THE STATE SEALS. James C. McGrew, Esq.
From The West Virginia School Journal, by courtesy of Mr. Trotter.
A few years since the writer was called on to tell a teachers’ institute how West Virginia came to be a Stare. Perhaps the hundreds of teachers in the State who read the School Journal., and whose lives began since the stirring times of eighteen hundred and sixty-three, many read with some degree of interest the story of how, when, and by whom, the seals and coat of arms of the Stare were devised, and what the various parts which compose the picture are emblematic of.
The use of seals, private and official, has come down to us from remote antiquity. Frequent mention of seals is made in the Bible; and it is said by antiquarians that they have been found to exist in great numbers and variety of form in Assyrian remains. It is supposed that when seals first came into use it was for the purpose of affixing the name of the individual owner to a writing; and subsequently they came into use for the purpose of authenticating written agreements between private individuals, and also public documents. In this country the United States and the different States of the Union have seals, each different from every other. Some are very simple and others quite complicated in their composition while they differ also in form. The circular form appears to be the most common, while the spade or ogive form is frequently met with. The use of seals, for both -public and private purposes, probably came to us from England.
In many of the States of the United States a simple scroll made with pen and ink is a legal seal.
When West Virginia was organized on the 20th of June, 1863 and Arthur I. Boreman was inaugurated governor, the State had no seal; and hence was without a legal method of authenticating documents pertaining to the affairs of the State. The legislature met and was organized June 20th, and on the 22d, Peter G. Van Winkle, a member of the house of delegates, offered the following:
“Resolved, with the concurrence of the Senate, That a committee be appointed to devise suitable devices and inscriptions for the seals of the State, and report the same to the legislature; and that until such seals are adopted and ready for use, the Governor be authorized to affix his private seal to all instruments otherwise requiring the Seal of the State.”
Under this resolution P. G. Van Winkle. Win. L. Crawford and I. E. Davidson were appointed on the part of the house of delegates,
The resolution was immediately concurred in by the Senate, and the following members appointed on the part of the Senate: D. D. T. Farnsworth, Edwin Maxwell and Greenberry Slack.
The joint committee held several meetings, and as the members differed somewhat radically in their tastes and views of what would be appropriate for the seal, another senator and two delegates, (of whom the writer was one), were called into consultation with the committee, and a device for the seals was finally agreed upon. A gentleman by the name of J. H. Diss Debar, a foreigner, who was at the capital contesting the seat of one of the delegates, and who was an expert draughtsman, was called upon and executed the original design, working in the various emblems which had been decided upon by the committee together with appropriate inscriptions.
The Legislature had taken a recess from August 5th, to September- 2d, and in the meantime the drawing of the seal had been completed by Diss Debar, and had been photographed for inspection by the members.
The report of the joint committee was made to the house of delegates September 23d, and adopted without dissent. The description of the seals contained in the report was literally as follows:
The disc of the great seal to be two and one-half inches in diameter. The obverse to bear the legend, “State of West Virginia.” the constitutional designation of our State, which, with the motto “Montani Semper Liberi’ (Mountaineers Always Free) is to be inserted in the circumference. In the center, a rock with ivy, emblematic of stability and continuance, and on the face of the rock the inscription ‘”June 20, 1863.” the date of our foundation as if ‘”graved with a pen of iron in the rock forever.” On the right of the rock a farmer clothed in the traditional hunting shirt peculiar to this region, his right arm res-ting on the plow-handles and his left supporting a woodman’s axe, indicating that while our territory is partially cultivated, it is still in process of being cleared of the original forest. At his right, a sheaf of wheat and a cornstalk. On the left of the rock, a miner, indicated by the pick-axe on his shoulder, with barrel and lumps of mineral at his feet. On his left, an anvil, partly seen, on which rests a sledge hammer, typical “t the mechanic arts: the whole indicating the principal pursuits and resources of the State. In front of the rock and figures, as if just laid down by the latter and ready to be resumed at a moment’s notice, two hunter’s rifles, crossed, and surmounted at the place of contact by the Phrygian cap, or cap of liberty, indicating that our freedom and independence were won and will be defended and maintained by arms.
The above to be also, the legend, motto and device of the less seal, the disc of which should have a diameter of an inch and a half.
The reverse of the great seal to be encircled by a wreath composed of laurel and oak leaves, emblematic of valor and strength, with fruits and cereals, productions of our State. For device, a landscape. In the distance, on the left of the disc, wooded mountains, on the right, a cultivated slope with a log house peculiar to this region. On the side of the mountain a representation of the viaduct on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, in Preston county, with a train of cars about to pass over it. Near the center, a factory, in front of which a river with boats, on the bank and to the right of it nearer the foreground a derrick and shed, appertaining to the production of salt and petroleum. In the- foreground a meadow with cattle and sheep feeding and reposing; the whole indicating the leading characteristics, productions and pursuits of the time. Above the mountains the sun emerging from the clouds, indicating that former obstacles to our prosperity are disappearing. In the rays of the sun, the motto. “Liberatis e Fidelitate,” (“Liberty from Loyalty,”) indicating that our freedom and independence are the result of faithfulness to the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the National Constitution.”
The committee in their report recommended “that the device and motto for the obverse of the great seal, be also adopted as the coat of arms of the State.
On September 26th, 1863, the legislature passed a joint resolution adopting the legend, mottoes and devices reported by the committee on the subject, as the great and less seals, and the coat of arms of the State, respectively: and the Governor was authorized and requested to have engraved a great and less seal, of the dimensions, and bearing the devices, etc., recommended by the committee in their report, and that the same be the only legal official seals of the State.
Kingwood, W. Va.
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