Sept. 2, 1722: Frontiersman William Crawford was born in present Jefferson County. He was a farmer, soldier, surveyor and the land agent of George Washington.
Sept. 3, 1851: Mollie Gabe was born into slavery in Flatwoods, Braxton County. After emancipation, she became a widely respected midwife, washerwoman, farmer, and community leader who raised a large family and preserved Appalachian traditions. She died in 1951.
Sept. 3, 1890: West Virginia Wesleyan College opened in Buckhannon as the West Virginia Conference Seminary. In that first year, 201 men and women undertook a largely preparatory school curriculum. Gradually the school added college-level studies and awarded its first five degrees in 1905.
Sept. 3, 1946: Fiddler and banjo player John Morris was born in Ivydale, Clay County. He and his brother David created the influential Morris Family Old-Time Music Festival in the late 1960s and played an important role in founding the Vandalia Gathering. In 2020, John Morris was named a National Heritage Fellow, the nation’s highest honor in traditional arts.
Sept. 3, 1966: President Lyndon B. Johnson dedicated the Summersville Dam and Reservoir. Summersville Lake (now State Park) is located on the Gauley River in Nicholas County. It is West Virginia’s largest lake, with 2,790 surface acres at summer pool stage and over 60 miles of shoreline.
Sept. 4, 1862: General Albert G. Jenkins and his men crossed the Ohio River and became the first to raise the Confederate flag on Ohio soil during the Civil War.
Sept. 4, 1894: Jessie Maynard was born in Williamson. Two of her husbands were killed in violent incidents during the Mine Wars: Cabell Testerman during the shootout at Matewan in 1920 and Sid Hatfield on the steps of the McDowell County Courthouse a year later.
Sept. 5, 1861: Sutton was occupied by 5,000 Union troops. Later in 1861, Gen. Rosecrans bivouacked 10,000 Union troops there, including a future president, William McKinley.
Sept. 5, 1936: Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski was born in Wheeling. He played all 17 years of his career for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His walk-off home run to win the 1960 World Series over the New York Yankees is one of the most famous moments in baseball history.
Sept. 5, 1950: Appalachian Bible Institute opened in Sylvester, Boone County, with an enrollment of seven students. Now called Appalachian Bible College, it has served thousands of students since moving to Raleigh County in 1956.
Sept. 6, 1875: Members of the notorious James Gang allegedly robbed the Bank of Huntington and got away on horseback. The robbery spawned a host of legends, including stories about outlaw Frank James–brother of Jesse James–hiding out in Wayne County.
Sept. 6, 1942: Award-winning woodcarver, dancer, playwright and educator Jude Binder was born in Maryland. In 1982, she founded Heartwood in the Hills, a school for the arts in Calhoun County. For more than two decades, she has been Charleston’s “FestivALL Princess.”
Sept. 6, 1980: The new Mountaineer Field opened in Morgantown with a 41-27 win over Cincinnati. It was the first game for new coach Don Nehlen, who would become the most successful football coach in West Virginia University history.
Sept. 7, 1808: Peter Godwin Van Winkle was born in New York City. In 1863, Van Winkle was elected as one of the first two U.S. senators from the new state of West Virginia.
Sept. 7, 1848: Christopher Harrison Payne was born in Monroe County. In 1896, Payne became the state’s first Black legislator when he was elected to the House of Delegates from Fayette County.
Sept. 7, 1937: Photographer Arnout “Sonny” Hyde Jr. was born in Bluefield. His images of nature and people appeared in magazines, books and calendars throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Sept. 8, 1947: Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston) moved to its current location on the south side of the Kanawha River.