Pocahontas County Chronicles: 1838-1921

 

Timeline of Main Events:

• 1838: The Greenbrier River freezes over, allowing for travel on the ice. Major Poage makes a trip from Marlin's Bottom to what is now Harter entirely on the ice of the Greenbrier River.
• Prior to 1765: Peter Warwick leads the early settlers to Deer Creek and the North Fork of the Greenbrier River and builds a settlement and fort at the confluence.
• 1861: Samuel Baldwin Hannah is a Second Classman at VMI.
• 1863: Capt Levi Vaughn of Company I fights in many battles and is later transferred to prison in Point Lookout, MD and then transferred to a prison in Ohio.
• 1880: Virgie E. Huffman is born.
• 1891: Golden's department store is established.
• 1905:The Kinport Company buys a large tract of land for lumbering.
• The tradition of Sunday trout fishing is mentioned.
• 1915: Golden's department store holds a summer clearance sale, advertising various items including clothing, dry goods, and home furnishings.
• January 14, 1921:An old stage station route is mentioned to run between Lewisburg and Marlinton.
• A feud between the Hatfield and McCoy families is mentioned as stemming from a dispute over hogs.
• A large group of Mingo county miners is reported to have been in a fight with law enforcers that resulted in an officer being killed.
• The General Assembly is being petitioned to change the border between Greenbrier and Nicholas counties.
• It is reported that a new Anti-Lynching Law is being proposed.
• A man named Persi is attacked in his house by an intruder but survives the incident.
• It is reported that the 1,084 illegal distilling plants were seized during January by Agents from Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina
• Dr. Kane performs an appendectomy on himself.
• February 2nd, 1921: It is stated that in West Virginia, women are not eligible to serve as jurors.
• March 1921: The Pocahontas County Hereford Breeders Association is formed.
• April 13, 1921: A wreck occurs on the Greenbrier division of the C & O railroad, killing one person and injuring many others.
• August 1, 1921: Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers are shot and killed at the McDowell County Courthouse in Welch, West Virginia. This was the same day they were supposed to go to trial for their previous killing of Albert Felts.
• The cause of the shooting is in question. Some say Lively drew his pistol first and others claim it was Hatfield.
• August 5, 1921: It is reported that tear gas is being used to disperse mobs in West Virginia.
• September 3, 1920:A woman is granted the right to vote in America as part of an addendum to the Constitution of the United States.
• September 23, 1921:Fourteen hundred sticks of dynamite are seized by police in Chicago.
• Over 200 members of a miners union are indicted for inciting insurrection and pistol toting in Logan county.
• October, 1921: The second trial of Jim Hayes is set for murder.
• December 2, 1921:
• A man is found to be using a 12 year old boy as a guide for theft.
• December 1921:W.H. Patton's store at Huntersville is destroyed in a fire.
• It is reported that there are 2,791 members of the Pocahontas county community.
• December 1921The second trial of Jim Hayes results in a hung jury.
• It is reported that C.E. Lively and Buster Pence are acquitted of killing Ed Chambers.
• It is announced that the Pacific far east treaty has not been approved by congress.
• March 5, 1920: A state supervisor of schools presents himself at the Chestnut Grove school in order to annoy the teacher.
• April 23, 1920 A train wreck occurs on the Greenbrier division killing one man and injuring several others.
• Undated: A group of armed miners attempt to invade Mingo county via Logan county, placing them under the charge of treason against the state of West Virginia.
• Undated: A man named Harry Slaten is convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
• Undated: Judge John T. Harris is reported as retiring, as well as Judge H. Delbert Rummel of the Kanawha circuit court.
• Undated: Samuel Baldwin Hannah dies at home in Cass. He has been a prominent man of Pocahontas county and had served as an officer in the Civil War.
• Undated: It is reported that a man, R. P. Deitz is a prominent person of Patrick Henry County. He entered Hampden-Sydney college in 1861 and later taught at VMI.
• Undated: A man in Colorado is found to have murdered his wife. The man claimed to have been involved in a domestic dispute and his wife had been drinking.
• Undated: It is discovered that there are 30 gallons of mash being kept in a closet at the home of a local businessman.
• Undated: Frank Buck has a tumor removed.
• Undated: The trial of a man named John Hatfield for murder in Logan County is dismissed, having been held months before for the same case.
• Undated: It is discovered that a group of local citizens are selling lumber illegally.
• Undated: It is reported that several members of the West Virginia State Police are being promoted.

Cast of Characters:

• Major Poage: The first sheriff of Pocahontas County. He made a trip entirely on the ice of the Greenbrier River in 1838 from Marlin's Bottom to what is now Harter.
• Peter Warwick: An early settler of the Deer Creek and North Fork of the Greenbrier River area.
• Capt. Levi Vaughn: A Captain in Company I of the Virginia Regiment. He fought in many battles during the Civil War and was later transferred to a prison.
• W.P. Haught: The first principal of Green Bank school in 1919.
• Miss Lucy Meredith, Margaret Hunt, and Lillian Moomeau: Assistants at Green Bank School under W.P. Haught.
• Grace Curry: The first graduate of the school in 1919.
• Virgina Dare Moomeau, Helen Beard, Bertie Beard, Lillian Beard, and Lucille Oliver: Graduates of the school in 1920.
• N. Phay Taylor: The second principal of Green Bank school.
• T.P. Harwood: Principal of Green Bank School in 1931.
• John Roach: Principal of Green Bank School after T.P. Harwood in 1936.
• Claude A. Cackley: Principal of Green Bank School. He died in the spring of 1945.
• Nick Brooks: Assistant County Superintendent.
• Virgil B. Harris: Principal of Green Bank School.
• Glen Hiner: Made the first touchdown for the Green Bank High School in 1926.
• Anna Margaret Johnson: Lead the GBS band in 1944.
• Lena Hannah Baxter: A student of Marlinton High School in the early days.
• William Buckley: Lena's teacher for the first year of high school in Marlinton.
• Herbert Vaughan, Arnold Klein, Dora Hoppin, Nell Hoppin, Leo Price, Reid Moore, Floyd Baxter, Wilbur Dean, Hunter Dean, Frank McLaughlin, and Annie Smith: Lena Hannah Baxter's classmates.
• Stanley Klein: Arnold Klein's brother. He and Arnold were classmates in seventh grade together.
• Kenneth Harris: Another seventh grade classmate.
• Ruth Harris: Kenneth's sister who was in the third or fourth grade.
• Any Gibson of Sharp, Nancy Currance, Alice McClintic Moore, and Polly Smith Reynolds: People mentioned in family reunions.
• Major Davis: Led a compromise with state mine workers in 1921.
• David Cobb: A financial agent.
• John Brown: An organizer.
• Robert Gilmore: A member of the international board of organizers.
• Sid Hatfield: A former police chief of Matewan, WV who was shot and killed at the McDowell County Courthouse.
• Ed Chambers: A state police keeper at Matewan, WV who was killed along with Sid Hatfield.
• C.E. Lively: One of the men accused in the shooting of Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers.
• Buster Pence: Another man accused in the shooting of Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers.
• Chief of Police Mitchell: Welch, WV, police chief who responded to the shooting.
• L. Brown: Voluntary weather observer.
• E.T. England: Attorney General who stated that women were not eligible to be jurors.
• Nan Patterson: Forced to quit the stage because she did not draw a crowd.
• Alice Roosevelt: President's daughter.
• Colonel Thomas B. Davis: Elected to Congress from the Second Congressional District.
• Liam L. Wilson: Colonel Davis' district.
• S.L. Brown: Voluntary Weather Observer.
• Clyde Beard: Returned from medical college to practice in the area.
• Samuel Spencer: An individual mentioned as being in town that week.
• Andy Simmons: A man working in the area.
• Hoover Brothers: Men mentioned as being in the area.
• Hull Kramar: Mentioned as having the family in town.
• William McGlaughlin, Olen Burner, Miss Vera Ledbetter, and Miss Mamie Yeager: Individuals watching events at a ball park.
• H.C. Yoakum: Looking for a farm to buy in Pendleton County.
• The Cameron Lumber Company: Operating a sawmill.
• Mrs. G.L. Snyder: The mill town of F.S. Wise & Co.
• Roe Wagoner: Working for the Craig Lumber Company.
• Colonel B.F. Taylor: A member of the Pocahontas county medical community.
• Mrs. Robert Lee Taylor: Wife of B.F. Taylor.
• Rev. H.M. Stephenson: A cousin of the McLaughlin family and one of the officiating ministers.
• S.N. Dr. Rym: A supervising revenue agent who helped seize and destroy illegal distilling plants.
• Dr. O'Neil Kane: Performed an appendectomy on himself.
• Lieutenant William D. Coney: A member of the United States Air Service.
• Sheriff William Hatfield: Sheriff of McDowell County during the 1920's.
• Mayor Whitt: Mayor of McDowell County. In jail and charged with killing Hatfield.
• D.U. Dillard: President of the Pocahontas County Hereford Breeders Association.
• W.C. Taylor: A well-known businessman, he had many political and business positions.
• Jim Hayes: On trial for murdering Blind Buck Johnston.
• Judge Sharp: Directed the jury for the Jim Hayes trial.
• Major General Hines: Chief of Staff.
• Harry Olmstead: Accused of treason against the State of West Virginia.
• Stewart: Owner of a repair shop that was bombed.
• John Gore: A deputy sheriff who was killed as part of a conspiracy.
• Blind Buck Johnston: A man who was murdered.
• Tom Murphy: a miner who has been charged and sentenced.
• Tom Slattazo a miner who has been charged and sentenced.
• Louis Lethoco a miner who has been charged and sentenced.
• Judson Williams: A retired judge of the State Supreme Court of Appeals.
• H. Delbert Rummel: A retired judge of the Kanawha Circuit Court.
• Samuel Baldwin Hannah: A prominent man of Pocahontas County who dies in 1921.
• R.P. Deitz: A prominent man from Patrick Henry County.
• E. Lee Cullers: A man mentioned in connection with R.P. Deitz.
• George Duncan: A man being arrested, killed in the ensuing scuffle.
• B.L. Galford: A policeman accused of killing George Duncan.
• Mr. Sanford: Man whose wife declared she had killed him.
• Mr. Patton: Local businessman.
• Frank Buck: A man who had a tumor removed.
• Rosie Buck Frank Buck's widowed sister.
• Fritz Buck Rosie's 12 year old son.
• William Sailers: Accused of the killing of Ed Chambers,
• H.F. Dunlap: A member of the cooperation committee.
• Marklata: Governor during a time of martial law.
• Thomas B. Davis: Acting Adjutant General.
• J.R. Brockus: Captain of the State Police.
• Morgan: The justice during a second trial for murder.
• C.E. Lively: A man accused of killing Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers.
• Buster Pence: A man accused of killing Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers.
• John T. Harris Judge mentioned as retiring
• Virgie E. Huffman: A woman who died in 1921.

This timeline and character list should provide a good overview of the events and people covered in the provided documents. Let me know if you have more questions or need further clarification!