Tag Archives: Guyan Valley Bank

John B. Wilkinson of Logan, WV (1928)

05 Monday Dec 2022

Posted by in Logan, Wayne

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From West Virginians, published by the West Virginia Biographical Association in 1928, comes this profile of Judge John B. Wilkinson of Logan, WV:

The Honorable John B. Wilkinson, who died August 12, 1919, at Logan, where he had long been a foremost citizen, held rank among the best known and most successful lawyers and jurists in West Virginia. In business likewise Judge Wilkinson enjoyed a distinguished success. One of the leaders in the early development of the coal industry in the Guyan Valley, his position at the time of his death was among the great figures in business and industry. He was treasurer of the Guyan Coal Company, the Mona Coal Company, the Robertson Consolidated Land Company and the Alderson-Wilkinson Land Company. He was president of the Big Huff Coal Company and a director of the Robertson Grocery Company. He was originally a director of the Guyan Valley Bank, but later disposed of his holdings in that institution. Throughout the state at large, however, his fame was earned chiefly by his work as a jurist. During twelve years on the bench of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, he was noted for his fairness, accuracy and knowledge of the law. The press of the whole state reported his passing at great length and with sincere regret that so valuable a personality had been lost to the community. Judge Wilkinson was born in Logan County, W.Va., February 13, 1860, the son of David Wilkinson, who had come from Carroll County, Va. He lived on a farm and attended school in that part of Logan County which afterward became Mingo County, coming to the then village of Logan Court House to attend a teachers’ institute and take an examination for a teacher’s certificate. He taught two or three local normal schools here and at Wayne. His legal career began in 1882, when he was admitted to the bar. He continued in the legal profession until his death in 1919. In 1884 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Logan County, which office he filled continuously till 1896. After an interval of four years he again assumed that office, in 1900, and served till January 1, 1905. Having been elected Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, he resigned as prosecutor and took his place on the circuit bench on the first of January, 1905, and remained as judge until failing health induced him to resign twelve years later. Several times Judge Wilkinson was urged to become his party’s candidate for Governor of the State, although he preferred not to accept that honor. In the summer of 1916 he was nominated for Judge of the Supreme Court of West Virginia. After leaving the office of circuit judge, the condition of his health inclined him to give up the practice of law and close his office, but many friends had learned to depend on him for legal counsel, and at their urging he continued in active practice until his death. Judge Wilkinson was married, September 21, 1882, to Mary Belle Straton of Logan, who survives him with their four children, John B., Jr., who resides at Ashburn, Va.; Ernest Eugene, of Cincinnati; Mrs. Mona Russo, of San Diego, Calif.; and Mrs. Margaret Midyette, of Hollywood, Calif. Judge Wilkinson was for a long time a member of the First Baptist Church of Logan, and a member of its board of deacons. He was a member of the Masonic Orders—the Knights Templar and the Mystic Shrine. Hundreds of people in West Virginia and neighboring states, although not personally acquainted with Judge Wilkinson, knew of his work as a jurist and his renown as a civic leader in general, so that at the time of his death, his passing elicited the sincere feeling that the state had lost one of its best and most constructive citizens.

Former Sheriff Sidney B. Robertson Obituary (1923)

09 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by in Huntington, Logan

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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.

Old Records Found in Bank Vault (1936)

27 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by in Big Sandy Valley, Guyandotte River, Hamlin, Huntington, Logan

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Old Peter Dingess Deed LB 08.19.1936 7

320,000 Acres of Land Hereabouts Sold for Five Shillings According to Old Records Found in Old Vault

H.M. Booth, in cleaning out the vault of the old Guyan Valley Bank preparatory to moving his offices from Logan to Hamlin, uncovered a number of old documents that dated back to the time when “horse and buggy days” were a fact and not merely a political equation.

Many of these old papers, including deeds, receipts, account books and other papers of a semi-personal nature, are originals, while others are notarized copies of originals. They make interesting reading in these days of speed, radios, high prices and typewriters.

The old documents were all hand written, in clear, flowing script, the capital letters often decorated with fancy scrolls and shaded lines. Many of them were written with a quill pen.

Of particular interest is one deed, 12 ½ by 15 ½ inches, written on sheepskin. The ink has not faded, and although the skin is old and discolored, the deed is easily read. It was made in the days when Logan county was unheard of, and all this vicinity was part of Cabell county, Virginia. It seems strange, now, to think of a governor in Richmond, Virginia, parceling out land in Logan county.

