• About

Brandon Ray Kirk

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

Brandon Ray Kirk

Tag Archives: deputy sheriff

Mine Guards of Logan (1922)

16 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Battle of Blair Mountain, Coal, Huntington, Logan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Appalachia, Battle of Blair Mountain, Charles Town, Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, coal, Democratic Party, deputy sheriff, Don Chafin, geography, history, Huntington, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, mine guards, politics, Republican Party, West Virignia

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this editorial about mine guards, dated June 30, 1922:

MINE GUARDS OF LOGAN

The attorneys for the defense in the miners’ trials at Charles Town, which have been in progress for the past several weeks, have taken every opportunity of referring to the deputy sheriffs of Logan county mine guards as “thugs” and “two-gun men.”

Logan county is, and has been for several years, ruled by officers elected on the Democratic ticket. The Logan Banner adheres to the party of Lincoln, Grant, Roosevelt and Harding. It believes in the policy of the Grand Old Party and so long as that belief endures we will be found advocating the doctrines as preached by the leaders of this political organization.

Politics has no place in the discussion of the so called mine guard system in Logan county. We hold the love and respect of our homes far above any reverence to political parties and when the good name of Logan is attacked we forget political lines and join with the good people of this vast community in resenting any reflection on the fair name of Logan.

It has always been a mystery to us why the demand for the abolishment of the extra number of deputy sheriffs in this county should come from parties who are non-residents of the county? Who has demanded their abolishment? What cry has been heard from Logan county for aid? What facts have been presented of any unlawful acts committed at the hands of officers in this county?

Logan is filled with men of the highest type of intelligence. Likewise, they have many, many men here who are as brave as any men to be found in the nation. These men would not, for an instant, be a party to crimes in the county without raising their voices in protest. When it is all sifted down, it is found the hue and cry for a change of conditions is raised by those other than citizens of Logan county. Here are four points that must be borne in mind when considering Logan county:

  1. Due to the natural geographical conditions, Logan is rather isolated from other sections of the state.
  2. Due to this isolation and the fact that it is far removed from through transportation facilities, it is hard to attract labor here.
  3. In order to secure labor it becomes necessary to employ many who have had previous criminal careers.
  4. The county is mountainous, the operations are many and widely scattered, and the forces of deputies are not too many but otherwise too small to maintain order and uphold the law in an area of 400 square miles

Logan is situated among the mountains with but one natural outlet. This is by way of the C. & O. branch line to Huntington. The county is naturally divided by creeks, valleys, and branch railway lines. On these can be found many operations, employing hundreds of laborers, and to successfully cope with the lawless the sheriff is naturally required to employ more than the usual amount of deputies.

If Logan county was situated on the trunk line of any railway system, it would be a much easier task to supply the mines with labor, but due to the fact that it is far removed from any other section of the state and that in order to reach any other point, east, west, north or south it becomes necessary to travel over a distance of 75 miles to Huntington, labor is hard to obtain.

In securing this labor to fill the requirements of the large corporations operating here, it is necessary to visit the employment agencies located in the larger cities. Anyone acquainted with these agencies recognize the fact they are not scrupulous about whom they list, and the natural consequence is that many brought here on transportation are recognized criminals and members of all nationalities. Not all of them, thank goodness, are of the lawless class, but many are. They require constant watching and close scrutiny to see that their criminal tendencies do not become too pronounced. In order to do this it becomes imperative to have a large force of officers.

In view of the fact that there are 142 operations in this county and that approximately 50,000 people are laboring within our borders it can be readily seen that 35 deputies are a comparative small force to exercise supervision over such a huge population. Should a riot break out within our county it would require at least eight hours to obtain help from any section of the state. The fact that Logan needs as large a force of officers was amply attested when the armed march was made on Logan last August.

This article is not written in the defense of Don Chafin or his deputies. They need no defense at our hands. It is not written in defense of a policy adopted by any political party in the county. Regardless of the political affiliations of the sheriff, the Banner would earnestly recommend to anyone, be he the most rabid Republican in the county, if they should be sheriff, the retention of an official force as large as is now employed.

A great hue and cry has been raised because the salaries of these officers have been paid by the coal operators. Let us for a moment realize that the coal industry in the county is the sole industry in our midst. Upon the shoulders of these operators fall the burden of the peace and happiness of their employees. It is in order to furnish these employees protection and security that they have gone into their pocket books and paid for this protection. Who objects? Have you heard a taxpayer in Logan county object? Not one. They are perfectly willing that this cost shall be borne by the operators. They might as well object to the operators subscribing to better schools in Logan. Also voice opposition to better roads, the burden of which falls on the shoulders of the operators.

No one has heard a Macedonian cry from Logan for aid? Not even when union fields of the state were appealing for bread. If there was ever an example of the benefits of the non-union shop plan it was simply exemplified during the recent dull period. Logan worked and fared well. We have no ills to cure nor any abuses that need redress. The propaganda put forth pour from the foul mouths of others than citizens of Logan county and we beseech them to busy themselves with affairs other than ours, for we are perfectly able to take care of ourselves, and when we need their assistance, or advice, we will call for them loud and long.

