Tags
Appalachia, Ben Creek, Big Sandy River, Mingo County, Norfolk and Western Railroad, photos, Tug Fork, West Virginia, Wharncliffe

The old railroad town of Wharncliffe is gone. 30 May 2020

Mouth of Ben Creek, Mingo County, WV. 30 May 2020
24 Wednesday Jun 2020
Posted Big Sandy Valley, Wharncliffe
inTags
Appalachia, Ben Creek, Big Sandy River, Mingo County, Norfolk and Western Railroad, photos, Tug Fork, West Virginia, Wharncliffe
The old railroad town of Wharncliffe is gone. 30 May 2020
Mouth of Ben Creek, Mingo County, WV. 30 May 2020
20 Saturday Jun 2020
Tags
Appalachia, Beech Creek, Ben Creek, Big Bottom Fork, Big Creek, Big Fork, Bluff Mountain, Bone Lick Bottom, Breckenridge's Fork, Clear Fork, Coal Branch, Coal River, Cow Creek, Crawley Creek, Crooked Creek, Crooked Run, Defeats Branch, Double Camp Branch, Drew's Creek, Elkhorn Branch, Elkhorn River, Flat Top Mountain, Grapevine Creek, Green Shoal Creek, Guyandotte River, Harts Creek, history, Horsepen Creek, Huff's Creek, Indian Creek, Ingrams Branch, Island Creek, Laurel Creek, Laurel Fork, Lick Branch, Lincoln County, Little Coal River, Little Huffs Creek, Logan County, Marsh Fork, Mate Creek, Middle Fork, Mill Creek, Millers Branch, Mingo County, New River, North Fork, Peach Tree, Peter Huffs Creek, Pigeon Creek, Pine Creek, Pond Fork, Rattlesnake Branch, Rock Creek, Rock House Fork, Rum Creek, Sand Lick Fork, Shannon Branch, Skin Fork, Spruce Fork, Trace Fork, Tug Fork, Turtle Creek, Twelve Pole Creek, Virginia, West Fork, West Virginia, Wolf Pen Creek
The following list of regional place names of streams is derived from Surveyors Record Book A at the Logan County Clerk’s Office in Logan, WV. Each document generally lists three dates for the survey; I chose to identify the earliest (Treasury warrant date) and the latest date (survey completion date). The purpose of this list is to document the earliest usage and spelling of a place name in my region. Logan County was extremely large in the 1820s and has since been partitioned to create new counties, so many of these places are not located in Logan County today. This list will be updated periodically.
Beech, a branch of Tug Fork (24 May 1825, 12 October 1825, p. 64)
Ben (26 July 1826, 13 October 1826, p. 89)
Bend of Guyandotte (30 April 1823, 3 March 1831, p. 129)
Big and Clear Fork of Guyandotte River (1 October 1818, 26 June 1826, p. 79)
Big Bottom Fork of Guyandotte (12 February 1823, 25 October 1827, p. 100)
Big Creek (11 December 1817, 25 October 1824, p. 34)
Big Fork of Guyandotte River (18 July 1825, 17 February 1826, p. 73)
Big Island [Logan] (16 February 1825, 17 January 1827, p. 94)
Bluff Mountain (1 October 1818, 21 February 1825, p. 37)
Bone Lick Bottom, New River (19 January 1824, 31 July 1830, p. 123)
Breckenridge’s forks of Cole River (31 January 1825, 27 February 1827, p. 100)
Buffalo (10 February 1825, 6 February 1827, p. 99)
Coal Branch of Guyandotte River (17 December 1824, 31 March 1825, p. 42)
Cow Creek of Island Creek (13 December 1823, 11 October 1826, p. 87-88)
Crawley (10 June 1824, 8 July 1825, p. 47)
Crawleys Creek (16 February 1825, 17 January 1827, p. 95)
