Category: Historians

James Taylor Adams

At work on his typewriter, outside

James Taylor Adams was a prolific writer, a folklorist and a preserver of Appalachian culture.  He wrote thousands of articles for magazines and newspapers of which only a few have been collected.

James Taylor Adams was born February 3, 1892, a son of Joseph and Mary Jane (Short) Adams. He was born in Letcher County, Kentucky and lived in Alum Cove, Little Colley and other small communities in Kentucky.

He moved to Wise County, Virginia while yet a young man. He married in 1908 to Dicy Roberts.  They had a family of eight children. Among James Taylor’s work was  at  the coke ovens in Wise County,  selling fruit trees; owned a grocery store; sold insurance, and owned and ran a print shop. He was a Notary and built houses to rent.  He also established a post office at Big Laurel where he lived and was postmaster there. His wife Dicy also worked in the post-office. He built a Church house; built and ran a library to store his many books, manuscripts, and publications, and to distribute books for people to read. He also built a museum to collect and preserve antiques and old items.

James Taylor worked in the Works progress Association, (WPA).  While working for the WPA he collected old songs and stories of the area and wrote them down to preserve. He became interested in family history and compiled the Adams Family history among others.

James Taylor only had a second grade education in the public schools but was a self educated man. He published several newspapers, some of which was The Vagabond Gazette, Adam’s Weekly and The Cumberland Empire. He wrote columns for several newspapers, and Detective stories for Detective magazines and wrote stories for some Canadian magazines under a pen name of Roland Rivers.

Among the books he wrote was one  called “Death in the Dark,” which is a collection of Factual Ballads of American Mine Disasters with historical notes. He also visited cemeteries of the area and compiled a book of the names and dates on the stones, with a short history of some of the people.  The book is called, “Family Burying Grounds in Wise County, Virginia.”

He and his wife and family moved to Arkansas to homestead land there, lived in Missouri, then back to West Virginia and finally settled  on Rocky Fork at Big Laurel on Rocky Fork. He died in 1954 and is buried at the homeplace there.

MEMORIES by James Taylor Adams

Wild honeysuckles twine around An old log cabin door High on a hill among some pines Above a river’s roar. A winding trail leads down a bluff That’s all aflame with flowers Tis there I wish to take myself  And spend life’s evening hours.

A rock is at the water’s edge,  A boat is fastened there, I’d loose the chain, take up an oar and row ‘way off somewhere. Then as the sun made silvery gleams, along the crystal stream I’d drop my oar and let’r drift And dream, and dream and dream.

And dreaming I would fail to see, The fish a’leaping high, Nor would I hear the gray-squirrel call A I went floating by. Then when the sun had sank to rest, I’d climb back up the hill, To the little house…deserted now So silent and so still.

Again I’d wander ‘long the trails, As in glad days of yore And hear my Mother calling me… From out the kitchen door. In memory lost…I’d pause awhile Then to the churchyard roam Where I will find the friends I knew Around my childhood home.

Some of the above was taken from: “Family Burying Grounds” by James Taylor Adams;. “About My Father,” by Simpson Randolph Adams; Newspaper article found in a scrapbook purchased at an auction in Russell Co., VA by Denver Osborne.

Luther  F. Addington

By Bonnie S. Ball – Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia

Luther F. Addington was born near Nickelsville, Scott County, Virginia on September 3, 1899.  He was the son of James R. and Nancy (Easterling) Addington.  He attended school at Midway and Gate City, Emory and Henry College, and the University of Virginia.

Mr.  Addington married Miss Lou Emma Keys on September 25, 1925.  He served 42 years as an educator, one year in Scott County, Va., public schools, and forty years in Wise County as a principal.  He was also employed for one term as assistant principal at West Palm Beach, Florida.  For six years he was principal of Pound High school, and for thirty four years as Principal of the high school in Wise, now known as the J. J. Kelly High School.

He was a member of the Trinity Methodist Church of Wise, the Retired Teacher’s Association, the Appalachian Regional Library Board, and the founder of the Historical Society of Southwest Virginia, of which he served as President for fifteen years.  He was Wise County Citizen of the Year in 1956.

He was a historian and writer, having published a history of Wise County, Virginia, and several juvenile books, and numerous articles on the history of Southwest Virginia.  He also served as President of Emory and Henry College Alumni Association.

