James Edward Hanger

Born near Churchville on 25 Feb. 1843, James Edward Hanger joined the Churchville Cavalry at Phillipi, W.Va., on 2 June 1861, where he was wounded the next morning. The resulting amputation of his leg was probably the first of the Civil War. He recovered at his parents' nearby house, and within three months he had invented the first artificial limb modeled on the human leg and hinged at the knee. Hanger later built factories in Staunton and Richmond, and after WWI he established others in France and England. He died on 15 June 1919 and was buried in Washington, D.C., his home since 1906.

Churchville, Virginia · United States