Tag Archives: Abner Vance

A Poem (1897)

22 Tuesday Dec 2020

Posted by in Big Sandy Valley

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This song was composed and sung by Elder Abner Vance, under the gallows, about 80 years ago. Given by Rev. A.M. Lunsford, October 14, 1897.

A POEM.

[Published by Request.]

Green are the woods where Sandy flows.

And peace it dwelleth there;

In the valley the bear they lie secure

The red buck roves the knobs.

But Vance no more shall Sandy behold,

Nor drink its crystal waves,

The partial judge pronounced his doom,

The hunter has found his grave.

The judge he said he was my friend

Though Elliott’s life he had saved.

A juryman did I become

That Elliott he might live.

That friendship I have shown to others,

Has never been shown to me;

Humanity it belongs to the brave,

And I hope it remains to me.

‘Twas by the advice of McFarlin

Judge Johnson did the call,

I was taken from my native home

Confined in a stone wall.

My persecutors have gained their request,

Their promise to make good,

For they ofttimes swore they would never rest,

Till they had gained my heart’s blood.

Daniel Horton, Bob and Bill,

A lie against me swore,

In order to take my life away,

That I might be no more.

But I and them together must meet

Where all things are unknown.

And if I’ve shed the innocent blood

I hope there’s mercy shown.

Bright shines the sun on Clinche’s hill,

And soft the west wind blows,

The valleys are covered all over with bloom,

Perfumed with the red rose.

But Vance no more shall Sandy behold,

This day his eyes are closed in death,

His body’s confined in the tomb.

Farewell my friends, my children dear,

To you I bid farewell,

The love I have for your precious souls

No mortal tongue can tell.

Farewell to you my loving wife,

To you I bid adieu,

And if I reach fair Caanan’s shore

I hope to meet with you.

Source: Logan County Banner (Logan, WV), 13 November 1897.

Old Hinchman Book at Pecks Mill in Logan County, WV (1936)

04 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by in Civil War, Pecks Mill

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From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history for Logan County printed on November 3, 1936:

Time-Dimmed Record of Early Logan County Families in 1852-1877 Period in Old Books Found at Pecks Mill

Thumbing the now-dimmed pages of a yellowed book which recently came to light in old Peck’s Mill, members of Logan county’s oldest families may read in a painstakingly-kept record of the years 1852 to 1877 how their forefathers were brought into the world, married, educated, governed.

The record is written in pen and ink with the quaint flourishes and old-fashioned double letters of the 1800s by James J. Hinchman, who was clerk of the 12th regiment of the Virginia militia from 1852 to 1858; and by one, Ulysses Hinchman, who was clerk of the 129th regiment from 1858 to the Civil War; and later pastor, doctor, and trader.

The first entry, dated Nov. 3, 1852, records the meeting “at the house of Wm. McDonald near the mouth of Huffs Creek” of the Twelfth regiment of the Virginia militia in the days when Logan county was the property of Virginia.

Among the officers present were Major John Hager and Capt. James J. Hinchman, who was also clerk.

Most of the records at the first, which deal entirely with the regiment, are devoted to the salaries paid for “drumming and fifing,” the fines of 50 cents each for failure to report at meetings, and the excuse of members from duty “because of physical infirmities.”

Among the interesting entries is one relating, it is believed, to an ancestor of ex-champion Jack Dempsey, which reads:

“William Dempsey for fifing one day in Capt. Miller’s company.”

Two dollars, according to numerous accounts, was the regular salary paid for a day of fifing or drumming. For three days training, officers received $10.

Among regiment members mentioned are Calvary Hatfield and Reece Browning, forefathers of the Hatfield and Browning families of today.

On Sept. 10, 1858, the record is transferred to that of the 129th and is kept by Ulysses Hinchman. His first entry tells of a meeting at which John De Journett was elected colonel; K. McComas, first major; Reece Browning, second major; and Ulysses Hinchman, clerk. Officers attending were Captains George Avis, James H. Hinchman, John Starr, John Hatfield, John Chapman, and Barnabus Carter; and Lieutenants Martin Doss, George Bryant, Granville Riffe, Louis White, Charles Staton and Green A. Clark.

Interesting in these pages are the forming of new companies in which the names of the creeks and localities are for the most part the same as today. Among the familiar names are Huffs, Gilbert, Harts and Big Creek, Guyandotte river, and Trace Fork.

There is no mention of the Civil War, but it is mutely attested to by two entries, the first, dated 1862 at the bottom of one page and the second dated 1866 at the top of the next, which read:

“Apr. 5, 1862—Abner Vance and Nathan Elkins received their claims.

1866—Rec’d of Eli Gore, county treasurer for my last year’s services, $50.

“Ulysses Hinchman, superintendent of schools.”

The next year, we are gratified to learn, his salary has increased to $300.
We learn that Logan, which then included Mingo and Wyoming counties, was at that time composed of five districts, Union, Triadelphia, Hardy, Chapmanville, and Magnolia; and that the county’s finances were all handled through Wheeling, then the only city of size in West Virginia.

The records contain long lists of certificates awarded to teachers for $1, among the recipients being John Dempsey, Eli Gore, Joseph Hinchman, Harvey Ellis and Evans Ferrell.

In the midst of the records of 1866 and ’67 we come upon the terse paragraph which informs that:

“The sheriff failed to settle for taxes of 1861.”

The board of education’s budget for 1869 was $2077.60 and was apportioned to these clerks of the various townships; Union, David Mullins; Triadelphia, Gordon Riffe; Magnolia, Joseph B. Browning; Hardy, Adam Browning; and Chapmanville, Wm. Stollings. Increased expenses that year made it necessary to levy a tax of “5 cents on $100.”

An enumeration of all children “between the ages of 6 and 21” in 1868 totaled 2139.

In 1871, our patient scribe becomes “Dr. U.S. Hinchman” and the record his personal account book. We learn much of the practices and hardships of the first country doctors and that his troubles in collecting the pitifully small fees of those days were as great as those of any “specialist” of today.

Dr. Hinchman had no set rates, but based on his charges upon the number of miles traveled (usually 50 cents per mile); the number of days and nights spent, and—quite evidently—the circumstances of his patient.