Crooked Creek (16 February 1825, 1 April 1825, p. 43-44)
Defeats Branch on Little Huffs Creek (7 October 1830, 27 July 1831, p. 131)
Double Camp Branch of Clear Fork (1 June 1821, 29 December 1825, p. 69)
Drew’s Creek, one of the forks of Peech Tree, a branch of Marsh Fork of Cole River (22 July 1826, 15 October 1828, p. 109)
Elk, a branch of Guyandotte (14 January 1830, 22 November 1830, p. 127)
Elk, a branch of Pigeon (16 February 1825, 18 August 1825, p. 51)
Elkhorn Branch of Tug Fork (30 April 1825, 12 November 1826, p. 93)
Elkhorn River (30 April 1825, 1 November 1825, p. 65)
Flat Top Mountain (22 November 1824, 14 February 1826, p. 72)
Gilbert (14 January 1830, 26 August 1830, p. 121)
Grapevine, a small branch called Grapevine (8 July 1825, 14 October 1825, p. 63)
Green Shoal Creek (15 March 1826, 10 October 1826, p. 86-87)
Harts Creek (17 February 1824, 10 October 1826, p. 87)
Hewetts Creek, a branch of Spruce Fork of Coal River (20 May 1813, 11 April 1825, p. 44)
Horse Creek (10 February 1825, 22 July 1826, p. 92)
Horsepen Creek, a fork of Gilbert (14 January 1830, 26 August 1830, p. 121)
Huff Creek (11 December 1822, 11 March 1825, p. 40)
Huffs Creek (18 July 1825, 14 March 1828, p. 104-105)
Indian Creek (22 July 1826, 8 February 1827, p. 99)
Ingrams Branch, New River (6 October 1829, 4 December 1829, p. 117)
Island of Guyandotte [Logan] (17 December 1824, 18 January 1827, p. 96)
Island tract [Logan] (4 May 1826, 12 May 1830, p. 120)
Jacks Branch of Clear Fork (6 January 1824, 16 December 1825, p. 66)
Laurel Fork of Guyandotte River (17 February 1824, 27 August 1830, p. 122)
Left Fork of Island Creek (4 February 1817, 28 October 1824, p. 35)
Left Hand Fork of Ben, waters of Tug Fork (13 December 1823, 11 October 1826, p. 88)
Laurel Creek and Crooked Run, New River (10 May 1825, 25 August 1825, p. 56)
Laurel Fork of Pigeon Creek (17 December 1824, 10 October 1826, p. 85)
Laurel Fork of Twelve Pole (3 November 1813, 19 March 1825, p. 40)
Lick Branch (24 May 1825, 10 October 1826, p. 85)
Little Huff’s Creek (4 May 1826, 27 May 1829, p. 116)
Loop of New River (20 February 1821, 26 February 1825, p. 90)
Main Right Hand Fork of Big Creek (24 May 1825, 8 September 1825, p. 54)
Marsh Fork of Cole River (17 February 1823, 9 March 1825, p. 39)
Marshes of Cole River (30 April 1825, 3 February 1830, p. 118)
Mate, a branch of the Tug Fork of Sandy (8 July 1825, 11 October 1825, p. 62)
Mazzel, Little Huffs Creek (12 February 1825, 18 September 1829, p. 116)
Mill Creek, a branch of Guyandotte (18 July 1825, 28 January 1831, p. 128)
Mill Creek of Island Creek (10 January 1823, 29 October 1824, p. 36)
Millers Branch of Tug Fork (4 May 1826, 16 September 1826, p. 81)
North Branch of Big Creek (18 July 1825, 7 September 1825, p. 52-53)
North Fork of Big Creek (4 April 1825, 9 September 1825, p. 54)
Old Island survey [Logan] (22 July 1826, 17 January 1827, p. 95)
Peach Tree, a small branch called the Peach Tree (24 May 1824, 7 October 1825, p. 60)
Pete Huff’s Creek (18 July 1825, 27 August 1830, p. 125)
Peter Huffs Creek (13 December 1823, 12 November 1825, p. 66)
Pigeon Creek (16 February 1825, 15 October 1825, p. 63)
Pine Creek of Island Creek (4 February 1817, 27 October 1824, p. 35)
