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Brandon Ray Kirk

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Brandon Ray Kirk

Tag Archives: Appalachia

Whirlwind News 10.30.1925

03 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Harts Creek, Shively, Spottswood, Warren, Whirlwind

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Appalachia, Catherine Adkins, Harts Creek, Jessie Carter, Joe Martin, Lizzie Carter, Logan Banner, Logan County, Mary Thompson, Ollie Mullins, Thomas Bryant, West Virginia, Whirlwind

An unnamed correspondent from Whirlwind on Big Harts Creek in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on October 30, 1925:

[The first line is illegible.]

Mrs. R. Bryant was calling on Mrs. Catherine Adkins last Saturday.

Mrs. Lizzie Carter called on Mrs. Jessie Carter Sunday.

Mrs. Mary Thompson visited Mrs. Ollie Mullins recently.

Joe Martin and Thomas Bryant were out joy riding Sunday.

Paris “Witch” Brumfield to Tomblin and Rigsbey Deed (1911)

02 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Atenville, Guyandotte River, Little Harts Creek

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Tags

Appalachia, Charles Adkins, county clerk, genealogy, Guyandotte River, Harts Creek District, history, J.B. Rigsbey, justice of the peace, Lincoln County, Little Harts Creek, Paris "Witch" Brumfield, Vira Brumfield, W.C. Holstein, West Virginia, William Harrison Tomblin, William Workman

Deed Book __, page 127, Lincoln County Clerk’s Office, Hamlin, WV.

Editorial: The Clean Town (1925)

02 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan

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Appalachia, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, West Virginia

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this editorial dated August 28, 1925:

THE CLEAN TOWN

Cleanl cleaniness, it has been said, is next to Godliness. A dirty individual is neither clean spiritually nor mentally. Dirt makes for ruin physically, mentally, morally. This is as true of a town as an individual. The dirty town, the town full of rubbish, of untidy houses, of muddy streets, of unsanitary conditions, is non-progressive materially, morally, and educationally. Neither moral nor material advancement flourish in dirty, unkempt dwellings or in unkempt towns.

If any town or city is ambitious for advancement, or if even a few of its men and women are ready to devote their time and energy to the betterment of the community, the surest way to achieve success is to clean up, make back yards and front yards clean, make streets clean and keep them clean, encourage the people to stimulate a love for and a pride in their homes and in their towns, repair the tumble-down yard fences, paint up, make things as clean outside as they would be inside, and then that community will look up mentally, morally and materially.

No community which does not clean up and paint up, which does not do its best to have clean streets and clean yards, has any right to look up and face the world.

It might be said a dirty town makes a dirty people: a dirty people makes moral and material dirt and decay. It is the duty of all men and women to make their homes and their home towns just as clean and attractive and beautiful as possible. He who fails short in this respect falls short of his duty to God and Man. It matters not what else he may do.

John Fry Survey (1849)

02 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Green Shoal

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Appalachia, Baptist Fry, Charles I. Stone, Charles Lucas, Christian Fry, Druzilla Fry, Emily Fry, genealogy, Green Shoal Creek, history, James Lawson, John Fry, Lincoln County, Logan County, surveyor, Virginia, West Virginia

John Fry survey (1849), 44 acres, Left Hand Fork of Green Shoal Creek, Logan County, VA. Surveyors Record Book B, Logan County Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV. This property is located in present-day Lincoln County, WV. Note: I descend from three of John Fry’s children: Christian Fry, Emily Fry, and Druzilla Fry.

Aracoma Hotel (1923)

02 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan

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Appalachia, Aracoma Hotel, Coal Street, genealogy, history, Hunter Green, Logan, Logan County, Main Street, maps, Nick Savas, S.A. Ammar, Stratton Street, West Virginia

S.A. Ammar property at Coal and Main streets in Logan, WV (1923), Logan County Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV.

Whirlwind News 07.24.1925

28 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Harts Creek, Coal, Logan, Spottswood, Warren, Whirlwind

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Appalachia, coal, Fourth of July, Francis Collins, genealogy, Harts Creek, Harvey Smith, history, hunting, Lindsey Blair, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Squire Sol Adams, Taylor Blair, Thomas Tomblin, West Virginia, Whirlwind, White Oak Fork

An unnamed correspondent from Harts in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on July 24, 1925:

We are sad at this writing, since our friends are passing away so fast. Uncle Thomas Tomblin, who has been ill so long, died at his home. Uncle Frances Collins died at the home of Sol Adams, Jr.

Sol Adams was seen returning from Logan yesterday.

Harve Smith and Tabor Blair were enjoying the Fourth of July while hunting.

The county road is progressing nicely on the head of Hart.

Squire Adams was seen going toward White Oak with a bundle of papers. Wonder where he was going?

Lindsay Blair has quit the county road and gone to 18 mine to repair cars.

