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Some information about immigration in Clarksburg with newspaper articles

More information about the West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival

Clarksburg is a city of immigrants. Between 1910 and 1920, approximately five thousand to sixty-five hundred foreign-born people lived in Harrison county. As the population of the county was roughly fifty thousand people, immigrants composed a significant portion of the population. The immigrants hailed from Ireland, Eastern Europe, and Italy. They largely found work in coal mines and glass factories. Italian immigrants became particularly well-established in Harrison County. The West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival grew out of the Italian immigrant community and now attracts over one hundred thousand people to Clarksburg each Labor Day weekend. Honoring the Immigrants was installed in 1985, the bicentennial of Clarksburg’s official founding. The work depicts immigrants from a variety of backgrounds working together to build Clarksburg. The sculpture was created by W.D. Hopen, a West Virginia artist. A plaque at the base of the piece includes a quote from Theodore Roosevelt which reads, “So build your community that quickened conscience, larger vision, deeper devotion and equality of rights for all will resolve itself into an enthusiastic zeal for personal service in the community. All who give service are torch bearers.” 

Honoring the Immigrants

Following a meeting at the home of George Jackson on July 20, 1784, Clarksburg was chosen as the seat of Harrison County. Three years later, the first courthouse was built at a cost of five hundred fifty dollars. It was located at the corner of Main Street and 2nd Street, roughly a block from its current location. The building was a simple single-room frame construction resting on stone piers. Citizens often tied their horses to the piers when conducting business in the building. By the early nineteenth century, the need for a more substantial building became pressing, and a new courthouse was erected. Located at Main Street and 3rd Street, the site of the current courthouse, the second courthouse building was a two-story brick building. It cost three thousand seven hundred dollars to build. A large tree behind the structure served as a whipping post.The two-story brick courthouse served Clarksburg for forty-five years. In 1856, it was demolished and another newly expanded building took its place. The third courthouse was also a two-story brick building, though it was larger and featured far more ornamentation, such as a cupola on the roof, wrought-iron balconies, and a bell and clock tower. This courthouse was the site of the Union Meetings, a series of public gatherings to discuss Virginian secession, both before and after this possibility was realized. The most important meeting occurred on April 22, 1861, when 1,200 Clarksburg residents packed the square to discuss Virginia’s act of treason just five days prior. Public opinion was strongly pro-Union, and repeated calls for a pro-Union convention emerged from the meeting. John S. Carlile, a seasoned politician present at the Virginia Secession Convention, also helped organize the Union Meetings. Following the April 22 gathering, he was instrumental in coordinating the First Wheeling Convention, which eventually led to the creation of West Virginia as a state.A fourth courthouse was constructed between 1888 and 1889 at the cost of forty-six thousand dollars. By far the most ornate structure to date, it featured brick construction, three stories, and Romanesque revival architectural touches. The bell and clock tower from the third courthouse were also preserved and reintroduced on the newer structure. Clarksburg continued to boom in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, so plans were made for yet another new courthouse building — the one you see before you today. A special levy in 1928 raised an astounding seven hundred thousand dollars to finance the construction. Clarksburg architect Carlton C. Wood was commissioned to be the supervising architect, while Cleveland, Ohio architects R.L. Walker and H.F. Horne assisted with the plans. The new nine-story courthouse proved to be the pride of Clarksburg. A cornerstone laying ceremony in 1931 attracted thousands of residents, while an equally lavish dedication occurred after its completion in 1932. John W. Davis, Democratic nominee for president in 1924, gave the principal address at the dedication ceremony.The fifth and final Harrison County Courthouse is an excellent example of early Art Moderne architecture. Though it developed out of Art Deco, Art Moderne is also a response to the earlier style. While Art Deco architecture is typically opulent and heavily ornamented, Art Moderne is more sleek and austere. Though the Harrison County Courthouse is certainly an Art Moderne building, it retains several Art Deco aspects rarely found in Art Moderne. It was common for Art Moderne buildings to eschew Art Deco’s sharp points in favor of more curvilinear vertices. However, the Harrison County Courthouse clearly maintains bold edges. Furthermore, Art Moderne architecture typically emphasizes horizontality over the soaring verticality of Art Deco. The Harrison County Courthouse is certainly a vertical structure — perhaps this is a result of the space the architects had available. The limestone building’s two most distinctive features are an illuminated clock at the top of the building, which is crowned by a flagpole.Several monuments, historical plaques, and statues grace the Harrison County Couthouse’s grounds. A historical information plaque provides some information and context on the Union Meetings and John S. Carlile. Near the entrance is a statue of Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson, a Confederate general and Clarksburg’s most famous resident, mounted on a horse. Erected in 1985 as part of a centennial celebration, “Honoring the Immigrants” is a tribute to Clarksburg’s heritage. The bow flag staff of the U.S.S West Virginia, which was sunk at Pearl Harbor, also graces the courtyard. Finally, two memorials honor West Virginia veterans: the Memorial to Those Who Served and the Purple Heart Memorial. For over two centuries, the Harrison County Courthouse has continued to serve as the central gathering point of the county.

