Tag Archives: Republican Party

Mine Guards of Logan (1922)

16 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by in Battle of Blair Mountain, Coal, Huntington, Logan

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From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this editorial about mine guards, dated June 30, 1922:

MINE GUARDS OF LOGAN

The attorneys for the defense in the miners’ trials at Charles Town, which have been in progress for the past several weeks, have taken every opportunity of referring to the deputy sheriffs of Logan county mine guards as “thugs” and “two-gun men.”

Logan county is, and has been for several years, ruled by officers elected on the Democratic ticket. The Logan Banner adheres to the party of Lincoln, Grant, Roosevelt and Harding. It believes in the policy of the Grand Old Party and so long as that belief endures we will be found advocating the doctrines as preached by the leaders of this political organization.

Politics has no place in the discussion of the so called mine guard system in Logan county. We hold the love and respect of our homes far above any reverence to political parties and when the good name of Logan is attacked we forget political lines and join with the good people of this vast community in resenting any reflection on the fair name of Logan.

It has always been a mystery to us why the demand for the abolishment of the extra number of deputy sheriffs in this county should come from parties who are non-residents of the county? Who has demanded their abolishment? What cry has been heard from Logan county for aid? What facts have been presented of any unlawful acts committed at the hands of officers in this county?

Logan is filled with men of the highest type of intelligence. Likewise, they have many, many men here who are as brave as any men to be found in the nation. These men would not, for an instant, be a party to crimes in the county without raising their voices in protest. When it is all sifted down, it is found the hue and cry for a change of conditions is raised by those other than citizens of Logan county. Here are four points that must be borne in mind when considering Logan county:

  1. Due to the natural geographical conditions, Logan is rather isolated from other sections of the state.
  2. Due to this isolation and the fact that it is far removed from through transportation facilities, it is hard to attract labor here.
  3. In order to secure labor it becomes necessary to employ many who have had previous criminal careers.
  4. The county is mountainous, the operations are many and widely scattered, and the forces of deputies are not too many but otherwise too small to maintain order and uphold the law in an area of 400 square miles

Logan is situated among the mountains with but one natural outlet. This is by way of the C. & O. branch line to Huntington. The county is naturally divided by creeks, valleys, and branch railway lines. On these can be found many operations, employing hundreds of laborers, and to successfully cope with the lawless the sheriff is naturally required to employ more than the usual amount of deputies.

If Logan county was situated on the trunk line of any railway system, it would be a much easier task to supply the mines with labor, but due to the fact that it is far removed from any other section of the state and that in order to reach any other point, east, west, north or south it becomes necessary to travel over a distance of 75 miles to Huntington, labor is hard to obtain.

In securing this labor to fill the requirements of the large corporations operating here, it is necessary to visit the employment agencies located in the larger cities. Anyone acquainted with these agencies recognize the fact they are not scrupulous about whom they list, and the natural consequence is that many brought here on transportation are recognized criminals and members of all nationalities. Not all of them, thank goodness, are of the lawless class, but many are. They require constant watching and close scrutiny to see that their criminal tendencies do not become too pronounced. In order to do this it becomes imperative to have a large force of officers.

In view of the fact that there are 142 operations in this county and that approximately 50,000 people are laboring within our borders it can be readily seen that 35 deputies are a comparative small force to exercise supervision over such a huge population. Should a riot break out within our county it would require at least eight hours to obtain help from any section of the state. The fact that Logan needs as large a force of officers was amply attested when the armed march was made on Logan last August.

This article is not written in the defense of Don Chafin or his deputies. They need no defense at our hands. It is not written in defense of a policy adopted by any political party in the county. Regardless of the political affiliations of the sheriff, the Banner would earnestly recommend to anyone, be he the most rabid Republican in the county, if they should be sheriff, the retention of an official force as large as is now employed.

A great hue and cry has been raised because the salaries of these officers have been paid by the coal operators. Let us for a moment realize that the coal industry in the county is the sole industry in our midst. Upon the shoulders of these operators fall the burden of the peace and happiness of their employees. It is in order to furnish these employees protection and security that they have gone into their pocket books and paid for this protection. Who objects? Have you heard a taxpayer in Logan county object? Not one. They are perfectly willing that this cost shall be borne by the operators. They might as well object to the operators subscribing to better schools in Logan. Also voice opposition to better roads, the burden of which falls on the shoulders of the operators.

No one has heard a Macedonian cry from Logan for aid? Not even when union fields of the state were appealing for bread. If there was ever an example of the benefits of the non-union shop plan it was simply exemplified during the recent dull period. Logan worked and fared well. We have no ills to cure nor any abuses that need redress. The propaganda put forth pour from the foul mouths of others than citizens of Logan county and we beseech them to busy themselves with affairs other than ours, for we are perfectly able to take care of ourselves, and when we need their assistance, or advice, we will call for them loud and long.

Nancy E. Hatfield Memories, Part 1 (1974)

28 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by in Cemeteries, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Logan, Women's History

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Howard B. Lee, former Attorney General of West Virginia, provided this account of Nancy Hatfield (widow of Cap) in the early 1970s:

HATFIELD WOMEN.

Over the years, much has been written about the male members of the Hatfield clan who took part in that early orgy of blood-letting–the Hatfield-McCoy feud. But nothing has been said concerning the indomitable wives of that stalwart breed of men.

My purpose is to pay a richly deserved tribute to one of those pioneer women–the late Nancy Elizabeth, wife of William Anderson Hatfield, common known “Cap,” second son of Devil Anse, and the most deadly killer of the feud.

More than 30 years have passed since I last talked with her; but I still regard Nancy Elizabeth Hatfield as the most remarkable and unforgettable woman of the mountains.

In the spring of 1924, I was a candidate in the primary election for the Republican nomination for attorney general, and I wanted the Hatfield influence. Devil Anse had died in 1921, and his mantle of leadership of the clan had fallen to his oldest living son, Cap–a power in Logan County politics.

I had met Cap, casually, in 1912, but I had not seen him since that meeting. But his sister, Mrs. Betty Caldwell, and her husband, lived in my county of Mercer, and were among my political supporters. To pave the way for my later meeting with Cap, I had Mrs. Caldwell write and ask him to support me.

Later, when campaigning in the City of Logan, I engaged a taxi to take me the few miles up Island Creek to Cap’s home. The car stopped suddenly and the driver pointed to a comfortable-looking farm house on the other side of the creek and said:

“That’s Cap’s home, and that’s Cap out there by the barn.”

I told him to return for me in two hours.

Cap saw me get out of the car, and, as I crossed the creek on an old-fashioned footlog. I saw him fold his arms across his chest and slip his right hand under his coat. Later, I noticed a large pistol holstered under his left arm. Even in that late day, Cap took no chances with strangers. When I got within speaking distance, I told him my name, and that I had come to solicit his support in my campaign for attorney general. He gave me a hearty handclasp, and said:

“My sister, Mrs. Caldwell, wrote us about you. But, let’s go to the house, my wife is the politician in our family.”

Cap was reluctant to commit himself “so early.” But Nancy Elizabeth thought otherwise. Finally, Cap agreed to support me; and, with that point settled, we visited until my taxi returned.

Meanwhile, with Cap’s approval, Nancy Elizabeth gave me the accompanying, heretofore unpublished photograph of the Devil Anse Clan. In 1963 I rephotographed it and sent a print to Willis Hatfield (number 22 in picture), only survivor of Devil Anse, who made the identification. Nancy Elizabeth is number 16, and the baby in her lap is her son, Robert Elliott, born April 29, 1897. Therefore, the photograph must have been made late in 1897, or early in 1898.

A few months after Cap’s death (August 22, 1930), the West Virginia newspaper publishers and editors held their annual convention in Logan. I was invited to address the group at a morning session. That same day, Sheriff Joe Hatfield and his brother, Tennis, younger brothers of Cap, gave an ox-roast dinner for the visiting newsmen and their guests. The picnic was held on a narrow strip of bottom land, on Island Creek, a half-mile below the old home of Devil Anse.

I ate lunch with Nancy Elizabeth and her sister-in-law, Betty Caldwell. After lunch, at the suggestion of Mrs. Caldwell, we three drove up the creek to the old home of her father–Devil Anse. It was a large, two-story, frame structure (since destroyed by fire, then occupied by Tennis Hatfield, youngest son of Devil Anse).

The most interesting feature in the old home was Devil Anse’s gun-room. Hanging along its walls were a dozen, or more, high-powered rifles, and a number of large caliber pistols, ranging from teh earliest to the latest models. “The older guns,” said Nancy Elizabeth, “were used in the feud.”