His customary charge for a delivery, if it chanced to come in the day time, appeared to be $5.50; but if the child arrived in the night and required many miles of travel it was a more expensive proposition—the fees sometimes reaching as high as $9.

The birth of one of these $9 babies is graphically recorded as follows:

“Labor two nights and days–$7

10 miles at 50 cents–$5

Administering–$1

Received $5.”

The doctor’s highest charge was one of $10 on a case which required three days and nights.

Interspersed freely with the accounts of births, and sicknesses are frequent entries of marriages at $2 each.

Toward the last of the book, in 1877, the author’s handwriting becomes more labored and the fine shadings and flourishing gradually disappear—evidence that his years of soldiering, school teaching, and doctoring were taking their toll.

At this time, too, he begins to record not only his receipts, but his expenditures and trades, and we read, not without envy, of purchases of “one bushel of sweet potatoes, 50 cents,” and “one and a half bushel of Irish potatoes, 75 cents.”

One of the last entries, dated Aug. 1877, tells of his receiving for his professional services a large amount of coffee which he traded for $5 cash, a suit, and a round of shoes,” the latter evidently referring to horseshoes.

As, regretfully, we close the book; we feel that we know that patient and prolific old settler of Logan County, Ulysses Hinchman—his honor as a soldier and officer, his strict accounting of himself as a public official, his hardships and struggles as a country doctor; and through all, his conscientious, faithful keeping of records. And we share, with his descendants, a great pride in him.

Somehow we know that when, with failing hand, he concluded his long accounts in another book; his record was clear and straight—his house was in order.

Hatfield Family History (1937)

03 Sunday Mar 2019

Posted by in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Huntington, Matewan

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From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV,  comes this bit of history for the Hatfield family, printed on May 11, 1937:

History Of Hatfield Clan Recorded In Banner Files

Ephraim Hatfield Was One of The Quietest Men In The County—Yet He Was Father Of Those Engaged In Famous Feud

Henry Clay Ragland, editor of The Logan Banner in 1896, was, among other things, a genealogist for Logan county.

He lived at a time when most of the children and grandchildren of Logan county’s first settlers were still alive and he had access to a wealth of first-hand information that has served as the basis for family histories in Logan county up to the present.

An account of the entrance of the Hatfield family into this section of the country is clipped verbatim from a Logan County Banner dated Wednesday, April 29, 1896.

“At what is still known as the Hatfield place on Horsepen, Valentine Hatfield, of Washington county, Va., settled at quite an early day. He was the father of nine sons and three daughters, and from them have sprung many of the Hatfields of the Guyandotte and Sandy Valleys.

“Valentine Hatfield married a Miss Weddington, and he was a half brother of Thomas Smith. His sons were Ali, who married a daughter of Ferrell Evans; Joe, who also married a daughter of Ferrell Evans; Ephraim, who married Bettie Vance; (This Ephraim was one of the quietest men in the county, and was for a long time a justice of the peace, yet he was the father and grandfather of the Hatfields who were engaged in the Hatfield-McCoy feud) Andrew, who married a daughter of Humphrey Trent, and whose descendants live in Wyoming county; Thomas, who married a daughter of Frank Evans; John, who married a daughter of Abner Vance; James, who married a daughter of John Toler; (Squire M.A. Hatfield and James Hatfield are the sons of this marriage) Jacob, who married a daughter of Peter Cline; and Valentine, who was never married.

“Of his three daughters, Phoebe married Alexander Varney; Celia married James Justice, who was at one time sheriff of Logan county, and who was the father of John Justice, a prominent merchant in Logan Court House (the name of the city at that time), B.H. Justice, a merchant and timber dealer of Cabell county, and William E. Justice, a merchant at North Spring and at one time a member of the West Virginia legislature.

“Joseph Hatfield, a brother of Valentine Hatfield, settled about the same time at Matewan.”

Boling Baker and Princess Aracoma (1937)

06 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by in Gilbert, Logan, Native American History, Women's History

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From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history concerning Boling Baker and Princess Aracoma, dated March 23, 1937:

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Historical marker on Horse Pen Mountain near Gilbert, Mingo County, WV. 25 April 2015.

Dying Words of Princess Aracoma Related In Story Taken From Banner Files

Though much has been written on the history of Logan county, just as much has been forgotten about its early development.

One of the county’s first historians, Henry Clay Ragland, mayor of the city, church worker and editor of the Logan County Banner, recorded some of the high spots of the development of Logan county in a series of articles which he ran in his newspaper during 1896.

It is from this series of articles that the following story of the early settlement of Logan county is taken.

Records show that a large number of white men first set foot in what is now Logan county in the spring of 1777, when Captain Charles Hull with 20 men pursued a band of marauding Shawnees to the site where Oceana was later built. They lost the trail at Oceana and had to turn back. The Shawnees had raided a white settlement near the falls of New River one spring night and had stolen thirty head of horses. The army captain and his men set out in pursuit but the redskins had too great a start.

Huff Creek was given its name on this expedition in honor of Peter Huff who was killed in a skirmish on the banks of the stream as the men returned home. Huff was buried near the spot where he was killed, which is believed to have been near where the town of Mallory now stands.

Other men on this expedition and who returned to the valley of the Guyandotte later and built homes were John Cook, James Hines, William Dingess and James Hensley.

The first white man really to be identified with what is now Logan county was Boling Baker, a renegade white, but the old-timers would not give him credit for being a white man. They said: “He lived with the Injins and that makes him an Injin.” Baker, however dastardly he was, was indirectly responsible for the settlement of Logan county in 1780-85.

The renegade had one great weakness. A weakness that they hung men for in those days. He was a horse thief. He would take a party of Indians a hundred miles through the mountain passes of Logan county to raid a white settlement in order to steal 20 or 30 horses.

Baker had gone into the business on a large scale. At the head of Gilbert Creek, on Horse Pen Mountain, where the mountain rises abruptly with almost cliff-like sharpness, he had stripped bark from hickory trees and stretched it from tree to tree making a pen in which to keep his stolen stock.

Old settlers of the county who have had the story passed down to them from their great-grandfathers say that the pen was somewhere in the hollow below the road which leads to the fire tower on Horsepen Mountain. It was from this improvised corral of Boling Baker that the mountain was named.

