12 Sunday Jan 2020
Posted in Battle of Blair Mountain, Logan
12 Sunday Jan 2020
Posted in Chapmanville
Tags
Appalachia, Chapmanville, Chapmanville Post Office, Clyde White, Darnell Stone, genealogy, Hazel E. McCloud, Hazel M. McCloud, history, Inez Barker, Logan Banner, Logan County, Victor Toney, West Virginia, Young People's Christian Endeavor
Correspondents named “Evelyn and Marie” from Chapmanville in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following news, which the Logan Banner printed on November 2, 1923:
We are having nice weather at this writing.
We are all glad to know Mr. Darnell Stone and Miss Inez Barker were out joy riding Sunday. Wonder what Inez will say when she finds out his car was shot all to pieces. Ask Darnell. He knows.
Mr. Victor Toney and Miss Hazel E. McCloud attended church Sunday night.
Miss Hazel M. McCloud attended the Young People’s Christian Endeavor Sunday night.
Wonder what makes Miss Hazel E. McCloud visit the post office so much? Ask Hazel M. McCloud. She ought to know.
Mr. Clyde White was visiting in this little burg Sunday.
12 Sunday Jan 2020
Posted in Big Creek, Guyandotte River, Huntington, Logan
Tags
Appalachia, basket meetings, Big Creek, Burke McComas, Cecil Hager, Charleston, Florence Wheeler, genealogy, Gladys Saunders, Guyandotte Valley, history, Huntington, Jess Harmon, John Mitchell, John Mobley, Laura Hager, Lillie Estep, Lloyd Ellis, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lonna Hager, Lulu Harmon, merchant, Myrtle Mobley, Nannie Lilly, Nannie Mobley, Norma Saunders, P.D. Bradbury, Pearl Mobley, Peter M. Toney, Tom Vance, Ward Shively, West Virginia
An unnamed correspondent from Big Creek in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following news, which the Logan Banner printed on September 5, 1924:
Dear old Banner, here I am with a bit of news from our little city Big Creek, one of the most leading little cities on the Guyan Valley.
Miss Lulu Harmon is very ill at this writing.
Mrs. John Mitchell was calling on Mrs. John Mobley Sunday.
It was sad to see Mr. Burke McComas baptized Sunday. He is very ill and not expected to live.
Mr. Lloyd Ellis seems to be enjoying himself of late.
Misses Florence Wheeler and Gladys Saunders has returned home after a short stay in Huntington.
A fine new boy arrived at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Mobley.
Don’t forget the basket meeting Sunday on Big Creek. Everybody invited.
Misses Nannie Lilly, Myrtle Mobley, and Cecil Hager were out car riding Sunday.
Mr. Jess Harmon and Miss Norma Saunders were out picnicking Sunday.
Mr. Tom Vance and Miss Pearl Mobley motored to Logan Sunday.
John Mobley has accommodated all loafers. He has made a loafers bench under his shade tree near his store.
Ward Shively has returned to his home after a short stay in Charleston.
Peter M. Toney made a flying trip to Huntington to see his home folks.
We all were sorry when Mr. P.D. Bradbury found his span of mules drowned Sunday. They were tied with a rope and fell over the high bank.
Mrs. Nannie Mobley was kodaking Sunday evening.
Miss Lillie Estepp returned home after a short stay with her parents.
Miss Gladys Saunders and Miss Myrtle Mobley had a happy meeting when first they met after Gladys’ return home.
There are plenty of cars and good drivers nowadays.
Mrs. Lonna Hager of Huntington is the guest of her sisters, Laura Hager.
13 Friday Dec 2019
Posted in Coal, Hungarian-American History, Huntington, Inez, Logan, Music, Williamson
Tags
Appalachia, Beauty, Charleston, Cinder Bottom, coal, crime, dancing, Elizabeth Nagy, Ellis Park, Emmett Scaggs, Himlerville, history, Hungarian Benevolent Association, Hungarian Miners' Journal, Hungarian-Americans, Hungarians, Huntington, Joe Hatfield, Kentucky, Keystone, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Martin County, McDowell County, Mingo County, Mud Fork, Rose Mustapha, Warfield, Welch, West Virginia, Williamson, Williamson Daily News
Between 1900 and 1920, a large number of Hungarians settled in West Virginia. Most were employed as coal miners. As of 1920, 6,260 Hungarians lived in West Virginia, primarily in Logan and McDowell counties. The Logan Banner, seated in Logan, WV, offered coverage of Hungarian news. It also commented on items published by Martin Himler in the Hungarian Miners’ Journal.
New Marathon Dance Record Is Made Here
Rose Mustapha, Pretty Hungarian Starts the Step Believed to Be the record.
At nigh noon Sunday, Rose Mustapha, a beautiful Hungarian girl, tripped the starting step in a terpsichorean debauch, that is believed to have established a record for sustained dancing in groups. Rose led a cotillion of thirty of her countrymen over a stretch of nineteen hours of continual dancing.
The dance started at twelve o’clock Sunday noon and continued without intermission till seven o’clock Monday morning. The jolly spirit of old Budapest struck color with jazz hilarity as the dancers spun in a vortez over the polished floor.
Hundreds of the dancers’ admirers rimmed the floor, hailing the participants in a half dozen different languages and dialects. Three wheezy but quite animated violins provided the music, which ran in wild Magyar strains and jazzy syncopation.
For the most part the dancers adhered to their native folk dances, but occasionally a couple would break into a fox trot, or a one step. At six o’clock Sunday evening, the dancers were given liquid nourishment as they whirled, and at midnight the same was repeated.
Most of the dancers finished strong, but several of the weaker sex had to be helped from the floor by their friends. Long distance dancing is quite common in their native land, and had the participants been in trim the task would have been comparatively easy, they say. As it was all of the men, who are miners, reported for work Monday morning and so far no ill results have been reported of the affair.
Logan (WV) Banner, 3 August 1923
***
Hungarian Dance
Several hundred persons enjoyed the dance given by the Hungarian Benevolent Association at Ellis Park skating rink last Saturday night. The program included many attractive features and novelties. Miss Elizabeth Nagy of Mud Fork was the winner of the beauty prize. She received a fine watch and $5 in gold.
