29 Monday May 2017
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Spottswood, Warren, Whirlwind
Tags
Appalachia, crime, Dicy Adams, genealogy, Harts Creek, history, John Frock Adams, John Q. Adams, John Workman, Joseph Adams, Logan County, Spencer A. Mullins, Ticky George Adams, West Virginia
John Q. Adams, son of Joseph and Dicy (Mullins) Adams, died in 1863. This record is located in the Logan County Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV.
14 Tuesday Mar 2017
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Civil War, Harts, Warren
Tags
Andrew D. Robinson, Appalachia, Benjamin F. Robinson, board of education, civil war, coal, David A. Robinson, David Robinson, Dicy Adams, Emmeline V. Robinson, farming, genealogy, Harts, Harts Creek, Harts Creek District, Henry H. Hardesty, history, Jesse Robinson, John R. Robinson, Joseph Adams, Joseph Robinson, justice of the peace, Libby Prison, Lincoln County, Logan County, Margaret Browning, Margaret Robinson, Polly A. Robinson, Rhoda J. Robinson, timber, Union Army, West Virginia
From “Hardesty’s History of Lincoln County, West Virginia,” published by H.H. Hardesty, we find this entry for Andrew D. Robinson, who resided at Harts Creek in Lincoln County, West Virginia:
Son of David and Margaret (Browning) Robinson, residents of Logan county, West Virginia, was born in that county, April 13, 1837, and came to what is now Lincoln county in 1851. He chose for a life companion Rhoda J., daughter of Joseph and Dicy (Mullins) Adams, who was born in Logan county, October 7, 1844, and in this county, in 1859 their marriage was consummated. To them nine children have been given, born as follows: David A., November 21, 1860; Emmeline V., July 5, 1863; Benjamin F., January 26, 1866; John R., September 1, 1868; Joseph, February 20, 1870; Polly A., August 7, 1873; Dicy, June 13, 1876; Margaret, June 22, 1879; Jesse, September 10, 1882. Andrew D. Robinson was elected justice of the peace in Hart Creek district in 1876, and held the office four years. He has been the secretary of the board of education, and is now postmaster. Mr. Robinson enlisted in the war between the States, in 1863, serving in the Federal army; he was captured, taken to Libby prison and there held for two months. He was deprived of the advantages of the free school, but through his energy and perseverance gained a good practical education. Mr. Robinson is tilling the soil in Hart Creek district, owning 110 acres of land on Hart creek. The timber on the land is oak, poplar, walnut, and ash; the orchard, apple, cherry, and pear; mineral, coal and iron ore, found in abundance. Andrew D. Robinson’s post office address is Hart, Lincoln county, West Virginia.
Source: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, Vol. 7 (Richwood, WV: Jim Comstock, 1974), p. 137.
07 Monday Dec 2015
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Cemeteries, Spottswood
Tags
Appalachia, Brandon Kirk, Dicy Adams, genealogy, Harts Creek, history, Joseph Adams, Joseph Adams Family Cemetery, Kathy Adams, Logan County, Spottswood, U.S. South, West Virginia
Joseph and Dicy (Mullins) Adams modern headstone. Joseph Adams is buried to the left where the old rock is marked “J.A.” Dicy Adams is buried at center where the old headstone is marked “Dicy A.” The person buried at right with a rock headstone is unknown. 14 October 2014.
Joseph and Dicy (Mullins) Adams headstones. On 24 April 2015, Kathy Adams and I restored this section of the cemetery.
Joseph and Dicy (Mullins) Adams headstone. 11 June 2014.
Joseph Adams original headstone. 14 October 2014.
Dicy (Mullins) Adams modern headstone. 11 June 2014.
Dicy (Mullins) Adams original headstone. 11 June 2014.
20 Saturday Jun 2015
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Big Ugly Creek, Fourteen, Green Shoal, Harts, Little Harts Creek, Queens Ridge, Sand Creek
Tags
A.F. McKendree, Abbotts Branch, Abijah Workman, Abner Vance, Admiral S. Fry, Albert Abbott, Alexander Tomblin, Allen Adkins, Allen Butcher, Anderson Barker, Andrew Dial, Andrew Elkins, Anthony Lawson, Archibald Elkins, Arnold Perry, Baptist Fry, Barnabus Carter, Big Ugly Creek, Burbus C. Toney, Cabell County, Charles Adkins, Charles F. Dingess, Charles J. Stone, Charles Lattin, Charles Spurlock, Charleston, Christian T. Fry, Crispin S. Stone, Cultural Center, Dicy Adams, Douglas Branch, Edmund Toney, Elias Adkins, Elijah A. Gartin, Evermont Ward, Fourteen Mile Creek, Francis Browning, Garland Conley, genealogy, George Hager, George Perry, Grandison B. Moore, Green Shoal, Hamilton Fry, Harts Creek, Harvey Elkins, Harvey S. Dingess, Harvey Smith, Henderson Dingess, Henry Adkins, Henry Conley, history, Ira Lucas, Isaac Adkins, Isaac Fry, Isaac Samuels, Isaiah Adkins, Jacob Stollings, Jake Adkins, James Browning, James Butcher, James Justice, James Smith, James Toney, James Wilson, Jeremiah Farmer, Joel Elkins, John Dalton, John Dempsey, John Fry, John Gore, John H. Brumfield, John Rowe, John W. Sartin, John Washington Adams, John Workman, Joseph Adams, Joseph Fry, Joseph Gore, Josephus Workman, Joshua Butcher, Kiahs Creek, Levi Collins, Lewis Adkins, Lilly's Branch, Limestone Creek, Little Harts Creek, Logan County, Lorenzo D. Hill, Low Gap Branch, Mathias Elkins, Meekin Vance, Melville Childers, Moses Brown, Moses Harrison, Moses Workman, Noah Hainer, Obediah Merritt, Obediah Workman, Paris Vance, Patton Thompson, Peter Dingess, Peter Mullins, Polly Vance, Price Lucas, Ralph Lucas, Reese W. Elkins, Richard Elkins, Richard Vance, Robert Elkins, Robert Hensley, Robert Lilly, Royal Childers, Sally McComas, Samuel Damron, Samuel Ferrell, Samuel Lambert, Samuel Parsons, Samuel Short, Samuel Vannatter, Sand Creek, Sims Index to Land Grants, Spencer A. Mullins, Squire Toney, Stephen Lambert, Thomas A. Childers, Thomas Dunn English, Thomas P. Spears, Wesley Vance, West Virginia, West Virginia State Archives, William Brown, William Buffington, William Dalton, William Hainer, William Johnson, William P. Blankenship, William Smith, William Straton, William T. Nichols, William Thompson, William Vance, William Wirt Brumfield
Persons receiving land grants between 1812 and 1860, including acreage totals, for the following streams located in Logan and Cabell counties, (West) Virginia: Big Harts Creek, Big Ugly Creek, Fourteen Mile Creek, Little Harts Creek, Sand Creek, Kiah’s Creek, Green Shoal, Brown’s (Abbott’s) Branch, Douglas Branch, Low Gap Branch, Lilly’s Branch, and Limestone (partial). This list does not necessarily reflect ALL of the person’s landholdings; only land in the Harts Creek community are noted. Also, some persons are duplicated due to receiving grants individually or jointly. Known nonresident landowners are denoted by a (*). My ancestors are placed in bold font. Note: This is a work in progress.
Anthony Lawson*, 6502 acres
Anthony Lawson et al*, 3400 acres
Charles Lattin et al, 2667 acres
John H. Brumfield et al, 2328 acres
Spencer A. Mullins, 2145 acres
John Dempsey et al*, 2090 acres
Isaiah Adkins, 2058 acres
Evermont Ward*, 1800 acres
William Johnson, 1794 acres
Elijah A. Garten, 1620 acres
Charles J. Stone, 1610 acres
Hamilton Fry, 1488 acres
William Johnson et al, 1435 acres
Burbus C. Toney, 1332 acres
William Straton et al*, 1319 acres
Thomas Dunn English*, 1085 acres
Thomas A. Childers et al*, 1050 acres
Samuel Damron et al, 1043 acres
Joshua Butcher, 808 acres
