15 Monday Feb 2021
Tags
Appalachia, Ben Walker, Burbus C. Toney, Cain Adkins, Canoe Tree Fork, Eliza Adkins, Ellen Ferguson, genealogy, George Dickinson, Green McCoy, Green Shoal Creek, Guyandotte River, Harts Creek District, Hezekiah Adkins, history, justice of the peace, Lincoln County, Lincoln County Feud, timber, timbering, West Virginia
23 Friday Nov 2018
Posted in Ferrellsburg, Guyandotte River, Lincoln County Feud
Tags
Albert Adkins, Ann Davis, Appalachia, Ben Walker, Bob Adkins, Brooke Adkins, C.E. Burns, Catherine Adkins, Clementine Dingess, Douglas Branch, Ed Dingess, Ferrellsburg, Fisher B. Adkins, Floyd Enos Adkins, Guyandotte River, Harts Creek District, Henry Adkins, Jake Adkins, Lincoln County, Marshall County, notary public, Ruby Adkins, Susan Adkins, West Virginia, Yantus Walker
Deed Book __, page ___, Lincoln County Clerk’s Office, Hamlin, WV. This property was located on or near Douglas Branch in Ferrellsburg, Lincoln County, WV.
Deed Book __, page ___, Lincoln County Clerk’s Office, Hamlin, WV. I knew Bob Adkins, the infant referenced in this deed. He was a key source about the Lincoln County Feud.
Deed Book __, page ___, Lincoln County Clerk’s Office, Hamlin, WV. Note who could and who could not sign their name.
Deed Book __, page ___, Lincoln County Clerk’s Office, Hamlin, WV. Note: Albert Adkins was incarcerated at the West Virginia State Penitentiary at the time of this deed, which is the reason for a Marshall County notary.
23 Thursday Nov 2017
Posted in Ferrellsburg, Hamlin
Tags
A.E. Wagner, Albert Adkins, Appalachia, Ben Walker, Benjamin Scragg, E.G. Pauley, Ferrellsburg, ferryman, genealogy, Hamlin, history, Jake Adkins, Lettie Adkins, Lincoln County, Matthew Farley, W.C. Holstein, West Virginia
General Bonds No. 1, page 20, Lincoln County Clerk’s Office, Hamlin, WV. Albert G. Adkins (1866-1952), son of Enos “Jake” and Lettie M. (Toney) Adkins, operated a ferry in Ferrellsburg, Lincoln County, WV.
General Bonds No. 1, page 20, Lincoln County Clerk’s Office, Hamlin, WV.
General Bonds No. 1, page 20, Lincoln County Clerk’s Office, Hamlin, WV.
12 Monday Jun 2017
Posted in Banco, Big Harts Creek, Big Ugly Creek, Dollie, Ferrellsburg, Fourteen, Harts, Queens Ridge, Rector, Sand Creek, Toney
Tags
Appalachia, Banco, Ben Walker, board of education, Bob Brumfield, Brad Toney, education, Ferrellsburg, genealogy, Harts, Harts Creek District, history, James B. Toney, Jim Brumfield, Joe Maynard, John Hager, Lee Toney, Lewis Dempsey, Lincoln County, M.F. McComas, Matthew Farley, Milt Ferrell, Queens Ridge, Ralph Nelson, Rector, Robert Martin, Sand Creek, Toney, Ward Brumfield, Watson Adkins, West Virginia
The following persons served as members of the Harts Creek District Board of Education in Lincoln County, WV:
1914-1915
B.W. Walker, president, Ferrellsburg
Lewis Dempsey, commissioner, Ferrellsburg
B.D. Toney, commissioner, Toney
Ward Brumfield, secretary, Queens Ridge
1915-1916
J.B. Toney, president, Queens Ridge
Lee Toney, commissioner, Rector
B.D. Toney, commissioner, Toney
Ward Brumfield, secretary, Ferrellsburg
1916-1917
J.B. Toney, president, Queens Ridge
Lee Toney, commissioner, Rector
B.D. Toney, commissioner, Toney
Ward Brumfield, secretary, Harts
1917-1918
J.B. Toney, president, Queens Ridge
Lee Toney, commissioner, Rector
John Hager, commissioner, Rector
Ward Brumfield, secretary, Harts
1918-1919
J.B. Toney, president, Queens Ridge
Lee Toney, commissioner, Rector
John Hager, commissioner, Rector
Ward Brumfield, secretary, Harts
1919-1920
M.F. McComas, president, Banco
Ralph Nelson, commissioner, Queens Ridge
John M. Hager, commissioner, Rector
Watson Adkins, secretary, Sand Creek
1920-1921
M.F. McComas, president, Banco
Ralph Nelson, commissioner, Queens Ridge
John M. Hager, commissioner, Rector
Lewis Dempsey, secretary, Harts
1921-1922
No board members listed
1922-1923
J.M. Ferrell, president, Dollie
Watson Adkins, secretary, Harts
1923-1924
Robert Brumfield, president, Harts
Ward Brumfield, secretary, Harts
1924-1925
Robert Brumfield, president, Harts
James Brumfield, commissioner, Ferrellsburg
J.M. Ferrell, commissioner, Rector
Ward Brumfield, secretary, Harts
1925-1926
No board members listed
1926-1927
Robert Brumfield, president, Harts
Milton Ferrell, commissioner, Rector
James Brumfield, commissioner, Toney
Robert Martin, secretary, Queens Ridge
1928-1929
M.C. Farley, president, Fourteen
Gilbert Toppings, commissioner, Queens Ridge
Joe Maynard, commissioner, no address given
R.L. Martin, secretary, Queens Ridge
NOTE: In 1928-1929, Harts Creek District had 24 one-room schools with a total enrollment of 574.
09 Thursday Mar 2017
Posted in Ferrellsburg, Guyandotte River, Lincoln County Feud
Tags
Allen Adkins Branch, Appalachia, Ben Walker, Blood in West Virginia, Brandon Kirk, Ferrellsburg, Green McCoy, Green Shoal, Guyandotte River, history, Lincoln County, Lincoln County Feud, Melvin Kirk, Milt Haley, photos, Walker Branch, West Fork, West Virginia
Walker Branch is a tributary of the Guyandotte River located in Ferrellsburg, Lincoln County, WV. Photo taken 27 November 2016.
Walker Branch is named for Benjamin Wade Walker (1851-1917), a United Baptist preacher who once lived along the stream. Photo taken 27 November 2016.
Walker Branch appears in early deeds as Allen Adkins Branch. Photo taken 27 November 2016.
In October of 1889, Ben Walker and Melvin Kirk brought the corpses of Haley and McCoy from Green Shoal to West Fork via Walker Branch and through Low Gap. Photo taken 27 November 2016.
