Tags
Appalachia, Charles I. Stone, genealogy, Harts Creek, Harvey Elkins Jr., Henry Conley, history, James Lawson, John Gore, Logan County, Marsh Fork, Virginia, West Virginia
John Gore Survey (1850)
25 Friday Dec 2020
Posted in Big Harts Creek
Tag Archives: Marsh Fork
Regional Place Names
20 Saturday Jun 2020
Tags
Appalachia, Beech Creek, Ben Creek, Big Bottom Fork, Big Creek, Big Fork, Bluff Mountain, Bone Lick Bottom, Breckenridge's Fork, Clear Fork, Coal Branch, Coal River, Cow Creek, Crawley Creek, Crooked Creek, Crooked Run, Defeats Branch, Double Camp Branch, Drew's Creek, Elkhorn Branch, Elkhorn River, Flat Top Mountain, Grapevine Creek, Green Shoal Creek, Guyandotte River, Harts Creek, history, Horsepen Creek, Huff's Creek, Indian Creek, Ingrams Branch, Island Creek, Laurel Creek, Laurel Fork, Lick Branch, Lincoln County, Little Coal River, Little Huffs Creek, Logan County, Marsh Fork, Mate Creek, Middle Fork, Mill Creek, Millers Branch, Mingo County, New River, North Fork, Peach Tree, Peter Huffs Creek, Pigeon Creek, Pine Creek, Pond Fork, Rattlesnake Branch, Rock Creek, Rock House Fork, Rum Creek, Sand Lick Fork, Shannon Branch, Skin Fork, Spruce Fork, Trace Fork, Tug Fork, Turtle Creek, Twelve Pole Creek, Virginia, West Fork, West Virginia, Wolf Pen Creek
The following list of regional place names of streams is derived from Surveyors Record Book A at the Logan County Clerk’s Office in Logan, WV. Each document generally lists three dates for the survey; I chose to identify the earliest (Treasury warrant date) and the latest date (survey completion date). The purpose of this list is to document the earliest usage and spelling of a place name in my region. Logan County was extremely large in the 1820s and has since been partitioned to create new counties, so many of these places are not located in Logan County today. This list will be updated periodically.
Beech, a branch of Tug Fork (24 May 1825, 12 October 1825, p. 64)
Ben (26 July 1826, 13 October 1826, p. 89)
Bend of Guyandotte (30 April 1823, 3 March 1831, p. 129)
Big and Clear Fork of Guyandotte River (1 October 1818, 26 June 1826, p. 79)
Big Bottom Fork of Guyandotte (12 February 1823, 25 October 1827, p. 100)
Big Creek (11 December 1817, 25 October 1824, p. 34)
Big Fork of Guyandotte River (18 July 1825, 17 February 1826, p. 73)
Big Island [Logan] (16 February 1825, 17 January 1827, p. 94)
Bluff Mountain (1 October 1818, 21 February 1825, p. 37)
Bone Lick Bottom, New River (19 January 1824, 31 July 1830, p. 123)
Breckenridge’s forks of Cole River (31 January 1825, 27 February 1827, p. 100)
Buffalo (10 February 1825, 6 February 1827, p. 99)
Coal Branch of Guyandotte River (17 December 1824, 31 March 1825, p. 42)
Cow Creek of Island Creek (13 December 1823, 11 October 1826, p. 87-88)
Crawley (10 June 1824, 8 July 1825, p. 47)
Crawleys Creek (16 February 1825, 17 January 1827, p. 95)
Crooked Creek (16 February 1825, 1 April 1825, p. 43-44)
Defeats Branch on Little Huffs Creek (7 October 1830, 27 July 1831, p. 131)
Double Camp Branch of Clear Fork (1 June 1821, 29 December 1825, p. 69)
Drew’s Creek, one of the forks of Peech Tree, a branch of Marsh Fork of Cole River (22 July 1826, 15 October 1828, p. 109)
Elk, a branch of Guyandotte (14 January 1830, 22 November 1830, p. 127)
Elk, a branch of Pigeon (16 February 1825, 18 August 1825, p. 51)
Elkhorn Branch of Tug Fork (30 April 1825, 12 November 1826, p. 93)
Elkhorn River (30 April 1825, 1 November 1825, p. 65)
Flat Top Mountain (22 November 1824, 14 February 1826, p. 72)
Gilbert (14 January 1830, 26 August 1830, p. 121)
Grapevine, a small branch called Grapevine (8 July 1825, 14 October 1825, p. 63)
Green Shoal Creek (15 March 1826, 10 October 1826, p. 86-87)
Harts Creek (17 February 1824, 10 October 1826, p. 87)
