USA > West Virginia > History and government of West Virginia > Part 15
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4. The Land Office Records .- All of the land records, deeds, patents, grants, together with as- sessments of real estate within this State prior to the Civil War, were at Richmond, the capital of Vir- ginia, and had been ever since the formation of the new State. These were very important to our people, and in 1890, a joint resolution by the Legis- lature required the Governor to procure from the Land Office of Virginia, the land books of the several counties of this State and also to ascertain the cost of securing copies of all land records, the originals of which could not be obtained. The Governor com- plied as far as possible with this requirement, and in
· 1891 informed the Legislature that records or copies thereof could probably be obtained, and estimated that ten thousand dollars would be necessary to defray the expenses to be incurred. The Legislature appropriated several thousand dollars to be used in defraying expenses, and these records are now in the office of the Auditor and constitute the most valuable acquisition yet secured by the State.
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6. Columbus Day in West Virginia .- The four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America was observed by the school children of West Virginia. The Governor issued a proclamation designating Fri- day, October 21st, 1892, to be observed as a general holiday, and he recommended that there be held in' all the schools of the State such appropriate exercises as might impress upon the minds of the rising gener- ation the progress of our race, the grandeur of our country, and the opportunities of American citizen- ship. The teachers of the State acted upon the suggestions of the Governor; suitable programmes were arranged and fully a hundred thousand children took part in the exercises.
7. Death of Three ex-State Officials .- Within a month in the autumn of the year 1893, three ex-State officials fell by the hand of death. These were William Ryland White, first State Superintendent of Free Schools, and John J. Jacob and Jacob Beeson Jackson, ex-Governors of the State. William R. White was born at Georgetown in the District of Columbia, on November 26th, 1820, and at the age of twenty-one years was graduated from Dickinson Col- lege, Pennsylvania. He was Principal of Olin and Pres- ton Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia, from 1852 to 1853; and of the Seminary at Fairmont, now West Virginia, from 1856 to 1863. He was elected by the Legisla- ture to the office of State Superintendent of Free Schools, in 1864, and by successive re-elections served until 1869, and was Principal of the State Normal School at Fairmont in 1869 and 1870, after
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which he was engaged in the ministry and continued educational work. He died at Fairmont, November Ioth, 1893. John J. Jacob was a native of Hampshire county, now West Virginia, where he was born, De- cember 9th, 1829, and was graduated from Dickinson College, Pennsylvania, 1849. He occupied a chair in the University of Missouri from 1853 to 1860, when he entered upon the practice of law. He was a member of the Legislature of West Virginia in 1869, and a year later, was elected Governor of the State for a term of two years, and in 1872 was re-elected for the term of four years. He died November 24th, 1893. Jacob Beeson Jackson, the second of the ex. Governors who died this year, was born April 6th, 1828, and was admitted to the bar in 1852. He rose rapidly in his profession and held many positions of honor and trust and was elected Governor of the State in 1880. He died at his home in Parkersburg, on December 11th, 1893.
8. West Virginians as Cabinet Officials .- Three citizens of West Virginia have served as cabinet offi- cials. The first of these was General Nathan Goff, of Harrison county, who was nominated by President Hayes January 6th, 1880, to be Secretary of the Navy, and the Senate confirmed the nomination the following day. In December, 1891, President Harri- son sent to the Senate the name of Stephen Benton Elkins, of Randolph county, whom he had appointed Secretary of War, and the Senate speedily confirmed the appointment. On March Ist, 1895, William Lyne Wilson, of Jefferson county, received his com-
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mission as Postmaster-General of the United States, having been appointed by President Cleveland, and the Senate having concurred therein.
9. West Virginia's First State House .- At the time of the formation of the State, Wheeling became the seat of government, and as such it remained un- til 1870. In 1869 citizens of Charleston represented to the Legislature that, if that city should be made the capital, they would erect a State House at their own expense and do- nate it to the State; and that body passed an act declaring that on and after April Ist, 1870, the seat of government FIRST STATE HOUSE. should be at Charleston. The citizens organized the State House Company which erected the building at a cost of $71, 000.00, the greater part of which was paid by John P. Hale, M.D., and it was occupied by the State on the date mentioned.