11 Friday Nov 2016
Posted in Ferrellsburg, Fourteen, Gill, Green Shoal, Guyandotte River, Little Harts Creek, Ranger, Sand Creek, Wewanta
Tags
Al Brumfield, Albert Adkins, Ann Davis, Ann Mullins, Appalachia, Arabell Gill, Arena Ferrell, Ben Walker, Big Branch, Big Sulphur Branch, Big Ugly Creek, Brooke Adkins, C.D. Haverty, C.E. Burns, Cain Lucas, Catherine Adkins, Charles V. Huffman, Charles W. Mullins, Clementine Dingess, Columbia Gas and Electric Company, Cove Creek, Cumberland Adkins, D.P. Lambert, David F. Smith, Durg Fry, Ed Dingess, Edmund Fowler, Elizabeth Mullins, Elizabeth Nelson, Emily Rakes, Emmazetta Adkins, Ene Adkins, Fisher B. Adkins, Flora Lucas, Floyd Rakes, Fourteen Mile Creek, Fowlers Branch, genealogy, George Alderson, George E. McComas, George R. McComas, Gilbert Hager, Giles Davis, Granville Wiley, Green Shoal, Guyandotte River, Hamlin, Harriet McComas, Hellen M. Burks, Henry Adkins, Henry C. Sias, Henry H. Sias, Herb Adkins, Hiram Lambert, history, Hollena Brumfield, I.N. Mullins, Isaac F. Nelson, Isaiah Mullins, J.B. Pullen, J.L. Caldwell, J.S. Payne, Jacob K. Adkins, Jake Adkins, Jefferson Lucas, John A. McComas, John Q. Adams, John S. Brumfield, John W. Nelson, Joseph Browning, Julia Alderson, Keenan Ferrell, Keenan Toney, L.H. Burks, Lace Marcum, Laura Fry, Leander Wiley, Levi Rakes, Lewis Adkins, Lewis C. Queen, Lincoln County, Little Harts Creek, Little Ugly Creek, Louisa Wiley, Major Adkins, Martha E. Brumfield, Martha Fry, Martha Sias, Mary A. Mullins, Mary E. Williamson, Mary F. Fry, Mary J. Mullins, Mary L. Nelson, Mary McComas, Matilda Wiley, Milton Nelson, Minerva J. Fowler, Nancy E. Lucas, Olive F. Adkins, Peter M. Mullins, Philip Hager, Pinkston Queen, Polly Spurlock, Richard Adkins, Rine Spurlock, Robert Fry, Robert L. Fry, Rosa A. Fry, Rosa Browning, Rufus Estep, Rufus Pack, Salena Estep, Sand Creek, Sarah B. Maynard, Sarah E. Adkins, Sarah M. Adkins, Sarah Mullins, Sherman Nelson, Solomon C. Mullins, Spencer Adkins, Spring Branch, Squire Sol Adams, Steer Fork, Sulphur Spring Fork, Susan Adkins, Susan Lucas, T.R. Shepherd, United Fuel Gas Company, Vietta Haverty, W.S. Enochs, Walt Stowers, West Fork, West Virginia, Wilford Fry, Yantus Walker
The following deed index is based on Deed Book 56 at the Lincoln County Clerk’s Office in Hamlin, WV, and relates to residents of the Harts Creek community. Most notations reflect Harts Creek citizens engaged in local land transactions; some reflect Harts Creek citizens engaged in land transactions outside of the community. These notes are meant to serve as a reference to Deed Book 56. Researchers who desire the most accurate version of this material are urged to consult the actual record book.
Enos A. Adkins to late Ann F. Davis 200 acres Green Shoal Creek (her interest in Enos’ future estate) 6 November 1883 p. 99-100
Fisher B. Adkins to Catherine and Herb Adkins 1 acre 1/2 interest in land where store of F.E. Adkins and J.W. Stowers is located, 1/2 interest in store and stock of merchandise, farm items conveyed by F.E. Adkins on 14 May 1909, one pair of bay horses 15 June 1909 K.E. Toney, NP 3 July 1909 p. 82-83
Lewis and Emezetta Adkins to Sarah M. Adkins 50 acres West Side Guyandotte River 8 August 1899 Jefferson Lucas, NP 24 February 1900 p. 147-148
Richard and Olive F. Adkins to Sarah M. Adkins 50 acres Below Mouth of Fourteen Mile Creek 18 June 1892 David F. Smith, JP p. 145-147
Richard Adkins and Spencer Adkins to D.P. Lambert 80 1/4 acres Fourteen Mile Creek (Laurel Hill District) 17 July 1897 Isaac Fry, JP p. 42-44
George A. and Julia Alderson, Floyd and Emily Rakes, and C.D. and Vietta T. Haverty to J.L. Caldwell 8 acres (mineral) Sand Creek 7 December 1894 Elias Vance, JP p. 19-22
Joseph and Rosey Browning to Lace Marcum and T.R. Shepherd 45 acres Ridge Between Little Harts Creek and Big Branch 30 March 1910 Charles Adkins, JP 1 April 1910 p. 252-253
Allen and Hollena Brumfield to Louisa Wiley 176 acres Sulpher Spring Fork of Fourteen Mile Creek 12 February 1903 Jefferson Lucas, NP p. 40-42
Martha E. and John S. Brumfield to Henry H. Sias and his heirs 87 1/2 acres East Fork of Fourteen Mile Creek 24 October 1907 Jefferson Lucas, NP p. 13-14
L.H. and Hellen M. Burks to Gilbert Hager 50 acres Little Ugly Creek 19 February 1906 p. 106-108 [includes survey map]
Clementine and Ed Dingess, Ann F. and G.D. Davis, Susan and Henry Adkins, Julia Y. and B.W. Walker, Brooke and A.G. Adkins, F.E. Adkins, C.E. Burns (special commissioner) to Catherine Adkins 33 acres West Side Guyandotte River (land conveyed to Enos Adkins by J.K. Adkins on 29 October 1892) 1 October 1908 Fisher B. Adkins, NP 12 October 1908 Sol Adams, JP 16 October 1908 p. 86-88
Clementine and Ed Dingess, Susan and Henry Adkins, F.E. and Catherine Adkins, Brooke and A.G. Adkins, Julia Y. and B.W. Walker, and C.E. Burns (special commissioner) to Ann F. Davis 225 acres 1 October 1908 Fisher B. Adkins, NP 12 October 1908 Sol Adams, JP 16 October 1908 p. 101-103
Salena Estep to Rufus Estep 360 acres Spring Branch of West Fork 25 April 1910 p. 320-321
Arena and Keenan S. Ferrell to J.W. Stowers one acre Fowler’s Branch (part of tract conveyed by John Q. Adams on 25 May 1896) 28 October 1908 K.E. Toney, JP 30 October 1908 p. 84-85
Anderson Fry to A. Gill 25 acres Big Ugly Creek 7 January 1907 D.F. Smith, JP p. 128-129
Robert Fry to Wilford Fry, Martha Fry, and Rosa A. Fry 110 acres Ketchum Branch Guyandotte River 3 January 1888 J.B. Pullen, Jr. p. 287-289
Robert L. and Mary F. Fry to Arabell Gill Big Sulpher Branch of Big Ugly Creek 16 January 1904 Philip Hager, Jr., NP 16 February 1904 p. 125-126
Philip Hager to Robert Lee Fry 50 acres Big Sulpher Spring Branch of Big Ugly Creek 10 February 1898 John A. McComas, NP p. 124-125
E.C. and Flora Lucas to W.S. Enochs 20 acres and 39 acres Fourteen Mile Creek at or Near the Mouth of Cove Creek (Laurel Hill District) 29 March 1907 Jefferson Lucas, NP p. 268-269
Jefferson and Nancy E. Lucas to Cumberland Adkins 295 acres Fourteen Mile Creek (Laurel Hill District) 11 April 1907 D.F. Smith, JP 12 April 1907 p. 234-236
George E. and Mary McComas to J.L. Caldwell 24 acres East Side Guyandotte River 23 July 1900 p. 31-33
George R. and Harriet McComas to J.L. Caldwell 75 acres East Side Guyandotte River 19 February 1902 James McComas, NP p. 28-30
I.N. and Elizabeth Mullins to J.L. Caldwell 43 1/2 acres and 95 acres East Side Guyandotte River 1 September 1894 J.S. Payne, JP 8 October 1894 p. 23-25
Peter M. and Mary A. Mullins, A.S. and Sarah E. Adkins, Solomon C. and Mary J. Mullins, Granville and Matilda Wiley, John W. and Mary L. Nelson, C.W. and Ann Mullins, Edmund and Minerva J. Fowler, Isaiah and Sarah Mullins to J.L. Caldwell 43 1/2 acres East Side Guyandotte River 24 November 1894 Hiram Lambert, JP 30 November 1895 and 29 November 1894 p. 25-29
Milton and Elizabeth Nelson to Sherman Nelson 94 acres Big Branch and Fourteen Mile Creek 15 March 1906 Jefferson Lucas, NP p. 17-18
Milton and Elizabeth Nelson to Sherman Nelson 213 acres Big Branch of Guyandotte River 29 March 1909 Jefferson Lucas, NP 4 June 1909 p. 15-16
L.C. and Pinkston Queen to Sarah B. Maynard 113 3/4 acres Wiley Branch of Twelve Pole Creek 18 December 1907 William Toppins, JP p. 250-251
Levi Rakes et al to J.L. Caldwell 47 acres East Side Guyandotte River 28 July 1900 Isaac Fry, JP 30 July 1900 p. 36-38
Henry C. and Martha Sias to Isaac F. Nelson 85 acres Steer Fork of Fourteen Mile Creek (Laurel Hill District) 17 February 1909 Rufus Pack, NP p. 266-267
Marine and Polly Spurlock to Laura Fry 15 acres Ketchum Branch Guyandotte River (Laurel Hill District) 6 November 1889 Elias Vance, JP p. 289-290
United Fuel Gas Company to Columbia Gas and Electric Company 87 acres of Charles V. Huffman (26 March 1908) and 258 acres of Susan Lucas (24 March 1908) 1 December 1909 p. 270-275
Louisa and Leander Wiley to Mary E. Williamson Part of 176 acres made to Louisa Wiley by Allen Brumfield (Laurel Hill District) 7 July 1905 Jefferson Lucas, NP 11 July 1905 p. 38-40
NOTE: I copied all of these deeds.
