Virginia General Assembly Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

January 21, 1861: Joint Resolution Concerning the Position of Virginia

On January 21, 1861, the Virginia General Assembly adopted a joint resolution stating that if differences between the North and South couldn’t be settled, Virginia would join the Confederate States of America. It was a key turning point in history. First, the Confederacy considered Virginia a prize jewel—a necessity for its success as a separate country. Second, Virginia’s eventual secession would lead to West Virginia becoming a state.

In February 1861, a special convention assembled in Richmond to consider the secession issue. Delegates from all Virginia counties, including the 50 counties that would become West Virginia, were in attendance. For two months, they waited and did little. Most pledged their loyalty to the Union, hoping that tensions could be resolved. That all changed in April 1861 with the Southern attack on Fort Sumter and President Lincoln’s call for troops. These events started the Civil War and pushed the majority of the Richmond delegates into the secession column. After the vote, many delegates from the northwestern part of the state bolted the convention and started the process of making West Virginia the 35^th state.

October 17, 1785: Virginia General Assembly Establishes Morgan's Town

On October 17, 1785, the Virginia General Assembly established Morgan’s Town. It was named for Zackquill Morgan, the son of pioneer Morgan Morgan. Zackquill had settled in the area in 1771 and laid out the town in 1783.

In the early days, Morgantown, as it became known, consisted primarily of what is now the city’s downtown. It featured a few water-powered businesses and was a jumping-off point for boat builders heading north to Pittsburgh. The town began to take off with the founding of the West Virginia Agricultural College in 1867. Renamed West Virginia University the following year, the school would become the centerpiece of Morgantown.

In 1886, the arrival of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad sparked a regional boom in coal, oil, and gas. It also gave rise to Morgantown’s glass industry and the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company, both of which attracted an influx of immigrants.

Today, thanks in large part to the university, Morgantown is one of the state’s fastest-growing cities. In 2012, it had about 31,000 residents, placing it in a virtual tie with Parkersburg as West Virginia’s third-largest city.

September 2, 1907: Judge John Jay Jackson, Jr. Dies at 83

Judge John Jay Jackson Jr. died on September 2, 1907, at age 83. His long career on the bench and in politics stretched from the West Virginia statehood movement to the early years of the mine wars.

The Wood County native served as a Whig in the Virginia General Assembly in the early 1850s. As the nation was tearing apart just before the Civil War, Jackson stood steadfast for the Union. In return, Abraham Lincoln appointed him a federal district judge. Jackson’s court became an important symbol of federal power in northwestern Virginia and later West Virginia. Some Republicans criticized Jackson’s court decisions for being too lenient on Southern sympathizers, but he retained President Lincoln’s confidence. In 1870, commissioners appointed by Jackson to supervise West Virginia elections opened the vote to ex-Confederates, leading to Democratic control of the state.

In his later years, Judge Jackson became an enemy of the state’s fledgling labor movement. His famous injunctions against Eugene V. Debs, “Mother” Jones, and others stymied union organizing efforts. At the time of his retirement in 1905, he’d served 44 years, longer than any other federal judge.

January 26, 1850: Virginia General Assembly Creates Wyoming County

On January 26, 1850, the Virginia General Assembly created Wyoming County from part of Logan County. The original county seat was located at Oceana but was moved to Pineville in 1907.

The county’s first major industry was timbering, which began on a large scale about 1889. Before the arrival of railroads, logs had to be floated down the Guyandotte River to the Ohio River at Huntington.

Due to its rugged terrain, Wyoming County was largely landlocked, holding back its industrial development for decades. By 1890, there were scarcely more than 6,000 people living in Wyoming County. That all changed, however, with the arrival of the Virginian Railway in 1909.

The Virginian, which snaked into rural areas of southern West Virginia bypassed by the earlier Chesapeake and Ohio and Norfolk and Western railways, sparked Wyoming County’s largest industrial boom. It allowed businesses to ship coal, timber, and natural gas from the mountains and hollows of Wyoming County to Atlantic Ocean ports. The Virginian built a large railyard that made Mullens the county’s largest town. As a result, Wyoming County ranked 10^th statewide in coal production during the 20^th century.

January 19, 1818: Virginia General Assembly Creates Preston County

On January 19, 1818, the Virginia General Assembly created Preston County from the eastern part of Monongalia County.

Industry in Preston County began to take off in the 1830s with the completion of the Northwestern Turnpike, which connected Winchester, Virginia, with the Ohio River. Over such roads, teamsters hauled away Preston’s agricultural products and brought back commercial goods. Today, U.S. 50 follows the route of the turnpike.

Preston’s fortunes got another boost in the 1850s with the arrival of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which increased timber and coal exports.

Preston County also played an important role in the West Virginia statehood movement. At the beginning of the Civil War, Virginia split from the Union and joined the Confederacy. Some Preston County officials were among the leaders in forming the new state of West Virginia.

One of our state’s highest counties in terms of elevation, Preston Countians have had to adapt to harsh winters. For instance, farmers learned to grow a hardier crop, buckwheat. Preston County and buckwheat pancakes are now synonymous as every September, thousands gather in the county seat of Kingwood to celebrate the Buckwheat Festival.

January 5, 1810: Village of Guyandotte Established

On January 5, 1810, the Virginia General Assembly established the village of Guyandotte at the confluence of the Guyandotte and Ohio rivers in Cabell County.

By the late 1830s, Guyandotte was a popular Ohio River port and a busy stagecoach stop on the James River and Kanawha Turnpike. The town’s gristmill was supposedly the largest between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

In November 1861, Confederate troops won a battle at Guyandotte. The next day, Northern troops took back control of the town. Incensed by local support for the Confederacy, the soldiers set fire to the town.

The village’s fortunes took a more lasting downturn in 1871. As the legend goes, railroad tycoon Collis Huntington was considering Guyandotte for the western terminus of his Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. On a visit, he supposedly received the equivalent of a parking ticket for leaving his horse unattended outside a Guyandotte tavern. Feeling slighted by the town, the railroad mogul instead located his terminus a few miles downstream—at what would become the new city of Huntington.

The city of Huntington grew rapidly and overshadowed Guyandotte. Since 1911, Guyandotte has been part of Huntington.