It was executed by Franklin Simmons, an American sculptor residing in Rome, Italy, under a contract entered into August 11, 1902, with the Pierpont Statue Cominission which was created by act of the Legislature passed January 22, 1901. was placed on its pedestal November 29, 1903, in the Hall of Fame, and was unveiled April 30, 1910.

It

APPENDIX II

THE STATUE OF HONORABLE FRANCIS H. PIERPONT IN THE HALL OF FAME IN THE NATIONAL CAPITOL.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH--ERECTION-UNVEILING, PRESENTATION BY WEST VIRGINIA-ACCEPTANCE BY CONGRESS.

Francis Harrison Pierpont, the Governor of Virginia under the Restored Government, and whose statue in marble, presented by the State of West Virginia to the Nation and which stands in the Hall of Fame in the National Capitol, was born, January 25, 1814. about five miles east of Morgantown, in Monongalia county, West Virginia. He was the third son of Francis and Catherine (Weaver) Pierpont; the former born April 6, 1784, died March 4, 1849; the latter born February 27, 1792, died March 29, 1839. Both are buried at Fairmont, Marion county, West Virginia. A small log cabin, about twenty feet square, standing in the midst of the wilderness, was the infant home of Francis H., the subject of this notice. There he first breathed the liberty laden air of the mountains; and in the autumn of 1814, when but nine months of age, his parents removed to Harrison county, settling about three miles

southwest of the site of the present town of Fairmont, where the family resided until 1827, when its place of abode was again changed, this time to "Middletown,' now Fairmont in Marion county, where Francis H. Pierpont ever after resided. What work he did prior to his thirteenth year, was on the farm. There, after he was of school age, he went about two and one-half miles to a log school-house for four terms, of three months each, in the winter time. From his thirteenth to his twenty-first year, he worked in his father's tan-yard; then started on foot to seek an education. at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania. Here he remained four and one-half college years, and was graduated in the class of 1839, having visited his home but three times in vacation, traveling, as he first started, on foot most of the distance. After leaving college he taught school for three years in Virginia and Mississippi. While thus engaged he studied law, and on his return home to Fairmont in 1842, he was, that year, admitted to the bar. In political opinion he was a Whig; and, as an amateur politician, though never a candidate for any office, he frequently addressed the people on political subjects. He was placed by his party on the electoral ticket for Harrison in 1848. His district contained ten counties, every one of which he canvassed, making speeches in all, everywhere taking decided ground against slavery. The young lawyer now began to make headway as such, in the little town of Fairmont as it was sixty years ago. His practice improved, and being best with that most important of all adjuncts to professional success-good health--he soon received recognition as a leading lawyer in the region in which he lived. Busy, professional years were now upon him and continued until the dark days of 1861. The world knows the history of that period. A Convention sitting at Richmond, adopted an Ordinance of Secession for Virginia, April 17, 1861, and submitted it to the people for ratification or rejection, at an election to be held on the 23d of May, ensuing. A majority of the people in the eastern portion of the State favored this Ordinance; but by far the greater number in the western part were opposed to it. Then, many public meetings were held but the first call for united action on the part of the people of Northwestern Virginia went out from a Convention at Clarksburg-the birth-place of Stonewall Jackson. This was on April 21, 1861.

THE FIRST CONVENTION OF THE PEOPLE OF NORTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.

The call sent out from Clarksburg was in the form of an "Address of the Convention to the People of Northwestern Virginia,' and in it was the recommendation for a Convention to be held at Wheeling, May 13, 1861. To this the people responded and what is known as the "First Convention of the People of Northwestern Virginia," assembled at that place on the date named. More than four hundred delegates were present, among those from Marion county, being Francis H. Pierpont. It was on his suggestion that a Committee on Credentials was appointed; and he, with George McNeeley, of Monongalia county, were appointed to escort the President, Dr. John W. Moss, of Wood county, to the chair. He was a member, for Marion county, of the Committee on State and Federal Relations. He opposed the plan for the establishment of a Provisional Government, having even then in mind the restoration of the Virginia Government. The twelfth in the series of resolutions adopted by the Convention made provision for the creation of a Central Committee, to consist of nine members, to attend to all matters connected with the objects of the Convention. Francis H. Pierpont was one of these, and had an important part in the preparation of "An Address to the People of Northwestern Virginia" a most remarkable State Paper of that exciting period.

THE SECOND CONVENTION OF THE PEOPLE OF NORTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.

What is known as the "Second Convention of the People of Northwestern Virginia," assembled at Wheeling on the 11th of June. Two days later, this body unanimously adopted "A Declaration of the People of Virginia Represented in Convention at Wheeling, Thursday, June 13, 1861." In this it was declared that:

"The true purpose of all government is to promote the welfare and provide for the protection and security of the governed, and when any form or organization of government proves inadequate for, or subversive of this purpose, it is the right, it is the duty of the latter to abolish it. The Bill of Rights of Virginia, framed in 1776, reaffirmed in 1830, and again in 1851, expressly reserves the right to a majority of her people."