The Executive Branch

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

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.

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

Legislature passed West Virginia's first general banking law

The present building of Malden's African Zion Baptist Church began after contributions of land, money and materials by Gen. Lewis Ruffner

West Virginia's new constitution continued the education of black children in segregation

Blacks began forming groups in response to inequality.

Commissioners in McDowell County ordered a new courthouse be constructed out of logs

Joseph Beury and wife moved to New River

Alexander Boteler ran unsuccessfully for Congress

Brickyard Bend (New Cumberland) shipped 11 million bricks via Ohio River

West Virginia's new constitution abandons the township system and reverts back to the Virginia county government system

Democrats gained political supremacy after voting restrictions on former Confederates ceased

Joseph Diss Debar supported the Liberal Republicans to come to terms with the ex-Confederates

Anne Dudley toured New England with Harpers Ferry Singers to raise funds for Myrtle Hall

New constitution expanded support of public education

New constitution changed elections to two-year cycle

Provisions of the Flick Amendment was added to the state constitution

John P. Hale purchased Fort Lee's original lot and blockhouse in Charleston

Glenville State College began as branch of the State Normal School

Noah Speer started the Hancock Works

The second courthouse was completed in Glenville

Vote by citizens brought the Grant County seat permanently to Petersburg

John Hale built the Hale House hotel in Charleston

Legislature faced the task of modifying laws to conform to the newly adopted constitution

West Virginia Legislature grew to 89 persons

Weston's first public school building was erected

The McDowell County seat was located at Peeryville (now English)

The town of Milton was laid out

The hamlet of Mud in Lincoln County, an unincorporated community, said to have been founded

Construction began on more refineries in Parkersburg

Normal schools were established in Glenville, Athens, and Shepherdstown

Pence Springs was developed as a resort.

In Charleston, the Presbyterian Church (Southern) and the Kanawha Presbyterian Church (Northern) split.

Voters in Greenbrier Country elected Samuel Price as their representative to the West Virginia constitutional convention.

Legislature designated Shepherd as one of the state's normal schools

Robert Simmons was a delegate to the Republican national convention

The cave at Sinks of Gandy was described by David Hunter Strother

The Universalist Meeting House at Fork Ridge in Marshall County erected an additional larger building

Charles Ward began operating his own pipe and fittings business

The Western Maryland Railway extended to Hagerstown

I.C. White earned an undergraduate degree at Agricultural College of West Virginia (WVU)

Waitman Willey spoke eloquently for suffrage for African-Americans

Harrison Ash became chief of police at Thurmond

Baldwin-Felts Agency helped break a strike in the New River Field

Rosa Pelham was forced out of the castle by debt

Sam Black Church is built

Mother Blizzard's family was evicted from their home because of her support of the coal strike

Aaron Bloch succeeded his brother, Samuel, as president of Bloch Brothers Tobacco

Stephen B. Elkins purchased the Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad

James Callahan was appointed chairman of the Department of History and Political Science at WVU

Andrew Carnegie donated $33,000 to Lewisburg Female Institute to build Carnegie Hall

Cecil B. Highland became a stockholder of Clarksburg Exponent Telegram

The Coal & Coke Railway Company sold the Central & Pittsburgh

Watson-Fleming-Camden syndicate acquired the Somerset Coal Company

The Mahan family quit farming the land

Edward Franzheim was probably the most successful architect in West Virginia

The Greenbrier Military Academy was bought by the Greenbrier Presbytery and renamed the Greenbrier Presbyterial School

The Homer Laughlin China Company purchased the Newell Farm and expanded across the Ohio into West Virginia

Nancy Hart died

The state called troops to mining strikes

The state called troops to areas with striking miners

The Hazel Atlas Glass Company was created

The UMWA organized about 7,000 miners in the Kanawha Valley

James H. Nash bought Holly Grove Mansion and made changes

Albert F. Holden and William H. Coolidge inspected 30,000 acres of land on Coppers Fork of Island Creek

Elmer Jacobs designed the parts of Seneca Glass Company building that had fallen to fire

A History of the Valley of Virginia was reprinted

The C&O Railroad was built along the Guyandotte River

Patients other than coal miners were charged $1.59/ day at McKendree Hospital

The West Virginia University School of Medicine was founded in Morgantown

Samuel Alexander McCoy and G. W McCauley bought the Hardy County News from Capt. J. J. Chipley

Matthew M. Neely opened a Fairmont law office

John Nugent came to West Virginia as a UMWA organizer

Oak Hill's first high school was established by Charles T. Jones and Albert G. Sevy

George Rashid migrated to the United States from Syria

The Pinch Reunion was established by Judge William W. Wertz

The Greenbrier Division of the C&O was completed to Durbin

Potomac State College began operation as the West Virginia Preparatory School

The Rending of Virginia was originally published in Chicago by Mayer & Miller

Frederick Rhead came to America

Charles Ritter married Mabel McClinock

Benjamin Rosenbloom played on the WVU football team

St. Lawrence Boom & Manufacturing Company at Ronceverte began to receive logs from Anthony's Creek by rail

