Yohogania County
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Yohogania County was created by the new state of
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
in 1776, in an area long disputed between Virginia and
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The county ceased to exist after the border dispute between the two states was resolved in the 1780s. Thus, it is sometimes referred to as a "lost county," although 1.5 million people live within the territory it once claimed, which encompasses two entire counties and parts of four others in two states. The problem arose through the complex and conflicting manner of granting territory and defining boundaries during the Colonial period. The North American continent was not surveyed until long after various land grants were made to individual colonies, and such land grants and even governmental entities frequently overlapped.


Conflicting claims

Virginia's claim was for a wedge from their coastal area all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Pennsylvania's was for 5 degrees of longitude west of the
Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
. By the 1770s it was obvious that the two claims overlapped, in the area that in 1773 had been designated by Pennsylvania as Westmoreland County, because settlers were moving into the area from both directions. Both claims included the entire southwestern corner of what is now Pennsylvania, west of the Laurel Ridge (
Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...
) and south of the Kiskiminetas, Allegheny and
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
rivers. The major prize location was the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River, at the location of Fort Pitt, now the city of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. The disputes over which colony had authority over the area led to overlapping land grants to settlers and battles between Virginians and Pennsylvanians in the period 1774–1775. In 1774, a Virginian militia group even attacked and captured the Westmoreland County seat at
Hannastown Hannastown is an unincorporated community and important historical and archaeological site located in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Although the village is not tracked by the Census Bureau, it has been assigned the ZIP ...
and arrested three Westmoreland County justices who refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of Virginia. Similar conflicts between
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
and Pennsylvania had been resolved earlier, by 1767, through the work of two men chosen by Cecil Calvert, brother of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, proprietor of Maryland, and Thomas Penn and his brother
Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...
, sons of
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
and proprietors of Pennsylvania. Astronomer Charles Mason, an acquaintance of
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
, and
surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
Jeremiah Dixon came from England to do this work. The line they located has since been known as the
Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virginia ...
or Mason and Dixon's Line. However, their authority extended west only as far as western Maryland, and did not resolve border conflicts between Virginia and Pennsylvania.


Creation of Yohogania County

In 1776, shortly after the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
began, the
Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...
formed three new counties from the District of West Augusta, an area of
Augusta County, Virginia Augusta County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The second-largest county of Virginia by total area, it completely surrounds the independent cities of Staunton and Waynesboro. Its county ...
, which encompassed much of what is now northern
West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
and southwestern
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. These were Monongalia County, Ohio County, and Yohogania County. All three included, or at least claimed, land in what is now Pennsylvania as well as in Virginia, now West Virginia. The new counties were named after rivers in the region, the Ohio, the Monongahela, and the
Youghiogheny The Youghiogheny River , or the Yough (pronounced Yok ) for short, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in the U.S. s ...
, the latter two being Latinized to create the county names. The county seat of Yohogania County was near the Monongahela River, within the present borough of Jefferson Hills across from Elizabeth. On December 27, 1779, a resolution by the
Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...
recommended to the two now-states of Virginia and Pennsylvania that, rather than continue to quarrel with each other as well as fighting the British, they should reach an agreement on the border situation. This was done in theory by an agreement reached by commissioners from both states in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
in 1779, and ratified by the legislatures of both states in 1780, "to extend the line commonly called Mason and Dixon's line five degrees of longitude from
Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
... and from the western termination thereof to run and mark a meridian line to the Ohio River," which was the northern boundary of Virginia's claim. That would be the boundary between the two states. The conflict apparently being over, Pennsylvania carved
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
and Fayette counties out of Westmoreland in 1781 and 1783, respectively. These counties contained land claimed by Yohogania and Ohio or (in Fayette's case) Monongalia counties. But confusion over jurisdictions continued.


Boundary survey

On November 4, 1782, Colonel
Joseph Neville Joseph Neville Jr. (December 2, 1733March 4, 1819) was an American soldier, planter and politician from Virginia. In addition to military service during the American Revolutionary War and War of 1812, Neville represented Hampshire County in t ...
, representing Virginia, and Alexander McClean of Pennsylvania marked a temporary line. A final, permanent survey was performed by Neville and
Andrew Ellicott Andrew Ellicott (January 24, 1754 – August 28, 1820) was an American land surveyor who helped map many of the territories west of the Appalachians, surveyed the boundaries of the District of Columbia, continued and completed Pierre (Pete ...
, a Marylander representing Virginia. The corner was marked late in 1784—the report to the commissioners of both states being dated November 18, 1784—and on August 23, 1785, the boundary as far north as the Ohio River (near present-day East Liverpool, Ohio) was completed. In 1786 the line was continued to
Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
, marking the boundary between Pennsylvania and the portion of the
Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...
that in 1803 became the state of
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. (Virginia's claim to the Northwest Territory had been ceded to Congress in 1784.) The survey determined that parts of Ohio and Monongalia counties and nearly all of Yohogania County were within the Pennsylvania boundaries. The areas of Yohogania County ceded to Pennsylvania included all of present-day Westmoreland County and parts of the present counties of Allegheny, Beaver, Washington, and Fayette. The portion of Yohogania remaining in (West) Virginia's
Northern Panhandle The Northern Panhandle is the northern of the two panhandles in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is a culturally and geographically distinct region of the state. It is the state's northernmost extension, bounded by Ohio and the Ohio River ...
—itself a creation of the border settlement—was deemed too small at the time to form a county, and was annexed to Ohio County. (Similarly, part of Ohio County's claim is now in Washington and Greene Counties in Pennsylvania, and part of what had been considered Monongalia County are in Washington, Greene, and Fayette counties, Pennsylvania.) In 1797, Virginia created
Brooke County Brooke County is a county in the Northern Panhandle of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,559. Its county seat is Wellsburg. The county was created in 1797 from part of Ohio County and named in hono ...
from the northern portion of Ohio County. Later, as the population of the region continued to grow, Hancock County was created from the northern portion of Brooke County in 1848, with the county line being drawn through the middle of the village of
Hollidays Cove Hollidays Cove is a neighborhood in Weirton, West Virginia, Weirton, West Virginia, United States. Founded in 1793, Hollidays Cove was the earliest permanent white settlement in what was then Brooke County, Virginia, Brooke County, Virginia, later b ...
, now
Weirton Weirton () is a city in Brooke and Hancock counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located primarily in Hancock County, the city lies in the northern portions of the state's Northern Panhandle region. As of the 2020 census, the city's popu ...
.


