USA > West Virginia > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, West Virginia : from the early days of Northwestern Virginia to the present > Part 27
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In compliance with this act Benjamin Wilson, Jr., on March 22, 1811, conveyed to the Justices of Harrison County the lot in Clarksburg des-
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
cribed as lying on the South Side of Market Street twenty-seven feet west of the North West Corner of said Wilson's brick store house and of the dimensions given above, and thus happily ended the Court House con- troversy.
The contract price for this new temple of justice was thirty-seven hundred dollars ($3700) and was to be levied for during the years 1810, 1811 and 1812. The contractors were Allison Clark, John Smith and Daniel Morris.
The levy for the purchase of the bell was made at the June Term 1811. It cost two hundred and fifty dollars ($250.00) and was purchased at Pittsburgh. It is still doing duty in the service of the municipal authorities as an alarm bell, and sounding the curfew for the youngsters to retire to their homes.
The plans of this Court House cannot be found. It was a two story brick building surmounted by a graceful cupola and had a front of about thirty-five or forty feet.
The front door opened directly into the Court Room. A stairway led from the room to the jury rooms overhead and was heated by two enormous coal grates placed on the East and West sides of the building.
The Clerk's offices were two small one story buildings one on each side and on a line with the front of the Main building, the County Court Clerk's office being located on the West and the Circuit Clerk's on the East side, and this arrangement has continued until the present day.
These offices were not built at the time the main building was con- structed, but several years afterwards.
Both of these office buildings had a door opening out into the Court House yard, but had no means of communicating with the main building except through the front door.
At the June term of the Court 1813 it is stated that the seat of Justice has been removed and directs that the quarter acre lot on which the former Court House had stood revert back to its former owner Daniel Davisson.
At the July Term 1813 commissioners were appointed to sell the old Court House building to the highest bidder after ten days notice, payment to me made November 1st.
The date on which the new building was completed and occupied is not accurately known, but from the fact that Court was held in it in 1813, and that the bell was purchased in 1811, the inference is that it was ready for occupancy in 1812.
This building stood for more than forty years and during that time many distinguished and eloquent lawyers and able jurists appeared at its bar or sat upon its bench.
The whipping post which stood to the rear of the Court House was a large trunk of a tree planted firmly in the ground with two large iron rings, one on each side, through which the culprits arms were passed so as to embrace the post and permit his wrists to be tied on the opposite side.
In 1853 a mandamus was issued by the Circuit Court directing the County Court to build a new Court House.
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
In July of that year a contract was entered into with James P. Bartlett to construct a Court House on the site of the old one, to be com- pleted by December 1, 1854, at a cost not to exceed eight thousand dollars ($8000) which sum was to be levied for in the years 1854, 1855, and 1856.
The old stone house that stood on the North side of Main Street at the intersection of Second Street was rented for Court purposes until the new building was completed. The rent commenced on May 15, 1854, at the rate of $400 a year. Colonel Richard Fowkes was the owner and rented it to the County.
Early in the year 1856 the Courts resumed their sessions at the old stand but in the new building.
This building was two stories high with a hall opening out of which ing to the Jury rooms on the second floor. At the end of the hall was a were doors leading to the Clerk's Offices and a stairway on each side lead- door opening into a large Court room, which was used by both the Circuit Court and County Courts.
On April 10, 1885, the County Court entered an order declaring that the present Court House is not suitable for Court House purposes and orders the construction of a new one according to plans and specifications hereafter to be decided upon.
At a Court held on January 10, 1887, the contract for the construc- tion of a new building was let to George W. L. Mayers of Fairmont for the sum of forty-six thousand six hundred and fifty dollars ($46,650,) ac- cording to the plans and specifications furnished by George W. Bunting the sum to be levied for during the years 1886, 1887 and 1888, the work to be completed by October 1st. 1888.
This building is still in use (1909) and at the time of its completion was the most elaborate and costly one constructed by the County.
The Hotel building in which Courts were held during the building of the new court house stood on the corner of Third and Main Streets just east of the present Court House, and was for many years conducted by James P. Bartlett and was a famous hostelry in its day. It was purchased by the County from the heirs of Lloyd Lowndes in 1885 and is now a portion of the public grounds.
