This Week in West Virginia History: November 15-21

Nov. 16, 1734: Samuel Washington was born at Pope’s Creek, Virginia. Samuel, a younger brother of George Washington, was the first of several members of the Washington family to live in what is now the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

Nov. 16, 1823: Politician and industrialist Henry Gassaway Davis, known in the early 20th century as West Virginia’s “Grand Old Man,” was born in Baltimore, Md.

Nov. 17, 1927: Composer and performer Robert Drasnin was born in Charleston. He performed with classic combos and big bands such as Tommy Dorsey and Les Brown, and scored music for movies and television.

Nov. 18, 2007: Country singer Chickie Williams died. As wife of musician Doc Williams, she performed with his Border Riders band and appeared on the Wheeling Jamboree radio show.

Nov. 19, 1854: Poet Danske Dandridge was born in Copenhagen. The daughter of an American ambassador, she lived in Shepherdstown from age 19, where her work was published in Harper’s and The Century. Both of her homes, The Bower and Rosebrake, are Jefferson County landmarks.

Nov. 19, 1899: Sculptor Gladys Tuke was born in Linwood, Pocahontas County. Tuke was a member of the original artist colony at The Greenbrier; during World War II, she taught at Ashford General Hospital, and later established a pottery and sculpture studio in White Sulphur Springs.

Nov. 19, 1900: William Page Pitt was born in New York City. In 1926, Pitt joined the faculty of what was then Marshall College. In his 45-year career at Marshall, he built its journalism program into one with dozens of classes and hundreds of students. Marshall University’s W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications is named in his honor.

Nov. 19, 1909: The Lincoln County Courthouse was burned. With coal, oil and gas, and timber booming, arson was suspected for the purpose of destroying land records and confusing titles.

Nov. 19, 1921: The USS West Virginia was christened. It was one of six battleships at Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941, that suffered massive damage from torpedoes and bombs in the surprise attack. It was rebuilt and joined the Seventh Fleet for the invasion of the Philippines.

Nov. 20, 1894: Eight men were killed in a coal mine disaster near Colliers, Brooke County. They were using a dangerous method called “shooting from the solid,” meaning that they blasted the coal loose without first undercutting it.

Nov. 20, 1917: Robert C. Byrd was born in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1958 and remained in office until his death in 2010.

Nov. 20, 1968: An explosion at Consolidation Coal Company’s No. 9 mine near Farmington killed 78 men. The disaster brought national attention to the issue of mine safety.

Nov. 21, 1810: Allen Taylor Caperton was born in Monroe County. Caperton served in the Confederate Senate during the Civil War and in the U.S. Senate from 1875 to 1876.