10. Wheeling Again the Capital of the State .- On February 20th, 1875, the Legislature passed another act by which Wheeling again became the seat of government, the people of that city having pledged themselves, in case of the removal, to erect a State House superior to the one at Charleston. They complied with this promise, and completed the structure in 1876, and Wheeling continued to be the capitol of the State for nine years.
11. The Present State House .- There was much dissatisfaction, and the people demanded that the
258 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
permanent location of the seat of government should be definitely settled. With this object in view, the Legislature passed an act on February 21st, 1877, submitting the question to a vote of the people. Three places, Clarksburg, Martinsburg and Charles- ton, were to be voted for, and the place receiving
STATE HOUSE ERECTED AT WHEELING.
the greatest number of votes was, on and after May Ist, 1885, to be the permanent seat of government of the State. Charleston was successful. The State House Company now transferred to the State lands and building, the aggregate cost of which was $79,- 000.00. The work of remodeling and building began. The present State House was completed at a cost of $389,923.35, including the donation from the State House Company, and was occupied by the State May Ist, 1885. See illustration facing title-page of this book.
12. West Virginians Who Have Been Governors of Ohio .- Men born on the soil of West Virginia
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have won honor and distinction elsewhere, and of these, four were prominent governors of Ohio. All of them were born in what is now Berkeley and Jef- ferson counties. The first of these was Edward Tiffin, who went from Berkeley county to the North- west Territory in 1796, and became the first governor . of Ohio in 1803. Two young men accompanied him in his removal north of the Ohio. They were Thomas Worthington and Robert Lucas. The for- mer became the chief executive of Ohio in 1816, and the latter in 1832. Another West Virginian was gov- ernor of that State in 1825. This was Jeremiah Mor- row, who was born near Shepherdstown, in Jefferson county, now West Virginia, in 1771.
13. The Peabody Education Fund .- The liber- ality of George Peabody has exerted a mighty influ- ence for good, and the money which has come to West Virginia from the Peabody Education Fund has accomplished much in advancing educational devel- opment. George Peabody was born in what is now the town of Peabody, Massachusetts, in 1795. He engaged in mercantile pursuits, and then in banking. He removed to London, England, in 1832, where he continued his banking operations and accumulated a large fortune. He was one of the greatest bene- factors the world has ever known. He scattered his millions with a liberal hand, and almost every great charity in two hemispheres received gifts from his accumulations. He died in London in 1869, and a British man-of-war conveyed his remains to his native land.
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14. His Liberality to the Southern States .- George Peabody saw the Southern States of the Amer- ican Union struggling to establish free schools, amid the ruin and wreck of Civil War, and by will, in 1867, he created the Peabody Educational Fund of $2, 100,000.00, and appointed a board of trustees, num- bering sixteen members, with power to fill vacancies. This board invests this fund and uses the accumula- tions thereon, which are annually distributed to the States entitled to receive the same. From this source the State of West Virginia has, since 1869, received many thousand dollars.
15. The Permanent or Irreducible School Fund. -This Fund exists under the provisions of the fourth section of the Twelfth Article of the Constitution of the State, it having been incorporated from the first Con- stitution. The basis of the Fund is what was known as the Literary Fund of Virginia, $120,000.00 of which was invested in bank stock within the limits of this State at the time of its formation. On February 3d, 1863, an act was passed by the General Assembly of Virginia, under the Reorganized Government, which transferred to West Virginia all of the real and personal property belonging to Virginia, within the limits of the newly-created State. Thus West Virginia acquired a title to this bank stock, which has been made the basis of the Permanent School Fund, and which is now limited to a million dollars. By reference to the State Constitution, the nine different sources from which the Fund has been, or may be increased, will be readily seen. Only the interest on this Fund can be used.