In chancery order book No. 14 page 96 following the adjourning order of the term of the Circuit Court held January 29, 1887, by Judge Fleming is entered the following note, evidently by the Clerk.
"This was the last term of Court held in the Court House built prior to the late war and about the year 1853 or 1854. And on the 21st. day of February, 1887, the books, records and papers of both clerks' offices were transferred to the building known as the Commercial Hotel, formerly the Bartlett House, just East of said Court House, as a temporary Court House.
In law order book No. 21 page 456 following the adjourning order of a special term of the Circuit Court held December 20, 1888, by Judge Alpheus F. Haymond is entered the following note :
"NEW COURT HOUSE.
It is hereby entered as a matter of history that on the 7th. day of
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
December 1888 the books, papers and records of both offices of this County were removed from the offices in the termporary Court House to which they were taken on the 21st. day of February 1887 as noted on page 96 of Chancery order book No. 14 to the new Court House in process of completion, and on this day December 20, 1888, was held the first term of the Circuit Court of this County in the new Court House, the Court sitting in the room or chamber set apart for the County Court on the first floor of the building.
Attest :
HENRY HAYMOND, Clerk."
For several years after the organization of the County the Clerk's office was probably kept in a corner of the Court room.
On October 18, 1803 an appropriation of Sixty Dollars was made by the County Court towards the building of a Clerk's office, according to a plat of the prison bounds made April 8, 1812 this office was situated on the south side of Main Street forty rods west of the intersection of Third Street.
After the building of the new Court House and the establishing of the Circuit and Chancery Courts in Clarksburg on June 21, 1815, an appropriation of $600.00 was made to build two Clerks offices to be at tached to the Court House on the public grounds as above described.
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
Jails.
The first jail built by the County stood opposite the Court House on the South side of Main Street at the corner of Second Street where the Presbyterian Church now stands, and was built according to the follow- ing plan in 1785:
Building to be twenty by fifteen feet in dimensions, a partition to be taken off at one end 81/2 ft. in the clear, story 9 feet high. The founda- tion to be of stone 212 ft. thick and eighteen inches under ground, the floor to be of round or split logs to be shingled with red oak shingles.
One outer door and one inner door leading into the small room to be made of four inch oak plank.
The whole to be built of green oak timber the logs to be round. By an order of the County Court of March 18, 1785.
John Prunty was given the contract at the price of nineteen pounds and fifteen shillings, which in our present coinage is equal to $65.831/3.
The Second Jail.
The County Court at the June Term of 1796 appointed George Jack- son, William Martin, Benjamin Wilson and William Haymond as com- missioners to prepare plans and specifications for a new jail on or near the site of the old one.
The dimensions were 35 by 20 feet and the walls to be built of stone 21/2 feet thick, 21/2 feet under ground and three feet thick below the sur- face; partition walls 2 feet thick and one foot under ground; the floor to be of scantling eight inches thick and laid close, height of ceiling nine feet, debtors' room to be 14 by 15 feet, criminal room to be 8 by 15 feet. The length and front to be in full front with the Main Street and the Westerly end to be in full front with the cross street.
On July 18, 1796 John Black was awarded the contract at the price of $986.50 and the building as near as can be ascertained was completed the following year.
The Third Jail.
The third jail, and the first one with a sheriff's residence attached, was ordered to be built at the June Term 1816, and one thousand dollars was appropirated for that purpose.
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
This building was constructed on the public property in the rear of the new Court House and practically on the site of the present jail (1909) and Sheriff's residence, and fronted on what is now Mechanic Street.
It was two stories high and built of stone. At the November Term 1824 a stone wall twelve feet high ran from about the middle of the North Side of the building one hundred feet North and thence West to the side street, thence southerly to the corner of the jail wall. This enclosure was used as an exercise ground for the prisoners.
The Fourth Jail.
The Fourth jail was built on the site of the third one and set a few feet back from the street and was a two story brick building, a pretentious looking structure. The sheriff's residence was in front and the prison portion in the rear, and it was necessary to pass through the front door and hall of the residence part of the building to reach the entrance to the portion containing the cells.
This building was built by the Board of Supervisors about the year 1869 and 1870.
The Fifth Jail and Sheriff's Residence.
