(Wheeling: John F. M'Dermot, Public Printer, 1865)
[No. 5.] Appointing a day for Instituting Proceedings for the Removal of John W. Kennedy, Judge of the Tenth Judicial Circuit.
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, That notice be given to John W. Kennedy, judge of the tenth judicial circuit, that the Senate and House of Delegates will, on Thursday, the 16th day of February next, proceed to consider, and thereafter to determine the question of his removal from office, pursuant to the 13th section of the sixth article of the constitution, and that the following causes are alleged for such removal, that is to say: -
I. Disloyalty
In this, that on or about the 1st day of May, 1861, the said John W. Kennedy rode through the streets of Harper's Ferry, in the county of Jefferson, waving his hand, and made use of the following language: "Huzza! Old Abe Lincoln has run away from Washington City - Huzza!"
Further, that on or about the 1st day of April, 1864, the said John W. Kennedy, by virtue of his office as judge of the tenth judicial circuit, did appoint a rebel named Daniel Sheetz, sheriff of Jefferson county; and that on or about the 1st day of October, 1864, the said John W. Kennedy was at Harper's Ferry, in Jefferson county, attending a convention, endeavoring to get said Sheetz the nomination for sheriff of said county.
Further, that on or about the 1st day of April, 1864, said John W. Kennedy appointed a rebel named Thomas Hollis, sheriff of Berkeley county. Said Thomas Hollis had been a volunteer in the rebel army, and held a position in the rebel quartermaster's department. Said Thomas Hollis has been notoriously disloyal since the war commenced.
Further, that on or about the 20th day of September, 1863, the said John W. Kennedy, then holding a commission as judge of the 10th judicial circuit, said, at the McLure House, in the city of Wheeling, West Virginia, whilst speaking of the restored government of Virginia, that the restored government of Virginia was an usurpation, and that the government of West Virginia was a bogus concern.
II. Non-residence in the 10th judicial circuit.
In this, that the said John W. Kennedy has been for a long time a non-resident of the tenth judicial circuit, but has been for the last three months a resident of the city of Baltimore, State of Maryland.
Adopted, January 21, 1865.
Timeline of West Virginia: Civil War and Statehood: February 1865