Pond Fork of Cole River (8 March 1826, 13 November 1828, p. 112-113)
Rock Creek (22 July 1826, 11 August 1828, p. 106)
Rock House Fork of Middle Fork of Island Creek (17 February 1824, 5 October 1825, p. 59)
Rock House Fork of Pigeon (6 February 1825, 22 March 1825, p. 41)
Rum Creek (23 November 1824, 17 July 1828, p. 105)
Sand Lick Fork of Cole River (14 May 1826, 31 January 1827, p. 97)
Shannon branches, Tug Fork (6 December 1828, 2 September 1830, p. 125-126)
Skin Fork of Cole River (12 February 1825, 29 October 1828, p. 111)
Spruce Fork of Coal River (16 February 1825, 22 April 1825, p. 45)
Tonies Fork of Big Cole and Horse Creek (10 February 1825, 22 July 1826, p. 92)
Trace Fork of Big Creek (16 February 1825, 8 September 1825, p. 52)
Tug Fork of Sandy River (10 March 1825, 24 March 1825, p. 42)
Turtle Creek, a branch of Little Coal River (13 December 1824, 12 April 1825, p. 45)
West Fork of Cole River (12 February 1825, 10 November 1828, p. 111-112)
Wolf Pen Creek, branch of New River (10 May 1825, 25 August 1825, p. 56)
Wolf Pen Creek at mouth of Rattlesnake Branch (10 February 1825, 11 January 1826, p. 71)
03 Monday Dec 2018
Posted Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Holden, Huntington, Logan, Matewan, Pikeville, Wharncliffe, Women's History
inTags
Abraham Lincoln, Appalachia, Barnabus, Ben Creek, Betty Caldwell, Betty Hatfield, Bob Hatfield, C.C. Lanham, Cap Hatfield, Charles Dardi, Charleston, deputy sheriff, Devil Anse Hatfield, E. Willis Wilson, Elias Hatfield, Elliott R. Hatfield, F.M. Browning, Fayette County, feud, genealogy, governor, Halsey Gibson, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Henry D. Hatfield, Hibbard Hatfield, history, Holden, Huntington, Island Creek, J.O. Hill, Jim McCoy, Joe Hatfield, John Caldwell, John J. Jackson, Johnson Hatfield, Kentucky, L.W. Lawson, Levicy Hatfield, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lundale, Marion Browning, Mary Howes, Mate Creek, Matewan, Matilda Chafin, Mingo County, Nancy Carey, Nancy Mullins, Nathaniel Chafin, Omar, Pike County, Pikeville, Pittsburgh, pneumonia, R.A. Woodall, Randolph McCoy, Rebecca Hatfield, Rose Browning, sheriff, Tennis Hatfield, Tom Chafin, Troy Hatfield, Tug River, W.R. Eskew, West Virginia, Wharncliffe
The following news items from the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, provide some history about the final years of Levisa Hatfield, widow of Anse Hatfield:
MRS. HATFIELD BETTER
Mrs. Levicy Hatfield, widow of Ance Hatfield, continues to recuperate from a serious illness and is now able to walk about the home of her daughter, Mrs. F.M. Browning, of Holden, where she has been cared for. She is 84 years old.
Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 03 June 1927
***
Mrs. Hatfield Hurt
Mrs. Lovisa Hatfield, widow of the late “Devil Anse” Hatfield, is suffering from injuries received in a fall at her home on Island Creek Sunday. She hurt her hip and shoulder and forehead and her condition was such as to cause some concern, yet she was able to sit up yesterday. Two or three of her daughters are helping to take care of her. She is 85 years old.
Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 20 September 1927
***
DEVIL ANSE’S WIDOW, AGED 86, RECOVERS FROM PNEUMONIA
In recovering from her recent severe illness Mrs. Levisa Hatfield, widow of the late “Devil Anse,” has again demonstrated her remarkable vitality. Though in her 87th year, she is now recovering from pneumonia with which she was stricken on December 28. Monday of this week her lungs began to clear up, and her son, Sheriff Joe Hatfield, said yesterday that she seemed to be assured of recovery.
So critical was her illness for several days that half a dozen physicians were summoned to her bedside. These included Dr. H.D. Hatfield, L.W. Lawson, J.O. Hill, Brewer and Moore as well as Dr. E.R. Hatfield, of Charleston, a son of the aged patient.
Mrs. Hatfield celebrated her 86th birthday at the Hatfield homestead near the head of Island Creek on December 20.
Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 18 January 1929.
***
Devil Anse’s Widow Died Early Today
Mrs. Levisa Hatfield Succumbs Unexpectedly In 87th Year
10 Living Children
Hers Was Life of Storm And Stress for Several Decades
Funeral services for Mrs. Hatfield will be held at 2:30 Sunday at the Hatfield cemetery on Island Creek.
Mrs. Levisa Hatfield, widow of “Devil Anse” of Hatfield-McCoy feud fame, died at the family homestead up near the head of Island Creek at about 8 o’clock this morning. Though she was frail and had been in ill health all winter, the news of her passing caused much surprise and regret among relatives and friends outnumbered. Still, her condition yesterday was unsatisfactorily, indicating she had suffered a backset.
Mrs. Hatfield celebrated her 86th birthday on December 20. Eight days later she was stricken with pneumonia, and for several weeks her condition was alarming. Despite her advanced age, her indomitable grit and wiry strength and endurance triumphed, having as she did the tender, constant care of her children and other kinfolk, neighbors, and friends.
Hers was a stout heart, otherwise it could not have, withstood the storms that raged about her home and her family for many years. But long before her interesting career ended, peace and contentment had come into her life, and her declining days were brightened by the successes that had come to her children and grandchildren.
The decedent was born and reared on Mate Creek in what was then Logan county but now in Mingo. She was a daughter of Nathaniel Chafin. In her teens she was married to a neighbor youth, William Anderson Hatfield, who shortly thereafter entered the Confederate army and attained the rank of captain. That was a trying experience for a bride, but a longer and more terrifying one came in the early ‘80s when her family became involved in a now historic private war with the McCoys, a large family living on the Kentucky side of the Tug River. Even after the feud ended and a tacit agreement was carried out whereby her family moved back from the Tug and over the county divide and their foes went farther away from the Tug in the opposite direction, tragedies cast their shadows across her pathway. Chief of these was the slaying of her sons Troy and Elias by a drunken miner in Fayette county in 1911. The miner, too, was riddled with bullets after his victims had fallen mortally wounded.
Ten children survive Mrs. Hatfield and three are dead, Johnson, the oldest, having died in 1922 on Ben Creek, Mingo county. The living are: William A. (Cap), who shared with his father the leadership of their clan in the days of the feud, now a deputy sheriff and living at Stirrat; Robert L., Wharncliffe; Mrs. Nancy Mullins, living just above the Hatfield place; Dr. Elliott R., Charleston; Mrs. Mary Howes, at home; Mrs. John (Betty) Caldwell, Barnabus; Sheriff Joe D. Hatfield; Mrs. Marion (Rose) Browning, Holden; Willis, deputy sheriff at Lundale; Tennis, former sheriff.
She is survived by two sisters and a brother: Mrs. Betty Hatfield, widow of Elias Hatfield and mother of U.S. Senator H.D. Hatfield; Mrs. Rebecca Hatfield, of Logan, mother of Hibbard Hatfield, and Tom Chafin, who lives on Mate Creek.
