George W. Imboden

Old Main campus construction began at Bethany College

The Blue Sulphur Springs resort property was sold to the Western Virginia Baptist Association

John Brown met in Chatham, Ontario, with supporters to plan for armed insurrection of slaves

Martin Delany aided John Brown in convening the Chatham Convention

Henry Gassaway Davis left the B&O

Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College

Weston College was chartered

Marshall College was established from Marshall Academy

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

Margery Lewis Kenna moved her family to Missouri after the shooting of her husband

General Assembly amended the act of incorporation

Presbyterians established the Woodburn Female Seminary in Morgantown

Z. D. Ramsdell relocated to Ceredo.

The second courthouse at Ripley was built

Robert Simmons had fathered nine children

Spencer was chartered

The Weston & Gauley Bridge Turnpike opened

McDowell County seat was at Perryville

Weston was chosen for the site of Virginia's third mental hospital

Construction began on Weston State Hospital

The African Methodist Episcopal Church aided slaves in Western Virginia after John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry

Gordon Battelle moved to a church in Wheeling

Charles James Faulkner Sr. was appointed minister to France by President Buchanan

Alexander Boteler was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Whig

Boyds moved to 500 block of South Queen Street, Martinsburg

Meshach Browning died

First oil-producing well drilled in Pennsylvania

Construction of stone-filled timber crib dams and timber-crib locks were completed on the Coal River

Claude Crozet became principal of Richmond Academy

Henry Koontz bought a 600-acre farm in Easton, near Morgantown

Weston College was sold at public auction

Granville Davisson Hall moved to Wheeling

Morris Harvey began his service as Fayette County sheriff

Martin Robison Delany and 34 others met with John Brown in Canada to develop a provisional constitution for the liberated slaves

Mother Jones began teaching in a convent school in Michigan

George Latham was admitted to the bar

Construction of Weston Hospital began

A library company in Wheeling was chartered by Virginia

Linsly Institute built a new three-story building

Martin Delany wrote Blake: or, The Huts of America

Daniel Lucas was admitted to the practice of law

Michael J. Owens was born

The Weston & Gauley Bridge Turnpike was completed

The Greenbrier Historical Society begun

Frederick Lemon sold the Ritchie Mines

Nathan Scott travelled to Leavenworth Kansas

Traveller took top prizes in the Lewisburg fair

Only 94 of 162 state chartered turnpike companies operated within West Virginia

The U.S. Customs House was built

A new U.S. Custom House was completed at Wheeling

Waitman Willey was defeated as a candidate for lieutenant governor of Virginia

The three-story front section of Henderson Hall was completed

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

Arthur Boreman left General Assembly due to Virginia's secession

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

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

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

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

West Virginia had 40,000 farms in 8.6 million acres

Split between the Northern and Southern Baptists mended

Belle Boyd married again to John Swainston

Second governor of West Virginia, Daniel D.T. Farnsworh lived in Buckhannon

Johnson Newlon Camden entered the refining business at Parkersburg

Coke replaced anthracite as the leading blast furnace fuel in America

Peter G. Van Winkle term as West Virginia's first U.S. senator ended

Fairmont State Regency normal was renamed the Fairmont Branch Normal (Fairmont State University)

Trinity Church in Huntington held its first services at Cabell County Courthouse

West Virginia passed its first game laws

The survival of the White Sulphur Springs resort was ensured by the arrival of the C&O Railway

Cooper's Mill was built in Summers County

Helvetia was settled by German-speaking Swiss immigrants

The Kanawha Valley Bank built a two-story bank at the intersection of Kanawha Blvd and Capitol St in Charleston

James Kay migrated to America

Another boundary shift occurred in Lincoln County

Stogie makers were among the first trades in Wheeling to unionize

The C&O railway had begun construction in Milton

Johnson Newlon Camden established one of the country's first oil refineries in Parkersburg.

George Peterkin was ordained as an Episcopal priest.

A Chesapeake & Ohio Railway branch was completed into Greenbrier County

An arsonist burned the Preston County courthouse destroying most of the county records from 1818-69

Spring Hill Cemetery was dedicated as the Charleston municipal cemetery

Edward W. Stifel Sr. was born

The Laurel Fork & Sand Hill Railroad was constructed in Volcano

The first West Virginia Historical Society began

The West Virginia Press Association was formed

Emanuel Wilson was admitted to the bar

Susan Dew married James Hoff

Celebration staged in Parkersburg after ratification of the 15th Amendment

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

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

John Kenna was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives

Henry Mason Mathews, a Redeemer and former Confederate officer, was elected the first of the so-called "Bourbon" governors.

