USA > West Virginia > Logan County > Logan > History of the city of Logan, W. Va. [West Virginia], 1823-1916 > Part 1
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Gc 975.402 L82 s 1397203
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY L: 3 1833 02167 581 1
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/historyofcityofl00swai
A HISTORY
of
the city of
LOGAN, W. VA. 1823-1916
Compiled by
G.T. Swain
Logan, W. Va. 1916
3
1397203
Bird'seye View of Logan.
Residence of Don Chafin, Sheriff of Logan County.
A Mord to the Public
It has been possible, only through the patronage of the business men of Logan county, for us to have this book pub- lished. While the majority willingly and freely gave us their patronage and assistance, thereby assisting in this work, some few were not interested in the work. It is in return for the favors shown the author by the advertisers herein contained, that we are asking in their behalf that every reader of this book read carefully each and every ad- vertisement to be found between the covers of this book. Look the advertisements over carefully before leaving your home. for a shopping trip, jot down the name and address of the different business establishments to be found herein, and call upon them and give them a share of your patron- age. You will find them courteous, kind and accomodating, and pleased to have you call. They are glad to make your acquaintance and invite you to call even if you do not make a purchase.
Logan is noted for its kind and sociable people and we believe that she obtained her notoriety through her accom- modating business men.
We ask you to give these firms a share of your pat- ronage and we rest assured that you will receive satisfac- tion from each and every one of them.
THE AUTHOR.
Introduction
It is with a fitting sense of my own deficiencies that I have undertaken to prepare for publication this brief his- tory of the city of Logan. It seemed to me that such a pub- lication would appeal to all persons interested in the little city and I have bestowed much time and labor to make this compilation as accurate as possible.
I am very much indebted to the following gentlemen: T. C. Whited, E. H. Greene, Eli Gore, Astyanax McDonald, Judge J. S. Miller, A. S. Bryan, each of the pastors of the city and to Mrs. Vicie Nighbert and many others for the valuable aid so graciously given me.
These parties have gone to great pains to secure for me much of the information contained herein and I feel that any praise due for this work is in a large measure due to the above parties.
Reference has been freely made, for information rela- tive to the early history of the city, to the works of Hon. H. Clay Ragland, a brilliant writer and a genius in the role of a historian, who has long since passed over the river to rest under the shade of the trees.
I would not be human if I failed to mention the kind- ness of C. C. Chambers, better known as "Cush" (whose heart is larger than his body), and Lee Justice, who have been so liberal and kind in permitting me the use of their offices while engaged in preparing this volume.
Craving indulgence for any deficiencies, and trusting my efforts may meet with the public's approval, I now sub- mit the following pages for public perusal.
With best wishes,
G. T. SWAIN.
In the Beginning
While it is the intention of the author to give in this little volume, a history of the early beginning of the town of Logan, or so much of it as is contained within the corporate limits I find it necessary to give a brief account of events previous to the formation of the town or records of events leading up to the time when the first settlement was made and the early formation of a village was begun.
We find that what is now the present county of Logan was for some time in the early period rather a wandering child, blessed with a number of foster parents, for we find that the territory of Logan as it exists today was a part of Fincastle county from 1738 to 1776, then a part of Mont- gomery until 1790, a part of Wythe until 1792, a part of Kanawha until 1809, when it became a part of Cabell and remained as such until it was organized into a county in 1823.
