— Ch. 1 · Settlement Origins And Naming —
Philippi, West Virginia.
~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
The first white settlement in present-day Barbour County appeared approximately three miles downriver from the future site of Philippi in 1780. William Anglin established a presence on the section of bottomland that would one day become Philippi as early as 1783 or 1784. Daniel Booth arrived to settle there in 1787, creating a ford that existed by 1789 to serve the road between Beverly and Sandy Creek. The area carried the name Anglin's Ford because William Anglin was the original owner of the land upon which Philippi stands. A commercial ferry operated by Booth became known as Booth's Ferry during the 1790s. Henson Lewis Hoff established the first post office in the region in 1825, settling at Cherry Hill just west of current city limits. The community that would become Philippi was known as Hoffsville until 1841 when the name Philippa was first considered. In March 1843, Harrison and Randolph Counties were carved into smaller political units including Barbour County. Hu Maxwell described the April 1843 founding where the county seat was located before there was a town. The land belonged to William F. Wilson who divided it into lots within a few years of establishing the county seat. The county court ordered on the 5th of April 1843, that the county seat be known and called PHILLIPPA. Misspellings and misunderstandings about the origin led to the final form Philippi. The feminine of Philip is Philippa, but confusion with the ancient city of Philippi changed the spelling.
Civil War Battle Site
Philippi hosted the scene of the first land battle of the American Civil War on the 3rd of June 1861. Union forces under Col. Benjamin Franklin Kelley and Col. Ebenezer Dumont arrived from Grafton with perhaps 3,000 men. They attacked about 800 poorly armed Confederate recruits commanded by Col. George A. Porterfield at daylight. The Union troops had marched all night through a heavy rain storm to arrive just before dawn. The surprise attack came from the heights of Battle Hill to the northwest and awakened sleeping Confederates. After firing a few shots, the Southerners broke lines and began running frantically southward. Some soldiers fled still in their bed clothes during this hurried retreat. The battle was promptly lampooned as the Philippi Races because of the chaotic escape. This relatively bloodless victory propelled Major General George B. McClellan into the national spotlight. He soon received command of all Union armies following the engagement. The battle inspired more vocal protests in Western Virginia against secession. Days later in Wheeling, the Wheeling Convention nullified the Virginia ordinance of secession. Francis H. Pierpont was named governor during these events. These developments eventually resulted in the separate statehood of West Virginia.