Hewetts Creek, a branch of Spruce Fork of Coal River (20 May 1813, 11 April 1825, p. 44)
Horse Creek (10 February 1825, 22 July 1826, p. 92)
Horsepen Creek, a fork of Gilbert (14 January 1830, 26 August 1830, p. 121)
Huff Creek (11 December 1822, 11 March 1825, p. 40)
Huffs Creek (18 July 1825, 14 March 1828, p. 104-105)
Indian Creek (22 July 1826, 8 February 1827, p. 99)
Ingrams Branch, New River (6 October 1829, 4 December 1829, p. 117)
Island of Guyandotte [Logan] (17 December 1824, 18 January 1827, p. 96)
Island tract [Logan] (4 May 1826, 12 May 1830, p. 120)
Jacks Branch of Clear Fork (6 January 1824, 16 December 1825, p. 66)
Laurel Fork of Guyandotte River (17 February 1824, 27 August 1830, p. 122)
Left Fork of Island Creek (4 February 1817, 28 October 1824, p. 35)
Left Hand Fork of Ben, waters of Tug Fork (13 December 1823, 11 October 1826, p. 88)
Laurel Creek and Crooked Run, New River (10 May 1825, 25 August 1825, p. 56)
Laurel Fork of Pigeon Creek (17 December 1824, 10 October 1826, p. 85)
Laurel Fork of Twelve Pole (3 November 1813, 19 March 1825, p. 40)
Lick Branch (24 May 1825, 10 October 1826, p. 85)
Little Huff’s Creek (4 May 1826, 27 May 1829, p. 116)
Loop of New River (20 February 1821, 26 February 1825, p. 90)
Main Right Hand Fork of Big Creek (24 May 1825, 8 September 1825, p. 54)
Marsh Fork of Cole River (17 February 1823, 9 March 1825, p. 39)
Marshes of Cole River (30 April 1825, 3 February 1830, p. 118)
Mate, a branch of the Tug Fork of Sandy (8 July 1825, 11 October 1825, p. 62)
Mazzel, Little Huffs Creek (12 February 1825, 18 September 1829, p. 116)
Mill Creek, a branch of Guyandotte (18 July 1825, 28 January 1831, p. 128)
Mill Creek of Island Creek (10 January 1823, 29 October 1824, p. 36)
Millers Branch of Tug Fork (4 May 1826, 16 September 1826, p. 81)
North Branch of Big Creek (18 July 1825, 7 September 1825, p. 52-53)
North Fork of Big Creek (4 April 1825, 9 September 1825, p. 54)
Old Island survey [Logan] (22 July 1826, 17 January 1827, p. 95)
Peach Tree, a small branch called the Peach Tree (24 May 1824, 7 October 1825, p. 60)
Pete Huff’s Creek (18 July 1825, 27 August 1830, p. 125)
Peter Huffs Creek (13 December 1823, 12 November 1825, p. 66)
Pigeon Creek (16 February 1825, 15 October 1825, p. 63)
Pine Creek of Island Creek (4 February 1817, 27 October 1824, p. 35)
Pond Fork of Cole River (8 March 1826, 13 November 1828, p. 112-113)
Rock Creek (22 July 1826, 11 August 1828, p. 106)
Rock House Fork of Middle Fork of Island Creek (17 February 1824, 5 October 1825, p. 59)
Rock House Fork of Pigeon (6 February 1825, 22 March 1825, p. 41)
Rum Creek (23 November 1824, 17 July 1828, p. 105)
Sand Lick Fork of Cole River (14 May 1826, 31 January 1827, p. 97)
Shannon branches, Tug Fork (6 December 1828, 2 September 1830, p. 125-126)
Skin Fork of Cole River (12 February 1825, 29 October 1828, p. 111)
Spruce Fork of Coal River (16 February 1825, 22 April 1825, p. 45)
Tonies Fork of Big Cole and Horse Creek (10 February 1825, 22 July 1826, p. 92)
Trace Fork of Big Creek (16 February 1825, 8 September 1825, p. 52)
Tug Fork of Sandy River (10 March 1825, 24 March 1825, p. 42)
Turtle Creek, a branch of Little Coal River (13 December 1824, 12 April 1825, p. 45)
West Fork of Cole River (12 February 1825, 10 November 1828, p. 111-112)
Wolf Pen Creek, branch of New River (10 May 1825, 25 August 1825, p. 56)
Wolf Pen Creek at mouth of Rattlesnake Branch (10 February 1825, 11 January 1826, p. 71)
Patton Thompson Indenture (1852)
29 Sunday Oct 2017
Posted in Big Harts Creek
Tags
Anthony Lawson, genealogy, Harts Creek, history, James Lawson, Logan County, Marsh Fork, Patton Thompson, Virginia, West Virginia, William Straton, William Thompson
Deed Book C, page 272, Logan County Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV. Patton Thompson is my great-great-great-grandfather.
