June 20, 2013
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Debar created the state seal The first governor From staff reports Joseph H. Diss Debar (1817-1906), formerly of Parkersburg, is best known for creating the State Seal of West Virginia following the creation of the new state during the Civil War. Diss Debar lived on what is now 12th Street in the Julia-Ann Square Historic District in Parkersburg. His first wife, Clara Levassor, is burried at Riverview Cemetery on Juliana Street. Born in Alsace, France, in 1817, Diss Debar spoke several languages and was a talented artist, with many sketches of early West Virginia history bearing his name. He met his wife, Clara, when both were young in France. Her family moved to Parkersburg, on the banks of the Ohio River in what was then Virginia. In 1824, Diss Debar followed them to Parkersburg. During his steamship voyage across the Atlantic, he met and became friends with Charles Dickens. After traveling to Parkersburg, the two reunited and were married in 1847 in Marietta, he at the age of 30 and she at 17 years. She died April 29, 1849, after giving birth to a son. Following his wife’s death, Diss Debar went to Doddridge County, where he had bought a
tract of land. He brought a Swiss colony to the region and settled them near Leopold, a little town which he called Santa Clara for his wife. It was in Cove district near Weston, almost on the Lewis County line. This was an early settlement of its kind, and the chief industry of the community was cheese-making. Diss Debar’s second marriage was to Amelia Cain of Doddridge County, where the marriage is recorded as Aug. 3, 1859, and they had five children. During this time Joseph Diss Debar was prominent in matters of state, especially after the creation of West Virginia as a separate state. In 1863, the West Virginia Legislature appointed Diss Debar to make drawings in compliance with their suggestions for a state seal
and coat-of-arms. The design was made and was adopted in September 1863. The seal is two-anda-half inches in diameter and bears the motto “Montani Semper Liberi” which means “Mountaineers Always Free” in Latin. The picture Diss Debar put on the seal depicts symbolic representation of the state, its people and its industries. The two men standing on either side of the rock marking the state’s foundation on June 20, 1863, indicate the people and their occupations. The plowhandles and the axe indicate the cultivation taking place where original forests were cleared. The wheat and cornstalk represent grain. Mineral wealth is shown by the miner, his pick, and the lumps of coal at his feet. The crossed rifles in the foreground tell of
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liberty that is ours, maintained by force of arms. The reverse side, which is (not seen or used as often, is encircled by a wreath of laurel and oak. Emblematical objects typical of West Virginia’s landscape, productions, resources and natives are grouped inside. In 1864, following the establishment of West Virginia as a state, Gov. Arthur I. Boreman appointed him commissioner of immigration. He did surveying and acted as agent for a land company. He prepared, compiled and published the first “Handbook of West Virginia.” He was a member of the House of Delegates from Doddridge County in 1864. In later years, Diss Debar left West Virginia and went to Pennsylvania. He died in Pittsbugh in 1906 and is buried in Philadelphia.
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Arthur Ingram Boreman Arthur Ingram Boreman (July 24, 1823April 19, 1896) was the first governor of West Virginia, elected to the office in 1863, 1864 and 1866. Boreman was born in Waynesburg, Pa., the son of a town merchant. At the age of 4, he and his family moved to Middlebourne in Tyler County, part of what later became West Virginia. In 1845, Boreman was admitted to the bar and established a law practice at Parkersburg the following year. He represented Wood County as a Whig delegate in the Virginia General Assembly from 1855-1861, then served as a circuit judge under the Reorganized Government of Virginia. A member of the Constitutional Union party, Boreman was elected West Virginia’s first governor in 1863. See BOREMAN Page 28 ➪