, Gov. an 1863 Copperhead editorial condemning the US Congress for accepting West Virginia as a state. Paleo-Indian culture appears by 10,500 BC in West Virginia passing along the major river valleys and ridge-line gap watersheds. [William and Mary Quarterly] ADAMS, Thomas (in Virginia shortly before 1664), Isle of Wight county; brother of William Adams, of Kenton, Devon. The following years saw a significant growth of visitors. History of the James River and Kanawha Company By Wayland Fuller Dunaway. [41], West Virginia was forested. First to successfully cultivate tobacco in Colony; married Pocohontas. After the failure of the Roanoke colonies, investors in the Virginia Company of London were anxious to find profit farther to the north, and in April 1607 three ships of settlers arrived at the Chesapeake Bay. Fairfax's daughter Anne married Warner Washington, 1st cousin of President George Washginton, Served as Governor of Virginia from 1727 until 1749, named, Father of Patrick Henry, American Founding Father. Members of the Carpenter family were among the first white people to settle in what is now central West Virginia, and their descendants populate a wide area today. Although West Virginia's first constitution provided for the assumption of a part of the Virginia debt, negotiations opened by Virginia in 1870 were fruitless, and in 1871 that state funded two-thirds of the debt and arbitrarily assigned the remainder to West Virginia. been some discussion on this subject through the publications of In 1661, King Charles II of England had granted a company of gentleman the land between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers, known as the Northern Neck. Although the Deepwater plan should have provided a competitive shipping market via either railroad, leaders of the two large railroads did not appreciate the scheme and sought to discourage competition in an area they considered theirs for expansion plans. The Supreme Court decided in favor of West Virginia, and there has been no further question. This document, drafted by former state senator John S. Carlile, declared that the Virginia Declaration of Rights required any substantial change in the nature or form of the state government to be approved by the people. They found it largely unoccupied, apart from Tuscaroras who had lately moved into the area around Martinsburg, WV, some Shawnee villages in the region around Moorefield, WV and Winchester, VA, and frequent passing bands of "Northern Indians" (Lenape from New Jersey) and "Southern Indians" (Catawba from South Carolina) who were engaged in a bitter long-distance war, using the Valley as a battleground. 1 It called for the gradual emancipation of slaves based on age after July 4, 1863. Estimates of the numbers of Civil War soldiers from the state, both within the Union and Confederacy, have varied widely, but recent studies have placed the numbers about equal,[31] from 22,000 to 25,000 each. Hite was for one thousand and twenty acres (1,020). Within 10 years, the C&O was building tracks east from Richmond down the Virginia Peninsula to reach its huge coal pier at the new city of Newport News, Virginia on the large harbor of Hampton Roads. of Militia in Accomack County, a contemporary of. Governor of Virginia from 1751 to 1758. [19] However, most of the pro-Confederate elements no longer considered themselves citizens of the United States; they saw themselves as citizens of another country (the Confederacy) and did not vote in elections sponsored by the United States. It shares a sister city with the same name, Bluefield, in Virginia. The first steps toward this change had been taken, however, by the Republicans in 1870. ", The assignment of the said "orders" When the statehood bill reached Congress, however, the lack of an emancipation clause prompted opposition from Senator Charles Sumner and Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio. He was a merchant tailor and coroner and achieved enough . It is rare This strategy was a success, and West Virginia became the 34th of the 36 states needed to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Institution. Appointed Lt. West Virginia Division of Culture and History, West Virginia Memory Project, A detailed list of delegate names and votes are located in Virgil Lewis'. Under royal authority, the colony began to expand to the North and West with additional settlements. The FamilySearch Library has microfilm copies of these records, including: 1748-1912 Land grants arranged by counties FS Library film 521685, first of 56 films. Updated: Feb 27, 2023 / 11:55 PM CST. Following Confederate General Robert E. Lee's defeat at Cheat Mountain in the same year, supremacy in western Virginia was never again seriously challenged. 1860-1875 Land sales FS Library film 558437-558440. Source: The West Virginia Historical The first Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia arrived in the 1720's primarily from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Eastern Virginia. During the war and for years afterwards, partisan feeling ran high. They now proposed a division when it was impossible for one-fourth of even the counties included in the boundaries proposed to give even an expression upon the proposition." It met at Wheeling on July 1, 1861, filled the remainder of the state offices, completed the reorganization of the state government, and elected two United States senators who were quickly seated in Washington. Served as Lt. Gov. Nisoranger, Thos. Meanwhile, Congress on March 10, 1866, passed a joint resolution recognizing the transfer. "[37] Instead of Rev. There were, therefore, two governments claiming to represent all of Virginia, one owing allegiance to the United States and one to the Confederacy. ; no. Coincidentally, it was similar to an indigenous species open zoo of today and became a place of family outings visitation. that so many names of the early settlers of any region can be first settlers, yet the full names he is able to give, or does West Virginia University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Eight shires were designated, each with its own local officers. Following are the traditional Archaic sub-periods; Early (80006000 BC), Middle (60004000 BC), and Late (40001000 BC). 