Tag Archives: Mud River

Lincoln County, WV (1928)

07 Wednesday Dec 2022

Posted by in Boone County, Guyandotte River, Hamlin

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From West Virginians, published by the West Virginia Biographical Association in 1928, comes this profile of the Logan-Boone Highway in southwestern West Virginia:

Lincoln County

Lincoln County occupies a place in the southwestern section of the State, and is one of the few counties created by the State of which it is a component part. The organization of the county was authorized by an act of the legislature passed February 23, 1867, from a part of the counties of Cabell, Putnam, Kanawha and Boone. The formal organization of the county government was made on March 11, following, at the Hamlin Chapel, a short distance away from the present seat of justice. Lincoln county is drained by the Guyandotte and Mud rivers, and has a land area of 448.76 square miles. The population in 1920, according to the official enumeration of the United States Census Bureau, was 19,378. Later estimates from the same sources do not increase the figures. The county has a great diversity of natural resources, coal, oil and gas predominating. It also has large agricultural interests, and its horticultural products are of no inconsiderable value. The assessed valuation of property within the county, as returned at the 1927 assessment, is as follows: Real estate, $7,000,460; personal property, $3,666,350; public utility property, $8,751,297; total $19,418,107. The county is sub-divided into eight magisterial districts, Carrol, Duval, Harts Creek, Jefferson, Laurel Hill, Sheridan, Union and Washington. There are but few who are not familiar with the life story of the man whose name is borne by this country—the martyred Abraham Lincoln, rail-splitter, country lawyer and sixteenth President of the United States. No towering shaft; no swiftly flowing stream; no sub-division of this land of ours, welded into one by his work and sacrifice, is needed to keep his memory green. His name is so emblazoned on the pages of American history that it will remain bright, shining and untarnished long after letters engraved upon granite rocks are dimmed and dulled by the rust and erosion of the years as they come and go. Lincoln—homely in feature and tall in stature—grows with the years and honors are paid him and his memory that are accorded no other, save only Washington, the founder. Hamlin, the county seat, is named in memory and honor of Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, Vice President of the United States during the first administration of Abraham Lincoln. The site was selected as a proper place for the county seat at the organization of the county, and was made the permanent county seat by legislative enactment of February 26, 1869. Hamlin has an elevation of 642 feet above sea level, and in 1920 had a population of 516. It is the only incorporated place in the county.”

NOTE: Hamlin is NOT named for Hannibal Hamlin!

NOTE: By 1869, all land was returned to Putnam and additional land was taken from Logan County.

Stephen Hart: Origins of Harts Creek (1896/1937)

07 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by in Big Harts Creek, Boone County, Crawley Creek, Native American History, Roane County

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From the Logan County Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history written by amateur historian Henry Clay Ragland relating to Stephen Hart and the naming of Harts Creek in Lincoln and Logan counties, West Virginia, dated 1896:

Stephen Hart Ragland LCB 04.08.1896.JPG

Logan County (WV) Banner, 8 April 1896.

***

On 13 April 1937, the Logan Banner printed another story about Hart and his relationship to Harts Creek. This latter story was generally derived from Ragland’s 1896 history.

Harts Creek Named After Stephen Hart—A Wanderer And Famous Deer Hunter

Much has been told about Harts Creek in late years, but little is known about the first settler who built his home in the long hollow and gave it a name.

Stephen Hart built a cabin on the farm which Henderson Dingess later owned at the forks of Hart’s Creek. He cared nothing for the soil, but spent his time hunting deer and curing the meat. He didn’t stay long in one place.

Near his cabin he built a house in which to store his cured venison between his infrequent trips to the settlements down the river and was altogether self-sufficient. His neighbors knew little about the man. There is no record of a family reared by him and he told neighbors little of his past history.

His was a roaming nature. He, like the Arabs, pitched his tent where the water was clearest, the game gamest, and the soil most fertile.

To commemorate his short stay at the forks of Harts, neighbors named the creek for him after he had loaded his gun, food stores and skins on a pack mule, and started west.

His few friends heard no more about him, but they remembered him as a “quiet man, a good shot, and a good neighbor.”

Just “around the bend and over the ridge,” Jacob Stollings, John Baker, and Dick Johnson brought their families and built their homes. From descendants of this family comes much of the record of Stephen Hart who gave the creek a name.

Hart’s venison was known for miles around as the tenderest, the most delicately cured meat in the Hart’s section and Stollings, Baker, and Johnson always put in a small supply of Hart’s meat for the winter, sometimes to take an unusually large supply off the hunter’s hands but most times just because they liked the venison.

John Baker married a daughter of Jacob Stollings, and Dick Johnson married a sister of Baker’s. Both men reared large families whose names are familiar in the county’s history.

But Hart left only the name of his beloved deer hunting grounds as a reminder that he had first set foot on Hart’s Creek.

MY NOTE: Of importance, much confusion remains regarding the source for the naming of Harts Creek, essentially relating to the fact that Stephen Hart was born too late to have inspired the naming of the stream. I first attempted to unravel this story when I published a profile of Stephen Hart in a Lincoln County newspaper in 1995/6. Stephen Hart, son of James and Elizabeth Hart, was born c.1810 in North Carolina; Harts Creek appears on a map printed prior to 1824 (Hart was still quite young). In the early 1900s, amateur historian Fred B. Lambert noted that Hart’s father had been killed by Native Americans at the mouth of present-day Little Harts Creek (according to a Hart descendant). Possibly it is Mr. Hart’s father who inspired the naming of the local stream. Problematic to this possibility is the fact that, based on Stephen Hart’s estimated year of birth, his father would have been killed in 1809-1811, which is about fifteen to twenty years too late for an Indian attack in the Guyandotte Valley. Stephen Hart did settle locally. He may well have squatted on Harts Creek land, as Ragland reported in 1896. Based on documentary evidence, he acquired 50 acres on Crawley Creek in 1839. He appears in the 1840 Logan County Census and the 1850 Boone County Census. By 1860, he had settled in Roane County, where he died in 1896–the same year that Ragland published his history. He also left plenty of local descendants in the Mud River section of Lincoln County. How did Ragland garble this section of his history so badly? For those who wish to avoid sorting out this confusing tale, consider this version: at least one early account states the creek was named “hart” due to the prevalence of stags in its vicinity.

Harts Area Deed Index (1870-1910)

21 Tuesday Aug 2018

Posted by in Big Harts Creek, Big Ugly Creek, Fourteen, Guyandotte River, Little Harts Creek, West Hamlin

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The following deed index is based on Deed Book 59 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 59. Researchers who desire the most accurate version of this material are urged to consult the actual record book.

Aaron Adkins et ux to Moses Adkins et al     54 1/4 acres Little Harts Creek     12 March 1906     p. 481-482

Elizabeth Adkins et al to Jacob K. Adkins     1902 acres Little Harts Creek     01 September 1901     p. 272-273

Ellen Adkins to John Adkins     25 acres Lower Big Branch     22 February 1910     p. 95

Henry Adkins to Elizabeth Adkins et al     1962 acres Little Harts Creek, Fourteen Mile Creek, Trough Fork, Laurel Fork     28 June 1870     p. 269-270

Henry Adkins et ux to Ralph Nelson     20 acres Big Harts Creek     21 March 1905     p. 198-199

Isaiah Adkins et ux to John Adkins     45 acres Lower Big Branch     11 August 1906     p. 89

John Adkins Sr. et ux to K.E. Toney     30 acres mineral Big Harts Creek     27 July 1909     p. 91-92

John Adkins Sr. et ux to K.E. Toney     35 acres Big Harts Creek     25 February 1910     p. 93-94

Board of Education of Harts Creek District to John E. Fry et al     1/2 acre Big Ugly Creek     1 August 1905     p. 498

L.H. Burks et ux to Gilbert Topping     110 acres Little Harts Creek     30 March 1906     p. 5-7

Moses Dempsey to K.E. Toney     24 acres mineral Big Harts Creek     19 March 1910     p. 96-97

William Dempsey et al to Moses Dempsey     24 acres Big Branch     13 April 1908     p. 71-72

William R. Duty et ux to John F. Duty     50 acres Broad Branch     9 December 1887     p. 429-430

Allison Ferrell et ux to Sarah Gillenwater     133 acres Big Ugly Creek     26 October 1897     p. 499

Arisba Ferrell et al to Parlee Hunter     42 acres Broad Branch     15 February 1905     p. 168-169

Arrisba Ferrell et al to John F. Duty     25 acres Broad Branch     8 April 1891     p. 425-427

Lena Ferrell to Nancy E. Fry     5 acres Big Ugly     3 June 1905     p. 495

Smith Ferrell et ux to John F. Duty     55 acres Ugly Creek     5 April 1907     p. 428-429

William T. Fowler et ux to Mathew Spurlock     100 acres Sams Branch of Middle Fork of Mud River     9 January 1890     Elias Vance, JP     p. 376-377

Sarah A. Gillenwater et vir to Nancy E. Fry     133 acres Big Ugly Creek     19 February 1898     p. 496-497

George W. Hill et ux to W.M. May     30 acres Limestone Creek     3 November 1906     p. 137-138

J.I. Kuhn, attorney, to Overton Elkins     100 acres Fourteen Mile Creek     1 June 1880     p. 420-423

V.D. Lambert et ux to Sarah J. Nelson     20 acres West Side Guyan River     13 April 1906     p. 289

Blucher N. Lucas to Climena Lucas     50 acres Fourteen Mile Creek     1 July 1910     p. 308-309