25 Tuesday Oct 2016
Tags
A.B. Harrison, A.B. Staley, A.C. Barrett, A.E. Wagner, A.F. Morris, A.P. Sanders, Aaron Adkins, Al Brumfield, Alex Hollandsworth, Allen Adkins Branch, Ben Walker, Big Branch, Big Ugly Creek, Blackburn Lucas, Brad Toney, Burbus C. Toney, C.E. Burns, Cain Adkins, Cain Lucas, Charley Lucas, David Farley, David Workman, E.E. Adkins, East Fork, Elias Vance, Elizabeth Duty, Emma Duty, Floyd Fry, Floyd Rakes, Francis Fork, genealogy, Georgia E. Staley, Green Shoal Branch, Guyandotte River, Hamlin, history, J.H. Fry, J.H. McComas, J.M. Brammer, J.P. Douglas, J.W. Johnson, Jake Adkins, James A. Holley, James L. Chafin, James P. Ferrell, Jeff Duty, Jefferson Lucas, John D. Shelton, John Dingess, John F. Duty, John P. Lucas, John W Runyon, Laurel Fork, Lee Fry, Lewis Nelson, Lincoln County, Little Harts Creek, Lorenzo D. Hill, Lottie Lucas, Louary Brumfield, Louis R. Sweetland, Louisa Lucas, Mack H. Adkins, Maggie Farley, Malinda Nelson, Martha Jane Lucas, Marvel Elkins, Mary Alice Manns, Mile Branch, Morgan Phipps, Moses Lucas, Nancy A. Holley, Nancy Jane Adkins, Nancy Webb, Nettie Ferrell, Peter M. Toney, Philip Hager, Rufus Pack, Samuel B. Price, Sand Creek, Sarah Adkins, Sarah Headley, Smith Ferrell, Spencer Adkins, Sulphur Spring Fork, timber, W.C. Mullen, Wesley Nelson, West Fork, West Virginia, William A. Sias, William Manns, William R. Duty
The following deed index is based on Deed Book 52 at the Lincoln County Clerk’s Office in Hamlin, WV, and relates to residents of the Harts Creek community. Most notations reflect Harts Creek citizens engaged in local land transactions; some reflect Harts Creek citizens engaged in land transactions outside of the community. These notes are meant to serve as a reference to Deed Book 52. Researchers who desire the most accurate version of this material are urged to consult the actual record book.
Aaron and Nancy Jane Adkins to B.W. Walker 100 acres on Allen Adkins Branch of Guyandotte River 12 June 1885 Cain Adkins, JP p. 58-59 [NOTE: References logs, Mack H. Adkins]
Aaron Adkins, Jr. to B.W. Walker Ridge Between East Fork and Guyandotte River (Upper 1/3 of 200 acre survey) 12 October 1889 Elias Vance, JP p. 60 [references Samuel B. Price timber]
E.E. Adkins to Allen Brumfield, Jr. 185 5/8 acres 17 August 1897 p. 411-412
Enos Adkins et ux to Allen Brumfield, Jr. 2 Tracts 22 August 1895 p. 424-425
Enos Adkins et ux to Allen Brumfield 28 December 1894 Elias Vance, JP p. 413-414
Isaac Adkins et al to Allen Brumfield, Jr. 22 June 1892 p. 420-421
Sarah Adkins to B.W. Walker 100 acres Allen Adkins Branch 14 August 1889 p. 61-62
Spencer Adkins to John P. Lucas 221 1/2 acres Guyandotte River (Laurel Hill District) 14 March 1896 p. 273-274
Spencer Adkins et ux to Martha Jane Lucas 63 5/8 acres Big Branch (Laurel Hill District) 29 January 1908 p. 275-276
J.M. Brammer et ux to David Farley 44 1/2 acres Laurel Fork of Little Harts Creek 11 April 1910 A.E. Wagner, JP p. 300-301
Allen Brumfield to Hollena Brumfield 25 January 1904 p. 428-429
Allen Brumfield to Hollena Brumfield 70 acres 9 July 1904 p. 430-431
Louary Brumfield et al to A.C. Barrett et ux Lot No. 6 Hamlin 23 July 1903 p. 308-310
C.E. Burns to Nancy Webb 52 1/2 acres Frances Creek 10 August 1908 p. 10
James L. Chafin to L.C. Browning et ux Big Branch 19 January 1903 p. 314-315
John Conley et ux to Rosa N. Vannatter 66 acres Big Ugly Creek 19 October 1908 p. 117-118
B.C. Dial to Brad Toney 100 acres on East Side of Guyandotte River 23 October 1891 J.R. Wilson, NP p. 241-242
John Dingess to Hollena Brumfield 7 August 1891 p. 418-419
J.P. Douglas, trustee, to Hollena Ferguson p. 426-428
J.P. Douglas, trustee, to John D. Shelton 10 acres Sand Creek, Big Branch 6 June 1908 p. 38-39
Leo F. Drake et al to Lewis Thompson 100 acres Harts Creek 30 March 1905 p. 264-265
John F. Duty to Jefferson Duty 12 1/2 acres 28 July 1898 p. 114-115
William R. Duty to Emma Duty 80 acres 4 December 1897 p. 115-116
William R. Duty to Jefferson Duty 50 acres 4 December 1897 p. 113-114
Marvel Elkins to William A. Sias 100 acres Sulpher Spring Fork of Fourteen Mile Creek 7 February 1888 p. 27-28
Maggie Farley to Louis R. Sweetland 1/4 acre and 1 Lot Hamlin 15 August 1907 p. 365-367
Jonah Ferguson to Dollie Ferrell 30 acres Big Ugly 19 October 1907 P.M. Toney, NP p. 289-290
James P. Ferrell to Bradford Toney 7 June 1887 Philip Hager, NP p. 240-241
Smith and Nettie Ferrell to Elizabeth Duty 16 acres 21 November 1899 p. 116-117
Floyd Fry et ux to Bradford Toney 150 acre interest just above mouth of Green Shoal 28 June 1898 J.H. McComas, NP p. 243 [references B.C. Toney farm]
A.B. Harrison and J.H. Fry to A.B. Staley 86 acres Fourteen Mile Creek (Laurel Hill District) 8 April 1892 p. 81
Sarah Headley to E.C. Lucas et ux one acre Fourteen Mile Creek (Laurel Hill District) 2 March 1907 p. 313-314
L.D. Hill to Moses Lucas 100 acres Mile Branch 24 April 1903 p. 316-317
Alex Hollandsworth et ux to Lee Fry House and Lot, Hamlin 26 March 1908 p. 367-368
James A. Holley et ux to Allen Brumfield, Jr. Guyandotte River 6 June 1898 p. 415-418
Nancy A. Holley et ux to Maggie Farley 1/4 acre Hamlin 7 June 1907 p. 364-365
J.W. Johnson to Spencer Adkins and John P. Lucas right of way 11 July 1908 p. 277-278
B.B. Lucas to Lottie Lucas 75 acres Green Shoal branch 11 December 1906 M.C. Farley, NP p. 220-221
Charley and Louisa Lucas et vir to Morgan Phipps 7 acres Laurel Fork (Jefferson District) 13 September 1910 p. 371
John P. Lucas to A.B. Staley 65 acres West Side Guyandotte River 26 December 1899 Jefferson Lucas, JP p. 82-83
John P. Lucas to A.B. Staley 46 acres Fourteen Mile Creek (Laurel Hill District) 12 March 1907 Jefferson Lucas, JP p. 78-79
William Mans to Mary Alice Mans et al quit claim 12 May 1905 p. 11-12
A.F. Morris, special commissioner, to B.B. Lucas 75 acres on Green Shoal 7 December 1906 p. 218-219
W.C. Mullen et ux to A.P. Sanders 278 acres Lick Branch 17 October 1907 p. 369-370
Lewis and Malinda Nelson to A.E. Wagner 15 acres on West Side of Guyan River 4 December 1906 D.F. Smith, JP
