Halcyon News 09.22.1922

12 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Harts Creek, Halcyon

Tags

Appalachia, Burl Dingess, Caney Branch, Charles Gore, education, Everett Dingess, genealogy, Halcyon, Harts Creek, Hattie Dingess, history, Holden, Ira Gore, Joe Gore, Lee Dingess, Logan Banner, Logan County, moonshine, teacher, W.W. Gore, West Virginia

A correspondent named “Aunt Meg” from Halcyon on Harts Creek in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on September 22, 1922:

Times are good and everybody happy and gay in the old town, but as some of us have never purchased our winter shoes our toes have begun to smell jack frost.

There is some town gossip that Everett Dingess will return to Pennsylvania with his wife and baby where he has spent a few years.

Miss Hattie Dingess has left our town and will teach school on Caney for a few months.

Our home school is progressing nicely under the supervision of Mr. Chas. Gore as teacher. His motto is: “Do good and leave moonshine alone.”

Pete, you walk as if you had spent your past few days in the White House. Has she gone back on you?

Mr. Ira Gore and Burl Dingess made a hurried trip to Holden last week. Boys, what’s your hurry?

Mr. W.W. Gore of Holden spent the weekend with his brother, Joe Gore, of this place.

I wonder why Lee Dingess rides so fast up the hill on his way to the ‘ville. Ask Kris. She knows.

Harvest time has come, boys. Shake off your sleepiness and go to work.

Good luck to the Banner and readers.

Levisa Hatfield (1927-1929)

03 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Huntington, Logan, Matewan, Pikeville, Wharncliffe, Women's History

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Abraham Lincoln, Appalachia, Barnabus, Ben Creek, Betty Caldwell, Betty Hatfield, Bob Hatfield, C.C. Lanham, Cap Hatfield, Charles Dardi, Charleston, deputy sheriff, Devil Anse Hatfield, E. Willis Wilson, Elias Hatfield, Elliott R. Hatfield, F.M. Browning, Fayette County, feud, genealogy, governor, Halsey Gibson, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Henry D. Hatfield, Hibbard Hatfield, history, Holden, Huntington, Island Creek, J.O. Hill, Jim McCoy, Joe Hatfield, John Caldwell, John J. Jackson, Johnson Hatfield, Kentucky, L.W. Lawson, Levicy Hatfield, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lundale, Marion Browning, Mary Howes, Mate Creek, Matewan, Matilda Chafin, Mingo County, Nancy Carey, Nancy Mullins, Nathaniel Chafin, Omar, Pike County, Pikeville, Pittsburgh, pneumonia, R.A. Woodall, Randolph McCoy, Rebecca Hatfield, Rose Browning, sheriff, Tennis Hatfield, Tom Chafin, Troy Hatfield, Tug River, W.R. Eskew, West Virginia, Wharncliffe

The following news items from the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, provide some history about the final years of Levisa Hatfield, widow of Anse Hatfield:

MRS. HATFIELD BETTER

Mrs. Levicy Hatfield, widow of Ance Hatfield, continues to recuperate from a serious illness and is now able to walk about the home of her daughter, Mrs. F.M. Browning, of Holden, where she has been cared for. She is 84 years old.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 03 June 1927

***

Mrs. Hatfield Hurt

Mrs. Lovisa Hatfield, widow of the late “Devil Anse” Hatfield, is suffering from injuries received in a fall at her home on Island Creek Sunday. She hurt her hip and shoulder and forehead and her condition was such as to cause some concern, yet she was able to sit up yesterday. Two or three of her daughters are helping to take care of her. She is 85 years old.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 20 September 1927

***

DEVIL ANSE’S WIDOW, AGED 86, RECOVERS FROM PNEUMONIA

In recovering from her recent severe illness Mrs. Levisa Hatfield, widow of the late “Devil Anse,” has again demonstrated her remarkable vitality. Though in her 87th year, she is now recovering from pneumonia with which she was stricken on December 28. Monday of this week her lungs began to clear up, and her son, Sheriff Joe Hatfield, said yesterday that she seemed to be assured of recovery.

So critical was her illness for several days that half a dozen physicians were summoned to her bedside. These included Dr. H.D. Hatfield, L.W. Lawson, J.O. Hill, Brewer and Moore as well as Dr. E.R. Hatfield, of Charleston, a son of the aged patient.

Mrs. Hatfield celebrated her 86th birthday at the Hatfield homestead near the head of Island Creek on December 20.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 18 January 1929.

***

Devil Anse’s Widow Died Early Today

Mrs. Levisa Hatfield Succumbs Unexpectedly In 87^th Year

10 Living Children

Hers Was Life of Storm And Stress for Several Decades

Funeral services for Mrs. Hatfield will be held at 2:30 Sunday at the Hatfield cemetery on Island Creek.

Mrs. Levisa Hatfield, widow of “Devil Anse” of Hatfield-McCoy feud fame, died at the family homestead up near the head of Island Creek at about 8 o’clock this morning. Though she was frail and had been in ill health all winter, the news of her passing caused much surprise and regret among relatives and friends outnumbered. Still, her condition yesterday was unsatisfactorily, indicating she had suffered a backset.

Mrs. Hatfield celebrated her 86^th birthday on December 20. Eight days later she was stricken with pneumonia, and for several weeks her condition was alarming. Despite her advanced age, her indomitable grit and wiry strength and endurance triumphed, having as she did the tender, constant care of her children and other kinfolk, neighbors, and friends.

Hers was a stout heart, otherwise it could not have, withstood the storms that raged about her home and her family for many years. But long before her interesting career ended, peace and contentment had come into her life, and her declining days were brightened by the successes that had come to her children and grandchildren.