The County Court on July 2, 1901 directed that a new jail and Sher- iff's residence should be built and that plans and specifications be pre- pared for the future consideration of the Court.
At a subsequent meeting the plan of Holmboes and Lafferty, Archi- tects, were approved.
On December 21, 1904 the Court awarded a contract for the construc- tion of the main buildings to Elliott & Winchell of Zanesville, Ohio, which including iron work and fixtures, for which separate contracts were made with other firms, aggregated the sum of $75,566.60.
By subsequent alterations and changes the cost of the building ex- ceeded this sum.
The structure stands in the rear of the Court House and is of massive stone work, well constructed and fitted with the most modern of prison appliances. The Sheriff's residence fronts on Third Street and is a handsome residence, and the entire buildings are the most expensive the County has so far constructed.
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
Constitutions.
Harrison County has been governed by five State Constitutions, three under Virginia and two under West Virginia. The first was adopted in 1776, the second in 1830, the third in 1851, under Virginia, the fourth in 1863 and the fifth in 1872 under West Virginia.
The period between the flight of Governor Dunmore in June 1775 and the adoption of the first constitution June 29, 1776, is known in history as the "Interregnum."
During this time the convention which met July 17, 1775, at Rich- mond, conducted the government of the colony, through its President.
This convention passed ordinances organizing troops for the public defense and appointed a general committee of safety to carry on the gov- ernment, and also authorized the selection of County Committees of safety by the inhabitants thereof, who executed the decrees and orders of the general committee.
The constitutional convention which met at Williamsburg May 6, 1776, on June 12, 1776, adopted a bill of rights and on June 29, 1776 adopted a constitution, the first one in America, and on the same day elected Patrick Henry, Provisional Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. And from this time dates the first year of the Commonwealth.
This constitution having been adopted without being submitted to the people for approval was in force for fifty-four years, but as the people outgrew its provisions a change was demanded in hopes that many of its restrictions in regard to the qualifications of voters and basis of repre- sentation might be remedied under its provisions.
All State and County officers were appointed and the only privilege the voters had was to vote for members of the legislature, overseers of the Poor and town trustees, and voters were required to be free holders.
The Assembly on February 10, 1829 passed a bill submitting to the voters a proposition to call a convention to adopt a new Constitution. This was carried, but by far the largest vote favoring it coming from West of the Blue Ridge.
The Convention assembled in Richmond October 5, 1829, and con- tained a remarkable body of men, among them being James Madison and James Monroe ex-presidents of the United States, John Randolph and others distinguished as lawyers, statesmen and orators. Edwin S. Duncan was the representative from Harrison County.
Philip Doddridge, the great orator from Brooke County, was the leader in the debates in behalf of the Western portion of the State, ably
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
seconded by Archibald Campbell and Lewis Summers.
The convention completed its work in January 1830, and submitted the Constitution it had adopted to the voters at an election to be held in April following.
On March 1st. Philip Doddridge published a letter reviewing the Acts of the Convention, of which the following are extracts :
"The system proposed in the scheme for distributing power falls too heavily on the West to be submitted to, but it falls most heavily on the country beyond the Alleghenies, because at present the greater proportion of those unrepresented reside there, and bcause it is there that there has been and must be the most rapid increase in population."
"Every day's information serves but to increase my anxiety to see the new Constitution rejected. Every day informs me that our adver- saries consider its adoption as the execution of a solemn compact, to se- cure their power, and our submission, as a political compact for the slav- ery of us and our children."
He says further that if the constitution is ratified that it will dis- franchise 43940 free white men over the age of twenty-one years.
He states that in the appointment of the Legislature thirty-one mem- bers of the House are given to the Counties west of the mountains and one hundred and three to those east of them. That west of the Blue Ridge thirteen senators are given and nineteen east of it.
The Clarksburg Enquirer of February 1830 recites that a meeting of the citizens of Greenbrier was called to meet in Lewisburg, "For the pur- pose of discussing the propriety of a separation of the old Dominion in order to obtain equal rights.
At a public meeting held in Beverly, March 10, 1830 the following resolution was adopted :
Resolved, That we would sooner commit the new constitution to the flames and vote for a division of the State than its adoption.
