Photograph, Waitman T. Willey of Monongalia County served as a delegate to the Richmond Convention, where he voted against secession. Willey was a delegate to the First Wheeling Convention and the Constitutional Convention. He was elected as a United States senator for the Reorganized Government of Virginia. Willey's amendment that provided for the gradual emancipation of slaves paved the way for Senate approval of the statehood bill. Willey was then elected as one of the first two United States senators from West Virginia. Portrait File