The decedent was born and reared on Mate Creek in what was then Logan county but now in Mingo. She was a daughter of Nathaniel Chafin. In her teens she was married to a neighbor youth, William Anderson Hatfield, who shortly thereafter entered the Confederate army and attained the rank of captain. That was a trying experience for a bride, but a longer and more terrifying one came in the early ‘80s when her family became involved in a now historic private war with the McCoys, a large family living on the Kentucky side of the Tug River. Even after the feud ended and a tacit agreement was carried out whereby her family moved back from the Tug and over the county divide and their foes went farther away from the Tug in the opposite direction, tragedies cast their shadows across her pathway. Chief of these was the slaying of her sons Troy and Elias by a drunken miner in Fayette county in 1911. The miner, too, was riddled with bullets after his victims had fallen mortally wounded.

Ten children survive Mrs. Hatfield and three are dead, Johnson, the oldest, having died in 1922 on Ben Creek, Mingo county. The living are: William A. (Cap), who shared with his father the leadership of their clan in the days of the feud, now a deputy sheriff and living at Stirrat; Robert L., Wharncliffe; Mrs. Nancy Mullins, living just above the Hatfield place; Dr. Elliott R., Charleston; Mrs. Mary Howes, at home; Mrs. John (Betty) Caldwell, Barnabus; Sheriff Joe D. Hatfield; Mrs. Marion (Rose) Browning, Holden; Willis, deputy sheriff at Lundale; Tennis, former sheriff.

She is survived by two sisters and a brother: Mrs. Betty Hatfield, widow of Elias Hatfield and mother of U.S. Senator H.D. Hatfield; Mrs. Rebecca Hatfield, of Logan, mother of Hibbard Hatfield, and Tom Chafin, who lives on Mate Creek.

Mrs. Hatfield and devoted to her home and family. And her home as well as herself was widely known for hospitality. There the friend or wayfarer ever found a welcome. She was a member of the Church of Christ and was baptized along with her husband by Uncle Dyke Garrett some years before her husband’s death.

No announcement was made this forenoon as to the funeral arrangements. Squire Elba Hatfield, a grandson, said he supposed the funeral would be held Sunday. Burial will be in the family cemetery.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 15 March 1929

***

Great Crowd At Funeral of Mrs. Hatfield

Throng Surpassed That of Any Previous Funeral In County

Pictures Are Taken

News of Death of “Devil” Anse’s Widow Travels Far and Wide

Hundreds of relatives and friends and neighbors paid their last tribute of affection to Mrs. Lovisa Hatfield Sunday afternoon. It is declared to be, by persons capable of judging, the largest funeral crowd ever assembled in the county. Perhaps the maximum attendance of the afternoon was no larger than that at the funeral of Charles Dardi last November, but on Sunday people were coming and going for an hour or more before the hour set–2:30–for the services and until the services were concluded.

Early in the afternoon a crowd began to form both at the Hatfield cemetery and the homestead. A cool, steady, stiff breeze made it uncomfortable for those who gathered at the cemetery, with the result that they did not tarry long there; and on account of weather conditions a great many did not leave their cars, which were closely parked along both sides of the highway from Sheriff Joe Hatfield’s home up to and beyond the home of the decedent.

The attendance at Sunday’s rites exceeded that of the funeral of Mrs. Hatfield’s widely known husband, “Devil Anse,” which was held on Sunday, January 9, 1921. At that time there was but a semblance of a highway up toward the head of Island Creek and most of those who attended the rites of the old feudist chieftain rode on a special train that was run that day or walked for a great distance.

At the homestead there were scripture readings, sermons, and tributes by Rev. Joe Hatfield, a nephew of the decedent, of Matewan; Rev. Halsey Gibson and Rev. C.C. Lanham, pastor of the first Methodist church of Logan. Before the cortege left the house R.A. Woodall, local photographer, took pictures of the body at rest in a beautiful metallic casket and of the grandchildren and perhaps others who were grouped on the porch.

At the grave the services were conducted by Rev. W.R. Eskew of Omar and a solo by a Mr. Woods of Huntington featured the singing. Mr. Eskew paid a tribute to the generosity and hospitality of Mrs. Hatfield, to her love of home and her devotion to her children and other loved ones.

As related in Friday’s paper, Mrs. Hatfield died at about 8 o’clock that morning, after having nearly recovered from pneumonia. Her age was 86 years, two months and 25 days. She was a daughter of Nathaniel and Matilda Varney Chafin and was born on Mate Creek, now in Mingo county. Her sisters, Mrs. Elizabeth Hatfield of Huntington , Mrs. Nancy Carey, Pittsburgh, and Mrs. Rebecca Hatfield of Logan, and her brother Tom Chafin of Mingo were at the funeral.

All over the country the news of Mrs. Hatfield’s death was flashed and it called forth much comment on the old Hatfield-McCoy feud that for a long time held the close attention evidently of millions of newspaper readers.

—

An old sketch of “Devil Anse” says he had none of the attributes of “bad men” in his character. He was always recognized as a loyal friend of the many who had some sort of claim to his friendship. Numbered among those who believed he had been right in the position he took during the feud days were the late Judge John J. Jackson, known as the “Iron Judge,” who was appointed to the federal bench by President Lincoln, and the late Governor E.W. Wilson, the former protecting Hatfield when he was called into court, and the latter refusing to honor a requisition of the Governor of Kentucky for the arrest of Devil Anse on a charge of killing some particular member of the McCoy family.

Detectives, real and alleged, had arranged for the capture of Hatfield, spurred by a reward, after they had seen to it that he was indicted on a charge of whiskey selling; in 1888, Judge Jackson, hearing of these plans, sent word to him that if he would appear in court voluntarily the court would see that he had ample protection until he returned to his home in this county.

Uncle Anse appeared and was acquitted of the charge against him. Some of the detectives pounced on him soon after he left the court room, but Judge Jackson summoned all of them before him, threatened to send them to jail, and directed special officers to see that Hatfield was permitted to reach his home. After Hatfield was well on his way, Judge Jackson told the detectives that if they wanted to get him they could proceed, just as the McCoys had been doing for a number of years. They never went.

