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Brandon Ray Kirk

Tag Archives: Wayne

Map: Southwestern West Virginia (1918-1919)

08 Thursday Dec 2022

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Atenville, Banco, Beech Creek, Big Creek, Big Harts Creek, Big Sandy Valley, Big Ugly Creek, Boone County, Breeden, Chapmanville, Clothier, Cove Gap, Crawley Creek, Dingess, Dunlow, East Lynn, Enslow, Ferrellsburg, Fourteen, Gilbert, Gill, Green Shoal, Guyandotte River, Halcyon, Hamlin, Harts, Holden, Kermit, Kiahsville, Kitchen, Leet, Little Harts Creek, Logan, Man, Matewan, Meador, Midkiff, Pecks Mill, Peter Creek, Queens Ridge, Ranger, Rector, Sand Creek, Spurlockville, Stiltner, Stone Branch, Toney, Twelve Pole Creek, Wayne, West Hamlin, Wewanta, Wharncliffe, Whirlwind, Williamson, Wyoming County, Yantus

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Appalachia, Big Sandy River, Boone County, Guyandotte River, Hamlin, history, Lincoln County, Logan, Logan County, Madison, map, maps, McDowell County, Mingo County, Pineville, Polk's State Gazetteer and Business Directory, Tug Fork, Twelve Pole Creek, Wayne, Wayne County, Welch, West Virginia, Williamson, Wyoming County

West Virginia State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1918-1919, published by R.L. Polk and Company.

John B. Wilkinson of Logan, WV (1928)

05 Monday Dec 2022

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan, Wayne

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Alderson-Wilkinson Land Company, Appalachia, Ashburn, attorney, Big Huff Coal Company, California, Carroll County, Cincinnati, David Wilkinson, Ernest Eugene Wilkinson, First Baptist Church, genealogy, Guyan Coal Company, Guyan Valley Bank, Guyandotte Valley, history, Hollywood, John B. Wilkinson, John B. Wilkinson Jr., Knights Templar, lawyer, Logan, Logan County, Margaret Midyette, Mary Belle Straton, Mingo County, Mona Coal Company, Mona Russo, Mystic Shrine, prosecuting attorney, Robertson Consolidated Land Company, Robertson Grocery Company, San Diego, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Virginia, Wayne, West Virginia, West Virginia Biographical Association

From West Virginians, published by the West Virginia Biographical Association in 1928, comes this profile of Judge John B. Wilkinson of Logan, WV:

The Honorable John B. Wilkinson, who died August 12, 1919, at Logan, where he had long been a foremost citizen, held rank among the best known and most successful lawyers and jurists in West Virginia. In business likewise Judge Wilkinson enjoyed a distinguished success. One of the leaders in the early development of the coal industry in the Guyan Valley, his position at the time of his death was among the great figures in business and industry. He was treasurer of the Guyan Coal Company, the Mona Coal Company, the Robertson Consolidated Land Company and the Alderson-Wilkinson Land Company. He was president of the Big Huff Coal Company and a director of the Robertson Grocery Company. He was originally a director of the Guyan Valley Bank, but later disposed of his holdings in that institution. Throughout the state at large, however, his fame was earned chiefly by his work as a jurist. During twelve years on the bench of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, he was noted for his fairness, accuracy and knowledge of the law. The press of the whole state reported his passing at great length and with sincere regret that so valuable a personality had been lost to the community. Judge Wilkinson was born in Logan County, W.Va., February 13, 1860, the son of David Wilkinson, who had come from Carroll County, Va. He lived on a farm and attended school in that part of Logan County which afterward became Mingo County, coming to the then village of Logan Court House to attend a teachers’ institute and take an examination for a teacher’s certificate. He taught two or three local normal schools here and at Wayne. His legal career began in 1882, when he was admitted to the bar. He continued in the legal profession until his death in 1919. In 1884 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Logan County, which office he filled continuously till 1896. After an interval of four years he again assumed that office, in 1900, and served till January 1, 1905. Having been elected Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, he resigned as prosecutor and took his place on the circuit bench on the first of January, 1905, and remained as judge until failing health induced him to resign twelve years later. Several times Judge Wilkinson was urged to become his party’s candidate for Governor of the State, although he preferred not to accept that honor. In the summer of 1916 he was nominated for Judge of the Supreme Court of West Virginia. After leaving the office of circuit judge, the condition of his health inclined him to give up the practice of law and close his office, but many friends had learned to depend on him for legal counsel, and at their urging he continued in active practice until his death. Judge Wilkinson was married, September 21, 1882, to Mary Belle Straton of Logan, who survives him with their four children, John B., Jr., who resides at Ashburn, Va.; Ernest Eugene, of Cincinnati; Mrs. Mona Russo, of San Diego, Calif.; and Mrs. Margaret Midyette, of Hollywood, Calif. Judge Wilkinson was for a long time a member of the First Baptist Church of Logan, and a member of its board of deacons. He was a member of the Masonic Orders—the Knights Templar and the Mystic Shrine. Hundreds of people in West Virginia and neighboring states, although not personally acquainted with Judge Wilkinson, knew of his work as a jurist and his renown as a civic leader in general, so that at the time of his death, his passing elicited the sincere feeling that the state had lost one of its best and most constructive citizens.

Harts News 06.05.1925

23 Wednesday Dec 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Ashland, Hamlin, Harts, Huntington, Logan, Wayne

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Albert Adkins, Alva Koontz, Amon Ferguson, Annie Dingess, Appalachia, Ashland, attorney general, Bell Adkins, Bessie Adkins, Bob Brumfield, Bob Dingess, Brooke Adkins, Burl Farley, Cabell County, Caroline Brumfield, Cora Adkins, Decoration Day, Ed Brumfield, genealogy, Harts, Hazel Toney, Herb Adkins, history, Hollena Ferguson, Huntington, James Auxier Newman, Jessie Brumfield, Kentucky, Lace Marcum, Lincoln County, Logan, Mary Ann Farley, Nora Brumfield, Ora Dingess, Robert Hale, Ruby Adkins, Shelby Shelton, Toney Johnson, Verna Johnson, Wayne, Wayne County, Wesley Ferguson, West Virginia

An unnamed correspondent from Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on June 5, 1925:

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dingess of Logan spent Saturday and Sunday with her mother, Mrs. Chas. Brumfield at Harts.

Miss Cora Adkins was shopping in Logan Saturday.

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brumfield of Harts spent Decoration Day in Wayne county.

Mr. Edward Brumfield and Wesley Ferguson spent several days visiting friends and relatives at Wayne.

Attorney General Lace Marcum of Huntington has been visiting Chas. Brumfield and family at Harts.

Mr. and Mrs. Toney Johnson of Ashland, Ky., spent Decoration Day with Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Brumfield at this place.

Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Adkins has purchased them a fine new Studebaker car last week.

Miss Hazel Toney and Mr. Eplings of Huntington were calling on Miss Jessie Brumfield Sunday.

Misses Jessie Brumfield was shopping in Huntington Saturday.

Mr. James Auxier Newman a state road inspector of Huntington was the guest of Miss Jessie Brumfield Tuesday at Harts.

Mr. Robert Hale and Mrs. Hollena Ferguson were seen out car riding Monday evening.

Mr. Amon Ferguson, Ora Dingess, Bell Adkins were seen out car riding Sunday evening.

Mr. and Mrs. Burl Farley of Cabell County and Mr. and Mrs. Albert Adkins and daughter, Miss Ruby, of Hamlin were the guests of Mrs. Chas. Brumfield at Harts Sunday.

