Tag Archives: Keenan Ferrell

George W. Ferrell grave (2017)

08 Saturday Apr 2017

Posted by in Ferrellsburg, Lincoln County Feud

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IMG_2146

George W. Ferrell, son of Archibald and Martha E. (Fry) Harrison and adopted son of Keenan and Arena (Saunders) Ferrell, is buried near my home in Ferrellsburg, Lincoln County, WV. Mr. Ferrell (1874-1906) composed a song about the Lincoln County Feud called “The Lincoln County Crew.” He was a store operator and postmaster. Photo by Mom. 7 April 2017.

Harts Creek Area Deed Index (1883-1910)

11 Friday Nov 2016

Posted by in Ferrellsburg, Fourteen, Gill, Green Shoal, Guyandotte River, Little Harts Creek, Ranger, Sand Creek, Wewanta

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The following deed index is based on Deed Book 56 at the Lincoln County Clerk’s Office in Hamlin, WV, and relates to residents of the Harts Creek community. Most notations reflect Harts Creek citizens engaged in local land transactions; some reflect Harts Creek citizens engaged in land transactions outside of the community. These notes are meant to serve as a reference to Deed Book 56. Researchers who desire the most accurate version of this material are urged to consult the actual record book.

Enos A. Adkins to late Ann F. Davis     200 acres Green Shoal Creek (her interest in Enos’ future estate)     6 November 1883     p. 99-100

Fisher B. Adkins to Catherine and Herb Adkins     1 acre 1/2 interest in land where store of F.E. Adkins and J.W. Stowers is located, 1/2 interest in store and stock of merchandise, farm items conveyed by F.E. Adkins on 14 May 1909, one pair of bay horses     15 June 1909     K.E. Toney, NP     3 July 1909     p. 82-83

Lewis and Emezetta Adkins to Sarah M. Adkins     50 acres West Side Guyandotte River 8 August 1899     Jefferson Lucas, NP     24 February 1900     p. 147-148

Richard and Olive F. Adkins to Sarah M. Adkins     50 acres Below Mouth of Fourteen Mile Creek     18 June 1892     David F. Smith, JP     p. 145-147

Richard Adkins and Spencer Adkins to D.P. Lambert     80 1/4 acres Fourteen Mile Creek (Laurel Hill District)     17 July 1897     Isaac Fry, JP     p. 42-44

George A. and Julia Alderson, Floyd and Emily Rakes, and C.D. and Vietta T. Haverty to J.L. Caldwell     8 acres (mineral) Sand Creek     7 December 1894     Elias Vance, JP     p. 19-22

Joseph and Rosey Browning to Lace Marcum and T.R. Shepherd     45 acres Ridge Between Little Harts Creek and Big Branch     30 March 1910     Charles Adkins, JP     1 April 1910     p. 252-253

Allen and Hollena Brumfield to Louisa Wiley     176 acres     Sulpher Spring Fork of Fourteen Mile Creek     12 February 1903     Jefferson Lucas, NP     p. 40-42

Martha E. and John S. Brumfield to Henry H. Sias and his heirs     87 1/2 acres East Fork of Fourteen Mile Creek     24 October 1907     Jefferson Lucas, NP     p. 13-14

L.H. and Hellen M. Burks to Gilbert Hager     50 acres Little Ugly Creek     19 February 1906     p. 106-108 [includes survey map]

Clementine and Ed Dingess, Ann F. and G.D. Davis, Susan and Henry Adkins, Julia Y. and B.W. Walker, Brooke and A.G. Adkins, F.E. Adkins, C.E. Burns (special commissioner) to Catherine Adkins     33 acres West Side Guyandotte River (land conveyed to Enos Adkins by J.K. Adkins on 29 October 1892)     1 October 1908     Fisher B. Adkins, NP     12 October 1908     Sol Adams, JP     16 October 1908     p. 86-88

Clementine and Ed Dingess, Susan and Henry Adkins, F.E. and Catherine Adkins, Brooke and A.G. Adkins, Julia Y. and B.W. Walker, and C.E. Burns (special commissioner) to Ann F. Davis     225 acres     1 October 1908     Fisher B. Adkins, NP     12 October 1908     Sol Adams, JP     16 October 1908     p. 101-103