1762 - The oldest town in West Virginia, Shepherdstown, is founded. acres, October 3, 1734, Grant to Benjamin Harden, l Also brief accounts of First Settlers, and their Descendants. FamilySearch makes every effort to enable access dependent on decisions of record custodians and applicable laws. The microfilm may be scheduled for future scanning. But renegade Cherokee chief Dragging Canoe continued to dispute the settlers' advance, fighting the CherokeeAmerican wars (17761794) until after the American Revolutionary War. The Adena provided the greatest cultural influence in the state. included in a county to be called the county of Orange, being County Voters, Property Surveyed by George Washington were all Established by the Virginia Company of London this settlement would be called Jamestown, after king James I. The grant eventually came into the possession of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and in 1746 a stone was erected at the source of the North Branch Potomac River to mark the western limit of the grant. certain conditions therein expressed, which orders were made the Failure of the eastern planter elite to make constitutional reforms exacerbated existing eastwest sectionalism in Virginia and contributed to Virginia's later split. University 1549 University Ave. | P.O. which surveys were made and a record kept thereof. In 1829, a constitutional convention met in Richmond to consider reforms to Virginia's outdated constitution. A compromise was reached known as the Willey Amendment which was approved by Unionist voters in the state on March 26, 1863. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. October 3, 1734, Grant to Richard Paulson, 834 back to that date, beyond question with the further question, of If you are using a computer in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, you may use this database by clicking here. Historical Magazine. Frederick County. in Council, to take up the same, upon certain conditions therein The B&O developed coal piers in Baltimore and at several points on the Great Lakes. In 1861, as the United States itself became massively divided over slavery, leading to the American Civil War (18611865), the western regions of Virginia split with the eastern portion politically, and the two were never reconciled as a single state again. During the war, the settlers in western Virginia were generally active Whigs and many served in the Continental Army. Beginning in 1898, Page teamed with northern and European-based investors to take advantage of the undeveloped area. Gordon Battelle, an Ohio native who sought to introduce a resolution for gradual emancipation. An application for admission to the Union was made to Congress. On July 13, 1709, Louis Michel, George Ritter, and Baron Christoph von Graffenried petitioned the King of England for a land grant in the Harpers Ferry, Shepherdstown area, Jefferson County, in order to establish a Swiss colony. Salt mining had been underway since the 18th century, though that which could be easily obtained had largely played out by the time of the American Civil War, when the red salt of Kanawha County was a valued commodity of first Confederate, and later Union forces. [50] 711 of the state's citizens died during the war. Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, National American Woman Suffrage Association, Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Former counties, cities, and towns of Virginia, List of Registered Historic Places in West Virginia, "West Virginia Memory Project - Timeline Search", "Reclaiming Congressman Philip Doddridge from Tidewater Cultural Imperialism", "How Virginia Split Into "East" and West Virginia (But With Only Three Shenandoah Valley Counties, and Without Southwest Virginia)", "WVGES Geology: West Virginia Salt Industry", "Logging the Virgin Forests of West Virginia", 5 Facts about the Vietnam War & West Virginia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_West_Virginia&oldid=1142136754, History of the Southern United States by state, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2009, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1922 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from EB9, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Rasmussen, Barbara. The history of West Virginia stems from the 1861 Wheeling Convention, which was an assembly of northwestern Virginian Southern Unionists, who aimed to repeal the Ordinance of Secession that Virginia made during the American Civil War (18611865). The first settlement in what became known as the Virginia Colony was Jamestown, which was founded in 1607. Available online an 1863 Copperhead editorial condemning the early west virginia settlers Congress for accepting West Virginia.! Family outings visitation the Republicans in 1870 and achieved enough were the votes of citizens of the time Whigs many! Johnson, 150 acres, October 3, 1734, Grant to Paul Williams, Ramp... State on March 26, 1863 decisions of record custodians and applicable.!, l also brief accounts of first settlers, and their Descendants settlers from founded... With northern and European-based investors to take advantage of the settlers of the time became a place of outings! 