• About

Brandon Ray Kirk

~ This site is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and promotion of history and culture in my section of Appalachia.

Brandon Ray Kirk

Tag Archives: Sid Hatfield

C.E. Lively Arrested in Stirrat (1925)

06 Friday Nov 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Huntington, Logan, Matewan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, C.E. Lively, Charles Lester, crime, Ed Chambers, Huntington, Ira P. Hager, Logan Banner, Logan County, McDowell County, Mine Wars, Mingo County, Sid Hatfield, Stirrat, Welch, West Virginia, YMCA

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, in a story printed on January 30, 1925, comes this bit of history for C.E. Lively:

CENTRAL FIGURE OF FAMOUS CASES ARRESTED HERE

C.E. Lively, Prominent In Mingo and McDowell County Murder Cases, Arrested By Local Officers and Held for Federal Court

PLACED UNDER $10,000 BAIL

C.E. Lively, who has attained considerable notoriety in this section of West Virginia, was arraigned before U.S. Commissioner Ira P. Hager Tuesday on a charge of possession of liquor and held under bonds in the amount of $10,000 for appearance in the federal court in Huntington.

Officials had been aware that Lively was making headquarters in the Y.M.C.A. at Stirrat, posing under the name of Charles Lester and were very curious as to his activities. It was said, upon what appeared authentic authority, that he was making a number of inquiries of various citizens and those who were acquainted with his previous history were curious and apprehensive as to his objects.

Monday deputy marshals descended upon him in his room in the Y.M.C.A. at Stirratt and confiscated a bottle said to contain a quantity of corn liquor. The room was occupied by another man, who was working in the mines. It developed that this man had left the room early in the morning and had not returned. That when the maid gave attention to the room and made the beds, no liquor was in evidence, but about ten o’clock when the officers paid their visit, the liquor was found in the bed occupied by the other man, but Lively was the only occupant of the room and he was placed under arrest. The baggage in the room was thoroughly searched and a number of letters, alleged to be the property of Lively, were taken charge of by the officers.

Lively gave the name of Charles Lester when arrested, but admitted his identity as Lively when confronted by citizens who knew him well. At the hearing he closely examined the witnesses who appeared against him and objected strenuously to the heavy bail under which he was placed, claiming it was out of reason for the charge on which he had been arraigned.

Commissioner Hager questioned the prisoner closely and frankly informed him that suspicions had been around concerning him and his activities in this section, and officers admitted that a determined effort would be made to uncover the purpose of his activities and the interests back thereof.

Lively was connected with the famous Baldwin-Felts detective agency for a number of years and was decidedly active in this part of the state. He was considered the star witness in the famous murder trials in Mingo county some time ago, and was arrested in connection with the killing of Sid Hatfield and Chambers at the court house in Welch. He gained considerable notoriety as the result of his activities in these and cases, and suspicions seem to be aroused wherever he makes his appearance.

He told Commissioner Hager that the reason he had came to Logan county and was staying at Stirrat was a desire on his part to avoid trouble in that section of the state where he made his home and had acquired considerable of his notoriety.

Recollections of Harry Berman of Williamson, WV (1978)

31 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Coal, Matewan, Williamson

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Appalachia, Baldwin-Felts Agency, Bluefield, Cabell Testerman, Carleton Starr, Chambers Hardware Store, chief of police, Clara Berman, coal, crime, Harry Berman, history, Matewan, mayor, Mine Wars, Mingo County, Sid Hatfield, teacher, United Mine Workers of America, Welch, West Virginia, Williamson

On December 2, 1978, Harry Berman of Williamson, Mingo County, West Virginia, recalled the Matewan Massacre of May 19, 1920:

When do you remember that the union… What do you remember about the organization of the unions?

Well, that was in Matewan. I was at the age of about thirteen years old at that time. That was about 1915, I’d say. This was concerning the miners there, about a strike. They all got together and so they went on a strike, and the company has ordered the people that went on a strike. The company has ordered them to vacate their homes.

That was the company houses?

That was the company houses. The miners at that time, they didn’t approve of it and so they began to gather around. So they got Baldwin-Felts men in there. There as about twelve of them from Bluefield, West Virginia. So they came in on that midnight train that comes through there about twelve.