He died on Sunday, February 26, 1978 at the Wise Regional Hospital, following a brief illness.  Funeral services were conducted on February 28th at Sturgill Funeral Home Chapel in  Wise.  Burial was in Glencoe Cemetery, Big Stone Gap, Virginia.  The Rev. James Douthat officiated.  Survivors include his widow and three brothers; Olin of Kingsport, Tenn., Orville of Abingdon, Va., and Omer of Gate City, Va.

From an Editorial of News Director, Walter Crockett, WCYB-TV, we quote in part:

Mr. Addington was a product of the horse and buggy days, for motor transportation was scarce indeed when he started his career, and he worked with others who dedicated their lives to the education of young people in Wise County.

“Even though a native of Scott County, no one has done more to assemble and preserve the history of Wise County than Mr. Addington. In 1960 the writer attended a conference for authors and journalist of the Southern Appalachians at Berea College in Kentucky.  While in the company of E. J. and Mrs. Sutherland we joined Mr. Addington during the lunch hour.  It was here that he suggested the idea of a historical society for the southwestern corner of Virginia, which was organized not long afterward.  He was unanimously chosen as the first president, and was followed by Judge Sutherland, who declined a second term because of ill health.  So Mr. Addington was elected repeatedly until failing health eventually prompted him to withdraw from office.  However, he continued to serve in the capacity of an advisor to the Executive Board.  While his place as historian may never be filled, his research and labor will remain to aid future historians of the Appalachians.”

Elihu Jasper Sutherland was a man of so great achievement and versatility that he scarcely requires an introduction.  A native of Dickenson County, and son of William Beauregard and Eliza Counts Sutherland, he grew up in the Frying Pan section.  He attended all available public schools, after which he entered  the Chattanooga College of Law, where he graduated in 1920.

During World War 1, he served as an infantry captain.  From 1924 to 1928 he was Commonwealth’s Attorney of Dickenson County.  In 1926, he was married to Miss Hetty Swindall, and they became the parents of two sons, James and William.  He continued his law practice, and in 1948 he was one of he first trial justices to be appointed in Virginia.  In 1956 the designation was changed to County Judge.

Known as a genealogist and historian of he area, he spent untold hours collecting family, local, and area history.  He was also a poet and author.  During his life he published three volumes of verse, served editor-in-chief of the official county history of Dickenson County  in 1955 during the diamond jubilee celebration.  He was also compile of a historical volume entitled “Some Sandy Basin Characters,” and numerous pamphlets, including the history and minutes of Primitive Baptist Associations of he area.  His column, “Pioneer Recollections” was published over a period of years in the Dickensonian, and was read all over the nation.

Judge Sutherland was a true sportsman and outdoor enthusiast.  He participated in inter-community baseball games.  One of his favorite hobbies was hiking.  It has been said that both he and Mrs. Sutherland have walked the entire  length of the Breaks Gorge, and possibly more than once.  Another of his goals was to walk the length of Pine Mountain from the Breaks of the Cumberlands to Pound Gap, in laps, and I understand that he accomplished that feat, also.

He was co-founder of the Historical Society of Southwest Virginia, and its second president.  He was also a member of the National Genealogical Society.  Rarely has any individual collected such large store of history, fiction, genealogy, and verse as was found in his private library on Sunset Hill overlooking the town of Clintwood.

Judge Sutherland passed away on July 1, 1964 at Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon, and was buried in the family cemetery near his childhood home.  He had served as Judge until January 1, 1964, when he retired because of ill health.  Surviving him were: his widow, two sons, two grandchildren, and some sisters and brothers.

On September 30, 1972, the major portion of his historical and genealogical library had been removed to the Archives of the Historical Society of Southwest Virginia, and a special program of presentation was given at the John Cooke Wyllie Library building on the campus of Clinch Valley College, Wise, Virginia.

