Heavy autumn rains triggered devastating floods across parts of West Virginia on November 4-5, 1985, leaving 47 people dead and several towns severely damaged. That tragedy stands alongside decades of state history, from industrial disasters to pioneering cultural icons.
The first week of November carries a heavy historical weight in the Mountain State, marked by both profound loss and enduring achievement. On November 6, 1863, Confederate troops under Brig. Gen. John Echols were defeated at Droop Mountain by a larger federal force led by Brig. Gen. William W. Averell, in one of the most important Civil War battles fought on West Virginia soil.
Coal Mine Disaster Kills Twenty-Seven Men
The state’s industrial backbone was forged through grueling labor, often at a terrible human cost. Inside the Glen Rogers coal mine located in Wyoming County, a methane gas explosion claimed the lives of 27 men on November 6, 1923. The mine, which opened in 1921, saw a total of 160 fatalities over a 31-year period before it was closed.
Out of that same rugged mining culture emerged fierce defenders of the working class. Nimrod Workman, born on November 5, 1895, in Oppy, Kentucky, lived most of his life in Mingo County working as a coal miner while establishing himself as a folk singer and labor activist. Earning the nation’s highest honor in folk and traditional arts, he was named a National Heritage Fellow in 1986 as the first West Virginian to achieve this distinction.
Steel Drum Craftsman Shapes University Program
West Virginia’s cultural footprint extends far beyond its borders. Musician “Ellie” Mannette was born in Trinidad on November 5, 1927, before eventually bringing his steel drum craftsmanship to Morgantown. In 1992, he became an artist-in-residence at WVU, coordinating the school’s steel drum program, later earning his own National Heritage Fellow distinction in 1999.
On the political front, November landmarks trace the trajectories of the state’s most enduring public servants. Cecil Underwood was born on November 5, 1922, at Josephs Mills, Tyler County, serving as West Virginia’s 25th and 32nd governor and as the state’s youngest and oldest chief executive. Darrell McGraw, born in Wyoming County on November 8, 1936, served on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (1977-89) and was West Virginia’s longest-serving Attorney General in history (1993-2013). McGraw died in 2024.
Rifle Team Member Wins First Gold Medal
Athletic glory and supreme sacrifice also define this stretch of the calendar. Cornelius Lonzo Burdette, born November 6, 1878, in Sandstone, Summers County, won the equivalent of a gold medal as a member of the rifle team at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Sweden, earning the distinction of becoming the first West Virginian to win an Olympic gold medal.
Decades later, during World War II, Medal of Honor recipient Herbert J. Thomas Jr. was killed in the South Pacific on November 7, 1943. Thomas, who grew up in South Charleston, died by throwing himself on a grenade, saving his fellow squad members. His legacy endures today through WVU Medicine’s Thomas J. Memorial Hospital in South Charleston, which is named in his honor.
