Tag Archives: Archibald Harrison

George W. Ferrell grave (2017)

08 Saturday Apr 2017

Posted by in Ferrellsburg, Lincoln County Feud

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

IMG_2146

George W. Ferrell, son of Archibald and Martha E. (Fry) Harrison and adopted son of Keenan and Arena (Saunders) Ferrell, is buried near my home in Ferrellsburg, Lincoln County, WV. Mr. Ferrell (1874-1906) composed a song about the Lincoln County Feud called “The Lincoln County Crew.” He was a store operator and postmaster. Photo by Mom. 7 April 2017.

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

16 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by in Big Harts Creek, Sand Creek, Warren

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

Archibald Harrison 4

05 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by in Big Ugly Creek, Civil War

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In the latter part of the 1880s, Archibald Harrison sold much of his property. In 1886, he sold 30 acres of his 120-acre tract at Nine Mile Creek in Lincoln County, West Virginia, to A.E. Callihan. The next year, he sold his 360-acre tract in Harts Creek District to an unknown party. In that same year, he bought 100 more acres on Nine Mile.

Around that time, Mr. Harrison and his wife Martha may have separated or divorced, based on indications provided by tax records. In 1888, he sold 150 acres of his 230-acre tract at Phernatt’s Creek to D.B. Keck, while Martha sold the 100-acre tract on Nine Mile to Guy Fry. The following year, Martha sold 90 more acres to Fry on Nine Mile and the remaining acreage on Phernatt’s Creek (recorded as 125 acres, not 80) to James D. Cummings.

At that juncture, Martha disappears from local records.

In the 1890s, Mr. Harrison — perhaps recuperating from a second divorce — centered his property acquisitions on Nine Mile Creek. In 1890, he bought 59 acres worth $1.00 per acre from Elizabeth Scites. In 1891, he bought 150 acres worth $3.00 per acre from Guy Fry and 75 acres also worth $3.00 per acre from an unknown party. This latter tract of land he immediately deeded to his son, William T. Harrison, who married Charlotte F. Sias around 1892.

In 1892, Mr. Harrison deeded A.B. Staley 86 acres from the 150-acre tract, which tax records document as being on Fourteen Mile Creek, not Nine Mile. Four years later, William T. sold his 75 acres to Eliza J. Hager. Harrison probably died in that frame of time. His remaining property on Nine Mile was sold by D.E. Wilkinson, special commissioner, to Clinton Spurlock in 1898.

By 1900, Archibald and Martha Harrison were absent from local census records. Their children Daniel H., age 31, Guy French, age 24, and Louisa J., age 21, were also gone from the area. While the fate of Martha, Daniel and Louisa remains unclear, there is some evidence that Guy, who later lived at Micco in Logan County in 1920, moved to Virginia just after the turn of the century.

In 1900, three of Archibald’s sons were still listed in local census records. William T. Harrison and his family were residents of the Laurel Hill District. John M. Harrison was boarding nearby in the home of Vinson Spurlock and was reportedly engaged in some type of timber business. George W. Harrison was at present-day Ferrellsburg in Harts Creek District with his adopted parents, Keenan and Arena Ferrell.

Martha Harrison, the wife of Archibald, reportedly died in 1901.

Archibald Harrison 3

27 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by in Big Ugly Creek, Civil War, Timber

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In 1865, Harrison married Martha E. Fry, the 21-year-old divorced wife of Lewis “Jupiter” Fry, a Confederate veteran and well-known fiddler in the Big Ugly Creek area of what was then Cabell County. Martha had been born on September 8, 1844 in Logan County. She was the daughter of Daniel H. and Nancy P. (Bailey) Fry, who lived at Big Creek in Logan County and later at the mouth of Big Ugly. One of her brothers, William A. Fry, died as a POW in a Delaware prison camp during the Civil War.

Archibald and Martha had seven children: William T., born April 18, 1867 in Kentucky; Daniel H., born September 29, 1869 in Kentucky; John M., born October 18, 1871; Mary L., born February 19, 1875, died August 7, 1875; George W., born October 10, 1874; Guy French, born June 18, 1876 in Virginia; and Louisa J., born February 1, 1879.

The first 23 years of Harrison’s second marriage are somewhat of a mystery. During the late 1860s, based on the birthplace of his two oldest children, he and his wife lived somewhere in Kentucky and, based on the birthplace of another child, they were in Virginia in the mid-1870s.

