THIS WEEK IN WV HISTORY: Oct. 25–31

Presented by the WV Humanities Council,

Charleston WV – The following events happened on these dates in West Virginia history. To read more, go to e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia at www.wvencyclopedia.org.

Oct. 25, 1918: Athlete Marshall “Biggie” Goldberg was born in Elkins. He led the Chicago Cardinals to the 1947 NFL championship (the Cardinals’ last to date) and was elected to the College 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 was considered West Virginia’s leading historian on the timber industry, particularly his book Tumult on the Mountains. He also was one of the state’s most prominent botanists.

Oct. 25, 1951: Author 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 earning two World Series rings outright, Hoblitzell is best known today for being “Babe” Ruth’s roommate with the Boston Red Sox and also for 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: Singer, musician and songwriter Brad Paisley was born in Glen Dale, Marshall County. Paisley has won three Grammys, 14 Academy of Country Music Awards, 14 Country Music Association Awards and two American Music Awards.

Oct. 29, 1861: Confederate commander Robert E. Lee ended his ill-fated western Virginia campaign. His three months in the region were marked by rain, mud, inexperienced officers, diseases among the troops and rampant criticism of his leadership.

Oct. 29-30, 2012: A rare October blizzard struck West Virginia as an aftermath to Hurricane Sandy accompanied by strong mid- and upper-level troughs in the jet stream. While the East Coast was getting flooded with rain, snow totals here were reaching up to three feet in Raleigh, Fayette, Nicholas, Webster, Upshur, Randolph, Pocahontas, Tucker and Preston counties. Some areas received nearly four feet.

Oct. 30, 1825: Randolph McCoy was born in Logan County. In 1878, McCoy’s accusation against a cousin of Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield for stealing a hog set off a deadly series of events in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud.

Oct. 30, 1930: The first Mountain State Forest Festival in Elkins began on this day. It has been held ever since except for an eight-year gap in the 1940s and in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oct. 31, 1877: Herman Guy Kump was born in Capon Springs, Hampshire County. He was the 19th governor of West Virginia, serving from 1933 to 1937.

Oct. 31, 1940: Gale Catlett, West Virginia University basketball player and coach, was born in Hedgesville, Berkeley County. Catlett coached WVU to 13 20-win seasons before he retired in 2002. His 439 victories make him the winningest men’s basketball coach in WVU history.

Oct. 31, 1946: Labor leader Cecil Edward Roberts Jr. was born on Cabin Creek, Kanawha County. A sixth-generation coal miner and a fiery orator, Roberts served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1995 until his retirement in 2025.

Oct. 31, 1951: Football coach Nick Saban was born in Fairmont. As a quarterback, he led Monongah High School to a 1968 state championship. He went on to coach Louisiana State University and the University of Alabama to seven national championships (six with Alabama), the most by any head coach in college football history.

Oct. 31, 1990: A nearly 20-month bitter lockout at Ravenswood Aluminum began when union contract negotiations broke down and supervisors turned away workers reporting for the midnight shift.

e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia is a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council.  For more information contact the West Virginia Humanities Council, 1310 Kanawha Blvd. E., Charleston, WV 25301; (304) 346-8500; or visit e-WV at www.wvencyclopedia.org.