Captain Hatfield spent the last 20 years of his life peacefully on his farm then in an isolated section of the county. Once he was prevailed upon by some enterprising amusement manager to go on the vaudeville stage but the lure of his home in the mountains soon proved stronger than the lure of the footlights.

—

In the splendid account of the death of Mrs. Anderson Hatfield, estimable woman who passed away at her home Friday, it was stated that Mrs. Hatfield was one of the last of either the Hatfield or McCoy family directly connected with the feud and that all the McCoy principals are believed to be dead. This last is in error as James McCoy, who resided in Pikeville for many years and latter came here, where he lived with his family for a number of years, and after the death of his wife only a few years ago again returned to Pikeville and is now living there. He is a highly respected and esteemed citizen and was the eldest son of the late Randall McCoy, of Pike county, and was one of the main principals of the feud.

Catlettsburg cor. in Huntington Advertiser

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 19 March 1929.

Confederate Pensions in West Virginia (1929)

24 Monday Sep 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in African American History, Big Creek, Big Harts Creek, Boone County, Civil War, Crawley Creek, Logan, Man, Pecks Mill, Whirlwind

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A.B. White, A.L. Browning, A.V. Pauley, African-Americans, Andrew Jackson, Appalachia, Band Mill Hollow, Big Creek, Boone County, C.H. Gilkinson, civil war, Confederacy, Confederate Army, Crawley Creek, Curry, Dave Bryant, Dyke Bryant, Dyke Garrett, Ethel, genealogy, Gettysburg, Green Thompson, Harrison White, Harts Creek, Harvey Chafin, Henlawson, Henry Mitchell, history, Holden, House of Delegates, Hugh Avis, J. Matt Pauley, Jackson McCloud, James Zirkles, John Bryant, John Neece, Joseph Lowe, Judy Bryant, Kistler, Leslie Mangus, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lucinda Spry, M.T. Miller, Madison, Man, Martha Jane Smith, Melvin Plumley, Mingo County, Monaville, Mt. Gay, Pecks Mill, preacher, Shegon, Slagle, slavery, Steve Markham, Stollings, Union Army, W.C. Turley, Wade Bryant, Wayne County, West Virginia, Whirlwind, William C. Lucas, William Chafin, William Workman, Zan Bryant

In 1929, the State of West Virginia nearly opted to allocate a monthly pension to its Confederate veterans, as well as blacks who had served the Confederate Army in service roles. In covering the story, the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, compiled a list of its remaining Confederate veterans.

HOW MANY VETERANS?

A pension of $20 a month is provided for Confederate veterans of the state by a bill passed by the Senate last week and sent in the House for concurrence. Senator M.T. Miller, of Boone county, who said he could not vote to pension men who had carried arms against their government, cast the only vote against the proposal.

A Charleston paper says there are only about 60 Confederate veterans living. This paper cannot believe that, although it has no information on the subject. How many are there in Logan county? Does anyone know? Has anyone an approximately correct list? If so, will he or she make the fact known? Uncle Dyke Garrett probably knows most of them.

The Banner would like to obtain a list of both Confederate and Union veterans still living in the county, together with their post office address.

Source: Logan Banner, 26 February 1929.

***

AS TO OLD SOLDIERS

The Banner’s request for information about old soldiers living in Logan county has not been in vain, nor has the response been satisfactory. The names of four confederate veterans have been turned in, as follows:

Rev. Dyke Garrett, Curry, beloved and venerable minister; William Workman, Shegon, who fought at Gettysburg and is now 88; Steve Markham, Holden No. 20, who has been blind for 20 years; and William Chafin, who lives with his son Harvey, at Holden 5 and 6.

Who are the others? Send in their names and addresses and any information you deem of interest concerning their careers as soldiers and citizens. The same information about Union soldiers, residents of the county, is likewise desired.

Logan Banner, 5 March 1929.

***

PREPARING THE ROLL

Another name has been added to the list of old soldiers that The Banner has undertaken to compile. Reference is to J. Matt Pauley, residing in Band Mill Hollow, post office Stollings. He was in the Confederate army, fought throughout the war and was wounded, writes Mrs. A.V. Pauley of Ethel. He is of the same age as Uncle Dyke Garrett.

The names of four survivors of the War Between the States, all living in Logan county, were published in Tuesday’s paper. There must be others. Who are they?

Today, W.C. Turley brought in a list of eight Confederate veterans, including the following new names: Wm. C. Lucas, Big Creek; Henry Mitchell, Henlawson; Hugh Avis, Green Thompson and John Neece, Logan; Harrison White, Pecks Mill.

Logan Banner, 8 March 1929.

***

On Confederate Roll

Two more names have been added to the roll of Confederate veterans that The Banner is preparing. These are James Zirkles of Man, whose name was sent in by Leslie Mangus, of Kistler, and Zan Bryant of Whirlwind, whose name was recalled by County Clerk McNeely. Are there not others besides nine or ten previously published?

Logan Banner, 12 March 1929.

***

Confederate Veterans Living Here Number at Least 17

There Are Probably Others–Will You Help to Enroll Them–All Merit the Tender Interest of Younger Folk

Seventeen names of Confederate soldiers, residents of the county, have been collected by The Banner. Wonder if any have been overlooked, or if the appended list is in error in including any Union veterans? If any reader knows of a Confederate soldier not listed here, please send in the name and address AT ONCE. There will be no further request or reminder.

This paper undertook to make up a list of these old soldiers for two reasons. Chief of these was a desire to prevent any of them being overlooked in case a bill to pension them was passed by the legislature–but the writer does not know yet whether or not that bill was enacted into law. Another reason for assuming the task was to test in a limited way a statement in a Charleston paper that there were only 60 Confederate veterans left in the state. That statement was doubted, and with good reason judging from the number polled in this county. Anyhow, the ranks have become terribly thinned. Every few days we all read of taps being sounded for another one here and there.

