Today in Wheeling History: May 5—Twenty-one Confederate prisoners, including two women, were brought to Wheeling and confined in the Athenaeum (1863).
On May 5, 1863, the steamboat "St. Patrick" arrived in Wheeling carrying twenty-one rebel prisoners, among them two young women from Bridgeport, Harrison County—Lizzie and Maggie Copeland, described by Wheeling's "Daily Intelligencer" as "violent rebels." Because the Athenaeum lacked appropriate accommodations for female prisoners, the Copeland sisters were sent to the Ohio County Jail.
The Athenaeum, located at the corner of Sixteenth and Market Streets, had been serving as a Union military prison since the fall of 1861. Known locally as "Lincoln's Bastille," the facility held Confederate prisoners of war, civilians who refused to swear an oath of allegiance to the United States, rebel spies, court-martialed Union soldiers, and bushwhackers. From October 1863 to October 1865, the entire building was operated as a federal military prison under the command of Provost Marshal Major Joseph Darr Jr. of the First West Virginia Cavalry.
The arrival of the Copeland sisters was not the Athenaeum's first encounter with female prisoners. Women had occasionally been confined there for offenses including cutting telegraph lines and providing aid and comfort to the Confederacy. Prison officials generally found female prisoners particularly difficult to manage. In January 1864, two women prisoners—Kate Brown and Sarah Coonard—even managed a brief escape before surrendering themselves the following day.
Most Confederate prisoners were held only briefly before being transferred by rail to Camp Chase near Columbus, Ohio, with the prison population fluctuating between fifty and well over one hundred detainees. The Athenaeum closed in September 1865. The building was destroyed by fire in October 1868—the largest in Wheeling's history to that point—an event that prompted the establishment of the Wheeling Fire Department.
To learn more: West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History (https://tinyurl.com/mweav5dy) (https://tinyurl.com/4dktectu), West Virginia Encyclopedia (https://tinyurl.com/2fs7nwxr), The Clio (https://tinyurl.com/fsxudpnf), The Historic Marker Database (https://tinyurl.com/3ydndzvp) (https://tinyurl.com/2s5rke98), Civil War Philatelic (https://tinyurl.com/kdwefee7), YouTube (https://tinyurl.com/22pe597r), 7th WVI (https://tinyurl.com/3cjrd966), Wheeling Heritage (https://tinyurl.com/4v3xku23), Weelunk (https://tinyurl.com/2s4955f5), Daily Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/3zc8ju3n)
Photo credits: Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History, Civil War Philatelic, Wheeling Heritage, The Historic Marker Database
On May 5, 1863, the steamboat "St. Patrick" arrived in Wheeling carrying twenty-one rebel prisoners, among them two young women from Bridgeport, Harrison County—Lizzie and Maggie Copeland, described by Wheeling's "Daily Intelligencer" as "violent rebels." Because the Athenaeum lacked appropriate accommodations for female prisoners, the Copeland sisters were sent to the Ohio County Jail.
The Athenaeum, located at the corner of Sixteenth and Market Streets, had been serving as a Union military prison since the fall of 1861. Known locally as "Lincoln's Bastille," the facility held Confederate prisoners of war, civilians who refused to swear an oath of allegiance to the United States, rebel spies, court-martialed Union soldiers, and bushwhackers. From October 1863 to October 1865, the entire building was operated as a federal military prison under the command of Provost Marshal Major Joseph Darr Jr. of the First West Virginia Cavalry.
The arrival of the Copeland sisters was not the Athenaeum's first encounter with female prisoners. Women had occasionally been confined there for offenses including cutting telegraph lines and providing aid and comfort to the Confederacy. Prison officials generally found female prisoners particularly difficult to manage. In January 1864, two women prisoners—Kate Brown and Sarah Coonard—even managed a brief escape before surrendering themselves the following day.
Most Confederate prisoners were held only briefly before being transferred by rail to Camp Chase near Columbus, Ohio, with the prison population fluctuating between fifty and well over one hundred detainees. The Athenaeum closed in September 1865. The building was destroyed by fire in October 1868—the largest in Wheeling's history to that point—an event that prompted the establishment of the Wheeling Fire Department.
To learn more: West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History (https://tinyurl.com/mweav5dy) (https://tinyurl.com/4dktectu), West Virginia Encyclopedia (https://tinyurl.com/2fs7nwxr), The Clio (https://tinyurl.com/fsxudpnf), The Historic Marker Database (https://tinyurl.com/3ydndzvp) (https://tinyurl.com/2s5rke98), Civil War Philatelic (https://tinyurl.com/kdwefee7), YouTube (https://tinyurl.com/22pe597r), 7th WVI (https://tinyurl.com/3cjrd966), Wheeling Heritage (https://tinyurl.com/4v3xku23), Weelunk (https://tinyurl.com/2s4955f5), Daily Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/3zc8ju3n)
Photo credits: Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History, Civil War Philatelic, Wheeling Heritage, The Historic Marker Database
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