Beckett and Walker Lots in Logan, WV (1921)

28 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Cemeteries, Logan

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Appalachia, cemeteries, genealogy, H.S. Walker, history, J.W. Beckett, Joe Perry, Logan, Logan Cemetery, Logan County, Reena Mounts, West Virginia

Logan County Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV.

Harts News 07.17.1925

28 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Harts Creek, Green Shoal, Harts

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Appalachia, Bell Adkins, Billie Brumfield, Everett Adkins, Fisher B. Thompson, Fry, genealogy, George Curry, Georgia Curry, Geronimo Adams, Harriett Curry, Harry Curry, Harts, history, Hollena Adkins, John Dalton, John Willard Miller, Josephine Robinson, Laura Adkins, Lincoln County, Lizzie Dalton, Logan Banner, Mary Robinson, Nessel Curry, Nessel Vance, Roxie Tomblin, Susie Adkins, Tom Brumfield, Warren Browning, Weltha Adams, West Virginia

An unnamed correspondent from Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on July 17, 1925:

Warren Browning, Harry Curry, John Dalton, Georgia Curry, Everett Adkins and Nessel Curry were seen out car riding Sunday.

Tom Brumfield has bought him a Studebaker car and was seen riding Sunday.

Harriet Curry was calling on Jeronimo Adams Sunday.

Georgia Curry was calling on John Dalton Sunday evening.

George Curry was calling on John Willard Miller.

Wonder why Billy Brumfield is visiting Fry so much?

Warren Browning and Miss Mary Robinson were seen out car riding Sunday evening.

Fisher B. Thompson and Miss Lizzie Dalton were seen out walking Sunday.

Misses Laura Adkins and Bell Adkins were guests of Mrs. Josephine Robinson Sunday.

Misses Hollena Adkins and Weltha Adams were guests of Mrs. Josephine Robinson Sunday.

Roxie Tomblin, Georgia Curry, Harriet Curry and Nessel Vance were seen out walking Sunday evening.

John Dalton was calling on Miss Susie Adkins Sunday evening.

Enos “Jake” Adkins Survey (1849)

28 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Guyandotte River, Little Harts Creek

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Anthony Lawson, Appalachia, Charles I. Stone, Enos "Jake" Adkins, genealogy, Guyandotte River, Hiram Heeter, history, James Lawson, Lincoln County, Little Harts Creek, Logan County, Price Lucas, Sand Creek, Short Hand Fork, surveyor, Virginia, West Virginia

Enos Adkins survey (1849), 90 acres, Little Harts Creek, Logan County, VA. Surveyors Record Book B, Logan County Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV. This property is located in present-day Lincoln County, WV.
Wow.

Nancy E. Hatfield Memories, Part 1 (1974)

28 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Cemeteries, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Logan, Women's History

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Appalachia, attorney general, Betty Caldwell, Cap Hatfield, cemeteries, Devil Anse Hatfield, feuds, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Howard B. Lee, Jim Comstock, Logan, Logan County, Nancy Hatfield, politics, Republican Party, Robert Elliott Hatfield, Sarah Ann, Tennis Hatfield, West Virginia, West Virginia Women, Willis Hatfield

Howard B. Lee, former Attorney General of West Virginia, provided this account of Nancy Hatfield (widow of Cap) in the early 1970s:

HATFIELD WOMEN.

Over the years, much has been written about the male members of the Hatfield clan who took part in that early orgy of blood-letting–the Hatfield-McCoy feud. But nothing has been said concerning the indomitable wives of that stalwart breed of men.

My purpose is to pay a richly deserved tribute to one of those pioneer women–the late Nancy Elizabeth, wife of William Anderson Hatfield, common known “Cap,” second son of Devil Anse, and the most deadly killer of the feud.

More than 30 years have passed since I last talked with her; but I still regard Nancy Elizabeth Hatfield as the most remarkable and unforgettable woman of the mountains.

In the spring of 1924, I was a candidate in the primary election for the Republican nomination for attorney general, and I wanted the Hatfield influence. Devil Anse had died in 1921, and his mantle of leadership of the clan had fallen to his oldest living son, Cap–a power in Logan County politics.

I had met Cap, casually, in 1912, but I had not seen him since that meeting. But his sister, Mrs. Betty Caldwell, and her husband, lived in my county of Mercer, and were among my political supporters. To pave the way for my later meeting with Cap, I had Mrs. Caldwell write and ask him to support me.

Later, when campaigning in the City of Logan, I engaged a taxi to take me the few miles up Island Creek to Cap’s home. The car stopped suddenly and the driver pointed to a comfortable-looking farm house on the other side of the creek and said:

“That’s Cap’s home, and that’s Cap out there by the barn.”

I told him to return for me in two hours.

