Arthur Ingraham Boreman

Southern Baptist Convention organized

Bruen land agents had sold a number of farm sites to northern settlers

Luke Jaco opened a tavern and stagecoach stop that was part of the Underground Railroad

Doddridge County was name in honor of Philip Doddridge

Reported three dozen primitive sawmills in present West Virginia

Town of Glenville was laid out

John Hale graduated from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Frank Herford graduated from McKendree College, Illinois

The Great Potato Famine in Ireland pushed many Irish into the area of Western Virginia

John Jay Jackson Jr. graduated from College of New Jersey (Princeton University)

The Reeves family moved to Philippi

William McCoy built a new mill on site of the old mill

Thomas Gaylord McKell was born

The Moorefield Examiner was established

Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) died

Lynnside Manor was built

The middle section of Staunton Turnpike was completed to Weston

George Summers left the House of Representatives

William Thurmond moved to Fayette County

The Funkhouser house was built

Gordon Battelle was appointed as the presiding elder of Clarksburg District of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Bethany College forced to dismiss several abolitionists after political discussions were banned

Archibald Campbell graduated from Hamilton College Law School in New York

Craig-Patton House became property of Col. George Smith Patton

Rector College in Western Virginia was destroyed by fire

Rifled muskets were being built at the Harpers Ferry Armory

Maurice Sullivan purchased land from John Gwinn on Irish Mountain

Weston's first school was built

Eight locks and dams were built on the Coal River

William Rosecrans began working as superintendent of a cannel coal company in Kanawha County

Samuel Tanner's log cabin was torn down in Spencer, Roane County

Ralph Swinburn purchased land near Ruth

Ammi B. Young designed the Wheeling Custom House.

Commonwealth of Virginia seceded from the Union; the Virginia secession convention votes to take Virginia out of the Union

George Imboden enlisted in the Confederate army

Virginia Convention delegates voted 85 to 55 in favor of secession.

Virginia Secession Convention voted 88-55 to submit an Ordinance of Secession to the state’s voters

Virginia passed an Ordinance of Secession

Vote in federally controlled areas to decide to create new state

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

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

Federal troops occupied Raleigh County.

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

Elections in Berkeley and Jefferson counties endorsed joining West Virginia

Wheeling first became the state capital

First West Virginia capitol in Linsly Institute building

Fort Logan changed name to Fort Boreman

Granville Davisson Hall was elected the first clerk of the House of Delegates

West Virginia entered the Union as the 35th state

The First West Virginia legislature met in Wheeling

Legislature made plans to establish a federal land grant college under terms of Morrill Act in Monongalia County

West Virginia became a state

Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan removed Averell from command for performance during Shenandoah Valley Campaign

Old Virginia banks transformed into national banks under federal banking legislation

First National Bank of Parkersburg became first national bank in West Virginia

Union troops burned down the resort buildings at Blue Sulphur Springs

Alexander Boteler's house burned on orders of Union Gen. David Hunter

Belle Boyd married Samuel Wylde Hardinge Jr.

Nathan Brackett graduated from Dartmouth College

Battle of Summit Point

Battle of Charles Town

John Dickinson was captured and kept prisoner at Fort Delaware

Joseph Diss Debar began serving in the legislature from Doddridge County

Joseph Diss Debar was named the first West Virginia commissioner of immigration

Construction of the Easton Roller Mill began

Allegheny College was burned by Union troops

William Ryland White was named first state superintendent of free schools

Stephen Elkins was admitted to the Missouri bar

Fort Moore was built for Capt. W. T. Wiant's home guards

Natural gas was used to produce carbon black for printing ink

John Imboden contracted typhoid fever and was relieved of command

Jacob Jackson returned to Parkersburg

Mudwall Jackson was promoted to brigadier general to command the forces at the Battle of Droop Mountain

The Logan Wildcats were active in the Shenandoah Valley campaign

The Richardson's map was the first map of the new state of West Virginia

The Morgantown Weekly Post was established by Henry M. Morgan and Nimrod Nelson Hoffman

Governor Boreman ordered convicted felons in West Virginia be imprisoned in the Ohio County Jail

Bazel Childers developed a system for fracturing the oil bearing rock to increase production.

Henry Ragland was captured by Union troops near Lurray, Virginia.

The first newspaper in Ripley, the Jackson Democrat was established

Volcano became an oil boom town

The Volcanic Oil & Gas Company was formed

Kellian Whaley was a delegate to the Republican National Convention

Laura Jackson Arnold wrote to Abraham Lincoln strongly expressing her support of the Union

Martin Delany was commissioned as major in the U.S. Colored Troops

Capt. John Y. Beall was convicted and executed as a spy on Governor's Island, NY

Daniel Duane Tompkins Farnsworth became the 2nd governor of West Virginia after resignation of Governor Boreman

Legislature approved a bill to move the seat of government to Charleston

Railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington located the western terminus of Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad in present Huntington

Cheat River declared a public highway

Claymont Court mansion (Jefferson County) was advertised for sale by Bushrod Corbin Washington's grandson

Henry Gassaway Davis helped lead the Democrats in for their control over the state

Marmaduke Dent received B.A from WVU

Joseph Diss Debar produced The West Virginia Hand-Book and Immigrant's Guide

Alexander Donaghho came to Parkersburg

Fayetteville population jumped to 6,647

Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler began his map-making trips

Camp Straton United Confederate Veterans began controlling Logan County polices

German immigration increased during the Franco-Prussian War

John Hale started the first steam ferry at Charleston

John Hale was a leader in having the state capital moved to Charleston

Literary Hall was built in Romney

The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind was established in Romney

John Henry began working as a steel driver during the construction of the Big Bend (Great Bend) Tunnel

The state was reported to have 2,270 schools

Investment in manufacturing began increasing

Immigrants from Switzerland settled in the area of Holly River

George Imboden moved to Fayette County

Jacob Jackson became Wood County's prosecuting attorney

A proposed waterway between Tidewater Virginia and Rocky Mountains was proposed to Congress by Waitman T. Willey

The capital was moved from Wheeling to Charleston

Henry Clay Dickinson became president of Kanawha Valley Bank

James Kay arrived in Charleston

John Kenna was admitted to the bar

Crosscut saws replaced the ax as the preferred tool for felling trees

Marshall College added a new brick addition at the west end of the existing building

John Nuttall bought coal lands on New River

The Flick Amendment was introduced

Petersburg became the county seat of Grant County

Henry Ragland moved to Wayne County.