But, back to how Baker was responsible for the settlement of the county.

He left his Indian camps on the Guyan river in the fall of 1780 and visited the white settlements in the Bluestone valley in the Flat Top mountain territory. There he told the settlers a story of how he had been captured by the Indians when he was a young man and had learned their ways. He said he had just escaped from the Shawnee tribe known to be hunting in the Guyandotte valley and was on his way back east to see his father and mother who lived in Boston. Shrewd chap, this Baker!

The settlers were taken in by his story and allowed him to remain with them for several weeks during which time he got the location of all the settlers barns well in mind and after a time departed “back east.”

Soon after the renegade left the Bluestone settlement the whites awoke one rainy morning late in autumn and found every barn empty. The Indians had come with the storm which lashed the valley and had gone without arousing a person. Thirty horses from the settlement went with them.

An expedition headed by Wm. S. Madison and John Breckinridge—son of the Breckinridges who settled much of Kentucky—was made up in a neighboring settlement and set out in pursuit of the thieving Shawnees.

They trailed the party over Flat Top Mountain and southwest to the headwaters of the Guyan River by way of Rockcastle creek and Clear Fork. Trail marks showed that the band had gone down the river, up Gilbert Creek to Baker’s pen and thence over the mountain.

Madison and his 75 men did not follow the Indian trail over the mountain but the redskins probably brought their herd of 50 or 75 horses down Island Creek to the Guyan.

The white expedition chose to follow the Guyan in a hope that they would find the party encamped somewhere along its banks. Scouts had reported that a large tribe of Indians used the Guyan valley as its hunting grounds.

Madison’s party followed the river down to Buffalo Creek—named because the white men found such a large number of buffalo grazing in its bottoms—crossed Rum Creek and pitched camp for a night at the mouth of Dingess Run because “Guyan” Green and John Carter, scouts sent ahead to reconnoiter, had reported finding ten Indian lodges in the canebrakes of an island formed by the joining of a large creek and the Guyan river.

The men rested on their guns for the night and the following morning divided into two parties and attacked the encampment from the front and rear.

In the furious fighting that followed, nine of the thirty Indians in the camp were killed and ten or twelve wounded. Only a few escaped the slaughter of the white men. Among those captured was an old squaw 50 or 60 years old, who by her bearing, was obviously leader of the party. She was wounded but refused to talk.

Near midnight, however, following the massacre of the camp the old squaw felt death creeping upon her and called Madison to her quarters, and told him in broken English the following:

“I am the wife of a pale face who came across the great waters to make war on my people, but came to us and became one of us. A great plague many moons ago carried off my children with a great number of my people, and they lay buried just above the bend in the river. Bury me with them with my face to the setting sun that I may see my people in their march to the happy hunting ground. For your kindness I warn you to make haste in returning to your homes, for my people are still powerful, and will return to avenge my death.”

The proud princess died before morning and the white men buried her “near the bend in the river.” The Indian captives were all killed.

Four days later the men returned to the valley of the Bluestone.

Among those who helped Wm. S. Madison rout the Shawnees and who vowed to possess the valley of the Guyandotte for themselves and their children were George Booth, George Berry, Elias Harman, Ben Stewart, Abner Vance, Joseph Workman, Ben White and James White. All these names are familiar in the county today.

After the Indians were pushed to the west, surveyors allotted the land to the first settlers who had dared, with Madison, to come into the wilderness of the Guyandotte and open it up for the white man.

Madison owned several thousand acres of land on Island Creek, Gilbert Creek and Dingess Run. Other fighters were given like parcels of land.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 23 March 1937

Mariah (Vance) Adkins Obituary (1931)

06 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by in Big Harts Creek, Cemeteries, Lincoln County Feud, Stiltner, Women's History

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Mariah Adkins Obituary WCN 07.02.1931 1.JPG

Wayne County (WV) News, 2 July 1931. Mariah (Vance) Adkins was born on the West Fork of Harts Creek in present-day Lincoln County, WV. She married Canaan “Cain” Adkins, a preacher, teacher, doctor, and justice of the peace.

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Mariah Adkins grave at Community Memorial Gardens near Wayne, Wayne County, WV. 23 July 2016.

Vance Homeplace and Cemetery on West Fork (2017)

01 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by in Big Harts Creek, Cemeteries

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Abner Vance Farm 11

Abner Vance-Elisha Vance-Salena Vance Homeplace on West Fork of Harts Creek, Lincoln County, WV. 21 October 2017. Abner Vance and his family were prominent residents of the West Fork section of the Harts Creek community.

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Likely from the old Vance residence, West Fork of Harts Creek, Lincoln County, WV. 21 October 2017.

Elisha Vance land

Lincoln County Clerk’s Office, Hamlin, WV.

Vance Cemetery 333

Vance Family Cemetery on West Fork of Harts Creek, Lincoln County, WV. 21 October 2017. This section of ground is said to be “full” of graves. Today, only three headstones are visible.

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Vance Family Cemetery on West Fork of Harts Creek, Lincoln County, WV. 28 March 2015. Photo by Kathy Adams. The Vances were somewhat involved in the Lincoln County Feud. For more about the feud, follow this link: https://www.amazon.com/Blood-West-Virginia-Brumfield-McCoy/dp/1455619183

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Vance Family Cemetery on West Fork of Harts Creek, Lincoln County, WV. 20 July 2016.

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Vance Family Cemetery on West Fork of Harts Creek, Lincoln County, WV. 20 July 2016.

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Vance Family Cemetery on West Fork of Harts Creek, Lincoln County, WV. 28 March 2015. Photo by Kathy Adams. Just behind me, a bit further down the hill, are two McCloud graves.

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

28 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by in Big Creek, Big Harts Creek, Big Ugly Creek, Ferrellsburg, Harts, Toney

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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

Harts Creek Area Justices of the Peace (1879-1910)

16 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by in Big Harts Creek, Sand Creek, Warren

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Between 1879 and 1910, the following men served as justices of the peace in the Harts Creek community. The primary source for this material is “Commissioner’s Record of Destroyed Title Papers 2,” which is located at the Lincoln County Clerk’s Office in Hamlin, WV. Material is arranged based on the person’s name as given in the deed, the date of the deed, and the date of the deed’s acknowledgment by a JP. I have also found JPs listed in Deed Book 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, and 60. Deed Book “S” at the Logan County Clerk’s Office as well as numerous records in the Logan County Circuit Clerk’s Office have also provided information. Many thanks to the county clerks and their employees who have always been so helpful to my research these past twenty-five years.

