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Brandon Ray Kirk

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Brandon Ray Kirk

Monthly Archives: September 2016

Ohio River Festival of Books (2016)

30 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Huntington, Lincoln County Feud

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Appalachia, author, Blood in West Virginia, books, Brandon Kirk, Cabell County, history, Huntington, Ohio River Festival of Books, Pelican Publishing Company, West Virginia

Here we are selling books and meeting folks at the Ohio River Festival of Books in Huntington, WV. We are located at Pullman Plaza Hotel (second floor) on Friday, September 30, from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m., and Saturday, October 1, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. If you’re local, come and see us!

Rebellion in the Hills (2016)

28 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Lincoln County Feud, Logan

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Appalachia, author, Blood in West Virginia, books, Brandon Kirk, Chief Logan State Park, Goldenseal, history, Lincoln County Feud, Logan, Pelican Publishing Company, Rebellion in the Hills, West Virginia

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Chief Logan State Park, Logan, WV, 24 September 2016. Photo by Mom.

Logan, WV (1916)

28 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Holden, Logan

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Appalachia, C&O Railroad, Craneco, Dingess Run, George T. Swain, history, Holden, Island Creek, Logan, Logan County, Logan Democrat, Omar, West Virginia

Logan–Now and What It Will Be When Its Destiny Is Fulfilled

by G.T. Swain

Situated here among the “Hills of West Virginia” on the banks of the beautiful Guyan lies the little city of Logan–our home. Time was when a few years ago Logan was a struggling little village trying to pull herself out of the mud and how well she succeeded is left to you, gentle reader, to judge. We now have nicely paved streets, solid and substantial sidewalks, large and commodious business buildings and beautiful homes. Lots that were formerly occupied with frame buildings have been raised and have given way for substantial brick and stone buildings and more going up as fast as can be built with more to come in the future. Our people are liberal, energetic and hospitable and a glad hand and hearty welcome is extended to all newcomers, while the passing stranger is always welcome within our gates. Logan is situated in the very heart of the famous Guyan Valley coalfields and is surrounded with the natural advantages to become sometime in the near future a second Pittsburg. With branch roads leading in every direction, reaching a large number of mines from which pour forth every day an enormous of the famous “Black Diamond” which afford employment to a large army of laborers and positions for many more, with different kinds of business houses in the city requiring the services of a large number of skilled laborers we find our little city progressive in the fullest sense of the word and what Logan is at the present time will be nothing in comparison of the city in the near future. At the present time we boast of three wholesale houses, a great many department stores to supply your every want, and many handsome churches to look after your spiritual  needs, a large number of efficient lawyers to look after your legal affairs, quite a few experienced physicians and surgeons to attend your physical ailments and a large, commodious high school building and a large public school building to look after the education of your children and while we admit that “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” we have for your amusement two elegant and comfortable moving picture theatres at which you view the best pictures obtainable while we extend you an invitation to visit our park where you will be entertained with athletic sports. We take time during the strenuous hustle and activity to eat occasionally and we invite you to patronize our large and first class hotels, restaurants and boarding houses where you will be furnished the best food the market affords. If you have any surplus change that is too heavy to carry around in your pocket we have, for your convenience, two large and perfectly safe banks who will gladly receive your deposit or extend any other accommodation consistent with good sound banking.

Take a little time and sit down and rest while we furnish you with the Daily Courier and permit you to digest the very latest news fresh over the wires of the Associated Press. In fact call on us for any favor and we will do our utmost to supply your every need and should you unfortunately get in the way of any of our numerous “jitney buses” we will tenderly convey you to our new, fine hospital, just completed at a cost of $40,000 where your injuries will be treated while you wait.

Logan–Ten Years Hence–Or A Peep Into The Future

My–but can this be Logan? We stand in the cupola of the magnificent stone Court house and gaze up Island creek and as far as the eye can see we see numerous buildings of all description and we are told that they too extend up Main Island creek. We turn and gaze up Dingess Run and we find the same, while we are informed that all the way up the Guyan the buildings are too numerous to count. We look toward Huntington and find that the town has extended down the river while all the vacant lots that formerly specked the town are all now covered with handsome and elegant homes. On every hand we find new coal operations and the hum of the machinery dulls the sound of the hustle and bustle of the street traffic below. Wires leading from the large and power electric station situated on the banks of the river cover the county like giant cobwebs, carrying to various points the giant current for lighting and operating purposes. Coal trains loaded to doubled track road of the C. & O. capacity are moving West while empty cars are coming East. Electric cars are passing and branching off up into the hollows transporting their load of passengers and freight to all the operations while those that desire are accommodated by motor vehicles over the fine macadamized roads leading in all directions but in the end pointing the way back to Logan, the hub of all this activity. We look down to where the C. & O. formerly had a coop called a station and we find a large magnificent passenger station in keeping with the balance of the town. We hear that the former little ramshackle affair called the water system has given way to the march of progress and we learn that a short distance back in the mountain Logan has an enormous storage dam from which her people are supplied with water from the pure mountain streams and the water pressure is sufficient for all purposes. We look below and we find the streets patrolled by uniform police. We see the Logan Band pass by playing a patriotic air. The “newsies” are crying aloud the latest news that has been flashed over the wires and published in an extra edition of the Daily Courier. The mail is being delivered to the doors of all citizens by uniformed carriers at the expense of Uncle Sam. Many of the large number of visitors to the city are taking the cars of the incline railway for a trip to the beautiful fraternal home that crowns the crest of the reservoir mountain, while listen–down the street at full speed comes the organized fire department in charge of the very latest fire fighting apparatus. Surely this is the “Miracle Land.”