The deed reads, in part: “James Barbour, Esq., Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia: To all whom these presents shall come, Greeting: Know ye, that by virtue of a Land office Treasury warrant, No. 6126, upon the 9th day of Sept. 1780, there is granted by the said Commonwealth unto Peter Dingess, a certain Tract or Parcel of Land, containing one hundred and twelve acres, by survey, bearing date the 31st day of March, 1813, situate in the County of Cabell, joining to his own deeded land, and bounded as followeth, to-wit:”

Then follows a detailed description of the boundaries of the land, in which prominent trees and landmarks play a common part. After the description of the land, which was written in pen and ink, came the regular printed form as follows:

“In witness whereof, the said James Barbour, Esq., Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, hath hereunto set his Hand, and caused the Seal of the said Commonwealth to be affixed at Richmond, on the twenty-fifth day of October, in the Year of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and fourteen, and of the Commonwealth the thirty-ninth.”

Down in the lower right hand corner of the paper can be plainly seen the signature of James Barbour, governor of Virginia at that time.

A notarized copy of another land deed was signed by Robert Brooke, Governor of Virginia in 1795, and was dated March 23 of that year. It deeded through the Land Office treasury warrants numbered from 472 to 530, inclusive, a parcel of land containing 480,000 acres, “by a survey made the 10th of September, 1794.” The land was described as being in the county of Wythe, on the Tug and Guyandotte rivers. This grant of land was known as the “Robert Morris Grant.”

Evidently, from the records, Robert Morris became involved in difficulties, for after a considerable amount of legal red tape, all duly recorded, there is a document showing where “Robert Morris and Mary, his wife, of Philadelphia, sell to William Crammond of Philadelphia as well for and in consideration of the sum of five shillings lawful money of Pennsylvania to them well and truly paid do grant bargain and sell, alien and enteoff release and confirm to the purchased 320,000 acres of land in the counties of Wythe and Russell, lying on both sides of Sandy Creek.”

Among the records of accounts paid found by Mr. Booth were numerous fees paid out for “boating freight from Huntington.” Six dollars and fifty cents is entered “for a suit of clothes,” and another entry shows where four dollars and a half were paid for two pair of shoes.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 19 August 1936

Jane Dingess Estate (1909)

06 Tuesday Jun 2017

Posted by in Chapmanville

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Jane R. (Adams) Dingess, the daughter of John Washington and Mary “Polly” (Hall) Adams and wife of Peter C. “Coffee Pete” Dingess, was born in June of 1830 and died in the fall of 1909. What follows are excerpts from her estate settlement:

The bill of complaint of Martha A. Fowler and John Dingess, Allen Dingess, Josephine Adkins and Linnie Mitchell, by Ward Mitchell, their next friend, plaintiffs, against Lewis W. Dingess, John S. Dingess, David Dingess, Mary Scaggs, Ada Scaggs, Minnie Ferrell and J.W. Chambers, Sheriff of Logan County, and as such Administrator of the personal estate of Jane Dingess, deceased, defendants, filed in the Circuit Court of Logan County, West Virginia.

The above named plaintiffs complain and say that sometime early in the Fall of 1909, Jane Dingess, their ancestor, departed this life intestate, leaving as her children and heirs-at-law, her surviving, the plaintiff, Martha A. Fowler, and her co-plaintiffs, John Dingess, Allen Dingess, Josephine Adkins and Linnie Mitchell, the latter four minors under twenty-one years of age, children and heirs at law of Calvin Dingess, deceased, a brother of the said Martha A. Fowler, and defendants, Lewis W. Dingess, David Dingess, John S. Dingess, Mary Scaggs, Ada Scaggs, and Minnie Ferrell; that the said Jane Dingess was the owner in fee simple of one undivided one-eighth interest of a certain tract of land, situated on Crawley’s creek in said Logan County, which tract of land was decreed to be sold in the lifetime of said Jane Dingess, in a partition suit brought by the heirs-at-law of  a deceased child of the said Jane Dingess, who died intestate without issue, leaving her said brothers and sisters and her mother, the said Jane Dingess, as her heirs-at-law, her surviving, but the said land has not yet been sold; and the said Jane Dingess was also the owner in fee simple at the time of her death, of about $2200.00 cash, and the following other personal property: one mare and a colt; one yearling and a calf; five milk-cows; five hogs; twenty-five geese; fifty chickens; four bedsteads and bedding for same, including pillows and bed-clothing; household and kitchen furniture, the latter worth about $100.00; and as plaintiffs are informed several other articles used in farming and housekeeping, worth in aggregate, not including the cash, at least $800.00.

