CHARLESTON – 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.

Aug. 3, 1897: Fire destroyed much of downtown Lewisburg. The town rebuilt and evolved in the next century into the hub of one of the state’s major farming areas and a center for education and the arts.

Aug. 3, 1907: Harley Orrin Staggers Sr. was born in Keyser. Staggers served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 32 years.

Aug. 4, 1824: John Jay Jackson Jr. was born near Parkersburg. Jackson was a prominent judge who became notorious among those trying to organize labor unions in West Virginia. He blocked an effort by Mother Jones and United Mine Workers leaders to organize the miners of northern West Virginia.

Aug. 4, 1897: Musician William Jennings “Billy” Cox was born near Charleston. Cox, known as the “Dixie Songbird,” ranked as one of West Virginia’s premier country music vocalists and songwriters during the 1930s.

Aug. 4, 1930: Lewisburg set the record for the state’s hottest temperature ever: 112. Six years later, Martinsburg would tie it.

Aug. 5, 1958: Jennings Randolph defeated former governor William Marland in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Randolph soon became the senior senator from West Virginia and served for 26 years.

Aug. 7, 1864: In what became known as the Battle of Moorefield, Union troops under Gen. William W. Averell attacked the headquarters of Gen. Bradley Johnson. The Confederates were routed and fled south into the town; the Union captured 500 men and 400 horses.

Aug. 7, 1877: West Virginia voters chose Charleston as the state capital over Clarksburg and Martinsburg.

Aug. 7, 1893: Parsons became the county seat of Tucker County. Parsons was named for Ward Parsons, a prominent resident and the largest landholder.

Aug. 8, 1915: Businessman Alex Schoenbaum was born in Richmond, Va. After settling in Charleston in 1943, he went into the restaurant business. His restaurants were named Shoney’s when Schoenbaum’s nickname was selected in an employee contest.

Aug. 9, 1916: A storm front from the northwest dumped nearly six inches of rain in less than five hours on the headwaters of Cabin Creek in eastern Kanawha County; 71 people died, and 900 homes were destroyed in the flood.

Aug. 9, 1927: Matthew Reese was born in Huntington. During the 1960 presidential Democratic primary, he helped organize all 55 counties and recruited thousands of campaign volunteers for John F. Kennedy. JFK’s victory forged Reese’s national political consulting career, working on more than 450 campaigns.

Aug. 9, 1954: Don Chafin died in Huntington. As sheriff of Logan County, Chafin was a bitter foe of union organizers and, with financial support from coal companies, used his many deputies to keep labor organizers out of the county. He most famously led the anti-union forces at the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain.