STATE OF KENNEDY
On November 29, 1963 it was seriously proposed that the name of the State of West Virginia be re-named.
Two names were suggested, by the Beckley (W.Va )"Post-Herald", honoring President John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated . Two names were suggested: either "Kennedy” or "Kennediana"
Laudable though the intent of the idea may have been, that would have been something that would have taken a bit of doing, if one is to judge by the troubles the delegates to the State Constitutional Convention of 1862 had in deciding on the present name of the state.
George Ellis Moore, who taught Government at Slippery Rock State College in Pennsylvania – a West Virginia native – gave a detailed account of the naming selection hassle in his excellent book “A Banner in the Hills”.The name West Virginia was not an unanimous choice.
“A Banner in the Hills” is a very readable yet scholarly history of West Virginia published under the official West V Virginia Centennial Commission (Appleton-Century-Crofts) The author, George Ellis Moore, traces the situation when sentiments concerning the Union grew,. An ordinance of l861 specified that the name of the new state was to be “Kanawha “ after the impressive river which, when joined by the New River flows through capital city of Charleston north to the Ohio.
This resulted in some opposition from other areas which was not unexpected expected, of course, but those who favored the Indian name of Kanawha did not look with favor on any any attempt to modify the ordinance. On November of 1861 a majority of the Constitutional Convention refused to recognize the earlier convention's action as being binding upon them. In December of that year the suggested the name was dopped form the list to be considered by a vote of 30 to 14, and the prevailing mood of the delegates seems to have been that they would try to retain the word “Virginia” in some form.
One delegate is said to have waxed emotional when he proclaimed that “'the name 'Virginia' reminded him of the glorious reign of Elizabeth, but also carried subtle information of the blessed Mother of Christ!” Other members of the convention, however, seemed to think of it only “as a reminder of oppression, slavery and treason.” Can't you imagine silvery-haired orators of the present day, holding forth for hours in C-Span dealing out such phrases should new names be suggested.
The matter was finally settled by a roll call of delegates. They were permitted to answer in one way only, not to to launch into another harangue, but simply to stand and state the name they had chosen.
Stubbornly, nine of those present stuck with the name “Kanawha”. Two answered “Western Virginia”, a name by which the area had been commonly called after it ceased to be a part of Augusta County in Virginia. Two other delegates wanted it to be called “Allegheny”and one lone delegate with Shenandoah Valley of Virginia connections, stood by “Augusta” as being the historically most accurate designation for the area. No one, it seems, ever suggested the logical geographic term of “Upper Virginia” with the mountainous terrain which contrasts so readily with the rest of the “Old Dominion” nor did anyone see the possibilities of forming a “New Dominion”, either.
Moore's “A Banner in the Hills”, developed the complex nature of a group of people who saw themselves as that portion of the old state which have remained loyal and say no reason to drop the name “Virginia.”
On May 13, 1862 the new state was officially formed, far smaller than many had insisted it should be, and on December 31 – tradition holds he did so just minutes before midnight - President Lincoln signed the official paper. He postponed his agonizing decision until the very last minute, stating that “the division of a State is dreaded as a precedent.” His proclamation was issued April 20, 1863.
Virginia became the only state to lose half of it's physical area as a result of the actions of the Civil War. West Virginia became our 35th state and, another oddity: JFK was our 35th president.
A.L.M. March 22, 2003 [c701wds]
