The Blanton family of West Virginia is very unique and the only one located in the West Virginia coalfields. (that i know of) The progenitor of this WV family was my grandfather Litchfield B Blanton. It is unknown why he settled in this region. I've heard my aunts say that he came into town after he hopped off a train. He ended up at a local boarding house and stable where he got a job. Perhaps he originally intended to move on, but within a few months of coming to Whitesville in 1919, he married the boardinghouse/stable owners daughter, Vertie Marie Brown. Family legend leads one to speculate that he left his home in Wise Co, Va because of his behavior and subsequent dealings with the law. It was speculated that he had run from the law. Recently I've discovered documents that support this tradition. Twice, he served time for youthful recklessness. At 18 as a young man and then at 21 he commited grand larceny and spent 1 year in prison. The fact that his own father, John Blanton, believed for a time that Litch was dead, does lead me to believe that he did have something to hide. We may never know what all those reasons were, if any.
My father and aunts believed that Litchfield was somehow cheated out of an inheritance that his mother supposedly left him. I"ve been told that sometime in the early 1920's a man from "the government" came to Litch's home and tried to get him to sign his mark on a paper. Because he couldn't read, Litch took the paper to a neighbor who told him not to sign anything. From that instance the story came about that it regarded the sale of land that Lucinda had left to her children. However, records from Wise Co do not bear this out to be true. I've not found any references to land belonging to Lucinda or Litchfield. I have found court records on a land dispute between 2 John M Blanton's of Wise county and a nearby county. I believe this is why a county official may have tried to contact John's son Litchfield as a witness or to certifiy he was the son of one of the said John M Blanton's. Anyway, I believe I have put an end to the mysterious "got cheated out of land" speculation in our Blanton family tree. Litchfield's father John retained his land as a result of the court transaction.
Litchfield seems to have purposely set out to hide his identity at times, other times, as a historical note, it is common for documents to stray slightly from their actual content..incorrect spellings, birthdates, etc. In my search for records involving Litchfield I've found references to him as Litchfield, Linchfield, Litch, L.B. and Lee B. Blanton. He was probably called by all these names at one time or another however, I suspect that the Lee B may have been an error in some documentation or perhaps is actually another person. (or perhaps this was done on purpose?) This means that I'll have to rely on documents from the Boone County Courthouse in Madison WV for more information on Litchfield, at least while he lived in WV. I've recently obtained Litchfields death certificate which documents his parents, cause of death and other vital info. Census records have been found for Litchfield and his family from 1900 to to 1930 which gives us a virtual timeline of his whereabouts and his life.
I have always been curious as to his whereabouts around the First World War. Did he serve? Was he here in WV or still in Va? As required by law in 1917 males of eligible age were required to register for the draft. I thought for sure I'd find something in Wise County on Litchfield. Nothing, so I searched the surrounding counties. Still nothing. I never thought to look in the state of WV but that is where I found a WWI military registration card for a "Litch" Blanton. It must be our Litchfield. He registered out of Kayford WV as a miner. If this is our Litchfield Blanton then he gave a false birthdate. Probably not uncommon in those days, especially if you didn't want to fight in a war. He could have tried to find an age restriction. (doubtful). The interesting thing that was documented on the card was that he indicated a wife and one child. His wife was probably Ada who he married in 1914.
Here I will give a timeline of L.B. Blanton's life as we know it up to his marriage to my grandmother. Litchfield was born Feburary 12, 1887 in Coeburn, Wise County Virginia to John M Blanton and Lucinda Catherine Ramey. This information is confirmed by his birth and death certificate. He had at least 10 siblings including a set of twins who died within 10 days of each other due to an outbreak of measles. One other sibling also died of measles. No information on the 1890 census because these records were burned in a fire. Litchfield and some of his siblings were registered on the Wise County school census for 1895, Big Stone Gap district. So we do know that Litchfield went to school for a time. He must not have paid much attention in class because despite this school census, the 1900 Wise county Federal census shows Litchfield, age 13, living with his father John Blanton and brothers, Clinton L 18, and Eddie H 15. Litchfield and Clinton are listed as "cannot read or write". Eddie is listed as "can read, cannot write". Litchfield never did learn to read or write. No information on Litchfield between 1900 and 1910 until the Federal Census of 1910. Litchfield had apparently left Wise County because he was found living with a family in Castlewood, Russell County Virginia listed in its census as follows Virginia 1910 Census Miracode Index Litchfield Blanton Age 22 State VA Color W Enumeration District 0054 Birth Place Virginia Visit 0322 County Russell Relation Boarder Other Residents Relation Name Age Birth Place Head of Household John Ransy Litchfield is listed as being Single, a coalminer machineman. This John Ransy may actually be John Ramy, possibly a close or even distant relative to Litchfield's mother. It was not uncommon in those days to find work close to relatives. Sometime between the census and July 1910 Litchfield returned to Coeburn because On July 2, 1910 Litchfield married Corrie Anderson in Coeburn Virginia. I've yet to research what happened to this marriage, if they divorced or she died. Nothing found in the Fidicuary or Divorce records for Wise County. That doesn't mean that they had to get divorced in Wise County or they could have been living in another state or county when they either divorced or perhaps she died. In any event, by April 15, 1914 Litchfield married again. This time to Ada Anderson, apparently Corrie's sister according to the marriage licenses. Corrie and Ada appear to have the same parents because they are seen together on the 1900 Census for Dickenson Co under David and Mary Anderson. At some point between 1914 and 1917 Litch and Ada must have relocated to the coalfields of WV where he was found during the WWI draft registration in June of 1917. Then, back to Wise County Virginia.
Now his life starts to get more confusing. Something happened between Ada and Litchfield sometime after Ted's birth.Whatever the reason, sometime after Teds birth, Litchfield is said to have relinquished care of his son to his older brother Livingston Blanton and then he left Virginia. What happened to Ada? There is no mention that she also relinquished care of their child Ted. I'm not sure when (or even if) Livingston took Ted as his own. At least not while Ted was a young child. Where did he go and what did he do during that time. Family tradition indicates that he wandered around the country for several years, that his family didn't even know where he was for years, etc.etc. This doesn't seem to be the case. It doesn't seem probable that Ada died because my conversations in the past with Ted and Ancil Blanton indicate that she lived for a long time. Although I'm still curious as to what happened to Ada I may have found documentation that she and Ted were alive and well living together in Wise County during the 1930 census. I found a census record for Wise County Va, Lipps District with an Ada Blanton living with husband "Lee B Blanton" and son Theodore. This could be merely a coincidence. However, there are no other county records for a Lee B Blanton, and I've only found one Theodore or Ted Blanton for that whole region in Va. . Could Ada have been living alone and merely "suggested" her husband and son still living with her? It's possible. By that time our Litch was married to Vertie Brown and already had a number of children. Litchfield appears in the Boone Co WV census with his family in 1930. I'd had difficulty finding them in the 1930 census but now I know the reason was because he is listed as "Linchfield" Blanton. Ironically, during the enumeration of this census it appears that Litchfield's father John was either living or visiting and he is also listed with the family. That is the reason why I and other John Blanton researcher's couldn't find him on the Wise Co Va Census for 1930. Litchfield's early life seems to be filled with "gaps" that we may never be able to fill in. I do feel comfortable in the fact that we've narrowed some of those gaps by finding public records supporting his whereabouts during those years. I'm still searching..
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