Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/597

 WEST VIRGINIA 573 YEARS. White. Free colored. Slave. Aggreg'te. 1790. . . 50,598 612 4,668 56,878 1800 70,894 626 7,172 78,592 1810 93,855 1,278 10,830 105,469 1820 120,286 1,413 15,119 186,768 1680 . ... 157,084 2,107 17,673 176,924 1840 203,010 8,033 18,488 224,587 1860 278,781 8,082 20,500 802,318 I860 355,526 2,778 18,871 876,688 1870 424,083 17,980 442014 The rank of the state in 1870 was 27. Of the total population, 222,843 were males and 219,171 females; 424,923 of native and 17,- 091 of foreign birth. . Of the natives, 381,297 were born in Virginia and West Virginia, 2,- 298 in Kentucky, 7,323 in Maryland, 1,859 in New York, 12,264 in Ohio, and 15,497 in Pennsylvania. Of the foreigners, 6,832 were born in Ireland, 6,232 in Germany, and 1,811 in England. The density of population was 19-22 persons to a square mile. There were 78,474 families, with an average of 5'63 per- sons to each, and 78,854 dwellings, with an average of 5'61 to each. There were 76,879 males and 73,965 females from 5 to 18 years of age, 76,832 males from 18 to 45, 95,317 males 21 years old and upward, and 93,435 male citizens 21 years old and upward. There were 48,802 persons 10 years of age and over who could not read, and 81,490 unable to write ; of the latter, 20,046 white and 1,865 colored were from 10 to 15 years of age, 11,721 white and 1,704 colored from 15 to 21, and 39,726 white and 6,628 colored 21 years old and over. The state contained 168 blind, 218 deaf and dumb, 374 insane, and 427 idiotic. Of the to- tal population 10 years of age and over (308,- 424), there were engaged in all occupations 115,229 ; in agriculture, 73,960, including 30,- 087 laborers and 43,702 farmers and planters ; in professional and personal services, 16,699, of whom 466 were clergymen, 6,676 domestic servants, 5,815 laborers not specified, 400 law- yers, 612 physicians and surgeons, and 866 teachers ; in trade and transportation, 6,897 ; and in manufactures and mechanical and mi- ning industries, 17,673, of whom 1,525 were miners. The total number of deaths from all causes Avas 4,018, the ratio of mortality being '91 per cent. ; from consumption 709, there being 5'7 deaths from all causes to one from this disease ; from pneumonia, 258 ; diphtheria, 186; scarlet fever, 157; cerebro- spinal, enteric; and typhus fevers, 185 ; diar- rhoea, dysentery, and enteritis, 233. A large part of West Virginia is mountainous and hilly. The hills are very fertile to their tops, which are cultivated, and present a remarkable growth of grass. The soil, being clay, does not wash away. The Allegheny range extends along the E. border, and presents the highest levels in the state. Nearly parallel to it on the west, and distant from 20 to 40 m., is a series of ridges and mountains which might properly be termed a continuation of the Cumberland mountains, embracing what are locally known as Flat Top, Cotton Hill, Greenbrier, Gauley, Birch, and Rich mountains, Laurel Hill, & c. The country slopes W. to the valley of the Ohio, and excepting the Potomac, which forms a part of the boundary between this state and Maryland, and its affluents, the rivers of West Virginia are tributary to the Ohio. The chief ones flowing directly into that river are the Big Sandy, Guyandotte, Great Kanawha (called New in the upper part of its course), Little Kanawha, and Monongahela, all of which are navigable. The most important tributaries of the Great Kanawha are the Greenbrier, Gauley, and Elk rivers on the north, and Coal river on the south. The Monongahela is formed in the N. part of the state by the confluence of its West branch and Tygart's Valley river, which have a northerly course. Its chief affluent is the Cheat river, which rises near the sources of the South branch of the Potomac. In the N. E. part of the state the North and South branches of the Potomac flow N. to form that river. All of these streams and their tributa- ries afford water power of unusual abundance ; that at Harper's Ferry, formerly used by the United States government in the manufacture of arms, is the most conspicuous, though many other waterfalls and rapids in the state are not inferior in capacity. There is a system of locks and dams in the Little Kanawha, extending to Burning Spring in Wirt co., one of the oil regions of the state, to which point it is navi- gated by steamboats from Parkersburg. The national government is improving the Great Kanawha by locks and dams, as a part of the national water line from the Atlantic to the west. An appropriation of $400,000 was made for this purpose for the year 1 875, and for the improvement of the Monongahela. The valley of the Great Kanawha is the finest grazing region of the state. Blue grass is indigenous. About two thirds of West Virginia is covered with forests. Large quantities of ginseng have been shipped from the state. The lumber trade is important. The chief kinds produced are oak, poplar, and hemlock, which abound throughout the state except on a few high lev- els. Next in importance, though not so abun- dant, are walnut, cherry, buttonwood, ash, chestnut, and locust. In the basins of the Kanawhas, Guyandotte, Monongahela and its tributaries, and Big Sandy, oaks, hickories, and poplars reach a height of from 75 to 100 ft. One of the most extensive pine regions in the state extends through Fayette and Raleigh counties along the New river. The Allegheny coal field, which stretches from the N. part of Pennsylvania to the middle of Alabama, com- prises within its limits the greater part of West Virginia. (See COAL.) The area of the coal formation in the state has been estimated at more than 15,000 sq. m., but much of this is unavailable for want of means of transporta- tion, and mines have been opened in only a small part of it. The coal is found in two productive layers or groups, the upper and