Tags
Appalachia, architecture, Bessie Adkins, Harts, Herb Adkins, history, Lincoln County, merchant, West Virginia
Herb and Bessie Adkins Home in Harts, WV
30 Monday May 2022
Posted in Harts
Tag Archives: history
Aracoma Hotel in Logan, WV (1933)
01 Sunday May 2022
Posted in Logan
Tags
Aracoma Hotel, Dick Arters, E.D. Arters, E.W. Oakley, Faymont, history, Huntington, Island Creek Coal Company, Jefferson Hotel, Logan, Logan County, Mike Ghiz, Monitor Coal and Coke Corporation, Montgomery, W.L. Davis, West Virginia
From the Logan Banner comes this bit of history for the Aracoma Hotel dated March 17, 1933:
Arters Brothers Lease Aracoma Hotel Property
Starting April 1st W.L. Davis and Dick Arters, of this city, and E.D. Arters of Huntington will operate the Aracoma Hotel. They have leased the hotel from the Ghiz estate, Mike Ghiz having been manager for the past six months. Dick Arters has been Mr. Ghiz’ assistant.
The Arters brothers are hotel men known the state over. At one time they operated the Faymont in Montgomery, and E.D. Arters was manager of the old Jefferson in Logan, when Dick Arters served in the capacity of assistant manager. The Arters and Mr. Davis have hosts of friends among the traveling public, as well as locally, who will be interested in this announcement. Mr. Davis, now with the Pioneer, used to be at the Aracoma and Mr. Arters has been on the same force. At the present time E.D. Arters is with the Huntington Hotel in Huntington, where he has managed the Farr.
Mr. Davis has lived in this county since 1914. He was superintendent of the Island Creek Coal Company for ten years, and has also been superintendent of the Monitor Coal and Coke Corporation. He became interested in the hotel business several years back. Mr. Davis when interviewed today, in behalf of the new management, said they planned on renovating the Aracoma as soon as they can take charge, give their particular attention to social gatherings, for which the hotel is an ideal place, and further stated that Mrs. E.W. Oakley would remain in charge of the dining room.
James Butcher Survey (1857)
01 Sunday May 2022
Posted in Big Harts Creek
Tags
Appalachia, Big Harts Creek, genealogy, history, James Butcher, James Lawson, Josephus Workman, Logan County, Shannon Butcher, Smokehouse Fork, surveyor, Virginia, West Virginia, William A. Dingess
Don Chafin’s Deputies (1912-1915)
28 Thursday Apr 2022
Tags
A.A. Hamilton, A.A. Vance, A.J. Browning, A.J. Dalton, Albert Dingess, Albert Gore, Allen Mounts, America Justice, American Surety Company of NY, Anthony Adams, Appalachia, Art Chambers, B.J. Hiner, Bert Bush, Bettie Stollings, Burl Adams, C.A. Vickers, C.P. Donovan, Charles H. Miller, Charley Conley, Charley Stollings, Clark Smith, Clay Workman, Cush Avis, D.V. Wickline, David C. Dingess, David Dingess, Don Chafin, Dump Farley, E.R. Hatfield, Ed Chapman, Ed Eggers, Elias Thompson, Elizabeth Ellis, Everett Dingess, F.A. Sharp, F.D. Stollings, Frank Hurst, Frank Justice, Fred Midelburg, G.W. Lax, Garland Adams, genealogy, George Butcher, George Chafin, George E. Thompson, George Justice, George Robinette, Georgia Dingess, Guy F. Gore, H.H. Farley, Harrison Lowe, Harry S. Gay, history, J.E. Barlow, J.E. McCoy, J.H. Ford, J.L. Chambers, J.M. Moore, J.O. Hill, J.S. Miller, J.W. Chambers, James Ellis, James Toney, Joe Adams, Joe Blair, Joe Hall, Joe Scaggs, John Barker, John Chafin, John D. Browning, John D. Neece, John F. Dingess, John Harrison, John L. Butcher, Joseph A. Ellis, K.F. Mounts, Katie Mounts, L.D. Perry, L.E. Steele, L.G. Burns, L.H. Thompson, Lewis Butcher, Lewis Chafin, Lewis Farley, Logan County, Martha J. Stowe, Mary Chafin, Mat Jackson, Matilda Stollings, Millard Elkins, Milton Stowers, Monroe Bush, Moses Williamson, Nim Conley, Noah Steele, O.M. Conley, P.J. Riley, Paul Hardy, R.H. Ellis, R.J. Conley, Riley Damron, Robert Bland, sheriff, Sidney B. Lawson, Sol Adams, T.B. Stowe, Taylor Walsh, Tennis Hatfield, Tom Butcher, U.B. Buskirk, Van Mullins, Vincent Dingess, W.E. White, W.F. Farley, W.I. Campbell, W.W. Conley, Wash Farley, West Virginia, William Farley, William Gore, William Hatfield, William White, Willis Gore
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
John D. Browning…1 July 1914…Fidelity and Deposit Company…$5000…345
Bert Bush…6 January 1913…Monroe Bush…$5000…230
John L. Butcher…28 December 1912…Lewis Butcher, J.W. Chambers, Albert Gore…$5000…221
George Chafin…12 July 1915…James Toney…$5000…402
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
Art Chambers…25 July 1914…Cush Avis, J.L. Chambers…$5000…349
Charley Conley…18 June 1914…George Butcher, Ed Chapman, William White…$5000…342
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
J.H. Ford…16 May 1914…P.J. Riley…$5000…336
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
William Gore…31 December 1914…W.E. White, James Ellis…$5000…377
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
Frank Justice…8 July 1914…America Justice…$5000…346
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
F. Middleburg…16 May 1914…D.V. Wickline…$5000…337
Charles H. Miller…25 November 1914…Don Chafin, W.E. White…368
J.M. Moore…14 May 1915…American Surety Company of NY…$5000…391
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
Taylor Walsh…28 July 1914…W.E. White, Albert Gore…$5000…350
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.
