USA > West Virginia > Prominent men of West Virginia: biographical sketches, the growth and advancement of the state, a compendium of returns of every election, a record of every state officer; > Part 2
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A general election was ordered, and on the 2d of July a Leg- islature convened at Wheeling, elected two United States Sena- tors (Hons. W. T. Willey and John S. Carlile), passed a stay law, and directed the expenditure of $200,000 for the adminis- tration of the State Government, and a like sum for carrying on the war for the preservation of the Union. The 24th of the fol- lowing October the action of the Legislature was almost unani- mously indorsed by the people, at an election in which they were allowed to express their opinions upon these grave ques- tions-the affirmative vote being 18,408, and the negative 781.
A Constitutional Convention met in the city of Wheeling, No- vember 26, 1861. A constitution for the State was framed, which was subsequently ratified by the legal voters of the forty-eight counties, May 3, 1862. Ten days later the Legislature of the Restored Government of Virginia gave its consent for the forma- tion of a new State out of the territory of the Old Common- wealth. to be called "West Virginia." The population of the
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new State was 273,737 white, 1,110 free colored, and 6,810 slaves, making a total of 281,657 souls. The present population is about 800,000, all free.
The Congress of the United States admitted West Virginia into the great sisterhood of States; and on the 31st of Decem- ber, 1862, President Lincoln approved the action of Congress, and West Virginia accordingly became one of the regularly con- stituted States of the American Union. The following forty- eight counties comprised the original territory of the State : Barbour, Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Dodd- ridge, Fayette, Gilmer, Greenbrier, Hancock, Hampshire, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson, Kanawha, Lewis, Logan, Mason, Marshall, Mercer, Monroe, Marion, Monongalia, Morgan, McDowell, Nich- olas, Ohio, Pleasants, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Preston, Putnam, Raleigh, Randolph, Ritchie, Roane, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Up- shur, Wayne, Webster, Wetzel, Wirt, Wood, Wyoming. Sub- sequently, Berkeley and Jefferson counties were added, after a protracted law-suit, which had been appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. Since then four new counties have been established, to-wit: Lincoln, Mineral, Grant and Sum- mers. These fifty-four counties embrace an area of twenty-four thousand square miles of valleys, hills and mountain ranges.
In 1872 a second Constitutional Convention was held at Charles- ton, Kanawha county, and a new constitution was framed, which was regularly ratified by the people at the October election of that year. Under this constitution the Governor, who is the chief executive officer of the State, and all other State officers are elected quadrennially. The Legislature is chosen by the people every two years, and holds biennial sessions at the capi- tal of the State. The judicial system includes Circuit Courts and a Supreme Court of Appeals, composed of four judges, elected for twelve years, one retiring every four years. The fiscal affairs of the counties are managed by Boards of Commis- sioners, elected every two years.
Francis H. Pierpont, of Marion county, was chosen Governor of the Restored Government of Virginia, and Daniel Polsley, of Mason county, Lieutenant Governor. Arthur I. Boreman, of Wood county, was the first Governor of West Virginia, and was re-elected to the same office in 1866. William E. Steven- son, of Wood county, was elected Governor in 1868. John J.
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Jacob, of Hampshire county, was elected to this responsible position in 1870, and was re-elected in 1872. Governor Jacob was succeeded by Henry M. Mathews, of Greenbrier county, in 1876. In 1880 Jacob B. Jackson, of Wood county, was chosen Governor, and four years later he, in turn, was succeeded by E. Willis Wilson, of Kanawha county, who is the present incum- bent of the office-the Supreme Court of the State having decided that it was his duty to hold over until the contest pending be- fore the Legislature between General Nathan Goff and Judge A. B. Fleming, is determined, both of whom claim an election as Governor in the campaign of 1888.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
White settlements were made in what is now West Virginia many years before the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Pioneers entered the Greenbrier valley and established a block- house at Lewisburg, the present seat of justice of that historic county. Gradually the savages were driven toward the Ohio river, and settlements were made in Kanawha county in 1772, and at Point Pleasant, Mason county, in 1774. Berkeley, Mo- nongalia, Harrison and Ohio counties were settled by the whites about the same time that the historic Lewis family and their friends entered the Greenbrier valley. Fort Henry, at Wheel- ing, for more than a quarter of a century, was one of the most noted points on the frontier. It would require a volume to nar- rate even the principal events of the early history of West Vir- ginia, which of course cannot be noted here.
