The Road to Statehood Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

June 24, 1934: Businessman, State Founder Granville Davisson Hall Dies at 96

On June 24, 1934, businessman and state founder Granville Davisson Hall died at age 96. Growing up in Harrison County, he learned the technique of stenography, which would serve him well in coming years. He started his career teaching school when he was 17. In 1861, at the young age of 23, he recorded the proceedings of the Wheeling conventions that would lead to West Virginia becoming a state. He later published his notes in the book The Rending of Virginia, the most influential memoir about the West Virginia statehood movement. In his book, Hall laid out the causes and justifications for Western Virginia’s split from Virginia. He traced Virginia’s history back to the American Revolution, while accusing the state’s politicians of suppressing Western political and economic aspirations in an attempt to maintain slavery at all costs.

In 1863, he became the first clerk of the West Virginia House of Delegates and, in 1865, was elected secretary of state. After the war, Granville Davisson Hall served as a railroad executive and as editor of the Wheeling Intelligencer newspaper. He also published several works of fiction and nonfiction.

April 22, 1861: Protest Held at Harrison Co. Courthouse Over Virginia Seceding from Union

On April 22, 1861, some 1,200 protesters gathered at the Harrison County Courthouse in Clarksburg to vent their anger about Virginia seceding from the Union. Five days earlier, Virginia delegates had adopted an Ordinance of Secession, just days after the start of the Civil War.

The Clarksburg convention was the brainchild of John Carlile, who emerged as the early leader of the West Virginia statehood movement. Following the Clarksburg protest, Carlile helped organized the first statehood convention in Wheeling. A month later, at the Second Wheeling Convention, delegates adopted Carlile’s “Declaration of the People of Virginia,” which called for creating a pro-Union government of Virginia. Once established, the so-called Restored Government of Virginia selected Carlile as one of its two U.S. senators.

Despite his early leadership in the movement, Carlile seemingly flipped views. He eventually opposed West Virginia statehood under the terms dictated by Congress. Many of his former friends came to view him as a traitor to the statehood cause. After completing his senate term in 1865, his once promising political career came to an abrupt end. Carlile died in Clarksburg in 1878 at age 60.

April 15, 1872: State Founder Peter G. Van Winkle Dies in Parkersburg at 63

State founder Peter G. Van Winkle died in Parkersburg on April 15, 1872, at age 63. The native of New York City had moved to Parkersburg in 1835 to practice law. Through his wife’s family, he became a key player in the region’s oil industry. He also helped organize and serve as president of the Northwestern Virginia Railroad.

After Virginia seceded from the United States at the beginning of the Civil War, Van Winkle stood firm for the Union and became a leader of the West Virginia statehood movement. He served on the Governor’s Council of the Reorganized Government of Virginia and represented Wood County in West Virginia’s First Constitutional Convention. In 1863, he became one of West Virginia’s first two U.S. senators.

Although a Republican, Van Winkle often clashed with Radical Republicans in Congress. In particular, he consistently voted against civil rights legislation for blacks. He’s best remembered for casting the next-to-last vote that saved President Andrew Johnson from conviction on impeachment charges. He was one of seven Republicans who joined 12 Democrats to deny Radical Republicans the necessary two-thirds majority to remove Johnson from office.

March 24, 1899: Statehood Leader Francis Pierpont Dies at 85

Statehood leader Francis Pierpont died on March 24, 1899, at age 85. He was born near Morgantown in 1814 and raised for part of his childhood in Marion County. As a young adult, he was as an attorney for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and a pioneer coal operator.

When the Civil War began, he helped form the pro-Union Reorganized Government of Virginia with its capital in Wheeling. In June 1861, he was unanimously elected the first and only governor of this government.

He dedicated much of his early time in office to obtaining funds for the government, keeping western Virginia in Northern military hands, and creating the new state of West Virginia.

When West Virginia entered the Union in 1863, Pierpont moved with the Reorganized Government to its new capital in Alexandria and then on to Richmond at the end of the war. He served as Virginia’s governor until 1868.

Francis Pierpont played such an important role in the state’s founding that he’s often called the “Father of West Virginia.” He’s one of only two West Virginians honored with a statue in the U.S. Capitol’s statuary hall.