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Brandon Ray Kirk

Tag Archives: Indiana

United Mine Workers of America (1925)

02 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Coal

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Barrackville, Charleston, District 17, Harold Houston, Henry Warrum, history, Indiana, Indianapolis, labor, Logan, Logan Banner, Philadelphia, secretary, Sullivan, United Mine Workers of America, West Virginia, William C. Thompson, William Petry

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this story dated August 28, 1925 regarding the United Mine Workers of America:

OFFICERS RECEIVE LION’S SHARE OF UNION CHECK OFF

Report Shows 35 Cents of Every Union Miner’s Dollar Goes to Pay Overhead Costs

Virtually 35 cents of every dollar paid into the United Mine Workers of America treasury at Indianapolis goes for overhead expenses, chief of which is salaries, according to the report of the auditors who went over the books of the international’s accounts from January 10 to June 1 of this year. They report that the union had $1,191.991.64 on deposit on various banks on the latter date, despite the payment of some very large sums of money about which little is said.

West Virginia ranks high in the list of expenditures with the statement made that $411,475 was given somebody in connection with the Charleston headquarters of district 17, for the relief of Kanawha miners, for the relief of men who declined to work under the American plan of mining. As this was for 110 days, according to the report, it amounts to virtually $3,750 a day for every day reported. This sum was in addition to the $124,000 given somebody in the Fairmont field, for the aid of strikers there.

Administration Costs High

The “aid” money was also aside and apart from administration expenses in Charleston, because the audit shows the payment of $22,849.05 to William C. Thompson, secretary of District 17, for administrative expenses. Legal salaries were also apart from both of these figures, as the payment of $8.606.57 to Thomas Townsend for work during that period, and $602.11 to Harold Houston, another Charleston attorney, were listed separately. The settlement of claims for back salary, made by William Petry, former vice president of the district is also listed separately, the settlement being made for $500 cash.

The salaries and expenses of officers are lumped in one sum as $254,808.94, or 20.9 per cent of the disbursements for the 110 day period. These salaries and expenses are clear entirely of any incidental office expenses, supplies, etc. Mr. Townsend, the Charleston attorney, received the largest salary of the few listed separately, as Henry Warrum, the Philadelphia attorney received $4.672.73 during the 110 days and John Campbell but $4,250. Several other lawyers received from $2,000 to 3,000 fees.

Gift to Sufferers

Gifts of $250 to the tornado sufferers in Indiana; $500 to the victims of the Barrackville mine disaster; $500 to Illinois tornado sufferers and $1000 to sufferers in the Indiana explosion at Sullivan are also reported, being a very small portion of the disbursements listed.

Recapitulation of the figures show that the balance on hand January 16, 1924 was $1,048,044.40. The incoming from members of the union for the 110 days was $1,362,201.28. This made a total of $2,410,245.78. From this is deducted expenditures of $1,216,254.14 for the 110 days, leaving a balance June 1, of $1,191,991.64.

Big Creek News 04.28.1922

22 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Creek, Ferrellsburg, Hamlin, Huntington, Sand Creek, Stone Branch

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Albert Messer, Appalachia, Big Creek, C&O Railroad, crime, Dr. Whitehall, Earl McComas, Ferrellsburg, Frank Stone, genealogy, H.B. McComas, Hamlin, history, Howard Fry, Huntington, Ike Dean, Indiana, Lewis Stowers, Logan Banner, Logan County, murder, Peter M. Toney, pneumonia, Sand Creek, South Bend, Stone Branch, West Virginia

A correspondent named “Phil” from Big Creek in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following news, which the Logan Banner printed on April 28, 1922:

Earl McComas, son of Mr. and Mrs. H.B. McComas, died last week of pneumonia.

Dr. Whitehall who has been visiting friends and relatives in South Bend, Ind., for the past week or ten days has returned.

Mr. P.M. Toney has been attending business matters in Huntington for the past week.

Mr. Howard Fry of Sand Creek died last week of pneumonia and influenza.

Big Creek is coming to the front more every day. We note that the picture theatre is running three days a week instead of two.

Additional News:

Mrs. Lewis Stowers who has been in for some time died Monday night and was buried Tuesday evening.