Sources: Mrs. Hetty Sutherland,  Clintwood, Virginia, Publications of the Historical Society and personal acquaintances

“…His interests and gifts were boundless.  Elihu Jasper Sutherland found time to work with the Clintwood Kiwanis Club, the Dickenson County Chamber of Commerce, the American Red Cross, the American Legion Post # 66 of Dickenson County.  He was the county Chairman of the Office of Price Administration during World War II, a member of the Dickenson County Bar Association, the Parent-Teacher Association, the Dickenson county Mutual Fire insurance Association, attorney for local banks and the town of Clintwood.  He was historian for the Sandlick Primitive Baptist Church and the Washington District Primitive Baptist Association.  He was commonwealth’s Attorney for Dickenson County 1924-27; Judge of he Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court 1931-34; Substitute Trial Justice 1934-48 and Trial Justice 1948-56; County Court Judge 1956-63.  He served on the Clintwood town Council and was Mayor of the town 1938-40.  In 1945-46, “E J” prepared a new charter for Clintwood replacing the old one adopted in 1894.  About the same time he drew to scale a detailed map of the town, which was enlarged and made into blue prints by his son Billy while an engineering student at VPI.  He prepared the Clintwood Zoning and Building Ordinance which was adopted in 1956.

“E J’s” gifts have long been shared with students and fellow researchers in genealogical and historical fields.  Inquiries directed to public officials of he county have been turned over to him and, since his passing, they are referred to Hetty.

He was recognized to have a true poetic nature.  He published two books of delicate verse: “The Sunken Star” in 1917, and “In Lonesome Cove” in 1951.  The second volume was dedicated to his devoted wife, who he said, gave invaluable service as typist, research assistant, and in improving the style and contents of his published volumes.

In Lonesome Cove

“Lord, give me strength to move the stones From out my neighbor’s way And may I see him smile his thanks Before I pass away.

“Lord, let me stand upon the Mount of Friendly Hope and Cheer, And hear the people softly say, “He lent me a hand while here.”

“Lord, make me mindful of the need Of others as they cry Do let me sing a helpful song Before my time comes by.”

From: A Sandy Basin Character by J. Hoge T. Sutherland and Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia, Publication No. 5, March 1970

Hetty Swindall Sutherland

Southwest  Virginia’s Living Legend – Submitted by Marjorie a. Sutherland, daughter-in-law

Southwest Virginia Historical Society’s charter member Hetty Jane (Swindall) Sutherland is from sturdy pioneer stock, and she so proudly bears the two favorite names her Grandfather Austin gave her when she was born on December 14, 1901. Hetty” was a special name to him, for both his wife’s step-grandmother and his second daughter was given this beautiful name.  The name “Jane” is special because both of our member Hetty’s grandmothers were Martha Jane.  She has lived an exemplary life and brought honor to the name and family it represents.  She is lovingly called “Miss Hetty” by her many friends, relatives, and associates.

Miss Hetty was born in a log cabin on the old Swindall homeplace located right in the curve of the Pound River opposite the mouth of Camp creek.  She walked to Camp creek School as a child.  At that time, Dickenson County Schools lasted only five months, ending in December.  Wise County schools ran two months longer, so she was glad she could stay at Grandpa Austin’s for two months each year and attend Austin School on Bear Pen Creek.  When the first Wise County Post Office was established in Grandpa Austin’s home, it too, was given the name “Hetty.”

after finishing Elementary School, she secured a second grade teacher’s certificate  and taught tow terms at Honey Camp and camp creek, before attending National Business College at Fort Worth, Texas.  She returned to Dickenson county in September 1921, and was greeted at the door by “Ma” (Ardella Austin Swindall), who said, “Your Pa has found you a job!”  “Pa” was Milburn Eddie Swindall, an the had found her a job as secretary to John w. Flanagan, attorney for W.M. Ritter Lumber and Clinchfield Coal Companies.  She later was employed by Cumberland Band and Trust Company, the department of social Welfare, and the Dickenson County Home Extension Service.  She also served as Court Reporter for Dickenson County, and as secretary in 1948 for the world famous Clintwood all-woman Town Council, the first in Virginia.

Hetty Jane Swindall was married to Elihu Jasper Sutherland on September 11, 1926, in a ceremony officiated by her grandfather, Elder John Calvin Swindall.  A month later they moved into the lovely hilltop home he had built in Clintwood called “Sunset Hill.”  The raised two sons, William Hubert and James Douglas.  She and her husband were instrumental in establishing the John Counts of Glade Hollow Family Reunion in 1936.  Her husband, E. J., was its first president and was its genealogist until his death in august, 1964, when Miss Hetty took his place as Genealogist.

