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.
Jan. 16, 1850: Lawman Dan Cunningham was born in Jackson County. His remarkable
career involved him in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud, the West Virginia Mine Wars, and the
destruction of moonshine stills.
Jan. 16, 1869: Ephraim Franklin Morgan was born in Marion County. Morgan, a
Republican, was governor during the tumultuous West Virginia Mine Wars.
Jan. 17, 1918: The War Department hired a New York engineering firm to build the
DuPont munitions plant in Nitro. Within 11 months, the powder plant and a complete town with
houses, a civic center and a hospital were completed.
Jan. 17, 1956: Musician Blind Alfred Reed died. He was a street singer, fiddler and
songwriter from Pipestem, Summers County, and is a member of the West Virginia Music Hall
of Fame.
Jan. 18, 1842: Wayne County was established from part of Cabell County. It was named
for General “Mad Anthony” Wayne, a Revolutionary War hero who later defeated Ohio Indian
tribes at the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers.
Jan. 19, 1818: The Virginia General Assembly established Preston County from part of
Monongalia County. The new county was named for James Patton Preston, then governor of
Virginia.
Jan. 19, 1820: Fairmont was established by the Virginia legislature on the farm of Boaz
Fleming. The original name of Middletown was changed to Fairmont in 1843.
Jan. 19, 1844: The Virginia General Assembly established Taylor County from parts of
Barbour, Harrison and Marion counties. The county was named in honor of U.S. Sen. John
Taylor, a soldier-statesman from Caroline County, Virginia.
Jan. 19, 1848: Wirt County was created by the General Assembly of Virginia from
portions of Wood and Jackson counties. It was named for William Wirt, Virginia statesman and
a presidential candidate in 1832.
Jan. 19, 1894: Railroad worker John Hardy was hanged for killing a man in a drunken
gambling dispute. The episode inspired the widely popular ballad “John Hardy.”
Jan. 20-21, 1824: West Virginia’s most famous soldier, Thomas Jonathan Jackson, was
born near midnight in Clarksburg. When Virginia left the Union in 1861, Jackson went with his
native state. He commanded the strategically important post at Harpers Ferry until being
appointed a brigadier general of infantry. In the opening battle at Manassas on July 21, 1861, he
won the name “Stonewall” for steadfastness at a critical point in the engagement.
Jan. 19-20, 1978: An overnight snowstorm paralyzed Charleston. Unusual in that more
snow fell in the capital city than in Randolph County, total snow depth in Charleston averaged
24 inches, the deepest on record for the city. January 1978 became the snowiest month for both
Huntington and Charleston, and extended cold kept the snow cover on the ground into March,
the longest known continuous snow cover for most towns in West Virginia.
Jan. 21, 1906: The first passenger train ran from Elkins to Charleston following
completion of the Coal & Coke Railway. The new railroad, a project of former senator Henry
Gassaway Davis, provided a much-needed north-south route through the heart of West Virginia.
Jan. 22, 1927: Confederate General John McCausland died. After the fall of the
Confederacy, McCausland fled the country. He returned in 1867 and spent the remainder of his
life on his large farm in Mason County.