The C&O Shops at Peach Creek, WV (1974)

12 Monday Dec 2022

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Barboursville, Coal, Guyandotte River, Huntington, Logan, Peach Creek

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Appalachia, Barboursville, C.A. Coulter, Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Newsletter, coal, Empty Yard, Gay Coal and Coke Company, Guyandotte River, history, Huntington, Logan, Logan County, Mount Gay, Peach Creek, railroad, Red Onion, Slabtown, West Logan, West Virginia, World War I

From the Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Newsletter (June 1974) comes this history titled “The Shops at Peach Creek” composed by C.A. Coulter. This is Part 1 of Mr. Coulter’s account.

The railroad was first built to Logan in 1904, the first train arriving on September 9 of that year. The line was started at Barboursville, West Virginia, on the main line, and ran up the Guyan River for 65 miles to Logan. By 1913, rail lines had been run to the heads of all the main branches of the Guyan River in Logan County. As soon as the rail lines reached the branches, coal mines were built, and coal immediately began to move to outside markets.

The first shop facilities were built at Slabtown, a small settlement just north of Logan. Just when the shops were built, I have no record, but it was soon after trains had begun to arrive from Huntington. A short pit track, a shed track with a shed for the freight that was handled, a wye track, and a small yard of three tracks that held about fifty cars each were constructed. This yard is still in use, and is known now as the merchandise yard. Later, another yard was built just north of this one, with about three tracks; this was used to assemble the loaded coal cars. This yard was later lengthened and more tracks were added; it is now known as the Empty Yard. A yard office building was located along the main line between the two yards.

There was also an old bunkhouse located near the pit track at Slabtown, called the “Red Onion.” I have heard my father mention this many times, as he would lay up in it when he came in from the run from Huntington. I have heard him tell of how he would have to wait until someone got out of bed so he could get in and get a few hours of rest before being called back to Huntington. This was a long, hard run with the small, hand-fired G-4s, G-6s, and G-7s that were in use at that time. The trains were much shorter than they are today. By World War I, trains were lengthened to 55 loads for a single engine and 85 loads for a doubleheader. This limit held for many years until the Mallets and Mikados arrived, then the car limit was done away with.

The first carload of coal was run out of Logan County on Thanksgiving Day, 1905. It was loaded in wagons at the Gay Coal and Coke Company mine at Mt. Gay, about one mile south of Logan, and hauled and dumped into a coal car at Logan. The old coal loading records show that for 1905 about 55 carloads of coal were mined in the county. As the years passed, coal loadings began to boom, and by 1907 15 companies were operating in the county. By 1923, 148 mines were working in the county. According to the records, this was about the peak year for the number of mines in operation.

It was not long after the first small shop facilities were built at Logan that it became evident that a much larger one had to be built. The company finally decided to build at the present site of Peach Creek. Peach Creek was an old town, having been established as a small settlement about 1806. Quite a number of houses were clustered near the mouth of the small creek that emptied into the Guyan at this point. It is said that the town got its name from a small peach orchard that stood near the mouth of the creek.

I am not sure just when construction began on the new shops. It was some little time before 1916, as the company moved the shops from Logan in 1916. The town of Peach Creek was laid out in lots and streets at about the same time, as the town of West Logan, on the west side of the Guyan River. A swinging foot bridge across the river, near the site of the present highway bridge, connected the two towns. Soon, employees of the company began to build their homes in both towns.

Edward Theodore England of Logan, WV (1928)

04 Sunday Dec 2022

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan, World War I, Wyoming County

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A.J.S. England, Appalachia, Arline England, Athens, attorney, attorney general, Attorney Generals Association of the United States, Barbour County, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Charleston, Concord Normal College, Edward Theodore England, Francis M. England, Grand Chancellor, history, Huldah Lenburg, Huntingdon, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Jackson County, Junior Vice Grand Chancellor, Kiwanis Club, Knights of Pythias, Logan, Logan County, Louisiana, Loyal Order of the Moose, Majorie England, Mary Elizabeth England, masons, Methodist Church, minister, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moulton, Oceana, politics, Post Office and Postal Committee, Republican Party, senator, Shriners, Southern Normal University, State Council of Defense, Tennessee, Thea Springs, U.S. Congress, West Virginia, World War I, Wyoming County

From West Virginians, published by the West Virginia Biographical Association in 1928, comes this profile of Congressman Edward Theodore England of Logan, WV:

Edward Theodore England, congressman from the sixth district of West Virginia, made a reputation, which finally took him to Congress through his singularly able and efficient administration as attorney general of the state, 1916-1924. Mr. England was born in Jackson County, W.Va., the son of A.J.S. and Mary Elizabeth (Welch) England. His father was a native of Barbour County, W.Va., and a minister in the Methodist Church. He spent a boyhood and youth of mingled labor and effort to advance and improve himself. His education was largely derived from the opportunities he created. He attended public schools, the Concord Normal at Athens, W.Va., graduating therefrom in 1892 and was also graduated with the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Law from the Southern Normal University, Huntingdon, Tenn. He began the practice of law at Oceana, then the county seat of Wyoming in the spring of 1899. From there, seeking a larger field for his activities, he removed to Logan, county seat of Logan County in 1901 and from that county, his abilities as a successful lawyer gained him recognition throughout the state. He served as mayor of Logan in 1903 and again in 1908 and in 1912 was elected to the state senate. He was a leader in that body for eight years and in 1915 was elected president of the senate, an office in which he represented West Virginia and presided over the first meeting of state lieutenant governors, held at Rhea Springs, Tennessee, in 1916. In 1916, Mr. England was elected on the state Republican ticket as attorney-general and in 1920 was re-elected by an increased majority. It was during his administration, that the Virginia-West Virginia debt settlement was negotiated and finally cleared up, Mr. England handing West Virginia’s interests in the affair. He also represented the state in the cases of Ohio and Pennsylvania vs. West Virginia, involving the constitutionality of an act passed by the West Virginia legislature affecting the transportation of gas out of the state. During his term as attorney general occurred the World War and there were many matters growing out of the war period that were assigned to his office. He was a member of the State Council of Defense and as a four-minute man, his services were enlisted as a speaker in war drives and campaigns. In 1923, Mr. England was elected president of the Attorney-Generals’ Association of the United States at a meeting in Minneapolis, Minn. He was a candidate for governor of the state in 1924, being defeated by a small majority, in the primary. He is known all over West Virginia as a loyal member of the Knights of Pythias. During 1920-21 he was Grand Chancellor of the state order and was also Junior Vice Grand Chancellor in 1923. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and Shriner, and is otherwise affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows., Elks, Loyal Order of Moose, and the Kiwanis club, of Charleston. He is also a member of the Methodist church. Mr. England was elected to Congress November 2, 1926, and has looked after the interests of the state faithfully. The sixth congressional district which he represents comprises the counties of Boone, Fayette, Greenbrier, Kanawha, Pocahontas and Raleigh, and in committee appointment he holds place on the Post Office and Postal Committee, being one of a fewto be honored with appointment to a major committee during first term. He was renominated without opposition in the Republican Primary in May, 1928. Mr. England was married to Huldah L. Lenburg, of Moulton, La., December 25, 1901. They have three children, Arline, Francis M. and Majorie England.

African-American Items from Logan, WV (1920s)

29 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in African American History, Holden, Man, World War I

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Accoville, African-Americans, Andrew Carnegie, Appalachia, Charleston, Cora, crime, Dearborn Independent, E.W. Ross, Eugene Carter, Guy W. Pennington, Harvey Bias, history, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lord Bryce, Lucas Wade, M.C. Gentry, Man, Omar, Peach Creek, Prohibition, R.R. Batty, slavery, West Virginia, White Child, World War I

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes these items relating to African-American life in Logan County during the 1920s:

“Jes’ Twelve O’Clock”

A hungry looking negro was observed sitting on a railroad track at Peach Creek yards when the noon whistle blew. He scratched his head and remarked, “Dar she blows. Dinner time for most folks, but jes’ twelve o’clock fo’ me.”

Logan (WV) Banner, 14 April 1922

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War Story Uncovered

It was four shot years ago and the American doughboys were in the front line trenches facing Heinie. A company of colored troops were in the front trenches and among them were two colored boys from Logan whom we will call Sam and Rastus. They were backed up by 6,000 white troops and the order had been given to “go over the top” at a certain moment and the zero hour was fast approaching.

]Sam aquietly crept over to Rastus and said, “What do you ‘spose our folks would say about us if ‘de knowed where we was now?”

“Go away,” said Rastus. “If ‘de knowed where we wuz ‘de Logan Banner would be setting up headlines right now, saying, ‘Six thousan’ white boys done been trampled to death'”

Logan (WV) Banner, 27 October 1922

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Negro Advancement

Though most northerners, including Negro leaders, often express disappointment with the progress the race is making, especially in the southern states, an impartial survey would doubtless inspire hope and pride rather than despair and humiliation.

In spite of deplorable lynchings and persistent unkindness toward him that must make the angel weep, the Negro is advancing. Future generations will be amazed at the rapidity with which he has overcome his handicaps. This view is set forth clearly, along with the facts that justify it, in the Dearborn Independent, which quotes a “Southern Planter” as follows:

Nearly nine million Negroes live south of Mason and Dixon’s line. With but few exceptions they are the progeny of grandparents who were born in slavery. The Negro emerged from the darkness of servitude without land, capital or credit. Within the sixty years that have followed emancipation he has come into possession of twenty-two million acres of land, an area greater than that of South Carolina. Negroes of the South are proprietors of business of every description. Approximately forty thousand enterprises, some of which are national in scope, are owned and operated by them. There are nearly seventy Negro banks, three Negro life insurance companies, real estate firms, hotels, factories, drug and department stores. Colored lawyers, doctors, dentists, undertakers and artisans of every degree of skill practice their profession and ply their trade in every part of the Negro’s native section. In sixty years the Southern Negro has acquired these for himself.

Negroes of the nation own one billion dollars’ worth of property and their holdings are increasing at the rate of fifty million dollars a year. Their most important investments and greatest enterprises are in the South, for that is the section they have known for generations, and the one in which, best authorities say, they will find their greatest success.

Were the Southerner not the friend of the Negro it would have been impossible for the Negro to have attained the degree of success with which he has been blessed. The late Andrew Carnegie and the late Lord Bryce agreed that the progress of the American Negro, after emancipation, was the most remarkable racial accomplishment in the history of the world. The Southerner claims his part of the glory for this achievement for he is the Negro’s teacher.

Logan (WV) Banner, 6 January 1928

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Holden Wins Debate

Resolved “That the Negro has received more cruel treatment than the Indian in America,” was the interesting subject debated by Holden and Logan at Cora last Friday night, with a judges’ score of 5 to 6 points in favor of Holden. The Logan speakers were Rev. E.W. Ross, Rev. M.C. Gentry and Prof. Lucas Wade, while R.R. Batty, Eugene Carter and Guy W. Pennington represented Holden. A spicy program, arranged by the local P.T. Association at Cora, who sponsored the debate, was also a pleasing feature.

Logan (WV) Banner, 8 March 1929

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Negro Prisoner Bears Odd Name

A colored man of very dark skin languishes in the county jail in default of bond for his appearance in federal court. Commissioner Hager bound him over to Charleston court April 16, after hearing evidence concerning a sale of whiskey. The arrest was made by Troopers Reed and Creasy of Man.

Now the interesting feature of this case is the prisoner’s name, which is none other than White Child. The surname as well as the first name must be the gift of the satirist, for this fellow, a resident of Accoville, has been under pretty close surveillance for a child.

The same troopers brought in Harvey Bias on a charge of possessing booze. He, too, was bound over to federal court and in default of bond went to jail.