Alexander Reynolds began serving in Egypt

Literary Hall was built by the Literary Society in Romney

Cecil Clay of Philadelphia began timber purchases in Greenbrier Valley

William Stevenson was defeated for second term as governor

There were 178 tanneries in West Virginia

The Daily Sentinel became the Taylor County newspaper

The town of Volcano was founded

Wayne County population was at 7,852

WesBanco was founded as German Bank

Legislature voted for additional buildings at Weston State Hospital

The Potomac River flooded

The Shenandoah River flooded

B&O operated 1,700 miles of railroad

Joseph Beury and others opened Mill Creek Coal & Coke, first mine in Mercer County

Belle Boyd divorced Swainston

W.E.R. Byrne was admitted to the bar

The Kanawha & Michigan Railway was completed on north side of Kanawha River in Charleston

Moses W. Donnally bought the Chronicle

Charleston National Bank founded as a national bank

Sydenham Herford died

William and Tom Anderson stopped running the Easton Roller Mill

William Edwards published another volume in his three-volume work on butterflies, The Butterflies of North America

Stephen Elkins was elected executive chairman of the National Republican Committee

Glenville High School moved into a house

The Hampshire Review was started by C.F. Poland

The American Ancient Order of Hibernians had groups in Rowlesburg, Clarksburg, Parkersburg, Coal Valley and Charleston

The Quinnimont iron furnace was closed

Other mills were destroyed by floods on the Jug of the Middle Island Creek

James Kay returned to West Virginia

The Lincoln County Feud began when Paris Brumfield killed Boney Lucas

The first multistate gazetteer including West Virginia, Maryland and Delaware appeared

Hu Maxwell wrote a history of Tucker County

Mennonites erected their first meetinghouse in West Virginia in Pendleton County

James Miller left as superintendent of Summers County schools

James Miller became Summer County prosecuting attorney

C. F. Millspaugh published the first section of American Medicinal Plants

New Cumberland became the permanent county seat of Hancock County

Earl Oglebay started working in a Cleveland iron ore firm

Large flood occurred on the Ohio

Democrat Emanuel Willis Wilson mounted a populist campaign that challenged monopolies and railroads

Samuel and Violet Bryant came to America from England

The Ohio River Railway was built through Sistersville

The first golf club in America was organized at Oakhurst at White Sulphur Springs

Telephone switchboards were installed at Huntington

Telephone switchboards were installed at Moundsville

The West Virginia Central & Pittsburg was extended to Tucker County

The Ohio River Railroad reached Vienna

The first West Virginia Historical Society ceased

I.C. White began working for the U.S. Geological Survey

Emanuel Willis Wilson succeeded into the governorship

The Ohio River Railroad was completed

The Ohio River flooded at Wheeling

Waitman Barbe wrote "The Song of the Centuries," his first important poem

Bramwell was incorporated as a town

Sheltering Arms Hospital opened

Kanawha Gazette began regular daily publication

Danske Dandridge wrote Joy and Other Poems

Henry Gassaway Davis supported Benjamin Harrison for president

Fayette County became West Virginia leading coal producing county

Salem College was founded

Devil Anse Hatfield moved his family from Tug Valley to Main Island Creek

Hamilton Hatter received a bachelor's degree from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine

Frank Hereford served as presidential elector

The town of Hurricane was incorporated

John Jacob left circuit judge to return to practicing law

Harriet Jones became assistant superintendent of the state hospital in Weston

Kanawha County became the state's second largest coal producer

The Logan Banner was founded by Henry Clay Ragland

Roger Saad became the first Lebanese immigrant to settle in Wheeling

The Martinsburg & Potomac railroad was extended to Frederick County, Virginia

The Kanawha & Ohio Railway completed a line from Charleston to Point Pleasant

The Elkhorn Tunnel through Flat Top Mountain was completed

Oakhurst Links was the home of the first regularly played golf tournament in the U.S.

The Fetterman Mill was destroyed by a flood.

Christopher Payne became first African American elected to represent West Virginia at the Republican national convention.

Graham Hamrick preserved two female corpses as Phillipi mummies

Livia Poffenbarger demanded the right to speak in support of a candidate at the state Democratic convention.

Electricity generate from natural gas brought streetlights to Parkersburg

Nathan Scott became a member of the Republican National Committee

Senate president Robert Carr tried to assert the right to become governor after a disputed election

Thomas J. Reynolds was born at Point Pleasant

Callie Leach French became the first woman to obtain a pilot's license

The Monongahela River flooded

William Luke founded the Piedmont Pulp & Paper Company, later Westvaco

H. C. Ogden came to Wheeling as a reporter for the Wheeling News

H.C. Ogden came to Wheeling as a reporter for the News

Albert White served as president of the National Editorial Association

Mountain State Business College was established

William H. Davis was nominated as an independent candidate for governor