N.B. Mobley to Sankey Gillenwater     50 acres Limestone Creek     15 December 1909     p. 121-122

Minnie Mullins et vir to William May     30 acres Limestone Creek     29 January 1910     p. 140-141

A.L. Smith et ux to Susan Adkins     48 acres Big Harts Creek     11 July 1907     p. 225-226

A.L. Smith et ux to Ralph Nelson     2 acres Big Harts Creek     13 April 1907     p. 204-205

Heenan Smith to W.C. Smith     75 acres Guyandotte River     15 July 1902     p. 468-470

Sarah E. Thompson et vir to E.W. Fry     150 acres Guyandotte River, Laurel Hill District     12 February 1897     p. 487-488

P.T. Thompson to U.G. Shipe et al     Lots 64-65     23 February 1909     p. 329

James Toney et ux to Gilbert Toppins     35 1/4 acres Kiahs Creek     03 January 1908     p. 7-8

NOTE: I copied all of these deeds.

History for Boone County, WV (1928)

15 Sunday Jul 2018

Posted by in Boone County, Huntington, Logan

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A story titled “Old Times in Boone County Told About By Historian” and printed in the Logan Banner in Logan, WV, on April 20, 1928 provides some history for Boone County:

Old-timers and students of local history should be interested in the following excerpt from the history of Boone county by Prof. W.W. Hall. The family names mentioned are familiar ones.

What is here reproduced was taken from the Coal Valley News:

About the year of 1798 Isaac Barker reared a pole cabin on the brow of the hill on the lower side of White Oak Creek, near old lock seven. This was the first white man’s home established in Boone county. The second settler in the county was Johnson Kinder, a brother-in-law of Barker. He settled on Kinder Hill a few months after Barker came. The first settler on Little Coal River was John Halstead, who settled at the mouth of Camp creek about 1800. A few months later Jackie Dolin was married to Isaac Barker’s daughter and led his blushing bride, attired in her homespun, through the trackless forest up Brush creek and over the hill to a scantily furnished home on Camp creek. Not long after this Thomas Price, a daring hunter from North Carolina, wandered over the Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap to Maysville, Kentucky, where he embarked in a canoe, ascended the Ohio, the Kanawha, the Coal and the Little Coal rivers to the present site of the town of Danville, and became the first settler there.

For some years after the coming of the white men there were no churches, but when an Old Baptist or Methodist preacher would arrive in the settlement, word was passed around to the neighbors and that night earnest prayers, exhortations and hallelujahs would ascend from those rude homes. The first church erected in the county was the Olive Branch Baptist church at the mouth of Turtle creek. The first term of the circuit court held in the county after its organization in 1847 was held in this church. The grand jury made its investigations while seated on the framing in Ballard’s old water mill near by, and the petit jury retired to the paw paw bushes below to consider their verdicts.

The daring hunters, adventurous pioneers and brave soldiers who came from the best families in the east to establish home in the wilderness, were not contented to let their children grow up without the rudiments of an education, so they established Old Field schools in the slave cabins, tanneries, country churches and abandoned dwellings, when an itinerant teacher who could read, write and cipher a little came along. The first free school in the county was taught by John Morris, just after the Civil War, in an old house abandoned by Dr. Church. The old house stood across the hollow from W.H. Turley’s present residence in Madison. Within the next year or two a log school house was erected near the upper end of Danville and another on the point across the river from Hadalton. The children of Madison had to go to Danville or Hadalton to school until 1885, when the people of Madison, by mandamus, compelled the board of education to give them a school. The first school house erected in Madison is now used by Dr. Smoot for a barn. While the course of study in these early schools was meager and the work crude, yet they did succeed in inspiring a few boys to strive for higher education. Former United States Senator John E. Kenna was born in Boone county and attended his first schools in a log house on Big Coal river. Dr. Marshall A. Estep, an eminent physician of Texas, and his brother, Judge Charles L. Estep, of Huntington and Logan, were reared in the “Promised Land,” the name of their father’s mountain home on the summit of Spruce Ridge, and attended their first schools in a log house on the Spruce Fork. One of these early log school houses still stands on the head of Mud river, remote from the highways frequented by trade and travelers. Two of the most recent prosecuting attorneys of the county, two clerks of the circuit court, two of the clerks of the county court, four county superintendents of schools, chief U.S. Marshal for the southern district of West Virginia, and two prosperous dental surgeons attended school when boys in that little log school house on the head of Mud. The attendance in it was never large.

