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On This Day
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February


February 1
On February 1, 1910, a subsidiary of the C & O Railroad, purchased the resort at White Sulphur Springs now known as the Greenbrier.
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February 2
On the evening of February 2, 1864, Confederate troops under Major James H. Nounnan launched a raid that resulted in the capture of Union General E. P. Scammon and the steamer B. C. Levi at Red House early on the following morning.
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February 3
On February 3, 1865, the West Virginia Legislature passed an act abolishing slavery in the state.
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February 4
On February 4, 1950, Charleston Daily Mail owner and editor Walter Eli Clark died.
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February 5
On February 5, 1917, the West Virginia House of Delegates passed a joint resolution endorsing President Woodrow Wilson's decision to break off diplomatic relations with Germany.
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February 6
On February 6, 1915, twenty-two coal miners were killed in an explosion at a New River Company mine at Carlisle, Fayette County.
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February 7
On February 7, 1913, mine guards, operator Quinn Morton, and Kanawha County Sheriff Bonner Hill boarded an armored train known as the "Bull Moose Special." That evening, they attacked a miners' tent colony at Holly Grove on Paint Creek.
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On February 7, 1941, Street car service between Moundsville and McMechen ended.

February 8
On February 8, 1978, Irene Drukker Broh, Huntington suffragist and civic leader, died.
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February 9
On February 9, 1950, U. S. Senator Joe McCarthy launched his anti-communist crusade in Wheeling.
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February 10
On February 10, 1949, a bill favoring the electric chair over hanging was introduced in the House of Delegates. The legislation was approved on March 12.
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February 11
On February 11, 1888, distinguished educator and civil rights leader John Warren Davis was born.
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February 12
On February 12, 1901, former congressman Jacob Beeson Blair, who was instrumental in convincing President Abraham Lincoln to sign the West Virginia statehood bill, died.
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February 13
On February 13, 1913, labor leader Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was arrested in Charleston for inciting to riot and conspiracy.
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February 14
On February 14, 1962, Herman Guy Kump, who served as governor of West Virginia from 1933 to 1937, died.
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On February 14, 1907, George A. Laughlin of The Wheeling Intelligencer and Orland H. Booton of the Charleston Mail fought on the chamber floor of the West Virginia Senate.

February 15
On February 15, 1871, the West Virginia legislature adopted a joint resolution authorizing the appointment of commissioners to confer with the state of Virginia and report on West Virginia's portion of the Virginia debt.
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February 16
On February 16, 1917, the West Virginia Colored Tuberculosis Sanitarium was established. The West Virginia Board of Control purchased 185 acres of land and several buildings at Denmar in Pocahontas County, and the facility opened in January 1919.
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February 17
On February 17, 1863, the West Virginia constitutional convention adopted the Willey Amendment, providing for gradual emancipation.
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February 18
On February 18, 1969, UMW coal miners went on strike to protest the absence of black lung benefits.
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February 19
On February 19, 1880, Roscoe Conklin Harrison, noted physician and founder of Harrison Hospital, was born.
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February 20
On February 20, 1995, the West Virginia State Senate adopted a resolution designating the Golden Delicious as the official state fruit.
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February 21
On February 21, 1940, former West Virginia Governor Gaston Caperton was born in Charleston.
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February 22
On February 22, 1911, the legislature passed an act establishing the West Virginia Colored Orphans' Home near Huntington.
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February 23
On February 23, 1953, Governor William Marland addressed the West Virginia legislature to plead for the passage of his severance tax bill.
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February 24
On February 24, 1865, Jefferson County native John Yates Beall was executed at Governor's Island, New York, as a Confederate spy.
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February 25
On February 25, 1889, an act establishing the West Virginia National Guard was approved.
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February 26
On February 26, 1972, a Buffalo Mining Company impoundment dam collapsed, killing 125 people and leaving thousands homeless.
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On February 26, 1869, Daniel Duane Tompkins Farnsworth was sworn in as the second governor of West Virginia.

February 27
On the night of February 27, 1912, the steamer H. K. Bedford sank in the Ohio River near Waverly.
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February 28
On this day in 1872, the legislature passed an act to establish a state normal school at Concord.
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February 29
On February 29, 1888, the West Virginia Immigration Convention met at the Opera House in Wheeling.
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On This Day in West Virginia History

West Virginia Archives and History