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16. The General School Fund,-This Fund differs greatly from the Permanent School Fund. It is created under the provisions of the sixty-first section of the School Law. The sources from which it is derived, are: The proceeds of the capitation tax, the income of the School Fund, the net proceeds of all forfeitures and fines which accrued to the State during the previ- ous year and all moneys arising from the sources named in the fourth section of the Twelfth Article of the Constitution heretofore going to the "School Fund" but as now amended going to the "General School Fund", all interest on public moneys received from State depositories, State license tax on marriages, State tax on forfeitures, State tax on State licenses except motor vehicles and State licenses paid direct to the State Auditor and Secretary of State, and all funds from any source paid into the treasury for school purposes and not otherwise appropriated.
This fund is used for the following purposes in the order enumerated, preference being given likewise.
FIRST .- To pay the salary of the State Superintend- ent of Free Schools, his necessary traveling expenses not to exceed $500.00, the contingent and other ex- penses of his office, and the salaries of the County Superintendents.
SECOND .- To supplement the teachers' fund of ele- mentary schools in districts where the maximum levy for teachers' fund purposes will not provide sufficient funds to pay the minimum salaries to a sufficient number of teachers for all the first eight grades of the public schools.
262 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
THIRD .- To supplement the maintenance fund of elementary schools in districts where the maximum levy will not provide sufficient funds to pay the actual maintenance expenditures for the minimum term.
FOURTH .- To supplement the elementary teachers' fund to an amount equal to the amount accruing from any additional levy in excess of forty cents on the one hundred dollars, which levy has been fixed according to law and which is for the purpose of augmenting teachers' salaries and for the employment of district supervisors. PROVIDED, that no district shall bene- fit or be given aid hereunder for the payment of teachers' salaries in excess of the minimum salaries increased by ten per cent, for the minimum term as fixed by general law, and one hundred and fifty dollars per month for district supervision.
FIFTH .- To pay State aid to high schools under such regulations as are provided by law.
SIXTH .- To aid school districts (not independent districts) which maintain standardized schools under such regulations as are prescribed by law.
SEVENTH .- Any balance remaining in the General School Fund in any fiscal year is distributed to the various school districts and independent school districts of the State on a basis of the enumerated youth of school age.
17. The West Virginia Educational Association. -The first Teachers' Association held in the State, met at Fairmont in August, 1865, but a few months after the close of the Civil War. The session con- tinued two days. The work was new, but of great
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interest. The second teachers' meeting convened at Clarksburg in the summer of 1866, at which time there was but a small attendance. Four years passed away before there was another meeting, and it was at Parkersburg in 1870, that " The West Virginia State Teachers' Association " was organized, and from that time until the present it has been the leading educa- tional organization of the State, and at its annual meetings are gathered many of the men and women who have made the school system of the State what it is to-day. At the fourth annual meeting held at Clarksburg, in 1874, the name of the organization was changed to that of " The West Virginia Educa- tional Association."
18. The Graded Course of Study for Country and Village Schools .- The State of West Virginia leads in the work of grading and systematizing the edu- cational system. School men had for years urged the necessity of a uniform plan of work in all the primary schools of the State, but this was not possible without legislative action requiring it. This was secured in 1891, when a law was enacted which re- quired the State Superintendent of Free Schools, to prepare a manual and graded course of primary instruc- tion, for use in the country and village schools. In com- pliance with this provision, a manual was printed in the same year, and in 1893 a new and enlarged edition was prepared, and the work of grading and classify- ing the country and village schools goes on rapidly, almost the entire teaching force of the State having engaged earnestly in its introduction.
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19. Additional Institutions of Learning .- In 1895, the Legislature provided for another institution of learning for the colored youth of the State. This is the Bluefield Colored Institute at Bluefield in Mercer county. It was opened for students in the autumn of the ensuing year. Since then dormitories have been erected for both sexes and much has been accomplished for those for whom it was designed. In the same year, a Preparatory Branch of the University was established at Montgomery in Fayette county, and the first students admitted in 1896; this was afterwards named the New River State School. In 1901, provision was made for a similar school at Keyser, on the Potomac, in Mineral county, afterwards named the Potomac State School. Both these institutions are designed to fit students to enter the University. Thus the State has continued to increase the usefulness of that institution. Davis and Elkins College is located at Elkins.