Salena Estep to Rufus Estep     360 acres Spring Branch of West Fork     25 April 1910     p. 320-321

Arena and Keenan S. Ferrell to J.W. Stowers     one acre Fowler’s Branch (part of tract conveyed by John Q. Adams on 25 May 1896)     28 October 1908     K.E. Toney, JP     30 October 1908     p. 84-85

Anderson Fry to A. Gill     25 acres Big Ugly Creek     7 January 1907     D.F. Smith, JP     p. 128-129

Robert Fry to Wilford Fry, Martha Fry, and Rosa A. Fry     110 acres Ketchum Branch Guyandotte River     3 January 1888     J.B. Pullen, Jr.     p. 287-289

Robert L. and Mary F. Fry to Arabell Gill     Big Sulpher Branch of Big Ugly Creek     16 January 1904     Philip Hager, Jr., NP     16 February 1904     p. 125-126

Philip Hager to Robert Lee Fry     50 acres Big Sulpher Spring Branch of Big Ugly Creek     10 February 1898     John A. McComas, NP     p. 124-125

E.C. and Flora Lucas to W.S. Enochs     20 acres and 39 acres Fourteen Mile Creek at or Near the Mouth of Cove Creek (Laurel Hill District)     29 March 1907     Jefferson Lucas, NP     p. 268-269

Jefferson and Nancy E. Lucas to Cumberland Adkins     295 acres Fourteen Mile Creek (Laurel Hill District)     11 April 1907     D.F. Smith, JP     12 April 1907     p. 234-236

George E. and Mary McComas to J.L. Caldwell     24 acres East Side Guyandotte River     23 July 1900     p. 31-33

George R. and Harriet McComas to J.L. Caldwell     75 acres East Side Guyandotte River     19 February 1902     James McComas, NP     p. 28-30

I.N. and Elizabeth Mullins to J.L. Caldwell 43 1/2 acres and 95 acres East Side Guyandotte River     1 September 1894     J.S. Payne, JP     8 October 1894     p. 23-25

Peter M. and Mary A. Mullins, A.S. and Sarah E. Adkins, Solomon C. and Mary J. Mullins, Granville and Matilda Wiley, John W. and Mary L. Nelson, C.W. and Ann Mullins, Edmund and Minerva J. Fowler, Isaiah and Sarah Mullins to J.L. Caldwell     43 1/2 acres East Side Guyandotte River     24 November 1894     Hiram Lambert, JP     30 November 1895 and 29 November 1894     p. 25-29

Milton and Elizabeth Nelson to Sherman Nelson     94 acres Big Branch and Fourteen Mile Creek     15 March 1906     Jefferson Lucas, NP     p. 17-18

Milton and Elizabeth Nelson to Sherman Nelson     213 acres Big Branch of Guyandotte River     29 March 1909     Jefferson Lucas, NP     4 June 1909     p. 15-16

L.C. and Pinkston Queen to Sarah B. Maynard     113 3/4 acres Wiley Branch of Twelve Pole Creek     18 December 1907     William Toppins, JP     p. 250-251

Levi Rakes et al to J.L. Caldwell     47 acres East Side Guyandotte River     28 July 1900     Isaac Fry, JP     30 July 1900     p. 36-38

Henry C. and Martha Sias to Isaac F. Nelson     85 acres Steer Fork of Fourteen Mile Creek (Laurel Hill District)     17 February 1909     Rufus Pack, NP     p. 266-267

Marine and Polly Spurlock to Laura Fry     15 acres Ketchum Branch Guyandotte River (Laurel Hill District)     6 November 1889     Elias Vance, JP     p. 289-290

United Fuel Gas Company to Columbia Gas and Electric Company     87 acres of Charles V. Huffman (26 March 1908) and 258 acres of Susan Lucas (24 March 1908)     1 December 1909     p. 270-275

Louisa and Leander Wiley to Mary E. Williamson     Part of 176 acres made to Louisa Wiley by Allen Brumfield (Laurel Hill District)     7 July 1905     Jefferson Lucas, NP     11 July 1905     p. 38-40

NOTE: I copied all of these deeds.

