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Rat Rodgers
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May 26, 1895
Ira Errett "Rat" Rodgers was born in Bethany
1911
Rat Rodgers started at Bethany College Other events that happened on or around 1911 Bill to create the Department of Agriculture and Commissioner of Agriculture was passed Alderson Academy's name was changed to Alderson Baptist Academy (now part of Alderson Broaddus University) Walter Barnes received an M.A. from Harvard Van Bittner joined the UMWA The Board of Control was given responsibility to manage the state tuberculosis sanitarium at Terra Alta and the West Virginia Colored Orphans Home in Huntington A. B. Brooks wrote Forestry and Wood Industries Fire destroyed the Mountain House 155,092 pounds of chestnuts shipped from one railroad station in West Virginia William Edwin Chilton was elected U.S. senator by state legislature Goff Building was finished in Clarksburg Danske Dandridge wrote American Prisoners of the Revolution The elective Office of Agriculture Commissioner was created Population of postal communities on Flat Top Mountain was 300 Reported 83 band mills and 900 circular mills in operation Thaddeus Fowler returned to West Virginia Berkeley Glass Sand Company was incorporated Benjamin Franklin Gravely began designing a power-driven plow After changing to Lewisburg Female Institute the name changed to Lewisburg Seminary (later Greenbrier College for Women) The citizens of Guyandotte voted to become part of Huntington A new courthouse in Hamlin was constructed The Anti-Tuberculosis League of West Virginia lobbied a bill through legislature to build a sanitarium Charles Laws graduated from Leonard Medical College in North Carolina Governor Glasscock gave Joseph Long the title colonel Minnie Lowther published The History of Ritchie County The earliest known road map of West Virginia was produced by a state agency The Marlinton Opera House began use Frank McEnteer moved to Clarksburg Rufus G. Meador constructed a hotel at Mercer Healing Springs Explosion at No. 20 Mine in Elk Garden killed 23 miners Congress enacted the Weeks law which authorized the federal government to cooperate with the various states to purchase land for the protection of the watersheds of navigable streams The name of the Morgantown newspaper was changed to Weekly New Dominion The Blue Creek oil field was discovered along the Elk River Matthew M. Neely was elected clerk of the House of Delegates Paden City Pottery was established Pre-engineering and agriculture programs were added at West Virginia Preparatory School (now Potomac State) The legislature approved the submission of another prohibition amendment to the people The Story of a Song: What It Means to Belong to the King was published. A streetcar line extension from Charleston to St. Albans was established A deadlock occurred in the senate when members had to chose the U.S. Senators The Seneca Glass Company opened a second factory in Star City The Pythians erected an obelisk at Samuel W. Starks's grave in Spring Hill Cemetery Clarence W. Watson began serving in the U.S. Senate Fairview changed its name to Wayne The West Virginia Press Association became inactive Wings were added to Woodburn Hall at WVU Westover was incorporated Widen was built as a coal company town Willard Hotel was built in Grafton Vernon Johnson began serving in the House of Delegates
1915
Rat Rodgers lettered in football Other events that happened on or around 1915 Harry Stansbury contacted high schools across the state to participate The Belle Alkali Company started a plant near Belle The Warner-Klipstein Chemical Company started A Clarksburg newspaper became the Exponent-American First land for the Monongahela National Forest acquired Legislation gave authority to Forest, Game and Fish Warden to establish refuges for protection of wild game and birds Reinforced concrete began with C.A.P Turner Monument erected at Fort Lee site to mark the beginnings of Charleston Fostoria Glass's popular "American" pattern was fist designed and patented West Virginia Bureau of Mines reported 1,479 hand-loading miners employed at Gary The Mother's Pension Law was enacted The Board of Health was replaced by the Department of Health Local timbering brought a narrow-gauge railroad to Helvetia The word "hillbilly" appeared in the title of a Harper's Monthly travel article, "Hobnobbing with Hillbillies" A 5-acre tract of land at Jackson's Mill was purchased by the Monongahela Power Company William "Keg" Purnell was born in Charleston Ann Baker was born Mother Jones testified before another congressional committee The New River & Pocahontas Consolidated Coal Company operated a series of drift mines at Layland, Fayette County Legislature passed bill to empower cities and towns to levy taxes for public libraries and reading rooms A monument to General Joseph Lightburn was placed at Vicksburg National Battlefield Park The Marcus family relocated to Farmington Marietta Manufacturing Company began operation in Point Pleasant The Concrete Steel Bridge Company built the Alderson bridge across the Greenbrier River Legislation called for provision for preventing underground mine fires and requiring foremen and fire bosses to pass state examination and receive state certification Margaret Montague published Closed Doors