West Virginia voters went to the polls on May 28, 1863, to elect their government officials. The Constitution Union Party candidate, Arthur I. Boreman of Wood County, won election as the state's first governor. On June 20, 1863, West Virginia became the thirty-fifth state in the Union. Inaugural ceremonies were held in Wheeling, the capital of the new state. In his inaugural address, Governor Boreman referred to West Virginia as "the child of the rebellion," and stated that "to-day after many long and weary years of insult and injustice, culminating on the part of the East, in an attempt to destroy the Government, we have the proud satisfaction of proclaiming to those around us that we are a separate State in the Union." Citizens in Jefferson and Berkeley counties voted to become part of West Virginia, and the federal government affirmed this action. |