USA > West Virginia > Summers County > History of Summers County from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 81
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CAPE FORD CASE.
Caperton Allen Ford was a resident of Talcott District. Nu- merous petty thefts had occurred in Talcott District, and finally the premises of John W. Francis, a merchant of most excellent character, were broken and entered at Lowell, and a lote of fine hides and fur skins stolen. Suspicion pointed to Ford, and the case was put into the hands of Sira W. Willy, then deputy sheriff under M. V. Calloway. Ford was arrested and placed in the jail of Mon- roe County, the jail of this county not having been deemed sufficient. He made his escape, and after several months, Mr. Willy located him in Northern Missouri at a place in the country working as a farm hand, with a Dutchman by the name of Bunerstock. Requi- sition papers were secured from the Governor of West Virginia and placed in the hands of Messrs. Calloway and Willy, who went
829
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
directly to Missouri and succeeded in arresting him while at work in a field. Ford had begun to earn a reputation, and his employer had some disposition to stand by him and resist his removal back to this jurisdiction for trial, but after an examination of the papers had by these astute officers, he became convinced. Ford was so chagrined that he declined to go to the house for his effects. He came back with the officers under arrest, was tried in the circuit court of this county by a jury, found guilty and sentenced to con- finement in the West Virginia penitentiary, and served out his sen- tence, being prosecuted by James H. Miller and defended by Wil- liam R. Thompson. Ford had some connections and friends near Forest Hill, to whom he wrote under the name of "Allen," his middle name, being named for Allen Caperton Ford. From these letters he was quietly located, through astute cleverness of Officer Willy and brought to the bar of justice. Since serving his sentence he has continued a resident of the State and county a part of the time, and has been a quiet, peaceable, law-abiding citizen. He is now a resident of Mason County, West Virginia.
John R. Davis, Plaintiff, vs. In Slander.
Win. Davis, Defendant.
This was one of the few slander causes ever tried in the county by a jury, tried on the 3d and 4th of September, 1890, and judg- ment was rendered on the 10th for $1,000 in favor of the plaintiff. It was a case of son against father.
Wm. Davis was one of the pioneer farmers on Madam's Creek, where his thrifty sons, Horton and Garfield, still live, who had ac- cumulated for his time a considerable fortune in land and money. He was a very gruff man, without educational opportunities, and when his son. John R., married against his wishes, he said some harsh things, to which John and his wife took exceptions and in- stituted this action. The jury which tried the case was J. M. Hix, James H. Hobbs, S. S. Crotty, J. N. Lowry, Gaston Huffman, J. W. Coiner. W. M. Cottle, J. D. Chattin, J. C. Clark, Isaac Coleman, L. G. Lowe and J. H. Allen.
The old gentleman proceeded after judgment to pay the same, and to execute his will and disinherit his son John, and prevent him from forever participating in his estate, and he received no part of it, except what he got out of this slander suit.
Another of the notorious cases for slander was that of Indian
830
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Creek, John Buckland vs. James Keatley, which was tried Sep- tember 6. 1892. Buckland accused Keatley of calling him a thief and said he was dishonest, whereupon he proceeded to seek com- pensation for his wounded reputation by action in slander, and se- cured a verdict for $1.00 damages and his costs expended. The jury that tried the case was S. W. Dean, A. L. Gwinn, T. G. Flint. W. T. Meador, J. N. Waddle, J. D. Bolton, F. A. Hale, J. V. Arthur, A. G. Patterson, M. D. Neely, T. A. Dick and A. J. Christian. This action resulted in the complete financial annihilation of Mr. Buckland. His property was all sold in another suit on the chancery side of the court by Keatley to enforce the payment of unpaid purchase money due him for claims to be due him by Buckland.