Plaintiffs further say that they are credibly informed, believe and here charge as true, that immediately after the death of the said Jane Dingess, even on the night of her death before she was laid out preparatory for burial, the defendant Lewis W. Dingess and David Dingess colluded, combined and confederated together for the express purpose of cheating, defeating and defrauding the other heirs of the said Jane Dingess, deceased, out of their just portions of the said money and other effects of the estate of the said Jane Dingess and that in pursuance of the said fraudulent combination and scheme, the said Lewis W. Dingess and David Dingess, did hunt up, procure and take into their possession all the money of their dead mother, for the express purpose of converting the same to their own use, and that a short time afterwards, on the same night, as plaintiffs are informed, the defendant, Mary Scaggs, caught onto the said scheme, or received information in some way of the intention of the said Lewis W. Dingess and David Dingess, of converting said money to their own use; and the said Lewis W. Dingess and David Dingess, being aware of such knowledge of their said sister, Mary Scaggs, as a matter of caution and policy on their part, they took the said Mary Scaggs into their said scheme and did then and there give her, the said Mary Scaggs, $500.00, of the said money, and then the said Lewis W. Dingess and David Dingess, then and there divided the residue thereof, which was $1700.00 equally between them.

Plaintiffs are informed, believe and here charge as true, that with the consent of the said Lewis W. Dingess, the said David Dingess, deposited the whole of said money, after deducting the part they gave to Mary Scaggs, in the Guyan Valley Bank, at Logan, West Virginia, in the individual name of the said David Dingess, and as plaintiffs are informed, the said Bank refused to give information relating to the same.

Plaintiffs further say that they are informed, believe and here charge as true that the said Jane Dingess, at the time of her death, did not owe anything to anyone, and they are advised it is right and proper that the estate of their said ancestor be settled up and that the property be sold, and the proceeds thereof, as well as the said $2200.00 in cash, be divided among the heirs-at-law of the said Jane Dingess, deceased.

NOTE: Defendants Lewis W. Dingess, David Dingess, and Mary Scaggs denied all charges against them.

***

It was this day suggested to the Court that the Defendant, David C. Dingess, has become demented and is now at Huntington, West Virginia, in the care and custody of the West Virginia Insane Asylum, and that he became insane about the 1st day of January, 1911; therefore on motion of the Defendants, by their attorney, Lewis W. Dingess is hereby appointed as a committee for the said David C. Dingess, and thereupon the said Lewis W. Dingess this day filed an answer as committee for the said David C. Dingess, to which the plaintiffs generally reply.

NOTE: David Dingess died in January of 1921 without issue.

***

Jane Adams Personal Estate and Real Estate (January 12, 1911):

Cash belonging to Jane Dingess at the time of her death now deposited in the Guyan Valley Bank on certificate of deposit in the name of David Dingess, $93.00

The following household goods valued as follows:

1 feather bed, $10.00

1 feather bed, $3.00

2 pillows, $1.00

1 quilt and 1 sheet, $1.50

1 bedstead, $4.00

7 old quilts, $3.00

3 pillows, $1.50

2 straw ticks, $1.00

1 feather bed, $6.00

1 feather bed, $6.00

1 straw tick, $1.00

1 quilt, $1.50

7 old quilts, $3.50

4 old quilts, $5.00

2 blankets, $1.50

1 bunch old carpet, $2.00

1 feather bed, $6.00

4 quilts, $5.00

2 pillows, $1.00

1 sheet, $0.50

1 desk, $1.50

1 falling leaf table, $0.50

1 pot table, $0.25

1 Goble, $0.50

1 cupboard, $0.50

Dishes, $2.00

1 old stove and vessels, $2.50

Total: $71.75

Jane Dingess was the owner of an undivided one-ninth interest in and to a tract of 74 2/10 acres of land surface, situate on Crawley’s Creek, and being the same inherited by her from her deceased daughter, Chloe Dingess. This land is to be sold.

Said decedent had no creditors.

***

Source: Martha A. Fowler, et als. v. Lewis W. Dingess, et als. (1910), Logan County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV.