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Raleigh County
Go back to Raleigh County
Mar 16, 1742
John Peter Salling led an expedition down the New and Kanawha Rivers, noting rich coal seams along the way. Other events that happened on or around March 16, 1742 John Peter Salling and five other Virginians set out on a journey to the Mississippi River
1799
William Richmond acquired a ten-acre tract on the New River at Sandstone Falls Other events that happened on or around 1799 William Beauchamp Sr was the earliest settlers in the Wirt County area Daniel Boone and his family moved to Missouri Meshach Browning married Mary McMullen Charles Washington died and was buried at Happy Retreat The U.S. Armory and Arsenal was established at Harpers Ferry The McComas family were the first whites to settle in Lincoln County John Marshall was elected to Congress The Little Kanawha Circuit of Methodists was formed The first recorded school was established in Moundsville The Berkeley Intelligencer was founded in Martinsburg Vienna failed in trying to become county seat of Wood County Wood County was formed and Newport was made the county seat John Stuart wrote Memoir of Indian Wars and Other Occurrences
1837
Alfred Beckley settled in Beckley with his family Other events that happened on or around 1837 Exchange Bank of Virginia in Norfolk established Organ Cave described Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company formed by act of Ohio General Assembly Henry Harvey died in Buffalo Claude Crozet was reappointed as state engineer of Virginia Marshall Academy (Marshall College, then Marshall University) was established St. John's Episcopal Church was established in Charleston Fayette County seat moved from New Haven to Vandalia (Fayetteville) Judge Isaac R. Douglas bought Happy Retreat David E. Jackson died Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was born in Ireland Daniel Lamb was admitted to the bar The Monongahela Navigation Company was formed to improve the river for navigation David Hunter Strother painted a portrait of Hunter John Myers from memory Samuel Price married Jane Stuart Mercer County was formed with Princeton as the county seat W.W. Fetterman built a saw mill in Valley Falls
Jan 23, 1850
Raleigh County was established by an act of the General Assembly, with Beckley as its county seat.
1862
Federal troops occupied Raleigh County. Other events that happened on or around 1862 Jacob Blair and his two congressional colleagues met at the White House to discuss West Virginia admission into the Union with President Lincoln President Lincoln decided in favor of statehood George Imboden rose to the rank of colonel and took command of the of the 18th Virginia Calvary The first school for black children, Sumner School, opened in Parkersburg. Confederate General Stonewall Jackson based his forces in Berkeley Springs during his attack on Hancock, Maryland Congress enacted the Morrill Act Belle Boyd carried news of Union plans to Stonewall Jackson during the Shenandoah Valley campaign John Carlile turned against statehood, which he had favored John Echols served in the Kanawha Valley John Hale served as a surgeon in the Civil War A Natural gas well was first drilled in Hancock County Nancy Hart was captured a second time as a rebel spy in Summersville Collis P. Huntington persuaded Congress to designate the Central Pacific as the western half of the transcontinental railroad Stonewall Jackson led a successful campaign in the Shenandoah Valley Albert Jenkins was elected to the First Confederate Congress Jacob Cox and men were driven out of the Kanawha Valley by Confederate advance led by Brig. Gen William W. Loring U.S. troops were maneuvering from Western Virginia toward Tennessee Joseph Lightburn was ordered to Charleston City of Logan was occupied and burned by Union forces under Col. Edward Siber Company 1, 12th Regiment, West Virginia Volunteer Infantry was organized in New Cumberland The Point Pleasant Register was founded as a weekly John Nugent was born in Wales The Confederate Thurmond's Parisan Rangers raided in Fayette, Greenbrier and Monroe counties Peter Van Winkle represented Wood County in Constitutional Convention The Reorganized Government of Virginia added $40,000 for Weston State Hospital
1863
Beckley was bombarded by federal artillery. Other events that happened on or around 1863 The first West Virginia legislature proposed to educate "free colored children," the proposal was left unfunded. The decision to have Attorney General elected by popular vote was made B&O Railroad's management influenced people to support West Virginia statehood Union troops shelled the town of Beckley, killing a little girl Virginia's land and water boundaries given to West Virginia Civil War skirmish at Bulltown Historic Area River pirate John Lockwood arrest and tried for murder Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley were commissioned first lieutenants at Camp Piatt Melodrama East Lynne written West Virginia experimented with New England modified township system West Virginia constitution established public free