The Wm. Davis referred to, when a young man went to Lick Creek to sell John and Alex. Miller a dun horse. When he arrived at Miller's they were not at home, and he had to stay all night. After he got to bed late in the night John Miller came home and learned of Davis' presence and his business to sell the horse. John went down to the stable, took out the horse, saddled him and gal- loped him over the fields. Davis, however, caught on to what was up, and was an unknown looker on. The next morning Miller was prepared to close a deal, and was willing to take Davis' word as to the capacity of the animal, and a trade was soon closed, Miller thinking all the while that Davis knew nothing of his nocturnal test.
Helen M. Withrow, Plaintiff, VS. In Slander.
John A. Smithson and Sarah F. Smithson,
His Wife, Defendants.
This was a notorious "slander" case. The plaintiff and the de- fendant were neighbors, and it was alleged that the defendant used her tongue "too freely" and without due regard for the truth, and damages were claimed. It was not alleged that the husband was guilty of any offense. The trial came on on the 20th day of Feb- ruary, 1889, with Adams & Miller, attorneys for the plaintiff, and Thompson & Lively for the defense. The jurors who tried the case were Jackson Meadows, Henry Milburn, Jr., J. D. Bolton, J. W. Ellis, S. A. Meador, J. J. Christian, John Dove, J. B. Farley, E. B. Farley, P. M. Buckland, H. C. Farley and T. G. Lowe. After a long trial judgment was rendered and a verdict for the plaintiff for $1,000 and costs.
John A. Smithson was worth considerable property in lands on
1
831
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
Griffith's Creek, and the alleged slander having been spoken by his wife, the judgment went against him for the whole amount. An appeal was applied for to the Supreme Court of Appeals, but was .refused. A chancery suit was instituted on this judgment, and the Smithson lands were all sold in satisfaction of the judgment, en- tirely impoverishing the defendants. This sale included the farm on which D. P. Thomas now lives, and should be a lesson to all long-tongued women. The plaintiff was a young lady, unmarried, and one of the Withrows of Lick Creek.
J. S. Hite, Plaintiff, - In Ejectment.
VS.
John A. Richmond and Robert Hix.
Defendants.
This is one of the few ejectment causes tried in the county, and arose out of a controversy over an interlock on the old Kaylor land on the Hump Mountain, and resulted in a victory and verdict for the defendants, which was quite unsatisfactory to the plaintiff. The attorneys for plaintiff were Fowler & Miller, and W. R. Thomp- son and W. W. Adams for the defendants.
The jury who rendered the verdict were O. P. Hoover, James Price, Joseph Cox, J. F. Wood, J. A. Sims. T. B. Barker, E. B. Neely, James Boyd, Wm. Woodson, A. J. Miller, J. L. Young and A. G. Patterson. The trial was had on September 10, 1884.
The land in controversy was a small tract, and the costs were more than the land was worth. The tract of which this was a part was acquired by Michael Kaylor from Wm. Richmond, Jr., by deed dated on the 1st day of October. 1819. the tract being 1,655 acres conveyed. W'm. Richmond was the father of Samuel Richmond, who married Sally Caperton, and had purchased the land from W'm. McClung and George Meys, of Bath County, Virginia, by deed dated November, 1818, and adjointed Sampson Mathews and others. The deed was acknowledged before Joseph Alderson and Curtis Alderson, justices of the peace. The survey of the disputed portion was made by Hon. W'm. Haynes. Kaylor paid $100 for a one-half interest in the 1,655 acres. Michael Kaylor made his last will on the 29th day of November, 1859, written by Col. George Henry, a grandson of Patrick Henry.
832
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
THE CASE OF LEE YOUNG.
John Lewis Young was a farmer residing on the waters of Beech Run, in Jumping Branch District, on a little rough mountain farm, on the road leading from Hinton to Jumping Branch. He unfortunately was in the habit of coming to Hinton and using ardent spirits to an intemperate extent. He had a large family of children, some eight or nine, and his wife. Lee was one of his boys, about eighteen or nineteen years of age.
