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• The Sesquicentennial

  … towns changed hands numerous times. The West Virginia Sesquicentennial Commission, created in 2009, coordinated the state’s … The Council offered other commemorative programs, including the Sesquicentennial Speakers Bureau. In addition, a special exhibit …

• Abolitionism

  From the 1830s through the "Civil War":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1193, abolitionists worked to emancipate all slaves within the United States. During the religious movement known as the Second Great Awakening, evangelical …

• Reconstruction

  Reconstruction was the period after the "Civil War":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1193 when the nation attempted to ‘‘reconstruct’’ the returning Southern states. West Virginia’s Reconstruction experience was unique. As a former slave …

• Redeemers

  The Redeemers, once a faction in the "Democratic Party":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1875, helped to establish Democrat rule in West Virginia after the Civil War. Though Republicans were the Union party and had controlled West Virginia …

• The Rending of Virginia

  This classic book, originally published in Chicago by Mayer & Miller in 1902, was "Granville Davisson Hall’s":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/123 most important non-fiction work. _The Rending of Virginia_ is perhaps the most …

• Jesse L. Reno

  General Jesse Lee Reno (April 20, 1823-September 14, 1862) was born in "Wheeling":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1168. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1846, eighth in a class that also included George B. …

• Reorganized Government of Virginia

  When Virginia voters approved the "Secession":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2436 Ordinance in May 1861, those in Western Virginia who opposed leaving the Union had to decide whether to recreate a loyal Virginia government or to seek the …

• Battle of Rich Mountain

  After the decisive defeat of Confederate forces on June 3, 1861, at Philippi, Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett, the new Confederate commander, established two defensive positions, at Laurel Hill and Rich Mountain, near present Elkins. Suspecting that the 20, …

• Battle of Guyandotte

  On November 10, 1861, a Confederate cavalry force of more than 700 attacked a Union recruit camp for the Ninth (West) Virginia Infantry regiment at "Guyandotte":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/94 in Cabell County. Led by Col. John …

• Granville Davisson Hall

  The chronicler, businessman, and state founder Granville Davisson Hall (September 17, 1837-June 24, 1934) was born in Harrison County. Hall began his career as a school teacher in Harrison County when he was 17. In 1859, he left Harrison County to work in …

• William Starke Rosecrans

  General William Starke Rosecrans (September 6, 1819-March 11, 1898) was the Union general who drove Confederate forces from Western Virginia in 1861. He was born near Kingston, Ohio. He graduated fifth in his class from West Point, 1842, and served until …

• Battle of Scary Creek

  Located in Putnam County on the west side of the Kanawha River just opposite Nitro, Scary Creek was the site of one of the earliest battles of the "Civil War":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1193 and one of the first Confederate victories …

• Battle of Allegheny Mountain

  The December 13, 1861, Battle of Allegheny Mountain in "Pocahontas County":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1876 was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Civil War’s first year. More than a month after an October 3 battle at Camp Bartow ( …

• Sectionalism and the Virginias

  Sectionalism in Virginia and later West Virginia evolved as a consequence of settlement patterns and other geographic, political, social, and economic factors. As Virginians pushed west, sectional differences emerged. The area east of the fall line, the …

• John W. M. Appleton

  Soldier and businessman John W. M. Appleton (April 1, 1832-October 23, 1913) was born in Boston and was educated in Boston public schools and at Harvard. In the "Civil War":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1193, Appleton, who was white, …

• Harpers Ferry

  Harpers Ferry, located at the confluence of the "Potomac":https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1904 and "Shenandoah":https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/388 rivers, is the easternmost place in West Virginia and at 247 feet the …

• Harpers Ferry Armory and Arsenal

  In 1792, Congress authorized the building of two national arsenals for the storage of arms and, in 1794, provided funds for the building of two armories for the manufacture of small arms. "Harpers Ferry":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles …

• Harpers Ferry Civil War Campaign

  In 1794, President George Washington received congressional approval to establish armories and arsenals throughout the young nation. The second site selected was "Harpers Ferry":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/263. Located at the …

• Thomas Maley Harris

  General Thomas Maley Harris (June 17, 1813-September 30, 1906) was born at present Harrisville. He rose to prominence after the Civil War, when he served on the military commission that tried conspirators who acted with John Wilkes Booth in the …

• Nancy Hart

  Rebel spy Nancy Hart was probably born in July 1843, probably in Tazewell County, Virginia. By 1850, Nancy and her family were living in Boone County, according to the U.S. Census, and by 1860 they had moved to Roane County. In the early days of the & …

• Atheneum Prison

  The Atheneum, Wheeling’s "Civil War":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1193 military prison, located at the southeast corner of 16th (then John) and Market streets, was a four-story structure built in 1853–54 as a warehouse for the Crescent …

• Averell’s Raid

  Averell’s Raid of August 1863 was the first of three Union cavalry raids launched from West Virginia toward Confederate railroads and troop and supply concentrations in western Virginia during the latter half of 1863. The second raid in November …

• Frank Hereford

  U.S. Senator Frank Hereford (July 4, 1825-December 21, 1891) was born in Fauquier County, Virginia. He graduated from McKendree College, Lebanon, Illinois, in 1845 and in 1849 went to California, where he practiced law. He was Sacramento district attorney …

• Heyward Shepherd

  Heyward Shepherd was an African-American killed at Harpers Ferry on October 17, 1859, by "John Brown’s raiders":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/668. In life, Shepherd was a porter at the local railroad station and a property owner in …

• Gordon Battelle

  Minister Gordon Battelle (November 14, 1814-August 7, 1862) played a role in the "formation of West Virginia":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2034. Battelle was born in Newport, Ohio, and was educated at the Marietta Collegiate Institute …