Deed Book C, page 273, Logan County Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV.
Chapmanville District Schools (1927) 2
15 Thursday Jun 2017
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Civil War, Halcyon, Native American History, Queens Ridge, Shively, Spottswood, Stone Branch, Warren, Whirlwind, Yantus
Tags
Albert Thornton, Alice Dingess, Alonzo, Anna Adams, Appalachia, Battle of Cloyd's Mountain, Beatrice Adams, Ben Adams, Bob Dingess, Brown's Run, Browns Run School, Buck Fork, Buck Fork School, Bud Dingess School, Bulwark School, Chapmanville District, civil war, Cole Adams, Confederate Army, Conley School, Crawley Creek, Daisy Dingess, Dalton School, Dave Dingess School, Dixie Mullins, E. Burton, East Fork, Ed Dalton, education, Edward Chapman, F.M. McKay, Fisher B. Adkins, Fisher Thompson, genealogy, George Doss, George Mullins School, Harts Creek, history, Hoover School, Howard Adams, Hugh Dingess School, Ina Dingess, Ivy Branch School, J.A. Vickers, J.L. Thomas, John Conley, John Dingess, L.D. Stollings, Lee Dingess School, Limestone Creek, Local History and Topography of Logan County, Logan County, Lower Trace School, Manor School, Marsh Fork, Melvin Plumley, Middle Fork, Native Americans, Pigeon Roost, Piney School, Reuben Conley, Road Fork, Rocky School, Sallie Dingess, Smokehouse Fork, Stephen Hart, Striker School, T. Doss, Thelma Dingess, Three Fork School, Tim's Fork, Timothy Dwight, Twelve Pole Creek, Ula Adams, Union Army, West Fork, West Virginia, White Oak School, Workman School, World War I
Teachers identified the following schools in Chapmanville District of Logan County, WV, and offered a bit of local history in 1927:
Dave Dingess School, est. 1814
Ula Adams, teacher
One room frame school
“Harts Creek derived its name from Steven Harts, said to have been killed by Indians on the creek.”
Striker School, est. about 1874
Edward Chapman, teacher
One room frame building
Three Fork School, est. 1878
One room frame building, originally a log house
Nine Confederate veterans live here: George Doss, T. Doss, L.D. Stollings, Ed Dalton, Ruben Conley, John Conley, Ben Adams, E. Burton, Melvin Plumley. A Union veteran lives here; he originated elsewhere. Three branches of Crawley Creek are Road Fork, Middle Fork, and Pigeon Roost. Alonzo is the local post office.
Bulwark School, est. 1880
Robert Dingess, teacher
One room frame building
“All fought on the Confederate side” during the Civil War. One man gained great merit from our district as a marksman with the American marines during World War I.
Lee Dingess School, est. 1891
Cole Adams, teacher
One room frame
Five local men served in the Confederate Army.
Browns Run School, est. 1892
Ina Dingess, teacher
One room frame building
“Sent several soldiers to help the South.” The fork is named for a Brown who lived at its mouth.
