Tag Archives: Harry S. Gay

Don Chafin’s Deputies (1912-1914)

28 Thursday Apr 2022

Posted by in Logan

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

Don Chafin was elected sheriff on November 5, 1912 and appeared on December 28, 1912 with his bondsman U.B. Buskirk for $40,000 (p. 215)

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

Garland A. Adams…28 January 1913…J.W. Chambers…$5000…236

Joe Adams…14 October 1913…G.F. Gore, A. Dingess, David C. Dingess, Anthony Adams, Sol Adams, Sr., and Sol Adams, Jr….$5000…297

John Barker…5 February 1913…F.P. Hurst…$5000…241

J.E. Barlow…26 April 1913…S.B. Lawson…$5000…268

Joe Blair…28 December 1912…J.W. Chambers and Allen Mounts…$5000…224

Bert Bush…6 January 1913…Monroe Bush…$5000…230

John L. Butcher…28 December 1912…Lewis Butcher, J.W. Chambers, Albert Gore…$5000…221

J.A. Chafin…20 June 1913…J.W. Chambers and A.A. Vance…$5000…275

John Chafins…31 January 1913…H.H. Farley and A.J. Browning…$5000…240

Nim Conley…18 July 1913…Ed Chapman and W.W. Conley…$5000…281

R.J. Conley…25 March 1913…Albert Gore…$5000…252

A.J. Dalton…26 December 1913…Fidelity and Deposit Company of MD…$5000…315

Riley Damron…5 July 1913…Millard Elkins and J.E. McCoy…$5000…278

David Dingess…3 April 1913…J.W. Chambers and George Justice…$5000…254

Everett Dingess…10 November 1913…John F. Dingess and Burl Adams…$5000…304

Vincent Dingess…7 July 1913…Georgia Dingess, William Gore, and Albert Gore…$5000…279

Ed Eggers…21 April 1913…Paul Hardy…$5000…264

Joseph A. Ellis…30 January 1913…O.M. Conley…$5000…239

R.H. Ellis…undated…Elizabeth Ellis…$5000…233

H.H. Farley…29 January 1913…L.E. Steele…$5000…237

W.F. Farley…28 December 1912…Robert Bland…$5000…223

William Farley…13 January 1914…Wash Farley, A. Dingess, Lewis Farley, G.B. Farley…$5000…319

Harry S. Gay, Jr….15 October 1913…S.B. Lawson…$5000…299

Albert Gore…28 December 1912…J.W. Chambers, G.F. Gore, Millard Elkins…$5000…222

Guy F. Gore…31 July 1913…Albert Gore and William Gore…$5000…286

Joe Hall…23 April 1913…C.P. Donovan, Paul Hardy…$5000…267

A.A. Hamilton…14 June 1913…A.A. Hamilton…$5000…273

Paul Hardy…20 February 1913…W.F. Farley…$5000…244

John Harrison…19 April 1913…J.S. Miller, M. Elkins, W.E. White, and James Ellis…$5000…262

E.R. Hatfield…6 January 1914…$5000…H.H. Farley…316

Tennis Hatfield…14 June 1915…James Ellis and Lewis Chafin…$5000…396

William Hatfield…28 December 1912…J.S. Miller and George Justice…$5000…229

J.O. Hill…17 April 1913…Katie Mounts…$5000…261

B.J. Hiner…23 April 1913…C.P. Donovan and Paul Hardy…$5000…266

Mat Jackson…13 October 1913…Albert Gore, Van Mullins, G.F. Gore, and David C. Dingess…$5000…296

S.B. Lawson…12 April 1913…J.W. Chambers…$5000…256

G.W. Lax…21 April 1913…Paul Hardy…$5000…263

Harrison Lowe…5 March 1914…no surety [blank]…$5000…326

Allen Mounts…226

Cecil Mounts…11 June 1913…Allen Mounts…$5000…272

K.F. Mounts…28 December 1912…Allen Mounts…$5000…225

John D. Neece…21 March 1914…W.E. White, R.H. Ellis, and J.S. Miller…$5000…330

George Robinett…17 July 1913…George Justice…$5000…284

Joe Scaggs…231

F.A. Sharp…28 December 1912…W.F. Farley and L.G. Burns…$5000…217

Clark Smith…22 December 1913…Mary Chafin…$5000…313

L.E. Steele…29 January 1913…H.H. Farley…$5000…238

Noah Steele…6 September 1913…L.E. Steele, Jr….$5000…290

Charley Stollings…21 July 1913…Matilda Stollings, Tom Butcher, Bettie Stollings, W.I. Campbell, and Milton Stowers…$5000…283