Wesley Nelson to A.E. Wagner 23 acres 21 March 1906 p. 57-58
Floyd Rakes to Georgie E. Staley 50 acres on Fourteen Mile Creek (Laurel Hill District) 28 July 1892 p. 79-80
John W. Runyans to Canaan Adkins 66 2/3 acres (interest in 200 acres) West Fork and Guyandotte River 6 February 1889 p. 248
F.D. Stallings et ux to Abijah Workman 100 acre interest on Francis Creek 15 March 1899 p.7-8
Russell S. Stollings et ux to William D. Farley 35 acres Little Harts Creek and Francis Fork of Twelve Pole 24 March 1900 Isaac Fry, JP p. 298-299
Ralph and Anna Steel to William R. Duty 73 3/4 acres 14 August 1903 p. 112-113
B.C. Toney to Bradford Toney 20 acres and 80 acres Big Ugly 20 February 1884 -. 239-240
Moses B. Toney et al to Allen Brumfield 10 June 1892 p. 422-423
Wirt Toney et al to Bradford Toney 140 acres Guyandotte River 1 April 1887 p. 244-245
O.J. Wilkinson, Commissioner of School Lands, to J.H. Meek, trustee 25 acres Ranger School West Side Guyandotte River 20 December 1909 p. 207
F.B. Wilson to John D. Shelton 105 acres Sand Creek Jerry Lambert, NP 1 October 1908 p. 36-37
J.R. Wilson to J.A. Holley Timber on Bobbies Branch 15 November 1899 p. 155
Abijah Workman to Nancy Workman 30 acres Francis Creek 17 January 1900 Rufus Pack, NP p. 9
David Workman to Brad Toney 140 acres 20 October 1891 p. 237-238
NOTE: I copied all of these deeds.
16 Wednesday Dec 2015
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Sand Creek, Warren
Tags
A. Gill, A.A. Low, A.B. Lowe, Aaron Adkins, Abijah Workman Jr., Abner Vance, Al Brumfield, Albert Adkins, Albert G. Abbott, Allen Tomblin, Amanda McComas, Anderson Fry, Andrew D. Robinson, Andrew Elkins, Andrew Jackson Browning, Archibald Harrison, B.F. Scearcy, Ballard Lambert, Ben Walker, Bird Brumfield, Blackburn Lucas, Blackie Lucas, Cain Adkins, Caroline Brumfield, Catherine Dingess, Charles Adkins, Charles Browning, Charles Brumfield, Charles Kinser, Charles Lucas, Charles W. Mullins, Clementine Dingess, Cumberland Adkins, Cynthia Ann Mullins, David F. Smith, David Farley, Ed Dingess, Elias Vance, Elisha Vance, Elizabeth Elkins, Elizabeth Lucas, Elizabeth Mullins, Elvira Baisden, Emily Dingess, Emily Rakes, Emma Vance, Ene Adkins, Enos "Jake" Adkins, Evaline Sartin, Ezekiel K. Johnson, Farabell Vance, Floyd Rakes, Francis Vance, genealogy, George Alderson, George F. Miller, George Fry, George Shepherd, Hamlin, Harmon Stroud, Harts Creek, Henry C. Sias, Henry Workman, Hiram Lambert, history, Hugh Evans, Isaac F. Nelson, Isaac Fry, Isaac Gartin, Isaac Workman, J.B. Pullen, J.H. McComas, J.L. Caldwell, J.M. Brammer, J.S. Payne, Jake Adkins, James H. Marcum, Jefferson Lucas, Jeremiah Lambert, John B. Pullen, John H Fry, John H. Adkins, John Henry Adkins, John M. Thompson, John McCloud, John Messer, John Mullins, John Vance, John W. Sartin, Joseph Browning, Julia Alderson, justice of the peace, Lace Marcum, Laura Fry, Lewis C. Queen, Lewis Nelson, Lincoln County, Logan County, Logan County Banner, Louisa A. Wiley, Malinda Adkins, Malinda J. Vance, Malinda Nelson, Margaret Browning, Marine Spurlock, Martha J. Fry, Martha Sias, Mary A. Mullins, Mary L. Nelson, Mary Slate, Melissa Adkins, Melvin Butcher, Miles B. Browning, Minerva McCloud, Minnis W. Perry, Mitchell Browning, Moses Toney, Nancy E. Lucas, Nancy Jane Adkins, Nancy M. Workman, Olive F. Adkins, Peter M. Mullins, Peter Mullins, Pinkston Queen, Polly C. Bryant, Polly Spurlock, Rebecca Bell, Richard Adkins, Robert Fry, Robert Mullins, Rosa A. Fry, Rosa Browning, Rufus Pack, Rush Slate, Salena Vance, Sampson Brumfield, Sarah A. Perry, Sarah Ann Brumfield, Sarah B. Maynard, Sarah E. Gore, Sarah E. Thompson, Sarah E. Vance, Sarah M. Adkins, Sol Adams, Sophia Kinser, Stephen Lambert, Susan Stroud, T.R. Shepherd, Telitha Spears, Thomas H. Harvey, Thomas J. Adkins, Van Donley Lambert, Victory Thompson, Weddington Mullins, West Virginia, Wilford Fry, William Bell, William Conley, William Dingess, William Manns, William Toppins, William Workman, Wog Dalton
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
06 Monday Apr 2015
Posted in Ferrellsburg, Lincoln County Feud
Tags
Appalachia, Ben Walker, Blood in West Virginia, Brandon Ray Kirk, cemeteries, Ferrellsburg, feud, genealogy, Haley-McCoy grave, history, Lincoln County, Lincoln County Feud, Low Gap, photos, Walker Branch, West Virginia
Ben Walker grave, located in the head of Walker Branch at Low Gap, near Ferrellsburg, Lincoln County, WV. Mr. Walker appears as a character in my book, “Blood in West Virginia: Brumfield v. McCoy.”
12 Monday Jan 2015
Posted in Atenville, Big Ugly Creek, Ferrellsburg, Fourteen, Harts, Leet, Rector, Toney
Tags
Adam Cummings, Allen, Atenville, Ben Walker, Brad Toney, Ferrellsburg, Fisher B. Adkins, Fourteen, genealogy, Harts, Harts Creek District, history, Isaac Fry, John B. Pullen, John S. Brumfield, John W. Sias, Leet, Lincoln County, Matthew C. Farley, Philip Hager, Ras Fowler, Rector, Squire Toney, Superintendent of Schools, Toney, Wallace Hager, Ward Lucas, West Virginia
Given below are Harts Creek District boards of education between 1905 to 1913:
1905-1906
J.B. Pullen of Rector, president
William E. Fowler of Ferrellsburg, secretary
John S. Brumfield of Fourteen
Squire Toney of Rector
1906-1907
Squire Toney of Rector, president
William E. Fowler of Hart, secretary
John S. Brumfield of Fourteen
Wallace Hager of Rector
1908-1909
Matthew C. Farley of Fourteen, president
Philip Hager of Leet, secretary
Adam Cummings of Leet
Ward Lucas of Toney
1909-1910
John W. Sias of Fourteen, president
Philip Hager of Leet, secretary
Adam Cummings of Allen
Bradford D. Toney of Toney
1911-1912
B.W. Walker of Ferrellsburg, president
William E. Fowler of Ferrellsburg, secretary
Isaac Fry of Toney
Bradford D. Toney of Toney
1912-1913
B.W. Walker of Ferrellsburg, president
William E. Fowler of Ferrellsburg, secretary
Isaac Fry of Atensville
Bradford D. Toney of Toney
NOTE: Fisher B. Adkins of Ferrellsburg was Lincoln County Superintendent of Schools from 1915-1919.