Buck Fork School, est. 1894
No teacher given
One room frame building
A Church of Christ exists nearby. Three local men served in the Confederate Army. One local soldier lost both hands in World War I.
Ivy Branch School, est. 1895
Anna Adams, teacher
Albert Thornton was the first teacher here. “Trace Fork received its name from the original road leading to Twelve Pole Creek.”
Hugh Dingess School, est. 1897
Sallie Dingess, teacher
One room frame building
Conley School, est. 1897
J.L. Thomas, teacher
One room frame building
The first house built on Smoke House Fork at its mouth had no chimney for quite a while and smoked badly.
Dalton School, est. 1897
Thelma Dingess, teacher
One room frame building
“This district furnished a lot of Civil War veterans and played her part.”
Bud Dingess School, est. 1904
Beatrice Adams, teacher
One room frame building
“East Fork named on account of its being the most Eastern fork of Harts Creek.” One local soldier served in the Confederate Army.
Hoover School, est. 1910
Howard Adams, teacher
One room frame building
A Christian Church exists in the vicinity. Four local men served in the Confederate ARmy. “Harts Creek named from Steven Harts murdered by Indians.” Three boys went from here and one was wounded at the battle of Argonne.
George Mullins School, est. 1910
Dixie Mullins, teacher
One room frame building
“Buck Fork named from large number of male deer on creek.”
Rocky School (no date)
Daisy Given Dingess, teacher
References an Indian mound on Pigeon Roost where tomahawks, arrowheads, etc. can be found. Indian burial ground.
Under the Tim’s Fork entry, it says that John Dingess was killed in battle at Cloyd’s farm. Tim’s Fork is named for Timothy Dwight, who lived there.
Lower Trace School, est. 1919
Alice Dingess, teacher
Two room frame building
“Sent several soldiers to help the South.” Also, “Harts Creek named from Steven Harts.”
Piney School, est. 1921
F.M. McKay, teacher
One room building
No permanent churches exist locally; people meet occasionally in one of the school houses. Four local men served in the Confederate Army. “Piney was named because of so much pine growing there.”
White Oak School, est. 1922
Fisher Thompson, teacher
One room rented frame building
Manor School, est. 1923
Located at Limestone
Workman School, est. 1924
Fisher B. Adkins, teacher
One room frame building
Marsh Fork derived its name from the marshy land near its mouth.
Source: Local History and Topography of Logan County by J.A. Vickers (Charleston, WV: George M. Ford, State Superintendent, 1927).
Chapmanville District schools (1908)
15 Thursday Jan 2015
Posted in Big Creek, Big Harts Creek, Chapmanville, Halcyon, Spottswood, Timber, Warren, Whirlwind
Tags
Alfred Cabell, Alifair Adams, Almeda Mullins, Andrew J. Fowler, Anthony Adams, Appalachia, Barker School, Betsy Fowler, Big Creek, Bruce McDonald, Buck Fork, Burl Farley, Chapmanville, Chapmanville District, Crawley Creek, David C. Dingess, David Kinser, Dorcas Barker, E.C. Duty, education, Etta Robertson, F.D. Young Tie and Lumber Company, Fowlers Branch, Garland B. Conley, genealogy, Green Farley, Harriet Duty, Harriet Thompson, Harts Creek, Harvey Thompson, history, Hugh Dingess, Huntington, J.E. Peck, J.T. Ferrell, James I. Dingess, James Lowe, Jane Ferrell, Jennie Dingess, Joe Phipps, John G. Butcher, Lane School, Logan County, Louisa Butcher, Lucinda Lucas, M.D. Stone, M.J. Stone, Marsh Fork, Martha J. Dingess, Mary Ann Farley, Mary Peck, North Fork, North Fork School, Peter Dingess, Polly Conley, Robert L. Barker, Robert Mullins, Rocky Branch, Rocky School, S.B. Robertson, Smokehouse Fork, Sophia Kinser, Striker, Theophilus Fowler, Three Forks, Tim's Fork, Trace Fork, U.S. South, West Fork, West Virginia, William Barker
In 1908, A.J. Fowler, James Lowe, and Alfred Cabell, members of the Chapmanville District board of education, recorded deeds for district school property at the Logan County (WV) Clerk’s Office. Most of the deeds had been previously destroyed in a house fire. At the time of their destruction, 1897, Joe Phipps was secretary of the district board of education. Given below is the date of transfer, the grantor’s name, the location of the property, and the amount of money paid by the board to the grantor.
