So, this is 2021, 100th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain. From now through September, I plan on keeping a timeline thread for 1921 and the main events leading up to the battle. Follow along if interested:
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Early in January 1921, Anse Hatfield (not Devil Anse) who ran a hotel in Matewan and agreed to testify on behalf of Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency in the looming Matewan Massacre trial is murdered while sitting outside his hotel. No one is arrested. 2/

100 years ago this week, the trial of Sid Hatfield and 22 others in connection with the Matewan Massacre begins. Defendants are represented by UMWA attorney Harold Houston. Harold Houston was a prominent WV socialist and ran for governor on the socialist ticket. 3/

Coal operators had a special hatred and fear for Houston who, they believed, was the brains behind the organized violence in the coalfields. They did not feel that Keeney, Mooney, and Blizzard were educated enough to coordinate the effort. 4/

At any rate, Houston was the lead attorney. As the trial began, 50 state police and 40 Baldwin-Felts detectives patrolled the streets of Williamson, where the trial was held. Union officials feared that Hatfield and others would be killed before the trail ended. 5/

Meanwhile, 500 federal troops had been sent into Mingo County the previous month after several shootouts between miners and mine guards. Miners had been on strike in Mingo since July 2020. 6/

Mother Jones had also visited the Tug Valley over Christmas, bringing clothes and toys for the kids. The Nation published a story on the Lick Creek tent colony and proclaimed it as "Labor's Valley Forge." 7/

January 31, 1921 - Approximately 1,000 armed union miners arrive in Williamson, where the trial of Sid Hatfield and the 22 other defendants had just begun. 8/

Mine guards and state troopers (numbering just under 100) had been in town since the trial began three days before. But now they were heavily outnumbered. Folks cleared the streets of Williamson as violence appeared imminent. 9/

Judge Robert E. Bailey, presiding over the trial, acts quickly and calls the lawyers, union officials, and town officials to a meeting. Union leaders agree to send the 1,000 miners home if the state troopers and mine guards also leave town for the duration of the trial. 10/

Both sides agree. The mine guards, state police, and miners all leave town. The trial resumes. Much more on the trial in the coming weeks. 11/

For those following along over the next few months, feel free to chime in with sources, good books, articles, family folklore, or any additional info. 12/