As we returned, we stopped at the family cemetery that clings uncertainly to the steep mountainside, overlooking the picnic grounds. There, among the mountains he loved and ruled, old Devil Anse found peace. A life-size statue of the old man, carved in Italy (from a photograph) of the finest Carrara marble, stands in majestic solitude above his grave. On its four-foot high granite base are carved the names of his wife and their thirteen children.

Source: West Virginia Women (Richwood, WV: Jim Comstock, 1974), p. 149-151

Joe Hatfield for Sheriff of Logan County, WV (1927)

08 Saturday Feb 2020

Posted by in Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Logan

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From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of political history dated December 13, 1927:

J.D. Hatfield for Sheriff 12.13.1927 1

J.D. Hatfield Announces Candidacy For Sheriff

Native Son Will Ask for Republican Nomination in May Primary–That He Would Enter Race Was Expected, and That He Possesses Unusual Political Strength Is Undisputed

Joe Hatfield will be a candidate for the Republican nomination for sheriff in the primary election May 29.

That announcement will doubtless arouse tremendous interest but will create little surprise. For many months the public has expected that at a seasonable time his hat would be quietly tossed into the ring and remain there until the voters had registered their approval or disapproval. Having determined upon a course of action, he will go straight ahead.

Born and reared in Logan county, in love with its every stream and mountain, hoping and expecting to spend the remainder of his life amid the rugged hills to which his ancestors were lured by fate a century ago, he says he has long had an ambition to serve as sheriff of the county beloved of his kith and kin.

The statement that he was born in this county calls for this qualification: Joe Davis Hatfield was born at Delorme, on Tug River, then in Logan county but now in Mingo. That was 44 years ago. Except for a period at Huntington Business College and a year (1903-4) at Marshall College, he has lived hereabouts and his life is an open book. He attended country school on Island Creek and had some experience as a relief teacher, though at no time did he ever consider that his vocation. He is a brother of Sheriff Tennis Hatfield and a son of the late Captain Anse Hatfield and Lovisa Chafin Hatfield–their fourth youngest child, Tennis being the youngest.

Joe was married in 1917 to Grace Ferrell of a Mingo county family and is the father of two children, Evaline Marie, aged eight, and Joe D., Jr., aged five.

His fraternal affiliation are limited to the Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America.

In commenting on his announcement, Mr. Hatfield said, “I’m not running for the office solely for the honor and rewards it might bring, but also because I believe I can fill it in a way that my children and friends will be proud of. I want to give the people a square deal for their sake and mine–why should a man in an important office like that want to do less? I expect to be nominated, but if not I’ll do my part for the man who beats me; and when nominated I’ll plan to wage an active and winning campaign. Besides my experience and observation have given me some ideas about what a sheriff can and should do and I’ll probably discuss these with friends and perhaps in the papers at the proper time.”

Republican Stronghold

It is not The Banner’s purpose to espouse any man’s candidacy before the primary, yet there is no hesitancy in saying here and now that Joe Hatfield will be regarded by voters of all parties as a formidable candidate for the nomination. Quiet, suave, friendly, neat and attractive in appearance, on intimate terms with hundreds and even thousands of voters in the county, the scion of a prominent pioneer family, his strength is obvious to the humblest citizens as well as those trained in politics. And while on the subject of politics, let it be recalled that Stirrat, Hatfield’s precinct, was the banner Republican precinct in the county in 1926. The Republican vote varied from 310 to 312 for the different candidates; the Democratic vote from 54 to 58. The precinct won a flag for the largest registration of Republican voters before the primary and won a silver cup for the largest Republican vote in the election, the prizes having been offered by the county committee. Incidentally, that feat was credited largely to Joe Hatfield and brought the first prophecy the writer heard that he would be the next sheriff of Logan county.

Interview of Jean Hatfield at Sarah Ann, WV (2001), Part 3

29 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in Cemeteries, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Pikeville

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In 2001-2002, I wrote a series of popular stories for the Logan Banner that merged aspects of well-known Hatfield-McCoy books written by Otis Rice and Altina Waller in the 1980s. I had previously enjoyed Rice’s narrative and Waller’s analysis; I did not conduct any new research. Even though I believed the definitive Hatfield-McCoy Feud book remained unwritten, my purpose in writing these stories was not a step toward writing a book; my purpose in writing these stories was to revisit the narrative with some analysis for Banner readers. My hope was that readers would see what I saw: first, fascinating history (or folk story) for its own sake; second, the power of history to create a popular type of tourism.