The Story of Aracoma
Boling Baker crossed the Atlantic as a soldier with General Braddock, in the French and Indian War. In west -. ern Pennsylvania he deserted the British army, went west and joined the Shawnee Indians in Ohio. He was a skill- ful thief, but a cowardly brave. By his cunning and suc- cessful operations against defenseless whites he gained power over the Indians and became influential in their coun- . cils. He married Aracoma, the daughter of Cornstalk, the Shawnee chief. He and his wife with a few other Indians emigrated to Logan and erected their lodges on the Island, which is located in the center of the Guyan river and with- in the present corporate limits of the town, where he would be more conveniently located to carry on his nefarious trade of thieving from the pioneers of Virginia./\ In the spring of 1780 a stranger appeared in the settlements on Bluestone river with woe-begone countenance and recited sorrowful accounts of the hardships that he had undergone as a cap- tive among the Indians of Ohio. He excited the pity of the settlers and they took him in without any suspicion. For a month he went from place to place among them, acquaint- ing himself with the surroundings. One morning about the middle of April when the pioneers went to the stables to feed their horses for the day's plowing, every stable was found empty. The farmers reported their loss to John Breckenridge, a young man at the next settlement, who held the position of deputy sheriff under sheriff William Ingles of Montgomery county. Breckenridge, in return notified Sheriff Ingles at the county seat of Montgomery, and in the meantime while awaiting word from his superior began making preparations for a pursuit of the Indians. Sheriff Ingles arrived at the settlement to find everything in readi- ness for a hasty pursuit and after a consultation held that night it was decided that Sheriff Ingles would not ac- company the party but he arranged to send ninety men
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under the command of General William Madison and John Breckenridge to recover the horses. The young men of the party were eager to start on the journey and sat up that night discussing the manner of pursuit but when dawn came the following morning heavy clouds had gathered and it be- gan to rain. Nothing daunted, the noble, brave band bade adieu to loved ozes and pushed forward on their journey. After they reached the crest of the mountains the clouds began to drift away and through the rift the sun began to cast its early morning rays, gladdening the hearts of the brave band and enabling them to make better progress. They followed the trail from Bluestone to Tug river, across to Gilbert creek, down it to the mouth of Horsepen Fork. Madison and his men, instead of following the trail up the Horsepen, came down Gilbert to the Guyan river and down the river to the mouth of Dingess Run. They went into camp on the upper side of Dingess Run and two alert and experienced scouts were sent out to search for Indian signs. The two scouts that went down the river were gone for some time but upon their return they reported that about two miles west of their camp a creek came in from the west side of the river, that at the mouth of the creek there was an island situated in the center of the river and the island was covered with cane and among this cane they observed a number of Indian lodges, that horses were grazing and braves were lounging around the lodges. Madison was con- vinced by this report that. these were the Indians that he was trailing and the next morning he dispatched scouts to the top of the mountain back of Logan to look down on the island and ascertain the number of Indians. The morning proved to be a misty one and a heavy fog hung over the river like a pall and the scouts were unable to obtain the de- sired information. After the scouts returned a council of war was held and it was decided to send forty-five men un- der John Breckenridge across the river to remain hidden until after dark, when they were to proceed down the east bank of the river, cross Island creek and attack the Indians.
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In the meantime Madison was to take the other forty-five men down the river to where the Chesapeake & Ohio rail- way "Y" immat situated to be ready to receive the Indians when they started to retreat from the island. In the af- ternoon, Breckenridge saw from his position on the hill above Island creek that the Indians had discovered that ehemies were near. They were running wildly about, get- ting ready to fight, and crossing the river in their canoes. He dispatched a messenger to General Madison with this information and Madison hurried his men down the river to surprise and intercept the Indians. They met in the bot- tom where Logan now stands and the fighting immediately began. The fight lasted for three hours, ten or twelve Indians were killed, several were wounded and a few cap- tured. After the battle, the wounded Indians were put to death for at that time nobody wanted to be bothered with a wounded Indian. Fifty horses, fifty bushels of corn and a few old cows were captured and ten Indian lodges were burned. Among the wounded Indians was one whose dress and actions indicated that she had considerable authority and influence over the others. She was reticent at first and refused to talk. Madison used every method in his power to learn something of her history and of the tribe over which she evidently presided, but with the stoicism of her race she refused to talk At last seeming to become conscious of the fact that there was no hope of her ever being recaptured by her people, she called for General Mad- ison and thus addressed. him in broken English: "My name is Aracoma (meaning a corn blossom) and I am the last of a.mighty line. My father was a great chief and a friend of your people and was murdered in cold blood by your people when he had come to them as a friend to give them warning. I am the wife of a pale face who came across the great waters to make war on my people, but came to us and was made one of us. A great plague many moons ago carried off my children with a great number of my people and they lay buried just above the bend of the river (former site of
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the Aracoma Baptist church next to the residence of Hon. John B. Wilkinson.) Bury me with them with my face toward the setting sun that I may see my people in their march to the happy hunting grounds. For your kindness I warn you to make haste in returning to your homes for my people are still powerful and will return to avenge my death." And before morning had dawned her proud spirit had taken its eternal flight. The next day the wjute men buried Aracoma, the daughter of Cornstalk, in the lot above mentioned. Having accomplished the purpose of the expedi- tion General Madison and his men turned their faces home- ward and began their weary march across the mountains to their friends and loved ones left behind.
