The territory of the following counties, formerly parts of the commonwealth of Virginia, shall constitute and form the State of West Virginia, viz:

The counties of Barbour, Berkeley, Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Fayette, Gilmer, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, Marshall, Mason, McDowell, Mercer, Mineral, Monongalia, Monroe, Morgan, Nicholas, Ohio, Pendleton, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Preston, Putnam, Raleigh, Randolph, Ritchie, Roane, Summers, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Upshur, Wayne, Webster, Wetzel, Wirt, Wood and Wyoming. The State of West Virginia includes the bed, bank and shores of the Ohio River, and so much of the Big Sandy River as was formerly included in the Commonwealth of Virginia; and all territorial rights and property in, and jurisdiction over, the same, heretofore reserved by, and vested in, the Commonwealth of Virginia, are vested in and shall hereafter be exercised by the State of West Virginia. And such parts of the said beds, banks and shores as lie opposite, and adjoining the several counties of this State, shall form parts of said several counties respectively.

[Editor’s note. – All of the territory of West Virginia was taken from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and in the Constitution of 1863 forty-four of the above-named counties were designated as forming the State of West Virginia, and in addition, the counties of Berkeley, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Morgan and Pendleton were to be admitted should that Constitution be adopted by a vote of the people of the districts comprising those counties. The districts adopted the Constitution, and these six counties became part of the State. The remaining four counties mentioned above were created by Acts of the Legislature as follows: Mineral County, from Hampshire County, on February 1, 1866; Grant County, from Hardy County, on February 14, 1866; Lincoln County, from parts of Cabell, Putnam, Kanawha and Boone Counties, on February 23, 1867; and Summers County, from parts of Greenbrier, Monroe, Mercer and Fayette Counties, on February 27, 1871. After the ratification of the Constitution of 1872, Mingo County was created by an act of the Legislature from Logan County, on February 23, 1895, to make a total of fifty-five counties.]