Logan (WV) Banner, 29 November 1927
***
Hungarian Paper Tells of Resorts Hereabouts
Sensational Charges Prompt Williamson News to Demand Investigation and “Clean-Up”–Logan and Neighboring Cities Are Mentioned In This Alleged Expose
A Hungarian paper published at Himlerville, Ky., not far from Williamson, is running a series of sensational articles on vice conditions in Logan, Williamson, Huntington and Charleston. These articles are printed both in English and Hungarian and are attracting much attention, many copies of the paper having been sent to the cities named.
Two articles about Logan have mentioned various resorts in which it is charged that vice is rampant, that protection is obtained by bribery of officials, and that conditions are getting worse. Local officers brand these so-called disclosures as either baseless or greatly exaggerated.
In Williamson the expose has attracted much attention, particularly since the Williamson Daily News carried the following editorial, under the heading, “A Clean City.”
It’s a sad commentary on our city, county, and state police officials when the leaders of the foreign element in our midst are forced to take the lead in cleaning up moral conditions.
Through the Hungarian paper published at Himlerville, Ky., a campaign is being waged to clean up Williamson, Logan, Huntington and Charleston.
We are primarily concerned in Williamson and this paper charges that Williamson is harboring not less than eleven Hungarian brothels and some fifteen speak-easies. The editor of the paper has furnished the Williamson Daily News with the names of eight hotels and rooming houses where he says “light o’ love ladies” may be found.
It is common knowledge in Williamson that what he charges is true. Furthermore it is also common knowledge that there is hardly a hotel from the best to the worst in the city that does not harbor women of prostitution.
These women are debauching our manhood and spreading disease and there are attendant demoralizing evils which add to the indictment against them.
Not only are there Hungarian brothels in Williamson, but there are brothels that cater to every race and condition. The fact that they exist is known to practically every person in Williamson.
In this same Himlerville paper in an article published in this week’s issue it is stated that “Protection fees vary between twenty-five and seventy-five dollars weekly” suggesting a reason why no action is taken to remedy conditions.
We have had every reason to believe that Williamson was infested with brothels of every degree of degradation, but until the bold statement is made in the Hungarian paper, we had no reason to suspect that some persons were receiving protection fees.
However, such a state of things is a natural noncomitant, in view of the laws of the land. It would be very easy for city, state or county officers to take action, and if they do not the question immediately arises: Why?
It cannot be argued that it is impossible to clean up the city in this respect. We all know better. The chief of police and four good policemen, with proper backing of the mayor and the citizens of Williamson could do the job, and do it thoroughly in ten days. In doing it they could be so impressively earnest that there would be no recurrence of the evil for months to come. If instances of violations of the law of this character did occur in the future they could enforce the law with such vigor as to deter others. Williamson would soon be classed as a “clean city.”
Even the notorious “Cinder Bottom” at Keystone has been cleaned up. Welch, the county seat of McDowell county, is known far and wide as a “clean city.” Chippies and their like give it a wide berth. Why? Because the mayor and the chief of police of Welch, with a determined citizenship back of them, will not tolerate the evil. Merchants and business men of Welch generally are unreservedly in favor of an absolute ban against women of evil character being allowed to remain in hotels and rooming houses, because they know it hurts business and is a thoroughly demoralizing factor.
Primarily the question is one for the mayor and the chief of police at Williamson to handle, but there are other law enforcement agencies that could function.
For instance, the prosecuting attorney has an effective weapon at hand if he wants to use it. We refer to the state padlock law, upheld by the supreme court. With this weapon he could close every hotel and rooming house in the city that harbored women of ill fame. And there would be no question of securing sufficient evidence to act. It is ready at hand.
There is another agency, the state police. This efficient body of men could take action and bring the matter to a hand.
The state health department is aware of the fact that Williamson is one of the vilest cities in the way of brothels in the state. It has investigated conditions here and has data that could be used by officials who wanted to take action. Furthermore the state health department, on request of the city or county officials, would send investigators here to ascertain true conditions. But, if we understand the situation rightly there is no need for further investigation. The brothels are conducted more or less openly, are well advertised and unfortunately are well patronized.
There would be no lack of information to proceed upon if city, county or state officials wanted to take action. And first of all, it is up to our city officials to act.
Logan (WV) Banner, 27 January 1928
***
NOTICE TO LOGAN
With newly sharpened sticks the Hungarian Miners Journal, published at Himlerville, Ky., continues to prod into vice conditions hereabouts. Its latest issue is devoted largely to a further exposure at Williamson’s intrenched vice, but Logan has not been forgotten. In fact, in a large type box on the first page notice is given that the spotlight will be turned again soon on the garden spot. It says:
“The brother-situation of Williamson is taking up all our space and our energies for a few days.
“This does not mean that we have nothing more to say about Logan brothels.
“A score of Hungarian criminals, keepers of brothels and white-slavers are harbored in and by Logan, to the great detriment of the decent Hungarians in the Logan field.
“We demand the expulsion of these criminals and we will turn to Logan in a very short time.
“Surely the decent citizens of Logan are not going to build a roof over their town to designate THE red-light district.”
Logan (WV) Banner, 3 February 1928
***
Hungarian Paper Reverts to Logan’s Need of Reformation
Editor Fisher Takes Crack at The Banner, Sheriff Hatfield and Chief Scaggs–Long Silence Broken By Familiar, Rasping Outcry
Remember the Magyar Banyaszlap, a newspaper formerly published at Warfield, Ky., not far from Williamson, W.Va. A year or more ago it probed conditions in Logan and carried some sensational strictures about county and city officials. Finally, an officious and offensively inquisitive soul, the editor hisself, came in person and before he left was given quite a thumping by Chief of Police Scaggs.
Some time later the coal company located at Warfield and Hungarian-owned, went into the hands of a receiver and whether the Banyaszlap then suspended publication or not it ceased to come to this office. The other day a copy came. It is published in Columbus now but its editor is evidently still interested in conditions here. After scanning its eight pages, the writer of these lines found but one article printed in English. That embraced a clipping from The Banner and the Banyaszlap’s comments thereupon. The article clipped appeared to the Banner on April 9 and had to do with reports that the sheriff’s forces were determined to suppress the liquor traffic in boarding and lodging houses that cater to foreign-born miners. Most Banner readers will recall that news item and for that reason it will not be reproduced here, but what the Columbus paper says may be of some interest.
“We are glad to note the sudden interest of Sheriff Hatfield, and the rather mild interest of the Logan Banner, in the speak-easyes.
“The officers do not have to ‘trail’ these boarding houses, for we have published a list of them.