It was claimed during the discussion of the merits of the constitution that out of a company of seventy-four soldiers from Virginia in the war of 1812 only two had the right to vote. They had the privilege of fighting for their country but not the right to take part in its government.
But all the efforts of the West to secure a vote for every white man who had reached the age of twenty-one, and to adopt a just apportionment of the members of the Legislature to be elected west of the mountains was in vain, the Constitution was ratified by a vote of 26,055 for and 15,563 against.
Every County east of the Blue Ridge except one (Warwick) gave a majority for the Constitution, while every County in what is now West Virginia except two, Jefferson and Hampshire, voted largely in favor of rejection, casting 1,383 for ratification and 8,375 for rejection. Harrison County gave 9 votes for and 1,112 against the Constitution.
Brooke County, the home of Doddridge and Campbell gave a unani- mous vote for rejection.
Thus was sown the seeds of injustice and distrust which bore fruit in later years.
The new constitution was unpopular in the West and in a short time demands were made for a radical change in the organic law. This finally
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
resulted in the Legislature calling a constitutional convention, which met on the 14th of October 1850, and adopted a constitution which was rati- fied by the people on the fourth Thursday of October 1851.
The election for officers under this constitution was held on the sec- ond Monday of December 1851.
The first legislature under its provisions met on the second Monday in January 1852, and the Governor and other state officers qualified January 16, 1852.
The delegates to this convention from Harrison County, were Joseph Johnson and Gideon D. Camden.
This constitution was remarkable in the general advance embodied in it, and for its radical difference from former ones.
The property clause heretofore required of voters was swept away and universal sufferage granted. The Governor, Judicial and County officers for the first time were now to be elected by the people. While the basis of representation was not entirely satisfactory to the West yet they had gained so many privileges that it was acquiesced in as a change was provided for to take place in 1865.
The first Governor elected under this constitution was Joseph John- son of Harrison County and the only one ever elected west of the Mountains.
The chain of remarkable events unequalled in history, leading up to the secession of Virginia, the formation of the new State of West Virginia, and the adoption of its first constitution will be treated elsewhere in this volume.
The second Wheeling Convention which met June 11, 1861, and re- organized the government of Virginia, met in August and passed an or- dinance that an election should be held in the Western Counties of Vir- ginia on the fourth Thursday in October, to take the sense of the voters, on the question of dividing the State, and at the same time to elect dele- gates to a constitutional convention.
The vote on the formation of the new state having resulted favorably, the Convention met in Wheeling, November 26, 1861, and having complet- ed its labors by adopting a constitution, adjourned February 18, 1862.
The constitution was ratified by the vote of the people at an election held April 3, 1862.
The act of Congress admitting West Virginia into the Union, was conditioned upon the section of the constitution being amended, in re- gard to slavery was approved December 31, 1862.
The constitutional convention re-assembled February 12, 1863, and made the changes proposed by the Act of Congress. This amendment was approved by the people at an election held March 26, 1863. .
President Lincoln issued his proclamation, which admitted the new State into the Union June 20, 1863.
The new constitution made radical inovations, among them the abolishment of slavery, freedom of speech and the press, free schools and voting by ballot.
The first Legislature under this constitution met at Wheeling June 20, 1863.
The Legislature on the 23rd. February 1871 passed an act to take the
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
sense of the voters of the State upon the call of a convention to enact a new constitution at an election to be held on the fourth Thursday in Au- gust 1871, which resulted in approving a convention.
The election for Delegates was held on the fourth Thursday 1871 and the convention met at Charleston on the third Tuesday in January, 1872.
The election on the adoption of the Constitution was held on the fourth Thursday in August 1872, and resulted in its being ratified and is the constitution under which we are now governed, 1909.
At the same time an election was held for State, Judicial, Legislative, County and District officials, who were to be seated in case the constitu- tion was adopted, which resulted in a wholesale turning out of all officials without regard to the fact that they had not yet served out the terms for which they had been elected.
The Governor and other State Officers were to be ushered into office on March 4, 1873, and the County officers on the first of January, 1873.
The first legislature under this constitution met on the third Tuesday in November, 1872.
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
Conventions and Legislatures.
