Francis H. Pierpont's former governor's mansion and statehouse was converted to a single family home in 1987. Photo from McEnearney Associates, Inc.
For a mere $5.6 million, the brick mansion in which Francis H. Pierpont, sometimes known as "the father of West Virginia," governed the Restored State of Virginia from August 1863 through the end of the Civil War, can be yours.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- For a mere $5.6 million, the brick mansion in which Francis H. Pierpont, sometimes known as "the father of West Virginia," governed the Restored State of Virginia from August 1863 through the end of the Civil War, can be yours.
The 205-year-old building in the historic Old Town district of Alexandria, Va., was built in 1804 as the Bank of the Potomac. It became the headquarters for Pierpont and the Restored Government of Virginia, also known as the Restored State of Virginia, following a convoluted political process that began in April 1861, when Virginia voted to secede from the Union.
The vote for secession proved unpopular in northwestern Virginia, where mass meetings were held to oppose the move. Among those at the forefront of the protests was Pierpont, a Fairmont lawyer who served as right-of-way attorney for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
Pierpont represented Marion County during the First Wheeling Convention, held on May 13, 1861, to oppose secession. During the Second Wheeling Convention on June 11, 1861, Pierpont was elected governor of the Restored State of Virginia, which President Abraham Lincoln recognized as the state's official governing body while its previous government remained aligned with the Confederacy.
The Wheeling Custom House, now known as Wheeling Independence Hall, was the first site of Pierpont's Virginia government. In May 1862, a special session of the restored government's general assembly was called, and a constitution for a new state of West Virginia was drafted.
In Washington, D.C., the House of Representatives and Senate both passed a West Virginia statehood bill by the end of 1862, but it took until June 20, 1863, for Lincoln, at Pierpont's urging, to sign the bill creating the new state.
The Linsly Institute building in Wheeling served as West Virginia's first state capitol building for newly elected Gov. Arthur Boreman. Statehood shrank Pierpont's official sphere of influence dramatically, but he remained governor of the Restored State of Virginia -- a realm consisting of only six Virginia counties occupied by federal troops abutting Washington, D.C., and the strategic port of Norfolk. He moved the capital of the reorganized government of Virginia from Wheeling to Alexandria, across the Potomac from Washington, in August 1863.
Residents of Berkeley and Jefferson counties, in elections of disputed validity, voted for annexation into the new state by the end of 1863. But they also seemed to hedge their bet by sending delegations to the Restored State of Virginia in Alexandria, where the two counties accounted for a single senatorial district.
In Alexandria, Pierpont met frequently with Lincoln and members of his administration, recruited troops for the Union Army, and promoted the extension of constitutional rights to freed slaves and the abolishment of slavery.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- For a mere $5.6 million, the brick mansion in which Francis H. Pierpont, sometimes known as "the father of West Virginia," governed the Restored State of Virginia from August 1863 through the end of the Civil War, can be yours.
The 205-year-old building in the historic Old Town district of Alexandria, Va., was built in 1804 as the Bank of the Potomac. It became the headquarters for Pierpont and the Restored Government of Virginia, also known as the Restored State of Virginia, following a convoluted political process that began in April 1861, when Virginia voted to secede from the Union.
The vote for secession proved unpopular in northwestern Virginia, where mass meetings were held to oppose the move. Among those at the forefront of the protests was Pierpont, a Fairmont lawyer who served as right-of-way attorney for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
Pierpont represented Marion County during the First Wheeling Convention, held on May 13, 1861, to oppose secession. During the Second Wheeling Convention on June 11, 1861, Pierpont was elected governor of the Restored State of Virginia, which President Abraham Lincoln recognized as the state's official governing body while its previous government remained aligned with the Confederacy.
The Wheeling Custom House, now known as Wheeling Independence Hall, was the first site of Pierpont's Virginia government. In May 1862, a special session of the restored government's general assembly was called, and a constitution for a new state of West Virginia was drafted.
In Washington, D.C., the House of Representatives and Senate both passed a West Virginia statehood bill by the end of 1862, but it took until June 20, 1863, for Lincoln, at Pierpont's urging, to sign the bill creating the new state.
The Linsly Institute building in Wheeling served as West Virginia's first state capitol building for newly elected Gov. Arthur Boreman. Statehood shrank Pierpont's official sphere of influence dramatically, but he remained governor of the Restored State of Virginia -- a realm consisting of only six Virginia counties occupied by federal troops abutting Washington, D.C., and the strategic port of Norfolk. He moved the capital of the reorganized government of Virginia from Wheeling to Alexandria, across the Potomac from Washington, in August 1863.
Residents of Berkeley and Jefferson counties, in elections of disputed validity, voted for annexation into the new state by the end of 1863. But they also seemed to hedge their bet by sending delegations to the Restored State of Virginia in Alexandria, where the two counties accounted for a single senatorial district.
In Alexandria, Pierpont met frequently with Lincoln and members of his administration, recruited troops for the Union Army, and promoted the extension of constitutional rights to freed slaves and the abolishment of slavery.
At the end of the war, the Alexandria government returned to Richmond, and Pierpont continued as governor until 1868, when Virginia was placed under military command as part of a new Reconstruction policy.
Pierpont, who maintained a conciliatory policy toward ex-Confederates and worked to rebuild Virginia's economy, "was eventually accepted, and respected as a diplomat," said Dr. Billy Joe Peyton, a history professor at West Virginia State University. "His statue is one of only two West Virginians included in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol Building."
Pierpont, the first and only governor of the Reorganized Government of Virginia, returned to West Virginia, served one term in the House of Delegates, and helped create the West Virginia Historical Society. He died in 1899 and is buried in Fairmont's Woodlawn Cemetery.
The building that served as his statehouse is now being offered for sale through the Alexandria real estate firm of McEnearney Associates. An advertisement for the former Restored Government of Virginia statehouse recently appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
"The Statehouse is among the finest, most elegant and historically significant properties in the city of Alexandria," according to an online brochure for the property. "The façade of this building is marked by beautiful carved doorways of Aquia Creek sandstone, and is one of the finest examples of early 19th Century architectural decoration in Virginia."
The building was converted into a single-family home in 1987.
Although the brochure correctly states that the building served as the seat of government for federally occupied Virginia from 1863 to 1865, it also maintains that it was once the capital "of two states, occupying a unique place in the rich history of Alexandria."
"That's a bit of a stretch," said Ken Sullivan, director of the West Virginia Humanities Council. "Once West Virginia was created, Pierpont moved the reorganized government of Virginia to Alexandria where he governed the parts of Virginia under federal control."
The $5.6 million price tag for the Statehouse includes three bedrooms, a carriage house, two living rooms, a library, an elevator, a wet bar and nine fireplaces.
Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelham...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5169.
Post a comment