West Virginia's 1st congressional district is currently located in the southern half of the state.
Waitman Thomas Willey was an American lawyer and politician from Morgantown,West Virginia. One of the founders of the state of West Virginia during the American Civil War,he served in the United States Senate representing first the Restored Government of Virginia and became one of the new state of West Virginia's first two senators. He is one of only two people in U.S. History to represent more than one state in the U.S. Senate,the other being James Shields.
The U.S. state of West Virginia was formed out of western Virginia and added to the Union as a direct result of the American Civil War,in which it became the only modern state to have declared its independence from the Confederacy. In the summer of 1861,Union troops,which included a number of newly formed Western Virginia regiments,under General George McClellan drove off Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Philippi in Barbour County. This essentially freed Unionists in the northwestern counties of Virginia to form a functioning government of their own as a result of the Wheeling Convention. Before the admission of West Virginia as a state,the government in Wheeling formally claimed jurisdiction over all of Virginia,although from its creation it was firmly committed to the formation of a separate state.
Johnson Newlon Camden was a prominent oilman,industrialist,banker,railroad tycoon,and politician who was estimated to be worth $25 million at the time of his unexpected death. Although both of his attempts to become governor of the new state of West Virginia failed,he did become United States Senator,representing West Virginia on two occasions.
The 11th West Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
George Robert Latham was a 19th-century Virginia farmer,lawyer and politician who helped found the state of West Virginia during the American Civil War,during which he served as a colonel in the Union Army. He later served one term in the United States House of Representatives representing West Virginia's 2nd congressional district (1864-1866),as well as became U.S. Consul in Melbourne,Australia (1867-1870) before returning to West Virginia to farm and hold various civic offices.
Daniel Haymond Polsley was a nineteenth-century lawyer,judge,editor and politician who helped form the State of West Virginia and served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
John Seashoal Witcher was an American farmer,politician and soldier from Cabell County,West Virginia,who helped found the new Union state during the American Civil War and served one term in Congress representing West Virginia's 3rd congressional district as a Republican. After losing his re-election,however,he resumed his federal and U.S. Army career. In addition to serving as lieutenant colonel and brevet colonel of the 3rd West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry,Witcher also served a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and as the 3rd Secretary of State of West Virginia. On March 18,1867,President Andrew Johnson nominated Witcher for appointment to the brevet grade of brigadier general,to rank from March 13,1865;and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 28,1867. He is sometimes confused with his first cousin,Confederate Col. Vincent A. "Clawhammer" Witcher,a lawyer who lived in nearby Wayne County and who commanded the 34th Virginia Cavalry Battalion.
George William Summers was an attorney,politician,and judge from Virginia.
John James Davis was an American attorney and politician who helped found West Virginia and later served as a United States representative in Congress from that state.
The RestoredGovernment of Virginia was the Unionist government of Virginia during the American Civil War (1861–1865) in opposition to the government which had approved Virginia's seceding from the United States and joining the new Confederate States of America. Each state government regarded the other as illegitimate. The Restored Government attempted to assume de facto control of the Commonwealth's northwest with the help of the Union Army but was only partly successful. It raised Union regiments from local volunteers but depended upon recruits from Pennsylvania and Ohio to fulfill its commitments. It administered this territory until,with its approval,the area became part of West Virginia in mid-1863.
The western part of Virginia which became West Virginia was settled in two directions,north to south from Pennsylvania,Maryland and New Jersey and from east to west from eastern Virginia and North Carolina. The earliest arrival of enslaved people was in the counties of the Shenandoah Valley,where prominent Virginia families built houses and plantations. The earliest recorded slave presence was about 1748 in Hampshire County on the estate of Thomas Fairfax,6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron,which included 150 enslaved people. By the early 19th century,slavery had spread to the Ohio River up to the northern panhandle.
Mason Mathews was an American merchant and politician in the U.S. State of Virginia. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates,representing Greenbrier County from 1859–1865 as a Whig. This period included the secession of Virginia and the resulting American Civil War of 1861–1865. Though Mathews opposed secession,he chose to support the Confederate States of America when Virginia seceded. Throughout the war,much of his efforts were directed toward the Confederate defense of western Virginia. When his home of Greenbrier County was taken into the new State of West Virginia in 1863,he continued to represent Greenbrier County in Virginia's Confederate legislature in Richmond until war's end. He was a member of the Mathews political family.
James Milton French was a nineteenth-century Virginia lawyer,Confederate officer and politician,who served as a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868 and later became a state senator before moving west.
Gordon Battelle was a Methodist minister,educator,abolitionist,chaplain and one of the founders of the state of West Virginia during the American Civil War.
John Hall,born in Ireland,became a farmer,local sheriff and politician,and possibly the wealthiest man in Mason County. However,in October 1862 he killed another West Virginia founder,local newspaper editor Lewis Wetzel,because he was displeased with a publication,which ended his political career.
Daniel Edward Frost was an American journalist,politician and soldier who twice served in the Virginia House of Delegates before the American Civil War. He helped found the state of West Virginia at the Wheeling Convention where he represented Jackson County and served as Speaker of the House of Delegates for the Virginia General Assembly at Wheeling,before he died fighting for the Union while leading the 11th West Virginia Infantry Regiment.
On June 20,1863,the U.S. government created a new state from 50 western counties of Virginia to be named "West Virginia". This was done on behalf of a Unionist government in Wheeling,Virginia,approved by Congress and President Lincoln,though it was done with a low participation of the citizens within the new state. There remained a large number of counties and citizens who still considered themselves as part of Virginia and the Confederacy which,in turn,considered the new state as part of Virginia and the Confederacy. In 1861 the 50 counties contained a population of 355,544 whites,2,782 freemen,18,371 slaves,79,515 voters and 67,721 men of military age. West Virginia was the 6th most contested state during the war,with 632 battles,engagements,actions and skirmishes.
The first state legislature of West Virginia convened in Wheeling from June 20,1863,to December 11,1863,after the adoption of the West Virginia Constitution which was drafted during the first two years of the Civil War.
