Editing Brooke County, West Virginia (section)

==History==
The [[Ohio Company of Virginia]] petitioned the British King for 500,000 acres of land in the [[Ohio River Valley]] in 1747, but the first settlers to this area, in what later became known as West Virginia's Northern Panhandle, were brothers Jonathan, Israel and Friend Cox. They staked a "[[cabin rights|tomahawk claim]]" to 1200 acres (400 acres for each brother) at the mouth of [[Buffalo Creek (Ohio River)|Buffalo Creek]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=TX |first=Jean Suplick Matuson, Plano |title=Washington Co., PA - Geography |url=http://www.chartiers.com/pages-new/geog.html |access-date=March 27, 2018 |website=www.chartiers.com}}</ref> and extending along the [[Ohio River]]. Their cousin George Cox staked an adjacent claim a few years later.

In 1788 Charles Prather purchased 481 acres from Friend Cox's heir, John Cox; by that year's end Alexander Wells, formerly of [[Baltimore, Maryland]] and later of [[Cross Creek Township, Pennsylvania]], established a trading post (together with his Baltimore cousin Richard Owings). In 1791 the Ohio County Court incorporated the town around the post as "Charlestown" (after Prather's first name). On November 30, 1796, the Virginia General Assembly formed Brooke County, from parts of Ohio County, and designated "Charlestown" as the county seat. Across the Appalachian Continental Divide to the east in [[Jefferson County, West Virginia|Jefferson County]], another Charlestown had previously been incorporated (it is now known as [[Charles Town, West Virginia|Charles Town]]). In addition, [[Charleston, West Virginia|Charleston]] had been established at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers in 1788.

Addressing this confusion, the Virginia General Assembly on December 28, 1816, changed the Brooke county seat's name from "Charlestown" to [[Wellsburg, West Virginia|Wellsburg]], supposedly to honor [[Charles Wells (West Virginia)|Charles Wells]], Prather's son-in-law.<ref>Nancy L. Caldwell, ''A History of Brooke County,'' (Brooke County Historical Society, 1975), p. 4</ref> The first Masonic Lodge west of the Allegheny Mountains was established in Wellsburg on March 4, 1799. It was under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for six years, but since December 17, 1817, it has been under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Virginia and later of West Virginia.<ref>Caldwell, p. 5</ref>

The first glass factory in Wellsburg was built in 1813, taking advantage of the relatively easy transportation on the [[Ohio River]]. When the National Road was built about five years later, its first crossing of the Ohio River was via a ferry further west. In 1818 [[Alexander Campbell (clergyman)|Alexander Campbell]] founded the first Virginia school west of the Appalachians, which the [[Virginia General Assembly]] chartered in 1840 as [[Bethany College (West Virginia)|Bethany College]].

During the [[American Civil War]], Brooke County's elected officials helped found the new state of [[West Virginia]], after their efforts to block secession failed at the [[Virginia Secession Convention of 1861]]. Wellsburg received a new charter in 1866 from the newly established West Virginia legislature, and Samuel Marks became Wellsburg's first elected mayor.<ref>Caldwell, p. 4 et seq</ref>

In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into [[civil township]]s, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into [[minor civil division|magisterial districts]].<ref>Otis K. Rice & Stephen W. Brown, ''West Virginia: A History'', 2nd ed., University Press of Kentucky, Lexington (1993), p. 240.</ref>  Brooke County was divided into three districts: Buffalo, Cross Creek, and Wellsburg. Wellsburg District was co-extensive with the city of Wellsburg. The districts of Follansbee and Weirton were created between 1970 and 1980. Buffalo and Cross Creek Districts were discontinued in 2008.<ref>[[United States Census Bureau]], [[United States Census|U.S. Decennial Census]], Tables of Minor Civil Divisions in West Virginia, 1870–2010.</ref>