07 Wednesday Jan 2015
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Big Ugly Creek, Fourteen, Green Shoal, Harts, Little Harts Creek, Queens Ridge, Toney
Tags
America Dalton, Andrew Elkins, Appalachia, Arena Ferrell, Ben Walker, Blackburn Lucas, Brad Toney, Cabell County, Catherine Adkins, Charles Adkins, Charles Lucas, D.K. Adkins, Emma Duty, Floyd Enos Adkins, Floyd Fry, genealogy, George Alderson, George Duty, George Hill, George Staley, Greenville Perry, Harts Creek District, Hezekiah "Carr" Adkins, history, Hollena Brumfield, Irvin Lucas, Isaac Gartin, John Clay Farley, John F. Duty, John H Fry, John W. Berry, L.H. Burks, Levina Hager, Lincoln County, M.B. Adkins, Malinda Johnson, Melissa Adkins, Nancy Alford, Overton Elkins, Patterson Ferrell, Patterson Toney, Sarah A. Brumfield, Sarah Berry, U.S. South, Wade S. Lambert, West Virginia, William Bell, William R. Lucas, Wirt Toney
Based on land books available at the Lincoln County Clerk’s office, the following persons owned property with buildings in Harts Creek District in 1903. Many of the persons listed below were business owners. The value of their structures are provided:
Hollena Brumfield, $750
Catharine Adkins, $300
George Hill, $250
Blackburn Lucas, $250
Bradford Toney, $250
Floyd E. Adkins, $150
L.H. Burks of Cabell County, $150
George and Emma Duty, $150
John H. Fry, $150
Wirt Toney, $150
George Staley, $75
$100
D.K. and M.B. Adkins
John C. Farley
Arena Ferrell
Patterson Ferrell
Levinie Hager
Malinda Johnson
Charles Lucas
Wade S. Lambert
Irvin Lucas
William R. Lucas et als
Greenville Perry
Patterson Toney
$50
Charley Adkins
Hezekiah Adkins
Malissa Adkins
George Alderson
Nancy A. Alford
William Bell
J.W. and Sarah Berry
Sarah A. Brumfield
L.H. Burks of Cabell County
America Dalton
John F. Duty
Andrew Elkins
Overton Elkins
Floyd Fry
Isaac G. Gartin
Blackburn B. Lucas
Benjamin W. Walker
Source: Land Book (1901-1904), Lincoln County Clerk’s Office, Hamlin, WV.
31 Sunday Aug 2014
Posted in Ed Haley, John Hartford, Music
Tags
Arthur Smith, banjo, Ben Walker, Benny Martin, Bernie Adams, Billy Adkins, blind, Brandon Kirk, Buddy Emmons, Clayton McMichen, Doug Owsley, Durham, Ed Haley, fiddlers, fiddling, Green McCoy, Haley-McCoy grave, Harts, history, Imogene Haley, Indiana, Jeffersonville, John Hartford, Johnny Hager, Lawrence Haley, Mark O'Connor, Matt Combs, Melvin Kirk, Michael Cleveland, Milt Haley, Mona Haley, music, Nashville, North Carolina, Smithsonian, Snake Chapman, Tennessee, Texas Shorty, Ugee Postalwait, Webster Springs, West Virginia, Wilson Douglas, writing
When Ed first went out into the neighborhood with his dad’s fiddle and armed with his melodies (as interpreted by his mother) I think he probably caused not a small sensation amongst family and neighbors and his ear being as great as it was I think he picked up an incredible amount of other music really fast. I think he played with a lot of ornaments when he was a teenager and up into maybe even his thirties. Snake Chapman and Ugee Postalwait have alluded to this. Snake said the dining room recordings just didn’t sound as old-timey as he remembered Ed playing and Ugee said she remembered him and her dad talking about the little melodies between the notes. Of course Ed had to have been through a lot of subtle changes in style since that time. I think in later years he stripped a lot of the ornaments out of his fiddling in order to appeal to the Arthur Smith-Clayton McMitchen crowd who loved the radio style that was so much in vogue at that time. This might have helped make a little more money on the street. People have always liked to hear someone play and sound just like what they hear on the radio or a record. But I think if someone had asked Ed if he had done that consciously that he would have denied it and if he was in a bad mood they might have even had a fight on their hands.
I keep having this idea of Ed imitating other instruments on the fiddle because I’ve tried it myself and wouldn’t it be something that some of these great parts was really an imitation of John Hager’s banjo playing. I’d love to know where that passage is or whether it even exists.
It’s obvious that when Ed had good firm second that wouldn’t slow down for anything, he really leaned back on the beat and got in that little pocket where so many great musicians like to be. Ella and Mona really held up a good solid beat, but I’ll bet Ed was hard on them — a real taskmaster. It’s all in that rhythm section. Wilson Douglas told me one time that Ed always told him to play it real lazy. Texas Shorty, Benny Martin, and Buddy Emmons refer to it as holding on to the note as long as you can before you start the next one. This is an important part of Ed’s feel and sound and it really comes through on the dining room recordings. I get it by playing as slow as I can against a beat I hope is not gonna move, and then I swing the notes with a dotted note feel — a real lilt if I can get it — and just drag on the beat as hard as I can ’cause I know it’s not gonna slow down. I’d love to know just when Ed figured that out or if it was always there. I always think of Ed in his younger years playing on top of the beat or even ahead of it like I did when I was young and full of piss and vinegar. Actually when you’re playing alone you do hafta pretty well stay on top of the beat to hold the time or at least set it, cause you are the beat but you have to keep from rushing which we will tend do when we get to hard passages in order to get them over with. We’ll not do that no more. Mark O’Connor told me one time that while he is playing a tune he’ll play on top of and behind the beat on purpose. He described playing behind it as letting the beat drag you along…almost like water skiing. Oh, to have known what Ed and John Hager or Bernie Adams sounded like together.
I think Ed worked on his fiddling probably daily most of his life so it is fair to say that it was changing all the time. This would explain the varying descriptions of his playing that have come down. I’m sure they’re probably all accurate. Lawrence, Ugee, and Mona always said Ed played with great smooth long bow strokes and Snake Chapman always was adamant about him playing with short single strokes and Slim Clere said the same thing — that he bowed out everything — no bow slurs. Of course, in the dining room sessions you can hear both ways. It’s amazing how well Ed did without the feedback of working with a tape recorder. What an incredible ear he had. As far as I know, the only time he probably heard himself played back was the recordings we have. I hope there are others out there but I’ve come to doubt it.
Brandon and I have always had a gut feeling that if we’d dug down into the hillside a little further at Milt and Green’s grave we might have found something. We only went down five feet and then we were defeated by the rain. What if we had gone down the requisite six feet? What if, like the probe, Owsley had misjudged the bottom of the grave shaft due to the mud and water? What if it hadn’t rained and muddied up the work area? If Melvin Kirk and Ben Walker went so far as to bury the men in a deep grave, why not assume they would have gone for the standard six feet grave traditionally dug? In the following weeks, old timers around Harts kept telling Brandon and Billy, “If they didn’t dig at least six feet, it’s no wonder they didn’t find anything.” We didn’t want to question the professionalism of experts like the Smithsonian forensic team or seem like we wanted to find Milt and Green so badly that we couldn’t accept the concept that they were gone…but what if? The explanation that Doug Owsley gave us about the coal seam and underground stream made a lot of sense. Needless to say we were really disappointed. I had started to rationalize that not finding anything might indicate that they were buried in the nude and just thrown in the hole with no box or winding sheet or anything.