Ephraim Morgan was appointed to the Public Service Commission by Governor Hatfield Descendents of Hunter John Myers left the Sleepy Creek Mountain area A member of the Church of Nazarene moved to Mannington and started a church in his house Greasy Neale graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College Greasy Neale played with the Canton (Ohio) Bulldogs Herschel C. Ogden became the owner of the Parkersburg News The legislature removed Workmen's Compensation from the Public Service Commision Dr. Burke offered the state of West Virginia property for use as a tuberculosis sanatorium Frederick Rhead received a gold medal at the San Diego Exposition for his design of mirror black pottery glaze Benjamin Rosenbloom served as state senator from Wheeling The state legislature passed a primary law that made it difficult for third parties to be on the ballot The West Virginia legislature first imposed the corporate excise tax Charles Ward died H. Rus Warne designed the West Virginia Building at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco H. Rus Warne designed a Masonic Temple Building Walter B "Watt" Powell moved to Charleston The West Virginia Coal Association was formed Legislation changed the name of West Virginia Colored Institute to West Virginia Collegiate Institute (now West Virginia State university) State women's suffrage amendment was reintroduced Carter G. Woodson published The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861 Lenna Yost became the state legislative chair of the West Virginia Federation of Women's Clubs Thomas Davis resigned from National Guard Vernon Johnson was elected the youngest Speaker of the House of Delegates
1916
Rat Rodgers was named to the All-American teams Other events that happened on or around 1916 Kanawha Park was built in Charleston for baseball Kanawha Park was built for baseball Beckley street paving began Newton Diehl Baker was appointed Secretary of War by President Wilson John T. Harris produced the first volume of the West Virginia Blue Book Izetta Brown took over management of Preston County farm and established modern dairy operation after husband's death Elk River Coal & Lumber Company built a sawmill at Swandale Col. E. G. Via bought the Camden Park George Carter moved to Coalwood The first fire towers were erected Fairmont High School class wrote Marion County in the Making Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company located one of its main plants in Clarksburg Letter from former Governor MacCorkle to state archivist Henry S. Green confuses John Hardy with John Henry The West Virginia Asylum name changed to Huntington State Hospital The company town of Itmann was built Fanny Johnson published her only novel, The Beloved Son Libbey-Owens-Ford built its large plate glass plant in Kanawha City Herman Kump was defeated for prosecuting attorney Blanche Lazzell began working in the method of single block color print Howard B. Lee began serving as Mercer County prosecuting attorney William Alexander MacCorkle wrote The White Sulphur Springs Joseph Long became the postmaster of Huntington Sam Mallison became city editor of the Clarksburg Telegram Publication of the Market Bulletin began when James H. Stewart was agriculture commissioner The Tilton family regained ownership of the Marlinton Opera House John McGraw was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention Six passenger trains a day operated from Charleston to Blakeley on Kellys Creek 12 passenger trains a day were scheduled into Charleston The Point Pleasant Register became a daily Michael Owens launched a Charleston glass factory Paden City was incorporated Pendleton Land Company took over Paden City Pottery The Wyoming County courthouse was built Socialists controlled both District 29 and District 17 of the UMWA The Charleston Interurban Railroad was built to Cabin Creek The earliest recorded instance of surface mining in West Virginia occurred The Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company of West Virginia was incorporated The USS Huntington was on the West Coast The National Guard was activated after a call for troops to pursue Pancho Villa on the Mexican border The National Guard was activated in call for troops to pursue Pancho Villa on the Mexican border Statewide constitutional referendum for women's suffrage passed Carter G. Woodson began publication of the Journal of Negro History A courthouse at Pineville was built Frank Reeves received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University
1917
Rat Rodgers was named to the All-American teams Other events that happened on or around 1917 Charles Ambler's last year teaching history and political science at Randolph-Macon College Hotel built by Harvey Ghiz in Logan West Virginia Folklore Society became inactive Louis Bennett Jr. graduated from Yale First book of poetry, Green Fruit,was published by John Bishop Florence Blanchfield enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps Pearl Sydenstricker married John Lossing Buck Louis Watson Chappell received his B.A. from Wake Forest William Edwin Chilton completed his term as U.S. Senate and became publisher U.S. government hired DuPont Company to build new nitrocellulose plant 89.4 million tons of coal produced in West Virginia The Shenandoah (George Washington) National Forest was created