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Brandon Ray Kirk

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Brandon Ray Kirk

Tag Archives: Charleston

Nancy E. Hatfield Memories, Part 2 (1974)

02 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Sandy Valley, Civil War, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Women's History

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attorney general, Battle of Gravepine, Battle of Scary Creek, Cap Hatfield, Charleston, civil war, Confederate Army, crime, Dan Cunningham, detective, Devil Anse Hatfield, Ellison Mounts, feuds, Frank Phillips, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Howard B. Lee, Jim Comstock, Johnse Hatfeild, Kentucky, Logan Wildcats, Nancy Hatfield, Roseanna McCoy, Tug Fork, Union Army, West Virginia, West Virginia Women

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

Our next stop was at the home of Nancy Elizabeth, the same home where I visited with her and Cap during my campaign. For nearly three hours I asked questions and listened to that remarkable woman recount many of her experiences as the wife of America’s most celebrated feudist.

Nancy Elizabeth’s home also held a number of guns, pistols, and other relics of the feud days. But the most interesting item was Cap’s bullet-proof, steel breastplate, designed to cover the entire front half of his body from his beck to his lower abdomen.

“Mrs. Hatfield,” I said, “judging from the three bullet marks on it, this breastplate was a great protection to Cap; but what was to prevent an enemy from shooting him in the back?” Her eyes flashed as she replied: “Mr. Lee, Cap Hatfield never turned his back on an enemy or a friend.”

“I have read two stories, Mrs. Hatfield, each purporting to give the true cause of the feud: One book stated that it was the result of a dispute between a McCoy and a Hatfield over the ownership of a hog. Another book said that it grew out of the seduction of a McCoy girl by Johnson Hatfield, oldest son of Devil Anse. Is either one of these stories true?”

“No, neither story is true,” she replied. “The McCoys lived on the Kentucky side of Tug River, and the Hatfields lived on the West Virginia side. Hogs don’t swim rivers. I never heard the girl story until I read it in a book, written long after the feud was over. Both stories are pure fiction.”

“The truth is,” she continued, “in the fall of 1882, in an election-day fight between Ellison Hatfield, a younger brother of Devil Anse, and three McCoy brothers, Ellison was shot and knifed. He died two days later. In retaliation, Devil Anse and his clan captured and shot the three McCoy brothers. It was these four senseless killings that started the feud.”

In answer to my inquiry, Nancy Elizabeth said: “Yes, there had been ‘bad blood’ between the two families since the Civil War. In that struggle the Hatfields were ‘rebels’,–loyal to their State, Virginia. Devil Anse organized and was the captain of a company of Confederate sympathizers called the ‘Logan Wildcats’. They were recruited for local defense; but they left the county long enough to take part in the battle of Scary, fought along the banks of the Kanawha River, a few miles below Charleston.

“The McCoys, and their mountain neighbors, were pro-Union; and to protect their region against invasion by ‘Virginia rebels’, they organized a military company called ‘Home Guards’. There were occasional border clashes between the two forces, with casualties on both sides. The war ended only seventeen years before the feud began, and the bitterness still existed in the minds of the older generation, and they passed it on to their children. It was the old sectional and political hatreds that sparked the fight between Ellison Hatfield and the McCoy brothers.”

Nancy Elizabeth declined to estimate the number killed on either side of the feud.

“It was a horrible nightmare to me,” she said. “Sometimes, for months, Cap never spent a night in our house. He and Devil Anse, with others, slept in the nearby woods to guard our homes against surprise attacks. At times, too, we women and our children slept in hidden shelters in the forests.

“But these assaults were not one-sided affairs. The Hatfields crossed the Tug and killed McCoys. It was a savage war of extermination, regardless of age or sex. Finally, to get our children to a safer locality, we Hatfields left Tug River, crossed the mountains, and settled here on Island Creek, a tributary of the Guyandotte River.

“No, there was no formal truce ending hostilities. After a decade or more of fighting and killing, both sides grew tired and quit. The McCoys stayed in Kentucky and the Hatfields kept to West Virginia. The feud was really over a long time before either side realized it.

