Charleston WV – The following events happened on these dates in West Virginia history. To read more, go to e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia at www.wvencyclopedia.org.
Oct. 15, 1839: Aretas Brooks Fleming was born in Fairmont. In 1888, Fleming won the Democratic nomination for governor and then won West Virginia’s most controversial gubernatorial election.
Oct. 15, 1874 or 1876: Civic leader and businessman James Cubert Campbell was born in Charleston. He would become Charleston’s first Black licensed undertaker and first Black city council member.
Oct. 15, 1952: During the Korean War, Greenbrier County native Ralph Pomeroy was killed in action near Kumhuwa, Korea, while helping his unit contain an attack. The next year, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.
Oct. 16, 1859: John Brown and his raiders captured the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, but they were soon besieged by townspeople, local militia and federal troops. The raid galvanized the nation, further alienating North and South over slavery and drastically reducing any possible middle ground for compromise before the Civil War.
Oct. 16, 1918: Dale Troy “Stoney” Cooper was born in Randolph County. He, his wife Wilma Lee and the Clinch Mountain Clan played country music on WWVA radio in Wheeling for a decade before spending the next 20 years on the Grand Ole Opry.
Oct. 16, 1922: The Rev. Leon Sullivan was born in Charleston. In 1977, Sullivan initiated the original Sullivan Principles, a code of conduct for companies operating in South Africa. The Principles were among the most effective efforts to end the system of apartheid.
Oct. 17, 1901: Folk artist S. L. Jones was born in Monroe County. He was widely recognized for his hand-carved, painted wood sculptures. His works are in the collections of the National Museum of American Art, Museum of American Art, Museum of American Folk Art, and West Virginia State Museum.
Oct. 18, 1906: Author Agnes Clifford Smith was born in Clarksburg. A graduate of Fairmont State College (now University), her major work was An Edge of the Forest (1959), an allegory about a black lamb.
Oct. 18, 1941: William “Billy” Cox was born in Wheeling. He is one of two bassists to have played regularly with legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix.
October 18, 2021: The International Dark Sky Association named Calvin W. Price State Forest, Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park, and Watoga State Park as West Virginia’s first Dark Sky Parks.
Oct. 19, 1894: Historian and illustrator Julius Allan DeGruyter was born in Charleston. A self-taught painter and illustrator, DeGruyter’s art appeared in numerous exhibits and is represented in the collections of the State Museum. The artwork includes scenes of early Charleston.
Oct. 19, 1949: Author Richard Currey was born in Parkersburg. His award-winning writing often draws from his own family experiences and life in the hills of West Virginia.
Oct. 20, 1906: Novelist and short story writer Tom Kromer was born in Huntington and also lived at times in Fairmont, Kingwood, and Williamstown. He is best-known for his first novel, Waiting for Nothing (1935), which chronicled the plight of the dispossessed during the Great Depression.
Oct. 20, 1990: The current USS West Virginia (SSBN-736) was commissioned. The USS West Virginia is an Ohio Class Trident ballistic missile submarine that is 560 feet long, 42 feet wide, and displaces 18,750 tons when submerged.
Oct. 21, 1865: Bishop Matthew Wesley Clair Sr. was born in Union. He was one of the first African Americans elected as a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Oct. 21, 1918: Governor Hulett Smith was born in Beckley. In the 1964 gubernatorial primary, Smith carried 53 of the state’s 55 counties, receiving more votes than his three opponents combined.
Oct. 21, 1935: Country musician Mel Street was born in Virginia and died by suicide on his 43rd birthday. He gained much of his early experience on radio and TV in Bluefield before making hit recordings such as “Borrowed Angel,” “Lovin’ on the Back Streets,” and “Smokey Mountain Memories.”
e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia is a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council. For more information contact the West Virginia Humanities Council, 1310 Kanawha Blvd. E., Charleston, WV 25301; (304) 346-8500; or visit e-WV at www.wvencyclopedia.org.