“And we have also published a long-long list of speak-easyes and brothels in Logan, W.Va., with addresses, and names, with locations and any other needed informations.
“Why not start a housecleaning right here in Logan, W.Va., and spread it then to the coal field?
“We can promise Logan and its vicinity that others than the sheriff will also be interested in these affairs.
“When the gunman (called chief of police) of Logan so heroically objected to our articles, we have promised that we will have the matter attended to in good time.
“It will happen soon.
“Perhaps hence the sudden interest in the Logan vice.”
Logan (WV) Banner, 23 April 1929
***
For more information about Hungarians in West Virginia, go here: https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2017/03/magyars-in-morgantown.html
For more information about Martin Himler, Himlerville (Beauty), and the Magyar Banyaszlap: Hungarian Miners’ Journal, go here: https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2014/11/saving-himler-house.html
12 Thursday Dec 2019
Tags
boxing, Brill Building, history, Jack Dempsey, Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant, Logan County, Madison Square Garden III, New York, New York City, Sports, The Godfather, West Virginia
Jack Dempsey (1895-1983), heavyweight boxing champion of the world from 1919-1926, was raised in Logan County, WV. In 1935, Dempsey opened a restaurant at 8th Avenue W 50th Street near Madison Square Garden III in NYC. In 1938, he relocated his restaurant to Brill Building (1619 Broadway). The business front was featured in the 1972 movie The Godfather. Photo credit unknown. For more about the 1974 closure of Jack Dempsey’s Broadway Restaurant, go here: https://www.nytimes.com/1974/10/06/archives/jack-dempseys-restaurant-is-closing-original-dempseys-recalled.html
Here is the site of Jack Dempsey’s restaurant (1938-1974) as it appears today. 7 December 2019. For more history of the business, go here: https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2018/05/21/eating-at-jack-dempseys-in-times-square/
Here is the site of Jack Dempsey’s restaurant as it appears today. 7 December 2019
11 Wednesday Dec 2019
Posted in African American History
Tags
African-Americans, Chauncey, G.J. Parks, history, Island Creek, Lewis Calvin, Logan Banner, Logan County, preacher, Stirrat
A correspondent named Lewis Calvin from Stirrat on Island Creek in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following news, which the Logan Banner printed on January 5, 1923:
On last Sunday, the Sunday school lesson at the Mt. Olive Baptist church was efficiently taught by our visiting minister, Rev. G.J. Parks, of Chauncey.
Rev. Parks remained with us during the day and preached for us some wonderful sermons which were accepted by all of his hearers. We sure did enjoy having Rev. Parks with us and we extend to him an invitation to return and he will always find a warm welcome.
We always delight in having with us ministers who know how to preach the Gospel and Rev. Parks surely did know how to bring the message to us. His evening text was taken from the 3rd chapter of Job, and he discussed Job as a man of God.
The entire congregation was delighted with his manner of handling the subject and extends to him the glad hand to return and be with us again.
Lewis Calvin, Clerk
16 Saturday Nov 2019
Posted in Logan, Women's History
Logan (WV) Banner, 6 April 1923
09 Saturday Nov 2019
Posted in Logan
Tags
Appalachia, crime, Denver Beckett, history, Logan, Logan County, Logan County Jail, N.E. Steele, West Virginia, William B. Johnson
Here is a bit of history for the Logan County (W.Va.) Jail based on documents from 1921:
Appointment of Jail Inspectors
Dr. N.E. Steele, Wm. B. Johnson and Denver Beckett are hereby appointed, authorized and directed to inspect, investigate and report in writing to the court at the present term the existing conditions of the Jail of the county, the care and treatment of the prisoners therein confined, in detail, as required by Secs. 40 and 41 of Chapter 41 of the Code of West Virginia.
The Clerk of the court will furnish said inspectors a copy of said sections for their guide in making said inspection and report and will make four attested copies of this order and place them in the hands of the sheriff of this county to be served on the above named inspectors which shall operate as a summons to them to forthwith appear in open court and take the oath required by law and to enter upon the discharge of the duties herewith.
Law Order Book X, page 183, 11 April 1921
***
CHAPTER 41
Sec. 40. DUTIES OF JAILER. The jailer shall cause all the apartments of his jail to be well whitewashed at least twice in every year, and have the same properly aired and always kept clean. He shall furnish every prisoner with wholesome and sufficient food, and with a bed and bedding cleanly and sufficient, and have his apartment warmed when it is proper, in case of the sickness of any prisoner, he shall provide for him adequate nursing and attendance, and if there be occasion for it, and circumstances will permit shall confine him in an apartment separate from other prisoners. In no case shall a jailer permit the use of ardent spirits in the jail, except when prescribed by a physician. (Code Va. 1860, p. 289; Acts 1881, c 19.)
Sec. 41. Annual Inspection. The circuit court of every county shall annually, or oftener, if deemed necessary, appoint three persons, one of whom shall be a physician, to inspect the jail of each county. The judge shall administer to them the following oath: “You shall truly report to the court, as to the jail in this county, the size thereof, the number of its apartments, and its state, and condition; whether it is secure, sufficient for those who may be confined therein, and such that convicts may be kept in apartments separate from each other and from the other prisoners; whether every apartment is as constructed that it can be kept comfortable; whether it is kept in constant and adequate repair, and supplied with the furniture and other things necessary, and if not, in what it is deficient. You shall also diligently examine and truly report whether or not the jailer, has, during the last twelve months, faithfully performed the duties required of him by the fortieth section of the forty first chapter of the Code of West Virginia, and if not, in what respect he has failed to perform the same.” The said inspectors shall be furnished for their guide with a copy of the said oath, and of the said section. If they make a report, which fails in any respect to conform to said oath, it shall be recommitted to them until they fully report upon all the said matters. (Code Va. 1860, p. 289, Acts 1881 c. 19.)
***
N.E. Steele, William B. Johnson and Denver Beckett, who were appointed to inspect and report the existing conditions of and at the County Jail, by an order entered at a former day of this term of court, pursuant to Section 40 of Chapter 41 of the Code of West Virginia, and who were sworn as the law directs, having made the inspection as required, returned into court and submitted the following report in writing:
“We the undersigned appointed to inspect the jail of Logan County, hereby make the following report.
Size of Jail approximately 39 by 84 feet. Exclusive of jailer’s Residence. Brick building with concrete floors, three stories high, with cells on first and second floors, third story unfinished.
