Henry Crookshanks testimony
(transcriber may have made spelling and punctuation changes)
HENRY CROOKSHANKS.
A witness of lawful age, having been first duly sworn, deposes and says--
Q: (Mr. Osenton) Where do you live?
A: Glen Jean.
Q: Where is Glen Jean?
A: In Fayette County.
Q: How far is it from Marmet in Kanawha county?
A: I don't know. About 100 miles I expect.
Q: Are you a member of the United Mine Workers of America?
A: I have been.
Q: Were you a member in August and September, 1921?
A: Yes.
Q: Where did you belong?
A: At Beards Fork, W. Va.
Q: State to the jury whether or not you were on the armed march of the miners the latter part of August, 1921.
A: Yes, I was.
Q: Why did you join that march?
A: Because I was forced to.
Q: Tell the jury how you were forced to?
A: The statement was made there in the local - I did not hear the statement - the business was over before I got in - that there was a mass meeting on the ball grounds, and they said all that did not go would be made to go.
Q: Do you know who held the meeting?
A: Some of the officials of Beards Fork. I don't know the officials names.
Q: Were they the officials of the Beards Fork Local?
A: Yes.
Q: After the meeting, what did you do?
A: I returned back home after the meeting at Beards Fork.
Q: And what, if anything, did you do after you left the meeting at Beards Fork and returned home? Did you attend the mass meeting at Marmet?
A: No.
Q: How and where did you get into that March and how did you get there?
A: I went on the train the first time.
Q: Where did you go on the train?
A: No Marmet.
Q: Who went with you?
A: There was a whole host of us went. I can't think of the names.
Q: Can you give the names of any of those you went with at that time?
A: Fred Grounds was one, and Fred's father, I don't know his name, and some Miller boys. That is about all the names I can remember.
Q: Where did the men you have named live?
A: At Beards Fork.
Q: Is that a mining town?
A: Yes.
Q: How did you go - how did you get on the train? Do you understand my question - you say you got off at Marmet?
A: Yes.
Q: What did you have with you?
A: The first time we were armed with guns.
Q: Did those with you have arms?
A: Yes.
Q: What kind of guns?
A: Most of them were 45 - 70's.
Q: Where were the guns secured?
A: At Beards Fork.
Q: What statement, if any was made by any of those accompanying you as to the reason for taking the guns at the time, or at the time you started to go to Marmet?
Objection.
Objection overruled.
Question withdrawn.
Q: What was done when you got to Marmet?
A: We got off at Marmet and went up Lens creek to the camp.
Q: Did you find any other man there at that time other than those you came with?
A: Yes, there was a whole host of us.
Q: Give the jury, if you can, some idea of the number of men you found on Lens Creek?
A: To the best of my knowledge there must have been between two and three thousand.
Q: Can you give the jury the day your arrived at Marmet?
A: No, I cannot.
Q: How long did you stay there?
A: At that time I was down there a day and night - not two day and a night the first time.
Q: Did you leave Lens creek at any time before you returned home?
A: Yes.
Q: With whom did you leave and where did you go?
A: We went to Danville.
Q: That was the first time?
A: Yes.
Q: About how many men went from Lens creek to Danville when you went?
A: I could not tell you. It was a string about three quarters of a mile long.
Q: How were you marching?
A: Two and two.
Q: What were you carrying on that march?
A: Guns.
Q: Where were you going?
A: We were reported to be going to Mingo County.
Q: For what purpose?
A: To fight.
Q: Why were you going there to fight?
A: They reported to me that they were going to take Don Chafin and his gang and organize a union there.
Q: Were any other statements made about that they were going to do?
A: The statement was that they were going to release the miners out of jail.
Q: Did they say how they were going to do it?
A: No not exactly.
Q: Well now what was your understanding as to what you were going to do when you reached there?
Exception.
Overruled.
Q: You say it was your understanding you were going to get them out of jail in Mingo County?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: What was your understanding as to how you were going to get them out of jail?
