Today in Wheeling History: November 26--A constitutional convention for the proposed state of Kanawha opened in Wheeling (1861).
 
On November 26, 1861, a constitutional convention opened in Wheeling to discuss the proposed state of Kanawha. Peter Van Winkle led the discussion and explained the rules of debate. James Sinsel and Gordon Battelle argued that the name "Kanawha" was part of a compromise made by the earlier June convention and should not be changed. However, Granville Parker, James Brown, Daniel Lamb, Elbert Caldwell, Waitman Willey, William Stevenson, and others argued that the current convention had the power to choose a new name, which would still need approval from voters. After much debate between these delegates, the convention voted 30 to 9 to remove the name Kanawha, with Peter Van Winkle, James Lamb, Gordon Battelle, and Granville Parker among those speaking prior to the vote. Multiple replacement names were suggested, including Alleghany, Columbia, New Virginia, Western Virginia, and West Virginia. A vote was held where each delegate named their preferred new name. West Virginia received 30 out of 51 votes, securing a majority, so the blank was filled with West Virginia as the proposed name for the new state.
 
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Photo credits: West Virginia Archives & History

Today in Wheeling History: November 25--Chester D. Hubbard, a Wheeling businessperson, two-term U.S. Representative from West Virginia, and founder of the state of West Virginia who previously served in the Virginia General Assembly and Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 before the American Civil War, was born in Hamden, Connecticut (1814).
 
Chester Dorman Hubbard was born on November 25, 1814, in Hamden, Connecticut. He moved to Wheeling, Virginia (later West Virginia) as a child. Hubbard was a businessman involved in lumber, banking, manufacturing, and railroads. He served in the Virginia legislature (1852-1853), the Wheeling Convention of 1861, the West Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1861, and the West Virginia Senate (1863-1864). Hubbard helped establish the state of West Virginia during the Civil War. He served as a U.S. Congressional Representative from West Virginia from 1865-1869. Hubbard died on August 23, 1891, in Wheeling, West Virginia at age 76. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Wheeling. His son William Pallister Hubbard also served in Congress.
 
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Today in Wheeling History: November 25--Dr. Joseph Ray, who wrote the celebrated Ray's Arithmetic, was born (1807). 
 
Joseph Ray (1807-1855) pursued an extensive early education in two states, attending country schools and West Liberty Academy in Virginia, Franklin College in Ohio, and studying medicine with Dr. Joel F. Martin in Ohio. He earned his M.D. from the Medical College of Ohio in Cincinnati in 1831. Though starting a medical practice, Ray transitioned to a career in education at Woodward College in Cincinnati. As a professor and later president, he pioneered innovative arithmetic textbooks in 1834 that revolutionized American math instruction. Ray's textbooks emphasized practical real-world applications and sold over 120 million copies through 1913, becoming the most widely used math texts. He contributed extensively to teacher training and math education journals. Ray achieved numerous reforms as president of the Ohio State Teachers Association, pioneer of the first Western U.S. teachers organization, and through state examiner and curriculum development roles. He authored over 50 textbook titles and achieved broad influence before his early death at age 48.
 
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Photo Credits: Mathematical Association of America, West Virginia Archives and History

Today in Wheeling History: November 25--Chester D. Hubbard, a Wheeling businessperson, two-term U.S. Representative from West Virginia, and founder of the state of West Virginia who previously served in the Virginia General Assembly and Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 before the American Civil War, was born in Hamden, Connecticut (1814).
 
Chester Dorman Hubbard was born on November 25, 1814, in Hamden, Connecticut. He moved to Wheeling, Virginia (later West Virginia) as a child. Hubbard was a businessman involved in lumber, banking, manufacturing, and railroads. He served in the Virginia legislature (1852-1853), the Wheeling Convention of 1861, the West Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1861, and the West Virginia Senate (1863-1864). Hubbard helped establish the state of West Virginia during the Civil War. He served as a U.S. Congressional Representative from West Virginia from 1865-1869. Hubbard died on August 23, 1891, in Wheeling, West Virginia at age 76. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Wheeling. His son William Pallister Hubbard also served in Congress.
 
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Today in Wheeling History: November 24--John Hupp, a prominent physician in Wheeling, West Virginia, who made significant contributions to medicine, education, and his community, was born in Donegal, Washington County, Pennsylvania (1819).
 
John Cox Hupp (1819-1908) was a prominent physician in Wheeling, West Virginia. He held positions as physician to the Ohio County almshouse and jail, U.S. District Court, City Board of Health, and Children’s Home. He served as a delegate for the American Medical Association to European medical associations and on the executive committee of the Centennial Medical Commission's International Medical Congress. As a founder of West Virginia’s Medical Society, Hupp introduced chloral hydrate as an anesthetic. He advanced public health reforms and became a longtime U.S. pension examining surgeon. In education, Hupp extended free public schools to African American children and introduced German language and industrial arts instruction. He served in local government on the Board of Health, as County Board of Supervisors president, and the Board of Education. In 1853 Hupp married Carolene Louisa Todd, with whom he had three sons and three daughters. When he died in 1908 at age 88, he was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Wheeling. His legacy was as a leader in medicine and progressive reforms in 19th century Wheeling.
 