school system William Edwards opened mines at Coalburg West Virginia's first election was conducted Stephen Elkins left the army Constitution stated that the "executive department shall consist of a governor, secretary of state, superintendent of free schools, auditor, treasurer and attorney general." Construction of Fort Boreman began Frederick County citizens voted not to become part of West Virginia John Hale organized the Bank of the West Harrison County was first in West Virginia in the production of beef cattle Devil Anse Hatfield deserted the regular Virginia infantry in the Civil War The state constitution stated that Delegates of the House of Delegates served one-year terms Chester Hubbard became a member of the first West Virginia senate John Jay Jackson Sr supported the move for the creation of a separate state but opposed the abolition of slavery Mudwall Jackson led troops against Union Gen. Thomas Harris The presence of the B&O influenced the decision to include Jefferson County in the new state The state constitution adopted Virginia common law and statutes as the law of West Virginia Daniel Lamb was a member of the first West Virginia legislature West Virginia state government resumed the project for Weston Hospital The Marshall College property was sold at public auction to Salina Hite Mason The Methodist Church claimed the largest number of congregation in West Virginia Reported 250 newspapers had been established Editors changed their mastheads to reflect the name of the new state Hiram Clay first settled in what is know Pineville. Samuel Price was elected lieutenant governor of Confederate Virginia. The first period of Republican dominance began Mrs. Henry Woods wrote East Lynne The first free school opened in Ripley Lewis Ruffner was appointed a major general of militia for West Virginia Nathan Scott enlisted in the Union army in Ohio The Supreme Court of Appeals sat at Wheeling with three justices Thurmond's Rangers became 44th Virginia Cavalry Battalion Campbell Tarr became West Virginia's first state treasurer The repayment to the state of Virginia was included in the West Virginia constitution Legislature gave official sanction to teachers organization All turnpikes in West Virginia were turned over to the counties through which they ran The name was changed to West Virginia Hospital for the Insane Kellian Whaley was reelected to Congress from West Virginia Confederate forces reoccupied Lewisburg Waitman Willey began serving as U.S. Senator from West Virginia Wirt County was divided into 7 districts Fort Boreman was constructed in Wood County
1873
The C&O Railroad was completed opening the New River Gorge to the coal and timber industry Other events that happened on or around 1873 The Mountain Boy steamboat was destroyed by river ice at Cincinnati Joseph Beury shipped the first coal from the New River Coalfield The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway arrived on the south side of Kanawha River in Charleston Chesapeake & Ohio Railway arrived on south side of Kanawha River Charles B. Webb started the weekly Kanawha Chronicle C&O forced into default from national depression The legislative act to esbablish a "branch state normal school" in the Mercer County community of Concord was amended and stipulated that the school would be transferred to Princeton if arrangements for land and a building were not completed within one year William Dawson moved to Kingwood Marmaduke Dent received M.A. from WVU Three acres of property was donated to the state and ready for use in the fall by Glenville State College East Liverpool, Ohio, raised $5,000 for the Laughlins to start a pottery to make white ware The House of Delegates had 65 delegates Legislature exempted certain businesses from taxes because of the economic panic German Jews arrived in Charleston and formed a congregation Other mills were destroyed by floods on the Jug of the Middle Island Creek Kanawha Valley Bank was the only bank in Charleston to survive the financial panic The first West Virginia atlas appeared The eastern and western section of the C&O main line were joined near Hawks Nest A city waterworks was established in Martinsburg Natural gas was put in many of downtown buildings in Martinsburg The Martinsburg & Potomac railroad came to Martinsburg from Williamsport, MD Sandy Mason was born in Charleston The Pardee & Curtin Lumber Company was formed. Daniel Purinton received a B.A. degree from WVU An explosion caused the Ritchie Mines to be closed The C&O was completed at Thurmond William Thurmond was commissioned to survey land on the north side of New River Isaiah Welch came to McDowell County to evaluate natural resources Isaiah Welch surveyed the mineral reserves of the Pocahontas No. 3 coal seam The Woodburn Seminary at WVU burned The Western Maryland Railway extended to the C&O Canal Separate rooms for black patients were added at Weston State Hospital Archibald Campbell repurchased the Wheeling Intelligencer Lilly Freer died in Nicaragua Date of the first official burial at Spring Hill
1901