Don Chafin’s Deputies (1921)

21 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Battle of Blair Mountain, Coal, Logan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

A.A. Vance, Albert Butcher, Albert Gore, Allen Mounts, Allie Johnson, Anderson Dempsey, Appalachia, B.B. Young, B.F. Baker, B.M. Hager, Battle of Blair Mountain, Bilton Perry, Bruce Davidson, Buren Browning, C.H. Huffman, C.H. Perry, C.W. Bias, C.W. Hamilton, Cassa Booton, Charles Bryant, Charles Duty, Charles Stollings, deputy sheriff, Don Chafin, E.D. Gore, E.H. Scaggs, E.M. Burke, E.S. Harman, Earl Cook, Ed Cook, Ed Mullins, Elbert Dempsey, Erastus Perry, Evert Dingess, F.C. Mullins, F.H. Hall, Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland, Frank Maynard, Fult Mitchell, G.F. Downey Jr., G.L. Burgess, genealogy, George C. Steele, George Chafin, George Dimitrijevich, George H. Munch, George M. Browning, Guy Fox Gore, H.H. Farley, history, J.C. Gore, J.C.L. Harris, J.E. Mullins, J.F. May, J.H. Ford, J.J. Gilmore, J.O. Hill, J.T. Ashworth, J.T. Walsh, Jess Cook, Jesse Gartin, Joe Blair, John E. Sewell, John L. Gearhart, K.F. Mounts, L.E. Steele, Lawrence Adkins, Lee Belcher, Lee Callaway, Lewis Farley, Logan, Logan County, Lucian Mitchell, Milton Stowers, N.E. Steele, N.L. Barger, P.J. Riley, Patrick L. Murphy, Peter M. Toney, R.F. Booton, R.W. Estep, Red Akers, Ren Stollings, sheriff, Sherwood Baldwin, Simpson Booton, T.C. Chafin, W.C. Holbrook, W.C. Whited, W.D. Henshaw, W.E. White, W.F. Butcher, W.F. Farley, W.M. Patrick, Wayne Chafin, West Virginia, William Gore

The following list of Don Chafin’s deputies prior to the Battle of Blair Mountain is based on Record of Bonds E in the Logan County Clerk’s Office in Logan, WV:

Name, Date of Appointment, Surety, Surety Amount, Page

Lawrence Adkins…25 January 1921…Albert Gore…$5000…144

Red Akers…23 August 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…279

J.T. Ashworth…1 February 1921…J.H. Ford…$5000…155

B.F. Baker…28 February 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…172

Sherwood Baldwin…2 August 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…269

N.L. Barger…1 February 1921…J.H. Ford…$5000…153

Lee Belcher…1 February 1921…Charles Stollings, Anderson Dempsey, M. Elkins…$5000…149

C.W. Bias…5 April 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…210

R.F. Booton…31 January 1921…Cassa Booton and Simpson Booton…$5000…148

George M. Browning…8 February 1921…C.E. Browning…$5000…158

Charles Bryant…18 June 1921…A.A. Vance, G.F. Gore…$5000…244

G.L. Burgess…4 April 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…207

E.M. Burke…10 June 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…240

Albert Butcher…24 January 1921…W.F. Butcher…$5000…143

Lee Callaway…13 May 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$______…226

Wayne Chafin…12 February 1921…Milton Stowers…$5000…164

Earl Cook…15 July 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…260

Jess Cook…15 July 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…259

Bruce Davidson…20 May 1921…G.F. Gore…$5000…230

Elbert Dempsey…26 February 1921…Milton Stowers…$5000…171

George Dimitrijevich…17 February 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…167

G.F. Downey, Jr….3 August 1921…J.B. Ellis, Evert Dingess…$5000…272

Charles Duty…11 April 1921…George Chafin…$5000…212

R.W. Estep…8 March 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…183

H.H. Farley…24 March 1921…L.E. Steele…$5000…198

Lewis Farley…15 July 1921…G.F. Gore…$5000…258

J.H. Ford…27 May 1921…P.J. Riley…$5000…235

Jesse Gartin…31 January 1921…J.O. Hill…$5000…147

John L. Gearhart…5 March 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…173

J.J. Gilmore…17 March 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…193

E.D. Gore…14 June 1921…William Gore, Guy F. Gore…$5000…243

B.M. Hager…5 April 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…209

F.H. Hall…1 February 1921…J.H. Ford…$5000…154

C.W. Hamilton…21 April 1921…W.E. White…$5000…218

E.S. Harmon…12 August 1921…E.S. Harman and George Chafin…$5000…277

J.C.L. Harris…23 May 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…233

W.D. Henshaw…23 March 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…197

W.C. Holbrook…23 March 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…196

C.H. Huffman…5 August 1921…C.H. Huffman and P.M. Toney…$5000…273

Allie Johnson…8 February 1921…J.C. Gore…$5000…157

J.F. May…19 July 1921…W.F. Farley…$5000…262

Frank Maynard…25 January 1921…G.F. Gore and Charles Stollings…$5000…145

Lucian Mitchell…1 July 1921…Fult Mitchell…$3500…270

Allen Mounts…1 April 1921…T.C. Chafin, K.F. Mounts…$5000…204

Ed Mullins…12 February 1921…F.C. Mullins…$5000…163

F.C. Mullins…25 January 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…146

John Mullins…28 March 1921…J.E. Mullins…$5000…211

George H. Munch…23 August 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…278

Patrick L. Murphy…22 February 1921…W.E. White and Allen Mounts…$5000…169

W.M. Patrick…13 July 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…256

Bilton Perry…27 April 1921…Buren Browning…$5000…219

C.H. Perry…5 February 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…151

Erastus Perry…1 August 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…267

E.H. Scaggs…10 March 1921…Ed Cook…$5000…184

John E. Sewell…10 June 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company…$3500…239

L.E. Steele…24 March 1921…H.H. Farley…$5000…199

N.E. Steele…18 July 1921…George C. Steele…$5000…261

Ren Stollings…9 February 1921…Charles Stollings and Milton Stowers…$5000…160

J.T. Walsh…12 March 1921…Milton Stowers…$5000…188

Ed White…21 January 1921…Joe Blair…$5000…142

W.C. Whited…8 February 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…159

B.B. Young…4 April 1921…Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland…$3500…208

This list will be updated soon to include more names.

