Ed Haley Fiddle Contest (2000)
20 Thursday May 2021
20 Thursday May 2021
12 Wednesday May 2021
Tags
Ashland, Danielle Fraley, fiddler, fiddling, folklorist, J.P. Fraley, Kentucky, Kentucky Highlands Museum, music, Rob McNurlin, Ron Dobler
Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk | Filed under Music
27 Sunday Dec 2020
Posted Ashland, Big Creek, Harts, Holden, Huntington, Logan, Sand Creek
inTags
Amon Ferguson, Annie Dingess, Appalachia, Ashland, Beatrice Adkins, Big Creek, Bill Porter, Camden Park, Charles Brumfield, Charleston, Fisher B. Adkins, genealogy, Harts, Hendricks Brumfield, Herbert Adkins, history, Holden, Howard Brumfield, Huntington, Ina Dingess, James Auxier Newman, Jessie Brumfield, John Beamins, John McEldowney, Kentucky, Lincoln County, Logan, Logan Banner, Ora Dingess, Robert Dingess, Rosco Dingess, Sand Creek, Shirley McEldowney, singing school, Sylvia Shelton, West Virginia
An unnamed correspondent from Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on July 3, 1925:
Mr. and Mrs. Rosco Dingess of Blair spent the week end visiting friends and relatives at Harts.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dingess of Logan and sister Miss Ina Dingess were visiting relatives at Harts Sunday.
Miss Jessie Brumfield of Harts was shopping in Logan Saturday.
Mr. and Mrs. Fisher B. Adkins of Harts spent Sunday at Camden Park in Huntington.
Mr. and Mrs. John McEldowney returned to their home at Charleston Sunday after a few weeks visit with friends and relatives at Harts.
Mrs. John Beamins of Holden was the guest of Mrs. Robert Brumfield at Harts Sunday.
Miss Sylvia Shelton of Sand Creek passed through our town Sunday.
Mr. Amon Ferguson of Huntington was calling on Miss Ora Dingess at Harts Saturday and Sunday.
Mr. Charles Brumfield and little son Howard were visiting relatives in Huntington and Ashland, Ky., this week.
Mr. James Auxier Newman of Huntington was calling on friends at this place Monday while eanroute to Big Creek.
People at this place were glad to see Hendrix Brumfield on our streets again.
Rev. Gartin is teaching a successful singing school at Harts. Everybody is invited to come.
Miss May Caines of Wayne was calling on Miss Jessie Brumfield at Harts Sunday.
Herbert Adkins was transacting business in Logan Saturday.
It was a great shock to the people of this place to hear of the death of Bill Porter, for he had a wide circle of friends at Harts.
23 Wednesday Dec 2020
Tags
Albert Adkins, Alva Koontz, Amon Ferguson, Annie Dingess, Appalachia, Ashland, attorney general, Bell Adkins, Bessie Adkins, Bob Brumfield, Bob Dingess, Brooke Adkins, Burl Farley, Cabell County, Caroline Brumfield, Cora Adkins, Decoration Day, Ed Brumfield, genealogy, Harts, Hazel Toney, Herb Adkins, history, Hollena Ferguson, Huntington, James Auxier Newman, Jessie Brumfield, Kentucky, Lace Marcum, Lincoln County, Logan, Mary Ann Farley, Nora Brumfield, Ora Dingess, Robert Hale, Ruby Adkins, Shelby Shelton, Toney Johnson, Verna Johnson, Wayne, Wayne County, Wesley Ferguson, West Virginia
An unnamed correspondent from Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on June 5, 1925:
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dingess of Logan spent Saturday and Sunday with her mother, Mrs. Chas. Brumfield at Harts.
Miss Cora Adkins was shopping in Logan Saturday.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brumfield of Harts spent Decoration Day in Wayne county.
Mr. Edward Brumfield and Wesley Ferguson spent several days visiting friends and relatives at Wayne.
Attorney General Lace Marcum of Huntington has been visiting Chas. Brumfield and family at Harts.
Mr. and Mrs. Toney Johnson of Ashland, Ky., spent Decoration Day with Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Brumfield at this place.
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Adkins has purchased them a fine new Studebaker car last week.
Miss Hazel Toney and Mr. Eplings of Huntington were calling on Miss Jessie Brumfield Sunday.
Misses Jessie Brumfield was shopping in Huntington Saturday.
Mr. James Auxier Newman a state road inspector of Huntington was the guest of Miss Jessie Brumfield Tuesday at Harts.
Mr. Robert Hale and Mrs. Hollena Ferguson were seen out car riding Monday evening.