Mrs. Hatfield and devoted to her home and family. And her home as well as herself was widely known for hospitality. There the friend or wayfarer ever found a welcome. She was a member of the Church of Christ and was baptized along with her husband by Uncle Dyke Garrett some years before her husband’s death.
No announcement was made this forenoon as to the funeral arrangements. Squire Elba Hatfield, a grandson, said he supposed the funeral would be held Sunday. Burial will be in the family cemetery.
Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 15 March 1929
***
Great Crowd At Funeral of Mrs. Hatfield
Throng Surpassed That of Any Previous Funeral In County
Pictures Are Taken
News of Death of “Devil” Anse’s Widow Travels Far and Wide
Hundreds of relatives and friends and neighbors paid their last tribute of affection to Mrs. Lovisa Hatfield Sunday afternoon. It is declared to be, by persons capable of judging, the largest funeral crowd ever assembled in the county. Perhaps the maximum attendance of the afternoon was no larger than that at the funeral of Charles Dardi last November, but on Sunday people were coming and going for an hour or more before the hour set–2:30–for the services and until the services were concluded.
Early in the afternoon a crowd began to form both at the Hatfield cemetery and the homestead. A cool, steady, stiff breeze made it uncomfortable for those who gathered at the cemetery, with the result that they did not tarry long there; and on account of weather conditions a great many did not leave their cars, which were closely parked along both sides of the highway from Sheriff Joe Hatfield’s home up to and beyond the home of the decedent.
The attendance at Sunday’s rites exceeded that of the funeral of Mrs. Hatfield’s widely known husband, “Devil Anse,” which was held on Sunday, January 9, 1921. At that time there was but a semblance of a highway up toward the head of Island Creek and most of those who attended the rites of the old feudist chieftain rode on a special train that was run that day or walked for a great distance.
At the homestead there were scripture readings, sermons, and tributes by Rev. Joe Hatfield, a nephew of the decedent, of Matewan; Rev. Halsey Gibson and Rev. C.C. Lanham, pastor of the first Methodist church of Logan. Before the cortege left the house R.A. Woodall, local photographer, took pictures of the body at rest in a beautiful metallic casket and of the grandchildren and perhaps others who were grouped on the porch.
At the grave the services were conducted by Rev. W.R. Eskew of Omar and a solo by a Mr. Woods of Huntington featured the singing. Mr. Eskew paid a tribute to the generosity and hospitality of Mrs. Hatfield, to her love of home and her devotion to her children and other loved ones.
As related in Friday’s paper, Mrs. Hatfield died at about 8 o’clock that morning, after having nearly recovered from pneumonia. Her age was 86 years, two months and 25 days. She was a daughter of Nathaniel and Matilda Varney Chafin and was born on Mate Creek, now in Mingo county. Her sisters, Mrs. Elizabeth Hatfield of Huntington , Mrs. Nancy Carey, Pittsburgh, and Mrs. Rebecca Hatfield of Logan, and her brother Tom Chafin of Mingo were at the funeral.
All over the country the news of Mrs. Hatfield’s death was flashed and it called forth much comment on the old Hatfield-McCoy feud that for a long time held the close attention evidently of millions of newspaper readers.
—
An old sketch of “Devil Anse” says he had none of the attributes of “bad men” in his character. He was always recognized as a loyal friend of the many who had some sort of claim to his friendship. Numbered among those who believed he had been right in the position he took during the feud days were the late Judge John J. Jackson, known as the “Iron Judge,” who was appointed to the federal bench by President Lincoln, and the late Governor E.W. Wilson, the former protecting Hatfield when he was called into court, and the latter refusing to honor a requisition of the Governor of Kentucky for the arrest of Devil Anse on a charge of killing some particular member of the McCoy family.
Detectives, real and alleged, had arranged for the capture of Hatfield, spurred by a reward, after they had seen to it that he was indicted on a charge of whiskey selling; in 1888, Judge Jackson, hearing of these plans, sent word to him that if he would appear in court voluntarily the court would see that he had ample protection until he returned to his home in this county.
