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Brandon Ray Kirk

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Brandon Ray Kirk

Tag Archives: hunting

Whirlwind News 07.24.1925

28 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Harts Creek, Coal, Logan, Spottswood, Warren, Whirlwind

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Tags

Appalachia, coal, Fourth of July, Francis Collins, genealogy, Harts Creek, Harvey Smith, history, hunting, Lindsey Blair, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Squire Sol Adams, Taylor Blair, Thomas Tomblin, West Virginia, Whirlwind, White Oak Fork

An unnamed correspondent from Harts in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on July 24, 1925:

We are sad at this writing, since our friends are passing away so fast. Uncle Thomas Tomblin, who has been ill so long, died at his home. Uncle Frances Collins died at the home of Sol Adams, Jr.

Sol Adams was seen returning from Logan yesterday.

Harve Smith and Tabor Blair were enjoying the Fourth of July while hunting.

The county road is progressing nicely on the head of Hart.

Squire Adams was seen going toward White Oak with a bundle of papers. Wonder where he was going?

Lindsay Blair has quit the county road and gone to 18 mine to repair cars.

Faithful Rover: A Poem (1915)

09 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan, Poetry

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Tags

Appalachia, hunting, Logan, Logan Democrat, poet, poetry, poets, West Virginia, writers, writing

From the Logan Democrat of Logan, WV, comes this poem written by J. Rush Cook titled “Faithful Rover,” published January 21, 1915:

FAITHFUL ROVER

Old Rover was a faithful dog,

He stuck through thick and thin;

With me he crossed a thousand logs,

We’ve waded a hundred bogs

With the mud up to his chin.

We’ve hunted together, day and night,

He’s treed ten thousand mice;

He never retreated in a fight

Whether in darkness or in light,

And never barked but thrice.

One on the scent, one at the tree–

His gait was swift and strong;

Third, a long–that was for me,

Where e’er I might be,

To hustle and hurry along.

And when I’d reach the long sought spot,

Always on top of the hill,

A lookin’ wise there Rover sot,

Jump up and round he’d hop–

Could never keep him still.

And then, of course, the tree I’d cut

Old Rover sitting night;

Perhaps three, four feet at the butt

Pretty hard to crack such a nut!

But I did it without a sigh.

Down in the top old Rover would go,

To catch the game, you see;

But always in the tree below,

Old Rover would try to show,

Was the game for him and me.

With this repeated till at the foot,

He’d start up t’other side,

And then to me it began to look

As plain as an open book,

That Rover had surely lied.

I don’t think he meant to lie,

His guilt I could not own;

But in his eagerness to try

He always looked too high,

As others I have known.

Old Rover was built for strength,

Was deep across the chest–

His hips didn’t lack for breadth,

Neither his legs for length–

‘Tis needless to tell the rest.

He had a curl in his tail

As nearly all dogs do,

But he straightened it out on the trail–

It might hook on a briar or rail

And get to bleeding, too.

The scent of the game be lost–

The smell of blood is strong,

This he knew at any cost,

If this trail he happened to cross

The game would surely be gone.

Old Rover has passed away

To the happy hunting ground;

And there I hope he’ll stay

And tree his game each day,

And do his own cutting down.

Chapmanville News 01.04.1924

05 Monday Oct 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Chapmanville, Logan

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Tags

A.K. Bowling, Appalachia, Bess Bowling, Burl Elder, Chapmanville, Charleston, Clinton Ferrell, Earnie Ward, Fannie Brown, Floyd Barker, genealogy, Gicetto, history, hunting, Inez Barker, Jim Barker, Lizzie Mounts, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lonnie Mounts, Mont Tabor, Peach Creek, West Virginia

An unknown correspondent from Chapmanville, West Virginia, offered the following news, which the Logan Banner printed on January 4, 1924:

As every one else has quit writing I will take up my old job.

Mrs. Jim Barker and daughter Zell were visiting in Chapmanville Sunday.

