A few years back I had the privilege of visiting this area associated with my Mom’s family history. We were camping at Kanawha State Forest near Charleston and we discovered a road leading from there into Boone County. Unlike the road to Charleston, this road out of the state forest was not paved but it was well traveled though in spots it was steep. The end of this road brought us to pavement and from there we drove to Joe’s Creek which is near Comfort, WV. At Comfort we noted nice well kept houses and children having fun cooling off in the Big Coal River located behind their houses. Our impression (being from “the city” where we don’t have such luxury) was that this was a delightful place.
We were disappointed we couldn’t even find the local cemeteries to browse around but we did note that at the junction of the main road and Joe’s Creek road lived a Perdue family, just as the case when the 1870 census was taken. Later I read there was a Civil War skirmish near here although I don’t know if my Perdue family located here before or after the war. Over the years I have been collecting information on my Perdue and allied families (including Vealey, Pettry, Ferrell, Farley and Russell) that lived here along Coal River in Boone and Raleigh Counties in the 1800’s.
Here is a little about what I know of these families. My Perdue family (along with many others in this area) has its roots in Franklin County. The source of the Vealey surname is Peter Vealey who moved to the Coal River from Bedford County Virginia, and before this the family may have come from New York. The Pettrys descend from Martin Pettry as chronicled in an outstanding book written by D.L. Petry. Don’t get hung up by the various spellings of these names since I have found differences even amongst brothers and sisters. Also noteworthy is that people in this region served on both sides during the Civil War. I hope by this page to meet many who are descendants of these same families.
Go to My Records
Family of James Perdue
Family of Peter Vealey
Family of Martin Pettry
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