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 5, 1856: Calhoun County was created from neighboring Gilmer County and named for John C. Calhoun, who served as vice president under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.
March 5, 1963: Country musician Hawkshaw Hawkins was killed in a plane crash in Tennessee, along with Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Randy Hughes. Hawkins was born in Huntington.
March 6, 1820: Joseph H. Diss Debar was born in France. Diss Debar was the designer of the Great Seal of West Virginia and the state’s first commissioner of immigration.
March 6, 1828: Johnson Camden was born in Lewis County. In 1861, he opened one of the state’s first oil wells, in Wirt County, and a refinery in Parkersburg in 1869. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1881.
March 6, 1900: A mine explosion at the Red Ash Mine in Fayette County killed 46 men. It was the state’s first major mine disaster of the 20th century. Five years later, another 24 men were killed at the same mine.
March 7, 1856: Tucker County was formed from Randolph County and named for Henry St. George Tucker Sr., a Virginia soldier, statesman and jurist.
March 7, 1929: The legislature adopted the official state flag. The state’s coat of arms is emblazoned in color in the center. Above the seal is a red ribbon lettered “State of West Virginia,” and a wreath of rhododendron surrounds the lower part of the seal. The white field of the flag is bordered on four sides by a strip of blue.
March 7, 1990: West Virginia teachers went on strike after negotiations with the governor’s office and legislature failed to produce an agreement on a pay package. Teachers in 47 of the 55 counties were involved in the 11-day strike.
March 8, 1926: An explosion killed 19 miners at Eccles in Raleigh County. Ten men were saved by barricading themselves in the mine.
March 8, 1963: The state colors of blue and “old gold” were adopted by the legislature.
March 9, 1832: George Robert Latham was born. At the onset of the Civil War, Latham turned his Grafton law office into a recruiting station, and he led the first Union troops in north-central West Virginia.
March 9, 1953: Football player Dennis Harrah was born in South Charleston. In the NFL, Harrah played in 168 games for the Los Angeles Rams (1975-87), was a six-time All Pro, and played in one Super Bowl.
March 9, 1965: President Lyndon Johnson signed the act establishing the Appalachian Regional Commission.
March 10, 1910: Kermit McKeever, considered the father of the modern West Virginia state park system, was born near Renick, Greenbrier County.
March 10, 1915: West Virginia’s first Rotary International club was established in Wheeling.
March 10, 1920: West Virginia became the 34th state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guaranteed the right of women to vote.
March 11, 1847: Boone County was formed from parts of Logan, Kanawha and Cabell counties and named for Daniel Boone.
March 11, 1848: Putnam County was formed from portions of Kanawha, Mason and Cabell counties. It was named in honor of Gen. Israel Putnam, a leading commander at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the Revolutionary War.
March 11, 1856: Roane County was created from parts of Kanawha, Jackson and Gilmer counties. It was named for Judge Spencer Roane, a son-in-law of Patrick Henr
