Reverse - Text |
Left section:
GRIND
YOUR COFFEE AT HOME
Right section: |
WEST VIRGINIA. |
WEST VIRGINIA did not
become a State until 1863, when
it separated from Virginia on
account of its Union sentiments.
George Washington was one of the
first land-owners, who, when a
surveyor in 1750, entered and
patented for himself 32,000 acres
in the Ohio and Kanawha valleys.
The Ohio Land Company, composed
of Thomas Lee, Augustine and
Lawrence Washington, and others,
were probably the first to
develop this State, and in 1750
they employed Christopher Gist to
cross the Blue Ridge and spy out
the country. Orders came from
England to expel the French posts
by force of arms, if necessary,
and George Washington (then 22
years old and a major in the
Virginia militia) was chosen to
take a remonstrance to M. de St.
Pierre, the French commander on
the upper waters of the Alleghany
and Lake Erie. This led to the
French and Indian war and
Braddock's defeat, which,
however, was out of the State. In
October, 1859, John Brown and a
force of twenty-two abolitionists
captured Harper's Ferry,
intending to raise the slaves
into revolt against the
slaveholders. But the negroes
failed to rise, and Brown was
beleaguered in the engine-house
by troops under Colonel Robt. E.
Lee. Ten were killed; seven,
including Brown, were hanged for
treason, and five escaped
northward. |
During
the Secession War the State was
the scene of many fierce forays
on both sides, and many a
desperate fight was waged among
its mountain passes. Since the
close of the Civil War it has
devoted itself to building
railroads and developing vast
natural resources in lumber and
minerals. |
ILLUSTRATIONS. |
Washington
on his Journey to the French
Posts, 1753; An Indian
Raid; John Brown at Harper's
Ferry, 1859. |
|