The history of the Harrison County Courthouse stretches back to 1784, when a one-room building was erected for five hundred fifty dollars. Since then, the building has been replaced four times, culminating in the fifth courthouse that is visible today. The current Art Moderne building was constructed between 1931 and 1932 and is architecturally significant. It is also Harrison County’s longest serving courthouse building. A variety of historical plaques, monuments, and memorials are contained in the building’s courtyard. They commemorate the people and events that have shaped Harrison County.

The USS West Virginia was built by the Newport News Shipbuilding Corporation in 1920. It was launched on November 19, 1921 and commissioned on December 21, 1923. The Colorado class Battleship was the fifth built in this series for the US Navy. The Battleship was 624 feet in length and could achieve a speed of 21 knots. It could hold a crew of 1,407 sailors. The USS West Virginia was a product of the latest knowledge of naval architecture.On December 7, 1941 the USS West Virginia was moored at Pearl Harbor with forty feet of water below it beside the USS Tennessee. At a little before 8:00 a.m. that morning, Japanese planes began bombing the American Naval Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The USS West Virginia took five torpedo hits to its port side and two armor-piercing bombs. The first of the bombs struck the superstructure deck, destroying the port casements and causing the deck to collapse to the galley deck below it. The galley deck caught fire as well as four casemates and the ready-made projectiles that were stored in the casemates detonated. The second bomb hit the floatplane that sat at the top of Turret II knocking the one below it onto the deck. Though this bomb proved to be a "dud", the gas tank on the float plane cause fire causing damage.The quick thinking and actions of Lt. Claude V. Ricketts, the assistant fire control officer, saved the USS West Virginia from capsizing like the USS Oklahoma. Many instances of heroic actions took place on board the damaged battleship. The commanding officer, Captain Mervyn S. Bennion became mortally wounded when a bomb fragment hit him in the abdomen from a bomb that hit the USS Tennessee spraying fragments across the USS West Virginia. Though mortally wounded, he continued to perform his duties clinging to life until the ship was abandoned. The USS West Virginia was abandoned and sank, landing on an even keel on the harbor bottom. Volunteers returned to the battleship after it was abandoned to try to put out the fires that raged on board. It was the following day, December 8, 1941 before they were able to extinguish the fires with the help of YG-17, a garbage lighter that stayed alongside the battleship even though there was the danger of ammunition exploding.On May 17, 1942 they were able to patch the hull of the battleship and pump out the water so that it would float again. While in drydock, it was discovered that the USS West Virginia had taken seven torpedoes instead of six. While making repair, the workers located 70 bodies of USS West Virginia sailors that had been trapped below when the ship had sank. More disturbing was the discovery of a calendar in a compartment with the days to December 23, 1941 marked off reveling that at least some of those sailors had still been alive on December 23.The battleship was repaired and refitted, then returned to duty and the Hawaiian Islands in 1944. It served in several major battles after its return and was in Tokyo Bay in September 1945 for Japan's formal surrender. It helped to return soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines back to the states after the war ended. The USS West Virginia was decommissioned on January 7, 1947 and ultimately sold for scrap metal on August 24, 1959. Several ship parts were donated to various cities and entities in West Virginia. The bow flagstaff of the ship was installed in Clarksburg on November 11, 1963.

This is the staff from the bow of the U.S.S. West Virginia, a battleship that was sunk during the Battle of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. This marker was placed in memory of those that served on the battleship which was destroyed in the attack.The commanding officer of the ship, Captain Mervyn S. Bennion, was mortally wounded in the early part of the attack. Like many others aboard the ship, he attempted to save the men aboard the ship despite his injuries. Bennion was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. Seventy of the sailors aboard the vessel were trapped below deck when the ship sank and perished along with others who were wounded in the attack. 