Mr. Alva Koontz of Huntington is out new State inspector this week in Harts.

Mr. and Mrs. Shelby Shelton and children of Huntington spent Decoration Day at Harts.

Wayne Courthouse (1921)

16 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Wayne

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Appalachia, history, Logan Banner, photos, Wayne, Wayne County, Wayne County Courthouse, Wayne County News, West Virginia

Wayne County (WV) News, 16 September 1971
Wayne Courthouse Burns, Logan (WV) Banner, 7 October 1921.

Wayne County Bank (1908)

23 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Twelve Pole Creek, Wayne

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Appalachia, history, photos, Wayne, Wayne County, Wayne County Bank, West Virginia

Wayne County Bank copyright.jpg

Wayne County Bank, Wayne, Wayne County, WV. 1908.

Queens Ridge News 03.02.1923

14 Tuesday May 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Creek, Coal, Queens Ridge

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Albert Queen, Appalachia, Arnold Workman, Big Creek, Charlie Tomblin, coal, Elmer Frazier, Emery Bryant, Eva Workman, farming, Francis Fork, Frank Mann, Garland Spry, genealogy, history, hunting, Jinks Mann, Kiahs Creek, Lincoln County, Logan Banner, Minnie Workman, Monroe Workman, Nancy Shepherd, Ocie Spry, Ora Mann, Queens Ridge, Silas Spry, Victoria Maynard, Virgie Mann, W.H. Tomblin, Wayne, Wayne County, Wayne Maynard, West Virginia, Wiley Queen, Woodrow Workman

A correspondent named “Mike and Ike” from Queen’s Ridge at Lincoln-Wayne counties, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on March 2, 1923:

Minnie and Eva Workman took dinner with Ora Mann Monday.

Garland Spry was rabbit hunting Sunday.

Minnie and Eva Workman made a flying trip to Francis Creek Sunday and back home Monday. They reported a good time.

Ora Mann and Eva Workman are going to the commencement exercise of Mrs. Victoria Maynard’s school next Wednesday.

W.H. Tomlin is grieving about his son Charlie, who is about to get married. He says if Charlie marries he is broke up.

Nancy Shepherd, who was reported sick a few weeks ago, is some better.

Virgie Mann was visiting friends on Francis Creek Sunday.

Minnie Workman is going to school every day. She says her school will soon close and she will go to Wayne to go to school.

A few weeks ago the farmers were thinking of planting corn. Now they are better satisfied sitting by the fire.

I wonder when Wayne Maynard is coming back home.

Arnold Workman has built a new chicken house. He says he can’t feed his poultry and chickens together.

Woodrow Workman got his fine coon dog caught in a trap. He says he will soon recover.

Frank Mann made a business trip to Big Creek Monday.

Wiley and Albert Queen were on our streets hauling coal last week.

Wonder where Silas Spry was Sunday? Guess he ran into a stump and bumped his nose and stumped his toes.

Elmer Frazier and his hat are getting along fine.

Emery Bryant was calling on Sallie Mann Sunday.

Jinks Mann is still going to see Ocie Spry every Sunday.

Little Monroe Workman is drawing a pension. He had his dog’s life insured and killed the dog to get the insurance.

NOTE: Geographically, Queens Ridge is located entirely in Wayne County but the post office area included a section of Lincoln (and Logan) County for a certain number of years.

Mariah (Vance) Adkins Obituary (1931)

06 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Harts Creek, Cemeteries, Lincoln County Feud, Stiltner, Women's History

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Abner Vance, Angeline Adams, Appalachia, Blood in West Virginia, Cain Adkins, Cain Adkins Jr., cemeteries, Community Memorial Gardens, Eliza Kelly, genealogy, Harts Creek, history, Jesse Nelson, Kenova, Lena Napier, Lick Creek, Lincoln County, Lincoln County Feud, Mariah Adkins, Mary Jane Jordan, Mittie Adkins, photos, Spicie Fry, Stiltner, Tams, Thomas Vaughan, Walton, Wayne, Wayne County, Wayne County News, West Fork, West Virginia, Williamson, Winchester Adkins

Mariah Adkins Obituary WCN 07.02.1931 1.JPG

Wayne County (WV) News, 2 July 1931. Mariah (Vance) Adkins was born on the West Fork of Harts Creek in present-day Lincoln County, WV. She married Canaan “Cain” Adkins, a preacher, teacher, doctor, and justice of the peace.

IMG_6738

Mariah Adkins grave at Community Memorial Gardens near Wayne, Wayne County, WV. 23 July 2016.

Island Creek Roads (1927)

19 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Boone County, Gilbert, Hamlin, Huntington, Logan, Ranger, West Hamlin, Wharncliffe

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Appalachia, Beech Creek, Ben Creek, Bluefield, Bluestone River, Bob Browning, Boone County, Bramwell, Cabell County, Charleston, Coal Valley News, Commissioner of Agriculture, Crum, Davy, Devil Anse Hatfield, farming, Gilbert, Gilbert Creek, ginseng, Griffithsville, Guyandotte River, Hamlin, history, Horsepen Creek, Huntington, Iaeger, Island Creek, John W. Smith, Kanawha River, Lincoln County, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, M.L. Jones, Mate Creek, Pigeon Creek, Ranger, Route 10, Route 2, Route 3, Sarepta Workman, Tug Fork, Twelve Pole Creek, Wayne, Welch, West Hamlin, West Virginia, West Virginia by Rail and Trail, West Virginia Hills, Williamson

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about Route 3 dated October 14, 1927:

“Changes Can Be Noted” In Island Creek Hills

Madison Editor Waxes Interesting on Old Times and Primitive Conditions–Surfaced Highways Mark the Paths Through Woodland That Were Traveled a Generation Ago.

An article of special interest to Logan folk is here reproduced from the Coal Valley News (Madison) of which M.L. Jones is editor. In a reminiscent mood he tells of road conditions and other conditions that prevailed hereabouts a generation ago. Exceptions might be taken to one or two statements, but the whole article is interesting indeed and informative.

It is considered appropriate that West Virginians should sing the “West Virginia Hills,” and year after year the teachers in their institution disturb their neighbors with this song, while “Tears of regret will intrusively swell.” There is some romance and merit in the song; but it strikes us that it is about time for a revision of this line.

“But no changes can be noticed in the West Virginia Hills.”

To prove our point we quote from memory.

For some years after 1882, there lived in the extreme head of the left fork of Island Creek, or Main Island Creek, a man named Bob Browning. It was 18 miles from Logan. The house was a two-room log cabin, surrounded by palings; and the valley was so narrow that it was difficult to find enough level ground for a garden. Apple trees and peach trees were scattered over a few acres of cleared mountain side. The family subsisted by a little farming, a little hunting and much ginsenging.

This place was between two low mountain gaps. A dim road, usable for wagons in dry weather, led down the creek to Logan, and forked at Browning’s house. One fork led east over one gap to Horsepen and Gilbert of Guyan; the other went west over the other gap to Pigeon creek, and by more or less roundabout ways connected with Ben Creek, Beech Creek, Mate Creek and Pigeon Creek, all of Tug river. Hence, it was a possible road route.

The nearest house down Island creek and on Horsepen creek was two miles; and on Pigeon creek about three-fourths of a mile. A wagon, lightly loaded, passed here on the average six times a year. Horsemen may have averaged one a day, though often a whole week passed without a traveler. It was simply a log shack in the head of the hollow, four miles from a school, ten miles from a store, without anything “which exalts and embellishes civilized life,” and so very remote from the haunts of men that when “Devil” Anse Hatfield and his followers concluded to surrender Tug river to Frank Phillips and the McCoys, they picked their “last stand” on Island creek, four miles below the spot we have been talking about.