The early settlers of West Virginia principally came from the eastern portion of Virginia, and their descendants constitute a majority of our population of to-day. They are a hardy, honest, urbane people, possessing tact and sagacity; and although not, in some respects, as enterprising perhaps as the inhabitants of the States east of us, they are nevertheless possessed of good judgment, and, on the whole, are a thorough-going people.
LOCATION.
Perhaps no State in the Union possesses a better geograpical location than West Virginia. The Ohio river sweeps along nearly three hundred miles of its western border, offering cheap transportation for the products of that most wonderful valley. Along its northern boundary lie the coal, iron, oil, and gas de- 2
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posits of Pennsylvania. Wheeling, the principal city of the State, is only sixty-six miles, by rail, from Pittsburgh, the great iron manufacturing centre of the New World; 353 miles from Washington, 137 miles from Cleveland, and 491 miles from Chi- cago. Parkersburg is but 200 miles from Cincinnati, and Char- leston-the metropolis of the Great Kanawha Valley-is 250 miles east of Cincinnati by water, and but little more than 200 miles by rail. Huntington, one of the most flourishing cities in the State, is situate upon the Ohio river, 150 miles from the " Queen City of the West."
The extreme eastern portion of West Virginia is but eighty- one miles from Baltimore, and only sixty miles from the Capital of the Republic. With an elevation above the malarias of the low-lands west and south, never rising above the level of corn production, and within a few hours of the great cities west of us and the sea to the eastward, surely it ought not to want for industry, wealth and population.
FERTILITY.
.
West Virginia is not, per se, an agricultural State, yet its farm lands embrace about four-fifths of its area, or about eleven mil- lion acres, or a little more than seventeen thousand square miles. The ground, outside of the valleys and along the tops of the hills, is rough and rather difficult to cultivate, but the soil is rich and produces abundant crops. The best and highest culti- tivated sections yield as much as eighty bushels of corn, forty bushels of wheat, and fifty bushels of oats to the acre. The average, however, is considerably below these figures. The capability of the productiveness of West Virginia farm lands, with the exception of the Ohio and Great Kanawha valleys, is comparatively unknown. The soils run through almost every grade of fertility, from the argillacceous to the silicious; but a generous loam with a sub-stratum of clay, slate or sand stone generally predominates. In some of the counties calcareous soil predominates, which not only produces all the cereals and lighter grains in abundance, but yields heavy crops of grasses that are specially valuable for grazing purposes.
A more specific analysis of the different kinds of soil found within the State will show: 1. Clay, which is ordinarily com- posed of about seventy-five per cent. of clay, and the remaining
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WEST VIRGINIA.
twenty-five per cent. of sand; calcareous, ferruginous, vegetable and other matters. 2. Sand, which contains a little more than seventy-five per cent. of sand, and the remainder of clay, calca- reous, ferruginous and other matters. This character of soil is weaker and shorter lived than the ordinary clay above described, but it is much easier cultivated. 3. Loams, which possess about equal proportions of clay and sand and their usual components. These are the most fertile lands we have, for the reason that they contain all the elements needed by the plants to give them vigorous growth and a large product. 4. Calcareous, which, as the name indicates, is principally lime, but is mixed with clay, sand and other matter. As already stated, this class of soil is best suited for the production of grasses. 5. Alluviums, or that class of lands built up from the surface washings of hill-sides, overflows of creeks and rivers and by slow surface action. These lands are usually very productive. Many of our river bottoms, regularly enriched by the overflow of sediment, have been culti- vated without rest for a hundred years, and they still yield good crops.
Even with the present systems of cultivation, that in most portions of the State are far behind the age, the soils throughout West Virginia yield remunerative crops. Agriculture, however, is rapidly advancing; and the day is not distant when our hills and valleys will be in a high state of cultivation, and will yield abundant harvests to those that till them.
STOCK RAISING.
Stock raising in West Virginia has been profitably carried on for many years. Pasturage is generally good from the middle of April to the first of November; and when the autumns are favorable for grasses, and the snows not deep, grazing is kept up all winter. Timothy and clover, which are indiginous to every county, yield abundantly, and are laid aside, at a merely nominal expense, for feed for stock during the winter season. From ten to fifteen dollars per head, in a single year, is not an unusual profit on a bullock.