Logan (WV) Banner, 12 April 1929

World War I Statue in Logan, WV (1928)

26 Monday Aug 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Huntington, Italian American History, Logan, World War I

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A.D. Collins, A.F. Benjamin, American Legion, Bee Stewart, Betty Davin, Boy Scouts, C.L. Wright, Clarence Bartram, David Hensley, Doris Bradley, Edward Gunther, Favaro, Floyd W. Clay, Gunther-McNeely-Nowlan Post, Hatfield Island, history, Huntington, Italy, James Greever, James L. Robinson, John B. McNeely, John Martin, Keefer Jennings Whitman, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lorena greever, M.B. Kendall, M.D. Tony Kendall, Madge Adkins, Margaret McNemar, Marshall College, Marshall University, Midelburg Island, Mike Tarka, Morris P. Shawkey, Newton Cook, Oscar Dial, Pete Minotti, Peter White, Robert F. Caverlee, Roy Lowe, Roy Simms, Scotty McDonald, Tony Curia, Ulysses B. Vance, W.C. Turley, West Virginia, Willard Ball, William F. Munsey, Willie F. Smith, World War I

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about the World War I statue now located at Hatfield/Midelburg Island:

Soldier Monument Dedication Nov. 11

Granite Figure of Doughboy Will Be Set Up This Week, Minotti Says

The $6,000 granite doughboy memorial to World War veterans, the erection of which is being sponsored by Pete Minotti of this city, will be placed on the base near the west Court House entrance sometime during the next three days.

Word was received here by Mr. Minotti that the monument had been shipped from Chicago Monday and that it would arrive in Logan sometime tomorrow. Mr. Minotti said that the figure would be placed on the base and all the work completed this week.

Dedication will be held Sunday afternoon, November 11, at 2 o’clock. The American Legion of this city will have charge of the ceremonies to which the public is invited.

Boy scouts of the community are busy selling tags to help defray expenses of purchasing and erecting the monument. The doughboy figure is larger than life size, being seven feet tall. The figure depicts an American soldier carrying a rifle in one hand and throwing a bomb with the other hand. He is pictured as in the midst of a barb wire entanglement.

Logan (WV) Banner, 30 October 1928

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8 Tons of Granite In New Monument to Logan Soldiery

Seventeen thousand pounds of Vermont granite will surmount the concrete base of the monument now being erected in the Court House yard. Atop the granite blocks will be placed a seven-foot statue representing an American doughboy carrying a rifle and bomb poised for throwing.

The monument will be 19 feet high, says Pete Minotti, local contractor, who is backing and taking the leading part in providing a suitable memorial for Logan county’s heroic dead. The base will be hidden by an earthen mound or terrace on all four sides.

Dedication of this memorial will be the feature of this year’s celebration of the signing of the Armistice on November 11.

Logan (WV) Banner, 2 November 1928

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Arrange Plans for Unveiling of Statue

Plans for the dedication of the new monument to the memory of World War participants, living and dead, will be completed at a special meeting of the local post, American Legion, at the Court House Dugout Thursday night at 7:30.

The unveiling and dedicatory services are set for 2 o’clock Sunday afternoon, Armistice day. Pete Minotti, originator of the plan and the donor of the monument, will make the presentation. Formal acceptance will be by M.D. (Tony) Kendall, a leading legionnaire of the city. There will be other addresses and vocal numbers by Mrs. Madge Adkins, popular and talented singer.

Boy Scouts will aid the Legion men in carrying out an appropriate program of exercises.

Logan (WV) Banner, 6 November 1928

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Monument to Soldiers Ready For Unveiling

Exercises to be Held at Court House at 2:00 O’clock Sunday Afternoon

Minotti is Moving Spirit

Huntington Educator Will Deliver Address–Flag-Raising Comes First

On the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Armistice, Logan county soldiers who paid the supreme price will be honored by their kinsfolk and the citizens of the county when the Pete Minotti memorial is unveiled Sunday afternoon at two o’clock.

The memorial, a fine bronze reproduction of a doughboy mounted on a suitable granite base, was erected near the western entrance to the Court House during the first part of this week and by tomorrow evening everything will be in complete readiness for the dedication exercise.

The American Legion will have charge of the services with the Boy Scouts and several others assisting. The Boy Scouts will conduct a flag-raising just before the unveiling exercises.

The dedicatory address will be delivered by C.L. Wright, superintendent of Huntington schools and a brilliant orator. These exercises will be opened with prayer by Rev. Robert F. Caverlee. Pete Minotti, whose generosity and whose love for his–adopted–country have made this memorial possible, will make the presentation speech. Thereupon the unveiling will take place, with Misses Scotty McDonald, Margaret McNemar, Lorena Greever, Doris Bradley and Betty Davin and James Greever participating. Formal acceptance will be made by M.B. Kendall, commander of Fifth district, department of West Virginia, American Legion. Salute and taps will be followed by benediction by Rev. A.F. Benjamin.

This monument, costing $6,000, is 19 feet high.

A bronze name plate at the statue’s base has inscribed across the top the dates, “1917-1918,” and underneath are the names of the 39 Logan County World War veterans killed, mortally wounded or fatally afflicted by disease while in service. At the bottom is the name, “Pete Minotti Memorial,” and the date, “1928.” The American Legion crest is also on the plate.

Logan (WV) Banner, 13 November 1928

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Big Concourse At Dedication of Monument

Dr. M.P. Shawkey Delivers Eloquent, Patriotic Address At Sunday’s Exercises

P. Minotti the Generous

Presents Memorial to Legion Post as Custodian–Flag-Raising Ceremony

Logan county paid tribute Sunday to a long list of its heroic dead sleeping in foreign and native soil when hundreds of people witnessed the dedication of the monument to the memory of the warriors who fell in the World War.

The Pete C. Minnotti memorial depicting a khaki-clad doughboy hurling a grenade amid barb wire entanglements was dedicated with fitting ceremonies on the eleventh Armistice Day. Dr. M.P. Shawkey, president of Marshall College, delivered the address. C.L. Wright, superintendent of the Huntington schools, who was unable to be present because of illness, was scheduled to deliver the address and Dr. Shawkey filled his place.

In his presentation speech Mr. Minotti reminded the people that the memorial was erected so that people passing by hurriedly in the pursuit of riches might glance up at the soldier figure and remember the boys who fell fighting for freedom and democracy. Mr. Minotti said that he convicted the idea of erecting some memorial to the dead soldiers last summer as he journeyed through his native land, Italy, and in every city and hamlet, no matter how small, the people had erected some kind of a memorial to their dead heroes.

Generous and Patriotic

“Adjoining counties had honored their soldiers and it was time that Logan county honor their dead with a fitting memorial,” said Mr. Minotti.

During the last two months Mr. Minotti, through the cooperation of the American Legion, has been busy planning for and erecting the monument that now graces the Court House lawn near the western entrances. This generous donor, an Italian by birth and an American by choice, was born at Favaro, Italy, October 22, 1885. He came to Logan county 22 years ago and since that time Logan has been his home.

The monument was accepted by A.D. Collins, commander of Gunther-McNeely-Nowlan post, in behalf of the Legion.

Dr. Shawkey spoke of the prosperity which this country enjoys and the lofty position which the nation commands. Yet he urged that the goal which the people should strive for should be a happy and contented country is preference to wealth and a dominating position.

In the unveiling ceremony Misses Scotty McDonald, Margaret McNemar, Lorena Greever, Doris Bradley, Betty Davin and James Greever participated. Previous to the unveiling the Logan county scouts had charge of the flag raising ceremony. W.C. Turley was chairman of the dedication. Following the ceremony a rifle squad fired three volleys of shots over the monument as a salute to the dead.

C. & O. Band Made Special Music

It is also said that the light in the right hand of the doughboy which represents a grenade is the only one of its kind in the state and it was Mr. Minotti’s original idea.

On the bronze tablet on the base of the monument are inscribed the names of 39 men who died in action of wounds and of disease in Europe.

Roll of Honor

The men killed in action are:

Willard Ball, Clarence Bartram, Floyd W. Clay, Newton Cook, Tony Curia, Oscar Dial, Edward Gunther, David Hensley, Roy Lowe, John B. McNeely, John Martin, William F. Munsey, James L. Robinson, Roy Simms, Willie F. Smith, Bee Stewart, Mike Tarka, Ulysses B. Vance, Peter White, Keefer Jennings Whitman.

Those dying of wounds are: John L. Blankenship, Elmer Cook, Homer Hobbs, Noble J. Lax, Lawrence Marcuzzi, Denver Mullins, William R. Nowland, Haskell Phillips, Henry H. Runyon, Harold Thompson. Those dying of disease in Europe: Allen Bryant, Thomas J. Cox, Fred E. Hahne, Joe Hardy, Clyde Jeffrey, Johnnie Johnson, Allen Tabor, Homer Vance, and Levi J. Vance.

Those who died of disease in the United States but whose names do not appear on the tablet are William O. Bailey, Elbert Billups, James L. Brown, Elbert Carter, Sam Dillard, George D. Fletcher, Bert W. Green, Calvin Hughes, Wilbert S. Jeffreys, Sam Johnson, Claude B. Justice, Druie Mounts, Moss F. Stone, James Weaver, and Roy White.

The soldiers from Logan county who were wounded in action but whose names do not appear on the tablet were Albert Adams, Zatto Adkins, William W. Adkins, Lovell H. Aldridge, Willie Allen, Frank Ball, Elisha Ball, Frank J. Bell, Walter S. Blake, Evert Blankenship, Tom Boring, George F. Breeden, H. Brewster, Charles Brewster, H.C. Brown, Floyd Chambers, James Chapin, Greenway Christian, Gay T. Gonley, George E. Covey, Ella Craddock, Dan Craft, Jim F. Crawford, John H. Crittenden, James Cyrus, Thomas Y. Davis, Bird Dingess, Rector H. Elkins, James M. Ellis, Carl Ellis, Frank Ferrell, Sidney Ferrell, Robert L. Gore, Burton W. Gore, Ben H. Gosney, Meddie Craley, Orvil Grubb, Earl Hager, William E. Hanshaw, John H. Harris, William Harris, Stonewall Hensley, James Jackson, Albert Jeffrey, Henon Jerrell, Ned Johnson, Floyd Johnson, Thomas P. Justice, Luther Lacy, Tony Ladas, Charles Burton Litten, George Luty, Herbert L. McKinney, Nick Mallozzo, Clifton Manns, Bill Manville, Ben Maynard, William D. Maynard, George Meadows, Shellie Moxley, Charlie M. Munsey, Spencer Mullins, Thomas R. Newmann, Clarence W. Parkins, James D. Peters, Arlie J. Price, Alfred Prichard, Finnie Walter Pugh, Bert Rayborn, Frank C. Reynolds, John Roberts, Dennie Robertson, Jennings Robinson, Otto Sanders, Burnie Sanson, Lee Shelton, John A. Shepherd, Clarence Smith, John Smith, Mack Smith, Patsy Vance, Frank Ward, John L. Ward, Charlie Warcovies, Thomas Weir, Joseph White, John B. Wilkinson, Jr., Frank C. Willcoven, Tom Williams, Will Wilson, Jasper Wooten, and Wilson Workman.

Sunday’s exercises were witnessed by a crowd comparable in size to that which greeted Colonel Roosevelt here during the campaign. While the Roosevelt crowd was considerably larger, Sunday’s crowd occupied most of the space fronting the monument and the main entrance to the Court House, and those on the outer edges heard but snatches of the speeches. And of course there were present scores of kinsmen of those whose names appear in rustless bronze on this granite shaft. As they gathered close to scan these names and to note the expression on the face of the doughboy representation, tears poured down the cheeks of Gold Star mothers as if to climax the hallowing of this spot–this heart center of the city and county–this monument to the ashes, this temple to the fame of those who laid their lives on their country’s altar in the greatest crisis in human history.

Much of the time since the dedication, at least during daylight hours, this new monument has been the cynosure of groups of varying size.

Logan (WV) Banner, 13 November 1928

World War I Recollections of Dr. Edwin M. Godby (1928)

24 Wednesday Jul 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Huntington, Logan, World War I

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308th Infantry, 77th Division, 92nd Division, Alsace-Lorraine, Appalachia, Bosche, Camp Greenleaf, Chateau Thierry, dentist, Edwin M. Godby, Fifth Avenue, Georgia, Germany, Gwinn Brothers & Company, Herald-Advertiser, history, Huntington, James Godby, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lost Battalion, United Cigar Stores, University of Cincinnati, West Virginia, World War I

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this recollection of World War I by veteran Edwin M. Godby of Huntington, WV, dated July 10, 1928:

LOGAN BOY OF LOST BATTALION LIVED THRU SIX DAYS OF HELL

Dr. E.M. Godby, Now of Huntington, One of 150 Survivors of An Outstanding Episode of World War—Graphic Account of Harrowing Experiences

It has been a little less than 10 years since the story of the Lost Battalion thrilled and horrified the American people.

