second chances: Estep Stories from the Civil War and into the Twentieth Century

The Story of Wesley Estep, 1825-1900

Wesley Estep (also known as John W. Estep), son of Joel Estep, Sr., is the point at which we begin the more recent story of the Estep family. Wesley also had an “Uncle Wesley” Estep, who was the son of Shadrach and Sarah Newsom Estep, but this Wesley died in 1854. By Wesley’s statement on the 1870, 1880, and 1900 censuses, he was born in Kentucky, but on other censuses where this information is recorded, he lists his birthplace as Virginia. On the 1900 census he gave his birth date as July 1825 and said he was married for 53 years.

Kentucky is most likely where Wesley was born because Joel is found on the 1830 census in Floyd County, Kentucky, with one male child under age 5 and another age 5-10. One of these boys is probably Wesley. In 1840 Joel is in Kanawha County, and among his children are two boys, one aged 10-15 and one aged 15-20. So Wesley spent a large portion of his childhood in Kentucky and then moved to Virginia while he was still living with his parents, Joel and Rebecca.

In Kanawha County on 13 February 1847, when he was about age 22, Wesley married Mary (Polly) Pritt, daughter of Edward Pritt. The marriage was performed by Henry David Ward of St. John’s Church and St. Luke’s Church, Protestant Episcopal Churches.[1] St. John’s, the oldest Episcopal church in the Kanawha Valley, was established in 1822. Wesley is described in his military pension application as being 5 feet 7 inches tall, having a light complexion, sandy hair, and blue eyes.

Wesley and Mary lived in Kanawha County where they were listed on the 1850 census in District No. 29.[2] Wesley reports his age as 21 (which would make his birth date 1829, but census records are often inaccurate). If this birth year is accurate, then Wesley was 18 years old when he married Mary. By 1850 Wesley and Mary have two children, Betsy (Elizabeth), age 2 (born about 1848), and Lewis, age 1 month (born August 1850). Another son, John W. Estep, was born about 1853, according to the 1860 census.

Marriage records from Floyd County, Kentucky, show that Wesley and Mary traveled there in 1855 to witness the marriage of a cousin of his, Martin VB Estep, and Sarah Ann Lowe on 5 August. About this time their son, Rufus F. Estep, was born, either in 1855 or 1856 (according to the 1860 census) on 15 August. Since Wesley and Mary attended a wedding in Kentucky on 5 August in 1855, it is doubtful that Mary would have traveled to the wedding only two weeks before giving birth, so the 1856 birth date for Rufus seems more likely.

The next few years were filled with turmoil. John Brown led a rebellion in 1859 in Harper's Ferry, VA (WV) and was hanged in the fall of that year. Richmond was the capitol of Virginia, and Charleston was a provincial river town, with a population of 1,520 in the 1860 census. The fifth child of Mary and Wesley, James Edward Estep, born 14 March 1858, died 16 August 1859 at the age of 17 months.[3]

In 1860 Wesley and Mary lived in the Kanawha Salines of Kanawha County. Wesley, age 29, was a farmer, and the value of his real estate was $600. He had personal property valued at $100.[4]

From 1806 to 1808, where Malden is now located, David and Joseph Ruffner developed the world's first deep well drilling process to recover the precious commodity of salt, and the area known as the "Kanawha Salines” became a very wealthy industrial region on the frontier.[5] Early Malden was a small New England style subdivision first called "Saltborough.” “Kanawha Salines” was the postmark for the Malden area until after the Civil War; the area was first called Terra Sallas as early as 1817, but the town of Malden was not incorporated until 1883.[6] By 1850 the salt industry employed 3,000 people, and the Kanawha Salines produced millions of bushels of salt each year. Malden had 3 hotels and a bank.

As many as 42 salt furnaces operated near Malden at one time, with capacities of 150 barrels of salt daily. The brines from the Kanawha Valley were purer than those found in other areas of the country.[7]

As America’s transportation systems improved through the mid-nineteenth century, Malden’s monopoly on the salt industry disappeared. A flood in 1861 destroyed most of the salt works, and the industry declined.[8] Growing access to rail transportation diverted business to other salt-producing areas.

In 1860 as the United States approached the beginning of the Civil War, Wesley and Mary (Polly) now had four children: Elizabeth, age 11; Lewis, age 9; John W., age 7, and Rufus F., age 4. A laborer, John Honeyman, age 58, also lived with them.[9] Also living in Kanawha County was Marion Burke, who had married Mary Estep, a daughter of Wesley’s first cousin.[10] Marion and Mary lived at Jarrett’s Ford, which is now Elkview, with their three children as well as Martha Estep, age 16, a sister of Mary. Mary and Martha were the children of Turner Estep and great-grandchildren of Shadrach Estep.

