NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 21, 2001
                                            For Further Information Contact:
                                            Edward M. George
                                            President & CEO (304) 234-9208
                                            Nasdaq Trading Symbol: WSBC

Wheeling, WV. . . WesBanco, Inc. President & CEO, Edward M. George, today
announced the adoption of a new stock purchase plan, effective immediately,
to begin repurchasing up to one million shares of WesBanco common stock on
the open market. The timing, price and quantity of purchases will be at the
discretion of the corporation and the program may be discontinued or
suspended at any time.

Mr. George indicated that the stock repurchase program presents an attractive
opportunity for the corporation at this time. The shares would be available
for general corporate purposes, which may include potential acquisitions,
shareholder dividend reinvestment and employee benefit plans.

WesBanco is a multi-state bank holding company that operates through 60
banking offices in West Virginia and Ohio. WesBanco subsidiaries include:
WesBanco Bank, Inc., WesBanco Securities and WesBanco Insurance Services, Inc.

On December 29, 2000, WesBanco and Freedom Bancshares jointly announced the
execution of a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger providing for the
merger of Freedom's affiliate, Belington Bank, Belington, West Virginia,
with and into WesBanco affiliate, WesBanco Bank, Inc.  Under the terms of
the agreement, WesBanco will exchange WesBanco common stock based upon a
fixed exchange ratio of 2.58 shares of WesBanco common stock for each share
of Freedom common stock outstanding.  The transaction will be accounted for
using the purchase method of accounting.  At December 31, 2000, Freedom
had total assets of $100.5 million, loans of $57.9 million, deposits of
$91.9 million and shareholders' equity of $8.0 million.

On February 22, 2001, WesBanco, and American Bancorporation jointly announced
the execution of a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger providing for the
acquisition of American Bancorporation through a merger with a wholly-owned
subsidiary of WesBanco and the merger of American's affiliate, Wheeling
National Bank, with and into WesBanco affiliate, WesBanco Bank, Inc.  Under
the terms of the agreement, WesBanco will exchange WesBanco common stock
based upon a fixed exchange ratio of 1.1 shares of WesBanco common stock for
each share of American common stock outstanding.  American's bank affiliate,
Wheeling National Bank, operates 22 banking offices in West Virginia,
Pennsylvania and Ohio, including an office in Washington, Pennsylvania, an
office in Cambridge, Ohio and four offices in Columbus, Ohio.  The
transaction will be accounted for using the purchase method of accounting.
At December 31, 2000, American had total assets of $705.3 million, loans of
$386.3 million deposits of $496.1 million, and shareholders' equity of $40.6
million.