It was the story of an infantry battalion which pushed its way through in an advance into the German lines while the forces on either flank were being beaten back, writes Wiatt Smith for the Herald-Advertiser.

Of the 1,000 men who went in, only a remnant lived to tell the story of six days in a literal hell. Six days during which they crouched in shell holes and dugouts, without food or water, while the shells from the guns of their own army thundered over them or broke about them and the gas and machine gun fire of a sullen enemy harassed them.

One of those survivors lives in Huntington. He is a dentist and as he goes about his professional work and social life only a slight cough serves to mark him as one who breathed the deadly poison spewed over him by the Bosche.

Dr. Edwin M. Godby, of Fifth Avenue, with offices in the United Cigar Stores building, is the man in question. He told the story to one who had first learned from others of his part in this great drama of the war. Dr. Godby was an ambulance corps man, attached to the Seventy-Seventh division and at the time assigned to Major Whittlesey’s battalion of the 308^th infantry for said duty.

Left Logan in 1918

Eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. James Godby of Logan, he was a student of dentistry in the University of Cincinnati when America entered the war. He went from Logan with a draft contingent in March 1918. He trained at Camp Greenleaf, Ga., was assigned to the Medical corps, and crossed the ocean in June as a casual.

Assigned at once to the Seventy-seventh division he first saw the front at post in Alsace-Lorraine.

“There was no action here,” said Dr. Godby. “We were within one kilometer of the enemy but there seemed to be almost an understanding that we wouldn’t bother each other. There was no firing. Occasionally one side or the other would send a raiding party into the others lines, but these were rarely fired upon.

“In July our division went in to replace another division which had helped take Chateau Thierry. We continued in the drive from the Marne to the Aisne. We would advance two or three days and then dig in for perhaps four or five. This went on from July to September.

“Then we moved from the Aisne to the Argonne. One date that stays with me is that of the great barrage which marked the opening of the Argonne drive on the night of September 26.

“On October 13 or 14 we got orders to advance from our position in a 30-mile strip of woods between the headwaters of the Aisne and the Meusc. The Ninety-second division flanked us on the left and two of our regiments and two of the Ninety-second were supposed to advance.

“The advance started as planned, early in the morning, but the right and left flanks were met by such resistance that they fell back to their original positions.

“Major Whittlessey’s men tore through the resisting German line and went forward. It was late in the forenoon before we discovered that we were unsupported on either flank and cut off from the rear.

“We spend six days before we were relieved by another regiment which was almost destroyed in the effort. The battalion was virtually at war strength, having been in only a little while. Of the 1,000 who went in only 150 came back.”

Dr. Godby tells a grim story of the last days. As soon as the soldiers found their situation they began to dig in. It was every man for himself. Dr. Godby says he and two others found a shell hole. They deepened it and were comparatively safe there. But one of the three got too venturesome and raised his head too far above the rim of the crater. His comrades used his body for an additional barricade.

The surviving companion of Dr. Godby was a man named Crane, who had gone in from Pennsylvania. He told Dr. Godby that he had a sister in Huntington whose husband worked for Gwinn Bros. & Co.

“I have often thought I’d try to get race of that sister,” said Dr. Godby, “but I never have.

“We just laid there,” the dentist said, detailing his experience. “Each man had less than a quart of water and no food. After the second day I didn’t have any water. We never missed the food, but of course the thirst was torture. It was terrible, too, to have to wear our gas masks continuously for that becomes torture after the first hour.

“For the first day or two the Germans tried charging us but we were strong enough to beat them back. After that they were content to keep their machine guns turned on us and subject us to a continuous barrage of gas. At the same time we were within the range of our own batteries.

Contemplated Suicide

“American planes passed over us and tried to drop us food, but the Germans got it.

“For the last two or three days nothing mattered. Crane and I tried to devise means of escape. We would work out a plan and then decide it was futile. We decided to commit suicide, but changed our minds. It was simply a matter of trying to keep alive as long as we could. On the fifth night I had only intervals of consciousness. But we had determined to make a dash for freedom and life when daylight came. It would not have been a dash for life, but a dash to death.

I know this is true because we were on the slope of a ravine, the battalion being pocketed on either side of it. We could see the water in the ravine and the bodies of the men who in their desperation had gone there to drink. Not one lived to taste the water.

“But as Crane and I planned to make the final desperate dash I lost consciousness. When I revived I was on a stretcher at a base hospital at Nantes. I never saw Crane again. I have often wondered what became of him.

“Did he,” I asked myself, “live to go for his death drink or was he too rescued?

“I have never talked to anyone who was with the battalion.”

A few days after Dr. Godby revived from his unconsciousness the armistice was signed. He was in the hospital from November 1 until late in December, recovering from the effects of gas. In January 1919, he came back to the United States, received his discharge and resumed his studies. He has been practicing in Huntington two years.

Ex-Soldiers Advertisement (1922)

11 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan, World War I

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Appalachia, history, Logan, Logan Banner, West Virginia, World War I

Logan (WV) Banner, 21 July 1922.

Armistice Day (1936)

10 Saturday Nov 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan, World War I

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Appalachia, Armistice Day, football, history, Logan Banner, Logan County, West Virginia, World War I

Armistice Day, Logan (WV) Banner, 11 November 1936.

Teddy Roosevelt, Jr. Visits Logan, WV (1928)

14 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Huntington, Logan, Williamson, Women's History, World War I

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A.A. Lilly, American Legion, Appalachia, Beckley, Braeholm, C.C. Lanham, Calvert Estill, Casey M. Jones, Charleston, Emmett Scaggs, First Methodist Church, G.R. Claypool, Guyandotte Valley, Harrisville, Henry D. Hatfield, Herbert Hoover, history, Hugh Ike Shott, Huntington, John M. Mitchell, John W. Davis, Kentucky, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lundale, M.Z. White, Naaman Jackson, Peach Creek, photos, Point Pleasant, politics, Princeton, Republican Party, Ripley, Teddy Roosevelt Jr., W.C. Lybarger, W.C. Price, W.G. Conley, W.J. Fields, Welch, West Virginia, Williamson, Woman's Christian Temperance Union, World War I, YMCA

On October 17, 1928, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. visited Logan, WV, and gave a speech to approximately 10,000 people. The Logan Banner offered plenty of coverage for the event:

Tedd Roosevelt Jr. is Coming LB 10.05.1928.JPG

Logan (WV) Banner, 5 October 1928

***

War-Time Buddies to Greet Col. Roosevelt

After His Meeting Here Wednesday Night–General Conley Will Also Speak at Open-Air Meeting That Night–Whale of Rally Assured

Every ex-service man in Logan county is urged to meet Col. Theodore Roosevelt when he comes here to deliver a campaign address in front of the Court House next Wednesday night. A reception in honor of the distinguished son of a distinguished sire will be held in Republican headquarters on the fifth floor of the White & Browning building after the political meeting is ended. There he will be greeted by his war “buddies” and every soldier, sailor and marine who served in the World War, regardless of political affiliations, is asked to be present.

Col. Roosevelt is billed three speeches on Tuesday. He is expected to speak at Welch in the afternoon and at Princeton at 5 p.m. and at Beckley that night. He is in great demand and Logan Republicans are elated over the definite promise from state headquarters that he is coming here.

General W.G. Conley, Republican nominee for Governor, will accompany or join Col. Roosevelt here and both will speak at the Wednesday night meeting. It is probable, too, that Dr. H.D. Hatfield and A.A. Lilly, former attorney general, will be here at the same time. General Lilly is billed for a speech at Braeholm on Monday night.

Logan (WV) Banner, 12 October 1928

***

Col. Roosevelt and General Conley Speak in Logan Tomorrow Night

Open-Air Rally at Court House Expected to Attract Delegations From All Sections of County–Service Men to Hold Reception for Col. Roosevelt After Speaking Is Ended

With the coming of Theodore Roosevelt and General W.C. Conley tomorrow for what is expected to be a memorable night meeting, the speaking campaign in this county may reach a climax. They will be the chief speakers at an open-air meeting in front of the Court House. It is probable that Governor Gore will come also and in that event he may serve as chairman of the meeting.

A.A. Lilly, former attorney general and Hugh Ike Shott, Republican nominee for congress, who addressed a huge gathering at Braeholm and Lundale last night, will speak at Peach Creek tonight; Senator Jackson and E.F. Scaggs also spoke at last night’s gatherings. Mr. Shott will remain in the county up to Wednesday night.

Governor W.J. Fields of Kentucky will address a Democratic meeting in the court room tonight.

Widespread interest has been aroused in the Roosevelt-Conley meeting and delegations are looked for from every section of the county. Ex-service men are to turn out in force to meet and greet the distinguished soldier-son of the beloved soldier-president of the same name. A reception to which all ex-service men are invited will be held on the fifth floor of the White & Browning building after the big meeting is concluded. Roosevelt’s war record, his activity in helping to organize the American Legion, and his fondness for those who served with him have endeared him to World War men everywhere.

A prohibition rally sponsored by the W.C.T.U. will be held at the Court House at 7:30 Friday p.m. Everyone is urged to come. The speakers for this occasion have not been announced.

Teddy Roosevelt Jr. in Logan LB 10.16.1928 2.JPG

Logan (WV) Banner, 16 October 1928.

***

Col. Roosevelt Center of Interest of Biggest Crowd Ever Seen Here

Republicans Stage Rally Eclipsing Any of the Past in Guyan Valley, With Attentive, Enthusiastic Crowd Estimated At Around 10,000 Mark

GEN. CONLEY AND OTHERS TAKE PART

Ex-Service Men Add Zest to Ovation for Gallant Soldier Son of Beloved T.R.–Rev. Mr. Lanham Is Chairman–Flowers For Teddy

Before the largest crowd ever assembled in Logan county, Col. Theodore Roosevelt, eldest son of the late president, made an eloquent and elaborate appeal in front of the Court House Wednesday night for the election of Hoover and Curtis on November 6.

His oratory, his Rooseveltian grimaces, his deep-furrowed smiles, his warm and radiant fellowship, and genuine camaraderie in meeting and greeting ex-service men, won the hearts of all. And how game he was! Exhausted by his effort to make himself heard to the far corners of the crowd confronting him and really surrounding him, following a strenuous ordeal of many days, traveling at night and speaking several times a day, he had difficulty making his way from the platform back through the crowd and into the Court House corridor. To several companions he hoarsely confided, “I’m a wreck!” Nevertheless, he tried to shake every hand and exchange a friendly greeting with those who swarmed about him. His exit was marked by a renewal of the ovation that greeted him when he, General W.G. Conley, Senator M.Z. White, County Chairman and Mrs. G.R. Claypool, Casey M. Jones, Calvert Estill and others in the party wormed their way through the crowd to the platform erected at the foot of the steps on the side of the Court House.

After the meeting the distinguished visitor was whisked to Republican headquarters where ex-service men in large numbers held a reception in his honor. Again and again he was “dee-lighted” and thrilled to find some “buddy” who had belonged to some military unit with whose history Roosevelt is familiar. Then he would cry out to his pal Casey Jones, Charleston newspaperman and bosom friend for more than a decade,” What do you know about it, Casey, here’s an old pal that served with” so-and-so company or regiment.

Not only ex-service men but more than one professional man of Logan, miners and others whispered to him, or yelled out to his wake, “We’ll be voting for you some time, Teddy!”

Hits the Line Hard

After the reception the Colonel returned to Charleston, to make ready for a busy schedule yesterday. He was billed for speeches at Harrisville, Ripley and Pt. Pleasant, and had arranged to get back to Charleston last night and to speak both at Beckley and Welch today. All day yesterday here whenever the matter of his visit was discussed in any group the prediction was advanced that he was too terribly exhausted to adhere to his schedule. And his Logan friends are sincerely concerned about him. However, he will return to New York at the end of the week.