In a large number of counties blue grass naturally appears in a short time after the undergrowths are cleared out of the forests. Two acres of blue grass land are ample for pasture purposes for a bullock and rarely fail to keep him in good con-
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dition. In blue grass sections farmers find it more profitable to depasture their land than to plow it and cultivate the cereals. For cattle raising West Virginia is unsurpassed, except by the southwestern portion of the Republic, where stock shift for themselves the year round.
Sheep husbandry is also a growing industry in this State and is becoming more and more profitable every year. The moun- tain regions appear to be especially adapted to this business. The mildness of the climate and the excellence of mountain pastures are conditions that favor superior wool and mutton. The entire State is waking up to a realization of its peculiar adaptation to the growing of mutton and wool, Careful com- parisons of the cost of wintering sheep and indeed all kinds of stock in West Virginia and other States in this latitude show that our State is considerably below any of them. This may be accounted for in two ways: First, our feeding period is shorter than any of them, and second, the superior productive- ness of the soil. Sheep husbandry in the not distant future, for these and other reasons, will become one of the most remuner- ative pursuits of our people.
ELEVATION.
West Virginia lies mainly between the parallels of 37 and 40 degrees of latitude. It is therefore not exposed to the excessive heat of summer or the extreme cold of winter peculiar to a majority of the States of the Union. The rain-fall is usually regular and droughts are uncommon. The mountain ranges are not high enough to materially affect the climate. There is no point within the State where perpetual snow can be found. The average height of the Allegheny chain of mountains, which splits the State from north to south, is about 2,500 feet .. The following table shows the exact altitude of this mountain range, at the points named, and also of several notable points west of the mountains :
Height in latitude 37 degrees 2,650 feet
at Terra Alta 2,620 66
of Hay Stack Knob, Randolph county 2,800
6.
66 at White Sulphur Springs Greenbrier county .. 2,000
66
of Panther Knob, Pendleton county 4,000
of sources of Cheat and Greenbrier rivers 2,400
of Big Sewell, Fayette county. 3,500
66
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Height of Flat Top, Mercer county ..
2,800 feet
of Keeney's Knob, Summers county 3,700
66 of Blue Ridge at Harper's Ferry
1.800 66
Elevation of Cheat river valley.
of mouth of Greenbrier river
66 of Tygart's Valley river.
66 of Ohio River at Pennsylvania line
675
66
at Wheeling
645 66
66 66 at Point Pleasant 509 66
.6
66
66 at Kentucky line 550 6
66 " Great Kanawha river at Charleston 600
A line drawn parallel to the general course of the Ohio river, and passing across the Great Kanawha valley a few miles east of Charleston, would cover a region of country elevated from 1,200 to 1,300 feet above tide water. A second line drawn in the same general direction some fifty miles east of the former one would pass over an elevation of 1,600 to 1,700 feet. A third line eighty miles still further east would cover an altitude of 2,600 to 2,700 feet; and a fourth line passing over the plateau of Randolph, Greenbrier and Monroe counties would indicate an elevation of 2,000 to 2,200 feet above the level of the sea.
The hills that hem in the valley of the Ohio on either side vary in height from 200 to 400 feet. Leaving the Ohio and traveling eastward up any of the rivers whose sources are in or beyond the Allegheny mountains, the hills rise gradually from 200 feet in the Ohio valley to nearly 2,000 feet above the level of these streams at their sources. Take for illustration the Great Kanawha, the largest river in the State. At its con- fluence with the Ohio, the hills do not rise over 200 feet above the river level. At Charleston, sixty miles from its mouth, they have attained the height of 700 feet. Seventeen miles farther up the river, they have grown to 800 feet. At the Great Falls, thirty-six miles above Charleston, their altitude is 1,100 feet; and at and near Quinnimont, about thirty-five miles above the Falls, they tower well nigh 2,000 feet above the level of the stream. Only a few miles back from the river at and above Quinnimont, there are peaks over 500 feet higher than those along the river valley. What is true of the Great Kanawha and its continua- tion-New river-is also true of all the other water courses in the State, though perhaps not quite to the same extent. Go where you may, you are confronted with grand mountains tow- ering in the sunlight, that have withstood the storms of centu-
1,375 66
1,333 16
1 000 66
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ries, and granite peaks that will stand amid the sunshine of millennial glory. .
