On September 6, 1875, two men walked into the Bank of Huntington with their revolvers drawn. Two others kept guard outside. The four men left the bank with $20,000 and rode south out of town.
A posse chased the bandits into Kentucky. Eventually, one was captured in Tennessee with some of the stolen loot. He was convicted and sentenced to the West Virginia Penitentiary.
Another gang member was wounded in Kentucky and later died of his injuries. The two others escaped with most of the money.
The robbery spawned a host of legends. The most popular theory is that the two who escaped justice were the notorious outlaws Frank James and Cole Younger. Local folklore suggests that after the Huntington robbery, Frank James took up residence in Wayne County, around Cove Gap, near the Lincoln County line. Using the alias Frank Morris, James supposedly tended a farm and made well-crafted furniture, some of which has been handed down through generations of Wayne County families. This idea, though, has been challenged since Frank James participated in several high-profile robberies over the next year with his brother Jesse.
From the same era, I can tell you a story from my very own family, you can believe it or not. I however do! This story was told to me as a child, by the most honest man I ever knew. In or around that time my grandfathers family lived in a hollow at James Branham Branch, about halfway between Auxier and Prestonsburg KY. The year was about 1880, which in those times could have been an estimate? Their place was beside the Levisa fork of the Big Sandy river, a very likely route one would take from Huntington to Tennessee, or other points south and west? As it was told Cole Younger stayed for a few days, my great grandfather was a Confederate Vet, and POW of the Yankee Army. Upon leaving Mr. Younger gave my great grandfather and family 5 $20 gold pieces, (A HUGE amount of money for that time). Can I attest this is true? No. My Grandfather who is buried within eyesight of his home of that day was named…Thomas Younger Harmon? Go figure!
Oh hell, I forgot people now likely have no clue who Jesse James, Frank James, or much less Cole Younger is! It doesn’t come on an app for the beloved phones, does it? When I went to college, I wondered why many younger people struggled to make a C in history, and many failed. I made straight A’s. I have a good education, and I didn’t even need an APP for that!
That was a very interesting story; for those who can read.