Exception.
(continued)
Q: That is if you did have such an understanding?
A: Well I did not have any understanding right them as to how; we were going to release them from jail.
Q: Well you reached Danville on that March, how long did you stay at Danville?
A: We reached there about three o'clock in the evening, and was there until about five o'clock the next morning.
Q: Then where did you go?
A: Caught a train and come back home.
Q: How long did you stay home after you had returned from Danville?
A: A week I think.
Q: Then what did you do?
A: The men gathered up and went back.
Q: Who gathered up?
A: All that went the first time and a few more.
Q: Now you say the first time you went on the train, how did you go the second time?
A: In cars.
Q: What kind of cars?
A: Automobiles.
Q: Who furnished the automobiles?
A: Two of them old man Grounds furnished, and the others I cannot think, I know the names, but I cannot call them.
Q: Is Grounds a member of the Union?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: You say he furnished two cars?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: About how many left by way of these cars on the second trip?
A: Well there was four cars left the night I went with them,
Q: What, if anything were they carrying with them at that time?
A: These four cars I went with carried guns and ammunition.
Q: What kind of guns did they take on the second trip?
A: Forty-five seventies.
Q: That is a high-powered gun is it not?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Well, where did you go on the second trip?
A: We went on into - I cannot think of the name of the creek where they were fighting - in below Blair.
Q: In Logan County?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: How long did it take you to drive there by way of automobiles from your home to Blair?
A: It taken about eighteen hours.
Q: Did you take provisions with you at the time you left?
A: No, sir.
Q: Where did you get them if you did not get them along the road?
Excepted to as leading.
Overruled.
A: We never got any provisions until we got where we was going we got them at the mess hall where we landed.
Q: Who was in charge of the mess hall?
A: I could not tell you who was in charge.
Q: Now, when you got to Blair or just below what did you find there?
A: We found a lot of people there - a big lot of people there where we stopped.
Q: At the mess hall?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Were the people you encountered there, were they armed?
A: Yes sir, the biggest part.
Q: About how many did you find there, give the jury some idea of the number?
A: The best I can get at it, about two thousand.
Q: Then what did you do?
A: We just stopped there. It was about three o'clock when we landed there and we laid around and rested until next morning.
Q: Then what did you do?
A: We all gathered up and went up the creek.
Q: Who directed you to go up the creek?
A: I could not tell you, some eight or ten men headed it, I did not know their names or faces.
Q: What did they say at the hall just before you started out?
A: Said they were going to gather up and go to the head of the creek, line up and go to the firing line.
Q: Did you go to the firing line in company with the others who left there that morning?
A: Yes, went up to the head of the creek, lined up and got in a bunch and went up in the woods.
Q: Now when you went up in the woods what was done?
A: Well, we all went up in the woods, I got up on the ridge, I was tired and sleepy and I saw down and went to sleep.
Q: What happened when you woke up?
A: Somebody waked me up, the side guards was shooting, bullets were whistling around, somebody waked me up and got me down under the hill.
Q: What did you do then?
A: I went back down the hill and sat down and rested awhile.
Q: How were these men spread out, how close together?
A: At that time there was not over twenty feet apart.
Q: What did you wear on that occasion at the time you left down near Blair and went up to the woods?
A: A red handkerchief.
Q: Who gave you that?
A: I was informed to buy a red handkerchief.
Q: Did they tell you they wanted you to purchase or buy a red handkerchief?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Tell the jury what was said?
A: Every man on this side was to wear something red so they could tell them from the other side.
Q: Was there any shooting done while you were on the battle line?
A: Yes, sir, some.
Q: When did the firing begin after you first reached the line, or how long was it after you got there until the firing began?
A: The firing was going on when I got there, the other side kept shooting and never ceased.
Q: You say you went to sleep, had you had any sleep from the time you left home until you got to Blair which took about eighteen hours?
A: At that time there was not over twenty feet apart.