Cap saw me get out of the car, and, as I crossed the creek on an old-fashioned footlog. I saw him fold his arms across his chest and slip his right hand under his coat. Later, I noticed a large pistol holstered under his left arm. Even in that late day, Cap took no chances with strangers. When I got within speaking distance, I told him my name, and that I had come to solicit his support in my campaign for attorney general. He gave me a hearty handclasp, and said:

“My sister, Mrs. Caldwell, wrote us about you. But, let’s go to the house, my wife is the politician in our family.”

Cap was reluctant to commit himself “so early.” But Nancy Elizabeth thought otherwise. Finally, Cap agreed to support me; and, with that point settled, we visited until my taxi returned.

Meanwhile, with Cap’s approval, Nancy Elizabeth gave me the accompanying, heretofore unpublished photograph of the Devil Anse Clan. In 1963 I rephotographed it and sent a print to Willis Hatfield (number 22 in picture), only survivor of Devil Anse, who made the identification. Nancy Elizabeth is number 16, and the baby in her lap is her son, Robert Elliott, born April 29, 1897. Therefore, the photograph must have been made late in 1897, or early in 1898.

A few months after Cap’s death (August 22, 1930), the West Virginia newspaper publishers and editors held their annual convention in Logan. I was invited to address the group at a morning session. That same day, Sheriff Joe Hatfield and his brother, Tennis, younger brothers of Cap, gave an ox-roast dinner for the visiting newsmen and their guests. The picnic was held on a narrow strip of bottom land, on Island Creek, a half-mile below the old home of Devil Anse.

I ate lunch with Nancy Elizabeth and her sister-in-law, Betty Caldwell. After lunch, at the suggestion of Mrs. Caldwell, we three drove up the creek to the old home of her father–Devil Anse. It was a large, two-story, frame structure (since destroyed by fire, then occupied by Tennis Hatfield, youngest son of Devil Anse).

The most interesting feature in the old home was Devil Anse’s gun-room. Hanging along its walls were a dozen, or more, high-powered rifles, and a number of large caliber pistols, ranging from teh earliest to the latest models. “The older guns,” said Nancy Elizabeth, “were used in the feud.”

As we returned, we stopped at the family cemetery that clings uncertainly to the steep mountainside, overlooking the picnic grounds. There, among the mountains he loved and ruled, old Devil Anse found peace. A life-size statue of the old man, carved in Italy (from a photograph) of the finest Carrara marble, stands in majestic solitude above his grave. On its four-foot high granite base are carved the names of his wife and their thirteen children.

Source: West Virginia Women (Richwood, WV: Jim Comstock, 1974), p. 149-151

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Feud Poll 1

If you had lived in the Harts Creek community during the 1880s, to which faction of feudists might you have given your loyalty?

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Feud Poll 2

Do you think Milt Haley and Green McCoy committed the ambush on Al and Hollene Brumfield in 1889?

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Feud Poll 3

Who do you think organized the ambush of Al and Hollene Brumfield in 1889?

Recent Posts

  • Whirlwind News 10.30.1925
  • James Toney Survey (1849)
  • Nancy E. Hatfield Memories, Part 2 (1974)

Ed Haley Poll 1

What do you think caused Ed Haley to lose his sight when he was three years old?

Top Posts & Pages

  • Civil War Gold Coins Hidden Near Chapmanville, WV
  • Who Killed Doc Workman? 3
  • Harts c.2000
  • Guyandotte Club Coffee Advertisement (1927)
  • Nancy E. Hatfield Memories, Part 2 (1974)

Copyright

© Brandon Ray Kirk and brandonraykirk.wordpress.com, 1987-2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Brandon Ray Kirk and brandonraykirk.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Appalachia Ashland Big Creek Big Ugly Creek Blood in West Virginia Brandon Kirk Cabell County cemeteries Chapmanville Charleston civil war coal Confederate Army crime culture Ed Haley Ella Haley Ferrellsburg feud fiddler fiddling genealogy Green McCoy Guyandotte River Harts Harts Creek Henry H. Hardesty history Huntington John Hartford Kentucky Lawrence Haley life Lincoln County Lincoln County Feud Logan Logan Banner Logan County Milt Haley Mingo County music Ohio photos timbering U.S. South Virginia Wayne County West Virginia Whirlwind writing

Blogs I Follow

  • OtterTales
  • Our Appalachia: A Blog Created by Students of Southern West Virginia CTC
  • Piedmont Trails
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  • Appalachian Diaspora

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OtterTales

Writings from my travels and experiences. High and fine literature is wine, and mine is only water; but everybody likes water. Mark Twain

Our Appalachia: A Blog Created by Students of Southern West Virginia CTC

This site is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and promotion of history and culture in Appalachia.

Piedmont Trails

Genealogy and History in North Carolina and Beyond

Truman Capote

A site about one of the most beautiful, interesting, tallented, outrageous and colorful personalities of the 20th Century

Appalachian Diaspora

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