Ferrellsburg News 04.24.1913

03 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by in Atenville, Culture of Honor, Ferrellsburg, Hamlin, Toney

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“Stand-Patter,” a local correspondent from Ferrellsburg in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Lincoln Republican printed on Thursday, April 24, 1913:

Ward Lucas, one of our best citizens, is confined to his room with muscular rheumatism. He improves but slowly.

Mrs. Salena Vance and son, Frank, made a trip to Huntington the first of the week to look after matters of business.

Several law suits were set for trial here last Saturday before Justice F.M. Vance, but for different reasons all were continued.

Peace and quietude now reigns in this part of the Guyan Valley, and in order to perpetuate the same Hon. Geo. H. Thomas, our good citizen and successful timber merchant is preparing to hoist a magnificent white flag over his place of business.

F.B. Adkins, one of our popular school teachers, is home from Ripley, where he has been attending school.

Misses Lottie and Maggie Lucas, popular young teachers of this place, left last Friday for Hamlin where they expect to attend the Normal.

A.G. Adkins, our efficient road supervisor is doing quite a lot of work on the roads, which is needed as a result of damage done by the recent high waters. He uses good judgment in overseeing the work.

Mr. and Mrs. K.S. Ferrell are having quite a lot of work done on their farms. They also enjoy a lucrative trade in the mercantile business.

D.C. Fry, who was shot by Chilton Abbott about two weeks ago has sufficiently recovered as to be out on business.

B.W. Walker, of this place, was at Toney last Saturday on important business.

Several people from here attended church at Atenville last Sunday.

Ferrellsburg Items 12.2.1909

05 Saturday Apr 2014

Posted by in Ferrellsburg, Green Shoal, Toney

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“Grey Eyes,” a local correspondent at Ferrellsburg in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Lincoln Republican printed on Thursday, December 2, 1909:

The tobacco barn of Ferrell & Altizer burned a few days ago. Loss about $1200. It is supposed that it caught from a passing train.

Keenan Toney is doing a very good business with his store, P.O. and grist mill.

The Lucas boys, Ward and Watson, are running a good job of logging on Big Ugly.

Miss Lottie Lucas is teaching the Green Shoal School this year and is having fine success.

The people over this county, are well worked up. They think the Court House will be built on the Guyan River side. Petitions are flying here like straw in a whirl-wind for a chance to get to vote on the question.

Farmers are busy gathering corn.

The sons of Charley Tomblin, Coon and Strawder are getting over a severe spell of typhoid fever.

Rev. Jos. Gartin preached to a large congregation at the Low Gap School House on last Sunday.

Mrs. Nan Alford died at her home on the West Fork of Big Hart the other day.

Archibald Harrison 4

05 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by in Big Ugly Creek, Civil War

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In the latter part of the 1880s, Archibald Harrison sold much of his property. In 1886, he sold 30 acres of his 120-acre tract at Nine Mile Creek in Lincoln County, West Virginia, to A.E. Callihan. The next year, he sold his 360-acre tract in Harts Creek District to an unknown party. In that same year, he bought 100 more acres on Nine Mile.

Around that time, Mr. Harrison and his wife Martha may have separated or divorced, based on indications provided by tax records. In 1888, he sold 150 acres of his 230-acre tract at Phernatt’s Creek to D.B. Keck, while Martha sold the 100-acre tract on Nine Mile to Guy Fry. The following year, Martha sold 90 more acres to Fry on Nine Mile and the remaining acreage on Phernatt’s Creek (recorded as 125 acres, not 80) to James D. Cummings.

At that juncture, Martha disappears from local records.

In the 1890s, Mr. Harrison — perhaps recuperating from a second divorce — centered his property acquisitions on Nine Mile Creek. In 1890, he bought 59 acres worth $1.00 per acre from Elizabeth Scites. In 1891, he bought 150 acres worth $3.00 per acre from Guy Fry and 75 acres also worth $3.00 per acre from an unknown party. This latter tract of land he immediately deeded to his son, William T. Harrison, who married Charlotte F. Sias around 1892.