Wednesday night’s rally will be remembered for years, say political observers, not only because of its size but also because of its direct bearing on a momentous contest for supremacy.

Most estimates of the attendance hover around the 10,000 mark. John M. Mitchell, court bailiff, who has been familiar with political activities in this county for half a century, said it exceeded twice over any crowd he had ever seen in the county. Others say the only meeting ever held here worthy of comparison was that addressed by Senator Pat Harrison in the 1924 campaign. To the writer the crowd seemed more than half as large as that which heard John W. Davis in Huntington in 1924. That crowd was estimated at 25,000, but that was an obvious exaggeration–a characteristic of the estimates of political assemblages.

The Folks Were There

Cloudy weather and a light rain that set in at the hour when the meeting was scheduled to start doubtless kept away a considerable number and caused scores to leave. On the outer edges it was impossible to hear the speakers and so there was a steady going and coming of persons wishing to see and hear. windows in about half a dozen buildings were occupied, small boys were atop the Old Stone building, and there was a good-sized crowd clustered on and about the platform, steps, windows, portico and corridors of the Court House.

Roosevelt has a good voice but it was put to a terrific test here, considering what he had undergone recently. His voice is better than his father’s was and he is more humorous, but the only striking resemblance between the two as public speakers is that grinning grimace that once seen can never be forgotten. In his speech he did not delve exhaustively into any one issue or phase of the campaign but he gave a comprehensive review of the issues and personalities that Republicans generally assume to be involved in this campaign. As for Tammany he panned it as it has never been panned before hereabouts. He recalled, too, that his grandfather had fought the greedy Tiger: “My father fought it; I am fighting it, and if it lives 20 years longer, I expect and hope my son Teddy III will be fighting it.”

Rev. Lanham Presides

It was after 8 o’clock when the speakers arrived–more than half an hour late–whereas all available seats and many vantage points had been occupied for nearly if not fully two hours. At the home of Mr. and Mrs. G.R. Claypool they had been entertained at dinner–or supper, as Teddy and most of us call it. Besides the Colonel and General Conley there were six other guests: Hugh Ike Shott, Republican nominee for representative in Congress; Senator M.Z. White, Williamson; C.M. Jones, publicity man and side for Mr. Conley; Calvert N. Estill, Charleston correspondent for the Ogden chain of newspapers, and Senator Naaman Jackson.

Rev. C.C. Lanham, pastor of the First Methodist Church, who has been a leader in the fight to avert any backward step on prohibition, was chairman of the meeting. He filled the role with tact and good judgment and introduced the various speakers in happy style.

General Conley was the first speaker, but sensing the crowd’s desire to hear the Colonel he cut short his remarks. He did not take up state or national issues but after a word of congratulation to those who had sponsored such an immense turnout he withdrew.

Flowers For Colonel

Next a pretty little surprise was sprung. Mrs. W.C. Price, of Huntington, who is taking the lead in organizing the Republican women of the county, was introduced. Turning to Col. Roosevelt, after bringing a basket full of beautiful flowers into view, she told him of the esteem in which he is held by the women and presented the flowers in behalf of the woman’s Republican Club as a token of appreciation of his services in this campaign and of his zeal in promoting the public welfare. His face wreathed in wrinkles and aglow, he replied: “I accept with thanks. And I would much rather stand high in the esteem of women than of men. They are more important. I know, for I am married.”

The chairman then introduced W.C. Lybarger, secretary of the railway Y.M.C.A. at Peach Creek, who in turn introduced Col. Roosevelt. He paid the visitor a splendid tribute for his valor on the battlefields of France, touched the high points of his political career, and said he had a leading part in organizing the American Legion.

At the outset Roosevelt sketched the character and growth of the orphaned Hoover and gave some intimate glimpses into the habits of living and of thought, of his working and his industry and resourcefulness in solving problems of public and playing, of his zeal in tackling concern. Between these two men there is a close friendship, and there was no mistaking Roosevelt’s whole-hearted admiration for the farm boy of Iowa who has risen to a position of pre-eminence in the minds and hearts of his countrymen and even of the folk of many other lands.

Logan (WV) Banner, 19 October 1928

Dr. J.S. Carter (1929)

27 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in African American History, World War I

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African-Americans, Alpha Phi, Appalachia, Athens, Dental College, dentist, genealogy, history, Howard University, Logan Banner, Logan County, McDowell Dental Clinic, Ohio, Ohio University, University of Pittsburgh, West Virginia, World War I

In April of 1929, the Logan Banner profiled numerous prominent African-American residents of Logan County, West Virginia.

DR. J.S. CARTER, DENTIST

Washington Hotel, Logan, W.Va.

Graduate: Dental College of Howard University; did work at Ohio University, Athens, and the University of Pittsburgh; member of Alpha Phi fraternity. Dr. Carter served his country in the late World War. The doctor has practiced medicine six years, all of which has been done in West Virginia, his native state. The doctor has a modernly equipped office, engaged a large and profitable practice in Logan county. He is studious and alert to bring to his profession any scientific discoveries or new appliances that will benefit his patients. Dr. Carter has former connection with the McDowell Dental Clinic. The doctor encompasses a generous field of activities outside of his profession. He is prominent in fraternal and civic organizations in his county and state.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 16 April 1929

Richard T. Jordan (1929)

15 Saturday Sep 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in African American History, Logan, World War I

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25th Infantry, African-Americans, Alpha Phi Alpha, Appalachia, Aracoma High School, Columbia University, education, genealogy, history, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Ohio State University, Red Cross Ambulance Corps, Richard T. Jordan, teacher, West Virignia, Wilberforce University, World War I

In April of 1929, the Logan Banner profiled numerous prominent African-American residents of Logan County, West Virginia.

RICHARD T. JORDAN

Graduate: Wilberforce University with B.A. degree; will take master’s work at Columbia University the coming summer session. Prof. Jordan has done work at Ohio State University; is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, a national college fraternity. Honorary fraternities: Sword and Shield and Boule, and is an Elk and Mason. Prof. Jordan served his country in the late World War, doing overseas service; he was connected with the Red Cross Ambulance corps also enlisted in the U.S. Twenty-Fifth Infantry immediately following the World War, assigned to Mexican border service. The Aracoma school of which Prof. Jordan is principal has a corps of seven teachers, carrying an average enrollment of 150, and under his guidance the system is organized into an effective working unit, developing a definite educational program in the pupil enrollment. Prof. Jordan is a young man of high ideals, sterling character, studious and enterprising, and will make his mark in the profession.

Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 16 April 1929.

Recollections of McKinley Grimmett of Bruno, WV 4 (1984)

07 Friday Sep 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Coal, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Italian American History, World War I, Wyoming County

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Accoville, Appalachia, Bill Mosely, Bruno, Buffalo Creek, Burl Christian, Cap Hatfield, coal, crime, Cub Creek, Democratic Party, deputy sheriff, Devil Anse Hatfield, Don Chafin, Elech Luster, Elech Steven, Elk Creek, genealogy, Harve Grimmett, Henderson Grimmett, history, influenza, Italian-Americans, Joe Browning, Joe Hatfield, justice of the peace, Logan County, Logan Lumber Company, Mallory, Mallory Coal Company, Matilda Hatfield, McKinley Grimmett, Nancy Grimmett, Phil Elkins, Sand Lick, Scott Browning, sheriff, Spice Creek, Tennis Hatfield, Thomas Hatfield, Watt Elkins, West Virginia, World War I, Wyatt Belcher, Wyoming County

McKinley Grimmett was born on November 30, 1896 to Henderson and Nancy (Hatfield) Grimmett at Sand Lick, Logan County, WV. On May 14, 1916, Mr. Grimmett married a Ms. Plymale, who soon died, in Logan County. One child named Alva died on June 21, 1919 of whooping cough, aged fourteen months. His World War I draft registration card dated September 12, 1918 identifies him as having blue eyes and light-colored hair. He was employed by Mallory Coal Company at Mallory, WV. On November 13, 1919, he married Matilda “Tilda” Hatfield, daughter of Thomas Hatfield, in Logan County. He identified himself as a farmer in both of his marriage records. During the 1920s, he served as a deputy under Sheriff Tennis Hatfield.

The following interview of Mr. Grimmett was conducted at his home on July 17, 1984. In this part of the interview, he recalls his occupations. The post-World War I flu pandemic, early Bruno residents, timbering, the Hatfields, politics, and crime are featured.

***

Do you remember the flu that came along after World War I?

Oh yeah, I’ve seen ‘em up here in my graveyard bury as high as three or four in one day. Buried a man and his wife and kid all in one day there. It was bad. I was running a drum at Mallory for the company. I went there well that morning and at 10 o’clock they hauled me back in a jo-wagon. I couldn’t walk with the flu. I was down for four days and the mine didn’t run. I got over it awful quick. The doctor come… Dr. Shrewsbury, used to be at Mallory. Next day was Saturday and Sunday and he told me to stay off for Monday. And he said he’d send after me. Come and get me, bring me back in the evening. All he wanted me to do was run the drum. Not get hot or anything. I got over mine. My sister come there to see me. She had seven kids. She come there and took it. And all her kids come to see her and they all took it. And her husband come to see about them and he took it. And her husband couldn’t talk plain. Keenan Walls was her husband. He called onions “inghams.” My mother would say, Keenan, what do you want to eat today? They fried them. She’d fry them onions. He said, I don’t know hardly unless you fry me some more inghams. Yeah, they’s about 250 graves in that graveyard of mine.

Tape stops.

There’s a lot of people up this creek. Used to be there wasn’t about six families when I was a boy growing up. Wyatt Belcher lived down below the mouth of the creek. And Burl Christian lived up here a little ways. And Watt Elkins lived over there. And my daddy lived next. And my daddy’s brother Harve Grimmett lived next. Phil Elkins lived next. Now in the head of the creek where this backland was, that was before McDonalds got a hold of it. They lived on it, built log houses and everything else. I couldn’t tell you who all… Mountses there. I made several caskets. I made my mother’s coffin. I bought my daddy a steel coffin and I had to take some straw out of it. He was a pretty good sized man like myself. They both had the flu. And she had a lot of chickens here. I lived up at the old homeplace and they lived here. She wanted to know where that straw come from. I told her the truth about it. I told her I had to take it out of Daddy’s casket. It was a little too tight on him and I wouldn’t put him away that way. And said, Kin—she called me Kin, my nickname—said, whenever I die I want you to make my casket. She’d seen me make so many, you know. She wanted me to do that. And so I made it. I went to Logan and I bought the handles. It cost me $105 dollars. Looked like silver. And I bought plush stuff and lined it and everything. And I went down here to this planing mill and I bought the first class lumber. Didn’t have a knot in it. Logan Lumber Company run it then. And I made it. Oh, I’ve made oodles of ‘em. I made the old man Joe Browning’s in Spice Creek up here one time… And he’d sawed beech lumber now for me to make that casket out of. And old man Scott Browning, I got him to help me. And I bet you he weighed about 300 pound. And that beech lumber was 22 inches wide and I still had to put a slab on each side up at his hips down about four inches wide on each side. They couldn’t get enough men around that to lift it. I don’t see how they ever got it down in the grave. I didn’t go to the grave with ‘em. I made the casket and that was all.

Would you rather work with timber or coal?

Well, it’s according to what kind you do with lumber. I believe I would rather work in the mines because I’ve always had a good job in the mines. I worked 44 years and two months around the mines and I never was laid off. Born and raised here in Logan County. Never been in jail. Never been arrested. Never been sued. I never bothered nobody’s business only my own. I’ve been honest with everybody.

Were you ever politically active?

Yeah, I was, whenever them Hatfields was in there. They’d make you, whether you wanted to or not. Tennis and Joe and all of them. You get in that bunch of Hatfields at that day and time you couldn’t get away from ‘em. They’d claim me as their cousin all the time, ‘cause I was half-Hatfield myself. I don’t reckon my mother was any relation to any of them. She didn’t know nothing about them. She was from Wyoming County up on Big Cub Creek, you know. Now she heard lots of talk about Devil Anse and Cap and all of them. She was afraid for me to be with them all the time.

Did you like politics?

Yeah, I liked it pretty good.