In 1878 Harrison settled near the Bend of the River or the mouth of Big Ugly Creek in the Harts Creek District of Lincoln County. His neighbors, based on the 1880 census, were Levi Rakes and Francis Brumfield, as well as brothers-in-law John H. Fry and Sampson S. Brumfield. Samp was a timber boss with a log boom at the mouth of the creek. George Marshall Fry, another brother-in-law, lived up Big Ugly where he worked as a farmer, timberman, and general store clerk.

On July 1, 1882, Harrison bought 360 acres of land on the west side of the Guyandotte River (near the Bend) in the Harts District from James I. Kuhn, a land agent for Abiel A. Low and William H. Aspinwall. It was worth $1.50 per acre and contained a $50 building, presumably a house or business.

“All that certain piece and parcel of land containing 260 acres more or less, granted by the commonwealth of Virginia to Wm. C. Miller & John H. Brumfield, assignees of Richard Elkins and Richard Elkins, May 1, 1850, lying on the Guyandotte above the mouth of Buck Lick branch,” the deed began. “Also all that part of a survey of 700 acres made for John H. Brumfield, Sept. 11th, 1854, on the east fork of Fourteen Mile Creek. The above described tract 100 acres of land is not to conflict with the lands conveyed to James Marcum.”

(The Kuhn deeds are interesting. In most cases, Kuhn, the grantor, was merely “selling” the surface rights to property already owned by the grantee. Kuhn’s employers claimed the mineral rights.)

In 1883, Harrison bought a 120-acre tract of land worth $2.50 per acre at Nine Mile Creek and a 230-acre tract of land worth $1.50 per acre on Phernatt’s Creek (at what would later be known as Brady) from W.T. Thompson. Harrison and his family soon settled on this latter property.

“Archibald B. Harrison is extensively engaged in farming, in Laurel Hill district, owning 380 acres of land on Guyan river, at the mouth of Phernats Creek,” Henry H. Hardesty chronicled in his history of Lincoln County, with “good improvements upon the farm, large orchard, heavily timbered, coal and iron ore in abundance.”

While Harrison referred to himself as a farmer in Hardesty’s history, there is also some indication that he was a timberman.

“The fact Archibald Harrison owned so much land at the mouth of Phernatt’s Creek is a clue that he was in the timber business,” said Harold R. Smith, Lincoln County genealogist and historian, in a c.2003 interview. “That was during the timber boom and land at the mouth of these creeks was heavily sought by people in that line of work. You could build a boom there and charge people a fee to get their logs out of the creek.”

At the time Harrison was profiled in Hardesty’s history, he and his wife were members of the Christian Church and received their mail at Hamlin.

“I don’t think he stayed at Phernatt’s Creek too long,” said Smith. “I think I read or heard somewhere that he moved to Big Ugly or Green Shoal and did a lot of timbering.”

Archibald Harrison 2

24 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by in Big Ugly Creek, Civil War

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In January of 1864, Colonel Milton J. Ferguson’s 16th Regiment, which included Lt. Archibald Harrison, was back in southwestern West Virginia to visit family and restock supplies. On January 1, they crossed a frozen Big Sandy River into Kentucky and attacked a Union force at Buchanan. Eight days later, Ferguson and 150 of his men successfully engaged 75 members of the 39th Kentucky Mounted Infantry at Turman’s Ferry (near Catlettsburg), Kentucky, then made their way to East Lynn in Wayne County, West Virginia, and on to nearby Laurel Creek.

On January 16, a detachment of Union troops arrived in Trout’s Hill (Wayne) to quell the Confederate uprising in the area. Ferguson and the 16th, however, continued to wreak havoc on local Yankees from their base at Murder Hollow. On January 27, Spurlock’s Company (including Harrison) robbed Cabell County’s sheriff. The rebels suffered a mild setback shortly after the robbery: Captain Hurston Spurlock was apprehended by a detachment of the 3rd West Virginia Cavalry at Lavalette in Wayne County.

Early in February, members of the 16th destroyed a Union cargo ship called the B.C. Levi on the Kanawha River near Winfield. They captured General E.P. Scammon, who was sent to Richmond, Virginia, and Captain Pinckard, who was sent to Wayne. (Harrison later claimed to have been present at this event, although history records Company H — not Company E — as being the actual force there.) Colonel Ferguson tried unsuccessfully to exchange Pinckard for Captain Spurlock, who was held at Barboursville.

