J. F. Drebert
(transcriber may have made spelling and punctuation changes)
J. F. Drebert.
A witness of lawful age, being duly sworn -
Questions by Mr. Osenton.
Q: What is your age?
A: Fifty six.
Q: Where do you live?
A: At Boomer in Fayette county.
Q: How far is Boomer from the Kanawha county line?
A: About three miles.
Q: Do you know where Cedar Grove is?
A: Yes.
Q: Is there a public road running down the river from Boomer to Cedar Grove?
A: Yes.
Q: Is Cedar Grove on the same side of the river with Boomer?
A: Yes.
Q: What is the distance from Cedar Grove to Boomer?
A: I think six or eight miles
Q: Is there a bridge at Cedar Grove across the Kanawha river?
A: Yes.
Q: Where were you living in August, last?
A: In Boone County.
Q: What is your business?
A: I am in the motion picture business.
Q: Where is your picture show?
A: I have one in Boomer and one in Smithers, which is about three miles down the river.
Q: Do you recall the occasion when the miners were assembling at Marmet and marching on Logan and Mingo counties?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you go with them on that march, or any part of it?
A: I did.
Q: Do you recall the date on which you went?
A: No, I don't know the date.
Q: About what time was it?
A: Sometime about the middle of August I think.
Q: Where did you start from?
A: From Smithers.
Q: Was it night or day?
A: It was at night.
Q: Tell the jury how you happened to leave there that night.
A: I operate two theaters, one at Boomer and one at Smithers and I take care of them myself. I have a car and it is only three miles from Boomer to Smithers. I usually drive there when the weather permits, and the roads did permit at this time. On this particular night I did not have a machine man. I usually have a man to care for the machine who looks after the picture. We were running the show as usual, and I was taking care of the machine myself, as the man was not there, and it was between eight and nine o'clock when the ticket girl came up for me and said they were going to take my car. I came down and there were quite a number of people - men, women and children - in front of the building. I walked over to the car and there were five men in it, and they said they want to take the car to go to Madison. I said “If the car goes, I will have to go, too,” because I wanted to take care of my car. I did not know what they might do to it. So I got in the car and drove it.
Q: In driving from Smithers where did you cross the Kanawha river?
A: At Cedar Grove.
Q: Then in what direction did you go after that, on the south side of the river?
A: On down the river.
Q: Is there a town on the opposite side of the river from Cedar Grove?
A: Yes.
Q: What is the name of it?
A: I think it is called Eastbank.
Q: How did you go from Eastbank?
A: We went down the river to Marmet and then we turned and went through the mountains.
Q: What was the name of the creek you went up?
A: I think they called it Lewis creek.
Q: What was the next town after that?
A: Racine
Q: When you left Smithers did you see any armed men that night?
A: Yes, quite a number.
Q: Did you pass any armed men on the road to Racine?
A: Once after leaving Marmet, just before we started up the creek we passed, I suppose, six or eight men.
Q: When you got to Racine, did you see any armed men?
A: I suppose we got there at about three o'clock in the morning and it was right dark.
Q: Did you stop there?
Did you see any armed men there?
A: After daylight we did.
Q: How many armed men were assembled there?
A: As nearly as I could tell there were between three and four hundred.
Q: Where did you go from Racine?
A: I came home.
Q: Did you leave the men there?
A: Yes, and drove on back home.
Q: Did you know any of these men?
A: I knew their faces, but I did not know their names.
Q: Did you know the men in the car?
A: I did not know any of them by name. I would not know their faces except one man that they called Bill, and he had a foreign accent. He sat on the seat with me, and the others were in the rear.
Q: Were any of the men in the car with you armed?
A: All of them were.
Q: What kind of arms did they have?
A: Rifles
Q: Did they have anything else in the car except the rifles?
A: No, nothing except some packages. Looked like it might be blankets.
Q: Did you see any ammunition?
A: I don't know that I did. If they had any, it was in their pockets.
Q: Where did the men go when they stopped at Racine?
A: I understood that they were waiting there for a train.
Q: Did these men join the other armed men at Racine?
A: I suppose so.
Q: Did you see where they went?
A: I did not see particularly where they went
Q: Did you see any train at Racine?
A: No, there was no train in there from the time I got there until I left.
Q: What time did you leave Racine to come back home?
A: I imagine between six and seven o'clock in the morning.
Q: On your way back did you meet any truck or automobiles with men going over there?
A: I met none going over.
Q: Did you meet any coming back?
A: Yes, I passed a number of men coming back.
Q: In what direction were they going?
A: Toward Marmet.
Q: Where did you cross the river on your return?
A: At Cedar Grove.
Q: The same place you crossed in going?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you know what creek it is that empties into the Kanawha river at Cedar Grove?