Mr. Amon Ferguson, Ora Dingess, Bell Adkins were seen out car riding Sunday evening.
Mr. and Mrs. Burl Farley of Cabell County and Mr. and Mrs. Albert Adkins and daughter, Miss Ruby, of Hamlin were the guests of Mrs. Chas. Brumfield at Harts Sunday.
Mr. Alva Koontz of Huntington is out new State inspector this week in Harts.
Mr. and Mrs. Shelby Shelton and children of Huntington spent Decoration Day at Harts.
15 Tuesday Dec 2020
Posted Ashland, Hamlin, Harts, Huntington, Logan, Midkiff, Sand Creek, Toney
inTags
Alderson Rutherford, Amon Ferguson, Appalachia, Ashland, Bill Adkins, C & O Railway, Caroline Brumfield, Clyde Rutherford, conductor, Cora Adkins, Enos Dial, Essie Adkins, F.D. Adkins, Fisher B. Adkins, genealogy, Hamlin, Harietta Carey, Harts, Hazel Toney, history, Huntington, Ida McCann, Inez Adkins, Inez McCann, James Powers, Jerry Lambert, Jessie Brumfield, Keenan Toney, Kentucky, Lincoln County, Logan, Logan Banner, Lola Adkins, Midkiff, Ora Dingess, Peach Creek, Roxie Tomblin, Ruth Adkins, Sand Creek, Saul Bowen, Toney, Verna Johnson, West Virginia, Woodrow Rutherford
An unnamed correspondent from Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on May 29, 1925:
Jerry Lambert, of Sand Creek, was in Harts Sunday.
F.B. Adkins made a business trip to Huntington the latter part of the week.
Mrs. R.L. Powers, and little son, James, have returned from Logan where she has been by the bedside of her little niece, Miss Ruth Adkins, who is very low with fever.
F.D. Adkins was transacting business in Logan Tuesday.
Clyde Rutherford, C. & O. conductor of Peach Creek, was the guest of F.D. Adkins and family Sunday.
Amon Ferguson of Hamlin was calling on Miss Ora Dingess Sunday.
Misses Jessie Brumfield, Ora Dingess, Amon Ferguson and Enos Dial were seen out driving Saturday evening.
Miss Cora Adkins was visiting friends in Logan last week.
Miss Hazel Toney, of Huntington, was the pleasant guest of Misses Cora and Inez Adkins Saturday night.
Mrs. Toney Johnson, of Ashland, Ky., is visiting her mother, Mrs. Chas. Brumfield.
F.D. Adkins was the dinner guest of K.E. Toney Saturday.
Bill Adkins and Harrietta Carey were seen out walking Saturday evening.
Misses Lola and Essie Adkins, Lillie and Harriette Cary, and Roxie Tomblin were in Harts Saturday.
Mrs. W.M. McCann has been visiting her daughter, Mrs. Watson Adkins.
Alderson Rutherford and little son, Woodrow, of Peach Creek, and sister, Mrs. Saul Bowen of Midkiff, were calling on friends here Sunday.
Herb Adkins made a business trip to Logan Saturday.
08 Tuesday Oct 2019
Posted Ashland, Coal, Guyandotte River, Man, Poetry
inTags
Appalachia, Ashland, author, authors, coal, Guyandotte Valley, history, Kentucky, Logan Banner, Logan County, physician, poems, poetry, Thomas Dunn English, Three Forks, Viola Ann Runyon, West Virginia, writers, writing
From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about Veola Ann Runyon, authoress-poet of Logan County. The story is dated January 13, 1922:
LOGAN COUNTY HAS AN AUTHORESS-POET
Mrs. Veola Ann Runyon, of Three Forks, Has Had Much of Her Work Published.
We never know in what nook or corner we may find unknown talent or beneath what bushel measure we may and a shining light unless, perchance, we may trip across a clue that may lead us to a welcome discovery. Such was the case with a representative of The Banner on a recent trip to Three Forks, when he fortunately learned of the presence there of Mrs. Veola Anne Runyon, a poet and talented writer of fact and fiction.
Mrs. Runyon was born in Ashland, Ky. Her grandfather was a French physician and author. From him she derived the gifted talent at at the early age of sixteen she began writing stories and for the past ten years she has been a regular contributor to several of the largest magazines of our country. She has in preparation at the present time a romance which will be happily connected with the coal mining industry, while she has in the hands of her publisher two other books, one dealing with scientifical and botanical work and the other on entomological facts.
The story now in preparation will be eagerly sought by all readers in Logan County, due to the fact that part of the plot will be based upon knowledge gained within this county. Mrs. Runyon was requested by her publishers to write a story closely connected with the mining industry and so not knowing the details connected with the industry she came to Three Forks, and while stopping at the Club House there she is gathering facts that will prove invaluable in her latest work.
