William H. Davis

There were 250 churches in West Virginia

Capt. John M. Burns established a sawmill at Burnsville

Jefferson and Berkeley confirmed as West Virginia by U.S. Congress

Henry Gassaway Davis received charter to build the West Virginia Central and Pittsburgh Railway

Dickinson-Shrewsbury partnership dissolved by the courts after partners died

Private school for black children, in Parkersburg, was converted to a public school

J. N. Boyd began publication of Vedette in Fairmont

Three men were hanged on the "hanging tree" at Fort Boreman

Freedmen's Bureau began operation in West Virginia

Grantsville was laid out

Grant County was formed from Hardy County

Morris Harvey and brother-in-law received a land grant from West Virginia of 1,000 acres on the west side of New River

The Radical-dominated legislature enacted the Voters' Registration Law

John Joseph Kain was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Richmond

The Buckhannon home of George Latham was purchased

A new shop complex was built in Martinsburg, with roundhouse

Elizabethtown and Moundsville were consolidated under Moundsville

Free schools were established in Moundsville

The multiflora rose was introduced to the eastern U.S. as rootstock for ornamental roses

The North Bend superintendent's residence was built by Christopher Douglas

Samuel Price became a director of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad.

George Lemon died

Sumner School became West Virginia's earliest black public school

H.M. Calhoun was born

Samuel W. Starks was born in Charleston

Sumner School became a part of the segregated public school system

Ceredo was incorporated

The West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railway was chartered under the name of the Potomac & Piedmont Coal & Railroad Company

Archibald Campbell left the Wheeling Intelligencer

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

Arthur Boreman was elected to a circuit judgeship again

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