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 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 a woman’s right to vote nationally.
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 Henry.
March 12, 1835: Marshall County was created from part of Ohio County. It was named for John Marshall, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
March 12, 1850: Wheeling Hospital was chartered. During the Civil War, the institution was used as a general military hospital. The Sisters of Saint Joseph were hired as army nurses, treating wounded Union and Confederate soldiers side by side.
March 13, 2002: Herbalist and folk doctor Catfish Gray died in Huntington. Gray was known for his vast knowledge of traditional plant lore and for his quaint and engaging personality. At the height of the folklore revival of the 1970s, Gray was a frequent newspaper and television interview subject.
March 14, 1931: Noting the interest in the annual reunion of Carnifex Ferry battle veterans from the Civil War, the legislature created the Carnifex Ferry Battlefield Park Commission.
March 15, 1882: Union leader Frank Keeney was born on Cabin Creek, Kanawha County. Keeney, who went to work in the mines as a boy, became a rank-and-file leader during the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike of 1912–13.
March 15, 1952: Governor Earl Ray Tomblin was born in Logan County. He was elected as a Democrat from Logan County to the House of Delegates in 1974, when he was only 22 years old and still a senior at West Virginia University.
March 16, 1906: Country musician Buddy Starcher was born Oby Edgar Starcher near Ripley. In 1946, Starcher cut his first recordings on Four Star, including his best-known composition, “I’ll Still Write Your Name in the Sand,” which became a hit in 1949.