31 apartments or cells.
Capacity 112 men.
Confined therein at present 93 persons.
State and condition of jail, Good.
We consider jail secure and sufficient for those who may be confined therein, and convicts may be kept separate one apartment or cell from the other, the capacity of each apartment or cell being 3 or 4 persons or more.
Apartments or cells are so constructed that they can be kept comfortable.
Jail is new and in good repair and condition, and supplied with Furniture and other things necessary.
As to the jailer performing the duties required by Section 40 of Chapter 41 the past twelve months, will state that the present jail is new, and the old jail recently torn, and we doubt if the jailer could during the past twelve months comply with all the requirements in all cases in the old jail which has been torn away.
At present we believe that the jailer is complying with section 40 of Chapter 41.
Respectfully Submitted.
N.E. Steele
Wm. B. Johnson
Denver Beckett.”
It appearing from said report that a new county jail has been provided and the prisoners moved from the old jail into the new one but a few days before the beginning of this term of the court, and the old jail was torn down. It was not possible for the committee to make a report as to the condition of the old jail for the year preceding, but the report showing that the new jail is in good condition, ample and sufficient to provide for the comfort and well-being of the prisoners, as well as for their proper detention, and that the prisoners are being provided with suitable clothing, bedding, food and other necessaries, as required by law, the court perceives no reason for making any order changing the existing conditions, and the report is therefore received, confirmed, ordered to be filed, and the committee discharged.
It is further ordered that the said committee each is allowed for his services in this behalf the sum of Five Dollars ($5.00), payable out of the treasury of this county.
Law Order Book X, page 264, 6 May 1921
29 Tuesday Oct 2019
Posted in Stone Branch
Tags
Appalachia, Bill Skeens, education, Frank Rice, genealogy, Haskell Compton, Hattie Loud, Henlawson, history, Lizzie McComas, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Roberta Russell, Sadie Ferguson, Stone Branch, Von Browning, West Virginia
A correspondent named “Sweet Marie” from Stone Branch in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following news, which the Logan Banner printed on January 11, 1924:
We are having some bad weather at the present writing.
There is a lot of sickness in our camps at this time.
Miss Hattie Loud and Roberta Russell was calling on Sadie Ferguson Tuesday evening.
Mrs. Lizzie McComas and Mrs. Bill Skeens of Henlawson was visiting friends at this place Saturday night and Sunday.
Wonder how the boys like their teacher here.
Haskell Compton was visiting Frank Rice Sunday afternoon.
They are holding a revival at this place. Everybody is invited to attend.
Mrs. Bill Rice was calling on Mrs. Von Browning Sunday evening.
08 Tuesday Oct 2019
Posted in Ashland, Coal, Guyandotte River, Man, Poetry
Tags
Appalachia, Ashland, author, authors, coal, Guyandotte Valley, history, Kentucky, Logan Banner, Logan County, physician, poems, poetry, Thomas Dunn English, Three Forks, Viola Ann Runyon, West Virginia, writers, writing
From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about Veola Ann Runyon, authoress-poet of Logan County. The story is dated January 13, 1922:
LOGAN COUNTY HAS AN AUTHORESS-POET
Mrs. Veola Ann Runyon, of Three Forks, Has Had Much of Her Work Published.
We never know in what nook or corner we may find unknown talent or beneath what bushel measure we may and a shining light unless, perchance, we may trip across a clue that may lead us to a welcome discovery. Such was the case with a representative of The Banner on a recent trip to Three Forks, when he fortunately learned of the presence there of Mrs. Veola Anne Runyon, a poet and talented writer of fact and fiction.
Mrs. Runyon was born in Ashland, Ky. Her grandfather was a French physician and author. From him she derived the gifted talent at at the early age of sixteen she began writing stories and for the past ten years she has been a regular contributor to several of the largest magazines of our country. She has in preparation at the present time a romance which will be happily connected with the coal mining industry, while she has in the hands of her publisher two other books, one dealing with scientifical and botanical work and the other on entomological facts.
The story now in preparation will be eagerly sought by all readers in Logan County, due to the fact that part of the plot will be based upon knowledge gained within this county. Mrs. Runyon was requested by her publishers to write a story closely connected with the mining industry and so not knowing the details connected with the industry she came to Three Forks, and while stopping at the Club House there she is gathering facts that will prove invaluable in her latest work.
Mrs. Runyon is a gifted writer and is filled with the love of the work. She is also deeply interested in botanical work and the study of nature. Through persuasion we were able to secure some of her poems for publication in The Banner, and we are pleased to announce that arrangements have been made with her for regular contributions to the columns of this paper.
Her presence here will recall to mind another author who came to Logan County in years gone by. Dr. Thos. Dunn English recognized the beauty of these mountains and the nearness of true nature and came here during the period between 1850 and 1860. Some of his poems deal with life in the Guyan Valley.
With her ability and fluency of language, Mrs. Runyon should find in these grand majestic mountains and wonderful natural beauty an invaluable aid to inspiration that will enable her to complete a wonderful story that should attract the favorable attention of the most critical.
Note: I cannot locate any biographical information for this writer. Three Forks, according to one source, is also known as Saunders (Buffalo Creek).
27 Friday Sep 2019
Posted in Chapmanville, Coal
Tags
Appalachia, B.A. Grady, Chapmanville, Chapmanville Coal Company, coal, history, Logan Banner, Logan County, Logan Mines Inc., Thompson Coal Company, W.M. Zurkle, West Virginia
Logan (WV) Banner, 26 August 1927
26 Thursday Sep 2019
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Twelve Pole Creek
Tags
Appalachia, Arnold Perry, Catherine Perry, genealogy, history, Hoover Fork, John McCloud, justice of the peace, Logan County, Pretty Branch, Samuel Dawson, Stephen Marcum, Twelve Pole Creek, Virginia, Wayne County, West Virginia
Deed Book C, page ___, Logan County Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV.
26 Thursday Sep 2019
Posted in Logan
Tags
Appalachia, Charles Bennett, crime, Draper Building, Falls City Construction Company, German, history, John B. Wilkinson, Lanham's Plumbing Shop, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Logan Court House, mayor, Poole Drug Store, R. Topin, Robert Bland, West Virginia
From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, come these items of local news during the year 1913:
Logan (WV) Banner, 1 May 1913
***
The Call to Arms
Ladies of Logan, we need you, and ask your unfailing support against filth and flies. With your full assistance we expect to make the men “help the women do the work.” We want you to help us develop the pride and civic duty which promotes cleanliness. Enlist the whole household in this crusade against filth and flies–breeders of disease.
