SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 14

(By Senators Beach, Kessler, Leonhardt, Prezioso, Unger, Stollings, Miller and Yost)

Requesting the Division of Highways to erect signs along Interstate 79 in Marion County designated “Home of Francis H. Pierpont”.

            Whereas, Francis H. Pierpont was one of the delegates to the Great Railroad Convention to bring the B&O Railroad into Marion County; and

            Whereas, Francis H. Pierpont, working along with James Otis Watson, opened the first rail-shipping bituminous coal mine west of the Allegheny Mountains; and

            Whereas, May 13, 1861, Francis H. Pierpont became Delegate of the First Wheeling Convention; and

            Whereas, June 20, 1861, Francis H. Pierpont was elected Provisional Governor of the Restored Virginia by an unanimous 77 votes; and

            Whereas, May 13, 1862, Francis H. Pierpont called a special session of the Restored Virginia General Assembly which granted counties in Northwestern Virginia permission for their separation from the remainder of Virginia and the formation of a new state into the Union: West Virginia; and

            Whereas, May 22, 1862, Francis H. Pierpont was elected Governor of the Restored Virginia; and

            Whereas, In June, 1863, Francis H. Pierpont declined to be Governor of West Virginia, remaining Governor of Restored Virginia until April 4, 1868; and

            Whereas, In 1869, Francis H. Pierpont was elected to the West Virginia Legislature; and

            Whereas, Francis H. Pierpont established the first local school for African Americans; and

            Whereas, On April 30, 1910, a statue honoring Francis H. Pierpont as the “Father of West Virginia” was accepted by the Capitol Building in Washington, D. C., one of only two statues representing West Virginia in Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol Building; and

            Whereas, Stephen B. Elkins, former Secretary of War, on the day of the statue dedication proclaimed, “He (Francis H. Pierpont) founded a state whose people will love and bless his memory as the sun rolls on.”; therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

            That the Legislature hereby requests the Division of Highways to erect signs along Interstate 79 in Marion County designated “Home of Francis H. Pierpont”; and, be it

            Further Resolved, That the Commissioner of the Division of Highways is hereby requested to have made and be placed signs along Interstate 79 at locations entering Marion County on the borders of Harrison and Monongalia counties, proclaiming this section of road “Home of Francis H. Pierpont”; and, be it

            Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the Commissioner of Highways, the Marion County Commission and the Marion County Historical Society.