Mrs. Runyon is a gifted writer and is filled with the love of the work. She is also deeply interested in botanical work and the study of nature. Through persuasion we were able to secure some of her poems for publication in The Banner, and we are pleased to announce that arrangements have been made with her for regular contributions to the columns of this paper.
Her presence here will recall to mind another author who came to Logan County in years gone by. Dr. Thos. Dunn English recognized the beauty of these mountains and the nearness of true nature and came here during the period between 1850 and 1860. Some of his poems deal with life in the Guyan Valley.
With her ability and fluency of language, Mrs. Runyon should find in these grand majestic mountains and wonderful natural beauty an invaluable aid to inspiration that will enable her to complete a wonderful story that should attract the favorable attention of the most critical.
Note: I cannot locate any biographical information for this writer. Three Forks, according to one source, is also known as Saunders (Buffalo Creek).
11 Thursday Jul 2019
Posted Ashland, Chapmanville, Hamlin, Harts, Queens Ridge
inTags
Appalachia, Ashland, Bob Brumfield, C&O Railroad, Caroline Brumfield, Chapmanville, Charley Brumfield, Ed Brumfield, Enos Dial, genealogy, Hamlin, Harts, Herb Adkins, history, Huntington, Ironton, Jessie Brumfield, Kentucky, Lincoln County, Lizzie Nelson, Logan Banner, Ohio, R.M. Sevin, Verna Johnson, West Virginia
An unnamed correspondent from Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following news, which the Logan Banner printed on April 3, 1925:
Charles Brumfield of Harts has been transacting business in Ironton, Ohio, the past week.
Mrs. Toney Johnson, of Ashland, Ky., has been visiting her mother, Mrs. Chas. Brumfield Harts.
Herbert Adkins of Harts is prospecting business in Huntington.
Miss Jessie Brumfield is teaching a successful school at Rector. She spent the week end with homefolks at Harts and was accompanied by Miss Cora Adkins and Mrs. Herbert Adkins and Mrs. Robert Brumfield of Harts.
Mrs. Robert Brumfield of Harts was shopping in Logan Saturday.
Edward Brumfield of this place is preparing to attend school at Hamlin.
Charles Brumfield is building a fine residence costing about seven thousand dollars at Harts.
Mrs. Robert Dingess of Queen’s Ridge returned to her home after a short visit with her mother, Mrs. Charles Brumfield, of Harts.
Miss Lizzie Nelson of Harts is attending high school at Chapmanville.
R.M. Sevine, C&O brakeman of Huntington was calling on Miss Jessie Brumfield of Harts.
Enos Dials and Edward Brumfield and Miss Jessie Brumfield were seen out walking Sunday evening at Harts.
14 Friday Jun 2019
Posted African American History, Ashland, Stone Branch
inTags
A.J. Dickerson, African-Americans, Appalachia, Ashland, Dan Claytor, Fannie Hill, genealogy, history, John Smith, Kentucky, Logan County, Lucy Woodie, Mary Johnson, Minnie Gayhart, Nathaniel Hogans, Samuel Thomas, Stone Branch, West Virginia, Will Woodie
A correspondent named “S.T.B.” from Stone Branch in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following “colored” news, which the Logan Banner printed on January 12, 1923:
Mrs. Lucy Woodie has been visiting home folks at Ashland and we are very glad to have her back again.
Rev. Dan Claytor preached for us Sunday night. It was a very small attendance. Dear people, why don’t you come to the church and hear the word of the Lord?
Mrs. Minnie Gayhart is very sick at this time. We hope to see her improving soon.
Hughie Smith was here Tuesday. Hurry up, Hughie. Things are looking very sad without you.
Mrs. Mary Johnson and Mrs. A.J. Dickerson were seen going to the store Monday.
Mrs. Fannie Hill is progressing nicely with her school.
Nathaniel Hogans is able to be at school again.
Stone Branch is getting more like a city every day.
Famous combinations: A.J. Dickerson and his wagon; Mr. Will Woodie and his slop bucket; Samuel Thomas and his oil can; John Smith and his baby; Mrs. Lucy Woodie and her traveling bag.
