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Regions dont begin and end on state borders. The south, the north, etc runs across states. Wheeling is on the periphery of several different regions; Appalachia, the NE, and the midwest rust belt (Industrial belt). the last part is not Midwest as in Nebraska, but more the Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Milwaukee, etc industrial area. Wheeling played an important part.
The panhandle of any region is going to be an anomaly to the rest, generally. It probably would have been in Virginia's best interest in the 1780s, when they settled on the border with Pennsylvania, to sell off the Northern panhandle. Virginia might still be one state instead of two. That said, the Northern panhandle can't quite be melded into the surrounding PA/OH counties. Historically, despite their pronounced Unionism during the Civil War, the four counties managed to raise two companies of Confederate troops, something the neighboring OH/PA counties didn't quite achieve. Wheeling is also the home of the second longest running radio program of bluegrass/country music, Jamboree USA, second only to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. The cities of the Northern panhandle also were laid out in the 18th Century, so I don't think "Midwest" fits in any degree, and it sits on the Appalachian Plateau, it is not west of the Appalachians. I voted Southern, just to offset those who voted Midwest. If there had been a "Northern/With a Twist of Southern" category, I would have picked that.
The Shriver Grays were from North Wheeling, and Bethany (located only 3 miles from PA) was sympathetic to the Confederacy, but that has nothing to do with the attributes of the area that make it identical in virtually every way to the surrounding areas in OH and PA. I was born in Wheeling and lived there most of my life. Like Pittsburgh and Steubenville, the Northern Panhandle is Midwest Appalachian. And, I am referring to the northern version of Midwest, not the southern version like you have in Ironton, OH and Cairo, IL. havoc is right that it is not the agricultural midwest either, but the industrial midwest.
There were Confederates from both Ohio and Pennsylvania during the Civil War too. In fact, a Confederate soldier named Culp from Gettysburg, PA was killed on his family farm at Culps Hill during the battle.
Descendents of Shriver still live in the Wheeling area, alongside descendents of the First West Virginia Infantry Company B (my ancestor was in that organiztion) that fought against them.
My brother worked for Jamboree USA for more than 35 years, and still works for them part time. Wheeling was a classic Midwestern heavy industry city populated mostly by German ethnics until the early 1900s. German is still the predominant ethnic origin in the area.
Last edited by CTMountaineer; 08-06-2011 at 09:06 PM..
Not arguing with the cultural identity of Wheeling, but an occasional Confederate soldier from Ohio or Pennsylvania does not compare to a company of Confederate soldiers organized in the Wheeling area, two different things. According to historian Beth White
Quote:
Wheeling, often seen as a hotbed of Union support, had nearly as many Confederate soldiers as it did Union.
A huge portion of Union soldiers in West Virginia early in the war attributed to the panhandle and northern counties came mostly from Ohio and Pennsylvania, they were not Virginians. Only 39% of the 1st WV were Virginians. The 2nd WV Cavalry was mostly from Ohio, the 2nd WV Infantry had 6 companies from Ohio/PA, the 4th WV Infantry was from Ohio with perhaps 2 companies of Virginians. The 1st WV Artillery Regiment were only 44% Virginian.
According to Mark Snell of the George Tyler Moore Center in Shepherdstown, a third, at least, of West Virginia's Union soldiers were from Ohio, PA, and other states. Mr. Snell has a new book out in a few weeks, "West Virginia and the Civil War", and it will debunk a number of myths about West Virginia's role in the war.
As far as the northern panhandle goes today I'm sure it is very like PA and OH, but its history is very different. At the start of the war the panhandle only had about 250 slaves, but compared to the surrounding counties of Ohio and PA it was a veritable Egypt.
Not arguing with the cultural identity of Wheeling, but an occasional Confederate soldier from Ohio or Pennsylvania does not compare to a company of Confederate soldiers organized in the Wheeling area, two different things. According to historian Beth White
A huge portion of Union soldiers in West Virginia early in the war attributed to the panhandle and northern counties came mostly from Ohio and Pennsylvania, they were not Virginians. Only 39% of the 1st WV were Virginians. The 2nd WV Cavalry was mostly from Ohio, the 2nd WV Infantry had 6 companies from Ohio/PA, the 4th WV Infantry was from Ohio with perhaps 2 companies of Virginians. The 1st WV Artillery Regiment were only 44% Virginian.
According to Mark Snell of the George Tyler Moore Center in Shepherdstown, a third, at least, of West Virginia's Union soldiers were from Ohio, PA, and other states. Mr. Snell has a new book out in a few weeks, "West Virginia and the Civil War", and it will debunk a number of myths about West Virginia's role in the war.
As far as the northern panhandle goes today I'm sure it is very like PA and OH, but its history is very different. At the start of the war the panhandle only had about 250 slaves, but compared to the surrounding counties of Ohio and PA it was a veritable Egypt.
The author you quote takes a very simplistic view of the situation. I know something of this because my family (both paternal and maternal) has been in that region since colonial times. I'm old enough to remember people who remember those from the Civil War era. You are dealing with a situation that related to the laws of the states involved at the time, not the cultural attributes of the people who lived in those areas.