“Yes, Kentucky offered a large reward for the capture of Devil Anse and Cap. The governor of West Virginia refused to extradite them because, said he, ‘their trials in Kentucky would be nothing more than legalized lynchings’. It was then that Kentucky’s governor offered the reward for their capture–‘dead or alive’. Three attempts were made by reward seekers to capture them.

“Dan Cunningham, a Charleston detective, with two Cincinnati detectives, made the first attempt. They came through Kentucky, and crossed Tug River in the night; but the Hatfields soon captured them. A justice of the peace sentenced them to 90 days in Logan County jail for disturbing hte peace. When released, they were told to follow the Guyandotte River to Huntington, a distance of 60 miles, and ‘not to come back’.

“Next, a man named Phillips led two raids from Kentucky into Hatfield territory. In the first, he captured ‘Cottontop’ Mounts, a relative and supporter of the Hatfields, and took him to Pikeville, Kentucky, where he was hanged. But the second foray met with disaster at the ‘Battle of the Grapevine’. Phillips, and some of his followers escaped into Kentucky, but some where buried where they fell.

“This was the last attempt of the reward seekers. However, Kentucky never withdrew the reward offer, and that is why Devil Anse and Cap were always alarmed and on the alert.”

Source: West Virginia Women (Richwood, WV: Jim Comstock, 1974), p. 151-152

United Mine Workers of America (1925)

02 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Coal

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Barrackville, Charleston, District 17, Harold Houston, Henry Warrum, history, Indiana, Indianapolis, labor, Logan, Logan Banner, Philadelphia, secretary, Sullivan, United Mine Workers of America, West Virginia, William C. Thompson, William Petry

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this story dated August 28, 1925 regarding the United Mine Workers of America:

OFFICERS RECEIVE LION’S SHARE OF UNION CHECK OFF

Report Shows 35 Cents of Every Union Miner’s Dollar Goes to Pay Overhead Costs

Virtually 35 cents of every dollar paid into the United Mine Workers of America treasury at Indianapolis goes for overhead expenses, chief of which is salaries, according to the report of the auditors who went over the books of the international’s accounts from January 10 to June 1 of this year. They report that the union had $1,191.991.64 on deposit on various banks on the latter date, despite the payment of some very large sums of money about which little is said.

West Virginia ranks high in the list of expenditures with the statement made that $411,475 was given somebody in connection with the Charleston headquarters of district 17, for the relief of Kanawha miners, for the relief of men who declined to work under the American plan of mining. As this was for 110 days, according to the report, it amounts to virtually $3,750 a day for every day reported. This sum was in addition to the $124,000 given somebody in the Fairmont field, for the aid of strikers there.

Administration Costs High

The “aid” money was also aside and apart from administration expenses in Charleston, because the audit shows the payment of $22,849.05 to William C. Thompson, secretary of District 17, for administrative expenses. Legal salaries were also apart from both of these figures, as the payment of $8.606.57 to Thomas Townsend for work during that period, and $602.11 to Harold Houston, another Charleston attorney, were listed separately. The settlement of claims for back salary, made by William Petry, former vice president of the district is also listed separately, the settlement being made for $500 cash.

The salaries and expenses of officers are lumped in one sum as $254,808.94, or 20.9 per cent of the disbursements for the 110 day period. These salaries and expenses are clear entirely of any incidental office expenses, supplies, etc. Mr. Townsend, the Charleston attorney, received the largest salary of the few listed separately, as Henry Warrum, the Philadelphia attorney received $4.672.73 during the 110 days and John Campbell but $4,250. Several other lawyers received from $2,000 to 3,000 fees.

Gift to Sufferers

Gifts of $250 to the tornado sufferers in Indiana; $500 to the victims of the Barrackville mine disaster; $500 to Illinois tornado sufferers and $1000 to sufferers in the Indiana explosion at Sullivan are also reported, being a very small portion of the disbursements listed.

Recapitulation of the figures show that the balance on hand January 16, 1924 was $1,048,044.40. The incoming from members of the union for the 110 days was $1,362,201.28. This made a total of $2,410,245.78. From this is deducted expenditures of $1,216,254.14 for the 110 days, leaving a balance June 1, of $1,191,991.64.

