from The History of
Scarbro
-
SCARBRO
-
One
of the most picturesque scenes of Fayette county is the one which
you can behold of White Oak Valley as you coast down the grade into
the beautiful village of Whipple. From the upper end of this village
you can gaze down upon the industrious mining towns of Whipple,
Scarbro and Wingrove and behold their
mine shafts pouring forth its lustrous black lumps of coal. The
noble, big hearted men of these little towns go to and from their
work daily in their proud manly way; proud of the fact that the can
send many thousand tons of coal to the markets of our country each
year.
The
transportation facilities of these towns are exceptionally good. A
branch line of the Virginian railroad winds its way down the valley
passing through each town and carries its products some back to the
main line of the Virginian, at Oak Hill junction and some by Glen
Jean and Thurmond over the C. & O. to the markets of the
country. Not only are these towns served by branch lines of two of
the largest eastern railroads but they are noted for their good
roads. A paved state highway passes through each town over which a
constant chain of automobiles pass. The pioneer settler of this
valley was John Wingrove.
[There are
at least two John Wingroves in the area - one from Ireland the other
England. It is believed by the Webmaster that this is the »
Irish
Wingrove connection]
He (John) came to this section and selected a tract of
land on the high hill just back of the old
Wingrove shaft. He built his log cabin upon this site and
settled down to hunting, farming and stock raising. Not long after
Adam Blake followed Mr. Wingrove into
the valley. He built his cabin on the opposite side of the creek a
little above the Wingrove Farm. These
men sent back such favorable reports of the fertility of the soil
and of wild animals that Messrs. Joseph Hughart, Charles Huddleston,
Mike Bragg, Llewellyn Hundley, Charlie Blake and Robert Thurmond
rushed to this region to take up claims and build their homes.
Each of these men reared large families most of which later became
noted leaders of this and adjoining neighborhoods. Many of them
cleared away the forests, chased away the large wild animals and
engaged in tilling the soil, raising stock, growing fruits and
tobacco. About 1892 the farmers of this section led by Mr. Bragg
sold their mineral interests to the White Oak Fuel Company
and immediate development began, in sinking shafts at Scarbro,
Carlisle, Wingrove, Oakwood and
Whipple. The development of these mines caused towns of considerable
size to spring up quickly. The early settlers of Scarbro, like most
others of Fayette County were interested in education and religion.
Within a very few years they met and erected a log school house
which was "A Typical Mountain School Building: a place to which
their boys and girls could go to educate themselves. ..........
Then
the article goes on into the history of the schools and churches in
the area.
CONSTRUCTION of The WINGROVE MINE
in present day SCARBRO WV source
: 'from Ameagle to Wingrove'
White Oak Fuel Company town at Scarboro operated Wingrove
mine as well as several other mines in the area. (1920)
White Oak Railroad at Scarbro
. . . . . . . .
Mine Data for the Company: Wingrove Mining Co.
Year Mine County Permit Tonnage
2003 No. 1 Raleigh 0
2002 No. 1 Raleigh 0
2001 No. 1 Raleigh 0
2000 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1999 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1998 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1997 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1996 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1995 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1994 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1993 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1992 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1991 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1990 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1989 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1988 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1987 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1986 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1985 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1984 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1983 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1982 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1981 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1980 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1979 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1978 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1977 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1976 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1975 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1974 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1973 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1972 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1971 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1970 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1969 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1968 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1967 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1966 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1965 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1964 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1963 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1962 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1961 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1960 No. 1 Raleigh 50
1959 No. 1 Raleigh 244
1958 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1957 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1956 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1955 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1954 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1953 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1952 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1951 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1950 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1949 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1948 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1947 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1946 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1945 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1944 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1943 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1942 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1941 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1940 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1939 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1938 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1937 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1936 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1935 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1934 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1933 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1932 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1931 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1930 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1929 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1928 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1927 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1926 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1925 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1924 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1923 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1922 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1921 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1920 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1919 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1918 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1917 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1916 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1915 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1914 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1913 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1912 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1911 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1910 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1909 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1908 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1907 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1906 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1905 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1904 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1903 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1902 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1901 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1900 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1899 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1898 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1897 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1896 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1895 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1894 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1893 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1892 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1891 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1890 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1889 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1888 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1887 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1886 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1885 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1884 No. 1 Raleigh 0
1883 No. 1 Raleigh
Source
. . . . . . . .
"This Scrip could only be used at Wingrove Store Closed 1924"
It is not known at this time if the Wingrove Store was connected
with the Wingrove Mine, but it was a common occurrence to have a
Company Store for the benefit of the Mine Workers and area
residents.
The above scrip is made out to C O Ward and signed as 'Self"
Scrip courtesy Gracie Stover -
» WV
Coal Mines
A Special Project of »
WVGenWeb
Added
04 August 2002
====================================
MEMORIES OF SCARBRO, WV
from Richard Fitzpatrick
08 February 2004
I read this interesting information about the Wingrove Mine. That goes back before my time. I was born in
Scarbro WV and lived there for 18 years. You could see the shaft entrance from the road. The shaft was about
60 yards up the side of the hill.
We did some stupid things when I was a kid. We went down the stairs in the shaft until we thought that the
boards would possibly begin breaking and then we would turn around and leave. It was a very dangerous place.
Many of my friends lived on "Wingrove Hill" and I used to deliver the Fayette Tribune there back in the 40's.
Doctor Wingrove (Dr. Archer A Wingrove) was still living while I was there. The building that I am thinking of was
once his office. I also know where he lived, could walk from my house to it in less than 5 minutes.
I remember hearing about Doctor Wingrove and can vaguely remember his wife. The Wingroves were both
murdered while they were asleep. The thieves even cut off their fingers to remove their rings. I think that the
murderers were later caught. I think that their daughter was a Craft. I
think that the particular Craft family was the Wallace
Craft family. Another Craft family in Scarbro was the "Beans" Craft family. Mr. Craft worked at the Company Store (New River) in Scarbro and I think that he was the last Manager. He was a
mainstay on the Scarbro baseball team.
We all lived in Stover Hollow (Huddleston Heights). The Wingroves lived next door to the Bondzo family.
Other side of Bondzo's was the Audrick's and then the Crafts.
Richard Fitzpatrick
My email address is fitzmail 'at' myepicus.net
You will have to replace 'at' with @ for it to work
Richard's Grandfather's Death was certified by
Dr. A A Wingrove
James Edward Fitzpatrick, a miner died
12-19-1923 in Scarbro WV of Tuberculosis
=====================================================
Added
13 Dec 2005 Courtesy
Richard Fitzpatrick
----------------------------------------------------------------
06 March 2005
MORE MEMORIES
from Jerry
I'm sitting here covered
in chills, can't believe this article is here!
I live in the Audrick house with my mother Dorothy
Higginbotham (nee Bondzo). The old Bondzo home is owned
by my cousin Michael Mondron, who resides in Cincinnati Ohio.
The Wingrove house on the end where the murders took place
was bought by a local guy who grew up in Andy Vargos house,
in the basement you can still see the blood from where the nurse was
killed, there was until a few years back old fireplace mantles with
mirrors that you could see her hand print in blood streaked
down, my understanding was it was the Dr. and his nurse that was
killed, not his wife, that's the way the story has always been
related to me. They were apparently killed for morphine and other
drugs that were kept in his home dr. office, I believe the date in
the article is incorrect because my mom was living in Michigan in
around 1956 when he father, Adam Bondzo passed, she returned
home with her sister Agnes and they never returned there. Agnes (Bernath-husband
Don) now reside in Oak Hill, Mary (Voloski) the eldest,
recently widowed resides in Bradley. All the Bondzo boys died
young ,Adam killed in WW2, Joe in a mining explosion,
& the youngest boy William died at birth of Pneumonia.
