HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 34
(By Delegates Doyle, Manuel and Walters)
Requesting that the West Virginia Department of Transportation,
Division of Highways, name West Virginia U.S. Route 340,
beginning at the Charles Town Bypass going North to the edge
of the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, the William
L. Wilson Freeway in honor of a West Virginian whose
academic, military, legal and governmental achievements
enrich the heritage of this State and its people.
Whereas, William L. Wilson was born on May 5, 1843, near
Middleway, Jefferson County, Virginia, now West Virginia; and
Whereas, William L. Wilson was a distinguished academician
who: Attended Charles Town Academy; was graduated from Columbia
College, now George Washington University, in 1860; interrupted
his attendance at the University of Virginia to serve in the
military during the Civil War; was an assistant professor of
ancient languages at Columbia College from 1865 through 1871;
received his law degree from Columbia College in 1867; served as
president of West Virginia University in 1882 and 1883; and
served as president of Washington and Lee University from 1897
through 1900; and
Whereas, William L. Wilson's honorable military service
includes his enlistment in the Confederate Quartermaster
Department in 1861; enlistment in Company B of the Twelfth Virginia Cavalry in 1862, therein rising to the rank of Sergeant
Major; capture by Federal forces near Halltown and exchanged at
Fort Monroe in 1862; and parole at Winchester, Virginia, in 1865;
and
Whereas, In service to the people in government and the law,
William L. Wilson: Established his private law practice in
Charles Town in 1871; was elected as a Delegate to the Democratic
National Convention in 1880 and as its chairman in 1892; served
in the United States Congress as the Representative from the
second district of West Virginia from 1883 through 1894, wherein
he was a member of the Committee on Appropriations and the Ways
and Means Committee; was a close friend and advisor to Grover
Cleveland, President of the United States, and often gave public addresses in behalf of the President; served as Postmaster
General of the United States from 1895 through 1897, wherein he
pioneered the Nation's rural free delivery system, establishing
that system's first route in Jefferson County West Virginia; and
Whereas, The people of Jefferson County and of the State of
West Virginia honor the achievements and the memory of William L.
Wilson; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the West Virginia Department of Transportation,
Division of Highways, be hereby requested to name West Virginia
U.S. Route 340, beginning at the Charles Town Bypass going North
to the edge of the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, the
William L. Wilson Freeway; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates
be hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the
Secretary of the Department of Transportation, the Commissioner
of the Division of Highways, and the mayor of Charles Town.