Some early history of the Logan area

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By Dwight Williamson

Photo of Dwight Williamson, authorA 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 just 37,743 residents. Additionally, the town/city of Logan in the same census shows only 1,779 people left in a place that once thrived because of the growth of the coal industry. Logan’s history, however, well precedes the finding of “black gold” in the coalfields.

Take, for instance, the following story about a place in the current town of Logan, which was the home of “Idlewood.” So just where in Logan was Idlewood, you ask?

Let’s first go back to a time when this untamed region was almost unreachable by land, but became the home of several people who deserve historic recognition, at least within the confines of our local history.

Most local historians know that Anthony Lawson is credited as opening the first trading post in Logan during the early 1800s. Lawson’s wife, Ann, was murdered by two of her own slaves in 1847 long before the Civil War outbreak and is buried at the neglected City Cemetery on High Street with her tombstone describing her demise. Her husband, who died in 1846 returning from taking furs and ginseng to markets via the Guyandotte River long before West Virginia became a state, is buried in a Revolutionary War cemetery near the community of Guyandotte in Cabell County.

Two other names that should be familiar to locals are those of Maj. James A. Nighbert and Maj. William Stratton, whose name on his tombstone at the stone-fenced Stratton Cemetery located in the Mountain Lake Park vicinity of the town of Logan actually is spelled as Straton. Both men fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, with Major Nighbert being named first lieutenant of the Logan Wildcats (Company B, 36th Virginia Infantry) before becoming a major. Stratton was the father-in-law of Logan Judge J.B. Wilkinson, who had built the large home that now serves as Honaker Funeral home in Logan. He was born at Henlawson, which then was known as Henderson Station.

Nighbert married the daughter of Lewis Lawson, a son of Anthony Lawson, in 1876, but following her death after 10 years of marriage he married Vicie (Ferguson), the daughter of William Stratton. Nighbert previously had worked for Stratton as a clerk at a store in the very small community that was then known only as Logan Court House. Stratton is noted for having owned the first home built of brick in what is today Logan, which stood where the former parking building was located at Holland Lane.

Nighbert, who died at the age of 66 in 1898 and is buried at the family cemetery in the community of Nighbert, had built what was described as a “palace” home at the location that now is known as the Logan Exxon on Dingess Street in Logan. It was this beautiful home that inspired the 1800s construction of what most people remember as the Hinchman House that connected Cole and Hudgins Streets in Logan. That beautiful historical home, which was actually built by U.B. Buskirk, who like Nighbert had made his fortune mostly in the timber industry, burned during the winter of 1976.

The home of the Nighberts, who contributed greatly to the Methodist Church in Logan named after them, as well as the Baptist disciples of Logan, was named Idlewood. It held that distinction until 1937 when it was torn down and replaced by what the Logan Banner described as a “colonial style filling station.”

By the time Idlewood was being replaced by a gasoline filling station in 1937, both Mr. and Mrs. Nighbert had succumbed. And, having no children of their own, they left a will which was later contested by other family members, including the Strattons, which led to a lengthy court battle.

But Idlewood’s history is not just about the Nighberts, but also about another person who resided there and today lives on in history as not only a renowned author, politician and songwriter, but also as the person who became mayor and changed the name of the town community to Aracoma in honor of the murdered Indian princess who led her people until their massacre at what is today Midelburg Island.

Following Vicie Nighbert’s death, Idlewood fell into disrepair and was actually operated by legendary Logan Sheriff Don Chafin’s brother and his wife as the Chafin Hotel and restaurant before a fire damaged the structure.

Surrounding the Idlewood home at the bend of the Guyandotte River were several beautiful elm trees. It was reported that it was under one of those elms that Dr. Thomas Dunn English, also a lawyer, who had settled in the community in 1852, wrote “Rafting on the Guyandotte.” English, who also penned “Ben Holt” as well as other books, journals and poems, is thought to have come to the Guyandotte River community from Philadelphia to escape the bitter rivalry he had encountered with former friend and renowned author Edgar Allan Poe.

Just exactly why English wound up in Logan is not known, but it is recorded that he became the first person in the area to envision producing and transporting coal by river to outlying municipalities for fuel. He would move to New York City in 1857 and resume his literary career as well as become a New Jersey congressman a few years later.

There is one thing very important that involved English, Stratton, Nighbert and Henry Clary Ragland, also a former Confederate soldier, who through Nighbert’s financial backing opened the Logan County Banner in 1887. All of the men believed in slavery and all were members of the Whig Party.

What should be noted about the Whig Party is that it was a political party active in the 19th century in which four U.S. presidents were members. The party emerged during the 1830s when many people opposed President Andrew Jackson’s style of government, which included what the Whigs considered the immoral removal and death march of the Indians from southern states.

The Whigs were in favor of the U.S. Congress’ supremacy over the presidency and were formed out of several other political parties, including the Anti-Masonic Party. The Whig Party consisted mostly of Protestant entrepreneurs, reformers and middle class people. However, by 1850 when the problem of slavery was brewing, the Whig Party disagreements over the slavery issue led to the party’s demise.

With Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, being credited as “freeing the slaves,” it is highly likely that some of the most important men in Logan County’s history likely joined the Democrat Party, which has dominated Logan County and southern West Virginia ever since.

It is also highly likely that many important decisions were made at the bend of the Guyandotte River at a place once known as Idlewood.

The coming of the railroad to Logan during the early 1900s would split the Nighbert property right in half. Today, Plaza Lanes operates on the back half of the Nighberts’ former property, which recently was enhanced by the City of Logan to provide visitors a comfortable view of a river that has for centuries brought forth both wealth and devastation to the region.

Dwight Williamson is a former writer for the Logan Banner and a retired magistrate for Logan County.

*Published with permission.

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