William Straton*, 791 acres
Elijah A. Garten et al, 770 acres
Isaac Adkins, 720 acres
Moses Harrison et al, 700 acres
Abner Vance, Jr., 642 acres
George Hager et al, 600 acres
Isaac Adkins, Jr., 595 acres
Samuel Short et al*, 561 acres
Elias Adkins, 560 acres
George Hager, 520 acres
Crispin S. Stone et al, 485 acres
John H. Brumfield, 480 acres
Moses Brown, 412 acres
Peter Mullins, 408 acres
Robert Lilly, 393 acres
Joseph and Dicy Adams, 384 acres
Charles Lattin, 378 acres
Albert Abbot, 370 acres
Christian T. Fry, 367 acres
Lorenzo D. Hill, 340 acres
Lewis Adkins et al, 325 acres
Enos “Jake” Adkins, 320 acres
Richard Elkins, 311 acres
Obadiah Merret*, 310 acres
Squire Toney, 307 acres
Isaac Samuels et al*, 300 acres
William T. Nicholls et al*, 296 acres
Samuel Lambert, 269 acres
Richard Elkin, Jr. et al, 260 acres
Anderson Barker, Jr. et al, 250 acres
Noah and William Haner et al, 250 acres
William Smith et al, 250 acres
Harvey S. Dingess, 242 acres
Abijah Workman, 239 acres
Samuel Ferrell, 238 acres
Noah Haner et al, 235 acres
Charles F. Dingess & Peter Dingess, Jr., 233 acres
Henderson Dingess, 233 acres
Richard Elkins et al, 230 acres
James Justice*, 220 acres
John Fry, 204 acres
Elias and Allen Adkins et al, 200 acres
James Smith and Harvey Smith, 200 acres
James Toney et al, 200 acres
James Browning, 190 acres
William Buffington et al*, 190 acres
Charles Lucas, 190 acres
James Wilson et al*, 190 acres
James Butcher, 185 acres
Jacob Stollings, 185 acres
A.F. McKendree et al*, 185 acres
Grandison B. Moore, 180 acres
Peter Dingess, 170 acres
Joseph Fry, 162 acres
Robert Elkin, 160 acres
Admiral S. Fry, 157 acres
Robert Hensley, 154 acres
Richard Vance, 153 acres
Levi Collins, 150 acres
Harvey Elkins, 148 acres
James Smith, 148 acres
Reese W. Elkins, 125 acres
John Fry, Jr., 125 acres
Price Lucas, 125 acres
Ralph Lucas, 125 acres
William Dalton, 123 acres
Andrew Dial, 120 acres
Lewis Adkins, 116 acres
Patton Thompson, Jr., 112 acres
John W. Adams, Jr., 110 acres
Charles Adkins, 110 acres
Obediah Workman, 106 acres
Stephen Lambert, 105 acres
John Goare, 104 acres
Moses Workman and John Workman, 100 acres
James Toney, 95 acres
Francis Browning, 94 acres
Alexander Tombolin, 94 acres
Allen Butcher, 93 acres
Ira Lucas, 93 acres
William P. Blankenship, 92 acres
David Robison, 92 acres
Joseph Gore, 90 acres
Archibald Elkins, 87 ½ acres
Anderson Barker et al, 85 acres
Isaac Fry et al, 85 acres
Paris Vance, 84 acres
William Brumfield, 75 acres
Henry Conley, 75 acres
Squire Toney et al, 75 acres
Andrew Dial et al, 73 acres
Burbus C. Toney et al, 73 acres
Henry Adkins, 70 acres
Isaiah and Charles Adkins, 70 acres
John W. Sartin, 70 acres
Barnabus Carter, 65 acres
Mathias Elkin, 63 acres
Patton Thompson, 62 acres
Samuel Parsons*, 60 acres
Harvey and Andrew Elkin, 55 acres
Meken Vance, 55 acres
Joel Elkins, 50 acres
Jeremiah Farmer, 50 acres
Baptist Fry, 50 acres
William Smith, 50 acres
Thomas P. Spears, 50 acres
Charles Spurlock, 50 acres
Samuel Vannatter et al, 50 acres
Edmund Toney, 46 acres
Sally McComas et al heirs, 45 acres
George Perry, 44 acres
Arnold Perry, Jr., 40 acres
William Thompson, 40 acres
John Workman, 40 acres
Josephus Workman, 40 acres
John Rowe, 38 acres
Melville Childers et al*, 37 acres
John Dalton, 34 acres
Polly Vance and William Vance (son), 33 acres
Garland Conley, Jr., 32 acres
Moses Workman, 26 acres
William Brown, 25 acres
Royal Childers*, 25 acres
Wesley Vance, 25 acres
Richard Vance, Jr., 13 acres
Source: Sims Index to Land Grants in West Virginia (Charleston, WV: State of West Virginia, 1952). Thanks to the West Virginia State Archives at the Cultural Center in Charleston, West Virginia, for use of the book.
