The Elkin, Elken, Elkins family of Logan and Boone County, West Virginia, have been in this country, (USA) since 1657. The progenitor is said to be Ralph Elkins, of Staffordshire, England.

Much of what I know about my Elkins family comes from a book, The History of Logan County, West Virginia, written by Henry Clay Ragland in 1896. Henry Ragland was the founder and first editor of the Logan Banner Newspaper, which is still in existence today.

In 1799, the first permanent settler of Logan, Virginia, now West Virginia, was Peter Dingess, a German orphan that previously had settled in Montgomery, Virginia. Richard Elkins, also of Montgomery, VA, followed shortly after with Peter Dingess’ oldest son, William.

Why they made this journey isn’t known. Opportunity...? Indian hostilities were still a common occurrence in the area. In fact, in 1791 over half of our US Army had been wiped out at the Battle of the Wabash, also known as the Columbia Massacre, or Battle of 1,000 Slain, in which the Miami Indians under Chief Little Turtle & Shawnee Chief Blue Jacket, killed 632 US soldiers out of approximately 1000 men. Only 24 soldiers escaped without injury. Scores of women and children (likely their families) were also massacred near head waters of Wabash River near Ft. Recovery in Ohio. The purpose of the battle to stop the Indians from disrupting traffic on the Ohio River (the Guyandotte River is / was a tributary) and hampering settlement of the Northwest Territory. This was the greatest defeat by Indians in the US history

The Elkins and the Dingess’ could have made this journey by wagon or river. The trek by wagon, would probably have been over 70 miles. Floating down the Guyandotte River, much longer.

Richard Elkins and his wife, Nancy Leslie (Lesley, Lasley), widow of John McGuire (had 2 children), brought their family of 12 Elkins children, and settled on land rented from the Dingess family, on Island Creek. Richard and his sons had to work hard to clear the land of cane, to cultivate the corn he would plant. The first year, Richard and his sons were able to cultivate 3,000 bushels, or 100 bushels to the acre, hence, the land must have been at least 300 acres.

Later, Richard’s brothers, Zachariah and William Elkins, arrived. Land was purchased and most the family continued to live in the Logan area, as well as the adjoining Boone County, even to the present day.

Richard and Nancy’s family members were:

1. Archibald married Margaret Gillespie
and Hannah Stephenson
2. James married Levina Elkins
3. Robert married Sally Harvey
4. Israel married Miss Browning
5. Richard Jr. married Miss May
6. Eddie / Edley married Frances Toney
7. Harvey married Elizabeth May
8. Lucretia married James White
9. Martha married Elijah Elkins
10. Nancy married William Walls
Wife 1 was Mary Trollinger
11. Susannah married John White
12. Hannah married William Moore


Nancy Leslie McGuire Elkins was the daughter of William Robert Lasley /Leslie and Elizabeth Buchanan. Her father, first generation American, was originally from Scotland. Then Ireland. It seems that William and his brother, John, were the “black sheep” of the family. They set sail for America. When they landed in New York, they promptly got into a fight. They must have done all right. The brothers went into a barber shop to clean up. William, unaware of relationships, got his throat slit by the barber. The barber was reputed to be a friend of the men they had fought with. William’s brother John took off…. Never to be seen again. William survived his wound to later die at the age of 94 in Pike, Kentucky.

Nancy’s first husband was John McGuire. They had 2 children, William and Nancy, together. John, originally from Ireland, was the first McGuire to settle in Montgomery, VA. He received a land grant of 200 acres on the Bluestone River. When he died, his son, William stayed on to work the acreage he inherited. Her daughter Nancy, was said to have stayed on with her father’s relatives.