Q: What did you wear on that occasion at the time you left down near Blair and went up to the woods?
A: A red handkerchief.
Q: Did they tell you they wanted you to purchase or buy a red handkerchief?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Tell the jury what was said?
A: Every man on this side was to wear something red so they could tell them from the other side.
Q: Was there any shooting done while you were on the battle line?
A: Yes, sir, some.
Q: When did the firing begin after you first reached the line, or how long was it after you got there until the firing began?
A: The firing was going on when I got there, the other side kept shooting and never ceased.
Q: You say you went to sleep, had you had any sleep from the time you left home until you got to Blair which took about eighteen hours?
A: No, I had not closed my eyes.
Q: Do you know how they got provisions in there to this army?
A: Well, they hauled them in there in trucks, there was a lot of stores there and they got it out of them stores.
Q: Did you hear anything about ammunition being delivered in there?
A: While I was in there I heard a carload was gotten in the evening before the soldiers come in the next morning.
Q: What was done with that ammunition, if you heard?
A: My understanding was they heard the soldiers were coming in and taken it up the hollow and hid it.
Q: After information was received there that Federal soldiers were coming in, was anything said about the guns?
A: They said they would hide all the guns.
Q: Do you know whether or not any of the guns were hidden?
A: They were all hid.
Q: Where?
A: In the mountains most of them I suppose; I turned my gun over to another fellow; he hid it.
Q: Can you give the jury the name of that man?
A: A Miller boy, Bill Miller if I aint mistaken.
Q: Do you know whether or not any rifles were delivered to this army - did you hear of any after you reached Blair or a point just below Blair?
A: I could not say that, whether there was or not.
Q: At the time you heard these men say they were going into Mingo County for the purpose of releasing the miners in jail there was anything said about martial law?
A: I understand there was martial law declared in Logan County.
Q: What was said by these men that were with you in reference to martial law in Mingo County?
A: It has been so long I don't know if I can remember whether they said anything or not about martial law.
Q: Was anything said on that occasion about the court house in Ming County?
Exception.
Overruled.
A: I understand some said they were going to blow the court house up.
Q: Now, did you see any machine guns while you were with this army in Blair?
A: One.
Q: Where was it?
A: Right where we started in the mountain, we taken it up the mountain with us.
Q: Did you know the man in charge of this machine gun?
A: I do not.
Q: Had you ever seen him before?
A: No, sir, it was the first time I seen him.
Q: Now, when did you leave this battle line or this army, in reference to the time the soldiers came in?
A: Well on Saturday morning.
Q: On Saturday morning?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: How did you go home?
A: Went back in an automobile.
Q: In whose automobile did you go back - return - in the same one you went over in?
A: I can speak his name, his name is here, but I cannot speak it.
Q: Do you know where these automobiles were kept while the fighting was going on?
A: Down in the hollow, at the bottom, in the mess hall.
Q: How long did you stay there after you got there until the soldiers came in the second time you are talking about?
A: Got there Thursday evening, on Saturday morning the soldiers came in.
Q: Before the soldiers came in did you have knowledge or information concerning the President's proclamation commanding that army to disperse?
A: Not the second time.
Q: I am talking about the second time while you were there.
A: No, I never heard nothing about it the second time until the soldiers got there.
Q: Did your local union spend any money for this march?
A: What do you mean - both marches?
Mr. Houston: Is that local union mentioned in the Bill of Particulars?
Q: (continued) What is the number of your local union?
A: 4475 at that time.
Mr. Ossenton: to the best of my recollection it is not given in the Bill of Particulars.
The Court: If it is not mentioned in the Bill of Particulars leave it alone.
Mr. Belcher: We did not have the information then we have now.
Objection to same by Mr. Houston.
HENRY F. CROOKSHANKS.
Cross Examination by Mr. Houston.
Q: How old are you, Mr. Crookshanks?
A: About forty-two.
Q: About forty-tow [sic]?
A: Yes, along in there somewhere.