Reorganization of local government after resolution of boundary dispute

Allegheny County Allegheny County () is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's seco ...
was formed in 1788 from Westmoreland and Washington counties. Most of the present territory of Allegheny County, including most of Pittsburgh (with the notable exception of what is now the
northside (Pittsburgh) North Side (sometimes written as Northside) refers to the region of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, located to the north of the Allegheny River and the Ohio River. The term "North Side" does not refer to a specific neighborhood, but rather to a d ...
, formerly its own municipality
Allegheny City Allegheny City was a municipality that existed in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1788 until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located north across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh, with its southwest border formed by ...
), was once claimed by Yohogania. Beaver County was created in 1800 from parts of Allegheny and Washington. The southern part, known locally as "South Side Beaver" because it is south of the Ohio River, was once claimed by Yohogania. ( Greene County, formed in 1796 from Washington, does not include any territory once claimed by Yohogania but was once claimed by Ohio and Monongalia counties.) The part of Yohogania that remained in Virginia was from Cross Creek north. This creek is just south of the present-day town of
Follansbee, West Virginia Follansbee is a city in Brooke County, West Virginia, United States, located along the Ohio River. The population was 2,853 at the 2020 census, a decrease from 2,986 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area. ...
, entering the Ohio River across from Mingo Junction, Ohio. In 1791, this remnant area was made part of the newly created
Brooke County, Virginia Brooke County is a county in the Northern Panhandle of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,559. Its county seat is Wellsburg. The county was created in 1797 from part of Ohio County and named in honor ...
, though the southern part of Brooke, including the county seat, Wellsburg, had been part of Ohio County. In 1848, the northern half of Brooke—roughly two-thirds of the Yohogania remnant—became
Hancock County, Virginia Hancock County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,095. Its county seat is New Cumberland and its largest city is Weirton. The county was created from Brooke County in 1848 and named f ...
. On June 20, 1863, both Brooke and Hancock, as well as Ohio and Monongalia (and the counties since formed from Ohio and Monongalia) became part of the new state of
West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
.


See also

* List of former counties, cities, and towns of Virginia


Further reading

*


External links


Yohogania County, Virginia
Rootsweb page

Rootsweb article and map concerning the boundary dispute, with official descriptions of the boundaries of the three counties formed from the District of West Augusta in 1776, with a map of the three counties overlaid upon a modern map. *Animated maps of the formation o
Virginia counties, 1617–1995
(which includes West Virginia) an
Pennsylvania counties, 1617–1995/ Pennsylvania counties, 1673-1878
On the Pennsylvania map, the overlapping Virginia claim is shown in a lighter blue from 1773 through 1785. *''The County Court for the District of West Augusta, Virginia held at Augusta Town, near Washington, Pennsylvania, 1776-1777 : an historical sketch''
part 1
an
2
by Boyd Crumrine (Washington, PA, 1905) (in PDF format) Pages 29 and 30 (pages 6 and 7 of the PDF of part 2) explain the location of the house where the county court meetings were held, though some were also held at "
Augusta Town The District of West Augusta was a short-lived (1774–76) historical region of Colonial Virginia that encompassed much of what is now northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. History Before the Colony of Virginia and the Provi ...
", a courthouse built for the District of West Augusta near present-day Washington, Pennsylvania. *Map of border controversy fro
Crumrine's ''History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men''/ edited by Boyd Crumrine. Illustrated. Philadelphia: L.H. Everts and Co., 1882.
*Full text of th
''History of Washington County''
Chapters IX through XVI deal with the boundary dispute and pages 189 through 203 with the final agreement and surveying of the boundary. The capture of Hannastown and its justices is on pages 173-175. ''The County Court for the District of West Augusta'' reports other conflicts between the overlapping governments.
Outline Map of the District of West Augusta
from Crumrine's ''The County Court for the District of West Augusta, Virginia'' (PDF format) *Crumrine's collection of "Virginia Court Records in Southwestern Pennsylvania," including records of the District of West Augusta, Yohogania, Ohio, and Monongalia counties as they refer to lands currently in Pennsylvania, which was originally published in the ''Annals of the Carnegie Museum'' (Pittsburgh, 1902) does not seem to be online, but is in several libraries and has been reprinted or released on CD-ROM from various publishers specializing in genealogical materials. However, Virginia Land Office Grant records are available online a
The Library of Virginia
s website. Note that, like the county, some of these grants were found to be partly in Pennsylvania once the boundary was finally drawn; the geographic subject fields in the records themselves refer to "Yohogania County (Pa.)" {{coord, 40.262, -79.387, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Former counties of Virginia Internal territorial disputes of the United States History of Pennsylvania History of Virginia Pre-statehood history of West Virginia History of Pittsburgh