U.S. Supreme Court supported Alston Dayton's "yellow dog" contracts ruling Legislature established the West Virginia State Colored Tuberculosis Sanitarium Diamond Shoe and Garment Co. received full department store status Natural gas peaked at 309 billion cubic feet Marion County in the Making was published Study of German in schools dropped due to the entrance of America in WWI Henry Hatfield entered the army medical corps as Captain West Virginia launched a series of highway improvements with creation of the State Road Commission The State Road Bureau was replaced by the State Road Commission The U.S. Supreme Court sustained the lower court ruling prohibiting UMWA from seeking to influence workers from breaking yellowdog contracts The House of Delegates grew to 94 delegates Itmann began mining the Pocahontas No. 3 coal seam in Wyoming County Billy Moore was born in Parkersburg Fanny Johnson and Vincent Costello moved back to Charleston Fanny Johnson's story "The Strange Looking Man" was included in a best short stories collection Mother Jones returned to West Virginia to hold meetings and seek union recognition in the Fairmont and Winding Gulf coalfield Frank Keeney became president of UMWA District 17 Harley Kilgore was commissioned a second lieutenant The town of Nitro was established by the U.S. War Department for the manufacture of munitions for WWI Fred Mooney became secretary-treasurer of UMWA District 17 Regents began to abolish high school courses in normal schools The U.S. government acquired the majority of land on Otter Creek for Monongahela National Forest The Owens Bottle Company opened a plant in the upper end of Kanawha City William Nelson Page moved to Washington. Pruntytown Correctional Center, near Grafton, offered eight years of education, providing a full grade-school education Denmar Sanitarium for black tuberculosis patients was established in Pocahontas County. The Division of Vital Statistics was established by the West Virginia Legislature. Short lines, including the Coal & Coke Railway, became part of the B&O. The Reymann Memorial Farm was donated to WVU as two separate farms Samuel Craig Shaw became editor of the Moundsville Daily Echo Capt. Thomas J. Reynolds built his first real showboat and named it America Five companies merged to form the Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation The USS Huntington was equipped for early experiments in naval aviation Commercial mining had started in Webster County The Montgomery Preparatory School was renamed the West Virginia Trades School (now WVU Institute of Technology) Lenna Yost became the president of the West Virginia Equal Suffrage Association Mordecai Johnson became pastor of Charleston’s First Baptist Church
1919
Rat Rodgers was named to the All-American teams Other events that happened on or around 1919 There were 33 churches belonging to the African Methodist Episcopal denomination with 1,325 members The position of State Supervisor of Negro Schools and an appointed Negro Board of Education were created by the state White mob lynched two black miners at Chapmanville Alderson Baptist Academy became Alderson Baptist Academy and Junior College (now part of Alderson Broaddus University) Mary Atkeson competed a PhD in Literature at Ohio State University George Atkinson wrote Bench and Bar of West Virginia First state tournament for girls' high school basketball was held at Spencer John Peale Bishop was hired at Vanity Fair magazine after being stationed in Europe Bethlehem Steel Corporation acquired the Bretz property Don Chafin was shot when entering UMWA District 17 offices American chestnut trees provided West Virginia with 118 million board feet of lumber The normal school at Athens became independent as Concord State Normal School (now Concord University) National coal and steel strikes Governor John Cornwell supported the Red Flag legislation and Constabulary legislation in creating the State Police John Warren Davis became president of West Virginia Collegiate Institute (now West Virginia State University) Clarence Donnelly began his ministry Dunbar was laid out by Dunbar Development Company Legislature abolished first board and created a seven-member Board of Education Gertrude Humphrey began work in WVU extension system West Virginia enacted legislation that made it unlawful for livestock to be on the railroad right of way Harrison Ferrell was stricken with polio Nathan Goff married Katherine Penney The West Virginia Good Roads Federation campaigned for amendment to make road improvements under slogan "Help Pull West Virginia Out of the Mud" Greenwood Cemetery, on the National Road in Wheeling, became a nonprofit corporation Mayor C. C. Testerman named Sid Hatfield Matewan's police chief The Board of Children's Guardians was established Dave Gideon became the sole owner of the Huntington Herald-Dispatch The UMWA began efforts to unionize the mines of southern West Virginia The problem of sharing Virginia's debt was finally settled A large stone monument was erected at Jackson's Mill in the memory of Stonewall Jackson Mother Jones joined the steelworkers' organizing drive in Pittsburgh Joseph Joy won a patent for his design of a mechanical coal loader Frank Keeney announced his intention to unionize the remainder of southern West Virginia coal mines Teepi Kendrick helped found