31 Tuesday Jul 2018
Posted Big Harts Creek, Chapmanville, Harts, Logan, Queens Ridge
inTags
Annie Dingess, Appalachia, Ashland, Bob Dingess, Bulwark School, Bunt Dingess, Burl Farley, Carey Dingess, Chapmanville, Charlie Harris, Cole Adams, David Dingess, deputy sheriff, Ed Brumfield, Enos Dial, Ewell Mullins, genealogy, Harts, Harts Creek, history, Howard Adams, Inez Barker, Inez Dingess, Isaac Marion Nelson, J.W. Renfroe, Jeff Baisden, Jonas Branch, Kate Baisden, Kentucky, Lewis Farley, Lincoln County, Liza Mullins, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lucy Dingess, Mary Ann Farley, Maudie Adams, Mud Fork, Queens Ridge, Rachel Keyser, Roach, Rosa Workman, Sally Dingess, Sidney Mullins, Smokehouse Fork, Sol Adams, Trace Fork, Ula Adams, Ward Brumfield, West Virginia
An unknown correspondent from Queens Ridge (Harts Creek) in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on September 3, 1926:
We are having much rainy weather at this writing.
David Dingess made a business trip to Chapmanville Monday.
Miss Inez Barker of Chapmanville has been visiting Miss Ula Adams of Queen’s Ridge for the past week.
Sidney Mullins made a flying trip to Logan last week.
Edward Brumfield and Enos Dials of Harts were the guests of Misses Inez and Lucy Dingess Saturday and Sunday.
The people of this place enjoyed a fine meeting Saturday and Sunday when fine sermons were delivered by Rev. I.M. Nelson and Revs. J.W. Renfroe and Short from Ashland, Ky. There were a number of conversions.
Ward Brumfield, deputy sheriff of Lincoln county, attended church here Sunday.
Mrs. Rosa Workman of Mud Fork was the guest of her mother, Mrs. Sol Adams last week.
Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Harris of Mud Fork were visiting relatives of Smoke House Fork, Sunday.
Miss Maudie Adams and Rachel Keyser were seen out walking Sunday.
R.L. Dingess is teaching school at Bulwark this year. We wish him much success.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Adams are raising water melons this year.
Times are very lively on Trace now since Mr. Dials made a visit up the left fork.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dingess, a fine son, named J. Cary Dingess.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Farley made a trip to Roach last week, visiting the former’s parents.
Wonder why so many boys visit Mr. Baisden’s now?
Cole Adams looks lonely these days. Cheer up, Cole. Bessie has come back again.
Wonder who the barber is on Jonas Branch nowadays?
Some combinations: Howard and his wash bowl and pitcher; Liza and her flowered dress; Ewell going to Harts; Maudie and her powder puff; Kate and her bobbed hair; Sally and Bunt packing beans.
04 Sunday Mar 2018
Posted American Revolutionary War, Big Sandy Valley, Civil War, Huntington, Inez
inTags
American Revolution, Appalachia, Ashland, author, banker, Battle of Blue Licks, Battle of Bryan Station, books, Brandon Kirk, Charleston, Chillicothe, Democratic National Convention, Flem Sampson, Florida, Floyd County, Henry L. Clay, history, Huntington, Inez, Inez Deposit Bank, James Ward, John P. Martin, Kentucky, lawyer, Lewis Dempsey, Martin County, Ohio, Old Sandy Valley Seminary, Outline of U.S. History, Paintsville, photos, Phyllis Kirk, Piqua, Pleasant, Rockcastle Creek, Saltwell Cemetery, State Textbook Commission, teacher, The Mountain Journal, The New Day, U.S. Congress, Virginia, Warfield, West Virginia, William B. Ward, William McCoy Sr., Williamson
Martin County Courthouse in Inez, KY. 3 March 2018.
Martin County Courthouse in Inez, KY. 3 March 2018. Photo by Mom.
Martin County Courthouse in Inez, KY. 3 March 2018. Photo by Mom.
Lewis Dempsey Historical Marker, Martin County Courthouse in Inez, KY. 3 March 2018.
William McCoy Historical Marker, Martin County Courthouse in Inez, KY. 3 March 2018.
County Named (1870) Historical Marker, Martin County Courthouse in Inez, KY. 3 March 2018.
Dr. Henry L. Clay Historical Marker, Martin County Courthouse in Inez, KY. 3 March 2018.
James Ward Historical Marker, Martin County Courthouse in Inez, KY. 3 March 2018.
William B. Ward Historical Marker, Martin County Courthouse in Inez, KY. 3 March 2018.
U.S. Coast Guard Geodetic Survey Bench Mark, Martin County Courthouse in Inez, KY. 3 March 2018.
Old Jail, Martin County Courthouse in Inez, KY. 3 March 2018.
Martin County Courthouse in Inez, KY. 3 March 2018.
Martin County Courthouse in Inez, KY. 3 March 2018.
