Unionist sentiment was so high in the northwestern counties that civil government began to disintegrate, and the Wheeling Intelligencer newspaper called for a convention of delegates to meet in the city of Wheeling to consider secession from the Commonwealth of Virginia.. Delegates duly assembled, and at the First Wheeling Convention (also known as the May Convention), held May 13 to 15, the delegates voted to hold off on secession from Virginia until the state had formally seceded from the United States..Randall, Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln, 1951, p. 438-439. Concerned that the irregular nature of the First Wheeling Convention might not democratically represent the will of the people, formal elections were scheduled for June 4 to elect delegates to a second convention, if necessary. Virginians voted to approve secession on May 23. On June 4, elections were held and delegates to an elected Second Wheeling Convention. Those elections were irregular as well. Some were held under military pressure, some counties sent no delegates, some delegates never appeared, and voter turnout varied significantly..Randall, Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln, 1951, p. 441. On June 19, the Second Wheeling Convention declared the offices of all government officials who had voted for secession vacant and reconstituted the executive and legislative branches of the Virginia government from their own ranks.Randall, Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln, 1951, p. 443-444. The Second Wheeling Convention adjourned on June 25 with the intent of reconvening on August 6..