In 1892, Mr. Harrison deeded A.B. Staley 86 acres from the 150-acre tract, which tax records document as being on Fourteen Mile Creek, not Nine Mile. Four years later, William T. sold his 75 acres to Eliza J. Hager. Harrison probably died in that frame of time. His remaining property on Nine Mile was sold by D.E. Wilkinson, special commissioner, to Clinton Spurlock in 1898.

By 1900, Archibald and Martha Harrison were absent from local census records. Their children Daniel H., age 31, Guy French, age 24, and Louisa J., age 21, were also gone from the area. While the fate of Martha, Daniel and Louisa remains unclear, there is some evidence that Guy, who later lived at Micco in Logan County in 1920, moved to Virginia just after the turn of the century.

In 1900, three of Archibald’s sons were still listed in local census records. William T. Harrison and his family were residents of the Laurel Hill District. John M. Harrison was boarding nearby in the home of Vinson Spurlock and was reportedly engaged in some type of timber business. George W. Harrison was at present-day Ferrellsburg in Harts Creek District with his adopted parents, Keenan and Arena Ferrell.

Martha Harrison, the wife of Archibald, reportedly died in 1901.

George W. Ferrell 2

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by in Ferrellsburg

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Keenan S. Ferrell, the adoptive father of George W., had been born in March of 1854 to George and Nancy (Farley) Ferrell in Boone County. He appeared in the 1860 and 1870 censuses for that county in the home of his parents. On April 6, 1877, in Logan County, he married Arena Sanders, a daughter of Martin and Elizabeth (Mitchell) Sanders. Arena, or Rena as she was called, had been born in March of 1861 in Russell County, Virginia. In 1880, the Ferrells lived in the Logan District of Logan County.

In the late 1890s, Keenan and Arena Ferrell moved to the Harts area of southern Lincoln County. In 1895, Rena bought 75 acres of land at Fry, on the east side of the Guyandotte River, from Admiral S. Fry, an early landowner and postmaster at Green Shoal. The following year, she bought 70 more acres on the west side of the river from John Q. Adams. In 1897 she bought a portion of the old Elias Adkins estate, situated on the river between Harts and Green Shoal. Upon this latter piece of property she erected a store building and, in short time, the surrounding area became known as Ferrellsburg. By 1900, the Ferrells had acquired George W., whom they reportedly adopted. Census records for that year show him as an “adopted son.”

Also in the home in 1900 was Lula Vance, the seven-year-old orphaned daughter of John and Columbia (Kirk) Vance. Lula would have practically grown up in the Ferrell home at the time that George W. lived there. Strangely, she never spoke about him to her children. “I don’t remember Mommy ever mentioning anything about George Ferrell,” said daughter Irene Mitchell, of Harts, in a 2003 interview. “That’s kind of strange since Mommy would’ve been raised with him. But she never really talked much about staying with the Ferrells.”

George Ferrell spent his twenties as a bachelor working around the store and making music. He was postmaster at Green Shoal from December 22, 1902 until December 26, 1904, when the office was discontinued to Ferrellsburg. He is credited with the authorship of “The Lincoln County Crew” and “The Murder of John Brumfield,” as well as a song about someone named Harve Adkins. In composing “The Lincoln County Crew,” Ferrell borrowed heavily from “The Rowan County Crew,” assuming this latter tune — documenting events of the Martin-Tolliver Feud in Kentucky — was written first. Ferrell’s version of the song, which primarily draws on local events that happened in Harts between 1889 and 1891, is a warning for men to stop drinking or risk a young, violent death.

“The Murder of John Brumfield” details Brumfield’s murder by Charlie Conley at a Chapmanville Fourth of July celebration in 1900. There is a story that Ferrell was playing this latter song for a crowd of people near the Ferrellsburg train depot when one of Conley’s brothers passed through. According to the story, Ferrell ceased his playing and singing because he feared his tune might cause trouble. But one of the attendants, Charley Brumfield, a brother to the slain John Brumfield, told him to keep the song going — no one would bother him. As Ferrell continued his music, Conley made his way by and on across the river toward his home on the Smokehouse Fork of Big Harts Creek.