Mr. Floyd Barker and Miss Lizzie Mounts seemed to enjoy themselves at the depot Sunday.

Miss Fannie Brown spent Xmas in Huntington. She reported a good time.

Mr. and Mrs. Lonnie Mounts are again back home after a visit in Charleston.

Mrs. A.K. Bowling and daughter Bess was shopping in Logan Monday.

Mr. Clinton Ferrell is spending his vacation here rabbit hunting.

Miss Inez Barker looks down-hearted now days. Cheer up, Inez. You may get a letter some day.

Mr. Earnie Ward sure enjoys going to Peach Creek. Would like to know what the attraction is.

Mr. Mont Tabor left Wednesday for Gicetto, W.Va. after spending a few days with friends here.

Mrs. Burl Elder of Peach Creek was visiting relatives here Wednesday.

Boys, but we would like to know what has become of Ima Nutt. We haven’t heard from him for so long.

Interview of Jean Hatfield at Sarah Ann, WV (2001), Part 2

28 Tuesday May 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Civil War, Hatfield-McCoy Feud

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Altina Waller, Appalachia, Asa Harmon McCoy, Betty Caldwell, Bob Hatfield, Bob Spence, Brandon Kirk, Cap Hatfield, Cincinnati, civil war, Coleman Hatfield, crime, Devil Anse Hatfield, Don Chafin, Ellison Hatfield, feud, feuds, Frank Phillips, genealogy, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Henry Hatfield, history, History Channel, hunting, Jack Hatfield, Jean Hatfield, Joe Hatfield, Johnson Hatfield, Levisa Hatfield, Logan Banner, Logan County, logging, Mingo County, Nancy McCoy, Otis Rice, Perry Cline, Preacher Anse Hatfield, Rosa Browning, Roseanne McCoy, Sarah Ann, Tennis Hatfield, The Hatfield and McCoy Feud After Kevin Costner, The McCoys: Their Story, The Tale of the Devil, Thomas Dotson, timbering, tourism, Truda Williams McCoy, West Virginia

In 2001-2002, I wrote a series of popular stories for the Logan Banner that merged aspects of well-known Hatfield-McCoy books written by Otis Rice and Altina Waller in the 1980s. I had previously enjoyed Rice’s narrative and Waller’s analysis; I did not conduct any new research. Even though I believed the definitive Hatfield-McCoy Feud book remained unwritten, my purpose in writing these stories was not a step toward writing a book; my purpose in writing these stories was to revisit the narrative with some analysis for Banner readers. My hope was that readers would see what I saw: first, fascinating history (or folk story) for its own sake; second, the power of history to create a popular type of tourism.

I was fortunate during this time to meet Jean Hatfield. Jean, born in 1936, operated a Hatfield family museum at Sarah Ann, WV. Jean was not a native of West Virginia but had lived her entire adult life locally and had personally known several of Anderson Hatfield’s children. I really appreciated her desire to promote regional history. She “got it.” She inspired me. Anytime that I drove up Route 44, I stopped to visit Jean at the museum. She was always welcoming. Knowing her reminded me that every Hatfield (and McCoy) descendant is a source of information–-and that for the most part they have yet to tell the story in their own words. Three notable exceptions include The McCoys: Their Story by Truda Williams McCoy (1976), The Tale of the Devil (2003) by Coleman Hatfield and Bob Spence, and The Hatfield and McCoy Feud After Kevin Costner: Rescuing History (2013) by Thomas Dotson.

What follows is Part 2 of my interview with Jean, which occurred on August 7, 2001:

What year was your husband born in?

He was born in ‘25. Grandpa died in 1921. He didn’t remember him but he remembered his grandmother. Grandma died in ’28.

Where did Devil Anse’s house sit here?

It’s up above the cemetery. There’s a ranch-style house there now. There’s a concrete bridge going over there. And a big bottom. And where the ranch style house is, that’s where the old homeplace was.

Is it still in family hands?

No. It’s been out of the family for I guess fifty years or more.