‘Tis said that Holden and Omar are only suburbs while Craneco is clamoring for annexation.

–What? Yes–why–sure climbing to the cupola of the Court house and enjoying the balmy breeze of pure mountain air, shaded from the rays of the noon-day sun I fell asleep and being espied by the janitor who being afraid my presence would molest the workings of the town clock has climbed up here and shaking me from my pleasant day-dream has invited me to plant my cute little “tootsies” on terra firma. Some dream. Believe me.

Source: Logan (WV) Democrat, 22 June 1916.

Rebellion in the Hills (2016)

28 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Civil War, Lincoln County Feud, Logan

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Appalachia, author, Blood in West Virginia, books, Brandon Kirk, Chief Logan State Park, history, Huntington, Lincoln County Feud, Logan, Ohio River Festival of Books, Pelican Publishing Company, West Virginia

We had a great time promoting the book and meeting folks at Rebellion in the Hills in Chief Logan State Park on Saturday, September 24, 2016. Our next appearance will be this weekend at Ohio River Festival of Books in Huntington, WV.

 

Harts Creek Area Justices of the Peace (1847-1869)

28 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Creek, Big Harts Creek, Big Ugly Creek, Ferrellsburg, Harts, Toney

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Aaron Adkins, Abijah Workman, Abner Vance, Andrew Robinson, Appalachia, Becky Workman, Cabell County, Calohill McCloud, Catherine Fry, Charles Adkins, Crispin Stone, Darby K. Elkins, Dolly Stollings, Elias Adkins, Elizabeth Dial, Gordon Lilly, Harts Creek, Harvey Elkins, Henderson Drake, Henry Adkins, Henry Conley, Henry Spears, Hezekiah Adkins, history, Isaiah Adkins, Jake Adkins, James Butcher, James Ferrell, James Lilly, James M. Berry, James Thompson, James Toney, John Chapman, John Elkins, John Godby, John Gore, Joshua Butcher, justice of the peace, Levi Collins, Logan County, Lorenzo Dow Hill, Lydia Eveline Mullins, Mary Workman, Meekin Vance, Noah Hainer, Obediah Workman, Reese W. Elkins, Richard Elkins, Robert Lilly, Robert Lilly Jr., Robet Lilly, Samuel Vanatter, Sarah Jane Dial, Spencer A. Mullins, Squire Toney, Stephen Lambert, Virginia, Wesley Stollings, West Virginia, William Lilly, William Smith, William Spears, William Thompson

Between 1847 and 1869, the following men served as justices of the peace in the Harts Creek community, then a part of Logan County, Virginia. The primary source for this material is Deed Book D, which is located at the Logan County Clerk’s Office in Logan, WV. Material is arranged based on the grantor’s name as given in the deed, the grantee’s name as given in the deed, and the date of the deed. Some of the deeds are partially destroyed, obscuring dates. This list is a work in progress and will be updated periodically. Many thanks to the county clerks and their employees who have always been so helpful to my research these past twenty-five years.