Serious murder case at Ferrellsburg last Sunday evening; it is said that Albert Messer killed Ike Dean which was a very bloody and sad affair, which is said to be the result of an old grudge. Messer surrendered to authorities and was taken to Hamlin to jail Tuesday morning.

Mrs. Stone has been away visiting relatives in Huntington for the past week and taking a rest after a spell of sickness.

Frank Stone brakeman on the switch engine at Big Creek was hit by a switch lever, slightly injuring the left side of his face, and has been off from duty for the past ten days on that account. He returned to work on Tuesday.

There was a large freight wreck just below Stone Branch Monday at noon. 15 freight cars derailed and caused passenger trains to transfer Monday evening. The wreck was cleared after several hours work with the tool cars.

White Family History at Pecks Mill, WV (1937)

15 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Giles County, Logan, Pecks Mill

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Anna Stuart, Appalachia, Arter White, Battle of New Orleans, Ben White, Betty Radford, Charles White, Editha White, Elijah White, Frank White, Franklin, genealogy, Giles County, Henry Mitchell, Hezekiah Staton, Hiram White, history, Howard White, Indiana, Isaac White, James Buskirk, James Thompson, James White, John Chambers, John Sansom, John White, Judith White, Lark White, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lucretia Elkins, Major White, Margaret White, Mason White, Maston White, Millard White, Mingo County, Monroe County, Montgomery County, Nancy White, Ohio, Pigeon Creek, Pleasant Chafin, Reuben White, Robert Chambers, Robert Whitt, South Carolina, Susannah Elkins, Susannah Marcum, Thomas White, Viola Ellis, Virginia, Wade Hampton, Wallace White, West Virginia, Will White, William White

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about the White family in Logan County, West Virginia. The story is dated May 21, 1937.

White Family Among Early Settlers in Logan County

Great Grandfather of Patrolman Frank White Moved From Pecks Mill to Mingo County; His Father Had Settled on Mitchell Farm

Among the pioneer families which settled in and around Logan during the early days of its building from a settlement to a village was the family of John White.

John White came to Logan and settled on the farm later owned by Henry Mitchell with a family of grown men and one daughter. Ben and James had come to Pecks Mill early in the 19th century and built their cabins.

His daughter, Nancy, married Robert Whitt, who afterwards moved to Ohio.

His sons were John, who married Susannah Marcum of Franklin; Ben, who married Anna Stuart of Montgomery; James, who married Lucretia Elkins; and William, who married a daughter of John Sansom, another pioneer of the county.

James, tiring of this section of the country because “hunting was bad”, moved to Mingo county and bought five miles of land on Pigeon Creek for a bear gun and a bear dog.

He reared his family and among his children was John, grandfather of Frank White, city patrolman, Mrs. James Buskirk, Power Plant addition, and Lark, Will, Millard, Howard, Wallace, and Mason, all of Logan.

John was the breadwinner of his family, his father having died not long after his son reached the age of 12. John hunted and filled the soil to take care of his aging mother and several brothers and sisters.

He married Betty Radford, also of Mingo county and was the father of twelve children. They were William, who married Editha White; John, who married Susannah Elkins; Thomas, James, Reuben, Isaac, Charles, Major, Elijah, Hiram, Masten, and Judith, who married James Thompson.

Elijah was the father of the Logan citizens named above. He left Mingo county and came to Logan where he married Viola Ellis.

Thomas, James, and Reuben went to Giles county, Virginia, and Major went to Indiana.

All the others remained in Logan and reared large families.

Ben White was the father of seven children, five sons and two daughters. His sons were John, Arter, Ben, William, and James, and his daughters were Nancy, who married Pleasant Chafin, and Margaret, who married Hezekiah Staton.

James had but one child, a daughter Nancy, who married John Chambers, a son of Robert Chambers of Monroe county.

William, the youngest son, joined the regular army in 1808 and was assigned for duty in a regiment that was being raised by Col. Wade Hampton of South Carolina.

When Hampton was made Brigadier-General in 1806 and assigned to duty at New Orleans, White went with him, and when Hampton was superseded by Wilkinson, White remained with Wilkinson and then under Jackson until after the Battle of New Orleans in which battle he participated.

He returned home in 1816 and married the daughter of John Sansom.