Now, in the close of 1927, can “changes be noticed?” We have not been there for over 30 years. But we recently received a present from John W. Smith, commissioner of agriculture , Charleston, W.Va., entitled “West Virginia by Rail and Trail,” containing 22 maps and 174 pictures reproduced from photographs of different parts of the state, and for which we sincerely thank whoever got our name on Mr. Smith’s mailing list.

From this book we learn that when we laboriously trudged through the Horsepen gap or the Pigeon gap, from 45 to 35 years ago, we failed to foresee that within on generation men would pick those two gaps, within less than a miles of each other, as a route for one of West Virginia’s leading roads; and not only for one, but for two, of West Virginia’s leading roads. As we will explain:

Route 3, connects Huntington, Wayne, Crum, Williamson, Gilbert, Iaeger, Davy, Welch, Bramwell, and Bluefield. From Huntington to Wayne and about 15 miles above Wayne, it is mostly on the waters of Twelve Pole creek. It then bears west to Tug river and follows it from Crum to Williamson, about 25 miles. It then bears east to Pigeon Creek, which it follows to the spot we are writing about, in the head of Island creek, some 20 miles. It then goes through the two gaps and down Horsepen creek to Gilbert, on Guyan; up Guyan and Little Huff’s creek, of Guyan, and across the mountain to Iaeger, on Tug river. It then follows up Tug, by Welch, to the head of Elkhorn and then on the waters of Bluestone to Bluefield.

In all, Route 3 is in seven counties, though less than a mile of it is in Logan county, in the head of Island creek. It is graded all the way about 60 percent of it is hard surfaced, including about 25 miles at and near the Bob Browning place. Thus Bob, if alive, can ride on a hard surfaced road from his old home almost to Williamson, one way, and to Gilbert on Guyan the other way; and he could continue south by graded road, until he strikes hard surface again. The last fifty miles next to Bluefield is all hard surfaced, also the lower 25 miles next to Huntington.

But this is not the only big state route hitting this “head of the hollow.”

Route 10 runs from Huntington to the very same spot, a distance of 100 miles, through Cabell, Lincoln and Logan, and is all on Guyan or its tributaries. It is paved, or hard surfaced, from Huntington to West Hamlin, on Guyan where the Hamlin-Griffithsville hard-surfaced road turns off. It is also marked paved for seven miles north of Logan and twelve miles up Island creek. This leaves six miles up by the “Devil” Anse Hatfield place to the Bob Browning place to pave, and it is marked, “paved road under construction.” The only drawback to No. 10 is that from West Hamlin to Ranger is a patch where the grading is not yet satisfactory. Doubtless, within three years both 3 and 10 will be hard surfaced all the way. Even now, from the Browning place, the people can take their choice between an evening’s entertainment in Logan or Williamson.

But that is not all yet. The chances are heavy that there will never be but one hard surfaced road from Logan to Williamson. There will always be a heavy travel from Charleston to Williamson. It will be by our No. 2 to Logan; by No. 10 to the Browning place; and by No. 3 to Williamson. Within a few months it will all be hard surfaced.

From all this we conclude.

First; that we let a good chance slip when we failed to buy a half acre of land where No. 10 joints No. 3 for a hotel and filling station. We could have multiplied our investment by one thousand. But so far as we could see that spot was fit only to hold and the rest of the Earth’s surface together, and to get away from as rapidly as possible.

Second; that “changes can be noticed in the West Virginia Hills.”

We might add that thousands can remember crossing the Kanawha at Charleston on the ferry, because there was no bridge; and few, if any, three-story homes. The writer hereof did his first plowing with a two-horse turning plow in the center of what is now Huntington. It was a cornfield then. It is a fashionable residence district now. He boarded at an isolated log house on a hill back of the Huntington bottom, where now are miles of mansions on paved streets. Even in and about Madison and all over Boone county, it is hard for people to visualize how things looked a short ten years ago. Mrs. Sarepta Workman, on her recent visit to her old…

Whirlwind News 11.20.1914

17 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Harts Creek, Dingess, Whirlwind

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Appalachia, baseball, Bible school, Breeden, Buck Fork, Bulwark, Burlie Riddle, Charles Curry, Charleston, croup, David Tomblin, Dora Workman, Earsel Farley, Ethel Chafin, gambling, genealogy, Harts Creek, history, Jacob Alperin, James Baisden, James Mullins, John M. Adams, Julia Mullins, Logan Banner, Logan County, Mamie Adkins, McCloud School, merchant, Mingo County, Mose Tomblin Jr., Naaman Borders, Roxie Mullins, Thomas Carter, Tom Smith, W.J. Bachtel, Wayne, West Virginia, Whirlwind, Will Farley

An unknown correspondent from Whirlwind in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on November 14, 1914:

Forest fires have done considerable damage in this section recently.

Drs. Carter and Ratcliff were Whirlwind visitors one day the first of the week.

Mrs. James Baisden of Dingess died at her home Thursday, November 12th.

Miss Burlie Riddle was shopping at this place on Tuesday last.

Misses Julia and Roxie Mullins were Whirlwind visitors one day this week.

Miss Mamie Adkins was visiting at Uncle Tom Smith’s Friday.

W.J. Bachtel transacted business in Mingo county the first of the week.

T.J. Carter is on the sick list at this writing.

Mrs. David Tomblin of Buck Fork was here Wednesday.

J.M. Adams transacted business at Whirlwind Friday of last week.

Mose Tomblin, Jr., made a business trip to Bulwark Friday.

Jacob Alperin of Charleston was here on business one day recently.

Rev. N. Barber returned Sunday from a business trip to Mingo county.

Miss Ethel Chaffin of Wayne is visiting Naaman Borders at this place.

Little Earsel, the five-year-old child of Will Farley, took the croup last Saturday and died in a few hours. The bereaved ones have our sympathy.

Miss Dora Workman of this place visited relatives at Breeding last week.

The schools of this place taught by Mr. and Mrs. Borders are progressing nicely.

James Mullins, our prominent merchant, bought a fine span of mules recently.

Revs. Vance, Curry, and Border preached at McCloud school house Sunday.

The folks on Buck Fork have organized a Bible school, which all the folks are invited to take a part. That begins to look like the good people of that place are moving in the right way. If all our neighbors would do the same, our young men would find it even more interesting that the disgraceful card table or Sunday baseball. And I am sure it would do more to elevate our country. People are going to engage in something on Sunday, if it is things that are sinful. So let us interest them in something that is elevating and has a wholesome moral uplift. Where we have a Bible school or Sunday school we have a sort of round table in which all may have a say in the subject. There are a thousand and one things that are intensely interesting in the Good Old Book that many educated people are wholly ignorant of, and I am surprised to see so few school teachers that take such little interest in these things. How long will things be thus?

Now that the election is over and the lucky ones are happy and the unlucky ones have bid their loved ones at home goodbye and are on their way up the hated Salt River we wish the dear fellows all a safe voyage.

‘Lasses makin’ is over and the frost is on the pumpkin and the fodder’s in the shock.

