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Refusing to Join Their Waters and Mingle into One Grand Kindred Stream; The Transformation of Jefferson County, West Virginia in the Civil War Era

Bixby, Ryan Christopher
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1466006624

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, History.
Encamped near Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, on September 15, 1861, Col. John White Geary of the 28th Pennsylvania Infantry wrote to his wife, Mary Church Henderson Geary. Geary described the majestic scene before him as the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers converged at a point before traveling toward the Chesapeake Bay. Sitting at the confluence of these two important waterways, Geary depicted the Potomac River as being “a clear beautiful stream, it’s [sic] resistless tide rushing headlong over the rocky surface of its channel and roaring with the voice of many waters.” Conversely, Geary perceived the Shenandoah River as being “very muddy at present, and rolls its waters along with equal haste, into the same channel with the Potomac, but the waters seem to refuse to commingle and become one.” Geary juxtaposed his description of these two bodies of water “refusing to join their waters and mingle into one grand kindred stream” against the United States’ inability to overcome its own political, economic, and social differences and reunite as one country. Geary’s metaphor also can be applied to the contested borderland of Jefferson County, West Virginia. Four years of continual encampments, foraging, marching, and skirmishing during the American Civil War significantly transformed Jefferson County’s social, economic, and political institutions. This borderland county served as a contested and negotiated landscape as both Union and Confederate armies sought to gain control of the region’s valuable industries and transportation networks. By relying upon agricultural resources to subsidize their provisions, soldiers also temporarily altered local cultivators’ farming practices. The Union and Confederate armies also utilized the natural and man-made landscape for military purposes. The contestation of public and private space compelled residents to engage in negotiated relationships with soldiers. Furthermore, whereas Jefferson County inhabitants began the conflict within the political borders of Virginia, by the conclusion of the war, residents found themselves part of the newly formed state of West Virginia. This dissertation seeks to understand how four years of continual encampments, foraging, marching, and skirmishing during the Civil War significantly transformed the natural landscape and socio-economic structures of Jefferson County.
Lesley Gordon, Ph. D (Advisor)
Wilson Gregory, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Hixson Walter, Ph.D (Committee Member)
Sasowsky Ira, Ph.D (Committee Member)
Hudson Leonne, Ph.D (Committee Member)
508 p.
History

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Bixby, R. C. (2016). Refusing to Join Their Waters and Mingle into One Grand Kindred Stream; The Transformation of Jefferson County, West Virginia in the Civil War Era [Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1466006624

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bixby, Ryan. Refusing to Join Their Waters and Mingle into One Grand Kindred Stream; The Transformation of Jefferson County, West Virginia in the Civil War Era. 2016. University of Akron, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1466006624.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bixby, Ryan. "Refusing to Join Their Waters and Mingle into One Grand Kindred Stream; The Transformation of Jefferson County, West Virginia in the Civil War Era." Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1466006624

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.