Mr. Young came to Hinton, became somewhat intoxicated and returned home. Some controversy between his wife and himself arose, Lee taking the part of his mother, and without legal provo- cation went up-stairs, secured a pistol, came down into the living room and shot his father through the heart, killing him almost in- stantly. Lee gave himself up to the authorities and was indicted for murder, and tried and convicted of voluntary manslaughter. To excuse himself, he claimed self-defense, and that the shooting was done to save himself from death or danger of great bodily harm, and in the protection of his mother.
The trial occurred at the old frame Methodist Church in Hin- ton, the court house then being under repairs. The State was rep- resented by the prosecuting attorney, Jas. H. Miller, and T. N. Read ; the accused was represented by Colonel Thomas G. Mann, of the Hinton bar, and Major James H. McGinnis, one of the most astute lawyers of this section of the State, and known throughout the State as a great wit. The trial lasted about two days, the defense being ably conducted by Colonel Mann and Major McGin- nis, Mr. Mann being then one of the best criminal lawyers at the bar; Judge McWhorter presiding.
A view of the premises was demanded, and the jury taken to view the location of the tragedy, some five miles from the court house, on the Beech Run road to Jumping Branch. After the ar- guments by the counsel, the jury in a short time returned a ver- dict of murder in the second degree, which left the infliction of punishment to the court of from five to eighteen years in the peni- tentiary. In viewing the premises the law requires that the pris- oner shall be conducted with the jury to take the view. Inad- vertently this was overlooked, and instead of the prisoner accom- panying the jury in the custody of the sheriff, and with the prose- cuting attorney, judge, clerk and attorneys, he was left in Hin- ton, and the view made without his presence. A motion for a new trial was submitted by his attorneys, and under the law the court
want - Husk
THE EWART-MILLER BUILDING. Erected in 1905.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTER, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUMILTONE
833
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
would have been compelled to have granted a new trial; but the attorneys compromised the matter, and it was agreed that the verdict should stand, and that sentence of five years' confinement in the penitentiary should be inflicted. This was done and the sentence carried out. At this time Mr. Young has been discharged from the penitentiary, and is now a laborer in the city of Hinton, conducting himself well, and is a peaceful and quiet man.
THE DEATH OF JOHN CRAWFORD.
John Crawford was a citizen of the Flat Top region of Raleigh County, a man about fifty-five years of age. He frequently came to Hinton, indulged in the use of strong drink to excess, and left for his home, a distance of some twenty-five miles through the country, in an intoxicated condition.
On March, 1893, Mr. Crawford had been in Hinton for a day or two, and left with his pockets well filled with bottles of whisky, crossed the river at the lower ferry, and proceeded up Beech Run late in the evening, about dusk. On the next morning early he was found in the middle of the Beech Run road, a short distance above the Burning Spring, on the Calloway-Barker land, with his face in the mud and on all fours. It was a cold, drizzly March night, and his body was perfectly stiff when discovered. He had fallen on his knees, with his hands extended in the mud and his face also, and being too intoxicated to assist himself, there and in that position perished. A family residing near by heard during the night what they thought somebody calling, but hearing no further noise, paid no attention to it.
Suspicion of foul play having arisen, a coroner's inquest was held, but it was determined that no crime had been committed. and that the death had occurred from the use in excess of intoxi- cating liquor. The position of the body and the circumstances were the most horrifying ever witnessed or imaginable.
He left a large family of boys surviving him, who have now grown to manhood and reside in this and Raleigh counties, and are useful citizens.
John Crawford was a brother of Jas. H. Crawford, of Ballen- gee, in this county. One of the sons of John is now a thrifty and very competent constable of Shady Springs District, of Raleigh County. Another, Charles, is a prosperous farmer and railway em- ployee near Foss. on Greenbrier River.
834
HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
NEW RIVER DIVISION.
Order of Railway Conductors was organized in Hinton August 1, 1887. The first officers were J. H. Schutts, Chief Conductor ; W. T. Crawford. Assistant Chief Conductor : J. F. Drish, S. and F.