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

13 Friday Nov 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Battle of Blair Mountain

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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.”

Armed March Trial (1923): Convicted Man Flees to Mexico

08 Saturday Feb 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Battle of Blair Mountain, Coal

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Appalachia, Battle of Blair Mountain, Blair Mountain, C.W. Conrad, Charles Town, Charleston, circuit clerk, crime, deputy sheriff, Don Chafin, H.E. Keadle, history, Jefferson County, Logan Banner, Logan County, Mexico City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, sheriff, U.G. Young, United Mine Workers of America, Walter Allen, West Virginia

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about the “Armed March” at Blair Mountain, dated February 2, 1923:

Allen Is Traced By Deputy E. Keadle To Mexico City

Walter Allen, convicted of treason at Charlestown on September 15, and sentenced to ten years in the state penitentiary and who was released on bond of $15,000 with U.G. Young of Charleston as surety and who jumped his bond and fled from the state recently has been traced by Logan officers to Mexico City.

A capias was received here on December 20 for Allen, the capias being issued to C.W. Conrad, clerk of the circuit court of Jefferson County, when Allen failed to appear there on the date set. Deputy H.E. Keadle took the capias to Charleston and called at headquarters of the United Mine Workers, and attorneys for that organization professed their ignorance of his whereabouts and stated they would do all within their power to apprehend the fugitive.

However it was ascertained that Allen had been in Oklahoma City, Okla., and the officers there were requested by wire to arrest the fugitive but he had fled the city when they searched for him. Deputy Keadle then continued the search and the latest information received at the sheriff’s office here states that Allen is now known to be in Mexico City, Mexico.

Allen was convicted for his participation in the armed march of Logan in August and September, 1921. According to the evidence in the trial which lasted five weeks, he handled the finances and otherwise assumed direction of the armed march which was stopped at the border of Logan County where a battle between the invaders and the state forces raged over a battle line extending for 25 miles.

After his conviction his attorneys noted an appeal and stated the case would be carried to the supreme court. The time granted Allen for his appeal expired December 13, but the time expired without any record of an appeal being noted. When Allen failed to appear at Charlestown to begin his sentence a capias was issued for him and sent to Sheriff Chafin for execution and the hunt for the fugitive then began.

Due to the red tape connected with extradition proceedings, it is not yet known what steps will be taken by Logan authorities toward extraditing the fugitive.

***

For more information about Mr. Allen, go here: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/205

Armed March Trial (1923)

29 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Battle of Blair Mountain, Boone County, Coal, Logan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

A.M. Belcher, Appalachia, Battle of Blair Mountain, Bill Blizzard, Blair Mountain, Boone County, C.W. Osenton, coal, Coal River, crime, deputy sheriff, Dingess Run, Edgar Combs, George Muncy, H.W. Houston, history, J.E. Wilburn, James Cafalgo, John Gore, Lewisburg, Logan Banner, Logan County, Nellis, Ottawa, T.C. Townsend, United Mine Workers of America, Velesco Carpenter, W.B. Mullens

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this story dated June 29, 1923 about the trial that resulted from the “armed march” on Logan County, WV, by UMWA miners:

Widow Is Introduced At The Blizzard Trial

LEWISBURG, W.Va., June 27 — Two word pictures, one from the lips of the widow of George Munsy, coal digger who “never came back” from guarding his county, the other from one of the party that met and killed the outpost on the mountain side, lay tonight before 12 men who are to determine whether Sub-District President William Blizzard, of the miners’ union, was an accessory to the murder of Munsy.

Before these word pictures the jurors had heard counsel on both sides outline the story of the labor trouble of Southern West Virginia coal fields, the march of thousands against the Logan border, the interruption of that march after a brigadier general of the United States Army had intervened a midnight clash between miners and deputy sheriffs and state police, resumption of the march, fighting on the mountain ridges that separated the non-union Logan coal fields from the then union fields on Coal River, the meeting of 30 or 40 marchers with Deputy Sheriff John C. Gore, of Logan county, and two companions one of whom was Munsey, the volley of shots that answered the Logan pass-word, “amen,” and a wealth of detail about the march presented from point of view of both prosecution and defense.

Review Blair Battle

All the morning was spent in the opening of the attorneys, A.M. Belcher and C.W. Osenton, for the prosecution, and H.W. Houston and T.C. Townsend, for the defense. Then in the afternoon the jurors turned their attention to the witness box. First they saw W.B. Mullens point out the battle line and the points of interest in the march on a map that was tacked to the courthouse wall above the witness stand. Next Velesco Carpenter, facing an inexhaustible stream of questions in direct and cross-examinations told how he had gone from his home in Nellis to Blair, how in a party of about 35 he marched up Blair mountain, spent the night, and early the next morning set out and from his place in line watched the meeting with three men, one of whom he learned was Gore, heard the shots and saw the bodies after they had fallen. Then just before court adjourned Mrs. Munsy took the stand for her brief examination so that she might return tomorrow to her seven children in her home on Dingess Run Creek in Logan county.

Widow on Stand

“The night before he was killed was his time to come home but he never came,” Mrs. Munsy testified that her husband had been digging coal for about fifteen years before his death and that they had been married about 20 years. He had been “guarding for about a week, working for Logan county, for the coal operators,” she went on, but later when Mr. Houston cross-examined her on that statement her formerly quiet tone rose to the ringing declaration “he was defending his county.”

