Type | Weekly newspaper |
---|---|
Format | Broadsheet |
Owner(s) | Owners serving as both editors and publishers: A. S. Trowbridge (1850–1852) A. S. Trowbridge and Drinkard (1852–1853) A. S. Trowbridge (1853–1857) Samuel R. Smith and John G. Combs (1857–1858) James Parsons (1858–1859) William Miller Parsons (1859–1861) Job N. Cookus and Alexander W. Monroe (1861) |
Founder(s) | A. S. Trowbridge |
Founded | July 1850 |
Political alignment | Democratic |
Language | English |
Ceased publication | August 1861 |
Headquarters | Romney, Virginia (now West Virginia), United States |
Circulation | 800 |
OCLC number | 11111337 |
The Virginia Argus and Hampshire Advertiser, often referred to simply as the Virginia Argus, was a weekly newspaper published between July 1850 and August 1861 in Romney, Virginia (now West Virginia). The paper's circulation of 800 copies was the second-highest in Hampshire County, after the South Branch Intelligencer's. The Virginia Argus ceased publication following its closure by the Union Army during the American Civil War, after which it was not revived.
The Virginia Argus documented the pursuit of fugitive slave Jacob Green by the Parsons family of Romney in 1856, and the ensuing dispute between the Parsons family and Charles James Faulkner over legal fees in 1857. At the time of the dispute, Faulkner was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia's 8th congressional district; he later served as the United States Minister to France, and again as a member of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia's 2nd congressional district.
Among the newspaper's proprietors was Alexander W. Monroe, a prominent Romney lawyer who had previously served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates (1850–1851). Monroe and co-owner Job N. Cookus left the newspaper to serve in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Following the war, Monroe represented Hampshire County in the West Virginia House of Delegates (1875–1877 and 1879–1883). During the 1875–1877 legislative session, he was the Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates.
A. S. Trowbridge founded the Virginia Argus and Hampshire Advertiser as a Democratic [1] [2] weekly newspaper [3] [4] [5] in Romney in July 1850. [1] [2] [6] [7] [8] [9] Trowbridge had been an educator in New Orleans, Louisiana, before moving to Romney. [1] [2] [9] The Virginia Argus and Hampshire Advertiser newspaper billed itself as "A Family Newspaper—Devoted to Politics, Agriculture, Education, General News, and Amusement." [10] By October 7, 1852, the Virginia Argus was being published by Trowbridge & Drinkard; on May 26, 1853, it reverted to being published by Trowbridge alone. [7] [8] After Trowbridge had edited and published the newspaper for seven years, its limited success did not meet his expectations, and in 1857 he sold the operation to Samuel R. Smith and John Joseph Combs. [1] [2] [6] [7] [8] [9]
Smith and Combs operated the newspaper until 1858, when they sold it to James Parsons; he in turn sold it to his younger brother William Miller Parsons in 1859. [1] [8] [9] [11] After a few months of ownership and experience, [1] Parsons sold the newspaper to Alexander W. Monroe, a prominent Romney lawyer and onetime member of the Virginia House of Delegates, and Job N. Cookus in 1861. [1] [8] [9] [12] [13] Monroe and Cookus continued serving as the proprietors, editors, and publishers until the outbreak of the American Civil War, when they joined the Confederate States Army. [1] [9] The newspaper was closed by the Union Army in August 1861, and was not revived after the war. [1] [2] [8] [12] [13]
Following his service in the war, Monroe was elected to represent Hampshire County in the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1875, during which time he served as the Speaker. [14] [15] [16] [17] He again represented Hampshire County in the House of Delegates from 1879 to 1883. [14] [18] [16] [17] He was the first delegate to represent Hampshire County in both the Virginia General Assembly and the West Virginia Legislature. [19]
The Virginia Argus and Hampshire Advertiser had a circulation of 800 copies distributed per week, [3] [5] [20] which was the second largest of the three newspapers published in Hampshire County; the other two were the South Branch Intelligencer of Romney, with a weekly circulation of 960 copies, and the Piedmont Independent of Piedmont (now in Mineral County, West Virginia), with a weekly circulation of 600 copies. [3] [5] [20] The offices of the Virginia Argus were housed in an old stone edifice north of the Hampshire County Courthouse that had previously served as the home of the Romney Academy before its 1846 disestablishment. [18]
In a series of articles published in the May 14 and 21, 1857 issues of the Virginia Argus, Romney resident Col. Isaac Parsons chronicled the 1855 arrest of his nephew, James Parsons, for attempting to capture Col. Parsons' fugitive slave, Jacob Green, and the resulting dispute between the Parsons family and Charles James Faulkner over legal fees in 1857. [10] [21] [22]
In August 1855, Green escaped from Parsons' Wappocomo plantation with four other slaves from neighboring plantations. [21] [22] In October of that year, he returned to Col. Parsons' plantation in Romney, and persuaded four or five slaves from neighboring farms owned by Parsons family relatives to escape with him to Pennsylvania. [21] [22]