Harts 07.03.1925

02 Saturday May 2015

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Harts, Holden

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Amon Ferguson, Annie Dingess, Appalachia, Ashland, Battle of Blair Mountain, Beatrice Adkins, Big Creek, Bill Porter, Bob Dingess, Camden Park, Charles Brumfield, Charleston, Fisher B. Adkins, genealogy, Harts, Hendricks Brumfield, Herbert Adkins, history, Holden, Howard Brumfield, Huntington, Ina Dingess, James Auxier Newman, Jessie Brumfield, John Beamins, John McEldowney, Kentucky, Lincoln County, Logan Banner, Mae Caines, Mae Dingess, Nora Brumfield, Ora Dingess, Rosco Dingess, Sand Creek, Shirley McEldowney, Sylvia Shelton, Wayne, West Virginia

An unnamed local correspondent at Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on 3 July 1925:

Mr. and Mrs. Rosco Dingess, of Blair, spent the week end visiting friends and relatives at Harts.

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dingess, of Logan, and sister, Miss Ina Dingess were visiting relatives at Harts, Sunday.

Miss Jessie Brumfield, of Harts was shopping in Logan, Saturday.

Mr. and Mrs. Fisher B. Adkins, of Harts, spent Sunday at Camden Park in Huntington.

Mr. and Mrs. John McEldowney returned to their home at Charleston, Sunday after a few weeks visit with friends and relatives at Harts.

Mrs. John Beamins, of Holden, was the guest of Mrs. Robert Brumfield, at Harts, Sunday.

Miss Sylvia Shelton, of Sand Creek passed through our town Sunday.

Mr. Amon Ferguson, of Huntington, was calling on Miss Ora Dingess at Harts Saturday and Sunday.

Mr. Chas. Brumfield and little son, Howard were visiting relatives in Huntington and Ashland, Ky. this week.

Mr. James Auxier Newman, of Huntington, was calling on friends at this place, Monday, while enroute to Big Creek.

People at this place were glad to see Hendrix Brumfield on our streets again.

Rev. Gartin is teaching a successful singing school at Harts. Everybody is invited to come.

Miss May Caines, of Wayne, was calling on Miss Jessie Brumfield, at Harts, Sunday.

Herbert Adkins was transacting business in Logan, Saturday.

It was a great shock to the people of this place to hear of the death of Bill Porter, for he had a wide circle of friends at Harts.

Warren Post Office (1890)

15 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Harts Creek, Warren

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A.B. Lowe, Aracoma, Cabell County, Harts Creek, history, Huntington, Island Creek, Lincoln County, Logan County, Logan County Banner, mail, Mud Fork, post offices, Trace Fork, Twelve Pole Creek, Warren Post Office, Wayne, Wayne County, West Virginia

This brief editorial regarding Warren Post Office appeared in the 6 March 1890 issue of the Logan County Banner, printed in Logan, WV.

“Warren, in Lincoln county, from which all the people on Harts Creek and upper Twelve Pole receive their mail, is eighteen miles from this place, but it takes us a full week to get a letter from that place. A letter arriving to this place from Warren has to go by Brownstown, thence by the C. & O. Ry. to Huntington, thence by Wayne C.H., and thence to Warren, a distance of two hundred miles. The route from Wayne C.H. to Warren should be extended up Harts Creek and Twelve Pole and then down the Mud Fork of Island Creek to this place, with new offices at the Mouth of the Trace Fork of Harts Creek and at or near A.B. Lowe’s on Twelve Pole.”

Post Offices of Wayne County, WV

28 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Adkins Mill, Cove Gap, East Lynn, Kiahsville, Queens Ridge, Stiltner

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Adkins Mills Post Office, Albert Watts, Alexander Collins, Appalachia, Attison Adkins, Chapman Adkins, Chapman Fry, Charles W. Tabor, Checker S. Queen, civil war, Cove Creek Post Office, Cove Gap Post Office, East Lynn, Frank M. Dickson, G.F. Collins, genealogy, George W. Wiley, history, History of East Lynn Community, Jackson Adkins, James Fry, Jesse Fry, John H. Napier, John H. Queen, John McCoy, Joseph Workman, Joshua Queen, Kiahsville Post Office, Leander J. Adkins, Lindsey Frasher, Louis C. Queen, Lucian Osborn, Lucian Wiley, Malinda M. Enochs, miller, Nathaniel Turner, Noah Peters, Queens Ridge Post Office, Rayburn Adkins, Raymond Maynard, Robert Napier, Rufus Pack, Samuel Dyer, Sherman Maynard, Stiltner Post Office, Thomas Jackson, Thomas P. Maynard, Twelve Pole Creek, Walter G. Sparks, Walter Queen, Wayne, Wayne County, West Virginia, William D. Frasher, William D. Vaughan, William P. Mankin, Willie Jones, Winfield S. Enochs

The following post offices in Wayne County, West Virginia, represent some of my favorite locations: Adkin’s Mills (1869-1891), Cove Creek (1869-1912), Cove Gap (1877-?), Kiahsville (1884-?), Queen’s Ridge (1884-?), and Stiltner (1906-?). This list will be updated as time permits.

Adkin’s Mills Post Office (1869-1891)

Chapman Adkins: 19 August 1869 – 19 February 1873

Noah Peters: 19 February 1873 – 11 August 1874

Joseph Workman: 11 August 1874 – 14 March 1876

Nathaniel Turner: 14 March 1876 – 5 July 1876

John H. Napier: 5 July 1876 – 8 October 1877

Albert Watts: 8 October 1877 – 23 April 1879

Chapman Fry: 23 April 1879 – 8 January 1880

William Vaughan: 8 January 1880 – 20 September 1888

Charles W. Tabor: 20 September 1888 – 15 August 1889

Thomas Jackson: 15 August 1889 – 14 January 1891

Changed to East Lynn: 14 January 1891

Cove Creek Post Office (1869-1912)

Walter Queen: 17 May 1869 – 11 August 1870

John H. Queen: 11 August 1870 – 31 July 1871

Post office discontinued: 31 July 1871

Jackson Adkins: 8 April 1873 – 25 November 1874

Jesse Fry: 25 November 1874 – 31 May 1881

Walter Queen: 31 May 1881 – 16 August 1889

Walter Frasher: 16 August 1889 – 27 August 1909

Lindsey Frasher: 27 August 1909 – 15 July 1912

Post office discontinued: 15 July 1912, mail to East Lynn

Cove Gap Post Office (1877-?)

John McCoy: 10 January 1877 – 9 October 1877

Alexander Collins: 9 October 1877 – 23 October 1878

George W. Wiley: 23 October 1878 – 31 August 1885

Charles W. Tabor: 31 August 1885 – 20 January 1886

Frank M. Dickson: 20 January 1886 – 16 August 1887

William P. Mankin: 16 August 1887 – 12 October 1889

Rufus Pack: 12 October 1889 – 11 November 1889

G.F. Collins: 11 November 1889 – 8 March 1890

Mrs. Malinda M. Enochs: 8 March 1890 – 17 April 1896

Winfield S. Enochs: 17 April 1896 – 28 July 1898

Walter G. Sparks: 28 July 1898 – 6 November 1900

Rayburn Adkins: 6 November 1900 – 30 January 1901

Leander J. Adkins: 30 January 1901 – 31 January 1903

George W. Wiley: 31 January 1903 – 8 August 1912

Rayburn Adkins: 6 June 1914 – 6 January 1921

Samuel Dyer: 6 January 1921 – ?

Kiahsville Post Office (1884-present)

Joshua Queen: 16 June 1884 – 19 July 1895

Thomas P. Maynard: 19 July 1895 – 1 December 1921

Raymond Maynard: 1 December 1921 – ?

Queen’s Ridge Office (1884-?)

Louis C. Queen: 16 June 1884 – 5 May 1914

Checker S. Queen: 5 May 1914 – 13 September 1917

Willie Jones: 13 September 1917 – ?