Now, Devil Anse having that many kids, do the grand-kids mingle pretty well?

They’re scattered. We really need to get back to the tradition of having a family reunion where they could all come in. But they’re scattered all over the country. Some in Florida, some in Ohio.

Are there other pictures like this that other branches of the family have?

I would say they all have some. There’s always pictures hidden back in attics and things like that. You never know. There’s one… Bob Hatfield from Cincinnati, he has an extensive family also. He’s through Anderson Hatfield. Preacher Anderson.

Do you know any stories about Anse and bear?

He was a bear hunter. And he killed a momma bear and brought the baby cubs home and raised them. They had them for years. A male and a female. Their names was Billy and Fanny. And Grandma would have to go out and run them out of the well house because they was out there slurping all of the cream off of the milk. They were down-to-earth people. They planted their gardens and things like that.

What about Don Chafin?

He was distant relation to the Hatfields. Grandma was a Chafin so he would have come in on her side. Maybe cousins. There’s a picture over there of Grandpa and him together.

The pictures of Johnse that I’ve seen, I don’t think he’s the best looking of the boys.

Well, I don’t either. Some of the pictures doesn’t do him justice either. This is the one that I like of him. It’s a little bit better. As he got older, he didn’t age very well. But then he had about five wives, too. That has a tendency to age you a bit.

If you have just one wife and she’s no good that can be enough.

I was lucky in that respect. We had 47 good years together. Now that top picture there is Joe and Cap and one of the deputies. His name was Lilly.

Devil Anse’s home burned, right? Did they lose a lot of things in it?

Uh huh. It had a lot of things in it. Somebody said Tennis had stored a lot of guns and ammunition and things like that in it. People were afraid to go by there for a week afterwards because the shots was going off. I would say it was something else because at that time there was no fire departments or anything. It probably just burned out.

Did you ever hear what year it was built?

1889. That’s a replica of it there. It was a seven-room two-story. Cap’s was built on the same pattern.

Did your husband read a lot about the feud?

Mostly, but he disagreed with a lot of it. The Altina Waller book, he liked that. It was a good one. They interviewed him on the History Channel. She never interviewed anyone. She went with public record on everything. And I think a lot of it was Perry Cline pushed a lot of it. Grandpa had sued him because he got on Grandpa’s land and timbered it. Grandpa won 5000 acres of land off of him. After that, all the warrants and the bounty hunters started looking for Grandpa and the boys. Grandpa decided all of a sudden that he was just going to sell him the land and get rid of it and when he did that everything just stopped. She thought in the book too that Perry Cline was the one really instigating the Hatfields and the McCoys and he was taking money off both sides of the family for things. He would buddy up to one side and then do something for someone and they’d pay him and then he would go to the other one and do the same thing.

Did you say you had something of his?

No. Frank Phillips. A pocket knife. We got it through one of our friends way back there. And he didn’t want it because he said it was too grisly. And it is rusty but you know the blade is razor sharp. And it has to be way over 100 years old.

Didn’t he marry Nancy McCoy?

She was Johnse’s first wife. She left Johnse for Frank Phillips. Well now, Asa Harmon McCoy was her father. And he was the one… Grandpa wounded him in the Civil War. And when they all come back from the Civil War he was found dead in the Hatfield territory and they blamed the Hatfields for the killing. But I think years later on they found out that one of his own people had killed him and just throwed him in the Hatfield territory. But now it was his daughter that married Johnse and from what I can understand she made Johnse live pretty rough, which he probably deserved for treating Roseanne the way he did. But now, I talked to Aunt Betty and Aunt Rosie both about Roseanne and they were living at the house with her and they loved her. They said she was a beautiful person. She had coal-black hair, she had a good turn. She was just a nice person. And I think they kind of got mad at Johnse because he was running around and chasing women and things like that.

Now, I’ve heard that Devil Anse wouldn’t allow them to be married.

