Abraham Lincoln Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

December 31, 1862: President Lincoln Contemplates Whether W. Va. Should Become a State

On December 31, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln paced the halls of the White House contemplating whether West Virginia should become a state.

Lincoln had supported the Restored Government of Virginia—a pro-Union government of Virginia established in Wheeling in 1861. However, the question of making West Virginia a separate state from Virginia gave Lincoln pause. The U.S. Constitution says one state cannot be carved from an existing state without the original state’s approval.

In this case, the Virginia government in Wheeling had given its permission, but did the Wheeling government have the authority to do so? Or could only the pro-Confederate state government in Richmond give its blessing?

Lincoln’s cabinet was split on the issue. Four said West Virginia statehood was constitutional; four others sided against it. Lincoln wavered on his decision until New Year’s Eve 1862. He finally gave the go-ahead, making West Virginia the 35^th state. The news of West Virginia’s pending statehood was overshadowed the next day when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Lincoln’s momentous New Year’s Eve decision is depicted in Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a statue gracing the front of our state capitol.

October 24, 1861: Voters Approve State of West Virginia

On October 24, 1861, voters formally approved the formation of West Virginia. Many western Virginia residents had been frustrated with the Virginia state government for years. But, they had few options at their disposal because the U.S. Constitution forbids any state to be carved from another state without the original state’s approval.

The Virginia state government in Richmond would not have willingly given away one-third of its territory. But, when Virginia left the Union at the beginning of the Civil War, western Virginia politicians seized their window of opportunity.

In June of 1861, western Virginia leaders formed the Reorganized Government of Virginia, which pledged its loyalty to the Union. Meeting in Wheeling, this new Virginia state government set the gears in motion to create West Virginia.

When the measure was put to a vote in October, residents approved it by a wide margin. However, the new state was not universally popular as only 37 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. After being approved by Congress and President Abraham Lincoln, West Virginia entered the Union as the 35^th state on June 20, 1863.

February 13, 1899: Wheeling Newspaperman Archibald Campbell Dies at 65

On February 13, 1899, newspaperman Archibald Campbell died at age 65. A graduate of Bethany College, he became editor of the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer in 1856.

At the time, the Intelligencer was the only daily Republican newspaper in Virginia. During Campbell’s first years at the paper, the country was rapidly plunging toward civil war.

His editorials opposing slavery and secession often stood out as a lone pro-Union voice in the region’s press. And Campbell was also the only newspaper publisher in Virginia to endorse Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860.

After Virginia seceded from the Union at the start of the Civil War, Campbell denounced the action as “infamous.” He quickly emerged as one of the leading proponents of West Virginia statehood. And when Lincoln was undecided about admitting West Virginia to the Union, Campbell sent the president a moving telegram, urging him to sign the statehood bill. He wrote, “If the bill fails, God only knows the result. I fear a general demoralization. I am clear. The consequences are in your hands.” Days later, Lincoln signed the bill, making West Virginia the nation’s 35th state.

January 16, 1892: Activist Robert Simmons Dies

Robert Simmons died at his Parkersburg home on January 16, 1892. A free black man during the days of slavery, he moved to Parkersburg in 1841 and earned a living as a barber. He and his wife Sarah worried that their nine children wouldn’t receive a proper education.

So, in 1862, he and other free black men established Sumner School in Parkersburg. Sumner was the first school for African American children in present-day West Virginia and south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Shortly after the school’s founding, Simmons traveled through war-torn Virginia to meet with Abraham Lincoln in Washington.

The president authorized use of a rundown army barracks to serve as the Sumner school building. Sumner would later establish the first black high school department in West Virginia. It remained open until segregation ended in the 1950s.

Simmons also was a leading African American voice in the Republican Party, twice serving as a state delegate to national conventions. He even turned down an offer from President Ulysses S. Grant to be U.S. consul to Haiti. Today, Parkersburg’s downtown post office is named in honor of Robert Simmons.

April 20, 1963: W.Va. Legislature Meets at the Custom House in Wheeling

On April 20, 1963, the West Virginia Legislature met in a special ceremonial session at the old U.S. Custom House in Wheeling.

It marked the 100^th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation certifying that West Virginia would become a state.

The legislative event was a turning point for the building, which was more than a century old. During the Civil War, it’d been the capitol of the pro-Union Reorganized Government of Virginia and the location of West Virginia’s statehood debates.

After West Virginia entered the Union, the building reverted back to being a custom house until 1907, when a new federal building was constructed. Afterward, the former Custom House served as a bank, liquor store, nightclub, and offices for Hazel Atlas Glass.

During this time, it fell into serious disrepair. The 1963 legislative session was a catalyst for saving the structure. The state decided to purchase the building and lease it to the West Virginia Independence Hall Foundation, which started a decades-long restoration project. Today, the old Custom House, known as West Virginia Independence Hall, is operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History.

November 6, 1860: Abraham Lincoln is Elected 16th President of the United States

On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected 16^th president of the United States. His election started a political cascade in which seven southern states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederates States of America. Four more states would join the Confederacy when the Civil War started five months later.

In the 1860 election, Lincoln received virtually all of his support from northern and western states. The Deep South went almost solidly for the Southern Democrat, John Breckendridge, while Virginia and two other states went for the supposed middle-of-the-road candidate, John Bell.

While Lincoln would later be considered the political father of West Virginia, he actually received little support from counties that would make up the Mountain State. In fact, Breckenridge and Bell captured 86 percent of the vote in Western Virginia, while Lincoln registered only three percent. Almost all of Lincoln’s support came from five northern counties: Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Preston, and Wood.

On New Year’s Day 1863, Lincoln signed off on West Virginia becoming a state. When he ran for re-election in 1864, he received more than two-thirds of the vote in West Virginia.