c.1900 6 Bedroom West Virginia Home For Sale Once Used for a TV Series Set $199K

“Abraham Bair Redden was born 26 July 1871, in a small log cabin at Glade, Raleigh Co. WV.

He married Susanna Smith on the 22nd of May 1893. Susie, as she was known, was born 22 July 1872 in the same cabin as Abraham. His family moved out and her family moved in. It wasn’t until after they were married that they found out that not only were they both born in the same log cabin, but also that they were (distantly) related.
Their children:

1. Nettie Gertrude Redden
2. Eula Letishia Redden
3. George Howard Redden
4. Dexter Cornelious Redden
5. Nannie Page Redden
6. Mason David Redden
7. Wayland Hoyt Redden

Two of which died in infancy. Three of the children were born in Glade WV, one at Crow, WV, and three more in their home in Beckley, WV.

Their home located at 822 S. Kanawha St. in Beckley, was built in 1901-1902. They moved in around April of 1902.

As a young man in his late teens, A. B. Redden was a school teacher in Logan County. He stayed at the school during the week and would travel home on the weekends. The path he took lead him past the home of Devil Anse Hatfield, of the legendary Hatfields and McCoys, where he would stay the night and finish his journey home the next day. While spending one evening in the Hatfield home he was sitting on a small bed in the corner of the room close to the door, when all of a sudden the door burst open and one of the Hatfield boys staggered in shouting and demanding that one of the other men of the house give him whiskey. After a few minutes, the temper of the drunken man turned violent and he pulled a gun on the other man. Abraham said that he was sure that some one was going to get shot, so he grabbed a child that he thought might be in the line of fire and scooted back on the bed into the corner as far out of the way as possible. Just then, one of the Hatfield women who had been cooking in the kitchen, stepped around the corner, reached under her apron and drew out a revolver, pointed it at the drunken brother and said, “You know we are cut out of the same cloth. You shoot him and I’ll drop you where you stand, and you know I will.” The drunken man left without his whiskey.

Abe said he didn’t sleep very well that night. He spoke of watching Devil Anse Hatfield as he sat in his rocking chair in front of the fireplace. With the room being lit only by the firelight, Abe being aware of the stories of the feuding in the area, said he could envisioned blood dripping from the hands of Old Man Hatfield.

In reality the Hatfields must have been a fairly hospitable family to provide a warm meal and a place to sleep for a young schoolteacher on his way home. He did say of Devil Anse Hatfield that he was a good father.

Speaking of his school teaching days, he said that when he ran onto a mathematical problem that he could not solve, he would think about it just before going to bed for the night and he would dream about it and always have the answer in the morning.

That young school teacher went on to become a Postmaster at the small community of Sunflower, WV. He was a grocer and the proprietor of a men’s apparel shop, He owned several hundred acre of timberland in Richmond District along with the mineral rights. He became a recognized authority on the coal seams in the region and was sought after for information by those in the industry well into his retirement years.

He was a politician, who ran for the office of Raleigh County Sheriff. Although he conceded to his appointee and was not elected, he did serve as deputy sheriff. It was said of him that he was an honest politician. Abraham Redden later worked for, and retired from, the Raleigh Co. Assessors Office as the deputy assessor.

He died on the 19th of February 1962 in Charleston, WV after falling and breaking his hip on an icy sidewalk while walking to town at the age of 91. Abraham and Susie are buried in the Redden family cemetery, at Crow, Raleigh County, West Virginia.