Did you ever run for office?

Yeah, I run for JP one time. ’52. Bill Mosely run against me. And I beat Bill over here at his office precinct but he beat me up at Buffalo. Yeah, I run for JP one time. I never did run any more.

Who has impressed you the most in politics?

I reckon Tennis has been the one. Now Joe is a man that was still kind of sulky like. He didn’t seem like that he appreciated what you’d done or something like that. Either that or he thought hisself a little bit higher than you was. Something like that. I don’t know. I couldn’t figure him out. But Cap now, he’d cuss them out and everything else.

Do you remember the ’32 election?

Oh yeah. I remember. Why, coal companies, they went in with the Democrats and they fired us off of the deputy force. The coal companies put us on as guards. And we stayed that way for about three months. And Democrats come in and they cut that law out. And we went on back to work and that didn’t change nothing. I tell you, it was a sight whenever Chafin was in there. Lord, they killed people and everything. Up Buffalo at Accoville, they was building a railroad up through there. Well, that day and time they built camps for their men to stay in and they rode horses, the bosses did, ride him right out on the job. And they’d get up in the morning, Elech Steven and Elech R. Luster was the two bosses—one was superintendent, one was boss—and they’d go around, one had a ball bat and a hole drilled through it and a strap of leather in it and it was a small ball bat now and if them colored people or hunkies and Italians wasn’t up they’d knock the window lights out and then nail the window up instead of buying them a window and putting it back in. And they killed them two, the hunkies and Italians. They come out on ‘em and shot ‘em both and killed ‘em. About eight of them. Well, they killed three of ‘em before they got out of sight, the Americans did, up Accoville Hollow there. And the rest of ‘em come through and they shot one right over the Huff Knob and he rolled plumb from the top of that ridge down just like a dog bouncin’ plumb into the river. That made four of ‘em they got. Then they got two more up here on Elk Creek. Then they got two more up at Spice. Made the eight. Well, they killed them all. And they brought them—I was up there at the store at Elk Creek whenever they brought them two Italians down there… Now, this old raw bacon. Slabs that come that wide and be that long, grease would be running out. And they would cut them off raw meat and throw it to them like throwing it to a dog and they’d eat it.

NOTE: Some names may be transcribed incorrectly.

Recollections of McKinley Grimmett of Bruno, WV 3 (1984)

06 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Coal, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Logan, Timber, World War I

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Appalachia, assessor, blacksmith, Bruno, Burl Stotts, California, Cap Hatfield, Christian, Christmas, coal, Devil Anse Hatfield, drum runner, Edith Grimmett, Elba Hatfield, Elk Creek, Ellison Toler, genealogy, Harvey Ferguson, Harvey Howes, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Henderson Grimmett, history, Huff Creek, J.G. Hunter, Joe Hatfield, Johnny Davis, justice of the peace, Logan, Logan County, Mallory, Mallory Coal Company, Matilda Hatfield, McKinley Grimmett, mining, Nancy Grimmett, Osey Richey, politics, pushboats, rafting, Ralph Grimmett, Rum Creek, Sand Lick, sheriff, Smoke House Restaurant, Tennis Hatfield, Thomas Hatfield, timber, West Virginia, whooping cough, Willis Hatfield, World War I

The following interview of Mr. Grimmett was conducted at his home on July 17, 1984. In this part of the interview, he recalls his occupations. Tennis Hatfield, Cap Hatfield, Joe Hatfield, Willis Hatfield, pushboats, Logan, World War I, coal, and blacksmithing are featured.

***

What about Tennis and Joe Hatfield?

But now they come out, they paid all their debts and everything and stuff like that. They was honest, as far as I know. I think both of ‘em went broke, they was so good to the people. They had all kinds of things… Tennis had a five thousand dollar ring and he pawned it to the First National Bank and somebody got the ring. I don’t know who did. Tennis didn’t get it back. They both lost everything they had. And not just only them. Osey Richey, he was assessor and J.G. Hunter was assessor, and they lost all they had. People just, after they got elected and everything, thought that they had to furnish ‘em whether they had it or whether they didn’t.

Tennis and Joe were too young to participate in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud.

Oh yeah. That happened before I got big enough, Cap and them. Cap was chief deputy, though, while I was on. I can remember some of it. Just hear-says. I don’t know nothing about it. Ellison Toler was related to them someway and he stayed at my daddy’s and they kept him up for killing somebody over there at Welch and they hung him there at Welch yard on a tree. I remember getting into my daddy’s papers and reading the letters after I was just learning in school about such stuff like that. And I thought that was the awfulest thing ever was, writing to him and telling about it.

What changed in the county for the Hatfields between the feud and the 1920s?

Mostly, they died out to tell you the truth. Joe and Tennis died out and nobody else had guts enough to take it, you see? Now, Willis, he was the youngest brother. Elba, now he was JP and after he got out as JP he pulled out and went to California. And Willis, he died here about a year ago up on Rum Creek. And Tennis and Joe both died. And that was all of ‘em. All of the old people. Harvey Howes married their sister, and they’re all dead.

Did you ever talk to Cap or Willis?

Oh yeah. Willis, they’d hang after me all the time. They knowed I was half-Hatfield, you know. Tennis and Joe would, too. They was awful good to me ever way. Now Cap, I never – Cap just had one word for a person. If he wanted to talk with you, he’d say, well let’s talk a while, and if he didn’t, he’d say, get the hell away from here. That was the way Cap was. Devil Anse, he used to kill a beef and roast it every Christmas, you know. I’ve went there and eat with him a lot. They tell me they wouldn’t know that place now. They’ve cleaned the graveyard up, you know. I ain’t been up there in… Be five years in January since I got down and I ain’t been away … Only one takes me anyplace is my daughter Edith and Ralph and Edith’s working all the time and Ralph’s all the time busy and Ralph takes me to the doctor every month and Edith took me to the store back and forth and Ralph took me last Saturday.

How has Downtown Logan changed since you were young?

Oh, it’s changed a big lot. Built more buildings in it and everything. Used to be you had about three or four policeman and that was it. Now I can remember back whenever they had a wooden courthouse. A boxed building. I was just a big boy then. Daddy followed rafting and pushboating. You know what pushboating is? Well, they had a big long boat. He had two. And one of ‘em was about eight feet wide and about 46 feet long. Other one was about twelve feet wide. And they had to catch water to get that big boat. And sixteen foot wide. And they’d take a pair of mules or horses, whichever they had, and they’d go to Logan and buy groceries. He had a store and he boated most of his stuff. They’d kill hogs and take chickens and catch fish and take it down to Logan and sell it and they’d bring groceries back.

And they’d make these trips how often?

He went every week. It would take two days to make it, very best. You had from daylight to dark.

Tell me more about your work history.

Well I was a blacksmith. Worked in electric force. They knew I was going to fire. Harvey Ferguson was superintendent. Johnny Davis was general manager. They knowed how old I was. They knowed I was going to retire. I left Christian over here. They shut down. Johnny Davis offered me a job and offered me a job and I wouldn’t take it. I met him right at the foot of the hill. He was a boss over some Elk Creek mine. Well, I went and worked about six months lacking two days for Burl Stotts over there in Campbell’s Creek, built a tipple he fell off of and got killed. I come back and Johnny had come in home that week and Johnny and Harvey Ferguson had been up here and they wanted me to come around there and talk with them on Saturday night. I went around there. They said Johnny said he wanted me to come back up and work for him. I said, well you won’t give me enough. He said, how much you getting? I told him. He said, well I’ll give you three dollars on the day more. I said, well I’ll do it. The rates was 24 dollars. Union then. He give me 27 dollars. I wasn’t getting 24 and going over there and paying board, you know. So I said, well I’ll go back over there and work next week and pay my board up. I wouldn’t walk right off the job from him. He was a good fellow. And he was good to me. And he liked me and everything. And he give me all he could give me. They said they appreciated that, Davis and Harvey Ferguson both. That I’d do a thing like that. So I went back and worked that week and paid my board and come back and went up there and stayed with him fourteen years and retired. In November 30, 1962.

Do you remember anything about your last day?

No, they give me a pair of gloves and Johnny told me that he was going to put a ten dollar gold piece in my envelope. And he did.

What about World War I?

Well I was called… I was drum runner. The superintendent come down in the drum house where I was at. The superintendent said I see you are called for service. I said, Yeah, two more weeks will be my last. You better get somebody in here and let me learn him while I can. He said, we were studying about that. Do you want to go? I said, no I don’t want to go but I guess I’ll have to go. Kaiser was his name. He said, We’ll see what we can do about it. I’ll let you know and I’ll keep you posted at all times. Well, that was on Monday morning, I believe it was. On Saturday evening, I had to work six days a week, Saturday evening he wanted me to come over to his office. That was around on Huff Creek, at Mallory 1. And I went over there. He said, I think I’ve got you retired. He said, We’ve got to have coal men as well as army men. Just don’t say anything about it to none of the boys. You’ll not have to go. And that was all of it. I never did have to go. But I registered five different times for the service. Last time I registered, they took everybody. They didn’t get too old—I registered them all. And the company put me in a little old room beside the store and furnished my eatings for that day paid me for my day’s work and the government never did pay me a cent for none of it. Five different times. Now at first start I had to take them, I had to keep a tally of how many registered, had to take them to Logan and send them out, call in to Washington and tell them how many I registered and everything. Now the last time, I didn’t have to do that. A man come and got ‘em the next day.

Who taught you how to blacksmith?

Oh, I taught myself. My daddy used to shoe horses and I used to help him in the shop. That’s the hardest job ever I got in, shoeing horses or mules. Dangerous job, too. I’ve had them kick me plumb over top of… At that time you had belluses you blow. They’d kick me plumb over top of them belluses. Almost kill me sometimes.

Were there any blacksmith shops around Logan when you were a boy?

Oh yeah. There was plenty of them. There in Logan there was a big one. A fellow named White was the blacksmith down there. Boy, he’d whip a mule. He kept big old hickory poles in there and a mule or horse that didn’t hold still or anything he’d throw its leg down and grab one of them poles—I’ve been in there and watched him—and he’d beat that mule… I swear, I’d be uneasy about it. Think he was going to kill it. It would just quiver like a leaf.

Where was his shop?

Right where the courthouse sits now. There was a wooden courthouse. Box building. Two-story high. And his blacksmith shop was right on down the street. I’d say it wasn’t quite down to the Smoke House. Not quite down that far. Over on the right hand side. It was a big old boxed building and a shed to it. He’d get dirty coal. He was too tight to buy the coal or something. And he’d have enough smoke go all over that town. Yeah, I remember all about that.

NOTE: Some names may be transcribed incorrectly.

Recollections of McKinley Grimmett of Bruno, WV 1 (1984)

31 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in African American History, Coal, Dingess, Guyandotte River, Holden, Logan, Man, Timber, Wyoming County

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African-Americans, Alva Grimmett, Appalachia, Austin Grimmett, Baileysville, Big Cub Creek, Bruno, Buffalo Creek, Christian, Cole and Crane Company, Devil Anse Hatfield, Dingess, Edith Grimmett, education, Elk Creek, Ettie Grimmett, farming, genealogy, general store, Green Perry, Guyandotte River, Guyandotte Valley, Henderson Browning, Henderson Grimmett, history, Holden, Horse Pen Mountain, Johnny Grimmett, Landsville, Lilly Grimmett, Logan, Logan County, logging, Madison Creek, Mallory, Man, McGuffey Readers, McKinley Grimmett, Mingo County, Mud Fork, Nancy Grimmett, rafting, Ralph Grimmett, Rose Grimmett, Sand Lick, Sanford Grimmett, Slater Hatfield, Tennis Hatfield, Thomas Hatfield, Tilda Hatfield, timber, timbering, Travis Grimmett, Verner, Walter Buchanan, West Virginia, whooping cough, World War I, Wyatt Belcher, Wyoming County

The following interview of Mr. Grimmett was conducted at his home on July 17, 1984. In this part of the interview, he recalls his family background and early occupations. Logging and rafting in the Guyandotte Valley are featured.

***

Would you mind telling me when and where you were born?

