Editing Jefferson County, West Virginia (section)

==History==
===Formation===
Jefferson County was established on October 26, 1801<ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v183AQAAMAAJ&dq=hening%27s+statutes+at+large+jan.+8+1801+jefferson+county+va&pg=PA271 | title=The Statutes at Large of Virginia: From October Session 1792, to December Session 1806 &#91;i.e. 1807&#93;, Inclusive, in Three Volumes, (New Series,) Being a Continuation of Hening | author1=Virginia | date=1835 }}</ref> from [[Berkeley County, West Virginia|Berkeley County]] because the citizens of southeastern Berkeley County felt they had to travel too far to the county seat of [[Martinsburg, West Virginia|Martinsburg]]. [[Charles Washington]], the founder of Charles Town and brother to George Washington, petitioned for a new county to be formed. It was named for [[Thomas Jefferson]], author of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] and third [[President of the United States]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n167 168]}}</ref> Virginia previously had a Jefferson County, which is now [[Jefferson County, Kentucky|part of Kentucky]]. Accordingly, in the State records of Virginia, there are listings for Jefferson County from 1780 to 1792 and Jefferson County from 1801 to 1863, neither of which are still in Virginia.

===John Brown rebellion===
[[File:John brown interior engine house.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Coverage of John Brown's raid in Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, v. 8, no. 205 (November 5, 1859), p. 359]]
[[Jefferson County Courthouse (West Virginia)|The county's courthouse]] was the site of the trial for the [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] after his October 1859 raid on the federal [[Armory (military)|armory]] in [[Harpers Ferry, West Virginia|Harpers Ferry]]. Some 90 U.S. Marines serving under then Army Colonel [[Robert E. Lee]] and Lieutenants [[J.E.B. Stuart]] and [[Israel Greene]] put down the rebellion.

Brown was sentenced to death for murder, treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia, and conspiring with slaves to rebel. On December 2, 1859, John Brown was taken from the Charles Town jail a short distance to an open field and hanged. Among those attending the Brown execution was a contingent of 1500 cadets from [[Virginia Military Institute]] sent by the [[Governor of Virginia]] [[Henry A. Wise]] under the supervision of Major [[William Gilham]] and Major [[Stonewall Jackson|Thomas J. Jackson]]. In the ranks of a Richmond militia company stood John Wilkes Booth. [[Walt Whitman]] was also present.

===Civil War===
The county was a frequent site of conflict during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], as Union and Confederate lines moved back and forth along the Shenandoah Valley. Some towns in the county changed hands between the Union and Confederacy over a dozen times, including Charles Town, and especially Harpers Ferry.

Jefferson County is the only part of modern-day [[West Virginia]] not exempted from the effects of the [[Emancipation Proclamation]] (as [[Berkeley County, West Virginia|Berkeley County]] and the 48 counties designated as [[West Virginia]] had been). Slaves in the county thus were legally free as of January 1, 1863.

The [[Jefferson County Courthouse (Charles Town, West Virginia)|Jefferson County Courthouse]] is the only courthouse in America to have held two treason trials: the trial of [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] in 1859 and a trial arising from the [[Battle of Blair Mountain]] labor rebellion.<ref name="nrhpinv2">{{Cite journal
|title=National Register of Historic Places Nomination: Jefferson County Courthouse
|url=http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jefferson/73001910.pdf|date=March 7, 1973
|first=Ted
|last=McGee
|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604105813/http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jefferson/73001910.pdf|archive-date=June 4, 2011}}
</ref>

===Joining West Virginia===
[[File:MD-VA-WV tripoint in Potomac River.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Tripoint]] of [[Virginia]], [[West Virginia]], and [[Maryland]] in the [[Potomac River]] region of [[Harper's Ferry, West Virginia|Harper's Ferry]], the lowest point in West Virginia]]
Jefferson County had voted for secession in the vote taken on May 23, 1861. However, Jefferson County, along with Berkeley County, both counties lying on the [[Potomac River]] in the [[Shenandoah Valley]], with the consent of the [[Reorganized Government of Virginia]] voted in favor of annexation to West Virginia in 1863.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}} Virginia tried to nullify this after the [[American Civil War]], but the counties remained part of West Virginia.

The question of the constitutionality of the formation of the new state was brought before the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] in the following manner: [[Berkeley County, West Virginia|Berkeley]] and Jefferson County, West Virginia, counties lying on the Potomac east of the mountains, in 1863, with the consent of the Reorganized Government of Virginia, had supposedly voted in favor of annexation to West Virginia. However, many voters were absent in the Confederate Army when the vote was taken and they refused to accept the transfer upon their return. The [[Virginia General Assembly]] repealed the Act of Secession and in 1866 brought suit against West Virginia, asking the Supreme Court to declare the counties still part of Virginia. Congress, on March 10, 1866, passed a joint resolution recognizing the transfer. In 1871, the U.S. Supreme Court decided ''[[Virginia v. West Virginia]]'',<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Virginia v. West Virginia |vol=78 |reporter=U.S. |opinion=39 |date=1871 |url=http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/78/39/case.html |access-date=March 7, 2012}}</ref> upholding the "secession" of West Virginia, including Berkeley and Jefferson counties, from Virginia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newsgroups-index.com/group/soc_-answers_l51.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201080955/http://www.newsgroups-index.com/group/soc_-answers_l51.html |url-status=dead |title=东京一本一道一二三区_高清在线不卡一区二区|archive-date=December 1, 2008|website=www.newsgroups-index.com}}</ref> In 2011, West Virginia state delegate [[Larry Kump]] sponsored legislation to allow Morgan, Berkeley, and Jefferson counties to rejoin Virginia by popular vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/554934/Secession-bill-planned-to--stir-pot-.html|title=Secession bill planned to 'stir pot'|date=January 25, 2011|access-date=July 27, 2013|work=[[The Journal (West Virginia newspaper)|The Journal]]|first=Jenni|last=Vincent|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211064713/http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/554934/Secession-bill-planned-to--stir-pot-.html|archive-date=February 11, 2015}}</ref>

===County subdivisions===
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>  Jefferson County was initially divided into five townships, which became magisterial districts in 1872: Averill, Bolivar, Chapline, Grant, and Shepherd. In 1873, Averill District was renamed "Middleway", Chapline became "Potomac", and Grant District became "Charlestown".{{efn-lr|Spelled "Charles Town" by 1900.}} Two additional districts, Harpers Ferry{{efn-lr|Originally spelled "Harper's Ferry".}} and Osburn, were created during the 1870s. In the 1880s, Bolivar District was annexed by Harpers Ferry; Potomac and Shepherd were consolidated into Shepherdstown District, and Osburn was renamed "Kabletown".<ref>[[United States Census Bureau]], [[United States Census|U.S. Decennial Census]], Tables of Minor Civil Divisions in West Virginia, 1870–2010.</ref>

===Rural Free Delivery===
In October 1896, Jefferson County became the first county in the United States to begin [[Rural Free Delivery]] service in the towns of [[Halltown, West Virginia|Halltown]] and [[Uvilla, West Virginia|Uvilla]].<ref name="first">{{cite web | url= http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/first-rural-routes.htm | title= First Rural Routes by State | publisher= [[United States Postal Service]] | access-date= December 28, 2013 | url-status= live | archive-url= http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20131228050331/http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/first-rural-routes.htm | archive-date= December 28, 2013 }}</ref>