Carpenter did not know who fired the shots that killed Gore, Munsy and James Cafalgo. When the shooting began he ran back a few steps and dropped to the ground, he said. After it was over he went to a point near the body of “the foreigner,” and saw that of Gore, but could not see the third body. Edgar Combs told him he had killed the one Carpenter had designated as “the large man in the middle,” and later told another of the party this man was Gore.

He left Nellis, where he was employed as a pump man, on August 29, 1921, he said, after a man had come to the mines and threatened to “knock off” the “yellow” men who did not go. A journey on foot and by rail took about 30 in his party to Ottawa, and there Edgar Combs picked him and three others he named to go to Blair. The next day from the schoolhouse steps in Blair, he said, Rev. J.E. Wilburn made a speech and a party was organized that went into the hills. Some threw down their guns and refused to go but threats were made, and the men were lined up in single file, with leaders for squads of eight men. The original party of 50 or 60 divided, and the group of about 35, in which he went, camped on the top of the mountain until daybreak. They heard firing in the direction of the “gap,” through which previous testimony had shown the road from Blair to Logan ran and set out in that direction.

Then he told of the meeting with the “large man” and his two companions, and by pre-arranged signal the leader lifted his hat three times to indicate there was no danger. The large man beckoned to them to come on, and when the parties met there were mutual demands for the password. The shots were fired, Carpenter testified, when somebody said “amen,” and in the opening statements prosecution counsel had told the jury that it would be shown that “amen” was the Logan password. Wilburn, the preacher, was in the lead of the marchers column, and Combs next behind him, the witness said.

Armed March: Logan County Officers Thwarted in Pomeroy, OH (1921)

16 Saturday Nov 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Battle of Blair Mountain, Coal, Logan, Matewan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

A.M. Belcher, Appalachia, Charleston, coal, deputy sheriff, Ed Reynolds, Edgar Combs, George Munsey, Harold W. Houston, Harry R. Barnes, history, Jackson Arnold, James Miller, James Swanner, John Chafin, John Gore, justice of the peace, Lee Belcher, Logan, Logan Banner, Mason City, Matewan, Meigs County, Mine Wars, Ohio, Point Pleasant, Pomeroy, Savoy Holt, U.S. Cantley, United Mine Workers of America, W.M. Swanner, Wallace Chafin, Welch, West Virginia, William Chafin

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about the armed march of 1921:

OFFICERS SAY OHIO MOB THREATENED LIVES

“Let’s Make It a Matewan-Welch Affair,” Yells Citizens of Pomeroy

Officers Say Lives Were Threatened

Another tragic sequel to the miners “armed march” on Logan was narrowly averted at Pomeroy, Ohio, Monday, when a mob of about three hundred persons are said to have threatened the lives of Deputy Sheriffs Wallace Chafin and Lee Belcher, and Mr. Chafin’s son William, who went to Pomeroy to visit his grandfather. The officers were sent to Pomeroy with requisition papers for the removal of Savoy Holt, and U.S. Cantley, who are wanted in Logan on the charge of being accessory before the fact of the killing of George  Munsey and John Gore, during the “armed march.”

A statement was given out by Officer Chafin Wednesday, which he described in detail the affair at Pomeroy. Bearing requisition papers for the removal of Holt drawn by the Governor of Ohio and later held up by the agreement of attorneys of both the defense and prosecution till after the trial of James Miller. Officers Chafin and Belcher reported to the sheriffs of Meigs county. They were sent to the Prosecuting Attorney’s office of the county where they were advised that they would have to get other papers for their purpose. They then went before Justice of Peace Harry R. Barnes and swore out a fugitive warrant for the two men wanted. “A crowd of seventy-five or a hundred gathered around the jail. All of the men wore coats and did not  seem friendly,” Mr. Chafin said. “We returned to the Prosecuting Attorney’s office, and as I came out there was considerable commotion among the large crowd of men. Persons were  being waved back and told to stand aside. These directions were being made by members of the crowd,” Officer Chafin said. Chafin returnerd to the Sheriff’s office and was told that he had been called away, and that he could not see Holt.

“Officer Belcher, myself and my son were directed to the Mayor’s office. We were told that the Mayor had a telegram for us from Governor Donahey, which said that Holt should not be delivered and that if we were ___ to run us out of town and tell us not to return. We did not go to the Mayor’s office, and thought if we were really causing trouble it would be best for us to leave immediately. From the time I arrived in town I noticed that the atmosphere had changed since I was last there. Not an officer could be found anywhere. People gazed out on the streets from their houses in great numbers. And several people were noticed to follow us from the time we arrived in town.”

“When we decided to leave, we hired a taxi cab with the intention of going to Point Pleasant. Again, the crowd which seemed to be growing surrounded the cab, and the driver fled, leaving us standing amidst the crowd in the middle of the street. We heard some one in the crowd say, ‘Let’s make it another Welch or Matewan affair.’ A man who said he was a newspaper reporter began to ask questions as the crowd pushed in against the cab. We were asked if we weren’t Logan county thugs, and if we were not in the gang that opposed the ‘armed march.’ We told them that we were regular Logan county officers and had been serving as Deputy Sheriffs for some time, also that we had been sent there with the proper papers to return Savoy Holt to Logan. They were told that I had been a Deputy for two years and that Belcher had been in office for six years. The crowd dropped back and we got our bags and endeavored to hire another taxi, but evidently the drivers had been given instructions not to drive us. They all refused and we were forced to go to the ferry. The crowd continued to swell and they followed us to the ferry. The ferry boat was on the West Virginia side and we were forced to endure the jeers and threats of the crowd until the boat returned to the Ohio side.