U.S.S. West Virginia Flag Staff

Harrison County was a bastion for independent Western Virginians long before the winds of change heralded the Civil War. Far removed from the political sphere in Richmond, Clarksburg natives tended to think of themselves separately from the elite plantation owning representatives common in the halls of the Virginia capitol building. Following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, rumors of Southern secession began to circulate. Intending to address the issue before it came to a head, a pro-Union meeting was held at the Clarksburg Courthouse on November 24, 1860. At the meeting, most Clarksburg residents voiced their opposition to secession and support of the Union.On April 17, 1861, the Virginia Secession Convention held the defining vote to decide the state’s fate. A majority of delegates voted in favor of secession with the final total being eighty-eight to fifty-five. Almost all the fifty-five dissenting votes came from Western Virginia counties that adamantly opposed secession. One of the delegates present at the convention was Clarksburg native John S. Carlile. Carlile had served a number of terms as a congressman, both in the Virginia and United States governments. The strength of his anti-secession conviction is perhaps captured best by a quote characterizing secession as “self murder… an insult to all reasonable living humanity, and a crime against God.”1 Under the threat of violence, Carlile left Richmond disgusted by the act of treason.Just five days after the Virginia Secession Convention vote, Carlile called a public meeting at the Clarksburg Courthouse. On April 22, 1861, almost 1,200 people gathered to make their voices heard. Public opinion remained overwhelmingly against secession. On May 23, 1861, the public vote was held on the secession ordinance. The vote from Harrison County has been reported at 1,691 votes against and 694 in favor, but a review of the original poll books has show this to be inaccurate. In 1985 the original poll books for Harrison County, which had been donated to the West Virginia University Library, were tabulated and the count showed 1,022 votes in favor of the ordinance and 1,031 against it. One poll book for the Union district was missing, so it remains unknown whether Harrison County narrowly approved the ordinance or rejected it. The Union district normally cast a vote between 100 and 150.(2) A resounding call from the Clarksburg meeting demanded a new government of loyalist Union lawmakers. With Carlile’s assistance, this call became the First Wheeling Convention later in May of 1861. The Wheeling Convention, in turn, led to the fracturing of Virginia and the formation of West Virginia. Carlile changed his mind about the new state and in his position as a U.S. senator tried to derail the statehood bill, but failed.(3)

In the leadup and early days of the Civil War, Clarksburg was buzzing with pro-Union activity. Most natives of the city strongly opposed the growing secessionist sentiment in southern Virginia. Several meetings were held to discuss how Clarksburg should respond in the case that Virginia did choose to secede from the Union. Following a Virginia Secession Convention vote that led to the state’s secession, politician John S. Carlile held the most important meeting at the Harrison County Courthouse. The Clarksburg public reiterated their opposition to the secession and called for a new meeting of pro-Union officials. With Carlile’s backing, this led to the First Wheeling Convention, which in turn led to the formation of West Virginia as a state.

