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| Seal of West Virginia. |
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and passed an ordinance for the erection of a New State, in which Slavery was prohibited, to be called Kanawha, the name of its principal stream.
This ordinance was submitted to the people of the counties represented in the Convention on the 24th of October ensuing, when the vote was almost unanimous in its favor.
At a subsequent session of the Convention, on the 27th of November, the name was changed to West Virginia, and a State Constitution was formed.
On the 3d of May following the people ratified it, and on the same day the Legislature, at a called session, approved of the division of the State, and the establishment of a New Commonwealth.
All of the requirements of the National Constitution now having been complied with, West Virginia was admitted as a State of the Union on the 3d of June, 1863, by an Act of Congress, approved by the President on the 31st of December, 1862.1 a State seal, with appropriate inscriptions and device, was adopted,2 and the New Commonwealth took its place as the thirty-fifth State of the Union, covering an area of twenty-three thousand square miles, and having a population, in 1860, of three hundred and ninety-three thousand two hundred and thirty four.
at the beginning of the efforts of the loyal men of Northwestern Virginia to lay the foundation of a New and Free-labor State, they found it necessary to, prepare for war, for, as we have observed, the conspirators were forming camps of rendezvous in their midst, and preparing to hold them in subjection to the usurpers at Richmond.
Thousands of loyal men secretly volunteered to fight for the Union; and the National Government made preparations in Pennsylvania and beyond the Ohio River to co-operate with them at a proper moment.
Both the Government and the loyal citizens of Virginia abstained from all military movements on the soil
1 the conspirators denounced the action of Congress and the President as usurpation, and a violation of the third section of the fourth Article of the Constitution, which says:--
“New States May be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no New State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State formed by the junction of two or more States or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress.” let us see how this matter will endure the constitutional test. The loyal people of Virginia, and who alone constituted the State as a part of the Republic, deposed Governor Letcher and his fellow-traitors in regular form, and reorganized the Government of the Commonwealth, making Francis H. Pierpont chief magistrate. The Legislature forming a part of this newly organized Government agreed that a New State should be made out of a portion of the old one. One part of the constitutional requirement was thus complied with. The other part was complied with when Congress, on the 31st of December, gave its consent to the transaction. at midsummer, 1863, Virginia presented a curious political aspect. Its deposed Governor, Letcher, at Richmond, claimed jurisdiction over all the State. Governor Pierpont, at Alexandria, rightfully claimed authority over the whole State, excepting the fifty-one counties that composed the New State; and Governor Boreman, at Wheeling, legitimately exercised authority in that New State.2 the above picture represents the lesser seal of West Virginia, which bears the same words and devices as the great seal. The latter is two inches and one-half in diameter. On one side are the words, “State of West Virginia,” and “Montana Semper Liberi” --that is to say, “mountaineers are always free.” in the center of the seal is seen a rock, on which ivy is growing, symbolizing stability and continuance, and bearing the inscription, “June 20, 1863,” the date of the organization and foundation of the State. On the right of the rock is seen a farmer dressed in the hunting-shirt worn in that region, his right hand resting on a plow-handle, and on his left is reposing a woodman's ax, indicating the great business of the people to be the clearing of the forest and cultivating the soil. There is also a sheaf of wheat and a corn-stalk near. On the left of the rock is seen a miner with his pickax, with barrels and lumps of minerals at his feet. An anvil and sledge-hammer are also seen, typical of the mechanic arts. Two rifles lie in front, their junction covered by the Phrygian hood, or Cap of Liberty, indicating that the independence of the State was won and will be maintained by arms.
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