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• Wheeling Intelligencer

  West Virginia’s oldest continuously published daily newspaper is arguably its most famous as well. The _Wheeling Intelligencer_ began in 1852, a landmark year when the tracks of the "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/ …

• Battle of White Sulphur Springs

  In the summer of 1863, Confederate forces reoccupied "Lewisburg":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1369 and began probing toward Charleston. The new state of West Virginia had just been created, and in August Union forces were dispatched …

• Willey Amendment

  The Willey Amendment resolved the issue of "slavery":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/456 in West Virginia, clearing the way to admit the new state into the Union. In 1861, voters west of the Allegheny Mountains rejected "Virginia’s …

• Waitman Willey

  State founder and U.S. Senator Waitman Thomas Willey (October 11, 1811-May 2, 1900) is sometimes called the Father of West Virginia. He was born near Farmington in Marion County and grew up on his family’s farm. He was self-taught until he entered Madison …

• Daniel Lamb

  State founder Daniel Lamb (January 22, 1810-June 28, 1876) was born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, to Quaker parents. In 1823, Lamb’s family moved to "Wheeling":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1168, where Lamb received his education. In …

• George Robert Latham

  George Robert Latham (March 9, 1832-December 16, 1917) recruited and commanded the first Union troops in north-central West Virginia during the "Civil War":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1193. Latham was born in Prince William County, …

• J. R. Clifford

  Attorney John Robert ‘‘J. R.’’ Clifford (September 13, 1848-October 6, 1933) was born in present "Grant County":https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2147, the son of Isaac Clifford and Saltipa Kent Clifford. During the Civil War he served as …

• Robert E. Lee

  Born at Stratford in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807-October 12, 1870) was the fifth child of Henry ‘‘Light-Horse Harry’’ Lee of Revolutionary War fame. Entering West Point in 1825, Lee graduated second in his class in …

• Battle of Lewisburg

  The Battle of Lewisburg, a Union victory during the Civil War, occurred as U.S. troops maneuvered from Western Virginia toward Tennessee in the spring of 1862. Gen. John C. Frémont, commander of the Mountain Department for the U.S. Army, planned to …

• Joseph A. J. Lightburn

  General Joseph Andrew Jackson Lightburn (September 21, 1824-May 17, 1901) was born at Webster, Pennsylvania. He moved with his family to "Lewis County":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1362 in 1840. As a young man he was a friend and …

• Linsly School

  Linsly School, an independent, co-educational, college preparatory boarding school located in "Wheeling":https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1168, is the oldest private academy west of the Allegheny Mountains. Incorporated in 1814, the …

• Logan Wildcats

  The Logan Wildcats was the unofficial name of Company D 36th Virginia Infantry of the Confederate Army during the "Civil War":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1193. The company was created at Logan Courthouse on June 3, 1861, and consisted …

• Loring Raid

  Within a few months after the beginning of the "Civil War":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1193, federal forces had occupied the strategic Kanawha Valley from Gauley Bridge at the headwaters of the Great Kanawha River to Point Pleasant …

• Confederate Soldiers in West Virginia

  West Virginia is the only state born out of the Civil War, and its allegiances were severely divided by the conflict. Many residents served the Confederate cause, a majority of them joining the Virginia forces mobilized by Gov. John Letcher. Many saw …

• The Constitution of West Virginia

  West Virginia has had two constitutions, one ratified in 1863 and a second in 1872. The 1863 constitution was drafted at a convention held in Wheeling between November 26, 1861, and February 18, 1862. The writing of a constitution was an essential step …

• Constitutional Convention of 1861–63

  The Constitutional Convention of 1861–63 was West Virginia’s first constitutional convention and provided the foundation for state government in preparation for statehood. It convened on November 26, 1861, in "Wheeling":http://www.wvencyclopedia …

• Constitutional Convention of 1872

  In the bitter aftermath of the Civil War, ex-Confederates were initially denied key political rights, including the right to vote and to hold political office. They and their sympathizers, and even moderate opponents who thought that political …

• Copperhead Movement

  In the colorful jargon of the Civil War, the ‘‘Copperheads’’ were Northern Democrats who supported the war, but with some reservations. They opposed what they considered to be unconstitutional attacks on states’ rights, including the outright " …

• Battle of Corricks Ford

  The Battle of Corricks Ford saw the first general officer killed in the Civil War, Confederate Gen. Robert S. Garnett. Cut off by the "Rich Mountain defeat":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/78 of Col. John Pegram on July 11, 1861, General …

• John McCausland

  Confederate General John McCausland (September 13, 1836-January 22, 1927) was born in St. Louis. When his parents died in 1843, he came to live with relatives in Henderson, (West) Virginia, near Point Pleasant. He later attended Virginia Military …

• McNeill’s Rangers

  McNeill’s Rangers, a Confederate guerrilla force consisting of Company E of the 18th Virginia Cavalry and the First Virginia Partisan Rangers, began operations in September 1862 under the leadership of Capt. John H. ‘‘Hanse’’ McNeill. Operating out of the …

• Declaration of Rights of the People of Virginia

  One of the most important steps on the road to "West Virginia statehood":https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2034 was the vote, 88 to 55, of the "Virginia secession":https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2436 convention on April …

• Old Stone Presbyterian Church

  The Old Stone Presbyterian Church in "Lewisburg":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1369 is thought to be the oldest church building in continuous use west of the Alleghenies. The sanctuary on Church Street was built in 1796 from native …

• John Hunt Oley

  General John Hunt Oley (September 24, 1830-March 11, 1888) was one of Huntington’s first prominent citizens. He was born in Utica, New York. At the outset of the "Civil War":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1193, Oley served with the 7th …

• Battle of Philippi

  With the beginning of the "Civil War":http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1193, both the North and South saw the mountains of Western Virginia as a strategically vital area. The region was seen as the source of thousands of tough recruits and …