Republican Party

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.

Beckley was bombarded by federal artillery.

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

Peter Cline Buffington was elected Huntington's first mayor

Edward Jefferson Willis founded the Winchester Female Institute in Winchester

B&O lines reached Columbus, Lake Erie and Pittsburgh

Commencement Hall added as a wing to Old Main at Bethany

Democrats gained control of West Virginia's government

Jefferson County seat moved back to Charles Town after being in Shepherdstown

The Jefferson County seat moved back to Charles Town after temporarily being relocated to Shepherdstown

Waitman Willey's service in the U.S. Senate ended

Voters approved both a constitutional amendment eliminating the loyalty requirement for voting and a call for a new constitutional convention

Joseph Diss Debar ended his work of recruiting labor and landowners from abroad

Hyre D. Clark of Buckhannon was the first graduate of Fairmont State

John P. Hale became mayor of Charleston

Morris Harvey married Rosaltha Dickinson

The Independent was moved from Winfield to Huntington by O.G. Chase

Frank Hereford began the first of three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives

Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad purchased the land on which Hinton was built

The Flick Amendment was passed which ended political restriction on ex-Confederates in West Virginia

Jedediah Hotchkiss explored the extended Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad

Huntington was founded by Collis P. Huntington

John J. Allen died

James Madison Jackson died

John Jay Jackson Sr. served as a member of the commission to ascertain West Virginia's share of the Virginia debt

The Great Fire in Chicago burned up Mother Jones' dressmaking business and her possessions

The KKK virtually disappeared in West Virginia after voting privileges were restored to former Confederates

Daniel Lamb unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate

Mannington was chartered as a town by the legislature

The federal government conducted a survey of the river

Thomas Anshutz painted Steamboat on the Ohio

B&O Railroad only hauled four percent of Tidewater-bound soft coal

Elk River Coal & Lumber Company began buying land in West Virginia

George Sturdevant and John W. Johnson purchased the factory at Brush Creek Falls in Mercer County

Michael Benedum married Sarah Lantz

"Athens" name of new post office and village

William Coley founded the Parsons Advocate newspaper

John William Davis began teaching law at Washington & Lee

Democrats slipped into minority status in West Virginia

According to legend, underground Elk (River) was formed when a hole opened in the stream bed and simply swallowed the river

Thaddeus Fowler first visited West Virginia

Edward Bates Franzheim designed the Vance Memorial Presbyterian Church in Wheeling

The Trinity United Methodist Church was organized in Glenville

Grantsville was incorporated

The H.K. Bedford began Pittsburgh-Charleston service

William Jennings Bryan was defeated as free silver presidential candidate

Hamilton Hatter became the first principal of Bluefield Colored Institute (Bluefield State College)

Homer Laughlin incorporated as Homer Laughlin and Company

The original Seneca Glass Company building was built

William Leigh painted his portrait of Sophie H. Colston

The Moundsville Daily Echo became a daily publication

Louis Marx was born

John McGraw first served as a member of the Democratic National Committee

James Miller served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention

The Seneca Glass Company moved from Ohio to Morgantown

The South Branch Intelligencer merged with the Hampshire Review

Lawrence Nuttall and C. F. Millspaugh published Flora of West Virginia

Melville Davisson Post's short story collection The Strange Schemes of Randolph Mason made him immensely popular.

Telephone switchboards were installed at Morgantown

The Webster Springs Hotel was built

Agnes Westbrook Morrison was admitted to the bar

WVU hires its first full-time coach

Matthew Whittico graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania

Matewan challenged Williamson as county seat of Mingo County

Carter Woodson graduated from Douglass High School

Hurry-up Yost played tackle on the WVU football team

The Shenandoah River flooded

Howard Sutherland defeated William Chilton for the U.S. Senate

Howard Sutherland was West Virginia's first popularly elected U.S. senator

John Cornwell was elected governor

William Edwin Chilton lost election to Howard Sutherland

The Tax Limitation Amendment was passed by voters

Edgar B. Sims of Harrison County was elected state auditor

Richard E. Talbott was elected state treasurer

Rimfire Hamrick ran unsuccessfully for legislature as Republican

Homer Holt was elected state attorney general

John Kee was first elected to Congress

Harley Kilgore was elected judge of the Criminal Court for Raleigh County

Herman Kump successfully ran for governor

Jennings Randolph ran for Congress again and defeated Bowman

T. C. Townsend ran unsuccessfully for governor

Richard Talbott was elected state treasurer

Robert C. Byrd was reelected to the U.S. House of Representatives

Elizabeth Hallanan was elected to the House of Delegates

Arch A. Moore Jr. was elected to Congress

West Virginia voted Republican in presidential elections

C. Donald Robertson was elected to the House of Delegates from Harrison County

Milton Ferguson ran unsuccessfully for governor

West Virginians ratified the Modern Budget Amendment to the state constitution

Republican Arch A. Moore Jr. was elected state's 28th governor.

Richard Nixon was elected president

Jim Sprouse ran unsuccessfully for governor

Chauncey H. Browning 's son, Chauncey H. Browning Jr., was elected state attorney general

Jay Rockefeller was elected Secretary of State

Charles Haden was elected State Supreme Court Justice

Voters approved Better Highways Amendment

West Virginia voted Republican in presidential elections

Jim Sprouse was elected to the state Supreme Court of Appeals

Arch A. Moore Jr. became the first governor to succeed himself under the Governor's Succession Amendment

Arch A. Moore Jr. elected for a third term as governor

Ken Hechler was elected West Virginia secretary of state

Jay Rockefeller was elected to the U.S. Senate

Alan Mollohan beat Jim Altmeer to remain in the House of Representatives

Voters approve the state lottery amendment

A. James Manchin ran for state treasurer

John Raese lost to Jay Rockefeller in his bid for the US Senate.

Jefferson County voters approve video lottery

Ken Hechler was reelected as West Virginia's secretary of state

Jay Rockefeller was reelected to the U.S. Senate

Darrell McGraw was reelected state attorney general

Charlotte Pritt ran against Republican Cecil Underwood for governor of West Virginia and lost

Franklin D. Cleckley left the Supreme Court

Robin Davis elected to the Supreme Court

John Perdue first elected state treasurer

Simon McClure ran as the Libertarian candidate for governor

Joe Manchin was elected governor

Darrell McGraw was reelected state attorney general

Brent Benjamin was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals

Shelley Moore Capito was reelected to Congress

Betty Ireland became the first woman ever elected as secretary of state and the first woman elected to the executive branch of government

Benjamin defeated Warren McGraw for Supreme Court seat

Gus R. Douglass was reelected to a four-year term as commissioner of agriculture

Natalie Tennant was elected secretary of state

Margaret Workman was elected to the court for another term

Joe Manchin was reelected governor

Menis Ketchum elected to Supreme Court of Appeals

Natalie Tennant elected Secretary of State.