J. Lee Ferguson: Pike County Attorney
28 Thursday Apr 2022
Posted in Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Pikeville
Tags
Appalachia, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, J. Lee Ferguson, Kentucky, Pike County, prosecuting attorney
Orville McCoy Recalls “Squirrel Huntin'” Sam McCoy (1990)
22 Friday Apr 2022
Posted in Hatfield-McCoy Feud
Tags
America Goff, Appalachia, California, Collins Cemetery, Frozen Creek, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Kansas, Kentucky, Leonard Roberts, Missouri, Orville McCoy, Pikeville College, Raccoon Creek, Rebecca Bailey, Sam McCoy, St. Louis
On July 24, 1990, scholar Rebecca Bailey interviewed Orville McCoy (b.1922) of Raccoon Creek, Kentucky. What follows here is an excerpt of Mr. McCoy’s memories of his grandfather “Squirrel Huntin'” Sam McCoy and his book.
RB: Okay. What kind of stories did you hear about the feud when you were growing up?
OM: Well, about such materials you’ll find in my book. I recorded just about everything I knew about it.
RB: Do you know how your grandfather came to write his manuscript?
OM: Yes, he wrote in the year, I believe it was, 1931 while he was in St. Louis, Missouri. We all also got that information recorded in the book.
RB: How come him to be in St. Louis? Do you know?
OM: Well, he went west in the year about nineteen and ten and I think he first went to California and then back to Kansas and…and then to St. Louis.
RB: Did he take his wife and children with him?
OM: Yes. He took his whole family except my dad. He was the only one stayed here at Racoon.
RB: Was he the oldest? Is that why he stayed?
OM: No, he wasn’t the oldest. Yeah. I guess he was the oldest. He was the only child by him and his first wife, America Goff.
RB: Did she die or did they divorce?
OM: Well, yeah. She died young.
RB: How old was your father when his father left to go out west?
OM: That would be pretty hard for me to figure, I don’t bet. You could go to my book and deduct and subtract a little there and come up with an answer.
RB: He was probably a young man, though, because he had twelve children by the time you were born so he was probably a young man and married.
OM: Yeah. I’d say he should have been around thirty, something like that.
RB: Did your father remember any of the events of the feud or hear about them?
OM: No, he couldn’t remember any of the incidents, I don’t think except what was told to him.
RB: Alright. Do you have much contact with any of your McCoy cousins?
OM: Oh, yeah. I correspond with them. I got some in Kansas. Joshua Tree, California, and Tacoma, Washington, Remington, Washington, Pennsylvania.
RB: We were talking off tape. You said that a lot of McCoys didn’t stay in this area.
OM: No, they was quite a few of them went out west.
RB: Did they go looking for work or…?
OM: I guess they was seeking adventure.
RB: How did you come to have the manuscript that “Squirrel Huntin'” Sam wrote?
OM: Well, I obtained it from Sam when he was out here to pay us a visit in 1937.
RB: What kind of person was he?
OM: Oh, he was quite a tall man. About six foot or better.
RB: What do you remember about him?
OM: Well, when he visited us, he came out here to visit us about three times in the thirties. First come in ’36. ’38. Maybe ’39. He died in ’40. They shipped him back here.
RB: Do you know where he’s buried?
OM: Yeah.
RB: Where’s he buried?
OM: He’s buried in Collins Cemetery in the head of Frozen Creek.
RB: Okay. Were you always interested as a child in in your family history?
OM: Well, not in the early years. I always held on to that book though and preserved it. I guess I was around fifty-eight years when I let them publish it.
RB: Would you tell me on tape again who published it for you?
OM: Dr. Leonard Roberts of Pikeville College.
RB: Why was he interested in it? Do you know?
OM: Dr. Roberts?
RB: Un-huh.
OM: Well, he was working for the college and that’s how he… Well, it benefited the college, you know, doing Appalachian study centers, they called it. He published books and so on for them.