CLIMATE.
The climate varies somewhat in different portions of West Virginia. The tier of counties bordering along the Ohio valley, and those lying east of the Allegheny mountains, have very much the same character of climate. This may be accounted for from the fact that they are very much lower than the re- mainder of the State, and as the slope is gradually downward from the Appalachian chain of mountains to the deep river val- leys, the climate is thereby necessarily more or less affected. The tier of counties running a southwesterly and a northeasterly direc- tion, back some seventy-five to one hundred miles from the Ohio river, and extending to the spurs of the Alleghenies, forming an extensive plateau, differ somewhat in climatology from the low- lands on either side of the mountains. Along this plateau there is more rain-fall, and, necessarily, a greater humidity; the sea- sons are also a trifle shorter, and frosts and snows are more fre- quent. The mountain tier of counties, extending from the Pennsylvania line to the Virginia border, possess a climate nia- terially different from those sections already described. Their spring and autumn seasons are much shorter, snows are deeper and more frequent, the air in summer is much dryer, and the wind currents are stronger and more frequent than in the flatter sections on either side of the Alleghenies.
Temperature is influenced by both latitude and elevation. For the same elevation, the extreme southern portion of the State on the fortieth parallel, and the extreme northern portion on the thirty-seventh parallel, there will be a variation of three degrees in the mean annual temperature. An examination of the isothermal lines will show the mean temperature of West Virginia to be lower than any other locality in the same latitude east of the Missouri river. The line of 52 degrees passes through the middle of the State, the extreme isothermals on either side being 50 and 54 degrees. The greater altitude of the mountain- ous portions of the State, of course, renders the mean tempera- ture lower than the valley sections. If we average this differ- ence of altitude at say 1,500 feet, there would be a lowering of the mean annual temperature of about four and a half degrees on the same parallel of latitude. This being true, the average
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WEST VIRGINIA.
mean temperature of Charleston would be about the same as Cincinnati, while the average at Lewisburg, standing on the plateau near the summit of the Alleghenies, would be about the same as Philadelphia.
The average range of the thermometer for the spring months in West Virginia will not vary much from 51 degrees; for the summer, 71; for the fall, 53, and for the winter, 32. The yearly average is about 52 degrees. The highest temperature usually ranges from 90 to 98, and the lowest from 15 to 18 degrees be- low zero. The extreme range, so far as any record shows that has thus far been kept, has never been above 119 degrees. The greatest fluctuations of temperature are usually in February, and the least in July and August. It is an uncommon occurrence for the temperature to fall below zero, and still more uncommon for it to rise above 90 degrees on the Fahrenheit thermometer.
RAIN-FALL.
The regularity of rain-fall, and its general distribution through- out every portion of the State, is calculated to render West Vir- ginia a desirable locality as a place of residence, especially for those that are engaged in agriculture, fruit growing, or stock husbandry. Regular showers follow the opening of the spring season, and a fortnight rarely passes throughout the summer and autumn without more or less rain-fall. The summer seasons, although less humid than any adjacent State, are rarely subject to droughts of more than a month's duration.
The average annual rain-fall throughout West Virginia varies from thirty-two to thirty-nine inches. The western shore of Lake Erie is the only region in the vicinity of West Virginia that exhibits a like regular humidity.
The rain-fall west of the Allegheny mountains is usually pre- cipitated by a southwest wind, but many of the heaviest rain storms come from the West and South. Heavy rains rarely come from the North in either winter or summer. The average number of rainy days in a year is 86; the lowest record in a large number of years was 44 days, and the highest 113 days. The copiousness of precipitation is usually about the same in all sea- sons. In summer the rains, though not quite so frequent, are slightly heavier than in winter. The average rain-fall in a day is 0.50 inches. The heaviest rain-fall in any single day for fifty
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years was July 3, 1844, when the gauge showed 4.25. The next highest record was 3.5 inches, on December 10, 1847. It is there- fore no uncommon occurrence for heavy rains to fall in mid- winter as well as mid-summer.
West Virginia does not lie within the "snow belt;" and yet, during every winter snow covers the ground-not very deep, of course-for many weeks. Our snows are usually very light, and, therefore, do not remain long upon the ground. Others soon take their places, and the result is a white carpet upon the earth during a large portion of the winter season. Deep snows, except upon the high mountains, are quite uncommon. The deepest snow west of the Alleghenies that we have any record of was fifteen inches, which fell December 14, 1833. Another, almost as deep, occurred in January, 1883. It is a rare occur- rence for snow to appear before the first of November, or later than April 1st.
