Charleston W.Va. (WVDN) – The following events happened on these dates in West Virginia history. To read more, go to e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia at www.wvencyclopedia.org.
March 29, 1834: Henry Mason Mathews, the fifth governor of West Virginia, was born at Frankford, Greenbrier County. During his administration, the national railroad strike began at Martinsburg in 1877, and the first coal mining strike in the state occurred at Hawks Nest in 1880.
March 29, 1858: Clay County was created from parts of Nicholas and Braxton counties and named for Henry Clay, a longtime Kentucky politician.
March 30, 1837: The Virginia legislature granted a charter to establish a private academy at West Liberty in Ohio County. The first class of 65 students met in the home of the Rev. Nathan Shotwell in 1838. That school is now West Liberty University.
March 30, 1926: Actor, singer and game show host Peter Marshall was born Ralph Pierre LaCock in Clarksburg. His career included Broadway, television and more than 5,000 episodes as host of The Hollywood Squares.
March 31, 1919: Governor John Jacob Cornwell signed legislation that created the West Virginia State Police. He appointed Jackson Arnold, grandnephew of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and former executive officer of the 1st West Virginia Infantry, as first superintendent.
March 31, 1943: The first synthetic rubber was shipped from the U.S. Rubber Company plant in Institute, Kanawha County. The U.S. government worked with Union Carbide to make the material during World War II because the nation had been cut off from 90 percent of its natural rubber supply.
April 1, 1884: Nurse Florence Aby Blanchfield was born in Shepherdstown. She served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War I, oversaw expansion of the corps from 1,000 to 57,000 during World War II, and became the first woman to hold a permanent commission in the regular army.
April 1, 1934: A sales tax went into effect in West Virginia for the first time. The two-percent tax helped fill the revenue void caused by the drop in property values during the Great Depression.
April 2, 1900: Marlinton, the county seat of Pocahontas County, was incorporated. The town is generally considered to be the site of the first European-American settlement in the Greenbrier Valley.
April 3, 1755: Frontier scout and “long hunter” Simon Kenton was born in Fauquier County, Virginia. Upon leaving home, Kenton first traveled north through present West Virginia to Pittsburgh and then explored, hunted and trapped through much of the Ohio Valley.
April 3, 1908: Samuel Starks died in Charleston. Starks became the first Black state librarian in the nation when he was appointed to the position in 1901 by Governor Albert B. White.
April 3, 1945: Medal of Honor recipient Walter Wetzel was killed in Birken, Germany, while serving in the Army during World War II. The Huntington native had thrown himself onto two live grenades to protect fellow comrades.
April 4, 1833: Newspaperman Archibald Campbell was born in Ohio. As editor and part owner of the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, he was a leading advocate for West Virginia statehood.
April 4, 1948: Renowned gospel singer Squire Parsons was born in Newton, Roane County. A graduate of Spencer High School and West Virginia Tech, he was best known for his song “Sweet Beulah Land.” He died in 2025.
April 4, 1974: Tornadoes raced across McDowell, Wyoming, Raleigh, Fayette, Summers and Greenbrier counties, killing one and injuring more than 30. The event was related to a deadly outbreak that had struck Xenia, Ohio, the previous day.
April 4, 1980: Musician Red Sovine died in Nashville. Sovine, born Woodrow Wilson Sovine in Charleston, gained country music fame for his recitations, especially those with sentimental truck-driver themes.
e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia is a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council. For more information contact the West Virginia Humanities Council, 1310 Kanawha Blvd. E., Charleston, WV 25301; (304) 346-8500; or visit e-WV at www.wvencyclopedia.org.