John Milton Dingess

14 Friday Apr 2017

Posted by in Hamlin

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From “Hardesty’s History of Lincoln County, West Virginia,” published by H.H. Hardesty, we find this entry for John Milton Dingess, who resided at Hamlin in Lincoln County, West Virginia:

Son of Peter and Mary (Stone) Dingess, was born in Logan county, (now) West Virginia, November 3, 1822, and came to Lincoln county in 1853. In Logan county, December 25, 1845, John M. Dingess and Matilda, daughter of Richard and Mary (Ingram) McDonald, were united in the holy bonds of wedlock. She was born in Pulaski county, Virginia, August 3, 1823. The record of the five children of Mr. and Mrs. Dingess is: Peter Scott, born August 31, 1847, resides in Union district, Lincoln county; Mary Ann, February 4, 1851, at home; Jerusha Alice, November 12, 1852, lives in Carroll district, Lincoln county; Matilda Jane, September 25, 1856, died May 19, 1858; George Edgar, April 3, 1858, died April 29, 1858. Mrs. Dingess and her two daughters are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. John M. Dingess owns a farm of 150 acres, located on the Middle fork of Mud river, four miles east of Hamlin. There is a young orchard on the farm, and plenty of coal and iron ore to be found. Address Mr. Dingess at Hamlin, Lincoln county, West Virginia.

Source: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, Vol. 7 (Richwood, WV: Jim Comstock, 1974), p. 111.

Evi Sias

05 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by in Boone County, Civil War

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From “Hardesty’s History of Lincoln County, West Virginia,” published by H.H. Hardesty, we find this entry for Evi Sias, who resided at Spurlocksville in Lincoln County, West Virginia:

One of the farming population of Jefferson district, Lincoln county, was born in Fayette county, (then) Virginia, in 1835, and he is a son of James and Rebecca (Adkins) Sias, who came to Lincoln county in 1857. Sallie R., daughter of Bradford and Sarah B. (Thomas) Hill, was born in Boone county, (now) West Virginia, in 1852. Her parents settled in Lincoln county in 1852, and in this county, in 1871, she became the wife of Evi Sias, and six children are the result of their union: Sarah B., born July 8, 1872; Rebecca A., November 28, 1873; Olivia F., September 4, 1875, died in August, 1877; James B., October 22, 1877; Ira, September 28, 1879; Lelia, January 14, 1882. Five brothers of Evi Sias served in the late war: Isaac, James W., Noah, and Henry C. were in the Federal service, and Andrew L., joined the Confederate ranks, and was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg. Evi Sias was elected justice of the peace, and in 1880 was re-elected; he is commissioner of reassessments of land and secretary of the board of education in Jefferson district. Mr. Sias has been a strong advocate of free schools, and taught the first free school in Washington district, Boone county, and the first in Union district, Lincoln county. He has a farm of 100 acres on the Left Hand fork of Mud river; a part is heavily timbered, contains mineral, coal and iron ore, and the remainder in cultivation, with a large orchard. Evi Sias is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and a man respected by all. Address, Spurlocksville, Lincoln county, West Virginia.

Source: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, Vol. 7 (Richwood, WV: Jim Comstock, 1974), p. 148.

NOTE: I descend from Evi’s brothers, James Wilson Sias and Andrew Lewis Sias.

William T. Fowler

18 Saturday Feb 2017

Posted by in Chapmanville, Civil War, Harts

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From “Hardesty’s History of Lincoln County, West Virginia,” published by H.H. Hardesty, we find this entry for William T. Fowler, who resided at Hart in Lincoln County, West Virginia:

Is a merchant, miller and farmer in Harts Creek district, with business headquarters on Guyan river at the mouth of that creek. He was born in Kanawha county, (now) West Virginia, at the mouth of Burning Spring Hollow, June 29, 1825, and his parents, Thomas and Elizabeth (Gillispie) Fowler, are both now deceased. William T. Fowler has been twice married, his first wife Polly Emerine, left him three children, born as follows: Zattoo D., March 28, 1851; Polly A., December 25, 1853; William E., September 15, 1856. In Cabell county, West Virginia, June 10, 1871, W.T. Fowler and Martha A. Adkins were united wedlock, and the children born of this union are: Bettie, May 6, 1875; Effie, June 10, 1876; Benjamin F., December 15, 1878; George W., June 30, 1880. Mrs. Fowler is a native of Cabell county, born December 15, 1839, and her parents are John B. and Elizabeth (Childers) Adkins. Her mother still resides in that county; her father died April 1876. Mr. Fowler enlisted in the Civil War in 1862, serving on the Confederate side, and was a participant in the Chapmansville battle. William T. Fowler settled in Lincoln county in 1847, and now owns 200 acres of land at the mouth of Big Hart creek, and 254 acres on Mud river. That situated on Hart creek produces well, and has a good orchard and a part is heavily timbered with oak, poplar and pine; coal and iron ore are quite abundant. The land on Mud river is heavily timbered. Address, Hart, Lincoln county, West Virginia.

Source: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, Vol. 7 (Richwood, WV: Jim Comstock, 1974), p. 134.

