Tag: Abraham Lincoln

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 35th state on June 20, 1863.

January 6, 1828: Ward Hill Lamon Born in Jefferson County

On January 6, 1828, Ward Hill Lamon was born in Jefferson County. He was raised at Bunker Hill, in Berkeley County, before moving to Danville, Illinois, at age 18. In 1852, Lamon’s life took a historic twist when he became the law partner of a former congressman—Abraham Lincoln.

The partnership ended four years later, when Lamon was elected prosecuting attorney. But they reunited when Lincoln became president in 1861. Lincoln brought Lamon with him to Washington to serve as U.S. marshal of the District of Columbia. The six-foot four-inch Lamon’s official job was to oversee the city’s prisons. But his unofficial duty was to serve as the president’s bodyguard. He monitored Lincoln’s movements and sometimes slept on the floor beside him.

At the end of the Civil War, Lamon was dispatched to Richmond, making him unavailable to guard the president on that fateful night at Ford’s Theater. After Lincoln’s assassination, Lamon came back to West Virginia to practice law. In 1876, he was passed over for the Republican nomination for governor and lost a race for congress. Lamon died in Martinsburg in 1893 at age 65.

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