Collections

Photostat negatives of correspondence to Francis H. Pierpont concerning statehood and secession. Also includes a petition of Harrison County, (West) Virginia citizens to Brigadier General Kelly protesting the return and admittance to the county of former members of the Confederate Army (undated); a petition of Gilmer County, (West) Virginia citizens denouncing secession and pledging action to suppress rebellion (1861); and the act by which the Restored Government of Virginia gave permission for the new state of West Virginia to be formed from Virginia (May 12, 1863). Also includes a photostat negative of a typescript checklist of Pierpont manuscript material held at the Virginia State Library (now Library of Virginia) (1916). Correspondents include: Arthur I. Boreman, John I. Brown, William G. Brown, A.W. Campbell, John S. Carlile, Spencer Dayton, James Evans, Thomas. M. Harris, J.H. Jordan, Daniel Lamb, J.A.J. Lightburn, A.F. Ritchie, Lewis Ruffner, Henry I. Samuels, J.C. Paxton, P.G. Van Winkle, and John O. Watson.

Approximately twenty letters sent to President Abraham Lincoln from Francis H. Pierpont, the governor of the Reorganized Government of Virginia, between 1861 and 1864. Topics include the need for muskets in western Virginia in 1861; restoring the government of Virginia according to the Wheeling Convention after the war; using slaves from Virginia to do manual labor for the Union army; difficulty recruiting soldiers in western Virginia in 1862; the creation of the state of West Virginia; and Benjamin Butler and citizens in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1863 and 1864. These letters are on microfilm and were copied by the Library of Congress.

Fairmont Times (W.Va.) newspaper clipping where Frances Pierpont Pryor, Francis H. Pierpont's granddaughter, is thanking the newspaper for including historical information about Pierpont's life in their articles.

Photostat copies of newspaper clippings from the Daily Enquirer and Examiner (Richmond, Virginia). Includes the order appointing Henry H. Wells to succeed Francis H. Pierpont as Governor of Virginia, and two editorials about Pierpont (April 6 and 27, 1868). The articles suggest that Pierpont was unpopular in Richmond at this time.

Papers of Francis Harrison Pierpont (1814-1899) of Monongalia and Marion Counties, West Virginia, who served as governor of the Restored Government of Virginia during the Civil War. Includes manuscripts, typescripts, printed materials, and photocopies consisting of genealogies, correspondence, college essays, speeches, official messages, articles prepared for newspapers, legal documents, pamphlets, scrapbooks, and ephemera. Topics include Pierpont's education; his career as governor of the Restored Government of Virginia at Wheeling, Alexandria, and Richmond; the West Virginia statehood movement; politics; and his later work in the Methodist Protestant Church. Notable series include Pierpont's personal and professional correspondence; his writings and speeches, which include several drafts of his reminiscences on Lincoln; correspondence and notes of Charles H. Ambler, biographer of Pierpont, in the Subject Files series; and a series of several hundred telegrams related to statehood and the Civil War. Pierpont's correspondents include Gordon Battelle, Arthur I. Boreman, John S. Carlile, Abraham Lincoln (copies), Waitman T. Willey, and others. For civil war telegrams related to this collection, go to wvhistory.org.

Correspondence, appointment, and notice. Correspondence includes a letter from Gideon D. Camden to Pierpont (1841); a letter from Frances Pierpont Pryor (F.H. Pierpont's granddaughter) to Professor Charles Ambler regarding documents of her grandfathers' which she is sending him and documents she will keep (1952); and a letter from Charles MacCarthy to W.H. Siviter, regarding Pierpont papers used by MacCarthy in writing his Lincoln's Plan of Reconstruction (1899). Also includes Francis H. Pierpont's appointment to the West Virginia University Board of Regents (1869) and a Society of the Army of West Virginia reunion notice (1884).

Anna Pierpont Siviter's notes and typescript draft with holograph notes of Recollections on Civil War (Recollections of War and Peace, 1861-1868). Also includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, unpublished poems, and genealogy of the Pierpont, Siviter, and Pryor families.

Two autobiographies written by Francis Harrison Pierpont (1814-1899) of Monongalia and Marion Counties, West Virginia, who served as governor of the Restored Government of Virginia during the Civil War. This booklet includes photocopies of two original autobiographies, which were written in 1883 for Robert Alonzo (or P.W.) Brock (21 pages and accompanying letter) and John McAllister Schofield (5 pages). The booklet also includes typescript transcriptions of both autobiographies, made by Jeannie Kyle. Also included are copies of a web page, book pages, a news clipping, a typescript copy of an address delivered by Captain James Chambers Pryor regarding Memorial Day and Pierpont (1932), and other material related to F. H. Pierpont. Christa Pierpont compiled the first draft of the booklet in 2015. The booklet is also available at the Library of Virginia.

Ceramic and glassware items owned by Francis Harrison Pierpont (1814-1899) and his wife Julia Augusta (Robertson) Pierpont. Francis Pierpont of Monongalia and Marion Counties, West Virginia, participated in the West Virginia statehood movement, and served as governor of the Restored Government of Virginia during the Civil War. See the scope and content note and historical note for further detail.

Photocopies of correspondence relating to Francis H. Pierpont's law license in Mississippi and Virginia, and an early (1784) Virginia deed to John Pierpont (likely grandfather of Francis).