16 Wednesday Jul 2014
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Big Ugly Creek
Tags
Abijah Workman, Abner Vance, Arnold Perry, Big Ugly Creek, Buck Fork, Burbus Toney, Charles Spurlock, Edmund Toney, Elias Adkins, genealogy, George Spears, Green Shoal, Guy Dingess, Guyandotte River, Harts Creek, Harvey Elkins, Henderson Branch, Henry Conley, history, Hoover Fork, Isaac Adkins, Jacob Stollings, James White Jr., John Fry, John Gore, John H. Brumfield, John Rowe, John Workman, Joseph Adams, Joseph Fry, Joshua Butcher, Kiahs Creek, Levi Collins, Lorenzo Dow Hill, Marsh Fork, Mekin Vance, Moses Brown, Moses Workman, Obediah Workman, Patton Thompson, Peter Dingess, Peter Mullins, Price Lucas, Ralph Lucas, Richard Elkins, Richard Vance, Robert Hensley, Rockhouse Fork, Samuel Lambert, Smokehouse Fork, Squire Toney, Trace Fork, William Dalton, William Wirt Brumfield
Listed below are land grants and early deeds citing the Harts Creek and Big Ugly Creek areas of what was then Logan and Cabell counties, Virginia. The list will be updated and improved periodically.
1812 Squire Toney 100 acres 1 1/2 poles from A.W. grave
1813 Jacob Stollings 185 acres Harts Creek, mouth
1814 Henry Conley N/A Hearts Creek
1815 George Spears 300 acres Guyan River at upper end of William Brumfield’s line
1817 Edmund Toney 40 acres Guyan River near Harts Creek
1819 William Brumfield 75 acres Below Big Ugly on Guyan River
1819 William Brumfield 75 acres Waters Guyandotte
1821 Charles Spurlock N/A mouth of Harts Creek
1824 Jacob Stollings 50 acres N/A
1824 Peter Dingess 170 acres Harts Creek
1827 John Goare N/A Marsh Fork
1828 Elias Adkins N/A Waters Guyandotte
1828 Richard Elkins 18 acres Harts Creek
1828 John Fry N/A Green Shoal Creek
1833 Isaac & Elias Adkins N/A Mouth of Harts Creek from Richard Elkins
1834 Henry Conley N/A Harts Creek
1834 Abner Vance, Jr. N/A Harts Creek
1834 Richard Vance N/A Smokehouse
1835 Isaac Adkins N/A Waters Guyandotte
1835 Moses Brown N/A Guyandotte River
1835 John H. Brumfield N/A Waters Guyandotte
1836 Harvey Elkins N/A Harts Creek
1836 Richard Elkins N/A Harts Creek
1836 Squire Toney N/A Ugly Creek
1837 Richard Vance 25 acres Trace Fork
1838 Joseph Adams 100 acres Mouth Rockhouse Fork from Guy Dingess
1838 John H. Brumfield 255 acres Big Ugly Creek
1838 Ralph Lucas N/A Ugly Creek, Green Shoal
1838 John Rowe 38 acres Ugly Creek
1841 Joseph Adams 30 acres Buck Fork
1841 Moses & John Workman N/A Harts Creek
1842 Joseph Adams N/A Harts Creek
1842 Robert Hensley N/A Smokehouse
1842 Lorenzo Dow Hill N/A Buck Fork of Harts Creek
1842 Peter Mullins 25 acres Harts Creek, from Abijah Workman and Mekin Vance
1842 Burbus Toney N/A Limestone
1843 Joshua Butcher N/A Smokehouse
1843 Price Lucas N/A Harts Creek
1843 James White, Jr. N/A Rockhouse?
1844 Joseph Adams N/A Four Tracts, Harts Creek and Buck Fork
1844 Peter Mullins 50 acres First lower branch of Trace Fork
1844 Meken Vance N/A Harts Creek
1846 John Workman N/A Hoover Fork
1847 William Dalton N/A 2 Tracts, Harts Creek, Kiahs Fork
1847 Samuel Lambert N/A Marsh Fork
1847 Arnold Perry N/A Hoover’s Fork
1847 Obediah Workman N/A Henderson’s Branch
1848 Joseph Fry N/A Ugly Creek
1849 John H. Brumfield N/A Ugly Creek
1849 Levi Collins N/A Ugly Creek
1849 Peter Mullins N/A Harts Creek
1849 Patten Thompson N/A Marsh Fork
10 Thursday Jul 2014
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Culture of Honor, Lincoln County Feud, Warren
Tags
Al Brumfield, Ben Adams, Blood in West Virginia, Brandon Kirk, Chapman Dingess, Charlie Dingess, Cole Branch, Connecticut, crime, feud, Green McCoy, Harts Creek, Harvey "Long Harve" Dingess, Henderson Dingess, history, John Dingess, John Frock Adams, Joseph Adams, Kentucky, Lincoln County War, Milt Haley, Sallie Dingess, Smokehouse Fork, Thompson Branch, Tug River, Victoria Adams, West Virginia, World War II
That winter, Brandon made contact by telephone with John Dingess, a Connecticut resident who proved to be one of our best sources on the 1889 feud. John was born on the Smokehouse Fork of Harts Creek in 1918. A grandson to Henderson Dingess, he moved away from West Virginia after serving his country in World War II.
