The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1885-06-03
Progress Made by West Vir-
gllin In Tie Last Forty
Years.
Written ior Tho Register

f--'-f = ~ :. - - -ttif
changes which have taken place
since that time.
The FIRST step in the direction Of
progress from the pioneer stage
was that Of manufacturing and
mining. AS early asis4s both
we're introduced in q very limited
manner along the Ohio. Soon af-
ter mines were opened and brine
wells drilled at West Columbia,
Mason City, Hartford City, and a
little later at intermediate points.
Atlhs same time Wheeling-hay.
ing caught the spirit Of progress
from her sister city, Pittsburgh
began the manufacture Of iron,
nails, hollow.Sare, wooden.ware,
SuVulISaiHi Utos
10 1850 the State Constitutional
Convention convened in the city
of Richmond, and after nearly
ninety days labor produced the
famous constitution Of that date.
By 1.-THE right Of suffrage was
greatly extended; State and coun.
ty officers were made elective by
the people; important and benefi.
cial changes were made in the ex.
ecutive, legislative and judiciary
departments Of the State govern.
mentc Still il was not what the
people Of the Western part Of the.
State desired, but believing it, as
it was, a great improvement upon
its predecessor of 1829-3O, they, on
the fourth Thursday in October,
1851, cast a large vote in favor of
its ratification. 1t continued in
force until the close Of the civil
war.
From its adoption until 1850
considerable progress was made.
Agriculture became vastly more
extensive and diversified, and
Western Virginia began to be
known as a grazing section. The
blue grass region Of Harrison, Lew.
lie, Barbour, Marion, Greenbrier,
Monroe and other counties began
to attract attention, and many en-.
terprising land owners, among
whom were the Jacksons, Cook
mans, oapertons, Beales and steen.
bergens, began to import and breed
a better grade Of stock. Manufac.
lures were keeping pace and anuu.
ally Wheeling was putting her
thousands of kegs of nails on the
market the Ohio and Kanawha
salines were producing a million
barrels Of salt, and hundreds Of
boats loaded with the products of
the mines were tloated to lower
Ohio and Southern ports.
During these years many sturdy
farmers from the Piedmont and
Valley regions removed West and
found homes in the valleys or upon
the hills of Western Virginia.
Everywhere was the evidence Of
rural peace and rural plenty. But,
alasl the mutterings Of civil war
were heard in The distance.
The year 1860 found all Virginia
in a state of civil commotion un.
paralleled in history unless it be
France in the early days of the
French Revolution. The storm
burst upon the land. The sturdy
yeomanry of what is now West
Virginia were largely descended
from an ancestry which had seen
service in the French and Indian
war; had passed through the stormy
scenes Of the Revolution, the sec.
ond war with England, and had
for an hundred years withstood a
fierce and relentless savage war.
fare, Bravery and patriotism are
hereditary in all lands and so they
were here. Scarcely had the toCsin
Of war sounded when volunteering
began aud ere the strife was half
over thousands Of men had enlisted
in defense of the Federal Union,
and nearly 10000 had gone South
and were fighting the battles Of the
Confederscy. West Virginians
were on nearly every bloody field
from Falling Waters to Appomal.
tox.
Not only were there soldiers
among her people, but statesmen
as well. These latter at once set
about the task Of creating a new
commonwealth. What an under.
taking that wasl There was no.
treasury and not money enough to
purchase even a State seal But
Francis H. Piorpont, a patriotic
ard sturdy son Of the MonOngahela
Valley, then the acting provisional
Governor, borrowed $4,000 on the
pledge Of his own private fortune.