Harts Creek Area Deed Index (1855-1909)

01 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by in Big Creek, Guyandotte River

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The following deed index is based on Deed Book 55 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 55. Researchers who desire the most accurate version of this material are urged to consult the actual record book.

Charles Adkins to Malinda Adkins     100 acres Southeast Side of Harts Creek     25 April 1898     Isaac Fry, JP     p. 52-53

Malinda Adkins to Isaiah Adkins     25 acres near Mouth of Hollywood Branch of Big Harts Creek     20 July 1908     Charles Adkins, JP     p. 53-54

Matilda and Jefferson Adkins to Rhoda Gartin     37 acres, 103 acres Little Harts Creek and Fourteen Mile Creek     11 March 1898     p. 28-30

George and Julia Alderson to Lace Marcum and T.R. Shepherd     3 acres Mouth of Sand Creek     16 September 1909     p. 252

Mary A. and John Brumfield and P.T. and Elizabeth Thompson to Kelley Chambers     15 acres Scary Creek of the Middle Fork of Mud River     17 November 1905     p. 83-84

John and M.J. Chandler and H.C. and Nancy Adora Chandler to George W. Estep     70 acres and 148 acres on Ugly Creek     9 August 1900     p. 362-363

S.W. Colton, Jr. and G.L. Estabrook, trustees of Lincoln County Land Association, to O.R. Fowble     Timber on Upper Big Creek and Upton Creek of Mud River and Big Branch of Big Ugly Creek     27 December 1909     p. 366-367

Leo F. and Mollie Drake and Yantus Dingess and ___ Phipps to John Thompson     300 acres Main Harts Creek     22 March 1905     p. 388-389

Andrew and Elizabeth Elkins to Rhoda Gartin     87 acres East Fork of Fourteen Mile Creek     18 November 1899     p. 27-28

W.T. and Lottie Harrison to Eliza J. Hager     75 acres Waters of Nine Mile Creek     29 September 1894     p. 43-44

George and Susan Hill to Obediah J. Hill     391 9/40 acres on Big Ugly Creek     8 July 1904     p. 92-94

William and Mary J. Mans to Samuel Moore     25 acres head of Left Fork of Rollhimin Fork of Hezekiah Creek, Fork of Twelve Pole River     5 January 1905     p. 116-117

A.F. Morris, special commissioner, to Isaac Workman     19 1/2 acres Francis Creek     10 January 1907     p. 151-153 [regards a case in which Patton Thompson et als were plaintiffs and Isaac Workman et als were defendants]

Sylvanus and Drusilla Neace to Scott and Frona E. Gartin     103 acres on East Fork of Fourteen Mile Creek     9 May 1907     p. 423-425 [references Patton Camp Branch]

Z.T. and Margaret Neace and Franklin Neace to Saphronia E. and Scott Gartin     100 7/8 acres East Fork of Fourteen Mile Creek     16 August 1902     Jefferson Lucas, NP     p. 421-423

Charles and Mary I. Plaster to Hugh Evans     4 and 80 acres Francis Creek of Hezekiah Creek of Twelve Pole Creek     6 October 1903     p. 220-221

Peyton Spears patent from Commonwealth of Virginia     100 acres Nine Mile Creek (Laurel Hill District)     6 April 1855 (survey)     p. 466-467

Roma and Ella Spears to Allen Estep     75 acres on Trace Fork of Big Ugly Creek     2 October 1909     p. 364-365

F.D. and Luella A. Stollings to Nancy M. Workman     70 acres     Francis Creek of Hezekiah’s Creek     1 February 1901     p. 145-146

Harmon and Susann Stroud to Louisa A. Wiley     50 acres Sulphur Spring Fork of Fourteen Mile Creek (Laurel Hill District)     18 November 1881     James H. Manns, JP     p. 360-361

P.T. and Elizabeth Thompson to Kelley Chambers     35 acres Scary Creek of the Middle Fork of Mud River     11 November 1905     p. 81-83

Sarah J. Toney to Seth and Nancy Miller     37 1/2 acres Senging Branch of Mud River (Jefferson District)     17 March 1905     p. 386-387 [references Isaac Adkins’ line]

Asa and Rebecca Williamson to Hugh Evans     63 acres Lynn Branch of Hezekiah Creek     18 February 1908     Charles Adkins, JP     p. 222-223

B.J. and Tennessee Workman to Isaac F. Workman     125 acres Francis Fork of Hezekiahs Fork of Twelve Pole     18 April 1896     p. 146-148

David Workman et al to William Bell et al     Right of Way Limestone Creek     10 saw logs paid     23 April 1907     p. 332-333

Isaac and Nancy M. Workman to Abijah Workman, Jr.     40 acres and Right of Way for Road, Francis Creek of Hezekiah’s Creek     2 February 1903     Rufus Pack, NP     p. 143-144

