The Fayette Tribune, Oak Hill, W.Va.

Local News

October 10, 2012

This Week in West Virginia History

CHARLESTON —  The following events happened on these dates in West Virginia history.

Oct. 10, 1774: Shawnee warriors led by Cornstalk were defeated at the Battle of Point Pleasant. It was the only major engagement of Dunmore’s War and the most important battle ever fought in present West Virginia.

Oct. 10, 1872: Architect Rus Warne was born in Parkersburg. Warne designed many notable buildings in Charleston, including City Hall and the Masonic Temple.

Oct. 10, 1878: Blanche Lazzell was born in Maidsville, Monongalia County. She was one of West Virginia’s most notable artists and is recognized as one of America’s leading abstract painters and print makers.

Oct. 11, 1811: State founder and U.S. Senator Waitman Thomas Willey was born near Farmington. Willey proposed the West Virginia Statehood Bill in the Senate and saw to its passage and later signing by President Lincoln.

Oct. 12, 1877: Howard Mason Gore was born in Harrison County. He served as U.S. secretary of agriculture and the 14th governor of West Virginia.

Oct. 14, 1947: In a Bell X-1 rocket airplane dropped from a B-29 bomber, Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier by flying 700 miles per hour. He set another speed record on Dec. 12, 1953, by flying two-and-a-half times the speed of sound in a Bell X-1A.

Oct. 14, 1949: WSAZ-TV went on the air on channel 5. Early shows included the first telecast of a Marshall College (now University) basketball game on Dec. 3, 1949.

Oct. 14, 1985: Kanawha Airport was renamed Yeager Airport in honor of Chuck Yeager.

Oct. 15, 1839: Aretas Brooks Fleming was born in Fairmont. In 1888, Fleming won the Democratic nomination for governor and then won West Virginia’s most controversial gubernatorial election.

Oct. 16, 1859: John Brown and his raiders captured the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, but they were soon besieged by the local militia and federal troops. The raid galvanized the nation, further alienating North and South and drastically reducing any possible middle ground for compromise.

Oct. 16, 1922: The Rev. Leon Sullivan was born in Charleston. In 1977, Sullivan initiated the original Sullivan Principles, a code of conduct for companies operating in South Africa. The Principles were among the most effective efforts to end the system of apartheid.

To read more about West Virginia’s people, places, history, arts, science and culture, go to “e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia” at www.wvencyclopedia.org. Developed by the West Virginia Humanities Council, it is an interactive reference site showcasing West Virginia’s history, culture, and people. e-WV is free of charge and available to anyone with access to a computer and Internet connection.

For more information contact the West Virginia Humanities Council, 1310 Kanawha Blvd. E., Charleston, WV 25301, or at 304-346-8500.

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