October 3, 1896: Louisa Butcher, 1/2 acre on Crawley Creek, near Striker, $25
August 4, 1897: Betsy Fowler, widow of Theophilus Fowler, et al, 1/4 acre Fowler’s Branch in Chapmanville, $50
August 10, 1897: Jennie Dingess, widow of Peter Dingess, and David C. Dingess, 1/2 acre Tim’s Fork, $0
August 10, 1897: James I. Dingess and Martha J. Dingess, “Rocky School,” 1/2 acre mouth Rocky Branch, $30
August 10, 1897: Harvey and Harriet Thompson, 1/2 acre, East Fork, $15
August 10, 1897: Lucinda Lucas, main Harts Creek, $8
August 10, 1897: Jane Ferrell, widow of J.T. Ferrell, et al, Lane School, $15
August 10, 1897: Hugh Dingess, Smoke House Fork, $15
August 10, 1897: Louisa Butcher, widow of John G. Butcher, 1/2 acre Crawley, Striker, $20
August 10, 1897: Anthony and Alafair Adams, mouth of Buck Fork, $0
August 10, 1897: E.C. and Harriett Duty, 1/2 acre North Fork, “North Fork School,” $15
August 10, 1897: Robert L. Barker and Dorcas Barker, widow of William, Big Creek, “Barker School,” $15
August 10, 1897: J.E. and Mary Peck (originally from Green Farley), Three Forks of Crawley, $10
August 17, 1897: Polly Conley, widow of Garland B. Conley, et al, Smoke House, $8
August 18, 1897: Sophia and David Kinser, Trace Fork, $0
August 24, 1897: Mary Ann and Burwell Farley, Smoke House Fork, $15
February 7, 1902: Robert and Almeda Mullins, main Harts Creek, $10
January 2, 1904: F.D. Young Tie & Lumber Company of Huntington, 1/2 acre Marsh Fork Branch of West Fork, $10
December 2, 1905: M.D. and M.J. Stone, 425/1000 acre, $25
July 21, 1908: S.B. and Etta Robertson and Bruce McDonald, Lot 64 in Chapmanville, $125
Interview with Tom Farley (2002)
27 Sunday Jul 2014
Posted in Big Harts Creek, Culture of Honor, Halcyon, Lincoln County Feud, Music
Tags
Bill Dingess, Billy Adkins, Blackberry Mountain, Brandon Kirk, Burl Farley, crime, Dave "Dealer Dave" Dingess, fiddler, French Bryant, Green McCoy, Harts Creek, history, Ku Klux Klan, Lee Dingess, Lewis Farley, life, Logan County, Marsh Fork, Milt Haley, murder, Polly Bryant, Satan's Nightmare, Tom Farley, West Fork, West Virginia, Wild Horse, writing
Back in Harts, Brandon and Billy visited Tom Farley on the Marsh Fork of West Fork of Harts Creek. Tom was the grandson of Burl Farley, one of the ringleaders in the Brumfield-Dingess mob of 1889. He was a great storyteller and knew a lot of interesting tales about the old vigilantes around Harts.
“Milt Haley and Green McCoy, my grandpa Burl Farley was in that,” Tom said. “Dealer Dave Dingess was in that. Dealer Dave Dingess played the fiddle for them when they chopped them boys’ heads off. He wasn’t a mean fellow. Burl Farley and them just got him drunk. French Bryant and Burl Farley was supposed to been the men who went over and chopped their heads off. My uncle Lewis Farley was in it.”
French Bryant, Tom said, married his aunt Polly Dingess.
“I’ve heard that Polly was one of the hatefulest women that ever took a breath,” he said. “A lot of people said she was the Devil’s grandma. French Bryant, he took her by the hair of the head and he tied her up to that apple tree. She took pneumonia fever and died.”
Tom told a great story about Bryant.