Q: Are you married?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Where are you living at the present time?
A: Glengene [Glen Jean].
Q: For whom are you working, if for any one?
A: Nichols.
Q: What business is Nichols engaged in?
A: Coal mining.
Q: What is the name of his company?
A: Nichols Colliery Co.
Q: Where are you stopping while you are here in the city?
A: At the Jefferson Hotel.
Q: When did you come over here?
A: I came here a week ago yesterday morning.
Q: How did you come?
A: On the special train.
Q: The train known as the Logan special.
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Where did you get on that train?
A: I got on at Charleston.
Q: Have you ever been indicted in connection with this march?
A: I can't tell you.
Q: You have never been arrested in connection with it, have you?
A: No, sir.
Q: Have you ever been in Logan County?
A: No, sir I was somewheres near it, on this march.
Q: Have you been in Logan County since this march?
A: No, sir.
Q: Who have you talked to about this case?
A: Squire West, H. F. West, my brother-in-law.
Q: Look at these gentlemen here and tell us which one, if any, you have talked to about this case.
A: I talked to Mr. Williams.
Q: Mr. Geo. Williams?
A: It was Williams, I don't know the first part of his name.
Q: Did you hear them calling him George?
A: I won't be positive about that, but it was Williams.
Q: And you also understood that he was employed by the coal operators, didn't you?
A: He was for the prosecution.
Q: Is he the only one of the attorneys you talked to?
A: No, sir, I talked with Mr. Ossenton.
Q: They are the only two you talked to?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: You didn't talk to Mr. Porterfield, the Prosecuting Attorney of Jefferson County, did you?
A: Not unless he was in there at Harpers Ferry the other night.
Q: You do not know him by sight, do you?
A: No, sir.
Q: You have not seen the gentleman around here this morning you recognized as Mr. Porterfield?
A: I would not know him if I saw him.
Q: I believe you stated you are living at Glengene [Glen Jean]?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: In Fayette County?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Do you know where Marmet is?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: You can find that place if you went back there?
A: Yes, sir, I know the name of it.
Q: And the only way you could identify it is by the name?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Didn't you state it is about one hundred miles from where you live to Marmet to the best of your judgment?
A: Yes, sir, in the neighborhood of that.
Q: Referring to this march and to your part in it I wish you would state when you first went down to Marmet to attend a meeting of the miners. Can you give us the day of the week?
A: No, I cannot.
Q: Have you not thought over that event since?
A: Well, I do not know when the first time was, but the second time was on Thursday.
Q: The first time you went was on Sunday, did you say?
A: No, I didn't, I said I didn't know what day it was. The last time I went was on Thursday, but the first time I couldn't say.
Q: Now, if Thursday came on the 25th of August, 1921, would you say it was the date you visited there the second time?
A: I cannot say, it was Thursday, but I cannot say what day of the month it was.
Q: Can you say whether it was the 25th, the 18th or the 11th?
A: I don't know.
Q: If you went to Marmet the second time on Thursday, on what day did you go the first time?
A: I don't know what day it was, to the best of my knowledge it was about a week before I went the second time.
Q: Then if you went the second time on Thursday, the 25th of August the first time you went about the 18th of August, is that right?
A: I can't tell you.
Q: Let's see if we can fix it in your memory. Do you recall a meeting held on Lens Creek about one mile above Hernshaw?
A: No, sir.
Q: Did you attend any meeting on Lens Creek?
A: No.
Q: During any of your visits did you notice an assemblage of men there?
A: Yes, sir, but they were all marching on.
Q: When you arrived there did you hear of any meeting having been held there previously?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And didn't you hear some reference to a meeting addressed by Mother Jones?
A: Not at that time.
Q: Did you at any time hear of a speech being made by Mother Jones?
A: I heard it after we came back home.
Q: Then as far as you know the speech of Mother Jones might have been before or after you arrived on Lens Creek.
A: It was made before I landed there, I guess. There was no speech made after I landed.