Uncle Anse appeared and was acquitted of the charge against him. Some of the detectives pounced on him soon after he left the court room, but Judge Jackson summoned all of them before him, threatened to send them to jail, and directed special officers to see that Hatfield was permitted to reach his home. After Hatfield was well on his way, Judge Jackson told the detectives that if they wanted to get him they could proceed, just as the McCoys had been doing for a number of years. They never went.
Captain Hatfield spent the last 20 years of his life peacefully on his farm then in an isolated section of the county. Once he was prevailed upon by some enterprising amusement manager to go on the vaudeville stage but the lure of his home in the mountains soon proved stronger than the lure of the footlights.
—
In the splendid account of the death of Mrs. Anderson Hatfield, estimable woman who passed away at her home Friday, it was stated that Mrs. Hatfield was one of the last of either the Hatfield or McCoy family directly connected with the feud and that all the McCoy principals are believed to be dead. This last is in error as James McCoy, who resided in Pikeville for many years and latter came here, where he lived with his family for a number of years, and after the death of his wife only a few years ago again returned to Pikeville and is now living there. He is a highly respected and esteemed citizen and was the eldest son of the late Randall McCoy, of Pike county, and was one of the main principals of the feud.
Catlettsburg cor. in Huntington Advertiser
Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 19 March 1929.
19 Thursday Apr 2018
Posted Boone County, Gilbert, Hamlin, Huntington, Logan, Ranger, West Hamlin, Wharncliffe
inTags
Appalachia, Beech Creek, Ben Creek, Bluefield, Bluestone River, Bob Browning, Boone County, Bramwell, Cabell County, Charleston, Coal Valley News, Commissioner of Agriculture, Crum, Davy, Devil Anse Hatfield, farming, Gilbert, Gilbert Creek, ginseng, Griffithsville, Guyandotte River, Hamlin, history, Horsepen Creek, Huntington, Iaeger, Island Creek, John W. Smith, Kanawha River, Lincoln County, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, M.L. Jones, Mate Creek, Pigeon Creek, Ranger, Route 10, Route 2, Route 3, Sarepta Workman, Tug Fork, Twelve Pole Creek, Wayne, Welch, West Hamlin, West Virginia, West Virginia by Rail and Trail, West Virginia Hills, Williamson
From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about Route 3 dated October 14, 1927:
“Changes Can Be Noted” In Island Creek Hills
Madison Editor Waxes Interesting on Old Times and Primitive Conditions–Surfaced Highways Mark the Paths Through Woodland That Were Traveled a Generation Ago.
An article of special interest to Logan folk is here reproduced from the Coal Valley News (Madison) of which M.L. Jones is editor. In a reminiscent mood he tells of road conditions and other conditions that prevailed hereabouts a generation ago. Exceptions might be taken to one or two statements, but the whole article is interesting indeed and informative.
It is considered appropriate that West Virginians should sing the “West Virginia Hills,” and year after year the teachers in their institution disturb their neighbors with this song, while “Tears of regret will intrusively swell.” There is some romance and merit in the song; but it strikes us that it is about time for a revision of this line.
“But no changes can be noticed in the West Virginia Hills.”
To prove our point we quote from memory.
For some years after 1882, there lived in the extreme head of the left fork of Island Creek, or Main Island Creek, a man named Bob Browning. It was 18 miles from Logan. The house was a two-room log cabin, surrounded by palings; and the valley was so narrow that it was difficult to find enough level ground for a garden. Apple trees and peach trees were scattered over a few acres of cleared mountain side. The family subsisted by a little farming, a little hunting and much ginsenging.
This place was between two low mountain gaps. A dim road, usable for wagons in dry weather, led down the creek to Logan, and forked at Browning’s house. One fork led east over one gap to Horsepen and Gilbert of Guyan; the other went west over the other gap to Pigeon creek, and by more or less roundabout ways connected with Ben Creek, Beech Creek, Mate Creek and Pigeon Creek, all of Tug river. Hence, it was a possible road route.