Political changes brewed throughout the Kanawha Valley as the country descended into the Civil War. After the attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, on 12 April 1861, the Civil War exploded. In June 1861 the Western counties of Virginia refused to secede with the eastern portion of the state and formed the Restored Government of Virginia in Wheeling. In August 1861 the government determined that the new state would be named Kanawha. In a referendum on 24 October 1861 voters supported the creation of the state of Kanawha, but in November the name was changed to West Virginia.

A baby girl, Mary Ellen Estep, was born to Wesley and Mary on 2 July 1861. On 15 October 1861 Wesley enlisted in the United States Army in the Eighth Regiment of the Virginia Infantry, Company E. This regiment was organized by Major John H. Oley at Buffalo, West Virginia, in November 1861 and was headquartered in Charleston. The unit was unassigned until April 1862, conducting post duty at Buffalo until it was ordered to New Creek, Virginia.[11] Major General John Pope was appointed on 26 June 1862 to command the newly created Army of Virginia, of which the 8^th Regiment was a part.[12]

Since Wesley enlisted in October 1861, he would have been part of the regiment’s advance up the Shenandoah Valley in pursuit of Stonewall Jackson. His pension application states that on 28 May 1862 he was left at Petersburg, Virginia, as a deserter. He was “taken up” and sent to Wheeling and counted as AWOL from 28 May to 25 July 1862. During the time he was AWOL, his regiment fought in the Battle of Cross Keys (June 8) and served in various locations around eastern Virginia. From 7 July until 2 August the regiment was located at Middletown, Virginia, where Wesley would have been returned to his unit. He was present on the rolls until 31 December 1863.

Federal battery fording a tributary of the

Rappahannock on the day of battle, 2nd Bull Run, August 1862.

The 8^th Regiment fought at the Second Battle of Bull Run, also called the Second Battle of Manassas, which was waged between August 28 and August 30, 1862. The battle was the culmination of an offensive campaign waged by Lee against Pope’s Army of Virginia. It involved a much greater number of soldiers than the First Battle of Bull Run and was an overwhelming Confederate victory.[13] The 8^th Regiment was part of the 1^st Brigade which was commanded by a German, Colonel Alexander Schimmelfennig, and was part of the 3^rd Division, also commanded by a German, Brigadier General Carl Schurz.

After the loss to the Confederates, Pope withdrew to Washington, D.C. where the 8^th Regiment stayed until September 29. By October 9 the unit was back in West Virginia and performed outpost duty at various places in West Virginia until June 1863. Wesley re-enlisted as a Veteran Volunteer and moved with the regiment throughout Virginia and West Virginia as it conducted raids, such as one through the Greenbrier Valley 5-31 August 1863 and a raid against Lewisburg and the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad 1-17 November of the same year. We have no information about how Mary and the family, including the young baby, Mary Ellen, fared during this time.

On 26 January 1864 the regiment was assigned to the Fourth Separate Brigade and became mounted. The name was changed to the 7^th West Virginia Cavalry. Wesley’s records indicate that on 1 February 1864 he was “absent without remark as to cause of absence.” His pension application states that he returned to duty in March 1864 and was present for duty until 30 June 1865, although the 1890 Census of Veterans says that his service ended 31 January 1864. Wesley was in the hospital at Guyandotte, West Virginia, in the fall of 1864 because he had lost his hearing, and according to Marion Burke, who served in the same regiment, Wesley remained in the hospital until they were discharged.[14]

The regiment was eventually ordered to the Kanawha Valley in late 1864 with duty at Charleston, Coalsmouth, Winfield, Point Pleasant, and Guyandotte until August 1865 when it was mustered out. After the war Wesley returned to Malden where he and Mary lived for many years. He is listed in remaining censuses as either a farmer or a farm laborer. Not until after the war was their next and last child, Abraham Lincoln Estep, born.

Children of Mary and Wesley Estep are as follows:

Name	Birth Date
Elizabeth A. (Betsy) Estep	About 1848
Lewis Estep	August 1850
John Wesley Estep	1 January 1853
Rufus F. Estep	15 August 1856
James Edward Estep	14 March 1858
Mary Ellen Estep	3 June 1861
Abraham Lincoln Estep	2 July 1867 (or 1865 in some sources)

The list of children provided by Wesley on his pension application in 1885 does not include Lewis, James Edward, or Rufus. James Edward died when he was 17 months old in 1859. Since the other children not listed on the application are deceased, it could be surmised that Lewis had also died by this time. No death date has been found at this point for Lewis. Rufus died as a young man.