While on the ferry ten or twelve men came in a group and demanded me to get off, saying that I had given a false name. I told them if they wanted me they would have to come and get me. They approached and requested me to show further identifications and I compiled by showing them my Masonic cards.”

“Upon arriving on the West Virginia side I saw several of the same men I had seen in Pomeroy. Another taxi was hired to take us to Point Pleasant. As we started we were hailed. The taxi was stopped and we were told that the driver could not take us. We concluded that we would walk to the next station to avoid trouble. A short distance below the town we were surrounded by about twelve men in automobiles. Heading for the river, and afraid that they would kill my son, we returned to the station at Mason City to wait for a train. While sitting in the station group after group of men came to the doors and men swarmed around. I believe they would have fired on us in the station if there had not been several women sitting near us. The first train to arrive was an east bound train which we took to Parkersburg. The last words we heard from the crowd was from a large man who seemed to act in capacity of spokesman. He yelled, ‘I’m damn sorry boys we did not make this another Welch or Matewan affair.'”

Mr. Chafin reported the affair to Governor Morgan at Charleston Tuesday. He was instructed by the governor that the removal of Holt and Cantley would be affected by the state authorities. It is understood that Colonel Jackson Arnold has been sent to Columbus, Ohio, to get the proper extradition papers for the men’s removal. Cantley is still at large and Holt is being held in the county jail at Pomeroy, where he has been held as a witness in the case of James Miller who was sentenced from two to twenty years for the killing of E. Reynolds and W.M. Swanner. Holt was in the Miller home in Pomeroy at the time of the shooting which took place in Miller’s front yard.

Logan (WV) Banner, 3 August 1923

***

POMEROY, OHIO, IS A REFUGE AFTER CRIMES ARE COMMITTED, SAID

A.M. Belcher, Attorney, Says the Failure of Meigs County to Relinquish Prisoners Is Proof.

MAKES STATEMENT WHILE CALLING ON PROSECUTOR

“The attack on Deputy Sheriffs Wallace Chafin and Lee Belcher, at Pomeroy, Ohio, where they were threatened by a mob when they attempted to return Savoy Holt to West Virginia for trial in connection with the armed march on Logan, in 1921, is only added proof to the claim that the Pomeroy Band is serving as a refuge for various crimes in West Virginia,” said A.M. Belcher, state counsel in the prosecution of the so-called armed march cases.

Mr. Belcher was here Thursday to assist Prosecuting Attorney John Chafin resist an application for a change of venue for Harold W. Houston, chief counsel for District 17, United Mine Workers and Edgar Combs, a member of the mine workers union, for their alleged connection with the murders which grew out of the armed march.

“The refusal of the Meigs county authorities to turn over Holt to the custody of the Logan county sheriffs was in a direct violation of an agreement we had made with attorneys representing the defense,” said Mr. Belcher.

“At the time J.E. Miller was indicted for the murder of James Swanner and Ed Reynolds, Holt was indicted as an accessory to that crime. He was also wanted by the Logan county authorities for his participation in the march, but an agreement was made with Miller’s attorneys that if he were allowed to remain in Meigs county until after the Miller trial that he would immediately be returned to Logan.”

Requisition papers for Holt’s return were honored at the time by Governor Donahey but at the request of Miller’s attorneys West Virginia decided not to insist upon Holt’s immediate return, relying on the defense’s promise that he would be surrendered as soon as the trial was over.

“When Deputies Chafin and Belcher went to Pomeroy Tuesday they had in their possession the requisition papers issued at the time we instituted the original proceedings. They were signed by Governor Donahey on May 15. Neither of the two deputies expected any resistance but to their surprise they were met by a mob of 300 men who not only drove them out of town but pursued them across the river into West Virginia territory.

It would appear that there is something radically wrong with the state’s government that would permit a mob’s action to override its official decisions. The Pomeroy Band has become the refuge of scores of miners who took part in the uprising against Logan county. The entire section apparently is in sympathy with the band of radicals who fostered the march against the citizens of a peaceful county.

The temper of the mob which threatened the two Logan county deputies is seen in the fact that it was only by a miracle that the two officers escaped with their lives. “Let’s make it another Matewan affair” was their battle cry; and the reason that two more West Virginians did not meet death in Pomeroy as did Jim Swanner and Ed Reynolds is due to the courage and coolness of the two officers.

Holt was once in custody of the Logan county officers but was released on bail. Soon after his release he is said to have gone to the headquarters of the United Mine Workers at Charleston and then on the following day left for Pomeroy. It was on the next day that Swanner and Reynolds went to Pomeroy to offer Miller immunity if he would return to Logan county and testify for the state in the armed march cases.

Miller met the two men at the door of his home near Pomeroy and shot both of them to death, though neither of the Logan deputies were armed. Holt, it is said, was in the house at the time of the shooting.

Logan (WV) Banner, 10 August 1923

Sheriff Don Chafin Offers Resignation (1922)

28 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Coal, Logan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Appalachia, coal, deputy sheriff, Don Chafin, history, Logan, Logan Banner, Mine Wars, politics, sheriff, West Virginia

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history for Sheriff Don Chafin. The story is dated February 10, 1922:

REJECT SHERIFF’S RESIGNATION

Don Chafin Presents Same to the County Court But Would Not Be Accepted

ACTION OF SHERIFF DUE TO LACK OF COOPERATION

He Has Agreed to Serve Out Term of the Office After Urging of Court and Friends

Last week Don Chafin tendered to the county court his resignation as Sheriff of Logan county. The county court promptly rejected his resignation and Mr. Chafin was prevailed upon by his friends to let the matter drop and continue to serve the county in his official capacity.