A party of eight to ten men, including Col. Parsons and two of his nephews, James Parsons and a Mr. Stump, went north in pursuit of the escapees. In the course of the pursuit, they captured two of Stump's escaped slaves, who were sent back to Hampshire County. [21] [22] With information obtained from the two recaptured slaves, Col. Parsons went to Johnstown, James Parsons to Hollidaysburg, and Stump to Altoona, where they hoped to intercept Green as he headed west on the Allegheny Portage Railroad and Main Line Canal toward Pittsburgh. [22] James Parsons intercepted Green at Hollidaysburg, but local abolitionists thwarted his attempt to capture Green, and he was arrested and arraigned for kidnapping. [21] [22]
Upon learning of James Parsons' arrest, Col. Parsons sought the assistance of Charles James Faulkner, a prominent Martinsburg lawyer and United States House Representative from Virginia's 8th congressional district, and of James Murray Mason, a United States Senator from Virginia. [21] Faulkner and Mason both offered their legal services for James Parsons' defense. [21] The Virginia General Assembly pledged its support to Parsons and to Virginia's slaveowners in defending their constitutional rights and to protect them from prosecution. [21] [23] Virginia Governor Henry A. Wise appointed John Randolph Tucker to attend Parsons' trial as a "special commissioner" of Virginia. [21] [22] [24] The dispute between Virginia and Pennsylvania escalated, and on January 31, 1856, an article published in the New York Herald read "Threatened Civil War between Virginia and Pennsylvania." [22]
Col. Parsons, Faulkner, and Tucker traveled to Hollidaysburg for James Parsons' trial. [21] Faulkner provided for Parsons' legal defense, leading to his acquittal as having acted legally under the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. [22]
In September 1856, Faulkner billed Col. Parsons $150 (~$5,087 in 2023) for his legal services. Parsons disputed the charge. In a series of articles in the Virginia Argus, he declared that Faulkner had originally offered his services at no cost; that he had been lauded publicly for his generosity in doing so without ever denying that he had been working pro bono ; and that he was practicing "duplicity and deception" in trying to win a reputation in his district through "specious acts of munificence". [21]
Faulkner later served as United States Minister to France; following the American Civil War, he again served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, from West Virginia's 2nd congressional district. James Parsons and his brother William Miller Parsons were later proprietors of the Virginia Argus. [1] [8] [11]
Extant issues of the Virginia Argus and Hampshire Advertiser are maintained by four known institutions. The American Antiquarian Society Newspaper Project in Worcester, Massachusetts, maintains an 1852 issue of the newspaper; [25] West Virginia University Libraries in Morgantown, West Virginia, maintain issues dating from 1852, 1853, 1856, 1857, and 1859; [25] the West Virginia State Archives in Charleston, West Virginia, maintain an issue dated July 5, 1851; [26] and the Duke University Libraries in Durham, North Carolina, maintain issues dating between 1858 and 1861. [27] The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, also maintains microforms of issues of the Virginia Argus dating from 1852, 1853, 1856, 1857, and 1859. [25] [28]
Hampshire County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,093. Its county seat is Romney, West Virginia's oldest town (1762). The county was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1754, from parts of Frederick and Augusta Counties (Virginia) and is the state's oldest county. The county lies in both West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands regions.
The Sloan–Parker House, also known as the Stone House, Parker Family Residence, or Richard Sloan House, is a late-18th-century stone residence near Junction, Hampshire County, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It was built on land vacated by the Shawnee after the Native American nation had been violently forced to move west to Kansas following their defeat at the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 5, 1975, becoming Hampshire County's first property to be listed on the register. The Sloan–Parker House has been in the Parker family since 1854. The house and its adjacent farm are located along the Northwestern Turnpike in the rural Mill Creek valley.
The town of Romney, Virginia, traded hands between the Union Army and Confederate States Army no fewer than 10 times during the American Civil War, assuming the occupying force spent at least one night in the town. The story of the small town is emblematic of the many military campaigns that swept through western Virginia and, later, the new state of West Virginia.
Indian Mound Cemetery is a cemetery located along the Northwestern Turnpike on a promontory of the "Yellow Banks" overlooking the South Branch Potomac River and Mill Creek Mountain in Romney, West Virginia, United States. The cemetery is centered on a Hopewellian mound, known as the Romney Indian Mound. Indian Mound Cemetery is also the site of Fort Pearsall, the Confederate Memorial, Parsons Bell Tower, and reinterments from Romney's Old Presbyterian Cemetery. The cemetery is currently owned and maintained by the Indian Mound Cemetery Association, Inc.