The Baldwin-Felts gang was a gang that broke the unions. They traveled all over the state or throughout the coalfields breaking the unions.

Well, they were trying to break the union at that time, but these twelve men were sent in here from Bluefield and they came in on the twelve o’clock train and they went over to the hotel. They spent the night there and the next morning they got up and out and they vacated more houses for these men. This kindly upset the union men at that time. So anyway then when after all that was all done they all went back again to the hotel, and so they packed their bags. Unfortunately, what they done, they took their rifles, they took them apart, and they packed them on the inside of their bags and some of them packed them on the outside of their bags.

In other words, they were going to show that they were leaving in peace?

Yeah.

After vacating people from their company houses?

Yeah. That was about the time… Let’s see, the train comes through there, that Number 16, it comes through there about five o’clock in the evening. So they all came to the station at that time. When they all got to the station, all the union men–there must have been at least 100 of them–all gathered around them.  You know, as they came to the station. Well, I was standing there in front of the door, in front of my father’s store there at that time, and watched all these people coming to the station. So, they all went the other way–that was Chambers Hardware at that time–they went toward Chambers Hardware. When they all got there, they all bunched together.

Was that the union men bunching together?

That was the union men that bunched together there around the Baldwin-Felts men, because I don’t think the Baldwin-Felts men suspected anything at all. If they did, they would have went there with their rifles, see.

In other words, you think they were surprised with an ambush?

Yeah, they were surprised. It took them by surprise.

The whole, as I understand it, the whole Baldwin gang was shot on the platform as they were getting ready to board the train?

Well, before the train came in. That was about maybe fifteen minutes before the train came in through there, see. So the mayor of the town was Testerman. He went along with them to the Baldwin-Felts men down in there and also with the union men and they all bunched around Chambers Hardware Store. Then the chief of police–he was also in the crowd, too. Just for the curiosity I went right along with them. Sid Hatfield, I knew him pretty well. So when he was standing there with Testerman, which is the mayor. Facing one another, I was standing about maybe two feet in the back of Sid Hatfield, and all at once there was a shot fired and I think he was the one who put a bullet through Testerman.

The mayor?

Yeah. The mayor. And then that was what started all this shooting. So the first thing I knew I got scared and I beat it back to the store again, see, and while I was going back to the store there was one man laying across the broadwalk. At that time there wasn’t any…

Boards for a sidewalk?

Yeah. The boards were made out of sidewalks. One was scattered there. One was laying here, one was over there. And the first thing you know, then they began to get out and try to get away from them, if they could, you know, see. But the first thing I knew, there must have been at least maybe about eight or ten of them laying around on the ground there.

Bullets went over your head. Remember the bullets that were shot over your head?

Oh, there was bullets everywhere at that time. I really do recall that. That’s a fact. Then after Sixteen came in, the union men, the conductor got off. Which he was a tough conductor, too, he was. They called him McCullock. A captain McCullock at that time. So he got off of the train and he wanted to know what it was all about. And then union men all went into the train. When all the passengers on the train came off you know, the union men went in there and they were searching the train because they figured that some of these detectives stopped Sixteen down there just on this side of the tunnel. To see if any did get on there. Because they said there was about…

In other words, they expected more of the gang to come in?

No. Some of these that did get away from the union men… They thought about two or three of them went down toward the tunnel to stop the train to get on. So that’s what they expected, you know.

The union breakers?

Yeah, the union breakers, and so when the train came in to the station they rushed into the train and they looked all through the compartments. Under the seats and everywhere and there wasn’t no union men on there.

Strike breakers?

Yeah. There wasn’t any detectives on there at all. In the meantime, I think there was about maybe one got away, from what I understand. He was hid in a coal pile. Mrs. Hoskins, a school teacher, hid him in a coal pile and she didn’t say anything about him at all. She must have felt sorry for him or something. And I think he got away. He really did… He got away, from what I understand. So that was it and so when Sixteen came in they put Testerman on the baggage car and before he got to Welch he died.

They killed him.

Yeah. Well, they killed him, naturally.