The direct cause of his resignation was the lack of cooperation on the part of some of his deputies. To those who are unacquainted with the official duties of a Sheriff in Logan County the duties of the office might be considered one of ease and pleasure but to those who are initiated with the trials and tribulations of the position it is a well known fact that the life of a Sheriff in this county is anything but a bed of roses.

The Banner is directly opposed to the political policy of Don Chafin but it must be remembered that when Mr. Chafin offered himself as a candidate in the fall of 1920 for the office of Sheriff he was elected by an overwhelming majority in keeping with the choice as expressed by a majority of the citizens of the county. The Banner accepted the result and resolved to extend to the incoming Sheriff all the assistance within our power in fulfilling the duties of his office. Since that time we have had no occasion to regret our course. The previous term of Sheriff Chafin had satisfied us that the duties of the office would be fulfilled honestly and faithfully and the short time that he has served during the present term has justified our faith.

Logan county is in many respects far different from any other county in the state. We are in one sense of the word isolated from other sections of the state inasmuch as we are situated on a branch of a railway system with only one outlet. Consequently it is no easy matter for the mining operators in this field to secure labor. In their efforts to supply their mines with labor it is necessary for them to draw on the supply of raw labor of the larger cities. This brings into our midst an element of labor that is not always of the most lawful type but in many instances the men are of foreign  birth and of various races hence we are sometimes so unfortunate as to admit many men of criminal tendencies.

Not one tenth of the labor required in the various industries of the county are of native birth, the other 90 percent being men who have no interest here other than the wages they may receive. Thus if may be seen that it requires constant attention to duties by the authorities of the county to maintain the law and prevent crime. To do this not only requires courage but tact and diplomacy as well.

How faithfully Don Chafin has performed the duties of the office the world is well aware. When thousands of armed men had banded themselves together with the avowed intention of invading our peaceful county last fall it was he that said, “They shall not pass.” They did not pass. Don Chafin stood like a stone wall and while the army of angry men stormed at the gates of our county he firmly held his men on the defensive and saved our county from invasion. Ho well he performed this duty is attested by commendation from all parts of the nation and needs no repetition here.

This is the second term of Don Chafin as Sheriff of this county. The citizens to the county called him to serve. While the routine of his duties may prove most irksome and perplexing we trust that he may exercise the fullest measure of patience and continue to serve the citizens of Logan county during the remainder of his term. The Sheriff needs the cooperation not only of his official family but of every law abiding citizen of the county and we should be quick to express our appreciation of duties well performed by giving to him all the assistance within our power.

Armed March on Logan County, WV (1921)

21 Saturday Sep 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Battle of Blair Mountain, Boone County, Logan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

A.C. Rouse, A.R. Browning, Appalachia, Battle of Blair Mountain, Bill Blizzard, Blair Mountain, Charleston, crime, deputy sheriff, District No. 17, Don Chafin, Ferndale, Frank Keeney, George Munsy, H.M. Miller, history, Hubert Ferrell, J.E. Wilburn, J.L. Workman, John Gore, Lens Creek, Logan, Logan Banner, Madison, Marmet, merchant, Mine Wars, Mother Jones, Savoy Holt, sheriff, T.C. Townsend, United Mine Workers of America, Warren G. Harding, West Virginia

Here is one article from the Logan Banner relating to Bill Blizzard and the Armed March on Logan County, WV, popularly remembered today as the Battle of Blair Mountain:

Blizzard Gloated at Gore’s Death, Said

“That’s fine! What’s the matter you haven’t killed any others?” William Blizzard, mine workers’ officer, was quoted as saying after he heard of the death of Deputy Sheriff John Gore and two companions at the hands of a party of union miners, according to testimony Monday at Blizzard’s trial upon an accessory to murder indictment growing out of the armed march against Logan county in 1921. Blizzard is charged with having participated in the plans that caused the death of George Munsy, one of the Logan defenders killed with Gore.

Hubert Ferrell, of Ferndale, the witness who quoted Blizzard’s words, declared the mine workers’ office made the statement in a speech to the armed miners gathered at Blair on the afternoon of the day after they had returned from Blair mountain where the Logan “defenders” were killed.

“It don’t seem like it would take any  more nerve to kill Don Chafin (Logan county sheriff) and his thugs than it would a sheep-killing dog,” Ferrell testified Blizzard continued in his speech. “Right tomorrow I want you to fix up to go over the top. It don’t matter about losing a few men. I want you to go over to Logan and let the men out of jail and tear the thing down to the ground.”

Under cross-examination Ferrell added that Blizzard had told the men he wanted them to eat dinner the next day “on the jail house step.”

Ferrell, according to his testimony, failed in his first effort to visit the men who participated in the armed march when he was stopped by guards at the mouth of Lens Creek where the marchers first assembled. He denied that he had ever desired to join the march and said he went there only to see if there were any men there whom he knew. T.C. Townsend, one of the defense attorneys, cross-examined Ferrell vigorously upon that point. The witness said he was on his way to Charleston to buy clothing at the time. Later he said he went to Blair intending to go on to Logan and visit his half-brother, but was prevented by the armed men in Blair from either going on or returning and eventually returned home on a special train after federal troops took charge of the situation.

While he was at Marmet at the mouth of Lens Creek and unable to go farther up the creek because he could not give the guards the password and did not belong to a union, Ferrell said Fred Mooney, secretary treasurer of District No. 17, United Mine Workers, and a man who was said to be C. Frank Keeney, the district president, were there in an automobile. Mooney, the young man told the jury, asked the guards if any guns and ammunition had arrived and on being told he had none informed them that two truck loads had left Charleston. The man pointed out as Keeney told the men he did not believe they were sufficiently prepared and that they would do better to go home, “get prepared and then go over and get Don Chafin and his thugs.”