Stephen Lambert (Logan County) 1879, 1885-1886

State v. John Mullins (1879-1880)

NOTE: Moses Dalton stated that he was a “magistrate” in c.1885.

Deed: W.T. Butcher to Birl Farley     11 September 1885     11 September 1885

Deed: William and Emily Dingess to Polly C. Bryant     25 January 1886

Hall v. Baker     30 September 1886, 16 October 1886

NOTE: Stephen Lambert died, according to court docket files, on 21 October 1886 or 23 October 1886

A.B. Lowe was appointed justice in place of Stephen Lambert, deceased     8 November 1886

Andrew D. Robinson (Lincoln County) 1879

State v. John Mullins (1879-1880)

John McCloud (Logan County) 1881-1884, 1890-1892

Deed: Margaret Browning     01 October 1879     29 January 1881

Deed: A.A. Low to Stephen Lambert     1 June 1881     25 March 1882

Deed: Weddington Mullins     14 March 1881     18 July 1882

Deed: Charles Browning     1 June 1881     22 July 1882

Deed: Francis Vance     1 July 1882     10 March 1883

Deed: John Messer     15 September 1882     12 February 1884

Deed: Henry Workman v. Melvin Butcher     24 March 1884

Deed: Henry Workman v. Melvin Butcher     28 March 1884

Deed: Ezekiel K. Johnson     1 July 1882     30 December 1884

Workman v. Butcher     24 March 1884, 28 March 1884, 9 June 1884

Deed: Robert Mullins to Sarah E. Gore     25 November 1890     3 December 1890

Deed: Sophia Kinser     1 June 1881     12 November 1891

Deed: Farabell and John Vance to Salena Vance     11 October 1892

Jeremiah Lambert (Lincoln County) 1881-1884

Deed: John Henry Adkins     10 May 188?     3 June 1881

Deed: Archibald B. Harrison     1 July 1882     7 July 1882

Deed: John H. Fry     1 July 1882     16 August 1882

Deed: Sampson S. Brumfield      1 July 1882     17 August 1882

Deed: Minnis W. Perry     1 June 1881     13 April 1883

Deed: Enos Adkins     1 July 1882     3 June 1883

Deed: Sarah E. Thompson     23 March 1883     23 June 1883

Deed: Miles B. Browning     14 April 1881     10 August 1883

Deed: Elisha Vance     15 September 1882     10 August 1883

Deed: Moses B. Toney     21 August 1882     21 August 1883

Deed: Jeremiah and Ballard Lambert     1 July 1882     12 September 1883

Deed: Van D. Lambert     15 September 1882     30 January 1884

Deed: Albert G. Abbott     23 March 1883     14 February 1884

James H. Marcum (Lincoln County) 1881

Deed: Harmon and Susan Stroud to Louisa A. Wiley     18 November 1881

Canaan Adkins (Lincoln County) 1885-1888

Deed: Mitchell Browning and Charles Kinser     23 March 1883     5 March 1885

Deed: John and Chloe Ann Messer to Floyd Caldwell     16 March 1885     16 March 1885

Deed: Aaron and Nancy Jane Adkins to B.W. Walker     12 June 1885

Deed: John M.P. and Victory Thompson     1 July 1882     18 July 1885

Deed: Sarah E. Vance, Mary L. Nelson, and Peter M. Mullins     25 April 1883     8 August 1885

Deed: Aaron and Nancy Jane Adkins to B.W. Walker     12 June 1885     12 June 1885

Deed: Abner Vance     21 August 1882     6 October 1885

Deed: Telitha Spears to Blackburn Lucas     26 July 1886     26 July 1886

Deed: Charles Lucas to Blackburn Lucas     18 September 1886     18 September 1886

Deed: Charles Lucas to William Bird Brumfield     18 September 1886     18 September 1886

Deed: Sarah A. Perry     14 April 1881     14 February 1887

Deed: William and Jane Manns to Josephine Robinson     19 February 1887     19 February 1887

Deed: Andrew Jackson Browning     23 March 1883     17 June 1887

Deed: Elvira Baisden     1 July 1882     19 November 1887

Deed: Aaron and Nancy Jane Adkins     24 August 1887     24 August 1887/14 February 1888

Deed: Jeremiah Lambert to Van D. Lambert     30 April 1888

Deed: Floyd and Martha Caldwell to Melvin Kirk     7 July 1888     7 July 1888

A.B. Lowe (Logan County) 1886

A.B. Lowe was appointed justice in place of Stephen Lambert, deceased     8 November 1886

Hall v. Baker     18 November 1886

John B. Pullen (Lincoln County) 1888

Robert Fry to Wilford Fry, Martha J. Fry, and Rosa A. Fry     3 January 1888

Elias Vance (Lincoln County) 1889-1896

Aaron and Nancy J. Adkins to Malissia Adkins     14 August 1889     14 August 1889

Marine and Polly Spurlock to Laura Fry     6 November 1889

Polly C. Bryant to children     15 July 1891

Minerva McCloud     15 September 1882     7 November 1891

2 June 1893

Andrew and Elizabeth Elkins to Thomas J. Adkins     27 March 1894

George A. and Julia Alderson, Floyd and Emily Rakes, and C.D. and Vietta T. Haverty to J.L. Caldwell     7 December 1894

Enos Adkins et ux to Allen Brumfield     28 December 1894     14 May 1895

Charles Lucas to Sarah Brumfield     6 July 1895     6 July 1895

Samuel Workman to Melvin Kirk     29 September 1896     29 September 1896

On 26 August 1898, JP Vance was sentenced to serve two years in the state penitentiary for embezzlement.

