Category talk:People from West Virginia

Prior to 1863
This statement makes no sense: "This category includes people who were born or raised in West Virginia, or strongly identified with the state, since its creation in 1863.

People who were identified with the future West Virginia before the partition of Virginia in 1863 should not be placed in this category; they should instead be in the "People from Virginia" category."

We are talking about people from a geographical region not a state. Just because the name of part of it, doesn't mean the people were from a different geographical region, Virginia. The logic doesn't follow.

Defining who is and who isn't West Virginian
I can see both sides of this issue...being from a county that had strong Virginia ties and many FFVs (First Families of Virginia) that originally settled it (Hampshire), I feel those people should be considered Virginians. Nancy Hanks was a Virginian and born in Hampshire County at that time. She cannot be considered from a state that didn't exist during her lifetime. Stonewall Jackson is also a Virginian and joined the war for Virginia, eventhough he was from Clarksburg which later became part of WV. I think to be considered a "person from West Virginia", it has to be someone who lived in West Virginia after June 20, 1863 or someone active in the West Virginia statehood process of the early 1860s. If the person's article says (now West Virginia) after their birthplace or hometown, that says it all.

Here is a list of those I consider Virginians:
 * James J. Andrews, he died in 1862
 * Thomas J. Jackson, he fought for the Confederacy and died before June 20
 * Harry F. Byrd, born in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley near Winchester, not even close to being West Virginian whatsoever

Like General Jackson, Nathan Goff, Jr. was born in Clarksburg when it was Virginia, but unlike Jackson, Goff is a West Virginia because he lived here past June 20, 1863 and served as a Congressman who later represented West Virginia. Caponer 21:47, 11 September 2005 (UTC)

Virginians that would be West Virginians
In Charleston, West Virginia at the capital building there is a bust of Jacksoninside and outside a large Statue. This is somewhat ironic, because had the side Jackson fought for won, then most likely West Virginia would not be a state. However, Jackson was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia which is now about as far away from Virginia as you can get in West Virginia. If you look for Jacksons birth place in a modern map of Virginia, you will not find it.

In WV's schools we are taught about these people as being West Virginian's, yet we are not taught of Jamestown and the Virginia Assembly. These people were born in what is now geographically West Virginia and they are very much part of our history. They should be considered WVer's --71Demon 23:30, 11 September 2005 (UTC)