Many Names to this Manuscript! Douglas and Harless are my main line from this area. I have included also Lawrence Co. Ky because several came from Ky to WV according to this Manuscript! There are many more of these books, but this is just a sample of the one I was able to get my hands on. Check it out and more pages are to come! I've only begun! Sincerely Kathy FOR Dean: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1248036&a=13938240&p=55870366&f=0 <A HREF="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1248036&a=13938240&p=55870366 &f=0">Click here: PhotoPoint.com - My PhotoPoint - View Photo</A> Located at Marshall University in Huntington, WV Professor Lambert collected a massive amount of history & genealogy information and his family donated much of this information to Marshall University. It is housed in the Special Collection Library in Morrow Library. The call number for this particular document is MS 76 BX 18 NBK 16. This stands for box 18 and notebook 16. Professor Lambert or his wife wrote up an account of Joseph Harless remembrances. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I ran into a very a very interesting document at Marshall University in Huntington, WV. This is a long document & I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SUPPLY COPIES TO ANYONE (sorry). But I thought I would pass the information along. Evidently a Professor Lambert collected a massive amount of history/genealogy information and his family donated much of this information to Marshall University. It is housed in the Special Collection library in Morrow Library. The call number for this particular document is MS 76 BX 18 NBK 16. This stands for box 10 and notebook 16. I give this information for those wanting to acquire the document as again, I am NOT going to be able to respond to any requests for photocopies. Evidently professor Lambert or his wife wrote up an account of Joseph Harless remembrances. I will quote the opening paragraphs: "Four Mile Notes by Joseph M. Harless. My full name is Joseph Madison Harless. My father was Riley Harless of Giles County, Va. He was of Dutch descent born in Giles Co., and came here when he was 19 years old. He died Oct. 13, 1860, and is buried in Haless (sic) Cemetry (sic) on Four Mile. About 200 people are buried there, but there are no tombstones except a few with names only. It is located on Harless Fork, about a mile above the church." The second paragraph starts, "My mother was Nancy Douglas, of Giles Co., Va. Each came to Boone County before their marriage near Stoney. They were in Boone County, and settled near the mouth of Four Mile, near Col. Branch's residence, where he used to live." These two paragraphs already supply a lot of information. First, William seems to have gone by the name Riley - his middle name - to family. This followed a long Germanic tradition of using middle names. The "M" in Joseph's name stands for Madison. If Wm R was born about 1816, then he would have come to WV about 1835/36. [Yet, later suggests his parents came to area about 1825 - error?]. Wm R was buried in Harless Cemetery. He and Nancy Douglas independently came to area & were married near Stoney. This confirms that Wm R married Nancy Douglas. Last year John & Harriet Clendenen wrote a book called Johan Philip Harless of Virginia in which they claim that Wm R married Nancy Hughes rather than Nancy Jane Douglas. I will highlight some of the other statements in this document: Joseph M says he was born March 10, 1848 on Four Mile at the old place less than a mile above Harless Fork Church. [Based on his declaration he was almost 79 yrs old when relating this narrative, it must have been collected about 1927/1928 - there is no explicit dating of the document]. He states he was primarily responsible for the building of this church. He furnished the timber & did most of the work. Charley McCoy did some of the carpentry work. This church was built in 1876 for Primitive Baptists, though United Baptists helped in the building some. Joseph says he deeded the church for use by both groups. [Later he says he owned the church land, and his deed allows preachers of various denominations to preach there - especially Primitive Baptists & United Baptists - but explicitly excludes its use by Catholics & Mormons.] He also later gives the building date for the church as 1877 or 1878 and says it cost about $500 to build besides timber & land. He says it took 18 months to build because construction was not continuous. He supplied all but 5 timbers, a team, shingles, nails, stove (all but $1.25) & paid part of the carpentry bill. The Dickeys sawed the timber. At another point he says his uncle by marriage, Enoch Adkins & possibly other Adkins, donated timbers which he hauled, had sawed, took to the church & "worked it up". Charley McCoy, Mormon Eaves & his brother Jasper helped on carpentry work, he says at later point. They built the seats & he helped, too. The stated $500 cost came from donations, some in cash & some in donated labor. He says his brother Jasper B helped "beg" for donations/pledges, including some from Methodists. Joseph says there were about 15 -20 original members, including he & his wife Amazetta. Andrew Adkins was the first minister. Joseph says that what became known as the