The Craft house is no longer there, Burned down about 15 years ago.
Jerry59498
'at' aol.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 February 2004
Chestnut Hill Farm Bed and Breakfast
Scarbro was named by Sammuel
Dixon, pioneer coal operator in 1877. Dixon was born
in England. When he began developing the coalfields of Fayette
County he ran into a number of families by the name of
Scarbrough. That discovery reminded Dixon of Scarbrough, a
town in Yorkshire, England, thus the name Scarbro. In 1904
Dixon persuaded several New England business men to join him in the
coal business. The next year, they organized the New River
Company. The 30 acre tract, which is now Chestnut Hill Farm,
was deeded from the New River Company in 1975. This home was
built approximately 20 years ago by a superintendent of the New
River Company . The story is told that mine laborers were
used to get materials up on the hill and to help in building the
pond. Until 1930, Scarbro was an incorporated town, having its
own city hall, jail, and town marshal. Scarbro also had a
brick yard and bottling house where soft drinks were made.
Wingrove Hill
Wingrove Hill was named for John
Wingrove, the first known pioneer in this area. He
settled a tract of land high on a hill immediately back of the
Wingrove shaft mine. He built his log cabin and settled down
to hunting, fishing, and stock raising. About 1892, farmers of
this section sold their mineral rights to the White Oak Fuel
Company. John Wingrove's
son, John, became a medical
doctor. He was murdered in his home approximately 1 l/2 miles
from here about 1961. [Webmaster's Note: John Wingrove's
grandson Archer A Wingrove was a
medical doctor, not John's son John
Wingrove Jr.]
Courtesy Ellen Strader
----------------------------------------------------------------
Following the Civil War, many areas needed to
recruit people to fill the jobs vacated by the large number of able
bodied men who were either killed or crippled.
At first this meant the need for farmers and then expanded in other
occupations in the emerging lumber and mining concerns. 1864 saw the
West Virginia legislature authorizing appointment of an immigration
commissioner to attract settlers. Some of the Wingroves
that came to this area were likely brought in from such areas as New
York.
[see  USA CENSUS]
From 1900 and 1910, the county's foreign-born population had
increased to about 20 percent of the total which up to this time
primarily consisted of British Isles immigrants. The later arrivals
often ended with the more dangerous jobs and did not assimilate into
the community as readily as the first immigrants.
The present location of WINGROVE is limited to
Wingrove Hill in Fayette County West Virginia. References in
obituaries indicate the presence of Wingrove as late as the
1910's. , although 1990 obituaries can sometimes refer to the
place of residence as Wingrove
Related
Links at
WINGROVE WORLD WIDE
USA Census Returns
Notes of February 1999
WV Burials and Marriages
Related Links Off Site :
Related Links Off Site :
» Scarboro,
Carlisle, Whimple Oak Hill WV
» WV
Coal Mines - WVGenWeb Special Project
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvcoal/
»
WV MINE DISASTERS 1884 to Present
http://www.state.wv.us/mhst/disaster.htm
»
Safety Meet (1940) and Safety
Is Our First
Consideration (1941), the regional competitions of
mining safety teams, filmed by the White Oak Fuel
Company, at which even the children tested their
skills in sports contests.
http://www.filmpreservation.org/special_millennium_west_virginia.html
» A Temptation to Lawlessness:
Peonage in West Virginia, 1903- 1908
By Kenneth R. Bailey
http://www.wvlc.wvnet.edu/history/journal_wvh/wvh50-2.html
» West Virginia Office of Miners' Health Safety
Training
A Brief History of Coal and Safety Enforcement
in West Virginia
http://www.state.wv.us/mhst/History.htm
»
Keeping the "Wild" in Wonderful West Virginia
By Steve Hollenhorst and Paul Salstrom
http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/ipa/par/report_11_3.html
For SUBMISSION of
Additional Information
to WINGROVE WORLD WIDE
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