David F. Smith (Lincoln County) 1892-1907

Richard and Olive F. Adkins to Sarah M. Adkins     18 June 1892

Peter Mullins to Jerry Lambert     12 January 1901

Lewis and Malinda Nelson to A.E. Wagner     4 December 1906

Anderson Fry to A. Gill     7 January 1907

Jefferson and Nancy E. Lucas to Cumberland Adkins     11 April 1907     12 April 1907

Hiram “Hi” Lambert (Lincoln County) 1893-1894

Deed: Farabel and John Vance to John H. Adkins     6 December 1893

Deed: Salena Vance     25 December 1893     25 December 1893

Deed: Peter M. and Mary A. Mullins et al to J.L. Caldwell     24 November 1894     29 November 1894

J.S. Payne (Lincoln County?) 1894

I.N. and Elizabeth Mullins to J.L. Caldwell     1 September 1894     7 September 1894

Sol Adams (Logan County) 1895-1897, 1899, 1907-1908

Between September and October of 1895, the Logan County Banner referenced him as Squire Sol.

Between February and September 1896, the Logan County Banner referenced him as Squire Sol.

Deed: Allen and Sarah Tomblin to William Conley     07 July 1894     09 April 1897

Cynthia Ann Mullins deposition     21 October 1899

Deed: Charles Washington Mullins to Jerry Lambert     18 June 1907

Deed: Clementine and Ed Dingess et al to Catherine Adkins     1 October 1908     16 October 1908

Deed: Clementine and Ed Dingess et al to Ann F. Davis     1 October 1908     16 October 1908

Isaac Fry (Lincoln County) 1897-1904

Richard and Spencer Adkins to D.P. Lambert     17 July 1897

Charles Adkins to Malinda Adkins     25 April 1898

Russell S. Stollings et ux to William D. Farley     24 March 1900

25 June 1900

Susan and Levi Rakes et al to J.L. Caldwell     28 July 1900     30 July 1900

28 July 1904

Jefferson Lucas (Lincoln County) 1899-1907

Isaac G. Gartin to William Manns     3 January 1899     3 January 1899

William Manns to William H. Manns     3 January 1899     3 January 1899

John P. Lucas to A.B. Staley     12 March 1907

William Bird Brumfield (Lincoln County) 1899-1904

J.H. and Amanda McComas to Blackburn Lucas     30 August 1899     30 August 1899

William and Rebecca Bell et al to Thomas H. Harvey and George F. Miller     12 January 1900

Malinda J. Vance to Emma Vance     21 July 1904     21 July 1904

George F. Frye (Lincoln County) 1901-1902

Farabell Vance to Salena Vance     7 May 1901

Enos Adkins to A.G. Adkins and F.E. Adkins     15 February 1902     15 February 1902

Rufus Pack (Lincoln County) 1903-1909

Isaac and Nancy M. Workman to Abijah Workman, Jr.     2 February 1903

Henry C. and Martha Sias to Isaac F. Nelson     17 February 1909

Charles Adkins (Lincoln County) 1905-1910

02 November 1905

Charles and Caroline Brumfield to J.M. Brammer and B.F. Scearcy     7 November 1906

Blackie Lucas to Elizabeth Lucas     15 July 1907

Asa and Rebecca Williamson to Hugh Evans     18 February 1908

William Workman to Joseph Browning     15 July 1908

Malinda Adkins to Isaiah Adkins     20 July 1908

02 January 1909

Joseph and Rosey Browning to Lace Marcum and T.R. Shepherd     1 April 1910

William Toppins (Wayne County) 1907

Deed: L.C. and Pinkston Queen to Sarah B. Maynard     18 December 1907

Hugh Evans (Lincoln County) 1908

Deed: John W. and Evaline Sartin to George Shepherd     29 July 1908

A.E. Wagner (Lincoln County) 1910

Deed: Anderson Fry to Rush and Mary Slate     14 January 1910

J.M. Brammer et ux to David Farley     11 April 1910     19 April 1910

129th Regiment Virginia Militia (Carter’s Company)

08 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by in Big Harts Creek, Chapmanville, Civil War, Crawley Creek, Green Shoal, Harts, Little Harts Creek

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The 129th Regiment Virginia Militia, commanded by Colonel John DeJarnett, consisted of men primarily from Logan County, (West) Virginia. The 129th existed to protect Logan County. Carter’s Company, captained by Barnett “Barney” Carter, consisted of many Harts Creek men, all of whom enlisted on 27 August 1861 at Logan Court House, Logan County, (West) Virginia. The 129th, including Carter’s Company, participated in the Battle of Boone Court House on 1 September 1861 and the Battle of Kanawha Gap on 25 September 1861. In 1862, Carter’s Company essentially became Company D, 34th Battalion Virginia Cavalry. (This list will be updated periodically.)

Albert Abbott*, Abbotts Branch

Benjamin Adams, Crawley Creek

John Quincy Adams, Harts Creek

Aaron Adkins

Canaan Adkins, West Fork of Harts Creek [Lincoln County Feud]

Enos “Jake” Adkins, 1st Lieutenant, Douglas Branch (Ferrellsburg)

Isaac Adkins, Jr., Harts Creek (Big Branch area)

Isaac Adkins, 2nd Sergeant, Harts Creek (Big Branch area)

John H. Adkins

Lewis Baisden

Riland Baisden

Anderson Barker

Benjamin Barker

James M. Berry

Jacob Browning

Josiah Browning, 4th Sergeant

Andrew Jackson Browning, Harts Creek

Allen B. Brumfield, Big Ugly Creek

Evermont Ward Brumfield, Big Ugly Creek

Alexander Bryant, Harts Creek

George Bryant, Harts Creek

James Bryant, Harts Creek

Rufus Bryant, Harts Creek

Ed Burchett

William F. B_____

Jesse W. Carter

Barnett Carter, Captain, Hoover Fork of Harts Creek

John C. Chapman, 1st Corporal

Garland Conley, Smokehouse Fork of Harts Creek

Guy Conley, Conley Branch (Chapmanville)

Henry Conley, Conley Branch (Chapmanville)

Maston Conley, Chapmanville

Oliver Conley, Crawley Creek

Reuben Conley

Thomas Conley, Conley Branch (Chapmanville)

James Dalton, Harts Creek

Martin Dalton, Harts Creek

Harvey S. Dingess*, Crawley Creek

Henderson Dingess, Smokehouse Fork of Harts Creek [Lincoln County Feud]

