Westsylvania[1] could have become the 14th member of the colonies rather than the 35th state of the Union. The pioneer settlers of the area now known as the northern panhandle of West VA were caught up in border disputes as far back as the Revolutionary War. At times the land was considered a part of PA, OH, IN, KY, and IL. The boundary had been a subject of great controversy, both bloody and political.
Both VA and PA sold the land at different rates. VA’s price was $25 per 100 acres cheaper.
In 1776, a petition was presented to the US Congress by Jaspers Yeats proposing that the new state be named Westsylvania. On verge of war with England, it was almost one-hundred years later before action toward statehood was taken.
The northern panhandle, comprised of Brooke and Hancock Counties, entered the period of the Civil War as a Confederate state and emerged as a new star in the US flag. Other names considered in pioneer days were Vandalia and Kanawah.
Reference.
[1] James F Mullooly, “Steamboat ‘Round the Bend”, Fort Vance Historical Society, 1994, p301-302.
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