CHARLESTON – The next occasions occurred on these dates in West Virginia historical past. To learn extra, go to e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia at www.wvencyclopedia.org.
Might 1, 1788: Pendleton County was created from Rockingham, Augusta, and Hardy counties. The county was named for Virginia statesman Edmund Pendleton (1721–1803).
Might 1, 1930: Mom Jones celebrated her birthday in Maryland. Mom Jones, who was 100 years outdated by her depend, made her debut earlier than newsreel cameras, condemning the Prohibition Act ‘‘as a curse upon the nation’’ that violated her proper to have a beer as a substitute of water.
Might 2, 1900: State founder Waitman Willey died in Morgantown. Willey is remembered for the Willey Modification, which offered for the emancipation of slaves as a precondition for the creation of West Virginia.
Might 2, 1925: Flying saucer investigator Grey Barker was born in Riffle, Braxton County. Barker grew to become excited by unidentified flying objects within the Nineteen Fifties after investigating the sightings of the Flatwoods Monster.
Might 3, 1843: U.S. Postmaster Common William Lyne Wilson was born in Smithfield, Jefferson County. Wilson joined President Cleveland’s cupboard as postmaster basic in 1895. Within the following yr, he launched Rural Free Supply in Jefferson County, an experiment which was shortly instituted nationwide.
Might 3, 1917: Hearth destroyed the West Virginia Preparatory College in Keyser. The varsity was rebuilt, and it advanced into the establishment now referred to as Potomac State School.
Might 4, 1896: The Kids’s Residence Society was shaped by a bunch of Charleston ministers on the YMCA. Their objective was to put orphaned and uncared for youngsters with caring households reasonably than crowd them into county poorhouses.
Might 5, 1923: A hearth began by welders engaged on a brand new swimming pool destroyed most of Luna Park, an amusement park in Charleston. Though Luna’s house owners introduced that they’d rebuild, the park by no means reopened.
Might 5, 1923: Golfer Invoice Campbell was born in Huntington. He received greater than 30 championships over a seven-decade profession and is taken into account among the finest newbie gamers in historical past.
Might 6, 1812: Activist and doctor Martin Robison Delany was born in Charles City. In February 1865, he was commissioned as a serious within the U.S. Coloured Troops. He was the one African-American Civil Battle officer to be given a area command.
Might 6, 1968: A steady miner machine on the Gauley Coal & Coke Saxsewell No. 8 mine minimize into an adjoining mine, which was stuffed with water. The ensuing flood drowned 4 miners and trapped 21 others.
Might 6, 1968: Newspaper writer John S. Knight obtained the Pulitzer Prize for his lengthy report of service and his sequence of columns opposing the Vietnam Battle.
Might 7, 1857: William Alexander MacCorkle was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, on his father’s plantation. He served as West Virginia’s ninth governor.
Might 7, 1928: The Keith-Albee Theater opened in Huntington. The opening program featured a comedy referred to as ‘‘Good Morning, Decide,’’ a newsreel, and 5 stage acts. However the theater itself, with its elaborate inside, clearly was the star of the night.
Might 7, 1983: The New River Gorge Nationwide Park and Protect started operations when the primary customer heart opened close to Fayetteville.
e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia is a undertaking of the West Virginia Humanities Council. For extra data, contact the West Virginia Humanities Council, 1310 Kanawha Blvd. E., Charleston, WV 25301; (304) 346-8500; or go to e-WV at www.wvencyclopedia.org.