James Dingess, 3rd Corporal

John Dingess

Peter C. Dingess, Crawley Creek

William A. Dingess

William S. Dingess

Mathias Elkins

William D. Elkins*, 2nd Corporal

D.J. Estep

Shade Estep, 4th Corporal

Fulton D. Ferrell, 3rd Sergeant

James P. Ferrell, Big Ugly Creek

Samuel Ferrell

Isaac Fleming

William T. Fowler, West Fork/Marsh Fork of Harts Creek

Admiral S. Fry, Green Shoal

Christian T. “Jack” Fry*, Abbotts Branch

Fleming Fry

Lewis “Jupiter” Fry, Big Ugly Creek (Gill)

Peter Fry

Robert Fry

Russell Fry

Edward Garrett, 2nd Lieutenant

Isaac G. Gartin, 2nd Lieutenant, Little Harts Creek

George Godby

Tolbert S. Godby, 1st Sergeant

Isaac O. Jeffrey

Henderson Lambert, Bend of the River

William C. Lambert, Bend of the River area

Ira Lucas

Calahill McCloud, Harts Creek or Twelve Pole Creek

Charles McCloud

Jackson McCloud

John McCloud

B. McNeely

James Mullins

Martin Van Buren Mullins, Harts Creek

Robert “Bob” Mullins, Harts Creek

Spencer A. Mullins, Bridge Branch area (Atenville)

Weddington Mullins, Harts Creek

Daniel “Bill” Nester, Browns Branch

William Owens

Arnold Perry

D.H. Perry

Jeremiah Perry

Thompson Perry

Andrew Robinson, Harts Creek

John R. Robinson

Griffin Stollings

Jefferson Thompson, Thompson Branch of Harts Creek

Alford Tomblin, Sr., Harts Creek

Alford Tomblin, Jr., Harts Creek

James Tomblin

Moses Tomblin

Burbus C. Toney, Green Shoal area (Toney)

Squire Toney, Big Ugly Creek

Andrew Jackson Vance

Abner Vance, West Fork of Harts Creek

Addison Vance

Lewis Vance

James Wills

Abijah “Bige” Workman

David Workman

John W. Workman

Moses Workman

Obediah Workman

William Workman

(*) denotes my direct ancestors

Sims Index to Land Grants (1952)

20 Saturday Jun 2015

Posted by in Big Harts Creek, Big Ugly Creek, Fourteen, Green Shoal, Harts, Little Harts Creek, Queens Ridge, Sand Creek

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Persons receiving land grants between 1812 and 1860, including acreage totals, for the following streams located in Logan and Cabell counties, (West) Virginia: Big Harts Creek, Big Ugly Creek, Fourteen Mile Creek, Little Harts Creek, Sand Creek, Kiah’s Creek, Green Shoal, Brown’s (Abbott’s) Branch, Douglas Branch, Low Gap Branch, Lilly’s Branch, and Limestone (partial). This list does not necessarily reflect ALL of the person’s landholdings; only land in the Harts Creek community are noted. Also, some persons are duplicated due to receiving grants individually or jointly. Known nonresident landowners are denoted by a (*). My ancestors are placed in bold font. Note: This is a work in progress.