20. First Governor of West Virginia. - April 19, 1896, Arthur I. Boreman, the first chief executive of
HON. ARTHUR I, BOREMAN.
West Virginia, died at his home in Parkersburg. He was born at Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, July 24, 1823, and early in childhood came with his parents to Tyler county where he grew to manhood. He received a common school education, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 18448 and began
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practice in Parkersburg. In 1855, he represented Wood county in the General Assembly of Virginia, and by successive elections served therein until 1860. The next year he presided over the First Wheeling Convention which met to reorganize the Government of Virginia. Under this he was Judge of the Circuit Court, and June 21, 1863, when West Virginia was admitted into the Umon, he became the first governor of the State and as such served until 1869, when he was chosen to a seat in the United States Senate. When his term expired, he returned to Parkersburg; was again elected a Judge of the Circuit Court, and in this capacity was serving at the time of his death, having spent nearly thirty years on the bench.
21. The West Virginia Industrial Home for Girls. -The West Virginia Asylum .- In 1897, the State, having previously established the West Virginia Re- form School for boys, provided for the West Virginia Industrial Home for Girls. It is located at Salem in Harrison county and is, as its name implies, designed to care for and educate girls from seven to eighteen years of age, who will not or cannot receive proper training elsewhere. The same year witnessed what was, perhaps, the most charitable action ever taken by the State. This was the creation of the West Virginia Asylum, which is located at Huntington, and is a home for the most unfortunate of all the State's people. The public moneys can never be expended for a more worthy purpose than the support of this institution. The class of persons admitted are ep- ileptics, idiots, incurables, and all persons not insane
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266 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
or violent, who from accident, disease, or bodily in- firmity, are deemed permanently incapacitated from earning a livelihood. Many an unfortunate there finds a home where the sorrows and sufferings of life are greatly relieved.
22. West Virginia in the Spanish-American War. -The people of West Virginia have ever been ready to respond to the call to arms. Many men of the Revolution are buried within her borders; her pio- neers were long engaged in the Indian wars; inany of their sons served in the Second War with Great Britain; other men from the West Virginia hills were with Scott and Taylor in Mexico; and when the Civil War came, many thousands went to battle under the flag of the cause that seemed to them to be right. Hence, we are not surprised to learn that when the war with Spain came in 1898, and President McKin- ley called for one hundred and twenty-five thousand men for the volunteer army of the United States and asked for a West Virginia Regiment, Governor Atkin- son issued " General Orders No. 1," requiring a regi- ment to be formed at Camp Lee, two miles above Charleston on the south side of the Kanawha river, to be known as the First Regiment West Virginia Volunteer Infantry. Men gathered from all over the State ; B. D. Spilman was made Colonel; C. L. Smith, Lieutenant-Colonel; Rev. S. K. Arbuthnot, Chaplain ; and the regiment hastened away to the training camp at Chickamauga Park, Tennessee. Speedily came the call from the President for another West Virginia
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Regiment, and Governor Atkinson issued "General Orders No. 7," for the formation of a Second Regi- ment West Virginia Volunteer Infantry. This was speedily done at Camp Atkinson, on the north bank of the Kanawha two miles below Charleston. D. T. E. Casteel was made Colonel; O'Brien Moore, Lieu- tenant-Colonel; and the regiment moved to the banks of the Susquehanna river and thence to Greenville, South Carolina. Neither regiment was ordered out of the country; but if they had been taken to the West Indies, they would have proved themselves as brave as the men who were with Schley and Sampson at Santiago, or with Shafter at San Juan Hill.
23. The Miners' Hospitals .- West Virginia has become a great mining state, and railroads, engaged in transporting her coal and coke to market, extend in every direction along the valleys and mountain gorges. Many men are injured in these industries, and, that they might be properly cared for, the Legislature, in 1899, passed an act providing for the establishment of three Miners' Hospitals. Of these, one has been located at Welch in McDowell county; · another at McKendree in Fayette county ; and a third at Fairmont in Marion county. To them are ad- mitted and treated, free of charge, all persons injured in this State as employees on a railroad train or in a coal mine, or in the coal business. When there is room such other persons as have been injured may be admitted at the actual cost of treatment ; but prefer- ence is given to mine and railroad employees.