Middle-aged men and young folk should esteem it a privilege to do something to brighten the lives of these old soldiers. As the years roll by our pride will increase as we recall our acquaintance with and our kindness toward the “boys of ’61 and ’65.”

Here is the list. Look it over, and if there is a name that should be added or a name that should be stricken out, or any error or omission that should be corrected or supplied, speak up:

James Zirkles, Man; Zan Bryant, Whirlwind; J. Matt Pauley, Ft. Branch; Uncle Dyke Garrett, Curry; William C. Lucas, Big Creek; Henry Mitchell, Henlawson; Hugh Avis, Green Thompson and John Neece, all of Logan; Harrison White, Pecks Mill; Melvin Plumley, Crawleys Creek (post office not known); William Workman, Shegon; Steve Markham, Holden No. 20; William Chafin, No. 5 and 6.

Logan Banner, 15 March 1929.

***

Two Names Added Confederate Roll

Bill to Pension Them is Defeated By Parliamentary Tactics in House

Names of two more Confederate soldiers living in the county have been sent to The Banner. They are: C.H. Gilkinson, minister, resident of Holden, who was born and reared in Wayne county, and is the father of Dr. L.W. Gilkinson. Jackson McCloud, a resident of Whirlwind on Harts Creek. His name was supplied by A.L. Browning of Monaville, who says he feels sure that Mr. McCloud was in the Confederate service and fought at Gettysburg.

Assuming both names should be added to the roll, it means that there are at least 19 Confederate veterans still living in Logan county, seventeen names having been listed and published a week ago.

For many of them there will be disappointment in the information that the bill to pension them did not pass. Sponsored in the Senate by ex-governor A.B. White, the son of a Union soldier, the bill passed, that body, Senator M.T. Miller of Madison casting the only vote against it. In the House of Delegates it was amended, by a majority of one, to include Negroes, whether slave or free, who had served in the Confederate army of cooks, personal servants, or otherwise, and later tabled.

Source: Logan Banner, 22 March 1929.

***

Slagle Man 17th in Confederate List

Zan Bryant Probably Oldest Veteran In County–Born in Jackson’s Time

Joseph Lowe of Slagle is the latest name to be added to the list of Confederate veterans that has been compiled by The Banner. However, that leaves the count at 17, as the name of Melvin Plumley of Crawleys Creek was erroneously included in the published list. He was a Union soldier, it seems.

Of all those listed Zan Bryant of Whirlwind must be the oldest. He is said to be 98 years old and his wife, Judie Hensley Bryant, 91. They have been married for 75 years and have a son, Dave Bryant, who is 73. There are five other children, Dave, John, Wade and Dyke all live on Harts Creek, most of them near their parents; Mrs. Martha Jane Smith at Gay, and Mrs. Lucinda Spry of Mingo county.

This venerable couple have spent all their years in the isolated Harts country, their home being on White Oak fork, and can be reached only by a long horseback ride.

When Zan was born Andrew Jackson was president and Logan county as a political subdivision was but five years old. He was 23 years old when married and 30 when the War Between the States began.

Logan Banner, 26 March 1929.

Recollections of McKinley Grimmett of Bruno, WV 1 (1984)

31 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in African American History, Coal, Dingess, Guyandotte River, Logan, Man, Timber, Wyoming County

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African-Americans, Alva Grimmett, Appalachia, Austin Grimmett, Baileysville, Big Cub Creek, Bruno, Buffalo Creek, Christian, Cole and Crane Company, Devil Anse Hatfield, Dingess, Edith Grimmett, education, Elk Creek, Ettie Grimmett, farming, genealogy, general store, Green Perry, Guyandotte River, Guyandotte Valley, Henderson Browning, Henderson Grimmett, history, Holden, Horse Pen Mountain, Johnny Grimmett, Landsville, Lilly Grimmett, Logan, Logan County, logging, Madison Creek, Mallory, Man, McGuffey Readers, McKinley Grimmett, Mingo County, Mud Fork, Nancy Grimmett, rafting, Ralph Grimmett, Rose Grimmett, Sand Lick, Sanford Grimmett, Slater Hatfield, Tennis Hatfield, Thomas Hatfield, Tilda Hatfield, timber, timbering, Travis Grimmett, Verner, Walter Buchanan, West Virginia, whooping cough, World War I, Wyatt Belcher, Wyoming County

McKinley Grimmett was born on November 30, 1896 to Henderson and Nancy (Hatfield) Grimmett at Sand Lick, Logan County, WV. On May 14, 1916, Mr. Grimmett married a Ms. Plymale, who soon died, in Logan County. One child named Alva died on June 21, 1919 of whooping cough, aged fourteen months. His World War I draft registration card dated September 12, 1918 identifies him as having blue eyes and light-colored hair. He was employed by Mallory Coal Company at Mallory, WV. On November 13, 1919, he married Matilda “Tilda” Hatfield, daughter of Thomas Hatfield, in Logan County. He identified himself as a farmer in both of his marriage records. During the 1920s, he served as a deputy under Sheriff Tennis Hatfield.

The following interview of Mr. Grimmett was conducted at his home on July 17, 1984. In this part of the interview, he recalls his family background and early occupations. Logging and rafting in the Guyandotte Valley are featured.

***

Would you mind telling me when and where you were born?

Right here. I was born about a mile up above here. I was borned in Logan County. The post office was Christian at that time. Christian, WV. It’s changed now. They throwed Christian out – it was over here at Christian – and they throwed it out and moved it over here to Bruno. Christian went… The mines stopped over there. And that’s where I was born, right here at Bruno, Logan County. Been here all my life.

What day were you born?

November 30, 1896.

Who were your parents?

Henderson Grimmett and Nancy Hatfield Grimmett.

What kind of work did they do?

They did logging work. All they had that day and time. Mule teams and ox teams.

Where did your dad do his work?

All over Logan County.