Elias Adkins (Logan County), 1847, 1850

Deed: James Thompson to John Godby     23 August 1847

Deed: Wesley and Dolly Stollings to Abner Vance     15 April 1850

Crispin S. Stone (Logan County), 1847, 1849, 1852, 1854, 1859, 1865

Deed: James Thompson to John Godby     23 August 1847

Deed: Henry Conley and William Thompson to John Godby     4 September 1849

Deed: Levi Collins to Noah Haner     2 March 1852

Deed: Robert Lilly to William Lilly     22 December 1854

Deed: Robert Lilly to Robert Lilly, Jr.     1 March 1859

Deed: Isaiah Adkins to Lydia Eveline Mullins     8 July 1859

Deed: Robert Lilly to Mary Workman     28 February 1865

Deed: Robert Lilly to Gordon Lilly     1 March 1865

Deed: Robert Lilly and James Lilly     26 March 1865

Joshua Butcher (Logan County), 1849

Deed: Henry Conley and William Thompson to John Godby     4 September 1849

Spencer A. Mullins (Logan County), 1853-1855

Deed: Richard Elkins to James Toney     5 March 1853

Deed: Price Lucas to Henry Adkins     7 October 1853

Deed: Richard Elkins to Isaac Adkins     27 December 1853

Deed: Enos “Jake” Adkins to Henry Adkins     12 April 1854

Deed: Squire Toney to Burbus C. Toney     14 October 1854

Deed: Darby K. Elkins to John W. Sartain     30 October 1854

Deed: Harvey Elkins to Isaiah Adkins     10 March 1855

Deed: Elizabeth Adkins et al to Charles and Isaiah Adkins     02 October 1855

Deed: Joel Elkins to Reece W. Elkins     17 November 1855

William Smith (?? County), 1853-1854

Deed: Baptist Fry to Charles Lucas     18 April 1853

Deed: Levi Collins to Anderson Barker     21 June 1853

Deed: Burbus C. Toney to Squire Toney     14 October 1854

Deed: John Workman to  James Browning     17 November 1854

Lorenzo Dow Hill (Logan County), 1854-1856, 1858-1861, 1869

Deed: Burbus C. Toney to Squire Toney     14 October 1854

Deed: John Workman to James Browning     17 November 1854

Quit Claim Deed: Elias Adkins to Enos Adkins     18 August 1855

Deed: John Fry to Admiral S. Fry     26 January 1856

Deed: Robert Lilly to Gordon F. Lilly     8 April 1856

Deed: Rees W. Elkins to Elias Adkins     18 October 1856

Deed: Robert Lilly to James Lilly     16 April 1858

Deed: Meekin Vance to Andrew Robinson     31 March 1859

Deed: John and Catherine Fry to Aaron Adkins     11 February 1860

Summons: William T. Clark and Henry P. Gartin     28 February 1861

Commissioners Record Book No. 1, p. 122: January 1869

James Ferrell (Logan County), 1854-1858, 1860

Deed: Squire Toney to Burbus C. Toney     14 October 1854

Deed: Elizabeth Adkins et al to Spencer A. Mullins     07 February 1855

Deed: Squire Toney to Sarah Jane Dial     25 November 1855

Deed: Squire Toney to Sarah Jane Dial and Elizabeth Dial     20 May 1856

Deed: Squire Toney to Lorenzo D. Hill     24 January 1857

Deed: William Smith to James Lilly     17 February 1858

Summons: James M. Berry     18 February 1860

Hezekiah Adkins (Logan County), 1856

Deed: Darby K. Elkins et al to Rees W. Elkins     18 April 1856

John Chapman (Cabell County), 1856

Deed: Spencer A. Mullins to John Chapman     18 December 1856

Stephen Lambert (Logan County) 1856-1860, 1865

Deed: Rees W. Elkins to Elias Adkins     18 October 1856

Deed: Obediah Workman to Nighbert and Clarke     25 August 1857

Deed: Charles and Isaiah Adkins to John Elkins     24 November 1858

Deed: Meekin Vance to Andrew Robinson     31 March 1859

Deed: Isaiah Adkins to Lydia Eveline Mullins     8 July 1859

Deed: Obediah and Becky Workman to ____ Dempsey     28 September 1859

Deed: Henry Adkins to Aaron Adkins     31 March 1860

Summons: Jeremiah Lambert     3 September 1860

Deed: Abijah Workman to Calahill Daniel McCloud     12 January 1865

Samuel Varnater (Logan County), 1865

Deed: Abijah Workman to Calahill Daniel McCloud     12 January 1865

Henderson Drake (Cabell County), 1865

Deed: Henry Spears to William Spears     6 December 1865

John Gore (Logan County), 1868

Commissioners Record Book No. 1, p. 112: November 1868

Rebellion in the Hills (2016)

23 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Civil War, Lincoln County Feud, Logan

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Blood in West Virginia, books, Brandon Kirk, Chief Logan State Park, civil war, feuds, history, Lincoln County Feud, Logan County, Pelican Publishing Company, West Virginia

On Saturday, September 24, 2016, the book and I will appear at Rebellion in the Hills in Chief Logan State Park in Logan County, West Virginia. If you’re local, come and see us.

Recollections of a Guyandotte Valley Preacher (c.1870s)

23 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Salt Rock

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Appalachia, Bulahann Church, Cabell County, Enon Church, From Youth to Old Age, Grant District, Guyandotte Valley, history, J.D. Carter, John A. Petit, John J. Perry, John J. Rowsey, Lincoln County, preacher, Salt Rock, Susannah Church, Thomas H. Perry, timbering, Tylers Creek, Union District, West Virginia, Zoar Church

About 1910, Rev. Thomas H. Perry reflected on his long life, most of which was spent in the vicinity of Tylers Creek in Cabell County, West Virginia. In this excerpt from his autobiography, Mr. Perry recalled his early days as a preacher in the Guyandotte Valley.

