1956 West Virginia Gubernatorial Election
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1956 West Virginia Gubernatorial Election
The 1956 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1956, to elect the governor of West Virginia. Underwood's 1956 election as Governor of West Virginia marked the first election of a Republican to the office since 1928. He had defeated Charleston Mayor John T. Copenhaver by only 7,200 votes in the primary, and enjoyed a decisive victory against Democratic U.S. Representative Robert Mollohan in the general election by 63,000 votes. Only a week prior to the election, it was discovered that Mollohan had received $20,000 and two cars from a coal operator on a strip mine at a male reformatory in Pruntytown while Mollohan was superintendent of the institution. Underwood had turned 34 years old only one day before the election, making him one of the youngest U.S. governors to have ever been elected. The previous governors since 1932 had all been Democrats. His first act as governor was to go on the new medium of television and inform every state employee th ...
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Cecil Underwood
Cecil Harland Underwood (November 5, 1922 – November 24, 2008) was an American Republican Party politician from West Virginia, known for the length of his career. He was the 25th and 32nd Governor of West Virginia from 1957 to 1961, and from 1997 to 2001. He ran for re-election in 2000 but was defeated by Democrat Bob Wise. Underwood was both the youngest and the oldest person ever to serve as Governor of West Virginia. He was also the first guest on the television game show '' To Tell the Truth''. He was a Methodist. Biography Early life Underwood was born in 1922 in Josephs Mills, West Virginia, the son of Della N. (née Forrester) and Silas Henry Underwood. He labored on farms during The Great Depression. He graduated from Tyler County High School in 1939. After graduation, he became an Army reservist during World War II before enrolling in Salem College in Harrison County. He graduated in 1943, where he had been elected president of the student body and a member of ...
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Civil Rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of society and the state without discrimination or repression. Civil rights include the ensuring of peoples' physical and mental integrity, life, and safety; protection from discrimination on grounds such as sex, race, sexual orientation, national origin, color, age, political affiliation, ethnicity, social class, religion, and disability; and individual rights such as privacy and the freedom of thought, speech, religion, press, assembly, and movement. Political rights include natural justice (procedural fairness) in law, such as the rights of the accused, including the right to a fair trial; due process; the right to seek redress or a legal remedy; and rights of participation in civil society and politics such as freedom of associati ...
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Grant County, West Virginia
Grant County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,976. Its county seat is Petersburg. The county was created from Hardy County in 1866 and named for Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant. History The territory that became Grant County in 1866 was originally part of Hampshire County, the oldest county formed within the present boundaries of West Virginia, in 1754. In 1786, Hardy County was formed from the southern portion of Hampshire County. The county's boundaries were relatively stable from 1788 until 1866, when Grant County was formed from the western portion of Hardy. The first counties formed in the state following the admission of West Virginia to the Union were Grant and Mineral in 1866, the latter formed from the western portion of Hampshire County, and thus adjoining Grant. They were the fifty-first and fifty-second counties in West Virginia, and only Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincol ...
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Gilmer County, West Virginia
Gilmer County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,408, making it West Virginia's fifth-least populous county. Its county seat is Glenville. The county was formed in 1845 from parts of Lewis and Kanawha Counties, and named for Thomas Walker Gilmer, Governor of Virginia from 1840 to 1841. Gilmer was later a representative in the United States Congress and Secretary of the Navy in President John Tyler's cabinet. Cedar Creek State Park offers camping, fishing, swimming, and hiking. The West Virginia State Folk Festival is held each June. Glenville State College has a community activity center, a state-of-the-art library, and a complete collection of hand-carved, West Virginia–native birds on public display. The Gilmer County Recreation Center Complex includes a small golf course, a convention / reunion hall, and bunk houses. Gilmer County is home to ten nationally registered historic landmarks, the Cedar Creek Backway, and ...
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Fayette County, West Virginia
Fayette County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,488. Its county seat is Fayetteville. It is part of the Beckley, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area in Southern West Virginia. History Fayette County—originally Fayette County, Virginia—was created by the Virginia General Assembly in February 1831, from parts of Greenbrier, Kanawha, Nicholas, and Logan counties. It was named in honor of the Marquis de la Fayette, who had played a key role assisting the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The second Virginia county so named, it was among the 50 counties which Virginia lost when West Virginia was admitted to the Union as the 35th state in 1863, during the American Civil War. The earlier Fayette County, Virginia existed from 1780 to 1792, and was lost when Kentucky was admitted to the Union. Accordingly, in the government records of Virginia, there will be listings for Fayette County from 178 ...