With the homes, the yards and the streets clean, screened receptacles for kitchen waste, which we will remove without expense, the free use of lime daily, our city will be respectable and commendable.
Lend us your aid and imbibe the slogan, “Cleaner, Healthier and Better Logan.”
Respectfully,
Robert Bland, Mayor
By order of the Common Council.
Logan (WV) Banner, 23 May 1913
***
Logan (WV) Banner, 20 June 1913.
***
The Latest Craze
In Logan now is PAINT–house paint and everybody’s doin’ it! The most recent ones are the Draper Bldg., Judge Wilkinson’s residence and office, Lanham’s plumbing shop, the Poole drug store, German restaurant, etc. More paint was spread in Logan this year than ever was known before, and considerable of it was “red” too. It can truly be said that nearly every building in town, of importance, has been or will be painted this year, in fact a few almost worthless old houses now look like new. A bucket of paint surely works wonders sometimes. A sign writer has also been at work the past week or two putting gold lettering on windows.”
Logan (WV) Banner, 4 July 1913
***
Logan County Prisoners Working Roads, They Like It Better Than Confinement
Two wagon-loads of prisoners were taken out of the county jail Wednesday morning, under guard, and worked on the roads in this vicinity. A 5-lb rod, about two foot long, was locked around an ankle of each prisoners. They seemed to like their outing.
Logan (WV) Banner, 12 September 1913
21 Saturday Sep 2019
Posted in Big Harts Creek
Tags
Appalachia, Charles Adkins, Cole Branch, Elias Adkins, Elizabeth Adkins, genealogy, Harts Creek, Henry Adkins, history, Isaac Adkins, Isaac Adkins Jr., Isaiah Adkins, Lincoln County, Logan County, Lydia Eveline Mullins, Parthena Adkins, Polly Adkins, Spencer A. Mullins, Virginia, West Virginia
Deed Book ___, page 447, Logan County Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV. Note: This property is located in present-day Lincoln County.
Deed Book ___, page 448, Logan County Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV. Note: Isaiah Adkins is my great-great-great-great-grandfather.
19 Thursday Sep 2019
Posted in Big Ugly Creek
Tags
Anderson Barker, Appalachia, Big Ugly Creek, county clerk, genealogy, history, justice of the peace, Levi Collins, Lincoln County, Logan County, Nancy Collins, Ralph Lucas, Virginia, W.I. Campbell, West Virginia, William Smith, William Straton
Deed Book __, page 471, Logan County Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV. This property is located in present-day Lincoln County.
Deed Book __, page 471, Logan County Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV.
15 Sunday Sep 2019
Posted in Stone Branch
Tags
Appalachia, Bessie Dean, Braeholm, Chester Curtis, Cincinnati, genealogy, history, Logan Banner, Logan County, Nellie McKennzie, Nellie Stiltner, Norma Saunders, Ohio, Pearl Mobley, Rebecca McKenzie, Ross Smith, Ruby Lucas, Sadie Ferguson, Sherman Hobbs, Stone Branch, West Virginia
A correspondent named “Three Pals” from Stone Branch in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following news, which the Logan Banner printed on August 24, 1923:
We are sorry to say that Chester Curtis is on the sick list.
Mrs. McKenzie and Mrs. Smith were calling on Mrs. Williamson Sunday evening.
Mrs. Stiltner and Mrs. McComas were calling on Mrs. Stiltner Sunday.
Martha Roberts has gone to Ohio to pay her mother a visit.
Mrs. Bledsoe was calling on Mrs. Roberts Saturday.
Miss Norma Saunders and Miss Pearl Mabblie have gone to Cincinnati.
Sherman Hobbs and Ross Smith were seen going down the road Saturday.
Mr. Stiltner and Mr. Smith sure do enjoy going to lodge.
Mr. McKenzie and Mr. Marshall were seen going down the road Saturday.
Miss Nella McKenzie was calling on Miss Nellie Stiltner Saturday night.
Miss Rubie Lucas and Miss Sadie Ferguson were the dinner guests of Miss Nellie McKenzie.
Mrs. Rebecca McKenzie called on Mrs. Little Sunday evening.
Some combinations–Boyd and his slop bucket; Gracie and her bonnet; Nellie and her cretonne dress; Sadie and her wrist watch; Rebecca and her silk dress; Mrs. Smith and her milk pail; Ruben and his wagon; Nellie and her silk dress; Gracie and her hair net; Nannie and her business course; Bob Ferrell and his cat; Frank and his milk pail; Lee and his dog.
Mrs. Little was calling on Mrs. McKenzie Sunday evening.
Mrs. Bessie Dean of Braeholm was calling on Mrs. Ferguson.
11 Wednesday Sep 2019
Posted in Big Creek, Huntington, Logan, Stone Branch
Tags
Appalachia, Big Creek, Cecil Hager, Charles Harmon, genealogy, Georgia Thomas, Guyan Valley Drug Store, history, Huntington, Linnie Workman, Logan, Logan County, Nannie Lilly, Nannie Mobley, Susie Harmon, Tom Vance, Wert Ellis, West Virginia
A unknown correspondent from Big Creek in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following news, which the Logan Banner printed on September 12, 1924:
Big Creek is still on the go-go-go.
A large crowd attended the basket meeting on North Fork Sunday.
One of our Big Creek boys, Mr. Tom Vance was injured badly by falling from a telephone pole Sunday.
Mrs. Linnie Workman of this place is moving to Stone Branch.
Mr. Cecil Hager and Miss Nannie Lilly attended the basket meeting Sunday.
Mr. Charles Harmon and Miss Mobley were seen talking once more.
Mrs. Nannie Mobley is purchasing her a new home in Huntington.
Mr. Cecil Hager will leave for Logan September 12, where he will take up clerking in the Guyan Valley Drug store. Won’t Nannie be lonesome.
Miss Susie Harmon left for Huntington Sunday to attend school.
Mr. Wert Ellis and Georgia Thomas were seen out car riding Sunday.
Daily happenings–Pearl S. and drug store; Bill and his keys; Oran and his straw stack; Pearl going to see Tom; Mae and her sweetie; Gladys and her traveling case; Nannie and her dust; Cecil and his Lollipop; Lucile and her slippers; Susie and her chewing gum; Nealin and the chickens; Norma and her Gray; Myrtle and her sun grins.