I was fortunate during this time to meet Jean Hatfield. Jean, born in 1936, operated a Hatfield family museum at Sarah Ann, WV. Jean was not a native of West Virginia but had lived her entire adult life locally and had personally known several of Anderson Hatfield’s children. I really appreciated her desire to promote regional history. She “got it.” She inspired me. Anytime that I drove up Route 44, I stopped to visit Jean at the museum. She was always welcoming. Knowing her reminded me that every Hatfield (and McCoy) descendant is a source of information–-and that for the most part they have yet to tell the story in their own words. Three notable exceptions include The McCoys: Their Story by Truda Williams McCoy (1976), The Tale of the Devil (2003) by Coleman Hatfield and Bob Spence, and The Hatfield and McCoy Feud After Kevin Costner: Rescuing History (2013) by Thomas Dotson.

What follows is Part 3 of my interview with Jean, which occurred on August 7, 2001:

What kind of shape is the [Hatfield] cemetery in?

Pretty rough right now because Henry’s been gone two years and he was sick two years before so he didn’t get to take care of it the way he normally did. It’s pretty well growed up. The main part of the cemetery, the family part, is pretty good. It’s just where the hill’s growed up.

There are unmarked graves in there.

There’s a bunch in there. Well, the main part of the cemetery is just the Hatfield people. And there’s a lot of graves up there, neighborhood people that couldn’t afford to buy grave plots and things like that. They just let them be buried up in there. So they’re not all Hatfields. I think all of the Hatfields now are marked up there, because we put Aunt Rosie’s up last fall and she was the last one in the family not to be marked. And we got that done. But there’s a lot of neighborhood people up in there and a lot of friends that Tennis and Joe made and they died off and they wanted to be buried close to the family.

What about Devil Anse’s politics?

Well, Henry’s father [Tennis] changed. Grandpa [Devil Anse] was a Democrat. The way I can understand it, the Democrat Party was so closed they wouldn’t let Tennis in when he wanted to run for sheriff so he ran for sheriff on the Republican ticket and won. Surprised the heck out of them, I imagine. And then Joe carried on as a Republican. But my husband was a Republican until he died. Me, I vote for both sides. Depends on the person that’s running. You know how politics is. Once you’re out of favor then you live a pretty rough life. And that happened in the family, too. Kind of wild back in those days. Even back 30-40 years ago, it was wild. I think we’re about to get civilized.

There’s hope.

I don’t know. If they don’t get a handle on these drugs there’s not going to be much hope. We’ve got problems here with the drugs. I just wish they could get them settled so people could get back to normal. When we built our house up there… We went on vacation we left the house wide open. Nobody bothered anything. Neighbor went in and let my little dogs run for a while, fed ‘em, put ‘em back in the house. Never even thought of locking the door. But you wouldn’t do that now. I think there’s been like five break-ins up here in the last couple of weeks. I think you can probably trace it right back to drugs. People trying to get stuff to sell for drugs. Which is pitiful.

What about Dyke Garrett?

Uncle Dyke? He was with the family most of the time, off and on. He done the burying and the marrying. Of course, the picture back there shows him baptizing Grandpa. He was a circuit preacher. He traveled everywhere.

Do you have a favorite character in the story? Anyone you feel attached to?

Well, all of them.

Even on the McCoy side?

Well, I think Roseanne is my favorite on the McCoy side, of course. And I think Grandma. Because think of what she went through. How many nights did she set up worrying about those reckless boys of hers? And every picture you see of them together, they look like love. Their body language shows it. They care for each other. And I think he took a lot of her advice and things like that. And if he was half the man that the people he helped and things like that, I think he must have been a pretty great person, too. There’s one of the pictures there… There was a Chafins boy that they just took in and raised. He didn’t have no family. Evidently his mother and father died when he was young and they took him in and raised him. They done several people that way. If they didn’t have a job, he’d work them, timbering and things like that so they could have a little bit of money along. That’s another thing about Altina Waller’s book I liked because she told the people who worked for him. There was a lot of McCoys who worked for him, too.

