Kinfolk

The incident, known as the "Bad" John Hall--Lewis White shootout, left two men dead and nine other persons, including two women, wounded. The main actors in this real-life drama included "Bad" John Hall, his kinsmen Talt and Howard Hall, all of Wheelwright, Lewis White of Martin, and a number of not-so-innocent by-standers such as Felix (Sink-Hall-Felix) and Tavis Flannery(Sink-Hall-Tavis), the sons of Alexander Hall Flannery. There is much evidence that "Bad" John Hall was richly deserving of the descriptive adjective preceding his name. His occupation as law officer in Wheelwright afforded him many opportunities to validate his notorious reputation. Lewis White was destined to be his sixth victim. So frequently was Hall's vengeance wrought upon wrongdoers that he reportedly created a graveyard of his own and buried many of his victims in it. The large stature of "Bad" John Hall was an awesome sight to behold. He often rode a huge black horse and wore two pearl-handled pistols, one on each side. He was well-respected by the residents of Wheelwright and achieved quite a reputation as a law enforcement officer. His brother, Lee Hall, Jr., preceded him as the first policeman in Wheelwright. "Bad" John served the city as its second policeman for several years. Wheelwright in the early 1920's was a booming coal town located in the southern end of Floyd County. It had a very strong coal company controlling the entire community and the residents therein. "Bad" John Hall was a friend of the corporate enterprise and reportedly enforced the law in whatever fashion the coal company desired. This fact may have been the leading cause of the death of Lewis White, as shall be revealed later. The target and one eventual victim of the Hall-White shootout was Lewis White, a native of Martin, Kentucky, who had lived several years in West Virginia where he had gained experience in organizing unions in the coalfields of the Mountain State. Lewis White came from a family consisting of feuding stock, much like his adversaries in the Hall clan. His father, John Lee White, became notorious for his part in the Hatfield-McCoy feud and was eventually killed by Thomas Reffit on Middle Creek in Floyd County. Lewis White had killed my great-uncle, Jimmy Flannery (Sink-Jimmy), supposedly by accident. Many of the Flannery family felt that since Jimmy was a very handsome and irresistible romantic who had probably stolen away White's lover, the shooting was more sinister than mere accident. The saga of a love triangle may have also led to the death of White, as he had played the role of spoiler by stealing away "Bad" John Hall's woman and taking her to West Virginia. As the story goes, a friend of White's, Farris Crisp, allowed the woman to ride his horse while he and White walked alongside to the mouth of Bull Creek to catch a passenger train. There were no law enforcement officers at the Bull Creek Station, a fact that permitted Lewis White and his lover to escape, temporarily at least, the clutches of "Bad" John Hall. A newspaper account of the Hall-White shootout alludes to the theory that Hall attempted to arrest White because White had deserted from the Army. Oral interviews with people who knew Lewis White do not support this accusation. A much more believable theory is that the arrest was the result of a combination of woman trouble and attempted union organization. White supposedly had gotten a job at a Wheelwright mine and began attempting to organize a union there. His unionization attempts led to an altercation with "Bad" John Hall long before the final showdown. White was forced to leave Wheelwright under pressure from the powerful non-union coal company and the Hall-dominated police force that it controlled. The scene of the violent fray which ended the festering feud between Lewis White and the Hall clan was a very popular meeting place for residents from both Left and Right Beaver Creeks. The Martin Train Station was especially crowded on that cool, clear, sunny George Washington's Birthday. It was on a Sunday, a favorite day for area residents to meet, share news, and generally socialize with each other. The town of Martin is located at the forks of the two Beaver Creeks; in fact the depot was located at that time between the Left Fork and Right Fork tracks.