Did he have his own farm?

Oh yeah. Yeah.

How big was his farm?

It was about 287 acres.

Can you describe his house?

Well, the house was a two-story building. But he never did get… He took the fever and he never did get the upper story, all of it completed. He died at a very early age of 74. He put him up a little store. Got ahead a little bit. Had a store here. Come down and bought this place off Walter Buchanan and he deeded his five kids the homeplace up there. And then he stayed on it from ’21 to ’29. He died 19^th day of January, 1929.

Who were your mother’s parents?

Oh, Lord, I can’t… Slater Hatfield was her daddy’s name. And I don’t know my grandma. My daddy, now they both was born in Wyoming County. Baileysville or somewhere in there. I think my mother was born over there in Big Cub Creek. She was a Hatfield. I don’t know where…

How many brothers and sisters do you have?

I had three brothers and three sisters. Sanford was the oldest one. Austin and Johnny. They’re all dead. I’m the only one that’s living. All my three sisters… Lilly was the oldest one, and Rose was the next one, and Ettie was the youngest. They’re all dead. All of ‘em but me.

Were you educated in Logan County schools?

Yeah, that’s all we got. Free schools. I believe we started off about three months out of the year. Right over there where that first house is sitting – a one-room school house. All of us kids.

What was the last year of school you completed?

I believe it was about 1914, I’m not right sure. ’15.

Did you use the McGuffey Readers?

That’s all we had. And the spelling books. And in the late years, why we had a U.S. history… A small one. Most of it was just about West Virginia. It wasn’t about the whole United States. And geography, we had that. Arithmetic. That was about all we had in free schools. We had to buy them all then. They weren’t furnished.

How did you meet your wife?

She was born and raised over here at Horse Pen in Mingo County. And that’s how we met. We were just neighbors.

What was her maiden name?

She was a Hatfield, too. But now they were… There’s three or four sets of them.

Was her family related to Devil Anse Hatfield?

Well, they was some… Not very close, though, I don’t think.

Which church did you belong to?

I don’t belong to any.

Did you belong to a church when you were younger?

No, never did. If I ever would have joined, I’d have stayed with it.

Do you remember the year of your marriage?

Yeah, I sure do. November 13, 1919.

How many children do you have?

Four. We have two boys and two girls. Travis Grimmett is the oldest. And Ralph, Edith, and Nancy.

What was your wedding like?

Well, we just got married and come right home. At that time, they didn’t have such things, to tell you the truth.

Who was the preacher?

Green Perry. Rev. Green Perry on Elk Creek. Rode a horse back when I went up there to get married. A pair of mules. I rode them mules.

Where did you first live after you married?

Right about a mile above here at the old homeplace.

You have lived here all of your life?

All of our life.

Was it always this populated?

No, no. Wasn’t three or four houses on this creek at that day and time. It was farm land. It’s all growed up now. All them hills was put in corn, millets, and stuff like that. If they couldn’t get a machine to it, they cut it by hand. Some of them raised oats and some of them raised millet, corn. Raised hogs and cattle and sheep and selling ‘em.

Who owned this property back then?

Burl Christian owned this here, but I don’t know… My daddy bought his… A fellow by the name of Wyatt Belcher. Wait a minute. Browning. I can’t think of his name. He lived over here on Christian and he bidded in… It sold for back taxes and he bidded in. Henderson Browning.

What kind of work did you do after you married?

Just the same thing as I worked at before I got married. I first started out – my daddy was a boss for Cole and Crane on this river. I first started out working in the log business. I worked two years at that and then I decided… Mule team – I worked about eighteen months at that. Then in 1913 the coal company started in and I went to work in carpenter work. I helped build all of these houses down here at Landville. The superintendent, we got done, they was wanting to hire men, he give me a job keeping time for a while. And he wanted me to learn to run the drum – that’s letting coal off the hill. I learned it and about the third day I was up there, a preacher was running it, and he told me they’d just opened up and they didn’t have much coal to run off the hill, he told me, that preacher, he rolled out two cards and he said if that preacher fails to go out and work on that side track today you give him one of these cards. Well, I didn’t give him a card. But he come out that evening, the boss did. And he said, did the preacher work. And I said, no he refused. He said, I’ll fix him. He fired him. And I took the job and stayed with it four years and then I got married and then I went to work over here at Christian running a drum and I stayed there 34 years.

When you worked for Cole and Crane, did either of those men ever come up here?

Oh yeah. One of them was. Cole was. I don’t think Crane was ever here. A little slim fella.

Did you get a chance to talk to them?

No, they wouldn’t talk to us working men. They’d talk to the boss. They’d go away from us and talk to theirselves. We just got a $1.10 for ten hours. Eleven cents an hour.

What kind of a person did Cole seem to be?

Well, he knowed how the men was. They’d raft timber and go down this river to Guyandotte. Had what they called locks and dams there to catch the logs. This river was full of logs. He bought timber everywhere. Plumb at the head of it.

Did you ever ride a raft?

Oh, yeah. I went with my daddy. I wasn’t grown.

Can you describe it?

Oh, they’d raft the logs, poplar. Now they didn’t raft hardwoods. They’d sink on them. Some rafts, a big one would be 160 to 200 feet long, about 24 to 26 feet wide. Oar on each end of it. If it was a big raft, they had two men up front all the time plumb in to Guyandotte. I was the second man on it when I got to go out on it. My dad had timber and he rafted it, took it there and sold it. Took what they called dog wedges and cut little basket oaks and rafted them, stringers across ‘em, you know. Lots of people get drowned, too.

Were you ever in an accident?

No, I never was in no big one. I’ve seen about six or eight drown.

Could you describe how it happened?