After I had preached my first sermon, I then preached in the school houses in the most isolated places. I had two reasons for this: first, I thought I would meet with less intelligence; and second, that they heard so little preaching, but to my surprise the people would come for miles to my meetings, and I would wonder why they came. Do they come through evil curiosity, or do they come from a sense of duty? I would pray to the Lord, down deep in my heart and soul that He would help me at this hour to preach His word with such power that these people, who have come here this day through vain curiosity, that they may be made to feel the weight of their sins, but if they have come for the good of the soul that they may go away from this place feeling it was good to be at church to-day. The hardest struggles I had in my work was from the time I entered the church to the beginning of the sermon. The presence of strangers and noted people generally embarrassed me to some extent until after I had announced my subject and read my text. After that I did not notice them anymore than others. I never tried to change my voice from the natural or make it appear I was educated, but put my whole soul and heart in my subject with the hope that somebody might be saved to-day.

About the time I began to preach there were three other young men who entered the ministry, J.D. Carter, John J. Perry and John A. Petit. These young men lived on Tyler’s creek. John J. Perry was the founder of Susannah church, one of the good churches of Grant district. He was killed by falling timber, near Salt Rock, in 1884. John A. Petit was the founder of Bulahann church in Union district. This church was named in honor of my mother, because of the interest my father and John J. Perry took in its organization. Bro. Petit was a fine preacher and had a great many friends. He was pastor of a good church in Ohio. He died, I believe, in 1885. Bro. Carter was the founder of Zoar church, another good church in Grant district. He was a large man of fine personal appearance. His ability as a preacher was second to none in this end of the state. He died in 1906. Knowing these three men as I did, I considered them the three greatest lights that ever went out from Enon church.

Many time I have put corn in my saddle-pockets and rode up the Guyan valley as far as I could by eleven o’clock, and in good weather I would meet from fifty to seventy-five people at a school house. Some of the men were bare-footed, and had their guns and a poke of salt with them and some of the old women would smoke their pipes while I was preaching to them. The men said to me, “we came prepared to salt our cattle and kill a mess of squirrels as we go home.” Sometimes on my way home I would think a people that had so little regard for the Sabbath and not enough respect for a preacher to feed his horse were not worthy of the gospel; and then I would think if nobody will preach to them they will never do any better, and as Christ had said: “Preach His gospel to every creature,” and as Paul had said: “Woe is me if I preach not the gospel.” I felt I could not live, or that great calamity would come to me if I did not preach the gospel.”

About this time I was going to school at Salt Rock. A Mr. John J. Rowsey, a very noted teacher was our instructor that year. Some of the old men tried to discourage me by saying if God had called me to preach I did not have to go to school to learn how. But I felt the need of a better education and knew that some of my appointments did not pay me one dollar a year and I was hard pressed financially. These things would discourage me very much. I saw at once there was a race to be run and a battle to be fought in this life, and I remembered that the Bible said the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to them that put their trust in the Lord. I believed every word in the Bible was the word of God, I could not treat it with indifference. I was determined to preach all I could and go to school all I could, and raise my finance all I could, and as to those people that go to church with their guns and those that sit and smoke during preaching, I have a great love for them as well as others; for their souls are as precious in God’s sight as the souls of the rich and most refined.

Source: From Youth to Old Age by T.H. Perry, Chapter 10, p. 25-27.

Anderson Hatfield, Proprietor of Oakland House (1893)

20 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Logan

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Devil Anse Hatfield, genealogy, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Logan, Logan County Banner, Oakland House, West Virginia

oakland-house-lcb-04-13-1893

Logan County Banner (Logan, WV), 13 April 1893.

Recollections of the Civil War in Eastern Kentucky and Southwestern Virginia (1862)

20 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in African American History, Civil War

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Appalachia, civil war, Confederate Army, Cumberland Mountains, David Stuart Hounshell, E.H. Perry, From Youth to Old Age, history, James Stephens, John B. Floyd, Kentucky, King Salt Works, Louis Bledsoe, Prestonsburg, slavery, Thomas H. Perry, Virginia

About 1910, Rev. Thomas H. Perry reflected on his long life, most of which was spent in the vicinity of Tylers Creek in Cabell County, West Virginia. In this excerpt from his autobiography, Mr. Perry recalled his participation in Civil War activity in eastern Kentucky and southwest Virginia.