Clarksburg Union Meetings

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, a well-known Confederate general, was born in Clarksburg (then Virginia) on January 21, 1824 and died May 10, 1863. Jackson began his United States Army career as a second lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Artillery Regiment and was sent to fight in the Mexican–American War from 1846 to 1848. He served at the Siege of Veracruz and the battles of Contreras, Chapultepec, and Mexico City, eventually earning two brevet promotions, and the regular army rank of first lieutenant.During the assault on Chapultepec Castle on September 13, 1847, he refused what he felt was a "bad order" to withdraw his troops. Confronted by his superior, he explained his rationale, claiming withdrawal was more hazardous than continuing his overmatched artillery duel. His judgment proved correct, and a relieving brigade was able to exploit the advantage Jackson had broached. In contrast to this display of strength of character, he obeyed what he also felt was a "bad order" when he raked a civilian throng with artillery fire after the Mexican authorities failed to surrender Mexico City at the hour demanded by the U.S. forces. The former episode, and later aggressive action against the retreating Mexican army, earned him field promotion to the brevet rank of major.After the war, Jackson was briefly assigned to forts in New York, and then to Florida during the Second Seminole War, during which the Americans were attempting to force the remaining Seminoles to move West. He was stationed briefly at Fort Casey before being named second-in-command at Fort Meade, a small fort about thirty miles south of Tampa. His commanding officer was Major William H. French. Jackson and French disagreed often, and filed numerous complaints against each other. Jackson stayed in Florida less than a year.In the spring of 1851 Jackson accepted a newly created teaching position at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), in Lexington, Virginia. He became Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and Instructor of Artillery. Parts of Jackson's curriculum are still taught at VMI, regarded as timeless military essentials: discipline, mobility, assessing the enemy's strength and intentions while attempting to conceal your own, and the efficiency of artillery combined with an infantry assault.When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861 after the attack on Fort Sumter, Jackson followed it and joined the Confederate Army. He distinguished himself commanding a brigade at the First Battle of Bull Run the following month, providing crucial reinforcements and beating back a fierce Union assault. It was there that Barnard Elliott Bee Jr., allegedly for Jackson's courage and tenacity, compared him to a "stone wall," which became his enduring nickname. Jackson played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the Eastern Theater of the war until his death and played an important part in winning many significant battles.Unfortunately, during the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863, General Lee divided his troops sending Stonewall Jackson's entire corps on a flanking march that routed the Union Forces. However, while performing a personal reconnaissance in advance of his line, Jackson was wounded by fire after dark from his own men. Later, during the week Jackson died of complications from pneumonia on May 10, 1863, eight days after he was shot.  In 1953, the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected a monument to Jackson on the courthouse square in downtown Clarksburg, West Virginia, later donating the statue to the city. The statue was sculpted by New York sculptor Charles Keck and is a duplicate of the statue that was located in a park in Charlottesville, Virginia. At the time this monument was created, UDC members hoped to erect monuments and shape the curriculum of area schools to vindicate the antebellum South. Key to this message was suggesting that slavery was a benign institution that "civilized" enslaved persons.In recent years, amid a nationwide reckoning over Confederate monuments and iconography, there have been several calls for the removal of Clarksburg's Jackson monument. In 2017, several citizens criticized the statue as divisive. In 2020, the Harrison County Commission formally considered a motion to remove the statue, but rejected the proposal in a 2-1 vote. During deliberations, local citizens spoke both for and against the proposal. As Ryan DeBarr noted, "What does it say that a statue of a slave owner went up in 1953 at the height of the desegregation conflict? It says it’s not really about history."[3]Despite the council's decision, calls for the monument's removal continued. As local resident Faith Dickson argued, "I questioned there was a statue of a Confederate soldier on the front of a courthouse in a Union state, I didn’t understand it then and I don’t understand it now. The soldiers in his army shot and killed the soldiers in the army of the United States of America." The Clarksburg History Museum offered several possible locations for a relocation of the statue (including at the museum itself) and asked to be "involved in making this work for everybody" as discussions continued.[4]

Born in Clarksburg, (West) Virginia in 1824, Thomas Jonathan Jackson emerged as one of the most prominent Confederate generals of the American Civil War. A graduate of West Point, Jackson served in the Mexican and Seminole Wars. He accepted a professorship at the Virginia Military Institute, where he taught until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. Accepting a commission in the Confederate army, Jackson rose through the ranks as an aggressive, confident military commander. He commanded a Confederate corps under Robert E. Lee in the Army of Northern Virginia. In 1863, he was wounded by his own men at the Battle of Chancellorsville and developed pneumonia, to which he succumbed on May 10, 1863. In 1953, amidst the Civil Rights movement, the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected a statue to Jackson on the courthouse square in Clarksburg. In recent years, there have been calls for the statue's removal, but the Harrison County Commission has refused to take any action.

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson Statue

The Harrison County Courthouse courtyard features two memorials to veterans. In the southeast corner is the Memorial to Those Who Served, an obelisk dedicated to West Virginia veterans from all conflicts. Situated diagonally from this memorial in the northwest corner is the Purple Heart Memorial, also known as the Combat Wounded Memorial. This granite stele was erected in 1999 in honor of veterans who were wounded in combat and received the Purple Heart for their actions. The monument was funded by the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the state of West Virginia, and donations by local individuals. An inscription on the piece reads “Dear friend, beware as you stand by. As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so you will be. So get prepared to follow me. “To follow you I am not content. Until I know which way you went.” We are such things as dreams are made of and our little life is rounded with sleep.Green be the turf above thee. Friend of thy better day. None knew thee but to love thee. Nor name thee but to praise.”

Harrison County Courthouse

Honoring the Immigrants

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