Stiltner Post Office (1906-?)

Sherman Maynard: 12 November 1906 – 31 May 1907

William D. Frasher: 31 May 1907 – 18 June 1914

Frank H. Fry: 18 June 1914 – 7 December 1918

William D. Frasher: 19 April 1929 – ?

Source: U.S. Appointments of Postmasters, 1832-1971, maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration.

Additional notes provided by Lucian W. Osborn in his “History of East Lynn Community” (1927): “There was no post office in this section until after the Civil War and the people here and for many miles above here had to go to Wayne Court House for their mail. But in 1868 Adkins Mill postoffice was established at the water mill then owned by Attison Adkins, one and one-half miles from our present community center. Chapman Adkins was the first postmaster. I am told that the amount of mail then received was so small that no mail bags were required to carry it in, and the mail only went once a week. After a few years the office was moved to the community center, and after going through various hands W. D. Vaughan was appointed postmaster in 1876. He moved the office down to where “Uncle Robert” Napier lived, a short distance from where the railroad depot now stands. Later Mr. Vaughan moved the office to where he now resides and kept it till about 1888 when C. W. Tabor was appointed postmaster. The office was then moved back to the community center and placed in H. Watts’ store. Soon after this the name was changed from Adkins Mill to East Lynn. Mr. Vaughn informs me that when he took charge of the office the pay for one month was only about five dollars and that not as much mail was received at the office in two months as is now received in one day.”

Interview with Nellie Thompson of Wayne, WV (1996)

05 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Culture of Honor, Harts, Lincoln County Feud, Twelve Pole Creek, Wayne

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Al Brumfield, Andrew D. Robinson, Beech Fork, Ben Adams, Bob Dingess, Brandon Kirk, crime, diptheria, Goble Richardson, Green McCoy, Green Shoal, Guyandotte River, Harrison McCoy, Harts, Harts Creek, history, Lincoln County Feud, Lynza John McCoy, Milt Haley, Monroe Fry, music, Paris Brumfield, Ross Fowler, Sallie Dingess, Sherman McCoy, Spicie McCoy, Warren, Wayne, Wayne County, Wayne County News, West Fork, writing

A few weeks later, Brandon called Nellie Thompson in Wayne, West Virginia. Nellie reportedly had the picture of Milt Haley and Green McCoy.

“I don’t know if I have anything like that or not,” Nellie said, “but I do have an old letter from Green McCoy.”

What?

Almost hyperventilating, he asked her to read it over the telephone.

Nellie fetched it from somewhere in the house, said it was dated May 19, 1889, then read it to him and said he was welcome to see it.

The next day, she called Brandon back and said, “I think I’ve found that picture you were looking for. It’s a little tin picture with two men in it.”

Oh god.

A few days later, Brandon drove to see Nellie about the picture and letter. Before dropping in on her, he spent a little time at the local library where he located a story about Spicie McCoy.

“As I promised last week, today we will explore the life of a lady who claimed to have a cure for diphtheria,” the story, printed in the Wayne County News (1994), began. “Spicie (Adkins) McCoy Fry was so short that if you stretched out your arm she could have walked under it. Anyone who lived in the East Lynn area knew who Spicie Fry was because she had probably been in almost every church around to sing at a revival meeting, something she loved to do. Spicie was well educated. She saw that her children went to school. Once out of grade school, Spicie’s sons took advantage of correspondence courses in music, art, and any other subject they could get thru the mail order catalog. Spicie’s son Monroe Taylor Fry was a self-taught musician.”

After a short time, Brandon drove to Nellie’s home, where she produced a small tin picture of two men sitting together. One of the men was obviously Green McCoy based on the picture we had already seen of him. The other fellow, then, was Milt.

As Brandon stared at the tintype, Nellie handed him Green’s letter. It was penned in a surprisingly nice handwriting, addressed to his brother Harrison, and was apparently never mailed. At the time of his writing, it was spring and McCoy had just moved back to Harts — probably after a short stay with his family or in-laws in Wayne County. He may’ve been there with his older brother, John, who’d married a girl almost half his age from Wayne County earlier in February.

Dear Brother. after a long delay of time I take this opertunity of droping you a few lines to let you know that I am well hoping when these lines reaches you they may find you all the same. Harrison you must excuse me for not writing sooner. the cause of me not writing is this[:] the post master here is very careless. they let people brake open the letters and read them so I will write this time to let you know where I am and where Lynza is. I have moved back to the west fork of Harts Creek and Lynza is married and living in wayne co yet on beach fork. everybody is done planting corn very near in this country. every thing looks lively in this part. tell Father and mother that I[‘m] coming out this fall after crops are laid by if I live and Lynza will come with me. tell all howdy for me. you may look for us boath. if death nor sickness don’t tak[e] place we will come. Harrison I would rather you would not write anymore this summer. people brakes open the letters and reads them so I will not write a long letter. Brumfield and me lives in 2 miles of each other and has had no more trubble but every body says that he will kill me if I don’t kill him. I look to have trouble with him so I will close this time.

On the back of the letter was written the following: “My wife sends her best respects to you all and says she would like to see you all. my boy is beginning to walk. he is a spoiled boy to[o].”

Clutching carefully onto the tintype and letter, Brandon asked Nellie what she’d heard about Milt and Green’s death. She didn’t really know much, but her brother Goble Richardson said he’d always heard that pack-peddlers who boarded with Paris Brumfield never left his home alive. These men were supposedly killed, tied to rocks, and thrown to the bottom of the Guyan River where the fish ate their rotting corpses. Soon after the “disappearance” of these pack-peddlers, Paris would be seen riding the man’s horse, while his children would be playing with his merchandise.

When Brandon arrived home he studied over Green McCoy’s letter — all the cursive strokes, the occasional misspellings, trying to extract something from it beyond what it plainly read.

Strangely, the letter didn’t reveal to which Brumfield — Al or Paris — Green referred when he wrote, “every body says that he will kill me if I don’t kill him.” It seems likely, though, based on what Daisy Ross had said, that Green referenced Paris.

Still, it was Al Brumfield who was ambushed only three months later.

What started their trouble?

And who was the careless postmaster who allowed people to “brake open the letters and read them?”

At the time of the Haley-McCoy trouble, Harts had two post offices: Harts and Warren. The postmaster at Harts — where McCoy likely received his mail — was Ross Fowler, son to the Bill Fowler who was eventually driven away from Harts by the Brumfields. Ross, though, was close with the Brumfields and even ferried the 1889 posse across the river to Green Shoal with Milt and Green as prisoners (according to Bob Dingess) in October of 1889. A little later, he worked in Al Brumfield’s store. The postmaster at Warren was Andrew D. Robinson, a former justice of the peace and brother-in-law to Ben Adams and Sallie Dingess. Robinson seems to have been a man of good credit who stayed neutral in the trouble.