George W. Ferrell died on August 6, 1905 at the age of 30 years, reportedly of tuberculosis. His tombstone offers this Biblical quote: “In my father’s house are many mansions.” Also on the stone is the following epitaph:

His last words were Mamma come to me. God bless you. Cease your mourning. Cease to languish o’er the graves of those you love. Pain and death and night anguish, enter not the world above. Sight and peace at once deriving from the hand of God most high. In his glorious presence living, they shall never, never die.

Years later, Fred B. Lambert, noted genealogist and regional historian, published “The Lincoln County Crew” and “The Murder of John Brumfield” in his 1926 edition of The Llorrac. His private notes, now in the hands of the Special Collections Department at Marshall University’s Morrow Library, contain slightly different versions of “The Lincoln County Crew,” as well as a reference to the tune Ferrell wrote about Harve Adkins.

George W. Ferrell 1

25 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by in Big Ugly Creek, Ferrellsburg, Music

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Around the turn of the century, in the years just prior to the arrival of the C&O Railroad in the Guyandotte Valley, George W. Ferrell, a musician in present-day Ferrellsburg, busily wrote songs about local personalities and events. Today, Ferrell’s solitary grave is marked with an ornate tombstone that sits at the edge of what was, until recent years, a garden.

George W. Ferrell was born on October 10, 1874 to Archibald B. and Martha E. (Fry) Harrison. Archibald was the son of Guy P. and Cleme (Harmon) Harrison of Tazewell County, Virginia. Mary was the daughter of Daniel H. and Nancy P. (Bailey) Fry of Logan County. Ferrell’s birthplace is not known because, soon after his parents married in 1865, they left the area, settling at first in Kentucky and then elsewhere.

In 1878, George, then four years old, returned to Lincoln County with his parents. In 1880, his family lived near the mouth of Big Ugly Creek or at the “Bend,” just across the Guyandotte River. Shortly thereafter, they made their home at Phernatt’s Creek, further downriver in Laurel Hill District.

By 1889, Ferrell’s father — who was perhaps recently divorced from his mother — had sold all of the family property in Harts Creek District and at Phernatt’s Creek and relocated to Nine Mile Creek.

Details concerning Ferrell’s early life remain elusive. It is not known who influenced him musically or when he even started writing or playing music. There is no indication of his father or mother being musicians but his mother’s first husband, Jupiter Fry, was a well-known fiddler on Big Ugly. Some of his first songs may have been inspired by his father’s stories of the Civil War.

At some point in his young life, and for reasons unknown, Ferrell was adopted by Keenan and Arena Ferrell, a childless couple at Ferrellsburg in Lincoln County.

“I heard he was just a big old boy when the Ferrells took him in,” said Don McCann, current owner of the property surrounding Ferrell’s grave. “They didn’t have any children of their own.”

In the 1900 Lincoln County Census, Ferrell was listed as their 25-year-old adopted son. More than likely, he was assisting the Ferrells in the operation of their store and business interests.

It is easy to see how Ferrell would have become acquainted with his future foster parents.

“His father worked a lot of timber around Big Ugly or Green Shoal,” said Harold R. Smith, Lincoln County genealogist and historian. “And that would have put him in close contact with the Ferrells at Ferrellsburg.”

But why was he not living with his mother (wherever she was), who died in 1901, or his maternal grandmother, who was alive on Big Ugly? And what was his connection to the Ferrells?

Ferrellsburg Post Office

20 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by in Ferrellsburg

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Ferrellsburg Post Office was established on December 27, 1904 by George W. Ferrell, a 30-year-old general store merchant and musician.