After the night fight, above Prestonsburg, we knew the Federals were above us and we would have to fight if we ever got back to Dixie. The cold weather and deep snow and timber across the road and Federals to contend with, we moved very slowly. One morning we stopped, as I thought for breakfast, and as I was almost frozen I rejoiced because I thought we will all get warm and some beef, as I saw one man shoot down a cow. But just at that time the Federals run in our pickets and began shooting at us, but I was so hungry I ran to the cow and cut two or three pounds out of the hind-quarter and took it with me. We ran about one mile and there we saw Colonel Hounshal’s regiment in battle line, who held the Federals off us until we could get our breakfast. I took my beef without salt and put it on the end of my ramrod and held it to the fire and cooked an ate it, and it was good.

The next day my company was the rear guard and it was reported to the captain that the Federals had got between us and our command. The captain said: “Men, we will have to fight or we will be taken prisoners.” There was a preacher with us that day. He said: “Captain, I did not intend to fight, but rather than be a prisoner I will fight. Give me a gun.” When I saw him shoulder his gun, it did me good. I thought if a preacher could fight it was not bad for me to fight, as I was only a prospective preacher.

One very cold night I was detailed on the outer picket post, the orderly said: “You can not have fire as they are likely to slip upon you and shoot you.” I said to the orderly: “I cannot stand it without fire.” I thought I would freeze to death. The orderly said: “I cannot excuse you.” Just at that time Louis Bledsoe said to the orderly he could stand more cold than Perry could and he would go in my place and I could go in his place some other time. Never did I forget the kindness Mr. Bledsoe showed me that night.

When we were within fifteen miles of the Cumberland mountains, our army cattle, prisoners and all we had was on one creek; that creek led to the main road across the mountains into Dixie. On either side of this creek, the mountains were high and very rough and covered with snow. The Federals cut timber across the creek above us, and had a strong army below us, and held us here three days and would have captured us and all we had if General Floyd had not come with his artillery and drove the Federals away from the head of the creek, and let us out. The first night after we crossed the mountain into Dixie, E.H. Perry, one of my brothers came to my captain’s tent and said: “Captain, are my brothers all here?” He said: “Yes.” Then my brother exclaimed: “Thank the Lord for that.” Never will I forget the tone of my brother’s voice that night for he knew we had been gone for forty-one days, and it was by the hardest work that we landed back in Dixie.

Once more after this we went into winter quarters near the King Salt works, and they sent me to a farm house to nurse three sick soldiers. We had a large nice room, well furnished and the landlord was rich and good to us. He and his good wife would help me in waiting on the sick; he furnished us with everything we could ask for to eat. We stayed there more than three months. I saw in the beginning that I would not have much to do, and as I had the money and there was a book store at that place, I bought a complete set of school books and studied them hard that winter and it did me good. It helped me to keep down the roughness of a soldier’s life, and also to educate. Along the back yard there was a row of one-story brick buildings in which the negroes lived. Some nights I would go and hear them tell ghost stories, and they knew how to tell them for they had seen a great many ghosts. I deny superstition, but I noticed when these negroes had told me some of the most fearful ghost stories, if it was a very dark night I would ask some of them to go apart of the way home with me.

Mr. James Stephens, one of my patients, died; the other two got well. We left that place about the first of May. I saw then that the south could not gain her independence, and I told these negroes I thought they would soon be free and advised them to learn to read and write. I talked with a good many old men in the south about the war. They said they should have raised the “Old Flag” and contended for the constitution, and as for slavery, they said it was dying out in the south anyway.

Source: From Youth to Old Age by T.H. Perry, Chapter 8, p. 20-22.

Anderson Hatfield Victim of Arson (1889)

18 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Hatfield-McCoy Feud

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Appalachia, crime, Devil Anse Hatfield, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Island Creek, Logan, Logan County, Logan County Banner, West Virginia

Anse Hatfield Barn LCB 03.28.1889.JPG

Logan County Banner (Logan, WV), 28 March 1889.

Poor Whites (1896)

18 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in African American History, Coal, Native American History

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Adirondack Mountains, Allegheny Mountains, Appalachia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Chattanooga, Chattanooga Times, Cherokee, Choctaw, culture, history, Huntington, Huntington Advertiser, indentured servants, Native Americans, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, slavery, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia

On July 15, 1896, the Huntington Advertiser of Huntington, West Virginia, printed a story titled “The Poor Whites: Origin of a Distinct Class Living in the South.” Subtitled “The ‘Cracker of the Hills’ is the Direct Descendant of the ‘Sold Passengers’ Who Came to This Country in the Seventeenth Century,” the story initially appeared in the Chattanooga Times of Chattanooga, Tennessee. And here it is:

The notion that the poor white element of the southern Appalachian region is identical with the poor people generally over the country is an error, and an error of enough importance to call for correction. The poor white of the south has some kinfolk in the Adirondack region of New York and the Blue and Alleghany [sic] mountains of Pennsylvania, but he has few relatives any place else about the Mason-Dixon line. The states of New York and Pennsylvania were slave states until the early part of this century.