Oh, if he couldn’t swim, sometimes the best swimmer drowned, you know, if he got under a lot of logs or something. According to whatever happened there with him. He could get out if there wasn’t no logs on top of him no where to hold him under, you know. If logs were on top of him, he was gone. Now about the last ones I seen drowned was two colored people. They was building a railroad from Logan to Man up Buffalo Creek. So we was working on a log gorge down there at the lower end of Landville. And there was four colored men… 1921. Had a saloon up here at Verner. They wouldn’t allow one in Logan County. And they went up there on the 21^st day of December to get ‘em a load of whisky. And they come back… They’d seen white people ride these logs. Some county people would get on one log and ride it plumb to Logan, as far as you wanted to go. And they thought they could ride it. And they got on. Rode ‘em off the gorge and they was running into eddy water and they would hit the back end, it would, and the other end would swarp out and they’d pull out that way. And they got on ‘em with their whisky and everything and two of ‘em got out and two of ‘em drowned.

When you rode the raft to Guyandotte, how did you get back to Logan?

Oh, we had to walk. We’d get a train up to Dingess over here. You know where that’s at? We’d ride down up to there. And then we’d have to get off and walk across the hill there and come right straight out at the mouth of Mud Fork, Holden there, and up another little drain and down Madison Creek down here. And walk… Man alive, our feet would be so sore, I’d be up for two or three weeks I couldn’t walk, my feet would be wore out so.

NOTE: Some names may be transcribed incorrectly.

African-American Schools in Logan County, WV (1927)

21 Tuesday Aug 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in African American History, Huntington

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A.A. Wright, A.D. Robinson, A.V. McRae, African-Americans, Albert Meade, Anna B. Harris, Anna C. Hunter, Anna Spencer, Appalachia, Aracoma, Ardrossan, Audra Wilson, B.H. Hall, board of education, Bruce Hull, Clara Lee Johnson, Clara Richardson, Clothier, Coal River, Copperas, Cora, Crystal Block, D.E. Hopkins, Daisy Sheffery, Daniel H. Wood, Dehue, Doratha Withers, education, Elaine Ferguson, Elizabeth Creasy, Elizabeth Notter, Elma Phipps, Esta Shriver, Ethel, Ethel M. Page, F.O. Woerner, Flossie Hatfield, Flossie M. Jones, Garlands Fork, Georgia L. Miller, Gertrude Huntsman, Grace V. Reynolds, Harold Starcher, Hatfield, Helen E. Jones, history, Holden, Huntington, I.G. Hollandsworth, Imogene Baker, Ione Hall Cook, Island Creek, J.C. Evans, Jane Walker, John Pelter, Joseph D. Cary, Josephine Vaughan, Laura Griere, Laura J. Bayes, Laurel Hill, Lillian Samors, Logan County, Logan District, Logan High School, Logan Junior High School, Louis Simmons, M. Amelia Brooks, Macbeth, Mary Smith, Matilda Wade, Micco, Omar, Page Hamilton, Peach Creek, Preston A. Cave, Rossmore, Sharples, Slagle, Stirratt, teacher, Theodora Bradford, Thomas Jordan, Virginia Spratt, W.H. Houston, W.H. Huston, West Virginia, Yolyn

New Colored School at Crystal Block LB 08.12.1927 1

Logan (WV) Banner, 12 August 1927.

Logan District Colored Schools LB 08.26.1927 1

Logan (WV) Banner, 26 August 1927. This photo is meant to show the headline of the story; teachers named here are “white.”

Logan District Colored Schools LB 08.26.1927 2

Logan (WV) Banner, 26 August 1927. The list of “colored” teachers begin here and continue in the photos below.

Logan District Colored Schools LB 08.26.1927 3

Logan (WV) Banner, 26 August 1927.

Coal Development on Island Creek (1927)

04 Friday May 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Coal, Huntington

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Appalachia, Boston, Cincinnati, coal, F.W. Batcheler, history, Holden, Huntington, Island Creek, Island Creek Coal Company, James D. Francis, Kentucky, Logan, Logan Banner, New York, Norfolk and Western Railroad, Ohio, Pine Creek, Pond Creek, R.S. McVey, Thomas B. Davis, West Virginia

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this story titled “Boston Coal Men Pleased with Island Creek Development–New Town of Pine Creek Planned For,” published on October 25, 1927:

BOSTON COAL MEN PLEASED WITH ISLAND CREEK DEVELOPMENT–NEW TOWN OF PINE CREEK PLANNED FOR

Wish that more of the men at Boston, who talk about “mining camps” could come to West Virginia and see the flourishing cities and towns which dot the coal fields and ride over the hard roads which connect them was expressed Friday by F.W. Batcheler of Boston, treasurer of the Island Creek Coal Company. Mr. Batcheler, for 25 years in his present capacity, had just arrived in Huntington after his first visit to his company’s properties in Logan county and on Pond Creek in Kentucky. He said frankly that the experience had been a revelation to him, familiar as he already was in theory with the activities of his and other companies in these fields, reports the Herald-Dispatch.

Thomas B. Davis of New York, the Island Creek president, who has observed personally the development of the coal fields, was no less enthusiastic than Mr. Batcheler in his comment off the changes which have been wrought since his first visit to Island Creek.

“At first,” he said, “we had to go up the Norfolk & Western, using an accommodation train, and go across the mountains on horseback. Now we can inspect both Pond Creek and Island Creek properties in less time than it took them to get into the field.”

His enthusiasm and that of his fellow travelers was heightened by the fact that the party came to Huntington from Holden, by automobile, in two hours and twenty minutes.

With the president and Mr. Batcheler were R.S. McVey of Cincinnati, vice president in charge of sales, and James D. Francis of Huntington, vice president. Other members of the sales force took part in the inspection visit to the fields.

President Davis spoke in an optimistic strain of business conditions, which he feels are going to continue good despite a “let down” tendency now manifest.

“We can’t go at top speed all the time,” was his comment.

One of the chief points of interest to the inspection party while in Logan was operation No. 22, a new shaft mine which is being opened by the Island Creek company at an outlay of several million dollars.