Fraternal Order of Eagles was organized in Hinton November 28, 1904. The first officers were J. W. Myrtle, Past Worthy Presi- dent ; James F. Smithy, Worthy President: W. L. Fredeking, Worthy Vice-President : J. R. Lilly. Secretary ; W. R. Miller, Treas- urer.
INDEX
A PAGE.
Ayers, J. M. 419
Adkins 474
Alderson 523
Allison 542
Allen 589
Abe, Story of. 600
Allen, Nathaniel 638
Adams, Hon. W. W 682
Accident, A Fatal 732
Alum Springs. 746
Assessments Town Lots. 762
Attorneys at Law 767
Attorneys, Sketches of. 773
Alderson vs. Miller . 803
Armstrong, Riley, Killing of 819
Assessors
755
B
Bryant, J. Fred 375
Blake 385
Brightwell, W. J. 418
Bolton, H. A .. 422
Bolton, H. A., Death of. 424
Brown 429
Breen, Michael N. 475
Bowling 495
Ballengee, David G. 497
Brown 524
Bacon 560
Bragg 569
571
Bowles
Barksdale, Dr .. 572
Barksdale, Wm. I. 573
Ballangee, R. T. 589
Bailey, Ann 593
Baber. Chas. A 676
Barker, Genealogy 679
Bonde Family
698
B. P. O. E. No. 821 721
PAGE.
Barger's Springs 742-746
Bennett-Lewis Case. 821
Bryan
569
Barton Family 690
C
Clark, Chas. 477
Clark, Rufus 491
Compton 490
Cook, T. N 507
Carden 518
Cundiff 532
Cochran 546
Crawford
553
Cook Family
608
Clayton 621
Campbell, A. N. 622
Campbell, Rev. J. P. 626
Campbell 652
Christian, Jos. J. 656
C. & O. Ry. 722
County Supt's of Schools 749
Corporations 750
Commissioners County Court 754
Clerks Circuit Court 754
Clerks County Court. 754
Coroners
755
Constables 756
Carnes Case. 791
Cales vs. Miller 801
Carden vs. Brown 811
Coleman, Jake, Case. 822
Crawford, John. Death of.
833
Dooley Case. 817
Davis vs. Davis.
829
Duncan Family
461
.
836
INDEX.
PAGE.
Daly 489
De Quasie. 511
Dobbins, W. C. 513
Deeds 547
Dunn, E. L. 575
Dillon, Rev. Henry. 692
Dunn, L. M. 717
Doctors
779
Delegates Secession Convention. . 749
E
Ellison 542
Ewart
547
Fox. J. A. 375
F
Frenches 455
Fowler family
479
Fowler, Elbert 432
Ford 521
Fredeking
521
Heflin, A. R
529
Fox
556
Foster
557
Ford
591
Flanagan
612
Flint, Enos. B
620
Ferrell 637
Farley family
705
Fox, Dr. J. A
712
Foss Bridge. 737
Free Lance. 737
Forts 776
Farley, Chapman, trial
824
Ford, Cape, Case. 828
Foster, Mike. 714
=
Graham, John W 374
Garvey, John B. 400
Gott 489
George 516
Gerow 540
George, Jas. H 618
Grimmett 636
Gooch 650
Gwinn, Andrew 661
Gallagher, F. MI 672
PAGE. Garten, Chas. Sr .. 686
Green Sulphur Spgs. Analysis 746
Graham vs. Graham 789
Greenbrier Springs
741
Gwinn, Marion
664
H
Houchins, Allen 454
Hughes, David. 488
Houchins 498
Hutchinson family 507
Hobbs 525
Heflin. A. R. 529
Hinton, Jno. 533
Hinton-Richmond fight 535
Harvey, Woodson 539
Hinton, Jos. 541
Hedrick 544
Hines
545
Huffman 585
Hinton-Johnson fight 574
Haynes 558
Harvey 617
Hatcher, J. E. C. L. 643
Hinton 663
Hunter Murders and others 827
Hoge. B. L. 688
Harman 709
Hinton Lodge, A. F. A. M. 781
Hinton Toll Bridge 735
Hinton Water Works. 735
Hale case 810
Hite vs. Richmond. 831
Hinton, Mrs. Avis. 555
Hutchinson, Michael 635
Ilume. Thompson
668
I
Inscription on Bacon tombstone. 567
Ingles & Draper. . : 711
Indian Rock and other things 758
Irish settlement.