John W Dial house was built by his father "who was a carpenter". He thinks his father may have also had a hand in building a house for Andy Chapman. Joseph says he does not remember wolves & bears but his mother told him tales about wild wolves when she first arrived on the Guyan River. Nancy's family settled about a mile from mouth of Hart's Creek. She kept a fire going all night to scare away wolves & bears because her chimney was not completely built up. Joseph remembers one time when his father was home sick with fever when some hounds obligingly ran a deer by his house, allowing him to shoot it! [Joseph often dates an event by saying it was before or after the War, and I am not always clear whether he means Civil War or WW I. I have to use context to decide sometimes. I suspect he generally means the Civil War as in his discussion on deer. He says deer were very plentiful after the War, but they took "Black Tongue" about 1870 & most died. He recalls them especially going to the Big Ugly to drink & then dying there.] He remembers when fish were plentiful on Four Mile. He caught 38 fish 20 inches or longer with a brother & cousin once, and remembers fish of 60 lbs or more. Joseph says he "sawed many a board and oarblade to run timber with." He worked for Irvin Lusher and his sons in the timber business. He remembers his wife's father, James Adkins, saving the life of an important mill owner named Messinger, who was in danger of drowning. I don't understand the reference, but Joseph says he went to the Dusenberry's [mill?] during the [Civil] War. Why? Joseph says he never served in the Civil War but three of his brothers did: James, John, & Jasper Burk. He then goes on to explain the Burk name. He states his great grandmother was a Burk - a sister to the owner's of Burk's Garden. He says his two uncles - Tom & Bill - owned it. He describes Burk's Garden as about 800 acres in Tazewell or Wythe Co. [I know Burk's Garden was prominently mentioned in many early histories of German migration into VA]. Joseph says his father was born in Giles Co & went back there just before the Civil War when Joseph was about 4 yrs old. The purpose of the trip was to visit family & get apple grafts. Joseph says William Ball preached at the death of his father in 1860 and the death of his mother in 1878. [This is first documentation I have on her death date]. He characterizes the Harlesses as "Dutch" on several occasions, though other people are said to be from Germany. He says his paternal grandmother was half Dutch. He says "Harless Fork was named from me and my three brothers, who lived on that creek. James H. Harless lived there first - a mile above the church. John A. and Jasper B. were the others - all are dead but me and my sister Cynthia. Before this the creek was called Locust Rough Fork of Four Mile." He says his uncle George Douglas married the daughter of Thomas Dial & settled near the head of Kentuck Fork. George came from Giles Co and was of "Dutch' ancestry. Joseph discusses his days as storekeeper. Joseph's store was on Harless Fork, about half a mile from the church. He says he began storekeeping in 1875 and quit about 1900. "I sold dry goods, groceries, hardware, drugs, in fact everything used in the country. I bought the largest bill of queensware ever brought here up to that time." He talks about getting much of his goods by boat - Guyandotte Hustler in particular, a freight & passenger ship that could sometimes get all the way to Logan. Push boats & railroads also carried freight. He gives many details, like dealing with up to 1000 pounds of seng [ginsing] a year. & buying trapped furs. He bought from drummers coming from as far away as Bristol, TN & from dealers in Portsmouth, OH, Huntington, Charleston, Gallipolis, & Cincinnati. When he sold his first store to James Jeffers, the latter moved it to head of Harless Fork & used it as dwelling. [Jeffers married a niece to Joseph.] He describes the dimensions of his first store & later building. He later had stores in Man, WV & Wayne Co. Joseph mentions several of his wife's ancestors who owned slaves. One of the great charms of this long narrative is that Joseph reminisces about every old settler he can remember. I found mention of a number of my other relatives - like the Pritchards. I could not even begin to list all the people he discusses [Dials, Adkins, McComas, Lucas, Vaughns, Chafins, Holleys, Akers, Scites, etc etc]. He characterizes many of the early ministers, saying Andrew Adkins & Samuel Smith were among the best ministers, & he also had a high opinion of Burwell & Stephen Spurlock. He also enumerates all mills he knew about. I wish he would have told more about his family, but the stories on neighbors also helps understand the times & social climate. As an aside, he mentions seeing catamounts in the woods in times past - up to 9 feet long. What was a catamount? I will warn anyone wanting to copy this item - there are whole sections duplicated & triplicated but the last pages are new material. It's hard to know where to stop & re-start to avoid the duplications. Sorry, but I really can't look up names of non-Harlesses. I am not curmudgeonly - just booked up timewise. But I did want to share this information with people having an interest in the Wm R Harless line.