20 Friday Oct 2017
Posted Battle of Blair Mountain, Coal, Huntington, Logan, Women's History
inTags
Allen B. Dingess, Alleyne Dye, Appalachia, Ashland, Battle of Blair Mountain, Cabell County, Caroline Dingess, Cattaraugus County, Ceredo, coal, Democratic Party, genealogy, Hannah Mitchell, Henry Street Settlement, history, Huntington, Illinois, Kentucky, Leo Frank Drake, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Mollie Drake, New York, Republican Party, Springfield, Wayne County, West Virginia
Mollie (Dingess) Drake, daughter of Allen B. Dingess and Caroline (Jackson) Dingess, was born on June 30, 1881 in Logan County, WV. She was the wife of Leo Frank Drake, a salesman. She appears in the 1910 Wayne County Census (Ceredo District). Hannah Mitchell profiled her life in the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, on December 30, 1921. Her husband died in 1925. In 1930, Mollie lived at Springfield, IL. In 1940, she made her home in Cattaraugus County, NY. Mrs. Drake died on July 7, 1958 at a nursing home in Huntington, WV.
It would be easy enough to make a melodramatic start and give her some such extravagant title as “The Angel of the Hills” or “The Mother of the Mines” or “The Florence Nightingale of Blair Mountain.” But if you did and Molly Dingess Drake found it out she might laugh and she might make some sharp remark, but most certainly she would not be pleased.
How she escaped the “war correspondents” who were rushed to the front to cover West Virginia’s recent mine war is more than I can say, for the story is still told of how Molly, like “Sheridan twenty miles away,” when the armed miners were marching on Logan, made all haste not toward safety, as she might very wisely have done, but back to where the bullets were flying.
Her narrowest escape from the feature pages of newspapers was several years ago–two, in fact–when, a woman of some two score years, she was graduated from high school with her sixteen-year-old daughter. That graduation and the attendant high school diploma were in no sense honorary affairs given out of respect for Molly Dingess Drake. They had been earned by this very determined, ambitious woman of the hills after four years of high school work, in which she had enrolled along with her daughter and for which she had attended classes faithfully and with classmates half her age.
On pay day Mrs. Drake is a welfare worker for one of the coal companies operating in the Logan field. Having finished her high school course, she did not go on to college with her daughter. And, as she puts it, one of the coal producers “knew she wouldn’t sit at home and knit and crochet.” So he offered her the job of visiting nurses among the employees of his company. In this job Mollie mothers a large family. It is composed of men and women much older than she and of the children of these older children. True to the mother-type anywhere, she makes their individual troubles, their health, their happiness, a very personal matter.
There was the young Spaniard who lay in the hospital after a severe accident. No friends or relatives rallied to his bedside, and the doctors and nurses could not understand him when he moaned out a word or two in his native tongue. Mollie Drake scoured the hills for an interpreter and found one. She also dug up a cousin of the unfortunate boy. Moreover she made the lives of nurses and doctors miserable until the lad was out of danger, sometimes calling at the hospital late at night to see how the boy was getting on. Was not this foreign born lad one of her children?
It was not the Mollie Dingess Drake, ready to face danger along with other brave women of Logan county when armed miners were marching upon their homes, that interested me most, as you may have guessed already. The World War is too recent proof that American women are not afraid to risk their lives for a cause. It is Mollie Drake and the work of her hands when peace broods over her native hills that make her a woman among women.
Mrs. Drake is a mountain woman herself. She knows the desires, the needs and the hopes of the women and children who live in her hills; in a double sense she is working among her own people.
No serious-minded killjoy is Mrs. Drake, but a large motherly woman with a great capacity for fun and for seeing the human side of things.
It is a common statement among traveling salesmen that they live in a Pullman; Mollie Drake might say she lives in a day coach. Her headquarters are in Logan, and much of her time is spent in riding to and from the little mining towns along the branch lines out of Logan.
Her trips are taken to visit the homes of miners, and no place is too remote for her to visit. Her energy in tramping about and the speed with which she walks over the hills is enough to make a younger woman gasp for breath and all but beg for quarter. That from one who knows.
We started out of Logan one morning on the 10 o’clock train.
Before the train started we were part of the social gathering which greets the all-too-few passenger trains that come into Logan. Mollie Dingess knew everybody.
Arrived at the mining center, our first visit was to the schoolhouse, a substantial two-story building, in front of which were all the latest playground devices for amusing the modern child. The teachers were young and efficient in their schoolroom manners. In Logan county the schools have the advantage of extra good teachers because after the school board has voted what it can afford for salaries the coal companies make up the deficit needed to attract the best.
It was then I learned of Mrs. Drake’s unusual high school career.