On the day before Gore and Munsy were killed, Ferrell said Blizzard also made a speech from the porch of the school house that served as base for the armed forces on the union side at the mountain and asked what was the matter that they were not having more success and told them they ought to go over and “get Chafin and the thugs and get it over with.”

Mrs. J.E. Wilburn, wife of the miner-preacher who was one of the principal witnesses for the state now serving a sentence of 12 years for his part in the killings on Blair mountain, testified that guns and ammunition were stored in the parlor of their home. She did not know Blizzard, she said, but men who took the arms into the house said Blizzard had brought them, she testified.

A.R. Browning, a merchant at Blair, told the court that members of the armed forces there got merchandise at his store and told him to charge it to the United Mine Workers of America. The things they got, he said, included shoes, overalls, and other clothing and also some women’s clothing, which he thought, they got for their wives and daughters.

H.M. Miller, a constable at Madison, said that just before Keeney made a speech at the ball park near there which he counselled the marchers to return to their homes, he had a conversation with the union president in which Keeney said that “if the federal troops would keep out he would take these men and go through Logan with them.”

Earlier in the day, J.L. Workman and A.C. Rouse of Marmet had testified as to the occurrence during the assembling of the men on Lens Creek. Workman told of “Mother” Jones’ efforts to get the men to go back to their homes and her declaration that she had a telegram from the President of the United States, which he said Keeney called a “fake.” Later that day both Workman and Rouse said Savoy Holt in a speech from the running board of an automobile said the union officials were their but could not address the men and that he had been instructed to tell them that the telegram was not genuine and that they were to “go on.” Rouse said Keeney and Mooney were in this automobile and that Blizzard was in another nearby. A man he did not know spoke from the running board of the automobile in which Blizzard was riding, telling the men to go on, and Blizzard’s car drove up Lens Creek followed by the armed hordes.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 6 July 1923

Trial of Don Chafin, the “Fighting Sheriff of Logan County” (1924)

05 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in African American History, Huntington, Logan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

A.S. Christian, Appalachia, Barnabus, Blue Goose, crime, deputy sheriff, Don Chafin, Elliott Northcott, Emmett Scaggs, F.C. Leftwich, Frank Lewis, George W. McClintic, H.S. Walker, history, Huntington, John Browning, John Chafin, John S. Marcum, John T. Gore, Logan Banner, Logan County, Mallory, Mine Wars, Prohibition, sheriff, Simp Thompson, Superintendent of Schools, Tennis Hatfield, Volstead Act, W.F. Farley, Walter Wright, West Virginia, William Avis, William Dingess

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about the trial of Sheriff Don Chafin, dated September 26, 1924:

Trial of Don Chafin Set For Monday, October 6

Logan’s Sheriff Will Answer to Charges of Alleged Violation of Volstead Act.

Trial of Don Chafin, fighting sheriff of Logan county and a figure of national prominence, indicted by the grand jury in federal court on two counts, one charging conspiracy to violate the Volstead act and the other engaging unlawfully in the retail liquor business, will come up before Judge George W. McClintic, in United States Court at Huntington Monday October 6.

The same day was fixed by the court for the trial of John T. Gore, a deputy sheriff, and H.S. Walker, who were indicted jointly for alleged conspiracy to secure the arrest and conviction of one Frank Lewis, a negro, on a pistol toting charge because he had been a witness against another negro charged with violating the prohibition law.

Sheriff Don Chafin and Gore were given their release under bond of $5,000 each, but the court declined to admit Walker to bail, and he was remanded to the county jail, and held without bail until Wednesday at which time he was released under [error here in layout] mitted to jail Friday afternoon, after bond of $5,000. The last named was arrested and committed to jail last Friday afternoon, after he was alleged to have administered a severe whipping to William Avis, a witness before the grand jury. The alleged assault was said to have occurred when Avis returned to Logan from Huntington Tuesday.

The court at the same time continued the cases of five other Logan county officials indicted along with Sheriff Chafin, Gore, and Walker to the March term in Huntington [error in layout] in each of these cases the defendant obtained release under $3,000. They were: Emmett Scaggs, now county superintendent of schools in Logan, and the democratic nominee for sheriff, indicted for alleged illicit possession of liquor; Simp Thompson, a deputy sheriff under Chafin, indicted on a charge of alleging that for a $200 consideration he released Walter Wright, in whose possession a still and quantity of moonshine had been found; John Chafin, a relative of the sheriff and a deputy under him, indicted on a charge of having had liquor at the polls at Mallory, Logan county during the conduct of a national election; William Dingess, a deputy sheriff, indicted on a charge of selling liquor; and John Browning, a deputy sheriff, indicted for alleged possession of whisky in the basement of the court house at Logan.

Indicted jointly with Dingess on a charge of selling moonshine was Garfield Maynard. He did not appear for arraignment with the rest of the accused and the court ordered a capias issued for him.

Appearing in court with the famed fighting sheriff of Logan and the rest of the indicted persons were Colonel John S. Marcum and Judge F.C. Leftwich, engaged as defense counsel for the entire group. The formalities were brief and required but a comparatively short time of transaction. After furnishing their bonds the accused, with their bondsmen, who included W.F. Farley and A.S. Christian, left the court chamber in a body, accompanied by their counsel.

The indictments against the Logan officials were returned by the federal grand jury Friday morning, coming as the outgrowth of an exhaustive investigation of affairs in Logan county which  the government, it was said, has been conducting here for the past six months or more. According to reports, as many as 20 agents of the department of justice were at work in Logan at one time.