Q: And you never heard of any being made after you arrived?
A: No.
Q: That speech of Mother Jones is said by some of the witnesses to have been made on the 24th. To the best of your judgment you arrived there the day after, is that right?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And the first time you went down there must have been about the 18th? Why did you go there on the 18th or about that time?
A: Why did I go there?
Q: Yes.
A: I was going to Logan.
Q: The first time?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And you told this jury in your direct examination that you were forced to leave your home at Glen [Jean] and go on this march?
A: No, I lived at Beard's Fork at that time.
Q: How far is that from Glen [Jean]?
A: In the neighborhood of thirty mile.
Q: Is it nearer or further away from Marmet than Glen [Jean]?
A: A little nearer.
Q: Then you travelled approximately 70 miles to get to Marmet on the 18th of August. Who forced you to go at that time?
A: The head officials in Beard's For[k].
Q: What did they do to force you, use any pistols or revolvers to make you go?
A: They had guns when they come to get me.
Q: How did you go down to Marmet?
A: I went on the train the first time.
Q: A regular passenger train?
A: No. 3 yes, sir.
Q: That is a passenger train, is it not?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And you found a large number of passengers on that train, did you not?
A: Yes, sir, it was about full.
Q: And it was running in broad day light?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: It passes Marmet shortly before noon doesn't it?
A: Yes, sir, about 12 o'clock I think.
Q: You passed through some towns on the way, Montgomery of several thousand population?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: You didn't ask any one to rescue you from this body of men?
A: No, I was not off the train.
Q: And you didn't ask the passengers to help you out of this dilema did you?
A: No, I didn't.
Q: Now, you don't mean to tell the jury you were forced to go on this trip, do you?
A: We were all in one coach together and were not allowed to go through the train.
Q: Have any handcuffs on you?
A: No.
Q: How did they force you, what did they do?
A: They said that all that didn't go would be made to go.
Q: And after arriving at Marmet you returned home?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Who went with you?
A: Do you mean when I left Marmet?
Q: Yes, you went back home didn't you?
A: No, I went on to Danville. I went to Marmet twice on that march.
Q: Well, the first time you were at Marmet you returned home didn't you?
A: Yes, sir, I went home from Danville.
Q: The first trip did you go to Danville?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And after arriving at Danville you went back home?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: How far did you travel from your home over to Danville in Boone County, over a hundred miles was it not?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And you returned to your home back in Fayette County?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And why did you go back the second time?
A: They gathered us all up and said all that had gone the first time would have to go again.
Q: And they forced you to make the second trip?
A: Yes, sir, they said we had to go.
Q: Did you tell the sheriff someone was trying to force you to go and ask his protection?
A: I never seen the sheriff.
Q: Do you mean to tell the jury you didn't willing[ly] make that trip?
A: No, I never made that trip willingly.
Q: Now, the first trip you say you came on No. 3 and got off at Marmet?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Had you ever gone down on No. 3 before that?
A: No, sir.
Q: Where did No. 3 stop in Marmet?
A: At the station I suppose.
Q: The regular station?
A: I guess it was.
Q: Don't you know that No. 3 does not stop at Marmet?
A: She stopped there that time.
Q: Had you ever gone on it before when it stopped there?
A: No, I had never gone on it before.
Q: Did the Logan Special stop there coming over here?
A: No, I don't think it did, if it did I don't remember.
Q: Who went with you up Lens Creek on that trip?
A: I couldn't tell you who all.
Q: Tell us some of them.
A: I can't tell but two or three.
Q: All right let's have them.
A: Well Fred Grounds, Old man Grounds and the Miller boys, that is about all I know.
Q: That was on the first trip?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Which one of these men forced you to make that trip?
A: Well they all had a hand in it.
Q: Where did you spend the first night?
A: At a strange place I can't tell you. After we got off the train we walked 20 or 30 miles up the creek and eat supper and stayed there until about 10 o'clock.
Q: Was the town Racine?
