West Virginia Day Celebrated at Cockayne Homestead in Glendale - WTRF 7 News Sports Weather - Wheeling Steubenville

West Virginia Day Celebrated at Cockayne Homestead in Glendale

Posted: Updated:
GLENDALE -

The historic Cockayne Farmstead in Glendale held a special day of events for West Virginia's 149th birthday.

The farmhouse opened at 10 a.m. for tours. Impersonators as Samuel Andrew Jackson Cockayne and his wife Hanna, welcomed guests into their home.

Mark Twain, portrayed by storyteller and humorist Stephen Hollen, mingled with guests all day long.

"Mark Twain is such an important literary figure in terms of history along the rivers of America," said Tom Tarowsky, Program Director at the Cockayne Farmstead. Twain also has a local connection to the Ohio Valley.

Twain had a cousin, Sherrard Clemens, who's actually from Wheeling, and gave the town of Sherrard its name.

After the tour, guests moved outdoors to get up-close and personal with some historic artifacts dug up right on the farmstead.

"We're trying to document every section of the property so that future development can be done here without destroying it first," said Jamie Vosnick, a supervisor with Archaeological Consultants of the Midwest.  "It's a last ditch effort to save any history that we can."

Vosnick's firm has been working with the farmstead for the past seven and a half years, free of charge. Wednesday they were digging up the "midden", where people would discard or burn their trash. 

Like any other birthday celebration, this one included some fun and games, plus cake and ice cream. West Virginia Day is a milestone that means a lot to West Virginians.

 "West Virginia history means a lot to me, i love my state, I've traveled all over it, and i just think we have the best of everything here," said Andrea Anderson of Weirton.