He wouldn’t. But years later he said he wished he had’ve because Roseanne saved Johnse’s life a couple of times there. That is true. And he did say that he wished he had let them marry. But back at that time there was so much hatred going on between the families. Her father, as far as I know, never spoke to her again. Just because she did take up with Johnse.

What about the shirt that Ellison wore when he was stabbed?

As far as I know, it’s in a museum in New Orleans. There’s a picture there. Uncle Joe had it and he sold it to one of his sister’s grandsons and he passed away and his wife has it. I heard that it was on display in a museum. Henry tried to buy it back after his cousin died but we never did get an answer back from them. I would still like to have it back. Actually, it belonged to Henry’s father and he left it in storage at Uncle Joe’s and Uncle Joe sold it. It should have come down to Henry or Jack. But that’s life.

Queens Ridge News 03.02.1923

14 Tuesday May 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Creek, Coal, Queens Ridge

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Albert Queen, Appalachia, Arnold Workman, Big Creek, Charlie Tomblin, coal, Elmer Frazier, Emery Bryant, Eva Workman, farming, Francis Fork, Frank Mann, Garland Spry, genealogy, history, hunting, Jinks Mann, Kiahs Creek, Lincoln County, Logan Banner, Minnie Workman, Monroe Workman, Nancy Shepherd, Ocie Spry, Ora Mann, Queens Ridge, Silas Spry, Victoria Maynard, Virgie Mann, W.H. Tomblin, Wayne, Wayne County, Wayne Maynard, West Virginia, Wiley Queen, Woodrow Workman

A correspondent named “Mike and Ike” from Queen’s Ridge at Lincoln-Wayne counties, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on March 2, 1923:

Minnie and Eva Workman took dinner with Ora Mann Monday.

Garland Spry was rabbit hunting Sunday.

Minnie and Eva Workman made a flying trip to Francis Creek Sunday and back home Monday. They reported a good time.

Ora Mann and Eva Workman are going to the commencement exercise of Mrs. Victoria Maynard’s school next Wednesday.

W.H. Tomlin is grieving about his son Charlie, who is about to get married. He says if Charlie marries he is broke up.

Nancy Shepherd, who was reported sick a few weeks ago, is some better.

Virgie Mann was visiting friends on Francis Creek Sunday.

Minnie Workman is going to school every day. She says her school will soon close and she will go to Wayne to go to school.

A few weeks ago the farmers were thinking of planting corn. Now they are better satisfied sitting by the fire.

I wonder when Wayne Maynard is coming back home.

Arnold Workman has built a new chicken house. He says he can’t feed his poultry and chickens together.

Woodrow Workman got his fine coon dog caught in a trap. He says he will soon recover.

Frank Mann made a business trip to Big Creek Monday.

Wiley and Albert Queen were on our streets hauling coal last week.

Wonder where Silas Spry was Sunday? Guess he ran into a stump and bumped his nose and stumped his toes.

Elmer Frazier and his hat are getting along fine.

Emery Bryant was calling on Sallie Mann Sunday.

Jinks Mann is still going to see Ocie Spry every Sunday.

Little Monroe Workman is drawing a pension. He had his dog’s life insured and killed the dog to get the insurance.

NOTE: Geographically, Queens Ridge is located entirely in Wayne County but the post office area included a section of Lincoln (and Logan) County for a certain number of years.

Whirlwind News 02.16.1923

12 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Harts Creek, Shively, Spottswood, Twelve Pole Creek, Whirlwind

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Tags

Appalachia, Bud Richards, Cherry Tree, genealogy, Grover Adams, Harts Creek, Harvey Smith, history, Hoover Fork, Horatio Rush Adams, hunting, James Robert, Joe Kirk, John Fillinger, John H. Mullins, Logan County, merchant, Mollie Robinson, Mount Gay, Pete Dalton, Pusher Blair, Samuel Vance, singing schools, Smokehouse Fork, Sol Adams, Trace Fork, Twelve Pole Creek, Van Mullins, Victoria Kirk, West Virginia, Whirlwind

A correspondent named “Bluebird” from Whirlwind at Harts Creek in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on February 16, 1923:

Quite a number of people are on the sick list in this vicinity at this time.