Harts News 07.03.1925

27 Sunday Dec 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Ashland, Big Creek, Harts, Holden, Huntington, Logan, Sand Creek

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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.

Harts News 06.19.1925

25 Friday Dec 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Creek, Gill, Hamlin, Harts, Holden, Huntington, Ranger, Salt Rock

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Alva Koontz, Appalachia, Bessie Adkins, Burl Farley, Caroline Brumfield, Charles Brumfield, Charleston, Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company, Elliot Fleur, Ethel Brumfield, Fisher B. Adkins, genealogy, Gill, Grant Cremeans, Hamlin, Hardin Marcum, Harts, Herb Adkins, history, Holden, Huntington, James Auxier Newman, Jessie Brumfield, John McEldowney, Lincoln County, Logan, Logan Banner, Mary Ann Farley, Ranger, Robert Brumfield, Salt Rock, Sylvia Cyfers, Vesta Cyfers, West Virginia

An unnamed correspondent from Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on June 19, 1925:

Mr. Charles C. Brumfield of this place is visiting friends and relatives at Logan and Holden this week.

Alva Koontz and James Auxier Newman of Huntington were seen to pass through this town enroute to Big Creek today.

Mr. and Mrs. Burl Farley of Salt Rock were guests of Mrs. Charles Brumfield at Harts Sunday.

Hardin Marcum and Elliot Fleur, C. & O. operators of Ranger, were calling on Miss Jessie Brumfield Saturday evening at Harts.

Robert Brumfield of this place has purchased a fine new Studebaker car this week.

Mr. and Mrs. John McEldowney and children of Charleston are visting relatives at this place.

Rev. Porter, Minister of the Baptist church, preached an able sermon here Sunday which was largely attended.

Fisher Adkins of Harts made a flying trip to Huntington Sunday.

Miss Jessie Brumfield and __ Adkins were guests of Sylvia and Vesta Cyfers and Miss ____ of Gill Sunday and reported a good time.

Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Adkins of Harts and Miss Ethel Brumfield were visiting friends at Hamlin Sunday.

Hon. Grant Cremeans, the Circuit Clerk, and family of Hamlin were guests of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Brumfield Friday.

Harts News 08.28.1925

18 Wednesday Nov 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Creek, Gill, Harts, Huntington, Logan, Ranger

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Annie Dingess, Appalachia, Bessie Adkins, Big Creek, Bob Dingess, Caroline Brumfield, Charleston, Charley Brumfield, Cora Adkins, Dr. Hite, Florida, genealogy, Gill, Hardin Marcum, Harts, Hendricks Brumfield, Herbert Adkins, history, Huntington, Lincoln County, Logan, Logan Banner, Midkiff, Pauline Scites, Ranger, singing schools, Sylvia Cyfers, Tony Johnson, Verna Johnson, W.B. Toney, West Virginia

An unnamed correspondent from Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on August 28, 1925:

Singing school at this place is progressing nicely under the leadership of Rev. Gartin.

All the school teachers at this place are preparing to attend the teachers association at Charleston this year.

Mr. and Mrs. Tony Johnson left here Saturday for their home in Florida after spending a few weeks with the latter’s mother, Mrs. Chas. Brumfield, of Harts.

Dr. Hite of Big Creek was calling on Miss Cora Adkins Sunday.

Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Adkins of Harts motored to Huntington Sunday.

Mrs. Robert Dingess of Logan was here to see her sister before she left for her vacation.

Mr. Hardin Marcum of Ranger was calling on friends in Harts Monday.

Mr. Chas. Brumfield of Harts is looking after business matters in Huntington this week.

Mr. Hendrix Brumfield has been on the sick list several days.

Miss Sylvia Ciphers, of Gill, was at the board meeting at Harts Tuesday.

Mr. W.B. Toney of Big Creek was in Harts Sunday.

Miss Pauline Scites of Midkiff was here to visit Miss Brumfield Friday before she left for her vacation.