“You know I have a high school education,” she remarked as we left the school and strode (at least Mrs. Drake strode) along the dirt road.
“As a girl I went to school till I was thirteen. In the teens I took up nursing and later was married. But I always wanted more education. Sometimes it is the persons who are denied education appreciate it most. Well, when my daughter was ready for high school I decided that I would get my high school education too–not by following her studies at home (I knew that wouldn’t do), but by enrolling in high school with her.
“Some of my friends thought it was an absurd idea. They said I could enroll in college for special courses or take correspondence courses. But the idea of my going to school right along with my daughter and the other young people seemed queer to them. I suppose it was unusual. But what I wanted was a regular education. So I enrolled and went through the four years of high school and was graduated in the same class with my daughter.”
“And how did your daughter feel about it?”
“Oh, she had her young friends and took part in school activities just the same.” Again the twinkle behind the glasses. “It may be that she studied harder than she would have.” I had no doubt of that.
“She is in college now,” continued Mrs. Drake. “When her grades aren’t has high as I think they ought to be she sends them to her father, but a man can’t keep such things secret, and I always find out. She knows I haven’t much patience with students who don’t keep up their grades.
“My daughter is going to be a physician. She didn’t make up her mind until after she entered college. I was rather anxious to know what she would choose. After she started studying biology she was so interested that she decided to go on and study medicine.”
It occurred to me that Mollie Drake was a feminist. I wondered if she had ever been a suffrage worker.
“No,” she answered. “I’ve always been a Democrat, though. My husband says I am what is called ‘a mean Democrat.'”
She paused and then laughed. “I made one rule when I was married. You see, Mr. Drake is a Republican. Well, I told him that if I married him he must keep just one rule. I knew our marriage would be a success if he did. And of course I promised to keep it too. The rule was that we should never talk politics. We never have and we’ve been very happy.
“Of course I voted at the last election, and much good it did so far as the Presidency was concerned. But someway I didn’t care so much for the voting. I’m old-fashioned in many ways. I was brought up in a strict way and I don’t like to hear about folks playing cards on Sunday. I suppose it isn’t wicked, but I can’t get over my bringing-up. And I never take a needle in my hand on a Sunday, only when I just have to mend something, that I don’t feel kind of guilty.”
Our conversation had been interspersed with visits to various miners’ homes, mostly where there were babies. Mrs. Drake’s philosophy had been punctuated by advice on babies and friendly comment upon the little interests of the women we visited. If we weren’t inspecting a baby we were talking with some elderly woman over a fence about her latest “misery.”
As we climbed the trails I was tired, but Mrs. Drake seemed as energetic as when the day began.
“I like the work,” she said, “but I want to study more. Last summer I took a course in New York, and I’d like to go back there for a second at the Henry Street Settlement. I want to study languages, too. There are so many things I want to do.”
Some day I have not a doubt she will do these things she wants to do. In the meantime I think of her in connection with the verse: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do.”
Source: “The Florence Nightingale of Blair Mountain,” Logan (WV) Banner, 30 December 1921.
Notes:
To see Mrs. Drake’s photo and entry at Find-A-Grave, follow this link: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20145994
Mrs. Drake’s daughter, Alleyne Howell Dye, died of suicide in Ashland, KY, in 1944. For her death record, follow this link: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YV-H7M5-H
To see Mrs. Dye’s photo and entry at Find-A-Grave, follow this link: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20146072
04 Sunday Jun 2017
Tags
Appalachia, Aracoma, Ashland, civil war, clerk, George E. Bryan, history, Island Creek, Joseph A. Dempsey, Kentucky, lawyer, Logan, Logan County, Ralph Steel, Stuart Wood, Tazewell County, Virginia, West Virginia, William Straton
On October 7, 1890, William Straton, former clerk of Logan County, (West) Virginia, provided a deposition in a timber lawsuit. His deposition includes valuable recollections of his life during the Civil War and of the destruction of Logan County’s courthouse and records. So here it is:
Then came William Straton, another witness introduced by the plaintiff, being of lawful age and being by me first duly sworn deposes and says in answer to the following questions:
State your age, residence, and occupation?
I am 69 years old, and live at Logan Court House, W.Va., and am a lawyer.
State if you know who was clerk of the County Court of this County from 1861 to 1865?
I was the clerk during that time.
Did you have any deputy in said office during that time? If so, who?
I had a deputy, George E. Bryan. I might have some other deputy but if I did I have forgot all about it.
Which stayed in the office and attended to the business during that time, and especially in 1862, you or your said deputy George E. Bryan?