John said Henderson Dingess met his wife Sallie while boarding with her father Joseph Adams on Harts Creek. Henderson didn’t care much for his in-laws (he said they were “hoggish”), particularly his brother-in-law Ben Adams. Ben lived over the mountain from Henderson on main Harts Creek where he operated a small store. He and Henderson feuded “for years.” At some point, Henderson’s oldest son Charlie Dingess got into a racket with Ben over a yoke of cattle and “almost killed him in a fight” at Cole Branch.
The feud between Henderson’s family and Ben Adams reached a new level of tension when Ben refused to pay the sixteen-cents-per-log fee required by Al Brumfield to pass logs through his boom at the mouth of Harts Creek. Brumfield “was more of a businessman” than a feudist but “got into it” with Adams at his saloon near the boom. In the scrape, Ben pulled out his pistol and shot Al, who was spared from harm only because of a button on his clothes. Al subsequently fetched a gun and chased Ben up the creek — a very humiliating thing as there was probably a whole gang of people to witness his flight.
Ben soon gathered up a party of men with plans to force his timber out of Harts Creek under the cover of darkness. Before he could put his plan into action, though, the Dingesses caught wind of it and warned the Brumfields who promptly armed themselves with .38 Winchesters and .44 Winchesters and gathered in ambush on the hill at Panther Branch near the mouth of Harts.
Ben, anticipating trouble, put his wife, the former Victoria Dingess, at the front of his gang in the hopes that it might discourage her cousins from shooting at him as they came down the creek. It was a bad idea: the Brumfields and Dingesses shot “her dress full of holes.”
This was particularly horrible since she was probably pregnant at the time.
The next day, she came to her uncle Henderson’s to show him what his boys had done to her dress but he never punished them.
At that point, Ben was probably hell-bent on revenge and arranged for Milt Haley and Green McCoy, who John called two “professional gunmen,” to “bump Al off.”
John was sure of Ben’s role in the events of 1889.
“Ben Adams, my father’s uncle, he gave them a .38 Winchester apiece and a side of bacon to kill Al Brumfield,” he said.
Milt and Green caught Al one Sunday as he made his way back down Harts Creek after visiting with Henderson Dingess. He rode alone, while Hollena rode with her younger brother, Dave Dingess. As they neared Thompson Branch, Milt and Green fired down the hill at them from their position at the “Hot Rock.” Al was shot in the elbow, which knocked him from his horse and broke his arm, while Hollena was shot in the face. Al somehow managed to make it over a mountain back to Henderson Dingess’, while Hollena was left to crawl half a mile down to Chapman Dingess’ at Thompson Branch for help.
Upon learning of the ambush, Harvey Dingess (John’s father) hitched up a sled to one of his father’s yokes of cattle and fetched Hollena, who remained at Henderson’s until she recovered.
Immediately after the shootings, there was a lot of gossip about who’d been behind the whole affair. John said there was some talk that Long John Adams had been involved “but the Dingess and Brumfield people never believed it.” Everyone seemed to focus in on Milt and Green, who’d recently disappeared into Kentucky (where McCoy was from).
“They used to, if you committed a crime in West Virginia, would run away to Kentucky,” John said. “In the hill part of Kentucky there on the Tug River.”
Brumfield put up a $500 reward and it wasn’t long until a man rode up to Henderson Dingess’ claiming to have caught Milt and Green in Kentucky. He was sent to Brumfield’s home near the mouth of Harts where he found Al out back shoeing an ox steed. They talked for a while, then Brumfield told him, “You put them across the Tug River and when I identify them you’ll get your money.”
