History

Old Hell’s Cabin

Old Hell's cabin was located in Pocahontas, Virginia. This town sits in Tazewell County. There's an area around Pocahontas called Sinking Creek and once, a log cabin there was known simply as, "Old Hell's Cabin." "Old Hell," was the nickname of Philip Hellingham. He was an old bachelor who spent decades in the 3-room log cabin. He lived to be...

Battling the Clip Wizard, or Mad Shearer

The Clip Wizard was a legend out of Middleway, West Virginia. The Middleway area has been known by a variety of names: Smithfield, Wizard Clip, or just Clip. The area gained legendary status due to an Eighteenth Century haunting. Adam Livingston was a Middleway farmer in 1794. A stranger came by his house one evening and asked about a room...

Ridiculous Regulators

One of the worst episodes of deadly incompetence in southwest Virginia was enacted by a group of men who called themselves “Regulators.” They wore bandannas over their faces and carried Winchesters, but it would be a deadly game of dress-up before the night ended. Era newspapers often called them “White Caps,” and implied they were associated with the Ku Klux...