Have you read John Ed Pearce’s book about feuds in eastern Kentucky? I think he was unfair to Devil Anse.

Well, maybe he had ties to the McCoys or something.

I think Cap and Uncle Jim Vance are the two who…

They were the instigators.

Devil Anse, he really didn’t…

He wasn’t in the major things. If you notice, all the incidents that happen, he wasn’t there. But Uncle Jim and Cap were. So I think they kind of pushed it and Frank Phillips pushed it on the other side. Frank Phillips was the type of man who would kill you for fifty cents bounty. He was a bounty hunter. Back at that time, five dollars was a big bounty. They had a five-hundred-dollar bounty on Grandpa and Johnse’s head back in 1887. Usually like Jesse James and them, theirs didn’t go over one hundred dollars.

Was that in Kentucky?

Uh huh, right.

I’m hoping someone will link all of these historical sites together…

Well, that’s what they’re trying to do out in Pikeville but Logan County is not interested in it. There’s no driving force behind it, more or less. I was reading in the paper where the county commission was talking about taking over the cemetery, but it won’t do no good unless they clean it up and fix it so people can get up there. There’s a lot of people who can’t walk up the hill. And we need a road and a bridge up through there so people can get up there.

I was told the Cap Hatfield cemetery is not supposed to be visited. Is that true?

I don’t know. Neighborhood people go up in there so I really don’t know.

How would you describe his ‘set’ of the family?

They were more private people. They didn’t mix with the public like… Well now, Henry’s father [Tennis] was always in the public so I think it just come naturally for his children to be that way, too.

Harry S. Gay for House of Delegates (1928)

20 Saturday Apr 2019

Posted by in Coal, Logan

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Harry Gay, First Republican House Member from Logan LB 11.05.1926 3.JPG

Logan (WV) Banner, 2 March 1928. “Logan County’s popular member of the House of Delegates who is being urged to accept renomination by the Republicans for that post, despite his own inclination to quit politics.” Later on November 5: “To be the first person to ship coal from Logan county has always been quite an honor for Harry S. Gay, Jr., but to be selected, 23 years later, as its first Republican representative in the legislature is a fitting tribute to his popularity. Mr. Gay’s race was not quite so easy, though. He was opposed by a very popular Democrat, and many of the large coal companies fought him bitterly. The fact that he is a coal operator caused some to feel that he could not carry the labor vote, but besides his own mining precinct and all bordering precincts his labor vote totals compared very favorably with Mr. Turley’s.”

Democratic Party Intimidation in Logan County, WV (1924)

15 Saturday Dec 2018

Posted by in Coal, Logan

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Political history for Logan County, West Virginia, during the 1920s was particularly eventful; it included the latter years of Sheriff Don Chafin’s rule, the Mine Wars (“armed march”), Republican Party ascendancy, and the rise of Republican sheriffs Tennis and Joe Hatfield. What follows are selected primary source documents relating to this period:

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,

HUNTINGTON DIVISION

Before the undersigned authority, Ira P. Hager, a United States Commissioner in and for said District, personally appeared this day Sam Logan, who after being by me first duly sworn, says: That affiant was on the election ground at Mud Fork on election day November 4th, 1924, but did not see Don Chafin assault Hugh Deskins, Deputy Marshal, affiant being around on the other side of the school building; but affiant heard a commotion and heard the people say Don had hit some one, and saw the crowd gather around Hugh Deskins and Don, and I heard Don say, “If you don’t like that I will give you some more of it,” and followed him around and the Deputy Marshal was retreating from the said Don Chafin.

About a minute later the said Hugh Deskins deputized affiant as a Special Deputy Marshal to help keep order and handed affiant a pistol, and Don came up immediately and arrested affiant. He said, “Have you got a right to carry a gun?” I said, “Yes, I guess so,” and he said, “Show me your right,” and I said, “I was deputized by the Deputy Marshal,” and he reached and grabbed my gun from under my belt and said, “Come on and go to Logan,” and took me over to the automobile and told Randolph Dial, deputy sheriff to take me to jail. They locked me up in the Logan County jail and kept me from about 9:30 A.M. until about 7 or 8 o’clock next day. They kangarooed affiant while he was in jail and made affiant pay the prisoners $2.00 in money. Randolph Dial brought us out next morning and stayed with us on the corner at the First National Bank and said, “You fellows can go ahead now and we will notify you when we get ready for trial.” I heard Keenus Mounts cursing George Loggins on the election ground in the presence of a number of ladies.