26 Monday Aug 2019
Posted in Huntington, Italian American History, Logan, World War I
Tags
A.D. Collins, A.F. Benjamin, American Legion, Bee Stewart, Betty Davin, Boy Scouts, C.L. Wright, Clarence Bartram, David Hensley, Doris Bradley, Edward Gunther, Favaro, Floyd W. Clay, Gunther-McNeely-Nowlan Post, Hatfield Island, history, Huntington, Italy, James Greever, James L. Robinson, John B. McNeely, John Martin, Keefer Jennings Whitman, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lorena greever, M.B. Kendall, M.D. Tony Kendall, Madge Adkins, Margaret McNemar, Marshall College, Marshall University, Midelburg Island, Mike Tarka, Morris P. Shawkey, Newton Cook, Oscar Dial, Pete Minotti, Peter White, Robert F. Caverlee, Roy Lowe, Roy Simms, Scotty McDonald, Tony Curia, Ulysses B. Vance, W.C. Turley, West Virginia, Willard Ball, William F. Munsey, Willie F. Smith, World War I
From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about the World War I statue now located at Hatfield/Midelburg Island:
Soldier Monument Dedication Nov. 11
Granite Figure of Doughboy Will Be Set Up This Week, Minotti Says
The $6,000 granite doughboy memorial to World War veterans, the erection of which is being sponsored by Pete Minotti of this city, will be placed on the base near the west Court House entrance sometime during the next three days.
Word was received here by Mr. Minotti that the monument had been shipped from Chicago Monday and that it would arrive in Logan sometime tomorrow. Mr. Minotti said that the figure would be placed on the base and all the work completed this week.
Dedication will be held Sunday afternoon, November 11, at 2 o’clock. The American Legion of this city will have charge of the ceremonies to which the public is invited.
Boy scouts of the community are busy selling tags to help defray expenses of purchasing and erecting the monument. The doughboy figure is larger than life size, being seven feet tall. The figure depicts an American soldier carrying a rifle in one hand and throwing a bomb with the other hand. He is pictured as in the midst of a barb wire entanglement.
Logan (WV) Banner, 30 October 1928
***
8 Tons of Granite In New Monument to Logan Soldiery
Seventeen thousand pounds of Vermont granite will surmount the concrete base of the monument now being erected in the Court House yard. Atop the granite blocks will be placed a seven-foot statue representing an American doughboy carrying a rifle and bomb poised for throwing.
The monument will be 19 feet high, says Pete Minotti, local contractor, who is backing and taking the leading part in providing a suitable memorial for Logan county’s heroic dead. The base will be hidden by an earthen mound or terrace on all four sides.
Dedication of this memorial will be the feature of this year’s celebration of the signing of the Armistice on November 11.
Logan (WV) Banner, 2 November 1928
***
Arrange Plans for Unveiling of Statue
Plans for the dedication of the new monument to the memory of World War participants, living and dead, will be completed at a special meeting of the local post, American Legion, at the Court House Dugout Thursday night at 7:30.
The unveiling and dedicatory services are set for 2 o’clock Sunday afternoon, Armistice day. Pete Minotti, originator of the plan and the donor of the monument, will make the presentation. Formal acceptance will be by M.D. (Tony) Kendall, a leading legionnaire of the city. There will be other addresses and vocal numbers by Mrs. Madge Adkins, popular and talented singer.
Boy Scouts will aid the Legion men in carrying out an appropriate program of exercises.
Logan (WV) Banner, 6 November 1928
***
Monument to Soldiers Ready For Unveiling
Exercises to be Held at Court House at 2:00 O’clock Sunday Afternoon
Minotti is Moving Spirit
Huntington Educator Will Deliver Address–Flag-Raising Comes First
On the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Armistice, Logan county soldiers who paid the supreme price will be honored by their kinsfolk and the citizens of the county when the Pete Minotti memorial is unveiled Sunday afternoon at two o’clock.
The memorial, a fine bronze reproduction of a doughboy mounted on a suitable granite base, was erected near the western entrance to the Court House during the first part of this week and by tomorrow evening everything will be in complete readiness for the dedication exercise.
The American Legion will have charge of the services with the Boy Scouts and several others assisting. The Boy Scouts will conduct a flag-raising just before the unveiling exercises.
The dedicatory address will be delivered by C.L. Wright, superintendent of Huntington schools and a brilliant orator. These exercises will be opened with prayer by Rev. Robert F. Caverlee. Pete Minotti, whose generosity and whose love for his–adopted–country have made this memorial possible, will make the presentation speech. Thereupon the unveiling will take place, with Misses Scotty McDonald, Margaret McNemar, Lorena Greever, Doris Bradley and Betty Davin and James Greever participating. Formal acceptance will be made by M.B. Kendall, commander of Fifth district, department of West Virginia, American Legion. Salute and taps will be followed by benediction by Rev. A.F. Benjamin.
This monument, costing $6,000, is 19 feet high.
A bronze name plate at the statue’s base has inscribed across the top the dates, “1917-1918,” and underneath are the names of the 39 Logan County World War veterans killed, mortally wounded or fatally afflicted by disease while in service. At the bottom is the name, “Pete Minotti Memorial,” and the date, “1928.” The American Legion crest is also on the plate.
Logan (WV) Banner, 13 November 1928
***
Big Concourse At Dedication of Monument
Dr. M.P. Shawkey Delivers Eloquent, Patriotic Address At Sunday’s Exercises
P. Minotti the Generous
Presents Memorial to Legion Post as Custodian–Flag-Raising Ceremony
Logan county paid tribute Sunday to a long list of its heroic dead sleeping in foreign and native soil when hundreds of people witnessed the dedication of the monument to the memory of the warriors who fell in the World War.
The Pete C. Minnotti memorial depicting a khaki-clad doughboy hurling a grenade amid barb wire entanglements was dedicated with fitting ceremonies on the eleventh Armistice Day. Dr. M.P. Shawkey, president of Marshall College, delivered the address. C.L. Wright, superintendent of the Huntington schools, who was unable to be present because of illness, was scheduled to deliver the address and Dr. Shawkey filled his place.