Killing of Bill Staten (1880)
21 Thursday Apr 2022
Tags
Appalachia, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, justice of the peace, Kentucky, Logan County, Pike County, Sam McCoy, Tolbert Hatfield, Wall Hatfield, West Virginia
Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk | Filed under Hatfield-McCoy Feud
Red Rock Cola in Logan, WV (1939)
21 Thursday Apr 2022
Posted in Logan
Tags
Atlanta, Babe Ruth, Georgia, ginger ale, history, Lee Hagan, Logan, Logan Beverage Company, Red Rock Cola, Red Rock Company, West Virginia
Magnolia District: Justices of the Peace (1824-1895)
21 Thursday Apr 2022
Posted in Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Matewan
Tags
A.W. Ferrell, Asa McCoy, David Mounts, Ephraim Hatfield, genealogy, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, John Ferrell, Joseph Simpkins, justice of the peace, Logan County, Magnolia District, Michael A. Ferrell, Mingo County, Samuel F. Varney, Wall Hatfield, West Virginia, William Tiller
The following list of justices of the peace for Magnolia District in present-day Mingo County, West Virginia, is based on historical documents available at the Logan County Courthouse in Logan. Several things to consider: (1) The list will be expanded over time based on new research; (2) the targeted area for this research is the Hatfield-McCoy feud region; (3) some justices included in this list may have in fact been located outside of the feud region; (4) dates for justices are primarily derived from deeds and county court/commissioner records; and (5) Mingo County was formed from Logan County in 1895.
John Ferrell (1838)
April 26, 1838
David Mounts (1838-1840)
April 26, 1838
January 31, 1840
March 23, 1840
August 22, 1840
Samuel F. Varney (1861)
March 14, 1861
Ephraim Hatfield (1861)
March 14, 1861
William Tiller (1867)
October 1867
Valentine “Wall” Hatfield (1870-1885)
February 11, 1873
April 8-9, 1873
August 12-16, 1873
February 10-12, 1874
October 13-14, 1874
December 8-12, 1874
December 29, 1874
August 10, 1875
October 12-16, 1875
August 8-9, 1876
elected October 10, 1876
July 1, 1878
October 1879
July 1880
December 10, 1880
December 14, 1880
appointed June 13, 1881
January 28, 1882
July 22, 1885
Asa McCoy (1873-1876)
February 11-12, 1873
August 12-16, 1873
December 9-12, 1873
June 16, 1874
October 22, 1874
December 9, 1874
February 11, 1875
June 9, 1875
June 13-17, 1876
August 8-9, 1876
Ephraim Hatfield (1876-1878)
elected October 10, 1876
February 11, 1878
A.W. Ferrell (1880)
April 1880
referenced on February 8, 1881 as a former justice
Joseph Simpkins (1882)
appointed to fill unexpired term, October 17, 1882
Michael A. Ferrell (1888)
elected November 6, 1888
Federal Troops Burn Logan Courthouse During the Civil War (1862)
20 Wednesday Apr 2022
Tags
37th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Appalachia, civil war, Confederate Army, Edward Siber, history, Isaac Morgan, James R. Perry, John DeJarnett, L.D. Chambers, Logan, Logan County, Thomas Buchanan, Union Army, West Virginia
From Law Orders Book A 1873-1878 in the Logan County (West Virginia) Circuit Clerk’s office comes this entry regarding the destruction of the Logan County Courthouse in 1862:
On the 14th day of June 1878, came the following persons viz: John Dejarnett, Thomas Buchanan (except as to Investigation of the Regiment), Dr. Hinchman, who being duly sworn in open Court depose and say: That they know the fact that the Court House of Logan County West Virginia after being temporarily occupied by the 34th Ohio Regt of Federal troops commanded by Col. Seiber, was set fire to and burned up, in the month of Nov. 1862. The said Court House had not been occupied at any time by the Confederate troops, but was used alone for the administration of Justice and for the custody and preservation of the Records of the Several Courts of the said County of Logan. The building was Constructed of bricks and wood, and was a substantial, durable and convenient Exterior, and was worth at the least at the time of its destruction not less than four thousand dollars and belonged exclusively to the said County of Logan, which County has ever since been within the jurisdiction of West Virginia. The destruction of said building was a wanton and inexcusable act of the said Regt. and in no manner contributed to the prosecution of the war in behalf of the Federal Government.
At a County Court continued and held for the County of Logan State of West Virginia on the 14th day of June 1878. Present Isaac Morgan, President, and James R. Perry and L.D. Chambers, Justices, the Court with the view of obtaining Compensation for the destruction of said Court House from the Government of the United States, caused the gentlemen above named to be examined on Oath in open Court, and ordered the substance of the facts above stated by them to be spread upon the Records of this Court, and the Court further caused to be certified that the above named citizens of said County of Logan and that their Statements are entitled to full faith and credit and further that they are in no wise interested in this application except in common with other citizens of the County and Tax payers thereof.
Source: Law Orders Book A 1873-1878, p. 713-714. Note: The entry contains a few errors, such as the date of the courthouse’s destruction, the spelling of Col. Edward Siber’s name, and the correct name of the unit (37th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment).
Brandon Ray Kirk 