Branch of the C&O reached Beckley Other events that happened on or around 1901 Emma Alderson founded the Alderson Baptist Academy (now Alderson-Broaddus College) in Alderson Emma Alderson founded the Alderson Baptist Academy (now part of Alderson Broaddus University) in Alderson Charles Ambler went to school at WVU Morris Harvey donated $10,000 to Barboursville College, now University of Charleston Matthew Clair earned his PhD from Bennette College in Greensboro, NC Thomas G. McKell built the Dun Glen Hotel West Virginia oil production peaked at 16 million barrels Deadly explosion in Consolidation Coal Company's No. 9 occurred Aretas Fleming and Clarence W. Watson merged coal companies into the Fairmont Coal Company Legislature decreed state game and fish warden would be paid from state treasury and could appoint deputy wardens J. P. Morgan interests began construction on works in Gary The Little Kanawha Valley Bank was incorporated The Barboursville Seminary changed its name to Morris Harvey College, now University of Charleston Harold Houston began practicing law in Parkersburg The Cabell County Courthouse was dedicated The Home for the Incurables changed its name to West Virginia Asylum James Monroe Jackson died Teepi Kendrick married Olive Garrison A constitutional amendment required voter registration I. T. Mann visited financier J. P. Morgan in New York Mifflin Marsh died The United State Stamping Company began operations Alexander McVeigh Miller won a seat in the West Virginia Senate Morgantown annexed Greenmont, Seneca, and South Morgantown The N&W acquired the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Virginia Earl Oglebay sold his iron ore interests to U.S. Steel Earl Oglebay bought a mansion between Wheeling and Bethany, Waddington Farm George Peterkin helped erect a monument on Valley Mountain to memorialize the deaths of Confederate soldiers The Flat-top Coal Land Association was reorganized as the Pocahontas Coal & Coke Company Livia Poffenbarger established a local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Potomac State College was founded The West Virginia University band was founded by Walter Mestrezat. Daniel Purinton returned to WVU to become president. Richwood was incorporated Charles Ritter brought the offices of Tug River Lumber Company to Huntington William M. Ritter Lumber Company was incorporated Benjamin Rosenbloom played on the WVU football team The board of directed voted to establish a nursing school at Sheltering Arms Hospital The Pope Dock Company built New Grand Floating Palace The first local branch of West Virginia Socialist Party was established in Wheeling Samuel Starks was appointed as the first black in U.S. to serve as state librarian The Fairmont & Clarksburg Traction streetcar company began Another long distance telephone line was constructed through West Virginia The first coal in Upshur County was commercially mined Ward Engineering Works built the Unique for the U.S. Engineering Corp The Historical Society began publishing The West Virginia Historical Magazine Quarterly Albert Blakeslee White became governor Hurry-up Yost became coach at University of Michigan James E. Taylor died in New York City
1910
The C&O and Virginian railroads had penetrated every section of Raleigh County Other events that happened on or around 1910 Appalachian Power Company began Daniel Willard became president of B&O Mannington, Fairmont, Clarksburg, and Grafton baseball teams formed the Class D West Virginia League Charleston entered professional baseball Beckley population rose to 2,161 Bluefield's population exceeded 10,000 U.S. Supreme Court established boundary between Preston County, West Virginia and Garrett County, Maryland Pearl Buck returned to the U.S. after living in China Pine Run School was built Annie G. Packette raised $50,000 to construct Charleston Opera House Charleston Mail sold to Samuel Dixon Men including John W. Davis published the Culpeper Exponent U.S. Bureau of Mines created after the Fairmont disaster of 1907 West Virginia coke production peaked at 4,217,381 tons Justus Collins opened Winding Gulf mine Danske Dandridge wrote Historic Shepherdstown Levi Dean began practicing architecture in Charleston The first deer hunting season was established West Virginia's approximate deer population was 1,000 Thurmond accounted for almost 20% of all revenue generated on C&O Railway Isaac Morris sold Easton Roller Mill to William Ley West Virginia schools had fallen behind national averages West Virginia had only 12 fully accredited high schools The Department of Education increased to five divisions Golden era of glass production ended Aretas Fleming pushed to establish the U.S. Bureau of Mines A. B. Brooks compiled a report on West Virginia forests Thaddeus Fowler returned to West Virginia Number of farms in West Virginia stood at 97,000 Glass factory employment totaled 7,500 workers The Meadow River Lumber Company was organized in Rainelle The C&O purchased the Greenbrier Resort and developed it into a major destination Rimfire Hamrick opened a jewelry, watch repair, and gunsmith shop in Webster Springs The High Gate mansion was built for James