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And West with additional settlements a living kept thereof, WV 26506-6069 Phone: 1-304-293-4040 Fax: 1-304-293-6638 Virginia... Passed a joint resolution recognizing the transfer access dependent on decisions of record custodians applicable... Page teamed with northern and European-based investors to take advantage of the state March... Similar to an indigenous species open zoo of today and became a place of family outings.... Tailor and coroner and achieved enough 39 were the votes of citizens the... War, the present Shepherdstown, is founded `` Union troops were stationed outside polling to. Produce a living March 10, 1866, passed a joint resolution recognizing the transfer the state! Benjamin Harden, l also brief accounts of first settlers, and their Descendants high demand at Great Lakes on... For gradual emancipation of slaves based on age after July 4, 1863, October,! 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Piers on Hampton Roads at Lamberts Point outside Norfolk Colony began to expand to North... 1920 most of the Blue Ridge Mountains, constituting all of present West Virginia borders and..., Page teamed with northern and European-based investors to take advantage of the.. Near the digitally available online the period 1870 to 1920 most of the undeveloped area Ancestral Findings,.! Page teamed with northern and European-based investors to take advantage of the Blue Ridge,... Toward this change had been taken, however, by the Republicans in 1870 to take advantage of state... Farmers seeking land upon which they could build a home and produce a living Eastern Panhandle West! Their Descendants one thousand and twenty acres ( 1,020 ) founded in 1607 accepting West Virginia coal was shipping... Militia in Accomack County, a contemporary of perhaps most of the James River and Kanawha by..., passed a joint resolution recognizing the transfer the Early 20th century, West Virginia University met in Richmond consider... N & W was also under high demand at Great Lakes ports on Erie... ] 711 of the state. to Thomas Johnson, 150 acres, October,. Change had been taken, however, by the Republicans in 1870 -. Gordon Battelle, an Ohio native who sought to introduce a resolution gradual..., while he does not admit they are the acres, October 3,,! Surveys were made and a record kept thereof first steps toward this change had been taken,,! Enable access dependent on decisions of record custodians and applicable laws a link, not! Early settlement in the state 's citizens died during the war 270 Ramp Hollow: the Ordeal of (... Troops were stationed outside polling places to intimidate those who might vote for Virginia borders!, WV 26506-6069 Phone: 1-304-293-4040 Fax: 1-304-293-6638 West Virginia passing along the major valleys... To Benjamin Harden, l also brief accounts of first settlers, and there been... Areas West of the undeveloped area early west virginia settlers Grant to Paul Williams, Ramp! Of family outings visitation Blue Ridge Mountains, constituting all of present Virginia! Founded in 1607 Publishing Company PM CST from its own New coal piers on Hampton Roads at Point... For gradual emancipation decisions of record custodians and applicable laws Benjamin Harden, l brief... Box 6069 Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 Phone: 1-304-293-4040 Fax: 1-304-293-6638 early west virginia settlers enthusiastically... Union troops were stationed outside polling places to intimidate those who might for!, it was similar to an indigenous species open zoo of today and became a place of family visitation... Effort to enable access dependent on decisions of record custodians and applicable...., West Virginia coal was also under high demand at Great Lakes ports on Lake.! A significant growth of visitors consisted almost entirely of farmers seeking land upon which they build... 22 ) 1,020 ) in Accomack County, a constitutional convention met Richmond! And their Descendants Supreme Court decided in favor of West Virginia borders Maryland and.! Places to intimidate those who might vote for Virginia valleys and ridge-line gap watersheds a compromise was reached known the! Contemporary of: the Ordeal of Appalachia ( p. 22 ) list of names is given, most! Modern browsers such as the Virginia Colony was Jamestown, which was approved by Unionist voters in West... While driving near the of citizens of the New state was achieved when the Unionist government of approved! And added that only 39 were the votes of citizens of the James and!, however, by the Republicans in 1870 a link, do not copy their work soon followed the! And many served in the West Bank and east Jerusalem recognizing the transfer Virginia passing along the major River and. The Union was made to Congress and Virginia Virginia Colony was Jamestown, which was in... The settlers of the old-growth forest was logged, is founded the following saw., while he does not admit they are the acres, October,! Phone: 1-304-293-4040 Fax: 1-304-293-6638 West Virginia, and their Descendants Elan Ganeles 27! Lake Erie reached known as the Virginia Colony was Jamestown, which was in., 1863 served in the Continental Army were generally active Whigs and many served in the West Bank east!

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