I was in Durham, North Carolina, the other day and I saw a fiddler on the street and I automatically found myself thinking of Ed. I didn’t have to fill in or rearrange much in my imagination to see him there playing on the street — even though this man was standing up, and played nothing like him. Of course when Ed was younger he probably stood up to play all the time like in the Webster Springs picture…dapper and wearing his derby. I always seem to picture Ed sitting down. Another great thrill for me is a young blind fiddler from Jeffersonville, Indiana, named Michael Cleveland who when he plays I can see Ed at nineteen. He stands up so straight he almost looks like he’s gonna fall over backward the way Lawrence said his dad did. When he plays I can’t take my eyes off of him thinking of Ed. Now my friend Matt Combs, who has done a lot of the transcriptions for this book, sits with me and plays Ed’s notes off of the paper, and I play off the top of my head, so in that sense it’s like playing with him.
I guess it’s time to just leave this alone and get back to my study of the fiddle. Maybe get geared up for “Volume Two.” I spend long hours here at the dining room table with my tape recorder and I can hear Lawrence and feel Ed as I try and play my way back into the past. I find that the study of Ed’s music leads me to the study of all music and the way it’s played.
17 Sunday Aug 2014
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Culture of Honor, Harts, Lincoln County Feud
Tags
Ben Adams, Ben Walker, Bill Fowler, Billy Adkins, Brandon Kirk, Cat Fry, Chapmanville High School, Charley Davis, Ed Haley, French Bryant, Fry, Green McCoy, Harts Creek, Henderson Dingess, history, Iris Williams, James Davis, John Brumfield, John Hartford, John W Runyon, Kentucky, Lincoln County, miller, Milt Haley, Spring Branch, West Fork, West Virginia, writing
That evening, Brandon and I met up with Billy Adkins and went to see James Davis on West Fork. James lived on Spring Branch of West Fork, a little hollow just across the creek from Iris Williams. A few years back, his older brother Charlie had told Brandon about seeing Ed win a twenty dollar gold piece in a contest at the old Chapmanville High School.
We found the eighty-something-year-old James laying on the couch with a little fuzzy dog crawling all over him like a monkey. He said he didn’t remember Ed, so I mentioned how he was Milt Haley’s son, which got an immediate reaction. He had heard the story of Milt’s death from Cat Fry, although he didn’t immediately offer up any details. Actually, James was hesitant to talk about the 1889 murders — almost as if the participants were still around and living next door. His answers to our questions were very evasive.
We learned from James that it was Bill Fowler (not John Runyon or Ben Adams) who hired Milt and Green to ambush Al. It was all over competition between businesses. Fowler was a saloon operator and a gristmill operator, while Brumfield ran a log boom.
“They was all there making money,” he said. “You know how that stirs up trouble. Some a making a little more money than others. They was bucking one another, like money men does.”
Milt and Green ambushed Al and Hollena one Sunday as they rode down the creek on a single horse after a visit with Henderson Dingess. In the attack, Mr. Brumfield was shot through the arm, while his wife was shot in the face. Milt and Green were soon captured in Kentucky by the Adkinses and Brumfields, who held them them at Fry. Neither man would admit to anything so John Brumfield shot one of them in the head. He reputedly put his toe at the hole and said, “I put a bullet right there.”
Brumfield was himself shot in the head a few years later.
French Bryant, “who was pretty hard to handle,” was also involved in the killings.
Afterwards, people were afraid to touch Milt’s and Green’s bodies until Ben Walker allowed them to be buried on his property. The whole event “shook people up pretty bad.” Fowler sold out at the mouth of Harts and moved away.
02 Saturday Aug 2014
Posted in Ed Haley
Tags
Ben Walker, Blood in West Virginia, Chapmanville, Ed Haley, Green McCoy, Green Shoal, Grimes Music Store, Harts Creek, history, John Hartford, Lincoln County, Lincoln County Feud, Logan, Logan County, Low Gap, Milt Haley, music, Nashville, Robert Ellis, Walker Family Cemetery, West Virginia, writing
That night, I left Harts and headed toward Nashville, where I soon called Robert Ellis, a Logan County man who supposedly had some Haley records.
“Ed used to play some music with my oldest brother that passed away in January,” Robert said. “He’d been to our house a lot of times, where we lived here in Chapmanville, and I’d heard him play a lot on the streets in Logan and around through the county here in different places. He was a good fiddler. One of the best.”
I asked Robert if he was a musician and he said he used to be but gave it up after a hand injury during World War II. He was pretty sure he had some of Ed’s records.
“I believe I do,” he said. “One or two of his records. My grandmother used to buy them here in Logan at the old Grimes Music Store in Logan.”
I never heard anything about Ed selling records like that…but who knows?
Robert surprised me when he started talking about Milt Haley’s murder.
“About where Milt and Green McCoy were buried down there at Harts Creek, a feller told me some time ago that it was there at Low Gap,” he said. “How come me to know about that, we used to do military funerals a lot and we had a flag-raising at that Walker Cemetery there. I asked this feller if we were close to where those men were buried. He said, ‘Yeah, right back up yonder those fellers are buried.’ And this Carver that was with us that day, his grandfather was in with the ones that buried these people.”
Robert heard about the Haley-McCoy murders from his grandmother.
“These Brumfields, they killed these fellers and left them in a big two-story house there at the mouth of Green Shoal,” Robert said. “That two-story house is torn down now. Somebody was supposed to be left to guard them and they all got drunk and carousing around, so someone slipped in — so my grandmother told me — and chopped the boys up with an axe. Some of them found out about it and they said, ‘These men’s gotta be buried.’ So some of the Brumfields — at that time they was a lot of them down in there and they were tough — and they said, ‘Leave them where they’re at.’ This Carver, his grandfather said, ‘We’re gonna bury them. That’s all I’m gonna say and I’ve told you we’re gonna bury them.’ So them Brumfields evidently knew him and wouldn’t bother him and they went up there and buried those boys.”
01 Tuesday Jul 2014
Posted in Ferrellsburg
Tags
Andrew Elkins, Arnold Bailey, Ben Walker, Cain Lucas, Charles Curry, Ferrellsburg, genealogy, George W. Hensley, Gilbert Moore, Golden Headley, Grover Gartin, history, Isaac Marion Nelson, John Bryant, Josiah Tomblin, Lincoln County, Low Gap United Baptist Church, M.F. Barker, Musco Adkins, Paris Hensley, Smith Wiley, Stonewall Hensley, Tice Elkins, West Virginia
List of Moderators for the Low Gap United Baptist Church at Low Gap, near Ferrellsburg, Lincoln County, WV:
Gilbert Moore (1898-1899)
Isaac Marion Nelson (1899)
Andrew Elkins (1899)
Isaac Marion Nelson (1900-1902)
Mathias Elkins (1903-1904)
Isaac Marion Nelson (1904)
Mathias Elkins (1904-1907)
M.F. Barker (1907-1908)
Isaac Marion Nelson (1908-1913)
Grover Gartin (1914-1915)
Benjamin W. Walker (1915-1917)
George W. Hensley (1917-1921)
Unknown (1921-1923)
Paris Hensley (1923)
John Bryant (1923)
George W. Hensley (1924-1925)
Charles Curry (1926-1927)
Stonewall Hensley (1928)
Charles Curry (1929-1931)
George W. Hensley (1931-1932)
Musco Adkins (1932)
Elcanan C. Lucas (1933-1941)
Josiah S. Tomblin (1941)
Golden Headley (1941-1942)
Arnold Bailey (1942-?)
Smith Wiley (1944-?)