Big Creek News 04.14.1922

06 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in African American History, Big Creek, Coal, Hamlin, Logan

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Appalachia, Bedford Queen, Big Creek, Daisy Coal Mines, Earl McComas, genealogy, Gordon Lilly, Hamlin, history, Indiana, J.E. Whitehall, Lilly's Branch, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, moonshine, section foreman, West Virginia

An unknown correspondent from Big Creek in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on April 14, 1922:

Big Creek News LB 04.14.1922 2.JPG

Little Earl McComas died yesterday (Tuesday) at 5 P.M. Burial was made the following day in the family burying ground.

Dr. J.E. Whitehall has been at this home in Indiana since last Thursday on a vacation. We are looking for him to return soon.

Mrs. Stone, our boarding house keeper, who has been ill is now improving and will soon be able to attend to her duties again.

Born to Mr. and Mrs. Bedford Queen Tuesday night, a fine boy baby.

The Daisy Coal Mines have resumed operations and are running daily now since a temporary shutdown.

A little son of Mr. Bledsoe, the section foreman, is reported quite ill at this writing.

Mr. Gordon Lilly, one of the pioneer settlers on Lilly’s Branch, is reported out again after a severe illness. Uncle Gordon is one of the oldest citizens in this neighborhood and is past 84 years in age.

Mr. Burgess, of Logan, has moved into the house recently occupied by Dr. Chafin who has moved to Hamlin.

Quite a little excitement prevailed here last week when a colored man and his wife engaged in a free for all and the wife was assisted by a third party. The battle raged in earnest until the arrival of an officer who was required to shoot before the trio could be subdued. Moonshine was at the bottom of the trouble and they were hauled before Squire Lowe where they were each heavily fined.

Hatfield Items (1927)

16 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Logan, Wharncliffe

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Angola, Appalachia, Bob Hatfield, Cap Hatfield, civil engineer, Devil Anse Hatfield, genealogy, Glen Alum, history, Indiana, Island Creek, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Mingo County, Stirrat, Tri-State College, West Virginia

Cap Hatfield's Son Gets Diploma LB 06.10.1927

Logan (WV) Banner, 10 June 1927.

Bob Hatfield Visits LB 07.29.1927

Logan (WV) Banner, 29 July 1927

Logan, WV (1913-1914)

14 Sunday Jan 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan

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A.J. Hood & Company, Appalachia, Charleston, Detroit, E.H. Green, E.T. England, genealogy, Guyan Valley Bank Building, history, Indiana, Ira Hager, Jefferson Hotel, K.F. Deskins, Lincoln County, Logan, Logan Banner, O.J. Deegan, Valparaiso, W.J. Lawrence Jr., West Virginia

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, come these items relating to town history in 1913-1914:

Sure Signs of Prosperity

Logan has added three new attorneys to its big roll of legal practitioners this year. The last one is Mr. O.J. Deegan, of Valparaiso, Indiana, who arrived in the city last week and has taken offices with Attorney E.H. Green in the Guyan Valley Bank Bldg. The other two new ones are Ira Hager, of Lincoln Co., officed in the same building and adjoining Senator E.T. England, and Attorney W.J. Lawrence, Jr. of Charleston, whose office is in the new Buskirk building. Mr. Lawrence is also Treasurer of the Jefferson Hotel company. All these newcomers are young and active men of sterling worth and are sure to succeed. Here’s the glad hand of prosperity.

***

The principal streets of Logan, both paved and unpaid, are torn up this week, gas mains being laid therein. A large force of men and teams are employed at hauling and laying pipe and the work will be rushed to an early completion. Logan plumbers are busy “roughing in” buildings in readiness for the clean, new fuel that will heat the city next winter. Very few buildings in this city were piped. In fact, very few of the larger buildings were plumbed when built.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 8 August 1913.

***

Logan’s Boosters and Knockers

The “mossback natives” who have tried for a decade to hold Logan back, to prevent its progress and development, and keep new industries and stores out, have played their last card—and it was the joker. They can “go way back and sit down,” or sit up and notice that Logan has grown more the past year than ever before in its history. And what did it? Was it the grouchy and selfish attitude and actions of a few Logan misers—“old fogies” who have made all they want and do not wish others to try to do likewise—or was it the boosting and state-wide publicity given our city and county in the past two years, by our hustling newspapers, that has put Logan on the industrial and commercial map RIGHT? Ask any sensible unprejudiced resident what did it, and take his word for it.

