Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Thursday 08/24/1944
Leota Daisy Johnston Higginbotham
Mrs. Daisy Johnston Higginbotham, 75, widow of the late J. C. Higginbotham I, and one of the pioneer residents of Bluefield, died at her home in Athens at 6:30 yesterday morning. She had been in declining health for sometime and death was attributed to complications.
A short funeral service will be held this afternoon at the Athens Methodist church at 2:30. The service will be conducted by the Rev. J. B. Belcher, pastor of the church, assisted by the Rev. Paul Simms, of Tazewell, and the Rev. A. B. Moore, of Concord college. Interment will follow in the Walnut Grove cemetery in Bluefield.
Active pallbearers will be S. G. Williamson, Dr. Urian Vermillion, Fred V. Cooper, Dorsie Martin, Henry Crawford and Meadar Bird. Flowerbearers will be members of the Eastern Star and the Athens Methodist church.
Mrs. Higginbotham was born at Dublin, Va., daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. M. Stuart Johnston, and at the age of 4 years moved with her family to Athens. She was educated at Concord college and Martha Washington college and during her early life taught school in Bluefield, having served as teacher in a small building which served children of some of the pioneer families living in what is now known as the Oakhurst addition.
She was married on June 21, 1893 at Athens to J. C. Higginbotham I, and the lived here in Bluefield from that date until 1905. Mr. Higginbotham was the son of John B. Higginbotham, who was owner of a large section of what is now the heart of the retail center of Bluefield. All of the deeds to this property refer to it have parts of the Higginbotham reservation. The home of John B. Higginbotham stood on a hill which was encircled by Princeton avenue, Stuart and Raleigh streets and Federal street, which was formerly called Higginbotham avenue. It was the site of many social functions during the early days of Bluefield. The home of J. C. Higginbotham was located just north of the post office building. In fact, the post office is built on a site which was obtained from the J. C. Higginbotham home place. Mr. Higginbotham engaged in the livery business and operated the hack lines between Bluefield and Princeton.
It is recalled that when Mr. and Mrs. Higginbotham were married at Athens, Mr. Higginbotham knowing the popularity of his bride in Bluefield and particularly among the school children she taught offered to furnish free transportation to those who wished to attend the wedding. The response was so great that Mr. Higginbotham not only pressed into service every conveyance he had but also the hacks, buggies and surreys which were owned by other livery firms. The procession was said to be more than two miles long.
During her residence in Bluefield, Mrs. Higginbotham was a member of Bland Street Methodist church, but when she moved to Athens in 1910 where she had since resided, she became affiliated with the Methodist church at that place. For 45 of the last 50 years she had been a regular attendant at the Easter Sunday services at Bland Street church.
Mrs. Higginbotham was widely known throughout this section and loved by all who knew her. She knew the history of the pioneers of this city and section, the early life of Bluefield and she found great enjoyment in conversations about the early days of Bluefield and those who made up the population when this city was starting upon its development. Mrs. Higginbotham possessed those fine traits of character that endeared people, and she was a devout Christian, a devoted wife and loving mother.
She is survived by three children, John Crockett Higginbotham II, of Welch; Stuart Johnston Higginbotham, of Parkersburg and Mrs. J. Lewis Hutchinson of Athens. Also seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren survive as does one sister, Mrs. J. C. Pack, of Bramwell, and one brother, S. Foote Johnston, of Wheelersburg, Ohio.