Grover Adams has been busily engaged in the hunting business this winter.

Sol Adams of Mount Gay has been visiting relatives on Hoover recently.

Wonder if James Robert has ever let Pusher Blair ride his grey anymore?

The singing school on Trace is progressing nicely.

Victoria and Joe Kirk were out horseback riding Sunday.

Mr. and Mrs. John H. Mullins have been visiting relatives on Hart.

Mr. Samuel Vance of Twelve Pole was a business visitor to this community recently.

Mr. Pete Dalton was calling on Mrs. Mollie Robinson recently.

Harve Smith and John Fillinger have been having some fine sport fox hunting this winter.

Everybody has been wondering what has become of Ichabod Crane.

Van Mullins of this place is at Cherry Tree on the sick list. We hope that he will soon recover and return home.

Bud Richards is going into the mercantile business near the mouth of Smoke House.

Ratio. Don’t be afraid. The bull dog won’t hurt you.

Chapmanville News 01.27.1922

02 Wednesday Jan 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Chapmanville

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Tags

Appalachia, C.E. Barker, candy bite, Chapmanville, Chapmanville School, Donald Phipps, Earl Klinger, Everett Fowler, genealogy, history, hunting, J.W. Batchel, Jim Bryant, Karl Garrett, Kyle Hill, Lane School, Logan Banner, Logan County, Mabel Ferrell, Millard Brown, Norma Barker, Orville Phipps, pie social, Stollings, Tollie Ferrell, Virgie Lucas, West Virginia, Willard Pauley

A correspondent named “Hot Dog” from Chapmanville in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on January 27, 1922:

J.W. Batchel, principal of Chapmanville school, will give a pie social Friday night.

Mrs. C.E. Barker and Miss Mabel Ferrell had a spelling match Friday night. It ended with a candy bite.

I think Everett Fowler went rabbit hunting Saturday. Wonder if he was lucky.

Rev. Strindenstricker held a revival meeting at this place last week.

Willard Pauley didn’t pay his daily visit to this place Saturday.

Mr. Kyle Hill from Stollings called on Miss Norma Barker Sunday.

Tollie Ferrell and Virgie Lucas must have had the blues Friday night. Wonder why?

Jim Bryant and Millard Brown didn’t work Saturday. I guess they are off on a thirty day vacation.

Earl Klinger says yarn hose are better than silk in the north temperate zone.

Wonder why Orville Phipps picked on a short piece of candy to bite with Mabel the other night?

The Lane school teachers are having trouble with stove pipes.

Wonder what Tollie Ferrell and Donald Phipps were tickled about the other night?

Donald Phipps and Karl Garrett were the captains in a spelling match. Donald says when Mabel is on his side he is always victorious.

Wonder why the girls won’t bite candy with the old bachelors?

Best wishes.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 27 January 1922.

Hatfield Items

12 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Sandy Valley, Cemeteries, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Huntington, Logan, Wyoming County

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Tags

A.J. Shepherd, Appalachia, Calico, Devil Anse Hatfield, Dewey Boaz, Elias Hatfield, genealogy, Greenway Hatfield, history, Horse Pen Fork, hunting, Huntington, Island Creek, jailer, Joe Hatfield, John Totten Vance, Joseph Hatfield, Logan Banner, Logan County, Logan County Banner, Logan Democrat, M.K. Diamond, Melvin Runyon, Mingo County, Moundsville, New River, Omar, Stirrat, Tennis Hatfield, Thacker, Tom Hatfield, West Virginia, West Virginia Coal & Coke Company, Willard Hatfield, William E. Glasscock, William Hatfield, Williamson, Willis Hatfield, Wyoming County

From the Logan County Banner, the Logan Banner and the Logan Democrat of Logan, WV, come the following items about the Hatfields:

In some way our watchful jailor Elias Hatfield learned that some week or to days ago, the wife of Melvin Runyon, who is confined in jail here for the murder of John Vance at Thacker had been trying to get a pistol in the jail to him. On Monday, Mrs. Runyon, with a brother of Runyon, and Mr. A.J. Shepherd came over to see him. Mr. Hatfield thought it was his duty to search Mrs. Runyon before she was allowed to go into the jail, which he did at once, and found a hatchet under her dress. The hatchet was taken from her and she was not allowed to go in. Mr. Shepherd and Mr. Runyon were, however, allowed to go in and talk with the prisoner. The jailor is commended by all for his action.