William Armstrong was an American lawyer, civil servant, politician, and businessperson. He represented Hampshire County in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1818 to 1820, and Virginia's 16th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1825 to 1833.
Francis White was a distinguished early American lawyer and politician in what was then the U.S. state of Virginia.
Literary Hall is a mid-19th-century brick library, building and museum located in Romney, a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the intersection of North High Street and West Main Street. Literary Hall was constructed between 1869 and 1870 by the Romney Literary Society.
Wappocomo is a late 18th-century Georgian mansion and farm overlooking the South Branch Potomac River north of Romney, Hampshire County, West Virginia, USA. It is located along Cumberland Road and the South Branch Valley Railroad.
Romney Academy was an institution for higher education in Romney, Virginia, United States. Romney Academy was first incorporated by the Virginia General Assembly on January 11, 1814, and was active until 1846 when it was reorganized as the Romney Classical Institute. In addition to the Romney Classical Institute, Romney Academy was also a forerunner institution to Potomac Seminary. Romney Academy was one of the earliest institutions for higher learning within the present boundaries of the state of West Virginia.
Alexander W. Monroe was a prominent American lawyer, politician, and military officer in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. Monroe served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and West Virginia House of Delegates representing Hampshire County. He was the Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates during the 1875–1877 legislative session. Monroe also represented Hampshire County in the West Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1872.
Henry Bell Gilkeson was an American lawyer, politician, school administrator, and banker in West Virginia.
Howard Hille Johnson was a blind American educator and writer in the states of Virginia and West Virginia. Johnson was instrumental in the establishment of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind in 1870, after which he taught blind students at the institution's School for the Blind for 43 years.
John Baker White was a 19th-century American military officer, lawyer, court clerk, and civil servant in the U.S. state of Virginia.
James Sloan Kuykendall was an American farmer, lawyer, and Democratic politician in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Kuykendall was twice elected as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing Hampshire County. Kuykendall also served three terms as the mayor of Romney and later fulfilled the position of city attorney.
The Wirgman Building was an early 19th-century Federal-style commercial and residential building located on East Main Street in Romney, West Virginia. It was completed around 1825 to serve as the Romney branch office of the Bank of the Valley of Virginia, and served as a location for every subsequent bank established in Romney, including the Bank of Romney and the First National Bank of Romney. During the American Civil War, the building was used as a military prison. For a time, its second floor housed the offices and printing plant of the Hampshire Review newspaper, and by 1947 its ground floor housed office and mercantile space, and the second floor was divided into apartments.
Romney Classical Institute was a 19th-century coeducational collegiate preparatory school in Romney, Virginia, United States, between 1846 and shortly after 1866. Romney had previously been served by Romney Academy, but by 1831 the school had outgrown its facilities. The Virginia General Assembly permitted the Romney Literary Society to raise funds for a new school through a lottery. On December 12, 1846, the assembly established the school and empowered the society with its operation.
Isaac Parsons was an American slave owner, politician, and militia officer in the U.S. state of Virginia. Parsons served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates representing Hampshire County from 1789 until his death in 1796. Following an act of the Virginia General Assembly in 1789, Parsons was appointed to serve as a trustee for the town of Romney. In 1790, Parsons began serving as a justice for Hampshire County. He served as a captain in command of a company in the Virginia militia during the American Revolutionary War and continued to serve as a captain in the Hampshire County militia following the war. Parsons operated a public ferry across the South Branch Potomac River, and later died from drowning in the river in 1796. Parsons was the grandfather of Isaac Parsons (1814–1862), who also represented Hampshire County in the Virginia House of Delegates and served as an officer in the Confederate States Army.
Isaac Parsons was an American planter, politician, and military officer in the U.S. state of Virginia. Parsons served as a Justice of the Peace of Hampshire County's District 3 from 1852 to 1853. He later served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates representing Hampshire County from 1854 until 1857. Parsons was the grandson of Virginia House Delegate Isaac Parsons (1752–1796), the great-grandson of Colonial Virginia military officer William Foreman, and the grandfather of First Lady of West Virginia, Edna Brady Cornwell (1868–1958).
Charles James Faulkner was a politician, planter, and lawyer from Berkeley County, Virginia who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly and as a U.S. Congressman.
James Dillon Armstrong was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served in the Virginia Senate from 1855 to 1864, and as Judge of the 4th and 12th West Virginia Judicial Circuits from 1875 to 1892.