A: I think it is Hughes creek.
Q: Do you know where Kelly's creek is on that side of the river?
A: I believe it is Kelly creek that empties into the Kanawha at Cedar Grove, that Hughes creek is farther up.
Q: Then you crossed Hughes creek before you get to Cedar Grove?
A: Yes.
Q: Is there a railroad alongside the river?
A: Yes.
Q: What is the name of it?
A: I think they call it the Kanawha & Michigan Railroad.
Q: Do you know where Gauley bridge is?
A: Yes, it is about eight miles from there.
Q: What is the turnpike called that you were on?
A: The James River and Kanawha pike.
Q: Do you know the name of the turnpike on the opposite side of the river?
A: I don't believe I do.
Q: Did you hear anyone call it the Giles, Fayette and Kanawha pike?
A: Yes, I have heard it called that.
Q: What is the distance from where it crosses the river to where it turns up the creek?
A: About ten miles, or maybe twelve.
Q: Did these men that you took to Racine offer to pay you anything for the use of your car on this trip?
A: No.
Q: Have you ever received any pay for this trip?
A: No.
Q: Why did you drive the car over there with them that night?
A: They were going to take it if I did not, and I did not want to let the car go without me. I did not know what might happen to it. I want to take care of my own property.
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. TOWNSEND
Q: They did not object to your going along, did they?
A: No.
Q: They were glad to have you, were they not?
A: I judge they were.
Q: Did you have any trouble with them in any way?
A: No.
Q: How far did you go that time?
A: To Racine.
Q: You never got as far as Madison, did you?
A: No, that is as far as I have been.
Q: You stated in your direct examination that you left Smithers about 8 or 9 o'clock that night?
A: Yes, I think it was between eight and nine.
Q: How many persons were in the car besides you?
A: Five.
Q: All of them men?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you remember the day of the week?
A: No.
Q: Nor the day of the month?
A: No.
Q: You heard something about a meeting held by Mother Jones on the 24th of August, 1921, on Lens creek, did you not?
A: Yes, I have heard something about it.
Q: By referring to that date, could you fix the date you left Smithers?
A: No, I could not.
Q: You don't know whether it was before or after that?
A: No.
Q: You don't now the day of the month, do you?
A: No.
Q: After you reached Lens creek, did you hear anything of a meeting that had been held there before that?
A: No, I did not talk to anyone over there that night.
Q: You heard the men talking in the car, did you not?
A: Yes.
Q: Was nothing said by them about a meeting?
A: No, no meeting was spoken of.
Q: Where did you spend the night?
A: On the road.
Q: What time did you arrive in Racine?
A: I judge between three and four in the morning.
Q: And there you found between three and four hundred people?
A: I don't know that all those men were there.
Q: Just tell us approximately how many were there.
A: As nearly as I could tell, there were about that many.
Q: What were they waiting for?
A: I don't know what they were waiting for, but they said I need not go any further as they would take the train from there and for me to go on home.
Q: Do you know where they went from there?
A: No.
Q: Did you see the train at Racine?
A: No, there was no train there during the time I was there.
Q: You say you got there at three or four o'clock in the morning. How long did you stay?
A: Until between six and seven that same morning.
Q: Was it day break then?
A: Yes.
Q: What time did you get home to Smithers?
A: I got back to Boomer between ten and eleven the same morning.
Q: Is there no way that you can fix the date, the day of the week and the day of the month that you were in Racine?
A: I could get it at home, by looking up my memorandum, but I haven't it here.
Q: Did anyone come back with you from Racine?
A: No, not from Racine, but coming down the creek, many of the men were walking and they seemed very tired and I brought five or six of them down with me.
Q: They were going toward Marmet?
A: Yes.
Q: That would be away from Mingo and Logan counties, would it not?
A: Yes, they were going toward Marmet.
Q: Did you get any information from them as to where they had been?
A: Yes, I passed several camps where they were stopping and these men, I had picked up said they were going home; that they said they had no use for them. They had been up there.
Q: You had heard something about the march before that day, had you not?
A: Yes.
Q: These men were returning from that march, were they not?
A: Yes.
Q: Did they tell you why they were returning and who had advised them to do so?
A: They said they were told they were of no use up there. That there was no use for them to stay as they did not have any arms and might as well go home.
Q: Did they mention the name of the man who told them that?
A: Yes, but not knowing him I do not now recall the name they used.
Q: Do you know Mr. Keeney or Mr. Mooney?
A: No, not personally. I have never seen Mr. Mooney, until I saw him here in the courtroom.
Q: Do you know Mr. Blizzard?
A: No.
Q: You don't recall ever seeing any of these gentlemen in your machine that night?
A: No, they were not there to my knowledge.
Witness dismissed