I was about the office myself very little during the year 1862, or any other time during the war. My deputy George E. Bryan stayed about here and about home more than I did, and during all of that time there was but little business done in the office anyway. It appears to me that it was in the winter 1862 and 1863 that they burned the Court House and clerk’s office.
What become of the records of marriages kept in said office in 1862?
There were some books such as deed books and order books carried to Ralph Steel’s on Island creek in the summer of 1861 and put there for safe keeping. But I don’t think the record of marriages was taken there but was left in the clerk’s office with most of the books and papers belonging to said office. I was not here at the time but the common understanding afterwards was that all the books and papers were burned.
State if you know whether the said George E. Bryan is dead or living and if living where is he at this time?
The last I knew of him he was living at Ashland, Ky. I have never heard of his death.
Cross Examined.
Where did you live during the latter part of 1862 and the year 1863?
I lived at Logan Court House.
Where did your family live during that time?
Here.
When was it you speak of taking your family from here to Tazewell Co., Virginia?
I took my family, I think it was, in November 1862 as refugees to the County of Tazewell.
How long did your family remain there?
Until the fall of 1865.
And further this deponent saith not.
Source: Stuart Wood v. Joseph A. Dempsey (1889), Logan County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV.
22 Monday May 2017
Tags
Annie Elizabeth Hill, Appalachia, Ashland, Big Creek, Big Ugly Creek, Billy Adkins, Boone County, Brandon Kirk, Chapmanville, dairy, education, Edward Hill, Ellis Fork, Frank Hill, genealogy, general store, Green McNeely, history, Kentucky, Logan, North Fork, notary public, Sandy Valley Grocery Company, tobacco, U.S. Army, West Virginia, World War II
On June 2, 2004, Billy Adkins and I visited Frank Hill. Mr. Hill, a retired farmer, bus driver, and store keeper, made his home on Ellis Fork of North Fork of Big Creek in Boone County, West Virginia. Born in 1923, he was the son of Edward W. and Annie Elizabeth (Stollings) Hill. Billy and I were interested in hearing about Mr. Hill’s Fowler ancestry and anything he wanted to share about his own life. We greatly enjoyed our visit. What follows is a partial transcript of our interview:
STORE BUSINESS
My brother started a store. There wasn’t no money in circulation when he started that store. He took a government loan for $100 and he got in touch with Sandy Valley Grocery Company in Ashland, Kentucky, and he invested that $100 and it give him enough stock to start with. Pinto beans at that time was $3.50 per hundred and he bagged them up in five pound bags and sold them for five cents. That was slow money but he made a go of it. Then he got drafted in the army and he turned it over to Mom and Dad and they took care of it for so many years. You know, my dad didn’t have a bit of education. He couldn’t even sign his name. But he clerked in that store and he could make change better than somebody with a calculator.
EARLY JOBS AND WAR
I started growing tobacco and when I was 19 I got drafted in the Army and I stayed a spell there. And the government was letting farmers that was pretty good producers go home. They needed food worse than they did soldiers at that time. That was about 1943. So I got to come home. I had an awful sick dad, too, and that was part of the reason. And I was the last one of three boys – two of them was already overseas. And all of that had a bearing on letting me out, I guess. I never went overseas. My company left about the time they released me.
Note: Electricity came about 1945.
MARRIAGE
I got married at Logan. We went in there and bought our license and the county clerk was Green McNeely. I said, “Could you tell me where there’s a preacher that would marry her and me?” He said, “Step around here behind the counter. I’m a preacher and also a clerk.”
STORE BUSINESS
We run it about fifteen years. We sold groceries. At one time, I had general merchandise. If you wanted any kind of hardware – wires, nails, anything like that – I could get it out of Huntington. People come there from Big Ugly across the mountain and carry their groceries back. That was the only store that was very close unless you went to Chapmanville or Madison.
That store was my wife’s project really. I worked away. I drove a bus 27 years, I think it was, in Boone County. I applied for a job to contract that hollow. I furnished my own bus, gas and everything. I done that for four year and a half and then they put me on the big yellow bus but I never got any credit for them four years and a half toward my pension. I thought they should have paid me for that because I met all the requirements that other drivers did and my bus had to be inspected, too.
I farmed and growed tobacco all them years. We had a dairy, too. We milked cows by hand and bottled it up and sold it in Chapmanville house by house. I’ve served as a notary public for Boone County for three terms – ten year each time under a different governor. And I’ve served on the farm committee for more than forty-seven years and I’ll not run no more as far as I know.
