SUMMERS COUNTY W.Va. (Hinton News) – Growing up in Summers County and being obsessed with local history as I am, I learned early the names of the historians in the county. First, the late John Kesler became one of my first go-tos. Then, before Ashby Berkley passed, he and I became great history friends. Then I got to know historian Fred Long when he served, until recently, on the Summers County Historic Landmarks Commission with me. Steve Trail and I have become well acquainted in regard to local history, having served together on the commission since 2017.
Then Jimmy Costa, who is best known by us locals for his skilled old-fashioned banjo and fiddle playing ability. He is also a strong Summers County historian and historic artifact collector/preserver. He recently took several old, cancelled checks from Judge Miller’s estate to Hinton Hardware to give to Richard Leftwich.
One of those checks was to Dyke and Leftwich. Which brings me to asking you for help with this week’s piece. Richard was showing me this 1909 cancelled check of Judge Miller’s. Judge Miller was the author of the rare 1908 Summers County history book, History of Summers County from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time.
When you flip the check over, it is stamped Dyke and Leftwich Barger Springs, W.Va. I have never heard of a business having this name in Summers County. The only point of reference I have is that you occasionally hear the names Dyke and Leftwich mentioned in Summers County history around Barger Springs.
I uncovered this 1886 photo in the WVU Archives of the camps in Barger Springs. One of the ladies is identified as “Mrs. Dyke.” Barger Springs was a popular mineral springs resort from 1903 to 1929. The lady identified by the last name Dyke must have had some connection to the business in question.
Then the name Leftwich is mentioned twice in his book. On page 531, it says “Leftwich” (in bold), then it reads “There are but two families of this name now residents of Summers County – George W. Leftwich, the veteran school teacher, and Jabez F., farmer of Barger Springs.” It later mentions Jabaez F. Leftwich as being an enterprising farmer in the Talcott District. It then further breaks down these two names and their families.
Leftwich is not a common last name around these parts, at least not as common as Jones, ha. So we are trying to figure out if the owners of this business in Barger Springs are related to Richard Leftwich of Hinton and his family. If you know anything more about this business, please email me at greenbrierantiques@gmail.com. Thank you.