Source: Logan County Banner, 17 April 1895.

***

Tennis Hatfield is reported on the sick list.

Source: Logan Democrat, 23 January 1913.

***

Tennis Hatfield, who has been confined to his room for several weeks, is improving under the care of Dr. Steele.

Source: Logan Democrat, 30 January 1913.

***

Tennis Hatfield who has been confined to his room for two months at Calico left last week for New River.

The many friends of Willis Hatfield here are glad to hear that Gov. Glasscock paroled him from a four year sentence at Moundsville for killing Dr. Thornhill in Wyoming county.

Source: Logan Democrat, 20 March 1913.

***

Mr. Hatfield caught five ground hogs Tuesday and said that it was not a good day for them either.

Source: Logan Democrat, 24 April 1913.

***

Joe Hatfield, of New River, visited his parents at Calico last week.

Source: Logan Democrat, 15 May 1913.

***

William Hatfield Injured LB 07.22.1927

Logan Banner, 22 July 1927.

***

HATFIELD HELD

Postmaster Willard Hatfield of Williamson was bound over to court yesterday following a row in which Police Officer Dewey Boaz was shot in the foot. Hatfield waived examination and his bond for $1,000 was signed by his father, Greenway Hatfield.

Source: Logan Banner, 5 August 1927.

***

Church Meeting at Anse Hatfield's Home LB 09.06.1927 1.JPG

Logan Banner, 6 September 1927.

A Civil War Bear Story (1899)

13 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Civil War, Huntington

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Tags

Appalachia, civil war, history, hunting, Huntington, Huntington Advertiser, West Virginia, whisky

“The cold weather of a few days ago reminded me of a little adventure that I had while soldiering,” said a well known business man. “It was on New Years day 1863, and we camped at the foot of a West Virginia mountain. The snow was several inches deep and the cold was intense. There wasn’t much discipline, and as we were allowed to hunt some, I took my gun and started up the mountain side. I had gone half a mile probably, when I stopped at the foot of a tree. My hands were nearly frozen and I leaned my gun against the tree and commenced rubbing my hands together to warm them, when suddenly I heard the brush cracking and turning I beheld a huge bear coming in my direction. It was on its hind legs with its huge paws outstretched and its jaws open and I could almost feel its warm breath on my cheek. Recovering from my fright I sprang up and caught a limb of a tree, drawing myself up out of the way just in time to avoid the embrace of the huge beast. My heart thumped so it shook my whole body. The bear cantered around the tree, sniffling at my gun, which still stood leaning against it. I shouted until I was hoarse, hoping to attract some of the soldiers in camp, but to no avail. I fixed myself as comfortably as possible in the branches of the tree, and watched the bear, believing that he would soon tire and leave. The cold was terrific. My whole body was benumbed, and I wondered how much longer I could endure the cold before I would tumble out of the tree to be devoured by the bear. Suddenly a bright thought struck me, and descending to the lower branch I took a bottle of whisky from my pocket and began pouring a thin stream down into the barrel of my gun. The whisky striking the cold gun barrel froze and in a few moments there was a solid streak of frozen whisky reaching from the gun clear up to the bottle that I held in my hand. Taking hold of the whisky icicle, I carefully drew the gun up, hand over hand, until it was in my grasp. Then taking careful aim, I sent a bullet crashing into a vital spot of the bear, and it rolled down the mountain side dead. I hurriedly descended and found my way back to camp nearly frozen. Some people may tell you that whisky won’t freeze, but then it did in this instance, for it was the coldest day I ever experienced. Get a pension? Why certainly for I have never fully thawed out since that terrible freezing I got while clinging to that tree.”