In his presentation speech Mr. Minotti reminded the people that the memorial was erected so that people passing by hurriedly in the pursuit of riches might glance up at the soldier figure and remember the boys who fell fighting for freedom and democracy. Mr. Minotti said that he convicted the idea of erecting some memorial to the dead soldiers last summer as he journeyed through his native land, Italy, and in every city and hamlet, no matter how small, the people had erected some kind of a memorial to their dead heroes.
Generous and Patriotic
“Adjoining counties had honored their soldiers and it was time that Logan county honor their dead with a fitting memorial,” said Mr. Minotti.
During the last two months Mr. Minotti, through the cooperation of the American Legion, has been busy planning for and erecting the monument that now graces the Court House lawn near the western entrances. This generous donor, an Italian by birth and an American by choice, was born at Favaro, Italy, October 22, 1885. He came to Logan county 22 years ago and since that time Logan has been his home.
The monument was accepted by A.D. Collins, commander of Gunther-McNeely-Nowlan post, in behalf of the Legion.
Dr. Shawkey spoke of the prosperity which this country enjoys and the lofty position which the nation commands. Yet he urged that the goal which the people should strive for should be a happy and contented country is preference to wealth and a dominating position.
In the unveiling ceremony Misses Scotty McDonald, Margaret McNemar, Lorena Greever, Doris Bradley, Betty Davin and James Greever participated. Previous to the unveiling the Logan county scouts had charge of the flag raising ceremony. W.C. Turley was chairman of the dedication. Following the ceremony a rifle squad fired three volleys of shots over the monument as a salute to the dead.
C. & O. Band Made Special Music
It is also said that the light in the right hand of the doughboy which represents a grenade is the only one of its kind in the state and it was Mr. Minotti’s original idea.
On the bronze tablet on the base of the monument are inscribed the names of 39 men who died in action of wounds and of disease in Europe.
Roll of Honor
The men killed in action are:
Willard Ball, Clarence Bartram, Floyd W. Clay, Newton Cook, Tony Curia, Oscar Dial, Edward Gunther, David Hensley, Roy Lowe, John B. McNeely, John Martin, William F. Munsey, James L. Robinson, Roy Simms, Willie F. Smith, Bee Stewart, Mike Tarka, Ulysses B. Vance, Peter White, Keefer Jennings Whitman.
Those dying of wounds are: John L. Blankenship, Elmer Cook, Homer Hobbs, Noble J. Lax, Lawrence Marcuzzi, Denver Mullins, William R. Nowland, Haskell Phillips, Henry H. Runyon, Harold Thompson. Those dying of disease in Europe: Allen Bryant, Thomas J. Cox, Fred E. Hahne, Joe Hardy, Clyde Jeffrey, Johnnie Johnson, Allen Tabor, Homer Vance, and Levi J. Vance.
Those who died of disease in the United States but whose names do not appear on the tablet are William O. Bailey, Elbert Billups, James L. Brown, Elbert Carter, Sam Dillard, George D. Fletcher, Bert W. Green, Calvin Hughes, Wilbert S. Jeffreys, Sam Johnson, Claude B. Justice, Druie Mounts, Moss F. Stone, James Weaver, and Roy White.
The soldiers from Logan county who were wounded in action but whose names do not appear on the tablet were Albert Adams, Zatto Adkins, William W. Adkins, Lovell H. Aldridge, Willie Allen, Frank Ball, Elisha Ball, Frank J. Bell, Walter S. Blake, Evert Blankenship, Tom Boring, George F. Breeden, H. Brewster, Charles Brewster, H.C. Brown, Floyd Chambers, James Chapin, Greenway Christian, Gay T. Gonley, George E. Covey, Ella Craddock, Dan Craft, Jim F. Crawford, John H. Crittenden, James Cyrus, Thomas Y. Davis, Bird Dingess, Rector H. Elkins, James M. Ellis, Carl Ellis, Frank Ferrell, Sidney Ferrell, Robert L. Gore, Burton W. Gore, Ben H. Gosney, Meddie Craley, Orvil Grubb, Earl Hager, William E. Hanshaw, John H. Harris, William Harris, Stonewall Hensley, James Jackson, Albert Jeffrey, Henon Jerrell, Ned Johnson, Floyd Johnson, Thomas P. Justice, Luther Lacy, Tony Ladas, Charles Burton Litten, George Luty, Herbert L. McKinney, Nick Mallozzo, Clifton Manns, Bill Manville, Ben Maynard, William D. Maynard, George Meadows, Shellie Moxley, Charlie M. Munsey, Spencer Mullins, Thomas R. Newmann, Clarence W. Parkins, James D. Peters, Arlie J. Price, Alfred Prichard, Finnie Walter Pugh, Bert Rayborn, Frank C. Reynolds, John Roberts, Dennie Robertson, Jennings Robinson, Otto Sanders, Burnie Sanson, Lee Shelton, John A. Shepherd, Clarence Smith, John Smith, Mack Smith, Patsy Vance, Frank Ward, John L. Ward, Charlie Warcovies, Thomas Weir, Joseph White, John B. Wilkinson, Jr., Frank C. Willcoven, Tom Williams, Will Wilson, Jasper Wooten, and Wilson Workman.
Sunday’s exercises were witnessed by a crowd comparable in size to that which greeted Colonel Roosevelt here during the campaign. While the Roosevelt crowd was considerably larger, Sunday’s crowd occupied most of the space fronting the monument and the main entrance to the Court House, and those on the outer edges heard but snatches of the speeches. And of course there were present scores of kinsmen of those whose names appear in rustless bronze on this granite shaft. As they gathered close to scan these names and to note the expression on the face of the doughboy representation, tears poured down the cheeks of Gold Star mothers as if to climax the hallowing of this spot–this heart center of the city and county–this monument to the ashes, this temple to the fame of those who laid their lives on their country’s altar in the greatest crisis in human history.
Much of the time since the dedication, at least during daylight hours, this new monument has been the cynosure of groups of varying size.
Logan (WV) Banner, 13 November 1928
10 Saturday Aug 2019
Posted in Cemeteries, Logan, Music
Tags
Appalachia, Brandon Kirk, cemeteries, Coney Isle, Ed Belcher, Elbert Garrett Family Cemetery, fiddler, Fort Branch, Frank Hutchison, genealogy, guitar, harp-organ, history, Lake, Logan Banner, Logan County, music, New York, Okeh Company, Omar Theatre, Peach Creek Theatre, piano, Sheila Brumfield Coleman, Stirrat Theatre, Stollings, West Virginia, West Virginia Rag, William Hatcher Garrett
Logan (WV) Banner, 1 February 1927.