15-Foot Seam at No. 22

“The shafts are down,” Mr. Davis said, “and we have found a 15-foot seam of coal as good as any found anywhere. The hoists are being raised and the first houses are being built.”

The preliminary housing in the new town of Pine Creek will include about forty buildings. The complete program, the officials explain, includes 600 houses to care for a population of 3,500. To reach this operation a railroad extension was built and a hard road, running for much of the seven-mile distance, was built by the company to connect Pine Creek with Holden.

World War I Draft Registration in Logan County, WV (1917)

29 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Creek, Big Harts Creek, Blair, Chapmanville, Halcyon, Logan, Man, Pecks Mill, Shively, Stone Branch, Whirlwind, World War I, Yantus

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A.M. Hall, A.P. Loyd, Amherstdale, Anderson McCloud, Andrew Jordan, Appalachia, Arthur Townsend, Barnabas, Big Creek, Bilton Browning, Black Sanders, Blair, Bruce White, C.C. Chambers, C.E. Lamp, C.G. Miller, C.H. Baisden, Cam Pridemore, Cecil Mounts, Chapmanville, Charles Conley, county clerk, Craneco, Curry, Democratic Party, Dow Chambers, Earl Summers, Ed Haner, Ed Mapper, Ed Riffe, Elmer Gore, Elmer McDonald, Emmett Scaggs, Ethel, Everett Buchannon, Everett Dingess, F.D. Stollings, Foley, Frank Frye, Frank Hurst, Frank Hutchinson, Frank Perry, French Dingess, G.F. Collins, G.K. Mills, genealogy, George Baldwin, Guy Pauley, health officer, Henlawson, Henry Lawson, history, Holden, Jack Mason, John Amburgey, John B. Wilkinson Jr., John Claypool, John Hill, John J. Cornwell, Lake, Laredo, Logan, Logan County, Logan Democrat, Lorenzo Dow Chambers, Lot Murphy, M.B. Taylor, M.F. Waring, Man, Manbar, Marshal Gore, Melvin Conley, Melvin White, Millard Perry, Monaville, Mt. Gay, Omar, Pecks Mill, Pitts Branch, Queens Ridge, R.E. Lowe, R.W. Buskirk, Republican Party, Robert Hill, Robert Peck, Robert Straton, Rolfe, Rum Creek, Sam Scott, Sharples, sheriff, Shively, Sidney B. Lawson, Stone Branch, Thomas Hensley, U.S. Army, Vinson Ferrell, W.B. Phipps, W.E. Perry, W.P. Vance, West Virginia, Wilkinson, William Lewis, Willis Parsons, Woodrow Wilson, World War I, Yolyn

From the Logan Democrat of Logan, WV, comes this story titled “Sheriff Hurst and Registrars Ready to Enroll,” dated May 24, 1917:

SHERIFF HURST AND REGISTRARS READY TO ENROLL

Final Preparations are Made to Classify Men of Military Age In Logan County

Sheriff Hurst Wednesday gave final instructions to his sixty odd registrars who will enroll all men between the ages of 21 and 30, for military service as ordered by proclamations of President Wilson and Governor Cornwell for June 5, which will be a legal holiday in West Virginia as in other states.

On June 5, all male citizens are required to go to their regular voting places between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. and fill out a blank similar to the one printed in today’s Democrat. The governor has requested that all other public business be suspended on that day and that patriotic parades of school children be held. He also asks all owners of automobiles to help transport to the voting places men of military age and that every assistance possible be given the officers who will make the registration.

To Telegraph Result

As soon as the registration in Logan county is completed, the result will be telegraphed to Washington and then the machinery will be set in motion to select those who will be included in the first call for 500,000 men who will begin training in September. A board will sit in Logan who will select the available men to enter the first army. An absolute, fair and impartial administration of the law is insured as the local board will be directly responsible to the federal authorities and subject to stern penalties should any favoritism be shown. The state officers have nothing whatever to do with the army after the work of selection is completed. Those who will form the local conscription board are:

Sheriff Frank P. Hurst

Clerk, County Court, C.G. Miller

County Health Officer, Dr. S.B. Lawson

Robert Peck, (R.)

Elmer McDonald, (D)

The president in his proclamation ordered all men, 21 to 30 years old, excepting those already enlisted, shall voluntarily present themselves at the places to be designated for registration on June 5. Other main features of his orders follow:

Men away from home may register by mail.

Penalty for refusing to register; up to a year imprisonment.

All federal, state, county, city and village officers are liable for service for registration and draft.

Any person making a false statement to evade service or any official aiding in such an attempt, will be punished by a year’s imprisonment through civil authorities or by military court martial.

Persons ill or who will be absent from home should get registration blanks from the city clerk, if they are in towns of more than 30,000 inhabitants and from the county clerk, if they are in towns of less than 30,000 inhabitants.

Explains Necessity

The main parts of the president’s proclamation in which he explained the necessity for conscription follow:

“We are arrayed against a power that would impose its will upon the world by force.

“The man in the factories or who tills the soil is no less a part of any army than the man beneath the battle-flags.

“We must shape and train for war, not an army, but a nation.

“The sharpshooter must march and the machinist must remain at his levers.”

The whole nation must be a team in which each man shall play the part for which he is best fitted.

“It is not conscription of the unwilling but a selection from a nation which has volunteered in mass.”

Sheriff Hurst has volunteered to do his part of the work in registration without cost to the federal government. The other registrars will do the same. No trouble is expected in enrolling the entire military population of the country.

Registrar’s List

The list of registrars and enrollment places for Logan county follow:

Everett Dingess and Thomas Hensley, Queens Ridge.

Melvin Conley and Charles Conley, Shively.

Cam Pridemore and French Dingess, Pitts Branch.

Vinson Ferrell and Ans McCloud, Chapmanville.

R.E. Lowe, Stone Branch.

G.F. Collins, Big Creek.

W.B. Phipps, Chapmanville.

