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                                                                 Exhibit 31.1
                                  CERTIFICATION


I, William A. Loving, Jr., certify that:

1.       I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-QSB of Allegheny
         Bancshares, Inc.;

2.       Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
         statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
         to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
         such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
         covered by this report;

3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
         information included in this report, fairly present in all material
         respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
         of the small business issuer as of, and for, the periods presented in
         this report;

4.       The small business issuer's other certifying officer and I are
         responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
         procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e))
         for the small business issuer and we have:

         a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
            disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
            supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
            small business issuer, including its consolidated subsidiary, is
            made known to us by others within that entity, particularly during
            the period in which this report is being prepared;

        b)  evaluated the effectiveness of the small business issuer's
            disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our
            conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
            procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based
            on such evaluation; and

        c)  disclosed in this report any change in the small business issuer's
            internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
            small business issuer's most recent fiscal quarter (the small
            business issuer's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual
            report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
            materially affect, the small business issuer's internal control over
            financial reporting; and

5.       The small business issuer's other certifying officer and I have
         disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
         financial reporting, to the small business issuer's auditors and the
         audit committee of the small business issuer's board of directors (or
         persons performing the equivalent functions):

         a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
            or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
            reasonably likely to adversely affect the small business issuer's
            ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
            information; and

         b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
            other employees who have a significant role in the small business
            issuer's internal control over financial reporting.

                                           /s/ WILLIAM A. LOVING, JR.
                                      ----------------------------------
                                          William A. Loving, Jr.
                                          Executive Vice-President and Chief
                                             Executive Officer


Date:   November 10, 2003