Francis Harrison Pierpont (January 25, 1814March 24, 1899), called the "Father of West Virginia," was an American lawyer and politician who achieved prominence during the American Civil War. During the conflict's first two years, Pierpont served as Governor of the Restored Government of Virginia and, in this capacity, administered the part of Virginia then under Unionist control (i.e., future West Virginia) before West Virginia's admission to the Union as a separate state. After recognizing the creation of West Virginia, Pierpont continued to serve as Governor of the Restored Government. However, the degree of civil authority he could exercise was minimal for the remainder of the war. Having claimed to be the legitimate Governor of Virginia for the duration of the conflict, Pierpont assumed civil control of the state's entire post-1863 territory following the dissolution of the Confederacy and continued to serve as Governor during the early years of Reconstruction. In recognition of his significance to its state history, in 1910, West Virginia donated a marble statue of Pierpont as the second of its two contributions to the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall Collection. Early life He was the third son of Francis Peirpoint and was born at the Peirpoint "Plantation" in the "Forks of Cheat" on the Morgantown-Ices Ferry Road, Monongalia County. His middle name, "Harrison," was added later by the boy's father in honor of his commanding officer, General William Henry Harrison. Pierpont, the original family name, was altered to Peirpoint in the land office at Richmond, Virginia in issuing patents for land deeded to his grandfather, John Pierpont (1742-1796) who grew up in Fairfax County, Virginia and attended the Fairfax Friends Meeting, but left to enlist in the Revolutionary Army, then after it ended moved west to Morgantown, West Virginia. Virginia lawyers advised the family that to hold their grandfather's land, they had to spell their last name as recorded in the patent. Thus Francis used the name "Peirpoint" throughout his life. Francis Harrison also utilized Peirpoint throughout most of his adult life, including during his terms as the Civil War and Reconstruction Governor of Virginia. In 1880, when President Garfield appointed him Collector of Internal Revenue, Peirpoint sent his name to the U.S. Senate as Francis H. Pierpont. Pierpont writes that "He consented to the change of his name because it was right." While Frank was a boy, his family moved their leatherworking business to what is