In the Virginia Convention held at Williamsburg in 1776 which dis- solved the political relations with Great Britian and adopted a Constitu- tion the two delegates from West Augusta were John Harvie and Charles Simms.
In the Convention which adopted the Constitution of the United States in 1788 George Jackson and John Prunty represented Harrison County.
In the convention which adopted the Constitution of 1830 the dele- gates were chosen by districts and Edwin S. Duncan represented Harri- son County.
The delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1850 were chonsen by Senatorial Districts, and the County was represented by Joseph John- son and Gideon D. Camden.
In the Convention which formed the first constitution of West Vir- ginia which went into effect June 20, 1863, the County was represented by Thomas W. Harrison and John M. Powell.
The Convention creating the Constitution of 1872 the County was re- presented by Beverly H. Lurty and John Bassel. Benjamin Wilson also of Harrison was a delegate from the Senatorial district.
Representatives in the Senate and House of Delegates.
The following residents of Harrison County represented the Sen- atorial District in which the County was situated.
When Senator Duval was first elected the County was included in Monongalia County.
1780 to 1792 John Pierce Duval
1797 to 1802. John Haymond
1810 to 1813 James Pindall
1816 to 1821. George I. Davisson
Edwin S. Duncan
1821 to 1824
1828 to 1831 . John J. Allen
1831 to 1833 John Mcwhorter
1833 to 1837
. Waldo P. Goff Wilson K. Shinn
1841 to 1845
Benjamin Bassel, Jr.
1853 to 1856
. Uriel M. Turner
1863 to 1867. . Edwin Maxwell 1867 to 1870. Astorphius Werninger
1872 to 1876. Gideon D. Camden
1877 to 1879 . Eli M. Turner
1887 to 1889. Edwin Maxwell
1895 to 1897 Stuart F. Reed
1901 to 1903 Harvey W. Harmer
1905 to 1907. Arthur K. Thorn
Charles G. Coffman 1909.
1852 to 1853.
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
From 1780 to 1784 the period which the present territory of Harri- son County was attached to Monongalia, the following gentlemen repre- sented the latter County in the Legislature, James Chew, James Neale, Charles Martin, Benjamin Wilson and Francis Warman.
The Delegates from Harrison County were as follows :
1785 and1786 .George Jackson and John Prunty
1786 and 1787
.George Jackson and John Prunty
1787 and 1788 George Jackson and John Prunty
June 1788. Hezekiah Davisson and Charles Martin
October 1788 Hezekiah Davisson and William Lowther
1789.
John Prunty and George Jackson
1790 John Prunty and George Jackson . No record 1791.
1792 Hezekiah Davisson and John Haymond
1793
. John McCally and John Haymond
1794 George Jackson and John Haymond
1795. . Maxwell Armstrong and John Haymond
1796 .Maxwell Armstrong and John Haymond
1797 and 1798 Benjamin Robinson and George Arnold
1798 and 1799. . John Prunty and John G. Jackson
1799 and 1 1800 .John Prunty and John G. Jackson
1800 and 1801. John Prunty and John G. Jackson
1801 and 1802.
John Prunty and Daniel Davisson
1802 and 1803
John Prunty and Daniel Davisson
1803 and 1804. . John Prunty and Edward Jackson
1804 and 1805.
John Prunty and Nathaniel Davisson
1805 and 1806.
. John Prunty and Isaac Coplin
1806 and 1807
John Prunty and Elias Lowther
1807 and 1808.
. John Prunty and Elias Lowther
1808 and 1809 . John Prunty and Elias Lowther
1809 and 1810
John Prunty and Allison Clark . John Prunty and Isaac Coplin
1811 and 1812
Isaac Coplin and John G. Jackson
1812
Isaac Coplin and William Newland
1813
Daniel Morgan and George I. Davisson
1813 and 1814.
1814 and 1815.
1815 and 1816.
Joseph Johnson and Edward B. Jackson
1816 and 1817
John Mcwhorter and Edward B. Jackson . John Davisson and Edward B. Jackson
1817 and 1818.
.. John Davisson and Joseph Johnson
1819 and 1820.
. Joseph Johnson and Humphrey Farris
1820 and 1821 Lemuel E. Davisson and Daniel Kinchelo
1821 and 1822. . Joseph Johnson and Jedediah W. Goff
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