On February 15, at daybreak, a Union force consisting of the 14th Kentucky Infantry and the 39th Kentucky surprised the 16th Regiment at their camp in Murder Hollow. Historian Stephen Lewis of Wayne records one account of this skirmish: “Garland Matthews told me that when he was a boy an old man by the name of Milt Adkins told him that he, though not a soldier, camped in the hollow with some friends who were Confederate soldiers, and that there were many soldiers camped there. They were attacked at dawn by Federal troops, and four or five Confederates were killed. Many were captured, but some got away. Garland Matthews confirmed that the battle was in winter; bodies froze to the ground and the spring ran red with blood. He also said they carted a number of the bodies away, but some were buried in Murder Hollow.” Colonel Ferguson was one of 42 men taken prisoner at Murder Hollow. Harrison managed to escape.

In July 1864, Lt. Harrison was captured by Union troops at Monocacy Junction, Maryland. Benjamin Dean, a Wayne Countian, wrote of the incident in a letter to his wife dated July 19. “We are under General McCaslin. We have been on a raid ever since the 11th of May. We started at Lynchburgh, from there back to the Valley of Virginia to Winchester, from there to Maryland to Frederick City. We fought 25,000 there. Lt. Harris was wounded and captured. We went near the city of Washington. We came back through East Virginia. I am near Winchester today. We marched all last night. I haven’t had a clean shirt for over five weeks. We manage to get enough to eat. We hook the Yanks at every point we can. We have been commanded by Colonel Graham. He does nothing but drink and curse and if Colonel Ferguson isn’t exchanged by next season I never expect to make another raid in this war.”

Three days after his capture, Harrison escaped and participated in a final engagement at Chambersburg on July 30, when Confederates burned the town.

In 1864, he returned home to Wayne County, at which time he and his wife, Mary Spurlock, were divorced. The former Mrs. Harrison soon remarried to Sylvester Brooks Crockett, who was eleven years her junior, and had several more kids before dying in 1883 on Wilson’s Creek in Wayne County.

Archibald Harrison 1

22 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Big Ugly Creek, Civil War

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

For a brief period of time in the 1880s, Archibald Harrison, a veteran officer of the Civil War, made his home in the Harts Creek District of Lincoln County, West Virginia, where he labored as a farmer and timberman.

Archibald was born in January of 1837 to Guy P. and Cleme (Harmon) Harrison in Tazewell County, Virginia. In 1850 census records for Tazewell County, he was listed with his father and stepmother, Nancy Jane Bruster, as well as his brothers and sisters.

By 1860, Harrison had made his way to Wayne County, where he was listed in the census with his older brother, Thomas, aged 35. Later in the year, he married Mary Spurlock, a daughter of Burwell and Nancy Spurlock. Mary’s father was a preacher who, among other things, established a Methodist Episcopal (South) Church at Trout’s Hill (Wayne) in 1846 with 36 charter members.

Archibald and Mary had three children: Laura P., born August 8, 1861, who died in 1879; Nancy C. “Nannie,” born February 1, 1863; and Lemuel, born September 18, 1865, died 1942. Daughters Laura and Nannie apparently spent their lives in Wayne County, while son Lem is probably the same person of that name who shows up in Logan County census records on Mud Fork and at Cherry Tree in 1910 and 1920.

During the Civil War, Harrison served in the Confederate Army and was a participant in many important events: namely General Albert Gallatin Jenkins’ famous march to Ohio in 1862, where his companions became the first Confederates to invade the Buckeye State; at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania under General J.E.B. Stuart in 1863; and at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania under John McCausland in 1864.

In 1861, the first year of the war, Harrison enlisted with the Fairview Rifles, an unorganized Confederate detachment under the command of Captain Milton J. Ferguson of Wayne County. He fought with them at Barboursville (July 14, 1861), at Scary Creek in Putnam County (July 17, 1861) at Carnifex Ferry in Nicholas County (September 10, 1861) and at Lewisburg in Greenbrier County (May 23, 1862). Most of these engagements were Confederate losses.

