The following events happened on these dates in West Virginia history. To read more, go toe-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia at www.wvencyclopedia.org.
July 19, 1850: Pope Pius IX established the Diocese of Wheeling, naming Richard V. Whelan as its first bishop.
July 19, 1863: A Confederate raid led by Gen. John Morgan came to an end on Buffington Island, near Ravenswood. The Confederates were overtaken by federal troops, local militia and three U.S. Navy gunboats.
July 19, 1946: Author Stephen Coonts was born in Morgantown. After graduating from West Virginia University and serving in the navy during the Vietnam War, Coonts became a best-selling action and adventure novelist with the 1986 publication of Flight of the Intruder.
July 20, 2010: Carte Goodwin became the nation’s youngest sitting senator. Goodwin was appointed to fill Robert C. Byrd’s seat in the U.S. Senate following Byrd’s death.
July 21, 1924: Don Knotts was born in Morgantown. Knotts will be forever remembered for portraying Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show.
July 22, 1859: Athlete “Jack” Glasscock was born in Wheeling. Glasscock, who played bare-handed, was one of baseball’s premier shortstops of the 19th century.
July 22, 1937: Musician Tommy Thompson was born in St. Albans, Kanawha County. Through his group, the Red Clay Ramblers, and a career that spanned four decades, Thompson played a major role in spreading the popularity of old-time music.
July 23, 1863: Financier and industrialist Isaac Thomas Mann was born in Greenbrier County. As president of the Bank of Bramwell and the Pocahontas Fuel Company for three decades, “Ike” Mann held vast holdings in coal, timber and especially financial institutions.
July 23, 1919: Novelist Davis Grubb was born in Moundsville. His renown came with his first novel, The Night of the Hunter (1953), a gripping suspense story adapted to film in 1955 and for television in 1991.
July 24, 1823: Arthur Boreman, West Virginia’s first governor, was born in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. His family moved to Middlebourne, Tyler County, when he was still an infant.
July 24, 1919: Sam Taylor of Mercer County became the first West Virginia State Police trooper. During his tenure, Taylor tracked moonshiners and bootleggers, and helped set up new state police detachments.
July 24, 1929: Cornelius Charlton was born in East Gulf, Raleigh County. Charlton was killed in battle during the Korean War, and he was honored posthumously with the Medal of Honor.
July 24, 1942: Actor Chris Sarandon was born in Beckley. A film, stage and television performer, some of his credits include The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Princess Bride and an Oscar nomination for Dog Day Afternoon.
July 24, 1983: Kansas City Royals player and Glen Dale native George Brett was involved in the “Pine-Tar Bat Incident.” After hitting a game-winning home run against the New York Yankees, the umpires ruled that Brett’s bat had too much pine tar on it and called him out. The ensuing melee at home plate is classic baseball lore.
July 25, 1864: A colony of eight Catholic nuns set out from Washington, D.C., and Frederick, Maryland, for Parkersburg. The sisters, who created a monastery there and named it DeSales Heights, ran a boarding school for young women for 75 years.