Right here. I was born about a mile up above here. I was borned in Logan County. The post office was Christian at that time. Christian, WV. It’s changed now. They throwed Christian out – it was over here at Christian – and they throwed it out and moved it over here to Bruno. Christian went… The mines stopped over there. And that’s where I was born, right here at Bruno, Logan County. Been here all my life.

What day were you born?

November 30, 1896.

Who were your parents?

Henderson Grimmett and Nancy Hatfield Grimmett.

What kind of work did they do?

They did logging work. All they had that day and time. Mule teams and ox teams.

Where did your dad do his work?

All over Logan County.

Did he have his own farm?

Oh yeah. Yeah.

How big was his farm?

It was about 287 acres.

Can you describe his house?

Well, the house was a two-story building. But he never did get… He took the fever and he never did get the upper story, all of it completed. He died at a very early age of 74. He put him up a little store. Got ahead a little bit. Had a store here. Come down and bought this place off Walter Buchanan and he deeded his five kids the homeplace up there. And then he stayed on it from ’21 to ’29. He died 19^th day of January, 1929.

Who were your mother’s parents?

Oh, Lord, I can’t… Slater Hatfield was her daddy’s name. And I don’t know my grandma. My daddy, now they both was born in Wyoming County. Baileysville or somewhere in there. I think my mother was born over there in Big Cub Creek. She was a Hatfield. I don’t know where…

How many brothers and sisters do you have?

I had three brothers and three sisters. Sanford was the oldest one. Austin and Johnny. They’re all dead. I’m the only one that’s living. All my three sisters… Lilly was the oldest one, and Rose was the next one, and Ettie was the youngest. They’re all dead. All of ‘em but me.

Were you educated in Logan County schools?

Yeah, that’s all we got. Free schools. I believe we started off about three months out of the year. Right over there where that first house is sitting – a one-room school house. All of us kids.

What was the last year of school you completed?

I believe it was about 1914, I’m not right sure. ’15.

Did you use the McGuffey Readers?

That’s all we had. And the spelling books. And in the late years, why we had a U.S. history… A small one. Most of it was just about West Virginia. It wasn’t about the whole United States. And geography, we had that. Arithmetic. That was about all we had in free schools. We had to buy them all then. They weren’t furnished.

How did you meet your wife?

She was born and raised over here at Horse Pen in Mingo County. And that’s how we met. We were just neighbors.

What was her maiden name?

She was a Hatfield, too. But now they were… There’s three or four sets of them.

Was her family related to Devil Anse Hatfield?

Well, they was some… Not very close, though, I don’t think.

Which church did you belong to?

I don’t belong to any.

Did you belong to a church when you were younger?

No, never did. If I ever would have joined, I’d have stayed with it.

Do you remember the year of your marriage?

Yeah, I sure do. November 13, 1919.

How many children do you have?

Four. We have two boys and two girls. Travis Grimmett is the oldest. And Ralph, Edith, and Nancy.

What was your wedding like?

Well, we just got married and come right home. At that time, they didn’t have such things, to tell you the truth.

Who was the preacher?

Green Perry. Rev. Green Perry on Elk Creek. Rode a horse back when I went up there to get married. A pair of mules. I rode them mules.

Where did you first live after you married?

Right about a mile above here at the old homeplace.

You have lived here all of your life?

All of our life.

Was it always this populated?

No, no. Wasn’t three or four houses on this creek at that day and time. It was farm land. It’s all growed up now. All them hills was put in corn, millets, and stuff like that. If they couldn’t get a machine to it, they cut it by hand. Some of them raised oats and some of them raised millet, corn. Raised hogs and cattle and sheep and selling ‘em.

Who owned this property back then?

Burl Christian owned this here, but I don’t know… My daddy bought his… A fellow by the name of Wyatt Belcher. Wait a minute. Browning. I can’t think of his name. He lived over here on Christian and he bidded in… It sold for back taxes and he bidded in. Henderson Browning.

What kind of work did you do after you married?

Just the same thing as I worked at before I got married. I first started out – my daddy was a boss for Cole and Crane on this river. I first started out working in the log business. I worked two years at that and then I decided… Mule team – I worked about eighteen months at that. Then in 1913 the coal company started in and I went to work in carpenter work. I helped build all of these houses down here at Landville. The superintendent, we got done, they was wanting to hire men, he give me a job keeping time for a while. And he wanted me to learn to run the drum – that’s letting coal off the hill. I learned it and about the third day I was up there, a preacher was running it, and he told me they’d just opened up and they didn’t have much coal to run off the hill, he told me, that preacher, he rolled out two cards and he said if that preacher fails to go out and work on that side track today you give him one of these cards. Well, I didn’t give him a card. But he come out that evening, the boss did. And he said, did the preacher work. And I said, no he refused. He said, I’ll fix him. He fired him. And I took the job and stayed with it four years and then I got married and then I went to work over here at Christian running a drum and I stayed there 34 years.

When you worked for Cole and Crane, did either of those men ever come up here?

Oh yeah. One of them was. Cole was. I don’t think Crane was ever here. A little slim fella.

Did you get a chance to talk to them?

No, they wouldn’t talk to us working men. They’d talk to the boss. They’d go away from us and talk to theirselves. We just got a $1.10 for ten hours. Eleven cents an hour.

What kind of a person did Cole seem to be?

Well, he knowed how the men was. They’d raft timber and go down this river to Guyandotte. Had what they called locks and dams there to catch the logs. This river was full of logs. He bought timber everywhere. Plumb at the head of it.

Did you ever ride a raft?

Oh, yeah. I went with my daddy. I wasn’t grown.

Can you describe it?

Oh, they’d raft the logs, poplar. Now they didn’t raft hardwoods. They’d sink on them. Some rafts, a big one would be 160 to 200 feet long, about 24 to 26 feet wide. Oar on each end of it. If it was a big raft, they had two men up front all the time plumb in to Guyandotte. I was the second man on it when I got to go out on it. My dad had timber and he rafted it, took it there and sold it. Took what they called dog wedges and cut little basket oaks and rafted them, stringers across ‘em, you know. Lots of people get drowned, too.

Were you ever in an accident?

No, I never was in no big one. I’ve seen about six or eight drown.

Could you describe how it happened?

Oh, if he couldn’t swim, sometimes the best swimmer drowned, you know, if he got under a lot of logs or something. According to whatever happened there with him. He could get out if there wasn’t no logs on top of him no where to hold him under, you know. If logs were on top of him, he was gone. Now about the last ones I seen drowned was two colored people. They was building a railroad from Logan to Man up Buffalo Creek. So we was working on a log gorge down there at the lower end of Landville. And there was four colored men… 1921. Had a saloon up here at Verner. They wouldn’t allow one in Logan County. And they went up there on the 21^st day of December to get ‘em a load of whisky. And they come back… They’d seen white people ride these logs. Some county people would get on one log and ride it plumb to Logan, as far as you wanted to go. And they thought they could ride it. And they got on. Rode ‘em off the gorge and they was running into eddy water and they would hit the back end, it would, and the other end would swarp out and they’d pull out that way. And they got on ‘em with their whisky and everything and two of ‘em got out and two of ‘em drowned.

When you rode the raft to Guyandotte, how did you get back to Logan?

Oh, we had to walk. We’d get a train up to Dingess over here. You know where that’s at? We’d ride down up to there. And then we’d have to get off and walk across the hill there and come right straight out at the mouth of Mud Fork, Holden there, and up another little drain and down Madison Creek down here. And walk… Man alive, our feet would be so sore, I’d be up for two or three weeks I couldn’t walk, my feet would be wore out so.

NOTE: Some names may be transcribed incorrectly.

World War I Draft Registration in Logan County, WV (1917)

29 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Battle of Blair Mountain, Big Creek, Big Harts Creek, Chapmanville, Halcyon, Holden, Logan, Man, Pecks Mill, Shively, Stone Branch, Whirlwind, World War I, Yantus

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A.M. Hall, A.P. Loyd, Amherstdale, Anderson McCloud, Andrew Jordan, Appalachia, Arthur Townsend, Barnabas, Battle of Blair Mountain, Big Creek, Bilton Browning, Black Sanders, Bruce White, C.C. Chambers, C.E. Lamp, C.G. Miller, C.H. Baisden, Cam Pridemore, Cecil Mounts, Chapmanville, Charles Conley, county clerk, Craneco, Curry, Democratic Party, Dow Chambers, Earl Summers, Ed Haner, Ed Mapper, Ed Riffe, Elmer Gore, Elmer McDonald, Emmett Scaggs, Ethel, Everett Buchannon, Everett Dingess, F.D. Stollings, Foley, Frank Frye, Frank Hurst, Frank Hutchinson, Frank Perry, French Dingess, G.F. Collins, G.K. Mills, genealogy, George Baldwin, Guy Pauley, health officer, Henlawson, Henry Lawson, history, Holden, Jack Mason, John Amburgey, John B. Wilkinson Jr., John Claypool, John Hill, John J. Cornwell, Lake, Laredo, Logan, Logan County, Logan Democrat, Lorenzo Dow Chambers, Lot Murphy, M.B. Taylor, M.F. Waring, Man, Manbar, Marshal Gore, Melvin Conley, Melvin White, Millard Perry, Monaville, Mt. Gay, Omar, Pecks Mill, Pitts Branch, Queens Ridge, R.E. Lowe, R.W. Buskirk, Republican Party, Robert Hill, Robert Peck, Robert Straton, Rolfe, Rum Creek, Sam Scott, Sharples, sheriff, Shively, Sidney B. Lawson, Stone Branch, Thomas Hensley, U.S. Army, Vinson Ferrell, W.B. Phipps, W.E. Perry, W.P. Vance, West Virginia, Wilkinson, William Lewis, Willis Parsons, Woodrow Wilson, World War I, Yolyn

From the Logan Democrat of Logan, WV, comes this story titled “Sheriff Hurst and Registrars Ready to Enroll,” dated May 24, 1917:

SHERIFF HURST AND REGISTRARS READY TO ENROLL

Final Preparations are Made to Classify Men of Military Age In Logan County

Sheriff Hurst Wednesday gave final instructions to his sixty odd registrars who will enroll all men between the ages of 21 and 30, for military service as ordered by proclamations of President Wilson and Governor Cornwell for June 5, which will be a legal holiday in West Virginia as in other states.

On June 5, all male citizens are required to go to their regular voting places between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. and fill out a blank similar to the one printed in today’s Democrat. The governor has requested that all other public business be suspended on that day and that patriotic parades of school children be held. He also asks all owners of automobiles to help transport to the voting places men of military age and that every assistance possible be given the officers who will make the registration.

To Telegraph Result

As soon as the registration in Logan county is completed, the result will be telegraphed to Washington and then the machinery will be set in motion to select those who will be included in the first call for 500,000 men who will begin training in September. A board will sit in Logan who will select the available men to enter the first army. An absolute, fair and impartial administration of the law is insured as the local board will be directly responsible to the federal authorities and subject to stern penalties should any favoritism be shown. The state officers have nothing whatever to do with the army after the work of selection is completed. Those who will form the local conscription board are:

Sheriff Frank P. Hurst

Clerk, County Court, C.G. Miller

County Health Officer, Dr. S.B. Lawson

Robert Peck, (R.)

Elmer McDonald, (D)

The president in his proclamation ordered all men, 21 to 30 years old, excepting those already enlisted, shall voluntarily present themselves at the places to be designated for registration on June 5. Other main features of his orders follow:

Men away from home may register by mail.

Penalty for refusing to register; up to a year imprisonment.

All federal, state, county, city and village officers are liable for service for registration and draft.

Any person making a false statement to evade service or any official aiding in such an attempt, will be punished by a year’s imprisonment through civil authorities or by military court martial.

Persons ill or who will be absent from home should get registration blanks from the city clerk, if they are in towns of more than 30,000 inhabitants and from the county clerk, if they are in towns of less than 30,000 inhabitants.

Explains Necessity

The main parts of the president’s proclamation in which he explained the necessity for conscription follow:

“We are arrayed against a power that would impose its will upon the world by force.

“The man in the factories or who tills the soil is no less a part of any army than the man beneath the battle-flags.

“We must shape and train for war, not an army, but a nation.

“The sharpshooter must march and the machinist must remain at his levers.”