Isaac and Nancy M. Workman to James W. Workman     40 acres Francis Creek of Hezekiah’s Creek     1 April 1901     Rufus Pack, NP     p. 149-150

William Workman to Joseph Browning     45 acres Between Little Harts Creek and Big Branch of Big Harts Creek     15 July 1908     Charles Adkins, JP     p. 450-452 [references Nester heirs]

James A. and Cassa Williamson to Elias Workman     75 acres on Salt Lick Branch of Right Fork of Twelve Pole Creek     24 September 1908     p. 212-213

John M. Workman to Isaac Workman     25 acres Francis Creek of Hezekiah Fork of Twelve Pole     9 April 1896     p. 148-149

NOTE: I copied all of these deeds.

Harts Creek Area Deed Index (1886-1909)

25 Tuesday Oct 2016

Posted by in Big Ugly Creek, Ferrellsburg, Fourteen, Green Shoal, Little Harts Creek

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The following deed index is based on Deed Book 51 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 51. Researchers who desire the most accurate version of this material are urged to consult the actual record book.

John Q. Adams to Arena Ferrill     70 acres Mouth of Fowler Branch     2 May 1896     p. 163-164

J.K. Adkins et ux to Arrena Ferrell     119 acres East Side of Guyan River at mouth of Swift Shoal Hollow     28 June 1897     Allen Brumfield, NP     p. 162-163

Charley B. Brumfield and wife to Louis R. Sweetland     100 acres Fulton Branch     19 August 1903     p. 387-388

Charley B. Brumfield et ux to Louis R. Sweetland     62 acres Mud River     14 December 1906     p. 394-395

Sabin W. Colton, Jr. and George L. Estabrook (trustees for the Lincoln County Coal Land Association) to B.C. Spurlock and E.W. Fry     Nine Mile Creek     14 June 1904     p. 234

Sabin W. Colton et al (trustees for the Prentice Coal Land Association) to Blackburn Lucas     30 acres Spears Fork of Green Shoal Creek     1 July 1893     p. 181-182

S.M. Croft, trustee, to O.J. Spurlock     50 acres Big Ugly Creek     9 October 1908     p. 499-500

John Farley to Harvey Farley     35 acres Short Bend Branch, Fourteen Mile Creek     12 September 1902     p. 246-247

I.G. Gartin to William Mans     96 acres and 230 acres Rolin and Little Harts Creek     3 January 1899     Jefferson Lucas, JP     p. 436-437

J.B. Hainer to Louis R. Sweetland     133 3/4 acres (mineral) Limestone Branch     25 September 1899     p. 296-297

J.H. Hollandsworth to Charley B. Brumfield     100 acres Mud River     12 February 1903     p. 318-319

Charles Lucas to Sarah Ann Brumfield     75 acres Greenshoal Creek     6 July 1895     Elias Vance, JP     p. 189 [Note: Charles’ wife Lucinda was deceased]

Charles Lucas to W.B. Brumfield et al     50 acres Green Shoal     18 September 1886     Canaan Adkins, JP     p. 187-188

Charles Lucas to Blackburn Lucas     80 acres Green Shoal Creek (Spears Branch)     18 September 1886     Canaan Adkins, JP     p. 182-183

Elizabeth and B.B. Lucas and Sarah Jane Baisden to Louis R. Sweetland     15 acres and 30 acres on Limestone Branch     15 May 1909     A.F. Morris, NP     p. 293-294

William Mans et ux to William Manns     Little Harts Creek     3 January 1899     Jefferson Lucas, JP     p. 438-440

J.H. and Amanda McComas to B.B. Lucas     57/100 acres Green Shoal Creek     30 August 1899     W.B. Brumfield, JP     p. 184-185

Hiram Moore to S.S. Brumfield     122 1/2 acres Big Creek of Mud River     16 March 1900     p. 29-30

A.F. Morris, commissioner, to Louis R. Sweetland     92 acres Fourteen Mile Creek     12 June 1908     p. 405 [Note: This is the Andrew Elkins farm]

Arnold Perry to Emma Vance     41 acres Witcher’s Camp Branch     13 October 1900     Jackson Adkins, JP     p. 273-274

J.P. and U.S. Phipps to Louis R. Sweetland     109 acres Limestone Branch     25 September 1899     p. 302-303

J.W. Sarten et ux to Emma Vance     4 acres Copleys Trace of Kiah’s Creek     18 March 1905     p. 270-271

Telitha Spears et al to Blackburn Lucas     28 acres Green Shoal     26 July 1886     Canaan Adkins, JP     p. 185-186

Squire Toney et ux to George Vannatter et al     108 acres Big Ugly Creek     26 November 1899     p. 443

Gideon D. Vance to Emma Vance     Witcher’s Camp Branch     16 May 1900     Isaac Fry, JP     p. 274-275

Malinda J. Vance et al to Emma Vance     60 acres Copley Trace of Kiahs Creek     21 July 1904     W.B. Brumfield, JP     p. 271-272

Wilbur R. White et ux to Charley B. Brumfield     Mud River     20 August 1903     p. 392-393

NOTE: I copied all of these deeds.