Ed. Haner, Curry.

Marshal Gore and Frank Frye, Sharples.

Black Sanders and George Baldwin, Lake.

Henry Lawson and John Hill, Henlawson.

J.B. Wilkinson, Jr., and M.B. Taylor, Logan.

L.D. Chambers and Frank Perry, Rolfe.

Cecil Mounts and C.H. Baisden, Mt. Gay.

Willis Parsons and W.P. Vance, Holden.

R.W. Buskirk and William Lewis, Omar.

Melvin White and Robert Hill, Pecks Mill.

Elmer Gore, Ethel.

A.M. Hall, Ethel.

Arthur Townsend, Holden.

C.E. Lamp, Holden.

C.C. Chambers and Robert Straton, Logan.

A.P. Loyd and G.K. Mills, Holden.

Sam Scott and Bruce White, Monaville.

Dr. Smoot and Guy Pauley, Blair.

Lot Murphy, Mt. Gay.

Ed. Mapper, Wilkinson.

F.D. Stollings and John Claypool, Foley.

Millard Perry, Everett Buchannon, Emmett Scaggs and Dr. Thornberry, Man.

John Amburgey and W.E. Perry, Amherstdale.

Earl Summers and Frank Hutchinson, Manbar.

M.F. Waring, Laredo.

Ed. Riffe, Craneco.

Andrew Jordan and Bilton Browning, Barnabas.

Dow Chambers, Yolyn.

Jack Mason, Rum Creek.

WWI Registration Card LD 05.24.1917 6.JPG

Logan (WV) Democrat, 24 May 1917.

Jack Dempsey’s Mother (1927)

15 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Boone County, Chapmanville, Huntington, Logan, Sports, Women's History

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Boone County, boxer, boxing, Cecilia Dempsey, Cecilia Smoot, Chapmanville, Charles Smoot, Chicago, Colorado, Don Ellis, Dyke Garrett, Enoch Baker, Gay Coal and Coke Company, Gene Tunney, Hiram Dempsey, history, Holden, Huntington, Huntington Hotel, Island Creek, J. Kenneth Stolts, Jack Dempsey, Jack Kearns, John B. Ellis, Joseph Ellis, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Manassa, Salt Lake City, Scott Justice, Simpson Ellis, Stratton Street, The Long Count Fight, Utah, West Virginia, Wiatt Smith

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about champion boxer Jack Dempsey dated September 9, 1927:

Jack Dempsey’s Mother Pays Visit to Logan

Travels from Utah to See Relatives and Old Friends and Neighbors

Maiden Name Cecilia Smoot

Uncle Dyke Garrett Among Welcomers; Dempseys Once Owned Site of Holden.

While Jack Dempsey is fighting to regain the heavyweight championship of the world, his mother Mrs. Hiram Dempsey will be the guest of Logan relatives and friends. She is expected to arrive at any hour for an extended visit to the scenes of her childhood.

Mrs. Dempsey arrived at Huntington Sunday and then planned to come here the next day. Later, word came that she would complete today the last lap of a motor trip from Salt Lake City to Logan.

Interviewed at Huntington Mrs. Dempsey told of her desire to revisit girlhood scenes and inquired about old friends. She spoke of Uncle Dyke Garrett and was pleasantly surprised to learn that he is still living. Uncle Dyke read the interview (his wife is an aunt of Wiatt Smith, the interviewer) and despite the nearness of his 86th birthday, came back up from his home back of Chapmanville to welcome Mrs. Dempsey.

This beloved old mountain minister never knew Jack Dempsey, but he remembers Jack’s mother as a girl, her maiden name being Cecilia Smoot. She was a daughter of Charles Smoot, who came to Logan from Boone county, and who lived and died up on Island Creek. After his death, Mrs. Smoot (Jack Dempsey’s grandmother) married Simpson Ellis, who died but a few years ago, after serving a long period on the county court.

Scott Justice, who divides his time between Huntington and Logan, was among those who greeted Mrs. Dempsey at the Huntington Hotel yesterday. He remembers the marriage of Hiram Dempsey and Cecilia Smoot, and also recalls that the site on which the town of Holden now stands was sold by Hiram Dempsey to Mr. Justice’s father when the family decided to migrate westward.

According to Mr. Justice, the tract of 200 acres changed hands for a consideration of $600.

“Uncle” Enoch Baker was another caller to greet the challenger’s mother. Mr. Baker was engaged in business in Logan county when the Dempseys lived here, being well acquainted with the family.

Mrs. Dempsey was accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. J. Kenneth Stolts of Salt Lake City. They made the trip from Utah, where Jack’s mother now has her permanent home, in a large automobile, traveling in easy stages. They arrived in Huntington Sunday evening and are leaving there today.

She called her famous son in Chicago by telephone Sunday night to advise him she had arrived here safely.

While in Logan, Mrs. Dempsey will visit her half-brothers, Don Ellis of Stratton Street, and Joseph and John B. Ellis of Island Creek, and others.

She has never seen Jack in the ring and will probably receive the result of the coming battle from friends in Logan.

The difference in the ages of the champion and challenger will not be an advantage to Tunney, Jack’s mother thinks. “If Tunney will stand up and fight, I expect Jack will give a good account of himself. But if Jack has to chase him all the time, Tunney may turn around and give him a licking in the end. I believe they are pretty evenly matched and lucky may figure in the outcome,” she said.

The Dempseys left Logan in 1887 and William Harrison (Jack) was born in Manassa, Colo., in June ’95. While he was a mere child they returned to Logan county. Jack remained here until a young man, having been employed by the Gay Coal and Coke Company as late as 1913, and then went west alone to seek pugilistic fortune. He met Jack Kearns on the Pacific coast, from which point his spectacular climb to the pinnacle of the heavyweight division furnished the sport with one of its most romantic episodes.

In view of the fact that Dempsey is said to have lived in this county and because of the interest in the approaching fight, the foll