The whole nation must be a team in which each man shall play the part for which he is best fitted.

“It is not conscription of the unwilling but a selection from a nation which has volunteered in mass.”

Sheriff Hurst has volunteered to do his part of the work in registration without cost to the federal government. The other registrars will do the same. No trouble is expected in enrolling the entire military population of the country.

Registrar’s List

The list of registrars and enrollment places for Logan county follow:

Everett Dingess and Thomas Hensley, Queens Ridge.

Melvin Conley and Charles Conley, Shively.

Cam Pridemore and French Dingess, Pitts Branch.

Vinson Ferrell and Ans McCloud, Chapmanville.

R.E. Lowe, Stone Branch.

G.F. Collins, Big Creek.

W.B. Phipps, Chapmanville.

Ed. Haner, Curry.

Marshal Gore and Frank Frye, Sharples.

Black Sanders and George Baldwin, Lake.

Henry Lawson and John Hill, Henlawson.

J.B. Wilkinson, Jr., and M.B. Taylor, Logan.

L.D. Chambers and Frank Perry, Rolfe.

Cecil Mounts and C.H. Baisden, Mt. Gay.

Willis Parsons and W.P. Vance, Holden.

R.W. Buskirk and William Lewis, Omar.

Melvin White and Robert Hill, Pecks Mill.

Elmer Gore, Ethel.

A.M. Hall, Ethel.

Arthur Townsend, Holden.

C.E. Lamp, Holden.

C.C. Chambers and Robert Straton, Logan.

A.P. Loyd and G.K. Mills, Holden.

Sam Scott and Bruce White, Monaville.

Dr. Smoot and Guy Pauley, Blair.

Lot Murphy, Mt. Gay.

Ed. Mapper, Wilkinson.

F.D. Stollings and John Claypool, Foley.

Millard Perry, Everett Buchannon, Emmett Scaggs and Dr. Thornberry, Man.

John Amburgey and W.E. Perry, Amherstdale.

Earl Summers and Frank Hutchinson, Manbar.

M.F. Waring, Laredo.

Ed. Riffe, Craneco.

Andrew Jordan and Bilton Browning, Barnabas.

Dow Chambers, Yolyn.

Jack Mason, Rum Creek.

WWI Registration Card LD 05.24.1917 6.JPG

Logan (WV) Democrat, 24 May 1917.

World War I Casualties for Logan County, WV (1927)

25 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in African American History, Cemeteries, Logan, World War I

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16th Infantry, 4th Infantry, African-Americans, Albert Adams, Albert Jeffrey, Alfred Prichard, Allen Bryant, Allen Tabor, American Legion, Appalachia, Argonne Woods, Arle J. Price, Armistice Day, Bee Stewart, Ben H. Gosney, Ben Maynard, Bert Rayborn, Bill Manville, Bird Dingess, Burnie G. Sanson, Burton W. Gore, Calvin Coolidge, Carl Ellis, Charles Brewster, Charles Burton Litten, Charlie M. Munsey, Charlie Warcovies, Clarence Bartram, Clarence Smith, Clarence W. Parkins, Clifton Manns, Clyde Jeffrey, Coal Branch, Crooked Creek Cemetery, Dan Craft, David Hensley, Dennie Robertson, Denver Mullins, Doc Workman, Earl Hager, East End, Edward Gunther, Elbert Billups, Elbert Carter, Elisha Ball, Ella Craddock, Elmer Cook, Everett Blankenship, Finne Walter Pugh, Floyd Chambers, Floyd Johnson, Floyd W. Clay, France, Frank Bell, Frank C. Reynolds, Frank C. Wilcoxen, Frank Ferrell, Frank J. Bell, Frank Ward, Fred E. Hahne, genealogy, George E. Covey, George F. Breeden, George Luty, George Meadows, Greenway Christian, Guy T. Conley, Harold Thompson, Haskell Phillips, Henan Jarrell, Henry H. Runyon, Herbert L. McKinney, Hill Brewster, Hirse C. Brown, history, Hoboken, Homer Hobbs, Homer Vance, James Chapin, James E. Peters, James G. Cyrus, James Jackson, James L. Robinson, James Linford Brown, James M. Ellis, Jasper Wooten, Jennings Robinson, Jim F. Crawford, Joe Hardy, John A. Shepherd, John B. McNeely, John B. Wilkinson, John H. Crittenden, John H. Harris, John L. Blankenship, John L. Ward, John Martin, John Roberts, John Smith, Johnie Johnson, Joseph White, Keefer Jennings Whitman, Lawrence Marcuzzi, Lee Cox, Lee Shelton, Levi J. Vance, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lovel H. Aldredge, Luther Lacy, Mack Smith, Meddie Graley, Mike Tarka, Ned Johnson, Newton Cook, Nick Malozzo, Noble J. Lax, Orvil Grubb, Oscar Dial, Otto Sanders, Patsy Vance, Peter White, Rector H. Elkins, Robert L. Gore, Roy Lowe, Roy Simms, Sam McNeely, Shellie Moxley, Sidney Ferrell, Spencer Mullins, Stonewall Hensley, Thomas J. Cox, Thomas P. Justice, Thomas R. Newman, Thomas Weir, Thomas Y. Davis, Tom Boring, Tom Williams, Tony Curia, Tony Ladas, Ulysses B. Vance, Walter S. Blake, West Virginia, Will Wilson, Willard Ball, William D. Maynard, William E. Hanshaw, William F. Munsey, William H. Adkins, William Harris, William O. Bailey, William R. Nowlan, Willie Allen, Willie F. Smith, World War I, Zatto Adkins

From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this story titled “Logan County Boys Killed or Wounded,” dated November 8, 1927:

Logan County Boys Killed or Wounded

Prayers in behalf of peace are suggested for Armistice Day by President Coolidge. It will likewise be proper to recall the names of those who sacrificed most in the cause of peace, who died or were wounded in the dreary days before the signing of the Armistice ended the most colossal conflict of all history. Twenty young men from Logan county were killed in action. Half that number died of wounds. Their names and the names of others who died in the service of their country a decade ago are reproduced from the official records:

Killed in Action

Willard Ball

Clarence Bartram

Floyd W. Clay

Newton Cook

Tony Curia

Oscar Dial

Edward Gunther

David Hensley

Roy Lowe

John B. McNeely

John Martin

William F. Munsey

James L. Robinson

Roy Simms

Willie F. Smith

Bee Stewart

Mike Tarka

Ulysses B. Vance

Peter White

Keefer Jennings Whitman

Died of Wounds

John L. Blankenship

Elmer Cook

Homer Hobbs

Noble J. Lax

Lawrence Marcuzzi

Denver Mullins

William R. Nowlan

Haskell Phillips

Henry H. Runyan

Harold Thompson

Died of Disease (A.E.F.)

Thomas J. Cox

Fred E. Hahne

Joe Hardy (colored)

Clyde Jeffrey

Johnie Johnson (colored)

Allen Tabor

Homer Vance

Levi J. Vance

Died of Disease in U.S.

William O. Bailey

Elbert Billups

James Linford Brown

Elbert Carter

Wounded in Action

Albert Adams

Zatto Adkins

William H. Adkins

Lovel H. Aldredge

Willie Allen

Frank Bell

Elisha Ball

Frank J. Bell

Walter S. Blake

Everett Blankenship

Tom Boring

George F. Breeden

Hill Brewster

Charles Brewster

Hirse C. Brown

Allen Bryant

Floyd Chambers

James Chapin

Greenway Christian

Guy T. Conley

George E. Covey

Ella Craddock

Dan Craft (colored)

Jim F. Crawford

John H. Crittenden

James G. Cyrus

Thomas Y. Davis

Bird Dingess

Rector H. Elkins

James M. Ellis

Carl Ellis

Frank Ferrell

Sidney Ferrell

Robert L. Gore

Burton W. Gore

Ben H. Gosney

Meddie Graley

Orvil Grubb

Earl Hager

William E. Hanshaw

John H. Harris

William Harris (colored)

Stonewall Hensley

James Jackson (colored)

Albert Jeffrey

Henan Jarrell

Ned Johnson

Floyd Johnson

Thomas P. Justice

Luther Lacy

Tony Ladas

Charles Burton Litten

George Luty

Herbert L. McKinney

Nick Malozzo

Clifton Manns

Bill Manville

Ben Maynard

William D. Maynard

George Meadows

Shellie Moxley

Charlie M. Munsey

Spencer Mullins

Thomas R. Newman

Clarence W. Parkins

James E. Peters

Arle J. Price

Alfred Prichard

Finne Walter Pugh

Bert Rayborn

Frank C. Reynolds

John Roberts

Dennie Robertson

Jennings Robinson

Otto Sanders

Burnie G. Sanson

Lee Shelton

John A. Shepherd

Clarence Smith

John Smith (colored)

Mack Smith

Patsy Vance

Frank Ward (colored)

John L. Ward

Charlie Warcovies

Thomas Weir

Joseph White

John B. Wilkinson

Frank C. Wilcoxen

Tom Williams

Will Wilson (colored)

Jasper Wooten

Wilson Workman

It seems likely there are errors of spelling in the foregoing list, and perhaps some names have been omitted from the roster from which this list was copied. Desiring a complete and perfect list The Banner will appreciate having its attention called to any omissions or misspellings.

Logan (WV) Banner, 9 September 1921.

World War I German Howitzer Received in Logan, WV (1927)

06 Tuesday Mar 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Logan, World War I

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105 M German Howitzer, American Legion, Appalachia, history, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, West Virginia, World War I

Logan (WV) Banner, 15 July 1927.

Logan, WV (1917)

18 Thursday Jan 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Huntington, Logan

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Appalachia, C&O Railroad, First National Bank, genealogy, Guyandotte River, Herbert's Greater Shows, history, Huntington, Liberty Loans, Logan, Logan County, Logan Democrat, music, Star-Spangled Banner, West Virginia, World War I

From the Logan Democrat, of Logan, WV, come these items of local interest dated 1917:

CHAIR CARS NOW ON ALL GUYAN RIVER TRAINS

In prompt response to their promise made a couple of weeks ago, the division officials of the Chesapeake & Ohio railway, on last Saturday provided an additional chair car for the Huntington to Logan service, and as a result Guyan river travelers are now more conveniently and satisfactorily provided for than at any time since the introduction of the railroad into this territory a little more than a dozen years ago.

The extra equipment now gives a chair car on all through trains, an to prove that it was needed and is much appreciated by the traveling public is the fact that on almost every trip since its installation the new car has been completely filled.

Travelers no longer need dread the long trip up or down the old Guyan, and the more satisfactory service is bound to result in many happy results for this section and our people.

Source: Logan (WV) Democrat, 1 February 2017.

***

“OLD GLORY” RAISED

BIG BOOZE SHIPMENT

The C. & O. Monday night received a great quantity of liquor for consumers in Logan county. Monday night was the last chance for those whose wine cellars were slim and whiskey bottles were empty to get a supply before the state started on its on-quart of whisky a month. Under the old law a man could bring in as much liquor as he could carry in a suitcase and a great many evidently took advantage of this law before it was superseded by the new law.

Source: Logan (WV) Democrat, 3 May 1917.

***

Big Flag Is Flaunted To Breezes Over Court House Before Big Crowd

A large “Old Glory” was flaunted to the breezes over the dome of the court house last Saturday before an immense crowd of citizens, a number of whom came quite a distance to view the ceremonies.

The raising occurred shortly after two o’clock. Previous to that time the Logan band reinforced by the musicians of Herbert’s Greater Shows rendered a few musical numbers. As the flag was raised the musicians struck up the Star Spangled Banner, a large number of people took off their hands and the ceremonies were over.

Source: Logan (WV) Democrat, 17 May 1917.

***

WHO WILL BE FIRST?

Although flags are much in evidence on people and buildings in Logan, not a single bond of the “Liberty Loan” has been purchased here, according to the First National bank.

Source: Logan (WV) Democrat, 17 May 1917.