George W. Ferrell was born on October 10, 1874 to Archibald B. and Martha E. (Fry) Harrison. In the 1890s, Keenan S. and Arena (Sanders) Ferrell, a childless couple who made their home at Fowler Branch, adopted him. The Ferrells were proprietors of a large general store business, which they named G.W. Ferrell & Company. Young Ferrell was active in the family business. According to a 1902-03 business directory, he acted as proprietor of the store. At that same time, from December 22, 1902 until 1904, he served as postmaster of Green Shoal. In 1904, Green Shoal was discontinued to Ferrellsburg. According to postal records, Ferrell served as postmaster of Ferrellsburg from December 27, 1904 until January 23, 1906. “They claimed Ferrellsburg was named after him,” said the late Roma Elkins of Ferrellsburg. On August 6, 1905, Ferrell died of tuberculosis.

On January 23, 1906, Arena Ferrell became postmaster. Arena was born around 1859 to Martin and Elizabeth (Mitchell) Sanders in Russell County, Virginia. She married Keenan Ferrell on April 6, 1877 in Logan County. The Ferrells had come to the Green Shoal area in the late 1890s. In 1895, Arena had bought land on the east side of the Guyan River from A.S. Fry, a postmaster and businessman at the mouth of Green Shoal. The next year, she bought land on the west side of the Guyan River from John Q. Adams. In 1897, she bought land at Fowler Branch, where she occupied a two-story log home and operated a general store. The store was listed in business directories as G.W. Ferrell & Company from 1904 until 1913. Arena served as merchant, while D. Kennis Altizer of Huntington was salesman. In 1913, Ferrell sold out to Hansford Adkins and moved to Green Shoal, where she briefly owned a hotel.

Wilburn Sanders, a nephew to Arrena Ferrell served as Ferrellsburg postmaster from 1906 until 1909. Born around 1882 to Noah Baldwin and Nancy Ann (Haner) Sanders, he married Addie Jones and later moved to Ogden, Utah. In 1906, Ferrellsburg had a population of 200 people and had a telephone connection at the Ferrell store.

Fisher B. Adkins, a popular schoolteacher was postmaster at Ferrellsburg from 1909 until 1914. Born in October of 1879 to Burl and Melissa (Adkins) Adkins of Harts, Fisher lived at West Fork with his wife, the former Beatrice Dingess. The couple had one child, Hope. A 1913 newspaper story in the Lincoln Republican referred to Fisher as “one of the leading educators of the county” who is “well up in educational matters.” Within months, he would win election as county superintendent of schools (1915-1919).

Joseph Walt Stowers became postmaster at Ferrellsburg on February 18, 1914. Born March 1, 1876 to James and Emily (Haner) Gillenwater-Stowers, Walt was raised on Green Shoal and had family connections to nearby Big Creek in Logan County. In 1908 he purchased jointly with Enos Adkins a one-acre tract of land in Ferrellsburg from the Ferrells and opened a store business under the name of Stowers & Adkins. “Walt Stowers bought the old Ferrell store and reworked it…renovated it,” said the late Vergia Rooney of Texas. According to newspaper accounts of that time, Stowers was president of the stockholders in the Burns Chair Factory and considered attending medical school in Louisville. Instead, he improved his store building, increasing its value from $100 in 1910 to $900 in 1912. In June of 1914, Stowers became the sole proprietor of the store. In that same time frame, he married Georgia Adkins, reportedly a daughter of Rayburn Adkins of Wayne County. The couple never had any children but partially raised several nephews. During the next two decades, from the World War I era until the Great Depression, Walt Stowers was the chief businessman in Ferrellsburg. He was also the longest serving postmaster, giving up the position with his death on February 10, 1934. Thereafter, his widow served as postmistress until January 12, 1938.

Following Georgia Stowers’ term, William Isaacs was postmaster from January 12 until April 1, 1938. Isaacs was a resident of upper Ferrellsburg. “Old man Isaacs lived above the schoolhouse in old man I.M. Nelson’s house,” according to Elkins. At the same time that Isaacs became postmaster, he also bought much land from Georgia Stowers. Within a year, he sold most of the land and soon moved to Barboursville where he was involved in the realty business. Georgia was also in Cabell County by 1939, where she lived at 1600 16th Street, Huntington.

Elmer Evans became postmaster at Ferrellsburg on November 28, 1938.