29 Friday Nov 2013
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Ed Haley, Lincoln County Feud, Timber
Tags
Al Brumfield, Allen Martin, Andrew D. Robinson, Andrew Robinson, Anthony Adams, Appalachia, Ben Adams, Ben Robinson, Boardtree Branch, Chloe Gore, Chloe Mullins, crime, David Robinson, Dicy Adams, Elizabeth Abbott, genealogy, general store, Greasy George Adams, Green McCoy, Harts Creek, Harvey Adams, Henderson Dingess, history, Hollena Brumfield, Hugh Dingess, Jackson Mullins, John Frock Adams, John M. Adams, John Robinson, Joseph Adams, Joseph Robinson, Lincoln County Feud, Logan County, Logan County Banner, Lucinda Brumfield, May Adams, Meekin Branch, Milt Haley, Peter Carter, Rhoda Robinson, Sallie Dingess, Solomon Adams, Spicie McCoy, Susan Abbott, Ticky George Adams, timber, Trace Fork, Victoria Dingess, Viola Dingess, West Virginia, Wilson Abbott
Ben Adams — the man who supposedly hired Milt Haley and Green McCoy to assassinate Al Brumfield — was born in 1855 to Joseph and Dicy (Mullins) Adams on Big Harts Creek in Logan County, (West) Virginia. His older sister Sarah married Henderson Dingess and was the mother of Hollena Brumfield, Hugh Dingess and several others. He was a first cousin to Jackson Mullins, Milt Haley’s father-in-law, and a brother-in-law to Chloe Mullins, Milt’s mother-in-law, by her first marriage to John Adams.
In 1870, 17-year-old Ben lived at home with his mother, where he worked as a farmer. He was illiterate, according to census records. His neighbors were Andrew Robinson and Henderson Dingess, both of whom had married his sisters (Rhoda J. and Sally). In the next year, according to tradition, he fathered an illegitimate child, William Adams, who was born to Lucinda Brumfield (niece of Paris).
In 1873, Ben married Victoria Dingess. Victoria was born in 1856 and was a first cousin to Hollena Brumfield and Hugh Dingess. The marriage made for an interesting genealogical connection: Ben was already Hugh’s uncle; now he was also his brother-in-law, as Hugh was married to Victoria’s sister, Viola (his first cousin). Ben’s daughter Sally, who was named after Hollena’s mother, later married a cousin of Spicie McCoy, Green’s wife. For all practical purposes then, Ben Adams was genealogically connected to all sides of the feud — making it a true intra-family feud from his perspective.
For the first decade or so of his marriage, Ben lived with his mother on family property, although he did acquire land and open a general store business. In 1880, he was listed in the Lincoln County Census with his mother Dicy, aged 63, and family. He was 26 years old, Victory was 23, Sally was six, son Charlie was four, daughter Patsy A. was two, and son Anthony was a few months old. George Greaar, age 20, was a boarder. In 1881, he purchased 25 acres on the Meekin Branch of Trace Fork. Three years later, he was listed in a business directory as the proprietor of a general store. At that same time, his brother-in-law and neighbor Henderson Dingess was a distiller.
Later in the decade, Ben fathered three more children: George “Greasy” (1885), Harvey (1886), and May (1889). In 1889, the time of Milt Haley’s ambush of Al Brumfield, Adams owned 260 acres on the Boardtree Branch of Trace Fork valued at $1.00 per acre in Logan County.
Anthony Adams — Ben’s brother and ally in the 1889 troubles — was a prominent timberman on Harts Creek. Anthony had been born in 1849 and was the husband of Pricie Alifair Chapman, Burl Farley’s half-sister. In 1884, Adams was listed in a business directory as a blacksmith. In 1889, he owned two 50-acre tracts of land, one valued at $3.50 per acre with a $30 building on it, the other valued at $2.00 per acre. By that time, he had three sons of fighting age who may have participated in the feud: Solomon Adams (born 1869), Horatio “Rush” Adams (born 1871), and Wayne Adams (born 1874), as well as a son-in-law, Harrrison Blair (born c.1867).
A quick examination of the Adams genealogy gives a clue as to Ben’s other 1889 allies. First there was brother “Bad John” Adams. Adams was deceased at the time of the Haley-McCoy incident, but he had been married to Chloe Gore — mother of Emma Jean (Mullins) Haley. He had three sons of fighting age in 1889: Joseph Adams (born 1859), John Frock Adams (born 1861), and Ticky George Adams (born 1865)…as well as son-in-law Sampson Thomas.
Rhoda J. Robinson was a sister to the three Adams brothers. She had several children who may have allied with Ben: David Robinson (born 1860), Ben Robinson (born 1866), John R. Robinson (born 1868), and Joseph Robinson (born 1870). There was also brother Solomon Adams, who may have offered his loyalty to Ben, along with sons John M. Adams (born 1869) and Benjamin Adams (born 1867), and sons-in-law David Robinson and Peter Carter (c.1873).