Source: “Get A Pension Now,” Huntington (WV) Advertiser, 16 February 1899.

The Life of Pioneers 10

15 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Harts Creek

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Tags

Appalachia, Belle Dora Adams, culture, Daisy Adams, farming, Harts Creek, history, Howard Adams, hunting, life, Logan County, Major Adams, West Virginia

This history of early life in Logan County, West Virginia, was written by Howard and Daisy Adams. Howard (1906-1976) and Daisy (b.1915) were children of Major and Belle Dora Adams of Trace Fork of Harts Creek. Titled “The life of pioneers during the latter half of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the 19th century” and written in the late 1960s or early 1970s, their history marks the only known attempt by local people to reconstruct the story of pioneer life. This part of the history includes information regarding fall food preparation, the making of molasses, and hunting.

In the late summer and fall months, people were kept busy preparing and putting up or canning food for winter. Vegetables were pickled berries, picked and canned through the summer and fall. Corn and beans were pickled by cooking and putting in a big barrel. Salt was added and a good lid put on the barrel to keep out rats and insects. Boy, these were good in winter. Apples, peaches, pears, cherries, and plums were gathered and canned from the orchard, which had been set out earlier.

Now that good old molasses making took place. First, large stacks of wood were prepared and dried. Now the cane had to be cut and the blades pulled off or stripped and the heads cut off. Now a furnace built and an evaporator pan set on the furnace. A machine with cogs and wheels and a long crooked pole on top with a horse or mule pulling the pole round and round: this was called a cane mill. You see, as the mule went around the stalks of cane were put in between two or three big rollers set close together and the juice squeezed out of the stalks. The juice was caught in a big tub and then transferred to the big pan to be boiled into sorghum. I liked to lick sorghum from a paddle swiped through the molasses pan. Everybody had a good time at “lassy makin’ time,” even though it was hard work.

Cushaws, squashes and pumpkin were gathered into the cellar or crib. Corn gathering was done by pulling corn of the stalks some time it had been cut and shocked up. It was hauled into the crib with mules or horses or cattle.

Now that everything was gathered in, a little pleasure followed. Squirrel , rabbit, quail, pheasant, and coon and possum hunting was done by most all the pioneers. They obtained lots of their meat supply by hunting wild game. Some folks hunted animals for their skins, which were sold, bringing in a little cash.

Feud Poll 1

If you had lived in the Harts Creek community during the 1880s, to which faction of feudists might you have given your loyalty?

Categories

  • Adkins Mill
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  • Yantus

Feud Poll 2

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

Blogroll

  • Ancestry.com
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Feud Poll 3

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

Recent Posts

  • Sheriff Joe D. Hatfield, Son of Devil Anse (1962)
  • The C&O Shops at Peach Creek, WV (1974)
  • Map: Southwestern West Virginia (1918-1919)

Ed Haley Poll 1

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

Top Posts & Pages

  • Old Hinchman Book at Pecks Mill in Logan County, WV (1936)
  • In Search of Ed Haley 158
  • Logan Court House (1904-1911)
  • Orville McCoy Recalls "Squirrel Huntin'" Sam McCoy (1990)
  • Baisden Family Troubles

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© Brandon Ray Kirk and brandonraykirk.wordpress.com, 1987-2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Brandon Ray Kirk and brandonraykirk.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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

Blogs I Follow

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

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OtterTales

Writings from my travels and experiences. High and fine literature is wine, and mine is only water; but everybody likes water. Mark Twain

Our Appalachia: A Blog Created by Students of Southern West Virginia CTC

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

Piedmont Trails

Genealogy and History in North Carolina and Beyond

Truman Capote

A site about one of the most beautiful, interesting, tallented, outrageous and colorful personalities of the 20th Century

Appalachian Diaspora

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