Charleston WV – 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.
Aug. 1, 1921: Baldwin-Felts detectives shot and killed Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers as
they approached the McDowell County Courthouse in Welch. As Matewan’s police chief,
Hatfield had assisted the United Mine Workers’ campaign to organize Tug Fork miners.
Aug. 1, 1940: Justice Franklin Cleckley was born in Huntington. In 1994, he became the
first Black justice to serve on the West Virginia Supreme Court. The Supreme Court once
referred to Cleckley’s handbooks on evidence and criminal procedure as “the bible for West
Virginia’s judges and attorneys.”
Aug. 2, 2009: Golfers Sam Snead and Bill Campbell became the first two inductees into
the West Virginia Golf Hall of Fame.
Aug. 3, 1897: Fire destroyed much of downtown Lewisburg. The town rebuilt and
evolved in the next century into the hub of one of the state’s major farming areas and a center for
education and the arts.
Aug. 3, 1907: Harley Orrin Staggers Sr. was born in Keyser. Staggers served in the U.S.
House of Representatives for 32 years.
Aug. 4, 1824: John Jay Jackson Jr. was born near Parkersburg. Jackson was a prominent
judge who became notorious among those trying to organize labor unions in West Virginia. He
blocked an effort by Mother Jones and United Mine Workers leaders to organize the miners of
northern West Virginia.
Aug. 4, 1897: Musician William Jennings “Billy” Cox was born near Charleston. Cox,
known as the “Dixie Songbird,” ranked as one of West Virginia’s premier country music
vocalists and songwriters during the 1930s.
Aug. 4, 1930: Lewisburg set the record for the state’s hottest temperature ever: 112. Six
years later, Martinsburg would tie it.
Aug. 5, 1958: Jennings Randolph defeated former governor William Marland in the
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Randolph soon became the senior senator from West
Virginia and served for 26 years.
Aug. 7, 1864: In what became known as the Battle of Moorefield, Union troops under
Gen. William W. Averell attacked the headquarters of Gen. Bradley Johnson. The Confederates
were routed and fled south into the town; the Union captured 500 men and 400 horses.
Aug. 7, 1877: West Virginia voters chose Charleston as the state capital over Clarksburg
and Martinsburg.
Aug. 7, 1893: Parsons became the county seat of Tucker County. Parsons was named for
Ward Parsons, a prominent resident and the largest landholder.