We say again, they have all played their last card, Logan is booming, BOOMING, BOOMING! Nothing can stop it. Big fires only make it better.

The $60,000.00 of bridge bonds have been sold to A.J. Hood & Co. of Detroit, the City “street extension” bonds last year sold at once and the $50,000.00 of City Paving Bonds, now up to the voters, will sell readily, if the election carries—and why should it not carry!

On with the paving!

On with the bridges!

On with the good roads!

On with the new stores!

On with the improvements!

On with the new industries and railroad extensions!

On with the ice and storage plants! “If there is anything Logan needs more than an ice plant, it is TWO ice plants!” On with the ice plant!

Next year Logan will need a new cemetery for “dead ones” that don’t believe it pays to advertise. Got that?

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 3 October 1913.

***

Logan’s First Greenhouse

The fresh young onion and lettuce you are eating for your dinners these days are supplied to your grocer from the greenhouse of K.F. Deskins, the first hot-house in this vicinity if not in the county. Keene has had the plant in operation about a month, and he is supplying these nice, fresh greens to the market the past two weeks. It will be some few days yet, even if spring weather comes along for sure, before the regular outdoor garden truck will commence to come into local markets, but by the greenhouse method we are supplied or can be hereafter all winter.

The greenhouse plant is the most modern of its kind: large, twin brick flues, running the entire length of the house and fired from commodious fire-box, supplies the proper heat at all times. All kinds of seeds and plants are started early. Pie plant was a foot high two weeks ago, and now ready for market. Other things in proportion.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 3 April 1914.

History of Coal (1927)

29 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in American Revolutionary War, Coal

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Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, Appalachia, Chicago Journal of Commerce, coal, Coalport, history, Illinois, Illinois River, Indiana, John Fremont, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Malcolm MacFarlane, Montana, New Orleans, New York Central Lines, Ohio, Ohio River, Ottawa, Pomeroy, Pomeroy Bend, Richmond, Robert de La Salle, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this story dated April 5, 1927:

The greatest antiquity of the Aryan race historically established runs back to from four to five thousand years ago. The language of the Aryans was Sanskrit, and from this language comes the word coal, from the original word “jual” meaning “to burn.” In the Bible coal or coals means the embers of charred or reddened burnt or burning wood. Our present day bituminous and anthracite coal was unknown to the ancients, at least as a fuel, says the Chicago Journal of Commerce.

The general fuel inspector of the New York Central Lines, Malcolm MacFarlane, has been doing research work in the history of bituminous and anthracite coal. While it seems probable that coal came into limited use in the Iron Age about 1000 B.C. the earliest authentic record show that it was used in Greece in 300 B.C. In England it was in use in A.D. 852. Mr. MacFarlane says: “Our ancestors of that day were very suspicious of this new fuel, with heavy black smoke and pungent odors. Fears prevailed that the public health was affected, and so widespread did these become that the English King prohibited the mining of coal entirely. The same condition obtained in France, and it was the middle of the thirteenth century before coal came into general use in Paris.”

First coal discovery in this country came from the town of Ottawa on the Illinois River in 1679, with mining operations beginning seventy years later twelve miles above Richmond, Va. Coal was in general use there twenty-five years later in 1775, and was used in making guns for the patriot army of the Revolutionary War. Later, coal showings were found along the Ohio River in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. In the Northwest, General Fremont reported coal in Wyoming in 1843. In 1879 coal was uncovered in Montana. In the Pomeroy Bend, coal had been mined for more than a hundred years. A coal bank was opened there in 1819. In 1808 at Coalport in the above bend of the river attempts were made to export coal, but were unsuccessful. In 1832 a thousand bushels of Pomeroy coal was shipped in ___ on a flatboat to New Orleans. The field has been a great producer ever since.

Anthracite was discovered in America in 1763, but was not burned ____ to a ____ until 1803.

[cropped]

ever up to that time been placed under the governorship of one man.