As for Ben himself, he stayed busy with timber after the feud. According to an 1896 article from the Logan County Banner: “Benj. Adams, of Hart, is hauling some fine poplar from trace fork.” In 1901, he married Venila Susan Abbott, a daughter of Wilson and Elizabeth (Workman) Abbott, and had at least eight more children (born between 1901 and 1921). Not long after his remarriage, he was accused of murdering a local postman named Jim Allen Martin — and nearly went bankrupt paying for his legal defense. He died in 1910 and was buried on the hill near the mouth of Trace Fork.
30 Tuesday Jul 2013
Posted in Ed Haley
Tags
Appalachia, Elias Adkins, Harts Creek, history, Isaac Adkins, John H. Brumfield, Joseph Adams, Logan County, Peter Mullins, slavery, Thomas Dunn English, timbering, writing
Within a few years, by 1827, there were more settlers: Elias Adkins at Fowler Branch on the Guyandotte River, Moses Brown at Brown’s Branch of Guyan River and Marvel Elkins on Piney Creek of West Fork. Within three years, Isaac Adkins was at Harts and John Brumfield (father of Paris) was at the mouth of Ugly Creek. The Adkins brothers — Isaac and Elias — were the only slave owners in the section. They bought land at the mouth of Harts Creek in 1833.
In the early 1830s, Joseph Fry, John Lucas, and John Fry moved to the Harts area. Joseph Fry lived at Ugly Creek; John Fry, a War of 1812 veteran, lived at the mouth of Green Shoal; and John Lucas, a Baptist preacher, lived near Big Creek. With the arrival of these and other men, a school was organized to meet the educational needs of local children. “The first school was taught in a log cabin one mile above the mouth of Big Harts creek about the year 1832,” writes Hardesty. “The first house for educational purposes was built near the mouth of Big Harts creek in 1834. It was a five-cornered building, one side being occupied by the ever-present huge fire place.”
In the mid-1830s, Joseph Adams and Peter Mullins — both great-grandfathers to Ed Haley — arrived in the headwaters of Harts Creek. In 1838, Adams was granted 100 acres between the Forks of Harts Creek and the Rockhouse Branch. He became the patriarch of most Adamses in Harts, including Anthony and Ben Adams — key players in the Haley-McCoy trouble. In the early 1840s, Mullins was granted land on Hoover Fork and Trace Fork. He was a grandfather to Emma Haley.
At that time, in 1840, there were roughly 23 families in Harts. In the head of Harts Creek were Stephen Lambert, Moses Workman, Alexander Tomblin, and James Tomblin. Henry Conley and William Thompson were somewhere on the creek. Richard Elkins was at Thompson Branch and Isaac Adkins, Jr. was at Big Branch. Abner Vance was on West Fork. Isaac Adkins, Sr. and James Toney were at Harts. Moses Brown and Archibald Elkins were just below there. Harvey Elkins and Price Lucas were on or near Little Harts Creek. Above Harts was Elias Adkins and Squire Toney. At Ugly Creek were John Brumfield, Joseph Fry, and John Rowe. Charles Lucas and John Fry were at Green Shoal. John Dolen was somewhere in the area.
At that early date, folks were beginning to explore timber as a means of industry. “Isaac Elkins built the first saw mill in 1847 or 1848,” Hardesty writes. “It was constructed on the old sash-saw plan, and had a capacity for cutting from 800 to 1,000 feet per day.” To assist in the transport of timber and coal from the valley, locks and dams were constructed in the lower section of the Guyan and steamboats made a brief appearance in the valley during the 1850s, although they did not travel so far upriver as to reach Harts. There was some excitement, too, when Thomas Dunn English — a famous Northeastern writer — arrived in nearby Logan (then called Aracoma) and became mayor.
