My grandfather who died 10 years ago at age 100 said his grandmother talked about Union soldiers who were at the voting places and turned away men who were not going to vote secession from VA. I didn’t think that could really have happened but former governor Caperton says basically the same thing in a history of WV that he authored.
When Virginia held its secession vote in May 1861, the people in what became West Virginia voted overwhelmingly against secession by a 6:1 margin. There is no doubt that the overwhelming majority of the people in West Virginia were unionists.
It’s possible that this happened in pockets, but the 55 counties in Western Virginia were largely against secession, immediately called a confernce in Clarksburg to discuss severing its ties with Richmond, within two months had declared secession void, and it had declared an independent government by June 1861. The statewide vote for creating a new state was 18:1 in favor. By 1862, it was on its way to statehood.
Granted, this was probably all unconstitutional, but there was never any reason for West Virginia to remain part of Virginia.
Signed,
Knight of the Golden Horseshoe, 1987.