An immediate debate ensued over which delegates should be allowed to participate in the proceedings. General John Jay Jackson of Wood County favored the seating of all attendees from northwestern Virginia, but John Carlile urged that the convention be "composed only of gentlemen who come clothed with the authority conferred upon them by the people of their counties when they appointed them." Finally, a proposal by Chester D. Hubbard of Ohio County to create a committee on representation and permanent organization was adopted, ending the debate. |
On May 14, John Carlile proposed a resolution for the creation of the new
state of New Virginia. Opponents deemed this proposal revolutionary, and the majority of the
delegates supported resolutions offered by the Committee on State and Federal Resolutions,
which recommended that if the people of Virginia approved the Ordinance of Secession on May
23, western Virginians would elect delegates to a Second Wheeling Convention to begin on
June 11, 1861.
Primary Documents:Proceedings of the First Wheeling ConventionDelegates to the First Wheeling Convention "Recollections and Narative [sic] of a Member of the May Convention of 1861..." |