Oct. 22, 1693: Lord Thomas Fairfax was born in Kent, England. He inherited five million acres in Virginia, land that included much of present West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle.
Oct. 22, 1734: Frontiersman Daniel Boone was born in Pennsylvania. In 1788, Boone and his family settled near the mouth of the Kanawha River at Point Pleasant. He represented Kanawha County in the Virginia General Assembly in 1791.
Oct. 22, 1821: Collis P. Huntington was born in Harwinton, Connecticut. In 1869, Huntington purchased the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway and set about extending its tracks from Richmond across southern West Virginia to the Ohio River. There, in 1871, he established a new city bearing his name.
Oct. 22, 1922: Fiddler Wilson Douglas was born in Clay County. Influenced by fellow old-time musician French Carpenter, Douglas developed a unique style of playing that continues to inspire younger generations. In 1992, he received the Vandalia Award, West Virginia’s highest folklife honor.
Oct. 22, 1977: Construction of the New River Gorge Bridge was completed after three years of work. The Fayette County bridge is one of West Virginia’s best-known landmarks. It is the third-highest bridge in the United States and the longest steel span in the Western Hemisphere.
Oct. 23, 1890: The Fast Flying Virginian passenger train wrecked due to a rockslide near Hinton, killing engineer George Alley. It became the source of a folk song known variously as “The Wreck on the C&O,” “Engine 143,” and “The FFV,” among other titles.
Oct. 23, 1913: In 1975, newspaper journalist Jack Maurice became the first West Virginian to earn a Pulitzer Prize for Journalism for his coverage of the Kanawha County Textbook Controversy.
Oct. 23, 1943: German prisoners arrived at Camp Ashford in White Sulphur Springs. Built by the U.S. War Department, Camp Ashford was one of two camps in West Virginia that housed prisoners of war during World War II.
Oct. 24, 1929: Composer George Crumb was born in Charleston.In 1968, Crumb was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for “Echoes of Time and the River: Four Processionals for Orchestra.”
Oct. 25, 1918: Athlete Marshall “Biggie” Goldberg was born in Elkins.He led the Chicago Cardinals to the 1947 NFL championship in 1947 (its last to date) and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1958 and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1980.
Oct. 25, 1926: Professor Roy B. Clarkson was born and raised in Cass. He would become the state’s most historian of the timber industry, particularly through his book Tumult on the Mountains, and of the state’s most prominent botanists.
Oct. 25, 1951: Writer Denise Giardina was born in Bluefield and raised in neighboring McDowell County. She is best known as a novelist and also has a long history of community activism, including a run for governor.
Oct. 26, 1801: Jefferson County was established from a portion of Berkeley County by the Virginia General Assembly and named for Thomas Jefferson.
Oct. 26, 1888: Baseball player Dick Hoblitzell was born in Waverly (Wood County). Despite two outright World Series rings, Hoblitzell is best known today for being “Babe” Ruth’s roommate with the Boston Red Sox and his rare T-205 baseball card.
Oct. 26, 1934: Athlete Rodney Clark “Hot Rod” Hundley was born in Charleston. Hundley earned first team All-American recognition his senior year at West Virginia University. He averaged 24.5 points per game and scored 2,180 points over his college career, ranking second in WVU history.
Oct. 27, 1879: Howard B. Lee was born in Wirt County. He was elected state attorney general in 1924, and served for eight challenging years. His term saw the impeachment of a state auditor, the lawlessness of Prohibition and labor troubles in the coalfields.
Oct. 28, 1929: Painter Charles Lewis “Chuck” Ripper was born in Pittsburgh and later moved to Huntington. He was one of the country’s best-known wildlife artists, with paintings appearing on nearly 100 magazine covers and 80 U.S. postage stamps.
Oct. 28, 1972: Brad Paisley was born in Glen Dale. Paisley has received the Entertainer of the Year award from the Country Music Association.