The nearest house down Island creek and on Horsepen creek was two miles; and on Pigeon creek about three-fourths of a mile. A wagon, lightly loaded, passed here on the average six times a year. Horsemen may have averaged one a day, though often a whole week passed without a traveler. It was simply a log shack in the head of the hollow, four miles from a school, ten miles from a store, without anything “which exalts and embellishes civilized life,” and so very remote from the haunts of men that when “Devil” Anse Hatfield and his followers concluded to surrender Tug river to Frank Phillips and the McCoys, they picked their “last stand” on Island creek, four miles below the spot we have been talking about.
Now, in the close of 1927, can “changes be noticed?” We have not been there for over 30 years. But we recently received a present from John W. Smith, commissioner of agriculture , Charleston, W.Va., entitled “West Virginia by Rail and Trail,” containing 22 maps and 174 pictures reproduced from photographs of different parts of the state, and for which we sincerely thank whoever got our name on Mr. Smith’s mailing list.
From this book we learn that when we laboriously trudged through the Horsepen gap or the Pigeon gap, from 45 to 35 years ago, we failed to foresee that within on generation men would pick those two gaps, within less than a miles of each other, as a route for one of West Virginia’s leading roads; and not only for one, but for two, of West Virginia’s leading roads. As we will explain:
Route 3, connects Huntington, Wayne, Crum, Williamson, Gilbert, Iaeger, Davy, Welch, Bramwell, and Bluefield. From Huntington to Wayne and about 15 miles above Wayne, it is mostly on the waters of Twelve Pole creek. It then bears west to Tug river and follows it from Crum to Williamson, about 25 miles. It then bears east to Pigeon Creek, which it follows to the spot we are writing about, in the head of Island creek, some 20 miles. It then goes through the two gaps and down Horsepen creek to Gilbert, on Guyan; up Guyan and Little Huff’s creek, of Guyan, and across the mountain to Iaeger, on Tug river. It then follows up Tug, by Welch, to the head of Elkhorn and then on the waters of Bluestone to Bluefield.
In all, Route 3 is in seven counties, though less than a mile of it is in Logan county, in the head of Island creek. It is graded all the way about 60 percent of it is hard surfaced, including about 25 miles at and near the Bob Browning place. Thus Bob, if alive, can ride on a hard surfaced road from his old home almost to Williamson, one way, and to Gilbert on Guyan the other way; and he could continue south by graded road, until he strikes hard surface again. The last fifty miles next to Bluefield is all hard surfaced, also the lower 25 miles next to Huntington.
But this is not the only big state route hitting this “head of the hollow.”
Route 10 runs from Huntington to the very same spot, a distance of 100 miles, through Cabell, Lincoln and Logan, and is all on Guyan or its tributaries. It is paved, or hard surfaced, from Huntington to West Hamlin, on Guyan where the Hamlin-Griffithsville hard-surfaced road turns off. It is also marked paved for seven miles north of Logan and twelve miles up Island creek. This leaves six miles up by the “Devil” Anse Hatfield place to the Bob Browning place to pave, and it is marked, “paved road under construction.” The only drawback to No. 10 is that from West Hamlin to Ranger is a patch where the grading is not yet satisfactory. Doubtless, within three years both 3 and 10 will be hard surfaced all the way. Even now, from the Browning place, the people can take their choice between an evening’s entertainment in Logan or Williamson.
But that is not all yet. The chances are heavy that there will never be but one hard surfaced road from Logan to Williamson. There will always be a heavy travel from Charleston to Williamson. It will be by our No. 2 to Logan; by No. 10 to the Browning place; and by No. 3 to Williamson. Within a few months it will all be hard surfaced.
From all this we conclude.