Miss Hetty has always been and continues to be active in many community organizations and activities.  She was a charter member of Southwest Virginia Historical Society on March 6, 1961 and was elected its first secretary.  She was elected treasurer  in 1965 and served in that position for several years.  She was elected to life membership in recent years.  She was also a charter member of Dickenson County  Home Demonstration Club and Dickenson County Historical Society, and is a member of the Big Sandy Valley Historical Society and of Mountain People and Places.  She likes to attend Little Zion Old Regular Baptist Church, established by hr grandfather, J.C. Swindall, who preached the doctrines of the church.

Her many honors include the establishment of the Hetty Swindall Sutherland Archives of Dickenson County historical Society at the Dickenson County Library at Clintwood, selection as Dickenson County Woman of the Year, and celebration by the town of Clintwood of her ninetieth birthday on December 14, 1991.  In thanking the townspeople, she surprised everyone by remarking that this was the very first birthday party she had ever had!

She has always liked people and continues to be very public spirited, giving her noblest and best to the building and betterment of Southwest Virginia, even to the pick-up of litter along the route of her daily walks through the town of Clintwood in Dickenson County, Virginia.  These walks usually include stops at the post office, frequently to mail genealogical materials to correspondents and buyers of her own publications; at the library, to gather genealogical information as well as the daily news from newspapers at the Clintwood senior Center, for lunch and a visit with friends and relatives.

Her mind is quick and her memory long, for she can name off ancestors of almost anyone in Dickenson County.  On rides along the back roads of the county, which are a particular pleasure for her, she gives a running account of who lives or once lived in home places along the route.   She especially enjoys the trips to the places of her childhood n or near the region locally known as “South o’ the mountain.”  She finds a source of strength there, for a new vitality springs from the precious memories of her past.

Miss Hetty has accomplished much in her almost ninety-two years, and still has much more to do.  She continues to be a very active genealogist and always finds time for anyone who wants help pin finding his “roots.”  She has carried high the torch of enlightenment left to her by her late husband, Judge E. J. Sutherland. For over fifty years he collected a vast amount of Southwest Virginia history, folklore, and genealogy, from which she  draws her resources, continuing the work he started and making his dreams become reality.  She has edited and published several books from his material, including “Some  Descendants of John Counts of Glade Hollow.”  She is presently in the process of preparing a second edition of this book, adding new material and updating it to the present generation

Miss Hetty Sutherland is truly a  living legend for Southwest Virginia

From: Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia Publication No. 28 – 1994

A Tribute to Bonnie Sage Ball by Gladys Julian Stallard

From: Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia, Publication No. 31 – 1997

The Historical Society of Southwest Virginia has lost a very valuable member who has been with the organization from its very beginning. Bonnie Sage Ball was a charter member who has served in many capacities.  She has contributed many articles for its annual publication, has done extensive research on families and events of historical significance, and has compiled and published several family histories, including those on the Sage and Ball families.  She wrote “The Melungeons – Their Origin and Kin.” She grew up among them in Lee County, Va. and adjoining Hancock County, Tenn.

She was a retired schoolteacher, a homemaker and mother of four. … Her ancestors are from London, England. Bonnie was  born Dec. 17, 1901 on Wallen’s  Ridge near Stickleyville, Lee County, Va.  She was brought into this world by Dr. Bradley T. Young, during a blinding snow storm. Bonnie was the fourth of 13 children of Vas Sage and his wife, Mary  “Mollie” Duncan. When Bonnie was six years old her father moved off the ridge so the children would be near the Stickleyville school.

Bonnie attended Radford Normal School for women.  She taught school during the winter and continued her education at Radford during the summer. In 1926 she went to St. Charles in Lee County to teach.  There she met Palmer Ray Ball. They were married a few months later. The next year they moved to Virginia City in Wise County, then resided in Haysi, VA. for a period of time.

Bonnie taught school in Dickenson and Buchanan Counties. She was also News correspondent for the Bristol Herald courier, the Coalfield Progress, the Dickensonian, the Roanoke Times and the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.

Bonnie retired in 1967, after a total of 33 years in the teaching profession.  she and her husband moved to Big Stone Gap, less than a block away from the June Tolliver House and the site of the John Fox Jr. drama, “The Trail of he Lonesome Pine.”

