West Virginia, Brooke County History

West Virginia: Brooke County History

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Brooke County History

Court House:	632 Main Street County Courthouse Wellsburg, WV 26070-1743 Phone: (304)737-4080 Fax: (304)737-4023	NA
County Seat:	Wellsburg	Census Bureau Quick Facts
Organized:	1796	Capital Impact Data
Square Miles:	89	County Officials - NACo
Location:	40.269700 N, -80.584356 W	Fedstats/Mapstats
		Political Graveyard
		WVGenWeb

Named:	In honor of Robert Brooke, Governor of VA from 1794 to 1796

Neighbors:	North: Hancock County Northwest: Jefferson County, Ohio South: Ohio County Southeast: Washington County, Pa.

Early History of Brooke County, West Virginia

Brooke County was created by an act of the Virginia General Assembly on November 30, 1796 from parts of Ohio County. According to the national census of 1800, Brooke County had 4,706 residents, the 6th largest population of the 13 counties then in existence within the present state of West Virginia. Berkeley County had the largest population then (22,006) and Wood County had the smallest population (1,217).

Brooke County was named in honor of Robert Brooke (1751-1799), who was educated at the University of Edinburgh, practiced law in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, served in the Virginia General Assembly in 1794 and, later that year, was elected the third Governor of Virginia (1794 to 1796) by the General Assembly. He later served as Attorney-General of Virginia (1798-1799).

Robert Cavelier de La Salle was probably the first European to set foot in present Brooke County. He sailed down the Ohio River in 1669. In 1749, Louis Bienville de Celeron sailed down the Ohio River and may have set foot on present day Brooke County. He claimed all of the lands drained by the Ohio River for King Louis XV of France. He met several English fur traders on his journey and ordered them off of French soil and wrote strong letters of reprimand to the colonial governors protesting the English's presence on French soil.

The first English settlers in the county were three brothers, Jonathan, Israel and Friend Cox, who claimed 1,200 acres in the area that is now Wellsburg around 1772. Soon afterwards, their cousin, George Cox, staked a claim to 400 acres just north of his cousins' claims. By 1788, the area, then known as Buffaloe Town, had become a trading center for settlers on their way to the Northwest Territory. On March 6, 1788, John Cox, heir of Friend Cox, sold 481 acres of land to Charles Prather for $3,000. In January 1791, Prather's land was incorporated as Charlestown, Virginia. Charles and Ruth Prather deeded four lots to the town on October 3, 1791 for the construction of a schoolhouse, meetinghouse, and a graveyard. The town was named the county seat when Brooke County was created in 1797.

The first session of the Brooke County court took place on May 23, 1797 in the home of William Sharpe in Charlestown. The town was originally named in honor of Charles Prather, who owned the land on which the town was built. The town was later renamed Wellsburg (in 1816) to avoid confusion with two other towns in the state that were also called Charlestown. The town was named in honor of Charles Prather's son-in-law, Alexander Wells. He is credited as the builder of the first large flour warehouse in the east. In its early years, Wellsburg was famous for its "Gin Weddings" and "Marrying Parsons" who reportedly would marry couples on a moments notice. The town was chartered by the Virginia General Assembly on February 21, 1887.

Bethany College, West Virginia's oldest degree granting college, was founded in Brooke County in 1840 by Alexander Campbell.

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