John Jacob Cornwell, WV Governor-Elect (1916)

02 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in African American History, Coal, Matewan

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coal, governor, history, John Jacob Cornwell, Logan Democrat, Mine Wars, politics, West Virginia, World War I

Cornwell Political Cartoon LD 10.26.1916

Logan (WV) Democrat, 16 October 1916. Narrowly elected in 1916, Mr. Cornwell served as the fifteenth governor of West Virginia (1917-1921).

Logan (WV) Democrat, 9 November 1916. Mr. Cornwell served as governor during World War I.

Fore more history about Governor Cornwell, visit this site: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1604

Christmas in Logan, WV (1916)

22 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Coal, Logan

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Appalachia, Christmas, coal, Guyan Drug Store, history, Holden, Logan, Logan County, Logan County Light & Power Company, Logan Democrat, New Year's Day, Santa Claus, U.S. Coal & Oil Company, West Virginia, World War I

From the Logan Democrat of Logan, WV, come these stories of Christmas in 1916:

Logan (WV) Democrat, 14 December 1916.

COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS TREE AND CEREMONIES ON SATURDAY NIGHT

On Saturday night, at 6:30 o’clock Logan will hold its first formal community celebration of Christmas through the medium of a community Christmas tree with the attendant distribution of substantial gifts to the elders, and toys and goodies to all the children, in keeping with the true spirit of the season.

The proposition has been launched and carried out by a number of prominent ladies of the city, whose efforts to make the event a huge success will undoubtedly be crowned with the deserved result. The plans are elaborate and extensive, and provide for the supplying of every needy and worthy family within reach of a good supply of necessaries, including groceries and clothing, and the presentation to each and every child in the city with candy and a toy. The household gifts will be distributed through the medium of tickets distributed by the ladies committee, which has been busily at work for the past week or ten days. The work is entirely non-denominational, and the event will take place rain or shine. If the weather is clear the tree will be placed on the courthouse lawn, and if inclement it will have a place on the courthouse porch.

It is understood that the Chamber of Commerce and other prominent civic and church organizations are lending their hearty approval and substantial support to the matter, and that sufficient funds have been obtained to meet the requirements, aided by the liberal donations of merchandise by the local merchants.

The household gifts will be distributed in baskets, while the children will receive theirs in tidy little bags, two hundred or more of which have been provided. Upwards of $200 has already been expended for supplies and necessities, and it is assured that there will be plenty to go round.

The tree will be brilliantly lighted and ornately decorated, the lighting effects being supplied by the Logan County Light & Power company. Arrangements are now underway to maintain the tree in all its splendor until New Year’s, and to have it lighted up every night during that period.

The committee in charge of the work is desirous that no one be alighted or overlooked, and to this end solicits the assistance of all in the community in seeking out families who are deserving of help at this time and reporting such cases to the Guyan Drug store as soon as possible so that ample provision may be made for all.

The basket offerings will consist of groceries, a good cut of meat and other table necessities, while shoes, clothing, hats, etc., will be given to those in need of such articles.

The presents for the little folks will be given to each and every child who presents himself or herself at that proper time.

Source: Logan (WV) Democrat, 21 December 1916.

***

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT HOLDS SWAY IN LOGAN

The Christmas season is now virtually upon us; the season when it is customary for every one to be trembling with job, and minds to soar to greater heights; the season when the one thought, good will, is paramount in the minds of all; when trials and sorrows are cast to the four winds, and only the good deeds of life are given a place in human interest.

Grievances and differences are forgotten and nothing is remembered save that someone did you a good turn and made your life a little happier at least for a time. Or perhaps you think of the kind word or action that you had passed along to someone else less fortunate than yourself, and it is with pleasure that you recollect in joy that was manifested in the face of someone that you helped.

But a shudder comes when you think of the terrible havoc with which Europe has been fraught; where men have been taking and giving a life for a life; where the hearts of women have been torn asunder; where the cruel pangs of hunger have driven children to an early grave; where aged m others and fathers have been bereft of all comfort and dragged down to the nethermost depths of despair, where lands have been devastated, and cities have been robbed of all their beauty by the greedy mouths of the cannon.

And your thoughts turn to the thousands of mothers in that war stricken land; the mothers who were so happy before the terrible slaughter of men commenced; the mothers left alone pining for their loved ones; the mothers in the gray and dusk of the dawn where the shadows are turning into spectres, grim, wan, ghastly and fearful. And you think of them as the mothers of men; men who fought and died for freedom.

A feeling of sadness comes over you as you think of the joy that might have been theirs; of the gay and happy times that they too might have had at Christmas, all of which has been blasted by the terrible scourge of warfare. And perhaps you utter a prayer of thankfulness that you can enjoy to the full that Merry Christmas. But perhaps you may not pause to think that there are some near you who cannot join in that happiness that may be yours.

You forget about the little boys and girls whose parents are at war, not war against nations, but war against adversity and calamity. They are struggling against great odds, and reinforcements are required immediately to assist them to struggle in the heights, surmount the barriers and give to their children a Merry Christmas.

They have told their children tales of Santa Claus; of the many treasures stored away in his mansion in the skies; of his yearly visit to the children; of the many toys he brings them, and the joy that he unloads at every household, and they told these tales when the sun was shining down upon them in all its glory and brilliance; when all seemed bright and there was not thought of the coming winter, with its chilly blasts and the snowstorms was in their minds.

But winter has sent a warning and is stalking forth in all sternness. They do not feel sorry now that they told the children such tales, because they made the children happy, but they know now that a hard struggle is ahead of them and that the long looked for visit of Santa Claus may not materialize.

They cannot steel themselves to break the news to the children. They were sure that when Christmas came Santa Claus would not forget the little ones but that was before misfortune struck them, and they now bow their heads in sorrow.

These are the people that must be thought of during our Christmastide, and every effort made and plans turned to bring them a full measure of the gladness and cheer of the festive season. The community Christmas tree will be a wonderful blessing to the whole community, radiating wholeheartedly and generously upon all alike its spirit of good cheer. A little individual effort on the part of everyone will cap the climax of making this Christmas a memorable and happy one to all within reach.

Source: Logan (WV) Democrat, 21 December 1916.

***

Community Tree Was Big Feature of Christmas

The community celebration held in this city on last Saturday night was one of the biggest events of a charitable nature Logan has ever seen, and the spirit of good cheer and the material benefits derive therefrom will have an uplifting influence upon the entire section for a long time to come.

The good influence exerted by the affair cannot be overestimated, and the results obtained were highly satisfactory to those in charge of the work. A large number of baskets of groceries were distributed, and shoes and clothing were given to all who could be found who were in need of such articles. The kiddies of the city were all provided for with candy, fruit and nuts, and on the whole the event was a notable one, and it is quite likely that it will become an annual fixture in the future years.

Source: Logan (WV) Democrat, 28 December 1916.

***

Coal Company Plays Role of Santa LD 12.28.1916.JPG

Logan (WV) Democrat, 28 December 1916.

Chapmanville District Schools (1927) 2

15 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Harts Creek, Civil War, Halcyon, Native American History, Queens Ridge, Shively, Spottswood, Stone Branch, Warren, Whirlwind, Yantus

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Albert Thornton, Alice Dingess, Alonzo, Anna Adams, Appalachia, Battle of Cloyd's Mountain, Beatrice Adams, Ben Adams, Bob Dingess, Brown's Run, Browns Run School, Buck Fork, Buck Fork School, Bud Dingess School, Bulwark School, Chapmanville District, civil war, Cole Adams, Confederate Army, Conley School, Crawley Creek, Daisy Dingess, Dalton School, Dave Dingess School, Dixie Mullins, E. Burton, East Fork, Ed Dalton, education, Edward Chapman, F.M. McKay, Fisher B. Adkins, Fisher Thompson, genealogy, George Doss, George Mullins School, Harts Creek, history, Hoover School, Howard Adams, Hugh Dingess School, Ina Dingess, Ivy Branch School, J.A. Vickers, J.L. Thomas, John Conley, John Dingess, L.D. Stollings, Lee Dingess School, Limestone Creek, Local History and Topography of Logan County, Logan County, Lower Trace School, Manor School, Marsh Fork, Melvin Plumley, Middle Fork, Native Americans, Pigeon Roost, Piney School, Reuben Conley, Road Fork, Rocky School, Sallie Dingess, Smokehouse Fork, Stephen Hart, Striker School, T. Doss, Thelma Dingess, Three Fork School, Tim's Fork, Timothy Dwight, Twelve Pole Creek, Ula Adams, Union Army, West Fork, West Virginia, White Oak School, Workman School, World War I

Teachers identified the following schools in Chapmanville District of Logan County, WV, and offered a bit of local history in 1927:

Dave Dingess School, est. 1814

Ula Adams, teacher

One room frame school

“Harts Creek derived its name from Steven Harts, said to have been killed by Indians on the creek.”

Striker School, est. about 1874

Edward Chapman, teacher

One room frame building

Three Fork School, est. 1878

One room frame building, originally a log house

Nine Confederate veterans live here: George Doss, T. Doss, L.D. Stollings, Ed Dalton, Ruben Conley, John Conley, Ben Adams, E. Burton, Melvin Plumley. A Union veteran lives here; he originated elsewhere. Three branches of Crawley Creek are Road Fork, Middle Fork, and Pigeon Roost. Alonzo is the local post office.

Bulwark School, est. 1880

Robert Dingess, teacher

One room frame building

“All fought on the Confederate side” during the Civil War. One man gained great merit from our district as a marksman with the American marines during World War I.

Lee Dingess School, est. 1891

Cole Adams, teacher

One room frame

Five local men served in the Confederate Army.

Browns Run School, est. 1892

Ina Dingess, teacher

One room frame building

“Sent several soldiers to help the South.” The fork is named for a Brown who lived at its mouth.

Buck Fork School, est. 1894

No teacher given

One room frame building

A Church of Christ exists nearby. Three local men served in the Confederate Army. One local soldier lost both hands in World War I.

Ivy Branch School, est. 1895

Anna Adams, teacher

Albert Thornton was the first teacher here. “Trace Fork received its name from the original road leading to Twelve Pole Creek.”

Hugh Dingess School, est. 1897

Sallie Dingess, teacher

One room frame building

Conley School, est. 1897

J.L. Thomas, teacher

One room frame building

The first house built on Smoke House Fork at its mouth had no chimney for quite a while and smoked badly.

Dalton School, est. 1897

Thelma Dingess, teacher

One room frame building

“This district furnished a lot of Civil War veterans and played her part.”

Bud Dingess School, est. 1904

Beatrice Adams, teacher

One room frame building

“East Fork named on account of its being the most Eastern fork of Harts Creek.” One local soldier served in the Confederate Army.

Hoover School, est. 1910

Howard Adams, teacher

One room frame building

A Christian Church exists in the vicinity. Four local men served in the Confederate ARmy. “Harts Creek named from Steven Harts murdered by Indians.” Three boys went from here and one was wounded at the battle of Argonne.

George Mullins School, est. 1910

Dixie Mullins, teacher

One room frame building

“Buck Fork named from large number of male deer on creek.”

Rocky School (no date)

Daisy Given Dingess, teacher

References an Indian mound on Pigeon Roost where tomahawks, arrowheads, etc. can be found. Indian burial ground.

Under the Tim’s Fork entry, it says that John Dingess was killed in battle at Cloyd’s farm. Tim’s Fork is named for Timothy Dwight, who lived there.

Lower Trace School, est. 1919

Alice Dingess, teacher

Two room frame building

“Sent several soldiers to help the South.” Also, “Harts Creek named from Steven Harts.”

Piney School, est. 1921

F.M. McKay, teacher

One room building

No permanent churches exist locally; people meet occasionally in one of the school houses. Four local men served in the Confederate Army. “Piney was named because of so much pine growing there.”

White Oak School, est. 1922

Fisher Thompson, teacher

One room rented frame building

Manor School, est. 1923

Located at Limestone

Workman School, est. 1924

Fisher B. Adkins, teacher

One room frame building

Marsh Fork derived its name from the marshy land near its mouth.

Source: Local History and Topography of Logan County by J.A. Vickers (Charleston, WV: George M. Ford, State Superintendent, 1927).

Brandon Ray Kirk

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

Tag Archives: World War I

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Christmas in Logan, WV (1916)

Chapmanville District Schools (1927) 2