In other words, he left here alive but they killed him before he got to the hospital?

Yeah. He died in the baggage car. Testerman died in the baggage car.

But the chief of police’s family killed him because the chief of police had been shot?

No. The chief of police wasn’t shot. Let’s get it straight. The mayor is the one who got shot. The chief of police is the one who shot the mayor.

Buskirk Cemetery at Buskirk, KY (2015)

09 Tuesday Oct 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Cemeteries, Coal, Culture of Honor, Matewan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Appalachia, Baldwin-Felts Agency, Brandon Kirk, Buskirk, Buskirk Cemetery, Cable Testerman, cemeteries, Ed Chambers, genealogy, history, Kentucky, Matewan, Matewan Massacre, mayor, McDowell County, Mine Wars, Phyllis Kirk, Pike County, Sid Hatfield, Welch, West Virginia

IMG_1872

Partial view of the Buskirk Cemetery in Buskirk, Pike County, KY. 16 May 2015.

IMG_1873

Sid Hatfield grave (left) and Cable Testerman grave (right). Note gap between the headstones.. After Cable’s death, Sid married his widow. Was the burial spot between the two men reserved for her? 16 May 2015. https://yesteryearsnews.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/married-the-man-who-killed-her-husband-and-then/

IMG_3189

Sid Hatfield headstone, Buskirk Cemetery, Buskirk, KY. Sid was chief of police in Matewan, WV. 16 May 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnHY7HHPhCw

IMG_3190

Sid Hatfield headstone, Buskirk Cemetery, Buskirk, KY. After his murder, labor activists fashioned a mythical Sid Hatfield. The real Sid Hatfield has been largely lost to history. 16 May 2015. https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/282

IMG_3191

“Defender of the Rights of Working People”…? 16 May 2015.

IMG_3193

Cable Testerman headstone, Buskirk Cemetery, Buskirk, KY. Mayor Testerman was shot and killed in the Matewan Massacre. 16 May 2015.

IMG_1870

Ed Chambers headstone, Buskirk Cemetery, Buskirk, KY. Chambers and Hatfield were murdered at Welch, WV. 3000 people reportedly attended their funerals. 16 May 2015.

IMG_3225

Fun day! Buskirk Cemetery, Buskirk, KY. 16 May 2015. Photo by Mom.

Hatfield-McCoy Reunion Festival at Matewan, WV (2018)

22 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Coal, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Lincoln County Feud, Matewan

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Appalachia, art, Blood in West Virginia, Bob Hatfield, Brandon Kirk, Buskirk and Hamilton, Devil Anse Hatfield, Green McCoy, Hatfield-McCoy Reunion Festival, history, Kentucky, Lincoln County Feud, Lisha Breeding, Louisa Mullins, Matewan, Matewan Depot, Mine Wars, Mingo County, Norfolk and Southern Railroad, Phyllis Kirk, Pike County, Randy Marcum, Sid Hatfield, Thacker, West Virginia, West Virginia Division of Culture and History

On June 15-16, 2018, the town of Matewan, WV, hosted the Hatfield-McCoy Reunion Festival. Matewan Depot hosted us for a book event. THANK YOU, Matewan Depot!

IMG_5591

Matewan Depot is a must-see destination! NOTE: For more information about the town and depot, please follow this link: http://www.historicmatewan.com/

IMG_2614

Here is a photo of our revamped Lincoln County Feud display at the Hatfield-McCoy Reunion Festival. Green McCoy, a Pike County (Ky.) McCoy, participated in the Lincoln feud; Bob Hatfield, son of Anse, married Louisa Mullins, a Lincoln feudist. 15 June 2018.

IMG_2690

Green McCoy’s great-niece Lisha Breeding made my day when she visited the Lincoln County Feud exhibit. 16 June 2018. Photo by Mom.

IMG_2687

We met nice people and sold copies of the book at the Hatfield-McCoy Reunion Festival. All proceeds were donated to the depot, which I greatly SUPPORT — it’s a significant asset that promotes regional history and tourism. 16 June 2018. Photo by Randy Marcum.

