Doddridge County
West Union

Though not incorporated until 1881, the town has been the county seat since the county's formation.

Population 2010 Census: 825
Median Age: 42.1 years

Courthouse: Completed 1904
Architect: J. Charles Fulton

Hover mouse over a dot on the map for details on West Union.

Formed: 1845
Named: For Phillip Doddridge, a distinguished statesman of Western Virginian.
County Seat: West Union
Land in Square Miles: 319.72
Population 2010 Census: 8,202
Persons per Square Mile 2010: 25.7

Primary Sources Online
Matthew Mansfield Neely
Train Robbery near Central Station

Civil War
Letter from Doddridge, 1863
Union Meeting in Doddridge, 1863
Circular from the Commissioner of Immigration for West Virginia, 1864
A Card from the Commissioner of Immigration, 1864
What our Commissioner of Immigration is Doing, 1864
Capture of Mail from West Union, 1864
Doddridge County Union Militia Letters, Folder 1
Doddridge County Union Militia Letters, Folder 2
Doddridge County Union Militia Letters, Folder 6
Doddridge County Union Militia Letters, Folder 7
Doddridge County Union Militia Letters, Folder 8
Doddridge County Union Militia Letters, Folder 11
Doddridge County Union Militia Letters, Folder 12A
Doddridge County Union Militia Letters, Folder 15
Doddridge County Union Militia Letters, Folder 16
Biographical Sketch of Ephraim Bee

Photographs
Photographs of Schools in Doddridge County
Indian arrows and tomahawks, ploughed up on Cove Creek, Doddridge County in 1846.
Old Indian Spring on Carder's camp run of Cove Creek, walled in with stone slabs.
Capt. Nathan Davis, President of the County Court of Doddridge County 1846
Hon. Ephraim Bee; blacksmith, hotel keeper and farmer. Member of the first New-State Legislature; 1863, delivering a stump speech against Henry A. Wise's invasion, 1863
Eli B. Tucker, a noted fiddler and horse trader. On his right the tallest man in Doddridge; on his left, the smallest, William F. Davis, brother to Asa Davis (see No. 7). 1847
First German settlers' dwelling (Jacob Rupperts') near Cove Creek, St. Clara Colony, Doddridge County 1846
Debar House, built 1852 at the mouth of Carder's camp run of Cove Creek. Headquarters of the St. Clara Colony, the first successful settlement made by immigrant Germans within the boundary of West Virginia.
Mr. Joseph Gratz of Philadelphia, owner of a large tract of West Virginia land, and Daniel Sherwood, surveyor of Doddridge County, at a supposed corner of the Gratz survey, then involved in a tedious and noted litigation

Secondary Sources Online
List of Doddridge County Legislators
Nutter's Fork, Agricultural Extention Community History
New Milton, Agricultural Extention Community History
"John Brown and the Oberlin Lands," by Boyd B. Stutler (West Virginia History)
Joseph H. Diss Debar: Story About One of the State's Most Interesting Characters
Biography of Matthew Mansfield Neely

West Virginia Veterans Memorial Biographies
Leo Carl Adams
Gale Carson Bland
Blair James Lazzelle
Rexal Dane Reed
Walter Deco Reed
James Frances Settles
Charles Burgess Simmons

Teacher Resources

West Virginia Archives and History