Cadillac and LaSalle were both possessed of that spirit which fights against seemingly insurmountable odds. They were leaders. Both visioned the establishment of a vast empire in the West. Their achievements formed the backbone of American development. They were dreamers, and then, with never-ending zeal, strove to realize their dreams.

LaSalle was more the restless discoverer, constantly venturing into some new hazardous undertaking. Cadillac was the colonizer, with a practical and commercial mind. His business and trading ability made the settlement at Detroit a financial success.

Source: “New Data on the History of Coal is Uncovered by MacFarlane, Research Worker,” Logan (WV) Banner, 5 April 1927.

Note: For more information about Pomeroy coal, follow this link: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/OHMEIGS/2006-07/1152225240

Harts News 01.14.1927

22 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Creek, Chapmanville, Hamlin, Harts, Huntington, Logan, Whirlwind

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Appalachia, Beatrice Adkins, Bessie Adkins, Big Creek, Bill Adkins, Bob Brumfield, Bob Dingess, Caroline Brumfield, Chapmanville, Coal Branch City, Cora Adkins, Dallas McComas, Dr. Ferrell, Fisher B. Adkins, genealogy, Hamlin, Harts, Hawkins Perry, Herbert Adkins, history, Hollena Ferguson, Huntington, Indiana, Jeff Mullins, Jessie Brumfield, Joe Brumfield, Lincoln County, Logan, Logan Banner, Minerva Brumfield, New Orleans, Tom Brumfield, Valparaiso, Verna Johnson, Ward Brumfield, West Fork, West Virginia, Whirlwind

An unknown correspondent from Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on January 14, 1927:

After all the sadness and sorrow Harts has mingled back again.

Mrs. Ward Brumfield met the county court at Hamlin Monday to be appointed Ward Brumfield’s administrator.

Mrs. Charles Brumfield is looking after business matters in Logan this week.

Miss Cora Adkins spent Saturday in Huntington.

Herbert Adkins was a business caller in Huntington Monday.

Mrs. Hollena Ferguson spent several days in Logan visiting friends.

Hawkins Perry is our new operator here this week.

Mrs. Toney Johnson from New Orleans is here visiting her mother, Mrs. Chas. Brumfield.

Wonder why Dr. Ferrell of Chapmanville is so interested in Harts now?

Mr. and Mrs. Dallas McComas spent Saturday and Sunday in Huntington.

Mrs. Beatrice Adkins from West Fork was in Harts Saturday.

Miss Jessie Brumfield is progressing nicely with her school at Atenville now.

Bill Adkins will leave here soon for Valparaiso, Indiana where he will be engaged in school for some time.

Mrs. Jeff Mullins of Big Creek spent Saturday visiting relatives here.

Robert Dingess of Whirlwind was a business caller in this town Monday.

Robert and Joe Brumfield are looking after business matters in Logan this week.

Fisher B. Adkins was in Hamlin Monday looking after his contest which will come off the March term of court.

Mrs. Herbert Adkins has purchased a fine radio.

Tom Brumfield seems to be very much pleased these days. Wonder why? Guess the wedding bells will ring soon.

Bill Adkins from Coal Branch City was in town Monday.

Harts News 01.14.1927

21 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Atenville, Big Creek, Chapmanville, Hamlin, Harts, Huntington, Logan, Whirlwind

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Appalachia, Beatrice Adkins, Big Creek, Bill Adkins, Bob Brumfield, Bob Dingess, Caroline Brumfield, Chapmanville, Charley Brumfield, Coal Branch City, Cora Adkins, Dallas McComas, Dr. Ferrell, Fisher B. Adkins, genealogy, Harts, Hawkins Perry, Herb Adkins, history, Hollena Ferguson, Huntington, Indiana, Jeff Mullins, Jessie Brumfield, Joe Brumfield, Lincoln County, Logan, Logan Banner, Minerva Brumfield, New Orleans, teacher, Tom Brumfield, Valparaiso, Verna Johnson, Ward Brumfield, West Fork, West Virginia, Whirlwind

An unknown correspondent from Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on January 14, 1927:

After all the sadness and sorrow Harts has mingled back again.

Mrs. Ward Brumfield met the county court in Hamlin Monday to be appointed Ward Brumfield’s administrator.

Mrs. Charles Brumfield is looking after business matters in Logan this week.