This poor white mountaineer descends direct from those immigrants who came over in the early days of the colonies; from 1620 to about or some time after the Revolutionary war period, as “sold passengers.” They sold their services for a time sufficient to enable them to work out their passage money. They were sold, articled to masters, in the colonies for their board and fixed wage, and thus they earned the cost of their migration.

The laws under which they were articled were severe, as severe as apprentice laws in those days. The “sold passenger” virtually became the slave of the purchaser of his labor. He could be whipped if he did not do the task set [before] him, and woe to the unlucky wight [sic] if he ran away. He was sure to be caught and cruelly punished.

And though he was usually a descendant of the lowest grade of humanity on the British islands, he still had enough of the Anglo-Saxon spirit about him to make him an unsatisfactory chattel.

From 1620 forward–the year when the Dutch landed the first cargo of African slaves on the continent–the “sold passenger” was fast replaced by negroes, who took more naturally and amiably to the slave life.

The poor white naturally came to cherish a bitter hatred for the blacks that were preferred over him. He already hated his domineering white master. When he was free to go, he put as many miles as his means and his safety from Indian murderers permitted between himself and those he hated and hoped he might never see again. In that early time the mountain region was not even surveyed, let alone owned by individual proprietors.

The English, Scotch, Irish and continental immigrant who had some means sat down on the rich valleys, river bottoms and rolling savannahs, and the poor white was made welcome to the foothills and mountain plateaus.

These descendants of the British villain of the feudal era grew and multiplied, became almost as distinct a people from the lords of the lowlands as the Scotch highlander was, as related to his lowland neighbor, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The stir of the period since the close of our civil war has made somewhat indistinct the line that separates the mountaineer from the plainsman of the south, especially in the foothills and at points where the two have intermingled in traffic, in the schoolhouse and church, and especially where the poor whites have been employed at mining, iron making, etc. But go into the mountains far enough and you will find the types as clear cut as it was 100 years ago, with its inimitable drawling speech and curious dialect, its sallow complexion, lanky frame, lazy habits and immorality–all as distinctly marked as they were when hundreds of these people found Cherokee wives in Georgia and Tennessee in the early part of the century and bleached most of the copper out of the skin of the Choctaw as well as out of the Cherokee.

It is a pity that some competent anthropological historian has not traced the annals of this interesting and distinctive section of our population, and made record of it in the interest of science, no less than in the interest of the proper education and elevation of the mountain people. It has become, especially in the Piedmont section of the south, a most important labor element. The cotton mill labor by thousands comes from the “Cracker of the Hills,” and it is destined o become a great power, that labor population, social and political.

The redemption of the poor white began when slavery went down in blood and destruction, and it has gone on faster and traveled further than some of us think.

Native American Mounds (2016)

18 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Native American History

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Appalachia, Ashland, Boyd County, Central Park, history, Kentucky, Mound Builders, Native Americans, photos

IMG_1116.JPG

Central Park, Ashland, Boyd County, KY. April 2016.

Recollections of the Civil War at Big Ugly and Six Mile Creeks in WV and Prestonsburg, KY (1862)

18 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Civil War

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Appalachia, Battle of Big Ugly Creek, Big Ugly Creek, Cabell County, Chapmanville, civil war, Confederate Army, From Youth to Old Age, Guyandotte River, Hamilton Fry, history, Kentucky, Lincoln County, Logan County, Mason County, Prestonsburg, Six Mile Creek, T.E. Ball, Thomas H. Perry, Union Army, Virginia, Wayne County, West Virginia, William Jefferson

About 1910, Rev. Thomas H. Perry reflected on his long life, most of which was spent in the vicinity of Tylers Creek in Cabell County, West Virginia. In this excerpt from his autobiography, Mr. Perry recalled his participation in Civil War skirmishes at the Forks of Ugly and Six Mile Creek in present-day Lincoln County, WV, and military activity around Prestonsburg, Kentucky:

In 1862 my company was ordered to move from Chapmansville down the Guyan river. About three o’clock that day we ran into a company of Federal soldiers at the forks of Big Ugly creek, and as neither company was expecting trouble at this time, we were not ready for the fight, but our captain ordered his men in line, and we marched around the hillside, fronting the creek, and the Federals formed a line up the creek, fronting us. Here we tried our bravery for a few minutes, but as we had the advantage of some timber, the Federals broke ranks and went into the woods, except ten or twelve that lay flat upon the ground, and we captured them, and all the rations the company had, such as coffee and sugar, which was a treat for us in that country. About this time another company came up and followed the Federals into the woods. I never knew what became of them until after the war. Mr. T.E. Ball, of Mason county, told me after the war that he was a member of that company of Federals, and he was in the fight at the forks of Big Ugly, and that he was in the closest place that day of any time during the war. he said he was certain there were more than fifty shots fired at him as he ran through the field, and of the eighty-four men in his company, there was not a man that returned with his gun, and but few that had hats or shoes, for they were scattered in the woods and every man looked out for himself. The next day, we had six men in the advance guard. I was one of them, and as we turned the point at the mouth of Six Mile creek, six miles above the falls of Guyan river, we ran into a squad of seven Federal soldiers, who fired into us and killed William Jefferson, one of our bravest soldiers.

The next day we crossed the river at the falls of the Guyan and went through Wayne county into Kentucky. Here we were fired into every day and night for about three weeks. It was December and we had some very cold weather. Several times I have seen men and horses lying on the side of the road frozen so stiff they could not travel.

We had about fifteen hundred men with us at that time. We had several hundred prisoners and a great deal of army supplies that we had captured, and the cold weather and the Federals and so many bushwhackers to contend with, that we had no rest day or night. Just below Prestonsburg we captured seven flat boats that were loaded with army supplies, such as clothing and food, and many of us needed both, but we paid dearly for them, for many of our men on both sides lost their lives in this fight. For two hours and thirty minutes they poured the hot lead into each other as fast as they could. The battle lines of both armies extended from the river to the top of the mountain. I was on top of the mountain when the Federals broke rank. Our major ordered his men to go down both battle lines and gather up the dead and wounded and take them to the foot of the mountain.

I went down the Federal battle line in front of our men, and when I saw the dead and wounded and the guns and blood and clothing that was scattered from the top to the bottom of that mountain, I was perfectly disgusted with war. About half way down this line we found their major; he was shot through the heart. He was a nice looking gentleman; he had a long black beard. Our men seemed to have great respect for his body, because he was an officer, and gave special directions for his burial. Some of the prisoners cried aloud like children, while others cursed and said they were see every rebel in hell before he would cry. Just how many men we had killed and wounded in this fight I never knew. Some of our wounded we took with us, and some was so badly wounded we left them in private homes. From this places we turned to the south for winter quarters. My company was the rear guard that night. We thought the rear guard would suffer more than any other part of the army, but to our surprise after we had gone a few miles above Prestonsburg we heard considerable shooting and disturbance in our front about two miles from us. It was a very dark night, and when my company came up to about where we thought the shooting was, we heard horses and men groaning. After we had gone about two miles farther, we went into camp until morning. That morning one man told me one of our men that was killed last night lived in Parkersburg. The great question with us at this time was, can we ever get back to Dixie with our cattle, goods and prisoners? The Federals were above us and below us.

Source: From Youth to Old Age by T.H. Perry, Chapter 7, p. 18-20.

Note: As of 1862, Lincoln County did not exist and the surrounding area remained a part of Virginia. Big Ugly Creek was then located in Logan County and Six Mile Creek was located in Cabell County.

Note: The “forks of Ugly” references the mouth of Laurel Fork, at or near the old Hamilton Fry homeplace.

Lewisburg Literary Festival (2016)

18 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Lincoln County Feud

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Appalachia, author, book, books, Brandon Kirk, Greenbrier County, Lewisburg, Lewisburg Literary Festival, Pelican Publishing Company, West Virginia

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Lewisburg Literary Festival in Lewisburg, WV. 6 August 2016. Photo by Mom.

Jacob D. Cox Letter (1861)

18 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Chapmanville, Civil War

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Appalachia, Chapmanville, Charleston, civil war, George W. Workman, H.J. Samuels, history, Jacob D. Cox, Union Army, Virginia, West Virginia, Wheeling

The following letter from Jacob D. Cox dated December 11, 1861 at Charleston, Virginia, to Adjutant General H.J. Samuels in Wheeling, Virginia, offers insight into war conditions in Chapmanville, Logan County.

Charleston, Va. 11 Dec 1861

Sir:

Geo. W. Workman, residing at Chapmansville, Logan Co. is represented to me by reliable parties as a reliable loyal man, & I have confidence in the representation. He desires authority to raise a company of home guards to protect that vicinity when marauding bands are doing mischief from time to time. Will you please give such authority as may be needed to enable him to organize a company & get it armed etc.

Very truly,

Your obedient servant,

J.D. Cox

Source: Adjutant Generals’ Papers, Union Militia 1861-1865, Ar 373, Letters, Logan County. West Virginia State Archives, The Culture Center, Charleston, WV.