Recollections of the Civil War in Cabell County, WV (1862)

13 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by in Barboursville, Civil War, Hamlin

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About 1910, Rev. Thomas H. Perry reflected on his long life, most of which was spent in the vicinity of Tylers Creek in Cabell County, West Virginia. In this excerpt from his autobiography, Mr. Perry recalled the early years of the Civil War in his locale:

Immediately after our first defeat we began to plan for another exit to Dixie, as so few of our men made their escape to Dixie after being fired into at the falls of Guyan, for we knew now for a certainty that we must go south and be a soldier or go north a prisoner; for the Federals were going through the country picking up men and sending them away as far as they could. This last plan was for us to meet at Ball Gap, on Mud river, early in the morning, and a company of armed men would meet us there to guard us out to Dixie. Early that morning I met thirty or forty young men at the Ball Gap. We appointed G.W. Hackworth as our leader, and we moved on Mud river, and the young men came to us all along the way, and when we arrived six miles above Hamlin, we had from one to two hundred men in our company. From there we crossed the mountain to the Guyan valley, and then up the river and over the mountains and through the woods for ten days and nights, and we found ourselves in Aps [sic] valley, Virginia. Here we organized a military company* by electing G.W. Hackworth, captain; Van Sanford, J.C. Reynolds and Clint Lovette, lieutenants. No one knows but myself the feelings I had the day I took the oath to support the constitution of the Southern Confederate States of America and to discharge my duty as a soldier. As they swore me they handed me a bible. I remembered that this is the book that I had been preparing myself to preach, and it says: “Thou shalt not kill,” and it gave me trouble as long as I was a soldier.

We drilled at this place two or three weeks, and had eighty-four men in our company, and they generally used us as scouts, operating from the Kanawha river westward, down into Kentucky and eastern Tennessee. There would be times that we would not see our regiment for two months, and then again we would be with them every day for two months. The Federals were trying to make their way up Coal river, Guyan river, Tug river, and the Levisa fork of Big Sandy river, in Kentucky. Their idea was to destroy the New river bridge and the King salt works. General Floyd had a brigade of soldiers somewhere about the headwaters of these rivers; sometimes he would send large scouting parties down these rivers and drive out everything before them. Sometimes when we would be driving them down one river they would be moving up some other river. I have crossed the mountains between these rivers so many times and was shot at by men in the brush and suffered from hunger and cold so many times that it makes me think of war as the darkest days of my life. At one time I went three days and nights without one bite to eat; in many places we had to live on the country that we were in, and the soldiers in front would get all the citizens had to eat, and the rear guard suffered for food; we did not have battles like Lee and Grant, but to many of our poor boys the battle to them was as great as that of Gettysburg or Cold Harbor was to some of them.

At one time my company and some other company was ordered to Cabell county, and we came to Mud river bridge and went into camp for eight or ten days at this place. During our stay in this camp we had no trouble in getting food for our horses and soldiers for the Reeces and Morris and Guinns and Kilgores and others who lived in this neighborhood had an abundance of this world’s goods at that time. One morning our captain said he wanted eight volunteers who would go afoot for three or four days; he had no trouble in getting the eight men; I was one of that number; Lieutenant Lovette was in command, and at noon that day we ate dinner near Barboursville, and at night we were in Guyandotte. Several times the next day we would stand along the river front and see the Federal soldiers in Proctorville. In the middle of that afternoon we started back for Mud river bridge, and the next day our command broke camp, and we started for Dixie. Why these eight men were sent to Guyandotte I never knew, and why General Floyd sent such large scouting parties to Mason, Cabell and Wayne counties, as he did at this time, I never knew, unless it was to give protection to those who were desirous of going south with their families and chattels, which a great many did, and stayed until after the war.

Source: From Youth to Old Age by T.H. Perry, Chapter 6, p. 16-18. Note: As of 1862, Cabell County remained a part of Virginia and Lincoln County did not exist.

*Company F, 1st Regiment Virginia State Line

Recollections of the Civil War in Cabell and Lincoln Counties, WV

10 Saturday Sep 2016

Posted by in Barboursville, Civil War, Salt Rock, West Hamlin

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About 1910, Rev. Thomas H. Perry reflected on his long life, most of which was spent in the vicinity of Tylers Creek in Cabell County, West Virginia. In this excerpt from his autobiography, Mr. Perry recalled the early years of the Civil War in his locale:

In November, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union. That was more than a sign of war; it was a declaration of war. Soon afterwards six other southern states seceded, and a little later three other states followed suit, and last of all, in May, 1861, Virginia seceded.

