Bob Powell, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Yo-Yo Inventer Donald Duncan Born: June 8, 1893

Entrepreneur Donald Franklin Duncan was born in Rome, Ohio, on June 8, 1893, but spent his childhood in Huntington.

He left Huntington in his mid-teens and became a successful salesman for the Brock Candy Company in Chicago during World War I. In 1920, he introduced Good Humor ice cream to the world.

While in San Francisco in the late 1920s, Duncan saw a common Filipino toy known as a yo-yo, which means “come-come” in the Tagalog language. He bought out the toy’s manufacturer, modified the top, substituted a slip-string of Egyptian fiber, and hired Filipino natives to demonstrate the toy across the country. Duncan’s yo-yo became wildly popular. In 1962, its peak sales year, the Duncan Yo-Yo Company sold 18 million yo-yos and spinning tops. He owned the trademark on the word yo-yo from 1930 to 1965, when a federal appeals court ruled that the word was part of the common language.

With his profits, he founded the Duncan Parking Meter Corporation, which at one point made 80 percent of all meters sold in the world.

Donald Duncan died in Los Angeles in 1971 at age 77.

November 10, 1817: Kanawha Salt Producers Form Output Pool

On November 10, 1817, Kanawha County salt operators entered into a unique business arrangement that would set the stage for major industries in the late 1800s. Salt was an essential product in early American history. In the early 1800s, Kanawha County became the salt-producing capital of the nation. Business boomed during the War of 1812, when British salt supplies were cut off.

March 26, 1918: Governor William Marland Born in Illinois

Governor William Marland was born in Illinois on March 26, 1918. When he was seven, his family moved to Wyoming County. After graduating from WVU Law School, he quickly moved up the political ranks. He was appointed state attorney general and, in 1952, was elected governor at age 34.

Marland, a Democrat, was a political maverick. One of his first moves as governor was to propose a ten-cents-per-ton severance tax on natural resources. Although the legislature was controlled by fellow Democrats, it was dominated by coal industry interests. As such, legislators repeatedly rejected his severance tax proposals. Then, after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, he ordered the immediate integration of state schools.

These efforts rubbed some politicians the wrong way. And, personally, his abrupt manner and growing problems with alcohol made matters worse. After leaving the governor’s office, he lacked the backing of leading state Democrats. He twice lost campaigns for the U.S. Senate and ended up in Chicago, where, in 1962, he was discovered driving a taxi. In 1965, on the verge of mounting a political comeback, Marland died of cancer at age 47.

March 24, 1899: Statehood Leader Francis Pierpont Dies at 85

Statehood leader Francis Pierpont died on March 24, 1899, at age 85. He was born near Morgantown in 1814 and raised for part of his childhood in Marion County. As a young adult, he was as an attorney for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and a pioneer coal operator.

When the Civil War began, he helped form the pro-Union Reorganized Government of Virginia with its capital in Wheeling. In June 1861, he was unanimously elected the first and only governor of this government.

He dedicated much of his early time in office to obtaining funds for the government, keeping western Virginia in Northern military hands, and creating the new state of West Virginia.

When West Virginia entered the Union in 1863, Pierpont moved with the Reorganized Government to its new capital in Alexandria and then on to Richmond at the end of the war. He served as Virginia’s governor until 1868.

Francis Pierpont played such an important role in the state’s founding that he’s often called the “Father of West Virginia.” He’s one of only two West Virginians honored with a statue in the U.S. Capitol’s statuary hall.

February 18, 1969: Against UMWA Wishes, Raleigh Co. Miners Protest to Have Black Lung Recognized

On February 18, 1969, 282 coal miners walked off their jobs in Raleigh County. While coal strikes were common at the time, this one was different. First, the miners weren’t protesting for better wages but to have black lung recognized as a compensable disease. Second, the strike was in direct opposition to union wishes. For decades, miners had asked United Mine Workers of America leaders to address black lung. But, their pleas had been largely ignored. The previous year, union leader Tony Boyle finally had agreed to support black lung recognition at the state level. By this time, though, many rank-and-file miners had become fed up with Boyle. A tipping point occurred when Boyle defended company officials following the deadly Farmington mine disaster.

So, rank-and-file miners took matters into their own hands and walked off the job. Eight days later, 2,000 miners marched on the state capitol and demanded action. After the legislature produced a weak bill, all of the state’s miners—more than 40,000—went on strike. Thanks in part to their protests, Congress passed a bill providing federal funding to compensate miners with black lung.

Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers Shot in Welch: August 1, 1921

On August 1, 1921, Matewan police chief Sid Hatfield and his friend Ed Chambers were gunned down by Baldwin-Felt Detectives in front of the McDowell County Courthouse in Welch.

The trouble between Hatfield and the Baldwin-Felts had started more than a year earlier. In May of 1920, a shootout in the Mingo County town of Matewan had pitted Baldwin-Felts detectives against Hatfield and a crowd of angry miners.

A shootout left seven of the detectives, two miners, and the town’s mayor dead in the streets of Matewan.

After the Matewan Massacre, as it’s now known, Hatfield became a hero to the miners who were trying to unionize southern West Virginia. The Baldwin-Felts detectives decided to take revenge against Hatfield after he and 17 others were acquitted of all charges related to the massacre.

They seized their chance when Hatfield and Chambers were set to appear at the McDowell County Courthouse on charges unrelated to the earlier shootout. Hatfield’s murder sparked an uprising that led weeks later to an armed march on Logan County and the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest single conflict of the Mine Wars.