In August 1862 Harrison and the Fairview Rifles got a huge morale boost when they marched with Colonel Jenkins’s force from Monroe County to the Ohio River, occupying the towns of Buckhannon, Weston, Glenville, Spencer, Ripley, and Ravenswood along the way. At the Ohio, Jenkins and about half of his troops crossed the river and captured Racine (they were the first Confederates to enter Ohio) before re-entering (West) Virginia and heading to Point Pleasant.

On September 15, 1862, the Fairview Rifles were renamed Ferguson’s Battalion and officially mustered into service at Wayne Courthouse. Harrison, who was only 24 years old, was made second lieutenant of Captain Hurston Spurlock’s Company. (Spurlock was probably an in-law.)

On January 15, 1863, the 16th Regiment of Virginia Cavalry was formed when five companies from Ferguson’s Battalion merged with four companies of Major Otis Caldwell’s Battalion. Captain Ferguson was promoted to colonel and placed in command of the 16th, while Lt. Harrison and a majority of Spurlock’s Company were designated as Company E.

In the early summer of 1863, the 16th was attached to General Jenkins’ Brigade and sent north as part of General Robert E. Lee’s invasion force. In June, they moved through the Shenandoah Valley toward Pennsylvania where they fought at 2nd Winchester, Virginia, between June 14-15. They also saw action at Gettysburg on June 26, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on June 28-29 and at East Cavalry Battlefield near Gettysburg on July 3.

In the fall of 1863, on November 6, Harrison and the 16th fought at Droop Mountain in Pocahontas County, where the Confederates were defeated by a Union force that helped ensure Union control of the new state. Later in the month, the 16th participated in a siege of Knoxville, Tennessee, until December, 1863.

George W. Ferrell 1

25 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by in Big Ugly Creek, Ferrellsburg, Music

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Around the turn of the century, in the years just prior to the arrival of the C&O Railroad in the Guyandotte Valley, George W. Ferrell, a musician in present-day Ferrellsburg, busily wrote songs about local personalities and events. Today, Ferrell’s solitary grave is marked with an ornate tombstone that sits at the edge of what was, until recent years, a garden.

George W. Ferrell was born on October 10, 1874 to Archibald B. and Martha E. (Fry) Harrison. Archibald was the son of Guy P. and Cleme (Harmon) Harrison of Tazewell County, Virginia. Mary was the daughter of Daniel H. and Nancy P. (Bailey) Fry of Logan County. Ferrell’s birthplace is not known because, soon after his parents married in 1865, they left the area, settling at first in Kentucky and then elsewhere.

In 1878, George, then four years old, returned to Lincoln County with his parents. In 1880, his family lived near the mouth of Big Ugly Creek or at the “Bend,” just across the Guyandotte River. Shortly thereafter, they made their home at Phernatt’s Creek, further downriver in Laurel Hill District.

By 1889, Ferrell’s father — who was perhaps recently divorced from his mother — had sold all of the family property in Harts Creek District and at Phernatt’s Creek and relocated to Nine Mile Creek.

Details concerning Ferrell’s early life remain elusive. It is not known who influenced him musically or when he even started writing or playing music. There is no indication of his father or mother being musicians but his mother’s first husband, Jupiter Fry, was a well-known fiddler on Big Ugly. Some of his first songs may have been inspired by his father’s stories of the Civil War.

At some point in his young life, and for reasons unknown, Ferrell was adopted by Keenan and Arena Ferrell, a childless couple at Ferrellsburg in Lincoln County.

“I heard he was just a big old boy when the Ferrells took him in,” said Don McCann, current owner of the property surrounding Ferrell’s grave. “They didn’t have any children of their own.”

In the 1900 Lincoln County Census, Ferrell was listed as their 25-year-old adopted son. More than likely, he was assisting the Ferrells in the operation of their store and business interests.

It is easy to see how Ferrell would have become acquainted with his future foster parents.

“His father worked a lot of timber around Big Ugly or Green Shoal,” said Harold R. Smith, Lincoln County genealogist and historian. “And that would have put him in close contact with the Ferrells at Ferrellsburg.”

But why was he not living with his mother (wherever she was), who died in 1901, or his maternal grandmother, who was alive on Big Ugly? And what was his connection to the Ferrells?

Ferrellsburg Post Office

20 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by in Ferrellsburg

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ferrellsburg Post Office was established on December 27, 1904 by George W. Ferrell, a 30-year-old general store merchant and musician.

