Dec. 31, 1939: Larry Combs, one of the world’s leading orchestral clarinetists, was born in South Charleston. He started studying woodwinds at age 10 and was principal clarinetist for the Charleston (now West Virginia) Symphony Orchestra at age 16. He later served in the same role for symphonies in Montreal and Chicago and was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
Dec. 31, 2007: Sara Jane Moore was released from prison after serving 32 years for trying to kill President Ford. Moore grew up in Charleston and later moved to California, where she joined left-wing groups and became an FBI informant. She spent part of her incarceration at the Federal Prison Camp in Alderson.
Jan. 1 , 1859: Glass maker and inventor Michael Owens was born in Point Pleasant. He is considered the foremost developer of mechanical glass production.
Jan. 1, 1888: In one of the most violent episodes of the Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Jim Vance, uncle to “Devil Anse” Hatfield, led an arson attack on the McCoy family cabin. Two of Randall McCoy’s children were killed, and his wife was beaten.
Jan. 1, 1953: Country music legend Hank Williams was found dead in his car in Oak Hill, Fayette County. He had been scheduled to perform in Charleston the previous night, but the concert was canceled due to bad weather.
Jan. 2, 2006: An explosion at the Sago Mine in Upshur County killed 12 men. Federal investigators pointed to a lightning strike as the most likely ignition source for the blast.
Jan. 3, 1856: Musician Lewis Johnson “Uncle Jack” McElwain of Webster County was born. He was the most respected fiddler in central West Virginia during his lifetime. He took part in many fiddle contests, and no one can recall him ever being beaten.
Jan. 3, 1921: The state capitol building in Charleston was destroyed by fire. The so-called Victorian capitol, the second one in Charleston, had opened in 1887. After the fire, a temporary wood-frame building was erected in just 42 days and became known as the “pasteboard capitol.” It burned in 1927.
Jan. 4, 1897: Classes began at Montgomery Preparatory School, a state institution established to prepare students for West Virginia University. The school evolved into the West Virginia University Institute of Technology.
Jan. 5, 1810: The Virginia General Assembly recognized 20 acres of land owned by farmer and trader Thomas Buffington at the confluence of the Guyandotte and Ohio rivers as the new village of Guyandotte.
Jan. 6, 1828: Ward Hill Lamon was born in Jefferson County. Lamon was friend, law partner and unofficial bodyguard to President Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln was assassinated when Lamon was away in Richmond on business.
Jan. 6, 1931: An underground gas explosion killed eight men at the Glen Rogers coal mine in Wyoming County—eight years after another explosion had killed 27 at the same mine.
Jan. 6, 1937: Football coach Lou Holtz was born in Follansbee, Brooke County. At Notre Dame, he won his only national championship after defeating West Virginia University in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl.