T.B. Stowe…13 January 1913…Martha J. Stowe…$5000…234

Elias Thompson…16 April 1913…W.I. Campbell and K.F. Mounts…$5000…258

George E. Thompson…17 April 1913…A.F. Gore and Willis Gore…$5000…260

C.A. Vickers…12 January 1914…L.D. Perry and F.D. Stollings…$5000…318

Moses Williamson…29 April 1913…L.H. Thompson…$5000…270

Clay Workman…28 December 1912…S.B. Lawson…$5000…228

This list will be updated soon to include more names.

Early Coal Mines in Logan County, WV

01 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by in Battle of Blair Mountain, Big Creek, Boone County, Coal, Holden, Logan, Stone Branch

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What follows are brief notes from a forgotten source regarding early coal mines in Logan County, WV. Each of these companies and their communities have storied histories.

Gay Coal and Coke (organized in 1903)

Soon after 1900, Harry S. Gay, a mining engineer, came from Shamokin, PA, to observe the Logan coal fields. He stayed at the Buskirk Hotel. With money from friends A.D. and G.W. Robertson, he leased 800 acres from Moses Mounts of the Mounts-White Fisher Company for $20,000. G.W. Robertson was president of Gay Coal and Coke, while Gay was its secretary-treasurer. The company opened the Number One mine in the spring of 1903.

Monitor Coal Company (organized in 1904)

Monitor Coal Co. was organized in 1904 on the land of John B. Wilkinson. The accompanying town was named Wilkinson. Monitor merged with Yuma Coal and Coke Co. in 1935. In 1942, Wilkinson consisted of 166 company-owned houses. The mines eventually played out and real estate was sold through Monclo Corporation.

In 1905, seven coal companies existed in Logan County: Big Creek, Cora, Draper, Gay, Monitor, Stone Branch, and U.S. Coal and Oil Co. (Island Creek).

Island Creek Coal

Island Creek Coal also came to Logan during that time and created Holden. About 1902, William H. Coolidge and Albert F. Holden bought land from Vicie Nighbert. In early 1905, they established Island Creek Coal Sales Co. Holden was built by 1912.

Yuma Coal and Coke Company

Organized in 1905 by the same Pennsylvania interests behind Monitor Coal and Coke Co., Yuma Coal merged with Monitor in 1935.

In 1910, seventeen coal companies existed in Logan County.

Boone County Coal Company (organized in 1911)

Organized in 1911, the Boone County Coal Co. was headquartered at Clothier. William J. Clothier served as its first president. Its buildings burned and new buildings were erected at Sharples. The company held 30,000 acres just above Madison and about 2000 of it came into Logan to the top of Blair Mountain. The company had stores at Clothier, Sharples, Monclo, and Dobra.

Amherst Coal Company

In 1911, George M. Jones and his brother Herbert became interested in the Logan field. They leased 1300 acres on Buffalo Creek and organized Amherst Coal Company in January of 1912. In 1916, the company purchased the Virginia-Buffalo Company and the Huddleston Coal Company. It later purchased Buffalo Creek Coal and Coke Company.

Main Island Creek

In 1913, John Laing leased 30,000 acres in Omar from Cole and Crane Company of Peru, Illinois. Mr. Laing was the first president of the company. Later, West Virginia Coal and Coke, the Omar Mining Company, and Wheeling-Pittsburgh Coal Company mined this land.

In 1913, the Guyan Valley Coal Operators Association organized. In 1918, it became known as the Logan County Coal Operators Association. (For more on the association, follow this link: http://www.wvculture.org/history/ms90-82.html.)

In 1920, over seventy coal companies existed in Logan County (most were small and few survived).

By 1960, there were about fifty coal companies in Logan County; four coal companies accounted for about eighty percent of production. The four companies were Island Creek, Amherst, Omar, and Princess.