Armed March: Federation of Labor Seeks Pardon for Killer (1925)

13 Friday Nov 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Battle of Blair Mountain

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Appalachia, Battle of Blair Mountain, Blair Mountain, Charleston, crime, deputy sheriff, Edgar Combs, Ephraim Morgan, genealogy, governor, Harold Houston, history, Howard Gore, Huntington, J.E. Wilburn, John Gore, John Wilburn, labor, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Moundsville, prosecuting attorney, United Mine Workers of America, West Virginia, West Virginia Federation of Labor, Wheeling Metal and Manufacturing Company

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, in a story dated August 14, 1925, comes this bit of history relating to the “armed march” on Logan and Mingo counties in 1921:

FEDERATION ASKS PARDON FOR MAN WHO KILLED GORE

The West Virginia Federation of Labor has been holding its annual convention in Huntington during the past week.

On Tuesday morning the convention unanimously passed a resolution calling upon Governor Howard M. Gore to pardon or parole Edgar Combs who is serving a sentence imposed in connection with the murder of John Gore who was killed on Blair mountain when the “Red Necks” made their famous “armed march” in an attempt to invade Logan and unionize this field.

The resolution was presented Monday by Attorney Harold Houston, of Charleston, counsel for the United Mine Workers in District 17.

The resolution was as follows:

“Whereas Edgar Combs is now confined in the state penitentiary at Moundsville serving a life sentence imposed by the circuit court of Logan county for the alleged murder of John Gore, killed on Blair mountain during a clash between members of the ‘armed march’ of 1921 and a posse of Logan county; and

“Whereas he is now the only person serving in the penitentiary for an offence connected with said uprising, the Rev. J.E. Wilburn and John Wilburn, his son, having turned so-called ‘state’s evidence’ and been pardoned by Governor Ephraim H. Morgan, the said pardon to take effect early in the year 1926; and

“Whereas all of the many hundreds of prosecutions growing out of said trouble have been dismissed and abandoned by the prosecuting attorney of Logan county; and

“Whereas Edgar Combs has a wife and five infant children dependent upon him for maintenance and support, his wife at the present time working for the Wheeling Metal and Manufacturing company in an effort to keep her family together.

“Therefore, be it resolved by the eighteenth annual convention of the West Virginia Federation of Labor assembled at the city of Huntington W.Va. that we earnestly petition the Honorable Howard M. Gore, Governor of West Virginia, to grant and extend executive clemency to Edgar Combs, and either pardon or parole him for said alleged offense.

“And be it further resolved, that a copy of this resolution be immediately forwarded to Governor Gore for its consideration.”

Harts News 07.31.1925

10 Tuesday Nov 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Gill, Harts, Huntington, Logan, Ranger, Toney

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Annie Dingess, Appalachia, Bessie Adkins, Bob Dingess, Charleston, Charley Brumfield, Cora Adkins, Emmett Dingess, genealogy, Gill, Hardin Marcum, Harriet Wysong, Harts, Hazel Toney, Herbert Adkins, history, Huntington, James Auxier Newman, Jessie Brumfield, John McEldowney, Lincoln County, Logan, Logan Banner, Nora Brumfield, Ranger, Sylvia Cyfers, Toney, Walter Adkins, West Virginia

An unnamed correspondent from Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on July 31, 1925:

Mrs. Harriet Wysong of Logan has been visiting friends and relatives at Harts the past week.

Miss Jessie Brumfield of Harts was shopping ___ Saturday and was accompanied home by her sister, Mrs. Robert Dingess, of Logan.

Miss Hazel Toney and Mr. Epling of Huntington passed through this town Sunday enroute to Toney, W.Va.

Mr. Hardin Marcum of Ranger was visiting friends in Harts Sunday.

Miss Sylvia Ciphers of Gill was a guest of Miss Jessie Brumfield at Hart Monday.

Mr. James Auxier Newman of Huntington was visiting Charles Brumfield and family at Harts Friday.

Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Adkins and family of Harts were out car riding Sunday evening.

Mr. and Mrs. Walter Adkins and family of Ranger attended the singing school at this place Sunday.

Mr. Charles Brumfield is transacting business in Huntington this week.

Mrs. Nora Brumfield is teaching a successful school at Harts.

Mrs. Charles Brumfield was seen out walking with her little grandson Emmett Floyd Sunday evening.

Mr. and Mrs. John McEldowney and family of Charleston, W.Va. were visiting relatives at Harts Sunday.

Miss Cora Adkins was shopping in Logan Saturday.

Road Linking Charleston to Logan County (1861)

05 Thursday Nov 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Boone County, Civil War, Logan

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Appalachia, Aracoma, Ballardsville, Boone County, Camp Piatt, Charleston, civil war, Coal River, history, Logan, maps, Virginia, West Virginia

Source: National Archives.

Jack Dempsey’s Mother (1927)

28 Wednesday Oct 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan

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Appalachia, Aracoma Hotel, boxing, Cecelia Dempsey, Charleston, Estelle Taylor, Gene Tunney, Jack Dempsey, Kenneth Stoltz, Logan, Logan Banner, Salt Lake City, Sharples, Sports, Utah, West Virginia

On September 27, 1927, the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, profiled Jack Dempsey’s mother:

MRS. DEMPSEY LEAVES FOR HOME; EXPRESSES HOPE FOR FINISH FIGHT BETWEEN HER SON AND GENE TUNNEY

Mrs. Cecelia Dempsey, mother of Jack, concluded her visit here yesterday and left that afternoon with her traveling companions, Mr. and Mrs. J. Kenneth Stoltz, for Charleston, thence to points east. They had motored here from their home in Salt Lake City and were quartered at the Aracoma during their six days’ stay in the city. Mrs. Dempsey called on many relatives and old friends and had originally planned to spend several days in Mingo county.

By the time they reached Sharples Mrs. Dempsey missed a hatbox containing a $3500 watch, a gift from her famous son, and two valuable rings. They returned at once to Logan and after an anxious search found the missing box with contents undisturbed alongside the Washington apartments. Evidently it had fallen into the street and some passerby had placed it against the building, presumably without knowledge or curiousity as to the nature of its contents.

“As far as I am concerned,” Mrs. Dempsey told a Charleston reporter last night, “I am satisfied with the way the fight went, but as long as the people feel the way they do, I hope there will be another fight arranged. Mr. Tunney is a fine man, and I suppose the judges did what they thought was right in awarding him the decision, but the people who have talked to me think it should at least have been a draw. It was, perhaps, Jack’s fault that he lost, because he did not know the Illinois rules, or forgot them if he lost his head in the excitement, and forgot what he should have done when he knocked Tunney down in the seventh round.

“I believe the people should cheer the champion,” she went on to say, “and yet I would like to see them better satisfied. I hope if Jack and Tunney fight again that they will not have to stop at ten rounds but will keep on until one or the other is knocked out. I want to see Jack either lick his man or get a good licking himself, and quit. But I want him to quit the game clean and with a good name.”

While Mrs. Dempsey seemed to have enjoyed her visit in West Virginia and expressed a hope that she could come back next year for a longer stay, she said she wouldn’t want to live back here again because of the difference in climate. However, the people are more sociable here, she added, and are much more friendly upon first acquaintance.

Mrs. Dempsey indicated she and companions would leave today for their home in Salt Lake City instead of going farther east. She has had to cut her visit in West Virginia a little short for fear of being unable to get through the snow in the passes of Utah, since the first storms often begin early in October, she said, and keep the roads blocked until spring. She expects Jack and his wife, the screen actress Estelle Taylor, to meet her in Salt Lake City, about October 10, and she is hurrying back to see her son.