Sam Logan (signature)

Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 10th day of November, 1924.

Ira P. Hager

United States Commissioner as aforesaid.

***

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,

HUNTINGTON DIVISION

Before the undersigned authority, Ira P. Hager, a United States Commissioner in and for said District, personally appeared this day Anthony Mullins and Surrilda Mullins, who after being by me first duly sworn, depose and say that they voted straight Republican tickets at the Mud Fork Precinct, in Logan County, November 4th, 1924, having voted open, on the table, in the presence of Walter Queen and the other election officers. That as affiant went out at the door of the election room after voting the said Walter Queen made insulting remarks to affiants indicating that affiants smelt bad to him. That after the fight affiant was deputized by the Marshal, but Jean Thompson told affiant not to take a tun.

Affiants further say that they saw Hugh Deskins, Deputy U.S. Marshal, standing on the ground and he was simply standing there, and had done nothing to any person, so far as affiants could see, or hear, when Don Chafin walked up and struck him on the head, or about the face. The Deputy Marshal backed away from the said Don Chafin, and the said Don Chafin followed him up, making some remarks to him, saying, “Have you got enough? If you haven’t, I will give you some more,” or words to that effect and called him a snurl. There were four in the room when we voted.

Anthony Mullins (signature)

Suralda Mullins (signature)

Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 10th day of November, A.D., 1924.

Ira P. Hager

United States Commissioner as aforesaid.

***

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,

HUNTINGTON DIVISION

Before the undersigned authority this day personally came Charley Harris and Ivie Harris, who after being by me first duly sworn, says:

That the said Charley Harris has been employed by the coal company at Yolyn. That affiants supported the Republican Ticket in the election. That prior to the election, Superintendent Butler came to affiant and told affiant that he wanted them to vote and support them. That affiant told them “he could not do that.” That affiants were “straight Republicans.” Dow Chambers came down today and said, “Say boy, how did you vote?” and I told him, “I voted Republican,” and he said, “You will have to move.” Two foreigners were standing by, and one of them was claiming that the other owed him two dollars for a board bill, and the said Dow Chambers hauled off and struck the other twice on the nose, and the blood squirted from his nose. I said, “Gee whiz.” He turned to me and said to me, “What have you to do with it?” and I said, “Nothing,” and he said, “You God Damned black son-of-a-bitch, I will kill you,” and he struck at me and came down off the store porch and went home. This happened about three o’clock today.

Mr. Butler, the superintendent, gave me my time today and said to me, “I am going to fire all who did not vote the Democratic ticket.” he told them to “settle with me” and that he would have to have the house.

Affiants are going to Monaville to try to get work, or may go to Lorado.

Down Chambers is supposed to be a thug or Deputy Sheriff. At any rate, he is a thug.

Ivie Harris (signature)

Charlie Harris (signature)

Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 10th day of November, 1924.

Ira P. Hager

United States Commissioner as aforesaid.

Harrison Blair Was Early Sheriff in Logan County, WV (1937)

12 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by in American Revolutionary War, Battle of Blair Mountain, Logan, Williamson

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From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about Harrison Blair, an early sheriff in Logan County, WV:

Harrison Blair Was First Democrat Sheriff In Logan

Son of Namesake Of Town Of Blair Served Shortly After Civil War; Democrats Held Office Continuously Until 1924

Harrison Blair Appointed Sheriff 1.JPG

John Blair, namesake of the little mining town which nestles at the foot of Blair Mountain on the headwaters of Laurel Fork, was the father of Logan county’s first Democratic sheriff.

He was a native of Powells Valley in Virginia and first settled just above the present site of Williamson. He married Polly Baisden and later settled near his father-in-law, Jean Schmidt Baisden, at the Mouth of Laurel.

Blair died in 1860 after rearing a family of three sons and three daughters. His son, Harrison, was Logan county’s first Democratic sheriff after the Civil War.

Harrison was married twice. He first married a Miss Johnson and later a Miss Chafin. His brothers Anderson and Joe married McCoy sisters and made their home near their brother and father on Laurel Fork.

