Tag: This Week in West Virginia History

December 19, 1907: Colonel Ruby Bradley Born

Ruby Bradley was born near Spencer on December 19, 1907. As a member of the Army Nurse Corps, she would become one of the most decorated women in U.S. military history.

Bradley’s ordeal also is one of the most incredible stories of World War II. Just hours after attacking Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japan bombed American defenses in the Philippines, where Bradley was stationed as an Army nurse.

About three weeks later, she was captured and imprisoned in an internment camp in Manila. Conditions in the camp were brutal and kept deteriorating as the war dragged on.

But Bradley and her fellow nurses cared for the sick and taught good hygiene to the prisoners. She also helped with 230 surgeries and delivered 13 babies. When the camp was liberated in February 1945, Bradley’s weight had dropped to only 86 pounds.

She went on to serve as chief nurse of the Eighth Army during the Korean War and retired as a full colonel in 1963. During her career, she received 34 medals and citations of bravery, including two Legion of Merit medals and two Bronze Stars.

December 18, 1944: Bernard Bell Earns the Medal of Honor

On December 18, 1944, during World War II, Bernard Bell captured more than 30 German prisoners, earning the Medal of Honor. 

Bell was born at Grantsville in Calhoun County in 1911, but his family moved to Point Pleasant when he was only one. He enlisted in the Army in 1942 and attained the rank of technical sergeant. In early December 1944, his division was working with the French army to liberate the city of Colmar from German forces. On December 18, Bell and his eight-man squad captured an enemy-occupied schoolhouse near Mittelwihr and held it in the face of relentless enemy attacks. During the fight, Bell exposed himself to enemy fire, killed more than 20 German troops, and took 33 captive. President Harry Truman awarded him the Medal of Honor in August 1945.

After the war, Bernard Bell worked for the Veteran’s Administration. He died in Florida in 1971 at age 59 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His siblings donated his military medals to the Mason County Public Library in Point Pleasant. And a bridge in Calhoun County was named in his honor in 2001.

On December 17, 1957: Wheeling’s J. L. Stifel and Sons Closes its Doors

On December 17, 1957, Wheeling’s J. L. Stifel and Sons closed its doors. The company had been founded by German immigrant Johann Ludwig Stifel in 1835, making it one of West Virginia’s longest-surviving businesses, operated by four generations of the family.

For most of its history, Stifel and Sons produced indigo-dyed prints and drills for clothing manufacturers. The company’s trademark boot was found on products throughout the world. At its peak, the North Wheeling plant produced three-and-a-half million yards of cloth per month. It also was the first company to introduce the process of Sanforizing, which is used to prevent shrinkage in textiles.

During World War II, Stifel and Sons earned the coveted Army-Navy “E” Award for producing fatigue and battle dress uniforms for the armed forces. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Edward E. Stifel, the grandson of Johann Ludwig, spearheaded the movement to build the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport, which opened in 1946.

By the mid-1950s, foreign competition and a recession had driven J. L. Stifel and Sons into the red. As a last ditch effort, the company merged with Indian Head Mills but closed soon afterward.

December 13, 1926: Wheeling Radio Station WWVA Goes On The Air

Wheeling radio station WWVA went on the air on December 13, 1926. The 50-watt station broadcast from the basement of John Stroebel, a physics teacher and wireless pioneer. By November of the next year, WWVA had established studios in a Wheeling office building and boosted its power to 500 watts, which, on some nights, could transmit its signal halfway around the world. Early programming on the station included contemporary recorded music, informal announcements, music by local amateurs, and children’s shows.

  

In 1933, WWVA launched a program that would become a mainstay. The Wheeling Jamboree was broadcast to 17 other states and six Canadian provinces. The show soon moved to Wheeling’s Capitol Music Hall, where it was performed before a live audience of more than 3,000. The Jamboree is still on the air but no longer on WWVA. It’s the nation’s second-oldest radio program, behind the Grand Ole Opry.

WWVA also pioneered other live music shows, such as It’s Wheeling Steel, with songs and routines performed mostly by employees of the Wheeling Steel Corporation. Today, WWVA features mostly news, talk, and religious programming.

December 12, 1975: Original Shoney's in Charleston Closes

On December 12, 1975, the original Shoney’s Restaurant closed down for good in Charleston. The Shoney’s chain grew from the original Parkette Drive-In and Bowling Alley, which had opened on the city’s West Side in 1947.

The restaurant was the brainchild of Alex Schoenbaum, a former All-American football player at Ohio State. He moved to Charleston in 1943 and opened the Parkette four years later.

The business took off when Schoenbaum purchased the Southeastern U.S. franchise rights for the Big Boy hamburger chain. Two years later, an employee contest branded the restaurant chain as Shoney’s. Eventually, Shoney’s would become the largest Big Boy franchise in the country.

In 1971, Schoenbaum sold his interest in the company to Captain D’s founder and Shoney’s franchise holder Ray Danner. The chain continued to expand and, by its peak in 1998, had more than 1,300 restaurants in 34 states.

Alex Schoenbaum died in 1996. He and his wife Betty have left a notable philanthropic mark on West Virginia’s capital city, including large donations to the University of Charleston, a family enrichment center, and a soccer field, to name just a few.

December 11, 1893: Governor Jacob Jackson Dies in Parkersburg

West Virginia’s sixth governor, Jacob Jackson, died in Parkersburg on December 11, 1893, at age 64. The son and grandson of congressmen, Jackson came from one of the region’s most distinguished families. His father was also one of West Virginia’s founders.

Jackson first worked as a teacher and then opened a legal practice in St. Marys. He served as the Pleasants County prosecuting attorney before and during the Civil War. His work took him occasionally to Wheeling, where he was once arrested for making pro-Confederate remarks.

A staunch Democrat, Jackson served after the war as Wood County’s prosecuting attorney, as a legislator, and as Parkersburg’s mayor. In 1880, he was elected governor. He’s best remembered for his tax-reform attempts. Jackson ordered a thorough assessment of personal property. Prior to Jackson becoming governor, certain powerful businesses had not paid their fair share of taxes. His efforts, though, met with limited success due to the foot dragging of local assessors and opposition from railroads and other taxpayers. After leaving office in 1885, Jacob Jackson returned to Parkersburg, resumed his law practice, and served as a bank president.

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