WEST VIRGINIA
WEST VIRGINIA’S INDEPENDENT STREAK is perhaps best summarized by its motto: Montani Semper Liberi (“Mountaineers are always free”). Surrounded by the rugged Appalachian Mountains, West Virginians have always created their own path.
But that anti-authority nature doesn’t hurt your genealogical prospects. (After all, genealogy superstar Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. himself hails from this state!) Rather, you can find your Mountain State ancestors in a variety of documents—all of which can be diamonds in the rough as you research in this coal-rich state.
FREE-WIELDING HISTORY
Even from its earliest days as part of Virginia, the region was inhabited by free-thinkers. In the 17th and 18th centuries, European and Colonial explorers and fur traders braved the heavily forested terrain. They sometimes did so in defiance of government directives, such as the Proclamation Line of 1763.
Without access to large amounts