Shannondale Springs was sold to H.C. Getzendanner

The New River Coal strike occurred

The Capitol City Lodge incorporated the Pythian Mutual Investment Fund

A constitutional amendment increased the Supreme Court of Appeals justices to five

The Interurban streetcar line reached Vienna

Vienna opened West Virginia's first country club

Ward Engineering Works built the James Rumsey for the U.S. Engineering Corp

H. Rus Warne and Charles G. Rabenstein established an architect firm

Fairmont Coal Company operated 28 mines and employed 6,067

The community of Addison receives the postal name of Webster Springs

A narrow-gauge railroad arrived at Webster Springs

Davis sold the West Virginia Central & Pittsburg(h) Railroad to the Gould interests

The Medical Society of West Virginia name changed to West Virginia State Medical Association

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

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.

Rat Rodgers started at Bethany College

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

Democrats began majority in both houses of state legislature

Clarence Meadows was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates

Matthew M. Neely was elected to the U.S. Senate

The 28-year-old Jennings Randolph ran for Congress in the 2nd District, losing to Republican incumbent Frank Bowman

The Tax Limitation Amendment was passed by voters

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

Democrats took over West Virginia with support from active federal government

T. C. Townsend ran unsuccessfully for governor

Richard Talbott was elected state treasurer

Rush Holt became the youngest person elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating Henry Hatfield

Reorganization changed name from AG&E back to Appalachian Power

Leroy Allen became president of Bluefield State College (now University)

Ruby Bradley became a colonel

Elk River Coal & Lumber Company was sold to Clinchfield Coal Company

Clarksburg Park Board developed Buffalo Lake into a public recreation area

Dale Brooks released "The Ambridge Boogie" on Cozy Records

Phyllis Curtin sang Susannah at the Brussels World's Fair

Phyllis Curtin sang with the Charleston Symphony Opera

Ellis Dungan returned to the Ohio Valley, settling in Wheeling

National Radio Quiet Zone surrounding Green Bank observatory was established by the Federal Communications Commission

Jack Fleming became announcer for the Pittsburgh Steelers

Follansbee rolling and annealing facilities were sold to Wheeling Steel

"Biggie" Goldberg was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame and the West Virginia Sports Writers Hall of Fame

Davis Grubb wrote The Watchman

Alberta Pierson Hannum wrote Paint the Wind

Chuck Howley was drafted by the Chicago Bears

The school year was interrupted by an anti-integration school bombing at Osage near Morgantown

A new dormitory was constructed at Marshall College (now University)

The need for local graduate education was articulated by officials at Union Carbide Corporation and other Kanawha Valley chemical concerns, and Kanawha Valley Graduate Center was founded

John Matheus retired from West Virginia State College (now University)

Jack Maurice won the Sigma Delta Chi award for editorial writing

The McClain Printing Company was incorporated

McClain Printing Company published its first book, Chronicles of Border Warfare by Alexander Scott Withers

Mildred Mitchell-Bateman became superintendent of the Lakin State Hospital

Moncove Public Hunting and Fishing area was purchased by the West Virginia Conservation Commission

Ohio Valley Speedway was built

Construction on the National Radio Astronomy Observatory began at Green Bank

Marble King Factory moved to Paden City

Jennings Randolph flew from Morgantown to Washington on a plane fueled with gasoline made from West Virginia coal

William Revercomb left U.S. Senate, defeated by Robert C. Byrd

Leonard Riggleman led Morris Harvey to accreditation

Fred Schaus guided WVU's basketball team to a No. 1 national ranking at the end of the regular season

Festus Summers co-authored with Charles Ambler the second edition of West Virginia: The Mountain State

Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston) was accredited by the North Central Accreditation Agency

Jerry West played on the WVU team that finished No.1 in the nation

Jerry West was a second-team All-American in basketball

West Virginia Yesterday and Today was adopted as a state textbook

The West Virginia turnpike was included in the Interstate highway system

A water ski show moved from Tennessee to Hinton

Aunt Jennie Wilson was discovered by Patrick Gainer

Elizabeth Gilmore helped organize the Charleston chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

William Brotherton Jr. was elected to the state Senate

C. Donald Robertson was reelected attorney general

Gus Douglass first elected commissioner of agriculture

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

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

Braxton County High School opened

Maurice Brooks retired from WVU

Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital closed its nursing school in Parkersburg

Mountain State Hospital merged into Memorial Hospital (now Charleston Area Medical Center)

Charleston National Bank moved to Charleston National Plaza

The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation's assets had grown to more than $66 million

Franklin Cleckley earned LL.M from Harvard

Franklin Cleckley became first black appointed full professor at WVU

Mike Perkovic died

Julius DeGruyter wrote Drum Beats on the Sandusky

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the East Lynn Lake

Edgewood Country Club developed 600 acres for new 18 hole championship golf course

The Morris Family Old-Time Music Festival was founded

John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV became the 29th governor