John W. Runyon 1

30 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Harts Creek, Big Sandy Valley, Harts, Inez, Timber, Wyoming County

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Adam Runyon, Adam Runyon Sr., Alden Williamson Genealogy, Aquillia Runyon, Aubrey Lee Porter, Billy Adkins, Bob Spence, Brandon Kirk, Charleston, civil war, Clarence Hinkle, Crawley Creek, Cultural Center, Ellender Williamson, Enoch Baker, Garrett and Runyon, genealogy, Harts, Hattie Hinkle, Henderson Dingess, history, Inez, Izella Porter, James Bertrand Runyon, James Muncy, John W Runyon, John W. Porter, Kentucky, Land of the Guyandot, Lawrence County, Logan County, Logan County Banner, logging, Martin County, Mary Runyon, Milt Haley, Moses Parsley, Nat's Creek, Nellie Muncy, Nova Scotia, Peach Orchard, Pigeon Creek, Pike County, Pineville, Rockcastle Creek, Runyon Genealogy, Samuel W. Porter, Stephen Williamson, timbering, Wayne, Wayne County, Wealthy Runyon, West Virginia, Wolf Creek, writing, Wyoming County

In the late summer of 1996, Brandon and Billy turned their genealogical sights on John W. Runyon, that elusive character in the 1889 story who seemed to have stirred up a lot of trouble and then escaped unharmed into Kentucky. They arranged a biographical outline after locating two family history books titled Runyon Genealogy (1955) and Alden Williamson Genealogy (1962). Then, they chased down leads at the Cultural Center in Charleston, West Virginia; the Wyoming County Courthouse at Pineville, West Virginia; the Wayne County Courthouse in Wayne, West Virginia; the Martin County Courthouse at Inez, Kentucky; and at various small public libraries in eastern Kentucky. Runyon had left quite a trail.

John W. Runyon was born in February of 1856 to Adam and Wealthy (Muncy) Runyon, Jr. in Pike County, Kentucky. He was a twin to James Bertrand Runyon and the ninth child in his family. His mother was a daughter of James Muncy — making her a sister to Nellie Muncy and an aunt to Milt Haley. In other words, John Runyon and Milt Haley were first cousins.

According to Runyon Genealogy (1955), Adam and Wealthy Runyon left Pike County around 1858 and settled on the Emily Fork of Wolf Creek in present-day Martin County. In 1860, they sold out to, of all people, Milt Haley’s older half-brother, Moses Parsley, and moved to Pigeon Creek in Logan County. John’s grandfather, Adam Runyon, Sr., had first settled on Pigeon Creek around 1811. The family was primarily pro-Union during the Civil War.

At a young age, Runyon showed promise as a timber baron.

“The first lumber industry in Logan County of any importance was started on Crawley Creek by Garrett and Runyon during the year 1876,” Bob Spence wrote in Land of the Guyandot (1978). “Garrett and Runyon deserve credit for their efforts in opening the lumber business in Logan County. They were the first to hire labor in this field. It might be of interest to note here that they originally brought trained men from Catlettsburg… In a few years, Garrett and Runyon left Logan [County], and soon Enoch Baker from Nova Scotia came to Crawley Creek to take their place.”

John may have put his timber interests on hold due to new developments within his family. According to Runyon Genealogy, his mother died around 1878 and was buried at Peach Orchard on Nat’s Creek in Lawrence County, Kentucky. His father, meanwhile, went to live with a son in Minnesota. In that same time frame, on Christmas Day, 1878, Runyon married Mary M. Williamson, daughter of Stephen and Ellender (Blevins) Williamson, in Martin County, Kentucky. He and Mary were the parents of two children: Aquillia Runyon, born 1879; and Wealthy Runyon, born 1881. John settled on or near Nat’s Creek, where his father eventually returned to live with him and was later buried at his death around 1895.

During the late 1880s, of course, Runyon moved to Harts where he surely made the acquaintance of Enoch Baker, the timber baron from Nova Scotia. An 1883 deed for Henderson Dingess referenced “Baker’s lower dam,” while Baker was mentioned in the local newspaper in 1889. “Enoch Baker, who has been at work in the County Clerk’s office and post office for several weeks, is now on Hart’s creek,”  the Logan County Banner reported on September 12. Baker was still there in December, perhaps headquartered at a deluxe logging camp throughout the fall of 1889.

After the tragic events of ’89, Runyon made his way to Wayne County where he and his wife “Mary M. Runyons” were referenced in an 1892 deed. Wayne County, of course, was a border county between Lincoln County and the Tug Fork where Cain Adkins and others made their home. He was apparently trying to re-establish himself in Martin County, where his wife bought out three heirs to her late father’s farm on the Rockhouse Fork of Rockcastle Creek between 1892-1895.

In the late 1890s, John’s two daughters found husbands and began their families. On January 3, 1896, Wealthy Runyon married Clarence Hinkle at “John Runyonses” house in Martin County. She had one child named Hattie, born in 1899 in West Virginia. On March 29, 1896, Aquillia Runyon married Samuel W. Porter at Mary Runyon’s house in Martin County. They had three children: John W. Porter, born in 1897 in West Virginia; Aubrey Lee Porter, born in 1899 in Kentucky; and Izella Porter, who died young.

Glenna Epling recalls Boney Lucas

31 Saturday May 2014

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Lincoln County Feud

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Angeline Lucas, Boney Lucas, Cain Adkins, Catlettsburg, feud, Glenna Epling, Green Shoal, history, Kentucky, Lincoln County, Millard Lucas, Paris Brumfield, Wayne, West Virginia, writing

One of the more interesting sources on the Cain Adkins family was Glenna Epling, a schoolteacher in Wayne, West Virginia. Glenna, the great-granddaughter of Boney Lucas, told Brandon that Paris Brumfield accused Lucas of “messing with” a fifteen-year-old Brumfield girl. Lucas, who was innocent of the charge, was killed by Brumfield after he had said something “out of the way” to the young girl. At some point thereafter, Boney’s widow Angeline, armed with a gun, laid in wait for Brumfield at a rock. Millard Lucas (Glenna’s grandfather), who was supposedly nine years old, asked her why she was going to kill “Uncle Paris.” She put the gun down and said, “I almost made a mistake like the Brumfields made.” (This event would have occurred circa 1889, as Millard was born in 1880.)

Millard told Glenna that Angeline — his own mother — was a “bad woman.” After Boney’s death, she moved to Catlettsburg, Kentucky, and to Wayne County. At some point, she joined a traveling show as a dancer and left her children home alone with food and instructions not to go to Grandpa Cain’s house. Later, she married an Adams. Perhaps for obvious reasons, Glenna said the Lucases on Green Shoal in Lincoln County never wanted anything to do with Boney’s family.

In Search of Ed Haley 287

13 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Ed Haley

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Ashland, Catlettsburg, Curly Wellman, Ed Haley, Ella Haley, fiddling, Fort Gay, Great Depression, guitar, history, Horse Branch, John Hartford, Kentucky, Keystone, life, Logan County, Louisa, Madison, Man, music, Ralph Haley, Red Jacket, Wayne, Wayne County, West Virginia, writing

In the spring of 1996, I made my way back to Ashland where I dropped in on Curly Wellman. Curly was an old guitarist in town who grew up watching Ed Haley on Horse Branch. I hadn’t visited him since a trip with Lawrence Haley some four years earlier. Unlike last time, he was quick to comment on Ed’s poverty.

“Now this story about Ed Haley, this was during the thirties — right after the Great Depression started,” Curly said. “And of course all they had coming was, I guess, just a blind pension, which wouldn’t have been much. They had to play on the corners with the tin cups. Those people, they had to struggle for life. The winter months on Ed Haley and his family were very hard. My grandfather — he came down here with money out of the big timber country up around Louisa, Ft. Gay, Wayne — and he run a little grocery store. Well, he was fortunate enough and had money enough to be able to carry these type of people through the winter months when they couldn’t make money. And as quick as spring come and they went to work every one come right in and paid him ever dime they owed. And the Haley family a lot of winters survived under his care. A lot of times, clothes we would outgrow would be taken to the Haleys because Mother thought so much of them. They had a hard struggle to raise those children but they were good people and the kids all turned out good as far as I know.”

I asked Curly to tell me about playing the guitar with Ed on Horse Branch.