Anthony Lawson*, 6502 acres

Anthony Lawson et al*, 3400 acres

Charles Lattin et al, 2667 acres

John H. Brumfield et al, 2328 acres

Spencer A. Mullins, 2145 acres

John Dempsey et al*, 2090 acres

Isaiah Adkins, 2058 acres

Evermont Ward*, 1800 acres

William Johnson, 1794 acres

Elijah A. Garten, 1620 acres

Charles J. Stone, 1610 acres

Hamilton Fry, 1488 acres

William Johnson et al, 1435 acres

Burbus C. Toney, 1332 acres

William Straton et al*, 1319 acres

Thomas Dunn English*, 1085 acres

Thomas A. Childers et al*, 1050 acres

Samuel Damron et al, 1043 acres

Joshua Butcher, 808 acres

William Straton*, 791 acres

Elijah A. Garten et al, 770 acres

Isaac Adkins, 720 acres

Moses Harrison et al, 700 acres

Abner Vance, Jr., 642 acres

George Hager et al, 600 acres

Isaac Adkins, Jr., 595 acres

Samuel Short et al*, 561 acres

Elias Adkins, 560 acres

George Hager, 520 acres

Crispin S. Stone et al, 485 acres

John H. Brumfield, 480 acres

Moses Brown, 412 acres

Peter Mullins, 408 acres

Robert Lilly, 393 acres

Joseph and Dicy Adams, 384 acres

Charles Lattin, 378 acres

Albert Abbot, 370 acres

Christian T. Fry, 367 acres

Lorenzo D. Hill, 340 acres

Lewis Adkins et al, 325 acres

Enos “Jake” Adkins, 320 acres

Richard Elkins, 311 acres

Obadiah Merret*, 310 acres

Squire Toney, 307 acres

Isaac Samuels et al*, 300 acres

William T. Nicholls et al*, 296 acres

Samuel Lambert, 269 acres

Richard Elkin, Jr. et al, 260 acres

Anderson Barker, Jr. et al, 250 acres

Noah and William Haner et al, 250 acres

William Smith et al, 250 acres

Harvey S. Dingess, 242 acres

Abijah Workman, 239 acres

Samuel Ferrell, 238 acres

Noah Haner et al, 235 acres

Charles F. Dingess & Peter Dingess, Jr., 233 acres

Henderson Dingess, 233 acres

Richard Elkins et al, 230 acres

James Justice*, 220 acres

John Fry, 204 acres

Elias and Allen Adkins et al, 200 acres

James Smith and Harvey Smith, 200 acres

James Toney et al, 200 acres

James Browning, 190 acres

William Buffington et al*, 190 acres

Charles Lucas, 190 acres

James Wilson et al*, 190 acres

James Butcher, 185 acres

Jacob Stollings, 185 acres

A.F. McKendree et al*, 185 acres

Grandison B. Moore, 180 acres

Peter Dingess, 170 acres

Joseph Fry, 162 acres

Robert Elkin, 160 acres

Admiral S. Fry, 157 acres

Robert Hensley, 154 acres

Richard Vance, 153 acres

Levi Collins, 150 acres

Harvey Elkins, 148 acres

James Smith, 148 acres

Reese W. Elkins, 125 acres

John Fry, Jr., 125 acres

Price Lucas, 125 acres

Ralph Lucas, 125 acres

William Dalton, 123 acres

Andrew Dial, 120 acres

Lewis Adkins, 116 acres

Patton Thompson, Jr., 112 acres

John W. Adams, Jr., 110 acres

Charles Adkins, 110 acres

Obediah Workman, 106 acres

Stephen Lambert, 105 acres

John Goare, 104 acres

Moses Workman and John Workman, 100 acres

James Toney, 95 acres

Francis Browning, 94 acres

Alexander Tombolin, 94 acres

Allen Butcher, 93 acres

Ira Lucas, 93 acres

William P. Blankenship, 92 acres

David Robison, 92 acres

Joseph Gore, 90 acres

Archibald Elkins, 87 ½ acres

Anderson Barker et al, 85 acres

Isaac Fry et al, 85 acres

Paris Vance, 84 acres

William Brumfield, 75 acres

Henry Conley, 75 acres

Squire Toney et al, 75 acres

Andrew Dial et al, 73 acres

Burbus C. Toney et al, 73 acres

Henry Adkins, 70 acres

Isaiah and Charles Adkins, 70 acres

John W. Sartin, 70 acres

Barnabus Carter, 65 acres

Mathias Elkin, 63 acres

Patton Thompson, 62 acres

Samuel Parsons*, 60 acres

Harvey and Andrew Elkin, 55 acres

Meken Vance, 55 acres

Joel Elkins, 50 acres

Jeremiah Farmer, 50 acres

Baptist Fry, 50 acres

William Smith, 50 acres

Thomas P. Spears, 50 acres

Charles Spurlock, 50 acres

Samuel Vannatter et al, 50 acres

Edmund Toney, 46 acres

Sally McComas et al heirs, 45 acres

George Perry, 44 acres

Arnold Perry, Jr., 40 acres

William Thompson, 40 acres

John Workman, 40 acres

Josephus Workman, 40 acres

John Rowe, 38 acres

Melville Childers et al*, 37 acres

John Dalton, 34 acres

Polly Vance and William Vance (son), 33 acres

Garland Conley, Jr., 32 acres

Moses Workman, 26 acres

William Brown, 25 acres

Royal Childers*, 25 acres

Wesley Vance, 25 acres

Richard Vance, Jr., 13 acres

Source: Sims Index to Land Grants in West Virginia (Charleston, WV: State of West Virginia, 1952). Thanks to the West Virginia State Archives at the Cultural Center in Charleston, West Virginia, for use of the book.

Harts Creek and Big Ugly Creek land grants (prior to 1850)

16 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by in Big Harts Creek, Big Ugly Creek

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Listed below are land grants and early deeds citing the Harts Creek and Big Ugly Creek areas of what was then Logan and Cabell counties, Virginia. The list will be updated and improved periodically.

