Jane R. (Adams) Dingess, the daughter of John Washington and Mary “Polly” (Hall) Adams and wife of Peter C. “Coffee Pete” Dingess, was born in June of 1830 and died in the fall of 1909. What follows are excerpts from her estate settlement:

The bill of complaint of Martha A. Fowler and John Dingess, Allen Dingess, Josephine Adkins and Linnie Mitchell, by Ward Mitchell, their next friend, plaintiffs, against Lewis W. Dingess, John S. Dingess, David Dingess, Mary Scaggs, Ada Scaggs, Minnie Ferrell and J.W. Chambers, Sheriff of Logan County, and as such Administrator of the personal estate of Jane Dingess, deceased, defendants, filed in the Circuit Court of Logan County, West Virginia.

The above named plaintiffs complain and say that sometime early in the Fall of 1909, Jane Dingess, their ancestor, departed this life intestate, leaving as her children and heirs-at-law, her surviving, the plaintiff, Martha A. Fowler, and her co-plaintiffs, John Dingess, Allen Dingess, Josephine Adkins and Linnie Mitchell, the latter four minors under twenty-one years of age, children and heirs at law of Calvin Dingess, deceased, a brother of the said Martha A. Fowler, and defendants, Lewis W. Dingess, David Dingess, John S. Dingess, Mary Scaggs, Ada Scaggs, and Minnie Ferrell; that the said Jane Dingess was the owner in fee simple of one undivided one-eighth interest of a certain tract of land, situated on Crawley’s creek in said Logan County, which tract of land was decreed to be sold in the lifetime of said Jane Dingess, in a partition suit brought by the heirs-at-law of  a deceased child of the said Jane Dingess, who died intestate without issue, leaving her said brothers and sisters and her mother, the said Jane Dingess, as her heirs-at-law, her surviving, but the said land has not yet been sold; and the said Jane Dingess was also the owner in fee simple at the time of her death, of about $2200.00 cash, and the following other personal property: one mare and a colt; one yearling and a calf; five milk-cows; five hogs; twenty-five geese; fifty chickens; four bedsteads and bedding for same, including pillows and bed-clothing; household and kitchen furniture, the latter worth about $100.00; and as plaintiffs are informed several other articles used in farming and housekeeping, worth in aggregate, not including the cash, at least $800.00.

Plaintiffs further say that they are credibly informed, believe and here charge as true, that immediately after the death of the said Jane Dingess, even on the night of her death before she was laid out preparatory for burial, the defendant Lewis W. Dingess and David Dingess colluded, combined and confederated together for the express purpose of cheating, defeating and defrauding the other heirs of the said Jane Dingess, deceased, out of their just portions of the said money and other effects of the estate of the said Jane Dingess and that in pursuance of the said fraudulent combination and scheme, the said Lewis W. Dingess and David Dingess, did hunt up, procure and take into their possession all the money of their dead mother, for the express purpose of converting the same to their own use, and that a short time afterwards, on the same night, as plaintiffs are informed, the defendant, Mary Scaggs, caught onto the said scheme, or received information in some way of the intention of the said Lewis W. Dingess and David Dingess, of converting said money to their own use; and the said Lewis W. Dingess and David Dingess, being aware of such knowledge of their said sister, Mary Scaggs, as a matter of caution and policy on their part, they took the said Mary Scaggs into their said scheme and did then and there give her, the said Mary Scaggs, $500.00, of the said money, and then the said Lewis W. Dingess and David Dingess, then and there divided the residue thereof, which was $1700.00 equally between them.

Plaintiffs are informed, believe and here charge as true, that with the consent of the said Lewis W. Dingess, the said David Dingess, deposited the whole of said money, after deducting the part they gave to Mary Scaggs, in the Guyan Valley Bank, at Logan, West Virginia, in the individual name of the said David Dingess, and as plaintiffs are informed, the said Bank refused to give information relating to the same.

Plaintiffs further say that they are informed, believe and here charge as true that the said Jane Dingess, at the time of her death, did not owe anything to anyone, and they are advised it is right and proper that the estate of their said ancestor be settled up and that the property be sold, and the proceeds thereof, as well as the said $2200.00 in cash, be divided among the heirs-at-law of the said Jane Dingess, deceased.

NOTE: Defendants Lewis W. Dingess, David Dingess, and Mary Scaggs denied all charges against them.

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It was this day suggested to the Court that the Defendant, David C. Dingess, has become demented and is now at Huntington, West Virginia, in the care and custody of the West Virginia Insane Asylum, and that he became insane about the 1st day of January, 1911; therefore on motion of the Defendants, by their attorney, Lewis W. Dingess is hereby appointed as a committee for the said David C. Dingess, and thereupon the said Lewis W. Dingess this day filed an answer as committee for the said David C. Dingess, to which the plaintiffs generally reply.

NOTE: David Dingess died in January of 1921 without issue.

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Jane Adams Personal Estate and Real Estate (January 12, 1911):

Cash belonging to Jane Dingess at the time of her death now deposited in the Guyan Valley Bank on certificate of deposit in the name of David Dingess, $93.00

The following household goods valued as follows:

1 feather bed, $10.00

1 feather bed, $3.00

2 pillows, $1.00

1 quilt and 1 sheet, $1.50

1 bedstead, $4.00

7 old quilts, $3.00

3 pillows, $1.50

2 straw ticks, $1.00

1 feather bed, $6.00

1 feather bed, $6.00

1 straw tick, $1.00

1 quilt, $1.50

7 old quilts, $3.50

4 old quilts, $5.00

2 blankets, $1.50

1 bunch old carpet, $2.00

1 feather bed, $6.00

4 quilts, $5.00

2 pillows, $1.00

1 sheet, $0.50

1 desk, $1.50

1 falling leaf table, $0.50

1 pot table, $0.25

1 Goble, $0.50

1 cupboard, $0.50

Dishes, $2.00

1 old stove and vessels, $2.50

Total: $71.75

Jane Dingess was the owner of an undivided one-ninth interest in and to a tract of 74 2/10 acres of land surface, situate on Crawley’s Creek, and being the same inherited by her from her deceased daughter, Chloe Dingess. This land is to be sold.

Said decedent had no creditors.

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Source: Martha A. Fowler, et als. v. Lewis W. Dingess, et als. (1910), Logan County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Logan, WV.