Jean Schmidt Baisden, father-in-law to John Blair, was one of the first settlers at the Mouth of Laurel. He came with Lafayette to America and served under him during the Revolution.

After the war he located at Richmond, Va., and then moved to Reeds Island, New York, where he married a Miss Burnham. At the beginning of the 19th century he moved to the mouth of Laurel and reared a family.

He had three sons and two daughters. His sons were Joseph, who married Lucinda Osborne; Solomon, who married Mary Chafin; and Edward, who married Susan Bennett.

His daughters were Polly, who married Harrison Blair; and Frances, who married Thomas Copley.

John Blair’s daughters were Mahulda, who married Anderson Dempsey; Chlorina, who married John McCoy; and Rhoda, who married Moses Parsley.

The Blairs and Baisdens are a well-known family on the Laurel Fork side of Blair Mountain, though few have crossed the divide and settled on the Guyan river watershed.

Early county history has it that the Blairs were active politically in the county following the Civil War, but no definite facts can be found of individuals holding any official position other than Harrison, who was the first of a long line of Democratic sheriffs, which ruled the county up until 1924, when the Republicans broke the power of Democrats and began their regime which ended in 1932.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 4 May 1937.

Democratic Party Intimidation in Logan County, WV (1924)

10 Saturday Nov 2018

Posted by in Logan

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Political history for Logan County, West Virginia, during the 1920s was particularly eventful; it included the latter years of Sheriff Don Chafin’s rule, the Mine Wars (“armed march”), Republican Party ascendancy, and the rise of Republican sheriffs Tennis and Joe Hatfield. What follows are selected primary source documents relating to this period:

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,

HUNTINGTON DIVISION

BEFORE THE UNDERSIGNED authority, Ira P. Hager, a United States Commissioner in and for said District, personally appeared this day, Nannie Pack, who after being by me first duly sworn, deposes and says:

That she was standing on the election ground at Mud Fork Precinct, Logan County, election day, November 4th, 1924, and saw Don Chafin, Sheriff of Logan County there. That Pat Adkins was standing on the ground, waiting to vote, and affiant saw the said Don Chafin take hold of the said Pat Adkins and shove him, saying, “Go on in,” and repeated it, “Go on in,” and shoved the said Pat Adkins toward the election room door. That he turned immediately and ran toward Hugh Deskins, Deputy Marshal, who was standing near by, and said, “What are you doing here, you cock-eyed son-of-a-bitch?” That he slapped the said Hugh Deskins, Deputy Marshal. That he then followed the said Deputy Marshal around on the ground, saying, “Have you had enough? Have you had enough?”

That they put affiant’s husband, George Pack, in jail on November 1st, 1924, and affiant went to Jay Elkins and George Thompson to ask them to go the bond of affiant’s husband. This was on Saturday, November 1st, 1924. That they declined and refused to do it, and affiant went home. That John Roberts followed affiant and said, “If you will vote our way, we will sure go this evening and get your husband out.” Then he said, “Unless you do that, we will not get him out and he will not get out.” The same day Thompson and Elkins refused to go my husband’s bond. They hunted me up while I was on the Dempsey Branch and told affiant that “if I would vote Democratic, and talk to my children and have them vote Democratic, that they would see that my husband got bond and got out.”

Nannie Pack (her mark)

Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 10th day of November, A.D., 1924.

Ira P. Hager

United States Commissioner as aforesaid.

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,

HUNTINGTON DIVISION

BEFORE THE UNDERSIGNED AUTHORITY, this day personally came, C.L. BRADLEY, who after being by me first duly sworn, says: That he was on the election grounds at the Mud Fork Precinct on election day, November 4th, 1924, and affiant saw Don Chafin, sheriff of Logan County strike Hugh Deskins, Deputy Marshal on the head or face. I saw Don follow him up after he had hit him and I heard him say, “How did you like that?” and if “he did not like it he could give him more of it, or oodles of it,” or words to that effect.

When Don Chafin was after Hugh Deskins, Pat Murphy, supposed to be a Deputy Sheriff, was acting like he was about to pull his gun from his pocket. He pulled it part way out of his pocket.

C.L. Bradley

Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me, the undersigned authority, this the 10th day of November, 1924.

Ira P. Hager

U.S. Commissioner as aforesaid

Appeared 1-13-25