FILMING BEGINS IN MOUNDSVILLE ON THE MOVIE “FOOLS’ PARADE” — SEPT. 21, 1970

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.

Sept. 21, 1895: Samuel Ivan Taylor was born in Mercer County. Taylor was the first member of the West Virginia state police. He was part of the force that faced off against union miners during the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain in Logan County.

Sept. 21, 1921: Musician Rex Parker was born in Maplewood, Fayette County. He performed on radio stations WCHS in Charleston and WJLS in Beckley. In 1941, he married Eleanora Niera, and they performed on radio and TV as Rex and Eleanor Parker until his death in 1999.

Sept. 21, 1937: The West Virginia Conservation Commission acquired 6,705 acres in Kanawha County to create Kanawha State Forest. Redevelopment of the land, which had been heavily mined and timbered, began the next year by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Sept. 21, 1970: Filming began in Moundsville on the movie “Fools’ Parade,” based on the novel by Davis Grubb. The filming concluded one month later when Grubb came to Moundsville for a dinner, accompanied by his dog, making the $750 round trip from New York City in a taxi.

Sept. 22, 1856: Albert Blakeslee “A. B.” White was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He was West Virginia’s 11th governor, serving from 1901 to 1905. He was the fourth person to serve as governor from Wood County, his adopted home.

Sept. 22, 1893: Elizabeth Simpson Drewry was born in Virginia but soon moved to Elkhorn, McDowell County. In 1950, she became the first Black woman elected to the legislature. In 1956, she introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow women to serve on juries in West Virginia.

Sept. 22, 1894: Louis Bennett Jr. was born in Weston. Bennett was West Virginia’s only World War I flying ace. With 12 combat kills, including three aircraft and nine balloons, Bennett placed himself ninth on the roster of aces. This record was accomplished in just 10 days after assignment to his combat unit.

Sept. 22, 1970: The “Brinkley Bridge” in Wayne County collapsed under the weight of an overloaded truck. The bridge was named for newscaster David Brinkley who had filmed a 1960 news report about the poor condition of the span.

Sept. 22, 1975: Charleston native Sara Jane Moore failed in her attempt to assassinate President Gerald Ford in San Francisco. She later served prison time at the Federal Penitentiary for Women in Alderson.

Sept. 23, 1922: Five men were struck and killed at the Glen Rogers mine in Wyoming County when equipment fell during the construction of a deep shaft.

Sept. 23, 1923: Folk artist Herman Hayes was born in Elkview. His woodcarvings were displayed in Washington and New York City, and he twice won the top award in the West Virginia Juried Exhibition.

Sept. 23, 1938: The Mingo Oak was cut down after succumbing to the fumes of a burning coal refuse pile. The Mingo Oak, which stood near the Logan-Mingo county line, was more than 500 years old and may have been the largest white oak in the world.

Sept. 24, 1911: Laura Jackson Arnold died in Buckhannon. The sister of Stonewall Jackson, she was a staunch Unionist during the Civil War, opening her home to care for injured Union soldiers.

Sept. 24, 1918: George Spencer “Spanky” Roberts was born in London, Kanawha County. He entered aviation cadet training with the first class of Tuskegee Airmen and became the first Black military pilot from West Virginia.

Sept. 25, 1864: George Smith Patton was killed at the Third Battle of Winchester. Patton, a Charleston lawyer, had organized the Kanawha Riflemen, a Virginia militia company. He was the grandfather of Gen. George S. Patton of World War II.

Sept. 25, 1866: Editor and publisher M. T. Whittico was born in Virginia. He moved to Keystone about 1900 and made the McDowell Times the preeminent Black newspaper in West Virginia, with topics ranging from race issues to life in the coalfields. He also played a key role in McDowell County Republican politics.

Sept. 26, 1816: David Hunter Strother was born in Martinsburg. He was an artist and an author who used the pen name “Porte Crayon.”

Sept. 26, 1863: The Great Seal of West Virginia was adopted by the legislature. The seal, which has remained unchanged, was designed by Joseph H. Diss Debar.

Sept. 27, 1914: Author Catherine Marshall was born in Johnson City, Tennessee. Her family moved to West Virginia and lived in Keyser during the late 1920s and the 1930s. Her best-loved novel, Christy (1967), was based on her mother’s girlhood in the southern mountains.