The precipitation of rain and snow could be much greater than they have ever been in this rugged mountain State, without in the least endangering the health of the people. The absolute absence of all marshes, bogs and the like, coupled with the undu- lating, not to say hilly character of every portion of the State, render it next to impossible for malaria to breed and flourish, if rain were to fall three out of every four days in the year. Only those persons that have resided in sections of country where it rains but occasionally, or falls day after day in great quantities during periods called "the rainy season," can appreciate the delightful distribution of moisture and rain peculiar to our " Switzerland of America."
GEOLOGY.
The rocks that underlie the soil form the materials out of which the surface features have been carved; and in the rocks are written, in imperishable characters, the history of our lands. We shall notice, but briefly, the more important geologie forma- tions of West Virginia that have had the most influence upon its topography, and must continue to affect the character of the soil for ages to come. Professer Fontaine classifies these form- ations in the following order :
1. THE UPPER BARREN MEASURES, AND PRODUCTIVE COALS .- Wherever these measures are found, they are mainly soft, crum-
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WEST VIRGINIA.
bling rocks, such as shales and shaly sand stones that are easily worn away by rains and running streams. They are much thicker in the northern than the southern portion of the State. Because of their soft texture they give way under rain-falls, and by this means are formed high conical, or rounded hills, with broad, flat summits, and a great number of branches and shallow creeks, with but little level land along their banks.
2. THE LOWER BARREN MEASURES AND PRODUCTIVE COALS .- These do not differ materially from the series that immediately overlies them in the northern portion of the State, only in that they are thinner. In the southern portion, however, their thick- ness is greatly increased. But not only is this true in regard to thickness-toward the lower portion of it, there is much larger proportion of firm, massive sand stone.
3. THE CONGLOMERATE SERIES .- This series, in the northern part of the State, is quite thin, and is deeply buried under the Productive Coal Measures. It has an important influence on the surface contours, entering mainly into the mountain ridges where it becomes principally massive sand stone. In the south- ern section it is much thicker, and is elevated to the surface over broad areas. It there has a three-fold structure, namely: Mas- sive sand stone at the top and bottom, with shaly and easily eroded strata in the centre.
4. THE UMBRAL SHALES AND LIMESTONE .- Immediately under- lying the Conglomerate series is the Umbral Shales, and directly under it is the Umbral Limestone. Inasmuch as these formations are much softer than the Conglomerate, the territory having them upon its surface is therefore much lower than those sec- tions occupied by the Conglomerate.
5. THE VESPERTINE SHALES .- This strata is a three-fold group, composed at the base of coarse Sand Stone and Conglomerates ; in the middle of Gray, Flaggy Sand Stones, with a small amount of coal, and on the top, Crumbling Red Shales that are easily broken down and removed. The lower and middle strata are rarely found on the surface, but the Upper Red Shales are of common occurrence, especially in the southeastern portion of the State. These Shales, because of the close resemblance to the Umbral Series, have frequently been confounded with the latter.
6. CARBONIFEROUS .- This overspreads a very large portion of the State's area. The Coal measures must rest upon a well-
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PROMINENT MEN OF
marked series of rocks, known as the Great Conglomerate. The anti-clinals or upheavals that divide the West Virginia coal fields into basins, are more marked in the northern than in the southern portion of the State. In the north the anti-clinal axes and rock beds are folded, while in the south, the upheavals are so gentle that, although they may have flattened the strata some- what, they have not reversed the dip of the Coal measures as has been done in the northern basin.
SCENERY.
In no State cast of the Rocky Mountains is West Virginia surpassed in the beauty and grandeur of its scenery. The deep valleys, sloping hill-sides, winding rivers, sparkling cascades, birds of rare and rich plumage, the sunshine with the radiance of gold, all unite to charm the eye and excite the imagination. To cast the eye in any direction is like a look into a kaleido- scope-you see new beauties every time you look. And when one stands upon the summit of one of our lofty peaks and looks out upon the vast and varying scenes around him he is enrap- tured with the panorama that opens up before him. Surely wilder and grander scenery than this is rarely found on this or any other Continent.
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