A man named Thomas Lee was murdered on the night of 24 December 1875 on the Campbell’s Creek Bridge at Malden.[15] On Christmas Day 1875 John Dawson and Rufus Estep, son of Wesley and Mary Estep, were arrested and placed in the Charleston jail to await trial for Lee’s murder. A mob formed, supposedly because of the unprovoked nature of Lee’s murder, to lynch Dawson and Estep. The tragic story of the lynching of John Dawson and Rufus Estep is told in my blog, "When Lynch Mobs Ruled" http://secondchances-jbestep.blogspot.com/2011/09/when-lynch-mobs-ruled.html.

In 1880 Wesley and Mary still lived in Malden with their youngest son, Abraham Lincoln Estep, age 12.[19] Wesley applied for a military pension on 30 July 1885 giving his address as Boyd’s Post office in Fayette County, so they had moved sometime between 1880-1885. He received $6 per month from his pension for bronchitis, but it was increased to $12 a month in 1894 because of additional disabilities of respiratory organs and slight deafness in both ears. On 21 April 1888 Wesley’s son-in-law, Charles Blount (who married Mary Ellen Estep) died.

In 1889 Abraham Lincoln Estep married, probably leaving Wesley and Mary living alone. Wesley is found on the 1890 Veteran’s Census, living in Malden, Kanawha County, listed as J. W. Estep. Beginning in 1900 his name was spelled as either John W. Estep or J. W. Estep. The 1890 U. S. Census was mostly destroyed by a fire, but the existing schedule of “surviving soldiers, sailors, and marines, and widows, etc” gives documentation of the Estep family in 1890. Wesley states that he served as a private in Company E of the 7^th West Virginia Cavalry from 15 October 1861 to 31 January 1864, a total of 3 years service. This is in contradiction to the dates on his pension application of 1885. His disability listed on the 1890 census was “lung fever”.

By 1900 Mary and Wesley lived in the home of their widowed daughter, Mary Ellen Blount, in the Danaville Precinct of Malden. They may have moved there after Mary Ellen’s husband died in 1888 and Abraham married in 1889. Abraham also lived at Danaville in 1900. Mary Ellen’s three oldest sons, ages 13, 16, and 19 are listed as day laborers in the 1900 census, meaning that, other than Wesley’s $12 a month pension, they were the only support of the family.

The 1900 census was enumerated 5 June 1900, and Wesley died 5 July 1900, according to information on Mary’s application for a widow’s pension dated 30 July 1900.[20] The date of Mary Estep’s death has not yet been determined, but in 1910 she is no longer present on the census, so it is likely that she died between 1900-1910.

Mary Ellen remarried about 1902 to Wyatt H. Blackburn.[21] He was nearly 20 years older than she. Mary Ellen died 4 January 1944 of pneumonia in Spring Fork, Malden District, of Kanawha County. She is buried at the Blount Cemetery in Spring Fork. The burial places of Wesley and Mary Estep are not known at this time.

The Story of Abraham Lincoln Estep, 1867-1955

Many children born around the time of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination were his namesakes. With Wesley’s service in the Union Army and the name selection for his youngest child, it is clear that he admired the 16^th president of the United States. “Link”, as he came to be called, grew up in the new state of West Virginia and spent his childhood in Malden.

After the war, Malden became home to one of its most famous citizens. In 1865 the family of Booker T. Washington, who was then nine years old, walked about 225 miles to Malden from around Roanoke, Virginia. It was at Malden that Booker T. Washington grew up, but it is doubtful that the Estep family had any interaction with the Washington family. Perhaps Link may have seen the older Booker on the streets of Malden, but they would most likely not have had any dealings with each other.

One of the major events of Link’s early life had to be the lynching of his brother, Rufus Estep, in 1876. Link would have been 9-11 years old when this occurred. The oldest Estep child, Elizabeth, had married in 1863; John Wesley married in 1870; and Mary Ellen married in March 1876, after Rufus was killed in January 1876. This left the young boy, Link, at home with his parents who were both about 50 years old. In the 1880 census, Wesley’s occupation is listed as farmer, so Link probably helped Wesley with farm work until he left home.

On Wesley’s pension application he listed his residence in 1885 as Boyd’s Post Office,

Fayette County in 1895.

which was located in Fayette County. Link was 18-20 years old at the time of Wesley’s pension application. On 18 June 1889 Link married Martha Florence Lewis, daughter of Charles M. and Sarah J. Spencer Lewis. They were married in Fayette County. Florence was about 15 years old when she married. The couple had a daughter, Annie Mae, in May 1891, and George Virgil, the couple’s first son, was born in Eagle, Fayette County, 17 August 1892.

