Logan Banner Tuesday, September 3, 1985 By Dwight Williamson If you don’t have it on paper, you don’t have it. Just about any government bureaucrat will tell you that. You may be standing and breathing before one of ’em and if you don’t have a birth certificate, you aren’t officially alive and couldn’t prove it […]
Thurman’s Death Certificate Uncovered Read More »
By Dwight Williamson The original mountaineers of this part of what became West Virginia brought with them many skills; one of which was the art of making their own corn liquor known as moonshine. Even after the coal industry started booming in the county, there were many residents who made a decent living making the
Frank Hall was a legendary moonshiner Read More »
Few stories from American history have captured the imagination quite like the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. Part legend, part tragedy, and part frontier drama, this prolonged clash between two Appalachian families became a symbol of the dangers of personal vendetta—and a defining chapter in the mythology of the American South. Origins in
The Hatfield–McCoy Feud: America’s Most Famous Family Conflict Read More »
By Dwight Williamson Let’s just call this week’s splattering of words as “hit or miss” Wednesday because as I sit down to write, I have not decided what to write about, and that’s not because I don’t have enough material to choose from. Oh, well, let’s see… How about we start with an interesting letter
Random thoughts on Logan history and people Read More »
By Dwight Williamson At various points in my life, from childhood to adulthood, the phrase “the good old days” has been used by persons referring to various times in their pasts when things just seemed to be a little better than they were in actuality. Still, for those of us who are fortunate to be
Longing for the good old days Read More »
By Dwight Williamson A mere dot on the United States map is about all that Logan County represents to most people, but the fact is that it is eerily uncanny how much history has been made in the confines of this Appalachian region that – as of the 2010 census – shows a population of
Some early history of the Logan area Read More »
Logan Banner, Wednesday, August 28, 1985 Special thanks to Mark Edward Jones for providing a clipping of this article. By Dwight Williamson Part XI of a Series Testimony in the Mamie Thurman Murder Trial reads more like a soap opera than evidence. It fueled tongue waggers and gossipers in 1932 Logan. And, the trail raised
Thurman Case Testimony Reads Lot Like A TV Soap Opera Read More »
The Logan Banner, Tuesday, August 27, 1985 Special thanks to Mark Edward Jones for providing a clipping of this article. By Dwight Williamson Part X of a Series. Logan was spellbound. The Mamie Thurman Murder Trial of 1932 held the country in its grip. And, the Friday, Oct. 14 edition of The Logan Banner reported
They Lined-Up Early To Get A Seat At The Thurman Trial Read More »
Logan Banner, Monday, August 26, 1985 Special thanks to Mark Edward Jones for providing a clipping of this article. By Dwight Williamson Murder and murder trials were by no means unusual for Logan County in 1932. But there was one which stirred more than the usual interest and reached into the very heat of Logan
Prison Inmate Remembers Convicted Stephenson Read More »
Special thanks to Mark Edward Jones for providing a clipping of this article. The Logan Banner, Friday, August 23, 1985 By Dwight Williamson Eighth in A Series Harry Robertson had an impressive list of credentials. He was President of the City Commission, banker-sportsman and treasurer of the Logan Woman’s Club’s public library…add to that the
Real Drama Provided In 1932 Trail Read More »