268 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
24. The Red Ash Mine Disaster .- On the morning of the 6th of March, 1900, a gas explosion occurred in the Red Ash Mine, situated on the south side of New River in Fayette county, in which forty-six per- sons lost their lives and three others were badly in- jured. The victims were not burned to death, but were killed by being hurled violently by the force of the explosion. Skulls were fractured and limbs broken-some in many places. So great was this force that the air driven out of the mine piled the coal cars in heaps in front of its entrance. That day there was a sad scene there. Many hundreds of people gathered to view the bruised and blackened bodies as they were brought out to the light, and in addition to the weeping of mothers and sisters there was heard the wailing of twenty-four fatherless chil- dren, made such by the awful disaster. Fourteen persons were killed by an explosion in the Berryburg Mine in Barbour county, November 2, 1900; and ten persons lost their lives in a similar manner in the Farmington Shaft Mine, in Marion county, May 15, 1901; but the disaster of the Red Ash Mine was the most direful calamity that had ever befallen the min- ing industry of the State.
25. The State Loses Many Prominent Men .- The first years of the new century witnessed the passing away of many distinguished men, some of whom saw the birth of the State more than forty years ago. In 1902, General Isaac Hardin Duval died at his home in Brooke county, where he was born September 1, 1824. He went to California at the time of the discovery of
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gold on the Pacific coast, but later returned to his native state. At the begin- ning of the Civil War he entered the Federal Army as Major of the First West Virginia Volunteer Infantry; then became Colonel of the Ninth Regiment; and, be- cause of meritorious con- GENERAL ISAAC H. DUVAL. duct, passed through all the grades of promotion to that of Brevet-Major-General at the close of the war. He was twice severely wounded and had several horses killed under him in battle. He was a State Senator in 1866; Adjutant- General of the State in 1867; was elected to a seat in Congress in 1868; served one term as Assessor of Internal Revenues; was collector of the same for twelve years; a member of the Legislature from Brooke county in 1887; and a West Virginia Com- missioner to the Washington Inaugural Centennial Celebration in New York, in 1889. In the even- ing of February 5, 1903, Judge Edwin Maxwell, of Clarksburg, died at Charleston while represent- ing Harrison county in the Legislature of the State. He was born in Lewis county, 1825, and was a lawyer by profession. In 1863, he was elected a . member of the first West Virginia Senate; in 1866 became Attorney-General of the State, and in the autumn of the same year was elected a Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals. In 1884, he was the
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candidate of his political party for Governor, and four years later was again a member of the State Senate.
26. History, Fiction and Poetry .- Within the past few years, West Virginia authors have been busy and a number of volumes have been added to the lit- erature of the State. In historical research Gibson L. Cranmer, William P. Willey and Bishop George W. Peterkin have been most active. In fiction, Lena Leota Johnston, Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller, Granville Davisson Hall, Oren F. Mor- ton, Minnie Reid French, and A. F. Hill have been the most liberal contributors. While in poetry we have the works of Marshall S. Corn- MARSHALL S. CORNWELL. well,* Howard L. Swisher,
* Marshall S. Cornwell was born in Hampshire county, October 18, 1871, and grew to manhood on a farm. He was widely read and the possessor of a remarkable memory. The best part of his education came from his close observance of human nature. On leaving the old home, he published a newspaper at Petersburg in Grant county and then at Elkins in Randolph county. But dis- ease came and he sought relief elsewhere. Thus it was that some of his poems were written while he was wandering face to face with death on the shore-lands of Florida or on the banks of the Rio Grande. Then coming home to die he found that peace and sank into that repose which he had seen in his "Dream of Rest." His remains repose in Indian Mound Cemetery at Romney on the banks of the South Branch of the Potomac. His volume of poems, "Wheat and Chaff," published posthumously is his best and most enduring monument.
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