A: No, I don't think it was.
Q: Did you pass Racine?
A: Yes, sir, we passed it in the night, I think, we travelled from 10 o'clock at night until the next evening at 3 o'clock.
Q: Did you travel all night?
A: Pretty much all night, I didn't get any sleep.
Q: Well were you traveling all night?
A: We stopped about three hours.
Q: Where did you stop?
A: Upon Lens Creek where we eat supper.
Q: Did you leave Marmet shortly after you got off of No. 3?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And you travelled most of the night?
A: Yes, sir, we never stopped until about three o'clock the next day.
Q: And you traveled all the afternoon?
A: Yes, sir, until three o'clock the next evening. After we got off of the train we travelled until about six o'clock and stopped for supper and rested until about ten o'clock when we started again.
Q: Can you tell us how far it was from where you stopped to Racine?
A: No, I can't it was all strange to me.
Q: Was it up on Lens Creek?
A: Yes, sir, but I can't tell you the spot.
Q: And you say you stopped there for about three hours and rested from six o'clock until nine o'clock at night?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And then you started on and travelled the rest of the night?
A: Yes, sir all that night and all the next day until three o'clock in the evening when we landed in Danville.
Q: So if you left Marmet on Thursday the 25th you arrived at Danville at about three o'clock the next evening on the 26th of August?
A: We were not talking about this trip, we were talking about the first trip.
Q: I believe you said you are unable to fix the date of the first trip?
A: Yes, sir, I am.
Q: And when you got to Danville on the first trip what did you do?
A: We returned back home.
Q: What did you go back for?
A: We were turned back.
Q: Who turned you back?
A: President Keeney and Mr. Mooney with a telegram.
Q: You saw General Banholtz over there didn't you?
A: No, I didn't.
Q: Then if you left the town of Marmet about the 18th day of August you arrived at Danville the following day?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And so according to your best recollection the speech by Mr. Keeney was made about the 19th or 20th of August at Danville?
A: Along there somewhere, I don't know the date.
Q: The meeting was held in the ball park, was it not?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: What did Mr. Keeney say to you men?
A: He said for us men to turn back home.
Q: Did Mr. Mooney say anything?
A: He made a little talk, I can't say what he said.
Q: And as a result of what Mr. Keeney advised you to do you went back home?
A: Most of them did.
Q: Did you travel over the same road you went to Danville over?
A: No, we stayed there until about five o'clock the next morning and got a train out.
Q: Went down by St. Albans, did you?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Do you know Mr. Blizzard, the defendant here?
A: Is that Mr. Blizzard?
Q: Yes, did you ever see him before?
A: No, sir.
Q: You never saw Mr. Blizzard at any time on that trip?
A: No.
Q: About how many men went in that crowd that you were in from Lens Creek to Racine by Peytona and up to Danville?
A: As close as I could remember between two and three thousand.
Q: When you struck the town of Racine you saw the railroad of the C & O?
A: There was a railroad, but I don't know what it was.
Q: Did you stop there any time?
A: No, we marched on through.
Q: Did you see a train when you arrived at Racine?
A: Not that time.
Q: Did you see a train of about eight flat cars with an engine?
A: No, not the first time.
Q: Did you see a man at any time on your trip by the name of Ed. Reynolds?
A: Not that I know of, I didn't know Ed. Reynolds.
Q: Do you know Ed. Reynolds now?
A: I didn't know him until after I came here.
Q: Who seemed to be commanding the men marching along the road?
A: I couldn't tell you who he was. He was a stranger to me.
Q: And you have not learned since who he was, have you?
A: No, sir.
Q: Did you hear of any train being captured on either branch of the C & O railroad during that first trip?
A: No, sir.
Q: Was there a train captured on that trip by the miners?
Objection.
Overruled.
A: Not as I know of, not the first time.
Q: Now, returning from Danville on this first trip you went back to your home at Beard's Ford, I believe you said?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And then how many days was it before you started on the second trip?