George W. Ferrell was born on October 10, 1874 to Archibald B. and Martha E. (Fry) Harrison. In the 1890s, Keenan S. and Arena (Sanders) Ferrell, a childless couple who made their home at Fowler Branch, adopted him. The Ferrells were proprietors of a large general store business, which they named G.W. Ferrell & Company. Young Ferrell was active in the family business. According to a 1902-03 business directory, he acted as proprietor of the store. At that same time, from December 22, 1902 until 1904, he served as postmaster of Green Shoal. In 1904, Green Shoal was discontinued to Ferrellsburg. According to postal records, Ferrell served as postmaster of Ferrellsburg from December 27, 1904 until January 23, 1906. “They claimed Ferrellsburg was named after him,” said the late Roma Elkins of Ferrellsburg. On August 6, 1905, Ferrell died of tuberculosis.

On January 23, 1906, Arena Ferrell became postmaster. Arena was born around 1859 to Martin and Elizabeth (Mitchell) Sanders in Russell County, Virginia. She married Keenan Ferrell on April 6, 1877 in Logan County. The Ferrells had come to the Green Shoal area in the late 1890s. In 1895, Arena had bought land on the east side of the Guyan River from A.S. Fry, a postmaster and businessman at the mouth of Green Shoal. The next year, she bought land on the west side of the Guyan River from John Q. Adams. In 1897, she bought land at Fowler Branch, where she occupied a two-story log home and operated a general store. The store was listed in business directories as G.W. Ferrell & Company from 1904 until 1913. Arena served as merchant, while D. Kennis Altizer of Huntington was salesman. In 1913, Ferrell sold out to Hansford Adkins and moved to Green Shoal, where she briefly owned a hotel.

Wilburn Sanders, a nephew to Arrena Ferrell served as Ferrellsburg postmaster from 1906 until 1909. Born around 1882 to Noah Baldwin and Nancy Ann (Haner) Sanders, he married Addie Jones and later moved to Ogden, Utah. In 1906, Ferrellsburg had a population of 200 people and had a telephone connection at the Ferrell store.

Fisher B. Adkins, a popular schoolteacher was postmaster at Ferrellsburg from 1909 until 1914. Born in October of 1879 to Burl and Melissa (Adkins) Adkins of Harts, Fisher lived at West Fork with his wife, the former Beatrice Dingess. The couple had one child, Hope. A 1913 newspaper story in the Lincoln Republican referred to Fisher as “one of the leading educators of the county” who is “well up in educational matters.” Within months, he would win election as county superintendent of schools (1915-1919).

Joseph Walt Stowers became postmaster at Ferrellsburg on February 18, 1914. Born March 1, 1876 to James and Emily (Haner) Gillenwater-Stowers, Walt was raised on Green Shoal and had family connections to nearby Big Creek in Logan County. In 1908 he purchased jointly with Enos Adkins a one-acre tract of land in Ferrellsburg from the Ferrells and opened a store business under the name of Stowers & Adkins. “Walt Stowers bought the old Ferrell store and reworked it…renovated it,” said the late Vergia Rooney of Texas. According to newspaper accounts of that time, Stowers was president of the stockholders in the Burns Chair Factory and considered attending medical school in Louisville. Instead, he improved his store building, increasing its value from $100 in 1910 to $900 in 1912. In June of 1914, Stowers became the sole proprietor of the store. In that same time frame, he married Georgia Adkins, reportedly a daughter of Rayburn Adkins of Wayne County. The couple never had any children but partially raised several nephews. During the next two decades, from the World War I era until the Great Depression, Walt Stowers was the chief businessman in Ferrellsburg. He was also the longest serving postmaster, giving up the position with his death on February 10, 1934. Thereafter, his widow served as postmistress until January 12, 1938.

Following Georgia Stowers’ term, William Isaacs was postmaster from January 12 until April 1, 1938. Isaacs was a resident of upper Ferrellsburg. “Old man Isaacs lived above the schoolhouse in old man I.M. Nelson’s house,” according to Elkins. At the same time that Isaacs became postmaster, he also bought much land from Georgia Stowers. Within a year, he sold most of the land and soon moved to Barboursville where he was involved in the realty business. Georgia was also in Cabell County by 1939, where she lived at 1600 16th Street, Huntington.

Elmer Evans became postmaster at Ferrellsburg on November 28, 1938.