IMG_2635

The Matewan Depot features a free museum. The museum offers historical items related to town history, the Hatfield-McCoy Feud, the Norfolk & Southern Railroad, and the Mine Wars. 15 June 2018.

IMG_2636

Sid Hatfield gun with accompanying documentation. 15 June 2018.

IMG_2681

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History showcased a Hatfield-McCoy exhibit at the Hatfield-McCoy Reunion Festival. 16 June 2018.

IMG_2677

Some of the many artifacts located inside of the Matewan Depot. 16 June 2018.

IMG_9704.JPG

The depot features a worthy selection of books and other items related to regional history and culture. This photo shows a sample of books: t-shirts, stickers, videos, art, and many other items can also be found here. If you visit, be sure to take a peak at my book, “Blood in West Virginia: Brumfield v. McCoy.” May 2018.

Sid Hatfield Shot to Death (1921)

07 Thursday Sep 2017

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Coal

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Appalachia, Buster Pence, C.E. Lively, C.J. Van Fleet, Charleston, Charley Guthrie, deputy sheriff, Ed Chambers, G.L. Counts, Greenbrier County, H.H. Lucas, history, Matewan, McDowell County, Mercer County, Mingo County, Robert Day, Sid Hatfield, Welch, West Virginia, William Salter, Williamson

Sid Hatfield Shot to Death LB 08.05.1921 1Sid Hatfield Shot to Death LB 08.05.1921 4Sid Hatfield Shot to Death LB 08.05.1921 5

Sid Hatfield Shot to Death LB 08.05.1921 6

Logan (WV) Banner, 5 August 1921.

Matewan Massacre Historical Marker (2008)

05 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Sandy Valley, Coal, Matewan

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Baldwin-Felts Agency, Bluefield, Cabell Testerman, coal, crime, culture, life, Matewan, photos, Sid Hatfield, United Mine Workers of America, West Virginia

Matewan Massacre

Historical marker at Matewan, Mingo County, West Virginia, 2008.

Feud Poll 1

If you had lived in the Harts Creek community during the 1880s, to which faction of feudists might you have given your loyalty?

Categories

  • Adkins Mill
  • African American History
  • American Revolutionary War
  • Ashland
  • Atenville
  • Banco
  • Barboursville
  • Battle of Blair Mountain
  • Beech Creek
  • Big Creek
  • Big Harts Creek
  • Big Sandy Valley
  • Big Ugly Creek
  • Boone County
  • Breeden
  • Calhoun County
  • Cemeteries
  • Chapmanville
  • Civil War
  • Clay County
  • Clothier
  • Coal
  • Cove Gap
  • Crawley Creek
  • Culture of Honor
  • Dingess
  • Dollie
  • Dunlow
  • East Lynn
  • Ed Haley
  • Eden Park
  • Enslow
  • Estep
  • Ferrellsburg
  • Fourteen
  • French-Eversole Feud
  • Gilbert
  • Giles County
  • Gill
  • Green Shoal
  • Guyandotte River
  • Halcyon
  • Hamlin
  • Harts
  • Hatfield-McCoy Feud
  • Holden
  • Hungarian-American History
  • Huntington
  • Inez
  • Irish-Americans
  • Italian American History
  • Jamboree
  • Jewish History
  • John Hartford
  • Kermit
  • Kiahsville
  • Kitchen
  • Leet
  • Lincoln County Feud
  • Little Harts Creek
  • Logan
  • Man
  • Matewan
  • Meador
  • Midkiff
  • Monroe County
  • Montgomery County
  • Music
  • Native American History
  • Pearl Adkins Diary
  • Pecks Mill
  • Peter Creek
  • Pikeville
  • Pilgrim
  • Poetry
  • Queens Ridge
  • Ranger
  • Rector
  • Roane County
  • Rowan County Feud
  • Salt Rock
  • Sand Creek
  • Shively
  • Spears
  • Sports
  • Spottswood
  • Spurlockville
  • Stiltner
  • Stone Branch
  • Tazewell County
  • Timber
  • Tom Dula
  • Toney
  • Turner-Howard Feud
  • Twelve Pole Creek
  • Uncategorized
  • Warren
  • Wayne
  • West Hamlin
  • Wewanta
  • Wharncliffe
  • Whirlwind
  • Williamson
  • Women's History
  • World War I
  • Wyoming County
  • Yantus

Feud Poll 2

Do you think Milt Haley and Green McCoy committed the ambush on Al and Hollene Brumfield in 1889?