“French Bryant, I know a story they told me. It might be a lie. He was hooked up with the Ku Klux Klan. Was a captain of them. This is an old story. It’s supposed to happened right up here in this hollow. Dealer Dave and a bunch of them had their moonshine still set up in here. There was some young men came back in this country looking for Burl trying to get them timber jobs. They thought they was spying on them. This might every bit be lies but I was told this by all them old-timers. Burl Farley, Dealer Dave Dingess, French Bryant, Lewis Farley, and a bunch of them was supposed to’ve beheaded them right under that beech tree, my daddy always told. This story goes that they come in here looking for work. The Ku Klux Klan brought them here, made old Polly Dingess cook them a midnight supper. Dealer Dave played the fiddle for them and they danced all night. The next day at twelve o’clock Polly fixed a big dinner. Their last meal. One of them told the other two, said, ‘We just might as well eat. This is the end of the line for us.’ One of them just kept eating. He told the other two, said, ‘You better eat because this is the last meal we’ll ever eat.’ Said French Bryant cussed them and said, ‘Eat because you’ll never eat another meal.’ Dealer Dave asked them, ‘What do you want me to do as your last request?’ Said two of them cried and wouldn’t say a word. Said that one boy that eat so much told Dealer Dave, said, ‘Play ‘Satan’s Nightmare’.’ Took them out there at one o’clock under that beech tree and laid their heads across the axe and chopped two of their heads off. Said two of them cried and wouldn’t say a word. Said that one boy that eat so much told Dealer Dave, said, ‘Play ‘Satan’s Nightmare’.’ They chopped their heads off. Said French took their heads and set them on the mantle.”
So Dealer Dave Dingess was a fiddler?
“Dealer Dave played the fiddle,” Tom said. “I remember seeing old man Dave. He was tall and skinny. He played ‘Blackberry Mountain’ and a bunch of stuff. ‘Wild Horse’. Dealer Dave was the biggest coward that ever put on a pair of shoes. When it would start to get dark, my daddy and my uncle Bill Dingess — just tiny kids — they’d have to walk up this hollow with him. One would walk in front of him and the other one behind him. Said Lee Dingess cussed him all to pieces, told him, said, ‘Dealer Dave, nobody’s gonna hurt you. There ain’t a man alive that’s gonna bother you.’ Dave said, ‘Hush, Lee. I’m not afraid of the living. I’m afraid of the dead.’ Afraid to pass that cemetery. They called him Dealer Dave because he horse-traded so much and every time he got cheated he cried and he had to trade back with you. Make a trade today and tomorrow he’d cry till you give him his horse back. They said he was good on the fiddle. They said he played for square dances.”
Harts Creek and Big Ugly Creek land grants (prior to 1850)
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
In Search of Ed Haley 199
18 Monday Nov 2013
Posted in Chapmanville, Civil War, Ed Haley, Green Shoal, Guyandotte River, Harts
Tags
Admiral S. Fry, Andrew D. Robinson, Andrew Robinson, Appalachia, Big Branch, Bill Fowler, Chapmanville, Confederate Army, Dicy Roberts, Elias Adkins, Francis Fork, G.S. Fry, general store, Green Shoal, Harts, Harts Creek, Harts Creek District, Henry H. Hardesty, Henry S. Godby, history, Hollena Brumfield, Isham Roberts, Jack Johnson, James P. Mullins, Joseph Workman, Marsh Fork, Martha Jane Brumfield, merchant, Milt Haley, Paris Brumfield, Sallie Dingess, Sand Lick Run, teacher, Thomas H. Buckley, timber, West Fork
The town of Harts — originally named Hart’s Creek — was established at the mouth of Big Harts Creek in the summer or fall of 1870 when Henry S. Godby, a peg-legged Confederate veteran from Chapmanville, petitioned the government for the creation of a post office called “Hart’s Creek.” At that time, Green Shoal was the most thriving spot in the Harts section of the Guyandotte River. A.S. Fry was its chief businessman and postmaster. Godby’s effort to establish Harts as a postal town was a short-lived venture. By 1876, Green Shoal still reigned supreme in local affairs. According to a business directory, it could boast a gristmill, free school and a Baptist and Methodist church. T.H. Buckley and G.S. Fry were physicians, while Joseph Workman was a clergyman.