First; that we let a good chance slip when we failed to buy a half acre of land where No. 10 joints No. 3 for a hotel and filling station. We could have multiplied our investment by one thousand. But so far as we could see that spot was fit only to hold and the rest of the Earth’s surface together, and to get away from as rapidly as possible.
Second; that “changes can be noticed in the West Virginia Hills.”
We might add that thousands can remember crossing the Kanawha at Charleston on the ferry, because there was no bridge; and few, if any, three-story homes. The writer hereof did his first plowing with a two-horse turning plow in the center of what is now Huntington. It was a cornfield then. It is a fashionable residence district now. He boarded at an isolated log house on a hill back of the Huntington bottom, where now are miles of mansions on paved streets. Even in and about Madison and all over Boone county, it is hard for people to visualize how things looked a short ten years ago. Mrs. Sarepta Workman, on her recent visit to her old…
16 Tuesday Jan 2018
Posted Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Logan, Wharncliffe
inTags
Angola, Appalachia, Bob Hatfield, Cap Hatfield, civil engineer, Devil Anse Hatfield, genealogy, Glen Alum, history, Indiana, Island Creek, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Mingo County, Stirrat, Tri-State College, West Virginia
Logan (WV) Banner, 10 June 1927.
Logan (WV) Banner, 29 July 1927
11 Thursday May 2017
Posted Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Logan, Wharncliffe
inTags
Appalachia, Bob Hatfield, Elias Hatfield, George W. Atkinson, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Huntington Advertiser, Logan, Logan County, Mingo County, West Virginia, Williamson
Huntington (WV) Advertiser, 11 September 1899.
22 Wednesday Mar 2017
Posted Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Huntington, Wharncliffe
inTags
Appalachia, Bob Hatfield, Cabell County, Edward S. Doolittle, Elias Hatfield, genealogy, history, Huntington, Huntington Advertiser, Kentucky, Mingo County, Pike County, W.O. Walton, West Virginia
Huntington (WV) Advertiser, 22 September 1899.
07 Tuesday Mar 2017
Tags
Appalachia, Bob Hatfield, Cap Hatfield, crime, Devil Anse Hatfield, feud, feuds, genealogy, Gray, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Huntington Advertiser, John L. Dingess, Kentucky, Logan County, Mingo County, murder, Norfolk and Western Railroad, West Virginia, Wharncliffe
Huntington (WV) Advertiser, 12 September 1899.
This story reads: “The posse of citizens which left Gray on the N. & W. yesterday for the purpose of raiding the fort and homes of the Hatfields met with fairly good success, and the most remarkable feature is the fact that no blood was shed. They captured Anse Hatfield, his son Bob, and son-in-law John Dingess at Wharncliffe. The posse hid themselves in a baggage car of an N. & W. train and took the entire party by surprise. When Bob Hatfield put the U.S. mail on the train, two Winchesters were thrust in his face and as his hands were up he was commanded to keep them up under penalty of death. The party then went to Bob’s house which is located on the side of the hill and finding ‘Devil Anse’ asleep his capture was easy. The old fellow who has led his clan for fifteen years against all enemies and authorities seemed much surprised when he awoke and noticed that he was surrounded by men with Winchesters. His faithful Winchesters of the past were then in the hands of the posse. The notorious ‘Cap’ Hatfield was in another room of the house, but at first sight of the posse approaching he escaped into a nearby cornfield and made his way to the mountains in safety. Dingess was located in a nearby saloon operated by Bob Hatfield and he was also taken into custody with but little trouble. The members of the posse of course feel much elated over the captures. All the prisoners were placed in the Williamson jail at a late hour last night and there is much speculation throughout Mingo as to what the outcome will be. It is believed by many that the intention is purely to have them removed to Kentucky, as there are no indictments of any serious nature against any of those captured yesterday in West Virginia. All are wanted in Kentucky however for their complicity in the McCoy murders of years ago. There are a large number of the Hatfields still in the mountains of Mingo and Logan, and whether the posse will continue pushing on until all are captured is not known here today.”
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