Logan (WV) Banner, 8 March 1927.
Logan (WV) Banner, 25 March 1927.
Here we are visiting the Frank Hutchison grave at the Elbert Garrett Family Cemetery at Lake, Logan County, WV. Photo by Sheila Brumfield Coleman. 10 August 2019
24 Wednesday Jul 2019
Posted in Huntington, Logan, World War I
Tags
308th Infantry, 77th Division, 92nd Division, Alsace-Lorraine, Appalachia, Bosche, Camp Greenleaf, Chateau Thierry, dentist, Edwin M. Godby, Fifth Avenue, Georgia, Germany, Gwinn Brothers & Company, Herald-Advertiser, history, Huntington, James Godby, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lost Battalion, United Cigar Stores, University of Cincinnati, West Virginia, World War I
From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this recollection of World War I by veteran Edwin M. Godby of Huntington, WV, dated July 10, 1928:
LOGAN BOY OF LOST BATTALION LIVED THRU SIX DAYS OF HELL
Dr. E.M. Godby, Now of Huntington, One of 150 Survivors of An Outstanding Episode of World War—Graphic Account of Harrowing Experiences
It has been a little less than 10 years since the story of the Lost Battalion thrilled and horrified the American people.
It was the story of an infantry battalion which pushed its way through in an advance into the German lines while the forces on either flank were being beaten back, writes Wiatt Smith for the Herald-Advertiser.
Of the 1,000 men who went in, only a remnant lived to tell the story of six days in a literal hell. Six days during which they crouched in shell holes and dugouts, without food or water, while the shells from the guns of their own army thundered over them or broke about them and the gas and machine gun fire of a sullen enemy harassed them.
One of those survivors lives in Huntington. He is a dentist and as he goes about his professional work and social life only a slight cough serves to mark him as one who breathed the deadly poison spewed over him by the Bosche.
Dr. Edwin M. Godby, of Fifth Avenue, with offices in the United Cigar Stores building, is the man in question. He told the story to one who had first learned from others of his part in this great drama of the war. Dr. Godby was an ambulance corps man, attached to the Seventy-Seventh division and at the time assigned to Major Whittlesey’s battalion of the 308th infantry for said duty.
Left Logan in 1918
Eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. James Godby of Logan, he was a student of dentistry in the University of Cincinnati when America entered the war. He went from Logan with a draft contingent in March 1918. He trained at Camp Greenleaf, Ga., was assigned to the Medical corps, and crossed the ocean in June as a casual.
Assigned at once to the Seventy-seventh division he first saw the front at post in Alsace-Lorraine.
“There was no action here,” said Dr. Godby. “We were within one kilometer of the enemy but there seemed to be almost an understanding that we wouldn’t bother each other. There was no firing. Occasionally one side or the other would send a raiding party into the others lines, but these were rarely fired upon.
“In July our division went in to replace another division which had helped take Chateau Thierry. We continued in the drive from the Marne to the Aisne. We would advance two or three days and then dig in for perhaps four or five. This went on from July to September.
“Then we moved from the Aisne to the Argonne. One date that stays with me is that of the great barrage which marked the opening of the Argonne drive on the night of September 26.
“On October 13 or 14 we got orders to advance from our position in a 30-mile strip of woods between the headwaters of the Aisne and the Meusc. The Ninety-second division flanked us on the left and two of our regiments and two of the Ninety-second were supposed to advance.
“The advance started as planned, early in the morning, but the right and left flanks were met by such resistance that they fell back to their original positions.
“Major Whittlessey’s men tore through the resisting German line and went forward. It was late in the forenoon before we discovered that we were unsupported on either flank and cut off from the rear.
“We spend six days before we were relieved by another regiment which was almost destroyed in the effort. The battalion was virtually at war strength, having been in only a little while. Of the 1,000 who went in only 150 came back.”
Dr. Godby tells a grim story of the last days. As soon as the soldiers found their situation they began to dig in. It was every man for himself. Dr. Godby says he and two others found a shell hole. They deepened it and were comparatively safe there. But one of the three got too venturesome and raised his head too far above the rim of the crater. His comrades used his body for an additional barricade.
The surviving companion of Dr. Godby was a man named Crane, who had gone in from Pennsylvania. He told Dr. Godby that he had a sister in Huntington whose husband worked for Gwinn Bros. & Co.
“I have often thought I’d try to get race of that sister,” said Dr. Godby, “but I never have.
“We just laid there,” the dentist said, detailing his experience. “Each man had less than a quart of water and no food. After the second day I didn’t have any water. We never missed the food, but of course the thirst was torture. It was terrible, too, to have to wear our gas masks continuously for that becomes torture after the first hour.
“For the first day or two the Germans tried charging us but we were strong enough to beat them back. After that they were content to keep their machine guns turned on us and subject us to a continuous barrage of gas. At the same time we were within the range of our own batteries.
Contemplated Suicide
“American planes passed over us and tried to drop us food, but the Germans got it.
“For the last two or three days nothing mattered. Crane and I tried to devise means of escape. We would work out a plan and then decide it was futile. We decided to commit suicide, but changed our minds. It was simply a matter of trying to keep alive as long as we could. On the fifth night I had only intervals of consciousness. But we had determined to make a dash for freedom and life when daylight came. It would not have been a dash for life, but a dash to death.
I know this is true because we were on the slope of a ravine, the battalion being pocketed on either side of it. We could see the water in the ravine and the bodies of the men who in their desperation had gone there to drink. Not one lived to taste the water.
“But as Crane and I planned to make the final desperate dash I lost consciousness. When I revived I was on a stretcher at a base hospital at Nantes. I never saw Crane again. I have often wondered what became of him.
“Did he,” I asked myself, “live to go for his death drink or was he too rescued?
“I have never talked to anyone who was with the battalion.”
A few days after Dr. Godby revived from his unconsciousness the armistice was signed. He was in the hospital from November 1 until late in December, recovering from the effects of gas. In January 1919, he came back to the United States, received his discharge and resumed his studies. He has been practicing in Huntington two years.
Writings from my travels and experiences. High and fine literature is wine, and mine is only water; but everybody likes water. Mark Twain
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Genealogy and History in North Carolina and Beyond
A site about one of the most beautiful, interesting, tallented, outrageous and colorful personalities of the 20th Century
Brandon Ray Kirk 