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Monongalia County, known locally as Mon County, is located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 105,822, making it West Virginia's third-most populous county. Its county seat is at Morgantown. The county was founded in 1776. Monongalia County is included in the Morgantown, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the largest county in North-Central West Virginia. It is part of the Pittsburgh media market.
[edit] History
Monongalia County takes its name from the Monongahela River. The name Monongalia may be a misspelling of Monongahela. Alternatively, the conventional Latinate ending "-ia" (designating "land of..." or "country of..." — as in Arabia, Bolivia or Colombia) may have been added to Monongahela (i.e., "Land of the Monongahela"). Monongalia County was formed in 1776 when Virginia's remote District of West Augusta was divided into three counties: Ohio, Yohogania and Monongalia, all named for their most prominent rivers. Ohio County then encompassed most of the western region of the district bordering the Ohio River, including parts of what is now southwestern Pennsylvania. Yohogania County consisted of much of what is now southwestern Pennsylvania and the present counties of Hancock and the northern part of Brooke in West Virginia. Monongalia County also encompassed what are now the counties of Tucker, Randolph, Harrison and Barbour in north-central West Virginia, as well as parts of what are now Washington, Greene and Fayette Counties in Pennsylvania. In 1780, in his Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson gave the militia enrollment of what was then the vast Monongalia County at 1,000 troops. In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts. Monongalia County was divided into seven districts: Battelle, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Grant, Morgan, and Union. After a century of relative stability, in the 1970s Monongalia's seven historic magisterial districts were consolidated into three new Districts: Central, Eastern, and Western. [edit] Timeline
[edit] Population History
[edit] Research TipsMonongalia County was created in 1776 when the District of West Augusta, Virginia, was divided into the counties of Monongalia, Yohogania and Ohio. In 1863 it became part of the state of West Virginia. Monongalia County is located in northern West Virginia. It borders Fayette and Greene Counties, Pennsylvania. The county seat is Morgantown. [edit] Text from Monongalia County, Virginia Page[Monongalia County, Virginia was redirected here in conformance to the WeRelate "1900 rule".] Monongalia County, Virginia, said to be the Mother of Many Counties, was established in 1776 from the District of West Augusta, Virginia. It later became part of West Virginia when it was established in 1863. The County Seat is located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The following material was copied from Monongalia, West Virginia GenWeb site: 1776 - Monongalia, Ohio, and Yohogania Counties were created from the District of West Augusta of Augusta County, VA. The northern portion of Monongalia, the northeastern portion of Ohio, and and all of Yohogania were also known as Westmoreland County, PA which was also mother to several counties. The area that was the northwest corner of Monongalia became Washington County, PA in 1781, and Greene County, PA in 1796. The area that was the northeast corner of Monongalia became Fayette County, PA in 1783. The first courts of Monongalia were held on Phillips' Choice, the plantation of Theophilus Phillips, near New Geneva in Springhill Township, Fayette County, PA. 1779 - The first county seat was located at Mifflintown, present-day Woodbridgetown, near Rubles Mill in Georges Township, Fayette County, PA, but soon after the boundary dispute between Virginia and Pennsylvania was resolved. When they realised the county seat was no longer in the county, it was moved to what is now Morgantown. 1784 - Harrison County was formed from Monongalia and Ohio Counties. A traditional account by historian Glenn D. Lough claims that the first settlers, Pompey Leggit and his wife Jenny Duvall Leggit, homesteaded at Rivesville in present-day Marion County in 1694. With them were Jenny's brother, John Duvall, the William Burris family, and the Bozarth family. The families are said to have moved on to Philippi in present-day Barbour County by 1704, a site they abandoned in 1721. The Leggit's sons, Thomas and George Leggit, established a trading post at Lowsville in 1766. Other early settlers in the mid-1700s in the original Monongalia County were the families of: Wendell Brown (at present-day Brownsville, Fayette County, PA); David Tygart and Robert Files (near present-day Beverly, Randolph County, WV); the Eckerlin brothers (Dunkard Bottom near Kingwood, Preston County, WV); and Thomas Decker at the mouth of Deckers Creek, present Monongalia County. Others in the Decker party included these surnames: Zern or Zorn, Falls, Thorn, Westfall, Cox, Statler or Stradler. Copyright © 1998-2004 by Alan R. Rockwell, Jr. & Eric N. Rockwell All information submitted to this project remains, to the extent that the law allows, the property of the submitter who, by submitting it, agrees that it may be freely copied but never sold or used in a commercial venture without the knowledge and permission of its rightful owner. The WVGenWeb & USGenWeb Projects make neither claim nor estimate of the validity of any information submitted, and remind you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by the weight of evidence.
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