Blogroll

  • Ancestry.com
  • Appalachian History Article
  • Ashland (KY) Daily Independent News Article
  • Author FB page
  • Beckley (WV) Register-Herald News Article
  • Beyond.com
  • Big Sandy News (KY) News Article
  • Blood in West Virginia FB
  • Blood in West Virginia order
  • branded.me
  • Chapters TV Program
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Herald-Dispatch News Article 1
  • Herald-Dispatch News Article 2
  • Lincoln (WV) Journal News Article
  • Lincoln (WV) Journal Thumbs Up
  • Lincoln County
  • Lincoln County Feud
  • Lincoln County Feud Lecture
  • LinkedIn
  • Logan (WV) Banner News Article
  • Lunch With Books
  • Our Overmountain Men: The Revolutionary War in Western Virginia (1775-1783)
  • Pinterest
  • Scarborough Society's Art and Lecture Series
  • Smithsonian Article
  • Spirit of Jefferson News Article
  • The Friendly Neighbor Radio Show 1
  • The Friendly Neighbor Radio Show 2
  • The Friendly Neighbor Radio Show 3
  • The Friendly Neighbor Radio Show 4
  • The New Yorker
  • The State Journal's 55 Good Things About WV
  • tumblr.
  • Twitter
  • Website
  • Weirton (WV) Daily Times Article
  • Wheeling (WV) Intelligencer News Article 1
  • Wheeling (WV) Intelligencer News Article 2
  • WOWK TV
  • Writers Can Read Open Mic Night

Feud Poll 3

Who do you think organized the ambush of Al and Hollene Brumfield in 1889?

Recent Posts

  • McCoy Property in Magnolia District (1866-1870)
  • Aly Hatfield Survey (1849)
  • Absentee Landowners of Magnolia District (1870, 1886, 1889)

Ed Haley Poll 1

What do you think caused Ed Haley to lose his sight when he was three years old?

Top Posts & Pages

  • About
  • Tom Dula: Caldwell County, NC (2020)
  • Jewish History for Logan, WV (1923)
  • Civil War in the Kanawha Valley: Ruffner Memorial Park (2019)
  • Hatfield-McCoy Feud: Tom "Guerilla" Mitchell grave at Meador, WV (2019)

Copyright

© Brandon Ray Kirk and brandonraykirk.wordpress.com, 1987-2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Brandon Ray Kirk and brandonraykirk.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Archives

  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,696 other followers

Tags

Appalachia Ashland Big Creek Big Ugly Creek Blood in West Virginia Brandon Kirk Cabell County cemeteries Chapmanville Charleston civil war coal Confederate Army crime culture Ed Haley Ella Haley Ferrellsburg feud fiddler fiddling genealogy Green McCoy Guyandotte River Harts Harts Creek Hatfield-McCoy Feud history Huntington John Hartford Kentucky Lawrence Haley life Lincoln County Lincoln County Feud Logan Logan Banner Logan County Milt Haley Mingo County music Ohio photos timbering U.S. South Virginia Wayne County West Virginia Whirlwind writing

Blogs I Follow

  • OtterTales
  • Our Appalachia: A Blog Created by Students of Southern West Virginia CTC
  • Piedmont Trails
  • Truman Capote
  • Appalachian Diaspora

BLOOD IN WEST VIRGINIA is now available for order at Amazon!

Blog at WordPress.com.

OtterTales

Writings from my travels and experiences. High and fine literature is wine, and mine is only water; but everybody likes water. Mark Twain

Our Appalachia: A Blog Created by Students of Southern West Virginia CTC

This site is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and promotion of history and culture in Appalachia.

Piedmont Trails

Genealogy and History in North Carolina and Beyond

Truman Capote

A site about one of the most beautiful, interesting, tallented, outrageous and colorful personalities of the 20th Century

Appalachian Diaspora

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×