2i 8 The Winning of the West 



treated by themselves; but those that were less im 

 portant may be glanced at in passing. The peo 

 ple in western Virginia, as early as the spring of 

 1785, wished to erect themselves into a separate 

 State, under Federal authority. Their desire was 

 to separate from Virginia in peace and friendship, 

 and to remain in close connection with the Union. 

 A curious feature of the petition which they for 

 warded to the Continental Congress was their propo 

 sition to include in the new State the inhabitants of 

 the Holston territory, so that it would have taken 

 in what is now West Virginia proper, 34 and also 

 eastern Tennessee and Kentucky. 



The originators of this particular movement meant 

 to be friendly with Virginia, but of course friction 

 was bound to follow. The later stages of the agi 

 tation, or perhaps it would be more correct to say 

 the agitations, that sprang out of it, were marked 

 by bitter feelings between the leaders of the move 

 ment and the Virginia authorities. Finding no 

 heed paid to their requests for separation, some of 

 the more extreme separatists threatened to refuse 

 to pay taxes to Virginia ; while the Franklin people 

 proposed to unite with them into a new State, with 

 out regard to the wishes of Virginia or of North 

 Carolina. Restless Arthur Campbell was one of 

 the leaders of the separatists, and went so far as to 

 acknowledge the authorship of the "State of Frank- 



M State Dept. MSS., Memorials, etc., No. 48, Thos. Cum- 

 ings, on behalf of the deputies of Washington County, to the 

 President of Congress, April 7, 1785. 



