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. 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.”
Oct. 22, 1693: Lord Thomas Fairfax was born in Kent, England. He inherited five million acres in Virginia, land that included much of present West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle.
Oct. 22, 1734: Frontiersman Daniel Boone was born in Pennsylvania. In 1788, Boone and his family settled near the mouth of the Kanawha River at Point Pleasant. He represented Kanawha County in the Virginia General Assembly in 1791.
Oct. 22, 1821: Collis P. Huntington was born in Connecticut. In 1869, he purchased the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway and set about extending its tracks from Richmond across southern West Virginia to the Ohio River. There, in 1871, he established a new city bearing his name.
Oct. 22, 1922: Fiddler Wilson Douglas was born in Clay County. Influenced by fellow old-time musician French Carpenter, Douglas developed a unique style of playing that continues to inspire younger generations. In 1992, he received the Vandalia Award, West Virginia’s highest folklife honor.
Oct. 22, 1977: Construction of the New River Gorge Bridge was completed after three years of work. The Fayette County bridge is one of West Virginia’s best-known landmarks. It is the third-highest bridge in the United States and has the longest steel span in the Western Hemisphere.
Oct. 23, 1890: The Fast Flying Virginian passenger train wrecked due to a rockslide near Hinton, killing engineer George Alley. It became the source of a folk song known variously as “The Wreck on the C&O,” “Engine 143,” and “The FFV,” among other titles.
Oct. 23, 1908: Old-time musician Sylvia O’Brien was born in Clay County. She learned the clawhammer banjo style from her brother Jenes Cottrell and gained recognition during the late 20th-century folk revival. In 1989, she received the Vandalia Award, West Virginia’s highest folklife honor.
Oct. 23, 1913: In 1975, newspaper journalist Jack Maurice became the first West Virginian to earn a Pulitzer Prize for Journalism for his coverage of the Kanawha County Textbook Controversy.
Oct. 23, 1943: German prisoners arrived at Camp Ashford in White Sulphur Springs. Built by the U.S. War Department, Camp Ashford was one of two camps in West Virginia that housed prisoners of war during World War II.
Oct. 25, 1918: Athlete Marshall “Biggie” Goldberg was born in Elkins. He led the Chicago Cardinals to the 1947 NFL championship (its last to date) and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1958 and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1980.
Oct. 25, 1926: Professor Roy B. Clarkson was born and raised in Cass. He was considered West Virginia’s leading historian on the timber industry, particularly through his book Tumult on the Mountains. He also was one of the state’s most prominent botanists.
Oct. 25, 1951: Writer Denise Giardina was born in Bluefield and raised in neighboring McDowell County. She is best known as a novelist and also has a long history of community activism, including a run for governor.
Oct. 26, 1801: Jefferson County was established from a portion of Berkeley County by the Virginia General Assembly and named for Thomas Jefferson.
Oct. 26, 1888: Baseball player Dick Hoblitzell was born in Waverly, Wood County. Despite earning two World Series rings outright, Hoblitzell is best known today for being “Babe” Ruth’s roommate with the Boston Red Sox and also for his rare T-205 baseball card.
Oct. 26, 1934: Athlete Rodney Clark “Hot Rod” Hundley was born in Charleston. Hundley earned first team All-American recognition his senior year at West Virginia University. He averaged 24.5 points per game and scored 2,180 points over his college career, ranking second in WVU history.
Oct. 27, 1879: Howard B. Lee was born in Wirt County. He was elected state attorney general in 1924 and served for eight challenging years. His term saw the impeachment of a state auditor, the lawlessness of Prohibition and labor troubles in the coalfields.
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.