Miss Cora Adkins spent Saturday in Huntington.

Herbert Adkins was a business caller in Huntington Monday.

Mrs. Hollena Ferguson spent several days in Logan visiting friends.

Hawkins Perry is our new operator here this week.

Mrs. Toney Johnson from New Orleans is here visiting her mother, Mrs. Chas. Brumfield.

Wonder why Dr. Ferrell of Chapmanville is so interested in Harts now?

Mr. and Mrs. Dallas McComas spent Saturday and Sunday in Huntington.

Mrs. Beatrice Adkins from West Fork was in Harts Saturday.

Miss Jessie Brumfield is progressing nicely with her school at Atenville now.

Bill Adkins will leave here soon for Valparaiso, Indiana where he will be engaged in school for some time.

Mrs. Jeff Mullins of Big Creek spent Saturday visiting relatives here.

Robert Dingess of Whirlwind was a business caller in this town Monday.

Robert and Joe Brumfield are looking after business matters in Logan this week.

Fisher B. Adkins was in Hamlin Monday looking after his contest which will come off the March term of court.

Mrs. Herbert Adkins has purchased a fine radio.

Tom Brumfield seems to be very much pleased these days. Wonder why? Guess the wedding bells will ring soon.

Bill Adkins from Coal Branch City was in town Monday.

John’s epilogue 2

31 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Ed Haley, John Hartford, Music

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Arthur Smith, banjo, Ben Walker, Benny Martin, Bernie Adams, Billy Adkins, blind, Brandon Kirk, Buddy Emmons, Clayton McMichen, Doug Owsley, Durham, Ed Haley, fiddlers, fiddling, Green McCoy, Haley-McCoy grave, Harts, history, Imogene Haley, Indiana, Jeffersonville, John Hartford, Johnny Hager, Lawrence Haley, Mark O'Connor, Matt Combs, Melvin Kirk, Michael Cleveland, Milt Haley, Mona Haley, music, Nashville, North Carolina, Smithsonian, Snake Chapman, Tennessee, Texas Shorty, Ugee Postalwait, Webster Springs, West Virginia, Wilson Douglas, writing

When Ed first went out into the neighborhood with his dad’s fiddle and armed with his melodies (as interpreted by his mother) I think he probably caused not a small sensation amongst family and neighbors and his ear being as great as it was I think he picked up an incredible amount of other music really fast. I think he played with a lot of ornaments when he was a teenager and up into maybe even his thirties. Snake Chapman and Ugee Postalwait have alluded to this. Snake said the dining room recordings just didn’t sound as old-timey as he remembered Ed playing and Ugee said she remembered him and her dad talking about the little melodies between the notes. Of course Ed had to have been through a lot of subtle changes in style since that time. I think in later years he stripped a lot of the ornaments out of his fiddling in order to appeal to the Arthur Smith-Clayton McMitchen crowd who loved the radio style that was so much in vogue at that time. This might have helped make a little more money on the street. People have always liked to hear someone play and sound just like what they hear on the radio or a record. But I think if someone had asked Ed if he had done that consciously that he would have denied it and if he was in a bad mood they might have even had a fight on their hands.

I keep having this idea of Ed imitating other instruments on the fiddle because I’ve tried it myself and wouldn’t it be something that some of these great parts was really an imitation of John Hager’s banjo playing. I’d love to know where that passage is or whether it even exists.

It’s obvious that when Ed had good firm second that wouldn’t slow down for anything, he really leaned back on the beat and got in that little pocket where so many great musicians like to be. Ella and Mona really held up a good solid beat, but I’ll bet Ed was hard on them — a real taskmaster. It’s all in that rhythm section. Wilson Douglas told me one time that Ed always told him to play it real lazy. Texas Shorty, Benny Martin, and Buddy Emmons refer to it as holding on to the note as long as you can before you start the next one. This is an important part of Ed’s feel and sound and it really comes through on the dining room recordings. I get it by playing as slow as I can against a beat I hope is not gonna move, and then I swing the notes with a dotted note feel — a real lilt if I can get it — and just drag on the beat as hard as I can ’cause I know it’s not gonna slow down. I’d love to know just when Ed figured that out or if it was always there. I always think of Ed in his younger years playing on top of the beat or even ahead of it like I did when I was young and full of piss and vinegar. Actually when you’re playing alone you do hafta pretty well stay on top of the beat to hold the time or at least set it, cause you are the beat but you have to keep from rushing which we will tend do when we get to hard passages in order to get them over with. We’ll not do that no more. Mark O’Connor told me one time that while he is playing a tune he’ll play on top of and behind the beat on purpose. He described playing behind it as letting the beat drag you along…almost like water skiing. Oh, to have known what Ed and John Hager or Bernie Adams sounded like together.