the West Virginia 4-H All Stars Lakin State hospital was established by an act of the Legislature Walter Martens began working for architect L. F. W. Stuebe of Danville Louis Marx established Louis Marx & Company Legislature provided for the establishment of mine rescue station to train personnel in rescue and first-aid work Margaret Montague's story "England to America" won the O. Henry Award Ephraim Morgan ran for governor Howard Sloan organized a congregation in Grafton Greasy Neale played in the World Series for the Cincinnati Reds The Nuttallburg mine was sold to Henry Ford The Owens Bottle Machine Company changed to the Owens Bottle Company Mateo Pinkard wrote his first hit, "Mammy 'o Mine" after moving to New York. 125 acres of land was purchased for the operation of the agriculture program. A poultry extension program was started in West Virginia The state received a federal grant for the control of venereal disease. The West Virginia Department of Prohibition began William Revercomb earned a law degree from the University of Virginia Red Ribble moved to Prince Rat Rodgers was the leading scorer in the nation St. Mary's Glass opened S. Orestes Bond became president of Salem College Thomas C. Miller was designated president instead of principal of Shepherd College The Twin Mountain & Potomac railroad line ended WVU's football team amassed an 8-3 record Weirton Steel added a blast furnace Weirton Steel employees jumped to 11,630 Clint Thomas returned to Columbus after army service W. W. Trent became secretary of the West Virginia Education Association Tucker County's school enrollment peaked at 4,144 students Attempts to unionize southern West Virginia occurred West Virginia legislature created a Virginia Debt Sinking Fund to settle the Virginia Debt Byrd Prillerman left as president of West Virginia Colored Institute (now West Virginia State University) I. C. White received an honorary law degree from WVU Carter G. Woodson began Associated Publishers Company Carter G. Woodson began serving as Dean of Liberal Arts at Howard University West Virginians participated in the Russian Expedition, a military fiasco C. H. Mead completed the first commercial gas well in Wyoming County Lenna Yost became the Washington correspondent for the National WCTU's Union Signal West Virginia held a state basketball tournament for girls for the first time T. G. Nutter became the first African-American to represent Kanawha County in the House of Delegates
1953
Rat Rodgers was admitted to the College Football Hall of Fame Other events that happened on or around 1953 Southern tract of present Calvin W. Price State Forest was sold to the state by New River Company Carr China Company went out of business Statewide circulation of the Charleston Gazette peaked at 86,000 Consolidated Bus Lines employed 337 individuals and operated 100 buses Phoebia Moore died Phyllis Curtin made her debut with New York City Opera John Warren Davis retired as president of West Virginia State Julius DeGruyter wrote The Kanawha Spectator: History of the Kanawha Valley The Dunbar-South Charleston Bridge opened as a toll bridge Gunner Gatski earned All-Pro honors in football Perry Gresham became president of Bethany College Perry Gresham wrote Disciples of the High Calling John Ailes became editor of the Hampshire Review, Hampshire County Hardy County Heritage Weekend began at Mill Island Another 400 acres was added for the Harpers Ferry National Monument Ken Hechler became the associate director of the American Political Science Association Jean Lee Latham wrote The Story of Eli Whitney The Library Commission moved to Charleston from Morgantown The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers left West Virginia A fire damaged the Martinsburg Journal building "Speedy" Estep was killed racing a stock car in Columbus, Ohio Davis Grubb wrote Night of the Hunter A trail at the WVU Arboretum was named in honor of Lawrence Nuttall Eldora Nuzum joined the Elkins Inter-Mountain The West Virginia State Poultry Association annual meeting moved to Moorefield Distribution of Salk polio vaccine Chuck Ripper moved to Huntington as art director for the Standard Printing & Publishing Co. Eleanor Roosevelt stopped serving as U.S. representative to the United Nations Alex Schoenbaum's restaurant chain was named Shoney's WVU played in the Sugar Bowl West Virginia became one of the first sates to finance development of park facilities by selling bonds WKNA TV when on air in Charleston as channel 49 The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Kanawha Valley was established Oscar Nelson died The initial accreditation attempt for Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston) failed The Baptist State Convention began to meet at Hilltop William J. Wallace became president of West Virginia State College Enrollment at West Virginia State College was at 837 students WJLS-FM Beckley became WBKW-FM William B. Axtell became president of West Virginia Institute of Technology Katherine Johnson began working with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics as a “computer” doing complex analysis and calculations Toni Stone joined the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League View Articles by Existing Key Dates or Specify Your Own Date Range |
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