Tennis Hatfield, Republican nominee for the office of sheriff of Logan county, who served a jail term of eleven months and paid a fine of $1,000 for violating the prohibition law, was understood to have been the principal witness against Sheriff Don Chafin before the grand jury.

According to statements emanating from the office of United States District Attorney Elliott Northcott, Hatfield offered testimony to the effect that Chafin was his partner in the ownership and promotion of the notorious speakeasy once conducted at Barnabus in Logan county. This establishment, known as the Blue Goose, flourished from 1914 to late in 1922, when federal men closed up the place.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 26 September 1924

State v. Elias Hatfield (1877-1878)

14 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Appalachia, assault and battery, C. McDonald, circuit clerk, crime, David Thomas, deputy sheriff, Elias Hatfield, genealogy, history, J.A. Peck, James Hatfield, John Chafin, Logan County, M.B. Lawson, Mingo County, sheriff, Thomas Johnson, West Virginia

123456789

← Older posts

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?

Categories

  • Adkins Mill
  • African American History
  • American Revolutionary War
  • Ashland
  • Atenville
  • Banco
  • Barboursville
  • Battle of Blair Mountain
  • Beech Creek
  • Big Creek
  • Big Harts Creek
  • Big Sandy Valley
  • Big Ugly Creek
  • Boone County
  • Breeden
  • Calhoun County
  • Cemeteries
  • Chapmanville
  • Civil War
  • Clay County
  • Clothier
  • Coal
  • Cove Gap
  • Crawley Creek
  • Culture of Honor
  • Dingess
  • Dollie
  • Dunlow
  • East Lynn
  • Ed Haley
  • Eden Park
  • Enslow
  • Estep
  • Ferrellsburg
  • Fourteen
  • French-Eversole Feud
  • Gilbert
  • Giles County
  • Gill
  • Green Shoal
  • Guyandotte River
  • Halcyon
  • Hamlin
  • Harts
  • Hatfield-McCoy Feud
  • Holden
  • Hungarian-American History
  • Huntington
  • Inez
  • Irish-Americans
  • Italian American History
  • Jamboree
  • Jewish History
  • John Hartford
  • Kermit
  • Kiahsville
  • Kitchen
  • Leet
  • Lincoln County Feud
  • Little Harts Creek
  • Logan
  • Man
  • Matewan
  • Meador
  • Midkiff
  • Monroe County
  • Montgomery County
  • Music
  • Native American History
  • Pearl Adkins Diary
  • Pecks Mill
  • Peter Creek
  • Pikeville
  • Pilgrim
  • Poetry
  • Queens Ridge
  • Ranger
  • Rector
  • Roane County
  • Rowan County Feud
  • Salt Rock
  • Sand Creek
  • Shively
  • Spears
  • Sports
  • Spottswood
  • Spurlockville
  • Stiltner
  • Stone Branch
  • Tazewell County
  • Timber
  • Tom Dula
  • Toney
  • Turner-Howard Feud
  • Twelve Pole Creek
  • Uncategorized
  • Warren
  • Wayne
  • West Hamlin
  • Wewanta
  • Wharncliffe
  • Whirlwind
  • Williamson
  • Women's History
  • World War I
  • Wyoming County
  • Yantus

Feud Poll 2

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

Blogroll

  • Ancestry.com
  • Ashland (KY) Daily Independent News Article
  • Author FB page
  • Beckley (WV) Register-Herald News Article
  • Big Sandy News (KY) News Article
  • Blood in West Virginia FB
  • Blood in West Virginia order
  • Chapters TV Program
  • Facebook
  • Ghosts of Guyan
  • Herald-Dispatch News Article 1
  • Herald-Dispatch News Article 2
  • In Search of Ed Haley
  • Instagram
  • Lincoln (WV) Journal News Article
  • Lincoln (WV) Journal Thumbs Up
  • Lincoln County
  • Lincoln County Feud
  • Lincoln County Feud Lecture
  • LinkedIn
  • Logan (WV) Banner News Article
  • Lunch With Books
  • Our Overmountain Men: The Revolutionary War in Western Virginia (1775-1783)
  • Pinterest
  • Scarborough Society's Art and Lecture Series
  • Smithsonian Article
  • Spirit of Jefferson News Article
  • The Friendly Neighbor Radio Show 1
  • The Friendly Neighbor Radio Show 2
  • The Friendly Neighbor Radio Show 3
  • The Friendly Neighbor Radio Show 4
  • The New Yorker
  • The State Journal's 55 Good Things About WV
  • tumblr.
  • Twitter
  • Website
  • Weirton (WV) Daily Times Article
  • Wheeling (WV) Intelligencer News Article 1
  • Wheeling (WV) Intelligencer News Article 2
  • WOWK TV
  • Writers Can Read Open Mic Night

Feud Poll 3

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

Recent Posts

  • Aracoma Hotel in Logan, WV (1933)
  • James Butcher Survey (1857)
  • Don Chafin’s Deputies (1912-1913)

Ed Haley Poll 1

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

Top Posts & Pages

  • Johnson Hatfield v. Nancy L. Hatfield (1890)
  • Josiah Marcum v. Anderson Hatfield (1878)
  • Baisden Family Troubles
  • Anderson Hatfield Statue (1922)
  • John Gore grave (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.

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • February 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,733 other followers

Tags

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

Blogs I Follow

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

BLOOD IN WEST VIRGINIA is now available for order at Amazon!

Blog at WordPress.com.

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

  • Follow Following
    • Brandon Ray Kirk
    • Join 2,733 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Brandon Ray Kirk
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...