Major Robert Crockett's Expedition
In 1792 Indians invaded the settlements on Clinch river but the whites had been looking for an Indian out break. The whites had scouts stationed along the gaps on the tops of the Flattop mountains who saw the Indians coming and warned the settlers. As the Indians were marching through some narrows, the whites fired on them from behind some trees, rocks and logs. A number of Indians fell at the first volley and the remainder turned and fled. Major Robert Crockett, at the head of the whites, pursued them by way of Tug river to Gilbert's creek, where the signs became so fresh that he decided to rest till after dark and make an at- tack them. He sent Joseph Gilbert and Samuel Lusk, old experienced Indian scouts, ahead to locate the Indians. In about an hour Gilbert and Lusk fell into an ambuscade pre- pared by the Indians and Lusk fell wounded at the first volley fired by the Indians. Gilbert started to run but Lusk cried so passionately to Giblert to save him that the latter turned back, at the risk of his life, and killed the first In- dian to show himself. The other Indians closed in around him, but Gilbert stood them off for a time with his knife.
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He was finally killed by a tomahawk thrown at him. Before he fell he struck his gun around a tree to prevent it falling into the hands of the Indians and of being of service to them. To this day the branch flowing by where he fell is known as Twisted Gun branch, and the creek known as Gil- bert's creek. Crockett and his men came on the next day and finding the body of Gilbert prepared it for burial. He then descended the creek to the river and the river to Logan. He and his men camped over night on the island in the Guy- an river and having seen no signs of Indians forseveralmiles he gave up the pusuit and returned to Clinch river. Years afterward when Lusk who had been captured, escaped from the Indians and returned to the settlements, he reported that the night that Major Crockett and his men camped on the island, the Indians with him captive, camped on the Backbone near where it is now pierced by the Aracoma coal road tunnel and that an Indian brave stood guard over him all night with a tomahawk in his hand to prevent his escape. This was the last hostile band of Indians ever in the state of West Virginia. Thus we see, that the hostilities between the races which began on the wave-washed coast of the great Atlantic in 1607 and gradually moved westward, over hill, mountain and valley, every mile of which had been hotly contested by the red man, ended on the banks of the Guyan river in the present limits of the town of Logan, 186 years later.
Surbey of Logan
There were a few surveying and hunting parties from Montgomery county sent to the Guyan and Coal river val- leys during the years of 1781,1782 and 1783. During these years several surveys were made and included in the lot was a survey of 300 acres at the mouth of Mill (Island) creek for John Breckenride. This survey includes the present site of Logan. The territory of Logan county as it exists
Logan County Court House.
Residence of Dr. S. B. Lawson.
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today, was a part of Fincastle from 1738 to 1776, then a part of Montgomery until 1790, a part of Wythe until 1792, a part of Kanawha until 1809 when it became a part of Cabell and remained as such until it was organized into a county in 1823.
In the company of John Breckenridge, at the time of the battle of the Islands, was one James Workman, who in addition to being a gallant soldier, was in every respect a trust worthy gentleman. Breckenridge, as soon as possible after the survey had been made to him, employed Workman to take charge of his survey at the Islands, and in the year 1794 James Workman, with his brothers, Joseph and Nim- rod, came to the banks of the Guyandotte, and built a cabin on the Island and planted a few acres of corn. They planted the same land again in 1795 and 1796 and in the fall of the latter year, James Workman, who was a man of family, moved his wife and children from their old home in Wythe, (now Tazewell county, Virginia, and settled on the Island where the three brothers continued to live until 1800, when they moved to another part of the county. Thus we see that the first cultivation, as well as the first cabin built in the present county, by a white man was built upon the Island, within the present limits of the corporation. The first permanent settlement of which we have any record was commenced by William Dingess, of Montgomery coun- ty in the year 1799. Dingess had purchased from John Breckenridge the original survey of 300 acres which covers the present site of Logan, moved upon it in 1799 and built a residence upon or near the present site of the passenger station.