Since there is no 1890 census available, the next record to include Link and Florence is the 1900 Federal Census. Abraham and his wife, Florence, still lived in the Malden District in the Danaville Precinct. Abraham was a coal miner, so he may have worked at Campbell’s Creek Coal Company, located at Dana. Link and Florence state on the census that they had been married eight years (actually 11 years, according to Fayette County records), and had four children: Annie M., b. May 1891; George V., b. June 1892; Rosella (Dimple), b. June 1896; and Robert C., b. July 1899. Also living in Danaville (Malden) in the 1900 census were Link’s parents, Wesley and Mary Estep. Link lived in dwelling number 91 (this is the numbering of the house for census purposes, not a street address), and his parents lived with Link’s sister, Mary Ellen Blount, in dwelling number 81. Wesley and Mary lived in Fayette County with Link at the time of Link’s marriage; perhaps when Mary Ellen’s husband, Charley Blount, died in 1888, they moved back to Malden. Exactly one month after the census was taken on 5 June 1900, Wesley died.

"Link" was heavily involved in efforts to unionize the coal mines in southern West Virginia. The Charleston Gazette wrote on Sunday, 2 December 1934:

"Do you remember--When seven strike leaders were jailed 32 years ago. United States deputy Marshals Cunningham and Summers arrived from the New River coal fields having in their custody seven striking miners who were charged with violating the injunction order of the United States court requiring them to refrain from interfering with men who desired to work in the mines and from trespassing upon the property of the operators. The men arrested were Frank Lewis, William Counts, W. C. Daniels, J. M. Chandler, J. C. Whitman, W. J. Shorter and A. L. Estep. They belonged to the crowd which had surrounded the Rend mines on Loup creek for over a week and had sought to prevent the operation of the mines. They were charged with having violated the terms of the injunction. The men declined to make any effort to secure bond and were placed in the custody of the Kanawha county jailer. In their own behalf the men declared they did not violate the injunction, but that they sought by peaceable means to persuade men from going into the mines while the contest was going on between the operators and miners."

In 1910 Link and Florence were back in the Falls Magisterial District, precinct of Harewood, Fayette County. Link continued to work as a coal miner, and they had six children living at home. Florence stated that she had given birth to eight children and had seven children living. Annie is not listed on the 1910 census; she is probably married by that time. Virgil’s occupation on the 1910 census when he was 17 years old was "coal miner".

Children of Link and Florence Estep. Left to right ROBERT ESTEP, son of Victor,

VIRGIL ESTEP, VICTOR ESTEP, EARL ESTEP, JAMES KEARSEY ESTEP,

FRANK ESTEP. Women's names unknown. (As reported by Robert Estep, son of Virgil)

Link and Florence Estep have 11 known children: Annie Mae, b. May 1891; George Virgil, b. 17 August 1892; Mary, b. about 1894; Rosella (Dimple), b. June 1896; Robert Kersey, b. 4 July 1899; John Frank, b. 1902; Thomas Victor, b. 23 August 1907; Earl Sidney, b. 14 February 1909; Margaret, b. 26 June 1911; Edith, b. 1914; James Mack, b. 6 July 1918.

Harewood was a small community located near Smithers. The sons of Devil Anse Hatfield, Troy and Elias, had opened a saloon in Harewood, and in the cut-throat business of selling liquor in the Fayette County coalfields, had arranged an agreement with Carl Hanson, who operated a saloon in Cannelton. An Italian immigrant, Octavo Gerome, an employee of Hanson’s, violated this agreement, and a shootout in Harewood resulted in the deaths of both of the Hatfields and Gerome on 17 October 1911[22]. In 1912 West Virginia enacted prohibition, which would not be repealed until 1934. Paint Creek-Cabin Creek miners struck to gain recognition of the United Mine Workers of America. Three times, the Governor declared martial law and sent in troops.[23]

The southern West Virginia coal fields.

In the coal fields of southern West Virginia from 1912-21 unionization activities were dominated all other issues. Mary Harris “Mother” Jones had been organizing miners since 1897. On 7 February 1913 an incident near Cabin Creek resulted in the death of Cesco Estep, who was the son of Link Estep’s first cousin, Reuben Estep.[24] A train called the "Bull Moose Special," led by coal operator Quin Morton and Kanawha County Sheriff Bonner Hill, passed through a miners' tent colony at Holly Grove on Paint Creek. Mine guards opened fire from the train, killing a miner, Francis F. “Cesco” Estep. Morton is supposed to have said to "go back and give them another round," but Hill and others talked him out of it. Miners then attacked a mine guard encampment at Mucklow, now called Gallagher. In the ensuing battle at least sixteen people died, mostly mine guards.[25]