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Photo Credits: Wikipedia, Find-a-Grave

Today in Wheeling History: November 24--John J. Jacob, who served as Governor of West Virginia from 1871 to 1877, represented Ohio County in the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1879, served as Ohio County's circuit judge from 1881 to 1888, and practiced law in Wheeling, died shortly after collapsing on the sidewalk on Twelfth Street in downtown Wheeling, likely from heart failure (1893).
 
Former West Virginia Governor John Jeremiah Jacob died suddenly on November 24, 1893 at around 4:20pm after collapsing on the sidewalk on Twelfth Street in downtown Wheeling, West Virginia. He was transported across the street to the office of the Franklin Insurance Company, where doctors arrived quickly but were unable to revive him. The cause of death was likely heart failure or a cerebral hemorrhage. Jacob resided at 930 Main Street in Wheeling at the time of his death. His funeral was held on November 27th at St. Matthew's P.E. Church in Wheeling, officiated by Rev. Dr. R.R. Swope and other ministers. Pallbearers selected by the family include Judge George E. Boyd, George E. McMechen, Col. Robert White, Dr. R.W. Hazlett, M.L. Ott, A.M. Jolly, H.K. List, and J.C. Palmer. Following the funeral service, Jacob's remains were transported to Romney, West Virginia, his childhood home, for burial alongside family members.

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Photo Credits: Wikipedia, WV Encyclopedia, Find a Grave

Today in Wheeling History: November 24--Wheeling College holds its groundbreaking ceremony (1953).
 
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Photo Credits: Wheeling University

Today in Wheeling: November 23--Alexander & Company Shoe Store opened in Wheeling (1889).
 
The Alexander & Company Shoe Store was a retail shoe store located at 1049 Main Street in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was opened on November 23, 1889, by Seaton Alexander, who had previously worked for 8 years at the J.H. Locke Shoe Company. In 1899, Alexander partnered with George J. Mathison to form Alexander & Company. The store occupied two floors and employed around 15 people. It carried a wide selection of footwear, from inexpensive to high-end. The Alexander & Company Shoe Store was listed in city directories through 1964. It was considered the largest retail shoe store in Wheeling during its years of operation from 1889 to at least the 1960s.
 
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Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV

Today in Wheeling History: November 22--The 10th annual Wheeling Christmas parade was held with many innovations, including giant balloon characters and Santa arriving by airplane (1940).
 
The 10th annual Wheeling Christmas parade was held on November 22, 1940, with spring-like weather and was marked by many innovations, including giant inflated balloon characters supplied by Jean Gross, a famous theatrical producer. Highlights included a Mother Goose float, six white Arabian horses, over 30 high school bands including a standout performance by Scio High, and Santa Claus arriving by airplane dubbed "Spirit of Christmas" rather than his traditional reindeer sleigh. Other notable parade participants and floats included the Boy Scouts, American Legion, Red Cross, Wheeling Cycle Club, Oglebay Park, John Dieckmann & Sons' Cinderella float, Wheeling Steel, Isaly's cow jumping over the moon float, Cooey-Bentz's balloon float, the State Road Commission's tank float, and all Wheeling high schools including Linsly, Wheeling, Wheeling Central, Triadelphia, Warwood, and Lincoln. Unique balloon characters included a clown, Felix the Cat, Donald Duck, Ferdinand the Cow, a 3-headed Christmas serpent, a caterpillar, monkey, elephant, kangaroo, musical pig, alligator, and a giant horned dragon.
 
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Photo Credits: Archives of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston; Ohio County Public Library, Wheeling WV

Today in Wheeling: November 22--Erika Morini, hailed as "the greatest woman violinist in the world," performed at Wheeling's Court Theatre (1922).
 
On November 22, 1922, violinist Erika Morini gave a distinctive and masterful performance at the Court Theatre in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was the 46th concert of the University Club series. Morini played Mendelssohn's E Minor Concerto with "sublimely beautiful" interpretation. Her bowing technique recalled that of Heifetz. She also played works by Tartini, Beethoven, Mozart, Hulbay, Brahms, Schumann, and Sarasate. Robert Permar, reviewing the performance for the "Wheeling Register" declared Morini had complete technical mastery and musical genius. Her tone was lovely and her difficult passages seemed effortless. Permar stated Morini was endowed with intelligence and insight, allowing her artistic power full expression. He considered her performance perfect and said her artistry stood with the greatest violinists. Morini received enthusiastic applause. Her accompanist was the renowned Carl Lamson. Overall, it was a splendid program played with surpassing eloquence.
 
Erika Morini Siracusano was an Austrian violin virtuoso born in 1904 in Vienna. She studied with her father and at the Vienna Conservatory. She debuted in 1916 to great acclaim, then caused a sensation with her 1921 American debut in New York at age 17. She acquired the famed Guadagnini violin previously owned by Maud Powell and made early recordings. Morini performed internationally through the 1930s and relocated to the U.S. in 1938, changing her name to Erica. She taught at Mannes College while maintaining an active career, including a 1962 memorial concert for Fritz Kreisler. Morini played a Stradivarius violin purchased for her in 1924. Music critic Harold Schonberg once called her the greatest woman violinist ever, but Morini disliked gender distinctions in music. She preferred to be judged equally as a violinist, not a female musician. Morini gave her last concert in 1976, retiring afterward. She received many honors including a gold medal from New York City. Her valuable instruments were stolen before her death in 1995. She was considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century.
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Photo Credits: Wikipedia