Bonnie Ball remained busy.  She was a member of Virginia Creative Writers, Trinity United Methodist Church, the UDC, DAR, and several historical societies.  She was a life member of the Virginia Retired Teacher’s Association.   She recorded cemeteries, researched courthouse records,  compiled a history of Methodist Churches, wrote a book of verse and a book of Appalachian Folklore.  Besides all these activities,  she published a bicentennial history, “Stickleyville – Its Schools, History and People,” and carried on a voluminous correspondence with people all over the United States.

Bonnie Ball suffered Health problems during her later years and lived for sometime in Heritage Hall in Big Stone Gap.  She remained alert until her death.  She died after a short illness in the Lonesome Pine Hospital, Saturday, May 11, 1996, at the age of 95.  She was preceded in death by an infant son, by her husband and a daughter, Dorothy Ball Booten of Chicago Heights, Ill.

She was survived by a son, George Ball, San Diego, Calif.; a daughter, Nancy Ball of the home; a sister, Thelma Powell, Richmond, Va.; three brothers, Carl Sage,  Orleans, Ind., Earl Sage, Stickleyville and Ralph Sage, Kingsport, Tenn.; and by four grandchildren.

Funeral services were conducted in the Holding Funeral Home Chapel, Monday, May 13, at 8 p.m. with the Rev. Buford Hankins and the Rev. Joe Berta officiating.  Graveside services were held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 14 in the Cecil-Frye Cemetery, Pennington Gap in Lee County, VA.

Bonnie Ball will be missed very much indeed, but her accomplishments and name will be familiar to people of like interests for generations to come!

Theodosia Barrett

Theodosia Wells Barrett, 88, died Saturday, March 23, 1991, at her home.  She was a native of Swords Creek section of Russell Co., and a former resident of Tazewell Co., and Florida.  She  was a widow of Frank Barrett.

She was a graduate of Radford University and retired school teacher in Russell, Tazewell and Buchanan counties.  She authored several local history books and articles and chaired “The  Heritage of Russell County 1786-1986.”  Her first book , “Pioneers on the Western Waters,” is the only written history of northwestern Russell Co.  She was a member  of numerous historical and genealogical societies and the National League of American Pen Women.  She was a member of the United Methodist Church.

From: Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia, Publication No. 26 -1992.

A native of Lee county, she was the daughter of John C. and Henrietta (Browning) Wynn of Jonesville.  She was a person of many talents and tireless energy.  The writer first remembers her as a piano teacher and director of school musical programs at Stickleyville School about 1912, prior to her marriage to James E. Laningham.

Even though they reared four children, her long life has been of endless activity, but she was best known as the first regent of the Lovelady Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, a life member and Lee County Director of the Historical Society of Southwest Virginia, and co-author of “Early Settlers of Lee County,” along with Mrs. Hattie (Muncy) Bates.

She was past president of the Lee county Garden Club, member of the Eastern Star Powell Valley Chapter #13, an active member of the First United Methodist Church and Methodist Women’s Circle, Homemakers Club, and was the principal organizer of the first Pennington Gap High School Band in the early 1930’s.

Mrs. Ann Wynn Laningham died on Thursday, September 3, 1987 at her home in Pennington Gap, Va., at age 96.  Funeral services were conducted at the Firs Methodist Church in Pennington Gap by her pastor on Sunday, September 6, 1987.  Interment was in the Memorial Garden at Woodway, Lee County, Virginia.

Mrs Laningham  is survived by the following children: John W. Laningham, Jonesville, Va.; Col. Wm. B. Laningham, of Orlando, Fla.; and twins Mary Ann and James E. Laningham of North Carolina.  She was proceeded in death by her husband and a grandson, John W. Laningham, Jr.

Survivors from her family also include two brothers: Browning Wynn of Jonesville, and Richard Wynn of Knoxville.  Two sisters, Mrs. Mary Wynn Hall of Dayton, Ohio, and Mrs. Jim Wynn Litton of Jonesville, Va., and four grandsons, one granddaughter, three great-grandsons, and one great-granddaughter.

By: Mrs. Bonnie Ball

From: Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia, Publication No. 21 – 1987