In testimony presented to the U.S. Senate, Cesco’s wife, Maud, stated that her husband was shot while at home, not at a “tent colony” and that there was no warning of the danger, just shots ringing out from the train.[26] Working ten hours a day, six days a week, Cesco could barely make a living, so while working at Acme on Cabin Creek, he joined the union. Once he did that, he had to move from the company house. He moved his family to a house in Holly Grove.[27]

The Estep version of the story is described by Gerald Lively:

“In Cesco Estep’s house (next to the tent colony) his brother Jim, family and friends were talking about rumors and such, when some of them decided it was getting late. It was time to get some sleep. Maud Estep heard the sound of the train, then guns firing. The sounds grew louder and the men in the house ran outside through the front door. Cesco Estep called back for his wife and baby to get into the cellar. Cesco began running around the house to the back. Just as he turned the corner of the building, a hail of bullets from the darkened train rained into the house. By count, over a hundred bullet holes had punctured the sides of the house. Cesco Estep was hit in the face and died immediately.”[28]

In this climate of violence where “thugs” from the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency enforced company law, Link and Florence Estep lived in several coal towns located within a few miles of each other, although in different counties. When the United States prepared to enter World War I, Virgil registered for the draft on 5 June 1917; at that time he worked as a miner at Anchor Coal Co., in High Coal, near Whitesville in Boone County. The Bible of Bessie Boyd Estep tells us that Virgil served in the U. S. Army 20 September 1917 through 21 July 1919, Camp Lee, Virginia. He served in combat in the AEF 20 March 1918 through 13 July 1919. He received Victory medals.

The 1920 Kanawha County census lists A. L. and Florence Estep as living in Eskdale in the Cabin Creek magisterial district of Kanawha County. Link worked as a coal loader in a coal mine. According to the contract dictated to the union and the coal companies by Gov. Henry Hatfield in 1913, miners now worked a nine-hour day, could trade in independent stores, and were paid bi-monthly.[29] Link and Florence had five children at home with them: Victor, age 13; Margaret, age 12; Earl, age 10; Edith, age 5; and James, age 2.

Link was still listed as a miner in the 1930 census. He and Florence lived at Eskdale, and

On back of photo: Mr. & Mrs. A. L. Estep, Eskdale, 1936.

he owned his own home, which was valued at $700. Only two children were still at home, Margaret, age 19, and James, age 12. On the census Florence said that she was married at the age of 14, and Link says he was 21 when they married. Link and Florence ran a store in Eskdale for many years.

Abraham Lincoln "Link" Estep,

age 90 years, taken in 1955.

Florence died 17 August 1939, although no documentation has been found for that date. In the 1940 census Link, age 72, is living with his daughter, Edith McKinney, age 25, in Eskdale, and his occupation is listed as "grocer". Also in Edith's home are her brother, Robert, age 40, who lived in San Antonio, Texas, in 1935, and a nephew (who may be her son), Glenn McKinney, age 3. Abraham Lincoln Estep died 11 December 1955 at Elkview, Kanawha County, of a cerebral hemorrhage.[30] He had lived in Elkview for the past seven months and had been ill for three weeks before his death. His occupation was listed as miner, and his age as 90 years 5 months and 5 days. The person who reported the information about Link was Victor Estep, his son. Link was buried at Montgomery Memorial Park on 13 December 1955.

So here we are in modern times, having come through wars and deprivation, mining coal and raising children. The Esteps came through it all, leaving us some wonderful stories.

[1] Kanawha County marriages, 1816-1843, p. 132.

[2] Federal Census, 1850, Kanawha County, Virginia.

[3] Thomas Estep, p. 234, and Kanawha County Death Records, www.usgenweb.com.

[4] Federal Census, 1860, Kanawha County, Virginia.

[5] 19^th Century Malden: King Salt in the Kanawha Salines, Larry Rowe, Oct. 10, 2001, http://www.larrylrowe.com/malden/kingsalt.html.

[6] History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and Representative Citizens, W. S. Laidley, Richmond Arnold Publishing, Chicago, 1911.

[7] Ibid.

[8] 19^th Century Malden: King Salt in the Kanawha Salines, Larry Rowe, Oct. 10, 2001, http://www.larrylrowe.com/malden/kingsalt.html.

[9] Federal Census, 1860, Kanawha County, Virginia.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Loyal West Virginia 1861-1865, Theodore Lang, cited in http://www.wvcivilwar.com/wv7thcav/history.shtm.

[12] http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/Staff-Rides/2Manassas/2mns-ov.htm, Joseph Whitehorne, 1989.