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.
March 26, 1851: Upshur County was created from parts of Randolph, Lewis and Barbour counties, with Buckhannon as the county seat.
March 26, 1863: The state’s first constitution was overwhelmingly ratified by the voters, by a majority of 28,321 to 572. The constitution was drafted during the state’s first Constitutional Convention at the federal custom house in Wheeling.
March 26, 1920: Aviator Rose Agnes Rolls Cousins was born. She was the first Black woman to become a solo pilot in the Civilian Pilot Training Program at West Virginia State College (now University). She was prevented from joining the Tuskegee Airmen due to her gender.
March 27, 1826: Laura Jackson Arnold, the younger sister of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, was born in Clarksburg. During the Civil War, she was a staunch Unionist and opened her home to care for sick and injured troops.
March 27, 1917: Statesman Cyrus Roberts Vance was born in Clarksburg. In 1977, President Carter tapped Vance as his secretary of state. Vance was instrumental in negotiating the Camp David Accords and the Panama Canal Treaty.
March 27, 1950: During an eight-hour period, 191 wildfires destroyed 20,122 acres of forestland in Mingo County. Winds as high as 65 m.p.h. were recorded in the town of Sprigg.
March 28, 1870: State officials, with state records and property, boarded the steamboat Mountain Boy, one of six steamboats that moved West Virginia’s capital from Wheeling to Charleston.
March 28, 1941: Musician Charlie McCoy was born in Oak Hill. One of the most significant harmonica players in country music history, his work can also be heard on rock ‘n’ roll albums, including several by Bob Dylan. He was musical director for the Hee Haw TV show.
March 28, 1943: Actress Conchata Ferrell was born in Loudendale, Kanawha County. She appeared in many films and TV shows, earning Emmy nominations for her work on L. A. Law and Two and a Half Men.
March 28, 1945: Clinton M. Hedrick of Pendleton County was killed in action near Wessel, Germany, shortly before the end of World War II in Europe. His actions at Lembeck Castle earned him a posthumous Medal of Honor.
March 29, 1834: Henry Mason Mathews, the fifth governor of West Virginia, was born at Frankford, Greenbrier County. During his administration, riots and strikes occurred, including the national railroad strike of 1877, which began at Martinsburg.
March 29, 1858: Clay County was created from parts of Nicholas and Braxton counties and named for Henry Clay, U.S. senator from Kentucky.
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.