I think Ed worked on his fiddling probably daily most of his life so it is fair to say that it was changing all the time. This would explain the varying descriptions of his playing that have come down. I’m sure they’re probably all accurate. Lawrence, Ugee, and Mona always said Ed played with great smooth long bow strokes and Snake Chapman always was adamant about him playing with short single strokes and Slim Clere said the same thing — that he bowed out everything — no bow slurs. Of course, in the dining room sessions you can hear both ways. It’s amazing how well Ed did without the feedback of working with a tape recorder. What an incredible ear he had. As far as I know, the only time he probably heard himself played back was the recordings we have. I hope there are others out there but I’ve come to doubt it.

Brandon and I have always had a gut feeling that if we’d dug down into the hillside a little further at Milt and Green’s grave we might have found something. We only went down five feet and then we were defeated by the rain. What if we had gone down the requisite six feet? What if, like the probe, Owsley had misjudged the bottom of the grave shaft due to the mud and water? What if it hadn’t rained and muddied up the work area? If Melvin Kirk and Ben Walker went so far as to bury the men in a deep grave, why not assume they would have gone for the standard six feet grave traditionally dug? In the following weeks, old timers around Harts kept telling Brandon and Billy, “If they didn’t dig at least six feet, it’s no wonder they didn’t find anything.” We didn’t want to question the professionalism of experts like the Smithsonian forensic team or seem like we wanted to find Milt and Green so badly that we couldn’t accept the concept that they were gone…but what if? The explanation that Doug Owsley gave us about the coal seam and underground stream made a lot of sense. Needless to say we were really disappointed. I had started to rationalize that not finding anything might indicate that they were buried in the nude and just thrown in the hole with no box or winding sheet or anything.

I was in Durham, North Carolina, the other day and I saw a fiddler on the street and I automatically found myself thinking of Ed. I didn’t have to fill in or rearrange much in my imagination to see him there playing on the street — even though this man was standing up, and played nothing like him. Of course when Ed was younger he probably stood up to play all the time like in the Webster Springs picture…dapper and wearing his derby. I always seem to picture Ed sitting down. Another great thrill for me is a young blind fiddler from Jeffersonville, Indiana, named Michael Cleveland who when he plays I can see Ed at nineteen. He stands up so straight he almost looks like he’s gonna fall over backward the way Lawrence said his dad did. When he plays I can’t take my eyes off of him thinking of Ed. Now my friend Matt Combs, who has done a lot of the transcriptions for this book, sits with me and plays Ed’s notes off of the paper, and I play off the top of my head, so in that sense it’s like playing with him.

I guess it’s time to just leave this alone and get back to my study of the fiddle. Maybe get geared up for “Volume Two.” I spend long hours here at the dining room table with my tape recorder and I can hear Lawrence and feel Ed as I try and play my way back into the past. I find that the study of Ed’s music leads me to the study of all music and the way it’s played.

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  • Holden
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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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  • Our Overmountain Men: The Revolutionary War in Western Virginia (1775-1783)
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  • Wheeling (WV) Intelligencer News Article 1
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  • WOWK TV
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Feud Poll 3

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

Recent Posts

  • The Rainbow End: A Poem (1928)
  • Herb and Bessie Adkins Home in Harts, WV
  • Aracoma Hotel in Logan, WV (1933)

Ed Haley Poll 1

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

Top Posts & Pages

  • Boling Baker and Princess Aracoma (1937)
  • French Ellis and Anderson Hatfield, Sr. (1895)
  • John Hartford Home 1
  • Anderson Hatfield Statue (1922)
  • John Robinson Circus in Logan, WV (1926)

Copyright

© 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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