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 31, 1919: Governor John Jacob Cornwell signed legislation that created the West Virginia State Police. He appointed Jackson Arnold, grandnephew of Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson and former executive officer of the 1st West Virginia Infantry, as first superintendent.
April 1, 1884: Nurse Florence Aby Blanchfield was born in Shepherdstown. She served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War I, oversaw expansion of the corps from 1,000 to 57,000 during World War II and became the first woman to hold a permanent commission in the regular army.
April 1, 1934: A sales tax went into effect in West Virginia for the first time. The two-percent tax helped fill the revenue void caused by the drop in property values during the Great Depression.
April 2, 1900: Marlinton, the county seat of Pocahontas County, was incorporated. The town is generally considered to be thesite of the first European-American settlement in the Greenbrier Valley.
April 3, 1755: Frontier scout and “long hunter” Simon Kenton was born in Fauquier County, Virginia. Upon leaving home, Kenton first traveled north through present West Virginia to Pittsburgh and then explored, hunted and trapped through much of the Ohio Valley.
April 3, 1908: Samuel Starks died in Charleston. Starks became the first Black state librarian in the nation when he was appointed to the position in 1901 by Governor Albert B. White.
April 4, 1948: Renowned gospel singer Squire Parsons was born in Newton, Roane County. A graduate of Spencer High School and West Virginia Tech, he is best known for his song “Sweet Beulah Land.”
April 4, 1980: Musician Red Sovine died in Nashville. Sovine, born Woodrow Wilson Sovine in Charleston, gained country music fame for his recitations, especially those incorporating sentimental truck-driver themes.
April 5, 1856: Booker T. Washington was born enslaved in Virginia. In 1865, he moved with his family to Malden, in Kanawha County, to join his stepfather, who had escaped from slavery during the Civil War. He became one of the most influential educators in U.S. history.
April 5, 1920: Gifted hand weaver Dorothy Thompson was born. She taught generations of peopleabout fiber arts. For her dedication to preserving folklife traditions, she was named a National Heritage Fellow in 2000. She died in Tucker County in 2008.
April 5, 2010: An explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County killed 29 workers. Only two men escaped from the mine alive. It was the state’s worst coal mining disaster since 1968, when the Consol No. 9 Mine at Farmington exploded, killing 78 workers.
April 6, 1938: The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established Camp Kanawha in Kanawha State Forest. The CCC removed all the abandoned houses, coal tipples, and other structures no longer in use, and constructed roads, the forest superintendent’s residence, office, maintenance building, and picnic shelters.
April 6, 1944: Guitarist and singer David Morris was born in Ivydale, Clay County. With his brother John on fiddle, the Morris Brothers founded music festivals, supported union and environmental causes, and promoted West Virginia traditional music nationwide. He died in 2016.