My father said he had worked, prayed, voted for the Union, but he thought he owed his allegiance first to the state and then to the general government. However, he advised us boys to stay at home, as there are many things involved in this war and its hard to say what the outcome will be. One Sunday, in 1861, many of our young people were at Enon church, and at that time the union army was at Barboursville, ten miles away. While we were at church a man came on horseback in great speed with his hat off, and when he got to the church he cried out: “Get to the mountains; the Federals are on their way to Tyler’s creek, and are destroying everything before them.”

We all ran to the woods in great haste, and remained there until the next day, except the women and the children, who returned home that evening; the old men advised the women and children to stay at home, as they did not believe the soldiers would do them any harm. But several young men from this first scare, joined the Confederate army, but I stayed at home and dodged the soldiers until the spring of 1862. During this time I thought of going north and going to school, and then I would think if I went north they would force me to join the army and I would have to fight my own people, and I could not do that. I thought if I was in the south I could not go to school; they would force me in the army and I knew I could not stay at home. So I decided as there was no neutral ground for me I would go to Dixie. At this time the Federals were scouting the country in every direction which made it difficult to go, but we set a time to meet in a low gap east of Joseph Johnson’s, a half-way place between Guyan and Mud rivers. That night we filled that gap more than full of men and horses. It was a dark night and we never knew how many men we had present, but think there were two or three hundred. We were suspicious of traitors among us that night. We did our work quickly, appointed a captain and mapped out our way for that night’s march. The way was down Tyler’s creek to the Salt Rock and then up the Guyan river. About midnight our captain said: “Gentlemen, follow me,” and as we slowly moved out of that gap it was whispered, “we do not know whose hands we are in , as there are so many more here tonight than we expected, and so many strangers.”

When we came to where my father lived on Tyler’s creek, I asked George Rogers, a man of our company to wait with me until I could go to the barn and get my horse, for I had left my horse in the barn until we were ready to march. This delayed me about twenty minutes. Mr. Rogers and I thought we would soon overtake our men, but when we came to a bridle path that led to the mouth of Bear Creek, much nearer than by way of Salt Rock, it was so dark we could not see the track of a horse, and as we did not know which way our men had gone we were much perplexed and lost some time at this point, but decided to go the nearer way, and when we came within one mile and a-half of the falls of Guyan, we heard considerable shooting in our direction, and as our men were twenty-five or thirty minutes in the advance of us, the shooting must have been at our men, and as our men were not armed the shooting was all from one side and it may be that half of our men are killed. we stopped and decided that we would wait for daylight. We hitched our horses about fifty yards from the road and lay down under a beech tree that stood about twenty-five yards from the road, and we went into a doze. Suddenly, in front of us, there was a moving army and we could not tell whether they were going up or down the road until the rear guard passed, and then we knew they were going down the road. While they were passing, I said: “George, these are our  men.” George said: “Be still, say nothing.”

When morning came, Mr. Lucas, a man living in that neighborhood, said to us: “The men that have just passed down the road killed Mr. Brumfield and had fired into a body of unarmed men at the falls just before day, this morning.” We understood the rest and at noon that day we were back again at my father’s house.

Source: From Youth to Old Age by T.H. Perry, Chapter 5, p. 14-16. Note: As of 1862, Cabell County remained a part of Virginia and Lincoln County did not exist.

Rector Items 04.09.1914

23 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by in Big Ugly Creek, Gill, Holden, Rector

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“Sunshine,” a local correspondent from Rector in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Lincoln Monitor printed on Thursday, April 9, 1914:

Miss Jeannette Stone of Big Creek is the pleasant guest of her grandmother, Mrs. Squire Toney.

Mrs. Elijah Pauley of Holden is visiting relatives here this week.

Mrs. Walter Toney was shopping in Big Creek Saturday.

Mrs. M.A. Wall who has been visiting her son Albert, has returned to her home at Easy.

Miss Maude Toney who has been visiting relatives in Holden for the past two weeks, has returned and reports a very pleasant visit.

Dr. J.A. Chaffin was a pleasant visitor in Rector, Sunday.

Misses Maude Toney and Jeannette Stone spent Sunday horseback riding and were at Gill, where they dined with Miss Stone’s sister, Mrs. S.J. Harper.

Tracy Baird was a caller here Monday.

Mrs. Albert Wall, who has been ill for some time, is slowly improving.

Andrew Spurlock spent Sunday with friends at Salt Rock.

Misses Mary and Myrtle Toney are visiting their brothers on Mud this week.

Squire J.E. Fry made a flying trip to Midkiff Saturday.

D.V. Hodge made a business call to this place Saturday.

Collie Fry was a pleasant visitor in town Sunday.

Mrs. John Hunter was shopping here Saturday.