1812   Squire Toney         100 acres   1 1/2 poles from A.W. grave

1813   Jacob Stollings       185 acres   Harts Creek, mouth

1814   Henry Conley         N/A            Hearts Creek

1815   George Spears       300 acres   Guyan River at upper end of William Brumfield’s line

1817   Edmund Toney       40 acres     Guyan River near Harts Creek

1819   William Brumfield   75 acres     Below Big Ugly on Guyan River

1819   William Brumfield   75 acres     Waters Guyandotte

1821   Charles Spurlock     N/A           mouth of Harts Creek

1824   Jacob Stollings       50 acres     N/A

1824   Peter Dingess        170 acres    Harts Creek

1827   John Goare           N/A             Marsh Fork

1828   Elias Adkins          N/A              Waters Guyandotte

1828   Richard Elkins       18 acres       Harts Creek

1828   John Fry               N/A              Green Shoal Creek

1833   Isaac & Elias Adkins   N/A          Mouth of Harts Creek from Richard Elkins

1834   Henry Conley        N/A              Harts Creek

1834   Abner Vance, Jr.   N/A              Harts Creek

1834   Richard Vance       N/A              Smokehouse

1835   Isaac Adkins          N/A              Waters Guyandotte

1835   Moses Brown          N/A              Guyandotte River

1835   John H. Brumfield   N/A              Waters Guyandotte

1836   Harvey Elkins          N/A             Harts Creek

1836   Richard Elkins          N/A             Harts Creek

1836   Squire Toney           N/A             Ugly Creek

1837   Richard Vance         25 acres      Trace Fork

1838   Joseph Adams         100 acres     Mouth Rockhouse Fork from Guy Dingess

1838   John H. Brumfield    255 acres     Big Ugly Creek

1838   Ralph Lucas            N/A              Ugly Creek, Green Shoal

1838   John Rowe              38 acres       Ugly Creek

1841   Joseph Adams         30 acres       Buck Fork

1841   Moses & John Workman   N/A      Harts Creek

1842   Joseph Adams         N/A              Harts Creek

1842   Robert Hensley        N/A              Smokehouse

1842   Lorenzo Dow Hill      N/A              Buck Fork of Harts Creek

1842   Peter Mullins            25 acres      Harts Creek, from Abijah Workman and Mekin Vance

1842   Burbus Toney          N/A              Limestone

1843   Joshua Butcher        N/A              Smokehouse

1843   Price Lucas              N/A              Harts Creek

1843   James White, Jr.      N/A              Rockhouse?

1844   Joseph Adams         N/A              Four Tracts, Harts Creek and Buck Fork

1844   Peter Mullins            50 acres       First lower branch of Trace Fork

1844   Meken Vance           N/A              Harts Creek

1846   John Workman         N/A              Hoover Fork

1847   William Dalton          N/A             2 Tracts, Harts Creek, Kiahs Fork

1847   Samuel Lambert       N/A             Marsh Fork

1847   Arnold Perry             N/A             Hoover’s Fork

1847   Obediah Workman    N/A             Henderson’s Branch

1848   Joseph Fry               N/A             Ugly Creek

1849   John H. Brumfield     N/A             Ugly Creek

1849   Levi Collins              N/A             Ugly Creek

1849   Peter Mullins            N/A             Harts Creek

1849   Patten Thompson     N/A             Marsh Fork

In Search of Ed Haley 200

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Ed Haley, Harts

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Cain Adkins arrived on the West Fork of Harts Creek around 1870. During the decade, he purchased a 40-acre farm from his father-in-law, Abner Vance, situated on West Fork and valued at $2.00 (and then $4.00) per acre. In 1880, according to census records, Adkins was a farmer and neighbor to Boney Lucas (his son-in-law), Elisha Vance (his brother-in-law), Abner Vance, Overton McCloud (his brother-in-law) and Marvel Vance (his brother-in-law). In 1881, Abner Vance deed him a 25-acre tract. In that same year, he was listed in land records as owning a $50 building on the 40-acre tract. The next year, the value of his 25-acre tract increased from $1.50 per acre to $2.00 per acre. In 1884, he bought 140 more acres from A.A. Low, attorney, and E. and O. Estep. One part of this, a 40-acre tract, contained a building valued at $100. It was situated between his 25-acre tract and a 185-acre 1852 grant and an 860-acre 1856 grant to Isaiah Adkins. The other 100-acre tract of land was part of the 247-acre 1856 grant to Vance.

According to the Adkins family history, Cain was a United Baptist preacher, farmer, teacher, and justice of the peace. He taught school throughout the 1870s, according to educational records. But he was best known as a preacher; his name appears frequently in county marriage books. In 1877, he married Burl Farley (a member of the future 1889 mob) and Mary Ann Dingess, sister to Hollena Brumfield. In 1884, he married Milt Haley and Emma Mullins: “Thomas M. Hauley, age 25, born Cabell County, son of B.H. Hauley and N. Muncy, married Imogene Mullins, age 15, born Logan County, daughter of J. Mullins and C. Gore, on the 22nd day of March 1884 by Canaane Adkins, Minister, at Logan, WV.”

Cain’s various occupations would have made him a real renaissance man in the community. First of all, as a country doctor, he would have been in contact with most local families. As a teacher, he would have taught many of the local children at his school. In those days, church congregations usually met in schoolhouses — as there were no church buildings — so Cain would have preached to many members of the community at his school. Again, this occupation would put him in close touch with many locals — preaching funerals, marrying people, and so forth. As a law officer, he would have had to deal with local criminal activity — which (in addition to his preaching) may have put him in direct conflict with Paris Brumfield.

In addition to Adkins, Roberts, Mullins and Fowler, John H. Napier, a 41-year-old physician, was a prominent resident at the mouth of Harts Creek. John had settled in Harts in 1879 with his young wife (a niece to Cain Adkins), five children and a nephew. He quickly took up business, although he never bought property. “Mr. Napier is a prosperous merchant in Hart Creek district, with business headquarters at the mouth of the creek,” Hardesty wrote.

By the mid-1880s, the local economy was humming along, spurred by the timber industry. In 1884, the same year that Milt Haley and Emma Haley were married, a new post office called Warren was established five miles up Harts Creek on the bank of its south side below the mouth of Smokehouse Fork. In that vicinity, which encompassed Milt Haley’s section of the community, Andrew D. Robinson was postmaster, Van B. Prince (a former schoolteacher) was a physician, Benjamin Adams was a general store operator and Joseph Williamson was a mason. Henderson Dingess (father to Hollena Brumfield) and Benjamin Hager were distillers, and Anthony Adams and Robert Mullins were blacksmiths. McCloud & Company was the major general store in the vicinity. The post office serviced three to five hundred people semi-weekly.

At that time, according to Hardesty, Jeremiah Lambert of the Bend of the River was a justice of the peace and Aaron Adkins of Little Harts Creek was a constable. Evermont W. Brumfield — a brother to Paris Brumfield — was the county jailer. Patton Thompson was a constable and a deputy-sheriff. Caleb Headley — a brother-in-law to Burl Farley — was a physician on Fourteen Mile Creek. There were ten public school buildings in the district with a student population of 334. George Thomas Holton of Fourteen was a local schoolteacher. Enoch Baker, a Nova Scotian, was busy in timber with a “lower dam” on Brown’s Run of Smokehouse Fork according to 1883 deed records.

In Search of Ed Haley 155

21 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by in Ed Haley

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Benjamin Wade Walker, the man who organized the Milt Haley burial party, was born in June of 1851 in southwest Virginia. He came to Harts when he was very young with his mother Marinda (Steele) Davis and a few siblings. The family settled near Green Shoal where Marinda soon married Baptist T. Fry. Baptist was the uncle of George Fry — at whose home the Haley-McCoy murders took place — as well as his closest neighbor in 1889. Walker, then, was a step-first cousin (and former neighbor) to George Fry, perhaps explaining why he was inclined to remove Milt Haley and Green McCoy’s battered corpses from his yard and bury them.

Around 1877, Walker married Juliantes Adkins, a daughter of Enos “Jake” and Leticia McKibbon (Toney) Adkins, large landowners at Douglas Branch. Julia was also a first cousin to Al Brumfield. Mr. and Mrs. Walker settled on Walker’s Branch at Low Gap near West Fork. About 1883, Hezekiah “Carr” Adkins sold them this property, 25 acres on Guyan River originally part of a 260-acre 1855 survey for Abner Vance. The Walkers raised nine daughters and a grandson.

In 1889, following Milt and Green’s murder, Walker risked harm by organizing a burial party for them. He reportedly buried the men on his property. A year later, in 1890, he was ordained a minister in the United Baptist Church. In 1898, he was a founding member of the Low Gap United Baptist Church, which met for over forty years in a school building that still stands near the site of the old Walker homestead. He was president of the district board of education in 1902, 1911, 1912, and 1914. He died in December 1917.

“Rev. B.W. Walker, one of the best known citizens of the county, died at his home at Ferrellsburg, on last Wednesday, after a lingering illness of dropsy,” according to a front page story in the Lincoln Republican dated Thursday, January 3, 1918. “Rev. Walker was a great worker in the Master’s vineyard and had been a consistent Christian for years. He is survived by his wife and eight daughters. Burial services were conducted at the Low Gap cemetery.”

At the funeral, Walker’s beard was full of snow.