23 Thursday May 2013
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Ed Haley, Spottswood, Warren, Whirlwind
Tags
Andrew Jackson, Ben Adams, Bill Abbott, Bob Mullins Cemetery, Buck Fork, Chloe Mullins, civil war, Confederate Army, Dicy Adams, Ed Haley, Elizabeth Mullins, Enoch Baker, genealogy, Harts Creek, Henderson Dingess, history, Hollene Brumfield, Imogene Haley, Imogene Mullins, Jackson Mullins, Jane Mullins, Jeremiah Lambert, John Frock Adams, John Gore, John Q. Adams, Joseph Adams, Kentucky, Logan County, Margaret Gore, Mathias Elkins, Peter Mullins, Riland Baisden, Spencer A. Mullins, Tennessee, Ticky George Adams, timbering, Trace Fork, Turley Adams, Van Buren Mullins, Weddie Mullins, Weddington Mullins, West Virginia, writing
Ed Haley’s grandfather, Andrew Jackson Mullins, was born about 1843 to Peter and Jane (Mullins) Mullins. Jackson, as he was called, was named in honor of President Andrew Jackson, that early American icon. Like many folks in those days, Peter and Jane Mullins appear to have been caught up in the Jackson mystique. They even named one son Van Buren, after his vice president. Jackson Mullins was the first child born to Peter following the family exodus from Kentucky or Tennessee to Logan County, (West) Virginia. The 1850 Logan County Census listed him as seven years old. In 1860, he was eighteen. During the Civil War, Jackson served in the Confederate army. Brothers Weddington and Van Buren served as Confederates. In the late 1860s, Jackson married the slightly older Chloe Ann (Gore) Adams, a widow. Chloe had been born around 1840 to John and Margaret (Dingess) Gore, pioneer residents of Harts Creek. She had first married John Quincy “Bad John” Adams, a first cousin to Jackson, with whom she had four children: Dicy (born 1857), Joseph (born May 1858), John C. “Frock” (born c. 1861) and George Washington “Ticky George” (born 15 Jul 1864). She and Jackson had three children: Imogene Mullins (born c.1868), Peter Mullins (born May 1870), and Weddington Mullins (born April 10, 1872). Jackson and Chloe are thought to have lived on Trace Fork, perhaps at the present-day site of the Turley Adams home where they certainly lived in later years.
What little is known of Jackson Mullins — the man who partially raised Ed Haley — comes through deed records and census records. On February 13, 1869, his uncle Spencer A. Mullins wrote him a note that read: “Mr. A.J. Mullins and wife: you will pleas Come down and git your Deed for the Buck fork Land. I will not pay the taxes any longer.” In 1869 he purchased 200 acres of land on the creek from Riland Baisden. The next year he was listed in the 1870 census as 27 years old with 700 dollars worth of real estate and 200 dollars worth of personal property. His daughter — Ed Haley’s mother — first appeared in that record as “Em. Jane Mullins,” age two. An April 1871, Justice Jeremiah Lambert provided a receipt to him for $2.80 “in the cost of the peace warrant in favor [of] him against Benjamin Adams.” An 1871 Logan County tax receipt listed A.J. Mullins as a resident of “Hearts Creek.” On February 28, 1877, the Logan County Court appointed him as “Surveyor of Roads in Precinct No. 76 in place of Weddington Mullins for the time of two years commencing April 1, 1877.” On December 17, 1877, the Logan County Clerk provided a receipt to him for recording a deed from Henderson Dingess and wife (parents to Hollene Brumfield). An 1878 tax receipt shows him in charge of six tracts totaling 244 acres under the ownership of “John Adams Heirs.”
The 1880 Logan County Census listed Jackson as 37 years old, while his wife was 40. Children in the household were John C. Adams (aged eighteen), George Adams (aged 15), “Emagane Mullins” (aged 12), Peter Mullins (aged 9), and Weddington Mullins (aged 6). That same year, Jackson sold five tracts of land totaling over 200 acres to brother-in-law Mathias Elkins for 3,000 dollars. He also sold 50 or so acres on Buck Fork to his father Peter and stepmother Elizabeth for 600 dollars. In February 1881, the Logan County Court reappointed him to relieve his brother Weddington as Surveyor of Public Roads for Precinct No. 76 “commencing April 1st, 1881.” That same year, he secured land from the John Q. Adams estate and bought 100 acres on Trace Fork from A.A. Low, attorney. On August 7, 1883, Enoch Baker, a timber boss on Harts Creek, provided a receipt to him for fifteen dollars “in payment for a Stove.” In 1886, Jackson deeded 37 tracts on Trace Fork to stepsons Joseph and John Adams. On April 2, 1888, he signed a promissory note agreeing to pay William Abbott $41.75 plus interest within a year. Because he was illiterate, he signed the note with an “X.”
In March 1891, Jackson and Chloe Mullins deeded their property on Trace Fork to their three children: Imogene Haley, Peter Mullins, and Weddie Mullins.
In the 1900 Logan County Census, Jackson gave his birth date as March of 1845, while Chloe gave hers as July 1834. Ed Haley first appears in the 1900 Logan County Census as “James E. Haley, born August 1885,” and living in their home. His birth date of 1885 was two years later than what was given by the Haley family records. By 1910, Jackson lived with son Peter Mullins, while Chloe was in the home of Weddie Mullins’ widow, Mag. Ed was absent from the census entirely, indicating that he was gone from Harts by that time. A few years later, in 1915, Jackson Mullins died and was buried in an unmarked grave at the Bob Mullins Cemetery on main Harts Creek. His widow died in 1919.
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