“I was just a beginner and my aunt was teaching me,” he said. “The Haleys lived just across the street from us and down maybe a couple of houses. In the evenings, there was nothing else to do; no radio, no television, no nothing like that. Well, Ed would get out on the porch and Ralph and the mother and they’d start playing. I was learning to play a little bit, so I’d sit in with the guitar. I was just a very mediocre guitar player at that time. I was so rank that he’d have to tell me when he was going into a minor. I’d say, ‘I don’t know that,’ and Ralph would say, ‘Get right in there and play it anyhow.’ Them little kids would get out there and jump up and down and dance. Quick as people heard music, they’d start coming down the hollow and off’n the hillsides and gather up. They even had horse and buggies to stop and real old model cars would stop. People would open up their windows and their doors that lived up high where I was at — they’d get out on their porch till they could hear it all.”

Later, when Curly got better on the guitar, he played with Ed at the Boyd County Courthouse in Catlettsburg. Ed sat on a wooden bench with his hat turned up on the ground.

“You could throw a dime or nickel or quarter in his hat and you could tell by the way he grinned he knew the amount that went in the hat,” Curly said. “He could tell by the way it hit.”

I asked if Ed ever talked between tunes and he said, “He told little stories behind the tunes, like where it came from. He’d say, ‘Here’s an old tune I learned in Red Jacket, West Virginia,’ or, ‘Here’s an old tune I heard down in Logan County.’ And he used to talk about Madison, West Virginia, a lot. And another town I’d hear him talk about was Man, West Virginia. Keystone, it’s right in that area, too.”

In Search of Ed Haley 244

17 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Sandy Valley, Civil War, Ed Haley

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5th West Virginia Infantry, Arthur I. Boreman, Ben Haley, Bill Smith, Camp Chase, Catlettsburg, civil war, Guyandotte, history, Independent Company of Scouts, James Buskirk, Jim Smith, Kentucky, steamboats, Stephen Strawther, Wash Watts, Wayne, Wayne County, West Virginia, William A. Haley, William T. Sherman, writing

On August 30, 1864, Captain Benjamin R. Haley wrote a letter to West Virginia Governor Arthur I. Boreman:

Sir I have the Honor of reporting to you the Success and condition of my company I have Lost no men tho there is Some ten cases of Sickness in my company owing to exposure in Scouting and Lying out in the night time we have had quiet times for the Last month untill the Last few days we now have Bill Smith and his gang in our midst which gives us much trouble and fatigue Looking out for him we also have Jim Smith the arch trator and a Small gang to Look after which is a great innoiance attended with considerable Trouble and Danger so upon the whole we have our hands full and in deed we may consider ourselves fourtunate if we are able to compete Successfully with them our armes are in good order and ammunition plenty for the ensuing month.

We have Arrested 9 Disloyal citizens which have been Sent away under Gen. Shermans order and two more who are now under trial at Catletts Burg Ky. Also one cofederate Soldier who was sent to Camp Chase whose name was Wash Wats. There has been Recently a trasaction in our county of Some importanc that a cirtain Rebel capt. James Buskerk who was experimenting with uncle Abe pills and took one too many So it worked him out of this wourld and also out of our way for ever and at the Same time there was one Stephen Strawther who took a very Heary Dose which is prooveing it is Supposed pretty fatal to him tho he may recover its affects for any thing we know yet we do hope it may have a good effect Let it work as it will it is an expressed opinion that if this Little company Should be removed the gurillas would be robbing Steam Boats between Catlettsburg & Guyandott and it is threatned Strongly as it is.

Attached to the August 30 letter was this message:

Sir wee are concious that our company is too weak to purform the Duty that is Required oweing to the increased numbers of gurilas and the Disbandment of the other three companies puting all together it becomes dangerous to Scout through the county or even to Hold a position in the County we have time and again Reported to the federal forces and with one Single exception have failed to get Help they invariably tell us to Remain with them and Keep out of Danger which you at once Se gives our County no protection at all now I have conversed with your warmest costituance and just friends and they all think it Due them and the intrust of our county that you Should give an order for more men now I can asure you the men can be recruited in a very Short time. You are aware that the term of Servis of the 5 Va Regt. is now about out and there are quite a number of them who have not nor will not reenlist also quite a number of them who Reside in wayn County and cannot Stay at home under existing circumstanses. They therefore would Readily enlist in a compey of this kind and Defend the Interest of the Loyal people of this county. There are also quite a number of citizens who would becom Souldiers in a Local Company like this be you assured we must have moor men or Suffer great Loss after Runing great Risks of our own Live we are held as usurpers of the Laws of Va and cald Borman Bogus theaves and cut throats by the Rebels and threatened with instantaneous Death when captured.

We are not at all Dismaid or intimidated at there threats not with Standing that there is plenty moor men to Help us we think it nothing more than Right they Should be permitted to do wee know they will do if armed and put at it we therefor petition you to give us the minimum number of a company Say eighty the Rank and file to be paid from the Date of there enlistment and for to be economical Say one Lieutenant.

On September 15, 1864, Haley was captured by a force under the command of Rebel Bill Smith. A few days later, on September 23, he was officially discharged from the 5th West Virginia Infantry, as was his son, William. The following day, the Wheeling Intelligencer reported on his capture:

A RAID: A few days ago the notorious rebel Bill Smith, with about sixty men, made a raid on Ceredo, situated on the Ohio river, in Wayne County in this state. They captured Capt. Ben. Hailey, and eight of his men, who belonged to the West Virginia State Guards, who were stationed at Ceredo for the protection of that point and surrounding neighborhood. They also captured all the male citizens of the place, with the exception of two old men, and robbed the Post Office of stationary and postage stamps, and other valuables, to the amount of about forty dollars, and robbed the citizens of all the horses in the neighborhood, and about seven hundred dollars. The guerillas left Ceredo with their prisoners and booty, going in the interior, in the direction of Wayne Court House, robbing the citizens of their horses and other property. The loyal citizens have been greatly annoyed for the want of necessary protection, ever since March or April last, the country being overrun by guerillas, committing depredations of the most shameful character, such as murdering citizens, robbing houses of bed clothing and their valuables, and taking money from citizens. It would be a great relief to the loyal citizens of Wayne County if the military authorities could possibly spare soldiers sufficient to protect said county from the bands of guerillas that are continually infesting the county, and driving the loyal citizens away from their homes.

Archibald Harrison 2

24 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Ugly Creek, Civil War

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Archibald Harrison, B.C. Levi, Barboursville, Chambersburg, civil war, Garland Matthews, history, Hurston Spurlock, John McCausland, Mary Harrison, Matt Adkins, Milton J. Ferguson, Monocacy Junction, Murder Hollow, Stephen Lewis, Sylvester Brooks Crockett, Virginia, Wayne, Wayne County, West Virginia, Winfield, writing

In January of 1864, Colonel Milton J. Ferguson’s 16th Regiment, which included Lt. Archibald Harrison, was back in southwestern West Virginia to visit family and restock supplies. On January 1, they crossed a frozen Big Sandy River into Kentucky and attacked a Union force at Buchanan. Eight days later, Ferguson and 150 of his men successfully engaged 75 members of the 39th Kentucky Mounted Infantry at Turman’s Ferry (near Catlettsburg), Kentucky, then made their way to East Lynn in Wayne County, West Virginia, and on to nearby Laurel Creek.