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Doddridge County, West Virginia
Doddridge County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,808. Its county seat is West Union. Doddridge County is part of the Clarksburg, West Virginia, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area. History First settlers The area that became Doddridge County, Virginia — now West Virginia — was first settled in the late 1780s by James Caldwell, who owned of land that included present West Union. Caldwell sold this land to Nathan Davis, Jr (1772-1866) and his brothers Joseph and William around 1807. They in turn sold to Lewis Maxwell (1790-1862), a Virginia Assembly delegate in the 1820s who later became a U.S. Congressman. In 1828 Ephraim Bee, Sr (1802–1888) and his wife Catherine established a log home on Meathouse Fork of Middle Island Creek, now part of West Union. They built an Inn across the "Creek" (really a river) at what was then called Lewisport (Congressman Maxwell's namesake), below a blockhouse on the Northwestern ...
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Clay County, West Virginia
Clay County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,051. Its county seat is Clay. The county was founded in 1858 and named in honor of Henry Clay, famous American statesman, member of the United States Senate from Kentucky and United States Secretary of State in the 19th century. Clay County is part of the Charleston, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water. In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts. Clay County was divided into four districts: Buffalo, Henry, Pleasant, and Union. A fifth district, Otter, was created from part of Henry in 1876. Between 1990 and 2000, these districts were consolidated into ...
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Calhoun County, West Virginia
Calhoun County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,229, making it the third-least populous county in West Virginia. Its county seat is Grantsville. The county was founded in 1856 and named for South Carolina politician John C. Calhoun. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water. In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts. Calhoun County was divided into five districts: Centre, Lee, Sheridan, Sherman, and Washington. Between 1980 and 1990, the county was reorganized into five new magisterial districts: District 1, District 2, District 3, District 4, and District 5. Major highways * U.S. Highway 33/U.S. Highway 119 * West Virginia Route 5 ...
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Cabell County, West Virginia
Cabell County is located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 94,350, making it West Virginia's fourth most-populous county. Its county seat is Huntington. The county was organized in 1809 and named for William H. Cabell, the Governor of Virginia from 1805 to 1808. Cabell County is part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (2.4%) is water. In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts. Cabell County was divided into five districts: Barboursville, Grant, Guyandotte, McComas, and Union. Two additional districts, Gideon and Kyle, were established between 1920 and 1930. Between 1980 and 1990, the county was r ...
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Brooke County, West Virginia
Brooke County is a county in the Northern Panhandle of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,559. Its county seat is Wellsburg. The county was created in 1797 from part of Ohio County and named in honor of Robert Brooke, Governor of Virginia from 1794 to 1796. Brooke County is part of the Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-WV-OH Combined Statistical Area. History The Ohio Company of Virginia petitioned the British King for 500,000 acres of land in the Ohio River Valley in 1747, but the first settlers to this area, in what later became known as West Virginia's Northern Panhandle, were brothers Jonathan, Israel and Friend Cox. They staked a " tomahawk claim" to 1200 acres (400 acres for each brother) at the mouth of Buffalo Creek and extending along the Ohio River. Their cousin George Cox staked an adjacent claim a few years later. In 1788 Char ...
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Braxton County, West Virginia
Braxton County is a county in the central part of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,447. The county seat is Sutton. The county was formed in 1836 from parts of Lewis, Kanawha, and Nicholas counties and named for Carter Braxton, a Virginia statesman and signer of the Declaration of Independence. In 2010, the center of population of West Virginia was in northern Braxton County. Important salt works were located at Bulltown and here, in 1772, Captain Bull and his family and friendly Delaware Indians were massacred by frontiersmen. Jesse Hughes helped Jeremiah Carpenter track and kill the Indians responsible for the Carpenter massacre. Jeremiah was a notable fiddle player who wrote a song Shelvin’ Rock about the experience of escaping to rock shelter. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.1%) is water. In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into ci ...
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Boone County, West Virginia
Boone County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,809. Its county seat is Madison. Boone County is part of the Charleston, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. Leading industries and chief agricultural products in Boone County include coal, lumber, natural gas, tobacco, and strawberries. History The county was formed in 1847 with territories annexed from Kanawha, Cabell, and Logan counties. It was named for frontiersman Daniel Boone, who lived in the Great Kanawha Valley from 1789 until 1795. In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts. Boone County was divided into five districts: Crook, Peytona, Scott, Sherman, and Washington. Between 1980 and 1990, the county was redivided into three magisterial districts: District 1, Dis ...
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