Around that time, in 1876, Bill Fowler — a local general storekeeper — petitioned the government for the creation of a “Hearts Creek” post office and established his business headquarters at Harts. Fowler had migrated to the area in 1847 and married a daughter of Elias Adkins, an early settler. After a short stint as a schoolteacher in 1871, Fowler was by 1876 a general storekeeper and owner of some 30 acres of land on the Marsh Fork of West Fork. In March of 1877, he became postmaster of “Hearts Creek;” he was also a saloon keeper according to oral tradition. As his business interest generated profits (primarily in timber), he extended his land holdings. In 1878, he purchased 75 acres on the Guyan River from Abner Vance, valued at $5.00 per acre. The following year, he added a 90-acre tract to his estate on the west side of the Guyan River, valued at $3.25 per acre, which he purchased from brothers-in-law, Aaron and Enos Adkins.
Throughout the period, Fowler was unquestionably the chief businessman in Harts. Curiously, Andrew D. Robinson replaced him as postmaster of Hearts Creek in 1879. Robinson was a Union veteran and former township clerk, justice of the peace, and secretary of the district board of education. He was a brother-in-law to Ben Adams, as well as Sallie Dingess (Hollena Brumfield’s mother). In 1881, Robinson shortened the name of the Hearts Creek post office to “Hart.”
The Green Shoal area, meanwhile, fell into a state of decline as a local economic center. A.S. Fry gave up his postmaster position in 1878. He maintained his local business interests well into the next decade, then turned them over to his son George and left to pursue a hotel business in Guyandotte, a town situated at the mouth of the river in Cabell County. The Green Shoal post office was discontinued in 1879.
By 1880 — roughly the time that Milt Haley came to Harts from “over the mountain” — Harts reigned supreme as the hub of local business affairs. In that year, according to census records, the population of the Harts Creek District was 1,116. There were 1,095 white residents, fifteen blacks and six mulattos. 93-percent of locals were born in Virginia or West Virginia, while six percent were born in Kentucky. Most men worked at farming, although A.S. Fry and Paris Brumfield both had stores. In 1882-1883, Brumfield was listed in a state business directory as a distiller.
At that time, Bill Fowler was the undisputed kingpin of the local business scene. According to Hardesty’s History of Lincoln County, published around 1884, Fowler owned 200 acres of land at the mouth of Harts Creek and 254 acres on Mud River. He also owned 200 acres on Sand Lick Run, a branch of Francis Fork, based on land records at the Lincoln County Courthouse. “That situated on Hart creek produces well,” Hardesty wrote, “and has a good orchard and a part is heavily timbered with oak, poplar and pine; coal and iron ore are quite abundant.” Fowler was the father of four small children, recently born to his second wife.
There were other notable business folks in the neighborhood, namely Isham Roberts, who operated a store near Fowler on the Guyandotte River. He was the son of Dicy Roberts and the stepson of Jack Johnson, a local farmer. In the early 1880s, he married Martha Jane Brumfield, a daughter of Paris Brumfield, and opened a store on rental property at the mouth of Harts Creek. By 1884, when Hardesty wrote his history of the county, he referred to Roberts as “a prosperous young merchant in Hart Creek district, having his headquarters on Guyan river, at the mouth of Big Hart creek. His prices are the most reasonable and the business very extensive.” Roberts was the postmaster at Harts from 1883 until 1884, when Dr. T.H. Buckley replaced him.
James P. Mullins, who operated a general store building above Roberts at Big Branch, was also a budding merchant. By 1882, Mullins was the owner of a $200 storebuilding situated on a 203-acre tract of land. Over the next few years, he added another 55 acres on lower Harts Creek and 150 acres on Francis Fork (this latter tract likely acquired for timbering purposes). Hardesty referred to Mullins as being “of good business qualifications and prosperously engaged in merchandising, with business headquarters on Hart creek, one and one-half miles from its mouth.” In that year, Mullins purchased an additional 93 acres on Harts Creek. One year later, the value of his store building increased by $100, hinting at his growing prosperity.
