Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1907-06-27
A Letter Regarding the West Virginia
History Exhibit at the jamestown
Exposition.
NORFOLK. Va, June 20, 1907.


NORFOLK, VA, June 20, 1907.
EDITOR THE REGISTER. IL desire the
use of your columns for the purpose OF
com municating with the good people
of the Eastern Panhandle OF West Vlr-
GINA, regarding a matter of mutual
interest to them and to me. Their sec
ton is the oldest part of West Virginia,
one where white men first made history
on the soil of our State, and l am ex-
tremeiy anxious that their history, to-
gether with that made by their descend
ants, shall be part of our State Exhib-
IL at the jamestown Exposition. We
have made good James Rumsey Ex-
hibit, one that will attract much atten-
ton here but suspect that inquiry is
being made as to why more attention
has not been given to History collect
ions in the Eastern Panhandle. Let
me answer briefly any such inquiry by
describing the conditions relative TO
History at the jamestown Exposition.
A great fre-proof Palace of History
building was 10 have been completed in
April for history collections to be sent
here for exhibit. That building has
been long under contract and is not
vet complete. On the first Of this month
the contractors abandoned work on it
and for fifteen days no sound Of saw or
hammer was heard.
West Virginia was the only American
State that had shipped an History Ex-
hibit to the Exposition. About the
Goth of May shipped from Charleston
fifteen thousand pounds of Exhibits,
collected from various parts of the
State and from the Department Of His.
tory and Archives. On my arrival here
| intended to go to the Eastern Pan
handle 10 collect material promised me
there for our exhibit. When arrived
here there was no fireproof building. l
had to take our exhibit from the car
and store it in the West Virginia State
Building, where 1t is as yet the only
part OF history exhibit on the James
town Exposition grounds. That OF
Pennsylvania lies boxed at Harrisburg;
that of North Carolina lies ready for
shipment at Raleigh the Virginia col
lection is held at Richmond that OF
New Jersey lies in the State House at
Trenton, while that of New York is de-
tanned at Albany awaiting orders from
their representative OF that State, sta
toned here. So it is with the collection
Of other States. All are awaiting the
completion of the fte-proof building.
Indeed, so great has been the delay
that, am informed, Massachusetts, and
Connecticut have declined TO send any
history exhibit at all. There IS hope
of this now, since the contractors re-
sumed work on it last Monday, and
both they and the jamestown EXposi-
4 d.
ing shall be ready i'll few days to re-
ceIve History exhibits, and that it will
be fully completed by the tenth OF Ju-
ly. Our exhibit-that part of it here
lies in the West Virginia State Building
not fire-proof buildin9-but it will
be removed 10 the History Palace at
the earliest possible date.
As quickly as this is none expect to
visit The Eastern Panhandle for the
purpose of bringing here the material
to illustrate the nearly two hundred
years OF history made therein by five
generations of history-making people.
| may add that we have here Il COM
plets model Of the James Rumsey
Steam boat, patterned after that in the
Transportation Section of the National
Museum at Washington. We have a
splendid large framed portrait OF James
Kumsey; another large framed portrait
of James Rumsey at ShepherdsIown,
as sketched by Henry Howe, the his
torian, in 1912? also framed picture
of his burial place in st. Margaret's
Church in Westminster Abbey. So
much otner material have we relating
to the Rumsey invention, that in the
language Of the venerable Judge Daniel
B. Lucas, we are prepared TO say, 'that
it is as easy to prove that James Rum
sey invented the steam boat as it is to
prove that Columbus discovered Amer.
ica."
Wiah the expectation Of being in the
Eastern Panhandle in few days, | re-
main,
Most Sincerely Yours,
VIRGIL A. LEWIS.