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Appalachia, Ferrellsburg, genealogy, history, Lincoln County, Martha Mullins, photos, West Virginia

Unknown person. Ferrellsburg, Lincoln County, WV. From the photos of Martha (Farley) Mullins.
06 Monday Jul 2020
Posted Ferrellsburg
inTags
Appalachia, Ferrellsburg, genealogy, history, Lincoln County, Martha Mullins, photos, West Virginia
Unknown person. Ferrellsburg, Lincoln County, WV. From the photos of Martha (Farley) Mullins.
06 Monday Jul 2020
Posted Big Harts Creek, Chapmanville, Civil War, Huntington, Logan, Poetry
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Anna Meadows, Appalachia, Chapmanville, Charles S. Whited, Charleston, civil war, Craneco, deputy clerk, Ella Godby, Ewell Deskins, genealogy, George W. McClintock, H.A. Callahan, Harriet Totten, Harts Creek, Hattie Rothrock, history, Huntington, J. Green McNeely, J.C. Cush Avis, John A. Totten, John W. Buskirk, Logan, Logan Banner, Mud Fork, poetry, preacher, Raleigh County, Robert Whited, Russell County, Slagle, Southern Methodist Church, T.C. Whited, teacher, Thomas Harvey Whited, U.S. Commissioner, Virginia, W.B. Johnson, W.G. Whited, W.W. Beddow, West Virginia
From the Logan Banner we find this entry for Thomas C. Whited, who resided at Logan, West Virginia:
“Uncle Tom” Whited, United States commissioner, one of the county’s oldest citizens, and poet, came to Logan, or the present site of Logan, on October 11, 1877.
He was born on a Russell county, Virginia, farm in a one-room log cabin on November 25, 1854, the son of Robert and Anna Meadows Whited, who reared a family of ten children, nine boys and one girl.
“Uncle Tom” has only one brother living, the Rev. Charles S. Whited, a preacher in Raleigh county. His sister is dead.
His home was broken up by the Civil War, and Mr. Whited began the life of a vagabond, wandering about over the country seeking happiness, but never finding it until he came to Logan. He discovered the little frontier settlement as he was making his way on foot back to his Virginia home to take a job in a store.
“I just dropped in here, tired and sore-footed and decided to attend a teacher’s examination that was advertised for the town–mostly just to see what kind of a certificate I could get among strangers,” Mr. Whited said.
He received his certificate and taught his first term of school at the mouth of Mud Fork in 1877. Then followed terms at Chapmanville, Craneco, Logan and Hart’s Creek until 1883 when he was asked to take a position in the clerk’s office as deputy clerk.
Among the well-known citizens that “Uncle Tom” taught in his educational forays in Logan county were the Rev. J. Green McNeely; Ewell Deskins; Mrs. Ella Godby of Huntington, mother of Mrs. W.W. Beddow of Slagle; J.C. (Cush) Avis, and several of the Conley family.
From the position as deputy clerk, Mr. Whited rose in succession to circuit clerk, county superintendent of schools, city councilman, and United States Commissioner. He served a total of 18 years as circuit clerk of Logan county.
In 1930 Federal Judge George W. McClintic appointed “Uncle Tom” United States Commissioner which office he will hold for life unless removed by the judge on charges of misconduct.
“Uncle Tom” is a poet of no mean ability. His poetry is recognized throughout the county and some think his best work was a poem dedicated to the old elm tree in the court house square which was recently cut down.
He was instrumental in saving the tree when it was just a sprout and John W. Buskirk was about to dig it up to plant a locust orchard near the site of the present courthouse. “Uncle Tom” requested that the sprout be left to grow. It was not moved from the original spot where it sprouted until it was cut down in 1931, Mr. Whited said.
Mr. Whited married Miss Harriet Totten, daughter of the Rev. John A. Totten, pastor of the Southern Methodist Church in Logan, on March 4, 1887.
The couple reared a family of five children–two boys and three girls. All are still living. They are Mrs. W.B. Johnson, W.G. Whited, and Mrs. H.A. Callahan, all of Logan; Mrs. Hattie Rothrock, Charleston; and Thomas Harvey Whited whose residence is unknown.
Though 81 years old, “Uncle Tom” still manages the affairs of U.S. Commissioner and finds time to dash off a line or so of poetry now and then.
Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 17 April 1937.
05 Sunday Jul 2020
Posted Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud
inTags
Appalachia, Beech Creek, Devil Anse Hatfield, genealogy, history, Mingo County, photos, Valentine Wall Hatfield, West Virginia
Valentine “Wall” Hatfield (1834-1890), a brother to Anse Hatfield, lived at Beech Creek, present-day Mingo County, WV. The family holds the original image.
05 Sunday Jul 2020
Posted Battle of Blair Mountain, Coal, Logan
inTags
American Civil Liberties Union, Appalachia, Battle of Blair Mountain, Frank Keeney, history, J.T. Morris, Kiwanis Club, Logan, Logan Banner, Macbeth, Morgan County, Raleigh Register, Rotary Club, United Mine Workers of America, West Virginia
From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history regarding the Armed March, or the Battle of Blair Mountain, dated March 30, 1923:
Morris Tells of Logan’s Invasion
Speaking before the Kiwanis club at its luncheon last Friday noon, J.T. Morris, who is now located at MacBeth, Logan county, told in some detail of the visit to Logan county on Sunday, March 4th, of the emissaries of the American Civil Liberties Union, characterizing the “invasion” as a “fizzle,” and stating that free speech was as free in Logan county as anywhere else in the country, but that both the mine workers and mine operators of the county were unalterably opposed to the United Mine Workers of America, and were in solid compact against it.
Mr. Morris stated that every mine worker in the Logan field was bound by his contract of employment to resist encroachment of the U.M.W.A., and that the employers in turn were bound in the same way and would resist to the last ditch. It was under these contracts, approved by a decision of the United States supreme court, the speaker said, that the recent injunctions against the United Mine Workers of America had been secured, and that these injunctions covered every means of attack except that brought about through the American Civil Liberties Union; which has also been busy with propaganda in the interest of C. Frank Keeney in Morgan county.
Their method of approach, widely advertised by inflammatory statements, Mr. Morris described as an insult to the people of Logan county. What was actually said at the meeting was very tame in comparison, he said. They merely generalized on the subject of free speech, and that didn’t worry Loganites, for any man can come into Logan and speak without hindrance so long as he stays within the limits of the law, of common decency and of the public interest.
Mr. Morris read extracts from the addresses of what he dubbed the “wise men of the east.”
Logan county is a unit in its resentment against its defamers. The bar association, the clergy, the chamber of commerce, the Rotary club–all have passed stirring resolutions condemning the insults heaped on the community.
Reprinted from the Raleigh Register
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