The Northern Panhandle had Virginia's laws which permitted slavery. Few there owned slaves (although my maternal ancestors owned a handfull of the 250 you mentioned, but they had brought them with them when they came up from Georgia). They were English ethnics from the planter class. Wheeling in general was very different than they were... German ethnics who often were from farm families but not of the planter class. As mostly devout Catholics and Lutherans, they had no interest in slavery.
So, just because a few people owned slaves (due to Virginia laws permitting the practice), does not in any way mean most people there promoted the practice. Most did not. In fact, the Shrivers did not own slaves. They went for Stonewall's forces out of loyalty to Virginia. As was the case in NCWV, in the Wheeling area it was not uncommon to have family members on both sides in that conflict.
Most of the families in the Northern Panhandle had close relatives in PA, and many had moved there from that region, particularly the area around Pittsburgh which, in those days, was similar in size to Wheeling. Parts of my paternal family were in that category. Some of them also moved to Ohio with the ending of the Indian territory status of that state. Until that time, Wheeling was the Nation's frontier and skirmishes were regularly fought across the river.
But there has never been any cultural differentiation between the Northern Panhandle and Eastern Ohio/Western PA in spite of some Civil War allegiances 150 years ago. Slavery was only catalytic to the Civil War, it was not the root cause. The fundamental cause was one of philosophy... did The Constitution intend for the Federal Government to be supreme, or did it reserve most rights to state and local governments? There were many in "northern" states who agreed with the state's rights position. Most notable among them were the majority of folks who lived in Manhattan, who had large numbers of volunteers for the Confederate cause. The history of the Panhandle is only different to the extent that different laws were in existence, not in terms of differing characteristics of the people, and in the fact that Ohio was settled by Euros later due to constraints imposed by the Federal treaties with indians.
Now, you could (with some justification) make the case that there were some differences that continued almost to modern times brought about by differing state laws (I'll provide an example), but the folks who live in those areas are not different. Until about 40 years ago, West Virginia was a 'dry" state. You couldn't buy "liquor by the drink" in the state legally, while it was freely permitted in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. Since those WV laws almost exclusively represented the beliefs of bible belters from well south of the Panhandle, and not residents of the Panhandle, the police and courts in the Panhandle simply ignored them. In those areas, the laws had just the opposite effect. Since it was technically illegal to purchase there, they didn't enforce drinking age laws either. Any 15 year old in Wheeling who could get himself up on a bar stool could get a drink of whiskey. He could not, however, buy a beer (you had to be 18 for that) because state beer laws were enforced. Also the beer taps were shut off at midnight, but whiskey and wine could be bought 24 hours per day.
Last edited by CTMountaineer; 08-07-2011 at 08:31 AM..
To me, West Virgina has 3 distinct north/south "zones". I'm from northern WV and live there now, and it's a lot different than southern WV where I lived a few years. You can almost draw a line from Huntington & Charleston and then east, and anything south of that it feels very southern by comparison, with very different accents. It's the WV you most often see in movies or TV. The next zone, which to me is central WV, lies between the Charleston-Huntington corridor and the Parkersburg/Clarksburg route 50 corridor. Then anything north of that line is very northern with mostly northern accents, and it's lot more like Pennsylvania or east central Ohio. The northern panhandle is a little unique from the rest of the state in that it is the only part of the state north of the Mason-Dixon line, which most people regard as the dividing line between north and south (although I argue the south really starts south of Virginia).
It depends on how you define north and south. Linguistic accents is only one way of doing that, and while folks south of Sutton have a southern tinge to their Appalachian accent, they are not really southerners. A lot off them like to think they are, but that is just not the case. Where there are differences in accent from north of Sutton to Pittsburgh, those areas speak with northern variations of the Appalachian accents. As you move west of Pittburgh and south toward Wheeling, you start to get what they call "General American" speech which is basically Midwestern in character.
Pittsburgh, Wheeling, Weirton, and Cleveland, Toledo, and Chicago are midwestern cities of the old industrial belt, as distinguished from the agricultural midwestern areas west of Columbus. Actually that midwestern industrial character went through much of PA and up into NY state as well.
Attitude wise, the Northern Panhandle is Midwestern with slight Appalachian influences. North Central is Appalachian with slight northern influences, and South Central is Appalachian with slight southern influences. Southwest WV is a slight variation of the latter. Southern WV is southern Appalachian.
A heplful question I need answered. What is the largest (population wise) city in the northern panhandle torist region in West Virginia? Its hard to find on the internet and I need your guys help! [mod] don't post email addresses on the Internet [/mod]
Last edited by mensaguy; 09-18-2014 at 01:29 PM..
Reason: removed email address
Another question. What is west virginia's largest county in the Northern Panhandle?
[mod] removed email address [/mod]
SEND ME THE HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!
Last edited by mensaguy; 09-18-2014 at 01:29 PM..
Reason: removed email address
A heplful question I need answered. What is the largest (population wise) city in the northern panhandle torist region in West Virginia? Its hard to find on the internet and I need your guys help! my email is lambmatthew66@gmail.com Contect me soon! Byeziez
Wheeling, WV would be the largest city in the northern panhandle.
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