Former Sheriff Sidney B. Robertson Obituary (1923)

09 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Huntington, Logan

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A.S. Bryan, Appalachia, Aracoma Lodge 99, banker, banking, C.C. Crane, C.H. Bronson, Charleston, Cincinnati, Cole and Crane Company, Ettye Robertson, First Presbyterian Church, genealogy, Gilbert, Guyan Valley Bank, Harry N. Robertson, history, Huntington, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Indianapolis, J. Murray Robertson, John Edwin Robertson, Kentucky, Knight Templars, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Louisville, Mae Robertson, Mary S. Robertson, masons, merchant, Ohio, politics, Portsmouth, Robert S. Shrewsbury, Ruby Robertson Parris, sheriff, Shriners, Spring Hill Cemetery, Stirrat, Sydney Robertson, W.B. Miles, West Virginia, Wheeling Consistory

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this obituary for former sheriff Sidney B. Robertson, dated June 22, 1923:

S.B. Robertson Dies At Huntington Home

Former sheriff of Logan county, Sidney B. Robertson, of 501 Fifth Avenue, Huntington, died Monday afternoon at 5:40 o’clock after a lingering illness. He has been in failing health for over a year, but it was not until about four months ago that his condition was regarded as serious. The best medical skill in the country was employed in his behalf, but none could make a diagnosis of his condition.

Funeral services will be conducted this afternoon, at 2:30 o’clock at the late home by the Rev. J.L. Mauze, pastor of the First Presbyterian church of which Mr. Robertson was a member. The body will be interred in Spring Hill Huntington cemetery following the services.

Mr. Robertson was born, August 3, 1864, and was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Edwin Robertson. He early entered into business, and was prominent in lumber circles for some time, being associated with the late C.C. Crane, of Cincinnati, in that business. He served as sheriff of this county from 1900 to 1904 and following that engaged in the wholesale grocery business, until the time of his retirement, a year ago, which was necessitated by ill health. He had extensive holdings in coal mines of the county.

Mr. Robertson was in Logan about a month ago with Laryed Buskirk, on business connected with the purchase of the Stirrat-Gilbert right-of-way–at that time Mr. Robertson was in very poor health and told friends that it was doubtful if he would ever be in Logan again.

On February 22, 1884, he was married to Ettye Bryan, of Logan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A.S. Bryan. Four children were born of this union. Fifteen years ago, in the fall of 1907, the family moved to Huntington, which has been their home since that date.

Mr. Robertson was prominent in Masonry. He was a member of the Huntington chapter, No. 53, was a Shriner in the Charleston Beni Kedem temple, was a member of the Kanawha Commandery of Knight Templars of Charleston, held the thirty-second degree in Masonry in the in the Wheeling Consistory, and was past master of Aracoma lodge 99, of this city. He was also a member of the Logan chapter of I.O.O.F. He was at one time president of the Guyan Valley Bank and held a great number of offices in the different companies in which he was interested. He was a member of the First Presbyterian church of Huntington and was a member of the Men’s Bible class of that church.

Mr. Robertson is survived by his wife, Mrs. Ettye Robertson, three sons, Dr. J.E. Robertson, of Louisville, Ky., Harry N. Robertson of Logan, and J. Murray Robertson, of Huntington, an uncle, Sydney Robertson of Mana, Ark., three sisters, Mrs. C.H. Bronson and Mrs. W.B. Miles of Huntington, and Mrs. Mae Robertson of Pawtucket, R.I., and three grand children, Robert S. Shrewsbury of Huntington, John Edwin Robertson, Jr., of Louisville, Ky., and Mary S. Robertson of Logan.

Mr. Robertson’s only daughter, Mrs. Ruby Robertson Parrish, met a tragic death only a few weeks ago, dying as a result of injuries received when the family automobile went over a cliff near Portsmouth, O., while returning from the Memorial Day races at Indianapolis.

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Feud Poll 1

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

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Feud Poll 2

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

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Feud Poll 3

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

Recent Posts

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

Ed Haley Poll 1

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

Top Posts & Pages

  • Trial of Don Chafin, the "Fighting Sheriff of Logan County" (1924)
  • Don Chafin's Deputies (1921)
  • In Search of Ed Haley 179
  • In Search of Ed Haley 235
  • John Fry Family Cemetery (2015)

Copyright

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

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Blogs I Follow

  • OtterTales
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OtterTales

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

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

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

Piedmont Trails

Genealogy and History in North Carolina and Beyond

Truman Capote

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

Appalachian Diaspora

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