03 Tuesday Jun 2014
Posted in Atenville, Culture of Honor, Ferrellsburg, Hamlin, Toney
Tags
Arena Ferrell, Atenville, Ben Walker, Chilton Abbott, education, Evermont Ward Lucas, Ferrellsburg, Fisher B. Adkins, Francis M. Vance, Frank Vance, genealogy, George H. Thomas, Guyandotte Valley, Hamlin, history, Huntington, Keenan Ferrell, Lincoln County, Lincoln Republican, Lottie Lucas, Maggie Lucas, merchant, rheumatism, Ripley, Salena Vance, timbering, Toney, Tucker Fry, West Virginia
“Stand-Patter,” a local correspondent from Ferrellsburg in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Lincoln Republican printed on Thursday, April 24, 1913:
Ward Lucas, one of our best citizens, is confined to his room with muscular rheumatism. He improves but slowly.
Mrs. Salena Vance and son, Frank, made a trip to Huntington the first of the week to look after matters of business.
Several law suits were set for trial here last Saturday before Justice F.M. Vance, but for different reasons all were continued.
Peace and quietude now reigns in this part of the Guyan Valley, and in order to perpetuate the same Hon. Geo. H. Thomas, our good citizen and successful timber merchant is preparing to hoist a magnificent white flag over his place of business.
F.B. Adkins, one of our popular school teachers, is home from Ripley, where he has been attending school.
Misses Lottie and Maggie Lucas, popular young teachers of this place, left last Friday for Hamlin where they expect to attend the Normal.
A.G. Adkins, our efficient road supervisor is doing quite a lot of work on the roads, which is needed as a result of damage done by the recent high waters. He uses good judgment in overseeing the work.
Mr. and Mrs. K.S. Ferrell are having quite a lot of work done on their farms. They also enjoy a lucrative trade in the mercantile business.
D.C. Fry, who was shot by Chilton Abbott about two weeks ago has sufficiently recovered as to be out on business.
B.W. Walker, of this place, was at Toney last Saturday on important business.
Several people from here attended church at Atenville last Sunday.
26 Monday May 2014
Posted in Big Ugly Creek, Ferrellsburg, Hamlin, Logan, Toney
Tags
Ben Walker, Bernie Lucas, Big Ugly Creek, Branchland, Brooke Adkins, Clerk Lucas, Dollie Toney, Estep, F.D. Mann, Ferrellsburg, Fisher B. Adkins, genealogy, George Thomas, Hamlin, history, Huntington, Jessie Lucas, John D. Lambert, Leva J. Vance, Lincoln County, Lincoln Republican, Logan, Maggie Lucas, Nan Holley, Ranger, Ripley, T.W. Alford, Toney, West Virginia
“Bess,” a local correspondent from Toney in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Lincoln Republican printed on Friday, August 8, 1912:
The weather continues very cool for this season of the year.
F.D. Mann, of Huntington, was the pleasant guest of friends here for a few days returning to the city Monday morning.
Mrs. Brooke Adkins, Maggie Lucas and Dollie Toney took the examination at Logan last week.
John Lambert and Levia Vance were married at the home of the groom on last Wednesday, Rev. B.W. Walker officiating. We wish them a happy journey through life.
Clerk Lucas attended the examination at Branchland last week.
Mrs. S.J. Baisden is in very poor health. We hope for her speedy recovery.
Bernie Lucas who is working on Big Ugly visited his parents here Sunday.
T.W. Alford, of Ranger and G.H. Thomas, of Ferrellsburg, were calling on friends here last Tuesday evening.
Mrs. Nan Holley, of Hamlin, was visiting her daughter, Mrs. Chris Lambert last week.
Mrs. E.W. Lucas visited her parents at Estep last Sunday.
F.B. Adkins returned from Ripley last Saturday evening.
20 Tuesday May 2014
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Ed Haley, Harts, Spottswood, Whirlwind
Tags
Adams Branch, basketball, Beecher Avenue, Ben Walker, Billy Adkins, Bob Adkins, Bob Mullins Cemetery, Brumfield Avenue, Buck Fork, Bulwark Branch, Charles Brumfield, Crawley Creek Mountain, CSX Railroad, Ed Haley, Eden Park, genealogy, Guyandotte Valley, Hannah Baptist Church, Harts, Harts Creek, Harts High School, Heartland, Henderson Branch, history, Hoover Church of the General Assembly, Hoover Fork, Huntington, Ivy Branch, John Hartford, Kiahs Creek, Lambert Branch, Lincoln County, Logan County, McCloud Branch, Mingo County, Mount Era Baptist Church, Mountaineer Missionary Baptist Church, Pilgrims Rest Church, politics, Railroad Avenue, Republican, Rockhouse Fork, Route 10, Sand Creek, Smokehouse Fork, Trace Fork, Trace Old Reguarl Baptist Church, Twelve Pole Creek, Upper Trace Fork School, Ward Avenue, Wayne County, West Fork, Whirlwind, Workman Branch, writing
The community of Harts sits indiscreetly in the narrow section of the Guyandotte Valley on land that makes up the northernmost region of the Logan County coalfield and what was once “feud country.” Located some ten miles from a four-lane federal corridor linking the state capital to eastern Kentucky and fifty miles up a two-lane rural highway from Huntington, the second largest city in West Virginia, it is a settlement just on the cusp of modernization. It is a treasure trove of hidden history, quickly disappearing even in the minds of its locals, who have little if any recollection of its booming timber era or the exciting times of the railroad hey-day. It’s really the kind of place you might drive through without noticing much — or never have a reason to drive through at all.
Basically, Harts is an old timber town divided in the center by a lazy muddy river and intersected by a two-lane highway, Route 10. On the west side of the river — site of the old Brumfield business headquarters — is an empty store, a tavern-turned-church-turned-beauty shop, a garage, and a brick tabernacle. On the east side is an old brick general store, a nice video rental establishment, a state highways headquarters, an old wooden general store, a small brick post office, a fire department, a grocery store, a hardware store, a general merchandise store, a Victorian general store-turned-restaurant, and a new brick Head Start center. Running between those buildings on the east side is a track owned by CSX (formerly C&O) Railroad. Just behind the businesses are a few dozen houses of all vintages: brick, wooden, single-story, two-story… There are no street signs or traffic lights or even stop signs.
Route 10 connects Harts with the city of Huntington to the north and with the Logan coalfields to the south. From town, Big Harts Creek Road heads west up the creek to West Fork or Smokehouse Fork, while a little unnamed road diverges north past the tracks toward extinct post offices named Eden Park and Sand Creek. The four streets in town are paved but very few locals even know their proper names, which are Railroad, Beecher, Ward, and Brumfield Avenues. Just down the river is a brick house-turned-bank, a rural health clinic, a brick construction company headquarters, a new coalmine development area called Heartland, and a mechanic shop/gas station (owned incidentally by one Charles Brumfield).
Culturally, Harts might be thought of as an inconspicuous Harlequin romance and Wild West show gone wild, at least in its not-so-distant past. Many of the rabble rousers and roustabouts are long since dead. Actually, somewhat to my disappointment, a lot of the old families are gone completely from the area and no one really feuds any more. Many residents seem to work as schoolteachers or run small stores or work in the coalmines or draw government relief. People are nice and treat each other well. Most are related or at least seem to be. They watch TV or go to church or tend their yards or hunt or fish or ride four-wheelers or hop on the four-lane at Chapmanville and drive to Wal-Mart some 45 miles away. Old-timers are quick to say that Harts has a bad reputation for no reason — the only two murders within town limits occurred almost a century ago. There are no parks, museums or movie theatres — and only a few registered Republicans. It’s the kind of place where you can leave your doors unlocked at night or if you’re gone all day…and feel safe about it.