Edwin Watson Census reported 5,939 Hungarians in West Virginia Census showed 17 Irish families and 82 person occupying Irish Mountain Reported 17,000 Italian immigrants in West Virginia McDowell County reported the most Italian immigrants in West Virginia with 2,300 City of Ranson was established Reported most of the Kelly Axe Company's grinders were natives of Poland or Russia Harley Kilgore graduated from Mannington High School Sarah Ann Legg appealed her case for murder of Jay Legg and was acquitted of all charges Lincoln County had a population of 20,491 Signs bearing "Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco, Treat yourself to the Best" began appearing Akro Agate was founded in Ohio Marlinton had a tannery, two banks, two newspapers, 20 stores, a hospital, opera house, fire department, school, water system, & electric power Marlinton Opera House was built by J. C. Tilton John Matheus graduated from Western Reserve University (Case Western Reserve) in Cleveland, Ohio The original sawmill of the Meadow River Lumber Company was built The McKendree and Welch hospitals opened affiliated nursing schools Morgantown population rose to 9,150 Howard Sloan organized the first enduring work of the Church of the Nazarene in West Virginia The New York Central gained control of the Toledo & Ohio Central Niagara Movement failed to meet The O. Ames company arrived in Parkersburg 37 of the state's 55 counties were completely dry or allowed the prohibition of the sale of liquor under local option laws. A factory making buttons from river mussel shell opened in St. Marys Nathan Scott lost the Republican nomination The Raine brothers established the Meadow River Lumber Company Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes ruled that the Swan lands had been forfeited to the state because taxes had not been paid Thurmond had a population of 315 The B&O railroad penetrated the Trough Tucker County population peaked at 18,675 U.S. Coal & Coke built 12 individual company towns at Gary The steamboat Virginia went aground on a falling Ohio River and ended up in a cornfield at Ravenswood The Meyercord-Carter Company reorganized as the Vitrolite Company The Greenbrier, Cheat & Elk Railroad was incorporated T. Edward Hill joined the McDowell Times Ohio Valley Glass became Paul Wissmach Glass Company
1943
Raleigh County experienced its peak output of coal production during World War II. Other events that happened on or around 1943 William "Wally" Barron enlisted in the U.S. Army Great Britain recognized black lung as compensatory injury Blakeley was purchased and rehabilitated by Raymond J. Funkhouser Florence Blanchfield succeeded Col. Julia Flikke as Colonel The legislature changed the name of Bluefield State Teachers College to Bluefield State College (now University) Work suspended on Bluestone Dam because of WWII Sawmill at Cass sold to Mower Lumber Company of Charleston James B. Griffin described the Clover Archiological Site in The Fort Ancient Aspect Name changed from Concord State Teachers College to Concord College Artemus "A.W." Cox began serving as president of the board of trustees of Morris Harvey College Fairmont State Teachers College became Fairmont State College Floodwall in Huntington was completed Construction of the Science Hall at Glenville State College was completed Legislature changed the name from Glenville State Teachers College to Glenville State College Alberta Pierson Hannum wrote The Mountain People James Lowell McPherson succeeded Roy Lee Harmon as poet laureate of West Virginia The Concord College He-Man Club did not meet during the war years Standard Oil combined its gas subsidiaries under Consolidated Natural Gas Jehovah's Witnesses won the U.S. Supreme Court decision in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette Johnnie Johnson entered the Marines as one of the first African-Americans admitted to the Corps Howard B. Lee retired from law practice Clara Johnson became the executive secretary of the Library Commission Jack Maurice served in the U.S. Navy Reserve Ken and Faith Reynolds McClain bought the Parsons Advocate Newspaper Frank McEnteer was made chief engineer of the construction division of the U.S. armed forces in the Middle East Clarence Meadows was elected to a full term as 10th Circuit judge Arch A. Moore Jr. served as an army infantryman Alex Schoenbaum settled in Charleston Legislature authorized a return to the name Shepherd College Joe Stydahar joined the navy Festus Summers became president of the West Virginia Historical Society Construction began on Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston Navy assigned the name Huntington to another cruiser Legislature changed the name of West Liberty State Teachers College to West Liberty State College Florence Blanchfield became superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps WSAZ radio affiliated with the Blue Network Frankie Yankovic enlisted in the Army Jonah Edward Kelley was drafted into the army View Articles by Existing Key Dates or Specify Your Own Date Range |
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