Among the first settlers was one Anthony Lawson, who was a native of Northumberland, England, and was born about 1780. Sometime about the year 1815, he emi- grated to America, with his wife and four sons, John, Lewis B., James and Anthony. He remained for awhile at Alex- andria, Virginia, where his brother John, who had preceded him to America, lived. Colonel Andrew Bierne, of Lewis-
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burg, soon made his acquaintance, and induced him to come to the wilds of the Guyan river and engaged in the fur and ginseng trade. Mr. Lawson first settled near the present site of Oceana, where he remained about four years and then moved to the present site of Logan, where he remained until his death, which occurred in Guyandotte, in 1846, while he was returning from Philadelphia, where he had been to purchase goods. He had established his store near the present site of the passenger station, this being the first store in Logan, about the year of 1823. What little pur- chases as were made by the early settlers were made by ex- changing furs and genseng for the necessaries of life and ginseng being found in such enormous quantities was worth at that time about 10 cents a pound.while calico sold from fifty cents to one dollar a yard and coffee about one dollar per pound. Lawson transported his furs and ginseng down the Guyan river in canoes, up the Ohio to Wheeling in boats, thence over the national road to Baltimore, to market, and his merchandise was brought back over the same route. Mr. Lawson was a member of the first county court and was during his life a leading citizen. His wife survived him for something over a year, when for some unknown reason, she was murdered by two of her slaves. Her tombstone in our cemetery has the following inscription: "Ann Lawson, wife of Anthony Lawson, of Logan county, Virginia, who was born in the Parish of Longhorsby, in the county of Northumberland, England, on the 17th day of March, A. D. 1783. Murdered on the night of the 57th day of December, 1847, by two of our own negroes." Thus we find the first store, as well as the first person murdered, in Logan county, was within the present corporate, limits of the town.
Joseph Gore settled where Floyd Stollings now lives, and while this is just beyond the corporate limits, I feel that on account of the prominence of the family in county affairs since that time and on account of Joseph Gore being such an early settler that a record of his family should be included in this history. Mr. Gore had a large family of
3 1833 02167 581 1
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sons and daughters. He married a Miss Pine, from Mer- cer county, and was a member of the Virginia legislature. His sons were James who moved west, Jonn who married Margaret Dingess, Eli who married Nancy Ellis, and Levi who married a Miss Hinchman. His daughters were De- lilah who married James Bailey, Rebecca who married Jacob Ellis, Rena who married Henderson Shannon, Celia who married Jacob Petrie, Nancy who married Robert Massie and Martha who married J. H. Hinchman.
Organization of Logan County 1
When Cabell county was established it was one of the largest counties in the state, extending from the Ohio river on the north to the Flat Top mountains on the south, and from the Big Sandy and Tug rivers on the west, eastward so as to include the waters on the right hand fork of Cole.
Elections were then held at the court house of the coun- ty and voters were compelled to travel over one hundred miles for the purpose of voting. In order to prevent the hardship which the law would work upon the voters of Cabell county living remote from the county seat, the General As- sembly, on the 31st day January, 1817, passed the following act: "Be it enacted by the General Assembly; that on the fourth Tuesday in April each year, an election shall be held at the house of William Dingess, at the Islands of the Guyan river, in the county of Cabell to choose representatives to represent the county in the General Assembly, or in Con- gress or electors to choose a president, or vice-president of the United States, as heretofore done at the court house of the said county."