W. H. H. Flick was an unsuccessful candidate for the West Virginia Supreme Court

Booker T. Washington married his first wife, Fannie Smith, at the African Zion Baptist Church

West Virginia contracted with Storer College in educating African-American teachers

Congress gave $5,000 to Smithsonian to conduct excavations relating to prehistoric Mound Builders

George Atkinson wrote After the Moonshiners

West Virginia's first general banking law repealed

Legislature elected Johnson N. Camden to the U.S. Senate

Nathan Goff Jr. served as secretary of navy under President Hayes

The West Virginia Board of Health was established

West Virginia Board of Health was established

Jacob Beeson Jackson began service as governor

John Jacob was appointed Ohio County circuit judge

The lock and dam on the Elk River was removed

Joseph Long moved to Wheeling

William MacCorkle married Belle Goshorn

Henry Mathews returned to Lewisburg

C.F. Millspaugh received a medical degree from the New York Homeopathic Medical College

The Norfolk & Western Railway was a result of a merger between the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad and Shenandoah Valley Railroad

Daniel Purinton became vice-president and acting president of West Virginia University.

William Rosecrans served in Congress from California

Johann Stifel died

Frederick Douglass spoke on the campus of Storer College

The current Monroe County courthouse was built in Union

Alexander Wade published A Graduating System for Country Schools

West Union was incorporated

The first West Virginia State Fair was held at Wheeling Island

Albert White moved to Parkersburg

Emanuel Wilson finished his service in the House of Delegates

Thomas Davis moved with his family to Huntington

State Board of Agriculture set up by legislature

Legislature created a state banking department

There were 49 state banks and 22 national banks in West Virginia

Collection of Ambrose Bierce's Civil War stories, Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (also known as In the Midst of Life) was published

Fannie Cobb Carter earned teaching degree from Storer College in Harpers Ferry

WVU Mountaineers played first football game against University of Pittsburgh

First bridge built across the Kanawha River, in Charleston

Clarksburg investors acquired the Telegram

First principal of present Concord University Capt. James Harvey French died

James Dye graduated from Starling Medical College in Cincinnati

William Dawson became chairman of Republican state committee

Alexander L. Wade's education graduating system was made compulsory statewide

Stephen Elkins was appointed secretary of war by President Harrison

George Peterkin built the Church of the Good Shepherd in Parkersburg

Town of Ansted was incorporated, named for David T. Ansted

The Central City brewery was built by American Brewing Company

Fostoria Glass Company relocated to Moundsville

Construction on Graceland began in Elkins

John P. Hale wrote History of the Great Kanawha Valley

Hamilton Hatter became a member of the college board of trustees

The "Australian" or standardized printed ballot was adopted in West Virginia

Paris Brumfield was murdered by his son Charley in the wake of the Lincoln County Feud

The "government lock" was built on Little Kanawha River near Burning Springs

The federal government built a fifth lock and dam near burning springs

The Moundsville Daily Echo was established as a weekly newspaper

C. F. Millspaugh arrived at WVU

The Mount Carbon Prehistoric Site was investigated by Col. P. W. Norris for the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology

John T. McGraw purchased the land at Marlinton.

Pruntytown was originally established as the Industrial School for Boys

Pruntytown was originally established as the Industrial School for Boys.

Postmaster General John Wanamaker conducted a limited experiment with rural free delivery in the Eastern Panhandle

Labor organization lobbied for the law regulating scrip

The Seneca Glass Company opened in Fostoria, Ohio

James David Shaw became editor of the Moundsville Daily Echo

Telephone switchboards were installed at Clarksburg

The Martinsburg Mining, Manufacturing and Improvement Company developed a subdivision for workers

McDowell County seat located to Welch

The Norfolk & Western Railway Company extended its line into McDowell County

The Historical Society asked the West Virginia legislature for funding

Harriet Lyon became the first woman to receive a degree from WVU

The Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway was completed to Martin's Ferry Ohio

Emanuel Wilson authored a new election law