A: It was about a week or a little over.
Q: And how did you reach Marmet on that trip?
A: We went in cars.
Q: Passenger trains?
A: No, automobiles.
Q: Who went with you that time?
A: There was a whole bunch of us, four carloads of us.
Q: How did you come to make that second trip?
A: We got news that the governor did not do his duty.
Q: Who said that?
A: That fellow who was commanding the men.
Q: How many men did you have that time, how many cars?
A: There were four carloads left, all of them in the night.
Q: What was your purpose in going?
A: They told me I had to go.
Q: Did you hear anything about a fellow by the name of Don Chafin on that trip?
A: I heard of him after we got over there.
Q: And you heard of the other deputies under his command, didn't you?
A: Yes sir.
Q: And you heard some of these men say they were going over there and clean up this mine guard and the deputies, didn't you?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And you were going over there to get Don Chafin?
A: Yes, sir to get Don Chafin and his crowd and release the prisoners.
Q: And you and these other men had received report that the deputy had gone down on Beech Creek and killed some of the miners, hadn't you?
A: Yes, sir I think so.
Q: And didn't you hear they killed two miners and wounded some more at or near the town of Sharples?
A: No, I never heard anything about that.
Q: And didn't you hear these men say they were going to protect the women and children of that county?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: You were not going after Governor Morgan, were you?
A: No.
Q: You were not trying to overthrow the government of West Va. were you?
Objection.
Overruled.
A: No, sir.
Q: After you left Marmet on the second trip did you go up Lens Creek the same way?
A: We went through Marmet in automobiles that time. We went up the same way we went before.
Q: You passed through Racine, Peytona and over into Danville?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Now, when you reached Racine the second time, did you see any railroad trains?
A: It was night, I can't tell you.
Q: Did you see these miners or any miners at any time capture a train there at Racine?
A: No, I did not.
Q: About what time of the day did you arrive at Madison on the second trip?
A: I reckon it was about 12 o'clock or somewhere along there.
Q: Do you remember the day of the week?
A: It was Thursday.
Q: And where did you go from Madison?
A: I don't know on over toward Logan County through Boone.
Q: You still traveled in automobiles did you?
A: Yes, sir all the way.
Q: And where did you get out of the automobiles and make your final stop?
A: At the mess hall below Blair, I was not at Blair.
Q: How far below Blair?
A: I can't say.
Q: Was it inside of the town?
A: No.
Q: Where did you go from there?
A: That is where we stopped.
Q: After you got out of the automobile what did you do?
A: Laid around in the grass and eat our supper and rested until the next morning.
Q: What time did you get up there?
A: It was about three o'clock when we landed there I think in the evening.
Q: Then where did you go up to on the following morning?
A: On up to the head of the hollow,
Q: What hollow did you go up?
A: I can't tell you that.
Q: Did you see any town there?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: What town was it?
A: I can't tell you that.
Q: Have you found out since what it was?
A: No, sir.
Q: Did you at any time get as far as the town of Blair?
A: No, I did not.
Re-Direct Examination. By Mr. Ossenton.
Q: How did you get from Beard's Fork to the C & O train the second trip? I mean the first time you went out, how did you get to the train?
A: In an automobile.
Q: In answer to a question propounded by Counsel on the other side you say you heard some of them say on the second trip that the Governor had not done his duty. Did you hear anything else said in reference to the Governor?
A: No, I did not.
Q: Now, you say you did not hear or hear of any train captured on your first trip?
A: No.
Q: Did you hear of any train being captured on your second trip?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Who captured the train?
A: The miners.
Q: And for what purpose were they using that train?
A: Hauling men to Blair.
Re-Cross Examination. By Mr. Houston.
Q: Mr. Crookshanks, how far is the town of Marmet from Charleston?
A: They say it is 9 miles.
Q: It is within 9 miles, then of the state capital?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: And when you left the town of Marmet going to Danville you were going directly away from the capital, were you not?
A: Yes, sir.