In 1820 William Dingess was elected as one of the mem- bers of the General Assembly from Cabell county and com- menced at once to make a fight for a new county. He was re-elected in 1821, 1822 and 1823 and in 1823 he had proud satisfaction of seeing the act creating the new county of Logan passed by the General Assembly. The name, Logan,
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is generally thought to have been given the county in honor of Tah-gah-jute, a son of Shikellamy, a chief of the Cayugas who was called Logan, after James Logan, of Pennsylvania, who educated him. There are others, however, who claim that the name (which implies a well balanced stone) was given because its people were not only well balanced, but were as solid as a stone in principle and in their devotion to the Commonwealth. Logan citizens prefer the latter claim. All of the actors, however, being dead, the reason for the name will never be known. The new county was cut off of the county of Cabell, Kanawha and Giles and included with- in its boundaries all of the present counties of Boone, Fay- ette, Lincoln, Mercer, McDowell, Raleigh and Wayne. The first circuit court was held at the residence of William Ding- oss, within the present liimts of the town, on the 7th day of May, 1824. Hon. Lewis Summers presided as judge, Joseph McDonald was the first clerk and John Laidley prosecuted the pleas of the Commonwealth. William McComas, who was both preacher and lawyer and afterward a member of Congress, was the only resident attorney, therefore Mr. McComas was the first preacher as well as the first lawyer to settle within the bounds of the present corporation.
The first county court was held at the same place hut at an earlier date. It was composed of the following gen- tlemen whose names are still honored by the people of Log- an: William Toney, William Hinchman, John B. Clark, John Ferrell, James P. Christian, James Shannon, Anthony Lawson and Griffin Stollings. Of this court, James P. Christian was the last survivor, having died in 1892, at the age of 92 years.
William Toney was made the first sheriff and Francis R. Pinnell was appointed the first surveyor. The first election for the new county was held at the house of William Dingess, in 1824, and James Bias and Benjamin Smith were elected to the General Assembly. Logan was now one of the counties of the Commonwealth with her local govern- ment fully organized.
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All those that settled here were immediate descendants of the brave men whose struggle and privation for liberty, made us independent of foreign dictation.
The early settlers, while having come from every class of society were fortunate in having among them no drones who are so often dubbed "gentlemen." Their business was not to gather pearls and gold as adventurers, but to estab- lish homes and by industry add to the wealth of the state. There were no "gold refiners and perfumers" among them, but they were sturdy farmers, carpenters and laborers used to the axe and the rifle, and perfectly at home in the wilderness. While the country was rough and mountain- ous, only about one third of it being adapted to cultivation, yet that one third was extremely fertile and generous and yielded and abundant supply for man and beast. The cli- mate was genial, especially in the valleys where the moun- tains shut off the winters storms and assisted in maintain- ing a current of fresh air. There was an entire absence of the poisonous malaria which so often prostrates new settle- ments and of all the settlers not one is named as having been a physician or in any way versed in the science of medi- cine. Simple herbs were used for all ills to which flesh is heir, while wounds and bruises were treated with the sim- plest remedies.
Separated from the outside world, the people learned to be dependent upon their personal energies and personal management for necessities, and comforts of life. Sub- stantial log houses were erected and the land cleared around them in which were planted patches of corn, cotton and flax, while the cattle and flocks which were driven from the settlements in Virginia were kept in enclosures near the residence in order to protect them from the wild beasts which roamed the forest or in the uncleared valleys.
Each settler brought with him his trusty rifle, and am- munition with which to load it was manufactured here. Sulphur and saltpetre were found in almost every cave, while charcoal was easily burned, out of which reliable
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powder was made and lead for the bullets was plentiful in every neighborhood.
Thus armed and equipped the black bear, the deer and the buffalo, which still roamed at large, furnished meat for the families, while their skins furnished shoes and a por- tion of the clothing for the men folks. Water power was abundant and small mills were easily erected at which the corn was ground. Honey, which was plentiful, and the juice of the sugar tree, which was made into maple sugar, took the place of the product of the cane, while the bark of the sassafras root or the bark of the spicewood or birch, or wintergreen was a splendid substitute for coffee. There were numerous salt licks and water from which the best salt could be obtained was found at a depth not exceeding ten feet from the surface. In addition to viands above mentioned the rivers and creeks were full of fish, the moun- tains in their season brought forth an abundance of black- berries and sarvices and taken altogether the table of a Logan county home in the early days furnished a bill of fare which kings might envy.
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