778
J
Jones
513
Jones, T. J. . 5.52
Johnston, Albert Sidney.
606
Jailors
749
837
INDEX.
PAGE.
Judges 752
Justices
755
Jordan
387
James
500
K
Keatley 519
Kesler 567
Kaylor & flix 639
Keller 641
Keadle 693
Kinley, Blaine
808
L
Leftwich
531
Lowe
553
Lane
578
Lindeman Springs 745
Land Assessments, 1907.
Land Assessments for 1907 763
Lavender, J. B 324
Lilly family.
462
Lilly, R. W
466
Lilly, Frances 467
Lilly 468
Lilly, Geo. W 468
Lilly, T. H
470
Lilly, Greenlee 473
Lively
493
Lusher 497
Lowry, John. 498
Lce, William, lynching of 822
Landcraft, G. C. 586
Lawyers, two unfortunate.
772
Lumbermen
782
M
Miller, Mark 515
McGinnis 537
Miller. Brice and others 552 McCrecry 578
McCreery, John W 582
Manning, M. A. 60-4
Meador, Daniel Morgan 616
Mann, Thos. G .. 671
Members of Congress 747
Memb'rs Constitutional Convention 749
Members House Delegates 752
PAGE.
Marriage register 760
Miscellaneous 765
Murders, two 788
Martin, confession of W. L. 794
Medlin, Elbert, case. 807
McKelvey case 804
Miller 336
Miller Wm. E.
390
Miller, Jas. Henry 400
Meadows
401
Meador 403
Maddy 425
Maxwell 432
454
McNeer 454
McCulloch 454
Mahon
474
Medlin. Brad, case 825
N
Noell 511
Neely
695
Noell
713
Neely, Joseph, case. 826
P
Peters
504
Parker. Jos. A 648
Parker, C. L 649
Peck
654
Patterson
674
Pioneers of Pipestem. 707
Parker Opera House castastrophe 733
Pence Springs
738
Prosecuting Attorneys.
753
Postmasters at Hinton.
756
Postoffices
757
Population
762
Points of interest about W. Va.
762
Pack
447
R
Read, Thos. Nash. 526
Richmond family 410
Ratliff mystery. 431
Railway conductors order
834
Rollison
585
Reynolds. L. V. shooting of.
820
Manser
838
INDEX.
S PAGE.
Swope tombstone 598
Smith, Jas. F 669
Scott, Jas K. 674
Stenographers 738
Surveyors of the County 746
Senators, U. S 748
Senators, State.
749
Sheriffs 751
Statistics 759
Sheffey 382
Sanders, R. W 428
Swope
438
Shumate 458
Shumate, B. P
459
State vs. Ford and Gray 813
Slagle, Andy, case. 816
T
Thompson, Jas. 602
Thompson, Wm. R. 633-4
Thompson
644
Thompson, C. L. 645
Talcott
728
Talcott Toll Bridge 735
Talyor, Silas
420
PAGE.
Townsley T. W. 430
Turner vs. Hutchinson 813
V
Valuations
762
W
Withrow, T. P. killing of. 799
Woodrum, Major Richard. 656
Walker, Lee. 473
Wiggins, W. B. 510
Withrow 550
Williams, Dr. Samuel 577
Witte, Lewis 602
Wyant 583
Willey 629
Warren, M. M. 414
Wiseman, John W. 417
Withrow vs. Smithson 820
Y
Young, Lee, case. 382
Young
608
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