Sun Brothers (1916)

17 Saturday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan

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Appalachia, circus, history, Logan, Logan County, Logan Democrat, Sun Brothers, Tango Bill, West Virginia

sun-bros-show-in-logan-ld-05-04-1916-2

Logan (WV) Democrat, 4 May 1916.

John Adams Letter (1863)

17 Saturday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Civil War

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Appalachia, Bill Smith, Ceredo, Confederate Army, history, John Adams, Ohio River, Union Army, Wayne County, West Virginia, West Virginia Adjutant Generals Papers

The following letter from John Adams dated October 5, 1863 at Ceredo, WV to Governor Arthur I. Boreman offers insight into war conditions in Wayne County, WV.

Ceredo, W.Va.

Oct. 5, 1863

Rebel Capt. Bill Smith with about 175 men made a raid into Wayne Co. this last summer with the avowed purpose of pressing horses. He passed thro our Co. one way & returned another, coming entirely to the Ohio River. He took all the horses he could from the Union men, even those that were very old & poor. But at the premises of Secessionists, he posted guards. The facts now are the Secessionists ride about the county on their good horses & the Union people walk! They deride our new State & Government, never vote, but secretly assist all rebel raids. They can stay & live at home securely while our Union people hide about where they can. As the case is now in our Co. the Secessionists are secure on their farms, secure their crops, ride good horses, make money & in fact appear to be Lords of this Country. How long do you think the Union men here will endure this state of affairs? They are beginning to think that the Rebels ought to have different rights to what they now enjoy in the Co. We want all Rebels & their assistants hung or Sent out of our Co. never to return. Please write to us. I remain yours.

Source: West Virginia Adjutant Generals’ Papers, Union Militia 1861-1865, Ar 373, Box 28, Wayne County, Folder 2. Located at WV State Archives, The Culture Center, Charleston, WV.

Grape Smash (1916)

13 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan

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advertisement, Grape Smash, history, Logan, Logan Baking & Bottling Company, Logan Democrat, pop, soda, West Virginia

grape-smash-logan-bottling-company-ld-07-13-1916

Logan (WV) Democrat, 13 July 1916.

A Civil War Bear Story (1899)

13 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Civil War, Huntington

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Appalachia, civil war, history, hunting, Huntington, Huntington Advertiser, West Virginia, whisky

“The cold weather of a few days ago reminded me of a little adventure that I had while soldiering,” said a well known business man. “It was on New Years day 1863, and we camped at the foot of a West Virginia mountain. The snow was several inches deep and the cold was intense. There wasn’t much discipline, and as we were allowed to hunt some, I took my gun and started up the mountain side. I had gone half a mile probably, when I stopped at the foot of a tree. My hands were nearly frozen and I leaned my gun against the tree and commenced rubbing my hands together to warm them, when suddenly I heard the brush cracking and turning I beheld a huge bear coming in my direction. It was on its hind legs with its huge paws outstretched and its jaws open and I could almost feel its warm breath on my cheek. Recovering from my fright I sprang up and caught a limb of a tree, drawing myself up out of the way just in time to avoid the embrace of the huge beast. My heart thumped so it shook my whole body. The bear cantered around the tree, sniffling at my gun, which still stood leaning against it. I shouted until I was hoarse, hoping to attract some of the soldiers in camp, but to no avail. I fixed myself as comfortably as possible in the branches of the tree, and watched the bear, believing that he would soon tire and leave. The cold was terrific. My whole body was benumbed, and I wondered how much longer I could endure the cold before I would tumble out of the tree to be devoured by the bear. Suddenly a bright thought struck me, and descending to the lower branch I took a bottle of whisky from my pocket and began pouring a thin stream down into the barrel of my gun. The whisky striking the cold gun barrel froze and in a few moments there was a solid streak of frozen whisky reaching from the gun clear up to the bottle that I held in my hand. Taking hold of the whisky icicle, I carefully drew the gun up, hand over hand, until it was in my grasp. Then taking careful aim, I sent a bullet crashing into a vital spot of the bear, and it rolled down the mountain side dead. I hurriedly descended and found my way back to camp nearly frozen. Some people may tell you that whisky won’t freeze, but then it did in this instance, for it was the coldest day I ever experienced. Get a pension? Why certainly for I have never fully thawed out since that terrible freezing I got while clinging to that tree.”

Source: “Get A Pension Now,” Huntington (WV) Advertiser, 16 February 1899.

Elias Hatfield Surrenders (1899)

13 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Culture of Honor, Hatfield-McCoy Feud

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Appalachia, Elias Hatfield, George W. Atkinson, history, Huntington, Huntington Advertiser, Mingo County, West Virginia

Elias Hatfield Surrenders HuA 07.11.1899 2.JPG

Huntington (WV) Advertiser, 11 July 1899.

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