28 Tuesday Feb 2017
Tags
Appalachia, Ashland, Boyd County, Ed Haley, Ella Haley, fiddler, fiddling, history, Kentucky, music, Noah Haley, Patsy Haley, photos
Noah Haley, Ed Haley, and Ella Haley seated for a holiday dinner in Ashland, Kentucky, Christmas 1946. Photo courtesy of Patsy Haley.
18 Sunday Sep 2016
Posted Native American History
inTags
Appalachia, Ashland, Boyd County, Central Park, history, Kentucky, Mound Builders, Native Americans, photos
Central Park, Ashland, Boyd County, KY. April 2016.
08 Friday Jan 2016
Posted Cemeteries, Ed Haley, Music
inTags
Ashland, Ashland City Cemetery, Boyd County, cemeteries, Ed Haley, fiddler, genealogy, history, Kentucky, music
Earlier this week, I re-visited the grave of Ed Haley at Ashland City Cemetery in Ashland, Kentucky.
04 Sunday Oct 2015
Posted Ed Haley, John Hartford, Lincoln County Feud
inTags
Appalachia, Ashland, Ashland Daily Independent, Blood in West Virginia, books, Brandon Kirk, Dave Lavender, Ed Haley, Ed Haley Memorial Fiddle Contest, Empire Books, fiddlers, fiddling, Goldenseal, Greenup, Hannibal H. Holbrook, Harts Creek, Herald-Dispatch, history, Huntington, John Hartford, Kentucky, music, Poage Landing Days, Steve Haley, The Kentucky Explorer, U.S. South, West Virginia, writing
The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington, WV, and the Ashland (KY) Daily Independent have recently provided great coverage of the book and related research projects. Many thanks to these newspapers for supporting regional history. Here are the links to the stories:
I am honored that some of my writing will appear in forthcoming issues of Goldenseal and The Kentucky Explorer, two of my absolute favorite magazines. The Winter issue of Goldenseal will feature a story about Ed Haley’s background on Harts Creek and his later visits to the community. A smaller story details John Hartford’s search for Ed Haley in the Harts Creek area. The December issue of The Kentucky Explorer will feature a story about Ed Haley’s friendship with Dr. H.H. Holbrook of Ashland and Greenup.
04 Sunday Oct 2015
04 Sunday Oct 2015
02 Saturday May 2015
Tags
Amon Ferguson, Annie Dingess, Appalachia, Ashland, Battle of Blair Mountain, Beatrice Adkins, Big Creek, Bill Porter, Bob Dingess, Camden Park, Charles Brumfield, Charleston, Fisher B. Adkins, genealogy, Harts, Hendricks Brumfield, Herbert Adkins, history, Holden, Howard Brumfield, Huntington, Ina Dingess, James Auxier Newman, Jessie Brumfield, John Beamins, John McEldowney, Kentucky, Lincoln County, Logan Banner, Mae Caines, Mae Dingess, Nora Brumfield, Ora Dingess, Rosco Dingess, Sand Creek, Shirley McEldowney, Sylvia Shelton, Wayne, West Virginia
An unnamed local correspondent at Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on 3 July 1925:
Mr. and Mrs. Rosco Dingess, of Blair, spent the week end visiting friends and relatives at Harts.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dingess, of Logan, and sister, Miss Ina Dingess were visiting relatives at Harts, Sunday.
Miss Jessie Brumfield, of Harts was shopping in Logan, Saturday.
Mr. and Mrs. Fisher B. Adkins, of Harts, spent Sunday at Camden Park in Huntington.
Mr. and Mrs. John McEldowney returned to their home at Charleston, Sunday after a few weeks visit with friends and relatives at Harts.
Mrs. John Beamins, of Holden, was the guest of Mrs. Robert Brumfield, at Harts, Sunday.
Miss Sylvia Shelton, of Sand Creek passed through our town Sunday.
Mr. Amon Ferguson, of Huntington, was calling on Miss Ora Dingess at Harts Saturday and Sunday.
Mr. Chas. Brumfield and little son, Howard were visiting relatives in Huntington and Ashland, Ky. this week.
Mr. James Auxier Newman, of Huntington, was calling on friends at this place, Monday, while enroute to Big Creek.
People at this place were glad to see Hendrix Brumfield on our streets again.
Rev. Gartin is teaching a successful singing school at Harts. Everybody is invited to come.
Miss May Caines, of Wayne, was calling on Miss Jessie Brumfield, at Harts, Sunday.
Herbert Adkins was transacting business in Logan, Saturday.
It was a great shock to the people of this place to hear of the death of Bill Porter, for he had a wide circle of friends at Harts.
Writings from my travels and experiences. High and fine literature is wine, and mine is only water; but everybody likes water. Mark Twain
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