The third county created in 1848 was Putnam, composed of parts of Kanawha, Cabell and Mason counties, and lying to the west of the city of Charleston. Its name recalls a hero of the Revolutionary War, General Israel Putnam who distinguished himself at the Battle of Bunker Hill and became a popular hero. 1850-1860 EBBING TIDE, TWELVE COUNTIES The year 1850 saw the formation of two more counties now in West Virginia. The first one, Raleigh, was taken from the southern part of Fayette. In its bounds, the lands of Isaac Sonners and Jackson Jarrell, and the New, Coal, and Guyandotte rivers are noted. The name was "in memory of Sir Walter Raleigh who made the earliest effort to colonize Virginia." It is pleasant to see that Virginia finally recognized her debt to this valiant soul, even though it was tardily done, for he died in 1618. A few days after Raleigh became a county, the Virginia Assembly enacted that the county of Wyoming be erected out of the county of Logan. Wyoming lies in the southern central portion of West Virginia. The reason for the name is obscure, whether it was for the beautiful Wyoming Valley in north central Pennsylvania watered by the Susquehanna River, or for the brutal massacre of its inhabitants on 4 July 1778 by a British and Indian force is unknown. Half of the nineteenth century has passed and our narrative has only a few more years to chronicle. In 1851, three counties were formed. One of these, Craig, remained in Virginia. It was taken from parts of Botetourt, Roanoke, Giles and Monroe.