On January 16, a detachment of Union troops arrived in Trout’s Hill (Wayne) to quell the Confederate uprising in the area. Ferguson and the 16th, however, continued to wreak havoc on local Yankees from their base at Murder Hollow. On January 27, Spurlock’s Company (including Harrison) robbed Cabell County’s sheriff. The rebels suffered a mild setback shortly after the robbery: Captain Hurston Spurlock was apprehended by a detachment of the 3rd West Virginia Cavalry at Lavalette in Wayne County.

Early in February, members of the 16th destroyed a Union cargo ship called the B.C. Levi on the Kanawha River near Winfield. They captured General E.P. Scammon, who was sent to Richmond, Virginia, and Captain Pinckard, who was sent to Wayne. (Harrison later claimed to have been present at this event, although history records Company H — not Company E — as being the actual force there.) Colonel Ferguson tried unsuccessfully to exchange Pinckard for Captain Spurlock, who was held at Barboursville.

On February 15, at daybreak, a Union force consisting of the 14th Kentucky Infantry and the 39th Kentucky surprised the 16th Regiment at their camp in Murder Hollow. Historian Stephen Lewis of Wayne records one account of this skirmish: “Garland Matthews told me that when he was a boy an old man by the name of Milt Adkins told him that he, though not a soldier, camped in the hollow with some friends who were Confederate soldiers, and that there were many soldiers camped there. They were attacked at dawn by Federal troops, and four or five Confederates were killed. Many were captured, but some got away. Garland Matthews confirmed that the battle was in winter; bodies froze to the ground and the spring ran red with blood. He also said they carted a number of the bodies away, but some were buried in Murder Hollow.” Colonel Ferguson was one of 42 men taken prisoner at Murder Hollow. Harrison managed to escape.

In July 1864, Lt. Harrison was captured by Union troops at Monocacy Junction, Maryland. Benjamin Dean, a Wayne Countian, wrote of the incident in a letter to his wife dated July 19. “We are under General McCaslin. We have been on a raid ever since the 11th of May. We started at Lynchburgh, from there back to the Valley of Virginia to Winchester, from there to Maryland to Frederick City. We fought 25,000 there. Lt. Harris was wounded and captured. We went near the city of Washington. We came back through East Virginia. I am near Winchester today. We marched all last night. I haven’t had a clean shirt for over five weeks. We manage to get enough to eat. We hook the Yanks at every point we can. We have been commanded by Colonel Graham. He does nothing but drink and curse and if Colonel Ferguson isn’t exchanged by next season I never expect to make another raid in this war.”

Three days after his capture, Harrison escaped and participated in a final engagement at Chambersburg on July 30, when Confederates burned the town.

In 1864, he returned home to Wayne County, at which time he and his wife, Mary Spurlock, were divorced. The former Mrs. Harrison soon remarried to Sylvester Brooks Crockett, who was eleven years her junior, and had several more kids before dying in 1883 on Wilson’s Creek in Wayne County.

Archibald Harrison 1

22 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Ugly Creek, Civil War

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16th Regiment Virginia Cavalry, Albert Gallatin Jenkins, Archibald Harrison, Barboursville, Carnifex Ferry, civil war, Droop Mountain, East Cavalry Battlefield, Fairview Rifles, Ferguson's Battalion, genealogy, Gettysburg, Guy Harrison, history, Hurston Spurlock, Knoxville, Lewisburg, Lincoln County, Mary Harrison, Milton J. Ferguson, Scary Creek, Tazewell County, Virginia, Wayne, Wayne County, West Virginia, writing

For a brief period of time in the 1880s, Archibald Harrison, a veteran officer of the Civil War, made his home in the Harts Creek District of Lincoln County, West Virginia, where he labored as a farmer and timberman.

Archibald was born in January of 1837 to Guy P. and Cleme (Harmon) Harrison in Tazewell County, Virginia. In 1850 census records for Tazewell County, he was listed with his father and stepmother, Nancy Jane Bruster, as well as his brothers and sisters.

By 1860, Harrison had made his way to Wayne County, where he was listed in the census with his older brother, Thomas, aged 35. Later in the year, he married Mary Spurlock, a daughter of Burwell and Nancy Spurlock. Mary’s father was a preacher who, among other things, established a Methodist Episcopal (South) Church at Trout’s Hill (Wayne) in 1846 with 36 charter members.

Archibald and Mary had three children: Laura P., born August 8, 1861, who died in 1879; Nancy C. “Nannie,” born February 1, 1863; and Lemuel, born September 18, 1865, died 1942. Daughters Laura and Nannie apparently spent their lives in Wayne County, while son Lem is probably the same person of that name who shows up in Logan County census records on Mud Fork and at Cherry Tree in 1910 and 1920.

During the Civil War, Harrison served in the Confederate Army and was a participant in many important events: namely General Albert Gallatin Jenkins’ famous march to Ohio in 1862, where his companions became the first Confederates to invade the Buckeye State; at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania under General J.E.B. Stuart in 1863; and at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania under John McCausland in 1864.

In 1861, the first year of the war, Harrison enlisted with the Fairview Rifles, an unorganized Confederate detachment under the command of Captain Milton J. Ferguson of Wayne County. He fought with them at Barboursville (July 14, 1861), at Scary Creek in Putnam County (July 17, 1861) at Carnifex Ferry in Nicholas County (September 10, 1861) and at Lewisburg in Greenbrier County (May 23, 1862). Most of these engagements were Confederate losses.

In August 1862 Harrison and the Fairview Rifles got a huge morale boost when they marched with Colonel Jenkins’s force from Monroe County to the Ohio River, occupying the towns of Buckhannon, Weston, Glenville, Spencer, Ripley, and Ravenswood along the way. At the Ohio, Jenkins and about half of his troops crossed the river and captured Racine (they were the first Confederates to enter Ohio) before re-entering (West) Virginia and heading to Point Pleasant.

On September 15, 1862, the Fairview Rifles were renamed Ferguson’s Battalion and officially mustered into service at Wayne Courthouse. Harrison, who was only 24 years old, was made second lieutenant of Captain Hurston Spurlock’s Company. (Spurlock was probably an in-law.)

On January 15, 1863, the 16th Regiment of Virginia Cavalry was formed when five companies from Ferguson’s Battalion merged with four companies of Major Otis Caldwell’s Battalion. Captain Ferguson was promoted to colonel and placed in command of the 16th, while Lt. Harrison and a majority of Spurlock’s Company were designated as Company E.

In the early summer of 1863, the 16th was attached to General Jenkins’ Brigade and sent north as part of General Robert E. Lee’s invasion force. In June, they moved through the Shenandoah Valley toward Pennsylvania where they fought at 2nd Winchester, Virginia, between June 14-15. They also saw action at Gettysburg on June 26, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on June 28-29 and at East Cavalry Battlefield near Gettysburg on July 3.

In the fall of 1863, on November 6, Harrison and the 16th fought at Droop Mountain in Pocahontas County, where the Confederates were defeated by a Union force that helped ensure Union control of the new state. Later in the month, the 16th participated in a siege of Knoxville, Tennessee, until December, 1863.

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?

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Feud Poll 2

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

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Feud Poll 3

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

Recent Posts

  • Sheriff Joe D. Hatfield, Son of Devil Anse (1962)
  • The C&O Shops at Peach Creek, WV (1974)
  • Map: Southwestern West Virginia (1918-1919)

Ed Haley Poll 1

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

Top Posts & Pages

  • The Smoke House Restaurant in Logan, WV (1927)
  • About
  • History for Boone County, WV (1928)
  • Tom Chafin Recalls Story of Ellison Hatfield's Killing (1989)
  • "Holly Creek" John Mullins Grave in Clintwood, VA (2018)

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.

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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

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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

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