Significant events in West Virginia history occurred between August 18 and August 24. This week highlights the lives of notable individuals and pivotal moments that have shaped the state.
Aug. 18, 1885: Artemus Ward Cox was born on a farm in Red Knob, Roane County. He became a prominent businessman in Charleston after purchasing the George Ort Department Store in 1914, which eventually led to a chain of 21 A.W. Cox stores across West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky.
Aug. 19, 1863: Union cavalry forces commanded by Brigadier General William W. Averell took action against Confederate saltpeter production near Franklin, effectively dismantling their operations.
Aug. 19, 1997: The traditional music community mourned the death of fiddler Curly Ray Cline, a notable musician from Logan County. Cline was infamous for his role in both the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers and Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys.
Aug. 20, 1851: West Virginia dedicated its oldest statue, a nine-foot wooden carving of Patrick Henry, at the county courthouse in Morgantown, symbolizing the state’s historical values.
Aug. 20, 2004: Eldora Bolyard Nuzum passed away in Elkins. In 1946, while at the Grafton Sentinel, she became the first female editor of a daily newspaper in West Virginia. She later served as the editor of the Elkins Inter-Mountain for three decades.
Aug. 21, 1861: Confederate forces led by General John B. Floyd initiated their entrenchment across the Gauley River in Carnifex Ferry, marking the beginning of the Battle of Keslers Cross Lanes, a significant engagement during the Civil War.
Aug. 21, 1915: Ann Baker, later recognized as “Charleston’s First Lady of Jazz,” was born in Pennsylvania. She became known for her successful nightclub, The Shalamar, in Charleston.
Aug. 22, 1872: The electorate of West Virginia ratified a new state constitution, with a vote tally of 42,344 to 37,777. Notably, voters rejected a proposal to bar Black citizens from holding public office.
Aug. 23, 1965: Sylvia Mathews Burwell was born in Hinton. She later served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Obama and became the first woman president of American University.
Aug. 23, 1970: The Mormon Church made history by establishing its first stake in West Virginia, with nearly 4,000 members in Charleston.
Aug. 24, 1918: Louis Bennett Jr. died in combat after his plane was shot down during World War I. With 12 aerial victories, he remains West Virginia’s only fighter ace of that war.
Aug. 24, 1947: Joe Manchin III was born in Fairmont. Serving in both houses of the state legislature and as secretary of state, he became the 34th governor in 2005. After winning a U.S. Senate seat in 2010, he announced his upcoming retirement at the end of his term in 2025.
For more detailed accounts and additional history, visit e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia at www.wvencyclopedia.org.