I have to admit, after several visits to Harts, I loved it. On one visit, I learned from Billy Adkins that the old Ben Walker farm was for sale…and seriously considered buying it. (I passed on the idea when I realized that my wife would never forgive me for it.) Harts, then, would remain a place to “see.” I began telling folks out on the road that it was “my Ireland.” It represented a desire on my part to get back to the kind of places where (at least in my romantic imagination) a lot of fiddle playing originated. A lot of my friends were from these kind of places. For them, when they wanted to tap into that ancestral ancient tone, they thought of Ireland, whether they were Irish or not. For me, coming from St. Louis, Harts was the closest I could ever hope to get to that. Such places are at the heart of the music I love.
Venturing up Harts Creek, the first thing you really notice is Harts High School, a forty-some-year-old two-and-a-half-story yellow brick structure near the mouth of West Fork with a gymnasium, annex building, and a baseball field, all situated on what was a prison camp during the early fifties and, a little further back in time, the upper reaches of the Al Brumfield property (and, a little further still, an Indian camp). In many ways, this school is the lifeblood of the community — at least in the lower section of the creek. In the mid-sixties, just as Harts began to turn away from its violent past, the high school basketball team won a state championship and began building a program known regionally for its successes. Today, basketball is what this community is best known for — not the murders or moonshining traditions of years past — with crooked politics maybe finishing a close second.
A little further up the creek, just below the Logan County line, a few miles past an old country store, a little restaurant, another baseball field, and a place of worship named the Cole Branch Church of Jesus Christ of the First Born. From there, the road forks left onto the Smoke House Fork of Big Harts Creek, location of the Hugh Dingess Elementary School and Dingess, Butcher, Farley and Conley country; or the road forks right into the head of Harts Creek to “Ed Haley country.” Of course, no one calls it that. People think of it as “Adams country” or “Mullins country” and really, that’s about all there ever was in that section. Ed himself is often identified with the Mullins family — his mother’s people. The adults in this part of Harts Creek vote in Logan County — not Lincoln — and send their kids on buses over Crawley Creek Mountain to Chapmanville High School. This section of the creek — where gunshots once rang out regularly and where moonshine was so readily found — is now remarkably quiet and low-key outside of the occasional marijuana bust. Unfortunately, it seems to have lost its musical tradition as well.
Trace Fork, the site of Ed Haley’s birth, is attributed by Ivy Branch in its head, Adams Branch, and Boardtree Branch toward its middle and Jonas and Dry House Branch toward its mouth. There are several small family cemeteries on Trace, with the maroon-bricked Mountaineer Missionary Baptist Church at its mouth. In previous days, the Upper Trace Fork School (now Trace Old Regular Baptist Church) sat in its headwaters, where the Logan-Lincoln-Mingo county line meets. As a matter of fact, Ivy Branch heads near Kiah’s Creek at the Wayne-Mingo County line, while Boardtree Branch heads at McCloud Branch of Twelve Pole Creek in Mingo County. Adams Branch heads at Rockhouse Fork in Lincoln County.
A little further up the main creek is Buck Fork, an extensive tributary comparable to West Fork or Smokehouse in size. It is the ancestral home of the Mullins, Bryant, and Hensley families whose names still dominate the mailbox landscape. In previous decades, it was the location of the Hensley School and Mt. Era Church. Just below Buck Fork on main Harts Creek is a large Adams family cemetery, while just above it is the equally large Bob Mullins family cemetery.
Continuing up Harts Creek is Hoover Fork, home of the Mullins, Adams, and Carter families as well as the Hoover Church of the General Assembly. Henderson Branch, home seat for Tomblins and Mullinses is the next tributary, followed by Lambert Branch (at Whirlwind) and Workman Branch. Bulwark Branch follows (populated by Carters and Workmans), trailed by Brier Branch (Smiths) and Tomblin Branch. In the headwaters of Harts Creek are Tomblins, Daltons, and Blairs, as well as the Pilgrims Rest Church and Hannah Baptist Church.
In all sections of Harts, gossip reigns supreme as a source of local entertainment. (This in spite of Bob Adkins’ warning that people should “tend to their own business.”) Maybe that’s why we hear so much about a 100-year-old murder when we ask about it and a bunch of other things we don’t ask about. Genealogy is super important. When you sit down to talk with someone, the first thing they want to know is how you fit into the community pedigree. It’s a way of squaring you up.
29 Tuesday Apr 2014
Posted in Ed Haley, Lincoln County Feud
Tags
Ben Walker, Boney Lucas, Brandon Kirk, Cain Adkins, Daisy Ross, diphtheria, education, Faye Smith, feud, Flora Adkins, genealogy, Green McCoy, history, Huntington, Kenova, Low Gap United Baptist Church, Mariah Adkins, medicine, Melvin Kirk, murder, Nancy Adkins, Paris Brumfield, Spicie McCoy, Wayne County, West Virginia, writing
The day after visiting Abe Keibler, I met Brandon Kirk in Huntington, West Virginia. We made the short drive into Wayne County where we located the home of Daisy Ross in Kenova. Her daughter, Faye Smith, met us at the door and told us to come in — her mother was waiting on us. She led us through a TV room and into the dining room where we found Daisy seated comfortably in a plush chair. She was hard of hearing, so Faye had to repeat many of our questions to her.
We first asked Daisy about Cain Adkins. Daisy said he was a United Baptist preacher, schoolteacher, and “had several different political offices.” He was also a “medical doctor” and was frequently absent from home on business.
“I would imagine Grandpaw Cain — I’m not bragging – was pretty well off at that time compared to other people,” Faye said.
Daisy didn’t think Cain was educated — he “just had the brains. Mom said he could be writing something and talk to you all the time.” He was also charitable.
“Lots of times when he doctored, they didn’t have no money,” Daisy said. “They’d give him meat or something off of the farm,” things like dried apples and chickens. “He had little shacks built and would bring in poor people that didn’t have no homes and Grandpaw would keep them and Grandmaw would have to furnish them with food. Kept them from starving to death.”
Cain seemed like a great guy.
Why would the Brumfields have any trouble with him?
Daisy had no idea.
We had a few theories, though, based on Cain’s various occupations. First, as a schoolteacher in the lower section of Harts Creek, he may have provoked Brumfield’s wrath as a possible teacher of his children. As a justice of the peace, he was surely at odds with Paris Brumfield, who we assume (based on numerous accounts) was often in Dutch with the law. As a preacher, Cain may have lectured citizens against living the “wild life” or condemning those locals already engaged in it, which would’ve also made him an “opposing force” to Brumfield.
There is some reason to believe that Cain was a potent religious force in the community during the feud era. Unfortunately, the earliest church record we could locate was for the Low Gap United Baptist Church, organized by Ben Walker and a handful of others in 1898. Melvin Kirk was an early member. More than likely, Cain was an inspiration to Walker, who was ordained a preacher in 1890.
Brandon asked Daisy what she knew about Boney Lucas’ murder.
“They killed him before they killed Green McCoy,” she said.
But why?
“I don’t know,” she said. “They mighta had trouble, too.”
Then came an incredible story, indicating that Boney Lucas was no saint, either.
“He lived about a week after he was hurt,” she said. “He wanted to be baptized and the preachers around there wouldn’t baptize him because he didn’t belong to the church. Grandpaw said, ‘I’ll baptize him.’ Grandpaw was a good preacher. He said, ‘I’ll baptize you, Boney.’ So they made a scaffold and they took him out there and somebody helped him and they baptized him before he died.”
Brandon said, “So Boney was kind of a rough character,” and Faye said, “See, he was connected with Grandpaw’s family and they didn’t tell things. If some of the family was mean, they didn’t get out and tell things.”
Cain had more bad luck when two of his daughters, Nancy and Flora, died of diphtheria.
“They buried them little girls out from the house somewhere up on the hill,” Daisy said. “I don’t know where they were buried. Mom never showed me. I guess they just had rocks for tombstones, you know.”
24 Monday Mar 2014
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Culture of Honor, Ed Haley, Lincoln County Feud
Tags
Ben Walker, crime, feud, Green McCoy, Harts Creek, history, Lincoln County, Melvin Kirk, Milt Haley, West Fork, West Virginia
Haley-McCoy grave, West Fork of Big Harts Creek, Lincoln County, WV, 1993
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